Ani O'Brien: A week is a long time: 14 March 2026

The Royal Commission the media pretended didn’t happen

The report from the second phase of the Royal Commission into New Zealand’s COVID-19 response was released this week and much of the media treated it as little more than a historical tidy-up. The dominant narrative has been the ol’ New Zealand did well early, ministers were under pressure, mistakes were inevitable but no big deal. But the report contains findings that deserve far more scrutiny. It raises serious questions about the extended Auckland lockdown, the legality of the Christmas boundary, and the roughly $60 billion spent during the pandemic of which around $30 billion of which was not directly related to COVID response measures.

Dr Oliver Hartwich: Australia and New Zealand are paying the price for abandoning reform

Within a fortnight last month, Australia and New Zealand placed opposite bets on their economic futures. The Reserve Bank of Australia raised interest rates to 3.85 per cent. Across the Tasman, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand held at 2.25 per cent, with Governor Anna Breman signalling that monetary policy would stay loose for some time.

So, one economy is apparently running too hot while the other cannot get off the floor. Surely, they face different problems requiring different medicine?

Elliot Ikilei: District plan means farmers will be extorted by the iwi mafia

Rural New Zealand is under siege from a planning system that is taking a leaf out of the Sopranos' book and turning productive farmland into a maze of red tape and mafia stand over tactics.

Farmers in Gore are staring down a new reality that before they dig a silage pit, build a shed, fix a farm track, or dozens of other everyday farming activities, resource consents must be assessed against Ngāi Tahu cultural values like mauri (life force), wairua (spiritual connections), whakapapa (relationships between all life forms), and utu (restoring balance).

Bob Edlin: Massey remains mute on the matter of science money....

Massey remains mute on the matter of science money, mysticism and a kumara patch

A week ago, the Taxpayers Union was being bombarded with emails on its exposé of the $156,132 “science challenge” which resulted in the establishment of a kūmara patch, funded through Massey University.

Not a big kumara patch – just 3 by 3 metres, the union reported.

Mike's Minute: My observations on week two of the war

My observations on week two of the war.

I'm as convinced as ever I was that this thing is over in the four week-ish window they said it would be.

If true, it means we should not have spent the week guessing when it will be over because we have already been told.

Net Zero Watch Samizdat: Reality Bites

UK

Make UK urges Miliband to approve new North Sea licences

The government must urgently approve new licences for the Rosebank and Jackdaw oil and gas fields in the North Sea to help protect Britain's energy security amid the war in Iran, the influential manufacturers' body Make UK will warn today.

Yvonne Van Dongen: Women Are Different

The lawyer censured for writing a letter on behalf of a client warning health practitioners about the possible legal consequences of prescribing puberty blockers to young people has finally been cleared of all charges of misconduct.

Speaking to Sean Plunket on The Platform on 10 March, lawyer Stephen Franks outlined what had up until now been a secret process in which he was censured for using terms like ‘social contagion’ as regards the spread of transgenderism.

David Farrar: National security and NZ

The NZ Herald has an op ed by John Howard and Tim Ewing-Jarvie on national security.

I was privileged to hear them speak recently on this issue, and it was hugely illuminating (and depressing).

Before we get into what they say, it is worth highlighting what they have done – as that is relevant to their opinions.

Saturday March 14, 2026 

                    ⇩

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: People panic buying fuel aren't being irrational

Okay, here’s a prediction for you, because there have been headlines today about petrol stations running out of fuel because of panic buying: people will panic buy petrol this weekend.

Yesterday was discount day at Gull so things went a bit crazy.

Ryan Bridge: You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone

We're learning a few hard truths this week and the old saying rings true - you don't know what you've got 'til its gone.

Parties on the left and the right all crying out for more oil. Turns out, it's actually still quite important.

Breaking Views Update: Week of 8.3.26

Saturday March 14, 2026 

News:
Gisborne councillors back Lytton Rd waste centre plan as mana whenua oppose it
Gisborne is a step closer to taking control of regional waste, but some district councillors expressed “discomfort” over the process.

Councillors voted on a preferred site for developing the regional Refuse Transfer Station and Resource Recovery Centre at a council meeting on Thursday.

Gary Judd KC: National could signal its support for democracy

It could join ACT and NZ First to abolish the Maori electoral seats

This is a companion piece to my just-published Ghettoizing the mind. Both were stimulated by Dr Muriel Newman’s feature article, The Future of the Maori Seats in which she carefully marshalled nearly all the reasons why they should be gone. She also introduced as a guest commentary an address given by Hon Bill English in 2003: Address to the National Press Club Breakfast 24 July 2003.

Geoff Parker: The Gore Precedent

How a District Plan in Southland Could Change Land-Use Rules Across New Zealand

A planning dispute in the small Southland district of Gore may look like a local argument about farming rules.

In reality, it may represent something much bigger: a quiet shift in how land-use decisions are made across New Zealand.

Ani O'Brien: We don't hate the media enough

We need a People's Commission into the Media during Covid-19

The Royal Commission into COVID-19 should have triggered a national reckoning. Instead it revealed how completely the media failed to scrutinise power.

There’s a phrase often repeated online: you don’t hate the media enough. Most people read it as a joke or a bit of internet cynicism. But the New Zealand media’s response to the release of the report from Phase Two of the Royal Commission into COVID-19 is proof that the New Zealand media has forgotten its most basic functions.

JC: Ngāi Tahu in Breach of the Law?

This article covers concerning behaviour by Ngāi Tahu. I would like to make it clear that the comments made below are not directed at all Māori in Ngāi Tahu but rather the tribal leaders.

A message from Elliot Ikilei of Hobson’s Pledge appeared in my inbox. It concerned tactics being used against farmers by Ngāi Tahu. As of the moment this outrageous behaviour only affects farmers in Gore under rules imposed by the the tribe. Need I say that if this is allowed to proceed it will spread like the outbreak of the Covid pandemic, elsewhere in the South Island and around the country. What is happening in Gore must be stopped in its tracks. This is yet another instance of race-based pandering and cannot be allowed to stand.

Melanie Phillips: Holding our nerve

Those clamouring for the Iran war to end prematurely haven't a clue about the stakes involved

The regime in Tehran believes that driving up the oil price to eye-watering levels will force President Trump to end the war.

Today’s media reports were dominated by speculation that this strategy is working. This is because Trump said yesterday that the war is “very complete, pretty much,” and that it will end “very soon”.

Yet later in the day he also said:

Bob Edlin: Verrall should forget about a digital health promise being broken (it wasn’t)....

Verrall should forget about a digital health promise being broken (it wasn’t) and focus on how well $164.6m is being spent

Opposition health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall needs to be concerned more about what taxpayers are getting for the government’s health spending than with trying to spotlight the breaking of promises that were not made.

David Farrar: Air corporate welfare

James Meager announced:

Golden Bay Air will be the first airline to receive a loan from funding ear-marked for at-risk regional air routes, Associate Transport Minister James Meager says.

The airline will receive approximately $1.1 million from the $30 million package set aside by the Coalition Government from the Regional Infrastructure Fund (RIF), designed to stabilise the sector and support regional routes in the short to medium term.

Mike's Minute: Is there a legal case to be heard on the vaccine advice?

Question six, the House of Parliament Question Time.

Winston Peters to Simeon Brown. The mandate for 12 to 17 year olds and the double dose of the vaccine – seek it out, it’s a fascinating exchange.

Tuesday, Chris Hipkins and Ayesha Verral denied the concerns raised by the Ministry of Health ever reached their desks.