News Briefing: 23 June 2025
FOREIGN AFFAIRS - MIDDLE EAST
Giles Dexter (RNZ): Middle East military action 'extremely worrying', NZ backs efforts towards diplomacy - Peters
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): ’The world is on fire’: Have we reached World War III - and what can NZ do?
Thomas Manch (Stuff): US strike on Iran creates 'opportunity', Luxon says
Adam Pearse (Herald): Govt reserves view on US’ Iran strikes as NZ deploys Hercules plane to Middle East
Thomas Manch (Post): Luxon urged 'no military action' hours before Trump struck Iran (paywalled)
Giles Dexter (RNZ): Defence Force to send plane to assist New Zealanders in stranded Iran and Israel
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): NZ Air Force to help Kiwis evacuate from Middle East
Post: ‘If you can get out, try’: Government urges NZers to leave Israel and Iran (paywalled)
Matthew Littlewood (ODT): US attack on Iran will worsen conflict: prof (paywalled)
Tom Peters (World Socialists): New Zealand government feigns neutrality in US-Israeli war against Iran
FOREIGN AFFAIRS - CHINA AND PACIFIC
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Tensions and timing test Luxon on first official China visit
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): The unique camera China used to film Christopher Luxon and what it means (paywalled)
Laura Walters (Newsroom): PM appeals to China’s ego in the pursuit of peace and order
Herald Editorial: Luxon’s lack of geopolitical experience is showing (paywalled)
Richard Harman: Luxon gets the China relationship back on track (paywalled)
Steve Braunias (Newsroom): The secret diary of .. Luxon in China
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Christopher Luxon raises Cook Islands impasse with Chinese Premier, disagrees with Nato boss that China in league with Russia to undermine West
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Christopher Luxon concludes China trip: 'No evidence' of collaboration with Russia, Iran or North Korea
Thomas Manch (Post): Giving a little, hoping for a lot: Luxon's effort to shore up the China relationship (paywalled)
Thomas Manch (Post): A capitalist ‘roader’ cuts deals in communist China (paywalled)
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Xi Jinping tells Christopher Luxon China-NZ relationship has ‘ups and downs’
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Prime Minister Christopher Luxon holds talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Deals, deals, deals! Luxon lauds $871m in deals made in China
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Christopher Luxon denies new China flight part of Belt and Road Initiative (paywalled)
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Geopolitics takes centre-stage as Luxon prepares for President Xi Jinping meeting
Laura Walters (Newsroom): Luxon’s hot minute in the heart of the dragon
Dan Brunskill (Interest):Can New Zealand’s trade with China survive?
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Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): $18m cut to Cooks aid is ‘not about China’? I call BS
Don Wiseman (RNZ): China could be major beneficiary of New Zealand's move on Cook Islands - security expert
Christina Persico, Caleb Fotheringham and Don Wiseman (RNZ): Explainer: Why has New Zealand paused funding to the Cook Islands over China deal?
Sione Tekiteki (E-Tangata): The fragile foundations of Pacific sovereignty
Lydia Lewis (RNZ): Former New Zealand PM Helen Clark blames Cook Islands for creating a crisis
Caleb Fotheringham (RNZ): Mark Brown slams New Zealand for its 'patronising approach' over China deal
Karanama Ruru (Stuff): Cook Islands reaffirms commitment to restoring relationship with New Zealand
Craig McCulloch (RNZ): Prime Minister Christopher Luxon speaks to media after Cook Islands funding pause
Jo Moir, Gilles Dexter (RNZ): New Zealand halts Cook Islands funding in stoush over China
Laura Walters (Newsroom): Cook Islands saga another test for Govt’s China policy as Luxon hits Beijing
James Nokise (Post): Cook Islands standoff a shocking international action (paywalled)
FOREIGN AFFAIRS, DEFENCE, TRADE
Danyl McLauchlan (Listener): New world order (paywalled)
RNZ: Government announces $16 million support package for Ukraine ahead of NATO Summit
Herald: Prime Minister Luxon announces $16m aid for Ukraine ahead of Nato summit
Thomas Manch (Post): PM Christopher Luxon arrives in Europe for Nato meeting (paywalled)
Louis Collins (RNZ): The House: Winston Peters tells MPs New Zealand 'not doing enough' on foreign affairs
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Defence heads face scrutiny week hearing, promise to be fiscally responsible
RNZ: Winston Peters announces more Russian sanctions
K Gurunathan (Post): The emerging world of multiple centres of power (paywalled)
PARLIAMENT, POLLING
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Labour moves ahead of National on controlling cost of living, Ipsos poll finds
Andrea Vance (Stuff): Jacinda Ardern remains most popular politician as Luxon slumps in new poll
