Politics Explained: Episode 24: What Does The Role Of Associate Minister Really Mean?

By Rachel Stewart Where to begin. What to say. Benjamin Doyle. This latest incarnation of Lucifer has channelled himself through the Green Party into the public consciousness. It’s no accident that he’s there, and no accident that so many before [...]

By Tim Wilson Sobering news sluices from the latest Acumen Edelman Trust Barometer. In 2025, we’ve gone from being a country of rising distrust to one dominated by grievance. The annual survey, which quizzed 1,150 Kiwis, sets the results in a [...]

By Peter Williams The reaction of the Greens to Winston Peters post about the MP Benjamin Doyle’s pre-Parliament social media activity has been one of all-out attack. No comment whatsoever about what looked like some pretty suspicious behaviour by the [...]

By Michael Reddell Today is the last day in office for the Governor of the Reserve Bank, Adrian Orr. Of course, he hasn’t been in the office since 5 March when, on the eve of his major international conference, his resignation [...]

By Simon O'Connor The word ‘woke’ is thrown around a lot these days and I am often asked what it means. Usually I am asked by those who are woke and who themselves are used to manipulating words to their [...]

By Oliver Hartwich This week, the Government unveiled its blueprint to replace the Resource Management Act. This is not just another policy tweak – it is a game-changer for New Zealand’s economy. By splitting planning and environmental laws, the reforms [...]

By Rachel Stewart What the hell’s happening in Ireland? We all know that migrants are swarming Europe and Britain like flies on shite, but Ireland’s plight feels uniquely dire. Green fields, welcoming pubs, Irish whisky, a proud literary history. It [...]

By Muriel Newman Cheap, reliable energy is the lifeblood of progress. Yet as we approach winter, concerns are already being raised about the security of New Zealand’s electricity supplies. Because of a lack of rain, our hydro-lakes are lower than [...]

By Lindsay Perigo Dump it! Ditch it! DOGE it! exhorted I last week, referring to our Ministry of Education, a contemporary pillar of Evil.  Academia in toto is a pillar of evil all over the Western world, the Epi-Centre of [...]

By Ani OBrien The Waitangi Tribunal’s Strategic Direction Review Group quietly posted their report on the Waitangi Tribunal website.1 The group had been tasked with completing “a thorough assessment of how the Waitangi Tribunal was implementing its strategic goals” in [...]

By Bryce Wilkinson Last night, I found myself standing at St Peter’s Church for the “Red Tape Hui,” not to confess my economic sins, but to proselytise about the virtues of the prospective Regulatory Standards Bill. The event, hosted by [...]

By Dieuwe de Boer There's a stark contrast between the Luxon/Willis "say yes" and "open for business" positive propaganda in trying to attract investors and the reality. We had a net loss of 47,000 citizens last year. A big story [...]

By Peter Williams Zimbabwe, or Rhodesia as it was in those days, used to be known as the breadbasket of Africa. A country with fertile soils and a temperate climate that produced ample food for itself, its neighbours and the [...]

By Rachel Stewart Last week I spoke about the ‘woke left’, and how the movement wasn’t dying any time soon. It’s seems only fair then, that having roundly criticised the yin I should also diss the yang. I’m nothing if [...]

By Christine Smith Seeing down the Generations Introduction: Why are you homeschooling? To give your children a good education? Keep going…why? To remove them from bullying or a dodgy curriculum? Keep going…what’s the next why? To set your children on [...]

By Rodney Hide Warning: If you are likely to be upset by exposure to material available to your children and grandchildren, do not proceed. I fear that in 20 years time the age of consent will be gone. Middle aged [...]

By Peter Williams DISCLAIMER: I’m a financial supporter of the Taxpayers’ Union (TPU) and a former member of the Board. The Taxpayers’ Union did the country a major service in January when it pointed out that $4 million of taxpayers’ [...]

By Muriel Newman National has a problem. They don’t seem to know why they were elected. It is bizarre. After six years in charge, Labour had stuffed up the country. Their incompetence was universal. When they were kicked out of [...]

By Dr Muriel Newman National has a problem. They don’t seem to know why they were elected. It is bizarre. After six years in charge, Labour had stuffed up the country. Their incompetence was universal. When they were kicked out [...]

By Roger Partridge President Trump promised to drain the swamp, fight bureaucratic overreach, and defend American interests. His policies resonated with voters. But his treatment of Canada, America’s closest neighbour, defies rational explanation. Trump’s assault on Canada exposes a grim [...]

By Keri Molloy Health New Zealand is ploughing on, saying that adding fluoride to water is not a treatment to individuals but to the water.   Actions New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power [...]

By Dieuwe de Boer I've long said that New Zealand could be fixed by one rogue billionaire and a dozen men. A handful of millionaires working together could manage it too. The 9% stake that Jim Grenon bought in NZME [...]

By William McGimpsey To be honest, it was really more of a panel discussion. James is touring New Zealand with the Free Speech Union, speaking at events in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. I’m a former Free Speech Union employee and [...]

