All three judicial recounts of tight electorate races have now been completed, with no changes to the overall outcome.

Last week saw Labour’s Rachel Boyack retain the Nelson seat after a recount, while today has confirmed Helen White will indeed be the MP for Mount Albert and that Te Pāti Māori’s Takutai Tarsh Kemp has successfully dethroned Peeni Henare in Tāmaki Makaurau.

In Mount Albert, the recount concluded that White won by 18 votes – two fewer than her lead after the special votes had been counted. In 2020, Jacinda Ardern won this seat, historically a Labour stronghold, by about 21,000 votes.

In Tāmaki Makaurau, Kemp’s lead over Henare was just four after the specials. This has increased to a 42 vote margin following the recount.

All eyes now turn to the November 25 byelection in Port Waikato, after which the election will finally be over (if we have a government, that is).

The numbers are in and the runner-ups for Bird of the Century have been announced, confirming that the John Oliver-endorsed pūteketeke won by a slim margin of about 277,000 votes…

The crested grebe scored 290,374 votes, pipping the North Island brown kiwi which picked up  12,904 votes. In third was the kea with 12,060 votes while the Kākāpō came in fourth with just shy of 11,000 votes.

The top 10 in order

Pūteketeke Australasian crested grebe: 290,374 votes
North Island brown kiwi: 12,904 votes
Kea: 12,060 votes
Kākāpō: 10,889 votes
Pīwakawaka Fantail: 7,857 votes
Tawaki piki toka Eastern rockhopper penguin: 6,763 votes
Karure | Kakaruia Black robin: 6,753 votes
Huia: 6,467 votes
Tūī: 6,457 votes
Takahē: 6,292 votes

Nothing beats a new season launch (well, some things do, but I personally love them) and TVNZ has today dropped a banger line-up for the new year.

The Spinoff’s Alex Casey and Tara Ward have digested all the top lines and put together this handy explainer of 10 shows we can’t wait to see.

Here’s a couple that I’m particularly excited for…

New Zealand’s Best Homes With Phil Spencer

Huge news for the nation that can’t get enough of watching English people go house shopping on Location, Location, Location. One half of the dynamic duo Kirstie and Phil is heading to New Zealand to discover the country’s most impressive homes, speaking to the architects and designers about what makes the houses so unique. Fingers crossed he’ll bring Kirstie with him next time. / Tara Ward 

James Musta-a-pic His Mum a New Man 

The star of Repressed Memories, Abandonment Issues and winner of Celebrity Treasure Island is back with a brand new series that we’re already fizzing for. Fans of Mustapic’s YouTube days and stand-up will be familiar with his mum Janet, who appears to have a near endless tolerance for James’ shenanigans. Now, it seems Mustapic is looking to find his Mum a love match in this original dating show. “From blind dates, clairvoyants and ice baths with the Bachelor Art Green, no stone is left unturned in the search for love,” the synopsis reads. “After all, James might get himself the father figure he’s always wanted.” Shoot it into my veins! / Alex Casey

Find the full list of new shows here

The leaders of National, Act and New Zealand First met for under an hour this morning.

Christopher Luxon was seen leaving his home this morning at about 8.30am and the meeting at Auckland’s Pullman Hotel had wrapped by 9.30am. It was shortly after this that the photo evidence was shared to Twitter.

Act leader David Seymour told RNZ the meeting was “congenial and promising” despite being sub-60 minutes.

“It was useful to get all three of us in a room on neutral territory in a place where we can turn three into one for the purpose of delivering a government programme, but also recognise that we have three separate parties,” he said.

“It certainly served its purpose of getting us together and getting that dynamic of us three talking about how we can operate together and how a government can function.”

Reports have suggested that it will still be a few days until any coalition agreement is agreed to. But getting all three leaders in the same place was certainly a positive start.

It’s finally happened. One month and one day after New Zealanders went to the polls, the leaders of the incoming coalition government have sat down in Auckland.

In a post on social media, Christopher Luxon grinned alongside David Seymour and Winston Peters. “Good meeting,” wrote the incoming prime minister. “There’s still work to do – but making serious progress to forming a government to deliver for Kiwis.”

Peters also shared the photo, though sans caption, and was several minutes quicker to share the image.

From a brief Google search, it appears the trio have met at the Pullman Hotel – though I’m no expert when it comes to five star accommodation.

It’s emerged that Chris Hipkins’ decision to put a wealth or capital gains tax back on the table wasn’t a slip of the tongue.

The Herald’s Thomas Coughlan has details from inside Labour’s post-election debrief, in which it’s been revealed the tax u-turn was “something of a compromise” to appease disaffected MPs.

