The New Zealand Herald

National slumps below 25% in poll

The National Party has dropped below 25% in the latest RNZ-Reid Research poll, while Opportunity has reached a new high and could decide the next Government. National has dismissed the result as “out of step” with other polls, just nine days before...

Close call:

Reserve Bank’s surprise OCR decision days out from election

Distressed patient ‘put on the footpath’

Atherapist has laid a formal complaint after her client, who she says was in the midst of a mental health crisis, was discharged from Tauranga Hospital and subsequently overdosed on medication in the hospital carpark. The therapist said her client...

‘Everyone seems to be struggling’

Standing on the banks of the Whanganui River, Mike Potaka-Osborne thinks he’s doing “all right”. “I board with my sister so I’m all right, but there’s a lot of people out there who can’t afford food.” His sentiment is echoed around the nation, from...

Retailers wary on move-on law

Retail NZ says it will closely monitor police use of moveon orders after they came into force yesterday. In February, the Government introduced legislation that would give police powers to issue move-on orders to people aged 14 and over “displaying...

NZ First denies $71b policy bill

New Zealand First’s policies come with a $71.6 billion price tag, according to an analysis published by the Green Party using publicly available figures — but this does not include the cost of one of the party’s most expensive policies: nationalising...

Six-year defence reset proposed

New Zealand First is proposing an immense and rapid six-year reform of the Defence Force, which includes increasing defence spending to 3% of GDP by 2032, merging the Army, Navy and Air Force headquarters, capping executive pay, creating a NZ Marine...

Labour rejects Peters’ covert contact claim

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters alleges Labour tried to use back channels to convince him to reverse his decision to rule out working with Chris Hipkins’ party. But Labour denies that is the case, with a spokesperson telling the Herald:...

Ex-insider: ‘It was the hypocrisy’

Former Opportunity Party board members have spoken out about internal disarray and tribal politics as polling suggests the party may hold the balance of power after November’s election. Speaking exclusively to the Herald, the former insiders have...

The Springboks effect

‘Stop using cancer kids as a political football’

The father of a little girl who had surgery at Starship to remove a brain tumour before undergoing six rounds of chemotherapy has hit out at the politicising of child cancer in the runup to an election. Timaru dad Shaun Todd says downplaying cancer...

Hipkins bars Greens from justice roles

Labour leader Chris Hipkins has ruled out the Greens or Te Pā ti Mā ori holding key law and order portfolios in a future Government after MPs from those parties posed for photos with members of the Mongrel Mob. Asked about the matter during the...

New watchdog for police hits delays

The introduction of a new police watchdog, aimed at rebuilding trust after the Jevon McSkimming scandal, has been pushed back with the lawand-order portion of Budget 2026 “heavily over-subscribed”. Officials sought an “urgent invitation for priority...

‘Child safety did not feature’

The Teaching Council ignored warnings about serious child safety risks for eight months while a sexual predator continued to front classrooms, despite him working illegally and admitting he had performed an indecent act at a public swimming pool “in...

Mum demands ‘accountability’

The mother of a motorist killed on a notorious stretch of highway says someone should be held accountable for her death. Kellyanne Cindal Pattinson was driving south on State Highway 1 in early 2018 when a northbound food delivery truck veered across...

Bar night before Waiheke death

The night before she died in suspicious circumstances, Chant el le McLaughlin Middle miss was drinking and joking with locals at a Waiheke beachfront bar. The following afternoon, less than an hour after emergency services found the 32-year-old alive...

WARRIORS V ALL BLACKS

Taxi driver’s life upended

Ataxi driver seriously hurt in a waterfront crash involving Hollywood actor Cliff Curtis says he has multiple broken bones, internal injuries and faces two months of bed rest. Gagan Deep Singh had been waiting for passengers on Auckland’s bustling...

MPI probe into artificial sweetener

An expensive natural sweetener used in sugar-free and high-protein foods has been substituted in New Zealand with a much cheaper artificial alternative. A New Zealand regulator is investigating after the synthetic ingredient flowed through the...

