Breaking Views Update: Week of 1.2.26

Wednesday February 4, 2026 

News:
RIF investment supports Māori initiatives - Shane Jones, Tama Potaka.
The Government is investing $6.25 million from the Regional Infrastructure Fund to kick-start two horticulture developments on underutilised land, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones and Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka say.

“This infrastructure investment will bring collectively owned Māori land into productive use in Northland and Waikato. It will strengthen local horticulture supply chains and accelerate an iwi-led shift in land use,” Mr Jones says.

Geoff Parker: Why Hipkins’ Treaty Romanticism Divides New Zealand

Chris Hipkins’ Waitangi Day sermon in the New Zealand Herald is a carefully constructed exercise in political reassurance: warm words, borrowed Māori concepts, and a curated sense of moral superiority. What it is not, however, is a serious account of how a modern liberal democracy actually holds together — or why New Zealand is becoming more fractured, not less.

Let’s start with the basics. The country is called New Zealand. It is a civic nation with a settled name. Prior to European contact there was no Māori concept of a single nation, and no name for the country as a whole. The name New Zealand dates back to 1643, when it was formally named Nieuw Zeelandt by the Dutch. It was later anglicised to New Zealand by the British, and has remained the country’s recognised name for nearly 380 years. “Aotearoa,” by contrast, is a modern substitute, absent from the Treaty of Waitangi itself.

Roger Partridge: Climate Clinic Aotearoa v Minister of Energy and Resources.....

The anatomy of usurpation: Climate Clinic Aotearoa v Minister of Energy and Resources

Imagine Parliament passes a Schools Act “to promote the establishment of schools for the benefit of New Zealand.” Parliament is careful. It specifies exactly what the Minister must consider before approving a new school: the operator’s financial capability, site safety, compliance history, and consultation with local iwi. There is no general discretion. There are no open-ended criteria.

A proposal comes before the Minister. She works through the statutory criteria. The operator is financially sound. The site is safe. The compliance history is clean. Local iwi have been consulted. She approves the school.

Graham Adams: Councillor Refuses To Kowtow To Marae Protocol

Hastings politician won’t compromise his values.

At first glance, you wouldn’t guess that Mark Carney’s much-lauded speech to the World Economic Forum last month in Davos had any relevance to a councillor in New Zealand refusing to attend an official meeting at a marae.

However, the theme of the Canadian Prime Minister’s speech was the importance of being open and honest about widely accepted beliefs we all know to be at least “partially false”. He urged middle-nations to call out the cosy view of the “rules-based international order” which is routinely abused by the powerful.

Ani O'Brien: My response to Alice Soper discovering America is bad (again) & calling for a boycott

Another day, another New Zealand Herald article has triggered me! This one was published on Friday and I initially tried to resist writing a response, but then I thought I would leave you guys to tell me if you are sick of me picking on Herald articles. Feel free to be honest in the comments!

Read the original article here.

Chris Lynch: Parents to get clearer picture of children’s learning under national school reporting changes

Parents will receive clearer and more consistent information about how their children are progressing at school under a new national assessment and reporting system being introduced this year.

The changes apply to primary and intermediate schools across New Zealand and mean parents will receive the same type of learning information regardless of which school their child attends.

John MacDonald: Who cares about a criminal's "good character"?

I am liking the sound of a law change being introduced in New South Wales, where they are no longer going to allow good character references to be factored into court sentences.

You know the drill. Someone is found guilty of a crime, they get their mates to write to the judge saying what a great person they are and how they’ve done all these good things.

Matua Kahurangi: Māori business names expose the aroha double standard

You may have seen my article yesterday in regard to the Aroha Collective controversy and a bunch of Māori absolutely losing their kaka over an Australian woman using the word aroha in her business name. You can read about it here:

After reading through the outrage, I decided to do a little digging myself. I headed over to Whakiri, a directory of Māori-owned businesses. I only had time to look at Auckland, but the question quickly became obvious. What do these Māori-owned business names have in common?

Bob Edlin: Information security at Health NZ.....

Information security at Health NZ – is there a need for someone dedicated to protecting primary care data?

