News Briefing: 18 July 2025
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Russell Palmer (RNZ): 'Councils have lacked fiscal discipline’ Local Government Minister says
Jonathan Milne Newsroom): Govt to explore sharing GST with councils next year
Shanti Mathias (Spinoff): The tension between central and local government bubbles to the surface
Sinead Gill (Press/Post): MPs promise to unburden councils, but how remains a mystery (paywalled)
Catherine McGregor (Spinoff): Councils under pressure as government pushes ‘back to basics’ agenda
Stuff: Peters suggests Seymour ‘doesn’t know’ proper protocol after karakia remarks
Liam Rātana (Spinoff): David Seymour blames karakia for high power bills. Here’s what he gets wrong
Lillian Hanly (RNZ): Rate capping: 'You've got to be able to control the costs first' - ACT leader David Seymour
Press/Post: Healthy competition between councils ‘long overdue’ (paywalled)
Thomas Manch (Post): Councils call for a review of their responsibilities (paywalled)
Peter Dunne: Little needs to up his game, otherwise Wellington's council circus will continue
Harriet Laughton (Post): Tory Whanau on why she shared Ray Chung’s email (paywalled)
Amy Ridout and Emma Ricketts (Stuff): From 13 candidates, Independent Together group dwindles to eight
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Wellington Live owner told to pay former worker almost $30k
Grant Miller (ODT): Development restrictions reform slated (paywalled)
Robin Martin (RNZ): Council $3.1m rates blunder: New Plymouth households overcharged by $102
PARLIAMENT
Matthew Hooton (Herald): Labour’s chance to distance itself from Te Pāti Māori (paywalled)
Ryan Bridge (Newstalk ZB): The Government needs to give us the truth about boot camps and charter schools
Audrey Young (Herald): Luck on Camilla Belich’s side (again) over pay secrecy; Chris Bishop puts boot into councils (paywalled)
Joel MacManus (Spinoff): Echo Chamber: Aussie roolz, NZ droolz
Anna Whyte (Post): New code of conduct coming for public service (paywalled)
CLIMATE CHANGE, COMPENSATION FOR WEATHER-RELATED EVENTS
Morgan Edwards: New Zealand’s adaption framework
Alexia Russell (RNZ): The Detail: Paying for the reality of climate change
Bryan Bruce: The Big Answer - Government Bailouts For Flood Victims?
No Right Turn: Climate Change: Holding conservatives responsible
Monique Stele (RNZ): Farmers and council at odds over management of Tasman's flood-hit Upper Motueka River
INEQUALITY, COST OF LIVING, ECONOMY
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Do people earning $200,000 need help with childcare?
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Nicola Willis to speak to Fonterra as butter price surges by nearly 50%
RNZ: Supermarkets aren’t moving fast enough to lower dairy prices, says Federated Farmers dairy chair
David Hargreaves (Interest): Food prices surge again - up 4.6% in past year
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Pricey butter pulling up food bills - but there may be some relief in sight
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): '200 years to pay back debt': Lender reveals cost of leaving abusive relationships
Jeffrey Halley (RNZ): Infometrics doubles New Zealand's 2026 growth forecast
EMPLOYMENT, UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFIT
Giles Dexter (RNZ): Pay talk protection: National backs Labour’s transparency bill
Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira (RNZ): Number of benefit sanctions increase, over 80k people find work, new figures show
Rob Stock (Post): Work Interrupted: Ikea’s 20,000-plus applicants for 500 jobs (paywalled)
Victoria Young (BusinessDesk): BNZ whistleblower wins $500k, fights on (paywalled)
EDUCATION, TRAINING
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Principals fear increase in students from poor communities leaving school without qualifications
Alice Peacock (Newsroom): Govt’s $100m polytech property sell-off a ‘one-shot deal’
ODT Editorial: Undetermined and undermined (paywalled)
Matthew Littlewood (ODT): Polytech merger leaves MP baffled (paywalled)
Ian Hall (ODT): Nightmare over as autonomy back
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Erica Stanford is this Govt's MVP
Chris Keall (Herald): Government’s giant broadband, internet security upgrade under way for 2500 schools (paywalled)
ENVIRONMENT, CONSERVATION
Cécile Meier (BusinessDesk): Penny Simmonds bins Ministry for Environment advice on waste policy (paywalled)
Brent Edwards (NBR): MPs urged to put politics aside on environmental spending (paywalled)
Nick Clark (Herald): Towards a system that respects property rights: Tidy tweaks or real change? (paywalled)
Libby Kirkby-McLeod (RNZ): Forestry company, director fined $112k for continued pollution of stream
Steve Hepburn (ODT): Forest & Bird loses appeal against council (paywalled)
Sandy Eggleston (ODT): Dead deer had 1080 bait in stomachs (paywalled)
HEALTH
Guyon Espiner (RNZ): Villa Maria adds fatal cancer warning label on bottles sold in Ireland
Jimmy Ellingham (RNZ): Auckland mental health facility Segar House to close
Anna Whyte (Post): ACC finances factor in pause on sexual harm prevention programme (paywalled)
Anna Whyte (Post): Part of Hutt Hospital deemed earthquake prone (paywalled)
MĀORI-CROWN RELATIONS
