News Briefing: 23 May 2025
BUDGET SUMMARIES AND ANALYSIS
Jo Moir (RNZ): Analysis: Finance Minister delivers 'nip and tuck’ Budget
Janet Wilson (Post): Winners make gains at the expense of the strugglers (paywalled)
Matthew Hooton (Herald): Budget reveals we’re going broke faster than we knew (paywalled)
Jamie Ensor (Herald): Labour’s Chris Hipkins won’t commit to returning $13 billion savings to pay equity regime
Luke Malpass (Post): A Budget painted on a much darker global canvas (paywalled)
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Trump’s tariff flames lick at incentives
Max Rashbrooke (Post): Throwback Budget aiming for ‘holy grail’ target (paywalled)
Richard Harman (Politik): The Budget’s political problem (paywalled)
Thomas Manch (Post): Growth promised, but will it come? (paywalled)
Audrey Young (Herald): Act leader David Seymour almost had it right (paywalled)
RNZ: Labour claims Budget is being paid for by the country's women
Bridie Witton (Stuff): ‘Women’s pay' and ‘retirement funds’ paying for Budget 2025, Labour says
Max Rashbrooke (Spinoff):A budget for machines, not midwives
Giles Dexter (RNZ): Rabbits, switch-ups and highway robbery: Politicians, economists react to Budget 25
Dan Brunskill (Interest): S&P, some economists and opposition parties criticise, or are underwhelmed by, Budget 2025
Kelly Dennett (Post): Winners and losers of Budget 2025: Economists give their verdict (paywalled)
Joel Maxwell and Mildred Armah (Stuff): Pou Tiaki panel gives the ‘No-BS Budget’ the sniff test for community voices
Dileepa Fonseka (BusinessDesk): ‘Everything comes at a cost’: Business leaders on Budget trade-offs (paywalled)
ODT Editorial: Budget gambles on growth (paywalled)
Herald Editorial: Nicola Willis’ blunt message is the first of many tough choices (paywalled)
Mike Houlahan (ODT): Firms given get-fit regime
Ryan Bridge (Newstalk ZB): The Budget at least gives us hope
Paul Hansen (ODT): A govt has fewer options when its back's against the wall
Robbie Moginie (ODT): What looks like thrift risks exacting great cost
Joel MacManus (Spinoff): Echo Chamber, Budget 2025 edition: Who is Mr Bo-Jandals?
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): Parliament left speechless as Winston walks, Māori leaders absent
Justin Hu (1News): 'Growth Budget' or 'Austerity Budget'? All the reaction from Parliament
RNZ: The House: Words and Numbers: Beginning Budget Day in the House
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): A funding boost for private education - and other Budget surprises
Katie Wesney (Stuff): The real cost of Budget 2025 on your household
Blayne Slabbert (Post): Budget leaves South Island with little to show (paywalled)
André Chumk (Post): Wellington’s Fale Malae project a victim of arts funding changes (paywalled)
Catherine McGregor (Spinoff): 10 key reads on Buget 2025
Ani O’Brien: KiwiSaver, women, and "austerity"
Post: Budget 2025: In pictures (paywalled)
Kevin Norquay (Post): Locked in, logged out and lunching: Surviving Budget Day (paywalled)
PARLIAMENT, WEEK IN POLITICS
Laura Walters (Newsroom): Regulatory Standards Bill will be debated under urgency this week
Ryan Ward: Regulatory takings: The ace up the corporate sleeve
Audrey Young (Herald): Nicola Willis’ focus on the Opposition shows she’s feeling the pressure (paywalled)
Greg Dixon (Listener): Poll reveals most NZers find Budget coverage ‘boring’ (paywalled)
Liam Hehir (The Blue Review): ACT Asks: Can We Use the Dungeon?
David Harvey: Do Not Speak to Me of Rules!
Ani O’Brien: Racist or righteous? Privileges Committee versus Te Pāti Māori
Melissa Nightingale (Herald): Tonkin + Taylor Wellington train station heckler ‘apologetic’ after swearing at Winston Peters
Peter Williams: Is this really our country?
KIWISAVER
Thomas Coughlan, Adam Pearse, Jamie Ensor (Herald): Budget-night papers reveal effective 0.5% tax hike on 180,000 families, KiwiSaver changes may undermine growth agenda (paywalled)
Brian Fallow (Just the Business): Sleight of hand in taxing retirement savings
RNZ: Retirement saving for 80 percent of NZers to increase under KiwiSaver changes, analysis finds
Tim Scott (ODT): ‘Grave concerns’ changes will put people off saving (paywalled)
Rob Stock (Post): Nicola Willis takes knife to $2.4 billion KiwiSaver subsidies (paywalled)
Frances Cook (Stuff): Please stop messing with KiwiSaver
Frances Cook (Spinoff): KiwiSaver just changed – what should I do with my money now?
