Bryan Leyland: "Things that you know that ain’t so…" - electricity

As the American humorist Will Rogers said: “It’s not what we don’t know that gives us trouble, it’s what we know that ain’t so”:

“An electricity market based on trading kWh in the short-term will automatically provide a reliable and economic supply into the future”

In New Zealand, our electricity market certainly does not provide an economic and reliable supply. Instead, it is often unable to supply all the load and it produces wildly fluctuating power prices.

Breaking Views Update: Week of 10.5.26

Saturday May 16, 2026 

News:
Govt agrees to change or scrap Treaty of Waitangi references in 19 laws
The Government will change or remove references to the Treaty of Waitangi that are included in 19 pieces of legislation.

In a statement, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith confirmed two references would be amended, seven would be repealed and in 10 pieces of legislation, it would be specified that Treaty provisions should be considered by no higher standard than “take into account”.

Mike's Minute: Chris Hipkins is deluded

Is Chris Hipkins missing a gene?

Does he have a self-destructive predilection? Or is he just a pillock by nature?

He rolls into Auckland to tell the nation's biggest city and engine room in election year that she's all good and everyone has moved on from the lockdowns. His lockdowns.

Nicola Grigg: The mess Labour left us in.....

Nicola Grigg gave a powerful speech in Parliament to remind New Zealanders of the mess Labour left us in, and the work National are doing to fix it.....

Click to view

Roger Partridge: Parliament right to correct Supreme Court on climate change case

This week, the Government moved to reassert Parliament’s authority over the courts. Two years ago, in Smith v Fonterra, the Supreme Court revived a climate change claim the Court of Appeal had unanimously struck out. The claim included a proposed new tort of “damage to the climate system” recognised by no court anywhere in the common law world. I wrote at the time that the court had appropriated a role that belonged to Parliament. On Tuesday, the Government said that Parliament will take that role back.

Kerre Woodham: This is a Budget that should've already been delivered

Guess what? New Zealand's in economic trouble. I know, I know, who would have thought it? Well, we did. You know it, I know it. We've known it for a very, very long time, right from the very start when Labour began throwing money around. There were the Cassandras coming on the radio saying, “Oh, you're going to have to pay it back. All very well and good now, probably the right thing to do, but at some point we're going to have to pay it back."

“The outlook is negative, so it indicates that there is a chance of a downgrade.”

Bob Edlin: Trump should brace for reprisals as Waititi calls for penalties over Wihongi detention

The PoO team was greatly cheered to hear Maori Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi go out to bat for “all New Zealand citizens detained by ICE”.

But his primary concern was the wellbeing of Everlee Wihongi, who has been detained by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement for over a month without any charges.

Lindsay Mitchell: The deafening silence about welfarism and children

It took becoming a mother to awaken an interest in politics in me. Having then become increasingly aware of the detrimental role welfare was playing in weakening family structure and what it meant for children, I developed an unfavourable view of big govt and extensive redistribution. In that context libertarianism made sense to me. I listened and read in that sphere, gravitating first to Lindsay Perigo's minor party (slogan - "Its enough to make you vote Libertarianz") and then ACT. During the 2000s the one person constantly drawing welfare dependence to the attention of the public was Muriel Newman. Time after time Muriel would appear in the Dominion or Evening Post exposing some new data or penning an opinion piece. I think she single-handedly kept a concern about welfarism to the fore, championing time limits and work expectations for single parents. She also worked hard on representing the rights of fathers and shared-parenting. When I campaigned for ACT in 2005, Muriel's name was the one that would come up. Her recognition factor was very strong.

David Farrar: ACT’s immigration policy

ACT have proposed six things in their immigration policy. Let’s take them in turn.

Deport serious offenders. Anyone on a residence visa who is convicted of a crime with a 10 year or more maximum sentence is deported.

No brainer.

David Farrar: Why a grand coalition is a terrible idea

Audrey Young has done a column looking at what a grand coalition between National and Labour could look like. Grand coalitions always sound good in theory – the two centrist parties working together in the country’s interest, shutting out the parties on the margins.

