News Briefing: 26 June 2025
PARLIAMENT, WHĀNAU ORA SPENDING
Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira (RNZ): Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka asks for urgent advice after 'electioneering' concerns
Julia Gabel (Herald): Tama Potaka seeks review of Māori roll ad featuring Tāme Iti
RNZ: NZ First's Shane Jones criticises Whānau Ora ad encouraging enrolment to Māori Roll
1News: Māori roll call: Tāme Iti gives shout outs, apologies in longest ad
Kate MacNamara & Liam Napier (Herald): Moana Pasifika’s future in doubt amid financial struggles despite success on the pitch (paywalled)
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Government forced to release Treasury warning of health and education spending cuts (paywalled)
Ian Powell: Crony capitalism
Lyric Waiwiri-Smith (Spinoff): Echo Chamber: Government commits to doing not much about the Middle East
1News: Peters apologises for calling Te Pāti Māori MP 'dickhead' in Parliament
Giles Dexter (RNZ): Winston Peters apologises for calling Te Pāti Māori MP Tākuta Ferris a 'dickhead' in the House
Karanama Ruru (Stuff): Winston Peters says dickhead comment wasn’t expletive
Richard Prebble (Herald): How history warns against the Greens’ fiscal ambition (paywalled)
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Increased scanning of social media threats against MPs likely
REGULATORY STANDARDS BILL
Māni Dunlop (Te Ao Māori News): Time slashed for public to have say on controversial Regulatory Standards Bill
RNZ: Regulatory Standards Bill: 30 hours allocated for public submissions on Act Party leader's bill
Bridie Witton (Stuff): Dame Anne Salmond v David Seymour: The tit for tat row between the deputy PM and an academic
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): The academics need to harden up here
Greg Presland (The Standard): Conduct unbecoming
Andrea Vance (Post): Seymour’s red-tape bill under fire from disability ministry (paywalled)
Ananish Chaudhuri: A Less Hysterical Look at the Regulatory Standards Bill
FOREIGN AFFAIRS - EUROPE, ASIA
Lillian Hanly (RNZ): Christopher Luxon says he wasn't pressured by NATO to increase defence spending
1News: Luxon meets Zelensky after NATO pledges big hike in defence spending
Thomas Manch (Post): Nato the European ballast in case of Indo-Pacific war (paywalled)
Jamie Tahana (RNZ): Luxon departs NATO summit after meeting with Ukraine's Zelensky
Thomas Manch (Post): Luxon leaves ‘historic’ Nato summit having met many - but not Trump (paywalled)
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Luxon meets Canada's anti-Trump PM as Nato gets to business
Shannon Redstall (Stuff): Christopher Luxon meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Nato summit
Zane Small (Stuff): Christopher Luxon misses out on meeting with Donald Trump
Jamie Tahana (RNZ): PM Christopher Luxon arrives at NATO summit in the shadow of Trump and Iran
Thomas Manch (Stuff): NZ PM meets fellow travellers in the Netherlands
Laura Walters (Newsroom): NZ officials travel to Xinjiang to raise concern over Uyghurs
FOREIGN AFFAIRS - MIDDLE EAST
Jack McDonald (Post): Our role remains clear amid global conflicts (paywalled)
Louis Collins (RNZ): The House: Parliament's reaction to the Middle East crisis
Giles Dexter (RNZ): New Zealanders in Israel not taking assistance to leave - MFAT
Kelly Dennett (Post): No Kiwis have taken opportunity of land evacuations in Israel: MFAT (paywalled)
Lloyd Burr (Stuff): Nuclear war could kill 22,000 Kiwis, cause $1 trillion in harm - report
INFRASTRUCTURE, HOUSING, RMA
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Setback for road and rail projects in groundbreaking infrastructure plan
Bridie Witton and Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Government releases 30-year draft infrastructure plan which focuses on basics
RNZ: 'Once-in-a-generation' National Infrastructure Plan sets vision for next 30 years
Oliver Lewis (BusinessDesk): Marsden Point rail spur, prison and ferry terminal projects excluded from new infrastructure priority list (paywalled)
Luke Malpass (Post): Long-awaited draft National Infrastructure Plan says NZ not getting ‘bang for buck’ (paywalled)
Nick Stride (Interest): More new hospitals, fewer new schools says Infrastructure Commission
Brent Edwards (NBR): Infrastructure plan sets the foundation for political consensus (paywalled)
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Why agreeing on infrastructure priorities matters to sick kids
Catherine McGregor (Spinoff): The draft plan to finally fix New Zealand’s broken infrastructure
Amy Williams (RNZ): City Rail Link: Govt clears way for taller buildings around stations
1News: Govt presses for taller buildings around some Auckland train stations
Greg Ninness (Interest): Apartment buildings 15 storeys or higher to be allowed around some suburban Auckland train stations
Madeleine Powers (Waikato Times): Social housing ‘bullet’ dodged, say Flagstaff residents (paywalled)
Colleen Hawkes (Stuff): Architect's bold plan to house 75,000 on Puketutu Island
ENVIRONMENT
Fox Meyer (Newsroom): New Zealand abandons international fossil fuel pledge
Eloise Gibson (RNZ): NZ pulls out of global coalition for phasing out fossil fuels
Jamie Ensor (Herald): New Zealand abandons global alliance on oil, gas phase-out, Greens concerned about reputational risk
Riley Kennedy (BusinessDesk): What do Libya, Yemen and NZ have in common? Hopefully not climate policy (paywalled)
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): SolarZero customers 'secondary' for government finance fund that’s being wound up
Ian Llewellyn (BusinessDesk): Public Trust makes claims of $900m against SolarZero as liquidator updates a complex state of affairs (paywalled)
Rob Stock (Post): Building a waste-to-energy plant near a dairy factory ‘lunacy’, hearing told (paywalled)
Tom Hunt (Post): 'Intergenerational vandalism': Wellington council's rock vs hard place water quandary (paywalled)
AGED CARE, HEALTH
Nicholas Jones (Stuff): Restraint in our rest homes: What audits show about ‘serious intervention’
Nicholas Jones (Stuff): ‘Laying in their own urine’: Aged care complaints revealed
RNZ: Health NZ appoints interim CEO Dr Dale Bramley to top job for three year term
1News: Health NZ Te Whatu Ora names new chief executive
Anna Wihyte (Post): Dale Bramley named as new Health NZ boss (paywalled)
Ruth Hill (RNZ): Patients increasingly diagnosed with bowel cancer in ED, Northland doctor says
Lucy Xia (RNZ): Gisborne pensioner dealt with depression, chronic pain in year-long wait for surgery
RNZ: NZ's vaccination rates among lowest among high-income countries - study
1News: GPs, nurses able to diagnose, treat ADHD from next year
Alice Neville (Spinoff): The changes to ADHD treatment rules, explained
Joanne Naish (Press/Post): GPs welcome funding boost, but say more is needed (paywalled)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Peter Dunne: National's looming revenge on regional councils
Local Aotearoa: Are regional councils facing the axe?