Labour fiscal plan light on costings

The Labour Party published its fiscal plan yesterday, reiterating a pledge to restore the old pay equity regime, but declining to include a specific cost for this in its spending plan. A Treasury estimate from 2025 suggests restoring the old regime...

School scare: Guns seized

Police have revoked the firearms licence of a student at one of the country’s top private schools and seized guns he had access to, after allegations he had threatened other students. The student at the Auckland school allegedly sent images of...

‘I don’t know how to tell him’

APonsonby chief executive accused of assaulting a pensioner during a road rage incident involving his father’s $430,000 supercar has escaped prosecution after a judge blasted police incompetence and dismissed the case. The chief executive, in his 30s,...

Iwi keen to bowl chateau for new centre

Talk of Chateau Tongariro’s future appears at a crossroads as iwi favour demolition, while the Department of Conservation (DoC) recommends further work on a long-term lease. DoC has spent more than $4.5 million maintaining Chateau Tongariro since it...

Cancer testing changes ‘just moving waitlist’

Specialists who diagnose cancers say they’re “overwhelmed” and patients face delays up to five weeks for results — a backlog they warn will increase unless their workforce is boosted immediately. The Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia (RCPA)...

Repeat offenders: Leaders on-message

No one will have left Auckland’s International Convention Centre yesterday afternoon unaware of National’s primary message this election. “No new taxes” was emblazoned on a large screen overhanging campaign chair Simeon Brown as he spoke, was recited...

Star Czech

Beginning of the end for the UK?

The leaders of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are gathering today to sign a deal designed to kick-start the break-up of the United Kingdom. At an unprecedented summit in Cardiff, the three First Ministers will put pen to paper on a joint...

New exams put students at risk

Nearly a third of students who would have passed NCEA Level 2 could struggle to gain the Government’s replacement qualification, new modelling suggests. The Government says moving away from NCEA’s flexible credit system will create clearer, more...

THE CROWD GOES WAHS!

Fans set for battle, not a party

‘No beds’: Patient collapses in ED

Apatient collapsed and needed CPR while in Waikato Hospital’s Emergency Department waiting room last month. The patient survived after intervention from staff, but the incident has raised questions about why the patient was not put into a bed on...

‘An existential threat’

Anger at residential fast-track developers spilled over at a fiery Auckland Council meeting yesterday. Councillors unanimously voted to investigate ways to tell those planning such projects they aren’t wanted. As the Herald revealed last week, the...

‘I’m gutted, but not surprised’

At least a dozen votes appear to have been fraudulently cast on a single street in last year’s local elections — including one in the name of a woman who died four years ago. The findings back whistleblower allegations of widespread South Auckland...

WAYNE BROWN: SOME HOME TRUTHS ON THE BED NIGHT LEVY DEBATE

Fast-track set to meet pushback

Auckland Council is considering turning off basic services to fast-track developers — and thousands of future residents — as it grapples with a potential $5 billion bill for infrastructure and operating costs from a surge in fast-tracked housing...

Bed tax U-turn bites regions

Promised a loaf of bread and given a rock. That’s how Mackenzie District Mayor Scott Aronsen described Christopher Luxon’s rapid U-turn on a bed tax. The Prime Minister had promised to explore this in a signed deal with Auckland Council, and in deals...

Weed wars

Heated competition between rival Vietnamese cannabis growing syndicates led to a spate of violent episodes across Auckland, according to a police intelligence report. There were 19 home invasions, kidnappings, shootings or aggravated robberies...

After the CRL: New $3b rail project looms

The lessons — and costly mistakes — of the City Rail Link will be considered as Auckland prepares for another multibillion-dollar rail project that could bring years of disruption to businesses and communities across the city’s inner west. Six rail...

From student loans to retirement villages — a weekend of politics

Deadly flood: Kiwis among the missing

At least five New Zealanders are reported missing after a catastrophic flash flood near the Nepal-China border yesterday. The former Honorary Consul of Nepal to Auckland, Dinesh Khadka, confirmed to the Herald that Nepal police had provided details of...

