Chris Lynch: Critics warn digital driver’s licences risk surveillance and exclusion

The Government’s plans to allow driver’s licences, Warrants of Fitness and certificates of fitness to be carried digitally on smartphones, has been condemned by critics as a step towards state overreach.

From 2026, drivers will no longer need to keep a physical licence on them when driving, with digital versions legally accepted for the first time.

Matua Kahurangi: A billion dollars for separatism

Why Te Pāti Māori must never be in government again

I’ll be straight up, I’m not exactly National’s biggest fan at the moment. I voted for them with my electorate vote, but they’ve done plenty that’s frustrated me since getting into government. That said, let’s not kid ourselves here. If Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori were still running this country, it would be an absolute sh*tshow. At the next election we need to do everything possible to stop them clawing their way back into power. Because if they do, every bit of work National and the coalition have managed to do will be tossed out the window in a heartbeat.

Kerre Woodham: Fatal DUI crashes need to carry strong sentences

I don't know about you, but I was truly surprised to hear Judge Russell Collins send a young drug driver to jail on Friday. In the Napier District Court, Judge Collins heard Alexander Kerr had dope in his system when he crashed his car - killing his mate and leaving another in a wheelchair for life. Kerr had no previous convictions.

Bob Edlin: Council candidate confesses to bankruptcy blotch on her CV.....

Council candidate confesses to bankruptcy blotch on her CV – but no, she can’t be compared with Donald Trump

Rotorua Lakes Council candidate Mariana Morrison has said she is “only human” after revealing she has twice filed for bankruptcy.

The New Zealand Herald reports:

JC: Oh Dear, Never Mind

Spring is upon us but that doesn’t seem to be the case at Radio New Zealand, where the joys of spring are noticeably absent. There is no spring in their step but instead a palpable air of mortification among the people they like to call their kaimahi (staff). As a result of Richard Sutherland’s report on the organisation, according to the Herald’s Media Insider, the kaimahi are harbouring hurty feelings and are distressed.

Ele Ludemann: Not like Lotto

This isn’t Lotto.

That was the response of a Fonterra shareholder to a friend who said the pay out expected if the company’s sale of its global consumer and associated businesses to Lactalis for $3.845 billion goes ahead would be like winning a lottery.

David Farrar: The terrible maths and writing achievement data

I’ve been going through the latest achievement data for year 8 students in maths and writing. While it has stabilised, it still shows how badly change is needed. Here’s the data for year 8 students.

Tuesday August 26, 2025 

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Matua Kahurangi: Enough of this rāhui bullsh*t

When did iwi decide who can and can’t fish?

Over the weekend, the Otago Daily Times ran a story with the headline “Rāhui in place after body found on Wairau Bar.” Curious, I Googled the Wairau Bar and found it is in Marlborough. Sure enough, Stuff also carried the same story.

Stuff quoted a post made by local iwi on Facebook:

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Does Chris Bishop have a point about house prices?

I'll tell you what I found interesting over the last few days it's the enormous surprise at the start, and now the debate about Chris Bishop saying it's a good thing that house prices are falling.

He was asked about this on Friday and he said, yes, it's a good thing and that we've got to decouple the idea that the New Zealand economy is driven by house prices - labelling it 'artificial wealth'.

Ryan Bridge: Peeni Henare strikes again

At the rate it’s going, this by-election could cost Labour the real election.

Peeni Henare’s popping out policies toxic to the general electorate but popular with the 10,000 odd voters he’ll need to win Tamaki Makarau.

First it was bringing back the gang patches.

Penn Raine: Do RNZ feel ‘unsafe’ now?

It used to be that RNZ represented the grown ups in the room. Before I switched them off permanently I respected the presenters and their content as dependable sources of fact and analysis, put together by people more mature and astute than I. Just last week though we learn that RNZ are hurt and distressed at their ex-news boss’s ‘scathing’ report.

I’m just going to say it.

John McLean: The Supreme Court empire strikes back

New Zealand’s Supremo Judges have launched their latest salvo on the Foreshore & Seabed Front of New Zealand’s War for Constitution Supremacy. We’re talking here about the ongoing uncivil War pitting the Judiciary against successive elected Governments, on which I have previously published:

Chris Lynch: Commission files proceedings against Westpac for alleged breaches

The Commerce Commission has filed proceedings against Westpac New Zealand Ltd for allegedly breaching lender responsibility principles under the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act 2003 (CCCFA).

The Commission said multiple failures meant customers did not receive legally required information about their loans and, in some cases, agreed interest rate discounts were not applied.

Dave Patterson: Peace in Ukraine – Zelensky-Putin Meeting Details Prove Challenging

Wanting to get something done and getting it done are always tricky in serious conflict resolution negotiations – and President Donald Trump may be about ready to throw in the towel when it comes to ending the Russia-Ukraine war. The bilateral meeting, if it comes off, between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin, is shaping up to be the most complex and challenging in modern history.

Matua Kahurangi: Three Strikes isn’t enough

The Three Strikes law is back. After Labour scrapped it in 2022, the coalition government reinstated it a few months back in June with some tweaks, like more judicial discretion and considerations for guilty pleas. For serious violent and sexual offenders, it remains one of the few sentencing regimes that treats repeat offending with the seriousness it deserves - first strike, a warning; second strike, no parole; third strike, maximum sentence with no parole.

Kevin: Free Speech and Holocaust Denial

You may have heard people say, ‘If you really believe in free speech then denying the Holocaust shouldn’t be a crime: after all, isn’t the antidote to bad speech more good speech’?

It’s an argument that I’ve seen even people who believe in free speech make.

David Farrar: The very dodgy $12.9b figure

I blogged in early August on how MPs appear to have been scared into supporting a retrospective law change to protect ANZ and ASB Banks form a six year old law suit over their failure to make correct disclosures with some of their loans, on the basis that the banking system could be at risk with a potential cost of $12.9 billion.

David Farrar: Spending is too high

Jenee Tibshraeny writes:

Five years on from the onset of the pandemic, it is becoming clear the Government’s finances are suffering from long Covid – not just a Covid hangover.

Many Kiwis have taken their medicine – stomached high interest rates and faced job cuts, as the Reserve Bank has curbed inflation and the Government removed pandemic-era spending initiatives.

Damien Grant: Covid-19 revisionism, how did we get here?

We’re having a moment. New Zealand. Feigning outrage over the unwillingness of Ardern, Robertson and Hipkins to front to phase two of the Royal Commission into the Covid pandemic.

Let’s consider this. For a moment.