Bob Edlin: Centre-right bounce back, could now form Government

The latest Taxpayers’ Union–Curia Poll will bring a sigh of relief for the Coalition parties as they find themselves able to form a Government again.

The poll, conducted between 29 March and 01 April, shows National is effectively static, down 0.1 points to 33.5 percent, while Labour is down 4.3 points from last month to 29.8 percent.The Greens are up 1.0 point to 11.0 percent, while ACT is up 2.3 points to 10.0 percent. New Zealand First is also up 2.3 points to 7.4 percent, while Te Pāti Māori is down 2.2 points to 4.3 percent.

Bob Edlin: Parliament conduct rules explained

No, we don’t need a tikanga expert to put context around a haka that disrupted proceedings in Parliament

The Māori Party – bleating about three of its MPs being denied the right to have someone explain tikanga to Parliament’s Privileges Committee – is engaged in provocative grandstanding.

The committee, chaired by Judith Collins, considers and reports on issues relating to parliamentary privilege and can find MPs in contempt of the House.

Professor Robert MacCulloch: RBNZ's Board Chair & Medical School at Waikato?....

Question: How Can RBNZ's Board Chair Make the Best Non-Political Monetary Decisions when he's at the same time begging Finance Minister Willis for a new Medical School at Waikato?

Its a tense time at the Reserve Bank. It currently has an Acting, or Temporary, or Stand-In, or Stand-Up, or On Probation, or Interim, Governor ever since the Former Governor walked off in a huff. Finance Minister Willis and Reserve Bank Chair of the Board, Neil Quigley, who is also Vice Chancellor of Waikato University, are discussing monetary & financial regulation matters which put potentially billions of dollars of Big Monopoly Private Bank profits and bonuses at stake. This week, Willis & Quigley together announced there would be a Review of the Capital Requirements that the retail banks must adhere to. The Finance Minister was the driver behind that announcement, which came about from lobbying by the Big Banks.

Breaking Views Update: Week of 30.3.25

Friday April 4, 2025 

News:
Key Māori entity appointments announced
Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka has today announced a number of appointment to prominent reo Māori entities, which he says will help grow accessibility to the language and culture in homes and communities.

“The appointments I’m announcing today include leaders in governance, business, broadcasting, and language revitalisation,” said Minister Potaka.

Chris Lynch: Prime Minister says Trump’s new tariffs risk global economic fallout.....

Prime Minister says Trump’s new tariffs risk global economic fallout, but New Zealand won’t retaliate

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has criticised former US President Donald Trump’s sweeping new 10% tariffs on imported goods from New Zealand, calling them harmful to the global economy and warning of broader economic consequences.

Peter Dunne: MBIE’s narrow-minded influence

While the government is in the mood for breaking up failing conglomerates like the supermarket duopoly, it should consider doing the same to one of its own largest agencies – the ubiquitous Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. MBIE was supposed to be the government’s go-to department, but nearly everything it gets involved in ends up turning to dust at some stage.

Brendan O'Neill: The last thing Britain needs is Trump’s free-speech imperialism

Will Donald Trump save us benighted Brits from our speech-policing overlords? That’s the hope of Britain’s excitable right. They’re giddy at the news that the Trump administration is reportedly tying its trade deal with Britain to the issue of freedom of speech. ‘No free trade without free speech’, says one US source. In short, if the British state doesn’t stop muzzling the unwoke, our nation will suffer. Mighty America will rap our knuckles.

Dr Oliver Hartwich: Germany’s post-election theatre of the absurd

Winning an election can still mean losing control. This paradox is playing out in Germany right now. The Christian Democrats under would-be Chancellor Friedrich Merz have squandered their election win with breathtaking efficiency.

The 23 February 2025 election results presented a challenging political landscape. Merz’s centre-right CDU/CSU bloc won with 28.5 per cent of the vote. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) followed at 20.8 per cent. The centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) limped in with a historically poor 16.4 per cent, while the Greens secured a meagre 11.6 per cent and the far-left Die Linke a surprising 8.8 per cent.

Sir Bob Jones: Liz Gunn

The Liz Gunn prosecution was scandalously corrupt and has been exposed as such by High Court judge Justice Peters.

The initial prosecution was before District court judge Forrest who described Gunn as “rude, overbearing and offensive”.

