The Front Page

On Easter Monday 2021, Paulina Hanna was found dead at the Remuera home she shared with her husband of 30 years, Philip Polkinghorne. For 16 months, her death was treated as “unexplained”. That’s until it emerged Polkinghorne had been charged with murder. He pleaded not guilty in August 2022. From the team behind The Front Page, the New Zealand Herald's daily news podcast, comes Accused: The Polki...

On July 26th 1984, David Lange was sworn in as the 32nd Prime Minister of New Zealand. His ascension into the country’s top job came after Robert Muldoon’s infamous snap election ended his nine years in power. Best remembered for enshrining New Zealand’s nuclear free status, Lange also oversaw controversial economic policies that ultimately divided his caucus, and saw his time on the ninth floor o...

Aotearoa’s complicated history of land sales is the focus of a new series from the New Zealand Herald. Whenua: Our Land, Our History , is an interactive map showing how Māori land passed into Pākehā ownership and the stories surrounding it. It confronts questions some of us prefer not to ask because they raise uncomfortable issues about Aotearoa’s colonial legacy, and how those impacts are still b...

Nearly three-thousand experiences have been heard in 133 days of public hearings, and more than a million documents received. It’s been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established – to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Over the years, the Inquiry’s heard from countless...

Our Y2K bug fears became a reality when millions of computers were disabled worldwide over the weekend. Microsoft estimates the outage meant about 8.5 million computers were disabled when an update from global cybersecurity company, CrowdStrike, went wrong. Banks, airports, supermarkets, media companies and retailers were left scrambling – and the company’s chief executive says it could be ‘some t...

Joe Biden is stepping down from the US presidential election race.  He says his decision to stand down "is in the best interest of his party and the country"  Biden has endorsed Kamala Harris, the current vice-president, to be the new Democratic candidate – along with a strings of other key Democrats.  It comes four months before Americans go to the polls.  In this bonus episode, geopolitical anal...

It’s no secret New Zealand is suffering a major mental health crisis.  Many people, including teens and children, often wait weeks to see someone when they seek help.  It's so dire, a survey of those at the coal face of the crisis describes a system that’s under pressure, under-resourced, and under-delivering for New Zealanders.  So, is there hope on the horizon with the coalition Government’s add...

SkyCity Auckland will close its casino for five days following a Department of Internal Affairs investigation – set to cost the company a million dollars a day. It was prompted by a complaint from a customer who gambled there between 2017 and 2021 – with 23 incidents where they were able to gamble continuously without detection. This will mark the first voluntary closure of a casino and the longes...

An investigation into the supermarket majors is underway as a merger of hundreds of stores around New Zealand fails to satisfy our competition watchdog. Ahead of its final decision later this year, the Commerce Commission said that a merger of Foodstuffs North Island and Foodstuffs South Island would effect “significant structural change” in the sector – and it continues to have concerns around co...

An inquiry into New Zealand’s banking competition, or lack thereof, is currently underway. Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced it in June, putting particular emphasis on rural banking and lending. A ComCom market study has already, unsurprisingly, found a lack of competition among our largest financial institutions – with a full report due next month. So, what does it all mean for the average...

US politics is in a freefall, after the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. The shooting killed a spectator and injured two others – while the Secret Service fatally shot the gunman, a 20-year-old man from Pennsylvania, where the rally was being held. The shocking incident comes at a time when the United States is already polarised politically, smack bang in the middle of the...

More and more Kiwis are heading overseas to see if the grass is really greener on the other side. Most of us are heading to Australia, with latest figures showing 27,000 moved last year, but thousands are still flocking to the United Kingdom for their OE. People are gambling on getting better pay and conditions overseas, and escaping New Zealand’s high cost of living, but are things really better...

In this breaking news edition of The Front Page, former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump appears to have been shot at at a rally in Pennsylvania.   Trump was pushed to the ground by Secret Service Agents before being pulled off stage with blood covering his ear. US media is now reporting that the shooter and someone from the crowd is dead. For the latest, Chelsea tal...

