The Standard

spin

Categories under spin

When is a Free Speech Union not a Free Speech Union?

Written By: - Date published: 11:54 am, June 4th, 2026 - 115 comments

When it is a right wing astroturfing front.

More fishy than a bait shop

Written By: - Date published: 8:38 pm, May 27th, 2026 - 15 comments

Christopher Luxon has implied that a junior staffer met major polluters and received submissions urging him to sink Mike Smith’s bid to hold them to account which were then hidden. But it was his Chief Policy Advisor.

Doing their master’s bidding

Written By: - Date published: 9:10 am, May 25th, 2026 - 43 comments

Briefing papers from two of the corporates being sued by Mike Smith for damaging the environment urging the Government to change the law to stop the case were received but allegedly lost by Luxon’s office.

Constitutional outrage

Written By: - Date published: 10:01 am, May 12th, 2026 - 26 comments

The Government’s plans to retrospectively change the law to stop a case seeking damages for climate damage caused by heavy emitters is a constitutional outrage and shows not only contempt for the rule of law but also contempt for any action taken by a citizen against climate change.

Lies, damned lies and Shane Jones’ Oil Refinery take

Written By: - Date published: 1:31 pm, March 12th, 2026 - 29 comments

Shane Jones has been making a song and dance about how the previous Labour Government was responsible for the closure of the Marsden Point Refinery. But a perusal of the cabinet paper he cites in support shows that this clearly is not the case.

What will Winston do if National sacks Luxon?

Written By: - Date published: 12:53 pm, March 9th, 2026 - 16 comments

Winston Peters has been in this scenario before. The brutal replacement of Jim Bolger as PM in 1997 eventually saw Peters walk away from the coalition. What will happen this time around?

New Zealand needs regime change

Written By: - Date published: 11:56 am, March 3rd, 2026 - 22 comments

A prime minister who does not understand how vulnerable New Zealand’s economy is to a Middle Eastern war as we have now, is a Prime Minister who should be removed from office.

Should Luxon join Trump’s Board of Peace?

Written By: - Date published: 9:27 am, January 21st, 2026 - 16 comments

Donald Trump invited Christopher Luxon to join a new organisation to oversee the redevelopment of Gaza and eventually the replacement of the United Nations. How should Luxon respond?

The death of truth

Written By: - Date published: 11:32 am, January 10th, 2026 - 100 comments

The competing social media takes based on video that clearly shows that the shooting of Minnesota woman Renee Good was totally unjustified shows how dominant social discord is now considered to be more important than truth.

Affordability is not about prices – it is about extraction

Written By: - Date published: 11:25 am, January 9th, 2026 - 10 comments

The real affordability crisis lies in the systematic extraction of income from households.

Much ado about nothing

Written By: - Date published: 11:55 am, December 19th, 2025 - 6 comments

The Taxpayer’s Union campaign against Nicola Willis’s Socialist handling of the economy, complete with novelty fudge has crashed unceremoniously. The sponsors have clearly spoken.

CGT – The Empire strikes back

Written By: - Date published: 10:06 am, October 30th, 2025 - 140 comments

The usual voices have publicly attacked Labour’s proposed Capital Gains Tax using arguments that do not stack up.

The Government wants to cheat the next election result

Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, September 28th, 2025 - 24 comments

Christopher Luxon is sticking to his lines that the proposed changes to the Electoral Law will speed up the result even though this will disenfranchise an estimated 55,000 kiwis and even though the Chief Electoral Officer has said that if properly resourced the changes will make no difference.

Psy-Op Alert: The Four Horsemen of the Linguistic Apocalypse

Written By: - Date published: 2:03 pm, September 11th, 2025 - 11 comments

‘Shared values,’ ‘like-minded partners,’ the ‘rules-based order,’ and the ‘Indo-Pacific’ have become the Five Eyes nations’ favourite rhetorical weapons in their contest with declared adversaries.

The Figjam Prime Minister

Written By: - Date published: 12:20 pm, September 4th, 2025 - 25 comments

Yesterday Christopher Luxon broke an embargo, claimed credit for an announcement that was made in 2021 and gave cover to an American corporate backtracking on an earlier promise to construct new data centres.