JC: The Green and Māori Party MPs Need to Go

The events of recent days have proven beyond doubt that the Green MPs are a bunch of weirdos. They talk a lot about the planet but are so far off it that their presence in parliament serves no useful purpose. Examples of their perverse behaviour are becoming ever more frequent and should be of concern to any normal thinking voter. It seems they exist purely to lurch from one crisis to the next, most, if not all, of their own making.

Ele Ludemann: Which rules rule?

Would Te Pāti Māori MPs wear hats in a church, mosque or synagogue?

Would they respect any other mores if they went to a service in any of those buildings?

Would they expect anyone and everyone visiting a marae to abide by their customs and rules?

Professor Robert MacCulloch: Trump's Tariffs & PM Luxon's Advisers....

Has Trump Whacked Tariffs on NZ because of what PM Luxon's Highest Level Advisers have said about him?

Executive Director of the NZ Initiative Oliver Hartwich told Newstalk ZB that the best way to avoid being tariffed by President Trump is to adopt the following strategy: "We can't risk angering the Americans". He makes a strong point. Good on him. So what did former NZ Initiative Senior Economist Matt Burgess, who is now Prime Minister Luxon's Chief Economic Adviser have to say about Donald Trump a few years ago? 

Thursday April 3, 2025 

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Karen Chhour: Repeal of 7AA puts child wellbeing first

Children’s Minister Karen Chhour has welcomed the passing of legislation to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act by Parliament.

The Bill’s passing will enable Oranga Tamariki—Ministry for Children and its frontline staff to focus first and foremost on the safety and wellbeing of children when creating care arrangements, says Minister for Children, Karen Chhour.

DTNZ: Trump rolls out sweeping new tariffs

The ‘Liberation Day’ plan sets out broad, country-specific duties on US trading partners.

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced a new round of sweeping tariffs, part of what he has branded his ‘Liberation Day’ plan, raising concerns over a potential global trade war.

David Farrar: Trump imposes 10% tariff on NZ

President Trump has announced massive tariffs on most countries, including a 10% tariff on all NZ exports to the US.

The table he released claims that NZ imposes an average 20% tariff on US goods. This is just fantasy. The actual level of average tariffs is around 2%.

Professor Robert MacCulloch: Prebs is Right - a 4 Year Parliamentary Term is no panacea to NZ's stagnation....

Prebs is Right - a 4 Year Parliamentary Term is no panacea to NZ's stagnation. The problem is neither the Nats nor Labour have had a plan since 1993.

In an excellent article in the Herald, Richard Prebble (or "Prebs" as we call him) argues the proposals presented by National-ACT for a four year parliamentary term are a mistake. (By the way, the Herald's sole defense for not being outrageously left biased and trying to avoid being taken over is that former ACT leader Prebs writes for it - he's the only thing stopping the Board being fired). Anyhow, here's a story on the 4 year term question.

Mike's Minute: We are housing snobs

A housing development for you.

A housing development that once again shows how reality beats theory.

Housing is a New Zealand obsession. We love housing and we long to own housing.

Derek Mackie: A friend like Ben

Ben, your X account appears no more 

Deleting all those posts was quite a chore

But with, the Greens to call your own 

You'll never be alone 

And you, my friend, will see 

Your best friend's me, Chloe 

    As long as you’re a Green MP 

NZCPR Newsletter: Cultural Apartheid

King’s Counsel Gary Judd has been at the forefront of a battle to defend New Zealand from the actions of Maori tribal leaders attempting to force their cultural apartheid onto our country.

He’s defending the Rule of Law from attack by those pushing for ‘decolonisation’ by arguing that since ‘tikanga’ is an ‘amorphous spiritual culture’ and not law, it has no place in our Common Law. And he’s appealed to Parliament’s Regulations Review Committee to stop the compulsory teaching of ‘tikanga’ to new law students.

He’s also opposing a Court proposal to commence and end each sitting day with a ‘karakia’ claiming it would breach the 1990 New Zealand Bill of Rights Act. Since Court participants would have no option but to sit through the Maori prayers, the proposal would violate their section 13 “right to freedom of thought, conscience, religion, and belief, including the right to adopt and hold opinions without interference”.

Sallust: Is the UK Heading Towards a Cultural Collapse?

Spectator Australia has a piece by Julie Sladden on ‘a nation in crisis?‘ No prizes for guessing which nation that is. She reluctantly visited Britain in February this year to attend a conference. There’s nothing like seeing how your nation appears to others:

I was right to be worried. As I crisscrossed the country after the conference, I visited with friends and family, made new friends and spoke with strangers, taxi drivers, locals, farmers and fellow travellers. What I saw and heard shocked me. The change that had taken place over a few short years could only be described as alarming.

