News Briefing: 21 July 2025

INFRASTRUCTURE
Keiller MacDuff (RNZ): 'Announcement of an announcement': Govt accused of recycling projects in $6b infrastructure push
RNZ: Govt says billions being spent on infrastructure will create thousands of jobs
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Government promises $6b infrastructure blitz will create thousands more jobs
Andrea Vance (Sunday Star Times): All at sea: The whirlpool of unanswered questions around new ferry plan (paywalled)
Oliver Lewis (BusinessDesk): KiwiRail submits Marsden Point rail spur business case, Winston Peters says project is 'going to happen’ (paywalled)
Andrea Vance (Sunday Star Times): Queenstown risks becoming the ‘next Barcelona’, and locals are afraid (paywalled)

PARLIAMENT, PUBLIC SERVICE
Grant Duncan: The Tāmaki Makaurau by-election
Amelia Wade (Post): Minor parties, major influence: Do ACT and NZ First have the mandate for their moves? (paywalled)
Luke Malpass (Post): Education proving a winter bright spot for National (paywalled)
Anna Whyte and Katie Hunter (Post): Public service shake-up: Who’s shuffling, snipping and restructuring (paywalled)
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Treasury announces second restructure, 35 roles to go, but new roles created
Louis Collins (RNZ): The House: Parliamentary agency resources under pressure
RNZ: NZ campaign Make It 16 renews call to lower voting age after UK's announcement
Grant Duncan: Should the voting age be 16? Have your say
Louis Collins (RNZ): Are our politicians safe from threats and 'free to lead’? (paywalled)
Brent Edwards (NBR): A telling off of sorts, election stress, the by-election (paywalled)
The Standard: What is the point of taxation?
Verity Johnson (Stuff): Jacinda Ardern is our Winston Churchill
Chelsea Daniels (Herald): Front Page: Minister James Meager on select committees, South Island, and youth migration

CORRUPTION, INTEGRITY ISSUES
Bryce Edwards (Herald): “Anti-Corruption Taskforce Pilot” – A Welcome Step, But Too Little, Too Late?
RNZ: SFO launches pilot programme to tackle public sector corruption risks
John Weekes (Herald): Anti-Corruption Taskforce could grow to cover private sector; Serious Fraud Office chief says ‘billions’ potentially lost to fraud and bribery each year (paywalled)
Matt Nippert (Herald): Waipareira Trust wins legal point against Charities Board but fails to quash deregistration notice (paywalled)

HEALTH
Davina Zimmer (RNZ): The Detail: Booze warnings on hold
Julie Jacobson (Post): In and out of ED in 6 hours? Maybe, if you're dying (paywalled)
Rachel Graham (RNZ): Christchurch Hospital asks patients' families to help cover short staffing
Jimmy Ellingham (RNZ): Taupō clinicians plan for emergency hospital shutdown amid critical staff shortages
RNZ: Poor access to patient notes makes outsourcing risky, say doctors
Isaac Davison (Herald): Big rise in demand for assisted dying in New Zealand – should we be worried? (paywalled)
Harriet Wild (Spinoff): When immunisation is a health target, why isn’t the flu vaccine free for kids?
Rachel Helyer Donaldson (RNZ): Vigilance, not luck, helping NZ avoid widespread measles outbreak
Peter de Graaf (RNZ): Ten years of boiling water in Kāeo: ‘They just can’t rely on the water’
RNZ: Gore residents told not to drink tap water due to high nitrate levels
Gerrit Doppenberg (ODT): Notice still in place as levels dip
RNZ: Ministry of Health reviewing campylobacter data after scaremongering accusations
Craig Ashworth (Local Democracy Reporting): Homegrown health workers fill Taranaki gaps
Mary Afemata (Local Democracy Reporting): Call for wider consultation on memorial for patients' unmarked graves

HOUSING, BUILDING
Justin Hu (1News): Q+A: 'Many' link Govt's emergency housing policy to homelessness rise - minister
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Government faces growing pressure on homelessness
Mildred Armah (Stuff): ‘What happened to me can happen to anybody’: Eight months homeless in Auckland
Joanna Theodore (Newsroom): Throwaway culture is a recent privilege we just can’t afford
Maddy Croad (Press): ‘A broken promise’: Govt to sell land earmarked for 90 affordable homes (paywalled)
Miriam Bell (Sunday Star Times): ‘Stumbling sideways’: the housing market at mid-year (paywalled)

LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Local democracy under threat? Officials warn against removing council 'four wellbeings'
ODT Editorial: Local government confusion (paywalled)
Ben Thomas (Post): Beating up councils will only get Government so far (paywalled)
Kira Carrington (Local Democracy Reporting): Council pushes ahead with changes despite Government’s ‘plan-stop’ policy
David Hill (Local Democracy Reporting): Environment Canterbury’s chair rebuffs government’s directive to stop planning
Ruby Shaw (ODT): Govt policy won’t stop plan hearings (paywalled)
Rachel Helyer Donaldson (RNZ): 'Woman's voice' Diane Calvert joins Wellington mayoral race
Andrea Vance (Post): Diane Calvert makes surprise Wellington mayoral bid, rejects 'slogan politics’ (paywalled)
Tom Hunt (Post): Independent Together looking to rebuild after candidates quit ticket (paywalled)
Nick James (RNZ): More council candidates quit Ray Chung’s Independent Together campaign group
Ethan Manera (Herald): Ray Chung vile email scandal: Two more Independent Together candidates quit
K Gurunathan (Post): A lesson for Ray Chung and other hopefuls in letting the dog off the leash (paywalled)
Tom Hunt (Post): Election countdown: EIce cream and a Little thirst trap ... it must be election time (paywalled)
Justin Wong (Post): Is there really a $1.8 million surplus in Porirua's coffers? (paywalled)
Todd Niall (Newsroom): Auckland mayor’s top executive liquidating personal firm owing $570k
Simon Wilson (Herald): Talkfests and Auckland’s bad case of Fonterra Syndrome (paywalled)
Hayden Donnell (Spinoff): Better things… are… possible?
Todd Niall (Newsroom): Why Auckland’s 2027 America’s Cup bid never stood a chance
Moana Ellis (Local Democracy Reporting): Departing councillor: ‘Social media abuse has got out of hand’
Matthew Rosenberg (Local Democracy Reporting): Council should have engaged Māori stakeholders ‘much earlier’
Alisha Evans (Local Democracy Reporting): Tauranga’s Baypark speedway lease extended to 2039
Grant Miller (ODT): Dispute ends with $6k settlement (paywalled)
Ruby Shaw (ODT): Removal of churches from protected list decried (paywalled)

ECONOMY, COST OF LIVING
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Will Working for Families changes leave people worse off?
Liam Dann (Herald): Inflation is back and that’s a problem for the Prime Minister (paywalled)
Gyles Beckford (RNZ): Inflation predicted to hit 12-month high for June quarter
Liam Dann (Herald): Rising prices a risk to Reserve Bank’s effort to avoid inflation danger zone (paywalled)
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Rise in inflation today could dent hopes of August rate cut (paywalled)
David Hargreaves (Interest): The return of inflation - time to find out how concerned we should be
Chris Keall (Herald): Sir John Key urges 100-basis-point interest rate cut to boost NZ economy (paywalled)
Herald Editorial: Can you afford to die? (paywalled)

BANKS. MONEY
Jenée Tibshraeny (Herald): ASB joins ANZ in declining legal settlement proposal, as Winston Peters comes in to bat for them (paywalled)
RNZ: ASB rejects offer to settle class action lawsuit for more than $300m
Jenny Ruth: Trivial? The courts should be left to decide banking class action (paywalled)
Rob Stock (Post): Battle lines drawn over anti-woke banking bill (paywalled)
Sam Stubbs (Sunday Star Times): Should banks pay windfall taxes? (paywalled)
Nik Dirga (RNZ): New Zealand First's Cash Transactions Protection Bill - What it is and what it could do
Janine Starks (Post): Welcome to Direct Pay: no more plastic, no more surcharges (paywalled)
ODT: Civis: Credit card fee changes highlight unfair costs (paywalled)
Jonathan Mitchell (NBR): Long-term ’negative effects’ for payments, Visa claims (paywalled)
Dileepa Fonseka (BusinessDesk): The dirty money delusion, AML, and ‘following the money’ into a dead end (paywalled)

