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.

Breaking Views Update: Week of 15.2.26

Friday February 20, 2026 

News:
GWRC joins mana whenua to plan regional govt reform
Deputy Chair of Greater Wellington’s Te Tiriti o Waitangi Komiti, Shamia Makarini, says CTBs are incompatible with Te Tiriti and the council’s mana whenua partnerships.

“Enduring reform must be Te Tiriti consistent. CTBs remove Māori representation, and risk undermining binding Treaty settlement redress and resource management arrangements,” Cr Makarini says.

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: