
Gone By Lunchtime: New polls, old PMs and a sacrificed goat
We're officially in the second half of the term, a milestone marked by the historic handover of the hallowed deputy prime minister amulet from Winston Peters to David Seymour. The moment comes with pageantry, a flurry of interviews and a pair of new polls, which deliver intriguing, and sometimes divergent results.
In a new episode of Spinoff politics podcast Gone By Lunchtime, Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas pore over the results and what they mean for the parties and the politicians in the post-budget, post-pay-equity-reshape wash-up.
Plus: Jim Bolger and Jacinda Ardern have both been in the headlines in recent days. What do these returns tell us about the performance of their Chris-themed successors?
And Chris Bishop found himself in a media moshpit after the Aotearoa Music Awards for calling the Stan Walker Toitū Te Tiriti parade 'crap' and earning the most painful denunciation imaginable: being called a dickhead by living legend Don McGlashan.
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Scoop
2 hours ago
- Scoop
NCEA Overhaul, About Time!
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Scoop
21 hours ago
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ACT Launches Largest Local Government Campaign In New Zealand
ACT Local has today unveiled its full slate of candidates for the 2025 local body elections: 46 practical, community-minded New Zealanders standing across 25 councils. With 37 ward and constituency level candidates, it's the largest local government campaign mounted by a political party in New Zealand, including Labour and the Greens who have stood council candidates for many years. ACT Local is standing a further 9 candidates for Auckland Local Board positions. 'These are New Zealanders who've had enough of being ignored by their councils,' says ACT Leader David Seymour. 'They're stepping up to deliver real change and lower rates. 'ACT's candidates come from all walks of life; we have business owners, tradies, healthcare workers, farmers, and many professionals. What unites them is a belief in sensible spending, equal rights, and a back-to-basics approach. They're ready to bring real-world experience and common sense to the council table. 'Many have built successful careers, but more importantly, they're local residents and ratepayers – people who've built homes, raised families, and dealt firsthand with council bureaucracy. They know what it's like to stretch a budget and deal with the challenges people face locally. 'Now they're stepping forward to bring practical solutions and a laser focus on core services like roads, water, and rubbish. 'In central government, ACT is cutting waste, defending equal rights, and taking pressure off households. Our councillors will do the same: vote against wasteful spending, stand up for democratic principles, and focus on essential services without driving up rates. 'Kiwis voted for real change in 2023, but our councils missed the memo. 'While ratepayers face eye-watering rate hikes, councils are blowing money on vanity projects, pushing ideological agendas like co-governance, and wasting time grandstanding about global politics – all while ignoring the basics. 'Every local election, voters get the little booklet with their ballot paper and tick whoever they think will do the best job. But too often, you don't know what you are going to get. Candidates promise one thing and then do another. With ACT Local candidates, you'll know exactly where they stand. 'So if there's an ACT Local candidate in your area and you want real change from your council, I hope you will give them your support.' Candidate profiles can be found here. A full list of our candidates is below: Northland Far North District Council Davina Smolders – Bay of Islands–Whangaroa Ward Whangārei District Council Matthew Yovich – Bream Bay Ward Kaipara District Council Nima Maleiki – Kaiwaka–Mangawhai Ward Roger Billington – Otamatea Ward Auckland Council & Local Boards Albany Ward and Hibiscus and Bays Local Board (Hibiscus Coast Subdivision) Samuel Mills North Shore Ward and Devonport-Takapuna Local Board Helena Roza Franklin Ward and Franklin Local Board (Wairoa Subdivision) Dene Green Howick Ward and Howick Local Board (Botany Subdivision) Ali Dahche Manukau Ward and Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board (Ōtara Subdivision) Henrietta Devoe Hibiscus and Bays Local Board (Hibiscus Coast Subdivision) Yang Qu Kaipātiki Local Board Martin Lundqvist Henderson-Massey Local Board Ben Cox Ōrākei Local Board Martin Mahler Amanda Lockyer Robert Meredith Howick Local Board (Pakuranga Subdivision) Pat Arroyo Howick Local Board (Howick Subdivision) William Goldberg Papakura Local Board Prasad Gawande Central & Lower North Island Waikato District Council Peter Mayall – Tamahere–Woodlands Ward Hauraki District Council Michelle Magnus – Paeroa Ward Andrew Pickford – Plains Ward Waipa District Council Stuart Hylton – Cambridge Ward Hamilton City Council Nidhita Gosai – West Ward Preet Dhaliwal – East Ward New Plymouth District Council Damon Fox – Kaitake–Ngāmotu Ward Napier City Council Iain Bradley – Ahuriri Ward Manawatū District Council Jerry Pickford – Feilding Ward Aaron McLeod – Feilding Ward Palmerston North City Council Glen Williams – General Ward Porirua City Council Phill Houlihan – Pāuatahanui Ward Greater Wellington Regional Council Nigel Elder – Lower Hutt Constituency Alice Claire Hurdle – Wellington Constituency Wellington City Council Ray Bowden – Onslow–Western Ward Mark Flynn – Northern Ward Luke Kuggeleijn – Eastern Ward South Island Candidates Tasman District Council David Ross – Motueka Ward Daniel Shirley – Richmond Ward Marlborough District Council Malcolm Taylor – Marlborough Sounds Ward John Hyndman – Blenheim Ward Hurunui District Council Tom Spooner – South Ward Waimakariri District Council Nathan Atkins – Kaiapoi–Woodend Ward Selwyn District Council Chris Till – Rolleston Ward Timaru District Council John Bolt – Timaru Ward Environment Canterbury Regional Council Toni Severin – South Canterbury Constituency Otago Regional Council Robbie Byars – Molyneux Constituency Dunedin City Council Anthony Kenny – Council At-large Ward

NZ Herald
a day ago
- NZ Herald
Facing prospect of election defeat, Government tries to change the rules
There's no good reason to remove election-day enrolment, which has been in place since 2020. And there's certainly no reason to remove the ability to enrol during the advance voting period. You've been able to enrol up to the day before election day since 1993. The idea that election-day enrolment was delaying the official results is also nonsense. Whether people update their enrolment details two weeks before the election or on election day, that form still has to be processed and their information updated. It's the same amount of workers' time, either way. The Government can just hire more people to do it after election day, rather than before, and the job will get done on time. Don't give me the 'well, they should sort out their enrolment details earlier' line. I thought National and Act were against bureaucracy? And now they're saying you should lose your right to vote unless you know about the bureaucracy of voter enrolment and tick the state's forms well ahead of time? We should be making it as easy as possible for people to exercise their right to vote. Aotearoa New Zealand has a good record in that regard. We were world leaders in votes for Māori, votes for women, removing the property-ownership test. We don't have people queuing for hours like in the United States. But now the Government wants to use bureaucracy to trip people up and stop them voting. Even Judith Collins has said it is wrong: 'The proposal for a 13-day registration deadline appears to constitute an unjustified limit on s12 of the NZBORA [the right to vote]. The accepted starting point is the fundamental importance of the right to vote within a liberal democracy. A compelling justification is required to limit that right.' The Deputy Prime Minister says you're a 'dropkick' if you don't get your registration sorted well before the election. But why shouldn't a person be able to come along on election day or in the early voting period, cast their vote, and, if their enrolment details need updating, do it at the same time? Why force us to use an inefficient, two-step process? Since when has the supposedly libertarian Act Party loved bureaucracy? Truth is, we know why the Government is doing this. It's a Government that's failing to deliver and fading in the polls. In most recent polls, Labour has been ahead of National. Forty-eight per cent of voters say it's time for a new Government. Only 38% want to give this Government a second chance. So they're trying to screw the scrum in their favour. David Seymour let it slip with his 'dropkicks' comment. Act MP Todd Stephenson put it even more bluntly: 'It's outrageous that someone completely disengaged and lazy can rock up to the voting booth, get registered there and then, and then vote to tax other people's money away.' Trying to make sure only the 'right' people are voting is dangerous, anti-democratic thinking. We all know this change is about setting up barriers for people who are young, Māori, disengaged or alienated from the structures of power and wealth in this country – because those people are unlikely to vote for a Government that works in the interests of the wealthy and powerful. The Government knows full well that these New Zealanders, who have the same right to vote as anyone else, are less likely to be familiar with the rules around registration. The Government also knows there will be many people, Kiwis not as politically engaged as you and me, dear reader, but no less worthy of the vote, who will turn up to a polling place on election day or during the advance voting period thinking that they can update their registration at the same time as they vote – because that's how it has been and they haven't heard about the change – and be turned away under this new law. Democracy is meant to be a contest of ideas. And it is fundamental to democracy that the voters choose the Government, not the other way around. If the Government wants to be re-elected, it should give people a reason to vote for it, not try to exclude voters it doesn't like.