Dr Eric Crampton Nathan Smith nzinitiative.org.nz Most of the country is still reeling from the drastic lockdown response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The major cities are hurting, but it’s not until one travels to rural New Zealand that the simmering economic issues appear. Chief economist Eric
Dr Muriel Newman nzcpr.com Fear is a natural survival instinct and arguably more motivating than logic and reason. It can also be used to great effect to shift the mindset of communities and nations. While such manipulation is, of course, not uncommon, what is surprising is how blind societies
It’s all too easy to laugh at today’s generation of uni graduates as intolerant snowflakes, but, to paraphrase Tolkien, it’s increasingly likely to be pity that stays my mockery. Today’s youngsters have been let down at every turn by their elders: mollycoddled by their parents, brainwashed
As I posted recently, much of China’s recent belligerence is the result of the innate paranoia of communist regimes combined with the Middle Kingdom’s vanity and insularity. A “toxic mix of hubris, overreach, impetuosity and emerging panic” is gripping the Xi regime, observes commentator John Lee. Beijing realises
Prof Worzel It was a tactic used during the last days of the Roman Empire. The ruling powers provided free ‘bread and circuses’ to the people to distract them from the harsh reality that resources both moral and physical were running perilously low. Rome’s once renowned military might was
It’s no secret that the international legacy media just adore Jacinda Ardern. And why wouldn’t they? A young, female socialist – Ardern ticks nearly every intersectional box. Except ethnicity, perhaps, but she does try to make up for that by playing dress-ups in ethnic costume with all the
Sir Stephen Tindall signed a letter to governments, asking them to tax millionaires more. His timing in signing that letter could not have been worse. Now everyone that knows about it will call him out for the hypocrite that he is, asking to be taxed more while workers in his
We face an economic disaster, the likes of which most have never experienced in their lifetime. The financial blowout is the result of Jacinda Ardern’s decision to lock down healthy people and businesses, as well as the policies of her socialist Labour Government’s out-of-control spending and
Dr Muriel Newman nzcpr.com/election-choices Sixty-seven days out from the 2020 election, the National Party selected a new leader. The resignation of Todd Muller after only 53 days in the top job was a surprise. Judith Collins is National’s new leader, with the capable Gerry Brownlee
Wow. Three days into the job and opposition leader Judith Collins has announced the biggest infrastructure spend in history, with $31 billion to be spent on infrastructure projects over the next decade. Stuff reports: National Party leader Judith Collins has announced plans for what she calls “the biggest infrastructure package”
National’s transport infrastructure package is just the first part of the Delivering Infrastructure theme of its Plan to Get New Zealand Working. Today initial announcements focus on the Upper North Island with announcements planned for across the rest of the country. What projects are part of National’s Upper
I feel very sad for Todd Muller. Clearly he was not up to the job of leader of the opposition, but clearly he is also a very decent person. Judith has been gracious and considerate in giving him a front bench position and the trade portfolio. She has also done
Reputations are made or lost in the court of public opinion, and until now Collins was at the mercy of knives wielded by the members of her own party, but this changed overnight when she was appointed leader. Collins now calls the shots and she has made her aspirations clear:
As I so often tell BFD readers, Australian politics often seem to serve as a warning to New Zealand. We had Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard; ten years down the track, you get Jacinda Ardern. Our “conservative” Coalition turns teal-blue and tears itself apart with infighting, you lot get
