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by Mitch Sutton In order to make political change, it is necessary to understand the conditions under which political change is possible. Because we have all been raised with the narrative of democracy and popular sovereignty, most Australians possess a [...]

by Keri Molloy New Zealand shows little for some $30 million dollars dished out to the World Health Organisation (WHO) over the past ten years. In fact many will say it has been a negative exchange. New Zealand has contributed [...]

by Joshua Riley DPH advised ending vaccine passes for under-18s. Hipkins circled NO. The Ministry scrubbed its myocarditis line and filed parents' fears under "disinformation", beside QAnon. Now he wants it in law. Start with a number. 1 in 25,000. [...]

by Peter Williams 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 [...]

by Richard Prebble When I was in Labour Youth, a veteran MP explained that if the government owned bakeries, every time someone found a hair in a loaf of bread, the government could fall. Should the Greens ever establish their [...]

by Simon O'Connor I was reflecting on my reactions to the recent leader and ‘minor party’ debates. I’ve found them dull, full of predictable talking points, and carefully rehearsed responses. They seem less a contest of ideas and more an [...]

by Rachel Stewart Well, every week I think the world can’t get any crazier, and then it does. Honestly, if you think you’ve seen it all, you haven’t. There are always new surprises to not only make your jaw drop [...]

by Rodney Hide You have two votes. Make them count. That is the secret of MMP. The party vote decides how many seats each party gets. The electorate vote decides who represents your electorate. Treat them as one vote [...]

by Nathan Smith Mike Hosking and I seem to agree that we are deep in an ideas recession. A few of Hosking’s comments during this election have highlighted how similar Labour and National are on the big issues. For example, [...]

by Peter Williams Ideas about how to negate the overhang in the MMP voting system have been punted regularly in the last week. The Political Editors at both Stuff and the New Zealand Herald must have had a beer one [...]

by Alia Bland You might want to grab a cuppa and find yourself a comfy spot. I've got a few things on my mind, and this could take a minute! I've been sharing quite a few thoughts on my personal [...]

by Richard Prebble Commentators are puzzled by Christopher Luxon’s determination to rule out a deal with TOP. Perhaps Luxon knows something they don’t. Political parties commission much more sophisticated polling that reveals who their supporters are and what might change [...]

by Peter Williams Among the understandable outrage over the Timothy Fisher scandal and the Teaching Council, there was one incident that doesn’t inspire much confidence for the future of this organisation, which is responsible for the registration and regulation of [...]

by Muriel Newman Earlier this year, at a time of rising geopolitical tension and increasing regional insecurity – with China flexing its muscles and our allies expanding combat readiness – New Zealand’s Army hit the headlines for forcing soldiers to [...]

by Richard Prebble Commentators cannot understand the Greens and Te Pāti Māori’s courting of gang support. The association between organised crime and political parties is hardly new. Politicians and organised crime have done deals from New York to Sicily, from [...]

by Guy Hatchard Last week we published an article “The Latest Figures Show the Alarming Depth of the NZ Health Crisis” in which we reported a massive 33% rise in serious conditions at NZ EDs since the use of Covid [...]

by Claire Deeks With the election just a few weeks away, there's something I want to talk about. I've heard from people who have decided they won't be voting this year. Others are still trying to work out who, [...]

by Richard Prebble For family reasons, my wife and I are raising our 11-year-old grandson. He has been a pupil under both Chris Hipkins and Erica Stanford. Under Hipkins, I became so concerned about his maths that I bought an [...]

by Peter Williams The political week has been dominated by debates, with three of them generating numerous headlines and reactions – the televised leaders' encounter on Wednesday, the so-called Kingmaker show on Tuesday and the Queenstown finance spokespersons' debate also [...]

by Richard Prebble Something momentous happened in the Multi-Party Debate. A confused, mumbling Winston Peters, often a question behind. Peters has been a force on television since 1975, when he featured in National’s election advertisements. I debated him in televised [...]

by Nathan Smith If you need proof that democracy turns everyone into a leftist, then look no further than what’s going on in the 2026 election. They’re calling it “strategic voting” this time, but there’s no real strategy involved. “Get [...]

