Bob Edlin: Maori trust’s beach barrier was blessed with a karakia....

......but it didn’t have the blessing of the local council – or the law

Uh, oh. Tensions between beach-going motorists and beach-protecting vigilantes were reflected in a report headed Kāwhia landowners face threats to burn down marae over beach closure.

The report explained that significant numbers of landowners supported the blocking of vehicle access to the Kāwhia Hot Water Beach beach to protect Te Arai ō Wiwini, a breeding ground and nursery for pātiki and other fish.

David Farrar: Yes Minister is a documentary

Matthew Hooton reports:

They’re called the “bureaucratic priesthood” – powerful officials in Wellington who ministers must work with to deliver their promises but who think they, not democratically elected politicians, should be the judge of what the public wants and what it’s going to get.

The priesthood is only a minority of officials, according to a new study by the free-market New Zealand Initiative to be published after the election. It’s designed to help new ministers and MPs, on either side of the political divide, deal with barriers officials could put up to stop them doing what they have been elected to do.

Graham Adams: Why does the left soft-soap Māori gangs?

The Coalition parties can barely believe their luck as the gang scandal continues to engulf their political rivals even as advance voting begins.

Little wonder Oriini Kaipara has been described as a “sleeper-agent for the centre-right” given that a video she posted of herself at a Mongrel Mob hui — alongside Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke, Green MP Hūhana Lyndon and Green candidate Michel Mulipola — sparked the political firestorm.

Rodney Hide: The limits of cleverness versus capitalism

The following column appeared in the NATIONAL BUSINESS REVIEW October 27th 2017. With the support of Winston Peters, Jacinda Ardern had just been installed as Prime Minister.

Tuesday October 27, 2026 

                   ⇩

1News Verian Poll: Coalition has path to power but Labour steady amid gangs row

National, ACT and NZ First have moved closer to securing a coalition for a second term in power without needing Opportunity's help, the latest 1News Verian poll suggests

Tonight’s results show National is down on last week, but Labour is stuck on 27%, and Christopher Luxon is pulling clear as preferred prime minister


Click to view

See the full poll results HERE

Whangarei Tim: Opportunity Party (TOP) Exposed - Promoting NZ Apartheid

Te Tiriti is the fake gravy-train leeching “Māori edition” of the original authentic English language version of the Treaty of Waitangi signed on the 6 of February 1840. The modern day fake edition is used by politicians like Labour, Greens, and TOP, to help Māorify New Zealand.

Geoff Parker - TPM’s New Constitutional Policy: Who Should Hold the Political Power to Govern New Zealand?

Where should NZ’s political authority ultimately reside?

That is the real issue behind Te Pāti Māori’s new constitutional policy.

Constitutional Transformation

Te Pāti Māori wants to make Crown obligations arising from Te Tiriti legally enforceable and to fund the next stage of Māori-led constitutional transformation.

Steve Gaskell: TOP - A Fresh Political Brand, Treaty Politics and a Tax on Your Backyard.

The Opportunity Party wants to sell itself as something different from the usual crowd in Wellington. Fair enough. But have a look at its first 12 candidates and some interesting backgrounds start to emerge. Climate activism, Māori economic development, environmental restoration and Treaty issues feature in the experience of several candidates. Kayla Kingdon-Bebb was among the contributors to He Puapua, the report looking at how New Zealand could implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Wendy Geus: Electorate vote David Seymour for Epsom.....Mike Hosking is.

Goldsmith retained activist electoral commissioner and is impeding the BSA demise.

David Seymour received a high level endorsement this week for retaining the Epsom electorate. Mike Hosking, desperately trying to be balanced in his election coverage often comes off as piously clinging to the moral high ground.

Guest Post: These Are Stupid and False Claims

Guest Post on GoodOil by LilBaP

Joel Maxwell’s Stuff opinion tells readers they should fear billionaires more than Māori gangsters.

He starts: “Let me make the argument that our queasy fascination with a bunch of creepy, destructive, probably criminal idiots in the final weeks of the election is focused on the wrong group of creepy, destructive idiots.” The fascination is media click-baiting. There is no fascination for the rest of us.

