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The political party leaders of 2026

Six months and six million dollars until the election

It's time for a political health check-up.
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By Madeleine Chapman | 8th May, 2026
Contributing editor
Media and communications minister Paul Goldsmith

The end of the BSA and what comes next

The agency that upholds broadcasting standards is set to be disestablished.
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By Madeleine Chapman | 7th May, 2026
Contributing editor
RMA reform minister Chris Bishop and local government minister Simon Watts

Plan for merger or we’ll do it for you: the government’s council ultimatum

Councils have three months to come up with amalgamation plans – or have change imposed on them.
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By Catherine McGregor | 6th May, 2026
Contributing writer
Getty Images

New Zealand is leading the world in not getting married

Statistics show that marriage isn't just on the slide here – we're topping the tables on nearly every measure of marriage’s retreat.
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By Catherine McGregor | 5th May, 2026
Contributing writer
Christopher Luxon and Nicola Willis have touched down in Singapore, but TVNZ political editor Maiki Sherman isn’t among the press pack.

Luxon and Willis in Singapore – while one member of the press pack stays behind

TVNZ political editor Maiki Sherman's suspension from parliament has seen her dropped from a major international trip. Is it a problem that a journalist has herself become a story?
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By Catherine McGregor | 4th May, 2026
Contributing writer
Winston Peters and Christopher Luxon in happier times, signing the 2023 coalition agreement.  (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

Is the Luxon-Peters coalition running out of road?

Peters has poked at Luxon plenty of times before, but this latest falling out is a new low for their relationship.
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By Catherine McGregor | 1st May, 2026
Contributing writer
Chris Hipkins’ softly softly approach is keeping his poll numbers up – but will voters soon demand more? (Image: Getty / The Spinoff)

Labour’s blank canvas election strategy is working – for now

They say they'll release more policy once the budget is out. But is Labour's lack of ideas already becoming a problem?
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By Catherine McGregor | 30th April, 2026
Contributing writer
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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?
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By Catherine McGregor | 22nd April, 2026
Contributing writer
Flooding near a Wellington Palmers Garden Centre on Saturday. (Photo: Krystal Gibbens/RNZ)

Wellington faces another dangerous day as red warning stays in place

After one of the worst flooding events in the region's recent history, forecasters warn even short bursts of rain could cause fresh havoc.
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By Catherine McGregor | 21st April, 2026
Contributing writer
The anti-Luxonites’ preferred solution, that the prime minister voluntarily steps aside, runs into one obvious problem: he doesn’t want to.

Luxon’s most difficult fortnight has begun

Another bad poll result confirms National's slide – but does anyone in caucus have the stomach to do something about it?
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By Catherine McGregor | 20th April, 2026
Contributing writer
Allbirds stock surged more than 700% on the news of its rebrand, establishing itself as the market’s new meme-stock du jour

From merino to machine learning: Allbirds’ wild AI pivot

The NZ-founded company that once sold Silicon Valley its favourite sneaker is now trying to sell it computing power.
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By Catherine McGregor | 17th April, 2026
Contributing writer
Anthony Albanese and Christopher Luxon at a press conference in Queenstown, August 9, 2025. (Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

Why isn’t NZ copying Australia’s approach to the fuel crisis?

Australia has halved its fuel tax, moved to level two of its response plan, and sent its prime minister on a fuel-security tour of Asia. New Zealand has done none of these things. Does that matter?
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By Catherine McGregor | 16th 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.
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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?
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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.
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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.
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By Catherine McGregor | 10th April, 2026
Contributing writer

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