The government has updated its official branding to give greater prominence to English over te reo Māori, following a directive from new Public Service Minister Paul Goldsmith.

The Public Service Commission sent the new logo to all ministries and departments this week, telling them to update their websites by the end of June, in line with the coalition's English-first policy.

The redesigned branding - which must be displayed on all agencies' homepages - places "New Zealand Government" in bold above "Te Kāwanatanga o Aotearoa", reversing the previous order.

In a brief statement to RNZ, Goldsmith said: "This was a coalition commitment that hadn't yet been achieved. Now we're doing it."

Asked why the update had taken more than two-and-half-years to implement, he said the government had been juggling "very many priorities".

"The vast majority of New Zealanders have English as their primary language, and so it makes sense," Goldsmith told RNZ.

"The government continues to be very focused on the development of te reo Māori, and that carries on."

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Green Party public service spokesperson Francisco Hernandez told RNZ the directive was a "pointless distraction" from an "out of touch" government.

"Aotearoa has moved on to embrace Te Tiriti, but this government is intent on clinging on to the past. That they are obsessing over this instead of tackling the fossil fuel cost of living crisis shows what their focus is."

Labour leader Chris Hipkins said the logo change proved the coalition was focused on all the wrong things.

"Frankly I don't care what order the words go in. I'm more concerned about the government doing the job that New Zealanders expect it to do, like tackling the cost-of-living, like getting people back to work, like fixing the economy."

National and Act will support a New Zealand First member's bill seeking to define the term "woman" in law.

The Bill - in the name of MP Jenny Marcroft - will be debated in Parliament for the first time on Wednesday.

It would define "woman" in law as "an adult human biological female", and "man" as "an adult human biological male".

New Zealand First vowed to fight "cancerous social engineering" and "woke ideology" with the Bill.

National's deputy leader Nicola Willis confirmed her party would vote in favour.

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Act leader David Seymour said his party supported it because people were "sick of pretending".

"There are two biological sexes. People don't have to believe that, but they don't have the right to tell other people they're not allowed to say it," he said.

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Once the Bill passed its first reading, it would move to the select committee stage, which allowed for public submission.

Labour and the Green Party confirmed they would vote against the bill.

"It's a distraction," said Labour leader Chris Hipkins.

"New Zealanders want to see us focused on getting people back to work, growing an economy that creates jobs for people, and fixing the cost of living."

Green Party Chlöe Swarbrick said it was "despicable, but unfortunately not surprising" that the government was painting a target on the back of a minority.

"Trans people are not the reason that New Zealanders can't afford their groceries. Trans people are not the reason that New Zealanders cannot afford their power bills. Trans people are not the reason that New Zealanders are experiencing record high unemployment."

The government has announced plans to slash public service jobs by about 14 percent over the next three years in a shake-up it says will deliver $2.4 billion of savings.

The changes announced in a pre-Budget speech delivered by Finance Minister Nicola Willis on Tuesday would result in about 8700 job losses by mid-2029.

"Historically, core public service numbers have been equivalent to about 1 percent of the population. After a period of largesse under the last government it now hovers around 1.2 percent.

"We will be tracking progress towards a numerical target of no more than 55,000 full-time equivalent public service employees by July 2029. That's 8700 fewer than were employed in December last year," Willis said.

There are currently just over 63,000 full-time public servants, which is a slight decrease under this coalition government from the high of approximately 65,000 in the 2024/25 year.

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A builder says Christchurch is seeing an increasing amount of half-finished two-bedroom developments with less appetite in the market.

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"It's pretty easy to notice when you're driving round town you'll see notices with five units available and eight in the whole development.

"They're just not selling, so we're starting to see effects in the market. It becomes a vicious cycle."

Taylor said some two-bedroom townhouses were still selling, and there were lots of builders creating fantastic products, if they had a garage and a little bit of land they were still in demand, but many had no carparking or garage.

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In 2021 to 2022, Taylor said, a builder was able to go out and intensify and buy a piece of land and smack five or so units on it, but this was now changing.

At that time, the value in price had doubled almost overnight, Taylor said, making it an attractive option for builders, but now too many people had done that.

Taylor said when he looked at two-bedroom townhouses from January through to March, there had been over 512 - but when he looked at ones that didn't have a garage there were only 56.

Kiwibank has been instructed by the government to once again look at its options for long-term growth, including revisiting the possibility of partial privatisation.

The taxpayer-owned bank had previously looked at raising $500 million in capital from local investors, but ditched that plan last year.

The new request is included in a letter of intent to Kiwibank's parent company Kiwi Group Capital (KGC) from State-Owned Enterprises Minister Simeon Brown.

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In accompanying Cabinet paper, Brown and Finance Minister Nicola Willis signalled that while the government wanted Kiwibank to grow into a market disrupter that can boost competition, the government's coffers were constrained and it was unlikely to be in a position to provide extra capital.

