POLLS AND THE STATE OF THE RACE
Janet Wilson (Post): The two big parties’ fortunes are rotting from the top (paywalled)
Toby Manhire (Spinoff): Do the polls one month out foretell the election result? Here’s what recent history tells us
Adrian Beaumont (The Conversation): NZ election poll watch: Opportunity holds as potential kingmaker in tight race
Richard Harman: It’s getting “very very” tight (paywalled)
Brent Edwards (NBR): Never mind the odds, it’s what’s at stake that matters (paywalled)
Glenn McConnell (Stuff): Flip Forecaster: National could be left without most senior ministers
Stuff: Major parties failing to cut through as other parties not so ‘minor’
ELECTION DEBATES
Bryce Edwards (Democracy Project): What Luxon’s debate revealed about the next month
Dileepa Fonseka (BusinessDesk): Election 2026 first leaders’ debate: Christopher Luxon and Chris Hipkins enter the Royal Rumble (paywalled)
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): John Key shines in Future of NZ debate, but Tamatha Paul pushes back on billionaires (paywalled)
Jamie Ensor (Herald): Sir John Key, Tamatha Paul sound off on whether billionaires are ‘morally offensive’ in debate
Herald: Sir John Key, experts and politicians face off in the NZ Herald Future of New Zealand Debate
Peter Dunne: Are Leaders’ Debates Still Worth It?
Kerre Woodham (Newstalk ZB): Did we learn anything from the leaders debate?
Steven Cowan: Hipkins and Luxon: Defending the billionaires club
James Ball (1News): Vote Compass: Just two-thirds of National voters think Luxon won Leaders Debate
1News: Luxon v Hipkins debate reaches more than a million New Zealanders
1News: ‘Stop telling lies’: Brown and McAnulty clash in post-debate panel
Veronica Schmidt (Spinoff): The reason Jack Tame kept saying ‘to the waaaall’ during the TVNZ leaders’ debate
Susan Edmunds (RNZ): Finance debate: Where National and Labour agree, and where they don’t
Herald: Rising costs, health, tax the flashpoints of first leaders’ debate
Anna Whyte (Interest): Hipkins and Luxon clash in first leaders’ debate
Caron Copek (Stuff): Forget the Chrises, this woman was the real winner of the debate
Caron Copek (Stuff): ‘It’s a bit embarrassing’: The woman in orange who stole the debate explains things
Te Ao News: Te Tiriti talking point in Waiariki debate ... but undies and bikini baddies still rate a mention
NZ FIRST PARTY LISTS
Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): Novelty trumps loyalty on NZ First’s candidates list
Thomas Coughlan (Herald): NZ First unveils party list with new candidates leapfrogging current caucus
RNZ: NZ First list ranks newcomers above sitting MPs
Emma Ricketts (Stuff): NZ First releases party list, demotes four incumbent MPs in favour of newcomers
1News: New candidates hop sitting MPs as NZ First releases list
Anna Whyte (Interest): NZ First party list: New candidates including ex FMA chair & retired All Black in top 10
Daniel Perese (Te Ao News): NZ First Election list: Six Māori candidates feature in top 10
ODT: Southerners high in NZ First party list (paywalled)
ELECTION CAMPAIGN AND PARTIES
Nik Dirga (RNZ): Explainer: What is the ‘purple vote’ and why is it shrinking?
Jonathan Ayling (Herald): A nation is built for people who cannot yet vote (paywalled)
Joe Hendren: The fear of a Green Finance Minister
RNZ: Everything that happened on the campaign trail on 7 October
The Post: Editorial – Don’t throw away your opportunity, Mr Luxon (paywalled)
Herald: Editorial – Don’t burn the billboard. Beat it at the ballot box (paywalled)
Kate Judson (Post): Passing Carterton motorist extinguishes burning ACT billboard (paywalled)
Herald: Winston Peters raises prospect of revisiting conversion-practices law
Russell Palmer (RNZ): ACT vows to scrap donations tax-break limit
Chlöe Swarbrick (Post): A future beyond fossil fuels starts with better public transport (paywalled)
Will Johnston (Post): Taranaki better placed for change than other regions, O’Connor says (paywalled)
Chris Lynch: From dogs to fireworks: Where New Zealand’s political parties stand on animal welfare
RNZ: Where you can vote in advance and on election day
Lyric Waiwiri-Smith (Spinoff): The winners and losers across every party list
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