A damning report confirms Government agencies used private investigators for spying on New Zealand citizens. It's being called an affront to democracy, and could lead to police action. The report comes from State Services Commissioner Peter Hughes, who details a list of breaches of the State Service Code of Conduct, including potentially illegal recordings of insurance claimants, public sector employees accessing the New Zealand Transport Agency database for private investigation firm Thompson and Clark, paying for informants, and spying on the Green Party and iwi.

And voters are going to be asked to pick a side on recreational cannabis use at the 2020 election, in a binding referendum.