But what his overlooks is governments always become unpopular over time. And if the government consists of the two main parties, then the disgruntled will go to the parties further out, eventually propelling them to power.

Friday May 15, 2026 

                   ⇩

Caleb Anderson: The Denial of Complexity in the Search for Simplicity

I initially trained to be a history teacher, but have spent most of my career in school administration. I have sometimes thought that, in retirement, I would give my time to the nearest secondary school, at no charge, for the simple privilege of working with their senior history students, inculcating a love for the discipline, and maybe to encourage some students to further their studies of history at the tertiary level.

Clive Bibby: Kiwis that punch above their weight

Watching Country Calendar each week will introduce you to the growing number of entrepreneurial Kiwi farmers, agricultural scientists plus associate businessmen and women who contribute towards our international reputation for innovation and fiscal integrity in the rural sector.

Matt Pottinger & Liza Tobin: Resisting Xi’s Designs in the Year of the (Trojan) Horse

At the US-China summit, Trump must reject any ploys that would weaken America.

American officials heading to Beijing this week have said their goal is stability in the US-China relationship. But as Washington signals its desire for calm, Beijing has spent the weeks before the May 14–15 summit sharpening its leverage: demanding Meta unwind its acquisition of AI startup Manus, tightening its grip on rare earth exports, and codifying its right to punish any firm that complies with US sanctions and export controls. Beijing is fighting for technological supremacy over the United States, a struggle Chinese leader Xi Jinping aptly calls “the main battlefield.”

Mike's Minute: Reality vs ideology re: asset sales

Bit of buzz around Kiwibank as it potentially looks to have another crack at getting bigger, and by getting bigger, then becomes better able to take on the so-called "big four".

This is business and it's politics.

Asset sales are back on the agenda, especially for the National and ACT parties.

Mike Grimshaw: It’s the (social adhesion) economy, Stupid!

One of the on-going issues of modern life, identified from the rise of industrial and urban society in the early 19th century, is the sense of insecurity, of a lack of cohesion within society. New Zealand prefers not to think with Karl Marx; but if we go to Marx for description, not prescription – that is, go to Marx to get an on-the-ground sense of what was happening with the rise of modernity (not to go to him for answers) – then we can recognize that much of what he declared in 1848 in the Communist Manifesto holds true today…even in New Zealand:

Richard Shaw: Can a citizenship test really measure what it means to be a New Zealander?....

Kiwi or not to be: can a citizenship test really measure what it means to be a New Zealander?

New Zealanders like to think of themselves as an uncomplicated lot. So straightforward, in fact, that successful completion of a short test can determine one’s fitness to become a Kiwi.

At least, that’s the plan from Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke Van Velden, who has announced that from late 2027 part of the process of becoming a New Zealand citizen will entail scoring at least 75% in a 20-question multiple-choice test.

Dr Bryce Edwards: Democracy Briefing - The Māori political class is failing its people

On Monday, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi announced publicly she was leaving Te Pāti Māori to form the Te Tai Tokerau Party. The announcement was framed in the language of mana motuhake, regional self-determination, and wahine leadership. It was, she said, the approach she and her team decided was best for them.

Dr Eric Crampton: Our immigration rules should reflect what’s happening here, not in Europe

A bar in a rough neighbourhood has a few viable options.

It can have a strict doorman checking every patron to make sure they suit the vibe the bar is trying to create.

It also can have a hefty bouncer inside the bar, ready to kick out anyone who causes trouble.

Or it can have neither and just let the mix of patrons sort itself out.

Kerre Woodham: It's time to commit to the infrastructure we need to future proof New Zealand

It will be the single biggest piece of infrastructure that New Zealand will build. Remember when Shane Jones' Northport was going to be the single biggest piece of infrastructure? Well, now that's gone the way of the dodo. So the single biggest piece of infrastructure that New Zealand will build in our lifetimes, will come when the Government makes the decision on what a new Auckland Harbour crossing will look like. The time for discussion and debate is over, there simply isn't that luxury. We've been faffing around another crossing for decades.