Kate Hawkesby: Are we having to wait too long to form a government?

Peter Dunne is someone I really respect because he’s emerged from a life inside politics to remain an engaged and informed observer on the outside. 

He makes a lot of sense, which is why I love having him on this show. He recently gave an interview where he talked about the fact we shouldn’t have to wait this long for election results. 

I agree.

Robin Grieve: The Elusive Treaty Principles

NZME, the publisher of the New Zealand Herald, in return for Government funding, has pledged to ‘developing its understanding of the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi and is working towards embedding them in all aspects of its business’.

The question for the New Zealand Herald and NZME and its shareholders is what does that mean and how is it going to do that?

Annie Te One: Who are the ‘kōhanga reo generation’ and how could they change Māori and mainstream politics?

The 2023 election saw a changing of the guard in Māori political representation.

Several parliamentary stalwarts lost their seats to members of the “kōhanga reo generation” – Māori under the age of 45 whose school years coincided with the revitalisation of the te reo Māori through full immersion education.

Greg Dawes: Political Decolonization

There’s a lot of talk at the present time about ‘decolonization’. But despite the frequency with which the word is used, it’s hard to find an explanation of what it means. In an effort to understand the issues involved, I’ve been reading a historian and political theorist of the colonial period, Mahmood Mamdani.

Mamdani’s writings focus on the colonization of Africa and the rise of post-colonial African states. He is well placed to understand his topic. Coming from an Indian family, Mamdani was born in Mumbai, of parents who had been brought up in Tanzania. He himself was brought up in Kampala, the Ugandan capital, and studied in the United States, where he was involved in the civil rights movement. Shortly after returning to Uganda, he was expelled from the country because of his Asian ethnicity. After fleeing to Britain as a refugee, he returned to take up a university position in Tanzania, before returning to Uganda, where he was stripped of citizenship for criticizing the new government’s policies. But he outlived his political opponents and is now Chancellor of Kampala International University.

Francesca Rudkin: I'm all for making alcohol less visible

The University of Otago has released a new study looking into public awareness of cancer risk factors, with a particular focus on alcohol and dietary factors, and support for evidence-based alcohol and food policies to reduce people's exposure to these risks in their environment.

John MacDonald: Three Waters money down the drain

If you thought the election campaign lasted forever, it seems the counting of the special votes is taking forever too.

It’s also looking like this drawn-out process is going to cost a lot of money. Because it’s looking like Labour is going to keep the money tap running all the way until the bitter end.

It is nuts, even though it knows full-well that the incoming government wants to scrap the Three Waters reforms, that Labour seems to be turning a blind eye to truckloads of money still being spent on its reforms.

Wednesday October 25, 2023 

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Guy Hatchard: New Studies Further Confirm Adverse Effects of Covid Vaccines. Can These Be Reversed, if So How?

In this article, we review newly published research studies on the adverse effects of mRNA vaccines and draw out the implications for a meditation and whole food diet programme which could play a role in mitigating these effects.

A study funded by the US FDA has found a new vaccine safety signal. This was a retrospective study which analysed the medical records of four million children aged 6 months to 17 years. In addition to the known high risk of myopericarditis, the study found a statistically significant number of children aged 2 to 5 years suffered seizures and convulsions following the Pfizer or Moderna mRNA vaccines.

Danyl McLauchlan: Notes towards an alt-centrist manifesto

Two of the most significant policy disputes in the run-up to New Zealand’s 2023 election took place within our major parties rather than between them. In May Christopher Luxon pulled out of the cross-party agreement on housing densification – a policy developed by his own deputy leader – and in July Chris Hipkins confirmed he’d killed Labour’s plans to introduce a wealth or capital gains tax, a scheme developed by his finance and revenue ministers.

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 25/10/23

Gaza again gives our govt something to announce – this time, it is calling for a humanitarian pause

Gaza is the focus of the first statement posted on the government’s official website since October 17, when the focus was … Gaza.

Is anything governmental happening on the home front?

