Perspective with Ryan Bridge: Will Wegovy really solve everything?

I was at the movies recently and the first three ads that came up in the shorts beforehand were pretty interesting.

We had a fast food ad... I think it was KFC... some new chicken thing you can eat, then we had a Burger Fuel ad, and for dessert, to top things off, we had a Wegovy ad.

Breaking Views Update: Week of 18.1.26

Wednesday January 21, 2026 

News:
‘This year different’: Ngāi Tahu rūnanga won’t host Waitangi events, heading to Treaty Grounds instead
In what may prove an unprecedented political manoeuvre, South Island iwi Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu will not host any Waitangi events next month - and will head to the Treaty Grounds instead.

Ani O'Brien: Luxon's State of the Nation - Dull or disciplined?

The PM's State of the Nation laid out an election strategy built on continuity and trust

Christopher Luxon’s State of the Nation speech was notable less for what it announced than for what it signalled about how this Government intends to fight in this election year. Framed around competence, restraint, and “fixing the basics,” the speech leaned heavily into managerial reassurance rather than political ambition. There were no big policy reveals, no sharp ideological edge, and no attempt to reset the narrative in a dramatic way. Instead, Luxon positioned himself as a steady hand presiding over an economy that has turned a corner, urging voters to stay the course rather than demand bold new direction. It was an argument for continuity.

Mike's Minute: Should Anna Breman be in trouble?

Of all the nutty stuff Trump is up to, the most egregious is the DOJ-Jerome Powell investigation.

Powell —I have not one shadow of doubt— makes, along with his board members, decisions based on traditional economic or monetary thinking.

Trump does not.

Eliora: This Dark and Angry Man

This man talked, wrote and lived like he was possessed by the devil. He was ‘demon possessed’ according to his family members and friends and indeed many biographers. He was a dark, foreboding and angry man, who hated Jews and the Jewish God, but championed the devil of the Bible and, in doing so, rejected his family’s history of Jewish Rabbis. He railed against the political and religious establishment.

Some excerpts of his poems grew darker over time.

Alwyn Poole: Just how deep our school attendance crisis is

1. At last count 10,000 5 to 13 year olds in NZ were not enrolled anywhere and no one was actively looking for them.

2. Approx. 11,000 children are home-schooled. These children are not “truant” but it does indicate an amount of dis-engagement with our state system.

Brendan O'Neill: Hands off Greenland!

Neither President Trump nor his EU critics understand the first thing about sovereignty.

It’s hard to say who comes out worse in the war of words over Greenland. Is it President Trump, who has flagrantly abandoned his promise to the American people to wean Washington off its vain, destructive meddling in world affairs? Or is it the leaders of Europe, who expect us to buy that they are overnight converts to the cause of sovereignty, despite having spent years ravaging sovereignty across our continent? On one side, a president whose commitment to the ideals of sovereignty turned out to be thin indeed; on the other, leaders who never had any such commitment.

Matua Kahurangi: Maybe everyone in New Zealand should identify as Māori?

At this point, perhaps the simplest solution to New Zealand’s growing maze of race-based policy is for everyone to just identify as Māori.

Not because it reflects whakapapa. Not because of culture, reo, or the tikanga mumbo jumbo. But because, increasingly, identity appears to be the key that unlocks access to extra benefits, priority lanes, special funding, separate governance structures, lower tax rates and exemptions from rules that apply to everyone else.

Bob Edlin: Luxon is asked to join board for talks (which are bound to be boisterous) on rebuilding Gaza

What does Christopher Luxon have that Palestinian leaders do not have?

The answer – according to our reading of recent media reports – is an invitation to sit on the Trump-concocted “Board of Peace”.

Those appointed to this and the “Gaza Executive Board” will oversee the administration and reconstruction of Gaza,

Tuesday January 20, 2026 

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Damian Coory: NZ Deputy PM DEMOLISHES Reporters on ‘RACIST’ Identity Politics - SUMMER FLASHBACK

David Seymour is now New Zealand’s Deputy Prime Minister and he has ZERO tolerance for any kind of divisive neo-marxist style identity politics as a reporter learned after the national budget was handed down.

