Breaking Views Update: Week of 27.9.26

Saturday October 3, 2026 

News:
Only Iwi Reps Keep Voting Rights On Taranaki Committees
Iwi representatives will be the only non-elected members still able to vote on Taranaki Regional Council committees - but farmers will lose their vote.

A fortnight ago local government minister Simon Watts had a law passed to ban voting by people appointed to council committees, saying limiting voting to elected councillors would strengthen democratic accountability.

Dame Elizabeth Rata: Episode 5 - School Property, Attendance And Discipline 1877-1899

In the video below Episode 5 is about how school inspectors, parents, and teachers contributed to setting up an entire national system in an under-developed land. The inspectors wrote vivid descriptions of crowded classrooms, poor ventilation, grounds covered with logs. They also described saddle sheds, sanitation, attractive school grounds and gardens. Children's nourishment and health was a major concern with strong connections forged between the systems of public education and public health.

Bob Edlin: Rainbow requirements and Treaty obligations......

......the HR issues that impede productivity but enhance diversity

PoO noted a Newsroom report headed Major export and construction firms warn against legal definition of women.

The report draws attention to objections raised to the Legislation (Definitions of Woman and Man) Amendment Bill, which aims to amend the Legislation Act to define “woman” as “an adult human biological female” and “man” as “an adult human biological male”.

Richard Prebble: The Future Never Comes

New Zealand First’s big promise this election is a Future Fund.

The Future Fund looks like a recycled version of the Provincial Growth Fund, but this time on steroids.

The Provincial Growth Fund was to be a $3 billion fund for “regional development”. Regional development turned out to include refurbishing 347 marae.

It also included $52 million for the loss-making Whakatōhea mussel farm in Ōpōtiki.

Ani O'Brien: Could Opportunity really work with the Right?

Ask whether The Opportunity Party are left or right and they tell you they are neither. They are “centrist”, they say, and they are teal. The three pillars that underpin their ethos are “Unity, Innovation, and Nature” and they describe themselves as a “blue-green party”. They believe that industry and nature can grow together, rail against “divisive, pendulum politics”, and promise to be a constructive MMP kingmaker rather than just another tribal appendage of either bloc.

Guest Post: Shout to the Top

Guest Post on GoodOil by LilBap

The Green Party older New Zealanders remember is not the 2026 one. They have kept the logo and hoped you would not notice the change in behaviour.

Values in 1970s, then the Greens in 1990s, sold an environmental argument: go easy on the land, keep the harbour clean, be careful with GE, do not park a reactor on the coast. Most could go along with that to one degree or another.

JC: Key and Luxon Don’t Get It?

At last weekend’s National Party election launch, John Key, in his address to the few who bothered to turn up, said people who were touting tactical voting were “dumb”. Insult! Luxon followed that up by describing the idea as “insane”. Desperation! These two have something of a history together and I’m not prepared to completely ‘knock’ either of them. To do so would be unfair as their contributions, good or bad, were done with what they consider the best of intent. They both harboured a desire to give something back to the country. However, that doesn’t mean they can escape criticism and the opportunity to do so is there aplenty.

Guest Post: Not in a Fan Club

Guest Post on GoodOil by LilBap

Less than 40 days out, the choice is not a personality contest dressed as principle. You may distrust Winston. You may be done with Luxon. As for Chippie – anything nice would just be a lie.

There are ACT policies worth commending – one law, less government in your life, a climate commission that writes reports nobody should have to fund. All good. For many people that is real, but is it enough?

David Farrar: A policy to have more overstayers

The Herald reports:

The Labour Party cannot say how many additional Pacific Islanders will come to New Zealand under its proposal of visa-waiver travel.

The political party announced on Thursday morning it would expand visa-waiver access to citizens from the Pacific Islands Forum nations.

Mike's Minute: Youth enrolment in the election is shocking

You may have noticed an element of concern, if not alarm, over the number of young people who are not enrolled in the election.

In the 18-24 age group there are just 61% enrolled. Last time it was 77%.

The Greens in particular have been running campaigns about this for obvious reasons.

