News Briefing: 17 June 2025
EMPLOYMENT
Stuff: Workers' rights in for a shake-up in employment relations bill set to be introduced
Kelly Dennett (Post): Bill barring high earners from unjustified dismissal cases introduced (paywalled)
RNZ: Minister Brooke van Velden says sick leave cuts for part-timers is what businesses want
RNZ: No plan to halve sick leave, minister says after Christopher Luxon's comments
Rachel Moore and Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Are sick leave rules changing? What you need to know
Adam Pearse (Herald): PM Christopher Luxon hints Govt will cut sick leave for part-time workers
RNZ: Government looking at cutting sick leave entitlements, Christopher Luxon says
Amanda Gillies (RNZ): The Detail: Van Velden steers WorkSafe toward a softer touch
Herald Editorial: Government hotline for overzealous road-cone use an overzealous embarrassment (paywalled)
Marty Sharpe (Stuff): The $96,000 migrant worker penalty that wasn't paid, and most likely never will be
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Nurses set to test equal pay system as others lose trust
Fiona Rotherham (NBR): Uber case still worth fighting for, Workers First Union says (paywalled)
Paula O’Kane (Newsroom): How to make sick pay and holiday pay more equitable
FOREIGN AFFAIRS, DEFENCE, TRADE
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): PM Christopher Luxon shrugs off critics as he heads to China
Sam Sachdeva Newsroom): PM fears ‘miscalculation’ could lead to conflict in NZ’s region
Richard Harman (Politik): Luxon’s China challenge (paywalled)
Thomas Manch (Post): Luxon wants to seize opportunities in China, despite differences (paywalled)
Dave Armstrong (Post): The delicate dance around the China question (paywalled)
Simon O’Connor: China blindness
Riley Kennedy (BusinessDesk): NZ firms eye profit, revenue lift in China despite caution (paywalled)
Justin Wong (Post): More New Zealanders view Southeast Asia as friends in new survey (paywalled)
Jamie Ensor (Herald): Christopher Luxon tops list of world leaders ranked by confidence in handling foreign affairs, Australian poll reveals
Kaya Selby (RNZ): Christopher Luxon ranked Australia's most trusted world leader in new poll
RNZ: New Zealand knew of potential attack on Iran by Israel before in happened, Winston Peters says
Adam Pearse (Herald): Israel/Iran war: Foreign Minister Winston Peters calls for Kiwis to flee ‘arc of danger’ amid unprecedented global uncertainty
Juliet Speedy (Stuff): ‘Why us?’ NZ raises alarm as US eyes travel ban on Tonga, Vanuatu and Tuvalu
RNZ: Three Pacific nations in Trump's expanded travel ban list
Yashas Srinivasa (Stuff): New construction partner announced for Scott Base redevelopment
Dita De Boni (Post): NZ exporters size up UK market more seriously as turbulent waters rock the US (paywalled)
PARLIAMENT, PUBLIC SECTOR
Chris Trotter (Interest): Does National represent the Nation?
RNZ: Greens release fiscal strategy that calls for more public investment
Brent Edwards (NBR): The Greens put the case for investment to reduce financial risk (paywalled)
Luke Malpass (Post): Green Party readies to release fiscal plan (paywalled)
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): This Government's all talk, bugger all action
David Farrar: A small trim
Ty Burr (Herald): ‘Prime Minister’ doco reveals private side of former New Zealand leader Jacinda Ardern
Rachel Morris (New Yorker): Why Did New Zealand Turn on Jacinda Ardern?
