John Raine: Canary in a Climate World - When Political and Media Narratives Depart from Scientific Evidence

Richard Prebble commented (22^nd June in Brash and Mitchell) on the problematical operation of the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). The present article (updated from a Substack post https://jkr31350.substack.com/p/canary-in-a-climate-world) was intended primarily as a review of a new contrarian publication on climate change but again questions the politicisation of the current climate narrative and the very existence of the ETS. It calls again for a more realistic adaptation approach to climate change.

Francis Menton: Can You See The Climate Scare Slowly Fading Away?

I have often noted that the climate scam and the associated forced energy transition would of necessity go away at some point because the proposals being advocated to “save the planet” could never possibly work. But the open question has always been, when that happens, what will it look like? Would all the big enviro groups like the Environmental Defense Fund and the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club all go on national TV one night and admit that the whole thing was a fake scare from the beginning? In the real world, that’s not how these things happen. People who have staked out absurd positions somehow need to save face. So there would have to be some sort of gradual process of backing down.

Ryan Bridge: Labour takes huge election gamble

So let's talk about that weird interview yesterday.

No not the one with Winston Peters, the one with Hipkins.

He has planted Labour in an almost impossible-to-justify position on NZ Super.

Breaking Views Update: Week of 21.6.26

Wednesday June 24, 2026 

News:
Ngāi Tahu, DOC launch five new ‘national parks of the sea’
After years of work and legal battles, five new marine reserves are about to open along the Otago and South Canterbury coast, protecting some of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most endangered species.

These “no-take zones” – located between the Waitaki River down towards Milton – mark an historic partnership between Ngāi Tahu and the Department of Conservation Te Papa Atawhai who will share decision-making power over them.

Geoff Parker: Who Really Governs New Zealand?

Voters between a rock and a hard place

As the 2026 election approaches, many politically engaged New Zealanders find themselves in an uncomfortable position.

The polls are neck and neck. The country appears deeply divided. Yet for a growing number of voters, the choice is not between two inspiring visions for New Zealand. It is a choice between two parties they believe have both failed to confront the same underlying issue.

Yvonne Van Dongen: What Happens if the Host Population Changes Forever?

Last week I went to a talk on demographic change in New Zealand given by Prof Paul Spoonley and hosted by ACT leader David Seymour in Auckland.

It was more of a data dump than anything, with Spoonley speaking to numerous graphs showing how much we had changed and would continue to change from a largely Anglo-Polynesian host population to an increasingly Asian nation. That change was kick-started by the Labour government in 1987 which swapped out the preference for migrants from the Anglosphere for the points system. Some of the graphs from the talk are shown below.

Pee Kay: Is UNDRIP enforceable under the law of a sovereign state? Absolutely

Did we, the voting public, know Key had authorised the trip to New York by Pita Sharples to sign UNDRIP?

Did we heck!

Pita Sharples trip to New York to sign the declaration on behalf of New Zealand was kept secret!

That was not political apathy. That was political deceit!

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

Click to view

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"?

Click to view

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.

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.