Breaking Views Update: Week of 15.2.26

Saturday February 21, 2026 

News:
Army pauses cultural skills framework after concern raised with Minister
The implementation of a cultural skills framework for Army personnel has been paused after concerns were raised with the Defence Minister about potential requirements for leaders to know waiata and karakia off by heart.

Act MP Todd Stephenson wrote to Defence Minister Judith Collins after being sent a copy of the framework, saying it appeared to go beyond normal expectations of the Public Service.

Caleb Anderson: Policy Design and Ideological Overreach

I am probably not alone in noticing that many of the policies implemented by recent governments seem to be based on highly questionable assumptions and trade-offs. Poor policy design seems to be something we have become especially good at. 

Consequently, we frequently miss the mark at the level of delivery and, therefore, of impact.

Ryan Bridge: Why aren't people buying apartments?

I was driving through a street just out of Auckland’s CBD yesterday and saw all these apartments for sale.

New buildings. Many looked empty. Loads of 'for sale' signs.

Why don't people want to buy them? Is it the price?

Ani O'Brien: Sewage, scrutiny, and the politics of accountability

Is it racist to be angry at elected representatives? Moa Point as a case study

When a city pumps tens of millions of litres of raw sewage into the sea day after day, the public is entitled to anger. There is human waste in the sea and on the shore, beaches are closed in peak season, businesses hammered, and ratepayers are wondering how their rates keep going up but the capital city can’t keep its basic infrastructure functioning. They are allowed to be proper mad.

And, when sh*t goes down, so to speak, people want answers and accountability. The equation becomes brutally simple. Something has gone wrong, someone must be responsible, and we want a solution.

John McLean: Dr Thomsen's "Study"

New Zealand academic standards plunge new depths

On 13 February 2026, the New Zealand Medical Journal published the results of a study into whether discrimination against certain “Pacific people” in New Zealand’s public health system is associated with those people not using that system.

The article’s title is Investigating the association between experiencing discrimination in healthcare settings and avoidance of healthcare services among Pacific Rainbow+ in Aotearoa New Zealand. Insomniacs can read the article below:

Peter Dunne: MMP and Social Cohesion

Last week, at the New Zealand Economic Forum at Waikato University I was part of a panel discussing whether MMP had contributed to social cohesion.

I argued that MMP had definitely made more Parliament more diverse and representative of contemporary New Zealand by giving the opportunity of a wider range of political opinions to be expressed. However, it was doubtful that it had contributed positively to social cohesion. Indeed, I suggested that, contrary to expectations, MMP has actually had a negative effect on social cohesion.

Roger Partridge: Damned if they do, damned if they don’t - The billion-dollar bill for Labour’s gas ban

Few policies manage to unite the left, the right and the Taxpayers’ Union in opposition. The Government’s billion-dollar LNG import terminal in Taranaki managed it inside 24 hours. By Tuesday morning, it had been attacked from the left as a gas tax, from the right as a new levy on households, and from the commentariat as a waste of money better spent on solar panels and batteries.

All of which rather misses the point.

Mike's Minute: This is why the real issues get ignored

It was the fish that summed it up for me.

The Infrastructure Commission report was profound in its nature this week.

Chris Bishop was dead right on this programme when he talked of its importance and, yet, its dryness.

Matua Kahurangi: NZ First implements ban to stop the “rape of the rockpools”

For months, locals along the east coast north of Auckland have been forced to witness the same disgusting spectacle. Busloads of predominantly Chinese immigrants descending with buckets, chilly bins, spades, and even piano wire, turning vibrant rockpools into lifeless deserts.

Kerre Woodham: Can you see the light at the end of the tunnel?

The Official Cash Rate has been left unchanged, 2.25%, expected by all the commentators, but perhaps less expected was a dovish view of the future. It was the new Reserve Bank Governor's, well she's not that new I suppose, the newish Reserve Bank Governor's first OCR review, having come on board at the end of '25. She is pretty optimistic about the economy. She said it will continue to recover, but she understands that many households are not feeling it yet. Must be rather annoying being told, no, everything's fine, everything's turning around, everything's great, while you're looking down the back of the couch for coins to get the kids' school lunches.

Dr Oliver Hartwich: Dismantling the competition myth

Ask anyone in Australia’s competition law community what transformed the economy, and you will hear a familiar story. Australia was once a cartelised, complacent place where businesses divided up markets and consumers paid the price. Then came the Trade Practices Act in 1974, and competition law forced firms to compete.

This is not a fringe view. Peter Costello, in his foreword to a book marking the Act’s twenty-fifth anniversary, called it “one of the most important pieces of economic legislation in Australia.” He credited it with creating “a new culture of competition in the Australian economy.”

Friday February 20, 2026 

                    ⇩

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Chris Bishop's housing u-turn is basic common sense

Well, finally Chris Bishop has done the right thing and made the u-turn on the two million new houses he had planned for Auckland.

It’s not altogether a surprise that he did this and announced it this afternoon, because it’s been rumoured for months - for the obvious reason that it’s election year.

Chris Lynch: Seymour defends Treaty stance, backs removal of Māori seats

Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour has dismissed criticism from former Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel over his comments on the teaching of colonisation, saying New Zealand should focus on equal rights rather than what he calls inherited divisions.

Dalziel wrote in an opinion piece that Seymour’s characterisation of how colonisation is taught suggests it “casts children as victims or villains by birth,” describing that view as “disgraceful.”

JC: Global Shift to the Right

Here in New Zealand, it’s ACT and NZ First who are set to benefit.

The world wide move to the right seems loosely based on the strategies of Donald Trump and his America First policy which is nationalistic in nature. While the policy might appear to be primarily domestic, it does extend to the international stage. The strategies centre largely on immigration, security and being self-supporting and Trump’s immigration policies have so far been largely successful having pretty much closed off the southern border. So far more than 600,000 illegal immigrants have been detained and deported.

Alwyn Poole: Education processes and outcomes continue to get worse under the current coalition.

A lot has been made of “significant” changes to the NZ education system under Erica Stanford. Some things have been put in place (e.g. changes to early reading, cell-phone ban). Primary school curriculum changes are being rolled-out by schools during this year. Other changes - qualifications changes, senior curriculum - still have a long-way to go and there is much division in these areas.

Ryan Bridge: House prices no longer lead economic growth

So the OCR decision was largely as expected yesterday, but what the Reserve Bank made very clear is where they think growth will come from.

As we’ve spoken about on the show lately, house prices aren’t running away here like in Australia, bar Queenstown.

David Farrar: The real Teaching Council scandal is all the crappy projects

The Public Service Commission has published a scathing report into how the Teaching Council managed conflicts and procured work with a firm part owned by the CEOs husband. They note:

Mike's Minute: The employment law changes are fine

This time around the Brooke van Velden-led employment law changes have been described as a shake-up, even a major shake-up.

But as someone who well remembers the Employment Contracts Act and Bill Birch, what is being offered is merely a righting of a badly out of whack employment market.

David Farrar: The Kainga Ora turnaround

The change to Kainga Ora in the last two years has been massive. Chris Bishop has a long list of changes. Here are some of the bigger ones: