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…

Yesterday I found our Tamarillo tree leaves infested with microscopic mites who were busy sucking the life out of the plant. This morning I got up and found a massive invasion of ants had cleared up the mites. Problem solved. I never cease to marvel at the natural world. Trillions upon trillions of beings of all shapes, sizes and types integrated within an ecosystem of immeasurable beauty, diversity and balance, all following paths set by their…

Corporate lobbyists have become central to decision-making in the New Zealand political system. But we know remarkably little about how they work, who they work for, or what they charge. In my ongoing research on influence behind the scenes of government, one lobbyist told me that the standard pitch of lobbying firms to business is that they can normally change a government decision for a $250,000 fee. That kind of money gets you into the room…

Friday’s Taxpayers’ Union-Curia poll was a political earthquake. National at 28.4%. Christopher Luxon’s net favourability in freefall. The centre-left, for the first time in this polling series, able to form a government on the numbers. Senior figures in the National Party reportedly told the Prime Minister to go home for the weekend and seriously consider whether he was the right person to lead them into November. · Luxon said he was…

The New Zealand First English Language Bill has passed its first reading in Parliament, marking an early legislative milestone for the party’s policy agenda this term. Party leader Winston Peters described the vote as a victory for “common sense,” saying the legislation would provide clarity around the status of English in New Zealand law. · “This bill provides clarity and certainty in legislation of the official status of the English language…

It has been one of those days in politics when everything accelerates. This morning I published a briefing warning that Christopher Luxon and National were in serious trouble after leaks of a dire Taxpayers’ Union-Curia poll. By lunchtime the numbers were official: National on 28.4 percent. By mid-afternoon the conversation had shifted from “if” Luxon might leave to “when and how”. I don’t normally publish two columns in a day. But when the…

Something has to give with New Zealand’s electricity market. And this week, the numbers arrived to prove it. The Big Four gentailers (Contact, Genesis, Meridian and Mercury) have just reported combined operating earnings of $1.86 billion for the six months to December 2025. That’s a jump of roughly 45% on the same period last year. Their combined dividend payouts rose 10% to $551 million. Meanwhile, the amount they actually invested in new…

Let Kids Be Kids is welcoming a quiet but significant change to national school policy templates after challenging the legal accuracy of SchoolDocs’ “Inclusive School Culture” policy. SchoolDocs – a private company supplying policies to 80-85% of New Zealand schools – has been writing into school policy that discrimination could be based on “sex, … sexual orientation or gender identity, … listed in the Human Rights Act 1993 (s 27)”. This…

On the heels of a significant rise in the latest Taxpayers’ Union-Curia poll—which now places the NZ Outdoors & Freedom Party (NZOFP) at 1.7%, the party has officially unveiled a cornerstone of its 2026 General Election platform: the ACC Justice & Accountability Statement. Launched today by NZOFP List Candidate and policy development lead Aly Cook, the two-pronged strategy is designed to fundamentally dismantle the "adversarial culture"…

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…

Who said getting older means slowing down? · At Acacia Cove Village, retirement isn’t about winding down — it’s about opening up a new chapter filled with freedom, friendship, and fun. · With practically everything taken care of, residents enjoy more time to focus on what really matters: engaging in activities, socialising with neighbours, relaxing in beautifully maintained surroundings, and living life with a genuine resort-style feel. · …

It happens in a split second. · A crunch. · A scrape. · That sinking “Uh ohh…” feeling in your stomach. · Whether it’s a car park mishap or a serious collision, the stress can be overwhelming. But in Pukekohe, there’s one simple piece of advice: · Keep calm and call the experts. · For more than 30 years, Classic Auto Body Panel & Paint Ltd has been the trusted name in collision repair across Pukekohe and the greater Franklin region. What began…

Update (1440ET):Moments ago President Trump announced that the United States will provide insurance for "ALL Maritime Trade"via the US Development Finance Corporation (DFC), and will provide Navy escorts, "if necessary." · Effective IMMEDIATELY, I have ordered the United States Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to provide, at a very reasonable price, political risk insurance and guarantees for the Financial Security of ALL Maritime Trade,…

The regulation targets all third-country nationals who are staying in the bloc illegally · FILE PHOTO: Migrants escorted by police to Brezice refugee camp, Rigonce, Slovenia, October 23, 2015. ©  Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images · [RT] The European Parliament is expected to vote this month on a proposal streamlining the deportation of migrants who are staying in the bloc illegally, including rejected asylum seekers, visa…

David Lindfield · A migrant from the African nation of Eritrea who was once celebrated by German media as a “model migrant” is now accused of beheading and dismembering his wife, in a case that has shocked the country. · Authorities say 41-year-old Asmerom G. is the prime suspect in the killing of his wife, 31-year-old Weghata A., the mother of his infant daughter. · Investigators say parts of her body were found along a German…

Multi-omic evidence shows mRNA gene-transfer shots fundamentally reprogram human gene expression across multiple biological systems — warranting immediate suspension of the entire mRNA platform. · by Nicolas Hulscher, MPH · Our newly published peer-reviewed paper in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons titled, Gene Expression Alterations Induced by mRNA Vaccines, presents compelling evidence that mRNA vaccines operate through a…

He hopes to prove Ukraine’s worth in defending against Iranian drones so that NATO’s Eastern Flank then agrees to his earlier proposal for swapping some US troops with Ukrainian ones to defend against Russian drones as the quid pro quo for the bloc deploying troops to Ukraine after the conflict ends. · Andrew Korybko · Zelensky confirmed in an interview with the New York Times that he dispatched Ukrainian drone experts and interceptor drones …

