Karl du Fresne: Camp Freedom revisited

Where should the balance be struck between public safety and individual freedom? At what point should the latter be curtailed to protect the former? More than four years after the anti-vaccination encampment that ended in mayhem outside Parliament, the answer isn’t clear.

New Zealand in 2020 was threatened by a global pandemic. No one knew how serious it might be.

Clive Bibby: Politicians and Your Money

As the general election draws nearer, politicians of all persuasions are hitting the streets in an effort to bribe us with our own money.

For the rest of the year, we might as well not exist.

I accept that this appearance on street corners is part of the ritual we must endure in order to get a handle on who is promising value for money but it would be so much easier and a less debilitating process if they all actually did what they promised when in charge of the Treasury Benches.

Gerry Eckhoff: Santana Gold Mining

I recently came across the following verse of the American poet John Godfrey Saxe (1816-1887) which is a perfect analogy for the Santana gold mining debate, here in Central Otago.

“It was six men of Indostan, to learning much inclined 

Who went to see an elephant (though all of them were blind)

That each by observation might satisfy his mind “

Andrew Dickens: Reality lost in conservation bill rhetoric

The hub bub yesterday over the Conservation Amendment Bill brought to light 3 issues for me

Firstly, how bad much of our law is and that stems back to how it’s written and processed. Secondly that many concerned organisations are not afraid to scaremonger and exaggerate to win their way. And thirdly how many New Zealanders rely on social media to keep informed on the issues of the day.

Breaking Views Update: Week of 21.6.26

Thursday June 25, 2026 

News:

Concerns grow over Conservation Bill and weakened land protections
As debate over the Conservation Amendment Bill intensifies, iwi and environmental advocates in Hauraki say a central issue is being overlooked: much of the conservation estate sits on ancestral Māori land, and proposed changes could place future decisions over that whenua further beyond the reach of mana whenua.

The Conservation Amendment Bill proposes changes to how public conservation land is managed, which makes up about a third of New Zealand’s land area. Some changes are framed as streamlining and modernising decision-making processes.

Geoff Parker: Marine Reserves Or Co-Governance By Stealth?

This week we were told to celebrate the launch of five new marine reserves along the Otago and South Canterbury coastline.

Protecting marine environments is a worthwhile goal. Most New Zealanders support conservation, sustainable fisheries, and preserving unique ecosystems for future generations.

But buried beneath the environmental language is something else entirely: another example of race-based governance quietly becoming embedded in New Zealand's public institutions.

Matua Kahurangi: NZ Media - Celebrating brown success, airbrushing brown atrocities

In the nightmare which unfolded in a quiet Swedish village, a father allegedly pumped bullets into his two young daughters before blowing his own brains out. One girl clings to life in hospital. The other is critically wounded.

In the nightmare which unfolded in a quiet Swedish village, a father allegedly pumped bullets into his two young daughters before blowing his own brains out. One girl clings to life in hospital. The other is critically wounded.

Colinxy: Is There a “Cost of Greed” Crisis?

Chlöe Swarbrick recently declared that New Zealand is facing a “Cost of Greed Crisis.” It’s a catchy line; the sort of slogan that fits neatly into a press release and even more neatly into a worldview where every social problem is caused by someone else having too much.

But let’s take the claim seriously for a moment. Is there a “Cost of Greed Crisis”?

Surprisingly, yes. But not in the way Swarbrick imagines.

JC: Labour Is in Free Fall

Labour is in ‘free’ fall. Any hope of them being parachuted into power on the basis of the nonsense we’ve heard so far is about as good as discovering fairies at the bottom of the garden. Maybe they did. They are certainly ‘away with the fairies’. Every policy they have released so far is FREE. Can you believe it? Three FREE GP visits, FREE maternity scans, public transport fares capped then FREE rides, FREE prescriptions. I have no doubt this is just the start and there will be plenty more from where these moments of brilliance emanated.

