Kerre Woodham: Politicians need to stop ruling out raising the fuel tax

Labour has jumped on the no new taxes bandwagon, promising that if they're elected, there'll be no increase on the fuel excise duty for their first term.

I don't know why Labour and National don't just join forces and be done with it and leave the left hand side to the Greens, Te Pāti Māori and the Opportunity Party.

Barrie Davis: Captain Cook by Tony Ballantyne

Captain Cook and the Unsettled Afterlives of Empire is the latest book by Tony Ballantyne, who is Distinguished Chair Poutoko Taiea in History at the University of Otago – Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka. Ballantyne writes (The Post, 8 August, here):

“Cook was not a great hero, but a flawed, uncomfortable and difficult cultural ancestor, who provokes and challenges, reminding us of the weight of history and the painful legacies of an imperial past.”

Bob Edlin: Media and the matter of Maori tribal links....

....why are they mentioned in some reports but omitted in others?

A PoO reader has drawn attention to two articles published in The Post earlier this week.

One was headed Former Māori fisheries chief executive sentenced over child exploitation material

The other was headed The Wellington teen charting a course to the stars.

David Farrar: Green MP says Govt MPs are worse than Adolf Eichmann!!

A speech in Parliament by Green MP Steve Abel which is so deranged, that it should make him inadmissible for ministerial office. In response to the bill which simply states climate change policy is to be formulated by Parliament, not the courts, Steve Abel said:

Saturday August 29, 2026 

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Robin Grieve: Policies based on need, not race are more equitable

Increasingly, we are told that equity is important and to achieve it the Maori people of New Zealand need special treatment.

The argument is that, because Maori as a population experience poorer outcomes in areas such as life expectancy, specific measures targeted at Maori are necessary to close the gap.

Clive Bibby: Another Shakespearian Gem

"There is a tide in the affairs of men which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune"

I make no apologies for repeatedly quoting the Bard in some of my humble offerings in the columns of this blog.

Davina Smolders states her case to the Far North District Council

Davina Smolders states her case, in this short video, before the Far North District councillors voted to remove her from the council’s Te Kūaka committee, following her public criticism of its structure, unelected iwi and hapū representatives and Te Tiriti partnerships.

Breaking Views Update: Week of 23.8.26

Saturday August 29, 2026 

News:
Invercargill council votes against Māori ward following 'slam dunk' feedback
Invercargill city councillors have voted against establishing a Māori ward, opting to stick with the status quo.

The decision was made at a meeting this week where council manager Michael Morris said there had been overwhelming feedback from Te Rūnaka o Awarua and Waihōpai Rūnaka to not progress with a ward.

Ryan Bridge: Are we about to witness the return of the pothole?

Are we about to witness the return of the pothole?

Both Labour and National want to freeze increases to the petrol tax.

Labour would stop 22c a litre over three years. The Nats probably won't, coalition willing, go ahead with the 12c hike pencilled in for January.

Nathan Smith: How To Properly Fix A Shringking Population

Much of the talk about collapsing birth rates assumes that every generation must be replaced. Don’t believe it. A falling birth rate is not, by itself, a crisis. The real crisis is in figuring out why your children aren’t having their own children.

The only people genuinely worried about low birth rates are the farmers of men who want GDP always to go up. After all, they can’t make much money on only a handful of peasants. Rather, a low birth rate is simply a sign that an ecological limit has been reached.

Dr Don Brash: Why The Reserve Bank Should Remain Focussed On Inflation

As we approach the 2026 election, both Labour and NZ First want to change the Reserve Bank’s monetary policy mandate from its current single focus on the control of inflation to a dual mandate - controlling inflation while also maximising employment.

And to a great many people that sounds like a sensible change.

But it's not.

Peter Dunne: Kingmakers

In the wake of the rise of the Opportunity Party in recent opinion polls there has been much commentary about the role of smaller parties as kingmakers when it comes to forming governments under MMP. Most of it has been overstated.

Lindsay Mitchell: Bigger benefits won't help children

Why are incompetents routinely called 'experts' these days? The election campaign brings them out in their droves. Today's Herald headline:

Child poverty experts urge politicians to adopt recommendations before election

Brendan O'Neill: How Cambridge became the epicentre of Western self-loathing

The uni that liberated the world now employs a woman who called on Muslims to make weapons for jihad. God help us.

Next time someone asks me what I mean by ‘suicide of the West’, I’m going to tell them that Cambridge University has a professor who once said Muslims should build ‘advanced weaponry’ for the coming ‘jihad’ to elevate Islam ‘over all other [religions]’. I’m going to let them know that at one of the highest seats of learning in Christendom, on the same dappled lawns walked by William Tyndale, Isaac Newton and Alan Turing, there now skulks an academic who once said ‘Allah’s reward’ will be ‘immeasurable’ for those who make ‘machinery for jihad’. For there it is, in all its snivelling idiocy and decadence: the West’s death wish.

Kerre Woodham: What will it take for public servants to be held accountable?

What will it take for public servants to be held accountable for their most egregious mistakes? Not even talking the little faffy silly ones. We're talking really, really big mistakes. Never was a group of people more misnamed than public servants. The current generation are not servants of the public, for the most part – many of them appear to have absolute contempt for the public they are supposed to serve.

Bob Edlin: Luxon keeps hooting (to the point of tedium) about no new taxes...

....but he dropped the ball when asked about Treaty policy

If you haven’t got the message, the Nats are counting on remaining in government by pledging not to introduce new taxes while portraying left-leaning parties as ravenous revenue grabbers.

The Nats might have other policies. But in the past week their campaign pitch has emphasised what they oppose – more taxes – rather than what they support.

David Farrar: Te Pati Maori’s bonkers tax plan

Te Pati Maori has announced the following as part of their tax policy:

• A top marginal tax rate of 48%
• GST of 15%
• A 2.5% tax on assets above a certain threshold
• An increase in the company tax rate by 5%

Friday August 28, 2026 

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Ryan Bridge: How low is too low for house prices?

How much do you really want the value of your property to fall?

Plenty of us say we want cheaper house prices, but do we really mean it?

Once you own a house, you usually have mortgage on it. The less your house is worth, the less equity you have.