So the Government has increased homelessness

Written By: - Date published: 11:20 am, July 24th, 2025 - 11 comments

For some time now National has been crowing about how they have solved the emergency housing problem in Aotearoa. But a recent report suggests that their policies have cause a surge in the number of homeless kiwis.

Why is National so desperate for Labour to release policy?

Written By: - Date published: 7:09 pm, July 21st, 2025 - 23 comments

National Party Ministers have been goading Labour to share policies for a while now. Why?

Everybody is wrong except David Seymour *

Written By: - Date published: 12:25 pm, July 16th, 2025 - 23 comments

* according to Seymour when it comes to International and Domestic condemnation of his Regulatory Standards Bill.

Climate Change and Bumper Sticker Politics

Written By: - Date published: 7:50 am, July 15th, 2025 - 16 comments

Christopher Luxon has engaged in a classic example of bumper sticker politics by blaming Labour for excessive power prices, not the structure of the power sector. And he has completely ignored the imperitave action that climate change demands the country takes.

Reality Check Radio needs a reality check

Written By: - Date published: 2:50 pm, July 6th, 2025 - 64 comments

Reality Check Radio has on the eve of the Royal Commission of Inquiry’s hearings into the Government’s Covid response released a petition suggesting that Jacinda Ardern and others have been put on trial.

The trouble with using AI bots

Written By: - Date published: 9:05 am, June 5th, 2025 - 16 comments

After David Seymour’s claim that 99.5% of submissions against his Regulatory Standards Bill were generated by AI bots it is relevant to review the time that he was implicated in the purchase of Russian sex bots to bolster his Instagram following.

Lies damned lies and Pay Equity Repeal excuses

Written By: - Date published: 9:27 am, May 7th, 2025 - 27 comments

Christopher Luxon yesterday tried to claim that budgetary considerations were not the reason for repealing the Pay Equity Legislation even though David Seymour had said that the monetary savings from the bill would save the Budget.

Atlas and the Treaty Principles Bill

Written By: - Date published: 12:58 pm, April 27th, 2025 - 4 comments

It is time to reflect on what happened with the Atlas Network and the Treaty Principles Bill.

Spare a thought for poor Nick Mowbray

Written By: - Date published: 11:26 pm, April 16th, 2025 - 12 comments

Nick Mowbray, who has supported and promoted a number of right wing causes, finds himself losing out big time because of Donald Trump’s tariffs. And is complaining.

But her emails

Written By: - Date published: 8:04 am, March 28th, 2025 - 17 comments

Recent events in the US involving the use of Signal to discuss top secret military news and accidentally including a reporter in the chat suggests that the US of A is currently resembling a dark satirical cross between Monty Python and The Thick of It.

Does the Government not like Māori and Pasifika?

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, March 15th, 2025 - 17 comments

Health officials advised the Government “significantly” more lives could be saved if it lowered the bowel cancer screening age for Māori and Pasifika further than the rest of the population. But it refused to accept this advice. Why?

Failed Conference

Written By: - Date published: 1:03 pm, March 14th, 2025 - 46 comments

Luxon’s team have delivered zero deals out of the multibillionaire conference on infrastructure. This is a fail.

Fox in a henhouse

Written By: - Date published: 10:33 am, March 6th, 2025 - 9 comments

Simeon Brown has appointed John Carnegie to the EECA even though Carnegie has some decidedly anti energy conservation ideas.

Radio NZ’s bizarre handling of the Bayly fiasco

Written By: - Date published: 4:08 pm, February 25th, 2025 - 42 comments

This morning on Radio New Zealand there was sharp questioning of Christopher Luxon by Ingrid Hipkiss and sharp analysis by Jo Moir. But they allowed Brigette Morten air time to spin the issue in a National friendly way.

About Karen Chhour’s youth offending claims

Written By: - Date published: 11:53 am, February 19th, 2025 - 11 comments

Karen Chhor has made two recent claims, that youth crime is at an all time high, and that serious and persistent offending has increased dramatically to justify her boot camps policy. Neither claim appears to be true.

Everyone must go

Written By: - Date published: 11:47 am, February 17th, 2025 - 28 comments

Chris from Marketing’s latest gimic to lead us to economic nirvana is to use money that is meant to be used for environmental enhancement to run a campaign in Australia with a slogan that is awkward and negative.