Andrea Vance (Stuff): The Post-Freshwater Strategy Poll:’No BS’ Budget fails to deliver National poll lift
Grant Duncan: Luxon's Mid-Term Blues
Adam Pearse (Herald): Scrutiny stunts shouldn’t distract from the warning voters are sending (paywalled)
Matthew Hooton (Herald): Unlucky Luxon’s popularity hits new low (paywalled)
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Labour moves ahead of National on controlling cost of living, Ipsos poll finds
Farah Hancock (RNZ): Scoring the coalition government's progress against its own targets
Joel Maxwell (Stuff): Analysis: A happy Matariki for PM Luxon? Pondering the political past, present, future
Luke Malpass (Post): The Greens - making the intellectual running on the left (paywalled)
Jamie Ensor (Herald): Nicola Willis says Greens’ claim of $700m KiwiSaver hole ‘wrong’, cost could be fraction of that
Phil Smith (RNZ): The House: Tactics from the 'Scrutiny Week' bear pit
Brent Edwards (NBR): Scrutiny Week, foot in mouth, overriding councils, and acting PM (paywalled)
Mike Houlahan (ODT): MPs scrutinise the cream cheese latte, among other things (paywalled)
Audrey Young (Herald): Cook Islands crisis complicates Christopher Luxon’s meeting with China’s Xi Jinping (paywalled)
Bruce Cotterill (Herald): NZ Government’s progress overshadowed by global economic, political risks (paywalled)
David Seymour (Herald): I went to Oxford to test my beliefs and learned a sad thing about NZ (paywalled)
Ben Thomas (Post): New horizon beckons for Te Pāti Māori’s social media machine (paywalled)
Arena Williams, Stuart Smith (Stuff): Stubborn until the end, National refused a compromise
Sanjana Hattotuwa: Jacinda Ardern in conversation with Ben Rhodes, and Tommy Vietor: A masterclass in analysing democratic vulnerabilities
REGULATORY STANDARDS BILL
Anne Salmond (Newsroom): Victim of the Day
Melanie Nelson: Sir Geoffrey Palmer on the RSB: Unworkable, Unconstitutional, Unacceptable
Melanie Nelson: Bill Rosenberg: How the RSB Privileges Power and Undermines the Public Good
Melanie Nelson: Dame Anne Salmond: Democracy at Risk — The RSB and the Fight for Our Future
Melanie Nelson: Jane Kelsey's submission on the Regulatory Standards Bill 2025
Melanie Nelson: Jonathan Boston submission on the Regulatory Standards Bill 2025
Melanie Nelson: Economist Bill Rosenberg Submission on the Regulatory Standards Bill 2025
Melanie Nelson: Max Harris submission on the Regulatory Standards Bill 2025
Melanie Nelson: Economist Paul Dalziel: RSB Flawed Principles, No Standards
Melanie Nelson: Dr Carwyn Jones on the RSB: Constitutional Reversal and the Rise of Anti-Treaty Lawmaking
Bryan Bruce: Hon Marama Davidson, Greens Co-Leader on the Dangers of The Regulatory Standards Bill
PUBLIC SERVICE
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): New Ombudsman wants to coach, not just referee
Audrey Young (Herald): New Ombudsman John Allen prioritises relationships over penalties (paywalled)
Anna Whyte (Post): Who’s Your Boss? Oranga Tamariki chief executive Andrew Bridgman (paywalled)
HOUSING
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Quarter of households rely on government housing support
RNZ: Opposition slams Kāinga Ora decision to scrap public housing builds
RNZ: Kāinga Ora halts hundreds of housing developments, sells vacant land
Sam Smith (Stuff): Kāinga Ora to halt over 200 developments, sell vacant land
Amanda Gillies (RNZ): The Detail: 'Nowhere to go' for more than 100,000 Kiwis
Phoebe Utteridge (Stuff): ‘Heartbreaking’: Pensioners, children sleeping rough in Christchurch’s red zone
Lauren Crimp (RNZ): Wellington council to spend $460,000 on coordination service to support rough sleepers
Herald Editorial: Homelessness won’t be helped, or harmed, with a pie and a Coke (paywalled)
RNZ: Youth offending drops with safe, stable housing - study
John Lewis (ODT): Housed youth commit less crime: study (paywalled)
Bernard Hickey (The Kākā): A housing supply shock in exactly the wrong direction (paywalled)
Damien Grant (Stuff): The architectural genius behind Wellington’s decaying rat’s nest of a building
Dita De Boni and Miriam Bell (Post): Data shows more new dwellings being completed in Auckland - council takes some credit
Nadine Higgins (Herald): Exploring shared equity, leasehold and rent-to-buy for first-home buyers (paywalled)
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): What can you do if your home isn't Healthy Homes compliant?
CENSUS
Len Cook (Newsroom): ‘Population storm’: Govt Statistician must face questions about census
ODT Editorial: Counting on the census (paywalled)
Lara Greaves, Ella Pēpi Tarapa-Dewes, Kiri West, Larissa Renfrew (The Conversation): Scrapping national census raises data sovereignty, surveillance fears for Māori
Gerard Sonder and Debbie Ryan (Public Health Communication Centre): Rebuilding Aotearoa’s statistical foundation: Toward fairer outcomes for Pacific Peoples
Mike O’Donnell (Post): Good data needs trust: a lesson from Phil Silva (paywalled)
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Why some Brits opposed their Census reform, and how stats will ‘sweeten up’ over time
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