This year the Herald’s award-winning newsroom produced a range of first-class journalism, including Jacinda Ardern’s shock resignation, the Auckland anniversary floods, arts patron Sir James Wallace’s prison sentence, the election of Christopher’s Luxon government and the All Blacks’ narrow defeat in the Rugby World Cup final.
Ardern’s departure triggered a chaotic and tumultuous political year, culminating in ruinous defeat for Labour and Christopher Luxon stitching together a three-headed Government with Act and NZ First.
This summer we’re bringing back some of the best-read Premium articles of 2023. Today we take a look at some of the key moments of that tumultuous year in New Zealand politics.
The inside story of Jacinda Ardern’s resignation and rise of a new PM
On Friday, January 13, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told one of the very few people who knew she was thinking about resigning that she had made her final decision.
She was at her home in Sandringham, Auckland, having spent the summer between Gisborne with her fiance Clarke Gayford’s family and Tairua with her own parents.
Her chief of staff, Raj Nahna, flew up, as he did every year, to talk through the plan for the year ahead with her: the usual caucus retreat, the start of Parliament, the focus for the year and the election.
This time Nahna had brought two plans: one for if she was staying and one for if she was going.
Her Deputy PM and closest friend Grant Robertson was usually at that same January meeting, but this year was not able to get there because of an appointment in Wellington.
He arrived later that day and went out for dinner with Ardern to Cazador in Dominion Rd, ahead of a day at the tennis the next day.
At the table next to them were a couple of tourists who had no idea who she was. Other customers told them it was the Prime Minister after Ardern left.
Those other customers had no idea Ardern had just decided to quit the job.
Political editor Claire Trevett traced the inside story of Jacinda Ardern’s shock resignation.
Remarkable or shambolic? Four PMs give their verdicts on Jacinda Ardern’s legacy
When Helen Clark woke up on January 19 this year, in the Swiss Alps, she knew something had happened to Jacinda Ardern overnight – in fact, she thought she may have died.
There were about 80 messages on her WhatsApp and 30 texts and as she started to open them, they said things such as, “Terrible news about Jacinda.”
Then she found a message from Ardern herself, explaining to Clark that she had decided to step down as Prime Minister.
Ardern had five full years as Prime Minister, taking power at the end of 2017 and resigning in January this year, saying she had nothing left in the tank.
Most people did not see it coming, not least former National Prime Minister Sir John Key, who himself suddenly resigned in 2016 after eight years as Prime Minister.
“I was completely shocked,” he said.
Ardern was always seen as a reluctant leader, having served as Andrew Little’s deputy for six months before he was persuaded to stand down in favour of Ardern.
And 80 days later, after a campaign primarily against National’s Bill English and an election that gave New Zealand First the balance of power, Winston Peters announced his party would go with Labour and Jacinda Ardern would be Prime Minister.
After Ardern’s resignation, Audrey Young spoke to four former prime ministers about her record in office.
NZ’s best public service bosses - and who’s in line for the top job
Ask those who should know and two names emerge as the best in class of New Zealand’s public service leaders.
The first is former diplomat Brook Barrington, currently on leave as the chief executive of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.
The other is Belfast-born Naomi Ferguson, who last year finished as head of Inland Revenue.
Both are considered the outstanding public sector leaders of their time who would be the strongest contenders to replace Peter Hughes as Public Service Commissioner next year, when his term is up.
But there is no certainty either would want it and succession is more in the thinking stage than the planning phase.
If neither was keen on the Public Service Commission (PSC) job, the field is open with some clear possibilities but no clear favourite.
Audrey Young looks at New Zealand’s public service leaders and which ones are shaping up as possible contenders to take over from Hughes.
Is Labour really soft on crime? The numbers reveal a surprising story
Communities are reeling from daily reports of increasingly brazen criminal activity, often involving disaffected teens and pre-teens who brag about their exploits on social media channels such as TikTok.
There is little argument that New Zealand is experiencing a spike in anti-social crime, mostly attributed to post-Covid complications, but the debate is growing over exactly what is causing it and whether it is just a blip or part of a longer-term trend.
In election year National and Act are pushing the theme hard, regularly accusing the Government of being “soft on crime”.
They argue that too often there are no consequences for offenders, citing statistics including a doubling of retail crime, a 26 per cent decrease in convictions and a 28 per cent drop in the prison population since Labour took charge.
Amid the growing reports of ram raids and brazen robberies by teens too young to face prosecution, Opposition parties accused the then-Labour Government of being “soft on crime”. Was it true? Data editor Chris Knox and political reporter Michael Neilson combed through the facts and figures to find out.
What drives Christopher Luxon? The full story of the man who wants to be PM
On a Monday evening in Blenheim, Christopher Luxon ducks into a nearly empty wine bar looking for a quiet place to make a phone call.
The National Party leader – a former chief executive of Air New Zealand – has been following a relentless campaign schedule, holding events up and down the country to persuade voters to return his party to government in October after six sometimes calamitous years in opposition.
