Meridian wanted to replace older wind turbines with a smaller number of more efficient ones at the Tararua Range near Palmerston North. The consenting authority first required Meridian to spend three months searching for a lamprey. Read more
The Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) exists to mend people. If you are hurt in an accident, the scheme pays for your care and some of your lost wages. Read more
From 1 July, the start of the new fiscal year, Health New Zealand will stop paying charges to the Crown for the capital that it uses. The Ministry calls it a technical change, with no effect on patient care, infrastructure, or the money available for services. Read more
A sense of dread has settled over schools and universities. A machine can now read in an afternoon what a scholar could not finish in a lifetime. Read more
Most people carry a comforting picture of government. They may have no time for politicians, for sure. Read more
Christchurch's SpicyBoys make hot sauce. They’ve branched out into a chilli gin to sell alongside the sauce. Read more
Before anyone builds a house in New Zealand, someone must pay upfront for the pipes and the roads that connect a development to the city. Almost always, that someone is the council. Read more
For months, commentators had one demand of Labour: stop holding your fire and show us some policy. Last week, Labour obliged. Read more
There was no real escape from the dystopia that Terry Gilliam depicted in his excellent film, Brazil. In the film’s world, nothing could be done without the correctly numbered bureaucratic form. Read more
Before anyone can build a house in New Zealand, someone must pay for the pipes and the roads that connect a development to the city. While this seems like a minor detail, it is a central issue for housing affordability. Read more
When the European Central Bank (ECB) raised interest rates on 11 June, marking its first increase since 2023, the news was unwelcome across the eurozone. It was especially unwelcome in Germany. Read more
Warren Pyke is, by all accounts, a serious practitioner. Thirty-five years acting for the underprivileged, the vulnerable, the mentally ill, the villainous and a great many “ordinary folk” is real civil-liberties work. Read more
Across the Tasman, anger has propelled Pauline Hanson’s One Nation from a fringe outfit to the most popular party, on 31 percent in a recent poll, ahead of both Labor and the Coalition. Yet Australia’s preferential voting, which redistributes losing candidates’ votes, could still return a Labor government. Read more
In May 2025, University of Otago Vice-Chancellor Grant Robertson eloquently explained why universities, as institutions, should be neutral on matters of public and political debate. If universities take stances on political issues, he said, they place members of their communities with different views in a difficult position. Read more
Once a year, as the days shorten, a great migration begins. From the warm offices of Wellington and the cafes of central Auckland, the political class sets out for Mystery Creek, where the gates of Fieldays open and the country remembers that it has a countryside. Read more
