Ryan Bridge: My thoughts on rates caps

A rates cap is one of those policies that immediately sounds appealing.

Look no further than yesterday’s CPI number. It’s one of your top three inflation feeders.

So, throw a cap on them. Tie their hands behind their backs. Reign 'em in!

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: I think Labour knows how bad their policy idea is

I think it's fair to say, don't you think, that Labour's first policy has been a flop? It's been panned by pretty much everybody worth listening to or worth reading.

I mean, I see Maiki Sherman over at TVNZ liked it last night. She called it a 'solid first hit' on telly, but I think everyone else seems to have seen through what Chippy's trying to do here.

Let me quote you some.

Breaking Views Update: Week of 19.10.25

Wednesday October 22, 2025 

News:
NZ Future Fund: Māori Wealth, Whānau Tables, and the Economics of Rangatiratanga
Māori economist Professor Matthew Roskruge (Te Āti Awa, Ngāti Tama) sees it, the policy will succeed or fail on one thing, how deeply Māori are written into its design.

“If Labour gets this right, it’s another tool to lift Māori wealth and participation,” says Roskruge. “But if they don’t, it’ll be consultation without control and we’ve seen enough of that.”

David Round: Thoughts for our Time - Article 2

New Zealand is not the social laboratory of the world. We have, and have always had, the same ideas, the same fashions, the same follies, as everyone else in the West. They may just take a little while to reach us here.

The Treaty of Waitangi madness infecting the mental capacities of so many of our countrypersons is not evidence of some special sensitivities which New Zealanders possess, or even evidence of some special peculiarities of our history. The Treaty madness is just our own localised variant of a much more widespread insanity, which we might call ‘white guilt’.

Barrie Saunders: The BSA power grab: Post 2

Media and Communications Minister, Paul Goldsmith’s handling of the BSA power grab follow 80 years of abysmal leadership by National Party governments re broadcasting, which have consistently betrayed their rhetoric about supporting competition and private enterprise.

The National Party Holland/Holyoake government of 1949-1957, did nothing of consequence to roll back the Savage/Fraser Labour governments nationalisation of radio. No private radio under National then nor any TV at all.

Ani O'Brien: "Temu Chris" Thinks Big government with Labour's Future Fund

New Zealand Future Fund: Proof Labour never met a problem it couldn’t bureaucratise

It takes a special kind of political imagination to brand something as “the future” while simultaneously reviving the economic playbook of the 1970s. Perhaps Chris Hipkins will cling to the nickname “Temu Chris” because at least then no one will be calling him “Red Muldoon.” Surely nothing could be worse for the Labour leader than being “Piggy” in Dirty Dog sunnies.

Chris Lynch: “They are not in a shape to contribute positively to a potential future government” Hipkins on Te Pāti Māori

Labour Leader Chris Hipkins says Te Pāti Māori needs to “sort itself out” before it can play any positive role in a future government.

Speaking at a press conference, Hipkins said the party appeared to be struggling with internal divisions.

Peter Williams: Why the BSA is irrelevant

Regulation is stifling a free society

I spent nearly five decades in the New Zealand broadcasting industry, most of it when the world was very different. They were times when a national radio network of frequencies was a hard won and expensive privilege, and the evening television news bulletins genuinely captured the country.

In that environment, the Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA) had a role to play. We accepted oversight because the airwaves were tightly controlled, the audience was captive, and with great privilege came great responsibility.

David Farrar: Labour’s corporate welfare fund

Labour’s co called Future Fund is nothing like Singapore’s Temasek Holdings.

There are decent pros and cons towards a country having an investment fund. We already have one – the NZ Super Fund. Their job is to get the best returns on their assets.

Peter Williams: Selling Stakes in Alliance and Fonterra Brands Is the Right Call

Politicians must stay out of it

Two of New Zealand’s cornerstone farmer-owned cooperatives — Alliance Group and Fonterra — are simultaneously grappling with the brutal reality of global agribusiness economics.

