A slightly awkward morning for Tourism Minister Louise Upston to announce a big forum showing off NZ as a 'world-class cruise destination', at the same time as Cyclone Vaianu forces the Norwegian Spirit carrying 2000 passengers to turn back from a planned Bay of Islands visit.

Two weeks’ worth of fuel is stuck on the water as Cyclone Vaianu closes North Island ports. Tankers have turned bows to 4m swells. ‘Feeling a 250m tanker go up in the air and then crash down the other side of a wave is not a pleasant experience,’ recalls harbourmaster. newsroom.co.nz/2026/04/10/n...

Trump agrees to two-week ceasefire, conditional on Iran restoring oil flow Winstons Peters-Marco Rubio meeting: The so-called TACO Doctrine is cold comfort if Trump 'chickening out' in Iran leaves thousands dead, millions displaced and the world in economic shock, writes Jon...

As Winston Peters and Marco Rubio met media, the US Secretary of State was asked if he expected Iran to come to the table by the President's deadline. "Hope we have more news later today on that," he responded, sanguinely.
One thing, the men agreed on. @newsroom.co.nz newsroom.co.nz/2026/04/08/t...

The interactive @newsroom.co.nz Tanker Tracker, at newsroom.co.nz, shows the big 115,000DWT Pantelis arriving from Korea, via Australia, to discharge at Marsden Point. Oil tankers Forever Glory left Korea and CC Ningbo left Japan overnight NZT, both bound for NZ.

Thanks Juha! I've always said I put quantity over quality ... now I know I've made it, being called a bot!

That’s one of the world’s first great craft beers, Waikato Bitter.

Black and white picture of Soviet cruise liner Mikhail Lermontov sinking in Cook Strait in 1986

Let's not forget that Cook Strait, with the assistance of the loyal Picton harbourmaster Don Jamison, successfully stopped the Soviets in 1986.

As Kiwi have been sweating the arrival of shipments of fuel, I've watched big 110,000 tonne oil tankers quietly transit Cook Strait, without stopping, on the way to Argentina. And I'm just thinking, if we relocated the NZ Navy down to Wellington, I reckon we could close off the Strait of Cook.

Logistics firm Wareing Group says its 270 truck drivers have experienced frequent fuel outages since Tuesday.
@newsroom.co.nz is forecasting in-country diesel supply to drop to 13 days’ worth on Sunday, before the big oil tanker Front Pollux berths with 80m litres. newsroom.co.nz/2026/03/26/t...

Iran war: Reserve Bank Governor abandons her original speech notes Her warning to finance minister: 'Targeted responses must be timely and temporary, to avoid sustained upward pressure to inflation,' says Dr Anna Breman. Jonathan Milne reports.

The Reserve Bank Governor was going to talk about modernising the country’s payments system. Instead, Dr Anna Breman’s taken the podium to reassure the public that NZ banks can withstand severe geopolitical shocks, as the Iran war drives up prices. @newsroom.co.nz newsroom.co.nz/2026/03/24/i...

"After April 1, officials say, arrivals are too variable, too uncertain, to estimate how many ships may be New Zealand-bound. But Newsroom investigations show five more oil tankers have left ports ... listing New Zealand as their destination."

Hattip to @jonathanmilne.bsky.social here.

Minister 'disappointed' by Stats NZ bungling critical food inflation figure Over-egged food price data fed into hawkish Reserve Bank interest rates review, the following day. Jonathan Milne reports.

Stats NZ botched its food inflation data last month – and the new data was fed straight into the Reserve Bank’s interest rates review the next day. The new chief executive Colin Lynch says he’s sorry for what he calls a human error. @newsroom.co.nz newsroom.co.nz/2026/03/18/m...

Chastened Chathams in do-or-die talks with Govt after spending blowout Serious Fraud Office considers criminal probe into MP-turned-CEO Paul Eagle, who altered contracts for gold-plated council home renovations. Jonathan Milne investigates.