Hipkins ruled out the tax during the election campaign as a captain’s call, overriding work that had been carried out by senior members of his party including David Parker. At the time, he said he was ruling it out for his tenure as leader – but last week backtracked said the rule-out had ended when Labour lost the election.

According to Coughlan, Hipkins put the possibility of tax changes back on the table as an “olive branch to the dissenters”, though it doesn’t guarantee they will become party policy in time for the 2026 election.

In July 2022, then director-general of health, Sir Ashley Bloomfield, directed 14 councils to fluoridate their water, with deadlines between this year and 2026. As Stuff’s Charlie Mitchell reports, the directives have been found to be unlawful by the High Court based on a procedural error. The preliminary decision was released on Friday and determined that Bloomfield did not give specific consideration to the Bill of Rights Act in making them.

As Mitchell reports, the decision emerged from a judicial review by New Health New Zealand, a Christchurch-based natural health lobby group. Fluoride opponents argue that mandatory fluoridation breaches the Bill of Rights. A 2018 Supreme Court judgment found that fluoridation of drinking water does not breach an individual’s right to refuse to undergo medical treatment under the Bill of Rights. However, Justice Paul Radich found that decision-makers were required to show they had considered the Bill of Rights in decisions that touched upon it. Such a consideration did not need to be “an undue burden,” Radich said.

Want to read The Bulletin in full? Click here to subscribe and join over 39,000 New Zealanders who start each weekday with the biggest stories in politics, business, media and culture. 

In news that will surprise no one, the pūteketeke has romped home in this year’s Bird of the Year competition.

After two weeks of voting, the Australian crested grebe has been named the “Bird of the Century” and donned a fancy crown atop its orange mullet.

“Pūteketeke began as an outside contender for Bird of the Century but was catapulted to the top spot thanks to its unique looks, adorable parenting style, and propensity for puking,” said Forest and Bird chief executive Nicola Toki.

“We’re not surprised these charming characteristics caught the eye of an influential bird enthusiast with a massive following.”

That “bird enthusiast” was British-American comedian and late night show host John Oliver who launched an “alarmingly aggressive” campaign for the unusual bird.

According to Forest and Bird, over 350,000 verified votes were cast for the competition from 195 countries – well up from the previous record of 56,733 votes.

There were some fraudulent votes, including one person who cast 40,000 votes for the tawaki piki toka eastern rockhopper penguin (possibly after it was featured on an episode of Jimmy Fallon’s show, in which Oliver appeared in full pūteketeke garb).

Meanwhile, 45 valid votes were cast by people giving the name John Oliver. Of these, 44 were for the pūteketeke – one was for the New Zealand fairy tern.

All signs pointed to yesterday being the first in-person meeting between the leaders of National, Act and New Zealand First.

Stuff’s Tova O’Brien has broken down how it all played out, but here’s the short version. Christopher Luxon arrived in the capital first and said very little. Then David Seymour arrived and gave the crucial tidbit: “We’re happy to meet anyone anytime, and we’re all in Wellington now, so that’s gotta make it easier.”

Throughout the day it slowly became apparent that wasn’t going to happen. Winston Peters never arrived (his own caucus didn’t know where he was, at first), and 12 hours later both Luxon and Seymour were back at the airport making a late night trip to Auckland. “Not everyone turned up, but hey, what can you do,” Seymour told reporters staked out at Auckland Airport.

Reports slowly emerged that it would actually be today that the three leaders got in a room together, but it would be in Auckland and not Wellington.

RNZ’s Jane Patterson said this morning that both Luxon and Seymour obviously believed Peters was going to turn up yesterday – but the NZ First leader was a “no show”.

“The plan today is to have that meeting and get the three leaders sitting around a table together,” she said. “There’s absolutely positioning and power-playing going on, we are dealing with a very experienced and strategic politician in Winston Peters.”

All the while this is happening, the caretaker Labour government keeps things ticking over. Outgoing trade minister Damien O’Connor has headed to San Francisco to attend Apec in Luxon’s place. The Spinoff’s Toby Manhire takes a look at what the Labour government is and isn’t doing while in caretaker mode.

While it’s a positive move forward to finally have all the leaders together, it’s been reported that this doesn’t mean a new government will be formed imminently. Patterson said it appeared the parties had signed off on common areas, they were now arguing over the wording of the coalition deal.

According to Politik’s Richard Harmon, National’s tax package remains the sticking point and there is reportedly “not yet a consensus on how to go forward”.

Luke Malpass in The Post said it was understood a new government may now not be formed until early next week, while Newshub’s Jenna Lynch reported that both Act and New Zealand First were unhappy with being “low-balled” by National during initial talks. “My sources are telling me not to read into it that a deal was imminent,” added Lynch.

But before any talk of a coalition deal can be put to bed, Peters first has to turn up. Let the games begin (again) – this time in Auckland.