Anglo Saxon: Moneti$ing Maoriness

Debunking Hinemoa Elder's racist agenda.

The largest industry within New Zealand is the maori grievance industry. It has the greatest turnover by far of any business enterprise in New Zealand; and here's the kicker.. its completely non profit; it produces nothing; zero; nada; completely a zero sum game. The entire industry is a mind numbingly massive tax payer funded redistribution of wealth. Our best and brightest hop on a plane.. who can blame them?

Click to view

Matua Kahurangi: No swimming, no fishing, no voice

New Zealanders need to wake up. A spiritual decree has just shut down hundreds of kilometres of public coastline, and almost no one dares question it. Why? Because it’s wrapped in the untouchable cloak of tikanga Māori.

David Farrar: More taxpayer funded lobbying?

Stuff reports:

Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka has asked his officials for urgent advice around “electioneering” concerns related to a Whānau Ora advertisement encouraging Māori to sign up for the Māori roll was released this week.

The half-hour ad was rolled out by the Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency this week, featuring artist and activist Tame Iti (Ngāi Tūhoe).

Ani O'Brien: What is in a name? Te Puna Aonui

Without Googling, do you know what the agency does?

Minister Karen Chhour has made the decision to rename Te Puna Aonui. The name translates to "spring of enlightenment" or a "source of wisdom and collective action" and the minister says it is not clear enough to New Zealanders what the venture is and who it serves.

Dr James Allan: Annoyances

Here are a few things that get my goat. They really annoy me. Start with the strange coalition between open borders Left-wing progressives and chamber of commerce types (some, but fewer these days, nominally conservative) about how ‘there are jobs locals won’t do’. A mere moment’s thought tells you that’s wrong. Such claims aren’t that far off the ante-bellum, pre-US Civil War queries from some in the south about ‘who will pick the cotton if we end slavery?’ It’s simple. In market economies all jobs will be filled if you offer to pay enough. All of them without exception. It’s just supply and demand.

DTNZ: Petition demands Covid-19 Royal Commission summon Ardern, Bloomfield and Hipkins

A new petition is demanding that New Zealand’s Covid-19 Royal Commission of Inquiry compel key political and health figures to testify under oath about their roles in the country’s pandemic response.

Centrist: Ngāpuhi talks face ultimatum as government pushes for single settlement

The government is signalling the clock is ticking on Ngāpuhi Treaty talks, with Treaty Minister Paul Goldsmith warning negotiations “can’t be as long as forever” and should conclude by 2040.

NZ First’s Shane Jones, who is drafting a Member’s Bill to force a single Ngāpuhi settlement, said taxpayers had already spent “well beyond $20 million” and could not afford endless delays.

Dr Michael Johnston: The Johnston test for human intelligence

Philosophers love to dream up strange scenarios to get us thinking. They call these scenarios ‘thought experiments.’

In 1980, philosopher John Searle published his ‘Chinese room’ thought experiment. Searle asked his readers to imagine someone who understands no Chinese sitting alone in a room with a very large book.

The book contains instructions for manipulating Chinese symbols, to produce a plausible response to any statement or question written in Chinese.

Dr Eric Crampton: For more help and less noise

Parliament is supreme but it is not infallible.

Governments often propose policies that are wrong in principle. And even when policy is right in principle, it is easy to make mistakes when drafting legislation.

Nick Clark: NZ’s infrastructure paradox - When spending more delivers less

A peculiar economic paradox appears to govern infrastructure development in modern New Zealand: the more we spend on infrastructure, the less we seem to get for it.

This uncomfortable reality was a key takeaway from last week’s launch of the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission’s Draft National Infrastructure Plan.

 Sunday June 29, 2025 

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Insights From Social Media

Democracy Delayed Is Democracy Denied - Tom Henry

When New Zealanders voted in 2023, they didn’t just want a better economy and safer streets—THEY WANTED THEIR COUNTRY BACK. They voted to END race-based laws, DEFEND freedom, and RESTORE the rule of law. The Coalition Agreement spelled that out in black and white. Yet what do we get from the Prime Minister? Selective memory and political evasion. Mr Luxon’s pre-budget speech cherry-picks from the voter mandate, but ignores the very foundation of why Kiwis demanded change in the first place.

Net Zero Samizdat: Robbing Peter to pay Paul

UK

Tinkering with the grid

Keir Starmer mooted the idea of removing green levies from electricity bills for intensive users, but only from 2027. Net Zero Watch pointed out that the cost still needed to be paid, so this move would just increase bills for everyone else (see blog section below).

Dr Bryce Wilkinson: Two suggestions for handling a deluge of submissions.

How should a select committee respond to a deluge of submissions? Does it matter if many submissions are part of a campaign playing on whipped up fears?

Such questions now confront our select committees. A process-oriented Bill before Parliament has apparently attracted over 133,000 whipped up submissions.

Matua Kahurangi: Stuff sinks to new low as convicted thief Golriz Ghahraman becomes their voice on Iran

Stuff has just confirmed what many Kiwis already suspected. The line between journalism and activist propaganda has all but disappeared. In its latest farce, Lloyd Burr and the Stuff editorial team have handed a megaphone to none other than Golriz Ghahraman, the disgraced former Green Party MP and convicted serial shoplifter, to lecture New Zealanders on the state of democracy in Iran.

Mike's Minute: NZ is better than we think

A friend of ours opened a new business last week.

It was a soft opening and will be full steam ahead by the school holidays.

So far he is going gangbusters. There's a lot of local support and it looks like a good news story.

Matua Kahurangi: Pae Tata exposes the University of Otago's real agenda

Race-based control dressed up as reform

Just as I was about to grab lunch, Ani O’Brien flicked me a DM on X. No message, no context - just an image of what looked like a poster titled "Pae Tata Strategic Plan to 2030." It caught my eye immediately. Only a day earlier, I’d written about official OIA documents showing that Māori and Pacific Island students can get into the University of Otago’s medical school with grades as low as 65 percent, while non-Māori need to hit around 91. You can read that below.

Ani O'Brien: A week is a long time - 28 June 2025

Rest in peace, Takutai Tarsh Moana Kemp

Having only just celebrated her 50th birthday, Te Pāti Māori MP Takutai Tarsh Kemp sadly passed away this week. She had been diagnosed with kidney disease last year and was receiving treatment. She was on the waiting list for a transplant. The assumption has been that she succumbed to her illness.

Kerre Woodham: I'm a fan of building around the train stations - with caveats

The Government has instructed Auckland Council to allow apartment buildings of at least 15 storeys near key train stations as the City Rail Link nears completion. Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Auckland Minister Simeon Brown said the Government would require Auckland to allow even greater housing and development around the CRL stations than had been planned, to ensure that Auckland takes economic advantage of this transformational investment in the city.

Bob Edlin: Collins makes no mention of iwi, demi-gods – or public funding....

Collins makes no mention of iwi, demi-gods – or public funding – in update on Tāwhaki space development

When it was first announced on June 1 2021 by Megan Woods, who then was Minister of Research, Science and Innovation, Project Tāwhaki was lauded as an “exemplar Māori-Crown partnership”.

David Farrar: Yes we should means test Super

Radio NZ reports:

More than 9000 people aged over 65 earn more than $200,000 a year, and another 33,000 earn between $100,000 and $200,000 – and the Retirement Commissioner says it’s fair to question whether they should be able to claim NZ Super as well.

Saturday June 28, 2025 

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John Porter: If Reversed it Would be Called Racism

American political economist Benjamin Friedman, author of Religion and the Rise of Capitalism, a basic reassessment of the underpinnings of today’s economics, once compared modern Western society to a bicycle whose forward momentum was kept going by continuing economic growth. He expounded that should that forward-propelling motion slow or cease, the pillars that define our society – our democracies, our individual liberties and social tolerance - would begin to falter.

Further warning, “…if society was unable to get the wheels back in motion, countries would eventually face total societal collapse”. 

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Should Moana Pasifika be saved?

There’s a strong chance that this has been Moana Pasifika's best and last season in super rugby. 

Do you want them to have another one? 

And if so, how much should the taxpayer put in to save it? 

Would you pay $7million? Because that’s apparently what they’re short.

Breaking Views Update: Week of 22.6.25

Saturday June 28, 2025 

News:
Family violence prevention minister Karen Chhour ditches Māori name for agency, forming new group instead of ‘Māori-only one’
The minister in charge of family violence prevention is ditching the Māori name for a collective established to deliver a whole-of-government approach to the issue.

Karen Chhour, an Act MP, is also forming a new “multi-cultural” advisory group with members of different communities, something she said has led to concerns being raised by “the current Māori-only one”.

David Farrar: NZ First MP quits

The Herald reports:

New Zealand First MP Tanya Unkovich is resigning from Parliament to take up “coaching and consultancy” roles in the private sector.

In a statement released this morning, Unkovich confirmed she had resigned as an MP, saying her skills would be of better use elsewhere.

DTNZ: Mallard’s office faces High Court action....

Mallard’s office faces High Court action after ignoring police warnings in Parliament protest crackdown

Former Speaker of the House and now ambassador to Ireland Trevor Mallard is facing a High Court lawsuit from a teenage girl who was 11 during the 2022 anti-mandate protest at Parliament.

