News Briefing: 11 August 2026

NATIONAL PARTY AND LEADERSHIP
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): Luxon leadership: National MPs hit phones on possible change after MMP captain’s call
Richard Harman (Politik): Unconfirmed reports say Nats want to vote tonight on Luxon’s leadership (paywalled)
Chris Trotter (Interest): Losing the room
Stuff: Luxon ‘sorry for colleagues’ after MMP referendum commitment on talkback
Gordon Campbell: On National’s abusive, co-dependent relationship with Christopher Luxon
RNZ: Christopher Luxon suggests fuel excise tax rise, accommodation levy if National re-elected
Herald: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon eyes fuel excise, accommodation levy and banks for possible tax change

LABOUR PARTY
Joel MacManus (Spinoff): ‘Minimum viable opposition’: Is Labour’s election strategy backfiring?
Anneke Smith (Post): Labour MPs appear unrattled by low poll result (paywalled)
Grant Duncan: Hipkins’s pathway to another defeat
Thomas Coughlan and Julia Gabel (Herald): Chris Hipkins definitively rules out governing deal with NZ First
Giles Dexter (RNZ): Chris Hipkins officially rules out working with New Zealand First in any government he leads
Justin Hu (1News): Labour rules out NZ First, Hipkins says caucus call was unanimous
Emma Ricketts (Stuff): Hipkins finally rules out NZ First over ‘overt racism’ — and gets a scathing response from Peters
Mandy Te (Interest): Labour leader Chris Hipkins officially rules out working with NZ First, says party’s behaviour ‘bad for social cohesion’
Sam Smith (Stuff): Labour MP reveals she is recovering from ‘unplanned’ surgery
RNZ: Labour MP Ayesha Verrall recovering from unplanned surgery

ELECTORAL SYSTEM, ENROLMENT AND VOTING
Emma Ricketts (Stuff): Here’s what the 2023 election would look like if we used FPP
Dave Armstrong (Post): We should bend over backwards to get voters enrolled (paywalled)
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Electoral Commission campaign looks to educate voters after enrolment changes
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Voters’ digest: Election 2026 by the numbers
Julia Gabel (Herald): New enrolments from Māori more than double
Lillian Hanly (RNZ): Labour MP among 115,000 NZers currently on dormant electoral roll

ELECTION 2026 AND PARTY POLITICS
Fox Meyer (Newsroom): Calls for tighter rules as ‘misleading’ ads stack up
Gamaliel Ramos (Post): How New York’s ‘socialist’ mayor could be the NZ left’s best campaign ad (paywalled)
Henry Cooke (Post): ACT kills off PM’s possible new bed and bank taxes as poll suggests National voters want ‘no new taxes’ (paywalled)
Herald: Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki vows to take firearms ban to court after licence revoked
Stuart Nash (Herald): Check your phone, there’s probably a text on it that you also wouldn’t want public (paywalled)

ECONOMY, FISCAL POLICY AND THE BUDGET
The Post: Editorial: National’s Budget rules are fiscal theatre (paywalled)
Chelsea Daniels (Herald): Rules without consequences: Can National’s Budget plan be trusted?
Cameron Bagrie (BusinessDesk): New Zealand’s political parties face an impossible fiscal trilemma (paywalled)
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Opportunity willing to see debt breach 50% of GDP if that was for infrastructure (paywalled)
Dita De Boni (Post): Privatisation of key NZ assets made life more expensive for Kiwis, says new group (paywalled)
Alexia Russell (RNZ): The $55 million drain from Kiwi pockets
Kevin Norquay (Post): The heavy price of being young in Aotearoa (paywalled)
Kevin Norquay (Post): Crypto ATMs: The machines almost nobody knew we had (paywalled)

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