ELECTION 2026 AND THE POLLS
Bryce Edwards (Democracy Project): Labour’s warm-up should be over
Henry Oliver (Spinoff): State of the race: The Labour/National joint slump continues in new poll
Stuff: New poll shows major parties continuing historic slump in support, with Labour coming out on top
Andrea Vance (Post): Historic major party slump deepens as Labour edges National in new poll (paywalled)
Matthew Hooton (Post): National, Labour lose grip on voters over cost of living, economy and health (paywalled)
Danyl McLauchlan (Listener): ‘I’d always been mystified by Paul Henry’s appeal. Then I saw him on stage’ (paywalled)
Jamie Ensor (Herald): How Dame Jacinda Ardern made today famous and what it means for Labour, National (paywalled)
Rob Campbell (Newsroom): This election is not about democracy
Ethan Manera (Herald): Ayesha Verrall’s call for political unity over election event disruption leads to further division
Herald: Election billboards vandalised: Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Ryan Hamilton hit out
ODT: Editorial – Being outspoken a win for all at Act NZ event with Paul Henry (paywalled)
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): National candidate backtracks on climate change remarks
Sam Smith (Stuff): Luxon praises Erica Stanford after Winston Peters demands immigration portfolio
PARLIAMENT AND PUBLIC SERVICE
Gill Bonnett (RNZ): ‘Flawed assumptions’ behind Immigration NZ’s bungling of tech upgrade
Emma Ricketts (Stuff): Parliament’s back for the last two weeks of the term. Here’s what’s left on the to-do list
Tom Hunt (Post): Errors in FENZ $30m firetruck buy delayed new trucks by years, union says (paywalled)
RNZ: Four Christchurch sites considered for March 15 national memorial
Jon Johansson (Post): Dame Margaret Clark: A wise and beloved teacher who inspired political thinking across NZ (paywalled)
Herald: Editorial – When disagreement becomes destruction (paywalled)
TE REO MĀORI AND TE TIRITI
Julia Gabel (Herald): Treaty of Waitangi clause review: Contentious bill introduced to Parliament
Julia Gabel (Herald): Horse convoy expected to arrive at Parliament today protesting Government Te Tiriti policies
Lucy Cooper (Post): Hīkoi on horseback carries Treaty petition to the Beehive (paywalled)
Māni Dunlop (Post): Greens pledge $200 million to revive te reo Māori funding (paywalled)
RNZ: Greens promise $200m into te reo Māori initiatives
Stuff: Greens pitch $50m annual te reo Māori injection paid for by wealth tax
Joel Maxwell (Stuff): The slow death of Te Wiki o te Reo Māori
David Unwin (Post): Parade to celebrate a ‘forever language’ marks start of Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori (paywalled)
Ariana Thomson-Lawrence (Newsroom): Te Wiki o te Reo Māori: Honouring the pioneers who saved the language
Layla Bailey-McDowell (RNZ): Te Wiki o te Reo Māori: Don’t let fear of getting it wrong stop you using te reo
RNZ: The town where every week is Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori
KIWISAVER, SUPERANNUATION AND RETIREMENT
Jenna Lynch (Stuff): The one universal payment both Luxon and Hipkins refuse to touch
Henry Cooke (Post): KiwiSaver calculator: How Labour and National’s plans would affect your retirement savings (paywalled)
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): KiwiSaver: Would Labour or National make you better off?
Chelsea Daniels (Herald): From Cullen’s blueprint to KiwiSaver 2.0: Labour’s next big shift
Geoff Rashbrooke (Post): The myths about compulsory KiwiSaver (paywalled)
David Chaplin (BusinessDesk): KiwiSaver scheme leavers: why 200,000 members took the transfer train (paywalled)
The paywall now starts partway 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: FAST-TRACK, HOUSING AND BUILDING; ENVIRONMENT, PRIMARY SECTOR AND CLIMATE; TRANSPORT; LOCAL GOVERNMENT; HEALTH; ECONOMY AND BUSINESS; IMMIGRATION; EDUCATION; WELFARE; MEDIA; AI, DATA AND TECHNOLOGY