Heather du Plessis-Allan: I've accepted the LNG Terminal as a short term fix

I don’t love the idea of the LNG terminal. Never have, probably never will.

But I’m fast coming around to the idea that there is no solution to our energy problem that we’re going to love.

Our electricity system—our wider energy situation—is so broken now that whatever we do to try to fix it is going to have to be so drastic or expensive, it’s going to hurt.

Perspective with Andrew Dickens: Which roading measures could Labour plan to cut?

So here we go - some policy, ladies and gentlemen. Labour’s promising cheaper public transport.

They want to cap weekly fares at $20 in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch and $10 everywhere else.

Under the plan, once you hit the cap, the rest of the trips you take that week could be free. Labour says it would save regular users about $25 a week. They reckon it would save you about $1200 a year.

Breaking Views Update: Week of 7.6.26

Thursday June 11, 2026 

News:
Land Use Flexibility: greater options for whenua Māori
Greater land use flexibility ensures whenua Māori landowners can achieve their productivity and environmental aspirations, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay and Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka say.

“Greater land use flexibility results in prosperity through productivity, and enabling that is part of this Government’s commitment to fixing the basics and building the future,” Mr McClay says.

Geoff Parker: Economic Development Should Be Based On Merit, Not Ancestry

The Government is right to focus on economic growth.

New Zealand desperately needs higher productivity, stronger businesses, more investment, and better use of our land. Ministers have recognised this reality by introducing policies designed to boost rural productivity, encourage development, and support economic expansion across the wider economy.

Guest Post: Notice To The New Zealand First Parliamentary Caucus

Guest Post by Ivan Barnett on New Minister

Ref: Immediate Legislative Action Required to Halt Ongoing Iwi Entrenchment in Local Government

To the Members of the New Zealand First Caucus,

This notice is issued to express the deep concern of New Zealanders who have watched the steady erosion of democratic authority through the appointment of unelected iwi representatives to council committees with full voting rights. The Government’s recent announcement claiming to “restore democratic accountability” is not action. It is not reform. It is not protection of the principle of one person, one vote. It is a political cover‑up for continued inaction.

New Zealand First has long stood for equal citizenship, constitutional clarity, and the finality of democratic authority. This moment demands that those principles be upheld without compromise.

1. Nothing changes today

Despite the headlines, the Government’s announcement: removes no unelected appointees, freezes no new iwi appointments, stops no delegations of authority, halts none of the cultural governance structures already embedded. The machinery of co‑governance continues without interruption.

2. The six‑month delay is a loophole

By giving councils six months to “review” their appointments after the law is passed, the Government has created a window for iwi‑aligned councils to: accelerate appointments, entrench structures, lock in voting rights, continue exercising authority without democratic mandate. This is not reform. It is political theatre.

3. Councils are already ignoring the Government

The Far North District Council has openly stated it will continue its programme regardless of the announcement. Tauranga still has unelected iwi appointees with full voting rights. Other councils are moving quickly to embed parallel governance structures. The Government’s statement has no force and no effect.

CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE

Here is the core truth that defines the moment:

When a public authority knowingly acts outside the law, and those responsible refuse to correct it, the result is not merely unlawful conduct — it is a breakdown in constitutional government.

A democracy does not collapse in one dramatic moment.

It collapses when those entrusted with lawful authority refuse to enforce the law, ignore unlawful conduct, and allow power to be exercised without democratic mandate. When that happens, the constitution is not merely strained; it is breached.

This is the danger now facing New Zealand.

DEMAND TO NEW ZEALAND FIRST

As a party that has consistently defended: equal citizenship, one law for all, the sovereignty of Parliament, and the finality of democratic authority. New Zealand First must now insist on immediate legislative action. New Zealand First must demand an Emergency Bill on the first sitting day after Parliament returns from the term break. This Bill must: remove voting rights from all unelected appointees immediately, freeze all new appointments, eliminate the six‑month delay, prevent councils from entrenching structures before the law takes effect.

Anything less allows the ongoing erosion of democratic authority to continue unchecked.

New Zealanders expect New Zealand First to stand firm and insist on real action, not political theatre.

Jayant Bhandari: India - It’s Worse Than You Think

Most Westerners know nothing about India beyond vague ideas about Hinduism, yoga, gurus, and maybe a dash of Bollywood. To such people, this article will be a rude awakening.

I grew up in Bhopal in central India. Since as early as I can remember, I worked in my father’s printing press. I studied engineering in the nearby city in Indore and went to Manchester Business School in Britain to do an MBA. I returned to India to set up a subsidiary of a British company, which was a huge success. When I lived in Delhi, I wrote for the mainstream Indian media. I traveled widely in India and around the world.

Ani O'Brien: Labour's List is defensive

The rankings reward loyalists, sideline potential rivals, and suggest Hipkins is more concerned about managing his caucus than rebuilding Labour.

Labour has released its 2026 election list and, for all the talk about fresh voices and renewal, it is pretty obvious that this is not by any means a new Labour Party. This is the 2020-2023 Labour Government in a slightly different jacket and Chris Hipkins carefully rearranging the furniture so nobody too threatening gets too close to his chair.