‘All options on table’ as MAGS roll surges

Mount Albert Grammar School is staring down a future of 4000-plus students as rapid housing development sends its enormous roll higher. Already one of the nation’s largest schools, it has been granted 18 new classrooms to cater for its growing student...

‘A BIT panicked’

Act and New Zealand First are seeking to address how National advanced its social media ban as a Government bill, potentially through future coalition agreements. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on Monday revealed the Government would introduce a...

Charges looming for CBD drivers

The number of Aucklanders driving into the city centre might come to a screeching halt within five years, as the council reveals its proposed zones and fees for the country’s first congestion charging scheme. Auckland Council has narrowed its proposed...

Hidden NCEA failures revealed

The official count of school leavers with no NCEA qualifications has been stabilising about 15% — but the real figure is closer to 19% and growing. The discrepancy is because official data includes those halfway towards a Level 2 NCEA certificate or...

BAD BUZZ: Neighbours fuming over CRL fans

Residents living above a City Rail Link ventilation shaft say the relentless hum of giant fans running day and night has invaded their homes, robbed them of sleep and left them with no escape from the noise. They said the ventilation fans at the new...

‘SYSTEMIC FLAWS’

Govt in ‘complete disarray’: Hipkins

Chris Hipkins has used a debate in Parliament on the sacking of Chris Penk to argue the Prime Minister “hates this country” as he condemned a Government in “complete disarray”. Hipkins also claimed Christopher Luxon told a group of Auckland business...

‘Driving 20-year-old Corollas’

STRESS-TESTED?

Thirty years on from securing their first series success on South African soil at this venue, the All Blacks put the hurt on the Bulls, winning 50-19 at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria yesterday. In their first visit to Loftus since a 32-30 win against...

SILENT TREATMENT

Stanford denies harbouring leadership dreams

In the end, they didn’t have the numbers Putsch comes to shove — for Penk

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon stripped newlypromoted minister Chris Penk of all of his portfolios yesterday afternoon, outing him as the person who launched a challenge for the National leadership. Luxon has confirmed Penk’s challenge prompted...

Luxon faces down unrest

National MPs will make their way to Parliament this morning to discuss the leadership of Christopher Luxon for the second time in four months. The “urgent” meeting, set for 9.30am, was scheduled by Luxon after a Herald story published late on Monday...

Threatening and disturbing: Mayor

Awar of words has broken out between Auckland’s Mayor and developers behind a high-profile and controversial housing project north of Auckland. Vineway Partners has been given the green light by the Government’s fast-track panel for the 1217-home...

Not unusual

To be still wowing crowds at 86

FULL SPEED AHEAD

Gold-medal success at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow has become a significant stepping stone in Zoe Hobbs’ pursuit of Olympic glory at LA28. Hobbs broke her own Oceania record with a personal-best time of 10.93s to claim the biggest victory of her...

Govt unveils new subjects

Nine new industry-led secondary school subjects have been unveiled by the Government before their rollout alongside the new qualification system in 2029. The subjects were designed with industry bodies to ensure students’ knowledge and skills align...

New school to fill ‘big black spot’

Education Minister Erica Stanford says a new specialist school in Gisborne for children with the highest learning needs will shed light on one of many “black spots around the country”. It is the third such school announced this year, alongside ones in...

Luxon ‘sorry’ for ‘adults’ remark

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has apologised after dismissing a business leader’s bleak economic outlook as “negative” and telling businesses to act like “adults”. The National Party leader made the remarks at a Rotorua business event last week,...

Golden Games

Jessie Hodges says she and Emma Foy have “massively exceeded expectations” by winning a second cycling gold at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games. The para cycling pair yesterday joined swimmer Lewis Clareburt as Kiwi double champions after adding the...

Behind enemy lines

when the press release came out at midday on Monday unveiling the 44-man All Blacks squad heading to South Africa, there was a passing — “by the way” — reference that Ardie Savea would not be travelling with the team this week but will instead join the...