Breaking Views Update: Week of 31.8.25

Monday September 1, 2025 

News:
The House: Tikanga for Parliament
Parliament's colonial Westminster underpinnings sometimes jar against modern Kiwi sensibilities, especially with te ao Māori.

A notable recent occasion was the degree to which Parliament was flummoxed by an unsanctioned haka in the chamber.

Bob Edlin: Repair work for Transmission Gulley......

Roman roads are remembered as the Govt signals repair work just three years after Transmission Gully opening

The PoO team has been reminded that the Romans built an extensive, durable, and standardised network of roads that spanned the entire Roman Empire from Britain to the Middle East.

Dr Oliver Hartwich: When the numbers tell a different story to the government

Last week, New Zealand’s Reserve Bank (RBNZ) cut interest rates to 3.0 percent. The government was quick to take the credit. “Taking the pressure off inflation has allowed the Reserve Bank to lower the OCR when it needs to be adjusted,” a media release claimed. “The Government’s responsible economic management is making a difference.”

Dr Benno Blaschke: When more means less

Auckland desperately needs homes. Under thirties are giving up on finding homes while politicians promise solutions. So, when the government ordered Auckland Council to allow taller buildings – up to six stories – it looked like progress. Finally, more flats!

The Council unveiled shiny maps showing where six-storey buildings could sprout across the city. Politicians smiled for the cameras. Problem solved, right?

Not quite.

Dr James Keirstead: Amazing grades

In my last Insights column, I explained what grade inflation is and why it’s bad. I also surveyed research showing that grade inflation is a problem at universities in the US, the UK, and Australia. 

What about New Zealand? My report Amazing Grades: Grade Inflation at New Zealand Universities, which was released this week, shows that grade inflation is a problem here too.

Nick Clark: Local government reform - curing the patient?

When council rates rise at five times the rate of inflation, while water pipes burst and potholes multiply, something has gone very wrong.

Council rates jumped 12% last year, the steepest increase in decades, and will on average increase 9% this year. Ratepayers are angry. No wonder there have been calls for the government to impose rates caps.

Matua Kahurangi: Today patriots March for Australia

Today, Australians across the country will take to the streets in what is being called the March for Australia. The mainstream media are already rushing to paint it as “racist” or “bigoted,” but nothing could be further from the truth. At its core, this movement is about ordinary Australians standing up against mass immigration, the political cowardice enabling it, and the erosion of national identity.

Alwyn Poole: The Tremendously Underwhelming Response of Erica Stanford to a VERY key question.

Kerre Woodham hosted Minister Stanford on Newstalk ZB during the week. There were positive aspects and responses to questions from callers.

However, it came massively unstuck towards the end when Kerre asked what parents can do for their children re education.

It is a truism to state that parents are far more important/influential than teachers/schools.

David Farrar: The gift of the Greens

Roger Partridge writes:

The Greens’ coronation of Chlöe Swarbrick at last weekend’s AGM delivered a manifesto for economic transformation that would make Soviet economists nostalgic for their glory days.

Swarbrick delivered a speech that was part meditation retreat, part political rally. She declared her party “leading the Opposition,” positioned herself as Finance Minister-in-waiting, and announced her intention to overhaul capitalism.

Mike's Minute: The Govt hasn't followed through on cutting the public sector

It is with real enthusiasm that I see the Public Service Commissioner potentially doing what the main Government should have done two years ago.

What the Government did two years ago was say they were going to rectify the absurd size of the public service.

 Sunday September 31, 2025 

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