Kerre Woodham: Let's put the 'demos' back in democracy

Now I mentioned Thomas Coughlan's excellent piece in the Herald yesterday. He looked at the costings for Labour's policies so far. He got the Treasury costings for them, got Nicola Willis, the Finance Minister's accusations about lack of detail, crunched it right down to give us the best possible chance of getting a real world look at the numbers and whether Labour will be able to afford the policies. It is well worth a read if you haven't already. We'll talk to Thomas tomorrow about the importance of costing all of the parties' different promises. It's not just Labour's, it's just that they've released probably the most policy thus far, shockingly, given how late they were to the party.

Bob Edlin: How Chlöe is taxing our credibility when she says flawed figures flowed from a “typo”

The Green Party’s Chlöe Swarbrick was taxing public credibility when she blamed a “typo” for an error in her party’s tax policy costings.

RNZ reported that the mistake – around $800 million over four years – resulted from extra funding for Inland Revenue being calculated as a revenue measure, rather than a cost.

Mike's Minute: Electoral fantasy vs what will actually happen

So, how to handle the avalanche of ideas that are starting to tumble our way even though we are still five months away from the election?

The nuances of MMP mean the vast majority of what is promoted on the campaign trail will never see the light of day.

This is a great advantage to small parties and those in Opposition.

The simple thing to do is hear it all, debate it all, and work it out for ourselves. Trouble with that is you get fatigue and you get confusion.

David Farrar: Be careful what you ask for with IMSB

Radio NZ reports:

New Zealand First will campaign on scrapping the Independent Māori Statutory Board (IMSB), which they say has significant influence over Auckland Council’s decision making.

In a statement, the party said a member’s bill had been written and introduced, which would see the unelected body that has “exercised significant influence” over council decision making since the creation of the Auckland Supercity in 2010.

David Farrar: The Greens $800 million blunder

Radio NZ reports:

The Green Party has had to correct an error to its tax policy, which had put its costings out by $800 million.

The mistake involved extra funding for Inland Revenue being calculated as a revenue measure, rather than a cost.

The party then quietly re-uploaded the policy document with the correct figures after RNZ made enquiries.

Wednesday June 24, 2026 

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John Raine: Canary in a Climate World - When Political and Media Narratives Depart from Scientific Evidence

Richard Prebble commented (22^nd June in Brash and Mitchell) on the problematical operation of the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). The present article (updated from a Substack post https://jkr31350.substack.com/p/canary-in-a-climate-world) was intended primarily as a review of a new contrarian publication on climate change but again questions the politicisation of the current climate narrative and the very existence of the ETS. It calls again for a more realistic adaptation approach to climate change.

Francis Menton: Can You See The Climate Scare Slowly Fading Away?

I have often noted that the climate scam and the associated forced energy transition would of necessity go away at some point because the proposals being advocated to “save the planet” could never possibly work. But the open question has always been, when that happens, what will it look like? Would all the big enviro groups like the Environmental Defense Fund and the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club all go on national TV one night and admit that the whole thing was a fake scare from the beginning? In the real world, that’s not how these things happen. People who have staked out absurd positions somehow need to save face. So there would have to be some sort of gradual process of backing down.

Ryan Bridge: Labour takes huge election gamble

So let's talk about that weird interview yesterday.

No not the one with Winston Peters, the one with Hipkins.

He has planted Labour in an almost impossible-to-justify position on NZ Super.

Geoff Parker: Who Really Governs New Zealand?

Voters between a rock and a hard place

As the 2026 election approaches, many politically engaged New Zealanders find themselves in an uncomfortable position.

The polls are neck and neck. The country appears deeply divided. Yet for a growing number of voters, the choice is not between two inspiring visions for New Zealand. It is a choice between two parties they believe have both failed to confront the same underlying issue.

Yvonne Van Dongen: What Happens if the Host Population Changes Forever?

Last week I went to a talk on demographic change in New Zealand given by Prof Paul Spoonley and hosted by ACT leader David Seymour in Auckland.

It was more of a data dump than anything, with Spoonley speaking to numerous graphs showing how much we had changed and would continue to change from a largely Anglo-Polynesian host population to an increasingly Asian nation. That change was kick-started by the Labour government in 1987 which swapped out the preference for migrants from the Anglosphere for the points system. Some of the graphs from the talk are shown below.

Pee Kay: Is UNDRIP enforceable under the law of a sovereign state? Absolutely

Did we, the voting public, know Key had authorised the trip to New York by Pita Sharples to sign UNDRIP?

