Clive Bibby: The canary in the coal mine

Much has been said about the government’s response to the Pike River tragedy, including the findings of the enquiry after the event which unfortunately left so many unanswered questions - especially when apportioning blame for the loss of life. And unfortunately Pike River is just another example of what happens wihen poor or even irresponsible Government oversight is allowed to affect outcomes that were avoidable.

Breaking Views Update: Week of 22.2.26

Sunday February 22, 2026 

News:
Govt to use funds from Visitor Levy to restore fire-damaged parts of Tongariro National Park

The government will use $3.5 million from the International Visitor Levy to help restore fire-damaged parts of Tongariro National Park.

Conservation minister Tama Potaka said Tongariro was a taonga, and restoring its mauri was essential.

Geoff Parker: The Sacred Grove, a Fallen Tree, and a $560,000 Question

What began as a fallen pōhutukawa at the Sands Apartments in Takapuna has quietly grown into something far larger: a dispute over culture, control, transparency — and money.

Ani O'Brien: A week is a long time: 21 February 2026

No four‑year term (for now)

The Government has parked its plan for a 4 year parliamentary term. Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith said:

“Both the National-Act and National-New Zealand First coalition agreements include supporting to select committee a bill that would enact a binding referendum on a four-year term of parliament.

We’ve fulfilled those commitments. However, we won’t be progressing with a referendum on a 4 year term at this election.”

Stephen Moore: Was climate change the greatest financial scam in history?

Environmental scholar Bjorn Lomborg recently calculated that across the globe, governments have spent at least $16 trillion feeding the climate change industrial complex.

And for what?

DTNZ: Trump wants Russia and China on ‘Board of Peace’

Moscow has said it is open to the idea, while Beijing has declined to join, citing commitment to the UN-centered international system.

US President Donald Trump has said he would “love” to see Russia and China join his ‘Board of Peace’, established to guide the stabilization of Gaza following the Israel-Hamas war. Moscow earlier signaled that it was contemplating the idea, while China has declined, citing commitments to the UN.

Colinxy: The Rise of Treaty Theology - How a Historical Agreement Became a Sacred Doctrine

Introduction

Over the past four decades, the Treaty of Waitangi has undergone a remarkable transformation. What began in 1840 as a brief political agreement, a pragmatic compact between the British Crown and various Māori rangatira (chiefs), has evolved into something far more expansive: a quasi-religious doctrine that shapes public policy, academic discourse, and constitutional interpretation.

This phenomenon can be called Treaty Theology.

Matua Kahurangi: If a man did this to an 11-year-old girl, he’d be locked up for years

This is absolutely sickening. A 35-year-old Auckland primary school teacher, Tamlyn Estee May, groomed an 11-year-old boy: sent him multiple nude and explicit photos of herself (”Don’t tell anyone, this is just for you”), told him they’d “make a good couple,” kissed him after wrestling, held his hand on “dates,” and spent the night sleeping in the same bed with him at his father’s house. She pleaded guilty to grooming for sexual conduct and indecency with a boy under 12 - offences that carry up to 3 and 10 years in prison.

Kerre Woodham: Did the intensification announcement allay your fears?

We thought we'd start with the housing densification or de-densification that was announced yesterday. We didn't really get a chance to talk about it despite the fact that yesterday when the Prime Minister was in for an hour, he gave us a bit of an announcement of an announcement.

Bob Edlin: Peters brings Soviet chandeliers into the case for making English an official language ....

Peters brings Soviet chandeliers into the case for making English an official language – and te reo shrouds the Maori Party’s stance

The PoO team – keen to learn who said what during the first reading of the English Language Bill and not tuned into the broadcast of proceedings at the time – turned to Hansard.

David Farrar: The changing face of Europe

I’m going to quote from UK’s Matt Goodwin. I do so as someone who is pro-immigration. I think moderate, controlled immigration is good for a country, and specifically has been good for New Zealand. But a good thing can become a bad thing is if it too large, or uncontrolled. If NZ took in 1 million immigrants a year (for example), it would be bad. Our infrastructure would not cope, and new migrants would not integrate as well as they currently do in NZ.

Goodwin writes:

Saturday February 21, 2026 

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Breaking Views Update: Week of 15.2.26

Saturday February 21, 2026 

News:
Army pauses cultural skills framework after concern raised with Minister
The implementation of a cultural skills framework for Army personnel has been paused after concerns were raised with the Defence Minister about potential requirements for leaders to know waiata and karakia off by heart.

Act MP Todd Stephenson wrote to Defence Minister Judith Collins after being sent a copy of the framework, saying it appeared to go beyond normal expectations of the Public Service.

Caleb Anderson: Policy Design and Ideological Overreach

I am probably not alone in noticing that many of the policies implemented by recent governments seem to be based on highly questionable assumptions and trade-offs. Poor policy design seems to be something we have become especially good at. 

