Dr Eric Crampton: Fix ETS instead of banning carbon forestry

For practical purposes, not emitting a tonne of carbon dioxide is equivalent to pulling a tonne of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and securely sequestering it, so long as the accounting is sound.

The Zero Carbon Act consequently requires net zero for greenhouse gases other than biogenic methane. And the Emissions Trading Scheme is meant to find the least-cost mix of emission reductions and removals for the sectors it covers.

Net Zero Watch Samizdat: Will the lights go out?

UK

NESO engineer: blackouts are only a matter of time

A National Energy System Operator grid engineer claims problems with the electricity network means power cuts are only “a matter of time”. The engineer described demand, solar and wind forecasting available to control-room staff as “atrocious” and said operators lacked the information needed to anticipate movements on the network. It is less easy for NESO to monitor the output of wind farms, solar panels and batteries, compared with big fossil fuel plants.

Dr Oliver Hartwich: Birds of a feather

Voting opens today in the most important election of 2026. And no, this is not the General Election.

I am talking about Forest & Bird’s ‘Bird of the Year’. Run annually since 2005, it has become a fixture in New Zealand’s calendar.

David Farrar: Audrey on Te Pati Maori’s bottom line

Audrey Young writes:

Te Pāti Māori not only released a radical Treaty of Waitangi policy this week that would upend New Zealand’s democracy as we know it, co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said the whole policy was a bottom line, meaning it was non-negotiable.

That means Te Pāti Māori would not sign up to a centre-left Government unless it agreed to its policy, and that is the crucial factor. That’s not only a coalition killer, it will make it less likely the parties of the left are elected.

Sunday September 6, 2026 

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Anglo Saxon: MMP voting 101 in just 10 minutes

Let me change your mind about the New Zealand Election 2026 

 Anglo Saxon explains election overhangs and tactical voting (electorate vote / party vote)

 

Click to view

Ele Ludemann: Land tax will fuel higher food prices & inflation

Federated Farmers has worked out the costs of the Opportunity Party’s land tax:

Owen Jennings: The Stark Choice – Country before Party

There has never been such a stark choice. Yeah, I know we said that last election and the one before that, but the country has never had the very real prospect of a left-wing coalition that has a recent record of doing huge economic damage and that is now, even more dependent on the sheer insanity represented by Labour’s likely partners.

Ani O'Brien: A week is a long time - 5 September 2026

Election 2026: Promises, petrol, and public servants

There was a lot of policy and promises this week. Labour kicked things off by saying they will freeze planned fuel tax increases and National promptly decided it also rather liked the idea of not putting petrol tax up immediately too, but stopped short of a complete freeze. The 12 cent increase due next January is now gone. Instead, the Government intends to begin raising the tax by 5 cents in January 2028, followed by another 3x 5 cent increases every 6 months. This will reduce expected transport fund revenue by $1.476 billion over the forecast period. About $450 million can be found in an existing fuel crisis contingency fund, but that still leaves a bit over $1 billion to find and David Seymour and Chris Bishop have both acknowledged that unless equivalent spending is cut elsewhere, the money will be borrowed. Labour has an even bigger unanswered question as freezing the increases for the whole next term will cost around $4.6 billion.

Geoff Parker: Kotahitanga — Unity, Or Division By Another Name?

Metiria Turei's argument (Otago Daily Times, 4/9/26) for kotahitanga (unity) begins with a proposition few New Zealanders would disagree with: that people should work together, respect one another and build a better country for everyone.

So far, so good.

But then comes the sleight of hand.

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: 'Putting up a wall of shame is an act of desperation'

Okay, do you want to hear something straight out of the "you would have been better off just saying absolutely nothing" file? This one's from the Privacy Commissioner.

Michael Webster has warned small retailers, such as dairies, about putting up "walls of shame" featuring people they say have shoplifted from them. You know the ones. You go into the dairy and there's a mood board of dodgy-looking people in trackies, snapped by CCTV, usually stuck up on a wall or window close to the counter.

Dr Eric Crampton: A bright spot in Parliament’s quest to drive housing affordability

Most news clips from Parliament are from Question Time. It is at least as much performance theatre as a mechanism for holding government to account. Late-night committee stages attract far fewer viewers and enable more important work.

Last Tuesday and Wednesday, Housing Minister Hon Chris Bishop and former Housing Minister Hon Phil Twyford tried to work out how to make one of the planning system’s most important housing reforms survive long after either of them has left Parliament.

Kerre Woodham: Will move-on orders actually solve the root of the problem?

A cross-party committee of MPs has recommended the Government water down its move-on orders, concerned that the penalties and punishments would be disproportionate to the offences of rough sleeping and begging. Under the proposed legislation, police had the ability to move people engaging in specific behaviours, including rough sleeping and begging, away from the area for 24 hours. Breaching the rules risked a $2,000 fine or up to three months' imprisonment.

Bob Edlin: Professor to become a Tumuaki at NZ’s major science society....

....where the Treaty galvanises governance

The Royal Society of New Zealand seems to have been conflicted, when announcing its new president.

The headline on its press statement says: Next President of the Royal Society Te Apārangi.

The first paragraph of the statement described her as the next “Tumuaki”.

David Farrar: A stupid plan, not a cunning plan

I have blogged previously on how the Te Pati Maori plan to deliberately engineer an overhang for the left is a very bad idea. It is basically trying to engineer a scenario where you can form a government despite winning fewer votes than the opposing parties.

Some people, such as Nick Mowbray, have said one should try and do the same on the right.

Dr Kelvin Kemm: Nuclear waste storage ….. no big deal

Nuclear power will be the future. There is no doubt about it. Nuclear is the cleanest, greenest, cheapest, safest, energy source ever. There is no doubt about that, no matter what anyone says. Also, just look at the energy density of sugar, coal, petrol, and uranium. Sugar contains about 20 megajoules per kilogram, coal 25, petrol 50, but uranium is 76,000,000. What this tells you is that you can carry your lifetime supply of electricity in a shopping packet, if you’re carrying uranium.

Mike's Minute: Why didn't the Government drop the carbon auctions?

I'm not surprised. But because I'm not surprised, I am disappointed.

Papers released publicly for the first time reveal the Government considered axing their mad carbon auctions.

But, and here comes the disappointment, they didn’t.

Saturday September 5, 2026 

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Reynold Macpherson: A Social Media Ban May Solve the Wrong Problem

New Zealand’s proposed ban on social media for people under 16 starts from a serious concern. Children can be harmed online. They can be exposed to bullying, sexual material, grooming, misinformation and extreme content.

Social media can also disrupt sleep, concentration, learning and family life. Some platforms are designed to hold attention for as long as possible. Young people are especially vulnerable to those techniques.

Breaking Views Update: Week of 30.8.26

Saturday September 5, 2026 

News:
ACT pledges to stop millions being spent on roadside public art
The ACT Party will stop motorists' money from being spent on roadside sculptures, art, and monuments in a new transport infrastructure policy announced on Friday.

He listed several examples of public art that he claimed illustrated a “prioritisation problem,” including the $630,599 spent on the Te Manu Rangimaarie sculpture at the Piarere roundabout, $810,000 spent on the Te Waka sculpture on the Waikato Expressway and $3.7 million for 35 pou and two taonga artworks on Te Ara Tupua walk and cycleway between Wellington and Lower Hutt.