News Briefing: 29 May 2025
PUBLIC SERVICE
RNZ: 'Chilling effect': Union raises concerns over ministers' interference after leaks
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Education Ministry asks RNZ to help investigation into leaks - we declined
RNZ: Drip, drip, drip: NZ's biggest political leaks
Azaria Howell (Herald): Inside communications between Public Service Commissioner Sir Brian Roche and Minister Judith Collins (paywalled)
Phil Pennington (RNZ): High and ongoing' risk of more Oranga Tamariki privacy breaches - Commissioner
ENERGY
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): ComCom boss tips Government will intervene in power market (paywalled)
Jamie Ensor (Herald): Simon Bridges says businesses scared to speak about energy costs, fear retaliation from power companies (paywalled)
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Energy Minister tweaks subsidies to encourage more hydrogen powered trucks (paywalled)
Rod Drury (LinkedIn): Structural separation of NZ electricity market
Centrist: Z Energy uses U-GO to give the illusion of competition while tightening its grip on the fuel market
HEALTH
Michael Morrah (Herald): Mental health crisis: Patients abscond daily from overwhelmed hospital EDs
RNZ: New 24-7 health service could 'dismantle' general practice, doctor says
Matthew Littlewood (ODT): Costs cut despite Treasury warning
Andrew Ashton (ODT): Impending closure of Oamaru House ‘a shock’
Laura Walters (Newsroom): Crown pulls witness at 11th hour as Govt overhauls Māori health policy
Emma Ricketts (Stuff): Makeover confirmed for the country’s ‘worst-performing’ ED
RNZ: Watch: Health Minister Simeon Brown reveals more details on new Wellington Hospital ED
Post: Work on new Wellington Hospital ED due to finish by 2029 (paywalled)
Joel Maxwell (Stuff): Cost of early deaths on working Māori in new Hawke’s Bay report
Hawkes Bay Today/Herald: Improving Māori health could boost Hawke’s Bay economy by $120m a year: study (paywalled)
Pokere Paewai (RNZ): Māori men discuss health, well-being at symposium
Jimmy Ellingham (RNZ): No neurologist at Palmerston North Hospital for woman who suffered seizure
RNZ: Hundreds of Auckland nurses start on-call strike
Tim Brown (RNZ): Sexual assault survivor says ACC process is retraumatising victims
Jeremy Wilkinson (Open Justice Reporting): Former doctor and TVNZ presenter Samantha Bailey fined for claiming HIV doesn’t exist
PARLIAMENT
Jo Moir (RNZ): Luxon and Hipkins talk coalition dynamics, people skills and direction for the 2026 election
Richard Prebble (Herald): Labour’s support of Te Pāti Māori over haka punishment will be a defining issue for the next election
Sam Smith (Stuff): Over 600 objections received on proposed electoral boundary and name changes
Louis Collins (RNZ): The House: What did the House get up to during Budget urgency?
1News: Luxon says grandfather’s drinking behind decision to go teetotal
BUDGET, PAY EQUITY
Chris Trotter: Counting The Cost: New Zealand’s Pay Equity Revolution was, ultimately, unaffordable
Gordon Campbell: On Wealth Taxes And Capital Flight
Marc Daalder (Newsroom): Wellbeing provisions to be stripped from Public Finance Act
Brent Edwards (NBR): This budget harks back to the ‘80s and ‘90s (paywalled)
Tayla Forward (Spinoff): Is the KiwiSaver ‘fiscal hole’ a glitch – or the whole point?