Chatham Islands leaders are going to ministers with a big restructure plan, to persuade Govt to release funding to the cash-strapped council. The out-of-control spending of council’s $250k-a-year ex-CEO Paul Eagle has now been referred to the SFO. @newsroom.co.nz newsroom.co.nz/2026/03/19/c...

Everyone knows: “You’ll never be a Kiwi till you love our Wattie’s sauce”. So why the proposed closures, impacting 350 jobs? I investigated at @newsroom.co.nz. Behind the obvious impacts of rising supplier costs and tighter household budgets are two untold stories. newsroom.co.nz/2026/03/12/m...

How this coastal nation of 5m people insulated itself from the Iran oil shock Analysis: Chill ... thanks to this little country's far-sighted leadership, there's no need to sweat carless days and work-from-home mandates, writes Jonathan Milne.

Chill… thanks to this little country’s far-sighted leadership, there’s no need to sweat carless days. Let me tell you about a beautiful nation where accidents of tectonic geography combine with an egalitarian consensus to insulate it from the oil shock. @newsroom.co.nz
newsroom.co.nz/2026/03/13/h...

Minister considers action on Chatham Islands spend-up scandal It's turning into the Miele melée … the widening probe into former MP Paul Eagle, his gold-plated home renos and his out-of-control public spending as the $250,000-a-year chief executive of the tiny, ...

It’s turning into the Miele melée… the probe into Paul Eagle, his gold-plated home renos and his public spending as $250k-a-year CEO of the cash-strapped Chathams council.
The Auditor has criticised his $18k spend on Miele appliances, first reported at @newsroom.co.nz newsroom.co.nz/2026/03/13/m...

'I panicked': Ex-MP Paul Eagle admits altering contracts to gold-plate his council house Auditor-General slates politician-turned-Chatham Islands CEO who altered quotes and contracts for a $460k publicly-funded home renovation. Jonathan Milne reports.

Chathams CEO Paul Eagle persuaded council to budget $500k to renovate his house with new bathroom fittings, stainless steel benches, cabinetry and $18k of high-end Miele kitchen appliances. The Auditor-General lists a litany of "unacceptable" actions.
@newsroom.co.nz newsroom.co.nz/2026/03/12/i...

'I haven't been able to contact my family in Iran' Analysis: We owe it to those worriedly waiting for news of their loved ones, to inform ourselves of the rights and wrongs of these airstrikes. Yet our Prime Minister wasn't willing to do even that, wr...

I caught up with a young man who grew up in Karaj. “I haven’t been able to contact my family in Iran" he says. The PM has refused to ask for evidence Iran posed an imminent threat to US/Israel; we owe that respect to those waiting for news of loved ones
@newsroom.co.nz newsroom.co.nz/2026/03/03/i...

I more often see Samoan and Tongan flags flown from cars around my neighbourhood of Onehunga, usually on match day! But today, there are cars driving around Auckland flying the old flag of Iran from the days of the Shah. A very different match day, unfortunately.

Great news that the Govt's introduced a bill to make English an official language. I trust we'll now have an interpreter at press conferences to translate Luxonese business jargon into plain English.

Bishop to slash 400,000 dwellings from Auckland's 2m capacity requirement The reduced number will get the headlines – but the real issue is likely to be caveats imposed on the council about where it may up-zone or down-zone housing, writes Jonathan Milne.

Last month, I reported @newsroom.co.nz the PM would slash the 2m requirement for housing capacity in Auckland. This morning, I'm told the number should settle at 1.6m. So 400,000 dwellings that were never, realistically, going to be build, will still never be built. newsroom.co.nz/2026/02/19/b...

Top-level meeting on Chathams' future as chastened CEO Paul Eagle quits The islands' mayor and minister Shane Jones must now talk turkey – but instead they're hurling epithets/criticism at each other

On Thursday, Paul Eagle told me he didn’t know the conclusions of an audit inquiry into spending on his Chatham Islands Council house. Two hours later, the new mayor announced the chief executive’s “agreed” resignation. Now the epithets begin to fly... @newsroom.co.nz newsroom.co.nz/2026/02/13/t...

