Kevin: She Must Be Taking Lessons From Chlöe

Opportunity leader Qiulae 7ong has defended accepting more than $400,000 in political donations this year while campaigning to ban them, saying the party has to “play the game with everyone else” to get into parliament.

[…] But the party’s leader was grilled as she appeared on Q+A this morning.

Kerre Woodham: I'm all for paying what you owe, but...

Every bailiff in the country is going to be out in force today, scanning the number plates of parked cars to identify those amongst us who have overdue court fines and reparation. You can run but you cannot hide. And if you can't pay your fines or make arrangements to pay them, your car may well be clamped or towed away to be sold to recoup the parking fines you haven't paid.

Bob Edlin: Brownlee’s bet with Willie Jackson is intriguing....

......but who has a record of it?

What was it that Mr Speaker said during Question Time? That Labour’s Willie Jackson – correction, the Honourable Willie Jackson – had not settled a bet with him?

Alwyn Poole: Dear “Chippy” - Why only 15% of voters want you as PM

(Not that the media even seem to but notice that aspect of the polls).

I have lived and worked in Auckland, primarily in Education, from 1998 until now (with a 6 year gap when I was in the BoI, which co-incided with your covid response).

I will try and keep this reponse to points.

Thursday August 20, 2026 

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Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Who really believes Labour won't give us more taxes?

Hands up - who believes Labour when they say none of their political mates will be allowed to introduce their taxes in a future Labour-led Government?

This started on Mike's show, with Ginny Andersen on Politics Wednesday saying, "Nah, the Greens aren't going to be allowed to introduce their wealth tax, and nah, Te Pāti Māori isn't going to be allowed to introduce its land tax."

Clive Bibby: Finding and adopting our Multi-Cultural Heritage

When I was a kid, I had little control over what we ate.

In retrospect, that wasn't necessarily a bad thing as most Mum's were a damn sight better judge of the food that was good for us than the stuff dished up if it had been left to us youngsters.

Mind you. I personally would have preferred a roast meal every night rather than occasionally being force fed sheep offal like tripe.

Dr Eric Crampton: The troubling gaps in Treasury’s performance.....

...and in its knowledge of how it might tackle them

New Zealand’s Treasury has two big jobs that nobody else can do.

They’re both highlighted in the first line of Treasury’s ‘Who we are’ website. Treasury is “the Government’s lead economic and financial adviser and steward of the public sector financial management systems.”

June’s Performance Improvement Review for Treasury did not go well at all on one of those big jobs. It may point to issues in staff capabilities.

Mike's Minute: Our access to Australia could soon be limited

I couldn’t understand it at the time, but you may remember four years ago then-Prime Minister Ardern did a deal with Anthony Albanese over our access to Australian citizenship and welfare.

Essentially, they gave us a bunch of stuff we previously hadn't had.

JC: She’s a Must to Avoid

Many reading this will be old enough to remember the Herman’s Hermits song, “She’s a Must to Avoid”. That is how the leader of the Opportunity Party, Qiulae Wong, presented in last weekend’s Q+A interview with Jack Tame. Mr Tame, who does not often inspire me, deserves credit for pushing to get to the bottom of what Opportunity stands for. This was no easy task, as Wong has an unflappable streak, where every criticism or query is met with a smile and is seamlessly brushed away. The interviewer therefore has to dig deep and press for answers that the audience wants. Tame’s ‘dog with a bone’ technique often frustrates me, but on this occasion it was necessary.

Ani O'Brien: Don Brash & Te Pāti Māori agree on a strategy

How both sides of politics are thinking strategically about voting.

After 30 years of Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) representation, we may finally have reached the point where everyone works out how to properly game the system at the same time. For most of the MMP era, political parties have called for “two ticks” with a few notable exceptions like the Epsom electorate. The idea has been to not encourage voters to think too hard about the fact that they have been given two separate votes because parties would very much like both of them.

Kerre Woodham: Auckland's harbour crossing - a discussion that goes round in circles

I can imagine 50 years from now, the morning host on ZB 9am to Noon will be nearing retirement and they'll have talked about everything, as I have done over my time here. So, they'll be opening their show on the 18th of August 2076, and they'll say, “Harbour crossing, tunnel or bridge? Meola Reef crossing or a bridge alongside the existing one? 0800 80 10 80.” And 50 years from now, the discussion will begin again and again and again.

Bob Edlin: ACT wants to ban working-time karakia in the public service....

..... but MBIE shows why more prayers might be a blessing

The Taxpayers’ Union has drawn attention to the cost of daily prayers and sing-songs in just a few of the country’s many state agencies.

Fair to say, the union’s figure – around $3.5 million – is a small drop of the $180 billion or so spent by the government in 2024/25.

Guest Post: Why excessive house prices are damaging NZ’s economy

A guest post by David Schnauer on Kiwiblog

 

Compliments to Ashley Church for a well argued Post headed “Declining house prices are killing our economy”. In this Post, I put the opposing case. High and appreciating house prices have not been good for New Zealand. Instead they have done and continue to do this country major economic damage.

David Farrar: Labour denies a tax it had in the ballot!

Simeon brown points out:

After National alerted New Zealanders to the 11 new taxes on the table between Labour and its coalition partners, Chris Hipkins claimed that two of the taxes are not Labour Party policy.

Chris Hipkins and the Labour Party cannot be trusted on tax, and today they’ve again proven why, National’s Campaign Chair Simeon Brown says.

Mike's Minute: Why all the angst around the Opportunity Party?

I have been surprised, and not surprised, by two aspects of the Opportunity Party.

1) I'm not surprised by the media's fascination,

2) I am surprised at the amount of angst shown by people increasingly alarmed at the prospect they may be heading for Parliament and some sort of influence.

Wednesday August 19, 2026 

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Ryan Bridge: Don't hold your breath for a new Harbour crossing, Auckland

We've been waiting for decades for somebody to build a new bridge, or a tunnel, or anything across Auckland's harbour.

The consultant bill is now $100 million across the current National and former Labour Governments.

JD: On the Qiulae Wong Interview

Guest post on The Good Oil by JD

Having watched Qiulae Wong, the Opportunity Party leader, being interviewed by Jack Tame, it is clear that she, and presumably those who advise her, have no idea when it comes to the two key planks of their manifesto. What will be the effect of their increased tax and land tax impositions and the Universal Basic Income, with all of the costs thereto attached?

Ashley Church: Could an MMP loophole return a centre-right government?

If you’re a centre-right voter, there’s a fair chance that a sense of dread has started to descend as you watch the National Party consume itself from within. The latest episode was the second leadership challenge of the year, this time involving Chris Penk, who has now lost his portfolios and announced that he won’t be standing at the November election.

But as dramatic as these latest events are – none of this should really surprise anyone. The events unfolding are the direct and entirely predictable consequence of a National party that came into government in 2023 with an enormous mandate for change, then inexplicably chose to deliver almost none of it.