Nancy McShane (Press/Post): The progress of 13 years of pay equity heartache, wiped in 24 hours (paywalled)
Jack McDonald (Post): After the Budget the poor will get poorer (paywalled)
ODT Editorial: Child poverty not budging
Layla Bailey-McDowell (RNZ): Youth homelessness advocate says Budget fails most vulnerable
Layla Bailey-McDowell (RNZ): Benefit sanctions will mean young parents 'end up on the street', Māori youth service says
David Farrar: It’s a tax delay, not a tax break
Layla Bailey-McDowell (RNZ): Benefit sanctions will mean young parents 'end up on the street', Māori youth service says
OCR
Dan Brunskill (Interest): RBNZ says it may be finished cutting rates
Richard Harman (Politik): The Government’s re-election is in the Reserve Bank’s hands now (paywalled)
Liam Dann (Herald): OCR decision: More rate cuts to come ... or not? Reserve Bank hedges its bets (paywalled)
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): How low can rates go? No clear answers in interest rate call (paywalled)
Luke Malpass (Post): How low can rates go? No clear answers in interest rate call (paywalled)
Jenée Tibshraeny (Herald): Has the Reserve Bank shot itself in the foot over the Official Cash Rate? (paywalled)
David Chaston (Interest): ANZ, Westpac and Kiwibank don't pass all the OCR cut on to customers
Miriam Bell (Post): ‘Meh’ OCR cut won’t unlock a house price rebound (paywalled)
Gyles Beckford (RNZ): Reserve Bank drops OCR by 25 basis points to 3.25 percent
Liam Dann (Herald): OCR call: Reserve Bank cuts Official Cash Rate by 25 basis points to 3.25%
David Hargreaves (Interest): Reserve Bank cuts OCR and sees maybe two more cuts by March
Jonathan Mitchell (NBR): Hawkesby’s first major test signals further rate cuts (paywalled)
BANKS
Scott Russell (Post): When banks break the law, should parliament protect them? (paywalled)
Ruby Shaw (ODT): ANZ’s links to coal company protested (paywalled)
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Are credit card rewards schemes worth it?
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Thomas Manch (Post): UK defence industry minister delivers helicopter sales pitch to NZ (paywalled)
Adam Pearse (Herald): PM Christopher Luxon open to ‘Anzac’ visit to Ukraine amid Russian war
Ian Powell: Why New Zealand Should Recognise Palestine
Stephen Dziedzic (ABC): Lowy report finds Pacific nations 'grappling with a tidal wave of debt repayments' to China
Losirene Lacanivalu (Cook Islands News): Cook Islands PM leads seabed minerals dialogue in Australia
MIGRATION, CITIZENSHIP
Gill Bonnett (RNZ): Child slavery cases prompt move on intercountry adoption laws
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Stanford’s ‘ill-mannered and inappropriate’ India comments criticised
Julia Gabel (Herald): PM Christopher Luxon weighs in on Erica Stanford likening immigration emails from Indians to ‘spam’
Nigel Haworth (The Standard): Migration: the spectre at the feast
Steve Kilgallon (Stuff): Life in the shadows: The NZ-born teens who fear deportation
Greg Ninness (Interest): Migrants aged under 20 and over 50 contributing an increasing share of residence visa approvals
LOCAL GOVERNMENT, WATER
Ethan Griffiths (Herald): Tory Whanau tells Christopher Luxon to focus on his ‘own failings
Bridie Witton and Emma Ricketts (Stuff): PM Luxon is ‘punching down on Wellington’, mayor says
Luke Malpass (Post): ‘Sometimes you get what you deserve’: PM says Wellingtonians should vote
Tina Law (The Press): Councillor’s bid to force charity donations fails amid c-word accusations (paywalled)
Will Harvie (The Press): ECan councillors agree to ‘position statements’ that limit what they can say (paywalled)
Mike Doesburg and Emma Burns (Local Government Magazine): Are councils ‘Treaty’ partners?
