Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: You can't read Nicky Hager's new book without being struck by bias

I can't decide whether Nicky Hager is naïve or sheltered. Surely it must have been obvious to him while writing this book that the very thing he's accusing Jordan Williams and the Taxpayers' Union of doing is exactly what he is doing himself: acting as a proxy to help political parties.

Breaking Views Update: Week of 20.9.26

Thursday September 24, 2026 

News:
Release: Labour will restore Mana Whakahono ā Rohe agreements
Labour will restore Mana Whakahono ā Rohe (iwi participation) agreements in resource management legislation, Labour's Māori-Crown relations spokesperson Willie Jackson said.

“Despite Christopher Luxon saying in 2024 that his government will 'honour the Treaty', National has spent three years systematically stripping Māori out of decision-making that directly impacts Māori interests. Labour will put them back.

Geoff Parker: One Law For All Does Not Ignore History — It Recognises Who Makes The Law

Deborah Coddington (NZ Herald 23/9/26) is right about one thing: New Zealand's common law has developed through judicial decisions for centuries. But that historical fact does not answer the constitutional question ACT's “One Law for All” policy is addressing.

Her Donoghue v Stevenson example illustrates the point. The courts developed the modern law of negligence because Parliament had not comprehensively legislated in that field. But that does not mean judges possess an unlimited licence to create new legal duties whenever they consider them desirable.[1]

There is a crucial distinction between developing established common-law principles and creating new obligations in areas where Parliament has legislated — or deliberately chosen not to legislate.

JC: They Are a Sorry Lot

I’m referring to the excessive number of overpaid and mostly not very bright MPs that we vote for every three years to supposedly, in Donald Trump’s language, “Make New Zealand Great Again”. If you used the word Aotearoa, which would be a total misnomer, we could create our own MAGA movement in this country. I think we need to but first you’ve got to find the person fit for the job to lead it. That leader is not currently in any party today. There are a few MPs who are trying to make a difference but, on the whole and most notably on the left, they are a sorry lot.

Bruce Cotterill: Election 2026 - New Zealand needs better spending, not big taxes

I’m sick of our politics.

Like many people, I’m deeply interested in it. But if you have even an average level of aspiration for what this country could be, you’d be right to be frustrated by the current campaign.

The politicking. The half-truths. The mistruths. The mealy mouthed words and phrases designed to mean one thing or something else. Members of a party making a comment, only for another member of the same party to say something different.

Peter Williams: What’s so wrong with Taxpayers Union?

The Taxpayers Union (TPU) always struck me as very good idea. After all, what’s not to like about a lobby group that calls out wasteful government spending and develops policy ideas about how to more efficiently allocate the money a government receives from taxpayers.

Calling itself a “union” was deliberately provocative, a piss-take if you like of the political left’s love affairs with trade unions. To this day there still some disaffected types who say that the TPU is not a real union because it’s not a trade union - as if trade unions were only types of unions.

As any half literate person will understand, a union is merely a grouping of two or more individuals for a common purpose. The etymology says it all. Many into one. A marriage is a union. Sports clubs are sometimes called unions. The lefty argument can easily be debunked.

David Farrar: Hager’s work of fiction

Nicky’s Hager’s last book had an enquiry led by a former Supreme Court Judge, and a former Attorney General and Prime Minister. They concluded that the “principal allegations” in Hager’s book “are not accurate”.

This book is even worse. I could spend most of the week detailing the untruths in it, but frankly there is no need. Just take a few.

David Farrar: Questions media didn’t ask

Radio NZ reports:

A new rangatahi-led campaign is calling on young people to help deliver the biggest youth-voter turnout in Aotearoa’s history.

‘Roll With Us’ has launched on Sunday as part of ‘On A Roll’, a kaupapa aimed at getting more young people enrolled and voting in this year’s general election.

Whenever I read about a new campaign, I get inquisitive. I check out their website. Who is involved. Who funds them etc.

