Peter Bassett: Where Water Has a Life Force, Whales Are People — and the Sewage Escapes

In New Zealand, an unelected list MP from the Green Party is drafting legislation — a Member’s Bill — to make whales legal persons.

Not protected species.

Not culturally significant symbols.

People — in law — with rights, standing, and representation.

Ryan Bridge: Protecting children starts in the home

The brutal death of that poor wee boy Malachi is a disgrace.

It's heartbreaking to think an adult could be so cruel to young child. Malachi was beaten, starved, thrown against walls... you name it.

Basically torture.

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: 'Fix that fundamental problem at Oranga Tamariki'

Tell you what—I'm not feeling terribly hopeful about the situation for vulnerable kids in this country after reading the coroner’s recommendations following the death of Malachi Subecz.

Ryan Bridge: Cut spending, don't levy

Labour's getting flak, especially in Auckland, for their capital gains tax.

Rightly so.

But National's approach, as is usually the case with centre-right parties, is user-pays.

Breaking Views Update: Week of 8.2.26

Thursday February 12, 2026 

News:
Mauri Stone Laid For Bridge To Better
Bridge to Better is a key part of Councils plans to revitalise our city centre. We are fortunate to have secured $36.3 million of the $78 million cost from Government.

A dawn ceremony held this morning at the corner of Bridge Street and Haven Road marked the start of the substantial construction phase of the Bridge to Better project, with iwi laying a mauri stone to acknowledge the significance of the site and the work now underway.

Ani O'Brien: Academic calls woman he disagrees with “Pedophile-Adjacent” & disgraces university

Response to Massey University's Professor Mohan Dutta

In early February 2026 the Free Speech Union (FSU) invited renowned Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker to speak in Auckland about his latest book. Contrary to what Massey University’s Professor Mohan Dutta alleges, I had no role in organising the event, although I did attend it. I am one of eleven volunteer council members, three women and eight men, and my involvement with the FSU is no different from the other ten. I also appear on the podcast, write occasional newsletters, and attend events meeting with supporters. Yet in a blog post titled “The Free Speech Facade: Inviting Steven Pinker and the Hypocritical War on ‘Woke’ as Strategy for Protecting Powerful White Men,” Dutta focused obsessively on me. He described me as emblematic of a “war on woke,” suggested that my presence “mobilises harm,” and insinuated that I have helped shield “white supremacist, racist, and pedophile‑adjacent men”. Given his much-professed advocacy for marginalised communities, his fixation on the only lesbian woman on the council is interesting, and, I think, just one example of a great deal of hypocrisy.

Hannah Frankman Hood: Mississippi’s Literacy Miracle.....

Mississippi’s Literacy Miracle: How Holding Students Back Moved a Whole State Forward

A year or so ago, I met my friend’s mother for the first time at a wedding. She told me that she was Mississippi born and raised, but that after her kids were born she and her husband decided to move to North Carolina. Turns out the whole extended family was from Mississippi, still lives there, still loves it there.

“Why did you leave?” I asked.

“Because we had little kids, and the schools were terrible.”

John MacDonald: Importing gas isn't great - but it has to happen

Labour leader Chris Hipkins has fallen into the trap that I could very easily find myself falling into if I didn’t think a little bit more carefully about this plan by the Government to set-up a new shipping terminal in Taranaki to import liquified natural gas.

This is the gas that’s needed to generate power, alongside the other ways we generate power in this country - hydro, coal and wind.

Simon O'Connor: Free Jimmy Lai

A good man is going to die in a Hong Kong prison for believing in freedom and democracy. His name is Jimmy Lai

So, Hong Konger Jimmy Lai is going to die in prison – a martyr for democracy, freedom, and faith. This might sound a bit dramatic, but if you know the story of Jimmy Lai, you will understand why I describe things as such. The story is also personal, having found myself named in this sham court case and my words used against Jimmy.

