Gerry Eckhoff: A Dog’s breakfast

A dog’s breakfast has been placed on the menu for us all by a ministerial sous - chef and Minister of Local Government - Simon Watts. It is quite extraordinary that he thinks such far-reaching changes to local government require virtually no time being allocated for widespread consultation between councils and the people who employ them - the rate payer. Even more remarkable is the lack of published data that would help enable us all to make an informed judgment on all proposals.

Robin Grieve: Fact Checking Jack Tame

Paul Henry was interviewed by Jack Tame on Q+A about his decision to stand as an ACT Party candidate.

Jack Tame began by reminding viewers that Henry had said he was standing because he wanted his grandchildren to enjoy the same opportunities to grow up in the paradise he experienced as a child. Tame then challenged him on the top income tax rate in the 1960s and the cost of university, arguing that the New Zealand Henry was nostalgic for was the product of a high-taxing government, an extensive welfare state, and a large state house building programme.

Caleb Anderson: The Education Conundrum - Complementary Opposites

Media have been delighted to run a story on the opinions of five anonymous teachers bemoaning current curriculum changes. The anonymity implies that these teachers would be reprimanded for the positions taken, unlikely, and their unanimity indicates the views of the profession at large, also unlikely.

Breaking Views Update: Week of 26.7.26

Thursday July 30, 2026 

News:
Child Poverty Report reveals 1 in 4 Māori children face material hardship
Aotearoa’s progress in reducing child poverty has stalled, with tamariki Māori continuing to experience disproportionately high rates of material hardship, according to the Ministry of Social Development’s 2026 Child Poverty Report.

Based on data from the 2024/25 Household Income and Living Survey, the report tracks trends in material hardship and income poverty, while comparing New Zealand’s progress with European countries. It found that gains made between 2011 and 2020 have slowed, with more children now living in hardship.

Dr Don Brash: My advice for Christopher Luxon - Stand for something

There is an old political lesson which Christopher Luxon and the National Party would do well to remember:

If you stand for nothing, you get run over.

National is currently polling at around 29 percent. That is an extraordinary position for a first-term Government facing an Opposition still burdened by the failures of the Ardern years.

Geoff Parker: Two Magic Words - "Treaty Obligations” - Or Simply Government Policy?

If you've listened to Ministers, government agencies and public officials over the past few years, you have probably noticed two words appearing with increasing frequency:

"Treaty obligations."

They are used to justify decisions involving public assets, public funding, governance arrangements, consultation requirements and government policy.

Centrist: InternetNZ moves to limit who can vote after Free Speech Union recruited 2,400 members

InternetNZ is considering new restrictions on who may become a member after the Free Speech Union recruited about 2,400 supporters to join the organisation and vote in its board elections.

Members elect InternetNZ directors, giving them influence over the organisation responsible for managing New Zealand’s .nz domain system.

Mike's Minute: Of course Luxon ruled out the Opportunity Party

The funny thing about Christopher Luxon ruling out the Opportunity Party was I already thought he had.

Or if they hadn't, I assumed they would, so yesterday as I watched came as no surprise.

What possible connection is there between a centre-right coalition that extends out to the NZ First nationalism, to the ACT libertarianism, and the National low tax, classic centrist view of the world, and a party that hasn’t even got the 5% and wants to hand out money to everyone, whether they need it or want it or not?

Kerre Woodham: Upgrading our water infrastructure is long overdue

The first national picture of our water networks has revealed severe and immense pressures, with an average of 31 wastewater overflows across New Zealand every single day given as an example of how it's failing. In total, about 15% of our pipes are in poor or very poor condition – and that’s likely to be understating it, given that the pipes are under the ground and we only know there's a problem when there's a problem, like a sinkhole – good morning St Marys Bay, hello Wellington. Or when there's a major sewage overflow – good morning again Wellington, and looking at you, Queenstown Lakes and Herne Bay.

Dr Oliver Hartwich: Australian workers produce in 39 minutes what a New Zealand worker produces in an hour.....

We need to do better

A fortnight ago, I wrote in these pages about the fall in New Zealand’s road toll, from 843 deaths in 1973 to a provisional 271 last year. I thought it was an achievement worth celebrating.

