ELECTION 2026: CONFERENCES, CAMPAIGN AND THE PARTIES
Emma Ricketts (Stuff): ‘This election will be tight’: National kicks off 2026 campaign at party conference
Jamie Ensor (Herald): National targets Labour at conference, as Christopher Luxon heaps praise on Chris Bishop, Erica Stanford fan club emerges
Henry Cooke (Sunday Star Times): ‘Not good enough’: National president Sylvia Wood says her party must beat Labour’s party vote (paywalled)
Lillian Hanly: National members ‘nervously optimistic’ about election campaign
Lillian Hanly (RNZ): National rallies members at AGM, Labour rises in polls
Henry Cooke (Sunday Star Times): National’s Andrew Bayly to stand down at election (paywalled)
Jamie Ensor (Herald): Former National minister Andrew Bayly to leave Parliament, says he decided not to seek list position
Emma Ricketts (Stuff): National MP Andrew Bayly to leave politics after 12 years
Jamie Ensor (Herald): Greens’ new tax plan: how Chlöe Swarbrick wants to tackle the ‘cost of greed’ crisis
Maxine Jacobs (Sunday Star Times): Selwyn MP Nicola Grigg defends Christchurch Airport valet parking, citing time constraints travelling (paywalled)
ELECTION COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): My verdict on Labour’s alleged ‘hidden bill’ – and your chance to see if you can make the spending add up (paywalled)
Andrea Vance (Sunday Star Times): NZ First’s hard lesson in the difference between a 5% and 10% party (paywalled)
Vernon Small (Sunday Star Times): Why Winston Peters won’t play kingmaker to the left in 2026 (paywalled)
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Herald): Labour is going for warm fuzzies over policy substance (paywalled)
Damien Grant (Stuff): If Chris Luxon is proud of our nuclear-free position he should be honest about the hypocrisy
Ian Powell: When opportunity knocks for the Opportunity Party?
Herald: Editorial: Tax reform is beginning to emerge as a key election issue (paywalled)
PUBLIC SECTOR, JUSTICE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Bryce Edwards (Democracy Project): What’s wrong with the public service?
Russell Palmer: Political machinations on show as Scrutiny Week comes up for review
Ethan Manera (Herald): Council reveals $26m sunk on scrapped Golden Mile project, how the ‘transformative’ plan failed (paywalled)
Bruce Cotterill (Herald): Public sector waste: Public servants must remember who they work for (paywalled)
Catherine Hutton (Herald): Wellington lawyer Stephen Franks pushes law change to curb activism in professional bodies
Phil Pennington: Powers v systems: Do police get more of one despite absence of the other?
Neil Reid (Herald): Gangs in prisons: Corrections moves to stop gang-led jail manipulation (paywalled)
TREATY, TE TIRITI AND MĀORI
Chris Finlayson KC (Sunday Star Times): ‘Friends, we are better than this’: Thoughts on the Treaty debate (paywalled)
Wayne Brown (Sunday Star Times): Bashing Māori representation is a cheap distraction from the real unelected bureaucrats ruling our lives (paywalled)
Philip Joseph (E-Tangata): The minister’s failure to act honourably
Morgan Godfery (E-Tangata): The enduring question of Te Tiriti
Lisa Te Morenga (E-Tangata): To swap or not to swap? The question for Māori voters
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