HEALTH
Anusha Bradley (RNZ): Health NZ told to give private hospitals 10-year outsourcing contracts
Liz McDonald (Press/Post): New private hospital building, drug trial centre for city (paywalled)
Natalie Akoorie (RNZ): 'It's heartbreaking to see the level of decay' - children waiting months for surgery
Mary Williams (ODT): Davies returning to hospital project to lead delivery of in-patient facility
Nik Dirga (RNZ): Disposable vape ban and strict advertising rules begin - What you need to know
Ava Whitworth (Stuff): Disposable vapes banned from Tuesday: What you need to know
Hanna McCallum (Post): Principals welcome ban on disposable vapes (paywalled)
Tim Scott (ODT): Call for student quarter liquor store to close earlier
Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): Focus on student quarter liquor store hours
Fiona Charlton (ODT): Hospitalised Kiwis deserve financial fairness, not hardship
Ryan Thompson (Sunday Star Times): Healthcare workers are pushed beyond safe limits, and it’s getting worse (paywalled)
James Ball (1News): St John ambulance charge increasing from July
RNZ: Pharmac to fund two oestrogen patches
Alan Perrott (NZ Doctor): Hamiora Bowkett favoured candidate for Te Whatu Ora chair : Updated (paywalled)
MINING, ENVIRONMENT
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): NZ’s carbon forestry offsets on trial in High Court case
Myra Williamson (The Conversation): Seabed mining is becoming an environmental flashpoint – NZ will have to pick a side soon
Keiller MacDuff (RNZ): Glyphosate to be debated in High Court
1News: Greens push to include agriculture in Emissions Trading Scheme
Cerys Gibby (Spinoff): Will a voluntary ‘nature credits’ market really help biodiversity?
John Drummond (ODT): Ignoring the doctor’s advice not a sound strategy
Herald: NZ has a vast sea territory but lags behind other nations in protecting the ocean
Matthew Martin (Waikato Times): Controversial Te Awamutu waste plant would burn plastic and tyres (paywalled)
Andrea Graves (Listener): Air of uncertainty: The contentious Waikato waste-to-energy plan (paywalled)
Andrea Graves (Listener): Air of uncertainty: Shouldn’t we just make less rubbish?
CORRUPTION
Bryce Edwards (The Integrity Institute): The End of New Zealand's “Good Chaps
Bryce Edwards (The Integrity Institute): The Post Profile – Why Lobbyists Are Running Scared
Kaya Selby (RNZ): New Zealand's warning about drugs in the Pacific
HOUSING
Giles Dexter (RNZ): Homelessness increase not necessarily due to government policy changes - minister
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Tama Potaka denies blame on homelessness, as Women’s Refuge raises alarm
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): How long will better times for renters last?
Caroline Williams (Stuff): Frustrated tenant builds online tool to help renters understand their rights
Luke Malpass (Post): Gordon Wilson Flats heritage status ‘goneburger’ (paywalled)
Sinead Gill (Press): The great suburban build-up: RMA changes could spare Christchurch (paywalled)
Alisha Evans (Local Democracy Reporting): 'We won't be funding it': Roads for 8000-home development debated
REGULATORY STANDARDS BILL
Catherine Knight: Talking commons, enclosure and the possibility of a re-commoned economy on RNZ
Andrew Gunn: Behind The Regulatory Standardzzzzz Bill
GENDER EQUALITY
Julia Gabel (Herald): Gender equality: New Zealand drops in global ranking for the first time in four years - here’s why
RNZ: New Zealand falls in latest global gender equality rankings
ECONOMY, RESERVE BANK, MONETARY POLICY
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Are we headed for '2020s stagflation'?
