Today’s content

ELECTION
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Labour and Chris Hipkins crash in latest poll after ‘messy’ period for Government
Thomas Manch (Stuff): PM Chris Hipkins says poll showing four-year low in support for Labour sends ‘a message’
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Poll of polls: National-Act Government now most likely, data shows (paywalled)
Andy Fyers (BusinessDesk): Election 2023: National opens a gap on Labour (paywalled)
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Labour and Chris Hipkins crash in latest poll, gap with National widest since 2017
Stuff: Labour at four-year low in latest political poll
Martyn Bradbury (Daily Blog): New Talbot Mills Poll: Labour Crash and Far Right Government rises like a multi headed angel of death
Steven Cowan: Are Labour on the way out?
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): National leader Christopher Luxon defends himself, lashes out at ‘Labour hit job’ Nelson meeting video
Brigitte Morten (NBR): The end is nigh: election less than 100 days away (paywalled)
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): Act deputy’s moonshot bid for National’s crown jewel
RNZ: ACT MP Damien Smith not seeking re-election

GOVERNMENT
Claire Trevett (Herald): Explainer: Minister Peeni Henare and the handling of a potential conflict of interest with his partner (paywalled)
Richard Prebble (Herald): Kiri Allan bullying claim – the other explanations in her favour (paywalled)
RNZ: Ombudsman rejects call to release text message about Kiri Allan
Derek Cheng (Herald): Kiri Allan text: Message about how senior official is getting on with senior minister to stay secret, Chief Ombudsman rules
Felix Desmarais (1News): Watchdog backs keeping text message about Kiri Allan secret
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): MBIE allowed to withhold text about Kiri Allan’s behaviour, Ombudsman says
Jem Traylen (BusinessDesk): Business of Government: Policy contractor crackdown, robodebt repercussions and more… (paywalled)

FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Christine Rovoi (Stuff): Nuclear watchdog gets New Zealand government support amid concerns over Japan’s Fukushima plan
Lydia Lewis (RNZ): UN nuclear watchdog boss defends position on Japan’s wastewater dump
Jenna Lynch (Newshub): New Zealand’s top diplomat Chris Seed says there’s ‘concern’ of ‘state-on-state conflict’ because of ‘accident’
Jamie Ensor (Newshub): Risks to New Zealand’s security as global outlooks change, region becomes ‘central theatre’, new foreign ministry report says
David Capie (The Intepreter): “We can’t be passive”: New Zealand’s changing tone about a more worrying world
Thomas Manch (Stuff): Chris Hipkins says Europe ‘unwavering’ in support for Ukraine, despite failed Nato bid
Treasa Dunworth (Newsroom): Support Ukraine, but not with cluster bombs
Sharon Brettkelly (RNZ): The Detail: Ukraine’s cluster bombs will leave a hideous legacy
Jane Patterson (RNZ): Major breakthrough for Sweden’s bid to join NATO, Hipkins arrives in Lithuania
Thomas Manch (Post): Sweden celebrates NZ deal, then secures major Nato breakthrough (paywalled)
Lisette Reymer (Newshub): Chris Hipkins visits Sweden as it gets greenlight to join NATO
Herald Editorial: Here’s hoping Australia walks away from EU free trade deal (paywalled)

DAWN RAIDS
Peter Dunne: Dawn Raids fiasco no surprise
John MacDonald (Newstalk ZB): The Government should be cringing
RNZ: Dawn raid visits: Government seeking advice on potential legislative changes – Carmel Sepuloni
1News: Sepuloni ‘unaware’ dawn raids would continue after 2021 apology

SUPERMARKETS
Aimee Shaw (Stuff): Foodstuffs made almost $52 million in profit in 2023
Ella Somers (BusinessDesk): Foodstuffs North Island adds $4.3b revenue to its results basket
Brianna Mcilraith (Stuff): Consumer NZ receives 600 pricing complaints about supermarket specials during campaign
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Grocery commissioner says he’s seen supermarkets play tough
Mark Quinlivan (Newshub): Carmel Sepuloni hopes Grocery Commissioner will make a difference – but doesn’t know how
William Hewett (Newshub): Kiwis lash out at Government’s new Grocery Commissioner, question what’s going to change
1News: Govt appoints Grocery Commissioner to ‘hold sector to account’
Hamish McNicol (NBR): Feet to the fire: Grocery Commissioner talks first steps (paywalled)
RNZ: New Grocery Commissioner gears up to monitor sector and competition
James Ross (Post): How the Government is propping up our excessive grocery prices (paywalled)

