Articles from ‘elocal magazine’ in ‘Election’

With just five months until the 2026 General Election, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters used a public meeting in Cambridge to deliver a wide-ranging speech focused on cost-of-living pressures, immigration, free trade, national identity, media accountability and what he described as the need to "keep hope alive" for New Zealand's future. By elocal · Introduced by Associate Health Minister Casey Costello, Peters spoke for more than an hour…

National's Finance Minister Nicola Willis has launched a direct challenge to Labour, claiming the opposition party has accumulated an $18.2 billion gap between its spending commitments and identified revenue sources. At a Sunday press conference in Wellington, Willis released a document she says compiles Labour's publicly announced spending commitments and compares them against the party's proposed revenue measures, most notably its capital…

13 June 2026 – New Zealand is sleepwalking into an energy crisis, and the Government’s proposed solution will cost every household and business in the country dearly for decades to come, warns the New Zealand Outdoors & Freedom Party (NZOFP). For years, New Zealand relied on abundant, low-cost domestic natural gas to stabilise the electricity grid, support industry, and keep winter power prices under control. That era is ending far faster than…

Labour has unveiled its first significant election policy announcement of 2026, promising a $20 weekly cap on public transport fares in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, with a $10 weekly cap for regional public transport users. ELOCAL REPORT · The party says the policy would cost approximately $65 million per year and deliver savings of up to $1,200 annually for some commuters. · However, while the announcement generated headlines, public…

The coalition government remains narrowly ahead in the latest Taxpayers' Union-Curia poll, but the result shows no meaningful post-Budget bounce for National, ACT or New Zealand First. The poll gives the three governing parties a combined 62 seats, just one more than the 61 needed to command a majority in Parliament. · That is the same seat outcome recorded in last month's poll, suggesting Budget 2026 has not shifted the political dial in the…

Labour has unveiled its candidate list for the November election, introducing 30 new candidates and signalling a significant refresh of the party's parliamentary team as it seeks to return to government. !Labour Election List Launch · Labour leader Chris Hipkins unveils the party's candidate list for the November election. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone · Labour has unveiled its candidate list for the November election, introducing 30 new…

By Mike Hosking · I asked for the surplus to arrive sooner than previously forecast and, as though she was listening this time yesterday, the first words out of Nicola Willis' mouth were it will be a year ahead of schedule. · You can't ask for more than that. · That’s not an election year lolly, but I'm increasingly of the belief that a growing number of New Zealanders have got the message. · A growing number of us have been shaken into the…

Fuel prices have rapidly climbed into one of the biggest political and economic concerns facing New Zealanders, according to a new Ipsos Issues Monitor survey that paints an increasingly uneasy picture of household confidence heading into the next election cycle. By elocal Political Desk · Fuel prices have rapidly climbed into one of the biggest political and economic concerns facing New Zealanders, according to a new Ipsos Issues Monitor…

Duncan Garner's latest podcast focused on three themes that he argued are increasingly colliding in New Zealand politics: transparency, political culture and the widening gap between government systems and the experiences of everyday people. By elocal New Zealand Desk · Source: Duncan Garner Podcast, 26 May 2026 · The discussion moved from Labour's proposed Future Fund and leaked internal audio, through to powerful feedback from listeners…

A former senior National Party minister has launched a scathing attack on New Zealand First, calling on his former party to “extricate themselves from this grisly coalition and declare war on New Zealand First”. Chris Finlayson also cast doubt on whether the current coalition government will last through to the next election, pointing to growing tensions between National and NZ First. · Those tensions have intensified following the release of…