Did we heck!

Pita Sharples trip to New York to sign the declaration on behalf of New Zealand was kept secret!

That was not political apathy. That was political deceit!

Ashley Church: Why I support Israel and the Jews

Remaining silent is no longer an option

Why would anybody stick their neck out and support Israel and the Jewish people in today’s toxic environment?

Who, in their right mind, would associate themselves with one of the most controversial and divisive issues of our time by putting themselves in the firing line over a tiny country on the other side of the world and a people to whom most of us have no direct connection?

Roger Childs: On Karakia

Bless’ em all – karakia for the public

The demand for authentic welcomes and blessings is increasing and people want someone who can bring cultures together but also take them on a journey of understanding to help encourage better engagement with Te Ao Māori. –Take Tuia

The long, the short and the tall

Bob Edlin: Mayor Brown misses the matter of ministerial accountability....

Mayor Brown misses the matter of ministerial accountability when he upbraids critics of Auckland’s Maori board

It’s a familiar line of argument – you denounce something as “Maori bashing”.

But Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown has gone further and compared an Auckland City apple (or is it puha?) with a central government pear (or kumera).

David Farrar: Don’t defend the indefensible

Radio NZ reports:

The Finance Minister has criticised Shane Jones for a $30,000 budget blowout incurred while attend a mining conference in Canada, saying he has made “significant errors”.

But Jones has immediately fired back, telling RNZ, Nicola Willis “must be in possession of information I don’t have, because to the best of my knowledge there were no errors made by my office”.

David Farrar: The price of gold

Did you know that New Zealand now makes more money exporting gold than wine? Yep, that one metal now produces more export income for NZ than our entire viticulture industry (which is also great).

Where the price will go in future is debatable. The Post ‘reports:

Mike's Minute: We are becoming, again, the magnet that we should be

The most uplifting part of the news weekend (apart from the Warriors) was the Stuff story quoting the head of an Australian investment firm confirming what is clearly already underway.

Which is either New Zealanders returning to New Zealand, or Australians seeing our country as a better option than theirs.

What's particularly uplifting, according to Ed Carlson who runs TrueBridge Capital, is the people coming are the bright and go-getters.

Tuesday June 23, 2026 

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1 News Verian Poll: Big two parties at 30-year low, Opportunity nears 5% threshold

Click to view

Both Labour and National have taken falls in the latest 1News Verian poll, with Labour tumbling by five points, while National enters the 20s for the first time since 2021.

Is The Nats’ Strategy To Condemn Its Coalition Partners Madness?

On The Platform, Michael Laws asks "Is the Nats’ strategy to condemn its coalition partners just desperate madness"?

Click to view

Ryan Bridge: We should be worried about the message behind Starmer's resignation

Sir Keir Starmer's resignation has come as no surprise to those who listen to this - or pretty any - show on this station.

But what should worry us is why.

Sure, he was a dud. Sure, he was a bit of a goofball. He wasn't cool.

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: The Greens have made another mistake with their new tax policy

The Greens’ tax policy is only a day old and there is already a big maths problem with it. They counted $100 million a year as income when it was really an expense. It was money they had set aside to run the new tax system.

So, instead of $100 million over four years coming in, it is now going out, creating an $800 million hole in their budget.

Pee Kay: Only those living off the public purse could be so tone deaf!

The budget quietly increased the funding for former MPs’ travel to $1.6 million for the coming year.

Did we hear that little tit bit of information from Nicola Willis during her budget speech? Yeah Right!

The Herald reported –

Ani O'Brien: Tall Poppy Economics - the politics of envy won't make New Zealand rich

The fantasy behind the Greens' Tax Plan

The Green Party released its 2026 tax policy under the slogan “A tax system for all of us”. The package is presented as modest, fair, compassionate, and practically technocratic in that it is framed as a small tax on the “super-rich”, a contribution from “mega-corporations”, a tax cut for 96% of earners, and some extra enforcement against multinationals. But behind the clever soothing language and the veneer of sensibleness is the familiar ideological Green Party project. The Greens are proposing to reshape New Zealand’s economy around a suspicion of private wealth, profit, investment, inheritance, landlords, banks, large companies, and high earners. They are setting the population against the very people best equipped to grow our economy and improve our collective quality of life. They want us to fight over the dodgy petrol station pie that is falling apart instead of growing a massive gourmet one.

