Ryan Bridge: Land, inheritance taxes incoming?!

Everything in this election's just been turned on its head in 24 hours for three reasons.

And it's not because of National.

Firstly, yesterday, Chris Hipkins was asked if he'd tell us how he would deal with TOP, what the caveats would be.

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: National's in a worst of all worlds situation now

Chris Luxon stared them down and survived again.

Now, it sounds like both contenders, or at least both people who thought they were contenders, Erica Stanford and Chris Bishop, were reasonably confident they had the numbers to roll Luxon yesterday afternoon.

Breaking Views Update: Week of 9.8.26

Thursday August 13, 2026 

News:
Auckland Council backs next stage of Te Henga Marae development
Auckland Council has approved an allocation of up to $2.2 million from the Tahua Huanga Ora Māori Outcomes Fund to support the next stage of Te Henga Marae, helping Te Kawerau ā Maki progress plans to re-establish a permanent marae on its ancestral whenua. 

Geoff Parker: Freshwater - Who Should Control New Zealand’s Water?

Author’s Note: This article represents the author's research and interpretation of the historical documents, legislation and court decisions cited below. The purpose is to contribute to the public debate over the constitutional future of New Zealand's freshwater resources. The conclusions expressed are the author's own and are not presented as legal advice. The primary sources are cited so that readers can examine the evidence for themselves and reach their own conclusions.

New Zealand is facing an important question that deserves far more public attention:

Who should ultimately control New Zealand’s freshwater resources?

Ani O'Brien: The Greens are being remarkably honest. We should listen.

A plan for a very different New Zealand

The campaign policies of the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand offer a vision for a very different country than the one we currently live in. The Greens are not just proposing cleaner rivers, cheaper buses, and nice ideas about fairness. Across their policy documents, the themes are much more revolutionary. The party wants a larger state, wealth redistribution, power transfer from the private sector to public, more iwi control, heavy market regulation, and constitutional reform based on Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Matike Mai.

David Harvey: When the State Breaks Its Own Rules

Unlawful Is Unlawful, Not Merely "Inappropriate"

There is a peculiar softness in the language we use when government breaks the law. A private citizen who takes what is not theirs is a thief. A company that ignores its contractual obligations is in breach and can expect to be sued.

But when a government department does the same thing, the vocabulary shifts. The conduct becomes “inappropriate”. It “appears to be contrary to law”. It reflects “systemic practice” that requires “strengthened compliance”.

Pee Kay: Is a Marae Near You Worth $2.44 Billion of Your Tax Money?

When a political party announces a $2.44 billion “social” policy in the lead up to a general election, you expect banner headlines and non-stop media fanfare. You expect political editors to dissect the spending and critics to demand accountability. If the current government dropped a multi-billion-dollar bomb like this, the usual suspects would be rushing to print with fierce condemnation.

Yet, the headlines remain small, the fanfare muted, and the critics silent.

Bob Edlin: Anti-vax protester and council candidate....

Anti-vax protester and council candidate – media highlight different aspects of the life of a benefit fraudster

When she stood last year as a candidate for the Waipā District Council in the Cambridge ward, she said she brought “honesty and integrity to ensuring council will get it right first time and stop the waste”.

This week, we learn that Hope Amy Spooner has been sentenced on benefit fraud charges totalling $107,000.

David Farrar: We may have a census after all

The Post reports:

A law change that would do away with the traditional five-year census in favour of cheaper annual surveys is unlikely to progress this side of the election, following opposition from the Labour Party.

The hiatus raises questions over how Stats NZ will be able to comply with the law, given it has indicated it would then be too late to conduct the census the normal way in 2028. …

David Farrar: SST lashes crazy TOP policy

Chris Lynch reports:

The Sensible Sentencing Trust has launched a blistering attack on The Opportunity Party’s policy to raise the age of Youth Court jurisdiction, describing it as one of the craziest ideas it has seen in years.

