Articles from ‘elocal magazine’ in ‘Election’

Labour has promised to leave residential landlords’ mortgage-interest deductions in place if it forms the next government, drawing a positive response from property investors. The decision removes one proposed source of uncertainty for landlords, but its effects on rents, house prices and first-home buyers remain open to examination Report by eLocal Labour leader Chris Hipkins has confirmed that his party will not reverse the current…

Te Pāti Māori proposes using public money to help establish Māori-owned supermarket chains. The announcement raises questions about access to business funding, who would bear the financial risk, and how the proposed investment compares with other demands on New Zealand’s public purse Report by eLocal · Te Pāti Māori has proposed $100 million in seed funding for Māori-owned supermarket chains and regenerative and organic farming training as part…

ACT is promising to open more of New Zealand's electricity system to competition while rejecting calls to break up the country's major generator-retailers. The policy could give households and private investors more freedom to generate, sell and move electricity, but the central question is whether greater competition around the edges of the system will translate into lower costs, greater resilience and more generation for consumers Report by…

National says it will pursue separating Pak'nSave from New World and Four Square if returned to government, potentially transforming New Zealand's supermarket market from two dominant groups into three nationwide competitors. The proposal is backed by economic modelling suggesting lower grocery prices, but the same analysis shows the outcome depends heavily on costs, implementation and whether genuine competition actually follows eLocal Report:…

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters is proposing that from 2029, eligibility for NZ Superannuation should require New Zealand citizenship, not simply permanent residency. Duncan Garner argues the proposal deserves serious debate as the cost of Super rises and an ageing population places increasing pressure on future taxpayers. Winston Peters Wants NZ Super Restricted to Citizens · NZ First proposal puts residency, citizenship and Super…

Immigration is emerging as a sharp dividing line in the 2026 election campaign, with ACT and New Zealand First advocating tighter controls while National, Labour and the Greens warn against policies they say could restrict needed workers or unfairly target migrants. The competing approaches raise a larger question: should immigration primarily meet immediate labour demand, or be managed against New Zealand's longer-term capacity to provide…

ACT is campaigning to end the Waitangi Tribunal’s contemporary jurisdiction, arguing the institution has become increasingly ideological and expansive. Critics say the proposal misunderstands the Tribunal’s original purpose and would remove an important mechanism for scrutinising how government decisions affect Māori rights. eLocal Report: Based on reporting by Giles Dexter for RNZ HERE. · ACT has placed the future of the Waitangi Tribunal…

WELLINGTON — The NZ Outdoors & Freedom Party ("Freedom") is proud to announce that prominent whistleblower and transparency advocate Barry Young will stand as a candidate for the party in the 2026 General Election. · Barry Young was the database administrator who developed the "pay-per-dose" system for Health NZ. He is better known for whistleblowing when the data showed unexpectedly high post-vax deaths. He was subsequently raided by armed…

New Zealand’s two largest political parties have both fallen below 30 percent in the latest Taxpayers’ Union-Curia poll, while support has shifted sharply towards the Greens and ACT. Despite National’s decline, the current National-ACT-NZ First coalition would still retain a parliamentary majority on the poll’s projected seats. eLocal Report: Based on reporting by RNZ Digital reporters for RNZ. · New Zealand’s political landscape is showing…

National says widening access to 5 percent-deposit mortgages will help thousands more New Zealanders into their first homes. But viewed through eLocal’s Hollowing Out of New Zealand investigation, the policy raises a more fundamental question: does helping households take on larger mortgages actually create national wealth — or does it reinforce the financial system that helped make housing unaffordable in the first place? eLocal Report: Based…