Dave Patterson: Technology Theft - How American Tech Keeps Showing up in China

On Wednesday, April 22, the US Senate Committee on the Judiciary heard testimony on the topic “Stealth Stealing: China’s Ongoing Theft of US Innovation.” Witnesses included Mark Cohen, Senior Fellow at the University of Akron Law School's Intellectual Property Institute; Tom Lyons, Co-Founder of the 2430 Group; and Helen Toner, Interim Executive Director of the Center for Security and Emerging Technology at Georgetown University. The issues included blatant theft of US technology and intellectual property, as well as intense competition with China for dominance in the field of artificial intelligence. And this theft by the CCP is nothing new.

Rodney Hide: New Zealand’s Rot Starts in Empty Pews

Christianity didn’t just arrive in New Zealand—it built the place. Missionaries planted the first permanent settlement in 1814, translated the Treaty, ran the early schools and hospitals, and gave us a moral framework of personal responsibility, stable families and covenantal duty. For a century and a half it was the cultural default. Then the 1960s secular wave hit. By the 2023 Census only 32.3 per cent called themselves Christian; 51.6 per cent claimed no religion. The collapse is not coincidence. It is the root of the social decay now choking the country.

Peter Williams: Luxon lacks courage

Backing out of interviews is poor form

Any politician who refuses to front on a particular media outlet essentially because he or she is afraid of being made to look foolish is, frankly, a coward and not competent to be in a position of responsibility.

It’s into that category that we must now place the current Prime Minister. We know that Jacinda Ardern was already a certified member.

Pee Kay: An Open Letter To The Prime Minister

“Prime Minister, the country is running out of time — and you are running out of excuses.”

“Enough. New Zealand cannot survive more soft leadership. “

Colinxy: The Success Rate of Rehabilitation of Criminals

New Zealand Labour’s crime policy is built on a simple premise: rehabilitation works, and therefore the best way to reduce crime is to focus on treatment, programmes, and reducing reoffending. Labour rejects the “tough on crime” approach and frames rehabilitation as the humane, evidence‑based alternative.

Dr Eric Crampton: We are only hurting ourselves

Every year, respiratory syncytial virus, RSV, sends over a thousand infants to hospital.

Six years ago, Kiwis volunteered to be part of a large international study testing whether vaccinating pregnant women for RSV would protect their newborns.

Dr Oliver Hartwich: The art of the contradiction

On Tuesday morning, President Trump told CNBC he did not want to extend the ceasefire with Iran. Yet on Tuesday afternoon, he extended it.

Contradiction is the art of the deal. So it is no wonder that the entire war has been conducted this way.

On 28 February, the United States and Israel struck Iran. At first, the President said the operation would take four weeks or less. Then four to five weeks. Then “whatever it takes.”

David Farrar: After 20 years, a hydro dam gets consented

The Government announced:

A fast-tracked renewable energy project on the West Coast will strengthen regional electricity supply and improve resilience, Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop and Regional Development Minister Shane Jones say.

In August 2025, Westpower Limited lodged a substantive application to build and operate a 23MW hydro scheme in the Waitaha Valley, about 38km south of Hokitika. The project includes a weir and a 1.5km tunnel to a two-turbine powerhouse.

 Monday April 27, 2026 

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Geoff Parker: Stability Doesn’t Come From Ambiguity

The claim that adjusting Treaty clause wording will create decades of instability gets the problem backwards.

New Zealand’s ongoing tension over Treaty principles isn’t caused by too little legal weight—it’s caused by inconsistency and ambiguity across laws. Different statutes use different phrases (“recognise,” “have regard to,” “give effect to”), creating uncertainty about what the Treaty actually requires in practice.

That lack of clarity is exactly what drives litigation, not resolves it.

Damien Grant: Chris Bishop has emerged as the main pretender to a shaky crown.....

Chris Bishop has emerged as the main pretender to a shaky crown. How shall we assess his performance?

