elocal magazine

Dr Guy Hatchard examines new emergency department data showing a sharp rise in patient numbers and serious presentations across New Zealand. He argues the deterioration accelerated after 2021 and challenges claims that increased funding and staffing alone can resolve the crisis. Linking the trend to Covid vaccination and wider biotechnology, Hatchard calls for a fundamental reassessment of health policy and greater emphasis on diet, exercise…

Who won, who struggled, and who gave voters a reason to back them? · Duncan Garner goes LIVE from 8pm Tuesday 6 October with reaction and analysis following the TVNZ leaders’ debate between Christopher Luxon and Chris Hipkins. · Joining Duncan are Ani O’Brien and former Labour minister Stuart Nash to unpack the biggest clashes, strongest answers and unanswered questions. · Who made the stronger case on the economy and cost of living? Who stood…

Labour says its 2026 election promises are fully funded and independently reviewed. But New Zealand enters the election with weak productivity, rising debt, a falling dollar, high living costs and an economy dangerously exposed to imported energy and geopolitical shocks. Report by eLocal · Labour says its election programme is paid for. · Its fiscal plan contains about $24.5 billion of spending over five years, partly funded through almost $11…

With New Zealand voting under MMP on November 7, Andy Loader argues that centre-right voters should think strategically about their two votes. Challenging calls from Christopher Luxon and John Key to give both votes to National, Loader contends that voters should back National electorate candidates while giving their party vote to ACT or NZ First, arguing that securing a centre-right parliamentary majority must come before protecting individual…

New Zealand's environmental policies are facing an unprecedented test under its free trade agreement with the European Union, after a Dutch environmental organisation lodged the first climate-related complaint through the EU's trade enforcement mechanism. The Government rejects the allegation, but the dispute raises a wider question for New Zealand: how much control over domestic environmental and energy policy was effectively constrained when…

Nearly a month after a woman and two very young children were killed at a Rotorua home, a man charged with assaulting a person in a family relationship has been released on electronically monitored bail. Police have described the deaths as homicides, but publicly available information does not show that the man has been charged with causing any of the three deaths. Report by eLocal · Three deaths inside a Rotorua home on the night of 7…

The COVID Files examines what New Zealand decision-makers knew as vaccination requirements expanded into employment and participation. Drawing on official advice, OIA records and Royal Commission findings, the investigation traces changing evidence on transmission, concerns over mandates for younger people, the impact of Omicron and the consequences for workers who declined vaccination. It asks a central question: as the evidence changed, were…

What if the greatest transfer of wealth in New Zealand's history required neither invasion nor the outright sale of the country's assets? What if its citizens retained ownership on paper while gradually losing the authority to determine how their land, water, minerals, forests and infrastructure were used? Imagine, for a moment, that you were writing a political thriller. Your fictional objective is the acquisition of a prosperous island…