News Briefing: 14 July 2025

HEALTH
Guyon Espiner (RNZ): Outdated alcohol guidelines understate health risks, ministry documents reveal
1News: Q+A: Doctors warn private health moves risk a US-style system
Fred Christensen (E-Tangata): The kids aren’t smoking, so why aren’t we celebrating?
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Health NZ hires thousands more nurses and hundreds more doctors, but pace of hiring slows
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Mental health minister says workforce is recovering from chronic understaffing
Annemarie Quill (Stuff): Woman in wheelchair can now walk after surgery in India she couldn't afford in NZ
Stewart Sowman-Lund (Post): Inside the health ministry’s controversial Twitter exit (paywalled)
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Health NZ ‘disappointed’ as nurses prepare for 24-hour strike
RNZ: Nurses vote to go on 24-hour strike, citing safe staffing concerns
Georgina Bond (Law News): Australia leads with lung cancer screening – should New Zealand follow?
ODT Editorial: If it ain’t broke … (paywalled)
Matthew Littlewood (ODT): Needle decision criticised (paywalled)
Maddy Croad (Press/Post): Country’s largest needle exchange provider loses contract after 35 years (paywalled)
Ava Whitworth (Stuff): ‘Terrified we’ll go backwards’: Parents fear ADHD med shortage could hit NZ
Grant Miller (ODT): Call to move health staff ‘bizarre’ (paywalled)

EDUCATION, TRAINING
Matthew Hooton: Stanford’s Vandalous University Policy
RNZ: Government unveils plan to lift international student enrolments
1News: Govt aims to double economic impact of international students by 2034
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Boost to work rights for international students to drive $7b sector
John Gerritsen (RNZ): No need for bill protecting campus free speech, unis and legal experts say
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Commercial fishing school refunds $1m for subsidy errors over four years
Joanna Hall (Herald): EMA urges collaboration for effective vocational education reform (paywalled)

MIGRATION
Herald Editorial: Using immigration as a primary tool to drive economic growth is risky business (paywalled)
BERL: Migration: The engine driving New Zealand’s population growth
Tracy Watkins (Sunday Star Times): The hollowing out of New Zealand (paywalled)
RNZ: High migration to Australia affecting Kiwis' 'mentality' and 'deeply concerning' - academic
Madison Burgess-Smith (Post): Young and living in NZ? It’s probably better than you think (paywalled)

CLIMATE CHANGE, WEATHER-RELATED EVENTS
Jonathan Boston (Newsroom): Going it alone – how not to prepare for climate change
Max Rashbrooke (Post): Piling on the inequality no solution to climate change challenge (paywalled)
Andrea Vance (Post): The new politics of climate adaptation. Who gets saved? (paywalled)
Press Editorial (Post): Welcome to the wetter future (paywalled)
Mary Argue (RNZ): 'Flash flood' devastates small community in Motueka Valley

REGULATORY STANDARDS BILL
Andrea Vance (Post): The unpaid lobbyist steering the Government’s regulatory overhaul (paywalled)
Thomas Couglan (Herald): David Seymour issues regulations bill ultimatum as committee threatens to break Parliament (paywalled)
Laura Walters (Newsroom): Regulatory Standards Bill architect slams ‘unsavoury misinformation’
Neil Sands (Law News): Former PM slates Regulatory Standards Bill as ‘dangerous, wrong and lacking constitutional legitimacy’
Brent Edwards (NBR): Oral submissions on Regulatory Standards Bill wrap up (paywalled)
Mike Houlahan (ODT: The ins and outs of what is in, and out, of the Standards Bill (paywalled)
Damien Grant (Stuff): ‘Regulatory Standards Bill’s a missed chance at real reform’
Eric Crampton (Post): Making sense of the case for compensation in regulatory bill (paywalled)

WELLINGTON
Tom Hunt (Post): Wellington Water reveals $2.7m traffic bill and $1.4m corporate fee on single project (paywalled)
Joel MacManus (Spinoff): Windbag: Ray Chung has never been fit for office
Sanjana Hattotuwa: Better Wellington: Analysis of tweets, and tactics
Tom Hunt (Post): ‘Regrets’, but no ‘sorry’: Ray Chung backs down on Tory Whanau apology pledge (paywalled)
Tom Hunt (Post): ‘Unequivocal’: Mayoral candidate Ray Chung promises full public apology to mayor (paywalled)
RNZ: Ray Chung defends sending gossip about Tory Whanau to other councillors
Emma Ricketts (Stuff): Ray Chung stays in the race after salacious sex claims, believes neighbour’s story
Ellen O’Dwyer (RNZ): High-profile donor withdraws support of mayoral candidate Ray Chung after gossip email about mayor
Ethan Manera (Herald): Sir Mark Dunajtschik withdraws support for Ray Chung after ‘dirty politics’ sex gossip email
Tom Hunt (Post): Tory Whanau considers legal action over ‘false, sexist, personal attacks’
Sanda Arambepola and Poppy Clark (Stuff): Ray Chung emailed Wellington councillors salacious sex claims about Mayor Tory Whanau that he heard from ‘neighbour’
Nick James and Ellen O’Dwyer (RNZ): 'Absolutely disgraceful': Porirua mayor slams Ray Chung's 'attack' on Tory Whanau
Tom Hunt and Harriet Laughton (Post): Chung vs Whanau: The week local politics got ‘dirty’ (paywalled)
Kerre Woodham (Newstalk ZB): You can't just put up a story without any proof
Ryan Bridge: Wellington is in for a tempestuous election campaign

