Clive Bibby: A Leopard never changes its spots

One of the features of modern politics that continues to baffle me is the number of so called “authoritative” commentators who want us to believe past leaders have become reformed characters and are no longer a danger to the public health.

Chris Lynch: Web series gives voice to New Zealanders suffering Covid 19 vaccine injuries

A new web series is set to launch this week giving a platform to New Zealanders who say they suffered serious and lasting injuries after receiving Covid 19 vaccines.

The series called The Tribute, co-produced by award winning film maker Gaylene Barnes, will release its first episode on Thursday and focuses on the experience of Tauranga woman Ange, a former yoga teacher and rest home healthcare worker.

Ani O'Brien: RNZ’s X/Grok political hit job is not a child-safety story

X is simply the space the managerial class can't control

I want to preface this piece with a concession that RNZ’s reporting has improved a lot lately. Their articles are more fulsome and usually present a variety of perspectives. Their online written reporting is on the whole very good, but unfortunately their radio content is not and hiring John Campbell will make things worse. Private media companies like Stuff and NZME regularly republish RNZ articles to the extent that I wonder why the Herald in particular doesn’t fire all of their journalists and just syndicate RNZ content.

The articles I discuss here are not good examples of the quality of RNZ’s reporting. They are indulgences in reflecting the meta-narratives of the leftist managerial class.

JC: What Is It With the Left?

The moral is to never let the left near the levers of power, or disaster will surely follow.

When the left hold power, there only disaster, born out of ideology and ignorance. They don’t have a rational understanding of economics or wealth growing and their ideology has more holes in it than a watering can rose so the population gets hit with floods of legislation that only hinder and damage growth. This is apparent currently in the United Kingdom and in many American States.

Roger Partridge: The High Cost of Luxury Beliefs

Some ideas cost nothing to believe but a great deal to implement. Political commentator Rob Henderson calls them “luxury beliefs” – convictions that signal virtue among the comfortable while imposing very real costs on those with much less room to manoeuvre.

New Zealand, for reasons cultural as much as political, has become fertile ground for them. We are a small, highly educated country that prizes good intentions. Yet too often, the people who congratulate themselves for their ideals are not the ones who bear their consequences.

Sean Rush: No, the Supreme Court Didn’t Hand Climate Activists a Victory. It was an own goal.

If you’ve read the headlines about Climate Clinic Aotearoa v Minister of Energy, you might believe a group of law students marched into the Supreme Court and reshaped New Zealand’s climate policy. The popular narrative suggests a solid victory to the students, with reports that the students created new law, that climate is now a mandatory consideration when offering petroleum permits. But the reality is the decision lands as an own goal against climate activism.

Bob Edlin: What our PM and Chlöe Swarbrick have in common....

What our PM and Chlöe Swarbrick have in common – they are quiet about the protests and killings in Iran

It looks like Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick have something in common, when it comes to the issue of nationwide political demonstrations in Iran in the first weeks of the New Year and the Iranian government’s violent response.

David Harvey: The Maduro Indictment

Nicolás Maduro, the president of Venezuela who was captured in a military raid on Caracas, faces charges in the Southern District of New York, where prosecutors have targeted him for years.

The original indictment was obtained in 2020 when he was first charged with narco-terrorism and other crimes. The indictment recently unsealed and which can be seen in full here says he worked with traffickers to send cocaine from Venezuela to the United States.

Melanie Phillips: Britain’s cultural emergency

A deadly combination of Islamist intimidation and indigenous cultural collapse is roaring out of control

There’s been deep shock that a Jewish MP, Damien Egan, was barred by a school in his constituency, Bristol Brunel Academy, from visiting it last September after being invited to speak there about democracy and public service.

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign, teachers and activists from the school and the National Education Union objected to him being given a platform on the grounds that he is vice-chair of Labour Friends of Israel.

The union wrote gloatingly in September:

Friday January 16, 2026 

                    ⇩

Anglo Saxon: Who knew that Maori tribes have their own criminal courts?

In this video the Anglo Saxon looks into things that the New Zealand police call iwi community panels (tribal courts.) The police say they are partnering with these tribal courts to help offenders escape prosecution. 

Click to view

Breaking Views Update: Week of 11.1.26

Friday January 16, 2026 

News:
A new home for hauora and whānau
A former Stoke rest home has been transformed into a central hub for Māori health and well-being, with Te Piki Oranga opening its new hauora (health) facility on Nayland Rd on Monday.

Walter Donway: China’s Rare Earth ‘Monopoly’ — and Why Markets Will Break It

With its recent announcement of a trade deal with China, the White House intended to reassure markets, manufacturers, and the military that China would not sever the supply lines of “rare earths” to the United States. Among other concessions, Beijing committed itself to avoid restricting exports of rare earth elements and related critical minerals essential to advanced manufacturing, clean “green” energy, and modern weapons systems. The agreement was described as a win for American economic strength and national security. But the very need for such a promise reveals an uncomfortable truth: the United States, long the world’s leading industrial power, has become dependent on the goodwill of a strategic rival for materials central to its economy and its defense.

Brendan O'Neill: The Orwellian madness of letting boys on to girls’ sports teams

The US Supreme Court must make the right decision and keep males out of female sports.

If any kid in the future asks me how nuts things were in the 21st century, I’ll tell them Sharron Davies once had to go to Washington, DC to explain what a woman is. Yes, a British Olympian, one of our national treasures, had to fly 3,700 miles to remind the world that people with penises are men. There she was, on the steps of the US Supreme Court, telling a crowd that people who’ve been through male puberty – ie, blokes – should not play in women’s sports. What a time to be alive!

Bruce Cotterill: Bondi terror, soft policing and why NZ needs a new security plan

This week’s column was half-drafted when it happened. I had intended a positive summary of the events of the year. After all, it was the first year in a while in which we made some political and economic progress.

But then Sunday night happened.

My kids both live in Australia. Bondi to be exact. And as we all know, someone else’s war just came to our part of the world.

Best of 2025: Heather du Plessis-Allan - Does buying NZ-made ever work?

First of all, can I start by offering an apology to TVNZ? I gave them a bit of grief last night for starting the news bulletin with the peaches, but it turns out I was wrong and they were right.

This has sparked a flurry of debate over whether we prefer our Wattie's peaches from Hawke's Bay or whether we don't really care if it comes from China or not.

Best of 2025: Ryan Bridge - My prediction for the 2026 election

Like it or not, next year's big dance in politics will ultimately be decided by the few, not the many.

Most MMP elections have been. Minnows hold the keys to the kingdom.

Bob Edlin: Sanctions, Trumpism and tariffs......

Sanctions, Trumpism and tariffs: the Russian ruble has risen while the US dollar takes a tumble

The PoO team was reminded of the sorts of things that influence world currencies by a headline in Waikanae Watch today which informed us:

Matua Kahurangi: Clearing the air on the race baiting accusations

Over the last few months on X, I have been accused more times than I can count of “race baiting”. It is usually thrown out as a shutdown tactic rather than a genuine attempt to engage with what I am actually saying. So I want to slow things down for a moment and be very clear about where I am coming from.

John Riddell: Subsidies for renewable electricity generation increase our electricity bills

An Open Letter to the Prime Minister.

Dear Prime Minister,

I am writing you this as an open letter as last year, on the 5th of December at the Federated Farmers meeting at Mystery Creek I had the pleasure of hearing your speech. It was a good speech and while I don't agree with all your positions, that isn't the reason I am writing this.

In the Q and A afterwards, I asked you a question about the cost of the Net Zero policies on the average New Zealander. As an example, I mentioned how subsidies for renewable electricity generation increase our electricity bills. You immediately told me that they are not subsidised.

This is the reason for my letter.