Mary Hobbs: Dr. Bruce Dooley – A man of courage

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. — Martin Luther King Jr.

I was asked this week if I knew Dr Bruce Dooley. “Yes I know him,” I replied. “He’s a legend. One of New Zealand’s finest. He was the guy who exposed what appears to be the obscured, undue influence and control of the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) over Medical Councils throughout the world.

“And that was all before breakfast.

Michael Reddell: Reserve Bank, bank capital etc

Things seem to be at a pretty low ebb in and around the Reserve Bank. There was, in particular, the mysterious, sudden, and as-yet unexplained resignation of the Governor (we’ve had four Governors since the Bank was given its operational autonomy 35 years ago, and only two have completed their terms and left in a normal way, which must be some sort of unwanted advanced country record). Having slimmed down the bloated number of Orr’s deputies by one last year, another of them quietly resigned and left last month on (apparently) short notice and no specific job to go to. Of those who remain, two are (at best) ethically challenged and one is simply unqualified for the job she holds.

Chris Lynch: Blame-shifting masterclass - Greens drag PM into their own mess

The Benjamin Doyle social media controversy was remarkable for two reasons: it revealed the Green’s willingness to weaponise identity politics when under pressure, and it exposed just how far groupthink has infiltrated political discourse.

Co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick didn’t just defend her colleague — she attempted to drag the entire rainbow community into the fray, implying that criticism of Doyle’s language stemmed from ignorance about gay culture, or more specifically, a niche subset of it.

Kerre Woodham: Paying the piper by turning down the America's Cup

Here we go again – the America’s Cup. How many times have you heard the debates for and against the America’s Cup? The Government, as you will have heard, has declined the opportunity to invest in hosting the America's Cup in 2027 and the usual arguments are raging over the wisdom or otherwise of that decision. Tātaki Auckland Unlimited (TAU) chief executive Nick Hill said it was with great disappointment that they were confirming that Auckland would no longer be bidding to host the 2027 America's Cup, explaining that Auckland's bid was contingent on a three-way funding partnership between Auckland Council, central government, and the private sector.

Bob Edlin: Measuring impediments to Māori enrolment in our universities....

The case for including distance when measuring impediments to Māori enrolment in our universities

It’s time to check place as well as race when we measure the disparities between Māori and non-Māori that influence government policy. Maybe we can discount claims about colonisation and institutional racism.

PoO suggests this on the strength of American research which finds the distance a student must travel to get to college – or to university in this country – contributes to educational disparities.

Professor Robert MacCulloch: To National & ACT supporters attacking Auckland University.....

To National & ACT supporters attacking Auckland University. You voted for the changes there, which you now label "woke". You're lucky to have the place.

What's with Basset, Brash & Hide, The Platform, and my mate, Muriel Newman's NZ Centre for Political Research launching nuke attacks on Auckland University? In a particularly unpleasant example, those outlets featured an article saying "Auckland University has a Death Wish: It’s hard to avoid the conclusion that the University of Auckland is suicidal". Many thanks for describing me in that way. Much appreciated.

Wednesday April 2, 2025 

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DTNZ: Privileges Committee hearing to proceed without Te Pāti Māori MPs

The Privileges Committee chaired by Judith Collins will proceed with its scheduled hearing this afternoon, despite Te Pāti Māori MPs refusing to attend, citing a “denial of natural justice” and calling the process a “kangaroo court.”

The MPs argue that their request for a joint hearing, the inclusion of a “tikanga expert”, and representation by chosen senior counsel were unfairly denied.

Stephen Franks On Te Pāti Māori's Privileges Committee Defiance

Sean Plunket talks to lawyer Stephen Franks on The Platform about Te Pāti Māori's Privileges Committee defiance.

Click to view

Peter Williams: Are media April Fool’s jokes a good idea anymore?

The middle of the front page of my local paper, the venerable Otago Daily Times, today (April 1st) carried a story headlined “Worms invade inpatient building site, threaten to upend project.”

This gist of the report was that a ngaokeoke or New Zealand velvet worm, which apparently was named the country’s top invertebrate this year (!) was eating into plants near the piles for the planned new Dunedin Hospital Inpatient building.

JC: The Left Are Unfit to Govern

Many of us have been aware over our lifetime that the left are unfit to govern. Considering the events of the past week, one could justifiably add the word manifestly. Nobody with an ounce of common sense would consider them a viable alternative to the current government. No one in their right mind would entertain these out of touch loons being let anywhere near the levers of power. They are a complete disgrace, the lot of them, and, whether they realise it or not, they are consigning themselves to the dustbin of history.