He will succeed his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in US-Israeli strikes · Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has been named as his successor as Iran’s supreme leader. · [RT] Ali Khamenei led Iran from 1989 until his death during the opening wave of US-Israeli strikes on Tehran on February 28. · Iran’s Assembly of Experts, tasked with vetting and selecting the supreme leader, announced…

The evidence shows that shedding from the COVID jab isn’t just real. It’s “very common,” Dr. Pierre Kory says. · The Vigilant Fox · The following information is based on a report originally published by A Midwestern Doctor. Key details have been streamlined and editorialized for clarity and impact. Read the original report here. · They mocked this as a “conspiracy theory.” · Now the evidence shows that shedding from the COVID jab isn’t just…

This war might be about to get a lot uglier. · Andrew Korybko · Residents of the Iranian capital of Tehran awoke on Sunday to an apocalyptic scene after the US and Israel bombed Iran’s oil storage facilities. A sky-high flaming pillar emerged in the aftermath, toxic smoke clouded out the sun, and blackened rain fell on this city of around 10 million people. The environmental consequences alone could push Tehran to the breaking point after…

The sex-trafficker and financier who killed himself in prison is widely suspected of enabling criminal depravity for global elites · The funeral of children killed in an airstrike on a school in Minab, Iran, amid a US-Israeli attack, March 3, 2026. ©  Stringer / Anadolu via Getty Images · The strike on an Iranian school that killed at least 160 pre-teen students and teachers on the first day of the US-Israeli regime-change…

Gold is being sold to meet margin calls, but a tweak to margin requirements is being seen by some as a signal for gold to be the pressure valve By Henry Johnston, a Moscow-based writer who worked in finance for over a decade https://www.rt.com/op-ed/authors/henry-johnston/ · ©  Getty Images/Oselote · [RT] The moment we all wondered about has come. Oil has surged past $100 per barrel and markets are coming under serious…

European Council head Antonio Costa has rebuked European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for celebrating the conflict · FILE PHOTO. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa. ©  Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images · [RT] European Council President Antonio Costa has issued a rebuke to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen over her support for…

The US-Israeli war on Iran has its roots in a cultural crossover that features contradictory claims of religious zeal · ©  RT · The US-Israeli war on Iran has been justified by its protagonists in Washington and West Jerusalem as a progressive attack on religious fundamentalism that they claim is practiced in Tehran. · However, the conflict is being prosecuted by the two allies with a religious zeal that betrays the…

The attempt to topple the government in Tehran is pushing the Middle East into an increasingly deadly spiral of destruction · https://www.rt.com/op-ed/authors/rt-newsroom/ By RT newsroom, a team of multi-lingual journalists with over a decade of experience in Russian and international reporting, delivering original research and insights often missing from mainstream coverage https://www.rt.com/op-ed/authors/rt-newsroom/ ·…

South Africa should work more closely with the Latin American country and stop buying foreign arms, President Lula da Silva has said · ©  AP Photo/Luis Nova · [RT] Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has called on fellow BRICS member South Africa to boost defense cooperation and reduce their reliance on foreign arms, warning that the two nations could be vulnerable to “invasion.” · US President Donald Trump has…

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has acknowledged that the bloc’s nuclear phase-out was a “strategic mistake” · EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. © Getty Images / Thierry Monasse · [RT] The EU’s decades-long retreat from nuclear energy was a “strategic mistake,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has admitted, stating the bloc must now rebuild the industry. · Speaking at the…

A Masterclass in Talking Past Each Other and Missing the Real Question. · Geert Vanden Bossche · I watch with growing dismay how vaccine zealots and vaccine critics continue to argue stubbornly, often bitterly, in an endless attempt to prove each other wrong. To an outside observer, the spectacle has become increasingly absurd. Both sides appear convinced they are defending science, yet they largely talk past one another. · The…

Alex Krainer · To defeat U.S. and Israel, Iran does not have to win the ongoing war in the Middle East. They only need to survive and it looks like they are more than surviving. This shouldn’t surprise anyone paying even casual attention to the events. · According to The Washington Post, US intelligence community produced a classified assessment of the situation shortly before the US and Israel launched their military operations…

Trump's "we will remember" post wasn't aimed at Starmer — it was aimed at the City of London. Lloyd's engineered oil spike, Chatham House's legal theatrics, and the offshore laundering network are all under assault. The special relationship is over. · Barbara Boyd · Barbara Boyd argues President Trump’s Truth Social post aimed not to humiliate Keir Starmer but to warn the City of London, claiming Britain stayed out of the Iran…

What was the godless imperial power in John's Revelation of the end of the world? · John Leake · John of Patmos, the author of the Book of Revelation, was a Jewish Christian who was probably from Galilee. Long identified as John the Apostle, modern scholars now believe he was a different man. Aramaic was his native language. but like John the Apostle, he wrote his contribution to the New Testament in Greek. · The Gospel of John is…

Key Markets report for Monday, 9 March 2026 · Alex Krainer · President Trump’s war of choice against Iran has focused the world’s attention on the strategic importance of the region, like nobody’s ever seen before. · Even casual consumers of the news flow knew that a large chunk of the global oil supply passes through the Strait of Hormuz and that any disruption to maritime traffic there would send the oil price soaring well into…