Breaking Views Update: Week of 7.6.26

Friday June 12, 2026 

News:
Unelected voting rights change puts Rotorua iwi representation in the spotlight
The Government’s plan to prevent unelected people voting on council committees has reignited a debate over who influences decision-making at Rotorua Lakes Council.

Mayor Tania Tapsell said the council was seeking clarification from the Government, particularly around how the proposal would apply to bodies such as the Te Arawa Vision 2050 Committee.

David Farrar: All you need to know re Labour’s fare cap

The Taxpayers’ Union released:

Labour’s plan to cap public transport fares would pour another $65 million into a system which is already 87 percent subsidised, up from 61 percent in 2015/16.

Taxpayers’ Union spokesperson Tory Relf said:

JC: A Budget for the Times

I started to write about the budget a week after its reading in parliament but scrapped it, deciding it was too late. Then, in the Weekend Herald, an article appeared on the topic from Bruce Cotterill. A lot of what he said reflected the points I was making. Bruce described it as a boring budget, but boring in the right way. I agree with his reasons: this boring budget is reflective of the current economic climate.

Guest Post: What is destroying New Zealand - yes, we were warned

A Guest Post by Alfred Johns on Brash & Mitchell.

Former U.S. President Barack Obama was speaking to Americans—not New Zealanders—when he issued this warning in 2006. Yet his words seem uncannily relevant to New Zealand today.

Dr Oliver Hartwich: NZ’s nuclear superstition makes no sense

At last month’s Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, New Zealand’s Defence Minister Chris Penk told Bloomberg Television that the country might usefully consider nuclear propulsion, the reactors that drive warships, as something distinct from nuclear weapons. Within two days, his Prime Minister had killed the idea on talkback radio.

On Newstalk ZB, Christopher Luxon said New Zealand’s 1987 nuclear-free policy is agreed “across the political spectrum” and “ain’t changing” while he holds office.

Kerre Woodham: What alternatives do we have to capitalism and MMP?

The fact that life is a bit of a grind for many people, and has been for some time, means we start to question the natural order of things. When you can pay your bills, have time to spend doing what you enjoy with the people you love, when there aren't glaring inequities, when the failure of the present system and the people who run it aren't up in your face, when you don't see homeless people and beggars and violence, then everything's good. You accept the status quo; things are chugging along nicely. Democracy, capitalism, everybody's getting their fair share, everything's fine.

Bob Edlin: Throw away your telescopes and mobile phones....

Throw away your telescopes and mobile phones – Ngāti Rangi’s star compass will teach the next generation of astronomers

PoO is puzzled that the building of a traditional Māori star compass has not been given much wider publicity. The potential seems to be enormous.

David Farrar: Renewable energy – the truth

The Post reports:

In an address hosted in Wellington by the Electricity Retailers and Generators Association on Friday, Liebreich said the world was now “almost in the middle third” of the transition to green energy.

Wind and solar energy accounted for about 90% of all new generation worldwide, while deliveries of cars and light trucks powered by internal combustion engines were falling, after peaking in 2017, he noted.

Jordan Williams: Chris Hipkins wants to tax your holiday home so you can pay for his

We all know politicians "take the piss" when it comes to entitlements. But have you seen the news about Chris Hipkins? He has taken it to a whole new level.

The most common rort is when MPs claim a tax-free Wellington accommodation allowance when they already own an apartment in Wellington. National's Louise Upston has been in the firing line for this – but at least she has the excuse of needing somewhere to stay in Wellington.

Thursday June 11, 2026 

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Michael Laws: Hospital Says Maori Patients The Most Important In New Job Description

You want Institutional racism? On The Platform Michael Laws says Whanganui Hospital’s Job Description is full of it

Click to view
 

Heather du Plessis-Allan: I've accepted the LNG Terminal as a short term fix

I don’t love the idea of the LNG terminal. Never have, probably never will.

But I’m fast coming around to the idea that there is no solution to our energy problem that we’re going to love.