ECONOMY, COST OF LIVING
Gareth Hughes (Stuff): 40 years on, it’s time to reboot the economic system that got us into this mess
Damien Venuto (Herald): The Front Page: Why the coming economic storm could keep hitting Labour in the polls
Luke Malpass (Post): RBNZ decision today will simply confirm cost of living crunch here to stay(paywalled)
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): Reserve Bank likely to reveal first pause since OCR hiking began
Jamie Gray (Herald): New Zealand’s official cash rate is high, but other central banks are catching up(paywalled)
Brianna Mcilraith (Stuff): Here’s the one item that we’re still happy to spend on
David Hargreaves (Interest): New Kiwibank spending data shows that despite the cost of living squeeze we are still spending as we need to – but discretion is being applied

BUSINESS
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Fact check: Is ‘greedflation’ driving higher prices? (paywalled)
Oliver Lewis (BusinessDesk): Fishing boat proposal labelled industry ‘subsidy’ (paywalled)
Martyn Brabury (Daily Blog): Why people should be genuinely angry at Spark, 2 Degrees and Vodaphone for pledging to purge Threads of opinions they don’t like
Andrew Dickens (Newstalk ZB): Cancel culture continues to grow
Peter Williams: Telcos should be telcos
Alice Soctt (ODT): Rug pulled out from under Enviroschool
William Terite (Newshub): Sky TV slammed for demanding Hawke’s Bay residents return Sky Boxes buried under metres of silt
Aimee Shaw (Stuff): New data shows ‘significant signs’ of financial stress for small businesses
Greg Hurrell (BusinessDesk): ASB fighting ‘opt-out’ class action lawsuit in court of appeal (paywalled)
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): TV3 owner Discovery Warner Bros takes $35m local loss in stride

EMPLOYMENT
RNZ: Gender gap for KiwiSaver balances worsens, trend more apparent in younger age-groups
1News: KiwiSaver ‘gender gap’ increases 5% in one year
Brianna Mcilraith (Stuff): Average salary cracks $70,000 for the first time, according to Trade Me
Molly Swfit (Newshub): New Zealand’s average salary cracks $70,000 reaching record high – Trade Me
Susan Hornsby-Geluk (Post): Employment Court holds employer to tikanga values in first case of its kind (paywalled)

HOUSING, MORTGAGE RATES
Georgina Campbell (Herald): Loafers Lodge fire: Wellington City Council considered evacuating hostel due to safety concerns before fatal blaze
Kelly Makiha (Rotorua Daily Post): Contracts extended for two Rotorua emergency housing motels used for Covid-19 response purposes
Simone Ackermann (Northern Advocate): Whangārei youth homelessness will have ‘got worse, not better’ – researcher
Jenée Tibshraeny (Herald): Why are mortgage rates rising when the official cash rate is expected to remain unchanged? (paywalled)
1News: Last of NZ’s major banks hikes fixed mortgage rates
Susan Edmunds (Stuff): BNZ lifts home loan rates

HEALTH
Devin Pike (1News): Rural Kiwis die at higher rates than urban residents – study
Isaac Davison (Herald): Hospital ‘hot-bedding’: Waitākere Hospital patients moved from beds to chairs to free up space
Isaac Davison (Herald): New Zealand health worker under investigation for raising assisted dying with a suicidal patient
Giles Dexter (RNZ): Compulsory treatment for mental illness fundamentally disempowering, commission told
Kristie Boland (Stuff): Christchurch Hospital ED under ‘significant pressure’ with record number of patients through
RNZ: Mata Episode 12: Reti sticks with plan to ditch Māori Health Authority
Charlotte Muru-Lanning (Spinoff): In the midst of a ‘health workforce crisis’, some locally trained doctors can’t get jobs
Hannah Martin (Stuff): Concern some Kiwis not ‘sufficiently protected’ as mpox vaccine ‘difficult’ to get
Katie Doyle (Stuff): ACC reports strong rise in demand for rongoā Māori sessions
Louise Steyl (Southland Times): Blood test delays on the way as workers prepare to strike