Opportunity’s “Smart on Crime” policy promised until recently to “raise the age of the youth court jurisdiction to 25, in line with developmental science”.

Mike's Minute: The left bloc don't have the numbers

Was Hipkins ruling out NZ First really a decision, or an announcement, or even a story?

Peters, of course, ruled Labour out a long time ago.

I've been surprised by the number of people who text me telling me not to be so naïve.

Wednesday August 12, 2026 

                   ⇩

Kineta Knight: Luxon survives confidence vote as National caucus backs leadership

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has survived another confidence vote in his leadership, declaring he has the full support of the National Party caucus.

Luxon emerged from this morning’s caucus meeting flanked by some of his most senior ministers, following renewed speculation about his future as National leader.

“There was a confidence vote in my leadership this morning at our caucus meeting. I had the full support of our caucus, and our caucus is united and it is determined to win this election,” Luxon said.

Peter Williams: National's Big Day

This post will be relevant for a very short time.

In the famous words of another National Party leader, the current one will be “gone by lunchtime” so these words will be out of date before the clock strikes 12.

Mark down Wednesday August 12, 2026 as the day the National Party took one of the biggest gambles in its 90 year history.

That Christopher Luxon has to go is a no-brainer.

Ryan Bridge: There's no golden outcome for Luxon's leadership contest

Here's how this morning is going to play out.

At 9:30am, any member of National's caucus can call a no-confidence vote in Luxon's leadership.

The party's constitution calls these guys the Parliamentary Section.

They vote. It's majority rules. If there's a vacancy, i.e. if Luxon is goneburger, then they elect a new leader or leaders.

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Things are not looking good for Chris Luxon

Well, as I warned you last night, they are coming for him again. The roll is on for Christopher Luxon.

I didn't think it was going to happen this fast, but I knew it was going to happen. After I got off the radio last night at 7 o'clock, it ramped up, Thomas Coughlan wrote a piece late in the evening for the Herald confirming that National MPs were again phoning each other about his leadership.

Yvonne Van Dongen: Apologise For Not Lying

A male artist forced a small local paper to stop telling the truth.

Last week a small local newspaper on the Kapiti Coast apologised for correctly sexing a man who believes he is a woman.

The man is described in a media release as the “renowned multidisciplinary Indigenous artist Taupuruariki (Ariki) Whakataka Brightwell.”

Kevin: And Here We Go…

Imagine asking Gemini about the Musket Wars and being told, in not so many words, that it can’t help you because it’d make Māori look bad. Make no mistake. This isn’t about human rights or “te Tiriti”. It’s a blatant power grab.

 

The Human Rights Commission is calling for a human rights and te Tiriti-centred approach to artificial intelligence and digital technologies.

The commission’s new report, AI and Digital Technologies: A Human Rights and te Tiriti o Waitangi Approach, was released on Friday and said Māori data sovereignty and te Tiriti o Waitangi must be at the heart of how artificial intelligence was developed and governed in Aotearoa New Zealand.

No, I don’t know what “Māori data sovereignty” means either.

Ashley Church: Declining house prices are killing our economy

Rushing headlong toward economic oblivion

The New Zealand Initiative recently released New Zealand by Numbers, a useful and wide-ranging look at what’s happened to this country over the past 50 years or so. It brings together a large amount of data across the economy, education, health, crime, housing, energy and other areas, and it’s a valuable contribution to the debate about where New Zealand has come from and where we may be heading.

Its housing section reflects a view that has now become close to orthodoxy: that over that 50 years house prices rose too far, that affordability got worse, that first-home buyers were locked out, and that the recent fall in prices, while painful for some, is a necessary correction.

Kerre Woodham: The ambulances are under the pump, and it won't finish anytime soon

Today, the 111 call out and the fact that St John is absolutely under the pump and has been for quite some time and they're not expecting it to finish anytime soon. On Saturday, 2,562 calls came into the ambulance through 111 the highest number received ever in a single day. But then that was the third time the daily record had been broken in a week.