Ani O'Brien: A week is a long time: 20 December 2025

🇦🇺 Naming the problem in the Bondi Beach Terror Attack

There is nothing I can say that has not already been said about the terror attack at Bondi Beach this week. The details are well known, the heroes, the victims, and the evil perpetrators have been named. What I will do is name plainly the things that unfortunately are not always named as explicitly as they should be…

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Two Islamist terrorists, father and son, planned and executed an attack on a Jewish community event because they wanted to inflict maximum terror and destruction on Jewish Australians, Jews around the world, and all “infidels”. They chose their target because their extremist radical ideology teaches them to hate Jews above all else. It also teaches them that there is honour, glory, and eternal reward for those who slaughter Jews and infidels. Read a piece I wrote about the problem of Islamist terror in the West soon after news of the attack broke.

There are many beautiful and tragic stories of heroism displayed that day. From Boris and Sofia Gurman who were killed trying to disarm the terrorists, to Ahmed al-Ahmed who tackled and disarmed one of them before being shot, to the detective who incredibly shot dead one of the terrorists from behind a narrow tree, and all of those who sheltered others from the bullets. Read these stories. They are good for the soul.

My heartbreaks for all of the victims and their families. But especially for little Matilda. We owe it to all of them, but especially her, to demand change. To demand our governments stop acting as doormats to extremists.

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🇦🇺 Foiled attack? Seven arrested “extremists” released by police

There were dramatic scenes in Liverpool in Sydney’s south-west just days after the Bondi attack when specialist police arrested seven men, aged 19-24, based on intelligence that a “violent act was possibly being planned”, including indications they may have been travelling toward Bondi. However, all seven men were released without charge after investigators found insufficient evidence to justify continued detention, and authorities have stated there is no confirmed link between this group and the Bondi attackers, though they will continue to be monitored.

NSW Police Deputy Commissioner David Hudson said that it is believed that they hold “extremist Islamic ideology” and ABC reported “intelligence sources confirmed one of the men arrested in the dramatic vehicle interception in Sydney’s south-west was under investigation by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO).” However, allegedly the only weapon found on them was a knife.

🇺🇸 Brown University and MIT Professor murders committed by same man

A mass shooting at Brown University and the subsequent killing of an MIT professor have now been formally linked by law enforcement. Initially there was speculation about whether these murders were targeted at Jews also as MIT professor Nuno F. G. Loureiro was Jewish and there were reports of Jewish connections to the class at Brown. Now, police have confirmed that both attacks were perpetrated by Claudio Neves Valente (48) and say they are still trying to establish motive.

Valente opened fire inside a Brown University academic building during final exam period, killing two teenagers and injuring several others. Days later, Nuno F. G. Loureiro was found fatally shot at his home in Massachusetts. Investigators say that Valente and Loureiro attended the same university in Portugal more than two decades ago.

McSkimming gets away with home detention and no sex offenders register

Former Deputy Police Commissioner Jevon McSkimming has been sentenced to just 9 months’ home detention after pleading guilty to 3 representative charges of possessing objectionable material, including child sexual abuse and bestiality images, much of which he accessed on police-issued devices during work hours. The offending involved thousands of internet searches over several years. A total of 2,945 images were assessed as objectionable.

McSkimming’s defence was that he suffered from a pornography addiction that “overwhelmed him”, and he sought increasingly extreme material to “feel anything.” A pre-sentence report, however, criticised his entitled attitude and noted that his expressions of remorse focused more on the consequences for himself and his family than on the harm to victims or his contribution to the global child abuse industry.

Despite this, Judge Tim Black adopted a starting point of three years’ imprisonment, applying discounts for McSkimming’s guilty plea, rehabilitation efforts, prior good character and remorse, and citing the risk he would face in prison. The resulting 18-month prison sentence was commuted to home detention, and the judge declined to place McSkimming on the child sex offender register. How does someone get a discount for remorse when his pre-sentencing report says he isn’t remorseful?

