Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: The failures in the Tom Phillips investigation go on and on

So the Government has apologised to Tom Phillips' children for failing to keep them safe. And, man, that apology is not overdoing it when you read the report and realise just how many times officials completely stuffed up trying to find those kids and keep them safe.

Probably the most shocking mistake was made by the police. A woman called them and said she had Phillips in her car, and she even took a photo of him to show them, but they never showed up.

Breaking Views Update: Week of 13.9.26

Wednesday September 16, 2026 

News:
Treaty of Waitangi clause review: Contentious bill introduced to Parliament
A contentious bill to repeal references to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi in laws has been introduced to Parliament today.

The highly anticipated policy, baked into New Zealand First’s coalition agreement with National, proposes reviewing references to the Treaty of Waitangi in 19 pieces of legislation.

JC: Tax – A Burden We Don’t Need

Three articles from the Weekend Herald caught my eye. All were on the subject of tax. One was an opinion piece from John Key, the second was the fortnightly contribution from Bruce Cotterill and the third was Fran O’Sullivan writing on the subject of Labour’s Finance Spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. Key started his article thus, “Tax. A short little word. Seems innocuous.” In the context in which he’s saying that he’s correct. Here’s my spin on it. I know of no other word in the English language that has more negative connotations than what those three letters convey. They inflict pain and anger...and then the creative thinking required to avoid the obnoxious payment.

Geoff Parker: One Law For All Is Not An Attack On Maori

Noel O’Malley’s argument that ACT’s “One Law for All with One Future Together” policy is a disguised programme of assimilation rests on a remarkable inversion of the meaning of equality.

There is nothing inherently threatening about saying that every New Zealander should have the same rights, the same obligations and the same protection under the law. Indeed, that principle lies at the heart of a democratic society.

Andrew Dickens: Politicians are missing the real immigration problem

So, the past week has seen immigration policies come to the force.

New Zealand First is signalling a tougher immigration stance, longer waits for residency and citizenship, a referendum to cap new residency approvals at 20,000 a year, and a 30-year population plan tying migrant intake to infrastructure capacity.

Guest Post: Socialism Within NZ Politics

A guest post on No Minister by Kerry Butler

We are facing a very frightening scenario, whereby the four likely Partners in a Labour led coalition are all of a Socialist persuasion.

Firstly, take a look at Labour’s present leader, Chris Hipkins, who knows no other way than to follow in the footsteps of Comrade Jacinda.

Yvonne Van Dongen: The AEWV - New Zealand’s Gateway to Indentured Labour

How a visa scheme designed to fill labour shortages led to exploitation—and a pathway to permanent migration.

Ever wondered why so many vape shops, dairies and bottle stores you see these days are staffed by Indians?

You’re not imagining things and it’s not racist to notice. It’s called pattern recognition, a survival strategy humans evolved over millennia for a good reason.

Kerre Woodham: Will the new CRL really boost productivity?

I hope you'll be phoning in to tell me all about the CRL - because it's trains, planes and automobiles today with the official launch of the long awaited CRL yesterday.

This morning it was the hard launch as commuters test the reliability, convenience and time saving potential of the railway line.

Bob Edlin: A disheartening experience......

....dying man’s helpers found medical centre’s defibrillator is available only for its patients

PoO noted with interest a Newsroom article on Labour Party efforts to pick up the campaign pace as the election nears.

It was headed

Raw Politics: Labour grabs the defibrillator, Greens think outside the (red) square

Grabbing the defibrillator most certainly would be necessary in the Mt Albert electorate, if it was needed in an emergency to help someone outside the local medical centre.

Lindsay Mitchell: Why RNZ can't be trusted

This reporting is amongst the worst I have seen. And it's funded by the tax-payer.

How much beneficiaries are left with after paying the rent

"Beneficiaries are living on an average of $251 a week once they've covered their housing costs, a government report shows.

Richard Prebble: Is The Public Service Neutral?

We rarely lose a constitutional principle abruptly.

It is chipped away until one day, when it is too late, we realise it is gone.

A politically neutral public service that we can trust is one such principle.

On 9 September almost 10,000 public servants went on strike.

