Tui Vaeau: The Great Maori Education Racket - A State Funded Farce

One could be forgiven for thinking that education in New Zealand is about preparing children for success, arming them with the knowledge and skills to thrive in an unforgiving world. But no, that quaint notion has been tossed aside in favour of racial indulgence on an industrial scale. The latest fawning piece in The Post sings the praises of Maori-medium schooling, an insular, state-funded vanity project that serves no purpose beyond appeasing the usual professional grievance-mongers.

Hon Chris Bishop: Speech to NZ Planning Institute Conference - Resource Management Act

Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today about the new resource management system the Government is introducing, starting this year. I want to acknowledge Hon Rachel Brooking, opposition spokesperson for RMA Reform, as well as Simon Court, my Under-Secretary, who I will invite to speak after me.

I would like to acknowledge the NZPI, David and Andrea, and the many planners here today, as key and influential players as the Government takes action to replace the Resource Management Act.

Breaking Views Update: Week of 23.3.25

Saturday March 29, 2025 

News:
Treaty principles report will exclude thousands of public submissions
The outstanding submissions could be lost from the public record unless Parliament passes a separate resolution to archive them after the fact

Tens of thousands of submissions on the Treaty Principles Bill will not be read by members of the Parliamentary committee considering the high-profile bill, and may never make it into the official record.

DTNZ: Free Speech Union defends teacher under investigation for Facebook comment

A primary school teacher has found herself at the centre of a controversy after expressing her opinion on social media, raising concerns about the balance between free speech and professional conduct.

Craig Rucker: Can the arsenal of democracy defeat the arsenal of autocracy?

American industrial might won the First and Second World Wars and prevented a third.

Could we do it again?

After over a half century of Socialist stagnation, the Chinese Communist Party embraced free market reform. With the brakes off, an economic miracle ensued.

Chris Lynch: Road freight industry welcomes new roadside drug testing law

New legislation enabling random roadside drug testing has been welcomed by Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand, the peak body representing the country’s road freight industry.

The law, which passed its third reading in Parliament today, will empower Police to carry out 50,000 random roadside drug tests per year — a move seen as critical to improving road safety.

David Farrar: $800 million less on consultants

Judith Collins announced:

The Government’s move to cut public sector spending on consultants and contractors is on track to save $800 million over two years – double the initial target, Public Service Minister Judith Collins says.

“We set a two-year target to cut $400 million in spending on consultants and contractors across the public sector by 2024/25,” Ms Collins says.

Mike's Minute: The older worker has never been more valuable

The most uplifting part of the week for me in terms of news was the combination of Winston Peters and his very wise words over diet and work.

The statistics department released the numbers of those who are working beyond 65-years-old. In fact, not just 65, but 70, 80 and 90-years-old.

Friday March 28, 2025 

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Dr Oliver Hartwich: Why Trump's tariffs may not be worth the paper money they're written on - nor ours

Almost two decades ago, I published my first journalistic article. It was a short piece on the nature of money, inspired by Roland Baader, a German economist and student of Nobel laureate Friedrich Hayek.

Even back then, I was concerned about the inherent instability of our global fiat money system – currencies backed by nothing but government promises and public trust.

Ele Ludemann: Don’t let these people into government

Law and order is always an election issue.

Next year the difference between a National-led government and a Labour-Green one will be stark if the Greens’ Police and Justice spokesperson has anything to do with their policy:

David Farrar: There seems to be a pattern

1. Claimed that James Shaw asked her to run for Wellington Central (He didn’t)

2. Claimed that she was paying over half her Councillor salary in rent for one out of five bedrooms in Aro Valley (She wasn’t)

David Farrar: Equality of suffrage seen as bad by Radio NZ

Tauranga MP Sam Uffindell has a simple proposed members’ bill to amend the Bill of Rights Act to have equal suffrage extend to local government.

Equal suffrage is a fundamental human right. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights says:

Graham Hryce: Donald Trump is the furthest thing from the ‘fascist’ his enemies brand him

It’s much easier to invoke inept comparisons than to analyze and combat the systemic decadence and decline of America.

The ubiquitous and ongoing critique of Donald Trump from the so-called social democratic ‘left’ in America – namely that he is a ‘fascist’ – is not only inaccurate, but completely fails to comprehend Trump as a unique modern political phenomenon.

Chris Lynch: Tougher sentencing laws pass, with new protections for victims and retail workers

New legislation aimed at delivering tougher consequences for crime and placing greater focus on victims has passed its final reading in Parliament, with the government saying it marks a turning point in restoring law and order.

The Sentencing (Reform) Amendment Bill introduces several changes designed to strengthen victims’ rights and address growing concerns over retail crime and violence against vulnerable workers.

Linda Mussell: New sentencing laws will drive NZ’s already high imprisonment rates....

New sentencing laws will drive NZ’s already high imprisonment rates – and budgets – even higher

With the government’s Sentencing (Reform) Amendment Bill about to become law within days, New Zealand’s already high incarceration rate will almost certainly climb even higher.

The new legislation essentially limits how much judges can reduce a prison sentence for mitigating factors (such as a guilty plea, young age or mental ability). A regulatory impact statement from the Ministry of Justice estimated it would result in 1,350 more people in prison.

John MacDonald: Roadside drug testing? Great. Will the police cope? Mmmm

I’m sure you’ll tell me if you think I’m stuck in the past, but I reckon that with the police now being expected to do roadside drug tests —as well as everything else— I think we should bring back the old MOT. The old traffic cops.

Officially, it was known as the traffic safety service, but we all knew it as the MOT.

Kerre Woodham: We cannot let people get away with their crimes

Law and order was a major concern of voters going into the 2023 Election – to be fair, it's usually on the minds of voters going into any election campaign, but particularly the last one.

Voters had had a guts full of doing things a different way. Of policing by consent, of giving authority to the gangs and then seeing them take over towns. We had guts full of seeing young kids ram raiding, of seeing neighbourhood crime increase. You saw numerous community Facebook pages showing kids as young as 10 being driven around by older people, breaking into homes, stealing what they could find. People were sick and tired of it, and they were sick and tired too of judges letting young punks walk away from their crimes and their responsibilities. They wanted the authorities to ensure consequences were in place when offenders broke the law.

JC: Winston Speaks the Language of the Right

If you haven’t heard Winston’s State of the Nation speech in Christchurch, I suggest you seek it out. YouTube has it and it is well worth a listen. Before going further I would like to start with a caveat: Winston talks a lot about, and is very critical of, the Labour Party (remember – the party he went into coalition with and gifted us with). It is all too tempting to say ‘well you put them there’. I have said it myself many times. Beyond giving us some perverse sense of satisfaction to utter those words (which it surely does), no useful purpose is served – we are where we are.

David Farrar: So out of touch

Radio NZ reports:

Green MP Tamatha Paul is doubling down on her comments that a “visible police presence” makes people feel “more on edge.” …

The Wellington Central MP said she’d received “nothing but complaints” about police beat patrols.