Polls and end of year at Parliament

The end-of-year speeches in Parliament were full of the traditional banter and barbs, and the consensus seems to be that in the Parliamentary Christmas ‘roast’ session, Christopher Luxon wiped the floor with Chris Hipkins. But a recent poll, arguably a pretty rogue one, flips the winner/loser dynamic.

The Post/Freshwater Strategy poll, surveyed between December 5 to 10, shows Labour on 38% and National on 30%. This has the media all excited, but a 1News-Verian poll also in early December had National at 36% ahead of Labour on 35%. Polls are always interesting, but it is the longterm trends we should put more stock in and the centre-right has consistently had the numbers to continue governing albeit with a narrower margin.

Things on the left are also a lot more complex and the chaos is unable to be masked by just one good poll. As Henry Cooke lays out, Hipkins has a big choice to make regarding his troublesome potential coalition partner Te Pāti Māori. Labour must decide whether to try to crush TPM outright (if they think they can win all Māori electorates) or hope they scrape through with a seat or two to preserve post-election options. It is a massive gamble and many of the variables are way out of Labour’s control.

Meanwhile the Greens are trying to sort out their shit for 2026 after a catastrophic term thus far. Their new Chief of Staff Kevin Hague is rumoured to be attempting to tidy up discipline, but is well aware of the challenge he has with the damage co-leader Chloe Swarbrick has done to her brand with her polarising and manic obsession with Palestine.

HYEFU, GDP, Chorus debt

This week’s Half-Year Economic and Fiscal Update landed against a mixed but shifting economic backdrop. Treasury confirmed a slower-than-expected recovery, weaker tax take, and higher debt, with no return to surplus now forecast until 2029/30, underscoring the fiscal pressure the Government faces heading into an election year. At the same time, September quarter GDP rebounded, with the economy expanding 1.1%, well ahead of Reserve Bank forecasts. Quarterly figures can be volatile and subject to revision, but the broad-based nature of the recent growth with 14 out of 16 industries expanding, has led many analysts to conclude that the recession of the past two years is now behind us, and that 2026 could be a year of modest but more sustained expansion.

However, household consumption remains flat, reinforcing the political reality that while the macro picture is improving, cost-of-living pressures remain acute for families. Guess which picture informs people’s votes?

This week, the Government has also confirmed plans to sell the Crown’s remaining Chorus debt early, raising hundreds of millions to be reinvested into capital projects such as schools, hospitals and roads. Ministers say this is pragmatic infrastructure funding rather than privatisation, arguing it accelerates the redeployment of capital that would otherwise not be repaid until the mid-2030s. The move signals a broader strategy likely to feature in Budget 2026 and the election campaign: asset monetisation to fund infrastructure without materially worsening headline debt.

John Tamihere shows again why he is Teflon John

Incredibly, the cat with a million lives, John Tamihere, has had another reprieve with his Waipareira Trust narrowly avoiding deregistration after a 6 year Charities Services investigation into hundreds of thousands of dollars the social services provider advanced to support the political campaigns of (you guessed it) John Tamihere. The trust could remain registered only after being forced to implement significant governance and structural changes, warning the case highlighted serious failures around conflicts of interest, private benefit, and oversight. Waipareira has agreed to cease funding political parties or candidates, restructure its entities, accept ongoing regulatory monitoring, and appoint independent oversight.

Interestingly, regulators found that when Waipareira demanded repayment of more than $385,000 in campaign loans, the trust paid Tamihere a bonus of the exact same amount, offsetting the debt on the same day and conferring what the Charities Registration Board described as a significant private benefit. That bonus, later acknowledged by the trust to be mistaken, was converted into an interest-bearing loan that Tamihere was required to repay to avoid deregistration. This saga also coincided with a 77% pay rise for senior executives, making Waipareira’s leadership the highest paid in the charitable sector.

Mark Cameron to get a kidney transplant

ACT MP Mark Cameron is preparing for a kidney transplant early next year after a decade-long battle with kidney disease, a procedure that is being made possible through the Australia–New Zealand Paired Kidney Exchange. His partner, Jodie Booth, donated a kidney into the system so that a compatible donor could be found for him in return. Cameron has been on dialysis since May and is currently isolating on his Northland farm to reduce infection risk ahead of surgery, after complications forced his transplant to be delayed. He hopes to return to Parliament once it resumes in the new year, grateful for the support he has received. Sending best wishes his way for a successful transplant and speedy recovery.

