News Briefing: 16 July 2025

REGULATORY STANDARDS BILL
Jonathan Boston (Post): The Regulatory Standards Bill and how not to govern a country (paywalled)
Jamie Ensor (Herald): Winston Peters, David Seymour dismiss claims Government in disarray over United Nations letter (paywalled)
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Labour leaps on UN letter as sign of coalition dysfunction
Catherine McGregor (Spinoff): Coalition rift opens over UN letter as Seymour defends rogue response
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): David Seymour spoken to by Christopher Luxon, agrees with Winston Peters to withdraw UN letter
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): UN letter fallout: 'Experience is important in this business', says Peters
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Christopher Luxon tells off David Seymour over letter to United Nations
Kelly Dennett (Post): PM says UN letter rebuking Regulatory Standards Bill ‘a total waste of time’

PARLIAMENT, POLICY, PUBLIC SECTOR
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Labour and Te Pāti Māori miss deadline for financial statements
Jamie Ensor (Herald): Te Pāti Māori fails again to file financial documents on time despite police warning (paywalled)
Giles Dexter (RNZ): Labour dismisses claims it is being 'greedy' by contesting by-election
The Hui: Tāmaki Makaurau by-election candidate Peeni Henare: I stand by my record
Adam Pearse (Herald): Tāmaki Makaurau byelection: Labour’s Peeni Henare hits back at Te Pāti Māori claim of ‘greedy’ byelection contest
Te Rina Ruka-Triponel (Spinoff): Why Tāmaki Makaurau needs an urban Māori leader
Duncan Greive (Spinoff): Have we lost the art of the argument?

BUSINESS
Ernie Newman (Post): The ‘unbundled grocer’ is a serious opportunity (paywalled)
Jonathan Milne (newsroom): Supermarkets impervious to bad headlines and court fines
Giles Dexter (RNZ): Nicola Willis is encouraged Commerce Commission has taken Foodstuffs North Island to court
1News: Proceedings filed against major grocers for alleged cartel conduct
Caron Copek (Stuff): What is a cartel and why is a grocery giant now facing legal action?
Raphael Franks (Herald): Foodstuffs, Gilmours accused of cartel conduct: Commerce Commission to take supermarket, wholesaler to court
Ethan Manera (Herald): Wellington Chamber of Commerce: String of departures from leadership team before CEO’s resignation (paywalled)
Rob Stock (Post): Solar Group collapse: Kiwibank owed almost $2m, IR almost $1m (paywalled)

EDUCATION, TRAINING
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Charter schools told to keep enrolment numbers secret
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Minister defends Te Pūkenga breakup, saying rural education will not suffer
Lyric Waiwiri-Smith (Spinoff): Te Pūkenga loses over $80m in funding, 855 staff ahead of disestablishment
Robin Martin (RNZ): Western Institute of Technology's potential closure stuns Taranaki students
Danielle Zollickhofer (Waikato Herald): South Waikato Trades Training Centre closure proposal condemning locals to poverty, mayor says

HEALTH
Karanama Ruru (Stuff): Other countries are lowering safe drinking guidelines. Is Aotearoa now out of step?
Lucy Xia (RNZ): Auckland GP sees increase in patients coming to acute clinics after being referred away from hospitals
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Health insurance crunch prompts calls for fringe benefit tax break
Jenée Tibshraeny (Herald): Health insurance: Insurers seek tax break to lower costs for employer-provided health cover (paywalled)
No Right Turn: This industry should be destroyed, not subsidised
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Simeon Brown defends rollout of breast cancer screening with 370 women seen – full implementation not until 2029 (paywalled)
RNZ: Fast-tracked registration for doctors from US, Canada and Singapore
Katie Todd (RNZ): Central Otago Lakes patients forced to travel for hospital treatments
RNZ: Cannabis cake taken to shared lunch at Hawke's Bay Hospital

CLIMATE CHANGE, COMPENSATION FOR WEATHER-RELATED EVENTS
Gordon Campbell: On Ducking The Costs Of Climate Change
RNZ: National, Labour agree changes needed for weather-event buyouts
Tom Logan (The Conversation): A warning from the future: the risk if NZ gets climate adaptation policy wrong today
Richard Harman: The heat is starting to go on Luxon (paywalled)
Brent Edwards (NBR): Farmers argue carbon forests are a travesty (paywalled)
Bernard Orsman (Herald): Auckland Council to offer storm-damaged land for playgrounds and grazing sheep (paywalled)
Greg Presland (The Standard): Climate Change and Bumper Sticker Politics
Terry Baucher (Interest): Te wiki o te tāke: Climate adaptation will involve huge costs
Mandy Te (Interest): Five-year average cost of natural disasters to insurers $952 million per annum - Forsyth Barr