Between Alliance’s proposal to sell 65 percent of its meat business to the Irish company Dawn Meats and Fonterra’s agreement to divest its consumer brands division to France’s Lactalis, some see sell-off, surrender or loss of sovereignty.

Matua Kahurangi: Nepotism, racism, and the audacity of silence

Mariameno Kapa-Kingi’s Parliamentary Shame

Mariameno Kapa-Kingi’s latest statement to her constituents is an exercise in deflection, obfuscation, and sheer political theatre. She writes with “aroha” and “humility,” claiming transparency, yet carefully sidesteps the elephant in the room: her own glaring nepotism and the toxic behaviour of her racist and allegedly violent son, Eru Kapa-Kingi.

Bob Edlin: Public bodies in NZ embrace karakia.....

Paganism has been enshrined in Latvian law – but public bodies in NZ embrace karakia without being mandated by Parliament

Our Cambridge Dictionary defines the word “pagan” as


… a person who belongs to a religion that worships many gods, especially one that existed before the main world religions:

We checked the meaning of “pagan” after reading an article in The Critic headed

The return of the strong gods?

Kerre Woodham: Build the economy and the workers will come

New rules come into force for job seekers today, as the government continues efforts to get more young people off a benefit and into work. It's a very worthwhile enterprise. Do not let young people drift onto a benefit because there they will stay for around about 18 years, which is a hell of a life to condemn any young person to.

Hang on a minute though, weren't there sanctions announced in May? You're right, there were. They targeted beneficiaries with money management and community work sanctions if they failed to meet one of their obligations, which involved preparing for or looking for work.

Tuesday October 21, 2025 

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Rob Paterson: Māori Wards RORT - A Reversal of Democratic Principles

Michael Laws’ recent commentary “On the Rejection of Māori Wards” (13 October 2025), viewed by many viewers , signals how contentious this issue remains. However, unlike Don Brash ( Hobson’s Pledge 16 October 2025), I do not believe the recent outcome is cause for celebration.

Until 2021, only three councils in New Zealand had Māori wards:

Ryan Bridge: The climate change message from the Government

Don’t expect a handout.

That’s basically the message to homeowners hoping the Government will swoop in and buyout houses after the next big cyclone.

Watts is the climate Minister. He took a paper to cabinet. I had a read in the weekend.

Matua Kahurangi: Debbie Ngarewa-Packer

Failure to declare properties Is blatant and shameful

Once again, members of Te Pāti Māori have proven that following the most basic parliamentary rules is not exactly their strong suit. Co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer has failed to properly declare her property interests, flouting Parliament’s transparency rules.

David Farrar: Do not believe the lies

The left and many media claim that large rates increases were necessary due to under-investment in core infrastructure such as water. Now while it is true more needs to be spent on water infrastructure, they overlook that there is a huge amount of spending on discretionary and wasteful stuff.

Here’s the list I have been keeping, just for Wellington City.

Lindsay Mitchell: National's problem epitomised

Why did National pick two former welfare-dependent sole mothers to be Ministers of Social Development?

Because National is woke. They buy into the leftist public service fetish for 'lived experience'.

New Zealand's unique welfare problem isn't disability or unemployment. Other developed nations can match us.

Chris Lynch: Judith Collins’ open letter to New Zealanders

Open letter to the people of New Zealand

by Judith Collins

To the patients, students and families affected by this week’s planned strike,

The Government regrets the impact on you, your children and your families that is expected on Thursday because of a strike planned by a number of unions.

Pee Kay: Less Than Civil, Service

In 2022 Ministry for Pacific Peoples (MPP) spent $40,000 to farewell boss Leauanae Laulu Mac Leauanae. Leauanae was moving from head of MPP to the head of the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, (MCH).

This farewell must have been a pretty lavish do, having cost the taxpayer around $40,000!

Melanie Phillips: The Birmingham jihad

The ban on away-fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv football club coming to Birmingham next month to watch their team play Aston Villa has nothing to do with football. It’s about the UK government and police surrendering the safety of Britain’s Jewish community to a mob that believes it now has Israel and the Jews inexorably in its sights.

