Breaking Views Update: Week of 8.2.26

Friday February 13, 2026 

News:
New Zealand First campaigning for referendum on Māori seats
New Zealand First is campaigning for a referendum to be held on the future of Māori electorates.

Currently, voters can enrol in either the general or the Māori roll - which means they vote for either a general electorate representative, or a Māori electorate representative in Parliament.

Clive Bibby: Success in politics is all about timing

Political survivors are more often than not those who choose the moment to make a move that will save their heads when everyone else is losing theirs.

And it makes little difference what issues are motivating voting trends because survival is all about choosing the right time to be against a policy that is affecting family budgets - because, at the time, nothing else matters.

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Should parents really be outsourcing safety here?

Right, so in the space of less than a day, a coroner has called for regulations to make corded blinds safe for toddlers, and the family of a little girl who died in one of these blinds has backed that call - and then the Government has said no, there will be no regulation.

The whole thing has happened in less than a day.

David Harvey: The China Syndrome

This article addresses the way in which the Chinese Government responded to an opinion piece written by Jonathan Ayling in the Herald. The response is revealing not the least because it maintains an ideological position that is out of touch with reality but as much because of the way in which it reveals the Chinese Government’s mindset, not just about contrary views but also about the way in which those views may be expressed within the boundaries of an independent sovereign state.

JC: Where Are the Tea Towels Chlöe?

Not your Palestinian dish driers. I’m talking about flag-bearing ones representing the Shah when Iran was a trusted allay of the West. The ones signifying the slaughter of up to 50,000 of its people by the Iranian regime. The ones that show support for the other 40,000 who have been imprisoned. The ones showing solidarity with a population risking their lives to rid themselves of a terrorist regime. The ones that support a taking down of the terrorist funding regime so the whole of the Middle East can be changed and improved. The ones that, if the regime were removed, will improve the lives of those you were wearing tea towels to support.

Pee Kay: “Labour is here to change this dirty, filthy, rotten government.”

He doesn’t need an audience just give him a stage, give him a microphone let the drivel pour forth!

“Labour is here to change this dirty, filthy, rotten government. That’s the aim. We will work with the Greens, the Māori Party, whoever, in terms of trying to get rid of the government.”

Matua Kahurangi: Some communities protect abusers the same way churches did

I wrote the other day about white European men, the church, and the long, ugly trail of child sexual offending that keeps surfacing in this country. Predictably, some people bristled. Others pretended not to understand the point. A few accused me of singling out one group while ignoring others. So let’s be clear about what was said, and what wasn’t.

Kerre Woodham: This is Winston doing as Winston does

Ah, Winston. Winston, Winston, Winston. He is the embodiment, as his namesake Winston Churchill famously said of Russia, of a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. The canny campaigner knew exactly what he was doing when agreeing to job share the Deputy Prime Minister role with ACT leader David Seymour during the Coalition Government's startup. He, Winston, would take the first 18 months, positioning himself as a senior statesman and Foreign Minister par excellence. And indeed, he has done a very good job as Foreign Minister.

Bob Edlin: The FTA with India......

The FTA with India: Chippy chides the Govt for not inviting Labour to come dancing much earlier

What’s all this about?

That was the question we mused on, here at PoO, on spotting the headline

David Farrar: Sensible driver licence changes

Chris Bishop announced some significant and sensible changes to the driver licence system. They are:

Mike's Minute: The issue we have in rural New Zealand

Is Origin Air and Westport part of a wider regional issue in rural New Zealand?

Origin's Westport to Wellington flight is in jeopardy. It's not the first small airline in the first small town to face this trouble.

In fact, as a result of this trouble, the Government set up the Regional Infrastructure Fund for essential air services.

Thursday February 12, 2026 

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Peter Bassett: Where Water Has a Life Force, Whales Are People — and the Sewage Escapes

In New Zealand, an unelected list MP from the Green Party is drafting legislation — a Member’s Bill — to make whales legal persons.

Not protected species.

Not culturally significant symbols.

People — in law — with rights, standing, and representation.

Ryan Bridge: Protecting children starts in the home

The brutal death of that poor wee boy Malachi is a disgrace.

It's heartbreaking to think an adult could be so cruel to young child. Malachi was beaten, starved, thrown against walls... you name it.

Basically torture.

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: 'Fix that fundamental problem at Oranga Tamariki'

Tell you what—I'm not feeling terribly hopeful about the situation for vulnerable kids in this country after reading the coroner’s recommendations following the death of Malachi Subecz.

Ryan Bridge: Cut spending, don't levy

Labour's getting flak, especially in Auckland, for their capital gains tax.

Rightly so.

But National's approach, as is usually the case with centre-right parties, is user-pays.

Ani O'Brien: Academic calls woman he disagrees with “Pedophile-Adjacent” & disgraces university

Response to Massey University's Professor Mohan Dutta

In early February 2026 the Free Speech Union (FSU) invited renowned Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker to speak in Auckland about his latest book. Contrary to what Massey University’s Professor Mohan Dutta alleges, I had no role in organising the event, although I did attend it. I am one of eleven volunteer council members, three women and eight men, and my involvement with the FSU is no different from the other ten. I also appear on the podcast, write occasional newsletters, and attend events meeting with supporters. Yet in a blog post titled “The Free Speech Facade: Inviting Steven Pinker and the Hypocritical War on ‘Woke’ as Strategy for Protecting Powerful White Men,” Dutta focused obsessively on me. He described me as emblematic of a “war on woke,” suggested that my presence “mobilises harm,” and insinuated that I have helped shield “white supremacist, racist, and pedophile‑adjacent men”. Given his much-professed advocacy for marginalised communities, his fixation on the only lesbian woman on the council is interesting, and, I think, just one example of a great deal of hypocrisy.

Hannah Frankman Hood: Mississippi’s Literacy Miracle.....

Mississippi’s Literacy Miracle: How Holding Students Back Moved a Whole State Forward

A year or so ago, I met my friend’s mother for the first time at a wedding. She told me that she was Mississippi born and raised, but that after her kids were born she and her husband decided to move to North Carolina. Turns out the whole extended family was from Mississippi, still lives there, still loves it there.

“Why did you leave?” I asked.

“Because we had little kids, and the schools were terrible.”

John MacDonald: Importing gas isn't great - but it has to happen

Labour leader Chris Hipkins has fallen into the trap that I could very easily find myself falling into if I didn’t think a little bit more carefully about this plan by the Government to set-up a new shipping terminal in Taranaki to import liquified natural gas.

This is the gas that’s needed to generate power, alongside the other ways we generate power in this country - hydro, coal and wind.

Simon O'Connor: Free Jimmy Lai

A good man is going to die in a Hong Kong prison for believing in freedom and democracy. His name is Jimmy Lai

So, Hong Konger Jimmy Lai is going to die in prison – a martyr for democracy, freedom, and faith. This might sound a bit dramatic, but if you know the story of Jimmy Lai, you will understand why I describe things as such. The story is also personal, having found myself named in this sham court case and my words used against Jimmy.