Geoff Parker: The Mythologising of the “Māori Economy”

The assertion that the “Māori economy” sits at the centre of New Zealand’s future prosperity is not just exaggerated — it rests on a category error. There is no separate Māori economy. There is only the New Zealand economy, within which Māori individuals and entities participate like everyone else. Rebranding a portion of ordinary commercial activity according to the owners’ ancestry doesn’t create a new economic engine — it creates a political narrative. And like most political narratives, it thrives on selective numbers, romanticism, and the avoidance of basic economic reality.

Insights From Social Media: Compulsory Tikanga In Law School - When Cultural Ideology Replaces Legal Education

Tom Henry writes > New Zealand’s law schools are being re-engineered. Tikanga Māori is now a compulsory core subject, woven into every corner of the LLB. Advocates call it progress — a justice system “reflecting us all.” In reality, it’s an ideological project dressed up as reform.

Breaking Views Update: Week of 7.12.25

Thursday December 11, 2025 

News:
Tauranga iwi place rāhui along Mount Maunganui coast to protect kaimoana
A rāhui has been placed over key coastal and harbour areas around Mount Maunganui to allow the natural replenishment of kaimoana species.

Heather du Plessis-Allan: The RMA change is good, but prepare for issues

Cast your mind back a couple of weeks to what the boss of Auckland Port Roger Gray said.

He told us New Zealand is a country that says 'no' so often, Miami cruise bosses he spoke to had taken to calling us 'No Zealand'.

Yesterday the Government unveiled its plan for how we stop that, which is a rewrite of the RMA because the RMA is part of the problem.

Perspective with Ryan Bridge: What will the Willis-Richardson debate do for Nicola's credibility?

This Nicola Willis-Ruth Richardson showdown looks like it'll go ahead next week after the HYEFU release.

As you'll know from listening to this show on Monday night, Nicola's not happy with Ruth. And Ruth isn't too happy with Nicola.

Bob Edlin: Luxon and the art of saying plenty without answering questions

The PM had a simple question to answer: is the Government aiming for house prices to appreciate – or to decline?

But to answer it at Question Time in Parliament yesterday, Christopher Luxon would have to say that either he had got his Government’s policy intentions wrong – or his Housing Minister had.

Labour Leader Chris Hipkins put him on the spot by asking:

Lindsay Mitchell: Hollow Gesture Replaces Real Action

Do you ever wonder what the Office of the Children's Commissioner - with an annual budget of $11.5 million and 36 full time staff (83 percent female with three quarters earning in excess of $100,000) - does?

Well, wonder no more.

Chris Lynch: Christchurch mouldy lunches investigation traced to meals left at school says investigation

A New Zealand Food Safety full investigation into the mouldy lunch scandal at Haeata Community Campus has found the problem has come from meals left onsite rather than any wider failure in the School Lunch Collective.

Brendan O'Neill: Elon Musk is right about the EU

The Brussels oligarchy really is a menace to liberty and sovereignty.

Europhiles – the most maddening tribe on the internet – are coming for Elon Musk. After Musk dared to blaspheme against the Brussels bureaucracy that they so fervently simp for, they called him a stooge of Vladimir Putin. ‘Putin wants a weaker EU’, said the EU-loving centrists of Renew Europe, and now Musk is doing his bidding by calling for a ‘break-up [of] the EU’. It’s the same low trick every time – utter one word of dissent against their beloved EU oligarchy and they’ll have you down as a running dog of Russia.

Matua Kahurangi: The MUMA Millions - Where the hell Is all the money going?

How the hell does an organisation go from a modest three million in total income to a jaw dropping sixteen million in just a handful of years, without anyone blinking an eye? That is the uncomfortable question sitting right at the feet of the Manukau Urban Maori Authority, run by Labour MP Willie Jackson’s wife, Tania Rangiheuea.

Kerre Woodham: Is there still a place for Te Pāti Māori in Parliament?

2024 was an epic annus horribilis for the Greens - you remember Golriz Ghahraman, Darleen Tana, Julie Anne Genter, et al. It went on and on. It was arguably the worst year on record for any political party in this country ever. But wait, hold my beer – we have a new champion.

David Farrar: Finally – proper RMA reform

Chris Bishop and Simon Court announced:

“The economic benefits of our new planning system are significant. Independent analysis shows the new planning system is projected to boost GDP by an additional 0.56 per cent every year by 2050, worth up to $3.1 billion annually. A cost benefit analysis estimates $13.3 billion in savings over 30 years through reduced administrative and compliance costs.

There is probably no other reform that could increase economic growth this much. An extra 0.56% a year is absolutely massive.

 Wednesday December 10, 2025 

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Perspective with Ryan Bridge: These RMA changes hit the nail on the head

These RMA changes hit the nail on the head by putting private property rights front and centre.

These rights are basically what keeps rich countries rich and their absence keeps poor countries poor.

Steven Gaskell: Waikato-Tainui’s Homeownership Scheme - Fair Deal for All or Insider Windfall?

Nothing says “equality” quite like a government-backed property giveaway — as long as you belong to the right iwi, of course. Waikato-Tainui is planning to sell 17 houses and one section to tribal members at cost, citing the noble goal of boosting homeownership among iwi. To make this possible, legislation had to be bent and twisted: Kāinga Ora laws were adjusted, and the Waikato Raupatu Claims Settlement Act dusted off, suddenly allowing a perfectly legal handout of a slice of the property market to a select group based purely on tribal membership. But one has to ask: does this pass the litmus test of fairness for all New Zealanders, or just the politically connected?

Chris Bishop, Simon Watts: A better planning system for a better New Zealand

New Zealand’s new planning system will make it easier to build the homes and infrastructure our country needs, give farmers and growers the freedom to get on with producing world-class food and fibre, and strengthen our primary sector while protecting the environment, RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Under-Secretary Simon Court say.

“This Government’s central ambition is to lift growth, productivity and living standards,” Mr Bishop says.

Cam Slater: Explosive Leaked Documents Prove Jackson’s Wife’s Bullying Review Did Happen.....

Explosive Leaked Documents Prove Willie Jackson’s Wife’s Bullying Review Did Happen and Expose a Weapons-Grade Cover-Up

If you thought the stench around Willie Jackson and his missus Tania Rangiheuea at the Manukau Urban Maori Authority (MUMA) could not get any worse, think again. Over the past week, I have hammered Jackson with two exclusives exposing his alleged bullying, union-busting and cronyism to shield his wife from credible accusations of running a toxic workplace.

Dr James Allan: The Outgoing Tide of Freedom

John Mortimer’s memorable fictional creation Rumpole of the Bailey loved to quote the great lines of English poetry. One of Rumpole’s favourite recited retellings was Wordsworth’s poem that begins “It is not to be thought of that the flood of British freedom, which, to the open sea of the world’s praise, from dark antiquity hath flowed ‘with pomp of waters, unwithstood’… should perish.” And that claim was still true when Mortimer was writing about Rumpole in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Alas, it is not true today.

Chris Lynch: Haeata school named in audit concerns over $18,500 leadership team trip to Queenstown

A Christchurch school has been named in a national audit that has uncovered concerns about how public money was spent in schools, including cases where principals used funding tagged for coaching and wellbeing on overseas trips, family travel, tourist activities, and premium flights.

Peter Williams: The Dysfunctional Maori Health Trusts

First there was the Waipareira Trust, then the Manukau Urban Maori Authority (MUMA) and now there’s Te Kaika.

They have much in common.

They’re all Maori owned and controlled health and social service providers.