EDUCATION
Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): University of Otago adopts new Māori name and symbol
RNZ: Million-dollar rebrand to go ahead for University of Otago
Michael Johnston (Newsroom): The ‘reading wars’ lessons for teaching science
Catherine Hubbard (Nelson Mail): Education raised as key concern at Luxon talk in Nelson
Herald: The power and potential of mātauranga Māori in education
Marty Sharpe (Stuff): Ministry of Education ‘reneges’ on upgrade of school serving cyclone-hit community
Gianina Schwanecke (Post): Hutt MP, parents want answers from Education Ministry about Lollipops closure

LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Julie Jacobson (Stuff): Wellington City Council calls in reviewers after second privacy breach
Rachael Kelly (Southland Times): Gore mayor Ben Bell apologises to the community for an ‘erosion of trust’
Moana Ellis (Local Democracy Reporting): Poor areas hit hardest by Whanganui rate rises
Michael Fallow (Southland Times): Invercargill CCTV upgrade due to phase in December-March

TRANSPORT
Todd Niall (Stuff): Auckland Bus Strike: When is $30 an hour not really $30 an hour?
Naomii Seah (Listener/Herald): Discounted public transport for some, but what about the rest of us? (paywalled)
Sapeer Mayron (Stuff): Te Huia train banned from Auckland city after twice failing to stop on red
RNZ: Waka Kotahi temporarily bans Te Huia train from operating in Auckland
1News: Te Huia train banned from central Auckland after safety incidents
Ryan Anderson (Stuff): Refunds available for previously trapped $700k on kids transport cards

CRIME
Derek Cheng (Herald): The taming of Three Strikes: How Judith Collins’ words in 2010 helped lead to lighter sentences a decade later (paywalled)
Emma Priest (Herald): Why ‘getting tough on crime’ doesn’t work (paywalled)
Marika Khabazi (RNZ): Minister gives dairy owners assurance over brazen retail crime
Caroline Williams (Stuff): High profile radio host caught drink-driving, keeps name secret

ORANGA TAMARIKI, YOUTH JUSTICE
Dave Armstrong (Post): Concrete solutions to the problems of Pikimotu (paywalled)
William Hewett (Newshub): Green MP Julie Anne Genter hits out at ACT’s Oranga Tamariki policy, says they’re playing on Kiwis’ fear and anger
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): ACT’s Karen Chhour on how she would fix Oranga Tamariki (paywalled)
RNZ: ACT proposes reform of children’s ministry Oranga Tamariki
Greg Presland (The Standard): Act’s dishonest Youth offending policy

WHAKAARI WHITE ISLAND
Adam Hollingworth (Newshub): White Island eruption: WorkSafe says island owners failed to assess risks despite million-dollar profits
Yvonne Tahana (1News): Whakaari owners made $1m profit a year before eruption
Felix Walton (RNZ): Brothers put profits ahead of assessing safety risk for Whakaari visitors – prosecutor
Rachel Moore (Stuff): Whakaari White Island owners ‘never bothered’ to know the risks, court hears on opening day
Diane McCarthy (Local Democracy Reporting): Whakaari signs expected to be gone by summer

OTHER
Sapeer Mayron (Stuff): SIS website scrubbed unlawful spying apology to Nicky Hager after 15 days because ‘that story has passed’
Dita De Boni (NBR): New Siousxie Wiles doco a poignant reminder of a better time (paywalled)
Rob Campbell (Newsroom): The need to accept that indigeneity matters
Phil Pennington (RNZ): Forfeited criminal proceeds: New Zealand and China split $70 million after laundering case
RNZ: Many water supplies in New Zealand still need new safety plans
David Williams (Newsroom): Inside DoC’s SailGP investigation
Emily Simpson (Spinoff): The beasts of Berhampore
André Chumko (Post): Sculpture honouring women scrapped, Māori carvings advance at Parliament (paywalled)
Olivia Wannan (Stuff): Luxury items should face a higher climate penalty – study
Hamish McNeilly (Stuff): Mosgiel rally around targeted Syrian family with community event
Adam Burns (RNZ): Robertson encourages New Zealanders to get their tickets ahead of FIFA World Cup opening
Sophie Trigger (Herald): Court system delays continue to create backlogs