by Rachel Stewart On last week’s show, I anticipated that October 7 would be bastardised by the ‘globalise the intifada’ sheep, and sure enough the flock delivered. The protests were part of a highly coordinated global movement that took place [...]

by Simon O'Connor I’ve recently been in Brisbane for CPAC Australia. CPAC stands for Conservative Political Action Conference and originated in the United States. Just like the American conferences, this Australian one is glitzy with huge screens, loud music, bold [...]

by John Grant Of the many failings of the current left-liberal order, perhaps its greatest is its inability to perpetuate itself. This was recently seen in Australia with the release of the country’s latest Intergenerational Report, and the news that [...]

by Blair Luain The entire world is currently obsessed with a 160-acre spit of land located in the backwoods of Arkansas. Sky News, Comcast, CNN, the Irish, Reddit, and X. Love it or hate it, the world can’t seem to [...]

by Dr Muriel Newman When the Treaty of Waitangi settlement process was introduced by Norman Kirk’s Labour Government in 1975, it was framed as a means of dealing with ongoing injustices. The Waitangi Tribunal was established as a permanent commission [...]

by Roger Partridge This month’s big housing story was not the Reserve Bank’s rate rise, whatever the media coverage suggested. Mortgage rate rises, the effect on house prices, whether the spring market will stall – all of it was reported, [...]

by Peter Williams Among the personal traits I’m most proud of is that I believe I’m impervious to advertising. Actually, that’s not completely true. I still buy too much crap through Facebook, but despite being bombarded daily by Harvey Norman [...]

by Rodney Hide Hat tip to Katrina Biggs. Her Substack, A B'Old Woman, waded into the select committee submissions so the rest of us didn't have to. She came back with treasure. The Definition of Woman and Man Bill does [...]

by Richard Prebble “Is it morally acceptable for any one person to be a billionaire?” Jack Tame asked both leaders. It says something about New Zealand — or perhaps TVNZ — that the question was asked. More remarkable was that [...]

by Peter Williams Although it’s been the most talked-about book of the year, in some circles anyway, finding a copy of Dirty Work by Nicky Hager has proved to be a difficult assignment in my neighbourhood. In the last week [...]

by Rodney Hide Last Friday, at Pipitea Marae in Wellington, the New Zealand Psychological Society and the New Zealand College of Clinical Psychologists rolled over together, all eight paws in the air, and apologised to Maori for, in the words [...]

by Peter Williams Another week and more polls, but all telling pretty much the same story. National and Labour are not becoming any more popular. In fact, their numbers are heading south or, at best, holding. The Greens – for [...]

by Richard Prebble I remember New Zealand’s first televised leaders’ debate in 1969. To the commentators’ surprise, Norman Kirk was judged to have got the better of Prime Minister Keith Holyoake. Holyoake went on to win the election. It set [...]

by Nathan Smith It’s a tired cliché, but this election feels a bit like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. In a post-Covid world, “politics as usual” comes across as just wrong, so hyperreal. How can we still be talking [...]

by Rachel Stewart Just when you think the collective Greens all around the world couldn’t get more radical, well, have I got some news for you. The Green Party of England and Wales voted on 4 October to formalise a [...]

by Simon O'Connor There seems to be one five-letter word that much of the mainstream media cannot simply bring itself to say: Islam. As you know, in recent days, yet another Islamic terrorist has sought to bring death to innocents. [...]

by Peter Williams In the famous Ranfurly Shield challenge of 1985, Auckland - the challengers - led Canterbury 24-0 at half-time. The legendary Canterbury coach Alex “Grizz” Wyllie strode to the middle of Lancaster Park with a rugby ball under [...]

by Hudson Rolls Three years after the City of Melbourne Council vowed to stop recognising Australia Day, the decision has now been officially reversed after a vote put forth by Councillor Philip Le Liu. This is no doubt a response [...]

by Oliver Hartwich Two thousand years ago, according to St Luke, Emperor Augustus decreed that all the world should be registered. A carpenter and his pregnant wife walked from Nazareth to Bethlehem to comply. Evidently, the Romans had little trouble [...]

