Breaking Views Update: Week of 27.9.26

Tuesday September 29, 2026 

News:
PM Christopher Luxon says ‘very legitimate question’ about Waitangi Tribunal
The Prime Minister is refusing to be drawn before the election on whether National would get rid of the Waitangi Tribunal.

It follows Saturday’s announcement from National’s coalition partner NZ First that the party would abolish the tribunal if re-elected, replacing it with a body tasked with completing historical treaty claims.

Pee Kay: Smoke, Mirrors, and Supermarkets

National Side-steps the Economic Drivers They Actually Control

Right now, National is playing a masterful game of economic misdirection. While Chris Luxon and Nicola Willis demand accountability from supermarket executives, National actively side-steps the massive economic drivers they actually control. It’s a convenient distraction; if the public is busy blaming the price of cheese, nobody asks why the governments own strategy is completely failing.

New Zealand’s grocery sector, well the locally owned ones, have been in the cross hairs of a number of our political parties over the last few weeks.

Geoff Parker: The NZ Herald's Cherry-Picked History.

The facts the Herald left out

The Weekend Herald's article (26 Sep 2026) “Horse trading: The troubling history of Māori-Pākehā land deals” presents a highly selective account of New Zealand's land history. It takes readers through disputed purchases, confiscations, the Native Land Court and Treaty settlements, while giving far less attention to the events that preceded those grievances.

That matters because history is chronology. If the beginning of an episode is removed, the events that follow can be made to look entirely different.

The Herald has published its version. Here are the facts it leaves out.

Kerre Woodham: Both parties' launches reeked of desperation

The election campaign officially kicked off over the weekend with the two main parties, but honestly, it feels like we've been in campaign mode for years now.

National and Labour gathered their party faithful in their respective happy places: the swanky International Convention Centre for the blue team, Dew Drop Events Centre in South Auckland for the red team.

Amy Gallagher: I Was Forced Out of an NHS Training Course for My Belief in Colour-Blind Meritocracy.....

.....It’s Time for the Courts to Intervene

In 2020, I enrolled at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust to become a psychotherapist. Infamous now for its disbanded Gender Identity Development Service, the Tavistock was one of the first NHS trusts to declare itself an ‘anti-racist’ organisation. As part of my training, it pushed its policy seminar, “Whiteness: a problem for our time”, where, it claimed, “a key and urgent question then for those of us who are regarded as White is, how do we interrogate our whiteness?” I was told I needed to view all white people as racist as it was the Tavistock’s official ‘anti-racist’ stance.

Colinxy: Who Actually Governs NZ?

A Genealogy of Bureaucratic Power in a Country That Pretends Ministers Are in Charge

Every few years, New Zealanders rediscover the same uncomfortable truth: the people they elect do not actually run the country. Ministers announce, promise, and posture. Bureaucrats decide, delay, and deny. The public service is the permanent government; ministers are the temporary decoration.

Peter Williams: On Politics

Nothing appears to have changed much in New Zealand politics in the month that I’ve been out of the country. The National Party continues to be a major disappointment in terms of both policy and election strategy, the Maori Party just gets weirder and weirder, Labour is backtracking on policy, and I still can’t make up my mind whether I party vote for ACT or NZ First.

And then there’s the media.

Ashley Church: Can we still rock the Casbah?

Why has the left turned its back on the Iranian people?

Those of us of a certain age will hear the words Rock the Casbah and be immediately transported back to 1982 and one of the most distinctive songs of that era.

Released by British Punk band, The Clash, it went on to become one of their biggest international hits – but behind the cheesy video (which you can easily find on YouTube) and the ridiculously catchy chorus was something much more serious because the song was inspired by what was happening in Iran in the years immediately following the Islamic Revolution of 1979.

Richard Prebble: Who really pays tax?

The poll this week on tax finds that only 4 percent of people think they should pay more tax, while 64 percent support a wealth tax.

I wonder if the pollster had read this statement first, would it have changed the answer?

Monday September 28, 2026 

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1News Verian Poll: Greens surge to best result ever as National, Labour slide further

Click to view

Ryan Bridge: Will Labour's election bribe work?

It's not quite Briscoes sale level, but 10% off your student loan is not to be scoffed at.

Unless you're not a student, never had a student loan, and don't plan on sitting in a lecture theatre for three years.

Then you don't really care about this policy except for what it costs you as a taxpayer.

Paul Melville: Tackling the cost-of-living crisis through comparative analysis

This election, the standout issue is the cost of living.

It’s all the focus groups want to talk about.

Petrol, food, insurance, electricity, rates. The cost of everything has gone up and something must be done.

Dr Oliver Hartwich: NZ shows how not to run a census

Two thousand years ago, according to St Luke, Emperor Augustus decreed that all the world should be registered. A carpenter and his pregnant wife walked from Nazareth to Bethlehem to comply. Evidently, the Romans had little trouble with their census response rate.

Ever since those times, countries have counted their populations. For those filling in the forms, it is a nuisance, to be sure. But governments need reliable figures to plan public services.

Dr Michael Johnston: Nothing endures but change

Last week, Labour announced its flagship education policy for the election. If it wins in November, it will introduce a new statutory authority, called the Independent Council for Curriculum and Assessment (ICCA). The New Zealand Principals' Federation first proposed the idea in August.

The ICCA would oversee future development of school curricula and national assessment systems. Labour’s education spokesperson Ginny Andersen said, “educational professionals should be determining what children learn and how they learn, not the minister of education.”

Dr Oliver Hartwich: Why we spoke up

Over the past couple of months, we have heard mounting alarm from business leaders about this election campaign. They are asking whether New Zealand still welcomes people willing to invest here. The concern comes from a broad range of industries.

Those conversations prompted an open letter, now signed by 51 business leaders. It asks all political parties to respect private property and the agreements people make.

Bruce Cotterill: Foodstuffs breakup plan - Why National’s supermarket policy is a disaster

The Four Square store has been with most of us for our entire lives. With its “Cheeky Charlie” Mr Four Square logo, complete with a grocer’s apron and a pencil behind his ear, excellent range and convenient location, it’s a New Zealand icon that has served us well.

Generations before mine would approach the counter at the front of the shop with a shopping list for the grocer, who would duly put together an order while the customer waited. Our generation saw “self-service” stores and an opportunity to wander the aisles and choose for ourselves.

Kerre Woodham: Are these election promises worth it to you?

The political parties have pressed go on their election campaigns and every morning from now until November 7th, we'll have a full smorgasbord of party promises to pick over. Lucky, lucky us.

Of course, most of them aren't worth the paper they're printed on. The minor parties have the luxury of promising you a pony and a castle and fairy bread for the rest of your life, then when it comes time to stump up after the election, they'll be all, "Oh, soz, we really wanted to, but those mean Nats/Labourites wouldn't let us. Sorry." So everything you hear, take with a grain of salt.

Bob Edlin: We are talking here about AI mischief at Stanford University.....

....but there are lessons for NZ media and our electoral laws

The name “Stanford” has popped up in a slew of news reports in this country in recent days, as Education Minister Erica Stanford wriggles her way – or tries to – through various controversies.

She and the Principals’ Federation president are firing insults at each other after she delivered a speech at a recent federation conference.

She is embroiled in controversy over Official Information Act issues (here and here).

David Farrar: ACT’s Waitangi Tribunal policy

ACT have released their policy on abolishing the Waitangi Tribunal once it has concluded the historical Treaty claims, and remove its jurisdiction. over contemporary issues.