Matua Kahurangi: While Kiwis wait weeks to see a doctor......

While Kiwis wait weeks to see a doctor, the Government rolls out the red carpet for migrants’ parents

Within days of opening the new Parent Boost Visa, nearly 200 applications flooded in, a canary in the coal mine. The government expects between 2,000 and 10,000 applications annually, with a working model of around 6,000. What the official spin frames as a meaningful way for families to spend extended time together is more than that. It is a gamble with our social fabric, our hospitals and the day-to-day lives of everyday Kiwis. In my opinion it is a recklessly optimistic policy that risks degrading the New Zealand many of us still want to live in.

Damien Grant: I don’t know how to fix NZ’s fertility crisis, but I can do the maths

Last Saturday, I wandered along to the West End Tennis club to celebrate the re-election of Wayne Brown. I like Wayne. I contributed to his campaign - not enough to make a difference, but enough to get an invite to the victory party.

Whilst there, I ran into a couple of current and future Labour MPs, the perennially ageless gossip columnist Simon Wilson and a coterie of property developers of indeterminate vintage.

Monday October 20, 2025 

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Rod Kane: One Year To Go And Coming Down To The Wire

The coalition is two years in and now getting ready for a big marketing campaign to get back in, come October 2026. It is just around the corner. Have they learnt anything..?

If I have to say anything positive about Luxon and the Nats, he has done a great job of keeping the team together and the in-house bitching out of the hands of the feral media.

DTNZ: Israel launches new strikes on Rafah citing ceasefire violations

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have launched large-scale airstrikes in Rafah, southern Gaza, following what they claim were ceasefire breaches by Hamas.

According to the IDF, militants fired an anti-tank missile and opened fire on Israeli troops operating in the area, prompting retaliatory strikes on more than 20 suspected “terror targets,” including tunnel shafts and military structures.

Professor John Raine: Waipapa Taumata Rau University Course Now Optional for Some – Don’t Take a Victory Lap Yet

Exemptions to the Ruling

On October 15th 2025, the University of Auckland Council voted to make its compulsory Waipapa Taumata Rau (WTR) paper optional. Act Party MP, Parmjeet Parmar, said, “This is an enormous victory for student choice over ideology”, and “The compulsory nature of this course was always about pushing Treaty ideology onto students, with no regard for their interests.”

David Round: Thoughts for Our Time - Article 1

Let us ask ourselves an absolutely serious question.

What are our world, and our country, going to be like in ten years’ time?

Or, for that matter, twenty years; or for that matter, even five?

Very few of us ask this question. Our imaginations are very limited; it is impossible to imagine any future that is very different from the present. It is very easy to confuse the status quo with the natural order of things.

Barrie Saunders: The BSA power grab - Post 1

In April 1990 the TVNZ “Frontline” programme broadcast a true block buster: the 46 minute “For the Public Good”. This gripped the nation for months and led to TVNZ receiving eight formal complaints including one from the New Zealand Business Roundtable (NZBR), The Treasury and then Prime Minister David Lange.

Duggan Flanakin: Japan tries out osmotic energy

Residents of the Japanese coastal city of Fukuoka are pioneering the world’s first full-sized osmotic power plant — which generates electricity by mixing fresh water with saltwater. The plant, which opened on August 5, generates about 880,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, enough to run a nearby desalination facility and supply about 220 nearby homes.

Andrew Moran: Trump Endorses Javier Milei in Argentine Midterm Elections

If the Peronists return to power, no money for Argentina.

Argentine President Javier Milei went to Washington on Oct. 13 for a second meeting with President Donald Trump in a month. During a bilateral lunch meeting between Trump and Milei, the US administration reaffirmed its $20 billion commitment to the anti-establishment leader who has transformed the Latin American nation through a series of sweeping economic reforms.

Can Milei make Argentina great again? Trump and senior White House officials certainly believe so – and the numbers support the hope of resurrecting the adage of “rich as an Argentine.”