But then my colleague Bryce Wilkinson and I put the same numbers beside those of 28 other countries. It puts this achievement into perspective.

On the harmonised World Health Organization series used in our report, which ends in 2019, New Zealand lost 9.6 people per 100,000 to road crashes, nearly twice the OECD comparison average of 5.5. Only five of the countries in our new book did worse: China, Brazil, India, Chile and the United States.

David Farrar: The hatred of the left for those with non-left views

The FSU released:

This Wednesday at the Ellen Melville Centre, Rob Campbell CNZM, Chancellor of the Auckland University of Technology, sits down with Free Speech Union board member Ani O’Brien to discuss whether New Zealanders holding public appointments are still permitted political opinions. Campbell lost two chairmanships over a LinkedIn post. The subject of the evening is who gets told to stay quiet.

So this public forum (one of a series being done around NZ by the FSU using Ani) is on a very interesting topic. Rob Campbell was removed as Chair of HealthNZ due to his columns attacking the then National opposition. So this discussion is actually giving a voice to a long-term left activist (Campbell) by having a discussion about whether those with public appointments should be allowed to publish their political opinions.

DTNZ: Police warn of sophisticated crypto scam impersonating Detectives

Police are aware of incidents where scammers are targeting people with cryptocurrency wallets and accounts, by impersonating police officers and cryptocurrency company representatives.

Over the last few weeks, a number of reports have shown scams of this nature, which has resulted in victims suffering millions of dollars in losses.

Wednesday July 29, 2026 

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Perspective with Ryan Bridge: What do the latest inflation numbers really mean for the 'squeezed middle'?

Nicola Willis will like the inflation number that's come out. More importantly, she'll like the story that number is telling.

Remember, her target audience is the squeezed middle. This is the battleground. This is the fight for the soft centre at the election: Labour versus National. These are the voters both parties are targeting.

Lindsay Mitchell: National are not promising you anything except other people's money

National are not promising you anything except other people's money.

The latest example, having historically opposed Paid Parental Leave, they are now promising to extend it further. This is what they famously did with the Clark government's Working for Families which sealed the 2005 election for Labour. Remember John Key and his scathing comment about 'communism by stealth'? He had three terms to repeal but it is still with us. In this term National have increased payments.

Pee Kay: Do you smell fish?

Do you think these houses were ever going to be temporary?

Were these houses always going to be gifted to local Maori and do you think this was the agenda all along?

JD: An Analysis of TOP’s Taxes

Guest post on The Good Oil by JD

Amid the current MSM hoopla about TOP, momentarily muted as the press pack rushes off to dig up dirt on Paul Henry and Stuart Nash, there is one key TOP policy winning voter attention that is seldom mentioned.

What’s driving TOP in the polls has nothing to do with them being ‘centrists’, offering a ‘measured alternative’ to Labour or National and claiming to be willing to work with either of them, it is simply that TOP are offering free money, and who can resist that?

Andrew Dickens: Was Luxon right to rule out TOP?

So, Christopher Luxon has ruled out working with TOP.

There's some speculation that the decision was made on the fly and might not have been fully thought out.

He didn't seem so certain about himself as he walked away from the press cameras.

Peter Williams: My vote needs a home

Fifteen weeks out it's struggling to find one

The great irony of Christopher Luxon ruling out a coalition with those redistributive Marxists of Opportunity is that the longer Luxon leads National it’s becoming the kind of left leaning social democratic party I’ve spent my life avoiding.

Consider some of their recent announcements and claims:

Brendan O'Neill: Who would take up arms for Broken Britain?

A survey has found that only six per cent of Brits would fight for the nation. I hate that I understand why.

Putin will be over the moon. Caves in Iraq will echo with the laughter of whatever remains of ISIS. For a new poll has found that a measly six per cent of Britons would take up arms if we faced an ‘imminent invasion’. Armies of mad Islamists could be amassing on our beaches and just one in 17 of us would ask for a gun. ‘We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be’, said Churchill. Not anymore, we won’t.