"The PM has been catching up on work from home this week, planning for the year ahead."

John and Penny Pennington are still looking at other sites, despite both being in their 70s. The cafe is their retirement nest egg.

Local Government Minister Simon Watts: "I am closely monitoring the situation to ensure the integrity of the electoral process is upheld."

NZTA expects to complete the bridge project early in the new year - pouring the rest of the concrete surface, fencing, lighting, planting, landscaping, and installing artworks and utilities.

“As with Auckland, a cautious attitude seems to be pervading the Wellington housing market.”

"People are looking for some reassurance [that] there is a plan, there's a strategy for the city that is inclusive, and also that it's about getting the council spending under control."

For those keen on a real book, Tania Roxborogh has a suggestion: Charlie Tangaroa and the Creature from the Sea.

“There’s not too many sales, but I’m buying stuff anyway cause we’re here.”

“It would be difficult to move them now and without attracting any attention."

Luke Pierson: "What we don’t have here is perfection. But what we do have, is a chance to fix a longstanding transport challenge for Wellington."

Happy Christmas everyone. The Post printed edition is back Boxing Day, as well as a heap of great content on www.thepost.co.nz

While there is no printed edition of The Post on Christmas Day, there will still be plenty of great stories to read at www.thepost.co.nz 🎅 Thanks for supporting us this year. Stay safe.

Or … flop on the sofa and embrace the holiday coma. No judgment from us.

“Comparing apples-to-oranges like this calls into question the validity of the conclusions in the report.”

“Cycling is a low-cost way to get around the city. The council needs to be doing everything it can to enable people to make cheaper, low-carbon journeys.”

Chilli Cheese Hotdog ... go fetch!

Screenshots of Chung’s phone, taken after the incident was uncovered, show he answered an incoming call from Bloxham at 11.10am on November 13. The call lasted exactly 40 minutes. It was followed at 12.09pm with a message from Bloxham: “can you talk?”.

The figure is just a “starting point”, councillors have been told.

Today's front page, designed by Nina Weil.

“Church St is a broken KO model where they cram high needs, complex tenants into apartments and expect them to do well.”

Regrets from a big figure The Lord of the Rings film trilogy and Miramar film empire: “I thought, ‘oh no, what have I put my money into’.”

“We opened to serve our people and to keep our food accessible, not be exclusive. Maybe that makes us bad business people on paper, but raising our prices beyond what our community could afford didn't sit right with us.”

"Not releasing these figures earlier casts a shadow over the public survey's findings."

“This will make it cheaper and easier for Wellingtonians to travel, and for people to visit Wellington. And that's the game changer for the city.”

“It certainly takes me away from my core business, which is the students here and the staff here. It's very hard because there's a real lack of power to do anything about it.”

"The reality is you're pretty much up against a monster. They are masters in manipulation."

James Cameron on Avatar: "It doesn’t feel like an animated film ... it exists as some kind of lucid dream-like state in between, which I think is part of the power of the film."

Mayor Andrew Little: “I encourage everyone to head into Wellington and get amongst the exciting atmosphere, and support our local shops and hospo while you’re there.”

“We already share a number of services regionally, including water and public transport. More can be done, which is why mayors are jointly committed to getting on with a plan to see what is workable.”

Councillor Nureddin Abdurahman secured a clear majority for the revocation notice, with only four Greens and two Pouiwi declining to sign.

The deadline for the legally required returns is today, but Andrew Little was the only main mayoral candidate to have his forms in by the end of the day yesterday.

“If it’s okay for our ministers to speak like that, saying that our academics suffer from ‘derangement syndrome’, it makes it okay for the general public to say that.”

Nicola Willis going thermonuclear on Ruth Richardson and TPU's upcoming campaign against her. She says she wants Ruth Richardson to stop "lurking in the shadows with secretly funded ads in the paper" and debate her directly on her "tolerance for human misery". www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...

Experience with other highway projects shows that the costs of this highway are highly likely to rise significantly once design work is completed, to the tune of many millions if not a billion or two.

The only ones not to sign the notice of revocation were pouiwi Liz Kelly and Holden Hohaia and Green councillors – Geordie Rogers, Laurie Foon, Rebecca Matthews and Jonny Osborne.

“Police have really focused on this crime type. We’ve targeted the hard core of offenders ... There’s not one thing, there’s a range of strategies that we’ve taken.”

“Wellington obviously has a great restaurant scene. We’re keen to be a part it.”

Lawyer Mike Colson KC said Kapa-Kingi had an “overwhelming” case that the expulsion was unlawful and thus she was still an MP for TPM.

The Post understands the investigation was triggered by a protected disclosure from within the council and is focused partly on upgrades to the chief executive’s council-provided accommodation.

The changes being proposed will address three of the main problem areas of the current legislation - who maintains and repairs operator-owned chattels and fixtures; who manages residents’ complaints, and how quickly village operators must repay capital to residents who move out of a village.

"The power's in the hands of tenants. That's quite unusual."

“It was very much a realisation that given all of this noise ... there was no one individual issue, but cumulatively, they would have made the job very challenging for him.”

You are never too young for democracy!

Porirua mayor Anita Baker has called the rates cap a “blunt tool”, but says her council will abide by the law.

Deputy political editor @henrycooke.bsky.social offers his view on the Government's rates capping policy.

Warnings from local government leaders across the ditch suggest the caps have created significant strain, with councils struggling to deliver essential services and maintain infrastructure under tight restrictions.

This proposed plan would minimise “overall” traffic disruption, had better value for money and reduced uncertainty.

Former Labour leader Phil Goff: “There is a real chance - I wouldn't yet put it as a probability - but there's a real chance that this could be a one-term National Government."