ACT
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): ACT's campaign calculus to 'keep the government' and keep its edge
Lillian Hanly (RNZ): ACT leader blames identity politics, previous government for setting NZ 'against each other'
Lillian Hanly (RNZ): ACT sets out plan to party faithful: 'Keep the government and make it better'
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Supermarkets: David Seymour wants a fast-track law for new supermarkets
Thomas Manch (Stuff): ACT leader David Seymour wants a fast-track for new supermarket companies
Brent Edwards (NBR): Act’s plan for more supermarket competition to push down prices (paywalled)
Kelly Dennett (Sunday Star Times): Who is the anti-woke crusader ACT has invited to its AGM? (paywalled)
Byron Clark: ACT Party hosts "intellectual leader of the far-right"

TĀMAKI MAKAURAU BY-ELECTION
The Hui: ‘I’m tired of being impartial’: Oriini Kaipara steps up for Te Pāti Māori in Tāmaki Makaurau
1News: Labour confirms Peeni Henare to face Oriini Kaipara in by-election
Te Ao Māori News: ‘Humbled and honoured’ Peeni Henare confirmed as Labour candidate for Tāmaki Makaurau by-election
RNZ: Tāmaki Makaurau byelection: Kaipara will fight hard to retain seat for Te Pāti Māori - Waititi
Herald Editorial: Tāmaki Makaurau byelection could help reshape Māori politics (paywalled)
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Tāmaki Makaurau by-election throws up curious quirk of MMP
Adam Pearse (Herald): Tāmaki Makaurau byelection: Labour set to choose candidate, Peeni Henare emerging as favourite
Sapeer Mayron (Post): Could the Tāmaki Makaurau by-election be a two-person race? (paywalled)

MĀORI-CROWN RELATIONS
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): David Seymour criticises UN official over indigenous rights letter (paywalled)
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Reviewers of legislation Treaty clauses expected to report back in months
Melanie Nelson (E-Tangata): Honouring Treaty settlements — until they get in the way
Pokere Paewai (RNZ): 'It is an interesting time' - Tania Simpson takes over as chair of Waitangi Trust

PARLIAMENT, POLLS, PUBLIC SECTOR
Danyl McLauchlan (Herald): Nostalgia for the relative normality of the ‘Jacinda years’ is taking hold (paywalled)
Peter Dunne (Newsroom): Nats doomed if held to ransom by coalition partners
Audrey Young (Herald): Who would take over if Luxon fell under a bus - Willis, Bishop or another? (paywalled)
Jenée Tibshraeny (Herald): Finance Minister Nicola Willis wanted tighter Budget lock-up, documents reveal
Chelsea Daniels (Herald): Front Page: Chlöe Swarbrick on Green Party’s economic plans: Is it finally time to tax the rich?
Jo Wane (Herald): Former National Party president Sue Wood slams Government’s pay equity changes (paywalled)
Jo Wane (Herald): Former National Party president Sue Wood on Muldoon, the 1984 snap election and her new memoir (paywalled)
Steven Cowan: When the times demand real change, Labour is proposing more of the same
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): My winner of the week
Chris Keall (Herald): Staff in ‘critical’ Ministry of Social Development tech team to be culled (paywalled)
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Human rights body hooked by phishing scam
Greg Dixon (Listener): Road Cone Hotline identifies over 650 total losers (paywalled)
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Oranga Tamariki paying nearly $2m a year to communications staff
Maria Slade (BusinessDesk): Making civics education compulsory would be a step forward for the nation (paywalled)
Louis Collins (RNZ: The House: The other MPs at Youth Parliament
Good Ideas: Did neoliberalism fail to shrink the state? (paywalled)

COVID-19
Michael Plank (Spinoff): Counting the true toll of the Covid-19 pandemic in New Zealand
Janet Wilson (Post): Will the Covid inquiries help healing, or fuel political point-scoring (paywalled)
Fran O’Sullivan (Herald): Covid inquiry: Time to cut Dame Jacinda Ardern a break (paywalled)
Steve Braunias (Newsroom): The Secret Diary of .. the Royal Commission Inquiry into Covid
Colin Peacock (RNZ): Mediawatch: Pandemic probe media focus flipped to politicians

ENERGY
1News: Q+A: Electricity market concerns outlined in new campaign
Herald: Energy crisis: Calls for urgent reform as New Zealand faces soaring costs, supply problems
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Businesses and consumer groups appeal to PM for urgent action on electricity (paywalled)
John MacDonald (Newstalk ZB): Import gas or cross our fingers and hope?

RETIREMENT
Shane Te Pou (Herald): Time for a fair deal from retirement villages (paywalled)
Max Rashbrooke (Post): What the Sensible Adults don’t tell you about the cost of super (paywalled)
Amelia Wade (Post): NZ Super’s $33 billion side hustle (paywalled)
Luke Malpass and Amelia Wade (Post): NZ Super - it’s all about choices (paywalled)
Josie Pagani (Post): The politics of retirement and having a good cry (paywalled)