Stuart Gnash
With the demise of Stuart Nash’s planned resumption of his political career the question has to be asked, did Stuart Nash leave NZ First or did NZ First leave Stuart Nash?
Social issues
Electricity Policy and Power Bills In Winter 2026
The Green Party’s Kiwipower policy has a lot of similarities to the policy that the Greens and Labour jointly launched in the 2014 election. It will again be major issue in this election.
The World Cup final, and Defence double standards in the Pacific
The World Cup is over and the good guys won, geo-politically speaking. When China fired a test missile a few weeks ago, it was as if the sky had fallen in.
Four Promises, Fifty Years On
Norman Kirk once said people do not ask for much: someone to love, somewhere to live, somewhere to work, and something to hope for.
Dead Cats everywhere
Winston Peters has engaged in classic dead cat political behaviour by publicly announcing that one of the new Interisland ferries will be called “Cook” and diverting the debate from the cost to the name.
Does Parliament really need more shock jocks?
Michael Laws and Paul Henry are planning a return to Parliament. Laws as a potential New Zealand First MP and Henry as an Act MP. Does Parliament really need more shock jocks?
Sam Neill you believed in us
It is no longer a trivial thing that a person makes their fortune in the world and still chooses to invest and stay in the land of their childhood, New Zealand. For this, and many other good reasons, we can all be proud of Sam Neill.
Let’s celebrate Kiwi music
Something to do on Matariki Day, celebrate Te Ao Aotearoa. RNZ has invited people to vote and comment on the list of the 100 best Kiwi songs and the top 50 will be played today.
Hate speech laws threaten free speech – Keith Locke memorial debate 2026
The second Keith Locke memorial debate was held in Auckland on the 2nd. There is a live stream of the debate on youtube, linked here.
Where the Fight Against the DSS Bill Now Stands
On Thursday, Victoria Coleman handed over a petition at Parliament calling for the Disability Support Services Bill to be scrapped — 16,458 signatures got in five weeks while she cares full-time for her seven-year-old son Levi. Campaigning on top of that responsibility tells you whats at stake for thousands.
This Government’s war on the homeless and the young
In a land of milk and honey you would think that every kiwi would have plenty to eat and somewhere to live. But this week has shown the Government wants to refuse emergency to some poor people and feed young children inadequate school lunches.
Opportunity knocks.
Denmark produces excellent beer, world class design, unmanageable open sandwiches and an object lesson in the operation of proportional representation. A particular interest […]
The cut to Total Mobility doesn’t add up
7 days after petitioning parliament seeking proper funding for Total Mobility, the government instead cut the funds.
The simple case for Universalism.
Yeah. Why don’t we means test education, health, sickness benefit, the military, disaster help, police…..?
On Trump’s Temporary Fix In Iran
Trump has finally said what New Zealand has been too afraid to say about Israel’s bombing of residential areas in Lebanon, and in Gaza.
The Alarming Echos between Trump and Luxon on elections
In the United States and in New Zealand the current administrations wish to speed up the finalisation of election results by supressing the right to vote.
Local Bodies: The myth of New Zealand’s economic backbone
If the farming sector is the ‘backbone of the economy’ then why is it that we are struggling to stand upright economically at the moment? Is it because agriculture is a economic drain on the rest of NZ. It provides 85% of our export revenue. But contributes just 5% of GDP, 5% of the workforce, and 1-3% of tax revenue – which effectively measures the profit to NZ.
In defence of the MP’s lot
Surging populist thinking is compounding neo-liberalism’s dislike of the public sector and our democratic institutions.
They all do it…
FiveEyes issues warning re possible Chinese intelligence recruiting methods! Beware! China issues warning re already recruited anti-China MPs. Cue shock horror!
Kamikaze Chris does Labour a favour
On May 21st, 2026 National’s Chris Bishop did his best to lose the 2026 general election and his Hutt South electorate.
When is a Free Speech Union not a Free Speech Union?
When it is a right wing astroturfing front.
No nukes
The timing of the recent suggestion by Chris Penk that New Zealand should review its nuclear free policy makes you wonder if the Trump Administration has applied pressure to do so.
Hegseth accuses New Zealand of freeloading because we don’t want to arm for war
Pete Hegseth has claimed that New Zealand is freeloading because it is not spending enough of weapons of war at a time of international chaos created by the United States.
More fishy than a bait shop
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.
The absurdity of the Move on Orders law
Paul Goldsmith’s move on orders bill applies to young people aged 14 even though existing legislation provides police with all the powers they need to deal with homeless young people.
National wages war on the poor
How cruel do you have to be to raise rents for some of our poorest citizens during a cost of living crisis?
New Zealand And Palantir
Palantir, founded by Alex Karp and New Zealand citizen Peter Thiel, is at the centre of an array of A.I. driven kill programmes for the US, Israeli and other militaries, including the NZDF.
Reformism or bust?: Making the best of a bleak future
Some initial ideas about the integrated policy package Labour must consider if it is to meet contemporary challenges posed by emerging populism and the narrowing of the Labour vision over the past five decades
Stop This Madness
Why is Chris Bishop wanting to review the cost of the City Rail Link while at the same time is happy to proceed with roads of national signficance that are very expensive but provide limited financial return?
Smash Left populism, get Right populism
That’s Starmer’s achievement, as the local elections show. He always was a muppet puppet; his string-pullers are much more sinister.
The Last Old Party Election
Anyone who thinks that New Zealand won’t be touched by the same rapid democratic pessimism as we see in our most comparable democracies, is like those who thought COVID could be stopped from reaching us.
Who Ended No‑Fault Evictions in England? Labour Did
From Friday 1 May 2026, no‑fault evictions are finally banned in England. The end of Section 21 marks a hard‑won victory for renters after years of campaigning, organising, and living under the constant threat of being forced from our homes without explanation. This change did not happen by accident — it happened because tenants, housing activists and communities refused to accept a system stacked against them.
Who’s best on Foreign Affairs?
When Ambassador Chen Mingming sent Zhang Wei in 2005 to ask me whether Winston Peters would follow government policy, I said I didn’t know but would ask. I did, and he did.
Uncertain Futures and Political Change
The world is turned upside down and challenges progressive politics to change gear.
Luxon is toast
Any time a political leader has to put their position to a vote, they become a dead pigeon. David Lange knew winning the vote didn’t end the matter.
Missing in action
As this Government’s inaction over the oil crisis becomes more pronounced more and more people are noticing that Christopher Luxon is missing in action.