Election 2026 Campaign Diary: Education heating up as battleground, Peters’ mystery conversation

Opinion bySenior Political Correspondent·NZ Herald·14 Oct, 2026 05:57 AM4 mins to readAudrey Young, Senior Political Correspondent at the New Zealand Herald based at Parliament, specialises in writing about politics and power.‌Labour's Ginny Andersen (left) and National's Erica Stanford disagree over education policy. Education has had a relatively low profile in the election campaign. Unlike health, you could hardly claim the education system was in crisis. But it is starting to emerge, especially after Chris Hipkins said Labour would drop the compulsory one hour a day each on maths, reading and writing and