Mike's Minute: Labour are the ones with a Greens issue

As exercised as some have been this week about social media, the Greens and their behaviour, the bigger issue is not the Greens, but Labour and all who might support them into Government.

As much as we may froth and hyperventilate about any given issue of the day or small firestorm, who runs the country and how is what we all ultimately should be focused on.

David Lillis: Non-Conventional Medicines: Choices for All?

Disclaimer

I have written this article as a person not trained in medicine, though I have had extensive interaction with people who are suffering from cancer and have provided a very small amount of statistical advice to cancer researchers. I am concerned that we create a problem when we offer the choice between conventional medicine and other treatments. This is because people who choose the latter tend to have worse outcomes than those who choose conventional medicine. Because this article is intended for a lay audience, I refer to secondary sources of information rather than primary, research-based, sources. So - I leave it to the reader to consider what I have said, conduct further investigation and either accept or reject my arguments. 

Professor Robert MacCulloch: Finance Minister Willis Quietly Trashes NZ's Economic Institutions.....

Finance Minister Willis Quietly Trashes NZ's Economic Institutions thinking No-one will Notice: RBNZ Independence ended on 31 March, 2025, the day she did the Bidding for Big Monopoly Banks

We're going to make a significant allegation today. From all I know and have found out, it is an accurate portrayal of facts. To the extent its true - and I believe it is - Willis should finish up as Finance Minister. Indeed, as a politician of any sort.

Dr Will Jones: Marine Le Pen Banned From Standing in Next Presidential Election

Marine Le Pen will not be allowed to stand in France’s next Presidential election after being banned from politics for five years following conviction on embezzlement charges in a ruling condemned by Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister as a “declaration of war by Brussels”. The Telegraph has more.

The National Rally (RN) chief was also handed a four-year prison sentence, of which two years are suspended, and a €100,000 fine.

David Dempsey: NZ’s plan to drill for ‘supercritical’ geothermal energy holds promise and risk....

Hotter and deeper: how NZ’s plan to drill for ‘supercritical’ geothermal energy holds promise and risk

New Zealand’s North Island features a number of geothermal systems, several of which are used to generate some 1,000 MegaWatts of electricity. But deeper down there may be even more potential.

The government is now investing NZ$60 million to explore what is known as “supercritical” geothermal energy, following five years of feasibility research led by GNS Science.

Kerre Woodham: There's got to be a happy medium in health and safety

The war on road cones has ratcheted up, with the coalition government setting up a hotline for people to report the overzealous use of road cones and no, it's not an April Fool's joke. The hotline is part of a first tranche of measures introduced by Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden, designed to reform the country's health and safety laws so businesses can focus on the necessary and the essential - not on the “senseless and superfluous” as Brooke van Velden told Mike Hosking this morning.

Peter Williams: The Greens just can’t say sorry

The reaction of the Greens to Winston Peters post about the MP Benjamin Doyle’s pre-Parliament social media activity has been one of all-out attack.

There was no comment whatsoever from them about what looks like some suspicious behaviour by the now MP when he posted pictures of himself with a young boy and used phrases such as “biblebeltbussy” and “bussy galore” alongside them.

Ele Ludemann: TPM moving from protest to peopleism

A faction in Te Pāti Māori is urging the party to change from racial activism to peopleism.

Spokesperson Moana Nikau says that TPM, its MPs and policies are political poison to all but a tiny group of radical supporters of the grievance industry.

Professor Robert MacCulloch: NZME Board Fights to Stop a Takeover......

NZME Board Fights to Stop a Takeover, alleging no Bias, whilst at the same time the Herald Editor's "Letter of the Week" is a Biased Spewing of Trump-Hating Nonsense.

The NZME (Herald's) Board represents NZ's Old Guard. Its Chair is also a Director of Big Monopoly Bank BNZ, Monopoly Fletcher Building and sits on the Board of (Secret Adviser to the National Party) the NZ Initiative. The Board, in rebuffing a takeover bid by Jim Grenon says, "NZME has a broad audience and to maximize revenue we must produce content which appeals to a diverse range of perspectives". How hilarious. What planet is the Board living on?

Tuesday April 1, 2025 

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Chris Lynch: Government announces new plan for Interislander ferries and infrastructure overhaul

Cabinet has signed off on the package, which Peters said will deliver the right ships and infrastructure at a significantly lower cost to taxpayers than the previous plan.

