Penn Raine: Wait for it!

Wait for the howls of ‘Populism!’ when Britain’s red wall of Labour run councils crumbles as Farage’s Reform party marches over the ramparts, giggling as it goes.

No doubt there are similar wails, but of ‘Misogyny!’ and perhaps even ‘Racism!’ sounding around Wellington’s beltway and its bureaucracy’s dim corridors at Maiki Sherman’s announcement that she was stepping down because her position was ‘untenable’.

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: The media is under scrutiny and we've had it coming

If it’s not already obvious to you, the fact that Maiki Sherman has lost her job should now make it very clear: the media—especially the state broadcasters, both of them—are about to find out what it means not just to make and report the news but to be the news.

Just look at what’s happened this week alone. And this is only a sample—this has been building for some time.

Graham Adams: Hikoi threat over Treaty clauses review

Fighting talk from a TVNZ journalist.

The government’s review of Treaty clauses in legislation has mightily displeased one of the resident Māori activists at 1News. A column by Te Aniwa Hurihanganui that accompanied her televised news segment last week is titled “Govt risks another colossal hikoi if it weakens Treaty obligations”.

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: 'You can’t hate what Jacinda did and then love what Chris Luxon has done'

Good on Chris Luxon for ditching his regular spot on Breakfast. That’s from Tina.

I disagree with Tina. I don’t think Chris Luxon should have given up on Breakfast the way he has, pulling out of his weekly slot. I mean, obviously it’s his prerogative to do it.

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Does our news just have the wrong priorities?

Right, here’s a question I’d like to answer: Do we all have strange priorities in this country, or is it just the evening TV news that does?

Last night, I sat through 13 minutes of TV One telling me nothing had happened with the cyclone before we finally got to the Iran situation, where something actually had happened.

Karl du Fresne: Luxon still hasn’t got the hang of politics

“I’m not going to play that game,” Christopher Luxon said – rather lamely – when Tova O’Brien asked him how many Maori National MPs were in his cabinet.  

“It’s not a game,” countered O’Brien, doubtless trying hard to conceal her glee at having so easily caught the prime minister out.

Karl du Fresne: A masterclass in damage control, and Labour's PR flunkies didn't have to lift a finger

It has been fascinating to observe the media’s treatment of allegations against Labour leader Chris Hipkins by his ex-wife. 

The first thing to note was the uniformity of the coverage. It was as if the political editors of the mainstream news outlets hurriedly got their heads together when the news broke yesterday and decided on a common approach.

Karl du Fresne: Will a new RNZ board stop the rot?

The Treasury has publicly advertised vacancies on the RNZ board for a new chair and two “governors” (I presume that means directors). The appointees will replace current chair Jim Mather and board members Jane Wrightson and Irene Gardiner, all of whom were installed during the term of the Ardern government. All three are well-connected Wellington insiders who were never going to upset the status quo by insisting RNZ fulfil its obligation to cater to a wider audience than the privileged “progressive” class – I use the inverted commas deliberately – from which the state broadcaster draws its core support. The question now is whether the government will appoint people willing and able to do the job the current board clearly had no interest in tackling.

Kevin: Thoughts for the Year

As it’s the end of the year I’d thought I’d do a ‘thoughts of the year’ post – a list of things and events that were important to me. So, in no particular order:

The Murder of Charlie Kirk

Here, it’s not so much his murder, which was a tragedy, but the reaction of his detractors: from outright mocking to lying and taking what he said out context. I really have no words for the staggering level of vitriol, although I’m not sure if even vitriol is the right word.

Karl du Fresne: Death Wish 2025

I did something last Sunday that I hadn’t done for probably a year or more. I listened to RNZ’s Mediawatch. 

There was a time when I tuned in to the show every week. But as with so much RNZ content, I grew disenchanted to the point where I simply decided I was better off without it.

Dr Michael Johnston: The story that did not count

In many countries, an educational study claiming a radical improvement in mathematics learning would receive considerable media attention. But not, it seems, in New Zealand.

