2023 will never go down in the history books as a dull year. Since January, the country has had to overcome tragedy and adversity, including the devastating floods in the North Island. Kiwis have also spent the year battling a cost of living crisis, which, as we go into Christmas with much thinner wallets, is showing no signs of easing.
This was the year when Jacinda Ardern stepped down as Prime Minister, only for Chris Hipkins to take the top job and then lose it to incoming Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, meaning we will have had three Prime Ministers in a calendar year, as well as a new King.
It was also the year of the World Cups: we had the Fifa Women’s World Cup, which New Zealand had the opportunity to co-host, the Rugby World Cup, the Netball World Cup and the Cricket World Cup.
As we near the end of 2023, we look back at 23 pieces of Premium journalism that helped us understand the most important events of the year, at home and abroad - click on the headlines to read them.
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.
The Herald political editor Claire Trevett chartered the course of events that culminated with Ardern’s resignation as Prime Minister of New Zealand and Chris Hipkins taking on the top job.
Auckland floods: Mayor Wayne Brown’s 30min phone call with the Herald
“Don’t f**k me over,” says Wayne Brown, mayor of Auckland, after about 30 minutes of a frank discussion with the Herald.
Brown rang the Herald on Monday night after a request for comment about his message to his tennis group that he couldn’t play on Sunday because he had “to deal with media drongos over the flooding tomorrow”.
“I am the mayor for three years. You can’t do anything about that,” he said. “No one else in New Zealand is going to get 180,000 votes. That was my mandate.”
Senior writer David Fisher told our Premium readers the full story.
Still on the floods and the devastation left behind cyclone Gabrielle, we invite you to revisit this piece by Herald senior writer Simon Wilson on The night the floods came to Karekare.
‘We thought they were growing tomatoes’: Inside NZ’s biggest cannabis bust
“We thought they were growing capsicums and tomatoes,” said Brian Lewis, dairy farmer, of the extraordinary cannabis crop hidden beneath 600 metres of half-round greenhouses.
He made a mental note not to put maize in the field over the fence shared with the new neighbours. “Tomatoes only need a small amount of chemicals and they fall over.”
Lewis need not have worried. The six Vietnamese nationals who worked from dawn late into the night weren’t growing tomatoes. Or capsicums.
The scale of the operation became apparent when the Herald on Sunday visited the property, as David Fisher reported.
Power list: The top McDonald’s owners in New Zealand, what it takes to buy in
“In New Zealand, 90 per cent of McDonald’s restaurants are franchised by local businessmen and women who own and operate their restaurants as independent businesses,” the company says on its Kiwi website under “who we are”.
In April this year, Anne Gibson gave readers a look at the top McDonald’s franchisees in New Zealand - and what it takes to buy into the business.
CEO Pay Survey: NZ’s top bosses richer than ever following big pay rises
Speaking of big bucks, Duncan Bridgeman, Head of Premium Business Content, looked at New Zealand’s top bosses, and how their incomes are higher than ever.
In fact, packages for chief executives of some of the country’s biggest firms increased by an average of 14.13 per cent in the 2022 financial year compared to the previous corresponding period as measured by the Business Herald Executive Pay Survey.
King Charles’ coronation: For Scotland, souvenirs, anti-monarchy rallies and shrugs
King Charles III’s coronation took place in May this year and the Herald was there, reporting live from the UK. The celebration was viewed by millions worldwide but not everyone felt the same about it. The crowning of King Charles III was, as Stephen Castle wrote in a piece first published in the New York Times, a test of sentiment about the monarchy in Scotland, where many supporters of independence see the royals as part of the Britain they want to leave behind. Damien Cave, for the same publication, wondered: Can King Charles save the Commonwealth?
Sir James Wallace: The film stars, musicians, knights and dames who wrote ‘letters of support’ for disgraced patron’s sentencing
Some of New Zealand’s biggest names in film, art and classical music wrote letters ahead of disgraced patron Sir James Wallace’s sentencing - many asking for leniency from the judge for his decades of philanthropy.
Senior reporter Sam Hurley wrote about who they were, and what they said to defend the man who assaulted three men and twice tried to pervert the course of justice.
Russia-Ukraine war: NZ Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta declines plea for help over grain harvest
A desperate plea from the besieged Ukrainian Government to a New Zealand agri-business company for specialist help for the 2023 grain harvest was blocked by Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta, the Herald revealed in March.
Mass exodus at top Auckland football club Western Springs after women players ‘disrespected’
One of the country’s top women’s football teams faced an exodus of senior players after months of disputes with the club about inequities between the treatment of men’s and women’s teams.
The walkout at Western Springs came after a spate of concerns from female players who felt they were “completely disrespected” by the “highly misogynistic behaviour” of the club’s predominantly male board.
Herald journalist Bonnie Jansen reported on the issue in May, speaking to many of the people involved.
A Rubik’s Cube, thick socks and excitement: Doomed Titan sub’s final hours
On June 18, Titan, a submersible operated by American tourism and expeditions company OceanGate, imploded during an expedition to view the wreck of Titanic in the North Atlantic Ocean. In this piece, first published in the New York Times, John Branch and Christina Goldbaum examine the day that started with excitement for those involved, and ended in panic and tragedy.
