Benedict Collins: Inside the Career of a New Zealand Political Reporter
From rural journalism and award-winning climate reporting to Parliament, drug-policy investigations and Mad on Meth, Benedict Collins has built a long reporting career across some of New Zealand’s biggest public issues.
Introduction
Benedict Collins is a New Zealand journalist, author, and political reporter working with 1News and TVNZ. His current work is based around Parliament in Wellington, where he reports on government, elections, policing, public policy, and other national issues.
His career did not start in the parliamentary press gallery. Far from it.
Collins first became known through rural and agricultural journalism. He later worked at Radio New Zealand, moved into political reporting, investigated New Zealand’s meth-testing controversy, joined TVNZ, and wrote a book about the country’s long relationship with methamphetamine.
He is still reporting today. TVNZ’s September 2026 election coverage announcement names him as a Senior Political Reporter, while his individual 1News profile uses the title Political Reporter.
Quick Facts About Benedict Collins
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Benedict Collins |
| Profession | Journalist and author |
| Country | New Zealand |
| Current Organisation | 1News / TVNZ |
| Reporting Base | Parliamentary press gallery, Wellington |
| Current Work | Political reporting |
| Previous Organisation | Radio New Zealand |
| Earlier Work | Country99TV and freelance journalism |
| Known Reporting Areas | Politics, drugs, policing, agriculture, climate issues |
| Book | Mad on Meth: How New Zealand Got Hooked on P |
| Book Published | 2023 |
| Publisher | HarperCollins Publishers New Zealand |
| Major Award | Rongo Award |
| Current Status | Active journalist with 1News |
Who Is Benedict Collins?
Benedict Collins works in New Zealand political journalism.
Viewers may know him from 1News reports coming out of Parliament. His reporting regularly covers ministers, government agencies, political parties, policing, justice, and major policy debates.
But politics is only part of his story.
His earlier career included farming and environmental reporting. Drug policy became another major area of interest. That subject later led to one of his best-known investigations and his first documented book.
Auckland Writers Festival describes Collins as a political journalist working for 1News in Wellington’s press gallery and notes his long interest in illicit drugs and enforcement.
Early Career in Rural Journalism
Collins was already receiving national recognition by 2012.
At the time, he was described by the New Zealand Guild of Agricultural Journalists and Communicators as an Auckland-based freelance journalist.
His reporting appeared on Country99TV.
One series looked at the damage caused by PSA-V to New Zealand’s kiwifruit industry. That work earned Collins the 2012 TBfree New Zealand Rongo Award, the Guild’s top agricultural journalism award that year.
It was an early sign of the subjects he would keep returning to: science, government decisions, farming, public policy, and stories with real effects on communities.
The work also put him on the radar well before he became a regular face in national political coverage.
Benedict Collins at Radio New Zealand
Collins later joined Radio New Zealand, commonly known as RNZ.
Here, his reporting grew beyond agricultural stories.
In 2014, the Science Media Centre identified him as an RNZ rural reporter. That year brought another major award.
Collins produced an Insight documentary looking at climate change, crops, farming, and future food security. His reporting took him to parts of Asia, where he spoke with farmers and specialists about changes affecting crop production.
The work won the broadcast category at the agricultural journalism awards.
It also earned him the 2014 Rongo Award as the supreme winner.
His work gained recognition outside New Zealand too.
In 2015, the New Zealand Guild reported that Collins received second prize in the broadcast category of an international agricultural journalism competition for an RNZ report on climate-related challenges facing food producers.
By this stage, his career was moving increasingly toward national politics and government reporting.
Move Into Political Reporting
Politics became a major part of Collins’ work at RNZ.
That background eventually took him to TVNZ.
In May 2018, TVNZ announced that Benedict Collins and Maiki Sherman would join its 1News parliamentary press-gallery team. Collins was scheduled to join the team in June.
The move put him inside one of New Zealand’s main television political newsrooms.
His work since then has covered general elections, government policy, ministers, law enforcement, public spending, welfare, gangs, drugs, farming issues, and other national stories.
His current 1News author page still lists him as a Political Reporter and carries his continuing reporting.
Reporting From Parliament
A lot of Collins’ recent work comes from New Zealand’s parliamentary press gallery.
That means questioning politicians directly.
It also means checking policy claims, following government announcements, reading official documents, and reporting disputes between political parties.
He was part of TVNZ’s election coverage in 2023, where the broadcaster identified him as a Senior Political Reporter.
That title appears again in TVNZ’s plans for the 2026 New Zealand general election.
TVNZ announced in September 2026 that Collins would report as part of the 1News election-night team on November 7, alongside other reporters working across the country.
So, right now, he remains firmly involved in national political journalism.
His Long Interest in Drug Policy
Drugs and drug enforcement form another clear thread through Collins’ reporting.
Auckland Writers Festival says his interest in the subject goes back to his first days as a reporter.
His work has covered drug-testing sanctions involving beneficiaries, attempts to permit drug checking at music festivals, the 2020 cannabis referendum, and methamphetamine policy.
