Monday, June 22, 2026
David Farrar: The world’s first trillionaire
Labels: David Farrar, Elon MuskElon Musk in now the world’s first trillionaire, with his net work now estimated a US$1.3 trillion.
He did not inherit even 0.000001% of this from his parents. Instead he simply:
David Farrar: Make sure this is in the next coalition agreement
Labels: David Farrar, Free speech, Professional regulatorsACT announced:
“New Zealanders shouldn’t have to choose between their career and their right to free speech,” says ACT Public Service spokesperson Todd Stephenson.
“Today ACT is announcing a 2026 election policy to stop professional regulators acting as ideological enforcers. ACT will, if returned to Government, introduce legislation to this end. …
Mike's Minute: More and more proof age is only a number
Labels: Aging workers, Mike HoskingAs Donald Trump celebrated his 80th this week, I read the stat that he is not alone in still having work to go to.
The retirement age in America is 67, but the percentage of those still in work past that age has quadrupled since the 80s.
So, a couple of things come out of that:
Sunday, June 21, 2026
Mary-Louise Kearney: Is UNDRIP enforceable under the law of a sovereign state?
Labels: Dr Mary Louise Kearney, He Puapua, legal solution to FTA issue, legislated UNDRIP National Action plans, sovereign state law, UN legal instrumentsIs UNDRIP - technically an aspirational non - legally binding UN mechanism - actually enforceable in national law? If so, why do politicians say the opposite? Are they seeking to allay citizens’ concerns? Or are they disregarding the reality of legislative processes?
Breaking Views Update: Week of 21.6.26
Labels: Breaking Views Update: monitoring race relations in the mediaSunday June 21, 2026
News:
Māori Health Providers Reject Funding Deal Over Te Tiriti Concerns
Two Māori health providers have voted against a proposed primary healthcare funding package, arguing it weakens Te Tiriti o Waitangi obligations and fails to adequately address Māori health inequities.
Te Whare o Rehua and Tarawera Medical Centre say they could not support the package because it does not provide sufficient recognition of the Crown’s responsibilities to Māori within the health system.
Gary Judd KC: Inflation - the struggle for simplicity
Labels: Auckland Chamber of Commerce, Auckland economy, Gary Judd KC, Simon BridgesWhy the Reserve Bank must distinguish monetary inflation from supply shocks
This morning I heard Auckland Chamber of Commerce chief executive Simon Bridges describing the dire state of the Auckland economy. He put part of the blame on the Reserve Bank’s signal that interest rates may need to rise in response to increasing prices. His point was that the immediate cause of the latest price pressure was not excessive domestic demand, but a spike in fuel prices caused by disruption to Middle East oil supplies.
Ani O'Brien: A week is a long time: 20 June 2026
Labels: A New Zealand Politics weekly wrap-up, Ani O'BrienLabour’s plan for “FREE” everything, paid for by one extra tax
Labour has had a busy time announcing policies (finally). Last week was the public transport fare cap of $20 a week in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, and $10 elsewhere. Labour costed it at $65 million a year, but the numbers immediately began to wobble. Economists Sam Warburton and Brad Olsen put the more realistic figure somewhere between $91-112 million.
Joshua Riley: India Free Trade Agreement - What They Didn't Tell You
Labels: India - NZ free trade ageement, Joshua RileyFive days after the parliamentary majority for ratification was already locked in, New Zealand released the full text of its Free Trade Agreement with India.
Read it. Because what it says is not what you were told.
Melanie Phillips: Trump’s surrender
Labels: Capitulation to Iran, Donald Trump, Iran’s war against the West, Melanie PhillipsSomething darker is at work here than just a concern over rising fuel prices
Does Donald Trump actually understand what he’s done?
Responding to critics of his agreement with Iran, the US president called them “fools” and either “jealous or bad people” because “the stock market just hit A RECORD HIGH, and oil prices are tumbling down.”
So the economy is all that matters in a struggle to neutralise a fanatical Islamic revolutionary regime that puts its weapons where its mouth is when it screams “Death to America”?
Guest Post: Molesworth Station
Labels: Gravedodger, Guest Post, Jim Ward, Molesworth Station, Ngai TahuGuest Post by Gravedodger on No Minister
A reasoned argument from one who understands how to relieve Pamu of Our Largest Station, Molesworth.
