Articles from ‘elocal magazine’ in ‘In Depth’

An Instagram Reel has revived a remarkable historical allegation: that Jewish scholars secretly helped create Islam to undermine Christianity. An eLocal investigation has traced the story to genuine medieval writings, including a Byzantine chronicle and manuscripts preserved in the Cairo Geniza. What emerges is a documented history of the allegation itself, stretching back more than a thousand years. Report by eLocal · For more than a thousand…

Former US intelligence chief Tulsi Gabbard has warned that democratic freedoms can be surrendered gradually when governments promise greater safety in exchange for greater authority. Her speech at the Texas Youth Summit raises a question with direct implications for New Zealand, where international intelligence sharing, digital surveillance and newly enacted Police powers are testing the boundaries of democratic accountability. Report by eLocal…

Tracy Lynch’s 'Proof Over Power' argues that accountability begins with evidence, not authority. Through 'We Review the Crown', she examines council and court disputes where legal language, procedure, service, accounting and questions of authority can leave ordinary people struggling for clear answers. Her approach is simple: ask for the document, establish the authority, verify the evidence and insist the rules apply both ways. I stepped into…

New Zealand has virtually everything we associate with a functioning democracy: free elections, universal suffrage, MMP, parliamentary debate, select committees, public submissions and even the ability of citizens to force a referendum. Yet a landmark peer-reviewed study of American policymaking raises an uncomfortable question for New Zealand. Having all the machinery of democracy does not necessarily mean ordinary citizens determine what that…

For decades, NESARA has been surrounded by extraordinary stories about secret legislation, presidents, hidden financial resets and worldwide debt forgiveness. But beneath the mythology sits a real and surprisingly detailed economic proposal built around a much bigger question: who should control the creation of a nation's money and who should benefit from the wealth its people create? There Really Is a NESARA · Strip away everything you may…

The COVID-19 pandemic changed New Zealand in ways few events have in modern history. While the Royal Commission has now completed its work, new evidence and investigations overseas are continuing to reshape the international understanding of the pandemic and the decisions that followed. Report by eLocal (PART 1) · History rarely stands still. Major public inquiries are conducted using the best evidence available at the time, but they are not…

Surveillance was once imagined as a camera watched by a police officer in a control room. Today, it is an interconnected commercial ecosystem combining cameras, licence-plate readers, facial recognition, artificial intelligence, cloud storage, digital evidence platforms and enormous searchable databases. · Private companies increasingly build and operate the infrastructure through which governments, police agencies and businesses observe the…

For much of the pandemic, the prevailing public narrative presented by many governments and major media organisations was that COVID-19 most likely originated through a natural spillover event associated with the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan. Over the past several years, however, congressional testimony, declassified intelligence material, internal scientific communications and official audits have prompted renewed scrutiny of that…

Few periods in New Zealand’s modern history have transformed the country as profoundly as the reforms that followed the 1984 General Election. Supporters saw an economy liberated from unsustainable regulation. Critics saw the dismantling of a social and economic model that had protected local ownership, employment and community stability for generations. Based on research provided by Peter MacaDonald | eLocal Investigates · Editor’s Note: This…

The New Zealand Government has described the New Zealand–India Free Trade Agreement (FTA) as one of the country's most significant trade achievements in decades. It promises expanded export opportunities, reduced tariffs and stronger economic ties with one of the world's fastest-growing economies. · Trade agreements shape economies long after the political announcements surrounding them have faded. eLocal has examined the treaty itself together…