HOUSING, BUILDING
Simon Wilson (Herald): Is this the future for social housing? (paywalled)
Dan Brunskill (Interest): Chris Bishop: We must decouple house prices from economic growth
Oliver Lewis (BusinessDesk): High Court deals blow to flats once opposed by Luxon
RNZ: Building industry hopes it's hit the bottom and there will be an eventual upturn
Maria Slade (BusinessDesk): Construction sector downturn has just about bottomed out, builders say (paywalled)
Blayne Slabbert (Press/Post): Work, Interrupted: Building slowdown cuts deep, wiping out 17,000 jobs (paywalled)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira (RNZ): Local Government Amendment Bill introduced to remove council wellbeing provisions
Thomas Manch (Post): Government moves to curb councils' spending on ‘wellbeing’ (paywalled)
Ryan Bridge (Newstalk ZB): We really shouldn't need central Government to clarify things for local councils
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Plummeting participation in council elections ‘a threat to democracy’
Justin Wong (Post): Councils warn of tough decisions ahead as rising costs and ageing infrastructure bite (paywalled)
Sinead Gill (Press/Post): Local government sector behind $500m worth of productivity - report (paywalled)
Sam Warren (Post): The case for capping local government rates is simple and urgent (paywalled)
RNZ: Council rate increases of up to 65% too much, Taxpayers' Union says
Catherine Murupaenga-Ikenn (E-Tangata): Forcing Councils to do impossibly more with less
Craig Ashworth (RNZ): Cheaper, greener, more Māori: New Plymouth council to buy local
Peter Newport (Crux): QLDC's Lakeview project faces $153 million loss
Peter Newport (Crux): $153 million loss. Lakeview crisis builds as QLDC refuses two official information requests
Sarah Sparks (Sunday Star Times): Māori ward referendums: Will voters support a more inclusive democracy? (paywalled)
Phoebe Utteridge (Stuff): ‘Even the tour buses skip it’: What happened to Christchurch’s Cathedral Square?
Tim Brown (RNZ): Scandal, division and rumours - Gore District Council's tumultuous term
Moana Ellis (Local Democracy Reporting): How Whanganui achieved lowest rates in the country
RNZ: Whanganui mayor's advice after achieving lowest rates rise in New Zealand
Lois Williams (Local Democracy Reporting): West Coast Regional Council chair defends rate rises

AUCKLAND
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): State of Wayne’s Auckland: No easy fixes
Luke Malpass (Post): Auckland vs NZ - the parallel worlds of Christopher Luxon (paywalled)
Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira and Victor Waters (RNZ): Auckland's problems a 'hangover' from Labour, Christopher Luxon says
Jonathan Killick (Sunday Star Times): ‘Democracy in crisis’: Council reps complain of bureaucracy’s ‘quiet agenda’ (paywalled)
Amelia Wade (Post): ‘Silly, secret, unaffordable’: Auckland mayor blasts harbour crossing plans (paywalled)
Jonathan Killick (Post): The push to ban Auckland’s ‘rich and famous’ from having private helipads (paywalled)
Gabi Lardies (Spinoff): Protest or court? The war against private helipads plots its next move
Stewart Sowman-Lund (Post): Auckland’s growth to collide with a $295 billion reality check p w
Dita De Boni (Post): Auckland Council raises $250m from bonds - if it plants 1 million trees (paywalled)
Stewart Sowman-Lund (Sunday Star Times): More residents front up with concerns over fast-tracked Ellerslie development (paywalled)

WELLINGTON
Bridie Witton (Stuff): National and Labour suggest Wellington deserves better than Ray Chung, but it’s up to voters
Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira (RNZ): Ray Chung's email about Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau 'absolutely disgraceful' - Chris Hipkins
Joel MacManus (Spinoff): Ray Chung gets a woman to apologise for him
Hayden Donnell (Spinoff): Weird men are driving people out of politics
Anna Whyte and Kelly Dennett (Post): A brief rundown of what the Beehive said about Ray Chung in the past 24 hours (paywalled)
Harriet Laughton (Post): Political engines revving over Wellington City Council spending priority (paywalled)

WATER
Marnie Prickett, Mike Joy, Marie Doole and Simon Hales (PHCC): Government cannot achieve “enduring freshwater policy” by siding with narrow commercial interests
Moana Ellis (Local Democracy Reporting): Whanganui backs new water services body with Ruapehu
Robin Martin (RNZ): New Plymouth residents say proposed water charge changes will be unfair
RNZ: Watercare charges Auckland woman $800 bill due to faulty meter
Matthew Rosenberg (Local Democracy Reporting): Councillor ‘risking health’ by ignoring boil water notice
Matthew Rosenberg (Local Democracy Reporting): Councillor says 'nothing wrong' with Eastern Bush water despite boil water notice
Torika Tokalau (Local Democracy Reporting): Local politician continues fight for better drinking water for Waiuku

FOREIGN AFFAIRS, DEFENCE, TRADE
Prianka Srinivasan (Guardian): Caught in the contest between China and the west, the Cook Islands asks where its future lies
Susana Suisuiki and Lydia Lewis (RNZ): David Robie: New Zealand must do more for Pacific and confront nuclear powers
Caleb Fotheringham (RNZ): Luxon and Peters to miss Cook Islands' 60th Constitution Day celebrations
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Government has no official advice US will raise 10% tariff on NZ imports (paywalled)
Aziz Al Saafin (1News): A look at some of the NZDF's new gear being used at Talisman Sabre

BANKS, FINANCE SYSTEM, RESERVE BANK
Mina Martin (MPA Mag): Proposed law change that could shield ANZ, ASB faces public backlash
RNZ: Banking and investment behaviour faces considerable change as the population ages
Dan Brunskill (Interest): Ageing population will push interest rates lower, RBNZ says
Luke Malpass (Post): RBNZ says ageing population could drive interest rates lower (paywalled)
Law News: Potential buyers being targeted for Kiwibank
Mike McRoberts (NBR): Large iwi group ‘flabbergasted’ at Kiwibank investment silence (paywalled)
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): Aussies mirror NZ on proposed bank interchange fee chop (paywalled)
Roger Beaumont (Post): No harm to consumers in fixing lending law loophole (paywalled)
Michael Reddell: What were the Minister and Treasury doing?
RNZ: Former Reserve Bank boss Adrian Orr joins Cook Islands Super board