Dr Michael John Schmidt: Pragmatic Water Management

In my previous article “WCC’s Actions Are a National Moral Hazard”, the objection to transferring water assets was framed in moral and ethical terms: councils hold critical infrastructure in trust for the public, and irreversible transfers undermine trusteeship and create moral hazards by allowing responsibility to be exported rather than exercised.

Colinxy: The Lie of “Endless Growth”

Why Marxists Keep Repeating It — and Why It’s Nonsense

One of the most persistent talking points in Marxist circles — and among their fellow‑travellers in academia, activism, and the bureaucratic class — is the claim that capitalism supposedly promises “endless growth.” According to this myth, economists and capitalists are engaged in a kind of metaphysical delusion, imagining that markets will expand forever until the planet melts, the seas boil, and Jeff Bezos personally blocks out the sun.

It’s a neat story. It’s also completely false.

Peter Dunne: No-frills leadership

Christopher Luxon's mentor Sir John Key quickly and successfully transitioned from international businessman to national political leader when he became Prime Minister. Luxon, on the other hand, is still struggling to do so. And nor is it clear that he even wants to.

Key's smooth transition occurred because he was both driven, and a sponge for new knowledge. He knew what he wanted to achieve, and was always eager to learn the best political ways of doing so.

Dr Eric Crampton: If free parking is a problem, the solution is obvious: Put a price on it

It’s hard to compete with free. Who wants to pay for something if you can get it for nothing?

Unfortunately, sometimes free comes at others’ expense, as it can with on-street parking. Better council parking management, including pricing, would encourage better decisions.

Nick Clark: How to fix RMA Reform

New Zealand's resource management system is broken. Many attempts have been made over the past three decades to fix it. All have missed the mark.

Cue the latest attempt, the Planning Bill and Natural Environment Bill.

Dr Michael Johnston: Teachers deserve better than their union

Every two or three years, the Ministry of Education and the teachers’ unions engage in the spectacle of ritual combat known as collective bargaining. In 2025, the Public Service Commissioner took over from the Ministry in the arena. But the exercise remains a ritual.

Everyone knows, more-or-less, what the outcome will be before bargaining even begins. The education budget is fixed, so the government negotiator has very little room to move.

Typically, the ritual goes as follows.

David Farrar: Murder data

I read an overseas article that cross-tabulated homicide data by ethnicity for both the victim and the killer. I thought this was interesting, so asked for NZ equivalent data. Sadly it was declined on privacy grounds, but they did provide the data without the cross-tabulation.

For those interested the breakdown by ethnicity for homicide victims for the last ten years is:

Mike's Minute: I can help Steve Abel

Steve is the Green's agriculture bloke and he wants an urgent inquiry into the Wattie’s and Heinz mess in Hawkes Bay.

He is wasting his time. Not because he shouldn’t be concerned, because he should. We should all be concerned.

But the answers he seeks are already readily available.

Monday April 6, 2026 

                    ⇩

Anglo Saxon: New Zealand's indigenous wealth transfer scam

Transcript:
“Radio New Zealand, is also a maori broadcaster in all but name and its granular source of funding.

 
Radio New Zealand is taxpayer funded, but separately from the funding dedicated to other Maori propaganda agencies.

We are in effect paying twice to hear about what a bunch of entitled thieving pricks we are.

The whole idea of Maui broadcasting has become a mission to transfer more taxpayer funds into the hands of Maoris.....”

Click to view  

Breaking Views Update: Week of 5.4.26

Monday April 6, 2026 

News:
Research funding provides rangatahi with hands-on education about climate change
Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi has been awarded nearly $300,000 in research funding from the Centre of Research Excellence Coastal People: Southern Skies to give rangatahi a hands-on education about climate change.

David Lillis: Workplace Bullying and the Education and Workforce Select Committee

Recently I published a submission that I had made on the Health and Safety at Work Amendment Bill and indicated that I had asked to make a related verbal presentation to the Education and Workforce Select Committee (Lillis, 2026). The 5-minute presentation, given on 30 March, covered workplace bullying. See:

Caleb Anderson: The Economic Smoke Machine – Ignoring the Real Crisis

For decades, we have been told that "it’s all about the economy." It is the ultimate political conversation stopper, a blunt instrument used to narrow the scope of public debate to GDP, inflation rates, and the cost of living. While economic security is undeniably crucial, this relentless refrain has become a masterclass in distraction, masking a deeper, more insidious erosion of our social fabric, and inevitably of any sense of common good.

Pee Kay: “…the language is the lifeblood that fosters Māori identity.”

This Auckland University newsletter was sent to me by 1 of my mailing group.

Comments I have received so far –

…….even if not compulsory. 2023-26 is viewed as a short pause.

They need their heads read! What do they think this will do for their international ranking, or the attractiveness of the university to the parents of Asian kids wondering where to send them for higher education! Absolutely bonkers!

Dr Oliver Hartwich: The end of the golden bargain

Campaign slogans used to sell the future. In 1960, John F. Kennedy promised Americans a ‘New Frontier’. Bill Clinton chose Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Don’t Stop’ as his anthem. Tony Blair swept into Downing Street to D:Ream’s ‘Things Can Only Get Better’. Gerhard Schröder promised Germans he would not do everything differently but many things better.

These were statements of faith: the future would be an improvement on the present, and democratic politics was the vehicle that would take you there.

Dr Eric Crampton: A small tweak that could avert driverless car gridlock

Friction, at least as a metaphor for real-world inconveniences and minor hassles in doing things, is usually viewed as a bad thing. Something best done away with, if possible.

And that’s usually true.

But some frictions are load-bearing. Get rid of the friction, and important things can start falling over.

Matt Ridley: The gas price shock will expose Britain’s catastrophic energy misjudgment

Since a fifth of the world’s liquefied natural gas has to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, it is no surprise that the price we pay for natural gas has spiked sharply upwards. That’s bad news for people trying to heat their homes, use electricity, start an AI business, make chemicals, find employment or buy almost anything. Energy is the lifeblood of the economy.

Bob Edlin: Invercargill weakened its democracy to give tribal groups voice......

Invercargill weakened its democracy to give tribal groups voice – but one of them has relinquished its privilege

PoO must confess to having focused on the $33,000 costs of an Invercargill City Council “Code of Conduct” investigation, thereby failing to note the savings gained from a tribal group’s decision to relinquish a place on council committees.

The council four years ago voted to enable two rūnaka to appoint representatives to committee posts. But two voices have been trimmed to one.

David Farrar: Keep history on bank notes

The Bank of England has announced that they plan to replace famous historical figures from their banknotes, and replace them with cute animals. No I’m not joking. They cite a poll and the fact animals are harder to counterfeit.

Sunday April 5, 2026 

                    ⇩