Consequently, we frequently miss the mark at the level of delivery and, therefore, of impact.

Ryan Bridge: Why aren't people buying apartments?

I was driving through a street just out of Auckland’s CBD yesterday and saw all these apartments for sale.

New buildings. Many looked empty. Loads of 'for sale' signs.

Why don't people want to buy them? Is it the price?

Ani O'Brien: Sewage, scrutiny, and the politics of accountability

Is it racist to be angry at elected representatives? Moa Point as a case study

When a city pumps tens of millions of litres of raw sewage into the sea day after day, the public is entitled to anger. There is human waste in the sea and on the shore, beaches are closed in peak season, businesses hammered, and ratepayers are wondering how their rates keep going up but the capital city can’t keep its basic infrastructure functioning. They are allowed to be proper mad.

And, when sh*t goes down, so to speak, people want answers and accountability. The equation becomes brutally simple. Something has gone wrong, someone must be responsible, and we want a solution.

John McLean: Dr Thomsen's "Study"

New Zealand academic standards plunge new depths

On 13 February 2026, the New Zealand Medical Journal published the results of a study into whether discrimination against certain “Pacific people” in New Zealand’s public health system is associated with those people not using that system.

The article’s title is Investigating the association between experiencing discrimination in healthcare settings and avoidance of healthcare services among Pacific Rainbow+ in Aotearoa New Zealand. Insomniacs can read the article below:

Peter Dunne: MMP and Social Cohesion

Last week, at the New Zealand Economic Forum at Waikato University I was part of a panel discussing whether MMP had contributed to social cohesion.

I argued that MMP had definitely made more Parliament more diverse and representative of contemporary New Zealand by giving the opportunity of a wider range of political opinions to be expressed. However, it was doubtful that it had contributed positively to social cohesion. Indeed, I suggested that, contrary to expectations, MMP has actually had a negative effect on social cohesion.

Roger Partridge: Damned if they do, damned if they don’t - The billion-dollar bill for Labour’s gas ban

Few policies manage to unite the left, the right and the Taxpayers’ Union in opposition. The Government’s billion-dollar LNG import terminal in Taranaki managed it inside 24 hours. By Tuesday morning, it had been attacked from the left as a gas tax, from the right as a new levy on households, and from the commentariat as a waste of money better spent on solar panels and batteries.

All of which rather misses the point.

Mike's Minute: This is why the real issues get ignored

It was the fish that summed it up for me.

The Infrastructure Commission report was profound in its nature this week.

Chris Bishop was dead right on this programme when he talked of its importance and, yet, its dryness.

Matua Kahurangi: NZ First implements ban to stop the “rape of the rockpools”

For months, locals along the east coast north of Auckland have been forced to witness the same disgusting spectacle. Busloads of predominantly Chinese immigrants descending with buckets, chilly bins, spades, and even piano wire, turning vibrant rockpools into lifeless deserts.

Kerre Woodham: Can you see the light at the end of the tunnel?

The Official Cash Rate has been left unchanged, 2.25%, expected by all the commentators, but perhaps less expected was a dovish view of the future. It was the new Reserve Bank Governor's, well she's not that new I suppose, the newish Reserve Bank Governor's first OCR review, having come on board at the end of '25. She is pretty optimistic about the economy. She said it will continue to recover, but she understands that many households are not feeling it yet. Must be rather annoying being told, no, everything's fine, everything's turning around, everything's great, while you're looking down the back of the couch for coins to get the kids' school lunches.

Dr Oliver Hartwich: Dismantling the competition myth

Ask anyone in Australia’s competition law community what transformed the economy, and you will hear a familiar story. Australia was once a cartelised, complacent place where businesses divided up markets and consumers paid the price. Then came the Trade Practices Act in 1974, and competition law forced firms to compete.

This is not a fringe view. Peter Costello, in his foreword to a book marking the Act’s twenty-fifth anniversary, called it “one of the most important pieces of economic legislation in Australia.” He credited it with creating “a new culture of competition in the Australian economy.”

Friday February 20, 2026 

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Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Chris Bishop's housing u-turn is basic common sense

Well, finally Chris Bishop has done the right thing and made the u-turn on the two million new houses he had planned for Auckland.

It’s not altogether a surprise that he did this and announced it this afternoon, because it’s been rumoured for months - for the obvious reason that it’s election year.

Chris Lynch: Seymour defends Treaty stance, backs removal of Māori seats

Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour has dismissed criticism from former Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel over his comments on the teaching of colonisation, saying New Zealand should focus on equal rights rather than what he calls inherited divisions.

