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The Democracy Project

News Briefing

News Briefing: 15 May 2026

Bryce Edwards's avatar
Bryce Edwards
May 14, 2026
∙ Paid

PARLIAMENT, ELECTION AND GOVERNMENT
Matthew Hooton (Herald): Christopher Luxon drops slogans for hard truths on security, debt and immigration (paywalled)
Tim Murphy (Newsroom): Hipkins dangles possibility of post-election outreach to National, Auckland
Adam Pearse (Herald): New poll keeps National in the 20s, Winston Peters closing in on Christopher Luxon in preferred PM
Jamie Ensor (Herald): Labour’s Chris Hipkins claims Aucklanders mostly moved on from Covid-19 lockdowns, ministers say he’s in ‘denial’
NBR: Labour’s plan to lift Auckland’s performance (paywalled)
Stewart Sowman-Lund (Post): All or nothing: Michael Wood pins comeback on winning Mount Roskill (paywalled)
Russell Palmer (RNZ): Bill banning under-16s from social media put on hold, Erica Stanford confirms
Natalia Albert: Can Qiulae Wong become the new Queenmaker?
Michael Swanson: Do the ‘major parties’ actually have long-term plans?
Nick James (Post): New poll shows National still under 30% support, with Labour leading the pack (paywalled)
Audrey Young (Herald): Why Christopher Luxon has a new spring in his step; the curious case of Chris Hipkins and the office toaster (paywalled)
Lyric Waiwiri-Smith (Spinoff): One MP, One Pint: Tom Rutherford on the coward punch that changed his life
Lochlan Lineham (Herald): Judith Collins calls 2020 ‘talofa’ comment backlash hysteria from ‘wet wipes’
Alicia McKay: Why citizens’ assemblies won’t fix political distrust
Ryan Bridge (Newstalk ZB): Wellington’s endless spending on pen-pushers and reviews
Mike Hosking (Newstalk ZB): Reality vs ideology re: asset sales
Liam Hehir: All the lines are fighting each other (paywalled)

BUDGET 2026
Rob Campbell (Post): The hollowness and the cruelty of the savings illusion (paywalled)
Rebecca Howard (BusinessDesk): Business groups back fiscal discipline as Budget 2026 takes shape (paywalled)
Herald: Editorial – Govt needs to do more to get young people into work (paywalled)
ODT: Editorial – Our place in the world (paywalled)
Harriet Laughton and Nikki Macdonald (Post): Budget 2026: $15.5m palliative care fund for children (paywalled)
Susan St John: We are not broke: it is time to talk about the bogeyman of government’s debt

ECONOMY AND BUSINESS
Damien Venuto (Stuff): Fewer than half of Kiwis under 45 usually feel life is worthwhile
Rob Stock (Post): ‘Reduce the profitability of banks’: OECD NZ desk head has blunt message on economy (paywalled)
Rob Stock (Post): Bank lobbyist Roger Beaumont to be nominated for Australian of the Year by banking reform activist (paywalled)
Brent Melville (NBR): ComCom says less competition can be necessary in a crisis (paywalled)
Aimee Shaw (Post): Price rises yet to flow through to the consumer, retailers say (paywalled)
Brent Edwards (NBR): Govt wants Super Fund to widen its NZ investment (paywalled)
Rebecca Stevenson (BusinessDesk): Xero to learn from past, CEO says, as Drury review unfolds (paywalled)
Chris Keall (Herald): Icehouse Ventures’ $150m Growth Fund III hits first close as KiwiSaver provider Generate invests (paywalled)

CLIMATE CHANGE AND LAW CHANGE
Bjørn-Oliver Magsig and Graeme Austin (The Conversation): Changing climate law to prevent civil cases removes a key protection for NZ citizens
Ihsan Badshah, Prasad Hegde and Sara Ali (The Conversation): Climate risk is changing where investors put their money – even as NZ relaxes disclosure rules
Roger Partridge (Herald): Parliament right to correct Supreme Court on climate change case
Ashley Parker (BusinessDesk): Govt climate tort move draws rule-of-law criticism (paywalled)
Joel MacManus (Spinoff): Why this AI data centre might be New Zealand’s most important climate project

IMMIGRATION
Sam Crawley: Immigration has rarely driven NZ elections. Could 2026 buck the trend?
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): ‘We’re not having enough babies’: Immigration minister triggers raucous response during question time
Jenna Lynch (Stuff): PM tests waters of immigration debate after coalition partners dive in headfirst
Liam Dann (Herald): Net migration: Small rise as Kiwi departures drop in March, arrivals steady (paywalled)
John Gerritsen (RNZ): Foreign masters degree enrolments soar as August rule change looms

MINING
Bryce Edwards (Democracy Project): Digging for influence
Fox Meyer (Newsroom): Americans in town to hear first critical minerals pitches
Matthew Littlewood (ODT): Land approval given (paywalled)

The paywall now starts at halfway through all Democracy Project newsletters. Please take out a paid sub if you want to support this service and access the full content, including the following sections: LANDSLIDES, CLIMATE AND INSURANCE; GOVERNMENT FUNDING OF EVENTS; ENERGY; LOCAL GOVERNMENT; HOUSING; HEALTH; EDUCATION; TRANSPORT AND INFRASTRUCTURE; JUSTICE AND LAW AND ORDER; MEDIA; CARTOONS

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