Articles from ‘elocal magazine’

New Zealand’s slide down the global corruption rankings has become so predictable it barely causes a stir. Tonight, Transparency International released its annual Corruption Perceptions Index, and New Zealand has dropped again: from 83 to 81, losing another two points and sinking to equal fourth alongside Norway. We are now eight points behind Denmark, which continues to sit comfortably at the top. Over the past four years, New Zealand has lost…

Every society claims its emergencies are exceptional. History shows the opposite: emergencies are the preferred pathway for expanding power, because fear collapses resistance faster than force ever could. New Zealand’s COVID response must be understood not only as a public-health event, but as a **political precedent** — one that future governments will study carefully. The Old Rule: Emergency First, Accountability Later ### Emergency powers…

Frequent sexual fantasies are linked with neuroticism – a personality trait that could put you at risk of a range of physical and mental health problems – according to a study from Michigan State University, US. *Credit: Getty images* Researchers surveyed more than 5,000 US adults about their sexual fantasies and personality traits. The scientists used the Big Five framework, which is widely used in psychology to measure open-mindedness,…

The US Justice Department’s release of more than three million Epstein files (including 180,000 images and 2,000 videos) has blown the doors off the most protected social network of the late twentieth century. What these documents reveal is not just a catalogue of one man’s depravity. It is, as Helen Rumbelow wrote in The Times, like “taking the back off the world clock”, exposing how power actually works at the top of the Western world. And…

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…

History teaches us that wars are not always fought with bombs, troops, or formal declarations. Some are waged quietly — through systems, policies, and narratives that reshape societies from within. So let us pose a hypothetical, not an accusation ### If an adversary wanted to weaken Western democracies without firing a shot, what outcomes would signal success? They might aim to: normalise emergency rule, centralise decision-making beyond…

New Zealand likes to see itself as a principled nation — small, independent, and willing to stand up for public safety even when powerful interests object. We banned nuclear weapons when others told us it would be economically reckless. We rejected certain trade pressures when they conflicted with national values. We pride ourselves on sovereignty. Yet when it comes to COVID-19 and the unprecedented deployment of mRNA technology, New Zealand…

Next week, Brenton Harrison Tarrant, convicted for the Christchurch mosque attacks, will appear before the Court of Appeal. He will argue that his guilty pleas were extracted through coercion and abuse rather than entered freely. *Summarised by Centrist* Tarrant was sentenced in August 2020 to life imprisonment without parole after admitting to murdering 51 people, attempting to murder 40 others, and committing a terrorist act during the 15…

New Zealanders are badly ripped off by profit-gouging companies in some of the country’s most important sectors. The Big Four banking oligopolies make super profits totalling about 3% of GDP. The supermarket duopoly makes excess profits of $1 million a day. The lack of competition in energy, building materials, and other sectors is also gouging consumers. These are all “broken markets” contributing to the “broken New Zealand” we are currently…

The Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance is challenging Mayor Wayne Brown’s misleading claim that a rates cap would only save Auckland households the equivalent of a can of baked beans a month. Josh Van Veen, spokesman for the Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance, says: *“The numbers simply do not lie. In Auckland, average residential rates went up 20.9 percent between 2022 and 2025, from $2,992 to $3,617.33. A 2-4 percent rates cap would have saved the…