Luxon started the day in Auckland, flew to Blenheim, drove to Kaikōura and back, and now has 45 minutes before his next event. He doesn’t waste it drinking wine. At 53, Luxon doesn’t consume alcohol, or coffee or tea, and lately he’s also been trying to break his habit of drinking Pepsi Max. He asks the staff to turn the music down and attends to his next pressing task, a call with a journalist.
“It’s great. It’s good. It’s really good,” he says when the journalist asks if he’s enjoying being on the road. “I’m loving it. Absolutely loving it.”
Even in his downtime between campaign events, Luxon is always on.
Since he was a teenager, according to family, friends and former colleagues, Luxon has possessed preternatural energy and self-discipline. He sleeps fewer than five hours a night. He is fanatical about setting goals, adopts mental frameworks for everything from recruiting staff to raising children, and drives himself so hard he says he can “compress time”.
After a rapid ascent to the top of the National Party, Christopher Luxon was still relatively unknown to many voters. Investigations editor Alex Spence spoke at length to the then-Opposition leader and those closest to him to find out what makes him tick – and how he would proceed if he got into power after October’s general election.
Chris Hipkins: From ‘quite different’ child to his part in the Ardern ‘quiet coup’
Chris Hipkins is about to face pressure he has never known before.
In October, at the age of 45, he will be attempting to keep his party in power for a third term after only nine months as Prime Minister.
It is a feat that proved too much for many other Prime Ministers who took the reins mid-term such as Jack Marshall, Bill Rowling, Mike Moore, Jenny Shipley and Bill English.
And a succession of problems with recalcitrant ministers have undermined Labour’s chances.
But the woman who knows him best in life says he is more than up to it, and Hipkins himself is relishing the chance to differentiate himself.
We know he likes sausage rolls and Diet Coke, but who is the real Chris Hipkins and what life experiences have shaped the man they call Chippy? Senior political correspondent Audrey Young spoke to the then-Prime Minister - and his mum.
Sacked minister Stuart Nash’s new gig with global consulting agency
After crashing out of Cabinet in disgrace on March 28, former Labour minister Stuart Nash will take up a new private sector job: Wellington-based commercial director for staffing agency and global recruiting consultancy Robert Walters.
Should you be in any doubt about Nash’s new role, Shay Peters, chief executive of Robert Walters Australia and New Zealand described it to the Herald this way: “Stuart Nash will be working closely with senior leaders across the state sector to alleviate challenges they are experiencing as they overcome the current skill shortage. He will provide solutions that will enable them to hit their productivity targets, ensuring the delivery of services NZ Inc. needs.
“His knowledge as an ex-Cabinet minister covering multiple social and economic portfolios, including revenue, economic development and small businesses, means he understands the pressures not only the state sector but also businesses in New Zealand are facing and will help them compete on a global stage to showcase New Zealand talent.”
Yes, that’s the same Robert Walters which is almost undoubtedly the largest supplier of contract labour to the New Zealand public sector.
In October, Herald column The Public Purse looked at Stuart Nash’s new gig with staffing agency Robert Walters.
A tale of two campaigns: Luxon v Hipkins, change v doubt
On Friday the 13th NZ First leader Winston Peters cast his vote and it was a very appropriate date for it.
Eleven days earlier, at the Eastview Baptist Church in Botany, a man called Neville Webb had cast his vote and was wondering why all the media turned up for the occasion.
That was October 2, the first day of advance voting. Webb and his wife had voted for Winston Peters. He was just the man “to put the whole handbrake on the economy”.
A few minutes later, a silver Crown car pulled up and National leader Christopher Luxon got out to cast his vote.
A week earlier, Luxon had put up a video to say he would pick up the phone to Peters if the election results demanded it.
Peters went from being a mere hypothetical spot in Luxon’s peripheral vision to being a horror show.
Luxon’s campaign had run smoothly and strongly until the Peters prospect cast its shadow.
The Peters question had also proved a turning point in Labour’s campaign.
In October, Political Editor Claire Trevett looked at the campaigns of National Party leader Christopher Luxon and Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins - and how Winston Peters hit them.
CEO to PM: What kind of PM will Luxon be?
The voters have answered the question of whether National Party leader Christopher Luxon is ready to be Prime Minister with a yes.
Provided he can cut the deal or deals with potential support partners, Act and NZ First, Luxon is set to be Prime Minister after just three years in Parliament.
What kind of Prime Minister will he be?
In October, Claire Trevett looked at Luxon’s path to the top and how likely he is to adopt a CEO model to his prime ministership.
Luxon’s 100-day action plan
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has revealed the Government’s 100-day Action Plan, which he insists will make a difference to people’s wallets as they continue to navigate the cost-of-living crunch.
The Government’s plan includes National’s key pledges as well as those from coalition partners Act and New Zealand First, including substantive changes such as to firearms laws and smoke-free legislation, and less substantive ones such as stopping work on He Puapua (which stopped in December 2022) and dropping Labour’s prisoner reduction target (which was discarded during the election campaign).
Derek Cheng explains the Government’s 100-day action plan and looks at the key differences from National’s original plan.