At present Pamu the current “Woke” iteration of the Government Lands and Survey farming department actual farming the vast estates still in Crown ownership returning often paltry returns when compared to private enterprise farming opperations is about to announce the future ownership and management strategy for the 500, 000 acre high country station on the southern boundary of Marlborough that was abandoned to the Crown due largely to rabbits and poor prices c1930s then added to with parts of St Helens after three farms were created on the Hanmer Plains for returned soldiers in 1949 and Tarndale Station also abandoned as run country.
Colinxy: Profit vs. Plunder - The Two Economic Moralities
Labels: Colinxy, Leftism, Plunder Worldview, Profit Worldview, Wealth as TheftTwo Ways of Seeing the World
Every political ideology rests on an implicit theory of how wealth comes into existence. Strip away the slogans, the moralising, the academic jargon, and you find only two fundamental worldviews:
David Farrar: A doctor speaks out
Labels: Cultural Safety and Equity, David Farrar, The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners (RNZCGP)A reader comments:
The RNZCGP is outdoing them and GP’s are sick and tired of it to the back teeth.1/4 of my CME is about “Cultural Safety and Equity.
25% of my continuous medical education is spent on this. Every 3 years the same stuff! Over and over again! Why not just once.
Mike's Minute: Labour's "splash the cash" mentality will solve nothing
Labels: Capital Gains Tax (CGT), Labour's freebies, Mike HoskingWhat is the matter with Labour? They are giving me free doctor’s visits – I don’t want them or need them.
Now they are giving me free prescriptions… it’s tens of millions of dollars we don’t have, handed out to people who don’t need it. Some people need it – give it to them.
You are literally wasting money giving these things to anyone on a half-decent salary.
Saturday, June 20, 2026
Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Unsurprisingly, Wayne Brown might be a bully
Labels: Auckland Council, Heather du Plessis-Allan, Wayne BrownThis has kicked off again this week with a complaint from a new Auckland councillor, Bo Burns, that Auckland Council is so dysfunctional she has packed up and walked out of meetings twice because of behaviour she considered unacceptable. Then, the Herald dropped a much bigger piece expanding on all of this, featuring the accounts of multiple councillors who also complain and who then hone in on the mayor in particular.
Breaking Views Update: Week of 14.6.26
Labels: Breaking Views Update: monitoring race relations in the mediaSaturday June 20, 2026
News:
Next steps for pathway programmes supporting young Māori players
New Zealand Rugby (NZR) has today confirmed the next steps for its Māori U18 Ngā Whatukura and U18 Mareikura programmes, strengthening development pathways for young Māori players and emerging talent across the game.
Geoff Parker: Luxon's Silence On The Treaty Debate Is Becoming Deafening
Labels: Christopher Luxon, Constitutional change, Geoff Parker, National conversation, National Iwi Chairs Forum, The TreatyI have been talking to iwi leaders ... for the past 12 months.
— Christopher Luxon, April 2025
No reasonable New Zealander would object to the Prime Minister meeting Māori leaders. In a democratic country, governments should engage with all sectors of society. Farmers, business owners, unions, community groups, churches, environmental organisations and iwi all have a right to be heard.
The problem is not that Luxon met with iwi leaders.
David Harvey: The Regulator's Reflex
Labels: David Harvey, Paul Goldsmith, State controlWhy the State's worldwide hunger to govern internet platforms should worry us more than the platforms themselves
There is a revealing little scene in this week’s New Zealand political news. The Media Minister, Paul Goldsmith, told a select committee that he goes on phoning the chairs of the public broadcasters at “random times” to see what is going on, keeps no notes, makes no recording, carries — in his own phrase — no “little notebook,” and assumes the chairs keep no record either.
Peter Dunne: Yes Minister
Labels: $33 million biometrics technology upgrade, Erica Stanford, Peter DunneOur system of government has been built on the partnership between Ministers and their public service officials to implement the government’s policies. Inevitably, that requires a high level of mutual confidence and trust.
The system further assumes that officials, whatever their personal political allegiances, will work impartially with Ministers to achieve those goals. Ministers have the right to expect the professional loyalty and genuine effort of their officials, and officials should expect to receive the support of their Ministers in return.
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