Breaking Views Update: Week of 5.10.25

Friday October 10, 2025 

News:
Government move to ‘clip Tribunal’s wings’ sparks judicial pushback
Documents released under the Official Information Act to Te Ao Māori News reveal the Government’s push to weaken the Waitangi Tribunal is facing strong resistance from the judges it seeks to allegedly disempower.

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Did someone try to stop the Māori Party from hijacking Parliament?

It's happened again, unfortunately - the Māori Party has hijacked Parliament once again with a haka.

It played out like this:

Oriini Kaipara, who's their new MP replacing the late Takutai Tarsh Kemp, delivered her maiden speech because today’s her first day in Parliament. Afterwards, there was a song and the public gallery was involved. She stepped out of her seat into the aisle, onto the floor to receive the song.

Ryan Bridge: We need clarity for disabled teenagers on the benefit

This story about sick or disabled teenagers getting the benefit doesn’t make any sense.

The Government wants to cut the dole for teenagers whose parents earn $65k plus - okay.

Their justification? If poor old mum and dad have to cover their living costs, said teenagers will go find a job.

Rob Paterson: Yes - Sovereignty Was Ceded

Legal Argument: Māori Chiefs Ceded Sovereignty to the British Crown in 1840

I. Introduction

This argument supports the position that the Māori signatories to the Treaty of Waitangi of 1840 knowingly ceded full sovereignty (kawanatanga) to the British Crown.

This conclusion is supported by:

Dr Eric Crampton: Social media ban won’t just affect under-16s

Keeping kids off social media sounds simple. Tech whizzes can achieve wonders. Surely, they can achieve this too. All they need to do is ‘nerd harder’.

I don’t think this one can be solved this way. Or at least not without pretty substantial trade-offs for freedom of speech and privacy.

Mike's Minute: Tory Whanau is the poster child for ineptitude

The Wellington mayor went out, not really in a blaze of glory yesterday, but more a fireball of misery and bitchiness.

Tory Whanau is probably the local body poster child for ineptitude. She's given her bye-bye speech.

She was a shambles. She may still be back, as she is standing in the Māori ward.

Peter Dunne: This is not political leadership

There is a crisis of confidence affecting the two old parties, National and Labour, and it is getting worse. Between them presently they are attracting around only 60% support in public opinion polls, the lowest combined vote share for the two big parties since MMP was established in 1996. Each of them is hovering around the 30% mark in popular support, a figure that has been tracking steadily downwards since the start of this year. On that basis, neither can look forward to next year’s election with a great deal of confidence.

Matua Kahurangi: Winston Peters calls out the Left’s hypocrisy on Gaza

Winston Peters has hit the nail on the head again. His latest post calling out the hypocrisy of the left over Gaza isn’t just political theatre, it’s a reminder of how shallow and performative the outrage machine has become.

He was right to ask where the questions are in Parliament? Where’s the media coverage that actually demands answers from those who claim to care about peace?

Point of Order: NEW POLL - National and Labour Take Big Hits; NZ First and Greens Gain

The Taxpayers’ Union reports –

Bad news for National and Labour as they both take a beating in this month’s Taxpayers’ Union-Curia Poll.

The poll, conducted between 01 October and 05 October, shows Labour retain its position as the largest party, dropping 2.6 points to 31.2 percent.

Ele Ludemann: In need of confidence

Yesterday’s announcement of a 50 basis point official cash rate reduction will ease pressure on households and businesses.

That ought to provide a boost to the economy which is sorely in need of the confidence which fosters investment which in turn leads to growth and more job opportunities.

David Farrar: We do actually have a transformational government

Governments of the left like to claim they are transformational, when they’re not. The Ardern Government achieved so little it was the opposite. They used wellbeing as a slogan, and did a couple of disastrous mergers. They spent a lot of money. To be fair the Clark Government did actually achieve some major stuff such as KiwiSaver, the Cullen Fund and the China FTA.

Thursday October 9, 2025 

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Bob Edlin: Have Councils ceded to iwi the power to tell you (without explanation) to stay away....

Prayers and prohibitions – how councils have ceded to iwi the power to tell you (without explanation) to stay away

Police officers, fire fighters and ambulance staff were not the only people called in when one person died and another was seriously injured after a vehicle fire in the Lower Hutt suburb of Taitā a fortnight ago. People granted the power to impose a “keep out” prohibition for cultural and spiritual reasons were brought in, too.

A Lower Hutt Council spokesman was quoted as saying:

Steven Gaskell: The Gospel According to the Treaty: Nothing Is Sacred Anymore

Once upon a time, the University of Otago taught theology the study of God, Scripture, and faith. Now it teaches cultural compliance. In the new “Māori Theology and Religion” course, students don’t learn about divine truth; they learn how to reinterpret it through a Māori worldview. The Bible, apparently, isn’t sufficient anymore. It must first be translated, filtered, and approved by the gospel of biculturalism.

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Today's OCR cut comes better late than never

Good news - the Reserve Bank has finally done the thing many of us thought was necessary, and they've gone for a double cut in the OCR of 50 basis points.

That's the good news. The bad news is that they've been forced to do it because they didn't do it earlier, as in, they haven't cut as quickly as they should have.

Ryan Bridge: Is the work of activists making a difference?

Regular listeners will know, when it comes to free speech, I'm into it.

How else do we get smarter but to debate ideas, put them through the ringer, shout and scream and reason and argue?

We've been doing it since we could talk - which is, well, a long time.

Kerre Woodham: Unhealthy habits are a matter of choice not a lack of education

A new report says the health of New Zealanders is declining, and that it's costing us dearly- in the billions of dollars with more billions to come. The report, released by the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists showed working-age people who reported they were in excellent health almost halved between 2011 and 2024, while psychological distress had increased amongst all adults.

Professor Jerry Coyne: University of Auckland set to make mandatory “indigeneity” courses optional.....

University of Auckland set to make mandatory “indigeneity” courses optional, as students considered them a waste of time and money

As I reported in September of last year, every entering student at New Zealand’s Auckland University was required to take an “indigeneity” course—and that includes prospective science majors. As I noted:

JC: We Live In an Unhinged World

Today’s world is not only unhinged but is becoming increasingly dangerous. It is now not uncommon to hear from some in high places that ‘We are closer to World War III than we have ever been before.’ There are many reasons for this: political ideology, political leadership, terrorism, foreign aggression, the media and the breakdown of society, which seems a good place to start.

Joanne Nova: Energy prices now the biggest single concern of business in Australia

It was always going to happen, as long as the Minister for Weather was determined to control Pacific Decadal Oscillations with windmills. Everyone would be happy-happy until the bill arrived.

In a survey of 500 Australian companies, the rapid rise of energy costs is now the single biggest concern. Any given business was three times as likely to worry about the price of energy rather than about Trump’s tariffs.