Articles from ‘elocal magazine’ in ‘Opinion’

The scandal around Paul Eagle keeps getting uglier. · Last week this column set out the Auditor-General’s damning findings on Eagle’s tenure as chief executive of the Chatham Islands Council: the $460,000 gold-plated house renovation, the fabricated documents, the forged builder’s signature, the admission that he “panicked.” The Serious Fraud Office is now assessing whether to open a criminal investigation. · What has received less scrutiny…

New Zealand has just been handed a harsh reality check. Behind the polished language and carefully managed messaging, one truth is now impossible to ignore: When it comes to fuel security, this Government has no Plan B. · That is not a minor policy gap. That is a national vulnerability. · Fuel is not optional. It is the backbone of the economy. It powers freight, agriculture, emergency services, construction, aviation, and the movement of…

New Zealand politics just got personal. On Sunday evening, Labour leader Chris Hipkins’ ex-wife Jade Paul posted a series of claims about him on her private Facebook page. The post was deleted. Hipkins issued a five-word denial: “I reject the allegations entirely.” He’s seeking legal advice. And just like that, we’re having a national conversation about the oldest and most uncomfortable question in political life: when does a politician’s…

Part I... Part 2... · If Part 2 described the repositioning of New Zealand inside global financial architecture, Part 3 shows what that repositioning produced. · The hollowing out becomes visible here. · Not in theory. In productivity. In industry. In money flow. · From High Productivity to Stagnation · In the 1950s and early 1960s, New Zealand ranked among the highest-income nations in the developed world. Its productivity performance…

New Zealanders recently received reassuring economic messaging from the banking sector, including commentary from Kiwibank suggesting that global oil market movements could ease domestic fuel pressures and improve inflation prospects. But behind the optimism lies a deeper structural problem. · Unless the New Zealand Government takes immediate action on internal fuel pricing and supply resilience, any short-term economic gains will disappear…

The COVID-19 Royal Commission phase two report has landed, and Duncan Garner says it makes for incredibly uncomfortable reading for anyone thinking of voting for Chris Hipkins again. The report confirms that major decisions, including mandates affecting children and the extension of extraordinary powers, were made despite warnings from experts. Duncan asks why there is so little accountability when the architects of these policies have moved on…

Election year is ten weeks old and already the donations register at the Electoral Commission tells a familiar but uncomfortable story. Nearly a million dollars in large donations has been declared so far in 2026. The coalition parties have opened the year with a commanding fundraising lead. The opposition parties are barely visible. And the people making the biggest donations are the same sorts of donors who usually dominate this terrain:…

Aly Cook, board member of the New Zealand Outdoors & Freedom Party (NZOFP), says the time for inquiries and "lessons learned" is over. Following the release of the Royal Commission’s Phase Two report, Cook is calling for immediate criminal investigation against the officials who suppressed evidence of harm from the novel mRNA vaccine and those who continued to promote it, despite being aware of the risks of myocarditis, pericarditis and other…

If you want to understand what will happen on 7 November, forget the polls for a moment. Forget the horse-race coverage, the personality contests, and the pundit predictions. Instead, read Danyl McLauchlan’s cover story in this week’s Listener magazine. It’s the sharpest piece of political analysis I’ve read this cycle – and probably the most important you’ll read before voting day McLauchlan’s article draws on the 2023 New Zealand Election…

There are moments in history when professions are tested. · Doctors. Judges. Journalists. · The pandemic was one of those moments. · In a recent interview, Patrick Gower admitted something extraordinary: he crossed a journalistic line. He acknowledged being “too entrenched” in a pro-vaccine stance. He conceded his ethics slipped “for the greater good.” He admitted he became an advocate rather than an observer. · Then came the line that stopped…