Matua Kahurangi: Oranga Tamariki’s race-based leave policy is indefensible

A clause quietly embedded in a collective agreement at Oranga Tamariki should alarm anyone who still believes the public service is meant to operate on neutral ground.

Revealed this week by Duncan Garner, the provision grants Māori staff discretionary paid cultural leave that is self-defined, open-ended, and explicitly protected from managerial scrutiny. Attendance at land court hearings, iwi or hapū meetings, cultural performances such as Te Matatini, and other obligations determined by the individual qualify. The list is deliberately non-exhaustive.

The crucial detail is simple. The entitlement applies to Māori staff only.

Kerre Woodham: Until we have sustainable, reliable alternatives, we need to stock up on fuel

The headline on one of the stories this morning said, "vital or bonkers?". Is the new liquefied natural gas terminal announced by the Government yesterday a vital piece of infrastructure that will save New Zealand households hundreds, shore up gaps in our energy supply, give confidence to our manufacturers, or as the Greens are saying, absolutely bonkers for the planet and for our country's energy resilience?

David Farrar: Don’t overstay and you’ll get visa free travel

Radio NZ reports:

More than 45,000 people have signed a petition demanding equal treatment of visitors from New Zealand’s Pacific neighbours.

At the moment they must apply for a visitor visa, provide proof of funds for the duration of their stay and could be asked to get an x-ray or doctor’s check to show they’re in “good health”.

Mike's Minute: KiwiSaver, success and competition

KiwiSaver is a newsmaker.

It's making news of late because of the so-called "hardship withdrawals".

Bad news is an easy headline.

Wednesday February 11, 2026 

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Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Does Winston Peters have a point about the India FTA?

Look, I hate to say it, but it’s starting to sound like Winston Peters was right about that India Free Trade Agreement, and that the Government is not being straight up with us about what’s in the document.

Geoff Parker: Colonisation Is Not What’s on the Dinner Plate

A new university-backed study claims Māori food insecurity is “not the result of individual choice or lifestyle” but a “direct and ongoing consequence of colonisation”. It is a claim that sounds humane and progressive — and one that creatively explains everything while proving very little.

No fairminded person denies that history matters. The problem is that colonisation is treated not as one factor among many, but as the decisive and permanent cause of present-day outcomes. It becomes an all-purpose explanation that absolves individuals of responsibility, shields current policy from scrutiny, and discourages honest discussion about what actually drives food insecurity today.

Barrie Saunders: Cutting losses – governments too slow to learn

Business generally works out when to cut losses because the risks of failure are too high for shareholders and workers.

Government on the other hand are very slow, regardless of stripe. Grant Robertson got very grumpy with KiwiRail re the ship and ferry land side infrastructure and should have stopped or changed it, one way or the other. Nicola Willis probably acted prematurely without fully thinking through the alternative options which could have included rescoping the land side aspect. Probably still made the right call.

Pee Kay: Wellington citizens are in the sh-t!

Surely this article epitomises the inadequacies and ineptitude of local government in New Zealand!

It perfectly underscores how ratepayers around the country are abused and exploited by Mayors and councillors as they squander ratepayers money by giving preference to projects that reflect and align with their political leanings.

Roger Partridge: The Historian Who Forgot His History

Economic historian and Hoover Institution senior fellow Niall Ferguson declares that Donald Trump “won Davos, hands down.”

Writing in The Free Press, Ferguson’s argument runs as follows. European leaders genuinely feared Trump might use military force to annex Greenland. They invoked international law and the rules-based order. Then Trump arrived, delivered his usual improvisational performance, and called the whole thing off. No new tariffs. No military action.

Kerre Woodham: Our jury system has an efficiency problem

Today, we thought we'd have a look at jury duty, given a story in the New Zealand Herald this morning. I've only been called for jury service once, a couple of years ago, before Covid, which isn't really a couple of years, is it? It's like six years ago. I was keen as mustard. Couldn't wait.