“Our solution will be markedly cheaper than the cancelled $3.1 billion programme and the $4 billion figure officials warned the last Government about,” Peters said.

Matt Ridley: How the Green Energy Transition Makes You Poorer

A leaked government analysis has found that Net Zero could crash the economy, reducing GDP by a massive 10% by 2030. Yet the spectacular thing about this analysis is that it expects this to happen not if Net Zero fails—but if it succeeds. In effect, it is saying that if the government really does force us to give up petrol cars, gas boilers, foreign holidays, and beef, then there would be perfectly workable things left idle, such as cars, boilers, planes, and cows. Idling—or stranding—your assets in this way is an expensive economic disaster.

Bob Edlin: How local bodies invoke the Treaty to justify governance arrangements at odds with universal suffrage

Discriminatory

adjective

treating a person or group differently from and usually worse than other people, because of their race, gender, sexuality, etc.:

PoO checked out the dictionary meaning after reading of a councillor in Taumaranui who wanted to re-label her council’s Māori ward referendum as discriminatory, only to be advised the word was inappropriate because the poll must be conducted impartially.

What a bummer!

Lindsay Mitchell: RNZ showcases why nobody trusts mainstream media

A brief post to set the record straight.

Today RNZ is running an article entitled, Do you know what people on benefits actually get?

Joanne Nova: Bankers now abandoning Net Zero too

Banks are not only fleeing from the Net-Zero Bankers club, now they are abandoning their own Net Zero targets too, and in dumping them, we find out they never meant a damn thing anyway. It’s the complete disassembly of a plastic onion, every layer just a fake as the layer before.

But none of these news or investor outlets is even asking the right questions — why did anyone think banks wanted to save the world? How did it ever make sense to pretend that banking institutions were going to turn themselves into Global Angels, fixing the weather, harrassing their clients to switch to paper bags, and turning down loans for coal miners?

Michael Reddell: Not much parliamentary scrutiny

This was the post I was planning to write this morning to mark Orr’s final day. That said, if the underlying events – deliberate attempts to mislead Parliament – were Orr’s doing, the post is more about the apparent uselessness of Parliament (specifically the Finance and Expenditure Committee) in holding him and the rest of the Bank (other MPC members, Board) to account. This is just one small example.

Corey Smith: The Arctic of the Deal: Greenland Redux

Despite the objections of Danish and Greenlandic officials, Vice President JD Vance flew to Greenland Friday morning with his wife and a few delegates to Pituffik Space Base. He was the first sitting VP to visit the base, giving the trip a historic undertone while displaying how serious the Trump administration is about bolstering America’s presence in the Arctic. Though Vance’s speech seemed to carry a message slightly different from the president’s remarks about the island over the last few months, the goal was the same: national and international security. Sounds great, but is Trump serious about using force to take control of an ally’s territory?

Mike Grimshaw: All stick and no carrot?

What is it that this government wants school leavers and young people to do? It is becoming clear what it does not want them to do, but it is far more uncertain and unclear as to what it is they wish the vast majority of young people to actually do if current options of study are withheld, withdrawn or made too expensive for many to contemplate undertaking?

Simon O'Connor: Woke, but not awake

Another scandal developing around a Green Party MP shows how a woke mainstream media are consciously choosing to remain asleep when it comes to certain people and issues.

The meaning is also quite straightforward. For me, those who are woke have such a moral certainty that their view of the world is right, that they are more than happy to attack, mock, deride, or de-platform anyone who opposes them. So convinced of their deep moral awareness, they leave no room for self-doubt or discussion with others. So convinced in fact, they become emotional even hearing counter-arguments! Their eyes are so open – so awake – that they never think to blink, to refresh, or see perhaps things from a different perspective.

Chris McVeigh KC: The Haka

Does anyone agree with me that the haka has had its day? Its ubiquity has been its undoing. In a generally reticent country, the haka has allowed otherwise emotionally shy New Zealanders to give vent to their feelings in an acceptably vigorous manner. It has become a substitute for genuine displays of sentiment and, as such, has become a parody of itself. Once that happens to any activity, its future is doomed.

Andrew Bydder: The Councils’ Gold‐Plated White Elephants

Imagine a gold‐plated Rolls Royce for one million dollars. NZTA offers to give you $500,000 towards buying it, because it has a five‐star safety rating and your current car only has four stars.