With a price tag of $153 million – the coalition government’s paving the way for charter schools to make a comeback in 2025.  Government has places to fund 15 charter schools and the conversion of up to 35 state schools to charter schools.  The application process is officially open, despite ongoing criticism from the Opposition and teaching unions about the return of the controversial system.   T...

The Reserve Bank has delivered their last judgement on the Official Cash Rate – and surprise surprise, there’s been no change.   The Reserve Bank still says it won’t be cutting rates anytime soon, but economists believe that such a cut will need to come later this year.  It comes as the economic outlook for New Zealand continues to look bleak, with more people heading either overseas, or to the Jo...

Crime is one of the key issues the coalition government was voted in on, and it’s easy to see why. The latest data shows overall crime is sitting steady – but despite barely moving figures, people are feeling more unsafe. The government wants to tackle crime and create fewer victims of violent offences, but with law and order their key focus for the coming months, are they focusing on the right cr...

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is off to the United States this week – the world’s largest economy and our second biggest trading partner. He’s there for what’s described as “D.C.’s diplomatic Super Bowl”, where dozens of foreign leaders will descend upon Washington for the NATO Summit. A number of bilaterals with other NATO leaders is on the cards – as well as a spattering of sideline meetings...

Green MP Darleen Tana has spent half of her short Parliamentary career under investigation, after allegations she is linked to migrant exploitation at her husband’s bicycle company.  A report on the lengthy investigation was delivered to the Green Party on Friday night, and the party has now called on Tana to resign.  To explain what’s happening, and why they aren’t firing Tana themselves, for thi...

Each year around 40,000 New Zealanders are disconnected from the power supply for non-payment, according to Consumer NZ.   They are surviving winter in cold, dark homes without access to a warm shower or a homecooked meal – sometimes for months at a time.   It comes at a time when the main players in the power business are making huge profits - including charging hundreds for reconnections done by...

While the final results are set to trickle in slowly, the exit poll for the UK election has shown a historic landslide for the Labour Party. The poll suggests Sir Keir Starmer will be the next Prime Minister of one of our closest allies, with a potential majority of 170 seats, while the ruling Conservative Party is out after 14 years of power, and has suffered their worst ever defeat to boot. To d...

The Government has unveiled grand plans to ‘flood’ the market with more houses, announcing new changes to planning rules that will require councils to plan for 30 years of housing growth. It comes after Housing Minister Chris Bishop said he wants to see house prices fall. He’s already getting his wish though, with prices dropping to a point that in some of the country’s biggest cities, homeowners...

In recent months, stories of extreme turbulence have come to dominate travel headlines. A flight between Spain and Uruguay this week had to be diverted to Brazil after dozens were injured due to turbulence in just the latest incident. In one case in April, a man onboard an Air New Zealand flight from Bali broke his leg, while in May, a violent Singapore Airlines flight saw dozens hospitalised and...

New Zealand’s media industry is facing arguably the biggest shake up in years.   Stuff is closing a newspaper and launching a 6pm bulletin, TVNZ sent execs to on a $30k LA jaunt amidst mass layoffs and a lengthy plan to get back to profitability, and all this while we're readying ourselves for a final goodbye to Newshub. The Government has finally come to the table with a plan to help the industry...

Alcohol law reform could be on the cards this government term. That’s after alcohol was identified as one of the key factors that need to be addressed to reduce deaths from non-communicable diseases in the Government’s Policy Statement on health. It comes at the start of Dry July, the yearly fundraiser that encourages people to give up the booze for a month – but now, many are adopting that as a p...

The biggest sporting event of the year kicks off this month.  The 2024 Paris Olympics are only a few weeks away, and nearly 200 Kiwi athletes will be heading to the City of Love for their shot at Olympic glory. Today on The Front Page, New York Times international correspondent Catherine Porter joins from Paris to discuss how the city is preparing for the event in the midst of an election, securit...