Chris Lynch: Victims to have final say on name suppression under new law

Victims of sexual violence will soon be given the power to decide whether their abuser’s name is suppressed, following a law change passed in Parliament today.

Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith said the legislation would return victims to the centre of the justice system, with new measures focused on reducing trauma and delivering real consequences for offenders.

Peter Dunne: Regional Councils Unnecessary Overlay?

In politics, things often turn full circle. National's current musings about the future of regional councils following New Zealand First’s call for their abolition is the latest example.

Regional councils were established following major reforms instituted by the fourth Labour Government in 1989. The aim of those reforms was to streamline what was then considered to be a cumbersome and inefficient structure with over 850 ad hoc boards and councils.

Ele Ludemann: This will upset the left

The left were upset by what they regarded as right-wing changes to the NZ Herald board, this change will get them even more excited:

Outspoken broadcaster and former Breakfast host Paul Henry is set to make an extraordinary comeback to the state-owned television network, as a director on an overhauled TVNZ board.

Mike's Minute: Why are we concerned about the age of workers?

We've got more ageism, this time in education.

Unions are "concerned" as more teachers work past retirement age.

This in part is the trouble with unions.

Friday June 27, 2025 

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Peter Williams: Will education legislation really change?

The Minister seems keen on teaching spiritual matters

The legislative relationship between New Zealand education and the Treaty of Waitangi is a recent one.

Up till 1989 there was no reference to it at all in the prevailing Education Act. It was taught as part of the history curriculum, although most classroom experiences will be of it being glossed over under three headings – Māori chiefs said Britain could take over New Zealand, they could keep their own land unless they sold it to the Crown, and everybody who lived in New Zealand had the same rights.

Matua Kahurangi: Erica Stanford sneaks race-based policy back into schools

Just when you thought National put an end to race-based policies and co-governance in public services, Erica Stanford’s new Education and Training Amendment Bill (No 2) makes you wonder if National has completely lost sight of those promises. It reads more like something from the Labour government than the party Kiwis voted in to restore some common sense.

The bill would require school boards to give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi by:

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: The Moana Pasifika revelation could do huge damage

How disappointing is the revelation that Whānau Ora money has been used to fund the Moana Pasifika rugby team? 

How disappointing is that?

And this is not a criticism of the team. I mean, the team has been one of the rockstar stories of the Super Rugby season. This is about the funding.

Mike's Minute: We can't get out of our own way on Super

From the "we can't get out of our own way" file comes the question, as posed this week by the Retirement Commissioner, as to whether people who have money in the bank should get the pension.

The first part that is wrong with that is I thought we had decided many a decade ago, rightly or wrongly, that Super is an entitlement.

Chris Morrison: Trees Get Bigger Around the World Thanks to Higher CO2 Levels

Recent scientific investigation, curiously missing from constant mainstream media reports of ecological Armageddon, confirms that trees are getting larger around the world due to higher levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide fertilisation. A little extra of the gas of life, nature’s bountiful plant food, has led to bigger trees and more leaf growth over the last few decades.

Philip Crump: The Strategic Power of Long Range Strikes

Operation Midnight Hammer brings to mind another long-range bombing campaign that demonstrated the power of strategic resolve.

As the uneasy cease-fire between Israel and Iran enters its second day, initial indications about the battle damage assessment are starting to find their way into the media. In particular, a leaked preliminary assessment by the US Defense Intelligence Agency suggests that the American strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities have delayed Tehran’s nuclear programme by months rather than years.

Matua Kahurangi: Apartheid has no place in New Zealand

University of Otago must end its racial discrimination

In New Zealand, we pride ourselves on fairness, equality, and opportunity. We are told that success comes from hard work, merit, and commitment. However, at Otago University’s medical school, one of the country’s most “prestigiously woke” institutions, that fundamental promise is being betrayed.

Matua Kahurangi: Brian Tamaki calls out mass immigration and multiculturalism

In a fiery interview on The Platform with Sean Plunket, Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki delivered a no-holds-barred critique of New Zealand's immigration and multicultural policies, arguing that the country is losing its identity, values, and cohesion under a wave of unregulated mass immigration and imported ideologies.

Kerre Woodham: Is there a way we can regulate weapons in schools?

This morning we thought we'd start with the fact that more and more kids, it seems, are bringing weapons to school,

And we're not talking about the States, we're talking about New Zealand. Figures released under the Official Information Act show that 526 students were stood down, suspended or excluded for using or having a weapon at school last year.

Bob Edlin: The decline of democracy – can the trend be reversed?

The V-Dem Institute – an abbreviation of Varieties of Democracy Institute – is an independent research institute in Sweden which undertakes the V-Dem Project, a database that aims to conceptualize and measure democracy.