The trouble is their campaigns are on university campuses where the bright and active hang out, not, I suspect, where those who aren't enrolled hang out.

Friday October 2, 2026 

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Clive Bibby: The Nation Building Conundrum

I make no claims to being even a knowledgeable local historian and certainly not a commentator in the same league as Professor Paul Moon who is renowned for his abilities as a fact checker at a time when our national sovereignty is under threat from radical, separatist academics who have a passion for making things up.

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Is it worthwhile for Labour to try and regulate hidden fees?

Now, I don't know that Labour's plan to stop businesses charging hidden fees is a game changer, or even necessarily something worth campaigning on during an election. But I think it might be a good idea.

Labour's plan is basically to ban junk add-ons like paint protection insurance, stop the hard sell of extended warranties like the ones you're offered when you buy a new pair of AirPods, require all mandatory fees, such as ticketing charges, to be included in the upfront price and make subscriptions and gym memberships easy to cancel.

Ligin Joseph: How can the same El Niño cause drought in one part of the world and floods in another?

The Pacific Ocean is warming unusually quickly, and this year’s El Niño has already surpassed previous records. Forecasters expect it to strengthen even further before approaching its usual peak around December.

El Niño, the warm phase of a natural fluctuation in the Earth’s climate system, can reshape weather thousands of miles away, bringing drought to some regions while increasing the risk of heavy rain and flooding in others. To understand why, you need to follow what happens to the Pacific’s warm water – and the air above it.

Dennis Wesselbaum: Low productivity is NZ’s economic elephant in the room. Election pledges mostly avoid it

Yesterday’s Pre-Election Economic and Fiscal Update from the Treasury has given political parties their clearest picture yet of the economy they could inherit after November’s election.

The near-term fiscal outlook is brighter than expected. Treasury now forecasts a $6.8 billion deficit in 2026-27 – down from the $11.4 billion predicted at the May Budget – while higher tax revenue is expected to reduce government borrowing by $15 billion over the next four years.

Ryan Bridge: We're not addressing the core issues of our health system

Health is one of those areas you can churn through cash.

It's expensive to visit your GP, but also expensive to fund.

The amount taxpayers spend on health has one up 100% over the past decade.

It was around 15 billion in 20216. It's now up over 30.

Dr Eric Crampton: Breaking up the supermarkets and blowing up due process

The Commerce Act forbids anticompetitive conduct. There are established processes for proving that commercial conduct is unlawful, with penalties and remedies that follow. Due process matters. And unlawful behaviour has consequences.

In the midst of an election campaign, National has promised to break up one of the country’s larger grocers, Foodstuffs, without any finding of relevant unlawful conduct. A break-up instead would largely depend on whether the Commerce Commission agrees with a cost-benefit assessment.

Simon O'Connor: Apparently Fingernails Are Colonialist

An absurd BBC article that points to a much larger cultural problem.

Ladies (and I suppose some men), be aware: choosing not to paint your nails is now considered a sign of white supremacy. Who knew!

According to a BBC article, the beauty journalist argues that the decision to not paint one’s nail is deeply problematic. To quote her, “the trend really promotes blankness and this kind of sameness and erasure of culture and identity that is so important to black and brown communities. They are often called elegant or tasteful, and these are often usually euphemisms that perpetuate white supremacist standards of beauty.”

Kerre Woodham: Is school zoning archaic?

I really like the idea of David Seymour's to turn the old teachers' training college in Epsom into a new co-ed public school. I like even more the idea that it not be zoned. In David Seymour's ideal world, the lovely old 37 acre site that is owned by the University of Auckland and currently lies empty would be jointly operated by two of the top state schools in the country, Auckland Grammar and Epsom Girls Grammar. They're both bursting at the seams with the number of students wanting entry through their gates.

Bob Edlin: Te Tai Tonga titillates the Nats on coalition options – but not for long

The Nats would – or should – have been troubling over their prospects of forming another coalition government after polling from 1News-Verian showed a Green surge and the left bloc able to win government.

That could be averted (on the basis of the poll results) only if National was willing to work with the Opportunity Party – and National leader Christopher Luxon has ruled them out of considerations.

Then came news of another possibility…