Favourites

by Oliver Hartwich We all know the Greek myth about Sisyphus, condemned to roll his boulder endlessly uphill, only to watch it tumble back down each time he nears the summit. These images come to mind when I look at [...]

by Peter Williams For a variety of reasons I’ve recently been remembering a fellow called Len Potts, a man many consider the greatest creative mind in the history of New Zealand advertising. I knew Len a bit because we played [...]

by Peter Dunne In 1994 the then Labour Opposition resolved to introduce a new top tax rate of 39 cents in the dollar. The reason for the policy was purely political, not fiscal. Labour was shedding votes to Jim Anderton's [...]

by Roger Partridge Another Judge-Made House of Cards: Why Council Liability Reforms Won’t Save Us From the Perils of Judicial Lawmaking In August 2025, the Government announced the biggest reform to New Zealand’s building consent system in two decades. The [...]

by Peter Williams The Waitangi Tribunal has recommended that citizenship by descent be extended to two generations — but only for people of Māori descent. On the surface, it presents as a technical correction to outdated law. In reality, it [...]

by Peter Williams Dame Noeline Taurua’s temporary removal as coach of the Silver Ferns has been a fiasco from start to finish — and it reveals far more about the failures of Netball New Zealand’s leadership than it does about [...]

by Nick Clark New Zealand's three-year parliamentary term is too short for effective government and the country needs more MPs to keep politicians accessible to voters. “MMP has delivered fairer and more representative parliaments, but it’s time for an upgrade,” [...]

by Rachel Stewart Unrequited love is a bitch, and you are the queen of it. Your curves, your canyons, your low gulches and high, pert peaks are a slow-burning yearning that never goes away. I can be in you, or [...]

by Dr Muriel Newman If the “Deep State” is defined as a power-based network within a government that operates in pursuit of its own agendas and goals instead of those of the country’s democratically elected leaders, then New Zealand has a serious [...]

by Peter Williams Cameron Bagrie is a proud son of Central Otago who’s become one of the most influential economic voices in New Zealand. Back near his old home town of Clyde this week, he told a business audience in [...]

by Lindsay Perigo In earlier Perspectives, I've recommended the works of Christopher Rufo, conservative  American scholar and commentator, particularly America's Cultural Revolution - How the Radical Left Conquered Everything, which traces how the Radical Left did exactly that. This conquest [...]

by Peter Dunne Labour leader Chris Hipkins has had a noticeable spring in his step in recent days, living up to his nickname “Chippy.” After nearly two years’ dormancy, Labour made two significant policy announcements this week. On Monday Hipkins [...]

by Roger Partridge This month’s Nobel Prize in Economics arrives at an opportune moment. The award to Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt for having explained innovation-driven economic growth provides a salutary reminder about what drives prosperity. And what does [...]

by Simon O'Connor Recently, I was invited to Brigham Young University (BYU) in Utah to give a talk on religious freedom and belief. It was part of a legal symposium organised by The International Center for Law and Religion Studies [...]

by William McGimpsey Introduction This paper explores the challenges facing New Zealand’s news media. It identifies media bias as a key problem for New Zealand democracy and society, and argues for a mixed model of regulation, with a firmer regulatory [...]

by Roger Partridge Labour’s first policy announcement ahead of the 2026 election reveals the party recognises New Zealand’s infrastructure crisis. But it also shows it has no idea how to fix it. Yesterday, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins unveiled a “Future [...]

by Lindsay Perigo Last week  I was at pains to insist that the political violence occurring all over the Western world is instigated by the Left - the Woke-Fascist Left, significantly funded by George Soreass. It's true also, however, that many Trump Derangement Syndromers don't require payment - [...]

by Peter Williams In less than twenty-five years, Facebook has become a global phenomenon. It’s extraordinary to realise that Mark Zuckerberg and a few friends at Harvard University developed the first prototype of the social media giant as recently as [...]