Peter Williams: Opportunity needs a reality check

We can all start voting on Monday, but the perennially offended among us just keep on finding things to whinge about. Apparently, a public holiday means it’s an inconvenient day to cast a vote.

Just like all the complaining about how closing off the enrolment period at midnight this Sunday is “an affront to democracy,” you sometimes worry about the intelligence of people on the left side of politics.

John Klar: Is Electromagnetic Radiation Harmful to Health?

For decades, some Americans have claimed they are sensitive to electromagnetic radiation from cellphones, cell towers, power lines, or electrical devices. Industry and many Americans have dismissively labeled these as “tinfoil hat” conspiracies backed by zero evidence. But it’s not that simple. Much like vaccine injuries, illegal voting, and food additives, the industry at large has spent decades not looking for any evidence. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. recently announced that this is all about to change.

Chris Lynch: NZ First promises to scrap climate change tax on petrol and diesel

New Zealand First has announced plans to remove the climate change charge from petrol and diesel, promising motorists savings of up to 14 cents a litre.

The party wants to abolish the fuel component of the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) during the next term of government, arguing it is placing an unnecessary financial burden on households and businesses.

David Farrar: An exception to the right to silence

Paul Goldsmith announced:

A re-elected National Government will make it a crime to remain silent and not disclose information relating to a child being murdered, National’s Justice spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says.

“New Zealanders will remember numerous high-profile examples throughout our history where children have been brutally murdered, and Police have been unable to identify the attacker because people have chosen not to share critical information with them.

Damien Grant: I’d rather doom-scroll the Paris riots than spend an evening listening to a Luxon speech. But...

“From the very beginning, from the first moment, I may almost say, of my acquaintance with you, your manners, impressing me with the fullest belief of your arrogance, your conceit, and your selfish disdain of the feelings of others.”

Thus said Elizabeth Bennet to William Darcy, as she rejected his proposal. For younger readers, imagine Bridget Jones delivering a similar line to Colin Firth.

Decisions are hard, and New Zealand faces a choice as compelling and consequential for our nation as that which confronted Bridget Jones as she weighed the merits and limitations of her two suitors.

John McLean: Wellington Regional Council's Sh*tty Deflection

“Greater Wellington” sues Wellington City Council and Tiaki Wai over Moa Point sewage disaster

The Wellington Regional Council (WRC) calls itself “Greater Wellington Te Pane Matua Taiao”. However, there’s nothing remotely Great about WRC and it’s certainly no greater that the Wellington City Council (WCC) or Tiaki Wai Limited. They’re all as bad and idiotic as each other.

On 1 October, WRC filed criminal prosecutions in the Wellington District Court against both WCC and Tiaki Wai, over the failure of Wellington’s Moa Point wastewater treatment plant and the resultant continuing discharges of untreated sewage.

Dr Oliver Hartwich: Losing sight of the lucky country – why we need a crisis to reform again

When I first visited Sydney in 1999, what struck me most were the cranes. They stood over the city in every direction, building towers, stadiums and rail lines for the Olympic Games. The future was being built, quite literally, in front of my eyes.

I had come partly to meet, at last, the South Australian penfriend I had been writing to since 1991 and whom I later married. Australia had always been my dream destination, but at least at the time I thought it would be a one-off holiday.

It felt refreshing to be in Australia. Back home, The Economist had just called Germany “the sick man of the euro”. Some four million Germans were out of work, and reforms were debated for years before being quietly shelved.

Australia back then was the opposite.

Nick Clark:

Localism is a wonderful thing. I recommend it to any politician in opposition. It draws applause and offers a chance to accuse one's opponents of being control freaks.

 
Last week, at the annual Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) conference, I watched Labour, Green and Opportunity politicians champion partnership with councils. 'Communities deserve respect,' they said. 'Ministers should listen. The Coalition Government is getting everything wrong.'

Monday October 26, 2026 

                   ⇩