Ryan Bridge: Where in the world is Nikhil Ravishankar?

You've got the feel a bit for the Air New Zealand boss.

If ever there was a poisoned chalice, he's drinking from it. He's glugging it back. Drowning in it.

They've suspended their guidance after the gas price went nuts. Doubled on Iran.

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: This Covid inquiry still matters for accountability

The big Covid inquiry - the Royal Commission of Inquiry - is out and to be honest, I don’t think it’s a game-changer.

It doesn’t tell you anything you didn’t already know or at least strongly suspect. Aucklanders, who were the most affected, lived through it.

Ryan Bridge: On oil shock, people want more self-reliance

The war in Iran is not a shocking event in the sense that we knew it was coming.

Trump has been not so much hinting, but sounding a fog horn for months. As we’ve been covering on this show, he’s been amassing military assets in the region since the end of January.

Breaking Views Update: Week of 8.3.26

Wednesday March 11, 2026 

News:
Te Pāti Māori: Expelled MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi back in party after winning court case
Te Pāti Māori MP Mariameno Kapa Kingi who was expelled last year amid party turmoil will be reinstated to the party after a winning a court case arguing the expulsion was unfair.

In a just-released decision, Justice Paul Radich said her suspension was unlawful “in the pure sense of that word” and breached “kawa”, the party’s protocols.

Geoff Parker: Kororareka Unmasked

On 11 March 1845, Hōne Heke and his warriors chopped down the British flagstaff at Kororāreka (officially renamed Russell in 1844) for the fourth time. Modern commemorations often frame it as a heroic stand for Māori sovereignty. But the real story is far messier.

Hōne Heke had in fact been the first chief to sign the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. His later rebellion was not triggered by some newly discovered constitutional betrayal. The immediate grievances were far more practical.

John Robertson: Army’s Bicultural Policy

The recent spectacle involving attempts to insert “bicultural doctrine” into the New Zealand Army should have been a moment of national embarrassment—and, for many people, it was.

When a military institution whose sole purpose is the defence of a modern democratic nation begins flirting with the inclusion of mythological cosmologies and spiritual frameworks as part of its internal doctrine, sensible people are naturally going to ask a very simple question: what on earth is going on? The reported pause placed on the initiative by Defence Minister Judith Collins only underscores the fact that something had clearly gone too far.

Mike's Minute: Two important points on the Luxon story

Luxon - 1, media - 0.

After no small effort on the media's part to drum up a crisis on a bad poll, there's two important points and we can put this whole nonsense to bed.

1) Luxon doesn’t have a coup brewing. Despite all the detractors' best efforts, there is no one counting numbers. The nearest they have managed to get is Chris Bishop, who was more interested in being in India over the weekend than lining up a new job for the new week.

Pee Kay: We didn’t realise how lucky we were!

In the interests of free speech and freedom of thought I will not repeat my, expletive littered, thoughts on the authors state of mind!

But does this article go some way to explaining why Labour/Hipkins hold a 6% lead over National and Hipkins holding a 1.7% lead over Luxon as preferred PM? Surely Luxon’s inability to utter forthright statements, the failure to be able to answer questions in a manner that makes you think he truly believes in the answer are not the sole reason for his shocking poll results?

Dave Patterson: Are Air Attacks on Iran Seriously Depleting US Munitions?

The war in Iran erupted nine days ago, and as the US continues hammering the Middle Eastern nation with air strikes, many are wondering if such attacks are depleting US military supplies. The short answer is no. Even with the massive amount of munitions being expended on ground targets inside Iran and in air defense against Iranian ballistic missiles, drones, and cruise missiles, the US is not running out of ordnance. But US forces are phasing in certain types of munitions where stockpiles are plentiful, suggesting good stewardship of air combat capabilities.

Simon O'Connor: The failing international rules based order

Other than in the minds of UN junkies and some academics, the international rules based order has not been functioning properly for a long time.

This is an opinion piece I wrote recently and submitted to the NZ Herald but they have chosen not to publish (which is their right), ironically as they give their front page over to the views of Helen Clark.

We have heard much of the rules-based order and international law since the United States and Israel acted against the Islamic regime in Iran. From Helen Clark to Phil Goff, various academics and commentators, these terms roll of the tongue with an assured certainty.

Kerre Woodham: Three women killed by repeat offenders, when will courts learn?

It was a glorious weekend. Somewhat marred when I read this story from Anna Leask in yesterday's New Zealand Herald. I really had to I really had to reset myself after reading this. Anna writes, urgent calls for change are mounting after a third Christchurch woman was murdered by a violent repeat offender who was subject to monitoring and a raft of prison release conditions designed to keep the community safe. Which it didn't.

David Farrar: How The Press leans

A reader who is a postgraduate student in Christchurch offered to read The Press for four weeks, and analyse what proportion of news articles, opinion columns, letters and cartoons were left, right and neutral. The summary of his findings are:

Tuesday March 10, 2026 

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Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Has Luxon entered 'dead man walking' territory?

Look, I know we’re all going to have different points at which we think the media reaction to a news story gets silly but for me, that point was this morning.

Members of the media chasing the Prime Minister through Wellington Airport, asking whether he was considering resigning and whether he had the full support of his caucus seemed a little bit silly to me. Silly because it’s not as if he’s gone to ground for the past four days, is it?

Michael Laws: The NZ Medical Council’s Attempt To Impose Marxist & Racist Demands

On The Platform, Michael Laws exposes the NZ Medical Council’s attempt to impose Marxist and racist demands upon all our country’s primary health staff.

John McLean: Would The Real National Party Please Stand Up, Please Stand Up

Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe…which way will The Nats Go?

In October 2017, Rapper Marshall Mathers got wildly worked up about US President Donald Trump. The artist know as Eminem, clearly afflicted by a virulent early strain of Trump Derangement Syndrome, produced a freestyle rap called “The Storm”. It wasn’t his finest work. But The Storm did contain a cornel of eternal truth. Sometimes there’s a line and you have to choose which side you’re on.

Mike's Minute: Luxon quitting would be an epic mistake

Staying the course when things are tough is a skill. I think you either have it or you don’t.

Chris Luxon will not get rolled, but he may quit. That would be a mistake of epic proportions.

What would drive me, if I was him, would be rational thought.

Ani O'Brien: The Big Lie - Delayed Motherhood and the Demographic Crisis

Social scientist Professor Paul Spoonley recently appeared on Newstalk ZB to discuss the latest Statistics NZ birth data. He reassured listeners that there is nothing to worry about in the fact that the median age of first time mothers is rising, also arguing that multi-generational households and adult children staying at home longer help offset demographic change.

Spoonley’s relaxed take echoes a broader argument you increasingly hear from progressive commentators and policymakers who insist that declining birth rates represent a triumph of women’s empowerment rather than a looming social problem.

Nils Hesse: Milei’s Argentina - Between Liberation and the Institutional Trap

What is President Javier Milei, really: a savior, or a bankruptcy trustee? An anarchist, a populist, or a classical-liberal reformer? Is he dismantling the casta — the entrenched political establishment — or is the casta undermining his reform agenda? In the end, will freedom prevail, or will the corrupt system reassert itself and absorb the would-be reformer?

David Farrar: A 46% quit rate is pretty good

The Herald reports:

Health NZ has distributed over 7000 vaping devices and 67,000 refills in just two months as it ramps up its free vape programme for smokers.

It comes after health officials signed a contract with a New Zealand-owned vape company to provide the devices, which come in flavours including tobacco and peach mint.