This article has been shared to Bassett, Brash & Hide, where it has reached a highly engaged audience. We recommend visiting there if you’d like to join the discussion in the comments section. Please note the version below is the [...]

by Peter Williams When doctors, teachers and nurses walk off the job together it can make international headlines — but that doesn’t mean it’s wise, principled or remotely strategic. Thursday’s public service strike may thrill some union executives and excite [...]

by Peter Williams I spent nearly five decades in the New Zealand broadcasting industry, most of it when the world was very different. They were times when a national radio network of frequencies was a hard won and expensive privilege, [...]

by Peter Williams Two of New Zealand’s cornerstone farmer-owned cooperatives — Alliance Group and Fonterra — are simultaneously grappling with the brutal reality of global agribusiness economics. Between Alliance’s proposal to sell 65% of its meat business to the Irish [...]

by Peter Dunne The great Scottish poet Robbie Burns’ famous quote “O wad some Power the giftie gie us to see oursels as ithers see us!" could well have been written solely for politics because politicians often have the greatest capacity for [...]

by Simon O'Connor The Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA) has recently decided to go after Sean Plunket and his online radio show, The Platform. The BSA has unilaterally decided that they have the legal authority to oversee his online presence and consequently, [...]

by Dr Muriel Newman Community disillusionment over councils going off the rails was on full display last weekend as voters reshaped local government in the 2025 elections. Across the country, high-spending councillors were booted out and replaced by those promising more responsible [...]

by Simon O'Connor There is a ceasefire. After two long bloody years, Hamas has finally done what it should have done many months ago – release the Israeli hostages. As we tragically know, they did not, and many of the [...]

by Lindsay Perigo Well, it happened. The man who ended wars we didn't know about between countries we'd never heard of stopped a big one. Against all odds. I started to allow myself to believe it could happen when I [...]

by Roger Partridge Most New Zealanders would struggle to explain what bank capital requirements are, let alone why they matter. Yet the Reserve Bank’s controversial 2019 decision to nearly double these requirements affects every mortgage holder and business borrower [...]

by William McGimpsey Sir Karl Popper had an idea called the paradox of tolerance, which in brief was that if a society is too tolerant - if it tolerates intolerance - then the intolerant will ‘take over’ and society won’t [...]

by Mike Butler Twenty three council districts voted to remove Maori wards established without mandate since 2021 while 17 districts voted to keep them, according to early results published yesterday. A total of 45 councils had imposed Maori wards after [...]

by Richard Prebble “Group of 20 economists urge PM and Minister of Finance to urgently change course,” screamed the headlines. When I was a finance minister, I remember similar letters — economists demanding a return to central planning and subsidies. [...]

Well, the votes are (mostly) in, and we’re stoked! Three years ago, we revolutionised local politics with our 2022 local body elections campaign. Remember the supposedly dangerous organisation hiding candidates and seeking to make New Zealand ungovernable?! Or so [...]

by Peter Williams Saturday night on TVNZ One appears to now be a wasteland for worthy stuff while those who still watch linear television can soak up the live sport like the NPC quarter finals or the Bathurst Top Ten [...]

by Peter Dunne There is a crisis of confidence affecting the two old parties, National and Labour, and it is getting worse. Between them presently they are attracting around only 60% support in public opinion polls, the lowest combined vote [...]

by Rachel Stewart Last week, I talked about cowards and how it’s the one trait in humans I despise the most. But how about heroes? Heroes are nice to have, but increasingly hard to find. And, of course, your choice [...]

by Wendy Geus Do NZ's appalling attendance rates reflect parents' rejection of race mandated education? Are the many women with their healthy, energetic kids I see in the supermarket during school hours rejecting Stanford's mandatory, Maori infused programme, or do [...]

by Lindsay Perigo It has become a pattern now that in the immediate aftermath of my weekly Perspective, some major, often hideous, event occurs to vindicate its content. Last week, no sooner had I cited OMBA's bold attack on mass [...]

by Simon O'Connor I am writing on the road, currently in Provo in Utah (next to Salt Lake City) for a symposium where I am presenting a paper at Brigham Young University (BYU) on religious freedom and belief. It is [...]

by Michael Bassett We have entered a new world where few things are on the level. Nowhere is this more obvious than in Dictatorland. Vladimir Putin’s forces brazenly invaded Ukraine in 2022, breaking a vital stipulation in the United Nations [...]

by Dr Muriel Newman Two years ago, we were counting the days to the 14 October General Election. With the left-leaning legacy media in overdrive – promoting the parties on the left and attacking those on the centre-right, New Zealanders [...]

by Iain Davis In my previous article I suggested that the UK’s proposed “mandatory” digital ID, called the BritCard, was a bait and switch psyop. I posited that the arguments presented by Keir Starmer’s purported Labour government, to supposedly justify the BritCard rollout, coupled with [...]

