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State housing in Hutt Valley (Photo: Alexander Robertson/RNZ, additional design: The Spinoff)

The government tightens another link in the housing safety net

The social housing reforms are just the latest in a series of sweeping changes to the way accommodation support is managed.
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By Catherine McGregor | 22nd May, 2026
Contributing writer
NZ First MP Jenny Marcroft, whose members bill would legislate the definition of male and female.

NZ First’s gender definition bill passes first parliamentary hurdle

NZ First submits members’ bills the way other parties write press releases. This week, one made it all the way to the house.
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By Catherine McGregor | 21st May, 2026
Contributing writer
Lambton Quay, Wellington. (Photo: Getty Images)

Wellington prepares for another public sector shock

The government is planning to shrink the public service to its smallest level in nearly a decade – and the capital is bracing for impact.
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By Catherine McGregor | 20th May, 2026
Contributing writer
Winston Peters and his object of desire. (Photo: Getty Images/Victor Komarovsky/The Spinoff)

‘Preposterous. Crazy. Off the planet loopy’: Peters’ BNZ plan meets its critics

NZ First's plan to buy back the Bank of New Zealand has attracted scepticism – even downright ridicule – from across the political spectrum.
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By Catherine McGregor | 19th May, 2026
Contributing writer
Candidates jostle for position as electoral strategies take shape

Candidates jostle for position as electoral strategies take shape

Comeback bids, tactical votes and bipartisan hints: a round-up of recent Election 2026 news and analysis.
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By Catherine McGregor | 18th May, 2026
Contributing writer
An OECD report on the NZ economy says the current NZ Super system in unsustainable. (Image: Getty)

The superannuation debate is back – but reform looks like a non-starter

With NZ First blocking any change on the right and the left reluctant to touch a valued benefit, does it matter how good the arguments are?
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By Catherine McGregor | 15th May, 2026
Contributing writer
Conservation minister Tama Potaka in front of the view of Piopiotahi/Milford Sound from Gertrude Saddle. (Image: Shanti Mathia/Lyric Waiwiri-Smith)

International visitor fees incoming as conservation reform bill passes first hurdle

The same week 13,500 people queued to book the Milford Track, parliament debated how to manage New Zealand’s most popular natural places – and who pays.
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By Catherine McGregor | 14th May, 2026
Contributing writer
The Opportunity Party leader Qiulae Wong (Photo: Supplied)

The Opportunity Party is having a moment

TOP has a new policy platform, a new leader and a newly curious supporter base. After a decade on the margins, is this finally the party's year?
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By Catherine McGregor | 13th May, 2026
Contributing writer
Te Pati Māori co-leaders Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi(Photo: Mark Mitchell /New Zealand Herald via Getty Images)

The further unravelling of Te Pāti Māori

With Mariameno Kapa-Kingi gone and questions swirling over the future of two more MPs, the party is set for a difficult six months ahead.
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By Catherine McGregor | 12th May, 2026
Contributing writer
Winston Peters and Nicola Willis have announced the death of the fees-free scheme, announced with much fanfare in 2017 by Jacinda Ardern and Grant Robertson

The troubled life and death of the fees-free tertiary scheme

Labour's flagship policy never quite fulfilled its promise.
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By Madeleine Chapman | 11th May, 2026
Contributing editor
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

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