by Amy Gallagher In 2020, I enrolled at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust to become a psychotherapist. Infamous now for its disbanded Gender Identity Development Service, the Tavistock was one of the first NHS trusts to declare itself an [...]

by Richard Prebble Power corrupts, but the possibility of power corrupts faster. The Opportunistic Party has now issued its five bottom lines. They make motherhood and apple pie seem like a tough demand. Qiulae Wong means it. She will trade [...]

by Peter Williams The Political Giants are Looking Increasingly Ordinary For some reason, both Labour and National saw fit to hold official campaign launches last weekend. I don’t really know why. As far as those that are interested are concerned, [...]

by Rachel Stewart Honestly, I’m not even going to try and make sense of what was obviously an attempted terrorist attack at RAF Fairford a few days ago. I mean, the UK authorities can’t seem to do that either, and [...]

by Simon O'Connor Ladies (and I suppose some men), be aware: choosing not to paint your nails is now considered a sign of white supremacy. Who knew! According to a BBC article, the beauty journalist argues that the decision not [...]

by Nathan Smith Who is more damaging to women? The buxom blonde celebrity Sydney Sweeney or Lindsay Clancy, the mother who strangled her three children to death? The answers, especially from women, have been interesting, to say the least. When [...]

by Mary Hobbs On 30 September 2026, Dr Matt Shelton is scheduled to appear before a Tribunal in Wellington. Not for a well-deserved medal of honour, but for alleged misconduct charges that may result in de-registration as a doctor. The [...]

by Peter Williams The arrogance of the National Party is reaching peak-level nonsense. There was the still-revered former leader John Key at the campaign launch telling the faithful that anything other than “two ticks National” could result in cabinet ministers [...]

by Bryce McKenzie After securing his leadership (again), Christopher Luxon had the opportunity to set a new course for National. Instead, he's doubled down on National’s confused commitment to the Paris Agreement and even said staying in Paris is a [...]

by Celina If One Nation wants not only to win the next election, but to keep winning elections, it needs to quickly comprehend that immigration policy is the battlefield on which the future balance of political power in Australia is [...]

by Spaniard Ngai Tahu killing and consuming endangered yellow-eyed penguins is now okay in the eyes of the Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust. It’s also okay, apparently, with the Department of Conservation. Treaty religiosity drives the organisations’ extraordinary loss of compass. In [...]

by Richard Prebble As a former campaign manager, I used to measure the success of a campaign by the size of the crowds. Both major parties used to hire the biggest hall, the Auckland Town Hall, which holds 1,529. Campaign [...]

by John Grant One of the most pressing problems facing anyone who is not a leftist is the simple question of how to make a living. Indeed, the ability to hold down a white-collar job has effectively become dependent on [...]

by Don Brash Just when you think the Waitangi Tribunal has reached the absolute outer limit of its overreach, it manages to outdo itself. To the surprise of absolutely no one, the Tribunal has – as pretty much always - [...]

by Guy Hatchard Preventive lifestyle choices can avert the growing incidence of disease. 2026 has not been a healthy year for Kiwis. An article in the NZ Herald entitled “Christchurch Hospital ED treats 14,582 patients in corridors in one year” [...]

by Rodney Hide Debbie Ngarewa-Packer used the c-word in the House on Thursday. Willie Jackson played gallant. The Assistant Speaker called the Serjeant-at-Arms to walk him out. Cue the usual sermon. Double standards. Mana wahine. Oppression. Wrong sermon. The first [...]

by Richard Prebble A National Party apologist writing in the Herald this week argued that being in favour of markets does not mean being in favour of big business. When does National believe a successful company has become too big [...]

by Richard Prebble New Zealand does not have the world’s most concentrated supermarket market. Woolworths and Foodstuffs have about 82% of the New Zealand market. In Finland, S Group and Kesko have 82.5%. Finland is an OECD country. It has [...]

by Dr Muriel Newman In the lead-up to the 1984 election, Bob Jones’s New Zealand Party stormed onto the political scene, winning one vote in eight, but gaining no seats in Parliament. As a result, 256,000 votes were wasted. Our [...]

by Bruce Cotterill I’m sick of our politics. Like many people, I’m deeply interested in it. But if you have even an average level of aspiration for what this country could be, you’d be right to be frustrated by the [...]

