ELECTION 2026 CAMPAIGN
Emily Simpson (1News): ‘It’s going to get scrappy’: Tova O’Brien and Jack Tame predict a heated Election 2026
Giles Dexter (RNZ): Politicians have fled Parliament. Here’s what they say to expect on the campaign trail
Henry Cooke (Sunday Star Times): 8000 door knocks, a league table and a bit of rain - inside the first weekend of the election campaign (paywalled)
Vernon Small (Sunday Star Times): Another week, another policy quietly shuffled into the ‘later’ pile (paywalled)
Kylie Klein Nixon (Sunday Star Times): To get youth voting, we might need to take the piss a little bit (paywalled)
Caroline Williams (Stuff): Orange Guy got a $140k makeover - but something’s missing
Matthew Hooton (Sunday Star Times): Don’t make the Orange Guy angry and drag you off to court (paywalled)
Peter Davis (Sunday Star Times): If I was PM: How to reach a new equilibrium on fiscal responsibility (paywalled)
Duncan Garner (Listener): Forget the Nicky Hager sideshow, there’s a new cost-of-living shock set to hit before election day (paywalled)
NICKY HAGER’S DIRTY WORK
Damien Grant (Stuff): Why Nicky Hager’s latest book falls well short
Heather du Plessis-Allan (Herald): Nicky Hager’s Dirty Work attack on Taxpayers’ Union ‘naive’ (paywalled)
Matthew Tukaki (Waatea News): Dirty Work, Maiki Sherman and the Question of Who Really Shapes Our Politics
Steven Cowan: Dirty Work: Shining a Light on the Machinery of Conservative Politics
Stewart Sowman-Lund (Sunday Star Times): Nicky Hager still makes the media lose its mind: Do we all need to calm down? (paywalled)
CHRIS HIPKINS AND LABOUR ON THE TRAIL
Anna Thomas (RNZ): Where did the nickname ‘Chippy’ come from?: A road trip with Chris Hipkins
Tuwhenuaroa Natanahira (RNZ): Labour’s Chris Hipkins targets Auckland turnout ahead of campaign launch
Jamie Ensor (Herald): Has Labour’s Chris Hipkins’ campaigning improved since 2023 – and what’s Trevor Mallard doing? (paywalled)
RNZ: ‘What’s a woman?’: Vision NZ’s Karl Mokaraka heckles Chris Hipkins at Ōtara Markets
Jamie Ensor (Herald): Karl Mokaraka heckles Chris Hipkins at Ōtara markets as Trevor Mallard steps in
NZ FIRST, THE WAITANGI TRIBUNAL AND THE TREATY
Andrea Vance (Sunday Star Times): Winston’s winning the Long War (paywalled)
RNZ: New Zealand First announces plan to abolish Waitangi Tribunal
Herald: NZ First plan to abolish Waitangi Tribunal, shift modern claims to Māori ministry
Stuff: NZ First pledges 100-day plan to abolish Waitangi Tribunal
1News: NZ First vow to ‘immediately abolish’ Waitangi Tribunal if elected
Chris Knox (Herald): Whenua 2.0: Updated map, new histories showing Māori-Pākeha land deals in New Zealand
ACT’S NOISE CAMERA POLICY
RNZ: ACT promises noise cameras to combat boy racers in Tāmaki
Jamie Ensor (Herald): Election 2026: Act wants to deploy ‘noise cameras’ to catch loud cars, boy racers
Emma Ricketts (Stuff): ACT to clamp down on noisy cars
1News: ACT promises noise cameras, tougher penalties for loud vehicles
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: SUPERMARKETS AND THE FOODSTUFFS BREAKUP; ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY; PARLIAMENT, GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC SERVICE; JUSTICE AND POLICE; ECONOMY AND BUSINESS; CITY RAIL LINK, TRANSPORT AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT; HEALTH; CARTOONS