Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: The fun outweighed the controversies at the World Cup

Well, I think we can probably call it: in the end, no one cared enough about the controversies at the Football World Cup. We all just had a really good time watching it.

Anyone hoping, and there were definitely people hoping, that this would be the World Cup where the corruption would finally be too much, the controversies would finally be too much, and something would be done about it, will be horribly disappointed.

Chris Bishop, Simon Court: Better planning for growth and environment

"Alongside the Committee's recommendations, the Government has agreed further amendments to the legislation.

"One of those changes relates to Mana Whakahono ā Rohe agreements.

“The Bills as introduced provide that Mana Whakahono ā Rohe that existed or had been initiated prior to the Bills being enacted would transfer into the new system, but that there would be no provision for new ones.

Breaking Views Update: Week of 19.7.26

Tuesday July 21, 2026 

News:
Iwi-council agreements 'narrowly scoped' in late change to new RMA system
Local authorities would instead be able to sign new "narrowly scoped" iwi participation agreements, setting out how iwi authorities take part in statutory planning processes and in the processes that give effect to Treaty settlement redress.

Pee Kay: National… the Enemy Within? (Part Three)

PART THREE: The Luxon Years, The Future, the Battle for New Zealand’s Democracy

On reflection, what made us think Christopher Luxon would be any different from the long line of previous National Prime Ministers who simply failed to hold our democracy dear?

The answer is simple, desperation.

Following six horrific years of the Ardern/Hipkins Labour governments, we were desperate for change. When Luxon looked us in the eye and stated, “We are one country, we deliver our public services to people on the basis of need, not ethnicity,” and “We are all equal under the law,” we believed him!

Kerre Woodham: Will we see the return from NZ First's proposal?

New Zealand First had its own little party on the weekend. It's going to campaign on funding a $1 billion survey of offshore oil and gas reserves that it says would lead to the country owning its own supply and reducing power prices. Hello, 1972!

However, it is unclear how many years it would take for Kiwis to feel the benefits, if any, as Winston said it was expected it could take six years just to establish a pathway forward.

Bruce Cotterill: Why Paul Henry’s Act leap is good for politics

I never thought I would say this. But Paul Henry’s right.

I used to be a fan of Paul Henry, the broadcaster. He’s bright, articulate and entertaining. But then he got a bit silly, and I moved on. This week he restored my interest.

JC: A Lesson Luxon Has To Learn

Christopher Luxon is not your consummate politician. Not by a long shot. And politics is nothing like running a business. The National Party, or indeed the coalition, is not Unilever. The MPs representing ACT and NZ First are not Luxon’s staff. They are more like suppliers adding products (ideas) to help sustain his business (government) and keep it profitable (in power). Unlike business, which vies with competitors for market share, in politics it can be an accommodation with competitors (ACT and NZ First) that attains and keeps the market share (percentage of votes). Luxon has failed to discern the difference.

Rodney Hide: New Zealand First’s Epic U-Turn on Oil and Gas

Winston Peters and Shane Jones have executed one of the most shameless policy pirouettes in modern New Zealand politics. From enforced supporters of Jacinda Ardern’s offshore oil and gas exploration ban to self-appointed champions promising a $1 billion taxpayer-funded drill-baby-drill bonanza, NZ First has shown once again that principle is negotiable when the baubles of office are on the table.

Ryan Bridge: A billion-dollar Gamble on oil

New Zealand First wants to spend a billion bucks looking for oil and gas fields to make our country rich again.

Well, richer.

A bit more like the place our kids go to earn a living, Australia, who've pulled in $430 billion in mining royalties over the past decade alone.

Colinxy: What Have the Left Ever Done for Us?

A Guided Tour Through a Meme, a Myth, and a Manufactured History

A meme has been making the rounds on social media — a Left‑wing riff on Life of Brian’s famous “What have the Romans ever done for us?” sketch. The structure is familiar:

Mike Grimshaw: Getting MMP to work

While MMP was meant to provide more diversity of parties and peoples represented in parliament, the question is whether it has really succeeded in breaking the old two-party bloc faction as it promised to do?

Was the last time when MMP acted as it could when the John Key National Party invited the Māori party to effectively cross the floor and join the government?

But would any party consider doing so today…in either political direction?

David Farrar: End of Life law working well

The annual report of the Assisted Dying Registrar is here. Some key aspects:

Monday July 20, 2026 

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Geoff Parker: Waerenga-a-Hika - The History RNZ Left Out

This article is not intended to deny Māori suffering, but to argue that historical events must be examined in their full context.

RNZ's recent article, The Deadly Battle New Zealand Forgot, is a moving account of the Battle of Waerenga-a-Hika and the suffering endured by many Māori communities. No fair-minded New Zealander would deny that lives were lost, families were torn apart, prisoners were exiled, and communities experienced hardship whose effects continued for generations.

But history deserves more than sympathy alone. It also deserves context.

Damien Grant: Inside the Cerberus coalition....

Inside the Cerberus coalition: The deep ideological divides behind the political growls

As you approach Hades, treading into eternity, you traverse the River Styx. The toxic stream that Achilles was dipped in by the ankle. Upon entering the underworld, you will be confronted by a monstrous three-headed dog on his eternal patrol.

Mythology does not explain how Cerberus coordinates his duties. Three minds. One body. Does it bite itself or act with a hive mind? The questions that challenged the ancients remain unresolved.

Let us examine our own Cerberus. National. Act. New Zealand First.

David Farrar: Ngâ Tauira Mâori

I received the following e-mail (names redacted by me) a couple of months ago:

This report summarises a series of serious allegations and concerns raised regarding conduct associated with the University of Auckland Māori Students Association (Ngā Tauira Māori) and activities connected to the “KatchaMāori” event held for first-year tauira [student].

Colinxy: The Industrial Revolution and the Myth of Capitalist Child Labour

How Prosperity, Not Poverty, Ended the Drudgery of Childhood

One of the more curious accusations routinely hurled at the Industrial Revolution, and by extension at capitalism itself, is the charge of child labour. The argument is delivered with theatrical indignation, as though the moment steam engines appeared, Victorian factory owners spontaneously invented the idea of putting children to work.

This is historically illiterate. Child labour did not begin with capitalism. It predates the Industrial Revolution by millennia.

Ryan Bridge: Is swearing really that bad?

Swearing. Most of us do it.

Unless you're a Bishop (or maybe they do it in private, too?).

Especially in New Zealand.

Insights From Social Media: Now It Gets Interestinger?

Gravedodger writes > Followers of T W Ratana a Maori Prophet who began a sect near Wanganui at what is referred to as the Ratana Pa destination for socialists who have been joined at the Hip for Labour and Ratana.

The “Pa” is the must go to celebration of T W “s birthday January 25th that sees the socialist faithfull and wannabees like Luxon trooping up to the Twin tower Ratana Church to seek to be recognised.

Dave Patterson: Are the Baltic States Ripe for a Russian Invasion?

Poland and the Baltic States of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia believe they are the targets of Russian hybrid warfare. Russia is, in fact, at war with these countries, each of which has an eastern border ripe for an invasion similar to that which took place in April 2014 in the Ukrainian Donbas region and Crimea. Prior to the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine by Kremlin troops in February 2022, Russia carried out a campaign of disinformation, sabotaging Ukrainian infrastructure and cyberattack operations.