The Bulletin

Despite high hydro levels, electricity prices are going up and up – and the Electricity Authority wants to know why. (Image: Getty / The Spinoff)

What is pushing power prices up? The electricity regulator wants to know

Gentailers have raised prices 8% for two years running while banking sky-high profits. Now the Electricity Authority is formally asking why.

By Catherine McGregor | 29th April, 2026

Contributing writer

Heavy vehicles to get an easier ride in ministers’ latest bid to avoid fuel rationing

Heavy vehicles to get an easier ride in ministers’ latest bid to avoid fuel rationing

Rules for trucks and lorries will be relaxed to encourage more efficient diesel use – but some critics say such tweaks are only delaying the inevitable.

By Catherine McGregor | 28th April, 2026

Contributing writer

New Zealand’s economic recovery has been ‘delayed, but not derailed’ by the fuel crisis, finance minister Nicola Willis says.

New Zealand ‘clearly on notice’ after credit agency downgrade

With the long-promised return to surplus potentially pushed out a fourth year, the international ratings agencies' patience is wearing thin.

By Catherine McGregor | 24th April, 2026

Contributing writer

The signing of the memorandum of understanding for the NZ-India free trade agreement, March 17, 2025 in New Delhi, India. L-R: prime minister Christopher Luxon, trade minister Todd McClay, prime minister Narendra Modi, animal husbandry and dairying minister S P Singh Baghel. (Photo: Chandradeep Kumar/ The India Today Group via Getty Images)

Will the India free trade agreement actually become law?

The trade minister will sign the India FTA in New Delhi next week. Getting parliament to ratify it is another matter.

By Catherine McGregor | 23rd April, 2026

Contributing writer

Prime minister Christopher Luxon and senior minister Chris Bishop speak to media in February 2025. (Photo: Mark Mitchell/New Zealand Herald via Getty Images)

Final curtain or only intermission? Why the Luxon drama is set to continue

The prime minister forced a confidence vote and won. But has anything actually changed?

By Catherine McGregor | 22nd April, 2026

Contributing writer

The Dunstan Mountains near Cromwell, Central Otago. (Photo: Antonina Kraakman/Getty Images)

The plan to dig a 300-metre-deep goldmine into the Central Otago hills

The proposed Bendigo-Ophir goldmine has drawn opposition from Sam Neill, Helen Clark, and now the government's own environment watchdog.

By Catherine McGregor | 15th April, 2026

Contributing writer

With the US now threatening to block the few oil tankers currently making it through the Strait of Hormuz, the cost of NZ’s fuel dependence is impossible to ignore. (Photo: Getty Images)

One more chance for New Zealand to kick its oil habit

Could reframing energy independence as a national security issue, rather than a climate one, be our best chance to go electric?

By Catherine McGregor | 14th April, 2026

Contributing writer

Police at the location of one of Tom Phillips’ campsites just off the Te Anga Road near Waitomo. (Photo: Dean Purcell/NZ Herald via Getty Images)

Who controls the Tom Phillips story?

With the family opposed and the Marokopa community silent, police are set to hold a remarkable amount of sway over a Netflix documentary about their own conduct.

By Catherine McGregor | 13th April, 2026

Contributing writer

According to one dealer, buyers have gone from carefully researching models to ‘What EVs have you got? OK, we’ll buy it.’ (Photo: Getty Images)

Fomo at the forecourt: EV sales skyrocket amid surging fuel prices

Fear of missing out on cheaper running costs has sent EV registrations soaring four-fold – and now dealers are selling cars that haven't even left Japan.

By Catherine McGregor | 10th April, 2026

Contributing writer

Vice president JD Vance, president Donald Trump, secretary of state Marco Rubio, and secretary of defence Pete Hegseth. (Image: CARLOS BARRIA/POOL/AFP via Getty Images/The Spinoff)

What does the Iran ceasefire mean for New Zealand?

The two-week pause in hostilities sent oil prices tumbling – but economists, the Reserve Bank and the government all agree the crisis is far from over.

By Catherine McGregor | 9th April, 2026

Contributing writer

Simeon Brown and Chris Bishop at the 2023 National party conference. (Image: Hagen Hopkins /Getty Images/The Spinoff)

Why Simeon Brown was handed the reins of National’s election campaign

The reshuffle that stripped Chris Bishop of his key party roles has presented National's wunderkind with the challenge of a lifetime.

By Catherine McGregor | 8th April, 2026

Contributing writer

Amid the alarm, one economic commentator is ‘sticking with the broadly optimistic tone’ he has maintained since the conflict began. (Photo: Getty Images)

Fuel stocks hold – but is NZ’s economic position more fragile than it looks?

While some warn the true cost of Operation Epic Fury is only beginning to land, one economic commentator is finding reasons to be cheerful.

By Catherine McGregor | 7th April, 2026

Contributing writer

The first cabinet meeting of the new government, November 27, 2023. (Mark Coote/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Reshuffle day: who’s getting a new role in cabinet?

With Judith Collins and Shane Reti on their way out of government, the PM is rearranging portfolios for likely his final time before the election.

By Catherine McGregor | 2nd April, 2026

Contributing writer

The government is lowering Auckland’s minimum housing capacity target – again. (Photo: Getty Images)

The great Auckland housing climbdown

Another week, another reduction to Auckland’s housing targets – exposing deep disagreements about what the city actually needs.

By Catherine McGregor | 1st April, 2026

Contributing writer

Why diesel prices are outstripping petrol – and how we got here

Why diesel prices are outstripping petrol – and how we got here

As fuel costs bite, Shane Jones' decision to scrap a plan for an emergency diesel reserve is coming under scrutiny.

By Catherine McGregor | 31st March, 2026

Contributing writer

Nicola Willis and Christopher Luxon at the March 19 press conference about the government’s fuel crisis response. (Photo: Marty Melville / AFP via Getty Images)

‘Missing in action’: what commentators make of Luxon’s fuel crisis role

While Nicola Willis wins plaudits for her handling of the fuel crisis, her boss is facing questions about his absence from his government’s biggest test.

By Catherine McGregor | 30th March, 2026

Contributing writer