Kerre Woodham: Where is Labour's pay equity funding actually going to come from?

Finally, after much hinting and promising and ooh, winking and teasing, Labour's revealed how it will fund the core pay equity policy it has been promising for the past three years.

Except that they didn't.

Richard Prebble: A free bus would be cheaper

I could have saved the Greens the consultancy fee. I would have told them for free that their idea is nuts.

But they do not have to take my word for it.

The Greens campaigned for an Auckland-to-Hamilton passenger rail service that Labour agreed to.

Guest Post: An Axe With No Handle

Guest Post on GoodOil by LilBaP

The books are on fire. Wellington is arguing about the colour of the cover. We watch with interest and we are also the ones paying.

Damien Grant, on Stuff last week, opened Treasury’s pre-election forecast and read it out loud, which is more than most have managed.

Wednesday October 7, 2026 

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Roy Morgan Poll: In September National-led Government increases lead over Labour-led Parliamentary Opposition (52% vs. 41.5%)

The Roy Morgan New Zealand Poll for September 2026 shows the National-led Government (National, ACT & NZ First) up 3% to 52%, increasing its clear lead over the Labour-Greens-Te Pāti Māori Parliamentary Opposition, virtually unchanged at 41.5%, and 6.5% supporting Opportunity. This is the largest lead (10.5%) for the National-led Government for two years since September 2024.

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Directing more money to Pharmac is the sensible choice

So, Winston Peters is pretty upset, as you would expect, about National's plan to take money from the foreign aid budget and use it to fund medicines through Pharmac. But from where I'm sitting, that seems fairly sensible, doesn't it?

1News Verian Poll: Opportunity still in kingmaker seat as Greens hold strong

Opportunity continues to hold the keys to power and the Greens remain in a strong position to play a significant role in the next government, the latest 1News Verian poll results show.

With Opportunity set for 7% of the vote, and National leader Christopher Luxon having ruled out working with the party, today’s results point to a route to power for Labour.

Mike's Minute: Labour's fiscal plan is a failure

With the period of digestion now complete, I think it is more than fair to suggest that the Labour Party's fiscal plan has been marked a failure.

This is not just me, but as far as I can read virtually every journalist and commentator, including economists, say so.

This politically should be a disaster. Economic credibility, this election in particular, is everything.

Richard Prebble: A super policy

Opening ACT’s election campaign, David Seymour made the most consequential policy pledge of the election.

All the other parties are proposing, in one form or another, to make KiwiSaver compulsory.

Andrew Dickens: Why Doesn't National and Act have the same pressures as Labour?

So Labour finally released their fiscal plan in the weekend.

It was much anticipated. In fact commentator after commentator for weeks now have been demanding it.

Now it’s being dissected. And mostly by the current coalition parties.

Geoff Parker: Claire Charters’ Constitutional Revolution — The Case She Still Has To Prove

Professor Claire Charters is making a sweeping and consequential claim. In her new book, Sovereignty: The Case for Constitutional Transformation, she argues that New Zealand’s constitutional foundations are “unjust, illegitimate, illegal” and require fundamental transformation.

After listening to her interview with Simon Mercep, however, I am left wondering whether she has actually proved her case.

Richard Prebble: A grumpy old man

I remember being 16 years old. Only my friend Jim Middleton, who went on to become the ABC’s chief political correspondent in Canberra, and I had any interest in politics.

At university among my fellow students, it was only the Vietnam War and the fear that we might be conscripted that generated interest in politics.

Lindsay Mitchell: Welfare missing from the 2026 election campaign

Welfare is markedly missing from 2026 election campaign issues.

There's been far more debate about Super: its cost, means-testing and the age of eligibility. New Zealand is an outlier. Australia, the UK and the US have a qualifying age of 67. Whether NZ joins must be decided. Super isn't sustainable.

But what of working-age people? The percentage of 18-64 year-olds on a benefit is 12.8% - up from 9.9% ten years ago. That's around one in eight people unable or unwilling to support themselves.

Rodney Hide: Psychology on the Couch

Last Friday, at Pipitea Marae in Wellington, the New Zealand Psychological Society and the New Zealand College of Clinical Psychologists rolled over together, all eight paws in the air, and apologised to Māori for, in the words of their own press release, "the structural racism and monoculturalism inherent within the discipline of psychology, which has its origins in 19th century Europe."

Colinxy: The Myth of Price Gouging

Why the Accusation Is Economically Illiterate, Morally Backwards, and Politically Convenient

Few economic concepts generate as much outrage, and as little understanding, as “price gouging.” The term itself is propaganda: a moral accusation disguised as an economic description. It implies theft, greed, and predation. It suggests that businesses raise prices during crises because they are wicked, not because reality has changed.

But like most activist vocabulary, “price gouging” collapses the moment you examine it. It is not an economic principle. It is a political slogan. And it survives only because it is useful to politicians, unions, and bureaucrats — not because it makes any sense.

Let’s dismantle the myth.

Barrie Saunders: Supermarkets – what about the provinces?

Anyone who drives to Gisborne, as I have done from the north and south, will discover the roads are winding and often tedious. This means getting in produce such as groceries, incurs significant costs because of the distance and small population served. Particularly challenging for perishable meat, dairy, fruit and vegetables.

The National Party’s policy of splitting Food Stuffs into two, thereby separating Pak’nSave from both New World and Four Square, runs into some practical difficulties when it comes to the likes of Gisborne, which has a Pak’nSave a Woolworths and two Four Squares, but no New World.

 Tuesday October 6, 2026 

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RNZ-Reid Research poll: National crashes, Greens surge, Opportunity kingmaker

National has plunged below 26 percent in a new RNZ-Reid Research poll, while the Greens have surged about a month out from voting day.

The poll - published on Tuesday - puts the Opportunity Party once again in the kingmaker position.

NZCPR Newsletter: The Battle Over the Waitangi Tribunal

When the Treaty of Waitangi settlement process was introduced by Norman Kirk’s Labour Government in 1975, it was framed as a means of dealing with ongoing injustices.

Pee Kay: Tertiary Education, an Expensive Political Battleground.

Student Debt: Crown Asset or Financial Fiction?

Last week it was supermarkets, this week it is Student debt/University Fees! It seems there is absolutely no systemic crisis that our politicians can’t fix with a sweet, shiny new election campaign spreadsheet tweak.

Last week political parties all painted supermarkets as the whipping boy and took to flailing them with gusto. This week they are scattering lollies in front of a very receptive audience who, no doubt, will be very happy to trade debt for vote!

Last Sunday Chris Hipkins unveiled Labours plan new election proposal on student fees during the Labour Party’s official election campaign launch.