by Peter Williams Nothing appears to have changed much in New Zealand politics in the month that I’ve been out of the country. The National Party continues to be a major disappointment in terms of both policy and election strategy, [...]

by Rachel Stewart Let’s talk about co-leader of Te Pati Māori Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. She is the MP for Te Tai Hauāuru HOW AH OO ROO – a vast Māori electorate covering areas in Taranaki, Whanganui, Horowhenua, Manawatū, the Kāpiti Coast, [...]

by Oliver Hartwich New Zealand has voted under MMP ten times. Through all ten campaigns, the parties honoured an informal rule found in no statute. You do not game the voting system. Everyone knew the system had a soft spot. [...]

by Nathan Smith I’m a writer, so I love words. I also have plenty of experience using words in media, advertising and policy to get people to do things they may not wish to if they sat down for five [...]

by Richard Prebble Whenever Hager publishes one of his hit jobs, it reminds me that I once was a target. The memory makes me burn with shame. Hager wrote that Roger Douglas and I were part of a conspiracy to [...]

by Richard Prebble ACT will complete the historical Treaty claims filed before 1 September 2008, end the Waitangi Tribunal’s contemporary jurisdiction, and wind it up once its historical work is finished, announced ACT Leader David Seymour. I was a member [...]

by Peter Williams The Taxpayers Union (TPU) always struck me as a very good idea. After all, what’s not to like about a lobby group that calls out wasteful government spending and develops policy ideas about how to more efficiently [...]

by Simon O'Connor This election year’s scapegoat is clear – supermarkets. Every election has some form of scapegoat or ‘baddie’ to blame. This year it turns out to be the mums and dads running the likes of New World or [...]

by Ray Pistol One Nation’s new immigration policy was unveiled yesterday morning, and it’s nice to see them propose deep cuts to various visa subclasses and a net-negative migration program for their first term in office, if they can win the [...]

by Peter Williams Any organisation where Cameron Bagrie is the chair I’ll pay attention to. Apart from his in-built advantages of being a proud son of Central Otago and an old boy of Waitaki Boys High School, he’s been a [...]

by M K Grant On the 20th of January 2026, the Commonwealth parliament passed legislation that amended the Commonwealth’s Criminal Code to include mechanisms for the proscription of “hate groups” and creating new criminal penalties for membership or support of [...]

by Peter Williams And so our great African odyssey is at an end. Twenty-nine days across four countries, from the billionaire paradise of Stellenbosch to the subsistence farmers and souvenir hawkers of western Uganda, this continent is and will likely [...]

by M. K. Grant What does grass-roots popularity offer parliamentarians? Very little. In Australia’s constitutional framework, the iron laws of oligarchy are well entrenched. The question of national policy and law is not often dictated by the common desires of [...]

by Dr Muriel Newman A debate is raging over the state of New Zealand’s economy, as we head towards the election. Some say a recovery is well underway, while others claim it remains in crisis. Both can’t be right, so [...]

by Simon O'Connor I recently interviewed Andrew Doyle for a podcast. Andrew’s a comedian, satirist, author, broadcaster, and the man behind Titania McGrath – a fictional character who is super-woke and extremely entertaining. One thing we discussed was how many people struggle [...]

by Nathan Smith With all the talk about the benefits of free trade, would you like to know what your enemies think of the idea? Wellington is in the middle of signing a free trade deal with India while also “accelerating” towards [...]

by Peter Williams Fifty years ago, 1976, was quite the year of significant happenings. New Zealand upset the Montreal Olympics by having the All Blacks tour apartheid South Africa. Nearly thirty black African nations boycotted the games in protest. The [...]

by Red-State Secession Some US states have fewer than a million people. Clearly, it’s possible to be a country with a small population, since 42 UN members (countries) have less than a million residents, mostly island nations. But perhaps their [...]

by Peter Williams One of life’s oldest adages used to be that you could believe everything a taxi driver told you. To be fair, this was from the days when taxi drivers were crusty old white men, often WW II [...]

by Kelvin Kemm 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 [...]