CLIMATE CHANGE, NATURAL DISASTERS
Eloise Gibson (RNZ): Flood victims will not be on their own, says chair of contentious report (paywalled)
Matt Whineray (Herald): Government can’t be the de facto insurer of property after weather events (paywalled)
Royce Kurmelovs (Drilled): “Ideological Sludge”: How New Zealand Is Quiet Quitting Climate Action
Richard Harman (Politk): More faultlines in the coalition (paywalled)
Samantha Gee (RNZ): Decision on additional Tasman flood funds not yet made - prime minister
RNZ: Government grants $50,000 to Student Volunteer Army for Nelson Tasman clean-up
RNZ: Nelson-Tasman region to get its own rain radar by 2027
Sara Walton (ODT): Voting on the pressing issues
Pokere Paewai (RNZ): 'Birthplace of the nation' threatened by climate change
John Lewis (ODT): Event teaches students how to protest
John Lewis (ODT): Ozone data fears as satellites’ time runs out (paywalled)
Greg Hurrell (BusinessDesk): Methane measuring drones could take the guesswork out of farm emissions (paywalled)
Michael Wright (Press/Post): The $300 million redemption of Southern Response (paywalled)

ENVIRONMENT, MINING
Craig Ashworth (Local Democracy Reporting): Minister proud of potshots in seabed mine ‘culture war’
RNZ: Independent commissioners approve sand mine for 16 years near Hokitika
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Sunday Star Times): Mining consultant’s call for shared NZ-Australia rules triggers fierce response (paywalled)
Nina Hindmarsh (Nelson Mail/Press): Siren Gold faces more backlash over latest results and Sams Creek mining plans (paywalled)

EDUCATION, TRAINING
Jamie Ensor (Herald): NCEA changes: Briefing raises concerns over qualification’s credibility, Education Minister Erica Stanford to make proposals (paywalled)
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Principals call for alternative assessments to stay beyond 2027
Herald Editorial: It may be too late to save NCEA (paywalled)
Ben Leahy (Herald): Epsom Girls Grammar to offer Cambridge as fears grow top schools could abandon NCEA (paywalled)
Julia Gabel (Herald): The 137 schools getting new classrooms: Govt spends $120m upgrading Auckland schools, creates new school property agency
RNZ: New agency to manage school property announced
Anna Whyte and Cate Macintosh (Post): Schools welcome new Crown agency for property portfolio (paywalled)
Mike Houlahan (ODT): The Penny Simmonds Experience ‘Death to Te Pukenga’ NZ tour (paywalled)
Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira (RNZ): New Institute for Advanced Technology announced by government
Hanna McCallum (Post): Can a creative capital survive without creatives? Arts cuts gut Te Auaha (paywalled)
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Herald): When parents avoid something in a school, you know it’s a bad idea (paywalled)

REGULATORY STANDARDS BILL, ACT
Laura Walters (Newsroom): Changes to flagship bill: ‘You never play poker with your cards on the table’
Steve Braunias (Newsroom): The Secret Diary of .. the United Nations letters
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Regulations ministry clarifies cost estimate for Regulatory Standards Bill
Phil Smith (RNZ): Parliament versus Executive: Regs Review and the Regulatory Standards Bill
Dan Brunskill (Interest): The Regulatory Standards Bill is a gadfly not a Trojan Horse
Tina Ngata (E-Tangata): ‘Seymour’s letter is about avoiding accountability’
No Right Turn: Killing the alternative

FOREIGN AFFAIRS, DEFENCE, TRADE
David Fisher (Herald): Analysis: The $3.1b election year windfall Government could grab - and those who would be left empty-handed as a result (paywalled)
Joanna Wane (Herald): Defence Minister Judith Collins talks tough to graduating Army recruits as global tensions rise (paywalled)
Thomas Manch (Sunday Star Times): Reports from a war zone: Ex defence minister Ron Mark returns from Ukraine (paywalled)
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Luxon goes back to the future on China
'Alakihihifo Vailala (PMN): Regional unity not at risk amid tensions between NZ and Cook Islands, says Peters
Caleb Fotheringham (RNZ): 'Building deterrence': PNG to host part of Australia's largest military exercise
Hillmare Schulze (NBR): Is continued aid to the Pacific justifiable (paywalled)
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Watchdog rules against foreign ministry in dispute over whether Israel group was ‘vexatious’
Brent Edwards (NBR): How not to breach the NZ-EU free trade agreement (paywalled)
Oliver Lewis (BusinessDesk): Antarctica NZ spend on Scott Base redevelopment tops $143m, monthly bills exceed $2m (paywalled)