Professor Ananish Chaudhuri: Oral submission on the Treaty Principles Bill

My name is Ananish Chaudhuri. I am Professor of Economics at the University of Auckland. My views are my own and not those of my employer.

Thank you very much for giving me an opportunity to speak this morning.

I was born in India and did my undergraduate studies there. I studied further and then taught in the United States for many years. I am a citizen of New Zealand and have called this place “home” for more than two decades. I have two daughters, 19 and 16, who were born here.

Jerry Coyne: Trying to reconcile indigenous ways of knowing with “white” ways of being in New Zealand

This article actually appeared on the Museum of New Zealand’s website, and is about as explicit an argument for the country adopting indigenous “ways of knowing” (Mātauranga Māori, or MM) as I have found. You may remember that MM is a mixture of practical knowledge, religion, superstition, morals, teleology and guidelines for living. Despite this mixture, there has been a constant battle to get MM taught as coequal with modern science, though the argument has euphemistically changed to coequal “ways of knowing.”

Centrist: Javier Milei’s Davos address on ‘wokeism’ liberty and ’the quest for privileges’

Argentina’s President Javier Milei delivered a spirited speech at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, proclaiming the rise of liberty and condemning “wokeism” as a societal cancer.

Milei credited Argentina’s remarkable economic turnaround—zero deficit, inflation control, and renewed growth—to a radical embrace of free-market principles.

John Klar: Defending Free Speech in America

The First Amendment seemed forgotten under the Biden Administration, but it’s back.

President Donald Trump let fly a flurry of executive orders in his first week as president. Among those was a reaffirmation of the US Constitution’s First Amendment prohibitions against government regulation of Americans’ liberties to speak and communicate free of government censorship. Volumes of evidence now point to blatant violations of this vital constitutional restraint by the Biden administration, including revelations by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg that the White House intensely pressured his social media platforms to regulate content. The new executive order directs government agencies to investigate these past violations as well as prohibiting future transgressions.

Graham Adams: NZ Herald struggles with how to gain readers’ trust

Manurewa Marae ‘scoop’ falls between clickbait and journalism.

Last week, NZME, the owners of the NZ Herald, announced 38 newsroom staff would be losing their jobs.

Most of those being dismissed were “production journalists”, which includes sub-editors. The Herald has undertaken culls of such employees several times over recent decades. Inevitably, the ensuing rash of grammatical and spelling mistakes in their publications, along with plain gobbledegook, means at least some of them will soon need to be rehired.

Kerre Woodham: What have we got left to sell?

You may have heard, the 80’s are making a comeback. Lookout for denim on denim, bubble skirts, and asset sales. David Seymour is stepping up his campaign to sell state assets and privatise public services.

Ele Ludemann: Toxicity here too

The world has become toxic. I realize that we’re in a crisis again, that there is so much hatred around, so much distrust, that if we don’t stop, it may get worse and worse. There may be another terrible destruction.

Those are the words of Tova Friedman, who was taken to Auschwitz when she was five and liberated when she was six.

She is right – there is so much toxicity, so much hatred, so much distrust and if we don’t stop it, it will get worse.

JC: NZME = New Zealand Muddled Entity

The Media Insider in the Weekend Herald focused on TV One’s 6pm news, asking if it was in for a shakeup, followed by a piece on the financial plight of NZME. Shayne Currie was talking about the plight of the media overall. The article was quite an eye opener. As one who spent many years in the media I was left scratching my head.

It would appear these people can’t see the wood for the trees. They are either ignoring, don’t realise or are deliberately in denial as to the main reason for their financial predicament. Certain things like the obvious loss of audience in some areas were mentioned but the usual excuses were trotted out, such as increasing competition. All the more reason, then, to address the root cause of the loss of audience and/or readership.

Mike's Minute: The Govt need to move on foreign buyers this year

The good people at OneRoof were hinting at it the other day.

They were reacting to what I know to be a bit of a buzz within the real estate community that the Government are going to move on foreign buyers this year.

I talk to a lot of agents. They range from telling me it's on, to those who hope it's on, to those who want it to be on but aren't holding their breath.

Wednesday January 29, 2025 

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Sam Karnick: Trump’s Colorblind Agenda

The biggest story of the past week was, of course, Donald Trump’s return to the White House and his quick action on numerous policy fronts through a flurry of sweeping executive orders and other initiatives.

Trump implemented reforms all across the federal government in just one week, taking an even bolder course than he did upon assuming office in 2017. Trump’s first week of work this time was nothing less than the start of an organized and comprehensive effort to reform the federal government to reflect and promote traditional American values.

NZCPR Newsletter: Feature Article - A New Era Begins

The Inauguration of Donald J Trump as the 47^th President of the United States marked the beginning of a new era for the country – and for the world.

If he gets his agenda right, America will return to being a global leader.

Professor Richard Shaw: David Seymour says Kiwis are too squeamish about privatisation.....

David Seymour says Kiwis are too squeamish about privatisation – history shows why they lost the appetite

State asset sales have been a political dividing line in New Zealand for decades now, and it seems voters are again being asked to decide which side they’re on.

In his state-of-the-nation speech last week, ACT Party leader David Seymour advised New Zealanders to “get past their squeamishness about privatisation” and ask themselves:

Ross Meurant: Performance Paramount in the Jungle

I applaud the Operational Deployments, undertaken by the NZ Police, since Richard Chambers was appointed to the position of Commissioner of Police.

Across the front-line, breakers of the law, who somehow avoided police intervention during the rule of Commissioner Coster, are now regularly being brought before the Courts.

Ian Bradford: Instant action from a President who seems to know the truth about climate change

Donald Trump has just been inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States.  This is his second term and he has wasted no time in signing off a number of executive orders.  An executive order is a directive from the president that manages operations of the Federal Government. It has the force of law and does not require any action by congress. 

We will just look at a few that involve climate.

Clive Bibby: Fairies at the Bottom of the Garden

Life is tough here on the ranch where the decisions that will affect the future lifestyles of all kiwis are made. But, it could be much worse.

You only have to look at the Middle East where generations of Arabs and Jews are still fighting over scraps of land that both believe are their birthright.

Ele Ludemann: Bring back Brash?

Six years with a Labour government showed very clearly that more spending isn’t always better spending.

It’s a lesson the Reserve Bank doesn’t appear to have learned:

DTNZ: Californians collecting signatures for secession from the US

State officials have authorised a campaign dubbed “Calexit” for a possible vote in 2028.

Activists in California are seeking to put the state’s possible independence from the US to a ballot.

Kerre Woodham: We need to get better faster

Well, I might have been swanning about on holiday for an unseemly amount of time but the Government was back at work. You have already discussed, I have no doubt the PM's reshuffle of the cabinet, specifically Dr Reti losing Health to Simeon Brown in a bid to see change happening, change happening better, and there has been much chat about getting the country moving again.

JC: The Left’s Glass Is Empty

The left have predictably poured their half-empty glass of cold water on plans for growth – at least on Christopher Luxon’s plans for growth. They don’t like his vision yet fail to articulate one of their own. If they did it would no doubt mirror the one espoused by ‘Rachel from Accounts’ in the United Kingdom, that is: tax the bejesus out of everybody, especially those whose votes you are unlikely to get, and spend like drunken sailors. That is the mantra of the left and the extent of their economic policy.