Then came the meth-house story.
That became much bigger.
Collins was involved in reporting on New Zealand’s methamphetamine contamination testing controversy, where homes were being tested for traces of the drug and large sums were being spent in response to contamination concerns.
Writers Festival profiles credit his reporting with helping expose problems around the meth-testing response in 2018.
The subject stayed with him.
Years later, it became part of a book.
Mad on Meth
In 2023, Collins published:
Mad on Meth: How New Zealand Got Hooked on P
The National Library of New Zealand records the book as published in Auckland by HarperCollins Publishers New Zealand in 2023.
The book traces the history of methamphetamine in New Zealand.
It looks back to a time when forms of the drug were legally prescribed, then follows the growth of illegal meth use, manufacture, trafficking, gangs, police action, and the meth-testing controversy.
This was not a random subject for Collins.
He had already spent years reporting on drug policy and enforcement.
WORD Christchurch describes the book as examining how methamphetamine moved from a legal weight-loss drug to a notorious illegal substance in New Zealand, while also revisiting the meth-testing scandal.
Mad on Meth Book Details
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Title | Mad on Meth: How New Zealand Got Hooked on P |
| Author | Benedict Collins |
| Publication Year | 2023 |
| Publisher | HarperCollins Publishers New Zealand |
| Paperback ISBN | 9781775542001 |
| Online ISBN | 9781775492313 |
| Print Length | 264 pages plus 8 unnumbered illustrated pages |
| Main Subject | Methamphetamine in New Zealand |
The print details and ISBN are recorded by the National Library of New Zealand.
Awards and Recognition
Collins has received recognition across different stages of his reporting career.
His documented awards include the 2012 Rongo Award for his Country99TV reporting on the PSA-V crisis affecting New Zealand’s kiwifruit industry.
He won the Rongo Award again in 2014, this time while working at Radio New Zealand. His winning work examined climate change and its effect on farming and food production.
The Guild’s historical awards material also identifies Benedict Collins as its 2012 Rongo winner.
Then, in 2015, his RNZ climate reporting received second prize in an international broadcast journalism competition.
The subjects changed.
The reporting continued.
Public Events and Author Appearances
Publishing Mad on Meth gave Collins another public role: author and festival speaker.
He has appeared in literary and public-discussion programmes focused on drugs, crime, gangs, and New Zealand society.
WORD Christchurch featured Collins in a discussion alongside investigative journalist Jared Savage and criminologist Jarrod Gilbert. The event centred on drugs, gangs, organised crime, and the issues covered in their published work.
These appearances fit closely with the reporting Collins had already been doing for years.
Benedict Collins in 2026
Collins remains active at 1News.
The broadcaster’s team listing places him among its Gallery reporters, meaning reporters based around Parliament.
TVNZ’s September 2026 election announcement goes further and calls him a Senior Political Reporter.
His recent reporting continues to deal with government, crime, policing, farming, ministers, and national policy issues.
That makes his career fairly unusual.
He began with rural journalism, moved through radio and political reporting, spent years covering drug policy, wrote a book from that reporting experience, and remains part of New Zealand’s national political press corps.
Final Thought
Benedict Collins’ career has moved through several parts of New Zealand journalism.
Rural reporting came first.
Radio followed. Politics grew bigger.
Drug policy became a long-running subject, while the meth-testing controversy eventually fed into Mad on Meth.
Today, Collins continues reporting from Wellington for 1News. His public record is strongest where journalism meets government policy, enforcement, farming, and New Zealand politics.
That is where most of his work sits.
And he is still doing it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Benedict Collins?
Benedict Collins is a New Zealand journalist and author who works for 1News. He reports on politics from Wellington’s parliamentary press gallery.
Where does Benedict Collins work?
He works with 1News/TVNZ. His 1News profile identifies him as a Political Reporter. TVNZ’s September 2026 election material calls him a Senior Political Reporter.
Did Benedict Collins work for RNZ?
Yes. Collins worked for Radio New Zealand before moving to the 1News parliamentary team in 2018. His RNZ work included rural, environmental, and political reporting.
What book did Benedict Collins write?
He wrote Mad on Meth: How New Zealand Got Hooked on P, published by HarperCollins Publishers New Zealand in 2023.
What is Mad on Meth about?
The book follows the history and impact of methamphetamine in New Zealand, including drug use, supply, enforcement, gangs, and the meth-testing controversy.
Has Benedict Collins won journalism awards?
Yes. His documented recognition includes Rongo Awards in 2012 and 2014. His RNZ climate reporting also received second prize in an international broadcast journalism competition in 2015.
What does Benedict Collins report on?
His published work covers New Zealand politics, government policy, policing, drugs, gangs, agriculture, climate issues, and public-sector matters. His current reporting is primarily political.
Is Benedict Collins still with 1News?
Yes. Current 1News and TVNZ material in September 2026 still identifies Collins as part of the broadcaster’s political reporting team.