Every All Blacks Rugby World Cup match ranked - revisited
The All Blacks have run out for 64 Rugby World Cup encounters (with one match cancelled) from when John Kirwan ran 90 metres to score in the tournament opener against Italy in 1987. Some have been classics and many others have been one-sided affairs. On the eve of the 2023 World Cup, Cameron McMillan ranked every All Blacks match in terms of performance, historical meaning and a twist of personal nostalgia. The piece is one of the many Premium pieces of reporting and analysis the Herald published during its comprehensive coverage of the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
Fifa Women’s World Cup 2023 final: Behind the scenes as Spain crush England
While we’re talking about great moments in sporting history, 2023 was the year New Zealand co-hosted the Fifa Women’s World Cup. The Herald was there, every step of the way, providing news, commentary and analysis of the championship that transformed football in New Zealand. It all went so well, in fact, that a Top Fifa boss backs a potential return of the tournament to New Zealand and Australia in the future. Michael Burgess took readers behind the scenes of the World Cup final.
Auckland pensioner takes out reverse mortgage on house after losing $1.4m in fictitious 43-mth share market investment scam
Numerous Kiwis have been affected by scams in 2023 and the Herald has been reporting on multiple cases, and the actions being taken to prevent them from happening again. In June, Lane Nichols reported on the case of the Auckland pensioner who was forced to take out a reverse mortgage on his house after losing $1.4m to off-shore scammers, while a pensioner lost $150k in a bogus HSBC-branded “eco bond” investment scam. Another victim is calling for a law change to protect unsuspecting Kiwis from these scams. Meanwhile, financial expert Janine Starks is calling for the Banking Ombudsman to jointly investigate scam cases, citing “negligence” by banks.
Mama Hooch ‘predators’: The life and crimes of the Jaz brothers
The “predatory” rapist brothers behind a long-running campaign of drink spiking and sexual assaults at Christchurch bar Mama Hooch were sentenced to hefty jail terms in August - the most significant for such offending in New Zealand. When the trial concluded, senior crime reporter Anna Leask recounted the story that shocked the country.
Sinead O’Connor, evocative and outspoken singer, is dead at 56
She broke out with the single Nothing Compares 2 U, then caused an uproar a few years later by ripping up a photo of Pope John Paul II on SNL. Sinead O’Connor, the outspoken Irish singer-songwriter best known for her powerful, evocative voice, as showcased on her biggest hit, a breathtaking rendition of Prince’s Nothing Compares 2 U, and for her political provocations onstage and off, died in July, aged 56. In this piece, first published in the New York Times, Joe Coscarelli and Ben Sisario look back through the life of the Irish singer and activist.
Life in plastic? It’s fantastic: A brief (bright pink) cultural history of Barbie
Barbie-mania dominated the Entertainment scene for a few weeks of 2023, at least as far as movies were concerned. The Greta Gerwig film, starring Margot Robbie, broke box office records and led to a resurgence of the iconic doll. Little girls have now been playing with the doll for 64 years. Despite some controversies, life in plastic, it seems, is still fantastic, Hadley Freeman wrote in this piece, first published in The Times, looking at the Barbie resurgence phenomenon.
Inside Julian Batchelor’s long-simmering property spat before his divisive co-governance tour
Julian Batchelor’s national roadshow on the place of Māori in New Zealand has its roots in Northland’s Rawhiti where he has been in conflict since moving there in 2008. David Fisher investigated his long-simmering local feud before his divisive, national tour.
94 hours in A&E: Doctor raises alarm about ‘longest ever wait’ for bed at Auckland Hospital
A mental health patient at Auckland Hospital was made to wait 94 hours in the emergency department because there were no beds available in the psychiatric unit, according to a damning internal email obtained by the Weekend Herald. Investigations editor Alex Spence looked into the issue - this is what he found.
What drives Christopher Luxon? The full story of the man who wants to be PM
After a rapid ascent to the top of the National Party, Christopher Luxon was still relatively unknown to many voters. During the election campaign, investigations editor Alex Spence spoke at length to the man who went on to become the next Prime Minister, and those closest to him, to find out what makes him tick.
‘Betrayal’: Whistleblower doctor claims patients are at risk
The senior doctor who accused Te Whatu Ora of a ”conspiracy” to avoid disclosing serious safety issues told Alex Spence in September that he had an ethical duty to take a public stance and that the problems are not confined to his department.
Silicosis lung disease: Dangerous, dusty conditions found at engineered stone workshops, damning Ministry of Health-ordered report reveals
Engineered stone is a man-made product that dominates the kitchen and bench-top market. There is growing awareness that prolonged inhalation of its dust can cause silicosis, an incurable and sometimes fatal disease that scars the lungs. Absorbed dust can cause other diseases, including cancer.
To see how more stonemasons could be tested, the Government funded a pilot study, in which occupational health nurses visited workshops. An evaluation report was done for the Ministry of Health, and was obtained by the Herald under the Official Information Act. Investigative reporter Nicholas Jones reported.
‘Unauthorised’: NZ authors’ books used to train big tech AI
The rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been a contentious topic in 2023, as the world grapples with the ramifications of adopting the new technology. Well-known Kiwi writers are among the authors whose works have been dragged into legal action against Facebook owner Meta, claiming it used their books, without their permission, to train its artificial intelligence (AI) system - and pirated copies, to boot. Business reporter Chris Keall reported on this issue earlier in November.
Head Hunters assets case: A rare, exclusive look inside the pad police want to seize
For the better part of a decade, police have had the base of the Head Hunters East in their sights. It’s the inner sanctum of the Heads, with members stationed there around the clock. Now, as a judge considers a bid to seize the pad and other assets, the chapter opened its doors to Herald reporter George Block and photographer Jason Dorday.
With a few weeks to go before the last sunset of 2023, there is more great journalism to come this year. If you are yet to become a subscriber, this is the time.