WELFARE, FAMILIES
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Tens of thousands of families will be worse off under Budget changes to Best Start tax credit
RNZ: Tougher benefit rules for young people trigger mixed responses
Isaac Davison (Herald): KiwiSaver and Best Start cut, while Working for Families boosted (paywalled)
Janhavi Gosavi (Re:News): No benefit if your parents can pay: Eligibility limits for 18- and 19-year-olds
Kevin Norquay (Post): Rates relief for SuperGold cardholders (paywalled)
BUSINESS
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Finance Minister reaches for the defibrillator to get investment pumping again (paywalled)
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Govt’s ‘Think Big’ Investment Boost: There. Is. No. Limit.
Jenée Tibshraeny (Herald): Government opted for accelerating depreciation over cutting the corporate tax rate
Brent Edwards (NBR): Budget’s new tax break gives the ‘best bang for buck’ (paywalled)
Dita De Boni (Post): Business cheers quick tax deductions on new kit in Budget (paywalled)
Robin Martin (RNZ): New Plymouth businesses largely support 'investment boost’ package
Gill South (Stuff): SMEs say yes to Budget’s Investment Boost encouraging them to buy plant and tech
Tim Scott (ODT): Investment boost seen as a step in the right direction (paywalled)
Sheree Carey (ODT): SMEs may need extra support
Benno Blaschke (Herald): Breaking up supermarkets won’t solve competition issues (paywalled)
Craig Hickman (Post): What Fonterra can teach Foodstuffs (paywalled)
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): 500 job applications in 12 months - a jobseeker's struggle
RNZ: Nearly two thirds of workers would switch jobs for a higher salary - survey shows
NBR: Huljich breach, AI lawyers, NZME dump, Coldplay tickets (paywalled)
EDUCATION
Fox Meyer (Newsroom): Alarm bells sound on tertiary education budget
Matthew Littlewood (ODT): Funding blow to humanities: uni (paywalled)
Cate Macintosh (Press/Post): Uplift in funding for learning support: ‘dirty money’
Julia Gabel (Herald): Education’s $2.5b boost - Where the money is going
Laura Walters (Newsroom): ‘Major trade-offs’ allow for learning support boost
Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira (RNZ): Māori education gets boost, targeted funding remains tight
Alex Gunn and Karen Nairn (ODT): Growth in the wrong places for education
Mark Sheehan: Erica Stanford: Making a difference? (1)
Frances Chin (Post): Nearly 60 polytech staffers face losing their jobs
John Gerritsen (RNZ): School building funds haven't increased in 15 years - principal
Renee Liang (North & South): A schooling on school lunches
Moana Ellis (Local Democracy Reporting): ‘We just awhi them’: Iwi-led initiative tackles school attendance crisis
Neil Sands (Law News): Parliament rules against compulsory inclusion of tikanga in core law degree subjects
TARGETED FUNDING FOR MĀORI AND PASIFIKA, MĀORI-CROWN RELATIONS
Kelvin McDonald and Māni Dunlop (Te Ao Māori News): Thanks for your ‘racist’ questions: Seymour attacks Māori funding pātai
RNZ: Māori question lack of targeted funding in 2025 Budget
Tini Molyneux (Te Ao Māori News): Nicola Willis says budget promises strong support for Māori and their whānau
Alakihihifo Vailala (RNZ): MPP faces major cuts, yet new initiatives aim for support, development
Max Harris (Post): Review of Waitangi Tribunal risks tampering with the country’s compass (paywalled)
Stephen Ward (Waikato Times): Tainui eyes more small business starters plus big projects at 30 year settlement anniversary (paywalled)
HEALTH, AGED CARE
Esther Willing and Gabrielle McDonald (ODT): Significant healthcare issues unaddressed
Samantha Gee (RNZ): Government yet to confirm Nelson Hospital redevelopment Budget
Ruth Hill (RNZ): Annual health funding likely to lag behind rising costs - doctor
Nicholas Pointon (NBR): Extension of aged care funding labelled an ‘insult’ (paywalled)
Davina Zimmer (RNZ): The Detail: Misleading figures on New Zealand youth suicide rates
Megan Wilson (Bay of Plenty Times/Herald): Tend seeks Health NZ contract, leaves Western Bay of Plenty Primary Health Organisation (paywalled)
ENVIRONMENT
Eloise Gibson (RNZ): Budget backsliding on climate change 'defies belief', say advocates
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Govt’s climate aid reduction ‘betrayal’ of Pacific, NGOs say
Lois Williams (Local Democracy Reporting): West Coast iwi back moves to speed up goldmining consents
RNZ: Wastewater spill into Lake Wakatipu
POLICE, JUSTICE, CRIME
Katie Ham (Post): Police funding boost more than union expected, but ‘devil will be in the detail’ (paywalled)
Jamie Ensor (Herald): Bootcamp bill: Public feedback overwhelmingly negative, MPs recommend physical force safeguards (paywalled)
Roger Brooking (Spinoff): Who really makes up New Zealand’s sentenced prison population?
Tim Hunter (NBR): The worst kept secret of insider trading (paywalled)
HOUSING
Catherine Masters (One Roof): Budget 2025: What the changes mean for house prices and mortgage rates
RNZ: Dunedin rental check reveal improvements needed in student accommodation
Katie Todd (RNZ): The social housing waitlist: Woman told no emergency homes available at all
Rachel Helyer Donaldson (RNZ): Government's social housing model not delivering for Wellington residents, Rongotai MP says
Kelly Makiha (Rotorua Daily Post/Herald): Ngongotahā development progresses, 202 homes to ease Rotorua housing (paywalled)
Maioha Panama (Te Ao Māori News): Te Tai Rāwhiti housing collective to provide 150 new homes for whānau facing hardship
MEDIA
David Williams (Newsroom): Regional journalism boost at RNZ expense: ‘The bleeding hasn’t stopped’
Shayne Currie (Herald): Mike Hosking and ZB’s record reign, Simon Barnett’s early rises and falls, Ryan Bridge’s new show; RNZ budget cuts (paywalled)
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Dropping digital tax frees big tech to ship $4b revenues offshore
Chris Keall (Herald): Google New Zealand sends $1 billion offshore as it increases profit, threat of digital sales tax melts away (paywalled)
No Right Turn: National grovels to Trump
Herald: Mike Hosking and Newstalk ZB rule the airwaves as radio industry celebrates weekly jump in listeners
LOCAL GOVERNMENT, WATER
Nick James (RNZ): Wellington councillors vote to save beloved community assets
Harriet Laughton (Post): What goes, what stays in Wellington City Council’s long term plan
RNZ: As it happened: Big day of decisions for Wellington City Council
Emma Ricketts (Stuff): Wellington councillor to propose middle ground for Airbnb rates
Emily Ireland (Local Democracy Reporting): Regional approach’: Carterton enters Wai+T water entity talks
RNZ: Environment Southland backs council merger idea
Keiller MacDuff (RNZ): Selwyn Huts residents make impassioned plea for future of settlement
Felix Walton (RNZ): Auckland War Memorial Museum likely to stay closed for at least one more week, losing around $19,000 a day
Maria Slade (BusinessDesk): James Kirkpatrick's K Rd development may get reprieve (paywalled)
Torika Tokalau (Local Democracy Reporting): ‘Vibrant’ southern rural region fastest growing area in Auckland
Linda Hall (Local Democracy Reporting): Napier fisherman plans to skirt round beach barriers: ‘We pay a s***load of rates’
INFRASTRUCTURE
Oliver Lewis (BusinessDesk): 'No big bang' for infrastructure, PPP projects miss out on funding (paywalled)
Katrina Van Houtte (BusinessDesk): The infrastructure elephant in the room (paywalled)
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Chris Keall (Herald): Budget 2025: Tech boss’ withering take (paywalled)
Greg Hurrell (BusinessDesk): Shuffling the deckchairs for science (paywalled)
ENERGY
Peter de Graaf (RNZ): Giant grid-connected battery site set to open at Marsden Point, Northland
RNZ: Meridian Energy to replace five transformers at Manapōuri Power Station
Marcos Pelenur (Post): Power-smart appliances critical in saving strain on NZ’s grid (paywalled)
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Lydia Lewis and Christina Persico (RNZ): 'Every man and his dog is coming': Samoan PM warns of growing geopolitical interest in Pacific
No Right Turn: Reported back
OTHER
Tony Burton: The 1980s and all that
Arena Williams, Stuart Smith (Stuff): Minister Karen Chhour has no one else to blame but herself
Jonty Dine (RNZ): Run It Straight organisers promise more events, despite criticism
Mary Afemata (Local Democracy Reporting): ‘Run It Straight’ event cancelled in Māngere