Ryan Bridge: The public service cuts didn't come out of nowhere

We got the inevitable Grinch headlines from the media yesterday, powered by union panic.

The public service knew this was coming. Or should have. Judith Collins, Nicola Willis and Sir Brian Roche have been talking about this since they all got into office.

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Let's make a start on unwinding years of public sector bloat

As you’d expect, I’m a huge fan of Nicola Willis’ plan to cut down the size of the public sector.

This is the second issue I’ve been harping on about to her. The other one was, obviously, the fees-free year for university students. So I’m stoked that, on this show, we’re two from two in terms of agitating for cutting back on wasteful public spending.

Breaking Views Update: Week of 17.5.26

Wednesday May 20, 2026 

News:
Māori-Indian gathering in Waikato a step towards reconciliation and unity
An important step toward reconciliation and cultural understanding was achieved at a multi-community gathering held at Trust Waikato in Hamilton over the weekend.

On Saturday, former Te Pāti Māori president Che Wilson presented a pounamu (greenstone) named Te Aroha to the South Asian and Indian communities.

Mike's Minute: Here's what the 2026 Election is about

I'm 100% convinced this election is about the economy.

Do people blame the Government in any way for the economic fallout from war?

Does the economic grind make you look to other political answers?

Graham Adams: Hipkins drags out Phoney War with Coalition

After Britain declared war on Germany in September 1939 there was an eight-month period in which there were a few brief skirmishes but very little significant fighting on land. The standoff in Western Europe was dubbed the “Phoney War”, the “Bore War”, and the “sitzkrieg” (“the sitting war” — in contrast to the blitzkrieg inflicted on Poland).

Military action was mainly carried out at sea until Hitler’s lightning invasion of Norway in April 1940 sparked serious hostilities.

Richard Prebble: At last, a serious speech from the Prime Minister

Christopher Luxon gave last week his most substantive speech as Prime Minister. Apparently, he wrote it himself.

Prime Ministers are usually too busy to write their own speeches. Their speeches are stitched together by advisers and shaped by polling and focus groups.

Luxon attempted something much harder. He set out a worldview and an agenda for the country.

John McLean: Parliament Passing Legislation Is.....Undemocratic!?

Whacky reactions to proposed legislation extinguishing crazy climate Court cases

On Tuesday 12 May, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith announced a legislative reform to stop New Zealand Courts forcing “greenhouse gas”-producing businesses to compensate New Zealanders for damage from bad weather. The yet-to-be-drafted legislation will amend New Zealand’s Climate Change Response Act 2002.

The legislation will have the particular effect of extinguishing current Court action by a race hustler with a boring name. I’ve covered Mike Smith’s judicial machinations in a previous Substack.

Gary Judd KC: Submission to the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee on the New Zealand....

Submission to the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee on the New Zealand - India Free Trade Agreement

Voters are entitled to be angry

Submissions on the FTA closed at midnight last night. In the nick of time, I lodged a submission which largely follows The Sting in the India Trade Deal. It also added this:

Ashley Church: Europe’s de facto referendum on Israel

Why Eurovision matters right now

For nearly three years now, a moral, cultural and political battle about Israel has been raging across the West.

On one side are those who still remember the lessons of history and who recognise the ancient hatred of the Jewish people, even when they see it wearing new clothes.

On the other side are those who have chosen to excuse, minimise, rationalise or even celebrate evil, so long as that evil is directed at Israel.

Andrew Dickens: Parents are responsible for avoiding 'credit crunching'

The government has confirmed major changes to New Zealand’s secondary school qualification system, officially replacing NCEA with a new subject-based model.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Education Minister Erica Stanford announced the shift in Orewa, saying the current NCEA system is too complex and doesn’t clearly show how well students have mastered their subjects.

Bob Edlin: Constitutional change affects funding of Parliament....

Constitutional change affects funding of Parliament – and reminds us of the Ombudsman’s rebalancing

RNZ has drawn attention to a procedural motion in Parliament last week which “quietly marked one of the more significant constitutional changes of recent years”.

It dealt with the issue of how Parliament is funded.

The Notice of Motion from Leader of the House Louise Upston concerning the estimates (budgets) for the three officers of Parliament and the Parliamentary agencies lasted five minutes on Wednesday evening and flew under most people’s radars.

David Farrar: The failure of fees free

Fees free tertiary education a central policy for Jacinda Ardern and Chris Hipkins. They promised in 2017, that it would boost tertiary participation, especially for those from poorer families, who they said were put off by high fees.

The policy bombed almost straight away. We know this because Labour never implemented the full policy. They kept it at first year only, because even they worked out it was a hugely expensive policy that simply transferred money from all taxpayers to students from wealthy families (who would go on to earn $2 million more than those who didn’t get a degree).

Tuesday May 19, 2026 

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Michael Laws: The Maori Queen Has “historic Anger”

The Maori Queen has “historic anger” - Michael Laws says that’s holding Maori back.

Click to view

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: What problems will buying back BNZ solve?

Here’s a question for you: if you really like Winston Peters’ idea of buying back the BNZ - why? What problem do you think will be solved by buying it back?

Do you think the banks are ripping you off because they’re owned by Australians, and that if only one of them were owned by us again, they wouldn’t?

Ryan Bridge: A clean up of cabinet is overdue

In February last year I wrote a piece for the Herald about government department and Ministerial overload.

It was partly informed by observation and partly by New Zealand Initiative paper on the subject.

Mike's Minute: Do the unions have anything positive to say about education?

Can anyone tell me why literally everything that is ever done in the education space is rejected, hated and railed against by the unions?

Have the education unions ever not asked for more money, more resources or more non-contact time, while at the same time telling you everything in the classroom is crap?

DTNZ: Peters unveils KiwiSaver-from-birth scheme and BNZ buyback plan

NZ First leader Winston Peters has announced a pair of major economic policies, including compulsory KiwiSaver enrolment at birth with a $1000 Crown contribution and a proposal to buy back the Bank of New Zealand from Australian ownership.

Speaking at a campaign event in West Auckland today Peters said every New Zealand citizen would automatically become a KiwiSaver member at birth under what he called the “KiwiSaver Generation” policy.

Philip Crump: CENSORED

How the establishment tried to kill a story and why it didn't work


On October 15, 2020, three weeks before the US presidential election, the New York Post broke a bombshell story detailing lurid allegations of drugs, prostitution and influence peddling by Hunter Biden, the troubled son of Democrat nominee Joe Biden. For a moment it threatened to be the determining factor in a knife-edge race between President Donald J. Trump and his Democrat challenger. But the broadcast and print media ignored the story. The Post’s Twitter account was locked, and Facebook’s algorithms prevented the story from spreading across its platform.

David Farrar: Is this the proof Winston is planning to go with Labour

One of the most common questions I get asked by audiences is whether NZ First will go with National or Labour after the election. My response is that there is no reason to not take Winston at his word when he says he has ruled out Labour.

But now a speech by Winston has given extreme doubt over his pledge not to go with Labour. In terms of how he will pay for his Marxist plan to nationalise the BNZ, he says: