Ashley Church: Why I support Israel and the Jews

Remaining silent is no longer an option

Why would anybody stick their neck out and support Israel and the Jewish people in today’s toxic environment?

Who, in their right mind, would associate themselves with one of the most controversial and divisive issues of our time by putting themselves in the firing line over a tiny country on the other side of the world and a people to whom most of us have no direct connection?

Roger Childs: On Karakia

Bless’ em all – karakia for the public

The demand for authentic welcomes and blessings is increasing and people want someone who can bring cultures together but also take them on a journey of understanding to help encourage better engagement with Te Ao Māori. –Take Tuia

The long, the short and the tall

Bob Edlin: Mayor Brown misses the matter of ministerial accountability....

Mayor Brown misses the matter of ministerial accountability when he upbraids critics of Auckland’s Maori board

It’s a familiar line of argument – you denounce something as “Maori bashing”.

But Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown has gone further and compared an Auckland City apple (or is it puha?) with a central government pear (or kumera).

David Farrar: Don’t defend the indefensible

Radio NZ reports:

The Finance Minister has criticised Shane Jones for a $30,000 budget blowout incurred while attend a mining conference in Canada, saying he has made “significant errors”.

But Jones has immediately fired back, telling RNZ, Nicola Willis “must be in possession of information I don’t have, because to the best of my knowledge there were no errors made by my office”.

David Farrar: The price of gold

Did you know that New Zealand now makes more money exporting gold than wine? Yep, that one metal now produces more export income for NZ than our entire viticulture industry (which is also great).

Where the price will go in future is debatable. The Post ‘reports:

Mike's Minute: We are becoming, again, the magnet that we should be

The most uplifting part of the news weekend (apart from the Warriors) was the Stuff story quoting the head of an Australian investment firm confirming what is clearly already underway.

Which is either New Zealanders returning to New Zealand, or Australians seeing our country as a better option than theirs.

What's particularly uplifting, according to Ed Carlson who runs TrueBridge Capital, is the people coming are the bright and go-getters.

Tuesday June 23, 2026 

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1 News Verian Poll: Big two parties at 30-year low, Opportunity nears 5% threshold

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Both Labour and National have taken falls in the latest 1News Verian poll, with Labour tumbling by five points, while National enters the 20s for the first time since 2021.

Is The Nats’ Strategy To Condemn Its Coalition Partners Madness?

On The Platform, Michael Laws asks "Is the Nats’ strategy to condemn its coalition partners just desperate madness"?

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Ryan Bridge: We should be worried about the message behind Starmer's resignation

Sir Keir Starmer's resignation has come as no surprise to those who listen to this - or pretty any - show on this station.

But what should worry us is why.

Sure, he was a dud. Sure, he was a bit of a goofball. He wasn't cool.

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: The Greens have made another mistake with their new tax policy

The Greens’ tax policy is only a day old and there is already a big maths problem with it. They counted $100 million a year as income when it was really an expense. It was money they had set aside to run the new tax system.

So, instead of $100 million over four years coming in, it is now going out, creating an $800 million hole in their budget.

Breaking Views Update: Week of 21.6.26

Tuesday June 23, 2026 

News:
Three Ngāi Tahu rūnanga propose a public partnership to secure the long-term future of Lyttleton Port
Three Ngāi Tahu rūnanga and global port operator DP World have proposed a partnership model for the future of Lyttelton Port, saying it would secure long-term investment while keeping the port’s strategic assets in public ownership.

Pee Kay: Only those living off the public purse could be so tone deaf!

The budget quietly increased the funding for former MPs’ travel to $1.6 million for the coming year.

Did we hear that little tit bit of information from Nicola Willis during her budget speech? Yeah Right!

The Herald reported –

Ani O'Brien: Tall Poppy Economics - the politics of envy won't make New Zealand rich

The fantasy behind the Greens' Tax Plan

The Green Party released its 2026 tax policy under the slogan “A tax system for all of us”. The package is presented as modest, fair, compassionate, and practically technocratic in that it is framed as a small tax on the “super-rich”, a contribution from “mega-corporations”, a tax cut for 96% of earners, and some extra enforcement against multinationals. But behind the clever soothing language and the veneer of sensibleness is the familiar ideological Green Party project. The Greens are proposing to reshape New Zealand’s economy around a suspicion of private wealth, profit, investment, inheritance, landlords, banks, large companies, and high earners. They are setting the population against the very people best equipped to grow our economy and improve our collective quality of life. They want us to fight over the dodgy petrol station pie that is falling apart instead of growing a massive gourmet one.

John McLean: So Civil....So What?

Why civility shouldn’t be a shield

I naturally face occasional pushback against my criticisms of particular individuals. Sometimes the dissent can even be justifiable! But resistance on the basis that an individual I’m criticizing is “civil” – polite and courteous, exhibiting social graces…“nice” – doesn’t cut it with me.

Please don’t get me wrong. I’ve got nothing per se against civility. All else being equal I favour Western civility over incivility and barbarism. But being civil should not be a free pass or get-out-of-jail card, or provide immunity from justified reproach.

Richard Prebble: What Happens When Climate Policy Works?

I have been approached by a lobbyist representing carbon forestry interests.

His said that the carbon price had fallen. Investors in carbon forestry faced huge losses.

National he claimed favoured fixing a carbon price to restore a valuable stream of Crown revenue from carbon auctions. New Zealand First was sympathetic to the plight of forestry investors.

Phillip Crump: Sinead Boucher Buys an Event

Matthew Hooton’s appointment is not a conventional hire. That is precisely the point.

When news leaked last year that Matthew Hooton was being considered for a seat on the RNZ board, my first reaction was: of course he is. The fit wasn’t quite right but the impulse behind it was entirely him.

So the announcement earlier this week that Matthew would be the next Editor-in-Chief of The Post and the Sunday Star-Times didn’t surprise me. In fact, it was exactly the type of provocation that has been Matthew’s trademark ever since I've known him.

David Farrar: National proposes compulsory KiwiSaver

Chris Luxon has announced National policy to make KiwiSaver compulsory if re-elected.

The Government has already lifted the minimum contribution rate from 3.0% to 3.5%, which 99.5% of default rate savers went with – only 0.5% went back to 3.0%.

David Farrar: Two good appointments for The Post

The Post announced:

Incoming editor-in-chief of The Post and the Sunday Star-Times, Matthew Hooton, has appointed Henry Cooke as political editor and Amelia Wade as Auckland editor.

“Henry Cooke and Amelia Wade are the best New Zealand journalists of their generation and they are only going to get better still,” Hooton said.

Kerre Woodham: I'm not sure about the Oprah-fication of Labour's policies

As the election gets closer, parties are starting to release their policies. And after a slow start, keeping their cards close to their chest, Labour's building up steam. We already had the three free doctors visits for all, now we've got free maternity scans and a promise to scrap the $5 fee on prescriptions and make them universally free. Add that to the free public transport, well, up to a point, $20 in the major cities and $10 everywhere else, and that capital gains tax is going to be working overtime to pay for it all. So far, so Labour. But I'm not really sure about the Oprah-fication of Labour's policies. "You get a doctor's visit, and you get a doctor's visit, and here's one for you too. You get a free bus ride, and here's a free bus ride for you, and one for you as well."