The Standard

Author Archive

I didn’t vote for Jacinda but can I say sorry on behalf of

Written By: - Date published: 1:15 pm, April 30th, 2026 - 40 comments

Opinion – Jacinda Ardern was a great Prime Minister and her loss was actually ours.

The 5 Disgrunted National MPs

Written By: - Date published: 10:38 am, April 21st, 2026 - 21 comments

Multiple leadership coups have been attempted on Luxon, but even as the PM flails on 17% approval, he and his loyalist Ministers say unruly MPs will be disciplined. Who are the latest?

Chris Bishop signals Luxon coup attempts are over .. for now

Written By: - Date published: 1:24 pm, April 19th, 2026 - 33 comments

National Party Minister Chris Bishop claims that Luxon has the full support of all Caucus members in the latest development of the Luxon coup attempts

Is it Au Revoir, Prime Minister Luxon

Written By: - Date published: 12:13 pm, April 17th, 2026 - 12 comments

Is this the final straw for Luxon? And what legacy has he left behind?

Shane Jones: Government isn’t Nostradamus

Written By: - Date published: 10:07 pm, March 27th, 2026 - 23 comments

Shane Jones appeals for understanding for the Coalition, but did he extend any to others?

Why did NZ First cancel country’s public diesel reserves?

Written By: - Date published: 6:41 pm, March 27th, 2026 - 24 comments

NZ First have been busy sowing disinformation. So why don’t they take responsibility for cancelling a decision to stock public diesel reserves and increase duration?

Cash for Access: $8000 for National Party Cabinet, $10000 for PM

Written By: - Date published: 1:16 pm, March 25th, 2026 - 5 comments

National is fundraising and for $10,000 you can buy access to sit with the PM

Ciao, Brooke Van Velden

Written By: - Date published: 1:29 pm, March 24th, 2026 - 30 comments

ACT Deputy Leader Brooke van Velden announced her resignation today. What did she achieve during her tenure? And how will history remember her?

Winston Peters signals willingness to send military assets to assist USA

Written By: - Date published: 7:49 pm, March 23rd, 2026 - 24 comments

Is NZ going to join the Iran war?

Nicola Willis signals higher pollutant fuel coming to New Zealand

Written By: - Date published: 7:21 pm, March 22nd, 2026 - 3 comments

As fuel crisis continues, National continues to hesitate and “analyse”. Today Willis denied she was not taking it seriously but also said her first port of call was to increase the range of fuels available for import into the country

We owe a great debt to Grant Robertson

Written By: - Date published: 5:16 pm, March 22nd, 2026 - 9 comments

Today I learned, we owe a great debt to Grant Roberston and just wanted to say thanks

Labour Gains Ground

Written By: - Date published: 1:49 pm, March 6th, 2026 - 10 comments

Latest poll results show a gain of 10 seats by Labour but don’t forget the voter disenfranchisement laws and NZME’s Editorial Direction is still to come

TVNZ Board Chair Andrew Barclay pro-actively reached out to Paul Goldsmith on 1News Gang Story

Written By: - Date published: 7:56 pm, March 4th, 2026 - 5 comments

Andrew Barclay

TVNZ Board members reached out to Paul Goldsmith on media stories, and later added stories to satisfy National Party Ministers

Gangs outnumber police in New Zealand – But That’s Not All

Written By: - Date published: 12:56 pm, February 27th, 2026 - 7 comments

Gang profits have doubled, international organised crime strengthening their hooks, NZ has lost experienced cops, retail crime is up and often being ignored, drug use is at full blown crisis, domestic violence at 8 year highs, and the violent crime numbers are off base

Paul Goldsmith tried to get homeless arrested 18 years ago

Written By: - Date published: 2:28 pm, February 26th, 2026 - 7 comments

Senior National Party Cabinet Minister tried to have police arrest homelessness in Auckland 18 years ago. This year he succeeded

The Tamatha Paul Cycleways vs Water Voter Never Happened As Described

Written By: - Date published: 2:23 pm, February 26th, 2026 - 7 comments

How misinformation was used to discredit Tamatha Paul to divert attention away from genuine issues around Moa Point’s sewage disaster