“Will no one rid me of this turbulent bishop?" cried King Henry the Second, yelling to the ceiling in frustration at the antics of the archbishop of Canterbury, the soon-to-be-murdered Thomas Becket. It is, if you forgive the literary fudge alert readers will have noticed, a sentiment our Prime Minister may be feeling as his premiership is undermined by the persistent stories that the current Hutt South MP has been counting the numbers. It is also a lesson in being clear with your retinue on your intentions.

Centrist: Will National rule out Labour?

• NZ First has ruled out Labour, but the bigger question may be whether National would do the same.

• A National-Labour deal sounds unlikely, but cross-party arrangements have happened before in wartime.

• Both major parties may see their own minor-party partners as harder to manage.

• Centre-right voters may need to pressure MPs now: will you rule out Labour?

The bigger question

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Why has the Government pulled SailGP's funding?

I’ve tried very hard to understand the Government’s decision to essentially cancel SailGP in Auckland next year and I just can’t.

I cannot understand what has gone on here because, as I understand it, this has come down to a few hundred thousand dollars.

Breaking Views Update: Week of 26.4.26

Monday April 27, 2026 

News:
Far North iwi unite behind bold plan to expand mussel aquaculture
Far North iwi have applied through the fast-tracking process to start a unique mussel-farming venture that could annually earn four iwi $1.2 million profit each.

The application writer Te Aupōuri Fisheries Management (TAFM) general manager Penetaui Kleskovich said the Muriwhenua Aquaculture proposal would radically change the future of New Zealand mussel farming.

Professor Alexander Gillespie: Anzac then and now: as trans‑Tasman defence relations get closer, NZ must be on guard

Anzac Day 2026 arrives in tumultuous times: unresolved conflict in the Middle East, the erosion of the old international order, the famous Doomsday Clock set closer to midnight than ever before.

Without doubt, this brings New Zealand’s defence relationship with its closest neighbour (and only formal ally) Australia into sharp focus.

Peter Williams: Anzac Day Address 2026

NOTE: I was asked to be the guest speaker at the Cromwell Anzac Day service. This address is similar to one I gave at the small Southland community of Waikaka in 2023

As a recently arrived Central Otago resident – albeit with a long personal and family history in Otago and Southland – it’s a privilege to deliver the first ANZAC Day address outside this brand new and soon to be officially named Cromwell Memorial Events Centre.

Major General John G. Howard, MNZM (Ret): Buying readiness or buying time?

The Government's 2025 Defence Capability Plan allocates $12 billion over the next four years—the biggest outlay in generations and long overdue. The challenge is that the defence acquisition machinery was built for a slower, steadier world and has not been rebuilt for this one.
Buying new kit often takes longer than a government lasts. The chain of sign-offs required often takes years. A single big purchase can outlast the government that started it.

Guest Post: The Numbers do not Lie

A guest post from Owen Jennings on Kiwiblog:

Everyone seems to have an opinion on Christopher Luxon’s future. Why not? He is Prime Minster, after all. He has to be open to scrutiny.

But, is what we are encountering the normal, hurly burly of politics and strong media coverage? Or is there some other force at play? Some homework, using Artificial Intelligence, suggests there is and it’s something that should concern every New Zealand voter.

Rodney Hide: Hosking’s “Impeccable Sources” - Pure Prebble Theatre, Zero

Mike Hosking’s claim of “impeccable sources” naming five National MPs as leakers is straight out of the Richard Prebble playbook. The veteran ACT leader was a master of the device: “usually reliable sources,” “reliable sources inform me,” “my sources tell me.” It sounded insider-ish, carried a ring of truth, and kept the story pumping for another news cycle.

Kerre Woodham: Unacceptable behaviour is unacceptable behaviour

Remember back in February, the Government announced it was proposing to give police officers the power to issue move on orders to deal with, as it's described, disorderly behaviour in public places. What they mean is antisocial homeless people who are startling the horses, putting people off coming into the city, creating all sorts of disgusting messes for business owners to clean up.