My personal perspective on all this is much darker than Damien Grant’s. We have consistently failed to meet the challenges of the future over the last 25 years and each decade (or even half-decade) has felt more constrained, stressful and gloomy than the one before it.
All three of these state-funded charities – Te Kāika, Waipareira Trust, Manukau Urban Māori Authority – have featured what looks like nepotistic governance structures.
After nearly 20 years and billions in subsidies, no one has shown that KiwiSaver has made New Zealanders wealthier. Still, the instinct across the political spectrum is to make the scheme bigger.
Instead of closing down refineries and chasing green ideological pipe dreams, the government should (hey here’s a shocker) get out of the way.
When prices rise, families feel it immediately. When tax revenue rises, the government feels it immediately too – but silently.
What ever happened to “jump on a bus and head to Florida where you belong”?
How a Middle East conflict has exposed a structural vulnerability at the heart of the New Zealand economy.
I would argue that the very reason the Nats are doing poorly is precisely because they have not followed through on their mandate for change. We need them to take action now, before it is too late.
Right now, the system is telling us that theory is worth a gift – while practical skills are worth a tax invoice.
We need Kiwi First thinking from our government. Premium local organic production is the key to protecting our clean green Kiwi image and unlocking a sustainable economic advantage to secure New Zealand’s future.
Opting for tax relief and a ‘light hand’ rather than strict austerity.
Let’s hope if the coalition survives the 2026 election, ACT gets to exercise far more influence in this area. Two forgotten words desperately in need of rehabilitation – Personal Responsibility.
Avert not your eyes: life for civilized people entered into a period of barbarism from which we’ve yet to emerge.
This is what late-stage institutional decay looks like. Not a dramatic collapse, but a slow, grinding loss of competence and legitimacy – where the government’s primary function shifts from solving problems to perpetuating itself.
