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.