Henry McMullan, Mayors, residents react to talk of scrapping regional councils
RNZ: Minister Shane Jones accuses council of being 'iwi back office'
Daran Ponter (Post): Regional councils - what are they good for?
Sinead Gill (Press): Regional council considers merging public transport powers (paywalled)
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Rate caps will only delay the bigger problems
Julie Jacobson (Post): Capital concerns - the highs and lows of the council’s annual residents survey (paywalled)
Justin Wong (Post): Extra security for local politicians as ‘unacceptable’ abuse on the rise (paywalled)
Matthew Martin (Waikato Times): Almost all councils on board for Waikato Water Done Well (paywalled)
Matthew Martin (Waikato Times): Taupō opts out of Waikato Water Done Well - for now (paywalled)
Emily Ireland (Local Democracy Reporting): Masterton rates up 7.5%, councillors lock in annual plan
Annemarie Quill (Stufff): Second protest against Tauranga council rate rises
RNZ: Historic Christchurch theatre to be sold by council
OVERSEAS INVESTMENT, WEALTH VISAS
Fox Meyer (Newsroom): Big tech wants Luxon to turn NZ into ‘sandbox’
Ricardo Simich (Herald): Former MP Stuart Nash smooths Golden Visas for wealthy; Is Xero founder Rod Drury the king of Queenstown? (paywalled)
ECONOMY, TAX
David Hargreaves (Interest): All we need is confidence - but where is it?
Liam Dann (Herald): Why do we need more migrants when there are 200,000 people on the dole? Plus the lessons from the Iran conflict (paywalled)
Terry Baucher (Interest): Is New Zealand's low productivity a byproduct of not taxing capital gains?
EMPLOYMENT
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): What Wayne Brown told the Government to do about road cones
Mildred Armah (Stuff): ‘Physical abuse and colourful language’: Tradie recalls traumatic start in industry
Matthew Littlewood (ODT: Academic calls out ‘toxic’ school (paywalled)
BUSINESS
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Nicola Willis penning furious letters after Pak'nSave guilty pleas (paywalled)
Lane Nichols (Herald): Pak‘nSave supermarkets admit breaching Fair Trading Act with misleading prices, face millions in fines (paywalled)
Roeland van den Bergh (Post): Pak'nSave supermarkets plead guilty to misleading prices (paywalled)
Roger Partridge: Grocery Regulation Gets the Lewis Carrol Treatment
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Facial recognition technology supported by big name retailers
Rob Stock (Post): Hearings under way into allowing booze sales on Easter, Xmas and Anzac days (paywalled)
Liam Dann (Herald): Entrepreneur Derek Handley on being dumped by Jacinda Ardern’s Government and his new property venture – Money Talks (paywalled)
Chris Keall (Herald): Air NZ tech boss tipped for top job, Amazon’s huge Auckland construction site silent, Chorus’ multi-billion rural grab, more DIA cuts (paywalled)
Peter Griffin (BusinessDesk): NZ businesses shift gears: Optimism, innovation, and ambitions for growth (paywalled)
MEDIA
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): The many hands that held the knife against RNZ
Shayne Currie (Herald): TV 6pm news - who’s winning the ratings battle between TVNZ and Three, and are one million people really still watching 1 News? (paywalled)
Shayne Currie (Herald): Podcast: Heather du Plessis-Allan on Jacinda Ardern, Christopher Luxon and her future broadcasting aspirations (paywalled)
Jake Kenny (Press/Post): Smith v TVNZ: Lawyer takes broadcast authority complaint to High Court
FMA
RNZ: Removing red tape key priority for FMA - report
Mandy Te (Interest): FMA tells financial services sector 'we are watching you'
Rob Stock (Post): FMA seeks to win back the confidence of the financial services sector
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): FMA to focus on private market offer disclosures (paywalled)
Tim Hunter (NBR): Changes forced at Senior Trust by FMA (paywalled)
Maria Slade (BusinessDesk): Senior Trust retirement village offer gets a serve from the FMA (paywalled)
Hamish McNicol (NBR): FMA mum on whether another statutory management is imminent (paywalled)
Cartoons
