Stories by Farah Hancock
News
What if political donations were reined in?
What would happen if only voters - not unions or businesses - could donate to political parties? A plan to do exactly that exists, if the government wants to try it.
Who the parties targeted, how they attacked and their key messages
One party appeared to target its ads at women, and one at men, while another doubled down on aiming for the elderly. RNZ examines three months of data leading up to the election.
The election campaign fight for your eyeballs
Every political party poured money into online ads that flooded the internet for three months.
Hipkins' new attack lines on heavy repeat
Labour's leader brought out three new phrases to attack Christopher Luxon, and got them out with startling regularity in the final head-to-head debate of the campaign.
Publicity-shy 'promoters' spending up on the election campaign
Some of the most active campaigners are new to politics. Another promoter is a wealthy foreign businessman.
Less is more in multi-party debate
One leader took 252 words to answer a question - another took just one.
Property industry's political favourites
The property industry gives more in political donations than any other, and its millions of dollars almost all go to two parties.
The one word National's leader used 76 times in last night's debate
If the debate was judged on repetition of a single word, Christopher Luxon would have won hands down.
How two men hogged the mic in the minor party leaders' debate
Winston Peters and David Seymour filled up significantly more air time than Marama Davidson and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer.
Luxon's very talkative debate debut
An RNZ analysis of the first leaders' debate shows National's leader got the most words in. But how much of it was hot air?
Billionaire Graeme Hart's $700k in donations to right wing parties
Billionaire Graeme Hart has donated a total of $700,000 to National, ACT and NZ First in the past two years.
Labour gets no significant donations from business
Since 2021, Labour has received zero substantial donations from business.
Anti co-governance website using 'quite deceitful' tactics
Hobson's Pledge is accused of 'astroturfing' in its campaign designed to recruit new migrants.
'Unprecedented' donations stream into National, Act
National has banked millions more than Labour, raising concern over the fairness of political donation rules.
Covid-19 data visualisations: NZ in numbers
Track the very latest Covid-19 data in New Zealand, with new charts on the current trends from RNZ data journalist Farah Hancock.
The 'corner dairy campaign' quietly backed by big tobacco
Tobacco companies say a shop owner is "the driving voice" behind a campaign against a smokefree initiative. The truth is more complicated.
How to spot PM Chris Hipkins trying to change the subject
Hipkins - just like his predecessor Jacinda Ardern - uses a well-worn tactic to change the direction of a difficult interview.
The latest on the election campaign, in charts
Latest polling, campaign finances, social media targeting and more - see it all on RNZ's election campaign dashboard.
Is Christopher Luxon the real Mr Chippy?
An analysis of hours of interviews suggests National's leader has more positive things to say.
The Interview: Who talks the most?
How Christopher Luxon and Chris Hipkins square up against the different news networks and hosts.
Tax, spend and crisis - the obsessions of an opposition leader
The words and phrases National leader Christopher Luxon says over and over again - and how they dramatically differ from Labour's leaders.
Ministry of Health abandons Covid-19 infection survey
A long-awaited survey of Covid-19 infections has been abandoned by the Ministry of Health.