It defines democracy using seven key principles (electoral, liberal, participatory, deliberative, egalitarian, majoritarian, and consensual). And it distinguishes between five high-level principles of democracy: electoral, liberal, participatory, deliberative, and egalitarian.

Ele Ludemann: Politicking with public money

Whanau Ora is politicking with public money:

The Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency has launched the longest ad ever made in Aotearoa urging more Māori to sign up to the Māori Electoral Roll. . .

The ad features artist and activist Tame Iti (Ngāi Tūhoe) alone in a cavernous space reading a ‘Māori roll call’ of New Zealanders who have recently joined the Māori electoral roll for 30 minutes. . .

Thursday June 26, 2025 

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Te Pāti Māori Are Out To Sabotage MMP

Michael Laws, on The Platform, explains how Te Pati Maori rort the MMP voting system.

Click to view

David Farrar: A huge boost for GP funding

The Herald reports:

General practitioners will get up to 13.89% more funding this year in a new agreement the Government hopes will eventually lead to faster care.

Health Minister Simeon Brown said the $175 million increase was the biggest – by more than double – since the current funding system began. …

Insights From Social Media

Rex Anderson writes > Middle-class whites are not the problem! 

You'd think we are living in Zimbabwe or Somalia, not New Zealand.

Here we go again, the culturally hypnotised right and its bottom-feeding "don't let facts get in the way of a good story" media!

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: The academics need to harden up here

Have you caught up on the drama between the academics and David Seymour? Can I just respectfully suggest that the academics need to harden up?

They are upset because David Seymour has published a 'Victim of the Day' on social media, and he seems to be doing it reasonably regularly. It's featuring academics who are upset about the Regulatory Standards Bill - and then it's mocking them for that.

Bjorn Lomborg: The Physics Behind the Spanish Blackout

Madrid knew solar and wind power were unreliable but pressed ahead anyway.

When a grid failure plunged 55 million people in Spain and Portugal into darkness at the end of April, it should have been a wake-up call on green energy. Climate activists promised that solar and wind power were the future of cheap, dependable electricity. The massive half-day blackout shows otherwise. The nature of solar and wind generation makes grids that rely on them more prone to collapse—an issue that’s particularly expensive to ameliorate.

Mike's Minute: We need leadership on the Ngāpuhi settlement

Is Shane Jones showing the Minister for Treaty Negotiations Paul Goldsmith how to run his own portfolio?

In response to Jones and his Member's bill on the never ending Ngāpuhi drama, Goldsmith says the process can't go on forever.

Which is the same as saying nothing, because clearly it is, and Goldsmith clearly has no plan.

DTNZ: Iran confirms ceasefire with Israel

Tehran has warned that it will deliver a “decisive response” to any violations of the truce by West Jerusalem.

Iran has agreed to a ceasefire with Israel since Tehran’s military objectives have been achieved, the Iranian Supreme National Security Council has announced.

John McLean: Sinophilia at the helm of Zealandia

Sinophilia (noun): Strong admiration for all things China

Christopher Luxon is a Sinophile. New Zealand’s Prime Minister drinks deep of The Kool Sino-Aid.

Immediately after visiting China, Luxon announced on 21 June 2025, “We haven't seen evidence of those four powers [China, Russia, Iran & North Korea] coordinating in a way, actively against the West”. Luxon was not speaking on behalf of anyone other than himself. The “We” was therefore a Royal We (even though Luxo aint no monarch).

Matua Kahurangi: $16 Million for Ukraine while Kiwis can't afford the basics

Our hospitals are underfunded, schools are falling apart, and the Government is handing out cash to foreign grifters

Alright, you’re gonna need a vodka for this one. The New Zealand Government has just announced it will send another $16 million of taxpayer money to Ukraine. $16 million taken from hardworking Kiwis and sent overseas to a conflict that has nothing to do with us. While people in this country are sitting on surgery waitlists, teachers are burning out in overcrowded classrooms, and the health system is on its knees, Cindyboy thinks it's a priority to bankroll one of the most corrupt nations in Europe.

Ele Ludemann: NZ isn’t Switzerland

International instability and growing fears of war spreading our way have led to some asking if New Zealand should be like Switzerland.

Switzerland’s neutrality has been recognised in international law since 1815. It means refraining from participating in armed conflicts, military alliances, and not favouring any warring party.

David Farrar: Yes we should scrap regional councils

The Herald reports:

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says he wants to explore the possibility of scrapping New Zealand’s regional councils as the Government reforms the Resource Management Act.

NZ First minister Shane Jones told a local government forum last week his party does not see a compelling case for maintaining regional government.