Dalziel wrote in an opinion piece that Seymour’s characterisation of how colonisation is taught suggests it “casts children as victims or villains by birth,” describing that view as “disgraceful.”

JC: Global Shift to the Right

Here in New Zealand, it’s ACT and NZ First who are set to benefit.

The world wide move to the right seems loosely based on the strategies of Donald Trump and his America First policy which is nationalistic in nature. While the policy might appear to be primarily domestic, it does extend to the international stage. The strategies centre largely on immigration, security and being self-supporting and Trump’s immigration policies have so far been largely successful having pretty much closed off the southern border. So far more than 600,000 illegal immigrants have been detained and deported.

Alwyn Poole: Education processes and outcomes continue to get worse under the current coalition.

A lot has been made of “significant” changes to the NZ education system under Erica Stanford. Some things have been put in place (e.g. changes to early reading, cell-phone ban). Primary school curriculum changes are being rolled-out by schools during this year. Other changes - qualifications changes, senior curriculum - still have a long-way to go and there is much division in these areas.

Ryan Bridge: House prices no longer lead economic growth

So the OCR decision was largely as expected yesterday, but what the Reserve Bank made very clear is where they think growth will come from.

As we’ve spoken about on the show lately, house prices aren’t running away here like in Australia, bar Queenstown.

David Farrar: The real Teaching Council scandal is all the crappy projects

The Public Service Commission has published a scathing report into how the Teaching Council managed conflicts and procured work with a firm part owned by the CEOs husband. They note:

Mike's Minute: The employment law changes are fine

This time around the Brooke van Velden-led employment law changes have been described as a shake-up, even a major shake-up.

But as someone who well remembers the Employment Contracts Act and Bill Birch, what is being offered is merely a righting of a badly out of whack employment market.

David Farrar: The Kainga Ora turnaround

The change to Kainga Ora in the last two years has been massive. Chris Bishop has a long list of changes. Here are some of the bigger ones:

Matua Kahurangi: A taxpayer-funded piss-take: why the Māori seats have to go

If I had it my way, the Māori seats would be gone tomorrow. No referendum. No hand-wringing. Gone.

Because what they’ve become, in practice, is a protected lane for political cosplay, where performance gets rewarded and accountability gets treated like an insult. Te Pāti Māori have leaned into that harder than anyone. You only have to watch their conduct and attendance in Parliament to see they’re part-time MPs, full-time theatre.

Bob Edlin: Prime Minister's position on Maori seats.....

How the PM wriggles when asked to declare his position on the future of the Māori seats

Can the PM support something which he regards as senseless?

The answer is yes, when it comes to supporting the Māori seats.

An RNZ report in January 2023 was headed

Kerre Woodham: We need to see more governance and less politicking

The National Infrastructure Plan was released yesterday, and it makes for grim reading. I don't think anyone expected good news, but nonetheless a cold hard dose of reality is always unwelcome, especially when you've been wilfully ignoring the obvious for years. The plan looks at 17 sectors covering central government, local authorities, and commercially regulated utilities, and lays out a 30 year outline looking at how New Zealand can improve the way it plans, funds, maintains, and delivers infrastructure. So far, so very grown up, but really this is something that should have been done 30 years ago because in a nutshell, we have a huge infrastructure deficit. We need hospitals, we need roads, we need bridges, we need alternatives, we need cycleways, we need sewage, we need water pipes, we need electricity, we need alternative electricity, huge infrastructure deficit across all of the sectors.

Thursday February 19, 2026 

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Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Here's hoping this Reserve Bank Governor does a better job

We’ve had the first monetary policy decision from the new Reserve Bank Governor, and it’s not until you get a new captain at the helm that you realise just how little confidence you had left in the previous one.

Now, to be fair, it’s early days for Anna Breman. We’ll judge her by what she does from here on in. But she does start with a clean slate - without us reading too much into her decisions or second-guessing every move because of a poor track record.

Peter Bassett: From Sewage to Sovereignty: How a Tidy Idea Picks Up Extra Luggage

When Wellington’s pipes start bursting in public and sewage plants break down big-time, it’s only a matter of time before someone reaches for a constitutional solution.

One such suggestion, made recently by a former mayor turned regular commentator, is to take Wellington out of local government entirely and rehouse it as a national capital district — Canberra-style, Washington-style, with central government holding the reins.

Ian Bradford: Ignoring Climate Reality

There are a number of examples where the amount of carbon dioxide does not correlate with a temperature rise. Why are they continually ignored?   

Climate alarmists think that because carbon dioxide continues to rise and they put forward the idea that we have global warming then it is clear that the two show a correlation. So if one quantity rises and another quantity rises, then there must be correlation.  There are many cases where this is not true.   

