The West Auckland Gazette formed from the merger of the Waitakere Gazette and the West Auckland Press following their joint acquisition by New Zealand Newspapers Ltd, publisher of the Auckland Star. The first issue appeared on 5 April 1966 as an expanded tabloid twice weekly newspaper distributed throughout West Auckland, especially Henderson, Te Atatū, Glen Eden, Kelston, Ranui, Hobsonville. Whenuapai, Huapai, Kumeu, and Oratia. By this point, New Zealand Newspapers Ltd’s Suburban Newspapers subsidiary already controlled the newspapers in the more Central suburbs through its Western Leader, so these communities constituted what remained outside its immediate distribution area.

Keeping the areas separate proved financially untenable since most of the advertising revenue came from New Lynn and other suburbs. As a result, Suburban Newspapers Ltd took direct control of the West Auckland Gazette in May 1968 and merged it into the Western Leader following the 26 June 1968 issue. To reflect this expanded scope, the Western Leader switched to twice weekly distribution beginning in July.