J R Bruning: New Zealand’s public health crisis cannot be arrested by prescribing vast quantities of drugs and vaccines.

Budget, May 2025: New Zealand’s public health crisis cannot be arrested by prescribing vast quantities of drugs and vaccines.

In May 2025 the New Zealand budget will be released.

I’ve asked the question, what is the Hon Minister Shane Reti doing to address a gaping hole in health funding, the absence of funding for nutrition-related policy?

Increasingly, conventional medical clinicians and general practitioners operate with one arm behind their back, to all appearances oblivious to the body of expanding scientific knowledge persistently shedding light on the role of nutrition in preventing, treating and reversing common conditions.

Dr Michael Bassett: Waitangi Day Looms

Spare a thought for what our national day was meant to be, compared with what it has become. Before 1973 a small ceremony took place at Waitangi each 6 February to commemorate the signing of the Treaty. Only Northland had a holiday. Then Norman Kirk promised during the 1972 election campaign to establish a national holiday. The New Zealand Day Act passed through Parliament the following year. Kirk was adamant that henceforth the day should be called New Zealand Day. It was for all New Zealanders to celebrate our different identities and a sense of nationhood that brought us together. It was to be a day for everyone, irrespective of race or cultural background.

Dr James Allan: Climate Change Giving Meaning to Life

The religious mindset embraces the belief that there is more to life than the material world of the senses. There are truths that transcend the here and now. Things that give a non-contingent meaning to human existence. This is obvious with the monotheistic religions, and a little less obvious with Buddhism and polytheistic beliefs. Still, the appeal of this sort of belief in transcendent truths is pretty obvious. That means that not all that many people who reject established religions will move over to some sort of David Hume or Bertrand Russell-type sceptical view that what you see is what you get – we are here because of the fortuitous collisions of trillions of atoms, lots of time and even more luck. As Hume famously said, “the life of a man is of no greater importance to the universe than that of an oyster”.

Ele Ludemann: The sound of peace

Mediators from Egypt, Qatar and the USA have announced a truce which would result in a ceasefire in Gaza tomorrow.

The truce, announced by mediators Qatar and the United States on Wednesday, would begin on Sunday and involve the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, after which the terms of a permanent end to the war would be finalised. . .

Breaking Views Update: Week of 12.1.25

Saturday January 18, 2025 

News:
Minister overhauls Waitangi Tribunal membership
Tama Potaka is replacing half of the Waitangi Tribunal’s members, including senior academics.

Former blogger Philip Crump and former Defence Minister Ron Mark are among new appointments to Waitangi Tribunal.

Craig Rucker: President Trump gets it on wind

President Trump famously predicted that Americans would “get tired of all the winning.”

This is a big win for America, though we at CFACT don’t expect to tire of winning just yet.

DTNZ: New literacy and numeracy standards lower NCEA Level 1 pass rates

Provisional figures reveal that the introduction of new literacy and numeracy requirements has contributed to a drop in NCEA Level 1 pass rates.

Only 64% of Year 11 students attempted Level 1 in 2024, with 70% of those succeeding, compared to an 82% pass rate in 2023. The decline is attributed to the tougher online literacy and numeracy tests, as well as a shift in the demographic makeup of students attempting Level 1.

Brendan O'Neill: Is this peace or appeasement?

We need to be honest: the ceasefire deal is a boon for Hamas and a blow to Israel.

Here’s a pretty good rule for international affairs: if a deal pleases neo-fascists, it’s probably a bad deal. If an agreement gets an army of anti-Semites dancing in the streets, it’s likely a poor agreement. That was my first thought upon seeing the Jew-killers of Hamas emerge from their tunnels in Gaza last night to celebrate the ceasefire deal struck with Israel: if they like it, then those of us who side with civilisation over the regressive tyranny of such merciless Islamists probably will not.

Roger Partridge: How did we end up so asset-rich but service-poor?

Something is seriously wrong with New Zealand’s public wealth. We rank near the top globally for per-capita resources and assets - ahead of most OECD nations. On some measures, only Saudi Arabia eclipses us. Yet our public services are crumbling and we cannot afford to fund or maintain critical infrastructure.

The scale of our natural wealth may come as a surprise to many. But our endowment spans an extraordinary range. World-class agricultural land stretches across both islands. Our renewable electricity generation ranks among the highest in the OECD. Our fisheries rank among the world’s most extensive, while forests blanket 37% of our land. We even possess significant mineral deposits, though these remain largely unexplored.

