John McLean: Nothing to smile about

On 26 June 2025, multiple Māori groups filed a High Court legal claim to all New Zealand’s natural fresh water. In the short period since then, more Māori have jumped on the water wagon. The claim’s chief protagonist is a man named Kingi Smiler. You can listen here to a chat that Smiler recently had with broadcaster Michael Laws on The Platform:

Matua Kahurangi: PM Christopher Luxon says Dame Jacinda Ardern is his modern day hero (Satire)

A political storm erupted this week after ACT Party leader David Seymour took aim at Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi for naming African military leader Ibrahim Traoré as his "modern-day hero." Traoré, who seized power in Burkina Faso via a coup, has been widely condemned on the world stage for suppressing elections, banning homosexuality, and overseeing violent crackdowns that have left hundreds dead.

Ani O'Brien: A week is a long time - 5 July 2025

A NZ Politics weekly wrap-up

Luxon’s plans for Quarter 3

Despite not quite completing two of its 38 objectives for Quarter 2, Christopher Luxon and his Government are correct to call it a success. The two that were missed relate to removing barriers to capital markets and a Government AI strategy. Both are underway. In Quarter 3, there are 28 actions on the checklist and Luxon puts this drop down to the size and scope of the objectives. That didn’t stop the NZ Herald from running with the headline “Government gives itself fewer actions to do this quarter…”

Ele Ludemann: Councillors shouldn’t need security

How did it come to this?:

Increasing abuse and threats directed at elected members has prompted a new home security allowance to councillors’ pay.

Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) chief executive Susan Freeman-Greene said her organisation had advocated for new protections such as the allowance given a significant increase in abuse, harassment and threatening behaviour.

David Farrar: The pro shoplifting party

Paul Goldsmith released:

Green MP Tamatha Paul is giving shoplifting the green light as she opposes the Government’s plan to strengthen penalties, National Party Spokesperson for Justice Paul Goldsmith says.

“The Greens are singing from the same old song sheet, making excuses for anyone who attacks or steals from hard working New Zealanders.”

Mike's Minute: Your retirement savings are in your own hands

There was a survey out last week that broadly supported the Government’s moves around KiwiSaver, as in the 3% and 3% going to 4% and 4%.

But they wanted the Government to do something about the cut in contribution from the state.

Barrie Davis: Sir Apirana’s Free Speech

Congratulations to Jonathan Ayling and the Free Speech Union (FSU) and also to Dr Muriel Newman and the New Zealand Center for Political Research (NZCPR) on the outcome of the law suit for the absurd Hutt City Council censorship affair. We should be outraged that the Council removed NZCPR sponsored copies of Sir Apirana Ngata’s 1922 The Treaty of Waitangi: An Explanation from public libraries. The Council should be humiliated, humbled and apologetic that they presumed to do so. It was an Orwellian act to be ashamed of, yet the contrition is entirely absent.

David Lillis: Unpublished Letter to the Listener

Recently (on 4 June), I wrote a 300-word letter to the Listener but have received no response. Here it is below, for those who are interested.

“Paul Little and Sarah Frost express concerns that Shakespeare is unduly prominent in our draft English Curriculum (The Listener, 7 June). However, Shakespeare is mentioned only once there, and developers are obliged to prescribe what they consider the best readings for every subject.

Saturday July 5, 2025 

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Insights From Social Media

Who Watches the Watchdogs? The Waitangi Tribunal’s Free Pass Needs Clipping - Steven Mark Gaskell.

It’s about time someone in Parliament remembered who actually runs the country and for once, it’s not a committee of academics and legal theorists camped out in a Treaty echo chamber. Enter Simeon Brown, who has dared to tug on the sacred cloak of the Waitangi Tribunal, the one institution that’s never had to answer the question: who keeps you in check, mate?

Clive Bibby: Elvis got it right way back then but fools still rush in

As teenagers growing up in the 60s, with little television and only the radio as a link to live broadcasts of concerts featuring our rock and roll stars, we relied heavily on the record player and the odd Saturday night dance as a means of keeping in touch with the songs and music written by our idols.

Zoran Rakovic - A New Crown, The Same Sword: Power, Hypocrisy, and the Eviction of Selwyn Huts

Ngāi Tahu now owns the land—but the people in the huts must go. We ask: when power changes hands, does justice follow?

Opinion: The settlers of Greenpark Huts did not descend from mountaintops with deeds of conquest. They arrived with huts and hope, making lives on the muddy fringes of Lake Ellesmere / Te Waihora. Through decades, generations came to treat those huts not as property but as places of meaning—battered perhaps, but woven into the fabric of ordinary New Zealand life. And now, as ownership passes fully into the hands of Ngāi Tahu, the story is coming to a bitter end. Eviction notices. Legal wrangling. No renewal. No negotiation. Just the cold mechanics of removal.

Breaking Views Update: Week of 29.6.25

Saturday July 5, 2025 

News:
Call for expressions of interest for an appointment to Council - University of Auckland
Under section 2(a) of the Council Appointments Statute 2023, Council invites expressions of interest from persons who consider they meet the attributes required to fill one or more of the following four positions on Council:

One person, being Māori and able to advise Council on issues relevant to Māori

Chris Lynch: Government announces $22 million boost to protect native wildlife

Conservation Minister Tama Potaka has announced a major $22 million funding boost aimed at protecting native wildlife and enhancing visitor experiences across New Zealand’s national parks and conservation areas.

Speaking at the Isaac Conservation and Wildlife Trust near Christchurch today, Minister Potaka outlined the investment, which will be drawn from the International Visitor Levy over the next three years.

Peter Dunne: War on woke

Symbolism over substance is a well-established political art. Sometimes symbolism is a substitute for decisive action, sometimes it is a way of signalling a future policy intent that for various reasons cannot yet be achieved. On other occasions, it is a simple diversionary tactic, designed to distract attention from policy failure elsewhere.

A recent good example of symbolism over substance is New Zealand First’s proposed Bill to ban the display of any flag or emblem other than the New Zealand flag on government buildings.

Ananish Chaudhuri: There is a free speech crisis at our universities

A recent article in The Post by two University of Auckland academics makes three primary assertions. First, there is no free speech crisis at our universities. Second, universities are autonomous and should be “allowed to make this judgment call”. Third, universities should not be forced to “bend the knee to an external agency of the state.”

The authors are wrong on all three counts.

Lindsay Mitchell: The Death of Personal Responsibility

The following quote typifies the thinking that's rampant across New Zealand's health and education sectors:

"The presentation of comparisons between different ethnic groups is not to provide commentary on the deficits of any particular ethnic group but rather to highlight the deficits of a society that creates, maintains and tolerates these differences."

Ani O'Brien: Frankenstein's Youth Parliament

An insight into the little monsters who will one day run the country

The monster in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is often mistakenly referred to as "Frankenstein," but the name actually belongs to the scientist who created the monster, Victor Frankenstein. The confusion reflects how the monster’s identity has merged with that of his creator overshadowing the novel's deeper themes about responsibility, creation, and the consequences of unchecked ambition.

Kerre Woodham: Let's put an end to the fun and start verifying political promises

I don't know about you, but I want to know how big our Finance Ministers' holes are.

I think it's really important to know what political parties’ promises are going to cost us. A nine-year battle to get a publicly funded body to cost political parties election promises, starting with the 2026 election, ended at cabinet on Monday after ACT and NZ First put the kibosh on the plan.

Mike's Minute: To the media - a bit of balance please

I feel there should be a rule, and the rule is around balance.

Part of the media's demise is its unfairness in coverage, the latest example of which is the school lunch programme.