Chris Trotter: Where The People Walk

WHAT PASSES for “Left” commentary these days insists that New Zealand is living under a “hard-right” government. Clearly, these commentators are unfamiliar with what constitutes a hard-right government. Equally clearly, they know next to nothing about New Zealand political history. Compared to the governments of Bill Massey, George Forbes, Sid Holland and Rob Muldoon, the coalition government of Christopher Luxon is a decidedly mild affair. The Left has mistaken a moderate and well-signalled political course correction for a reactionary reversal of progressive fortunes.

Bryce Edwards: The Liberal Vs Conservative anguish over the direction of NZ politics

With the new conservative government well into its first 100 days, there’s been rising anguish from liberals about what all this means. As they come to terms with the various repeals and reforms, political commentator Liam Hehir suggests that liberal New Zealand is currently going through the “classic five stages of grief – denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance”.