David Farrar: A former TPM co-leader on TPM

Te Ururoa Flavell writes:

1. Māori Party in court with its MPs

2. Two former Māori Party candidate options have gone to Greens. There may be others.

John Phelan: US Economic Growth Looks Slow — Until You Compare It to Europe’s

Over the past decade, the United States has outperformed every other G7 nation. Key measures show why the US is not just getting bigger, but also growing richer.

Americans aren’t happy with their economy. In October, Pew Research reported that “26 percent now say economic conditions are excellent or good, while 74 percent say they are only fair or poor.” This weighs heavily on their minds. In December, Gallup reported 35 percent of Americans “naming any economic issue” as “the most important problem facing this country today,” up from 24 percent in October.

Mike's Minute: The Labour Party needs to get serious

As I watch Chris Hipkins, presumably gleefully, mess about with the India Free Trade deal, I'm reminded this is not the Labour Party that did the FTA with China.

Hipkins is no Helen Clark and in that is a great sadness.

Tom Day: Hipkins, Luxon neck and neck as preferred PM

The results are according to the Verian poll of 1003 eligible voters taken between February 7 and February 11.

Poll results below:

David Farrar: More taxpayer funded union corruption

The Taxpayers’ Union reports:

The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union can reveal through an Official Information Act requestthat staff at the Ministry of Education were paid $414,119.68 by taxpayers to do 8,528 hours of union work.

This includes organising and advocating on behalf of the New Zealand Educational Institute Te Riu Roa (NZEI), the Public Service Association (PSA) and the Association of Professional and Executive Employees (APEX).

JC: What Is Life Without a Deal?

The headline is largely the gospel according to Donald Trump. I wrote an article on this topic a few weeks ago but it is worth exploring in a broader context. His deal making is a continuing source of angst to those on the left of the political spectrum, as they don’t do deals – they wouldn’t know how. That is the stark difference between a career politician (most are on the left) running a country and someone applying a business methodology to the political process. Politics also adds in a social arm to be considered also.

Matua Kahurangi: End the Māori seats debate properly with a binding vote

New Zealand First has done something most parties are too timid to do. They’ve put a hard, controversial issue back in front of the public and said you decide.

You would have seen last week that Winston Peters announced NZ First will campaign on a referendum on the future of the Māori seats ahead of November’s general election. That matters, because for years this topic has been treated like a political no-go zone, even though plenty of ordinary Kiwis have opinions on it.

But here’s the key point. A referendum that isn’t binding is just political theatre.

Kerre Woodham: Does the End of Life Act need amending?

Act MP Todd Stephenson has been looking to improve and extend the End of Life Bill since around August of last year. His new bill, for which he's seeking support across the House or has his fingers crossed it'll be drawn from the ballot, would incorporate every single recommendation made by the Ministry of Health's review into the End of Life Choice Act. He wants to restore the original intent of David Seymour's earlier member's bill by addressing what he calls the overly restrictive six-month prognosis requirement.

Wednesday February 18, 2026 

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Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: What do the birth statistics say about our society?

You want some fascinating data about how we’ve changed in the past 60 years? Have a look at the birth statistics out today - especially the age at which mums are having babies.

Last year, 14 percent of births were to mums younger than 25. In 1995, which is just one generation ago, it was double that: 28 percent of births were to mums under 25.

Ryan Bridge: Would you pay $9 to cross the harbour bridge?

The answer depends on whether you can afford it. Congestion charging is coming and that'll add to the cost if you need to drive for work.

This is only a proposal-based on the original toll, inflation-adjusted, almost 70 years ago.

Mike's Minute: This court case is outrageously political

My summation of what we have heard so far in the Judge Aitken case. The “Did I yell at and interrupt and disrupt Winston?" case.

Aitken was on the stand, so to speak, yesterday, remembering none of this is criminal.

In fact, I would describe it as outrageously political.

Pee Kay: We’re here, we’re queer, get used to it!

The big gay out, OMG!

Have a look at the “costumes” of some of the attendees. The “MC” shouts to the audience, “The ACT Party and NZ First are not attending.”

Dr Eric Crampton: Disappointment in attempt to improve competition laws

The coalition agreements that formed the government promised an important change to the Commerce Act.

The Commerce Commission has always been able to take on traditional cartel arrangements: secret agreements where businesses divvy up a market, restrict output, and raise prices. Those arrangements are rightly subject to heavy monetary penalties.

But cartels are not the only way competition gets blocked.

Bruce Cotterill: Christopher Luxon v Chris Hipkins - What voters should expect from a PM

Those who follow such matters will have noticed that the Prime Minister seems reluctant to comment on the polls.

And who can blame him? I wouldn’t want to comment either. Although my reasons may be different to his.

I’d be reluctant to comment because I can’t believe they’re accurate. Incidentally, such a comment should not be read as me questioning the pollsters. But I really have to question the people they have participating.