Bob Edlin: Big bucks are paid for council’s Chief Maori Officer (and his staff).....

Big bucks are paid for council’s Chief Maori Officer (and his staff) – and more are paid for advice on library blessings

The Wellington City Council’s veneration of the Treaty of Waitangi comes at a cost for ratepayers.

It has resulted in the council:

David Farrar: $800k per student!

Two AUT academics write:

Our research used Stats NZ’s Integrated Data Infrastructure to follow more than 250,000 school leavers from the 2015 to 2019 cohorts.

We examined whether the first-year fees-free scheme affected participation, programme choice, retention and completion.

Wednesday May 27, 2026 

                   ⇩

Ryan Bridge: Something's not adding up with business investment in this country

If the Post is to believed this morning, the Government is considering a business growth fund whereby some crown agency would pick winners and probably a few losers with financial backing.

Chalmers did this in Australia.

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: The MPs need to take one for the team on cuts

Here’s a PR tip for the coalition Government: if they want to win support for their ongoing budget cuts - which affect some of the poorest people in this country - they should consider giving up something themselves.

Now, I don’t know if you saw this last week, but Stuff ran a damning story on Louise Upston, the Social Development Minister, who is a lovely woman and a very capable minister - but the optics were terrible.

Graham Adams: Why was UNDRIP ‘affirmed’ in the India FTA?

Exactly how a clause “affirming” the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples found its way into the India-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement is still unclear but the question is not going to go away any time soon.

In fact, it is turning into a whodunnit as political sleuths try to figure out when the clause was introduced, who put it there, and who wanted it included. They have been forced to try to join the dots and speculate due to the government’s inability — or unwillingness — to offer a convincing explanation.

Ashley Church: Be careful what you wish for

The frightening underside of digital reforms

New Zealand is in the early stages of a major debate about children, social media, digital identity and the future of online access.

Following the earlier introduction of a private member’s bill which would have required social media platforms to stop under-16s from creating accounts (now on hold), the Government is now moving toward the introduction of a much more comprehensive suite of digital ID measures to ‘address online harm’ and ‘introduce social media regulation’ – two phrases that should never appear in the policy platform of any centre right government, ever.

Roger Partridge: Schumpeter comes to Wellington

(And what we can learn from the Luddites)

In 1987 Telecom New Zealand employed about 25,000 people. By 1997 it employed under 8,000. A single corporation shed 17,000 jobs in a decade, in a country of 3.3 million. The cost of Telecom’s long-distance calls fell by 60 per cent between 1987 and 1992. The decade that followed was, on the New Zealand Productivity Commission’s assessment, a period of historically high labour productivity growth.

David Farrar: Parliament makes the law, not the courts

Radio NZ reports:

The government will pass a law preventing companies from being sued over climate change damage in many cases.

The law, which applies to current and future cases, will stop a High Court case against Fonterra and six other major emitters in its tracks.

Mike's Minute: Not everything is a conspiracy

Some are working pretty hard currently to buy into the Mike Smith storyline that the big end of town has the Government's ear over climate change.

Mike Smith is the activist, the agitator, the chainsaw man, the "smack the America's Cup" bloke.

So, you know, a life of angst and upset.

Andrew Dickens: Local council amalgamation could see less say for smaller towns

I was in the Coromandel over the weekend and I was reading their regional paper which still exists, The Informer, and in it was an article by Jeffrey Robinson, who's a local affairs reporter with decades of experience, and he points out the debate that is happening all over the country. The government is ending New Zealand's two tier regional and district council system, it has to happen by 2028 and every district must choose a new unitary council model.

The only rule is, well you can't go with the status quo. There's got to be change, there's got to be a rationalisation, it's got to be amalgamation, it's got to be smaller.

Bob Edlin: FENZ hires consultants to handle questions.....

FENZ hires consultants to handle questions – and Brigette deals with questions put to Tim Costley

Fire and Emergency New Zealand’s use of consultants was critically examined – and rightly so – in an article in The Post.

The authors were Dr Charlie Mitchel, a research fellow, and Dr Geoff Plimmer, an associate professor, both from the School of Management at Victoria University of Wellington.

They said:

Tuesday May 26, 2026 

                   ⇩

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: What does Auckland FC's victory say about ambition?

We've got to start this week talking about that Auckland FC win on Saturday night.

Did we not discuss on Friday's show the need for us in this country to be more ambitious for success? To have more confidence to back ourselves more and then a day later, just one day later, we have an example of exactly that.

Breaking Views Update: Week of 24.5.26

Tuesday May 26, 2026 

News:
'A grift': Far North district councillor raises concerns over sovereignty agreement
ACT-aligned councillor Davina Smolders is spreading claims the Far North District Council plans to sign agreements ceding sovereignty to five iwi.

She previously challenged a recent Council decision to expand a Māori liaison committee - appointing 10 iwi members with voting rights, out of a total 16.

Smolders says it's not co-governance, but rather outright iwi governance.

Chris Lynch: Stalking becomes criminal offence

Stalkers will face up to 5 years in prison from midnight [25/5/26] as new anti stalking laws come into force across New Zealand.

Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith said the Government was sending a clear message that stalking behaviour would no longer be tolerated.

Pee Kay: “…equal treatment is deemed discrimination”

2026 finds New Zealand standing at a critical political and social intersection.

The path a future New Zealand takes, will in some part, likely be decided at the ballot box on November 7th and will most probably be central to heated and continued constitutional discussion and argument into the late 2020s!

With a population of 5.3 million New Zealand is wrestling with a fragile economy and a constitutional and an identity crisis. If our country is to ever secure a prosperous future, surely it is now time to turn away from the politically imposed obstructions of co-governance, partnership and the movement towards Maori sovereignty.

Revti Raman Sharma: India is a ‘country of countries’....

India is a ‘country of countries’ – NZ business needs a regional strategy to make the trade deal work

The recently signed free trade agreement between New Zealand and India has so far been discussed and debated in very broad terms: the size of the Indian market, opportunities for exporters, implications for immigration.

Much of this is understandable. Preferential access to a market larger than the European Union and ASEAN countries combined, with purchasing power forecast to grow exponentially by 2050, is indeed an opportunity.

David Farrar: No to SMPs for minerals

The Herald reports:

Resources Minister Shane Jones invited leaders from the minerals sector and diplomats, including a high-ranking official from the US State Department, for a critical minerals roundtable at Parliament today.

Jones spoke frankly with attendees about the US’ keenness to develop minerals supply chains and about the Government pondering minimum prices for certain resources in order to establish viable operations for their extraction.

Mike's Minute: We're reliant on cars and we need to stop pretending we aren't

A couple of interesting property developments for you.

1. Half finished town houses in Christchurch.

2. Lack of demand for off the plan deals from developers.