Matthew Rosenberg (Local Democracy Reporting): Nobby Clark delays policy over diversity concern
Shanti Mathias (Spinoff): The how-to-run-for-council course aiming to get more diversity into local politics
Glenn McLean (Stuff): Council leaders slam online attack on project manager
Victor Waters (RNZ): Waiuku's $400,000 pedestrian crossing proposal paused after criticism from local board
HOUSING, BUILDING
Liz McDonald (Stuff): NZ’s first private consenting company promises building consents in as little as two days
RNZ: Government launches new private building consent authority
Matthew Littlewood (ODT): Call for better support, advice for tenants (paywalled)
Deborah Morris (Post): Wellington has plenty of land but many can't afford to build on it (paywalled)
Chris Knox (Herald): Building sector insights: Which trades have to come back and fix things the most? (paywalled)
ENVIRONMENT, CONSERVATION
Tom Belford (Bay Buzz): Climate crisis update
Tom Hunt (Post): Pilot fatigue? Wellington’s climate plans tested by past inaction (paywalled)
Kate Green (RNZ): 'Nank would be chuffed' - Native bush stays in public hands thanks to donation from late conservationist
MEDIA, SOCIAL MEDIA
John Weekes (Herald): Facebook NZ says profit and revenue down as it sends $159 million to Ireland, pays $831k in tax (paywalled)
Shayne Currie (Herald): Media and Communications Minister Paul Goldsmith on RNZ ratings, TVNZ financials and the state of his industry reforms (paywalled)
Shayne Currie (Herald): Media Insider: RNZ National and Morning Report radio audiences fall to lowest levels in more than five years (paywalled)
Sapeer Mayron (Post): Thousands nationwide turn off RNZ radio programmes (paywalled)
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): Radio ratings: The day the music revived
BUSINESS, REGULATION
Finn Blackwell (RNZ): Hairdressing changes welcomed by customers, raising hairs with some in industry
Tyson Beckett (Herald): NZ hair salons welcome regulation cuts, but industry body lukewarm
RNZ: Hairdressing regulation changes a 'waste of time'
RNZ: Hairdressing law shake-up announced by David Seymour
EDUCATION
Lillian Hanly (RNZ): Seymour changing who decides how much ECE teachers can be paid
Hanna McCallum (Post): Govt to scrap compulsory pay parity rates for new ECE teachers (paywalled)
RNZ: New classrooms, school welcome but Selwyn Mayor says more needed
Julia Gabel (Herald): More than $160m to build 115 new classrooms, three new schools in Canterbury
RNZ: Government plans three new primary schools in Canterbury
Kingi Snelgar (Spinoff): Removing tikanga from legal education is a symptom of a wider disconnection
aime Cunningham (Herald): International student numbers lag, New Zealand plans growth strategy
Bill Hickman (RNZ): Wellington's Te Kāhui Auaha campus could close under proposal
TRANSPORT
Jonathan Milne (Newsroom): Biggest ports sharply increase access fees for trucks and trains
Oliver Lewis (BusinessDesk): Rail Minister Winston Peters appoints Sue Tindal as new KiwiRail chair (paywalled)
Darren Davis: The state of the rails across Aotearoa
Sharon Brettkelly (RNZ): The Detail: The headwinds facing regional airlines
Katie Todd (RNZ): 'We want to get Queenstown moving again' - cable car companies target resort town
Crux: Queenstown’s two new gondola projects breathe life into a stagnant energy economy
SPORT, COLLISION GAMES
Stephen Hewson (RNZ): Shake up of Sport New Zealand in the pipeline
RNZ: NZ Rugby condemns 'run it straight' as Warriors distance themselves
RNZ: Concussion-hit AB Steve Devine wants collision games axed
Nadine Roberts (Stuff): How an ‘innocuous’ tackle proved fatal amid concerns about a viral game
CHILD WELFARE
Rob Cope (Post): Filtered internet for under-18s the change we need for online safety (paywalled)
RNZ: Kids' consent for photos should always be considered - privacy commissioner
OTHER
Anne Gibson (Herald): Labour MP Ingrid Leary drafts bill on retirement village payouts (paywalled)
Rob Sarkies (Stuff): Pike River film lets audiences walk in families’ shoes
Jared Savage (Herald): Jevon McSkimming resignation: Jill Rogers and Mike Pannett are considered the frontrunners to be appointed as the next deputy police commissioner (paywalled)
Virginia Fallon (Post): The greyhound industry is still racing to the bottom (paywalled)
Dileepa Fonseka (BusinessDesk): One NZ survey shows most New Zealanders don’t trust AI and fear job losses from it (paywalled)
RNZ: Proposal to change Russell's name to Kororāreka declined
No Right Turn: Aotearoa should not have places names after slavers
Imogen Wells (Stuff): Complainant says she’s ‘fully vindicated’ by damning review of Fenz
RNZ: Gold Coast charity offers down on their luck Kiwis a ticket home
Nick James (RNZ): Porirua soup kitchen opens to support homeless in the city
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Homes gates, security systems affected by 3G shutdown
Jean Edwards (RNZ): Gloriavale's offer to personally apologise to victims of abuse a 'PR stunt'
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): ‘A true gentleman’, former National Party board member Roger Bridge dies
Martien Lubberink: Time to retire the circus? Reflections on the May 2025 RBNZ Financial Stability Report press conference