Professor John Raine: It’s Election Year but Are They Listening?

Wobbly Democracy in the Western World

Danyl McLauchlan’s Listener article [1] on New Zealand’s voter tribes highlights the complexity the political parties face in harvesting votes, particularly from the “alienated conservatives” and “precarious left.”

The article also touches on something else - trust in government. Western democracy is not doing well - authoritarian behaviour from governments on issues where they do not have a mandate, and public service bureaucracies (not much of a stretch to say “deep state”) undermining elected governments. Governments also ignore information/advice that would steer them away from counterproductive policy.

Ryan Bridge: Nicola Willis is right not to splash the cash

A 1pm presser and Covid‑style alert levels.

This fuel price spike is bringing back bad memories from those dark days of lockdown.

But a few facts help put things in perspective.

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: It wasn't a mistake to cancel the EV subsidy

The Government is copping heat today for cancelling the EV subsidy a couple of years ago. Critics now say it looks like a mistake, because oil prices are rising and, as a result, petrol prices are rising too.

They argue that, of course, we’d all be better off in electric vehicles - which we supposedly would have been if the Government hadn’t cancelled the subsidy at the end of 2023.

Ryan Bridge: Labour shouldn't automatically back the Unions

Last week ended with a bizarre situation where Labour effectively came out against a pay rise for teachers.

They did this because that’s what the unions wanted. And what the unions want, the unions usually get.

Union strategy 101 is getting everyone who’s not a member to become one.

Breaking Views Update: Week of 14.3.26

Tuesday March 17, 2026 

News:
‘Not one acre more’ - urupā kaitiaki
“As long as our tīpuna are happy, we will carry on,” says Rapata Kopae, one of the Ōpihi Whanaungakore trustees battling to stop development of land they say is wāhi tapu.

Kopae has been taking tūpāpaku to be buried at Ōpihi Whanaungakore since 2003 and says the area is “extremely tapu”.

Geoff Parker: The Māori Seats - History, Not Myth

Professor Anaru Eketone claims the Māori electorates were a cynical device to suppress Māori political influence.(paywalled) The historical record suggests the opposite: the Māori seats were created to bring Māori into the parliamentary system and guarantee representation, rather than exclude them.

By 1867, when the Māori Representation Act 1867(1) passed, Europeans outnumbered Māori roughly four to one. In 1864 there were about 62,000 adult European men, but only around 19,500 were on the electoral rolls. Many more were actually qualified under the property franchise but had not enrolled. Even so, the number of potential settler voters already exceeded the total number of adult Māori men in the country(2). Any fear that Māori might “outvote Europeans” was therefore absurd.

Peter Williams: Royal Commission always destined to come up short

Confidence we'd get a hard hitting report was low

There were numerous warning signs Phase 2 of the Royal Commission into the Covid Response would produce a disappointing outcome.

The initial terms of reference specifically excluded an adversarial approach where evidence and submissions could and would be challenged.

Pee Kay: The Man Who Would Be King

The 1975 film Man Who Would Be King is an historical adventure film that is an adaptation of the famous short story by Rudyard Kipling that tells the story of two ex-soldiers in India when it was under British rule. They decide that the country is too small for them, so they head off to isolated “Kafiristan” in order to become Kings in their own right.

Matua Kahurangi: Move-on orders - useful tool or dangerous overreach?

The Government’s introduction of move-on orders has sparked plenty of debate. Whenever a new power like this is handed to authorities, it is worth pausing for a moment and asking the obvious question, how far could it go?

Kerre Woodham: The entire fuel situation is a mess

How about that petrol, eh? I filled up on Thursday, as usual, that's my usual day. Just the car, no jerry cans, no oil drums, thanks very much, and I thought to myself, $2.95 - she's getting up there. Bargain now, looking at the pumps.

Our colleague Kylie, who has to travel north most weekends, reckons she paid an extra $80 above what she would normally pay for her weekend tikitouring.

