Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: New Zealand's corruption problem is growing rapidly

For anyone still labouring under the impression that New Zealand is an innocent little place like it was 50 years ago, those prison busts should absolutely shatter that delusion.

What happened was the single biggest bust in our prison system: 20 people arrested and charged across three different prisons - Mount Eden, Spring Hill and Auckland South.

Mike's Minute: Aussie Labor have shown NZ Labour what not to do

Another lesson for our Labour Party if they want to ponder it.

Australia’s Labor have blown their Budget.

It's hard to overstate the anger and pushback on their tax changes made now well over a week ago.

Gary Judd KC: Myth, Memory and the BNZ

Winston should be ashamed

In his column in The Telegraph published on 19 May, “Deluded Labour will never let go of its EU fantasy,” Tom Harris said, “Such is how myths are made in modern Britain. Europhilia is similar to Thatcherphobia – it’s less about actual policies and empirical evidence than about feelings, and the less you remember about it, the stronger you feel.”

I made a note of it because the subordination of historical fact to feelings is so relevant to contemporary New Zealand and Tom Harris’ expression neatly captures the way passage of time and appeal to emotion may result in apparently serious pronouncements being evidence of sheer lunacy.

Such was Winston Peter’s solemn pledge that New Zealand First policy would include buying back the BNZ.

Rodney Hide: China Rising, America Falling? The Delusion Persists in Wellington

In Wellington salons and certain Auckland boardrooms, the conventional wisdom is settled: China is the unstoppable rising power, the United States is in terminal decline, and New Zealand had better hedge accordingly. Smart diplomats, we are told, accommodate Beijing while quietly distancing ourselves from a fading superpower.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Bob Edlin: Count the number of Finnish public servants.....

Count the number of Finnish public servants to see what happens when you trim govt department numbers

Paul Goldsmith, Minister for the Public Service and Digitising Government, was raring to go when asked what action the Government was taking to improve services and deliver better value for money in the public service.

The patsy question was lobbed by National MP David MacLeod.

Insights From Social Media: Why The Word Aotearoa Should Be Discarded

Alfred Johns writes > Fellow New Zealanders,

I want to say about something far greater than politics. I speak about identity, history, truth, and the name of our nation — the name by which the world has known us for generations: that is “New Zealand”.

Names matter.

John MacDonald: Politicians have no idea what's important to us

Sometimes it feels like an easy thing to say that politicians have no idea what really matters to us. What’s important to us - the people who put them in their positions of power.

Today, it may be the easiest it’s ever been to say that sort of thing.

Let’s start with Labour leader Chris Hipkins. Who, I think, said one of the most arrogant things I’ve heard any politician say.

Peter Dunne: Labour's Policy Vacuum

It is often said that Oppositions never win elections because governments lose them. In other words, if a government is unpopular enough it will lose an election, regardless of the calibre of the Opposition.

That was certainly the case in 2023 when Labour was tossed out of office. The public mood then was far more that people had had enough of Labour and were keen to get rid of it, rather than a positive feeling for National. And as National's support has waned in recent months, and Labour's increased, it was beginning to look as though history might be set to repeat itself at this November's election. However, that may be about to change.

David Farrar: Media missed the big story on donations

The annual donations returns were recently published, and the media focused on how CR parties had more than CL parties. They failed to look at the trend,

In the table below I compare 2025 donations to 2022, as like vs like. Both are mid years in the three year cycle.

Click to view

National and ACT in 2025 got in around 20% more than in 2022. A modest increase.

The huge increases were Labour, Greens and NZ First. They all quadrupled their donations.

In an absolute sense, Labour had the biggest increase of almost $2 million.

Now let’s look at how the donations are made up.

Click to view

With small donations under $1,500 National and Labour do best bringing in $2.1 and $1.4 million. Labour has an impressive 65,000 small donors. ACT and Greens also have over 10,000 small donors.

In terms of medium sized donors, National cleans up. They had over 600 donate an average 2,300. National gets in 10 times more than other parties when it comes to medium sized donors.

National also does best with large donors, but the average donation is around $18,500. Labour is lower at $13,500 but ACT is $39k, NZF $24k and Greens $21k.