"The Crown could continue to be the sole provider, or be one of the contributors, of additional capital," the paper said. "However, this would see Crown funding directed to Kiwibank and away from other priorities. Given the significant constraints we are facing, the Crown is not in a position to support this course of action."

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In a statement to RNZ, Kiwibank's parent company KGC stressed it had sufficient capital to fund its lending growth in the medium-term and noted that the Crown had asked it to work with Treasury on new options for raising capital in future that could boost Kiwibank's ongoing competitive potential.

"This process will consider a range of factors including investor feedback, market conditions and growth scenarios, as well as the potential amount, sources and timing of any future capital requirements" the statement said.

The government will pass a law preventing companies from being sued over climate change damage in many cases.

The law, which applies to current and future cases, will stop a High Court case against Fonterra and six other major emitters in its tracks.

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In 2024, iwi leader and activist Mike Smith was granted permission by the Supreme Court to sue Fonterra and other major dairy and fossil fuel companies.

He argued the companies, which collectively contributed about a third of New Zealand's emissions, had a legal duty to him and others in communities that are being damaged by the effects of greenhouse gas emissions.

Lawyers for the emitters had argued in court that damage from climate change affected everyone, and was best tackled by laws and Parliament, not by the courts using common law.

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The law change would "remove the possible development of a new regime that contradicts the framework Parliament has already enacted to respond to climate change".

New Zealand already had a legal framework to manage emissions, through the Climate Change Response Act and the Emissions Trading Scheme, he said.

"Our response to climate change is best managed by the government at a national level and not through piece-meal litigation in the courts."

Te Pāti Māori MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi has announced she is launching a new political party.

Te Tai Tokerau Party will contest the 2026 General Election with a kaupapa grounded in tino rangatiratanga, local decision-making and mana mokopuna.

In March, Kapa-Kingi was reinstated to Te Pāti Māori following a High Court decision that ruled her suspension and subsequent expulsion was "unlawful".

At the time, she said running as an independent was possible despite her reinstatement.

More to come...

Rēhitatia, tirohia, whakawhitia

(Enrol, check or change)

If you, or any of your friends, whānau, work colleagues / fellow students, teammates etc. are on the Māori Electoral Roll, and thinking of switching to the General roll, or vice versa, please be aware that the last day for Māori who are already enrolled to change roll types is:

Thursday 6th August

Also a good time / opportunity to check your enrollment details; and If they are not enrolled on either roll, why not? Get them enrolled and active.

https://vote.nz/maori-enrolment/about-the-option/about

Additional Key Dates:

https://vote.nz/2026-general-election/about/overview/key-dates

Young photographer Tom Rae tramped over snow and ice, camping overnight in the Southern Alps, to get one of the winning shots of the Milky Way Photographer of the Year competition.

The competition, run by Capture the Atlas, selected 25 photos from over 6,500 submitted from around the world.

His “Night at the Remarkables” shot shows the Milky Way arched over The Remarkables in the Southern Alps, while the lights of Queenstown glow far below.

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His shot was among five other winning images from New Zealand photographers taken in different iconic locations.

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More at link

The Finance Minister has confirmed claims by Winston Peters that the fees-free university scheme, which covers the final year of tertiary education study for students, will be scrapped in the upcoming Budget.

The New Zealand First Leader made the comments to Newstalk ZB Friday evening.

In a statement this evening Nicola Willis confirmed the comments.

"Ongoing coalition negotiations have led to good Budget policy decisions that further the immediate and long-term interests of New Zealanders."

"We will have more to say about this in due course," she said.

Willis also confirmed that students completing their tertiary studies this year remained eligible for fees-free.

The Opportunity Party (TOP) has been singled out as possibly being the dark horse of this election.

On The Detail last week, RNZ's Guyon Espiner mused at the possibility of the party formerly known as TOP breaking into Parliament through a potential electoral accommodation by Labour in the seat of Mt Albert, suggesting it would be a less scary path to victory than relying on a coalition with Te Pāti Māori or the Greens.

The latest 1News Verian Poll put the party at 3.3 percent; it needs 5 percent to break in to the Beehive.

Opportunity has a new leader in Qiulae Wong, a couple of investors who've made sure it's in better financial health than it's been previously, and a comprehensive policy platform.

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On The Detail, Wong spoke about key policies, which include a different approach to tax based on the Universal Basic Income or what the party calls a 'Citizen Income'.

It would like to see a tax reset which would eventually mean big changes for superannuation, including means testing, and offsetting a minimum payment for everyone against a new tax on land.

Wong admits though that as a minor party entering Parliament for the first time, overnight tax reform is unlikely something it would get across the line.

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The policy she would push the most if she got a chance is the one on energy.

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"Are we investing in a low-emissions future that's fully renewable, or do we not care, are we just going to take fossil fuels from the rest of the world... that uncertainty is really dangerous and it's challenging for our economy."

The Opportunity Party has laid out its policies on its website.