Bonner R Cohen: Tropical forests in Indonesia ravaged by push for EV batteries

The wanton destruction of tropical rainforests in Indonesia by predominantly Chinese mining companies eager to extract nickel for EV batteries is the price the world must pay in the transition to “clean energy.”

“Indonesia is the world’s biggest nickel producer, and has the largest reserves on earth, most of which are in Sulawesi and Halmahera islands,” Climate Home News noted last December.

Melanie Phillips: It’s not over yet

"Ceasefire now" has morphed into calls to eradicate Israel, Zionism -- and Zionists

If anyone thought that the return to their homes of the 20 living Israeli hostages meant the end of Israel’s October 7 war, they can’t have been paying attention.

US President Donald Trump himself said repeatedly that the war had ended. Then he noticed that, true to form, Hamas was reneging on aspects of his own 20-point ceasefire deal.

Roger Partridge: No, America Is Not Experiencing Fascism. Yes, You Should Still Worry

A response to Niall Ferguson.

Writing after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, the Hoover Institution’s Sir Niall Ferguson offers comforting reassurance. Warnings of America’s democratic collapse are overwrought. The United States, according to Ferguson, remains “a very long way from Italy in 1927 or Germany in 1938.”

What Ferguson is thinking of is not just the fulminations of Trump’s progressive critics. Even conservative Andrew Sullivan wrote this summer in The Weekly Dish: “I think this is how a republic dies.”

Dr Bryce Wilkinson: You do not have to own someone's house to help them

You do not have to own someone's house to help them, so why does Kāinga Ora's Reset Plan envisage continuing to own around 78,000 housing units?

This week, The New Zealand Initiative published my report "Owning less to achieve more: Refocusing Kāinga Ora". It addresses this question.

Nick Clark: Elections boost the case for Localism

My stat of the week is 38 percent. This is the provisional voter turnout at the 2025 local elections.

Huge rates rises. Crumbling infrastructure. Worsening services. Dysfunction around council tables. Fractious relations between central and local government. New Zealanders have endured it all over the past term.

Sunday October 19, 2025 

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Matua Kahurangi: If Māori are the experts of the moana, why are their drowning rates so high?

The other day I wrote about Green Party figure Celia Wade-Brown, who claimed Māori wards are necessary because Māori “know the rivers, whenua and sea.” It was the usual Green Party sermon, Māori as the all-knowing guardians of nature and the rest of us as too colonised to understand a high tide.

Then I stumbled across an article about Ngātiwai rangatira Aperahama Edwards, claiming the Government has no authority to make it harder for Māori to win customary marine title to the foreshore and seabed. Another familiar refrain: we are the experts of the moana, so give us ownership and control.

Ani O'Brien: A week is a long time: 18 October 2025

Literacy and numeracy gains: good news that media seem reluctant to believe

This week an ERO review revealed that New Zealand’s primary students are showing early signs of improvement in maths and English. More than half of teachers reported higher achievement this year compared to last, a shift described as “unusual” given how slow systemic change normally is.

Centrist: New Zealand passport ranked strongest in the Five Eyes, ahead of Australia and the US

New Zealand’s passport has been ranked among the most powerful in the world, giving Kiwis visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 186 destinations.

The NZ passport comes out ahead of Australia and Canada, and well above the United States and United Kingdom.

Net Zero Watch Samizdat: UK energy retailers turn on Clean Power 2030

UK

Energy bosses expose the lie behind Clean Power 2030

Britain’s biggest energy suppliers have told MPs that bills are on track to climb by a fifth in the next four years, even if wholesale markets plummet by 50%, because of the rising cost of government policies. Octopus Energy said household energy bills were likely to rise by 20% unless the government took radical action to address the burden of increasing “non-commodity costs”, which include levies paid through bills to support upgrades to gas and electricity networks, running the energy system and subsidising low-carbon power projects. The CEO of E.ON told Parliament that even if wholesale gas prices were zero in 2030, electricity prices would remain where they are today because of policy and systems costs.