ACT MP Mark Cameron. Source: RNZ / Angus Dreaver

Voter fraud allegations bear fruit and result is declared void

A District Court judge has declared the local board election result for the Papatoetoe subdivision of the Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board void after finding that voting irregularities materially affected the outcome of the October 2025 local body election. The case was brought by former board deputy chair Lehopoaome Vi Hausia, who alleged widespread theft of voting papers and fraudulent voting, including dozens of votes cast in the names of people who said they never received ballot packs. Judge Richard McIlraith concluded the scale and nature of these irregularities were sufficient to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the result and voided the election, meaning a new election must be completed by 9 April 2026.

A disproportionate number of the irregular votes were found to go to Papatoetoe-Ōtara Action Team candidates. The Action Team was a new political ticket in the 2025 Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board election that swept all four available seats in the Papatoetoe subdivision of the board with candidates Kunal Bhalla, Sandeep Saini, Kushma Nair and Paramjeet Singh elected.

Separation of powers? Judiciary scolds another minister

What’s being dressed up as a noble defence of process is, in reality, an outrageous indulgence of a serial litigant and a judiciary increasingly convinced it should referee political judgment calls it has no democratic mandate to control. An activist with a history of taking harassment-style litigation, brought a case not to remove Human Rights Commissioner Stephen Rainbow and Race Relations Commissioner Melissa Derby nor remedy harm, but to make a point, and the High Court happily obliged, lecturing an elected minister for exercising discretion that ministers have always exercised. Apparently Minister of Justice Paul Goldsmith should have taken orders from a panel whose ‘conservative balance’ was provided by the Left’s latest pet ex-Nat Chris Finlayson.

Appointments to statutory bodies routinely rely on advice from panels, referees and officials, but they are advice, not commandments. Ministers are appointed precisely to weigh competing considerations, including political balance, public confidence and coalition realities.

Under the court’s reasoning, any number of appointments made during Labour’s six years in government could have been challenged simply because a minister preferred one candidate over another recommended by a panel. Matthew Tukaki, anyone?

The real danger here isn’t who sits in these roles, it’s a judiciary drifting into managerial oversight of executive discretion, egged on by activist litigants who know they can weaponise the courts to relitigate political losses.

🇺🇸 Judicial incompetence in NZ, good news in US

The interim judgment from Justice Wilkinson-Smith halting the ban on puberty blockers was poorly reasoned, out of date, and enraging. I wrote about it here. Her reasoning leans heavily on the idea that because puberty blockers are being prescribed, they must therefore be safe; a circular logic that would have kept lobotomies being performed. The judgment is strikingly out of date, largely ignoring the last five years of international evidence showing serious uncertainty around long-term harms, poor quality data, and growing concern from countries like the UK, Sweden and Finland, all of which have sharply restricted or rolled back their use in minors.

Contrast that with the direction of travel in the United States, where federal policy under Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has moved decisively to draw hard lines around irreversible medical interventions on minors, including banning or defunding transgender surgeries for under 18s. At least the USA acknowledges that children are not experimental subjects, and medicine does not get a free pass simply because it wears the language of compassion.

Chart of the Week:

With the Government rolling out their new roadside drug testing from 15th December I thought this was a good chart for this week.

Charted Daily: “About half of road fatalities in NZ involve driver alcohol or drug use. That’s why NZ Police do extensive alcohol testing and are increasingly testing for drugs.
It’s also a major reason why some of the highest-risk times of the week to be driving are Friday and Saturday nights.”

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In short - other stuff that happened:

• The Government has announced the creation of the Ministry of Cities, Environment, Regions and Transport (MCERT), a new “mega-ministry” merging the Ministry for the Environment, Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, Ministry of Transport, and local government functions from the Department of Internal Affairs.

• Former Shortland Street actor Brooklyn Nathan, 20, has pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm after he repeatedly punched a man in a road rage incident, breaking his eye socket, before fleeing the scene with his mother in a luxury SUV.