Our electricity system—our wider energy situation—is so broken now that whatever we do to try to fix it is going to have to be so drastic or expensive, it’s going to hurt.

Perspective with Andrew Dickens: Which roading measures could Labour plan to cut?

So here we go - some policy, ladies and gentlemen. Labour’s promising cheaper public transport.

They want to cap weekly fares at $20 in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch and $10 everywhere else.

Under the plan, once you hit the cap, the rest of the trips you take that week could be free. Labour says it would save regular users about $25 a week. They reckon it would save you about $1200 a year.

Geoff Parker: Economic Development Should Be Based On Merit, Not Ancestry

The Government is right to focus on economic growth.

New Zealand desperately needs higher productivity, stronger businesses, more investment, and better use of our land. Ministers have recognised this reality by introducing policies designed to boost rural productivity, encourage development, and support economic expansion across the wider economy.

Guest Post: Notice To The New Zealand First Parliamentary Caucus

Guest Post by Ivan Barnett on New Minister

Ref: Immediate Legislative Action Required to Halt Ongoing Iwi Entrenchment in Local Government

To the Members of the New Zealand First Caucus,

This notice is issued to express the deep concern of New Zealanders who have watched the steady erosion of democratic authority through the appointment of unelected iwi representatives to council committees with full voting rights. The Government’s recent announcement claiming to “restore democratic accountability” is not action. It is not reform. It is not protection of the principle of one person, one vote. It is a political cover‑up for continued inaction.

Jayant Bhandari: India - It’s Worse Than You Think

Most Westerners know nothing about India beyond vague ideas about Hinduism, yoga, gurus, and maybe a dash of Bollywood. To such people, this article will be a rude awakening.

I grew up in Bhopal in central India. Since as early as I can remember, I worked in my father’s printing press. I studied engineering in the nearby city in Indore and went to Manchester Business School in Britain to do an MBA. I returned to India to set up a subsidiary of a British company, which was a huge success. When I lived in Delhi, I wrote for the mainstream Indian media. I traveled widely in India and around the world.

Ani O'Brien: Labour's List is defensive

The rankings reward loyalists, sideline potential rivals, and suggest Hipkins is more concerned about managing his caucus than rebuilding Labour.

Labour has released its 2026 election list and, for all the talk about fresh voices and renewal, it is pretty obvious that this is not by any means a new Labour Party. This is the 2020-2023 Labour Government in a slightly different jacket and Chris Hipkins carefully rearranging the furniture so nobody too threatening gets too close to his chair.

DTNZ: $55m released for first superhot geothermal well

The government’s push to unlock a new generation of geothermal energy has taken a major step forward, with Cabinet approving the release of the remaining $55 million allocated to the GeoShot NZ project.

Regional Development and Resources Minister Shane Jones announced the funding as the project moves toward drilling what is expected to be the country’s first superhot geothermal well at the Rotokawa Geothermal Field near Taupō.

John McLean: Pounamu Piracy!

Convictions for cultural crimes

On 5 June 2026, Xin Li and her son Boyuan Zhang were sentenced following their earlier convictions for trying to take expensively-purchased greenstone (pounamu) out of New Zealand. The pounamu they were trying to spirit off to China exceeded the legal export weight limit of 5 kilograms. The oriental offenders were fined $5,000 (a dollar for each gram of that weight limit).

This piece is not a defence of the discombobulated and dispirited duo. They broke a ludicrous law and, even if they weren’t aware they were committing a crime, ignorance of the law is no excuse. I’m simply reveling in the absurd over-reactions to their minor misdemeanor.

John MacDonald: Does Chris Hipkins know the meaning of integrity?

The reassurances from Labour leader Chris Hipkins that the party is no longer the smug, arrogant outfit we all got sick of three years ago are not only starting to sound hollow. They are hollow.

Because if any other party had recruited a top cop for its party list without the top cop telling police bosses about it until the very last minute, Hipkins and his crew would be going nuts.