Navigation for News Categories
Comment & Analysis
Comment & Analysis headlines with summaries.
-
How populists encourage blind mistrust – and how to push back
17 Dec 2023Opinion - Populist leaders are winning support around the world, with their anti-elite messages, writes John Shayegh.
-
Would private investors fund social services? Here's what the evidence says
6 Dec 2023Analysis - The local and international track record of social investment funds and social impact bonds is far from convincing. A better-resourced public sector would be a simpler solution, Tom Baker w…
-
Landlords and tax changes: End of a flawed law
Analysis - The new coalition government has announced a suite of tax reforms, with early criticisms of potential windfalls to landlords, but the previous policy could also be extremely punitive.
-
Does living with Covid also mean paying to protect ourselves?
To fund or not to fund vaccinations, tests and treatments: These are difficult questions as we learn to live with the virus, Paula Lorgelly writes.
-
What the new COP28 deal means for climate change
14 Dec 2023Analysis - Is the climate agreement enough to keep global temperatures in check?
-
Week in Politics: New government survives first Question Time
8 Dec 2023Analysis: The government was under attack on multiple fronts during a week of relentless criticism and then faced its first Question Time in Parliament, Peter Wilson writes.
-
COP28: With fund in place, protecting climate refugees more urgent than ever
5 Dec 2023Opinion - It has taken decades, but the increasingly urgent issue of "climate mobility" is now central to international climate negotiations, Dalila Gharbaoui writes.
-
As news fades from social media platforms - where does that leave journalism?
2 Dec 2023Opinion - News organisations that work through social media will have limited control as terms of service are changed at will, leaving news companies to deal with the consequences, Merja Myllylahti wr…
-
Is it right to call state-funded journalism 'bribery' - or is there a bigger threat to democracy?
Opinion - Winston Peters had only just been sworn in as deputy prime minister when his long-standing antipathy to the news media emerged in the form of a serious accusation, Peter Thompson writes.
-
Legacy of colonisation driving decline in traditional Christian beliefs among Māori
29 Nov 2023Analysis - Religious beliefs among Māori have shifted significantly over the past two decades.
-
Read all about it: The 2023 Booker Prize Shortlist
Devoted reader Jeremy Rees read all the books in the 2023 Booker Prize shortlist (so you don't have to). Here's what he and the judges have to say about the six novels on this year's shortlist.
-
The government's first press conference: Wilder than an episode of Love Island
Analysis - The three ring-masters of the coalition announcement had spectacularly different ideas about the point of the show.
-
The stress points within a 'coalition of many colours'
25 Nov 2023Analysis - After some intermittently passive-aggressive political posturing and much striding through airports, the deals were done and signed off in Wellington on Friday, Richard Shaw writes.
-
Power Play: Three-way coalition could make for treble trouble
20 Nov 2023Power Play - The unique situation means ACT and New Zealand First are in direct competition for prized Cabinet seats, and roles like deputy prime minister, RNZ's political editor Jane Patterson writes…
-
Health and education are closely linked – NZ needs to integrate them more in primary schools
Analysis - Given the health and education challenges many New Zealand children face, it is surprising (and even depressing) how little crossover and collaboration there is between these two vital…
-
How 'the quiet Beatle' left such a large legacy
19 Nov 2023Novelist and playwright Phillip Norman has written a new biography about George Harrison's life, and how the Fab Four's quietest member ended up being the number one Beatle. Audio
-
Knives out for incoming PM
18 Nov 2023Opinion - Christopher Luxon is now being openly mocked and ridiculed by political commentators for his failure to achieve a coalition government, writes Bryce Edwards.
-
Week in Politics: Peters' no show steals the show
17 Nov 2023Analysis - Winston Peters' no show at the talks on Tuesday created controversy and is being described as a "humiliating show of political brinkmanship", writes Peter Wilson.
-
Planting trees won't fix amount of fossil fuel burning
16 Nov 2023Analysis - The idea that carbon emissions can be offset by carbon reductions is an idea that needs serious questioning, Mike Joy writes.
-
Fake news didn't play a big role in NZ's 2023 election – but there was a rise in 'small lies'
15 Nov 2023The threat of disinformation on social media in the lead-up to New Zealand's 2023 election loomed large for the Electoral Commission and academics studying fake news.
-
Workers have few protections if employer goes bust - fixing Companies Act would help
13 Nov 2023While the loss of money for any creditor is difficult, the double impact of losing wages as well as a job is particularly hard for employees, commercial law academic Trish Keeper writes.
-
Why the search for the Loch Ness monster continues 90 years on
Analysis - Hugh Gray was taking his usual post-church walk around Loch Ness in Scotland on a November Sunday in 1933, when he spotted a strange sight.
-
What will happen if the new government axes the clean car discount?
10 Nov 2023Analysis -With National, ACT and NZ First locked in coalition negotiations, various urgent and climate-related transport challenges hang in the balance.
-
It's time to admit 'we're in an AI bubble'
8 Nov 2023Comment - Artificial Intelligence is the technology story of 2023. In the face of all of this burgeoning wave of hype and investment, I say - enjoy it while it lasts, writes Allyn Robins.