ELECTION 2026: CAMPAIGN, PARTIES AND POLLING
Verity Johnson (Stuff): The election hasn’t started properly and I’m already exhausted
Henry Oliver (Spinoff): The secret life of election hoardings
Matthew Hooton (Post): Are you one of the 41% of voters responsible for the country’s mess? (paywalled)
Justin Hu (1News): First election where many Kiwis use AI to help decide vote – pollster
Claire Robinson: Why ACT is in trouble
Richard Harman: Labour’s political trap snares National (paywalled)
Grant Duncan: New Zealand’s political fragmentation may be under way (paywalled)
Andrea Vance (Post): Majority want MMP referendum as voters demand more say over coalition deals (paywalled)
Anneke Smith (Post): Electoral Commission ‘confident’ it can boost enrolment to 2023 levels (paywalled)
The Post: Editorial – Don’t let Covid crankery follow us into another election (paywalled)
Henry Cooke (Post): Introducing The Post’s election dashboard (paywalled)
RNZ: ACT launches rural election campaign with vow to ‘make farming fun again’
Julia Gabel (Herald): Act to campaign on making ‘farming fun again’
Saraia Allais (Critic): Paul Henry Unlocked! But Unappreciated?
Chris Penk (Stuff): How hard is it to achieve positive change in politics? This example shows how you can do it
SUPERMARKETS AND GROCERY COMPETITION
RNZ: Labour proposes splitting Foodstuffs and Woolworths from their wholesale arms
Henry Cooke (Post): Labour proposes breaking up Foodstuffs and Woolworths from their wholesale arms (paywalled)
Julia Gabel (Herald): Labour to campaign on new rules for big supermarkets in effort to reduce grocery prices
Chris Trotter (Interest): Don’t call it capitalism
Stuff: Labour announce grocery duopoly policy
Justin Hu (1News): It’s breakup season: Labour, National clash on tearing up grocery duopoly
Giles Dexter (RNZ): Supermarket debate shift ‘encouraging’ Labour, National campaign on reform
Amanda Gillies (RNZ): Supermarket showdown - the battle of the election policy
Ernie Newman: Fact and Fiction; Sense and Hysteria – Thoughts on the Proposed Supermarket Breakup
Nicola Willis and Arena Williams (Herald): National’s Nicola Willis v Labour’s Arena Williams on the supermarket duopoly debate (paywalled)
Richard Harman (Post): The panic behind National’s supermarkets announcement (paywalled)
Brent Edwards (NBR): Competition for supermarket reform heats up (paywalled)
PARLIAMENT, GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC SERVICE
Phil Smith (RNZ): Pity the Committee: 48 meeting days, 55 laws
David Harvey (Herald): The accountability gap at the heart of public service (paywalled)
Gehan Gunasekara (Newsroom): The Regulatory Standards Act fails its first real test
Brent Edwards (NBR): Countering the influence of lobbying and money in politics (paywalled)
Chris Schulz (Spinoff): Louise Upston was advised not to invest in concerts. She did it anyway
Tim Brown (RNZ): ‘His life was worth nothing to them’ - Heartbroken families speak out against work safety rule changes
THE TOM PHILLIPS INQUIRY
Bryce Edwards (Democracy Project): 10 questions arising from the Tom Phillips report
Mihingarangi Forbes: Marokopa: They were telling the truth
Sam Sherwood (RNZ): ‘A very capable and loving father’: Oranga Tamariki’s litany of failures in the Tom Phillips case
Benn Bathgate (Post): Home brew, a bugged bike and other odd revelations in the Tom Phillips report (paywalled)
ECONOMY, BUSINESS AND IMMIGRATION
Danyl McLauchlan (Listener): If you think our economy feels bleak now, wait until the population declines (paywalled)
Isaac Davison (Stuff): Did the Government fulfil its economic promises?
