Breaking Views Update: Week of 23.8.26

Thursday August 27, 2026 

News:
Upper Hutt Weighs Māori Wards For Next Two Local Elections
Upper Hutt's council is revisiting Māori wards for the 2028 and 2031 elections while its own future remains up in the air.

Mike's Minute: Rate caps – not a moment too soon

So the Government has moved on rates.

The cap is 4%, unless there are exceptional circumstances.

Of all the price pressures that are out of control, rates would have to be the worst.

Kelli Ballard: New Poll Shows Shocking Result - People Like China More Than the US

Some may find it hard to believe, but according to a new Pew Research poll, China is seen more favorably than America. Of course, there’s a good deal of politics at play, but there may also be more behind the scenes – the power of Hollywood.

America vs China

The July survey consisted of more than 42,000 people in 36 countries, and for the first time in 20 years since Pew started polling this topic, China came out on top. The US is viewed more positively than China in only six countries: India, Israel, Japan, Philippines, Poland, and South Korea. Even America’s closest neighbors, Mexico and Canada, favor China.

Bob Edlin: After ruling out new taxes, the Nats say voters’ choice is simple....

....but there’s support, too, for more spending on state services

Google threw the Facebook messaging of National MP Matt Doocey into considerations when PoO asked Google for a steer on political polls and public support for parties which have ruled out tax increases.

Doocey was crowing:

Ryan Bridge: Parliament's backlog is becoming a problem

This past week is proof a four-year Parliamentary term is probably a good idea.

Elections disrupt the housing market. People get scared off buying for fear of the unknown. Who knows what government will get in and what they'll do to price of a house.

Rodney Hide: National's Online Safety Bill is a Trojan Horse

In 1990 I travelled the country warning landowners about the Resource Management Bill. It was sold as a simpler, more permissive system. Farmers welcomed it. The old regime of overlapping statutes would be replaced by a single, principles-based framework that would make life easier.

One night, in frustration, I told a meeting that the bill would eventually mean the government dictating the colour of your woolshed and requiring you to pay local Māori for the spirits to go away. The room went quiet. I left thinking I had overreached. The farmers clearly thought I was unhinged. None of us imagined those specific outcomes would arrive.

JC: ACT Is in Tune With the Right

The release of party policy by David Seymour at the weekend showed ACT completely understands the wants, needs and desires of those on the right of politics. Not only was the policy itself impressive but David was too. Of all the party leaders, David is the best at enunciating clearly what the purpose of the policy is and why it is needed. There is no ambiguity about where the party stands on any given issue. Clear direction and choice is given to voters, especially those who might be still undecided when it comes to casting their vote.

Net Zero Watch Samizdat: Tories launch firm power plans

UK

Tories back plan to prioritise firm power

The Conservatives have said that households could save about £540 a year after 2030 if net zero regulations are scrapped with a commitment to make energy as cheap as possible. A report published by centre-right think tank Onward and backed by the Tories said the cost of net zero came to an extra £540 per household a year between 2030 and 2050.

Geoff Parker: Were Māori A Sovereign Nation Before The Treaty?

The claim that Māori had already established a sovereign nation before the Treaty of Waitangi sounds straightforward enough. But the answer depends on what is meant by “sovereign” and “nation” and, most importantly, whether Māori — the people with whom the Treaty was signed — were politically united under any common authority.

There is no doubt that Māori exercised authority before 1840. Chiefs, hapū and iwi controlled their own people and territories, and the British Government recognised that reality.

Dr Eric Crampton: An economics without trade-offs

One reasonable definition of economics is the study of choice under conditions of scarcity, or choice under constraint.

When getting more of one good thing requires forgoing some other good thing, what do people do? How do they decide?

Ganesh Ahirao (was Ganesh Nana; last name changed - I think because a historic error in NZ systems was finally more recently corrected) proposes an Economic Governance Act to replace core parts of the Public Finance Act.

Jack Tame asked how part of that would work. If the Minister of Finance were deciding how to spend the last billion dollars of available funding and were choosing between a hospital infrastructure project and a wetland restoration project, how would the Act guide that choice?

Mike's Minute: The social media ban is a line in the sand

So we join the growing world chorus against social media/big tech and its pervasive algorithms and means of getting the young hooked.

It was an impressive launch of the social media regulation; an audience, good speakers, impassioned politicians, and a particularly effective video featuring Erica Stanford and a group of teenagers who outlined their personal experience and concerns about social media and, with the exception of one, who said they would not let their siblings near it if they had a choice.

Wednesday August 26, 2026 

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Kineta Knight: Government moves to cap council rate rises at 4 per cent

Council rate increases will be capped at 4 per cent under proposed legislation aimed at easing financial pressure on households and businesses.

Local Government Minister Simon Watts said councils would initially be required to keep annual rate increases within a target range of 2 to 4 per cent.

John Hyndman: A Different Democracy - a Proposal for New Zealand

In 1852 the British Parliament passed the New Zealand Constitution Act, which created New Zealand's first Parliament. It established a system of representative government based on the British parliamentary tradition, which subsequently developed into our Westminster system of Government and Opposition.

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Here's why I'm more optimistic about the social media ban

I think I'm probably more optimistic about the social media ban than most people. I do accept that the thing is not going to work, according to the accepted definition of what it means to work, but I think it will work for enough people for it to, in my mind, work - if you follow what I'm saying.

Ryan Bridge: Labour's fallen for Nicola's election trap

Labour's fallen into a cunning wee trap set by Nicola Willis a few weeks ago.

She laid the bait —releasing 'fiscal rules' her party would abide by if re-elected— and challenged Labour to do the same.

On the weekend, they took the bait and released their own 'fiscal strategy'. Which is different form their 'fiscal plan' – more on that in a second.

Ani O'Brien: National is right about social media, but its ban is still a bad idea

A quick response to National’s announcement of legislation to ban u16 social media

I have written about social media and children a few times now, but because National has finally announced actual legislation, it seems worth covering once more. I am not opposed to restricting children’s access to social media. I think the evidence of harm is sufficiently serious that governments are justified in acting, and I have little patience left for people who dismiss the whole thing as another moral panic about whatever technology the youth are using this decade.

Colinxy: Labour’s 2026 Policy - Powered by Unicorn Farts

The Fiscal Strategy That Isn’t a Strategy

Every election cycle produces its share of political fantasy, but Labour’s 2026 offering is something else entirely: a fiscal plan seemingly powered not by numbers, economics, or reality, but by the gaseous emissions of mythical creatures. According to Labour’s own documents, they’ve conceded their policies require $12 billion more in spending, while their so‑called Simple Capital Gains Tax, a rebrand of taxing inflation, is so transparent it’s almost endearing, will raise barely a tenth of that.

Geoff Parker: Carwyn Jones misses the point - David Seymour is right

Who Makes New Zealand’s Laws — Parliament Or The Courts?

Carwyn Jones says ACT's new “One Law for All. One Future Together” policy appears to be an attempt to “re-litigate” the failed Treaty Principles Bill.

But that criticism misses the central point of David Seymour's proposal.

Dr Oliver Hartwich: If I were PM - Fix the machine before the policies

On my first morning as Prime Minister, I would deliver a speech. It would contain no slogans or platitudes about becoming the best country in the world. Instead, it would be a stocktake, and it would not be a pleasant one.

I would tell New Zealanders what they already sense: the country has been slipping down the income rankings of the developed world for decades. The government’s books have been in deficit for years, and an ageing population will make both problems worse.