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Good journalists know balanced reporting is not as simple as providing both sides of the story. You have to squash falsehoodsLike the families of 1.14 million people worldwide, our family has lost people we love to Covid-19. They are people who would not have died were it not for this deadly, hyper-contagious virus. We are in a global pandemic that is at least 15...

Veteran epidemiologist calls for review, and openness to adopting measures suggested by political rivals, now that voters have given PM a mandateJacinda Ardern won New Zealand’s election with a commanding majority, in part attributed to her handling of the Covid-19 pandemic in her country. But a veteran epidemiologist is exhorting the prime minister to use the political capital gained in her decisive victory to...

Tova O’Brien’s interview with Jami-Lee Ross, who has been accused of spreading misinformation, praised as ‘a masterclass’A New Zealand journalist is being praised around the world for her determined effort to shut down the spread of Covid-19 conspiracy theories during an interview with a minor party politician.Newshub’s political editor, Tova O’Brien, interviewed the leader of the Advance New Zealand party, Jami-Lee Ross. The party...

As prime minister, Ardern inspired love and trust; now she has to do something with itAnd the winner is … New Zealand. It was the happiness election – Covid fizzled out, lockdown was released, and a sense of gratitude and sheer joy buoyed Jacinda Ardern through a long campaign to Saturday’s landslide victory.“Let’s keep moving,” Labour’s campaign slogan urged, but in reality it was...

Jacinda Ardern condemns divisive elections during victory speech, saying polls 'don’t need to tear people apart'. Her words were interpreted as a veiled allusion to the divisive US election, which take place in two weeks. The Labour party secured a landslide victory with its best result in five decades after Ardern emphasised kindness and cooperation during her first term, and told voters she needed...

Jacinda Ardern has secured a second term as leader after a resounding victory in the country’s general election. The Labour leader had led a coalition government since October 2017, ending nearly a decade of National rule. During her first term Ardern had to deal with responses to the Christchurch terrorist atrocity, the Whakaari volcano eruption and the Covid-19 pandemic. She gave birth to her...

PM tours shopping malls in Auckland, while Collins takes final chance to attack Ardern’s recordPolitical leaders in New Zealand put in a frantic final day on the campaign trail before Saturday’s vote, with Jacinda Ardern, the Labour leader and prime minister, making a whistle-stop tour of shopping malls in the largest city, Auckland, where she was greeted by hundreds of fans who clamoured for...

PM’s management of pandemic and ‘politics of kindness’ place her well ahead for Saturday’s voteIt’s been called the Covid election, with stability the order of the day.But it has turned into the weirdest general election campaign New Zealanders have ever seen, with most of the country desperate for it to be over and some semblance of normality to resume in a deeply abnormal year....

Judith Collins has the look of a defeated woman as Labour heads to likely victoryLong time no see. Jacinda Ardern left it late, but turned up at last night’s fourth and final debate of the election campaign as the prime minister. Ghostly versions of herself made weird, kind of shifty appearances in the previous three debates. God she was terrible, an anxious mess, uptight,...

Leader says she will resign if not re-elected but polls show Labour 15 points aheadJacinda Ardern has dominated the final leaders’ debate before New Zealand goes to the polls on Saturday, appearing confident and prime ministerial as she took on a subdued Judith Collins.In a surprise admission, Ardern said if she was not re-elected, she would resign as Labour leader. Continue reading...

Winston Peters has rebuked a coronavirus sceptic at an election campaign event in Tauranga. New Zealand's deputy prime minister was answering questions from an audience on Tuesday when the unidentified man asked: 'Where is your evidence that there is a virus that causes this disease?''Here's someone who gets up and says "the Earth is flat",' Peters responded. 'Sorry sunshine, wrong place.' New Zealanders go...

As far as polling booth drama goes, Aotearoa’s election has so far yielded none – but early voters are quite keen on the fragrant hand sanitiserThey arrive carrying their own pens. They stop for a dollop of pleasantly lemon-scented hand sanitiser as they enter and exit polling places. And they are turning up to vote ahead of election day in record numbers.As far as...

Prime minister heads to polls in Auckland district after visit to suburban marketNew Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, has voted in the country’s general election, a week before polls officially close.Ardern cast her vote in her Auckland district on Saturday after visiting a market in the suburb of Ōtara, where she was thronged by supporters. Continue reading...

In the election Judith Collins is up against one of the most popular PMs in recent times“I’ve been having an awfully fun time, can you tell?” Judith Collins, the leader of New Zealand’s centre-right National party enthused, to a campaign trail meeting packed with her admirers outside the South Island city of Dunedin. “I can’t stop grinning.”It was true; she could not. Collins, the...

The Mana Motuhake policy is a 25-year plan to improve the outcomes of whānau Māori that the mainstream major parties have failed to deliver onIn an election campaign that has so far been largely a bidding contest over who can fund the most “shovel-ready projects”, create the most jobs and support the most apprentices post-Covid, many commentators have bemoaned the absence of any visionary...

Quickfire questions led to dope-smoking and Trump-admiring revelations from Jacinda Ardern and Judith CollinsJacinda Ardern admits cannabis use in heated New Zealand debateQueen Street! The main shopping drag in New Zealand’s biggest city, a valley that rolls down towards the harbour in downtown Auckland, is hanging in there, just, even in these stay-at-home Covid days, as someplace fun and weird and chaotic – rare...

Prime minister says her attention is focused on running the country, but her challenger says she is looking forward to the showJacinda Ardern and Judith Collins are preparing for the first TV debate of the New Zealand election, amid a campaign dominated by coronavirus.The pair will face off in a debate in Auckland held on the same day that Covid-19 restrictions eased in most...

New Zealand prime minister starts campaign with a sleepover at the ‘folks’ in the small rural town of MorrinsvilleNew Zealand’s prime minister has launched her election tour of the country from her parents’ home in rural Waikato – so her “folks” can babysit.The rescheduled general election, now taking place on 17 October, is unlike any the country has seen before, with party leaders hitting...