Luke Fitzmaurice-Brown (Newsroom): Disregard for indigenous rights comes straight from the top
Te Aniwaniwa Paterson (Te Ao Māori News): NZ under scrutiny for failing to engage with UN Indigenous rights body
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): David Seymour and the UN letter
1News: Behind 'bombshell' Treaty Principles Bill scoop that sparked national debate
Louisa Wall (Te Ao Māori News): Māori rights are not an ideology, they are a constitutional imperative
REGULATORY STANDARDS BILL, ACT
Anusha Bradley (RNZ): David Seymour lashes officials after LINZ becomes latest agency raising concerns about his Regulatory Standards Bill
Gordon Campbell: On The Costs Of Regulating Cost, And Burkina Faso As A Role Model
BUSINESS, PROVINCIAL GROWTH FUND
RNZ: Commerce Commission moves to lower debit and credit card surcharges
Nick Stride (Interest): ComCom’s final decision on card interchange fees delivers only $90 million in consumer savings, down from $260 million
Cameron Smith (Herald): Businesses to save $90m a year as Commerce Commission tackles interchange fees
Alisha Evans (Local Democracy Reporting): Rural community in Western Bay of Plenty ‘in shock’ as industrial park greenlit
AI
Chris McGavin (Newsroom): NZ can’t afford to be careless with its AI strategy
Dileepa Fonseka (BusinessDesk): Shane Reti defends Government AI strategy, says NZ was starting from ‘zero’ on it (paywalled)
Peter Griffin (BusinessDesk): Open-source adoption is NZ’s pathway to sovereign AI (paywalled)
FOREIGN AFFAIRS, DEFENCE, TRADE
Talaia Mika (Cook Islands News): New Zealand snub a clear message for Cook Islands, says opposition
Louisa Wall (Post): As international law is tested, states must step up to defend it (paywalled)
Andrew Shepherd (ODT): Endure and remain true to an ethic of all-embracing and forgiving love
RNZ: New Zealand reaches deal with Canada in long-running dairy trade dispute
Eric Frykberg (Interest): No Trump trade letter - yet
MEDIA
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): RNZ reviving a national news wire as it aims to be journalism’s cornerstone
Shayne Currie (Herald): Chlöe Swarbrick film - taxpayer-funded documentary delayed; Outdoor advertising industry shake-up (paywalled)
Shayne Currie (Herald): How an RNZ story about this city’s weather ended up in front of two media watchdogs - with different outcomes (paywalled)
Anna Rawhiti-Connell (Spinoff): Why The Spinoff is explaining the news on TikTok, explained
RETIREMENT
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): What would happen if a KiwiSaver provider failed?
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): 'Dramatic shift' that could leave KiwiSaver members better off
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Call for better advice for older KiwiSavers, as investments in high-risk funds soar
Claire Dale (The Conversation): With falling house prices, fewer retirees can rely on their home as a nest egg
Michelle Palmer (Herald): The retirement village sector is commercial, and it must be (paywalled)
POLICE
Sam Sherwood (RNZ): Judge clears reporting of material on former Deputy Police Commissioner's computer
Bonnie Sumner (Newsroom): The Boy in the Water: Is the police complaints authority fit for purpose?
RNZ: NZ Police not concerned about Australian efforts to recruit officers
RNZ: Australian recruiters say they're just making sure Kiwi cops know they have other options
EREBUS MEMORIAL
RNZ: Christchurch sites considered for Erebus memorial site
Will Harvie/Post (Press): Three sites in Christchurch shortlisted for Erebus memorial
Laura James (1News): Focus for Erebus memorial sites turns to Christchurch
HOUSING, BUILDING
Michael Daly (Stuff): Deadly Loafers Lodge fire raised as MP seeks tougher boarding house rules
Maria Slade (BusinessDesk): What Kiwi home buyers want is one thing; what developers are building is another (paywalled)
Greg Ninness (Interest): REINZ House Price Index declines four months in a row
1News: Apprentices dropped as builders struggle with downturn
TAX
Martin Van Beynen (Press/Post): The ordinary folks who owe us lots of money
Dan Brunskill (Interest): Should GST be hiked to 18%?
ENERGY
John MacDonald (Newstalk ZB): If you see Shane Jones, tell him he's dreaming
Herald Editorial: Electricity sector issues hit hard at all levels (paywalled)
RNZ: Heavy rain fills hydro lakes, boosts winter energy supplies
GAMBLING
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Online casino bill: Greens vote with coalition govt to pass first reading
Joe Shaw (RNZ): Uni students warned about promoting overseas gambling websites on social media
OTHER
Andrew Bevin (Newsroom): Crypto crackdown is a spanner in the works for billion dollar deal
Julia Gabel (Herald): Abuse in care: Govt increases Lake Alice redress pool after more people eligible than expected
Les Morgan (Herald): I managed four MIQ hotels during Covid, it was a shambles (paywalled)
Ruby Shaw (ODT): Fire station demo not a done deal: Fenz (paywalled)
Azaria Howell (Newstalk ZB): Quran, Bible, Torah among books set to be destroyed by National Library
Tyson Beckett (Herald): Community advocate David Letele confirms political aspirations
Isaac Davison (Herald): Malachi Subecz inquiry: Failings in child protection case ‘routine’ and still happening, doctor says
RNZ: Call for digital connectivity to be treated as basic need