Anglo Saxon: 2026 - New Zealand in a pivotal year - Will democracy survive another election.

In this video, Rick the Anglo Saxon delivers a New Years rant about the failing attempt to accommodate communist tribalism in a democracy, the futility of funding Ford Rangers, raising the drinking age for Maori people and special sentencing for offences involving indigenous violence.

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Cláudia Ascensão Nunes: The Couto Mixto

A forgotten case of order without the state.

It is a deeply rooted belief in the Western political tradition, from Thomas Hobbes to contemporary interventionist currents, that a successful political community requires a strong central authority capable of imposing rules and guaranteeing order. According to this view, in the absence of such authority, society would inevitably collapse into chaos.

Barrie Davis: Co-intelligence with Copilot on Co-governance

Co-governance by the Crown and the Maoris is presently being controversially implemented in New Zealand. Here, I work with Copilot to identify how co-governance is said to be derived from a principle of ‘Partnership’ in the Treaty of Waitangi and how that process of constitutional change involves and affects the people of New Zealand. I then advise our Government how that needs to change.

Breaking Views Update: Week of 4.1.26

Saturday January 10, 2026 

News:
Popular Auckland hot springs gets name change
As 2025 ticked over into 2026, Parakai Springs near Helensville officially became Kaipātiki Hot Springs, the traditional name for the area which reflects the whakapapa of tangata whenua Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara.

The change comes as Te Poari o Kaipātiki ki Kaipara assumes management of the hot springs. The governors of Te Poari are appointed by Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara and Auckland Council in equal numbers.

Insights From Social Media: The Last Stagecoach is leaving?

Gravedodger writes > With no Grandchildren and time has declared it will not happen now, it will have no effect on me, selfish as that will appear.

Geoff Parker a sometime contributor to the Basset Brash and Hide Blog has painted a gloomy portrait for the future of this once bright beacon of a peaceful multicultural democracy that could well have been an inspiration for any and all inhabitants of the known world

Chris Lynch: New Zealand’s longest serving mayor Sir Tim Shadbolt dies

Former Invercargill mayor Sir Tim Shadbolt has died in the early hours of Thursday.

In a public statement, his family said “It is with heavy hearts, the Shadbolt family announce the passing of our ‘one of a kind’ and beloved Tim, whom passed away in the early hours of Thursday.

Pee Kay: Hard-wiring ancestry-based control into essential resources

The author, Geoff Parker, writes – Freshwater is arguably New Zealand’s most vital shared resource, sustaining public health, food production, energy generation, and the environment. That is why any proposal for tribal control – whether in the South Island or nationwide – should concern every New Zealander, Māori and non-Māori alike.

Mohamed Moutii: The Last Generation of Freedom’? The Quiet Growth of Global Surveillance Culture

“Our generation risks going down in history as the last one that had freedoms — and allowed them to be taken away.”
— Pavel Durov, founder of Telegram

When the internet went mainstream at the turn of the twenty-first century, it was widely celebrated as a revolutionary force for freedom and democracy. Its decentralized architecture promised to empower individuals, expand free expression, and weaken the grip of authoritarian states. Many believed that open information flows would make censorship obsolete and repression impossible to maintain.

Kelli Ballard: Venezuelan Migrants – What Happens Now?

Maduro is gone, but not everyone thinks it’s time to go home.

Venezuelan around the world poured into the streets, cheering, crying, and filming the moment they never thought would come. Gratitude flooded social media feeds, with posts thanking President Donald Trump and the United States for ending the rule of a man many viewed as a dictator. But, now that the US forces have captured Nicolás Maduro and his wife, is life going to change, or will the Latin American nation just trade one regime strongman for another? Venezuelan migrants who have waited for the day when they could go home wonder if they have just been handed their “return” tickets, or if they better wait and see.

Dave Patterson: Venezuela After Socialism

What will the United States do to ensure there is no Maduro redux?