Tom Pullar-Strecker (Post): Simon Bridges says NZ recovery is no longer coming ‒ what if he’s right? (paywalled)
Damien Venuto (Stuff): Kiwis face a potential $764,000 election choice. What National and Labour’s KiwiSaver policies could cost (and give) you
Diana Clement (Herald): Open banking arrival means third parties can help with budgeting, loans and power bills (paywalled)
Michael Sergel (Herald): Construction growth: Multi indicators now pointing to a rebound
Tom Eley (Herald): Hamilton growth: Business leaders discuss housing and local economy (paywalled)
Riley Kennedy (BusinessDesk): Westpac NZ: Farmers financially well placed to weather El Niño (paywalled)
Thomas Manch (BusinessDesk): Water sector 10,000 workers short of meeting spending plans (paywalled)
Pattrick Smellie (BusinessDesk): Fear of AI backlash or lack of leadership? (paywalled)
Mike McRoberts (NBR): Investing in nature for future generations (paywalled)
EDUCATION AND SCREEN TIME
RNZ: National vows to limit screen time in primary schools, early childhood centres
Henry Cooke (Post): National wants to ban screen use in ECE, limit it in primary schools, introduce school readiness check (paywalled)
Julia Gabel (Herald): National to campaign on ending digital screen use in early childhood education
Stuff: National announce policy for early education
1News: National promises screen ban in early childhood education
Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira (RNZ): Early childhood education advocates give screen time policy mixed report card
Derek Cheng (Herald): What shorter attention spans have to do with global education results plummeting to records lows (paywalled)
Shamubeel Eaqub: NZ’s education scores
Ian Taylor (Stuff): An open letter to Erica Stanford
Derek Cheng (Herald): What shorter attention spans have to do with global education results plummeting to records lows (paywalled)
Bevan Connell (Newsroom): Most school bullying policies hide what happens after a report is made
GREENS POLICY ON EMPTY SHOPS
RNZ: Greens announce reforms to lower commercial rents, fill empty shops
The Post: Greens announce reforms to lower commercial rents, fill empty shops (paywalled)
Emma Ricketts (Stuff): Green Party campaigns on inner-city rental auctions for empty shops
Stuff: Greens announce proposal to get vacant commercial spaces filled
Justin Hu (1News): Greens want power for councils to fill vacant city centre shops
Julia Gabel (Herald): Green Party releases plan to boost ‘vibrancy’ of Auckland central
HEALTH
RNZ: New Zealand First reveals plan for ‘bold shift’ in healthcare
Stuff: ‘Make NZ Healthy’: NZ First proposes major overhaul of health system
Julia Gabel (Herald): NZ First’s 15-point health policy feat nutrition, intravenous Vitamin C and informed consent
Ellen O’Dwyer (RNZ): ‘Exasperated’ nurses strike at specialist Waitākere Hospital ward
Paula Penfold (Post): Blood-soaked in a ‘chock-a-block’ hospital ED, a farmer’s heart stopped (paywalled)
Kate Green (RNZ): Patient numbers soar for Whanganui Hospital’s 15-bed emergency department
Jazlyn Whales (Herald): Whanganui Hospital ED: Nurses union claims 680% capacity, Health NZ disputes figure
Denise Piper (Herald): Whangārei Hospital was at critical capacity seven times longer this winter
Herald: Call for better use of resources in mental health and drug addiction services
RNZ: St John welcomes move to allow paramedics to prescribe medicines
Katie Stuart (Press): We cannot keep recruiting doctors we have no intention of keeping (paywalled)
Anaru Eketone (ODT): Medical School admissions equal issues aplenty (paywalled)
Graham Adams: MAPAS defenders fudge facts on competence
Ian Powell: Health Minister misses health targets – yet again!!
Ruth Brown (Listener): Bitter pills: How the multibillion-dollar ‘wellness’ industry manipulates science to make wild claims about health benefits (paywalled)
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Tom Hunt (Post): Wellington deputy mayor warns of ‘significant shock’ with rates cap cuts (paywalled)
Andrea Vance (Post): High-profile lawyer Linda Clark hired for Upper Hutt mayor’s legal fight – ratepayers pick up the tab (paywalled)
Wayne Brown (Herald): Panicked Nats have an ugly agenda in attacking our Independent Māori Statutory Board (paywalled)
Herald: Editorial – Councils are getting hazard warnings, residents should pay attention too (paywalled)
Nick Kearney (Kiwiblog): The Mayors Are Right About Fast-Track: Auckland Council Should Apply The Same Test To Ngā Wairau
Mike White (Post): Santana’s community group is window dressing, PR stunt, says councillor (paywalled)
John MacDonald (Herald): Canterbury Museum redevelopment faces further $7m cost blowout (paywalled)
Jaime Cunningham (Herald): Christchurch NRL team bid: Council-backed bid group held ‘positive’ talks with Government
Ayla Yeoman (Herald): Te Maunga wastewater plant odour: Tauranga City Council cannot identify cause after three months
Janine Rankin (Post): Dog attacks up more than 30% year-on-year (paywalled)
Adam Burns (RNZ): Wellington ‘vulnerable’ after losing FENZ ladder truck to fire, senior firefighter says
JUSTICE
Craig Kapitan (Herald): Auckland socialite Millie Elder-Holmes fails in jurisdiction challenge over gambling ads posted from Hong Kong
Peter de Graaf (RNZ): Number of meth pipes, bongs seized by Customs soars
Silvia Cartwright (Post): TV cameras do alter courtroom behaviour (paywalled)
Natasha Gordon (Herald): New stalking law: Police lay 140 charges and issue 918 notices in four months
Finn Blackwell (RNZ): Nearly 1000 stalking warnings, 140 charges since law came into effect
Alecia Rousseau (Post): Bootcamps to become sentencing option but critics say they are a ‘failed experiment’ (paywalled)
Rachel Moore (RNZ): Hamilton arrest fuels critics’ concerns over citizen’s arrest
CARTOONS
