Author: New Zealand Correspondent

OPINION: Kerre Woodham. The former Prime Minister, the former Health Minister, the leader of the Labour Party has to go. His position is simply untenable. Chris Hipkins has consistently maintained he never received advice telling him there was a risk involved in requiring 12 to 17-year-olds to have a second Covid vaccination. As the Herald headline says this morning, a Cabinet paper shows otherwise. Derek Cheng’s story shows that the Covid Vaccine Technical Advisory Group told the Health Ministry in November that younger age groups are more at risk than older age groups of myocarditis after a second dose.…

Story by Alex Chapman /Sport Nation An All Blacks icon and former captain is being lined up to join Dave Rennie’s coaching group. Sport Nation understands Tana Umaga is one of those being considered as part of a largely rejigged staff under the new All Blacks coach, which could be announced as early as next week. If appointed, the 52-year-old – who was the first Pasifika All Blacks captain – will work under the first All Blacks coach of Polynesian descent. Rennie is of Cook Islands descent through his mother (Titikaveka, Rarotonga), while Umaga is of Samoan heritage. He was granted and…

OPINION: Simeon Brown: Chris Hipkins must explain to Kiwis why he left Auckland in lockdown longer than was necessary, and why Labour embarked on a massive spending spree that New Zealanders are still paying for today, following the release of the COVID-19 Inquiry. Aucklanders endured some of the longest COVID-19 restrictions in the world. Businesses wondered if they would survive, parents had to explain to their kids why they couldn’t see their grandparents, and funerals were held without the people who should have been there. Aucklanders accepted those sacrifices because they trusted the restrictions were necessary. Chris Hipkins stood up…

Story by Nona Pelletier, RNZ SuperGold Card holders are finding it difficult to cash-in on weekly supermarket discounts with a mish-mash of locations, leaving some regions missing out entirely with patchy coverage in others. Age Concern chief executive Kevin Lamb called it an example of “grey washing”. For example, the SuperGold Card was accepted at grocery stores in most central business districts, but not in Gisborne, Marlborough Nelson, Tasman, West Coast districts nor the densely populated Auckland CBD, with a fast-growing resident senior population of more than 2000 people. “It is portraying themselves as supporting older people, but doing what I…

OPINION: Two venerable and time honoured social service providers of New Zealand seem to have decided that the way forward for their organisations is to raise their banner firmly behind those of the belief that Maori are a down trodden class, that Maori in New Zealand have been so terribly disadvantaged by colonisation they now must be dispensed with advantages no other race can access! I have to wonder if these organisations have stopped to consider that their stance may be at odds with their founding principles and, more importantly, detrimental to their ability to “tap the public purse” as…

By Rebecca Styles/ Research Lead/Consumer NZ Home insurance has been hitting the headlines in recent weeks. It’s getting increasingly expensive, and at least one insurer has paused issuing policies in two areas of the country.Now the government is worried about insurance. Earlier this month it announced a review of house and contents insurance to understand why costs continue to rise. We explain what the review means, whether it will bring down insurance bills, and what you can do about costs in the meantime. What the government review will look at Consumer NZ is pleased the government review will cover key aspects…

OPINION: Lindsay Mitchell. Here’s a policy for National. Or ACT. Get rid of the sole parent benefit. Known for decades as the DPB, the Sole Parent Support (SPS) benefit, in today’s world, is an anachronism. It has lost context in modern society. Why? Because most mothers work. They take paid parental leave, which has a maximum entitlement of 6 months, and return to their jobs. Whether they want to would vary, but most would say they have to. Mortgages or rent need to be paid, power, groceries, childcare, etc. In a study population of 74,293 registered births between 1 July 2018 and September…

Story by Ned Lester/Rugby Pass The next chapter of All Blacks rugby will be written by Dave Rennie, and while fans will have to wait until July to get their first taste of what that means for not just New Zealand but the other international heavyweights, there are some statistics that highlight his coaching philosophies. The 62-year-old has won three U20 world championships and two Super Rugby titles, and has since progressed to coach the Wallabies and the Kobe Steelers. Across each of the professional outfits he’s been involved with, a clear priority has been evident. Former All Black James Parsons broke down the numbers on…

Opinion: Peter Williams. February 25 is a significant day for Bendigo — Bendigo in Central Otago that is. Like its Australian namesake, this district was built on gold. In Victoria, large-scale mining never entirely stopped; the Fosterville Gold Mine continues to operate as one of that state’s major producers. In Central Otago, by contrast, the last meaningful gold operations wound down in 1942. Now the question is whether Bendigo, Otago returns to the industry that created it. On February 25 a seven-member expert panel chaired by former High Court judge Matthew Muir KC started considering an application from Santana Minerals…

Story by Matthew Tukaki New Zealand Law Commission is recommending sweeping reform of the country’s adult decision-making laws, calling for new legislation to replace the decades-old Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act 1988. The Commission’s report, He Arotake i te Ture mō ngā Huarahi Whakatau a ngā Pakeke | Review of Adult Decision-making Capacity Law, concludes that the current framework does not adequately protect or promote the autonomy, dignity and equality of adults with affected decision-making capacity. The Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act 1988 governs enduring powers of attorney, welfare guardians and property managers. However, it was enacted before…