Lindsay Mitchell: A clash of rights and what follows

New Zealand is fast-approaching the mid-point of its annual whitebait season.

The Department of Conservation describes whitebait as a "precious taonga":

"Four of the six New Zealand whitebait species are classified as at risk or threatened. Whitebait fishing regulations were revised in 2021 to improve the sustainability of the species. "

Rodney Hide: When the columnist swears

Stuff has tried everything to rouse a falling readership.

Quizzes. Live blogs. Explainers. Podcasts. Vertical video. Then they let the kids take over the keyboard and reach for sweary words.

First it was Andrea Vance with the c-word — aimed at female ministers, carefully reviewed by experienced editors, of course. Now it is Verity Johnson, already exhausted by an election that hasn’t started, taking the Lord’s name in vain.

Mike's Minute: The most important thing the Govt has done this term

For all the opprobrium heaped on the National Party for their supermarket call, the old National was out yesterday finalising the India free trade deal.

Of all the things this Government has done in its first term, the FTA with India may well be the most important.

It will last forever, it will grow, and it will become an increasingly important part of our economic story.

Wednesday September 23, 2026 

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Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Did we witness Winston Peters' last speech as Foreign Minister?

Now, I think we may have just witnessed Winston Peters’ last major foreign policy speech as Foreign Minister, ever.

It is definitely the last one before the election, and if you follow the breadcrumbs he has been laying recently, it sounds like he does not want to be Foreign Minister next term.

Ryan Bridge: It's obvious National and Labour are fighting for centre votes

Labour has finally seen the light on interest deductibility.

That's where a landlord, like any other legitimate business in New Zealand, is able to deduct the expense of its capital borrowing, i.e. a mortgage, against taxable income.

After expenses, what's left over is taxed.

Colinxy: What Is a “Right”?

Why the Modern Left Keeps Getting This Wrong

"A real Right protects you from the State. A fake Right requires the State to force someone else to serve you.

One of the most persistent confusions in modern politics, and one of the most destructive, is the idea that anything desirable can be rebranded as a “Right.” Healthcare, food, accommodation, internet access, “dignity,” “safety,” and whatever else is fashionable this week. If it is nice to have, the Left insists it must therefore be a Right.

Pee Kay: National… the “Party of Business”

Chris Luxon and Nicola Willis seem to have got their hands on a gun and have been happily shooting themselves in the foot!

The National Party’s latest election pitch, a drastic proposal to forcibly sever Pak’nSave from New World smacks of political desperation rather than sound economic strategy. Christopher Luxon and Nicola Willis have championed a policy that raises far more troubling questions than it answers.

Kerre Woodham: The back and forth over education is doing our kids a disservice

Education. I simply do not understand, and I really do want to, how two sides can be so passionate about education and about the curriculum and what is truly important in a classroom and have two sides who want the very, very best for our children and yet be so diametrically opposed.

It's a conundrum.

Bob Edlin: New Plymouth’s Treaty lesson.....

....councils rushing restructuring plans mustn’t forget their consultation commitments

New Plymouth District Council staff have been being chided by councillors for not talking with mana whenua before taking a council reform proposal to Government. Their failure to comply with the consultation demands of the Treaty of Waitangi – inevitably – came into considerations.

How many councillors were dissatisfied with the staff is not clear. The council has a mayor and 14 councillors.

David Farrar: Labour sees sense

1 News reports:

Labour will make no changes to interest deductibility rules for residential landlords if elected, as party leader Chris Hipkins confirms he wouldn’t revisit the settings.

This is some rare common sense for Labour. They called it a tax break for landlords, when it was no such thing.

David Farrar: Heard that before

The Post reports:

Labour leader Chris Hipkins says he is not aiming to make state spending and taxation 33% of the economy, despite his party’s fiscal strategy suggesting it would eventually get there. …

National has attacked the 33% figure, arguing it shows that Labour will need to enact more than just the CGT, which is only expected to raise $1.5 billion within the forecast period ‒ which would not get anywhere close to raising revenue to 33%.