NZCPR Newsletter: The Battle Over the Waitangi Tribunal

When the Treaty of Waitangi settlement process was introduced by Norman Kirk’s Labour Government in 1975, it was framed as a means of dealing with ongoing injustices.

NZCPR Newsletter: Strategic Voting to Win

In the lead up to the 1984 election, Bob Jones’s New Zealand Party stormed onto the political scene, winning one vote in eight, but gaining no seats in Parliament.

As a result, 256,000 votes were wasted. Our First Past the Post voting system left a quarter of a million voters completely unrepresented.

NZCPR Newsletter: A Fragile Recovery

A debate is raging over the state of New Zealand’s economy, as we head towards the election. Some say a recovery is well underway, while others claim it remains in crisis.

Both can’t be right, so let’s see what the data shows.

But first, some background. 

NZCPR Newsletter: Gaming the Election

The election is on a knife edge.

On one side is a coalition that wants to encourage people to get ahead through lower taxes, less regulation, stronger economic growth, and more freedom. On the other side are parties that want to penalise success.

Electoral Commission Requiring Staff To Learn The Treaty Of Waitangi

Dr Muriel Newman and Sean Plunket discuss the Electoral Commission requiring staff to learn the Treaty of Waitangi on The Platform

Click to view

NZCPR Newsletter: Election Concerns

Last week I received an email from a colleague expressing outrage over his experience with the Electoral Commission.

The Electoral Commission is, of course, the independent Crown Entity tasked with running New Zealand’s General Elections. Since most of us are aware of the agency through the quirky antics of the “orange man” and his “orange dog”, let’s take a deeper dive to examine how they operate.

NZCPR Newsletter: Insights from the Polls

With the 2026 General Election only three months away, let’s examine what the polls are telling us about who’s going to be running the country after November 7 and what the key issues are.

NZCPR Newsletter: Reform Update

The Coalition’s proposed shakeup of local government is well underway. Time is now running out for councils to decide on the shape of their mergers.

NZCPR Newsletter: Climate Realism

One of the things we’ve learnt about climate change politics over the years is that their predictions are always wrong.

NZCPR Newsletter: Parallel Societies

After decades of rampant migration across Europe, governments are finally confronting a problem they have ignored for far too long: the rise of “parallel societies”. These are enclaves of immigrant communities living under alternative cultural and authority structures that undermine social norms, weaken national cohesion, and challenge the ability of the State to govern. 

The Leighton Smith Podcast: Dr Muriel Newman on this year's hugely consequential general election

Leighton Smith and Dr Muriel Newman discuss the ongoing constitutional shift toward iwi influence, co-governance and race-based policies. In this election year, New Zealand is arguably facing its biggest challenge to date.

Click to listen - Audio

NZCPR Newsletter: Deciding Election 2026

For decades, New Zealand has been undergoing a quiet constitutional revolution. What was once largely unnoticed is now becoming increasingly visible – so much so that the Coalition Government can no longer ignore it if it hopes to remain in office.

NZCPR Newsletter: People Power

“People Power” has forced the Government to change the law to strengthen local government democracy.

This is a major win for everyone who raised the alarm about the tribal takeover of local government that’s now underway all around New Zealand. From individuals, to media, think tanks, lobby groups, councillors, and politicians – each person who spoke out strongly against the violation of democracy that’s been going on helped ensure the powers that be could no longer turn a blind eye.

NZCPR Newsletter: Budget 2026

“This is a budget that should have been delivered in year one of the Coalition’s term”, according to Economist Cameron Bagrie. He says the if the fiscal discipline shown in Budget 2026 had been applied back then, the outcome would have been paying dividends in the lead up to this year’s election.

Without a doubt, election year budgets can make or break the chances of re-election for governing parties that are struggling in the polls.

NZCPR Newsletter: The End of Climate Extremism

Breaking News: The extreme climate scenario, used by the expert United Nations  Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to forecast catastrophic climate change has been withdrawn. 

The international body responsible for IPCC modelling has now officially declared the extreme RCP8.5 scenario is implausible.

This is the doomsday scenario of a world almost totally dependent on coal, with catastrophic warming of 4 to 6 degrees Celsius by 2100, and sea-levels rising well over one metre, that was adopted by our Ministry for the Environment as “business-as-usual” and applied by government agencies and local councils across the country.  

The significance of this IPCC decision cannot be over-stated. 

NZCPR Newsletter: Voter Sentiment

New Zealand heads toward the 2026 election facing three interconnected difficulties that are shaping voter sentiment: a deepening cost‑of‑living crisis, a perception of political instability within the governing coalition, and unresolved attacks on our constitutional integrity through co‑governance.

NZCPR Newsletter: Warning for National

Political polls provide a snapshot of voters’ views at a particular moment in time. While polls conducted months before an election cannot reliably predict the outcome – given the potential for unforeseen events – they nonetheless offer political parties a valuable guide as to how they are tracking with the electorate.

NZCPR Newsletter: A Wake-Up Call

New Zealanders are now confronting the most serious energy and fuel pressures in a generation. Diesel prices have surged to record levels, truck stops in several regions have already run dry, and questions are increasingly being raised about whether national fuel supplies will hold. Fertiliser importers are warning of tightening global markets, supply chains are under strain, and the latest price spikes are already feeding directly into the cost of living and inflation.

NZCPR Newsletter: Tikanga On Trial

At the Wellington District Court on 10 March 2026, charges of intentional damage and obstructing police against the protester who defaced Te Papa’s Treaty of Waitangi exhibit in 2023 were dismissed.

NZCPR Newsletter: Analysing a Crisis

At 11.10 am on Wednesday 4 February, Wellington Water – the council-controlled organisation responsible for managing drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater services for the Greater Wellington region – announced a “significant incident” had occurred at the Moa Point Wastewater Treatment Plant.