By Roger Partridge Has the Supreme Court once again stepped outside its lane? A recent ruling about who controls our coastlines suggests our highest court is trying to reshape laws made by Parliament, rather than just apply them. Even more [...]

By Lindsay Perigo In his historic address to Congress last week, President Trump, lovingly known on the Perspective as Orange Man Bad-Ass, listed some of the disgusting and dopey scams Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency had uncovered as recipients [...]

By Dr Muriel Newman New Zealand is now reaping the consequences of the misguided appeasement strategy adopted by successive governments when dealing with the growing demands of radical Maori leaders. They have bent over backwards apologising and kowtowing to these activists, even [...]

By Dr Muriel Newman International commitment to the United Nations Paris Agreement is crumbling. Governments around the world are either rejecting or reducing their climate targets because the cost of compliance is so high they cannot be achieved without sacrificing [...]

By Vincent Vos A couple of weeks ago, a small delegation of Forum for Democracy travelled to London for the second global conference of the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship. We were joined by 4000 other people from all over the [...]

By Dieuwe de Boer Two unrelated stories caught my eye due to two unrelated events this week, but they both tell the same sorry story about the state of politics in New Zealand. "Streamlining and simplifying the Resource Management Act [...]

By Peter Williams The empire's striking back It is one of the most significant moves in the history of the New Zealand media. In time it may be seen as one of the most important manoeuvres in our recent social [...]

By Rachel Stewart And you may find yourself living in a shotgun shack And you may find yourself in another part of the world And you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile And you may find [...]

By Michael Reddell I’d been thinking last week of writing a post looking ahead to the end of Adrian Orr’s term (due to have run until March 2028) and offering some thoughts on structural changes the government should be looking [...]

By Dieuwe de Boer The government's latest announcement to expand the powers of citizen's arrests are the first ray of light in favour of the common man when it comes to fighting thieves. The increase in violence crime ushered in [...]

By Rodney Hide It was shocking how the institutions we thought we could rely on crumbled like a stack of cards. The opposition, the media, the courts, the bureaucracy. Poof. Overnight our government became tyrannical. We were locked down and [...]

By Lindsay Perigo Well, what a brouhaha!  What a commotion! What a melee! What a maelstrom! What sound and fury! What tumult! What bedlam!    What a delight!    The Globalist agenda exposed and its bluff called, in broad daylight. [...]

By Fiona Mackenzie New Zealand is facing a significant freedom of speech crisis. Across the country, people dependent on their business or employment income are being intimidated into silence regarding the influence of the tribal elite over many aspects of [...]

By Rodney Hide Chris Luxon is done. He staggers on but he no longer has the command or respect a Prime Minister needs.  He’s proved middle management at best. His policies are Jacinda’s. His social media posts appear like skits. [...]

By Rodney Hide The post below is in text or can be viewed as two video clips. You may find the content confronting but as Rodney says it is, " ... representative of the 196 page Navigating the Journey for [...]

By Bryce Wilkinson Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says he wants a bureaucracy that says “yes.” He is right to want that of course, but a lot of current rules would need to change. Under current rules, far too much is [...]

By David Harvey This article looks at some of the changes proposed to the Constitution of InternetNZ. It is not a complete study or critique of the Constitutional changes proposed but focusses on a couple of issues albeit important ones [...]

By Michael Johnston Some people think we live in relatively safe times. Those people are naïve. It is true that you are much less likely to die in a workplace accident, on the road, in a war, or from an [...]

By Dieuwe de Boer I hadn't followed the story of Janet Dickson's fight against the Real Estate Authority (REA) very closely. I knew she objected to the REA requiring real estate agents to do a left-wing "cultural course" before they [...]

By Rodney Hide Last week my 13-year-old at Wakatipu High studied in English “An introduction to culture and identity in literature”. The class guide was as follows: Below are some links to helpful clips that may be useful for understanding [...]

By Simon O'Connor In recent days, JD Vance - the Vice-President of the United States - made some comments around love, including both ‘how’ and ‘who’ we should love. His comments and the consequent reaction illustrates a stark contrast between [...]

By Rodney Hide President Trump promised to drain the swamp. He has turned it upside down, kicked it around, and is jumping on it.  His opponents are left defending fraud, waste and corruption, paper straws and deranged men hellbent on [...]

By Rachel Stewart Just what is it about the NZ Free Speech Union (NZFSU) defending the “free speech” of drag queens reading books to kids in a public library that bothered me - and many others - so much? Well, [...]

By Dieuwe de Boer All the winning that's going on in the United States is a stark reminder how far we still have to go. As Trump announced to restore the English name of Mount McKinley in Alaska, our own [...]

By Don Brash and Michael Reddell When Don was young and Michael’s parents were young, New Zealand had among the very highest material standards of living in the world. It really was, in the old line, one of the very [...]

By Bryce Wilkinson If you believe some of its critics, the pending Regulatory Standards Bill is a demonic measure to end New Zealand society as we know it. This is beyond false; it is ridiculous. In fact, it is a [...]