The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says Israel has assured it that the New Zealanders taken by the Israeli navy are “safe”, but consular staff still haven’t been able to speak to the three Kiwis in custody. www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360...

The Government has served up $5 million for a roof to cover the main court of Auckland’s Stanley St tennis arena. www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360...

Pressure is building on Te Pāti Māori, with Toitū Te Tiriti - the activist movement behind last year’s huge Hīkoi Mō Te Tiriti - now speaking out against the party. www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360...

I went to speak to Samuel Leason's father, Adi, in Ōtaki. Others from the flotilla have told that "Israeli commandos" have taken 18-year-old Samuel, but neither the New Zealand nor Israeli governments have confirmed this. Nevertheless, Adi is very proud of his son. www.stuff.co.nz/world-news/3...

A group of more than 11,000 health workers are the first to commit to a massive coordinated strike being planned by public sector unions. www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360...

How will we end the power price pinch? On this issue, Simon Bridges and the Greens agree www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360...

Forty-one days before the Prime Minister sent Labour a letter pleading for a “credible, bipartisan approach” to solving the gas shortage, Labour had sent one to his energy minister asking for the same. www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360...

It's hard to keep up with Trump's tariffs... www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360...

Fewer than one in five countries don’t recognise Palestine. www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360...

Why are police spending so much time chasing cannabis? www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360...

The incoming Reserve Bank governor will be the first woman to hold the office. She will travel across the world to take up the position - but she’s been watching New Zealand for some time. www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360...

Big money, big problems. www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360...

Winston Peters is (sort of) right about migrants moving to Australia www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360...

Residents of Gaza City, the target of a major Israeli offensive, offer mixed opinions after a slate of Western nations recognised the State of Palestine. For Tawfiq Habib the move - condemned by Israel - means little. "I don't care about recognition while the killings are still going on here"

Te Ariki Tā Tumu Te Heuheu Tūkino VIII, the paramount chief of Ngāti Tūwharetoa, has died, aged 84. www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360...

TV current affairs programmes are virtually extinct in New Zealand. The return of Paddy Gower Has Issues could be the genre's last hope.

Two private helicopters took the Australian and NZ prime ministers to a mountain top lunch in Queenstown. This week I asked, what was the purpose of that trip? www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360...

From @aljazeera.com: An Israeli strike on a journalists' tent on Sunday killed four Al Jazeera staff members. Israel has killed nearly 270 journalists and media workers since it launched its war on Gaza, making it the single deadliest conflict for journalists.

Prime minister Christopher Luxon says a decision is weeks away. This issue was first raised with his Government in 2023. www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360...

Al Jazeera says 5 journalists killed in Israeli strike in Gaza. Israeli military admits to targeting Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif, calling the reporter a "terrorist" affiliated with Hamas u.afp.com/SMDV

80% of the military style academy's pilot cohort allegedly re-offended within the year www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360...

Government email accounts were hacked in June, to send scam emails to around 56,000 people. www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360...

Interesting to compare the cost of Covid-19 to other emergencies. Covid equated to 20% of GDP. The Canterbury earthquakes, 11%. The 2023 storms and flooding, 1.7%. And the BNZ failure in 1990 is in fourth spot, at 1%. www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360...

The Government says New Zealand’s “30 crazy labelling laws” are driving up your supermarket bill. www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360...

When will unemployment reduce? Nicola Willis holds hope for improvement this year www.tickaroo.com/e/G5BHcqtjJi...

The Government has revived its plan to make it harder for Māori to claim customary title to marine and coastal areas. www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360...

Erica Stanford: “It never made sense to me that an E was better than A." Minister? Really??? www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/3607...

Will replacing NCEA make New Zealand smarter? www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360...

There are issues with NCEA, but the clarity of its marking system isn’t one of them. You can’t get any clearer than “NOT ACHIEVED”. Millennials need to stop trying to revive their alphabet scores.

As nurses protested this week, I spoke to Naomi Waipouri about why she was striking. She said patients are being let down due to understaffing - and she saw that last week, when her cousin died. www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360...

Bizarre handling of this announcement. 1) US initially refused to confirm Patel as was here. 2) The Police Minister wouldn’t confirm the new FBI base in Wellington, despite Patel announcing it. 3) Patel said the base would combat CCP power. NZ quite about that. www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360...

The message was urgent: Do not go for a mid-winter morning swim, do not go “sightseeing” or for a walk on the beach, and evacuate your house boats. www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360...

The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is one of the most severe, distressing and incomprehensible issues to have faced the current generation. And yet, New Zealand and the world's response to this issue has been quite lumbersome. I analysed how New Zealand has responded: www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360...

Despite ongoing restructures across the public service, the total number of public servants hasn’t actually decreased since the coalition Government came to power. www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360...

The Government says it has found a solution to prevent a repeat of the Great GIB Crisis of 2022. www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360...

🧈🧈🧈🧈🧈🧈🧈🧈🧈🧈🧈🧈🧈🧈🧈🧈🧈🧈🧈🧈🧈🧈🧈🧈🧈🧈🧈🧈🧈 www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/3607...

The law change will also mean that people who have recently moved home will not be able to change their address within the two weeks leading to an election. www.tickaroo.com/e/G3WEvAgZZU...

From what I’ve worked out, the disestablishment of Te Pūkenga is being funded through: • Using savings polytechnics held (amount unclear). • $20 million Govt funding • $157 million approved Govt funding as a contingency. Minister says it could cost hundreds of millions. youtu.be/3DwWHqcP-p8?...

Sports NZ has removed its transgender inclusion guidelines. This comes after Government ministers said its “woke ideology” about including everyone in community sport went against the views of New Zealanders. www.tickaroo.com/e/G3PZcmrlvt...

That budget was agreed to in April 2024, but the Government kept it secret until this week. www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360...

The AFP journalists’ union says its correspondents in Gaza will likely starve to death unless aid makes it through Israel’s blockades. Many reporters in Gaza, who are all Palestinian given Israel blocked foreign correspondents, have stopped working due to hunger. www.france24.com/en/video/202...

Rawiri Waititi was the most vocal critic about New Zealand’s responses to the Gaza War. "We do not accept this Government's pathetic lip service calling for a ceasefire. It is your fifth time in two years. We must end this human crisis. Sanction Israel,” he said. www.tickaroo.com/e/G3J6hzHEXJ...

The Government’s promise to help blood cancer patients hasn’t been broken, David Seymour said, as he celebrated what he promised would be a new chapter for Pharmac. www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360...

A third med school is locked in. Health Minister Simeon Brown has confirmed the Government will front up with $82.5 million to co-fund Waikato University's plan to establish its own medical school. www.tickaroo.com/e/G3z8yDxeja...

Common ground: The issues so big that politicians will work together to fix them www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360...

Wellington SNUBBED again. Sad. www.stuff.co.nz/culture/3607...

Stuff can reveal the impact of the Government's directive to apply more "scrutiny" to emergency housing applications. The rate of successful emergency housing applications fell from 90% to 65%. www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360...

The 5 big issues pulling Kiwi across the Tasman. www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360...

Very good news for Winston Peters following this month's Taxpayers Union Curia poll. www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360...

Tens of thousands of New Zealanders packed their bags for Australia last year, with a net migration loss across the Tasman of 30,000 people. www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/3607...