John McLean: So Civil....So What?

Why civility shouldn’t be a shield

I naturally face occasional pushback against my criticisms of particular individuals. Sometimes the dissent can even be justifiable! But resistance on the basis that an individual I’m criticizing is “civil” – polite and courteous, exhibiting social graces…“nice” – doesn’t cut it with me.

Please don’t get me wrong. I’ve got nothing per se against civility. All else being equal I favour Western civility over incivility and barbarism. But being civil should not be a free pass or get-out-of-jail card, or provide immunity from justified reproach.

Richard Prebble: What Happens When Climate Policy Works?

I have been approached by a lobbyist representing carbon forestry interests.

His said that the carbon price had fallen. Investors in carbon forestry faced huge losses.

National he claimed favoured fixing a carbon price to restore a valuable stream of Crown revenue from carbon auctions. New Zealand First was sympathetic to the plight of forestry investors.

Phillip Crump: Sinead Boucher Buys an Event

Matthew Hooton’s appointment is not a conventional hire. That is precisely the point.

When news leaked last year that Matthew Hooton was being considered for a seat on the RNZ board, my first reaction was: of course he is. The fit wasn’t quite right but the impulse behind it was entirely him.

So the announcement earlier this week that Matthew would be the next Editor-in-Chief of The Post and the Sunday Star-Times didn’t surprise me. In fact, it was exactly the type of provocation that has been Matthew’s trademark ever since I've known him.

David Farrar: National proposes compulsory KiwiSaver

Chris Luxon has announced National policy to make KiwiSaver compulsory if re-elected.

The Government has already lifted the minimum contribution rate from 3.0% to 3.5%, which 99.5% of default rate savers went with – only 0.5% went back to 3.0%.

David Farrar: Two good appointments for The Post

The Post announced:

Incoming editor-in-chief of The Post and the Sunday Star-Times, Matthew Hooton, has appointed Henry Cooke as political editor and Amelia Wade as Auckland editor.

“Henry Cooke and Amelia Wade are the best New Zealand journalists of their generation and they are only going to get better still,” Hooton said.

Kerre Woodham: I'm not sure about the Oprah-fication of Labour's policies

As the election gets closer, parties are starting to release their policies. And after a slow start, keeping their cards close to their chest, Labour's building up steam. We already had the three free doctors visits for all, now we've got free maternity scans and a promise to scrap the $5 fee on prescriptions and make them universally free. Add that to the free public transport, well, up to a point, $20 in the major cities and $10 everywhere else, and that capital gains tax is going to be working overtime to pay for it all. So far, so Labour. But I'm not really sure about the Oprah-fication of Labour's policies. "You get a doctor's visit, and you get a doctor's visit, and here's one for you too. You get a free bus ride, and here's a free bus ride for you, and one for you as well."

Monday June 22, 2026 

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Damien Grant: If Chris Luxon is proud of our nuclear-free position.....

If Chris Luxon is proud of our nuclear-free position he should not be leading a centre-right political party

During a cold evening in late January 1940 the First Lord of the Admiralty, one Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, gave a speech on the dire situation on the continent. Chamberlain was still Prime Minister but the MP for Epping gave a sombre assessment on neutral powers seeking refuge in anonymity.

Robert MacCulloch and Leonard Hong: National's Plans for Compulsory KiwiSaver

The National Party’s KiwiSaver announcement is one of the most significant shifts in New Zealand politics and economic policy in a generation.

"We are delighted that the Prime Minister has agreed to implement compulsory KiwiSaver if re-elected in this year’s election."

Ryan Bridge: The Green's wealth tax isn't going to happen

There's no point talking about the latest loony bin tax plan grab from the Greens because it's not going to become anything more than a word doc on their website. It's not going to happen.

An inheritance tax is about the cruellest thing a state can impose on a grieving family. 33% when mum or dad dies. You've got to then take out a loan from the bank, congratulations bank and pay the government. Or sell the shares or property or whatever. Then pay the state. Congratulations state.

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Did Andrew Little save Wellington Council?