Tuesday September 15, 2026 

                   ⇩ 

Duncan Garner: 92% vs 31%: The Medical School Numbers That Will Shock New Zealand

Duncan asks why high-achieving applicants are being turned away based on ethnicity, and why the government won't publish the report. Is this addressing past disadvantage, or has it become state-sponsored racial discrimination?

Click to view

Clive Bibby: Shutting the door after the horse has bolted

The East Coast of New Zealand’s North Island is one of the country’s more remote farming regions but it has survived economically for decades mainly because the majority of its livestock farming soils produce some of the best red meat grown anywhere in the world.

Geoff Parker: Te Reo Is Here To Stay - But That Doesn't Mean We Must Embrace It

The New Zealand Herald (Editorial 14/9/26) tells us that “te reo is here to stay” and urges New Zealanders to “embrace it.”

It sounds harmless enough. But behind that friendly appeal lies a much bigger assumption: that because te reo Māori is being promoted more extensively, New Zealanders should welcome its increasing presence throughout public life.

That assumption deserves to be challenged.

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Here's why political parties shouldn't rush laws

Now, just for the avoidance of doubt, let me tell you what happened here with this mistake that led to 30,000 people missing out on Winter Energy Payments and benefits.

It happened because Louise Upston passed a piece of legislation so fast, under urgency, in just two days last year that no one had time to spot the fact the law contained a mistake.

Pee Kay: Where should the ambulance be placed?

And Why the Taxpayer is Left at the Bottom of the Cliff

A recent letter to the editor in the NZ Herald read – “…when are we going to wake up as a nation and realise that we need more tax income to pay for all the health, education and infrastructure that the country needs attending to?

Adding – “Future generations will be burdened with debt that will need to be repaid unless we are brave enough to change our tax structure to meet our growing needs”

So here we have another economic visionary gracing the letters to the editor page, imploring the state to extract even more cash from our already empty wallets. Because obviously to them, the only reason New Zealand’s hospitals are crumbling and our roads resemble the surface of the moon is that the government simply doesn’t have enough of our hard earned tax dollars to fritter away! The prevailing wisdom from these bleeding hearts is always the same; if we just tax our way to prosperity, future generations will magically inherit a debt-free utopia.

Dr Geoffrey Duffy: Why ‘Zero-Carbon’ Will Fail to Achieve Climate-Change Targets

Why the ‘zero-carbon dioxide’ intentions will fail to achieve weather and climate-change targets: over 30 additional ‘non-radiation greenhouse-gas’ mechanisms                              

Many countries worldwide are still pushing for ‘Net Zero’ carbon dioxide emissions where any increase in the amounts emitted annually are sequestered at enormous expense. Unfortunately, the single-cause of weather and climate variability has been assigned to the infrared radiation energy interaction with the greenhouse gas GHG carbon dioxide CO₂. Alas this fails to recognize that infrared radiation also impacts ALL the planet simultaneously; land, oceans, as well as a few atmospheric GHG’s.  

Colinxy: The Cargo Cult - When Ritual Replaces Reason

And why modern governments keep repeating a mistake once made with bamboo control towers

Every civilisation has its superstitions. Some carve them into stone. Some write them into legislation. And some, like the cargo cults of the Pacific, build them out of bamboo and hope the gods of logistics will deliver crates of American supplies.

The term “cargo cult” emerged after World War II. In the Pacific theatre, American forces built runways, depots, and radar stations. Aircraft arrived with food, tools, medicine, and equipment. To the islanders, this looked like magic: build the right structures, and the sky delivers abundance.

So, they copied what they saw.

Damien Grant: The worst economic policy since buying back BNZ was mooted

On occasion I will visit a supermarket. This is usually a task that I leave to my long-suffering travelling companion but when she has failed to purchase the right brand of peanut butter, I venture into the void to find, to my dismay, that Sanitarium discontinued this product in 2024.

However, once present in this cornucopia I wander around in a daze, with the same wonder that befell soviet leader Boris Yeltsin when he visited a Texas supermarket back in 1989. For research purposes, I dropped into my local Pak’nSave where I was shocked, shocked I declare, to discover 35 pre-cooked sausages on sale for $19. That’s 54c a sausage!