by Oliver Hartwich New Zealand is barely a military power. It has had no combat aircraft for 25 years, and its ageing frigates need replacing. Lifting defence spending to 2 per cent of GDP passes for ambition. The country comes [...]

by Rodney Hide The Greens have a plan for cheaper groceries. It’s called KiwiMart. Force Foodstuffs and Woolworths to sell 120 stores and a couple of warehouses into state ownership at a heavy discount, splash about $2.8 billion, ban “price [...]

by Larry This week's announcement by Methanex that they would effectively cease operations at their Motunui methanol plant in the first quarter of 2027 is a big blow to Taranaki and ultimately the wider NZ Inc. This is another casualty [...]

by Rachel Stewart Today is the 25th anniversary of 9/11, or tomorrow in the US. Where it actually matters. It should be a straightforward day of remembrance for the nation, and particularly for the affected families, but alas, it is [...]

by Benno Blaschke Imagine two paddocks at the edge of a city. They have the same soil and access to the same roads and pipes. Then town planners allow homes on one side, but not the other. The first can [...]

by Nathan Smith It’s amazing how many intelligent people insist on believing in nonsensical things. I’m not talking about Zeus, aliens or romantic love. I’m referring to the illusion of “market prices” and why this single idea is ruining your [...]

by Peter Williams Because of our relationship through rugby and cricket New Zealanders have long carried an interest in South African politics. For the first thirty five years of my life many New Zealanders actively protested against the apartheid regime [...]

by Jen Bainbridge Recently surfaced communications and regulatory documents show that senior US health officials and Pfizer were aware of potential pregnancy-related risks before Covid-19 vaccines were widely recommended for pregnant women. Speaking to RCR, investigative journalist Sonia Elijah said [...]

by Frank Shostak According to certain experts, there is an urgent need to remove cash from the economy. It is argued that cash provides support to the shadow economy and permits tax evasion. Another justification for its removal is that, [...]

by Vincent Cook The old debate between socialism and capitalism is back. It wasn’t that long ago when socialist economics had been repudiated even by former Soviet insiders, businesses like Wendy’s and Miller ran clever television advertisements poking fun at the once-mighty but by then [...]

by Dr Muriel Newman The election is on a knife-edge. On one side is a coalition that wants to encourage people to get ahead through lower taxes, less regulation, stronger economic growth, and more freedom. On the other side are [...]

by Bonnie Flaws After a recent RCR investigation revealed that more than 311,000 teens aged between 12 and 17 were given two doses of the Covid jab in 2021 - without knowing the associated risk of myocarditis, because this knowledge [...]

by Rachel Stewart I find myself contemplating death a great deal of late. Not other people’s. Mine. And the strange thing is, I’ve discovered I’m less stressed than ever. No, I cannot report that an impending fatal illness – that [...]

by Joshua Riley New Zealand's food and fibre exports earned more than $54 billion in the year to June 2024. A large share of that rests on something money can't easily buy: a reputation for clean, natural, GE-free produce, built [...]

by Oliver Hartwich On Monday evening, I sat on a panel at Foxglove on Queens Wharf in Wellington, where I was expected to play the neoliberal villain. The Institute for Democratic and Economic Analysis is a think tank devoted to [...]

by Nathan Smith The ACT Party’s policies to ensure equality before the law would have been fantastic 50 years ago. But in 20XX, they can only be handcuffs for anyone stupid enough to abide by them. This week, ACT Leader [...]

by Simon O'Connor Accountability is a cornerstone of a successful democracy. Yet it is rarely discussed, particularly when public debate is increasingly dominated by topics such as artificial intelligence, social media, and the causes of political division. New Zealand has [...]

by Peter Williams It’s surely a unique tourism experience in the true sense of the word. Is there any other disused prison anywhere, particularly one used to detain political prisoners, where the tour guide was once an inmate? Such is [...]

by Keri Molloy Australian researchers fitted five magpies with GPS devices to track their movements, but the birds skillfully removed the harnesses from each other. The first removal took less than an hour. The devices had been designed to stay [...]

by Peter Williams It was never going to be a good day for the All Blacks. Many of their fans who’d paid thousands of dollars to be in Cape Town for the test were denied access to the game because [...]