We can't bear Wellington on a bad day – and there's a lot of those Comment: Which is NZ's worst town to live in – Tokoroa or Wellington? Renounced Wellingtonian Jonathan Milne mischievously runs some numbers.

Tokoroa once grew to just nearly 20,000 residents, nearly a city. The council bought fancy mayoral chains in preparation. Similarly Wellington when I lived there had aspirations to be a global city. But as with Tokoroa, so too with Wellington. Which is NZ's worst town? newsroom.co.nz/2026/02/12/w...

Little-known Reefton gold-mining firm looks to list on NZX, hire 200 Coasters 'There are a lot of bad eggs in the mining industry,' says Rua Gold CEO. 'Our past successes speak to the actual lasting community impact of our mines that are all still operating today.' Jonathan Mil...

Gold made Reefton one of NZ’s richest towns; it even had its own stock exchange. Now a Canadian firm says it’s struck gold – history is repeating as Rua Gold reveals to list on the NZX. I talked with CEO Robert Eckford, and with locals anticipating the next goldrush. newsroom.co.nz/2026/02/10/l...

Cash-strapped Clutha resorts to a little Think Big The large district with a small population is stuck between a rates rock and a hard debt ceiling, and its foray into property development won't provide an escape path.

The name Clutha is synonymous with the 100m dam that epitomised Muldoon’s Think Big strategy. Today, Clutha District has its own challenge: it’s stuck between a rates rock and a hard debt ceiling. Clutha has run up debt that’s high even by NZ standards. @newsroom.co.nz newsroom.co.nz/2026/02/09/c...

Luxon visits Brown; Auckland mayor rallies councils against PM's rates cap His election year advice on winning the decisive vote of the country's biggest city? 'Most Aucklanders are fed up with listening to the residents of a failing village'. Jonathan Milne reports.

Wayne Brown’s election year advice on Wellington politicians seeking votes in NZ’s biggest city? ‘Most Aucklanders are fed up with listening to the residents of a failing village’.
At @newsroom.co.nz, I report on the PM's after-hours visit to the mayor yesterday. newsroom.co.nz/2026/02/03/l...

The devil's in the detail. At the heart of the probe into Chatham Islands Council and its boss, former MP Paul Eagle, are two fridge-freezers – a high-end German-made Miele in the kitchen, and another fridge that's been relegated to the garage. @newsroom.co.nz newsroom.co.nz/2026/01/22/a...

PM gives management masterclass in the lexicology of Luxonese Comment: From 'A' for afflicting his ministers through to 'Z' for Coke Zero, Jonathan Milne argues that this is a politician with an extraordinary ability to obscure the substance of his message – or ...

Chris Hipkins calls the state of the nation speech “management-speak mumbo jumbo”, but the PM's media trainer Mary Lambie hails it as calm and measured. So what was it? From afflicting his ministers, to Coke Zero diplomacy, here's an A-to-Z of Luxonese. @newsroom.co.nz newsroom.co.nz/2026/01/20/p...

Luxon butters up business for a very different bread-and-butter election Analysis: In pegging his campaign to retirement reforms, the PM has created a KiwiSaver conundrum, writes Jonathan Milner. Workers will be, to adopt his words, "waiting for a future that may never arr...

The focaccia at the PM's speech was excellent. Salt-crusted, slightly crispy around the edges, warm and soft in the centre, absorbing the butter like a business audience hungry for political substance. Not, as Luxon would put it, “sugar rush economics”. @newsroom.co.nz newsroom.co.nz/2026/01/20/l...

$2.79. The price of a can of Wattie’s baked beans. That’s how much the Govt’s planned rates rises caps is worth in forecast monthly savings to the average household. Is it worth the shemozzle? “Yes, all savings are worthwhile,” Simon Watts tells me. @newsroom.co.nz newsroom.co.nz/2026/01/15/r...