The question of whether Health New Zealand should have a Chief Information Security Officer dedicated to primary health is well worth considering, in the aftermath of the leak of personal health data held (not too securely) by ManageMyHealth.

“Dedicated to primary health” are the key words in this proposition.

David Farrar: The Carney speech

Canadian PM Mark Carney got a lot of attention for his speech at Davos where he bluntly said the liberal rules based order we have had for decades is dead, and we need to realise it.

His full speech is here. Some extracts [below]:

Tuesday February 3, 2026 

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Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Has Fire and Emergency NZ overreacted here?

So, Fire and Emergency New Zealand has launched an investigation into the firefighter in the video with the Prime Minister. You’ll know what I’m talking about, you’ve probably seen it already. It’s been doing the rounds since Friday.

Pee Kay: Decolonisation

Recently, CXY posted an excellent article, The Case For Colonisation.

“Therefore, acknowledging Māori as historical colonisers becomes politically inconvenient. The narrative must be protected, even at the expense of historical truth.”

I want to have a look at the other side of the coin – Decolonisation.

Geoff Parker: From shelter to sovereignty?

K Gurunathan’s recent Post column praises marae for their role during recent North Island storms and condemns critics of Māori governance arrangements. What it avoids, however, is the uncomfortable but necessary distinction between community charity and political authority.

No one disputes that many marae opened their doors during emergencies, offering shelter, food, and care — just as churches, schools, clubs, and private citizens routinely do in times of crisis. Decency in an emergency is not unique to any culture, nor does it confer constitutional status.

Ryan Bridge: FTA'S need to be done

Those opposing our FTA with India have got to be guilty of economic treason, don't they?

We're a small trading nation with lots of food, and world markets who need our red meat and our milk.

The closer the country, the better. The higher-value-add, the better.

Kerre Woodham: Are 12-month prescriptions too much for community pharmacies?

We thought we'd start with the new 12-month prescription rules. They came into force this weekend and are designed to save time and cut GP visits for patients. But community pharmacists say this could be the straw that breaks the camel's back because it's the latest in a raft of changes in a sector that is fighting to survive. 

The rules mean that people with long-term stable conditions can now get prescriptions of up to a year from their prescriber. And the government says this could save you up to $100 and more in GP fees annually. So that's got to be a good thing and you would think that the GPs would be in support of this too because if they have concerns about their patient's health and well-being, then they can say, well no, I'm not going to give you the one-year prescription, you'll have to come back more regularly. So they can decide. But if they do have an otherwise healthy patient, they can do the year-long prescription, then that frees them up for other patients.

David Farrar: Free fees is very badly spent money

Susan Edmonds writes at Radio NZ:

Eligible students can now apply for funds to help with the cost of their final year of study.

But one economist is asking whether it’s the best use of the money.

David Harvey: Erosion

Cause or Contribution

I recall when I was at school we were taught about erosion. That was a particular problem in the Gisborne and Hawkes Bay areas. Much of the problem was exacerbated by the removal of ground cover and of trees which lent a certain stability to the land.

Tree roots mechanically reinforce soil, increasing its shear strength (“root cohesion”) and helping soil layers act more like a single, stronger mass. Large roots can anchor through the soil into weathered rock, tying the shallow soil mantle to more stable material beneath and across potential slip planes.

Kevin: Now No Separation of Church and State

That’s racist!

A Hastings District councillor refused to attend a council strategic planning session because it was held at a marae.

First term councillor Steve Gibson posted on his Facebook page that he refused to attend the council’s strategic planning session on Wednesday because he was “not comfortable participating in council business where religious or spiritual practices form part of official proceedings”.

He said the meeting venue had changed “at the 11th hour” from a “neutral civic venue to a marae”.

Raaaacist!

Melanie Phillips: The emergence of Holocaust erasure

Unspeakably, the Final Solution is being weaponised against the Jews

International Holocaust Memorial Day has become a spur to write the Jews out of their own history.

The United Nations chose January 27 — the date of the liberation of the Auschwitz extermination camp — to commemorate the Holocaust, the term that developed specifically to describe the Nazi genocide of the Jews.