For many Kiwis, Saturday's record-breaking $55 million Powerball jackpot was an opportunity to dream big - but the Govt is after a financial windfall of its own, with ministers starting tentative discussions about a privatisation of Lotto. More @newsroom.co.nz here: newsroom.co.nz/2025/11/19/c...

NEW: Chris Bishop used housing money to fund a bridge in his electorate his own Govt had killed off. Officials were against the move and Labour say he shouldn’t have been anywhere near the decision. www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...

Battle of the medical doctors in Whāngarei! Labour's selected emergency medicine specialist Dr Gary Payinda to take on Dr Shane Reti at next year's election

The public almost missed out on learning of the police hierarchy’s cover-up of its disgraced deputy commissioner’s behaviour – because until the 11th hour the Crown wanted a permanent suppression order of his identity.

Decent shunt there! #eqnz

the united states government acknowledges but does not endorse new york city’s claim on staten island, a strategic ambiguity political scientists refer to as the One New York Policy

oh my god

Christopher Luxon and Donald Trump meet one on one for the first time, ahead of an Apec leaders' dinner in Gyeongju, South Korea

New from me: Just eight of the Government's 17 Roads of National Significance have already seen costs blow out by $5.1 billion - before any shovels are even in the ground. The full programme would cost $44-$54 billion on the latest numbers. newsroom.co.nz/2025/10/23/5...

I wrote a (short!) piece in a newsletter for work about the use of generative AI to process and analyse submissions, sent it out, and then checked Newsroom only to see a (very good!) piece from @samsachdeva.bsky.social piece on the topic with more up-to-date numbers and a chat with the Clerk. #NZPOL

Learned that an anonymous outside expert on submersibles did an interview with the OceanGate Titan investigation, and they released a transcript, with all the names redacted. The first line of his first answer? "I'm sure you're familiar with my film Titanic."

A New Zealand ‘slave master’ and human trafficker is set to have two of his convictions quashed, after being caught up in a procedural bungle from the solicitor-general’s office. More @newsroom.co.nz: newsroom.co.nz/2025/10/16/s...

To me, Jim Bolger's legacy will always be how he prevented NZ from becoming a nuclear superpower by declining the offer of a nuclear submarine as payment for butter www.theguardian.com/world/2013/o...

New: Climate Change Minister Simon Watts concedes the Government’s new methane target could result in outcomes not consistent with limiting global warming to 1.5C above preindustrial levels – a threshold mandated in New Zealand and international law. newsroom.co.nz/2025/10/15/c...

In 2022, Selwyn mayor Sam Broughton won a third term with a 12,049-vote margin. Now, he's 11,341 votes behind mayor-elect Lydia Gliddon – pretty staggering change in fortunes. Here's my pre-election @newsroom.co.nz piece on why Broughton was facing a tough battle: newsroom.co.nz/2025/10/06/t...

David Simon, creator of ‘The Wire’, being interviewed by Ari Shapiro (NPR)

Earlier this month Rachel Boyack, @teanau.bsky.social and I carried out a NZ MPs fact finding mission on Myanmar. Check @samsachdeva.bsky.social's story for a good summary. #NZMPsMyanmarFactFinding #Myanmar #SpringRevolution #ShamElection #whatishappeninginmyanmar newsroom.co.nz/2025/10/02/n...

Did a deep-ish dive on the race for the mayoralty in Canterbury's Selwyn district, which raises some interesting questions about how councils handle rapid growth, the rates debate, and the relationship between central and local govt. More here: newsroom.co.nz/2025/10/06/t...

OpenAI employees are very excited about how well their new AI tool can create fake videos of people doing crimes and have definitely thought through all the implications of this

New: My analysis on the Government's just-announced energy reforms. The uninspired package doubles down on fossil fuels, after a major market review recommended privatising the gentailers. newsroom.co.nz/2025/10/01/g...

From me this morning - Coalition’s Palestine cop-out puts pragmatism above principle: newsroom.co.nz/2025/09/28/c...

I can’t help but wonder how the officials at Mfat are feeling about the coalition’s decision on Palestine: we’ve seen officials in other countries their govts’ policy, and NZ is now a real outlier on the issue

What are Eve's financial credentials though?