Robert MacCulloch: In a New World, New Thinking is Required

After boycotting the Herald for awhile, I wrote an Opinion for them today. Coincidentally, the theme is remarkably similar to Richard Prebble's that has also appeared today, namely that Labour has left a lot of bombs for National to contend with. You can read it here https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/robert-macculloch-new-thinking-is-required-to-take-nz-forward/726WSYXS3BAD3NOQPKIDQ7KNXE/ or below:

Predicting the future is fraught with peril, so let’s throw caution to the wind and do just that. What will happen to our nation and economy the next three years?

Mike Hosking: Do we need a coronial inquest?

As the coronial inquest into the mosque shooting gets underway surely one of the ironies is the fact that something that it is hoped will provide answers needs to answer a couple of questions itself.

Why does it take so long to get an inquiry underway? Is something this far down the track from the event able to give the answers people want?

One of the stories yesterday suggested the great hope was this inquiry would lead to something like this never happening again.

I'm not sure how this is possible.

Point of Order: Challenges for new government in tackling law-and-order.

As the new government settles into office, its top priority will lie in the economic field, but as it gears up for that task a more immediate challenge is to tackle “law-and-order” issues.

The National Party made headlines with its promises to limit ram raids and gangs using guns in Auckland, and it has in Mark Mitchell an experienced MP keen to get to grips with the problems. What is more, he has experience in the field, here and overseas.

Philip Crump: Gen Z in Da House

A younger, newer brand of politics is about to become a feature of the New Zealand Parliament.

With special votes still being counted, the interregnum provides time for the country’s political parties to reflect on their election performance. For Labour, in particular, that is proving to be a painful experience.

Hipkins emerged from his party’s caucus meeting last Tuesday saying, “We’ll spend plenty of time digesting the result and understanding that but it's clear from the end of 2021, we saw our support numbers drop quite significantly and nothing that we did in the two years that followed really rebuilt those numbers.”

Francesca Rudkin: Is the dropping use of Reading Recovery a bad thing?

Really interesting article in the New Zealand Herald today about the number of schools offering Reading Recovery.

This system was developed in New Zealand in the 70s in order to support 6-year-olds struggling with literacy. It's been used around the world but now due to new research into how the brain works and learns, it's no longer as popular as it used to be, with less than 40% of schools now offering the programme.

Tuesday October 24, 2023 

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Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 24/10/23

Not all Māori agree with Rawiri and Debbie’s demands for Israeli ambassador to be sent packing

The comforting news from the government today is that there is none. The inhabitants of the Beehive have posted no new announcements on the government’s official website since the PM last week announced New Zealand is providing $5 million humanitarian support to Israel and Gaza.

Bob McCoskrie: A masterclass in media training

The leader of the Conservative party in Canada Pierre Poilievre (pull-ee-ev) gave a masterclass on how to handle left-wing journalists recently. The video went viral – for good reason. And he eats an apple while he’s doing it. If you ever have to deal with the mainstream media, check this out.

Chris Trotter: Thinking About The Roman Empire.

Why are men always thinking about the Roman Empire? Women, baffled by their partner’s quickening heart-rate when confronted with images of disciplined legionaries preparing to “unleash hell”, or worried by the Caesar-like poses they catch them striking in front of the bedroom mirror, have turned to their sisters on Tik-Tok for answers. Predictably, it was men who responded. The conclusion of the male commentariat? Men think about the Roman Empire a lot because the Roman Empire still contributes such a lot to what it means to be a man.

Robert MacCulloch: The NZ Election was Bought by the Rich, my foot - our Mainstream Media Tries to Undermine Democracy

A leading NZ Herald columnist today assigns blame for Labour's election loss. He claims, amongst other reasons, that the election was bought. Wilson says, "In Britain in 2017, $2.1 billion in donations helped the Conservative Party keep Jeremy Corbyn out of power". Is the Herald arguing it believes Corbyn deserved to be elected but was denied by rich people?