Articles from ‘elocal magazine’

The Government’s plan to build a billion-dollar liquefied natural gas import terminal in Taranaki is being sold as a masterstroke of energy security. But look past the government spin and what you actually find is a rushed, billion‑dollar infrastructure bet that sidesteps the Government’s own expert advice, locks New Zealand into fossil fuels for decades, and is being rammed through Parliament. The situation is this. This proposal has serious…

The New Zealand Government has quietly initiated a surprise review into the Reserve Bank’s controversial decision to underwrite approximately $55 billion in pandemic-era money-creation programmes during COVID-19. Caption: Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced an inquiry into RBNZ actions. Photo / Mark Mitchell · The inquiry is aimed at assessing the impact of the central bank’s Large-Scale Asset Purchasing (LSAP) and other measures on…

New Zealand’s slide down the global corruption rankings has become so predictable it barely causes a stir. Tonight, Transparency International released its annual Corruption Perceptions Index, and New Zealand has dropped again: from 83 to 81, losing another two points and sinking to equal fourth alongside Norway. We are now eight points behind Denmark, which continues to sit comfortably at the top. Over the past four years, New Zealand has lost…

Frequent sexual fantasies are linked with neuroticism – a personality trait that could put you at risk of a range of physical and mental health problems – according to a study from Michigan State University, US. Credit: Getty images · Researchers surveyed more than 5,000 US adults about their sexual fantasies and personality traits. · The scientists used the Big Five framework, which is widely used in psychology to measure open-mindedness,…

Every society claims its emergencies are exceptional. History shows the opposite: emergencies are the preferred pathway for expanding power, because fear collapses resistance faster than force ever could. New Zealand’s COVID response must be understood not only as a public-health event, but as a political precedent — one that future governments will study carefully. · The Old Rule: Emergency First, Accountability Later · Emergency powers…

The US Justice Department’s release of more than three million Epstein files (including 180,000 images and 2,000 videos) has blown the doors off the most protected social network of the late twentieth century. What these documents reveal is not just a catalogue of one man’s depravity. It is, as Helen Rumbelow wrote in The Times, like “taking the back off the world clock”, exposing how power actually works at the top of the Western world. And…

History teaches us that wars are not always fought with bombs, troops, or formal declarations. Some are waged quietly — through systems, policies, and narratives that reshape societies from within. So let us pose a hypothetical, not an accusation · If an adversary wanted to weaken Western democracies without firing a shot, what outcomes would signal success? · They might aim to: · normalise emergency rule, centralise decision-making beyond…

Many expected fireworks at Waitangi this year. In an election year, with the Government’s record on Treaty issues still fresh and raw, the annual commemorations looked set to be a battleground. Instead, the week turned out to be remarkably calm on the surface. And deeply fractured underneath. The real story of Waitangi 2026 wasn’t about Māori versus the Crown. It was about Māori versus Māori, and an opposition that seems incapable of getting…

Next week, Brenton Harrison Tarrant, convicted for the Christchurch mosque attacks, will appear before the Court of Appeal. He will argue that his guilty pleas were extracted through coercion and abuse rather than entered freely. Summarised by Centrist · Tarrant was sentenced in August 2020 to life imprisonment without parole after admitting to murdering 51 people, attempting to murder 40 others, and committing a terrorist act during the 15…

New Zealand likes to see itself as a principled nation — small, independent, and willing to stand up for public safety even when powerful interests object. We banned nuclear weapons when others told us it would be economically reckless. We rejected certain trade pressures when they conflicted with national values. We pride ourselves on sovereignty. Yet when it comes to COVID-19 and the unprecedented deployment of mRNA technology, New Zealand…