Two weeks ago, Education Minister Erica Stanford announced the results of a trial involving Year 7 and 8 students who were at least a year behind in maths. Nearly 1,400 such students received small-group tutoring four times a week for 12 weeks. In that time, they made an average of two years’ progress.

Dr Michael Bassett: Duplicity in the modern world

We have entered a new world where few things are on the level. Nowhere is this more obvious than in Dictatorland. Vladimir Putin’s forces brazenly invaded Ukraine in 2022, breaking a vital stipulation in the United Nations Charter to which Russia signed up at the end of World War Two. It specifies that no sovereign state shall invade another. In 2022 Putin knew that Russia’s veto at the UN would prevent any united action against Russia so long as his delegates weren’t temporarily absent from the Security Council, as they had been in 1950 when North Korea invaded South Korea, thus triggering the Korean War.

Clive Bibby: Guilty Beyond Doubt

They say that TRUTH will always out.

It may take a while and cause unnecessary grief and heartache for those who have been wronged in the Courts but politically motivated lies are usually exposed within hours or days of their public delivery.

Perce Harpham: Renewing New Zealand - Part 1

In this, Part 1, I will explore some of the issues which have determined our present situation. I will show some of the extent to which the power of the block of Maori seats in Parliament has threatened our democracy - bringing legal rights and tax exemptions for Maori at the cost of ratepayers and, heavily, taxpayers.The Treaty Principles Bill was a brave attempt to have the Waitangi Treaty simply mean what it says. Now that the Select Committee has slapped it down, do we simply accept all the fabrications that have been built around the Treaty or do we do something different?

David Lillis: Bringing Back the Moa?

De-extinction Nonsense

Our mainstream media does it again! On 9 July we have more nonsense, presented as science (Burr, 2025). Apparently, Colossal Biosciences ( https://colossal.com/ ) believes that it can de-extinct the moa within the next decade and that the moa will be alive and walking by 2035.

David Lillis: Unpublished Letter to the Listener

Recently (on 4 June), I wrote a 300-word letter to the Listener but have received no response. Here it is below, for those who are interested.

“Paul Little and Sarah Frost express concerns that Shakespeare is unduly prominent in our draft English Curriculum (The Listener, 7 June). However, Shakespeare is mentioned only once there, and developers are obliged to prescribe what they consider the best readings for every subject.

Wayne Ryburn: Reframing New Zealand’s History

New Zealand's mainstream media continues to propagate the one-sided history espoused by the Waitangi Tribunal, activist Maori academics and their pakeha acolytes, as our official history. History is complex and comes with many perspectives. Several articles published in the NZ Herald during 2024 and more recently, by authors Simon Wilson, Julia Gabel, and Audrey Young, clearly indicate their support for viewpoints propagated by the Waitangi Tribunal and contemporary iwi.

Dr David Lillis: On the Quality of Opinion Pieces in Our Media

State Your Case but Leave Out the Ad Hominem

Many of us read with interest a piece by Sir Ian Taylor, published in Stuff of 10 June (Taylor, 2025). This particular article is about Mr. David Seymour, leader of the Act Party and current Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand. Clearly, Sir Ian disagrees with Mr. Seymour on various political and social issues and he is quite at liberty to do so. However, this piece generated a degree of negative reaction amongst many within my own circle of friends and associates, even among those who do not necessarily support the Act Party.

Clive Bibby: MSM priorities in a nutshell

Most rational people concerned about the cost of living pressures and Government’s plans to address the problem will be appalled but not surprised to read one of this morning’s MSM headlines.

Rather than spend most of the article on a critique of the Government’ major spending announcement about NZ Rail upgrades, it chose instead to focus on an unnamed heckler of two senior Cabinet ministers as they explained the need for a $600million spend on rail freight maintenance at a time of real economic hardship.

Michael Laws On The Māori Issues The Mainstream Media Won’t Cover

Michael Laws chats about the Māori issues the Mainstream Media won’t cover


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