Click to view

The proportion of donations that comes from large donors is:

1. NZ First 69%
2. ACT 61%
3. Te Pati Maori 55%
4. TOP 52%
5. National 43%
6. Labour 36%

It is worth reflecting that the average large donor to National gives $18,500. This is 0.3% of their total donation revenue. Anyone who thinks that a donation of that size can influence policy is being ridiculous.

David Farrar runs Curia Market Research, a specialist opinion polling and research agency, and the popular Kiwiblog where this article was sourced. He previously worked in the Parliament for eight years, serving two National Party Prime Ministers and three Opposition Leaders

Friday May 22, 2026 

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Ryan Bridge: The AI takeover isn't coming, it's here

The AI and robot takeover isn't coming, it's here. Well, sort of.

A bunch of data's come out on this over the past few days.

Seek says job ads mentioning AI have doubled in the past year, up 4.1% from March to April.

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: AI is just a distraction in the public service discussion

I’ve got to tell you something – I’m embarrassed.

Watching this public debate about how many public servant jobs are going to be cut in order to make way for AI is just embarrassing.

Breaking Views Update: Week of 17.5.26

Friday May 22, 2026 

News:
National targets Māori seats Tāmaki Makaurau, Te Tai Hauāuru
National has confirmed its intention to run in some Māori electorates at this year’s elections, with Tāmaki Makaurau and Te Tai Hauāuru firmly in its sights. The strategy signals a continuation of their 2023 campaign, where the party broke a 20-year hiatus by standing Hinurewa Te Hau and Harete Hipango in those same seats.

Lindsay Mitchell: Is Whanau Ora lifting student attendance?

I was asked the following question via Family First: "How is the Whānau Ora network developing and what are its prospects. In particular, is it helping school attendance effectively for Maori and Pacific island pupils?"

Whānau Ora was introduced in 2010 resulting from the 2008 Confidence and Supply Agreement between the National Government and the Māori Party, the underlying principle being, it's not individuals who need access to services, but whānau. It is very much a 'by Maori, for Maori' approach.

Mike's Minute: So yes, Chris Hipkins does think you're stupid

I asked yesterday whether Chris Hipkins thought we were stupid.

And as luck would have it, he answered our question – yes, he does.

First you have the Future Fund, a cornerstone policy, revelation that they aren't telling us who's money goes in and what sort of job creation they are expecting because they got bogged down in the Treaty issues, so we will need to wait until after the election.

Elliot Ikilei: Is this a power company or a cultural ministry?

Have you seen this?

Meridian’s job advertisement [below] is seriously revealing, and not for the reasons the company probably intended.

DTNZ: Arctic sea ice levels remain significantly above 2012 record low

New figures on Arctic sea ice have reignited debate over climate projections after the 2025 summer minimum measured 4.6 million square kilometres — around 35 per cent higher than the record low of 3.4 million square kilometres recorded in 2012.

David Harvey: The Culture of Complaint

An Institutional Problem

I have a book on my shelf entitled “Culture of Complaint” by Robert Hughes. I purchased it in September 1993 shortly after it was published.

It was an interesting book because although it argued primarily about problems in the United States of America, the issues Hughes describes resonate today. The book was prescient in that respect.

Robert Hughes was an Australian-born art critic, writer and producer of television documentaries. He was art editor for Time magazine and is known to television audiences for his TV series on modern art entitled “The Shock of the New” which was brilliant.

Simon O'Connor: Be prepared

The fraying of the international rules-based order and various conflicts - either happening now or possible in the future - should see New Zealand preparing now. There are no excuses for inaction.

During a recent visit by the US President to Beijing, President Xi of China made it clear that Taiwan must become part of China. Xi has frequently talked of Taiwan as part of China, and that it will eventually be reunited including by military force if necessary.

Andrew Dickens: Is the Government counting its chickens before they hatch?

Let's start with the big story of the day: the Finance Minister yesterday unveiling a major plan to shrink the public service. It's putting thousands of jobs on the line, but it is booking, potentially, billion-dollar savings into this year's Budget. So the interesting thing about her announcement —there were precursors to this, so this is stuff we knew, but it's all brought it into focus— is the pure numbers that we're talking about.