JC: A Man After My Own Heart

Last week I wrote an article on the journalists at Wellington Airport accosting the prime minister following a bad TPU/Curia poll and asking about his intentions about staying in the job. In the Weekend Herald, Bruce Cotterill, a man after my own heart, has written a lengthier and broader article on the state of the six o’clock news. He is, quite rightly, fairly critical of the news provided by the state broadcaster on TV One. He is no more enamoured with the journalists than I am. ThreeNews also failed to impress. His article is well worth a read and few, if any, on this site would disagree with his comments.

David Farrar: Urgency in the House Part 1

As a keen follower of Parliament, one of the issues I have tracked in the past has been use of urgency. Back in around 2011 I was concerned about the amount of urgency being used, and actually worked with Grant Robertson and Trevor Mallard to publicise its use and overuse. I am told that campaign was part of the following reduction in urgency.

I’ve been meaning to do a follow up for some time, as there has been a lot of urgency in the last two years.

Mike's Minute: Is the Government ignoring advice for a reason?

Yet another “advice ignored” story.

The trouble with advice is it's not automatically right and more often than not the media seems to think it counts for something, hence their obsession with coverage.

The latest example is Paul Goldsmith ignored advice around move-on orders.

Monday March 16, 2026 

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Damien Grant: John Key and Jacinda Ardern both turned to debt when disaster hit

There are many revelations in the Covid report that a cantankerous columnist with libertarian inclinations could focus on but I am going to bring your attention to this one;

“… a country’s opportunity to adopt an exclusion/elimination policy is largely contingent on … being a high-income nation … that is, on New Zealand’s ability to efficiently produce the goods and services demanded in global markets, supported by prudent economic policies.”

Reynold Macpherson: Who Does Rotorua Lakes Council Serve?

Two Issues, Two Signs, Four Years, and Falling Legitimacy.

Voter turnout in Rotorua Lakes Council elections has remained below half of eligible voters for many years. Turnout was 45.99% in 2016 and 45.15% in 2019. It rose slightly to 46.46% in 2022, possibly reflecting controversy over proposed co-governance changes, yet still fewer than half of voters participated. In the 2025 election turnout fell again to 43.27%, despite record spending by officials intended to boost participation. Taken together, these figures suggest a persistent and now worsening problem of civic disengagement that raises questions about the legitimacy of Rotorua’s local government.

Clive Bibby: Predicting Elections

Predicting General election results is always a difficult task but this time the soothsayers have reason to be confident.

Voting in a general election usually results in a referendum on Incumbent government performance and consequently, the result will more than likely reflect the public mood .in November.

John McLean: Wrecking Race Hustler Gets A Free Pass

A new low from New Zealand’s criminal injustice system

On 10 March 2026, the Wellington District Court dismissed all criminal charges that had been laid against a man named Te Wehi Ratana. The charges Ratana was facing were for his role in the vandalism of an exhibit at New Zealand’s national museum, Te Papa, on 11 December 2023. The charges Ratana was facing included intentional damage, obstructing police, and breach of bail. Ratana’s breach of bail charge evidences that, when he was busy vandalizing, he was already facing other criminal charges. Ratana is a career criminal.

Dr Oliver Harwich: Faith-based asset management

There is something almost admirable about spending a fortune on roads, pipes, schools and hospitals without quite knowing what state any of them are in. Or, in some cases, where exactly they are.

For decades, nobody bothered to check. Now someone finally has.

Dr Benno Blaschke: Named but not defined

New Zealand’s Planning Bill is supposed to make housing affordable. For the first time, the law would require the planning system to create competitive land markets. That is a big deal, if it works. But the Bill has a problem.

When zoning restricts what can be built and where, owners of land where building is allowed have a strong upper hand. The Bill aims to flip that around by making enough land available across the wider urban area so that landowners have to offer better deals for buyers. This disciplines land values, exerting downward pressure on house prices.