Smoldering buildings and destroyed military vehicles — the targets of US air attacks in the early-morning hours of January 3 — are the only evidence remaining that American military forces had swooped in and captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. That may be a problem. Without a strong US presence on the ground in Caracas and throughout Venezuela, can a government emerge that will be democratically constituted, cordial to the United States, and focused on ridding the country of transnational organized crime and terrorism, and the likes of Hezbollah? These are the challenges to be faced in the next few months.

An Opportunity for Venezuela

Matua Kahurangi: A drowning, a donation page, and zero accountability

Pools do not kill children. negligence does

My thoughts are with the little girl who drowned yesterday, and I genuinely hope she makes it through. However, there are some hard truths that need to be said, and I am not going to soften them.

Lyle Goldstein: The New National Security Strategy’s Dangerous Language on Taiwan

The Trump administration has released its new National Security Strategy (NSS) and many in the U.S. foreign policy elite have declared it soft on China, downgrading the Asia-Pacific region in order to focus more on the Western Hemisphere.

Friday January 9, 2026 

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David Farrar: RIP Tim Shadbolt

Sir Tim Shadbolt has died aged 78. He was an iconic New Zealand – probably more well known than 90% of MPs.

He was elected Mayor 11 times – twice for Waitemata City and nine times for Invercargill.

Peter Bassett: Understanding Te Tiriti — Or Just Selling an Anointed Version?

If the Treaty of Waitangi now governs schools, hospitals, councils and community life, there is one small problem: it doesn’t say so.

That gap — between what the Treaty actually says and what is now claimed in its name — is where Roimata Smail’s Understanding Te Tiriti operates, quietly turning modern policy choices into historical inevitabilities.

David Farrar: A boost for gold and silver exports

Shane Jones announced:

The first major mining project, Waihi North, has gained consent today to expand operations until 2043 through the Fast-track process, Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop and Resources Minister Shane Jones say.

Colinxy: Cucumbers versus Grapes - The Great Proof of Socialism?

The famous “cucumber versus grape” experiment, popularised in a TED Talk clip, has often been cited as evidence that beneath the surface, all creatures (including humans) harbour socialist instincts. The experiment involved capuchin monkeys performing a simple task: when rewarded with cucumber slices, they were content—until they saw another monkey receive grapes for the same effort. Suddenly, the cucumber was rejected, thrown back at the researcher in protest.

Dave Patterson: China Ends 2025 With Large Provocation

As the calendar year 2025 ended, China conducted one of its most provocative exercises, threatening Taiwan. In the final days of December, the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and the China Coast Guard (CCG) conducted a joint training operation called Justice Mission 2025 in the Taiwan Strait and other waters surrounding Taiwan. This was the second such exercise that year, simulating a blockade of major Taiwanese ports to shut down transportation to the island as a prelude to an invasion. The first was called Strait Thunder-2025A, conducted April 1-2 of last year, and it had similar objectives.

China Is Stepping Up Its Taiwan Blockade Exercises

Leesa K. Donner: Is Cuba Ready to Fall?

The aftershocks following the astonishing capture of Venezuela strongman Nicolás Maduro by elite US forces are just beginning to settle in. Nowhere are the shocks felt more powerfully than in that itch of a country the US has not been able to scratch for decades – Cuba.

Flags in Havana were lowered on Monday in honor of the 32 Cuban security officers killed in the US operation in Caracas this weekend. Toppling the illegitimate Venezuelan government certainly puts Cuba on notice, but experts have differing opinions on the likelihood that Cuba’s long-running communist government will finally bite the dust. This question is followed by another: Will the land of Castro need a little nudge over the cliff, or will taking Maduro down be enough to do the job?

Ani O'Brien: Greenland explained - What Trump is up to now?

This is speculation and opinion heavy!

Donald Trump’s rhetoric about Greenland has, up until very, very recently, been widely treated as a joke, a provocation, or a revival of crude imperial fantasy. Depending on the news outlet, it is framed as evidence of his ignorance, recklessness, or supposed authoritarian instincts. But, as I have warned many times before, taking Trump literally, rather than strategically, is foolish. No matter what comes out of his mouth or what he types online, it is far more effective to assess his interests, and the interests of the United States, in order to predict what he is up to.