Story by Lineni Tuitupou A delegation from Ngāti Ruanui, one of the Taranaki iwi at the centre of seabed mining protests, has hand-delivered a trespass notice to mining company Trans Tasman Resources and its parent company, Manuka Resources. The delegation, which also included Greenpeace Aotearoa, gained access to the head office in Sydney and asked to meet with company leaders. The request was declined. Rukutai Watene, who led the delegation, was barred from a meeting space at the head office by Manuka Resources co-founder Haydn Lynch. “I’m here to issue a trespass notice to Trans Tasman Resources, Manuka Resources. On…

OPINION: Chris McVeigh I enjoy listening to Jim Mora on Radio New Zealand. There are a number of reasons for this. He has a pleasant manner and a calm , not to say soothing, quality to his voice. Neither declamatory nor strident, he chats away to his listeners and his guests as if we and they were sharing a quiet table and a couple of flat whites on an otherwise uneventful Sunday morning. He brings a sort of calm intelligence to the microphone, a quality which alas is sadly in ever short supply in the hectic, opinionated world of broadcasting…

Story by Lynne Taylor Attendance at Baptist Churches in New Zealand increased again in 2025, with data from the latest church statistical returns showing a continued recovery towards pre-covid numbers. Baptism numbers are also increasing, with 876 baptisms celebrated in Baptist churches last year: even more than the 727 baptised in pre-covid 2019. (710 people were baptised in 2024.) Overall, Baptist churches recorded a total weekly onsite attendance of 29,084 people, made up of 22,017 adults, 2818 teenagers and 4249 children. This is a 6.6% increase from 2024; and a 30% increase from the 2022 low. However it is still…

OPINION: Nathan Najib New Zealand Is Being Sold an Economic Lie Capitalism isn’t the problem, cowardly politics is. Socialism doesn’t fail because it’s implemented badly; it fails because it destroys incentives, rewards inefficiency, and punishes the people who actually create value. Inflation is not compassion. Printing money is not kindness. Taxing productivity to subsidise government bloat is not fairness it’s economic vandalism dressed up as virtue. New Zealand is being sold the same lie Argentina swallowed for decades: that government spending creates wealth, that increasing taxes and regulation equals protection, and that punishing success somehow helps the poor. It doesn’t.…

Analysis by Bryce Edwards/Democracy Project. The political left doesn’t want to talk about it. But the most likely outcome of the 2026 general election is a government that includes New Zealand First. And that might even mean a government led by Prime Minister Winston Peters. This will be highly uncomfortable for many, but it doesn’t mean it won’t happen. So, if you wanted to place a strong bet about what happens after November 7, put your money on NZ First being part of the next government. The polls, the strategic logic, the history — they all point in the same…

Source: Waatea News. The release of the Coroner’s findings into the death of Malachai Subecz has reopened deep wounds across Aotearoa, with many describing the tragedy as preventable and avoidable. Malachai’s death triggered practice reviews by six government agencies that had contact with him, his mother Jasmine, or his caregiver Michaela. Those agencies were New Zealand Police, the Department of Corrections, Oranga Tamariki, the Ministry of Social Development, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health. Each agency examined its own actions and decisions. However, the Chief Executives of the six agencies also jointly commissioned an independent review led…

Story by Amy Ridout/Stuff. A couple who live beside a church say late-night music, shouting and drumming is making their lives a misery. When Morris and Jessica first viewed their apartment on Auckland’s Dominion Rd last July, they took note of the Dominion Tongan Methodist Church next door, where a sign advertised daytime services on Wednesdays and Sundays. But after they moved in, they realised the church hosted gatherings most nights. And two or three times each week, the noise is loud enough to keep their 4-year-old son awake, they say. “We hear the band, music, we can hear the…

OPINION: Dr. Bryce Edwards. Many expected fireworks at Waitangi this year. In an election year, with the Government’s record on Treaty issues still fresh and raw, the annual commemorations looked set to be a battleground. Instead, the week turned out to be remarkably calm on the surface. And deeply fractured underneath. The real story of Waitangi 2026 wasn’t about Māori versus the Crown. It was about Māori versus Māori, and an opposition that seems incapable of getting its act together nine months out from polling day. A Quieter Waitangi The overwhelming consensus from journalists and commentators is that Waitangi this…

Opinion: Graham Adams When Chris Hipkins succeeded Jacinda Ardern as Prime Minister in January 2023, he adopted what was essentially a “smaller target” strategy. He announced a policy bonfire to sideline some of the Labour government’s most contentious proposals — including the RNZ-TVNZ merger, hate-speech laws and the biofuels mandate. Instead, he claimed he would concentrate on “bread-and-butter” issues. Initially, his approach worked. Labour shot up in the polls but after several months they began steadily falling. Voters realised Hipkins was not the new broom the media had implausibly portrayed him to be. In particular, it became clear he had…