David Hargreaves (Interest): 'Clear warnings the New Zealand economy has hit a brick wall'
RNZ: 'Economy hits a brick wall' as services sector continues to decline - economist
Rebecca Howard (BusinessDesk): Services and manufacturing indexes raise recession risks (paywalled)
David Hargreaves (Interest): Kiwibank economists stick with 2.5% OCR pick - make cuts to house price forecast
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Manufacturing is our big economic red flag
Michael Reddell: 41 questions
Jonathan Mitchell (NBR): Economists cheer monthly inflation data for monetary policy (paywalled)
POLICE, CRIME
Mike White and Blair Ensor (Stuff): How a Stuff investigation exposed a secret police tactic, and led to its downfall
RNZ: 'Now no discretion' over police recruitment standards - Minister Mitchell
Felix Walton (RNZ): Political blame game over slipping standards among police recruits
Katie Ham (Post): How top cop Richard Chambers weathered his first ‘scrutiny week’ grilling (paywalled)
John MacDonald (Newstalk ZB): Police cameras yes - with a couple of provisos
Cambelle Cook (Post): How police curbed the ramraid ‘epidemic’ (paywalled)
Veronica Schmidt (Spinoff): Men secretly filmed us. This is our advice to Christopher Luxon on law change
JUSTICE
1News: Revived Three Strikes sentencing law takes effect
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Judge Ema Aitken's behaviour at NZ First event to be reviewed by Judicial Conduct Panel
Herald: Inquiry to consider if judge should be removed after alleged conduct at NZ First event
Stuff: Judicial Conduct Panel to Investigate Judge Ema Aitken's Behaviour at Auckland Club
Neil Sands (Law News): Bulk funding proposed as a partial fix for legal aid crisis
MEDIA
Gavin Ellis: Public media at the mercy of grubby political paws
Colin Peacock (RNZ): Mediawatch: More managed decline? Or settling on a sustainable structure?
Grant Duncan: The Press: a story about the stories
Steve Braunias (Newsroom): The Secret Diary of .. Mike Hosking’s struggle
Shayne Currie Media Insider: ‘Huge victory’ - District Court lifts gagging order on NZ-Chinese journalist against pro-Beijing political figure (paywalled)
EDUCATION, RESEARCH
Cate Mcintosh (Press/Post): Charter school pupils getting $50k each in public funding, critics say (paywalled)
Hanna McCallum (The Post): Select committee rejects petition for paid placements (paywalled)
Alwyn Poole (Post): Government’s inept response to New Zealand’s education crisis (paywalled)
1News: Educators demand transparency over literacy teacher service axing
Rachel Helyer Donaldson (RNZ): Legal action over changes to resource teaching roles 'possible' - union
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Education Ministry clamp down on asbestos exposure in schools\
Matthew Littlewood (ODT): Claim govt setting up polytechs to fail (paywalled)
Sasha Borissenko (Herald): Reputation v responsibility? Legal insights from the Siouxsie Wiles case (paywalled)
Matthew Littlewood (ODT): Science fund cuts further blow for uni (paywalled)
Fox Meyer (Newsroom): Govt cuts Māori research projects that don’t fit with ‘growth agenda’
ENERGY
Ian Llewellyn (BusinessDesk): Household electricity bills increase by 10% (paywalled)
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Government moves to boost household solar power
Simon Wilson (Herald): Rooftop solar to get cheaper and easier, says Government (paywalled)
Alka Prasad (Post): Govt proposes more solar voltage and slashing consent times (paywalled)
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Industry finds natural gas terminal too costly, seeks alternatives
Jamie Gray (Herald): Meridian’s new CEO faces sector scrutiny amid electricity challenges (paywalled)
BANKS
Nick Stride (Interest): How the Depositor Compensation Scheme addresses moral hazard
Nick Stride (Interest): The Depositor Compensation Scheme – who pays?
Interest: Two big banks turn away from lending to businesses
IMMIGRATION
Gill Bonnett (RNZ): Fears trafficking victims are being deported from New Zealand
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Government tweaks visa settings for Chinese visitors
Jenny Ruth: It’s the economy, stupid, is the best explanation of immigration (paywalled)
BUSINESS
Eric Crampton (Post): The obstacles in place for any new supermarket player (paywalled)
RNZ: Wholesale grocery prices driving up food costs
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Facial recognition technology supported by big name retailers
RNZ: New ute owners warned of looming 'tax grenade'
Miriam Bell (Post): Government wants economy growth to expand building pipeline (paywalled)
Dileepa Fonseka (BusinessDesk): On The Money: Grant Dalton, Shayne Elliott, Fieldays, the Reserve Bank, Louise Tong's plan for Wellington, and more (paywalled)
Irene Gardiner (Post): Budget 2025: No big cash injections to the screen industry (paywalled)
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