Michael Bassett bassettbrashandhide.com Remember after the 2017 election when Winston Peters, for no good reason, threw his support behind the smaller of the two main parties and brought Labour to office? That party had only slogans they called policy, and proceeded to establish more than 200 taxpayer-funded working groups
Don Brash bassettbrashandhide.com A few weeks ago, the New Zealand media gave some coverage to the spectacle of the US President and the Prime Ministers of Australia and the UK signing an agreement whereby Australia will buy eight nuclear-powered submarines over the next two decades at a cost of
Karl du Fresne karldufresne.blogspot.com Driving between Eketahuna and Masterton recently, I came across some road works. The road was reduced to one lane each way. There were the usual Stop/Go controls at either end, but this time there was a new twist. I was at the head
Michael Bassett bassettbrashandhide.com The media became very excited when new Prime Minister Chris Hipkins announced some policy changes a few weeks back. Weak reporters like Claire Trevett were ecstatic. Even lesser lights talked of “bonfires” of unpopular policies and hailed the emergence of a new Ministry. In truth, all
Karl du Fresne karldufresne.blogspot.com How quickly things change in politics. The Ardern era is behind us. Just as water instantly closes over a stone that’s been thrown into a river, leaving no trace of where it fell, so the former prime minister has already assumed the character
Lindsay Mitchell lindsaymitchell.blogspot.com Lindsay Mitchell has been researching and commenting on welfare since 2001. Many of her articles have been published in mainstream media and she has appeared on radio, TV and before select committees discussing issues relating to welfare. Lindsay is also an artist who works under
Michael Bassett bassettbrashandhide.com When Kelvin Davis addressed a conference of indigenous Australians yesterday it is doubtful whether the Minister for Maori Crown Relations intended to damage the credibility of his government’s Maori policies, but that’s what he did. If the New Zealand Herald is to be believed,
Lindsay Mitchell lindsaymitchell.blogspot.com Lindsay Mitchell has been researching and commenting on welfare since 2001. Many of her articles have been published in mainstream media and she has appeared on radio, tv and before select committees discussing issues relating to welfare. Lindsay is also an artist who works under
Michael Bassett bassettbrashandhide.com In February-March 1988 when Cyclone Bola hit the eastern North Island I was Minister of Civil Defence. I remember flying crab-wise into a howling gale to a closed Gisborne airport in a small Air Force plane in order to get an immediate handle on the crisis
Professor Elizabeth Rata bassettbrashandhide.com Dear Prime Minister Hipkins, We, the undersigned, draw your attention to two major problems in the Ministry of Education’s Curriculum Refresh policy and in the associated NCEA qualification reforms. These problems were created during your tenure as Minister of Education and can only be
Richard Prebble bassettbrashandhide.com The Honourable Richard Prebble CBE is a former member of the New Zealand Parliament. Initially a member of the Labour Party, he joined the newly formed ACT New Zealand party under Roger Douglas in 1996, becoming its leader from 1996 to 2004. “Is he a racist
Don Brash bassettbrashandhide.com It’s impossible to avoid the conclusion that New Zealand is rapidly approaching a crisis point. There are now two fundamentally different views of our future and there is no way to reconcile them. On the one hand, we have the view implicit in the Government’
Don Brash bassettbrashandhide.com A couple of months back I wrote a column on New Zealand’s high and, at that time, accelerating rate of inflation. I concluded that column with the following comment: There has to be some risk that, faced with growing public concern about inflation and the
Don Brash bassettbrashandhide.com I’ve been told that our new prime minister used the words “New Zealand” at Ratana the other day where Jacinda Ardern would have used “Aotearoa”, or “Aotearoa New Zealand”. And it has been suggested that his usage of the official name of our country rather
Don Brash bassettbrashandhide.com The following is an updated version of the final chapter of Don’s autobiography Incredible Luck, published in 2014 Over the last couple of decades, the world has watched the Middle East as country after country has tried to establish a democratic regime and country after
Rodney Hide bassettbrashandhide.com I am a single-issue voter. I will vote for anyone or any party promising a full inquiry into the safety of the covid-19 vaccine and the treatment of the vaxxed injured. I don’t care about their other policies. It’s not much. It’s just