Izquierda Derecha, by Juan Genovés, 1967, 📸 via @beysicc

Post now deleted, more or less confirming it was a DM. Great opsec!

we should have never normalized filming strangers in public and posting them as content

Uhhhhh

New research overrides the Government’s insistence that nursing shifts are safely staffed, suggesting thousands more hires are needed. My analysis: newsroom.co.nz/2025/09/18/s...

Unable to afford to provide even basic services, there are fears for the remote island community's continued financial viability. Jonathan Milne reports.

The 2025 edition of Newsroom's local government survey has reached more than a third of all candidates for council or mayor of a district/city/unitary council. Today, I report it shows strong support for Māori wards and co-governance among the cohort of respondents. newsroom.co.nz/2025/09/16/s...

Chinese diplomats unsuccessfully lobbied a New Zealand university over its decision to host an event partly funded by Taiwan's govt – years after getting an official reprimand for similar interference. More on @newsroom.co.nz ($): newsroom.co.nz/2025/09/16/c...

Ticket to the Mountain Goats secured, oh yeahhhhh

New docs have shed light on a months-long Budget battle between Nicola Willis and Winston Peters, with the latter accused of ignoring a request to find savings and advocating for projects that were “not clear or well-articulated”. More here: newsroom.co.nz/2025/09/05/w...

Former Labour voters made up more than half of all of those who voted for NZ First in 2023. Without them, the party would have failed to reach the 5 percent threshold and would not have returned to Parliament. newsroom.co.nz/2025/09/03/n...

Ahem #NZ dig your mask out, open the windows, stay home if sick. It’s getting worse not better rn

Hearing rumours the Trump announcement tomorrow is that he's going to buy a luxury Queenstown pad now the Govt has (partially) lifted the foreign buyers ban #hotscoop

Looking forward to Chippy being asked to spell out exactly what FIGJAM stands for - bold choice for a PR...

Just adding that reporters are not the most sympathetic lot but the media would be more robust/competent if pay and conditions were improved and it was seen as a viable career for more people.

People of Wellington: are there any spots with particularly large concentrations of local election placards/billboards? We need to get some file photos and I'm all about efficiency

Paywall now lifted on a story nearly six years in the making: How a passionate neo-Nazi joined the army, started a homegrown white nationalist movement while serving, then tried to defect overseas when the police caught up to him – bringing military secrets with him. newsroom.co.nz/2025/08/25/t...

A years-long fight to change the health system after her mother's death may yet prove successful for Louise Duffy, with the Government asking for advice on her proposals. Sam Sachdeva reports.

Ah yes, the age-old myth that you can somehow have both "modest" house price increases every year, but also affordable housing...as long as salaries rise by ~30 percent (or more) over the next few years 🫠 www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

A big read from me this morning, on how a passionate neo-Nazi joined the army, started a white nationalist organisation, then tried to defect to a foreign country – bringing military secrets along with him. newsroom.co.nz/2025/08/25/t...

MFAT emails reveal "security issue" over Fale Andrew Lesā

"I even gave my life to Christ in a Cracker Barrel parking lot" is an Action Bronson line

A spike in foreign interference agents visiting the country is one of the concerning trends outlined in a new spy agency report.

ICYMI: A soldier who founded a white nationalist group and self-identified as a Nazi has pleaded guilty to attempted espionage. He provided maps of military facilities and defence system login details to an undercover officer posing as an agent of a foreign country. newsroom.co.nz/2025/08/18/f...

Between research, interviews, more research, writing, graphic design and yet more research, I spent a week working on this project. If you found it helpful, please consider supporting Newsroom so we can do more of this by subscribing to Newsroom Pro or donating here: donations.newsroom.co.nz

Paywall now lifted: My special report this morning is about how we spent generations strangling our rivers to make room for our homes and farms, only to find we've ended up supercharging their flows. What do we do when we realise we've built a society in a riverbed? newsroom.co.nz/2025/08/13/l...

i am done slightly diminishing bands. we must increase bands. the mountain range goats