Click to view

NZCPR Newsletter: State of the Nation 2026

As we begin the final year of the National, ACT, New Zealand First Coalition’s first term of Government, it is instructive to look back at the commitments they made when first elected.

At that time the country faced significant challenges as a result of six years of mismanagement by Labour – firstly under the direction of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and then Chris Hipkins.

Perspective with Ryan Bridge: Should Luxon rip the band-aid off?

It is election year, of course, and I reckon we should get this thing over and done with quickly.

Let's rip the band-aid off - Luxon should go to the polls early.

The argument's always been - and we talked about this a lot last year - that they should wait till November, go late, let the economy recover.

Pee Kay: The Man Who Refuses to Confront He Puapua

Sometime in, probably late October this year we will returning to polling stations all around the country with hope, doubt, confusion and very probably frustration as some of the emotions we carry to the voting booth!

Many of us thought the 2023 election was the most important election of a generation. Co-governance, 3 Waters, Maori Sovereignty, Covid and the state of the economy were all playing a part in further widening the ethnic rift that had been created and cultivated by the 7th Labour government of Ardern and Hipkins.

DTNZ: Luxon invited to join Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ for Gaza

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has been invited to take part in a new US-led initiative on Gaza, with President Donald Trump proposing the creation of a “board of peace” as Washington looks to move beyond the current ceasefire.

John MacDonald: Pharmac funding weight-loss drugs is a no-brainer

The personal responsibility brigade will be going ape over Pharmac looking into funding weight loss drugs.

This wouldn’t be for anyone wanting to lose a few kilos here and there. This would be for people who are obese and at risk of serious health complications. Around 200 potentially serious health complications, actually. Such as Type 2 Diabetes.

Mike Hosking: What a year 2026 is going to be

I don’t think there’s a scriptwriter in Hollywood who could out-dramatize real life right now.

It seems the show is back just in time for a year of… who knows what.

Venezuela - was it illegal? Probably. But the key question is: who is going to do anything about it? And if you protest, you look like you’re backing a dictator and a thug.

Michele White: Trump Ups the Ante Over Greenland With New Tariffs

It’s a matter of national security, the president says.

President Donald Trump has announced the next step in his pursuit of Greenland, stronger US national security, and world peace. Starting February 1, the US will impose an additional 10% tariff on all goods sent to the United States from Norway, the United Kingdom, and six European Union countries: Denmark, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Finland. That tariff will jump to 25% on June 1 and continue until a deal is reached for the US to purchase Greenland.

Dr Bryce Edwards: The Green Party’s culture war quagmire

In my last column, I laid out the sorry state of the Green Party as 2026 kicks off. Scandals piled up, staff jumped ship, polls slid south, and the leadership clung to excuses about algorithms and the Coalition Government being responsible for turning people off the Greens. All this despite a coalition in chaos and a Labour Party that’s barely visible.

The symptoms are clear, but what’s the disease? Today, I’m digging into the deeper mess: a party bogged down in culture wars and identity politics that’s pushed aside its environmental roots and failed to connect with the voters who matter most. It’s a trap of their own making, one that’s left them looking like a middle-class club more interested in pronouns and Palestine than power bills and polluted rivers.

Joe Bastardi: The weather proving to European climate warriors that stupid is as stupid does

The leaders of Europe have put their people in jeopardy with their insane climate policies. They remain heavily dependent on Russia for natural gas. The Russian winter is turning punishing, as I feared it would when I wrote about its possible impact on the war back in August. Natural gas storage is at 52% of capacity. There is no reason for such a low level except for the nonsensical climate policies these leaders have pursued. You may think they have a suicide pact with their other policies, but it’s nothing compared to what could happen in the coming weeks.