New Electricity Tax Coming

Written By: - Date published: 3:07 pm, February 10th, 2026 - 19 comments

National Party, laser focused on the cost of living, threw away ~$1 billion on ferries, introduced Paywave changes that will increase fees & are now levying a new tax on Kiwi families and businesses

2.8% of New Zealand population outbound in 2 years as division widens

Written By: - Date published: 2:56 pm, February 10th, 2026 - 5 comments

OPINION: I visited Facebook recently and noticed some fake accounts (you know the ones with AI pictures depicting Māori in an unfavourable light, along with NZ flags featured prominently, as if love for a country is about a piece of cloth), and there’s a distinct anti-Indian sentiment being cultivated on the platform

Despite Denials, US-NZ Minerals Agreement likely to proceed

Written By: - Date published: 10:02 pm, February 8th, 2026 - 9 comments

The NZ government has shrouded US rare minerals discussions in secrecy, refusing to provide information to Kiwis even as the US confirms talks are in progress. The agreement may requires countries to commit to accelerated and extended mining

GOOD NEWS: Fast-Track Seabed mining application rejected

Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, February 6th, 2026 - 7 comments

TTR were asked to apply for Fast-Track by Chris Bishop after trying and failing for a decade through NZ courts. Yesterday, it looked like they were rejected again

“Surprise” unemployment high masks more damaging developments

Written By: - Date published: 12:50 pm, February 4th, 2026 - 8 comments

Unemployment hits 5.4% in the December quarter, but that doesn’t include the 140,000 plus Kiwi citizens that have fled in the last 2 years

Is Shane Jones really to blame?

Written By: - Date published: 8:37 am, February 3rd, 2026 - 9 comments

NZ First is openly allegiant to commercial fishers, mining (fossil fuels) and tobacco companies, but is it really their fault?

Mr 8%

Written By: - Date published: 7:57 am, January 30th, 2026 - 14 comments

2026 school lunches are just as bad, but they are also emblematic of Seymour’s spin and facade

How the Atlas Network is shaping your life, even if you’ve never heard of it

Written By: - Date published: 8:14 am, January 28th, 2026 - 43 comments

Australia’s media covers the nefarious rise and links of Atlas Network in Australia and NZ.

Civil war wasn’t inevitable – but it may be

Written By: - Date published: 6:55 am, January 26th, 2026 - 268 comments

How misinformation and lies created the environment for battle in the US and elsewhere

What price is a “Kiwi” worth?

Written By: - Date published: 8:25 am, January 22nd, 2026 - 11 comments

Some NZ hospitals are going into critical status at least twice a day, turning away patients who are then as twice likely to die. Plus: National isn’t meeting its targets and election day announced.

The C Word

Written By: - Date published: 9:36 am, January 12th, 2026 - 6 comments

Mountain Tūī Opinion and Analysis on New Zealand’s “C” word

Simeon Brown & Van Velden VERSUS NZ Firefighters

Written By: - Date published: 12:43 pm, January 10th, 2026 - 17 comments

Simeon Brown and Brooke Van Velden

Brooke Van Velden, responsible for refusing a firefighters’ levy increase in 2024, piled on to firefighters who have been struggling for over a year to be heard – leading to catastrophic losses & risk

Simeon Brown sidesteps key issues in “catastrophic” Manage My Health breach

Written By: - Date published: 9:39 am, January 6th, 2026 - 12 comments

The company has been accused of using outdated encryption protocols, and has been slow to respond to community concerns. And importantly, has National put our other public health data at risk too?

Israel only country in history to ban Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontière)

Written By: - Date published: 11:44 am, January 1st, 2026 - 67 comments

Israel bans 37 NGOs from Gaza including the world renowned medical charity Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontière)

National takes $90 million awarded for Wairarapa Masterton Hospital – for itself

Written By: - Date published: 7:31 am, December 19th, 2025 - 3 comments

Shane Reti and Simeon Brown

Masterton hospital has been deemed structurally unsafe with money awarded for its remediation after a long court case.