Articles from ‘elocal magazine’

Labour leader Chris Hipkins has indicated he is “open” to discussions around whether New Zealand’s superannuation system should be means-tested, marking a potential shift in one of the country’s most politically sensitive policy areas. Speaking on Newstalk ZB, Hipkins made it clear he is not advocating for immediate or unilateral change, but acknowledged that questions are now being raised around the fairness of universal entitlement. · “I…

A remotely operated robot has retrieved artifacts from a 16th-century shipwreck more than 1.5 miles beneath the Mediterranean, offering a glimpse into how precision deep-sea robotics is transforming underwater exploration. Guided from a support vessel above, the system used camera-fed navigation and robotic pincers to maneuver across fragile debris fields, capture high-resolution imagery, and recover centuries-old objects without disturbing the…

by Tyler Durden · Summary · Trump: "The [price of] gasoline and the oil will go down rapidly once the war’s over." GOP Sen. Collins switches vote on war powers. · Bessent on X: "Amid the impact of Economic Fury, Iran’s currency has hit an all-time low. The Iranian people deserve a new era, which the corrupt and shambolic Iranian regime cannot provide." Signals hope for uprising, regime change. · Israeli Defense Minister Katz: "soon we will…

A Trump-Putin call signals alignment against Europe's Ukraine war, the UAE walks out of OPEC cracking the petrodollar trap, and the Pentagon quietly stands up the Office of Strategic Capital — a $210B internal investment bank to rebuild American industry. Susan Kokinda argues that a Trump-Putin phone call signaled alignment in blaming Zelenskyy and European governments for prolonging the Ukraine war, followed by the Kremlin confirming a Victory…

Overview · New Zealand’s fuel distribution network is entering a tightening phase, with limited vessel activity and widening gaps across several ports. · So far this month: · Total moorings: 6 Total vessels: 4 · Two vessels have already completed single-port discharges: · STI Opera → Marsden Point Hafnell Bay Trail → Tauranga · The remaining activity is being carried by: · Grand Winner 3 Esteem Endeavour · These two vessels are currently…

In early 2013, a young traveller arrived in Los Angeles with a camera, a blog, and a plan to see the West Coast. · Her name was Elisa Lam. · What followed would become one of the most dissected and unsettling cases of the modern internet era. · The hotel with a history · Lam checked into the Cecil Hotel, a building already known for its troubled past. Located in the city’s Skid Row district, the hotel had long been associated with crime,…

Last week, elocal published Kiwibank’s latest economic update. On paper, the outlook suggested a fragile but emerging recovery. But for many New Zealanders reading it, that assessment landed very differently. · The reaction was immediate and, in many cases, blunt. “Fragile? It’s fked… I don’t know where they get recovery underway with all the closures and job losses. It’s horrendous.” · That response, while raw, reflects something increasingly…

Some observers will inevitably ask whether New Zealand could be experiencing similar trends beneath the surface. While no direct comparison has been established, the question is likely to gain traction given New Zealand followed a broadly similar vaccination timeline and public health approach. If comparable data patterns were emerging locally, it would raise serious questions about monitoring, transparency, and whether long-term outcomes are…

It is hard to convince anyone they need to change when they think nothing is broken. The story of the emperor’s new clothes captures it. The whole court agreed the emperor was splendidly dressed. A child had to say he was naked. New Zealand’s public service has the same problem. My recent report Who runs the country? argues that ministers should appoint their chief executives, with statutory protections for the career service below. · The…

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…