David Farrar: Final UK local election results

English Councillors

• Reform 1,453 (+1,451) (+72550%)
• Labour 1,068 (-1,496) (-58%)
• Lib Dems 844 (+155) (+22%)
• Conservatives 801 (-563) (-41%)
• Greens 587 (+146) (+302%)

Ryan Bridge: Wellington's endless spending on pen-pushers and reviews

You can't escape bureaucrats in Wellington; it's an occupational hazard.

Despite the bad press they get, they're not all useless.

But it depends on how you use them, and how often.

Take the Golden Mile disaster in Wellington, as just one example.

Breaking Views Update: Week of 10.5.26

Thursday May 14, 2026 

News:
Streamview Way Park gets new name to honour Māori heritage
A park previously referred to as the park at 1 Streamview Way has been named Awaruaika, as part of its ongoing development into a youth focused park.

The name change for the Long Bay park aims to recognise its historical background as a food gathering site for mana whenua in Auckland’s Hibiscus and Bays area.

Peter Collins: Civil War? Can MFAT use UNDRIP to destroy us?

I 'identify' as a New Zealander though I came here fleeing Europe in my mother's arms during the 1930s. I have no indigenous blood though many of my friends have.

I think I understand that the proposed India Free Trade Treaty has an UNDRIP problem - much has been written about that by better pens than mine.

Mike's Minute: Has the Māori Party been a success?

So given the original Māori Party was formed in 2004, would we call it a success?

A party for Māori. What have they achieved?

Have they done more damage than good? Do we differentiate between Māori and "Māori". By that I mean Māori who aren't as angsty as some and are perfectly happy on the general roll.

Ani O'Brien: AUT’s Little Manifesto of Hatred

My literary and moral review of the worst poetry I have ever read

READ THE LITERARY ABOMINATION ONLINE HERE. It was published in the most recent edition of Debate magazine which is the student magazine at AUT.

Gary Judd KC: The Sting in the India Trade Deal

A Constitutional Trojan Horse: advancing change through political stealth

Trade Minister Hon Todd McClay has announced that the New Zealand-India free trade agreement has been signed and that the formal parliamentary treaty scrutiny process is now under way. The full text of the agreement is now public and has been referred to Parliament’s Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee for examination.

Roger Partridge: Health innovators face the structural question

Treasury projects public health spending will rise from 7.1 to 10 per cent of GDP by 2065. Over the same period, the ratio of working-age taxpayers to superannuitants will halve. Something has to give.

The question at this week’s third nib-New Zealand Initiative Health Innovators’ Summit was: “What?”

The answer was different from the two earlier conferences.

Simon O'Connor: Where has the far-left gone?

Precision in language is important. Calling anyone slightly right of the moderate left - 'far right' - while rarely challenging those clearly on the far-left, is degrading our democracy.

Do you believe in law and order? Believe that being proud of your country is a good thing, and that managing who migrates here is prudent? Think children having a mum and dad is preferable? Can you define what a woman is? Are you perhaps skeptical of climate change alarmism or believe in free speech?

Well, congratulations, you are officially far-right according to various media commentators. Some would even term you ‘right right’, which is a rather odd expression, but this was literally the term a political commentator from Australia used when being interviewed on One News.

Kerre Woodham: What is keeping you from moving to Australia?

We start this morning with something you already know: the number of New Zealanders moving to Australia is at its highest level in 12 years. And most of those moving are going to Australia – around 58% of those who are leaving say they're heading for Oz. Yet in the World Happiness Report, in terms of happiness, we rank ahead of Australia. We're 11th happiest, they come in at number 15 – the Nordic countries always take out the top spots. The report suggests New Zealand's more equal and less corrupt than Australia with greater freedom and social support, but these positives appear to be outweighed by per capita GDP.

Nicholas Kerr: “Te Reo Māori Only” Sounds Noble — But Is It Sustainable?

A bold prediction: Rumaki, a new “te reo Māori only” cafe in Rotorua, will not survive as a business.

Not because New Zealanders dislike Māori culture. Most don’t. In fact, many support preserving and revitalising te reo Māori.

But businesses survive by expanding their customer base, not deliberately shrinking it.

Bob Edlin: Maori and InternetNZ – guaranteed places at the board table.....

Maori and InternetNZ – guaranteed places at the board table should help to ensure mauri is not lost

The internet is some 43 years old, harking back to the adoption of standard TCP/IP protocols in 1983. Its precursor, ARPANET, sent its first message in 1969 whereas the World Wide Web, which made the internet accessible to the public, was launched in 1991.

Whichever of those dates might be chosen as its starting point, the internet is a comparatively recent development.

Wednesday May 13, 2026 

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Roy Morgan: Support for National-led Government and Labour-led Opposition remains tied in April

Roy Morgan’s New Zealand Poll for April 2026 shows the National-led Government (National, ACT & NZ First) on 47.5%, unchanged, and effectively tied with the Labour-Greens-Te Pāti Māori Parliamentary Opposition on 48%, unchanged, the latest Roy Morgan New Zealand Poll finds.

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Take the Auckland Harbour crossing talk with a grain of salt

Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m taking this latest talk of a second Auckland Harbour crossing with a gigantic grain of salt.

The development today is that Chris Bishop has revealed the Government will announce its preferred option for a second crossing by mid-year - so I suppose you could say June-ish or July-ish - and they will decide between a tunnel or a bridge.

Ryan Bridge: Jim Chalmers Budget hardly a recipe for affordable housing

Give them an inch and they'll take a mile.

That's basically the message to anyone worried about a capital gains tax in New Zealand.

In Canberra last night Jim Chalmers budget was pitched as a 're-balancing' of 'intergenerational inequality'.

Mike's Minute: Is Chlöe Swarbrick a bit useless?

I wonder if it's time to ask the question – is Chlöe Swarbrick a bit useless?

In the Herald's vast poll churn that produces the chances of the current Government being re-elected at about 88%, is the real revelation that the Greens have been going backwards since the last election?

The trouble appears twofold;

Penny Marie: Five Prayers a Day - And Nobody Asked Your Permission

When cultural activity becomes religious imposition, it's time for New Zealanders to start asking hard questions.

A parent in New Zealand recently discovered that their child had been reciting prayers (karakia) to Māori gods five times a day at a standard state school. Not a kura. Not a Māori immersion school. A regular taxpayer-funded school that is, by law, supposed to be secular.

When that parent tried to have their child excused, they were made to ask - repeatedly - before being granted what should have been an obvious right from the start.

David Harvey: The Demise of the Broadcasting Standards Authority?

An announcement. But will there be action?

On 6 May 2026 the Minister for Broadcasting, Mr. Paul Goldsmith, announced that the Broadcasting Standards Authority would be disestablished.

A process had been put in place to wind down the BSA and investigate self-regulation options. There is, of course, a little more to it than that. The BSA was created by the Broadcasting Act 1989 and it is referred to in a number of statutes. There will be legislative work involved as well.

Ashley Church: Is the west really moving to the far right?

Why are voters really abandoning traditional political parties?

Election results, last week, confirmed a trend that seems to be moving across the western world: the rise of the far right.

Reform UK surged through councils across England, gaining 1,349 council seats, taking control of 14 councils, and winning mayoralties – establishing itself as a major political force and claiming territory once dominated by Labour and the Conservatives.