Tell me something: does what’s just happened with the Golden Mile upgrade in Wellington restore your faith in the possibility that councils can actually be run properly?

Because that thing - I don’t know if you’ve been following it over the years - but the Golden Mile upgrade has been an albatross around the necks of Wellington business owners and ratepayers since probably about 2016.

Bruce Cotterill: Public sector waste - Public servants must remember who they work for

It’s all in the name they call themselves. Public servants. Their trade union is named the Public Service Association. The ultimate “boss of the bosses” within the complex structure carries the title Public Service Commissioner.

It’s probably not too much of a stretch to suggest that the core purpose of the people who fill these roles is to “serve the public”.

Olivia Pierson: Memorandums and the Midterms

The Memorandum of Understanding with the Iranian regime displays an unwelcome shift that has sent shock waves throughout the world, raising serious questions among those who fully expect aggressive pressure on the brutal regime and unwavering support for Israel.

Trump’s pivot in rhetoric on the stage of the G7 has made heads explode, and I cannot help but wonder if Vice President Vance is the conduit of toxic whispers straight from the mouth of his buddy Tucker Carlson and into the President's ear.

Colinxy: White Babies Are Racist…According to Racists

Every few years, a peculiar claim bubbles up from the activist‑academic complex and spreads through the media like mould on damp plaster: “White babies are racist.”

Sometimes it’s softened to “all babies show racial bias by 6–9 months.” Sometimes it’s framed as a scientific breakthrough. Sometimes it’s used to justify ideological programmes in early childhood education.

But the core message is always the same: Racism is innate, universal, and detectable before a child can crawl.

Net Zero Watch Samizdat: Will Miliband become the Net Zero Chancellor?

UK

Burnham’s Makerfield victory could make Miliband even more dangerous

Burnham said remarkably little about Net Zero during his by-election campaign, but recent reports pubished by his campaign aides suggest his by-election win is unlikely to mean much change on energy. If anything, it raises the prospect of Ed Miliband moving to the Treasury, where he could prove even more influential. As Chancellor, Miliband - who has gone rogue and is no longer speaking to the Prime Minister - would have far greater control over spending and taxation. Rather than abandoning the renewables-first strategy as costs rise, he could seek to shift more of those costs from bills into general taxation and use redistribution to shield households from the political consequences.

Dr Oliver Hartwich: The twenty-dollar week

For months, commentators had one demand of Labour: stop holding your fire and show us some policy.

Last week, Labour obliged. It would cap public transport fares at $20 a week in the big cities, and $10 everywhere else. Two numbers came attached: a cost of $65 million a year, and an average saving of $25 a week.

So, I reached for a calculator, and that is where the trouble started.

Benno Blaschke: Helping government take its foot off the brake

Before anyone builds a house in New Zealand, someone must pay upfront for the pipes and the roads that connect a development to the city. Almost always, that someone is the council.

But a council can only borrow so much: about two to three times what it collects in a year. Once it hits that limit, it can no longer pay, so it uses its planning rules to say no.

David Farrar: The world’s first trillionaire

Elon Musk in now the world’s first trillionaire, with his net work now estimated a US$1.3 trillion.

He did not inherit even 0.000001% of this from his parents. Instead he simply:

David Farrar: Make sure this is in the next coalition agreement

ACT announced:

“New Zealanders shouldn’t have to choose between their career and their right to free speech,” says ACT Public Service spokesperson Todd Stephenson.

“Today ACT is announcing a 2026 election policy to stop professional regulators acting as ideological enforcers. ACT will, if returned to Government, introduce legislation to this end. …

Mike's Minute: More and more proof age is only a number

As Donald Trump celebrated his 80th this week, I read the stat that he is not alone in still having work to go to.

The retirement age in America is 67, but the percentage of those still in work past that age has quadrupled since the 80s.

So, a couple of things come out of that:

Sunday June 21, 2026 

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Mary-Louise Kearney: Is UNDRIP enforceable under the law of a sovereign state?

Is UNDRIP - technically an aspirational non - legally binding UN mechanism - actually enforceable in national law? If so, why do politicians say the opposite? Are they seeking to allay citizens’ concerns? Or are they disregarding the reality of legislative processes?