Gary Judd KC: Are we experiencing another watershed event?

The BSA may be an unwitting catalyst for rolling back the administrative state

In 1966 there was a watershed event. A National government, under Prime Minister Keith Holyoake, tried to stifle nascent private radio. It failed: the government monopoly was broken.

Simon O'Connor: 'Broadcasting' too wide a net

The Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA) attempted overreach is just another example of bureaucratic and judicial hubris, and it is time for Parliament to reassert its sovereignty.

The Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA) has recently decided to go after Sean Plunket and his online radio show, The Platform. The BSA has unilaterally decided that they have the legal authority to oversee his online presence and consequently, I would argue, the work that Bob McCoskrie and I do via our social media platforms as well as the work of Reality Check Radio (which I also host a show on). In particular, the BSA is entertaining a complaint from someone who is offended that Sean said tikanga is “mumbo jumbo”.

Matua Kahurangi: The grift of good intentions

Is Mike King just another one cashing in on the charity gravy train?

When it comes to New Zealand charities, we have seen the same story play out again and again. Big promises, bigger pay packets, and little accountability. The latest example is Mike King’s I Am Hope Foundation, which somehow managed to boost executive pay by 80 percent while claiming to fight for struggling young people

Kerre Woodham: Should there be name suppression for child sexual abusers?

I can't think of much worse than being labelled a child abuser, a child pornographer. It's such an abhorrent, vile, aberrant perversion of a crime. All crime is evil. But when it involves children, there's something particularly sickening about it.

Ele Ludemann: Lots of little bits saved add up

The Broadcasting Standards Authority received $859,000 from the government in the year to June last year.

The previous year it received $759,000.

Those aren’t large sums in the big picture of government spending but the Authority’s secret decision to claim jurisdiction over internet media has led for calls for it to be disbanded and leave dealing with complaints to the Media Council.

Saturday October 18, 2025 

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Breaking Views Update: Week of 12.10.25

Saturday October 18, 2025 

News:
Kaipara councillors to lodge complaint over mayor's vote irregularity claim
Kaipara District councillors have voted to lodge a complaint about what outgoing mayor Craig Jepson says are irregularities in the election process with the Department of Internal Affairs.

The final vote was taken behind closed doors after a tense, testy debate with about 20 members of the public present on Friday.

Ryan Bridge: We've been reminded our present day politicians aren't up to much

It's hard listening to all the tributes for Jim Bolger and not feeling like we're being short-changed by our current crop of leaders.

A few short generations ago, this country was a different place.

John McLean: Poor Goldsmuck

Paul Goldsmith shows why The Nats are doomed as a major political party

The Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA) has launched a surprise attack on media channel The Platform, aiming to lynch Platform head honcho Sean Plunket.

The attack has taken the form of an unlawful assertion that The Platform falls under BSA’s umbrella, such that BSA can consider complaints against The Platform. BSA’s tactic is to open the floodgates in order to drown The Platform in upheld BSA complaints.

Craig Rucker: NO to the UN global climate tax!

The UN wants to raise the price of everything by collecting a carbon tax on shipping. The U.S. is working to stop them.

The International Maritime Organization is about to vote on a new “net-zero framework,” which would take the form of a tax paid by shippers into a gigantic UN climate fund.

Simon O'Connor: A ceasefire of silence ...

When I visited the Gaza envelope earlier this year, I took one critical question with me and now I think I have an answer.

There is a ceasefire.

After two long bloody years, Hamas has finally done what it should have done many months ago – release the Israeli hostages. As we tragically know, they did not, and many of the Gazans they claim to represent have died as a result.

JC: Peace on Earth and Goodwill Towards Trump

Christmas is not that far away. It will be upon us before we know it. It is the season of ‘peace on earth and goodwill to men’. Although the commercial aspect of Christmas appears to arrive earlier each year, in terms of merchandising, this year Santa has also made his presence felt earlier than usual. Donald J Trump was elected on a platform of, among other things, fulfilling the role of a peacemaker. He has proven to be more than true to his word.