Friday January 17, 2025 

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Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 17/1/25

Thomas Cranmer (the Kiwi one) lands a job on the Waitangi Tribunal

As a lawyer, Philip Crump spent some 25 years buried in the minutiae of legal contracts, “oblivious to everything save for family and the superficiality of current events”. Then he decided to take a closer look at the challenges that New Zealand faces and reported what he found under the pseudonym Thomas Cranmer on Twitter and – when the word-count there became a constraint – on Cranmer’s Substack.

DTNZ: Labour overtakes National in latest poll as economic concerns dominate voter sentiment

The Labour Party has overtaken National in the polls for the first time since April 2023, according to the latest Taxpayers’ Union-Curia Poll, a shift that spells trouble for National leader Christopher Luxon as both major parties prepare for their caucus retreats next week.

John McLean: Earthqwoke over a Proposed Regulatory Standards Bill

But what’s all the fuss about?

The latest conniptions afflicting New Zealand’s Illiberal “Progressive” Elites are over further legislation proposed by ACT Party Leader David Seymour. The proposed legislation, to be called the Regulatory Standards Bill, is intended to improve the quality of legislative rulemaking in New Zealand – a laudable goal, one might think. OUTRAGE Queen in this instance is serial shrieker, Emeritus Professor Jane Kelsey.

Olivia Pierson: 2025 - A Year of Unprecedented Change

The year 2025 has stormed into history with the audacious flair of a blockbuster film, reshaping the globe before our very eyes.

 
At the heart of this storm is President Trump, mere days from his second inauguration, once again proving that conventionality has no place in his playbook. True to form, Trump has unveiled a series of grand ambitions: acquiring Greenland, renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, integrating Canada as the 51st state, and reclaiming control of the Panama Canal. These proposals, dripping with nationalistic bravado, have predictably triggered global debate. Yet, they are a potent reminder that "America First" is more than just a slogan—it’s an enduring principle of Orange the Magnificent’s leadership.

Centrist: Sinking lids and rising profits: New Zealand’s pokie machine dilemma

Despite stricter regulations and fewer pokie machines in New Zealand, these devices still generate over $1 billion annually.

Councils like Porirua have implemented “sinking lid” policies, which are meant to reduce machine numbers over time. Yet, critics say the profits and the social costs remain high.

Peter Williams: Defending the indefensible

If you were hoping race relations temperatures in 2025 might reduce after the simmering discontent of the hikoi, Christchurch organization Brown Town has turned up the thermostat.

In an extraordinary act of tone deafness they’ve decided if you are brown, or presumably merely identify as Māori or a person of the Pacific, you can get a discount price for a music festival on January 26th called Waves.

Ele Ludemann: Roche diagnoses public service problems

Sir Brian Roche has diagnosed the problems with the public service:

There are too many meetings in the public service, too many layers of management, too much duplication, not enough clarity about its role and not enough focus on outcomes, new Public Service Commissioner Sir Brian Roche told chief executives in a letter ahead of their first meeting.

He said improvements in efficiency, decision-making, and responsiveness were needed. . .

Chris Lynch: Christchurch bar and collective cut ties and cancel event over racially tiered ticket prices

Christchurch bar Muy Muy and Christchurch collective Browntown have called off a music event and cut ties following racially tiered ticket pricing.

Tickets for the event were initially sold at three price points: “Early bird (for all Tangata): $15, Tangata Moana (for our Māori and Pacific Tangata): $20, and Tangata Tiriti (for our allies): $30.”

Chris Lynch: Kāinga Ora reduces disruptive tenant complaints with faster response times

Kāinga Ora has reduced response times for dealing with disruptive tenant complaints, resolving cases in an average of 13 days compared to 60 days in early 2024.

New data revealed that since July 2024, 553 Section 55A notices have been issued to tenants for disruptive behaviour—13 times the number issued during the same period last year.

Dr Will Jones: Labour U-Turns Over University Free Speech as it Brings Back Tory Law....

Labour U-Turns Over University Free Speech as it Brings Back Tory Law – But Removes its “Teeth”

Labour has U-turned over university free speech as it brings back a Tory law clamping down on ‘woke’ cancel culture – but removes its “teeth” by dropping the ability of academics to sue their institutions. The Mail has more.