Of all human traits it is cowardice that offends me the most. I despise cowards with the heat of a thousand suns. They are useless pimples on the arse of the world. Cowardice is the polar opposite of courage. [...]

by Lindsay Perigo How delicious it is - how edifying and gratifying - when Woke-Fascists in politics and the media get their panties in a twist all at once. Lockstep apoplexy. Their squawking, squealing, screeching and screaming tell us that [...]

by John Robertson New Zealand’s Laws Are Enforcing Spiritual Privilege — And Nobody’s Talking About It Open a law, a bill, or a policy in this country, and one thing jumps out: Māori spiritual beliefs, wrapped in the language of [...]

by Iain Davis Apparently, in order to be able to work in the UK, we will all be forced to adopt digital ID—the mandatory so-called BritCard. There is absolutely no public appetite for this, as the more than 2 million and [...]

by Dr Muriel Newman The ‘Maorification’ of New Zealand is not by accident. For decades tribal leaders have been plotting and scheming how to get their hands on the levers of power. Their objective is full control of our country. [...]

by John McClean Has maximum Māori separatism been reached? The 50th Rainbow-tongued Māori Language Week is over. I was in Morocco that week, so missed the opportunity to contribute to the associated State-sponsored Te Reo Time Capsule (to be opened [...]

So what didn’t you hear about on mainstream media this week? What major world event didn’t make the breathless, sweaty web pages of what passes for news in New Zealand? What did our illustrious state broadcaster – that we pay [...]

by Lindsay Perigo How edifying and gratifying! The spectacle of normal, sane, decent people, 200,000 of them, gathered together in one of the largest memorial gatherings ever, to bid farewell to Charlie Kirk. Not to mention millions all over the world [...]

by Nick Clark Three weeks. That is how long New Zealanders waited to know the outcome of the 2023 election. While coalition talks were delayed pending the declaration of results, most comparable democracies can declare theirs within hours or days [...]

by Roger Partridge A response to Koi Tū's “news deserts” report. Local journalism faces genuine crisis. Towns across New Zealand risk becoming “news deserts” where civic life unfolds without professional scrutiny. Dr Gavin Ellis’s comprehensive report for Koi Tū documents [...]

by Lindsay Mitchell Asians will make-up a third of New Zealand's population by 2048. (View interactive image here) For those worried about one in eight working-age New Zealanders currently relying on a benefit, this is good news. That's because Asians are [...]

by Roger Partridge When Parliament says gang insignia “is forfeited to the Crown,” citizens are entitled to assume those words mean what they say. Yet on 11 August the District Court ruled otherwise. Judge Lance Rowe directed that a Mongrel [...]

by Keri Molloy In the weeks ahead the New Zealand government will weigh up the cost of the World Health Organisation’s new package of amended International Health Regulations. The government will need to decide its position before a December 2025 [...]

by Roger Partridge In New Zealand economics, numbers have personalities. Two supermarkets are a duopoly. Three would be perfection – except four banks are still an oligopoly. One airline is intolerable, even though two always seem to collapse. The equation [...]

by Dr Peter Winsley Many young New Zealanders feel that a social contract has been breached. This tacit contract is that, if students worked and studied hard, the government would maintain through its institutions the macroeconomic stability and microeconomic flexibility [...]

by Simon O'Connor Since the assassination of Charlie Kirk and the recent release of an exclusive interview with Israel and Maria Folau, I’ve been asking myself - what is the right response to having your views challenged so aggressively and dramatically [...]

by Gerry Eckhoff “The hand of vengeance found the bed where the purple tyrant fled The iron hand crushed the tyrant’s head and became a tyrant in his stead” The warnings of English poet William Blake (1757-1827) were right. A [...]

by Rachel Stewart Back when I was a columnist for mainstream media I was essentially left to my own devices to write whatever I wanted to write. That is until I wrote one column in 2018 about the sneaky self-ID [...]

by Lindsay Perigo Shortly after a Woketard Leftist did what Woketard Leftists do, Trump aide Stephen Miller posted on X: "There is an ideology that has steadily been growing in this country which hates everything that is good, righteous and [...]

by Peter Williams Around 6pm on Saturday night one of the Sky Sport channels was showing a feature on the young Black Ferns star Jorja Miller. We had visitors so the TV was on mute while this programme played. As [...]

by Roger Partridge Every day, New Zealand workers clock longer hours than their peers in most developed nations yet produce far less value per hour worked. This productivity paradox has haunted our economy for decades, condemning workers to lower wages [...]

by Robert Bartholomew Over the past decade there has been an explosion of interest in indigenous knowledge. The United States, Canada, Australia, and South Africa have been at the forefront of the movement to integrate ‘ancient wisdom’ with modern science [...]