This is edition 2025/88 of the Ten@10 newsletter.
Welcome back. It's 2025 and 20 years since I started writing about politics and anything else that took my fancy. Thank to my VIP members for making this site what it is today. In July we will be having a 20th birthday celebration. Stay tuned for more announcements.
This is the Ten@10, where I collate and summarise ten news items you generally won't see in the mainstream media.
Enjoy!
1. NZ’s “Chumocracy” and the suppression of Prof Robert MacCulloch
Bryce Edwards
- 🚫 MacCulloch criticizes New Zealand's "soft corruption" among political and business elites.
- 💻 He closed his blog due to pressure from Cabinet Ministers and Big Business NZ.
- 📜 His main concern is a "chumocracy" stifling dissent and debate in NZ politics.
- 🤝 Politicians offer rewards for positive commentary, influencing appointments.
- 🏛️ He exposes a system of patronage ensuring control over public and private offices.
- 🌐 MacCulloch warns of the NZ Initiative's influence favoring corporate monopolies.
- 💼 Corporate NZ criticized for incompetence and entrenched mediocrity.
- 📢 His case highlights the cost of dissent in NZ's elite-dominated circles.
- 🔄 Challenges NZ's tradition of transparency and egalitarianism.
- 📉 Warns against the dangers of "cosyism" and political patronage in NZ.
