Something has changed as Election 2026 gets closer. The political conversation is beginning to move beyond personalities and into the policies that could actually determine how New Zealand is governed after November 7. This week alone we have seen the Government push ahead with its proposed rates cap, the Child Poverty Action Group put child…

This should be one of the defining issues of Election 2026. Around 169,300 children — 14.3 percent, or approximately one in seven — are experiencing material hardship in Aotearoa. That’s around 47,500 more children than in 2022, and the rate is now at a ten-year high. But the national number disguises an even harsher reality.…