DTNZ: $55m released for first superhot geothermal well

The government’s push to unlock a new generation of geothermal energy has taken a major step forward, with Cabinet approving the release of the remaining $55 million allocated to the GeoShot NZ project.

Regional Development and Resources Minister Shane Jones announced the funding as the project moves toward drilling what is expected to be the country’s first superhot geothermal well at the Rotokawa Geothermal Field near Taupō.

John McLean: Pounamu Piracy!

Convictions for cultural crimes

On 5 June 2026, Xin Li and her son Boyuan Zhang were sentenced following their earlier convictions for trying to take expensively-purchased greenstone (pounamu) out of New Zealand. The pounamu they were trying to spirit off to China exceeded the legal export weight limit of 5 kilograms. The oriental offenders were fined $5,000 (a dollar for each gram of that weight limit).

This piece is not a defence of the discombobulated and dispirited duo. They broke a ludicrous law and, even if they weren’t aware they were committing a crime, ignorance of the law is no excuse. I’m simply reveling in the absurd over-reactions to their minor misdemeanor.

John MacDonald: Does Chris Hipkins know the meaning of integrity?

The reassurances from Labour leader Chris Hipkins that the party is no longer the smug, arrogant outfit we all got sick of three years ago are not only starting to sound hollow. They are hollow.

Because if any other party had recruited a top cop for its party list without the top cop telling police bosses about it until the very last minute, Hipkins and his crew would be going nuts.

Dr Eric Crampton: RBNZ’s campaign to boost banking cash services struggles under scrutiny

Government is awash in consultation processes. So much so that “consultation fatigue” is a real term.

But it is a bit odd when an agency consults over a proposal that it may not have the legal authority to implement – when it cannot do the thing that it proposes doing, or at least not without legislative or regulatory changes beyond the agency’s own authority.

David Farrar: Do as I say, not as I do

Stuff reports:

A social media faux pas while en route to a tangi caught Green Party Co-Leader Marama Davidson out as she was “snapped” by her colleague driving over the speed limit on Sunday.

Davidson was travelling to the tangi of former Te Pāti Māori president Whatarangi Winiata when she was exposed by fellow Green MP Hūhana Lyndon, who shared a video of Davidson behind the wheel on Instagram as part of a series showcasing the pair’s journey.

Wednesday June 10, 2026 

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Barry Brill: Was our recent extreme flooding caused by an undersea volcano?

If the 2023-26 warming spike was the result of Hunga-Tonga, we need not spend a fortune on strengthening the national infrastructure.

Water, water, everywhere….

New Zealand's summer of 2023 saw catastrophic flooding. In late January, an atmospheric river—a concentrated flowing band of tropical moisture—parked itself over Auckland and a record 261mm fell in just 18 hours. Four people died. Over 19,000 properties were damaged. The economic cost reached NZ$2.2 billion.

Heather du Plessis-Allan: Labour's reset is off to a very shaky start

Now, I can’t imagine Labour’s woken up feeling awesome this morning about how that reset is going. What do you think?

This is a reset – you do realise that. After months of saying nothing, having no new policy and generating headlines for Ayesha Verrall singing weird songs about ducks, they started this week with a classic reset move.

Perspective with Andrew Dickens: We're all paying for this LNG project one way or another

So the LNG power plant is set to go ahead to protect us when renewables run low. The Government must be satisfied that the business case stacks up, because that’s what they said they would consider.

At the same time, the Government will be cracking down on power companies during dry-year shortages. Fines for failing to secure enough backup electricity could jump from $2 million to as much as $10 million, or 10 percent of turnover. That’s a hefty fine.

DTNZ: IPCA calls for new police protocols on child placement decisions

The Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) has found Police need clearer guidance and stronger procedures when dealing with children and young people who refuse to return home but do not meet the legal threshold for emergency intervention.

The watchdog investigated four complaints from parents and guardians whose children, aged between 11 and 15, were placed with friends or other caregivers by Police without parental consent. In each case, the young person either did not want to return home or had asked Police to take them elsewhere.

Gary Judd KC: The Issue Raised by the Army Orders

Army Orders and the State’s Duty of Neutrality

This morning The Law Association of New Zealand’s LawNews published an earlier version of the following article, prompted by Alex Penk’s How Army orders sparked debate on religious freedom protections under BORA published by LawNews last Thursday. I commend Penk’s article to you, as it contains more about what the Army has been up.

The Army orders raise a serious issue under s13 of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act because they appear to require personnel to engage with, or at least affirm the significance of, a particular religious or cosmological framework under threat of discipline.

Kerre Woodham: MPs' expense claims are legally right, but are they morally right?

Quite frankly, it's all getting a bit much. We're all tightening our belts, we're making decisions about where we're spending our money, what we're spending it on. The rates keep rising, insurance levies keep going up, the cost of everything is through the roof. And for many, many people, there's not a lot of disposable left at the end of the day. Even people who are earning pretty good salaries are suddenly finding there's not as much left at the end of the pay cycle as there used to be.

Ele Ludeman: Do you want govt between you & your GP?

Labour’s policy to fund three GP visits for everyone has been criticised for many reasons, including that it would overwhelm already overstretched general practices.

Labour’s answer to that is to get between us and our GPs: