Navigation for News Categories
Politics
Politics headlines with summaries.
-
Warning public service leaks 'must stop' revealed in leaked email
28 May 2025Sir Brian Roche says in some cases public servants should be fired. Audio
-
Government urgency plans slow to a crawl
27 May 2025Last week's post-Budget urgency did not go smoothly, forcing the government to jettison earlier plans in order to make progress.
-
Climate target failure would bring overseas scrutiny, government warned
27 May 2025The government was warned to expect overseas scrutiny over a huge shortfall in plans for meeting the country's international climate target. Audio
-
Northland crayfish harvest ban on the cards
27 May 2025Fisheries Minister Shane Jones said consultation on the proposal would start soon, and would be controversial.
-
'Like a circus': Hipkins fires back as Peters rules out Labour again
27 May 2025The Labour leader says NZ First has "held the country to ransom for long enough". Audio
-
Edmonds calls Budget 'direct assault' on NZ values
27 May 2025Labour's finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds says she still has not read the Greens' alternative Budget, while defending a scarcity of fiscal policies of her own.
-
Targets set for speedier access to pesticides, fertilisers
A review found the approval process for the agricultural and horticultural products wasn't always allowing timely access to the products.
-
Retailers want 'urgent meeting' with police minister over shoplifting change
26 May 2025RNZ revealed a police directive to staff said they would no longer be investigating shoplifting below $500 .
-
Labour says new Nelson Hospital plan lets residents down
27 May 2025But Health Minister Simeon Brown says the pared-down redevelopment is still the biggest investment in the city in decades. Audio
-
Boot camps are 'child prisons' says youth advocate
26 May 2025Aaron Hendry says the $33 million for new boot camps set aside in the budget announcement should be put towards addressing child poverty instead.
-
Greyhound Racing NZ applies for judicial review of ban
26 May 2025In December, Racing Minister Winston Peters announced the practice would be banned from 31 July 2026.
-
$500m to redevelop Nelson Hospital over four years
26 May 2025Nicola Willis and Simeon Brown say the redevelopment is less than half of what the previous Labour-led government committed.
-
Private hospitals may be asked to pay for surgeon training
Doctors have raised ethical and logistical concerns about allowing publicly-paid surgical registrars to essentially provide free labour to private hospitals.
-
Jobseeker sanctions: 'Forcing people to volunteer is a contradiction in terms'
26 May 2025The government is better off using its resources to help people find work, rather than punishing those who can not, says the Salvation Army. Audio
-
Budget 2025: None of year's child poverty targets met
26 May 2025The number of children living in poor households will barely shift in the coming years, new Treasury forecasts show.
-
New benefit sanctions begin today
26 May 2025A money management sanction putting the benefit on a card for approved spending, and a volunteer work requirement, could be put in place for four weeks. Audio
-
Once-secret spy data centre to open soon
26 May 2025A tailor-made data centre for the country's most secret and sensitive public sector information is expected to open soon in West Auckland.
-
Health ministry warns outsourcing surgeries will impact doctor training
If thousands of straightforward operations are performed in private hospitals, trainee surgeons will have limited learning opportunities, officials say. Audio
-
Mediawatch: Coverage on a Budget
25 May 2025The media make a drama out of Budget day every year, even though the big plot twists have been revealed in advance and bits of the backstory are no longer in the script.
-
Questions about dress 'belong in the 1950s' - Willis
26 May 2025The Finance Minister has been criticised by a local fashion designerbut says there are "far more interesting things to talk about". Audio
-
Budget 2025 decisions 'strange and unnecessary' - Labour leader
24 May 2025Labour's leader has used his second speech in a series of regional conferences to attack the government's budget as a series of "strange and unnecessary decisions".
-
Labour accuses govt of trying to avoid scrutiny by passing bill under urgency
24 May 2025A post-Budget debate about accommodation supplement changes dragged into the early hours of Saturday morning.
-
'People's select committee' formed to gather pay equity evidence
26 May 2025Former National MP Dame Marilyn Waring has gathered a group of female former MPs to look into the changes.
-
Greens claim $700m 'uncosted hole' in Willis' Budget
26 May 2025The government could face an unbudgeted funding gap because of one of its own policies, the Green Party says. Audio
