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Comment & Analysis
Comment & Analysis headlines with summaries.
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How the US 'war on woke' and women risks weakening its own military capability
2 May 2025Analysis - US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called the Women, Peace and Security initiative 'woke' and 'divisive'. But history shows soldiers of all stripes have served with honour.
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The Ukraine minerals deal is largely symbolic - but that's enough for Trump
2 May 2025Analysis - It provides both good news and optics, but is ultimately a forced deal with a complex future.
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Australian election on a knife edge, thanks to Donald Trump
Analysis - Nothing is certain in politics, and Labor could still lose the election as polls are known to get it wrong in Australia, writes Corin Dann. Audio
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Willis warns of a ‘tight’ budget to come, but NZ should be going for productivity, not austerity
30 Apr 2025Analysis - Finance Minister Nicola Willis has warned her 2025 "Growth Budget" will be "one of the tightest budgets in a decade".
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Aside from Anzac Day, NZ has been slow to remember military veterans
28 Apr 2025Expansion of the term 'veteran' will add 100,000 service people, without automatically changing existing entitlements.
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Debut album by There's A Tuesday is wildly impressive
27 Apr 2025The Sampler - The Christchurch band shows off some fantastic songwriting on Blush, local dub merchants Pitch Black release a collection of top-tier remixes and American indie folk band Beirut…
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What will make rents affordable in NZ?
Analysis: Research has found the accommodation supplement, which costs almost $2 billion a year, might not be an effective tool in addressing the housing affordability crisis.
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NZ's over-reliance on roads for freight means natural disasters hit even harder. But there is a fix
20 Apr 2025Analysis - New Zealand's long coastlines could help.
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Trump's retribution sends a chilling message to dissenters
13 Apr 2025Analysis - Donald Trump's White House has a threatening message for anyone who might even be perceived to disagree with the president.
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Aussie larrikins Babe Rainbow make silly songs with substance on their sixth surf-rock opus
20 Apr 2025Tony Stamp checks out the latest release from Babe Rainbow, the reissue of Unrest's final album and DJ Koze's kaleidoscopic new LP.
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WTF: Weird Tariff Frenzy - what it means for NZ and the world
Analysis: The US and China are head-to-head in a trade war, and as the saying goes 'when two elephants fight, it's the grass that gets trampled'.
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'I will never attend an Anzac Day service at the Shrine again'
Analysis - The ugliness on display at Melbourne's war memorial has shaken the Aboriginal community, Indigenous veterans especially. Video
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Women still locked out of church leadership, despite its impact on their lives
24 Apr 2025Will Pope Francis's successor continue, cement or narrow his reforms?
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JD Vance: Donald Trump's global 'bad cop'
21 Apr 2025Analysis - The ambitious 40-year-old has taken the historically thankless job of US vice president by the scruff of the neck.
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The real strategy behind Russia's sudden Easter truce announcement
20 Apr 2025Analysis - Putin's ceasefire is a logistical nightmare, and will likely be used to support the false notion Kyiv does not want his war to stop, writes CNN's Nick Paton Walsh.
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What's the message as Ukraine parades Chinese nationals who fought for Russia?
18 Apr 2025Analysis: Putting prisoners of war in front of media is almost certainly a violation of international humanitarian law.
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Owners are officially no longer responsible for tourism accidents on their land - but they never really were
15 Apr 2025Analysis - Reforms mean landowners will no longer be responsible for tourism-related injuries on their properties. But it's not clear this has ever really been a problem.
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Damning study of online abuse of female MPs shows urgent legal reform needed
10 Apr 2025Analysis: Recently released research found online threats of physical and sexual violence have caused those MPs to feel fearful, anxious and distressed.
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RNZ celebrates 100 years - where to now for the national broadcaster?
13 Apr 2025Comment - Paul Thompson, chief executive and editor-in-chief of RNZ, takes a look at the state of journalism in 2025 and the role RNZ has in its future.
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Six ideas NZ could borrow from Australia to cut smoking rates
8 Apr 2025New Zealand seems unlikely to achieve its goal to reduce smoking to 5% of the population or less.
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Why Trump's tariffs highlight the need for NZ to build local capacity
7 Apr 2025Analysis: When retail executives start swearing during earnings calls, something is clearly amiss.
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As more communities leave, what happens to the land?
11 Apr 2025Analysis - New research explores how land use changes after humans leave.
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Peters at 80: 50 years of political comebacks
9 Apr 2025Analysis: Like a Pied Piper in a double-breasted pinstripe suit, he led the disgruntled all the way to the ballot box at the last election, Grant Duncan writes.
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Australia election: Dutton's nightmare week as candidates meet for first debate
9 Apr 2025Analysis - As Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton met for their first debate before the 3 May Australia election, Dutton has had just about as bad a start to his campaign as could possibly be imagined…
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