• 🇹🇴 Lord Fatafehi Fakafānua, a 40-year-old noble and former Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, has been elected Prime Minister of Tonga.

• National MP Louise Upston married her long-time partner, Hamish Craig, in an surprise ceremony at their family home in Karāpiro.

• 🇦🇺 A staff member at the University of Sydney was fired after video footage showed her verbally abusing Jewish students, calling them derogatory names including “the lowest form of rubbish” and “parasites.”

• ASB Bank has admitted liability to 7 breaches of the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act (AML/CFT Act), and has jointly recommended with the Reserve Bank a $6.73 million penalty in High Court proceedings.

• 🇫🇮 Miss Finland 2025 Sarah Dzafce was stripped of her crown after posting a social-media photo in which she pulled the corners of her eyes into a “slanted eyes” gesture with a caption interpreted as mocking Asian people.

• Two unaccompanied minors (girls 12 and 13) were left stranded in South Auckland instead of being dropped off at their intended central Auckland stop, despite having tickets and unaccompanied minor paperwork, and with flat phones.

• Netball New Zealand CEO Jennie Wyllie has resigned after just 18 months in the role, amid board tension, the Noelene Taurua drama, declining participation numbers, and criticism over governance and strategic direction.

• New Zealand Cricket chief executive Scott Weenink has resigned after three years, with the board citing the need for a different leadership approach as the organisation grapples with declining broadcast revenues, strained player relations.

• Marama Davidson has publicly criticised Financial Markets Authority chair Craig Stobo for submitting on the Treaty Principles Bill, arguing the regulator overstepped its mandate. Interesting timing.

• 🇬🇧 A British man has been sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment for two anti-immigration tweets posted after a German Christmas market car attack, despite the posts being viewed only dozens of times. His own brother-in-law dobbed him in as they did not get on.

• The Government is actively considering explicitly banning virginity testing, describing it as a harmful and unscientific practice linked to coercion and abuse, particularly within migrant communities. Officials acknowledge enforcement challenges, but argue a clear legal prohibition is necessary.

• Stanley Bay School principal Emma Tolmie has now resigned, but she has not been at the Devonport school since the board of trustees received a letter from teachers in May raising issues about her management style supported by all 14 staff.

• Stuff’s Tova O’Brien has been announced as Breakfast TV’s new host because apparently TVNZ is determined to ignore everything the market tells them.

• John Campbell has been announced as the new co-host of RNZ’s Morning Report because apparently RNZ is determined to ignore everything the market tells them.

• 🇪🇸 FC Barcelona confirmed that their basketball EuroLeague game against Maccabi Rapyid Tel Aviv on January 6 will take place without fans in attendance. They do not have confidence that antisemites supporting their team won’t attack Jewish fans.

Stuff I found interesting this week:

In The Intifada Comes to Australia, Ayaan Hirsi Ali argues that the Bondi Beach massacre was not an unforeseeable act of madness but the logical endpoint of years of indulged antisemitism. Writing with her usual forensic clarity, she situates the attack within a wider global pattern; Islamist ideology normalised through protest language, excused as politics, and tolerated by leaders more interested in reassurance than enforcement until rhetoric metastasises into violence.

Hirsi Ali condemns the political and cultural habit of treating calls for “intifada” as mere speech, arguing that history shows hatred is always rehearsed verbally before it is enacted physically. Against institutional failure, she elevates the moral courage of Ahmed al-Ahmed, who intervened to stop the attacker, as a model of real civic responsibility.

As a free speech advocate I find this is very interesting ground to interrogate and I am interesting to hear from readers about how lines can be drawn.

The madness continues. James Esses tweeted: “You couldn’t make it up.
This Christmas card, which was being sold in Sainsbury’s, has been pulled from the shelves, after complaints that it was ‘transphobic’.”

Ani O'Brien comes from a digital marketing background, she has been heavily involved in women's rights advocacy and is a founding council member of the Free Speech Union. This article was originally published on Ani's Substack Site and is published here with kind permission.