Articles in ‘Current Affairs’

Disturbing images from Parliament, where protestors are being arrested, strike a frightening tone for Kiwis' free speech, says Jonathan Ayling, Free Speech Union Spokesperson. “Convoy 2022, which gathered on the lawn of Parliament in opposition to the Government's vaccine mandates on Tuesday has been clearly out of line in many ways, and beyond the pale of free speech. Yet, their right to peacefully gather in front of their House of…

Last October, Free to Be Church, a group of NZ Church leaders, announced that they would be challenging the NZ government in the courts regarding religious freedom and COVID restrictions. With the implementation of the traffic light regime, things have become worse and the need to address this matter more pressing. “The government has not made the process easy so far,” says spokesperson Logan Hagoort. “Our lawyers reached out to the Hon. Chris…

Dr Garth Cooper has devoted his career to helping fellow Māori but he now finds himself in the gun over his opinions about science and indigenous knowledge. Graham Adams reports from the front lines of the culture wars. New Zealanders like their heroes talented and modest and preferably devoted to public service as well. Sir Edmund Hillary is the exemplar of that breed and very few have the mana he enjoys in our collective consciousness. ·…

A Government that ignores reasoned opposition from local government by imposing 50/50 iwi-council co-governance through its Three Waters Plan is yet another step closer to a dictatorship, Hobson’s Pledge spokesman Don Brash said today. A Government that ignores reasoned opposition from local government by imposing 50/50 iwi-council co-governance through its Three Waters Plan is yet another step closer to a dictatorship, Hobson’s Pledge…

New Zealand is shifting to a new period in our Covid response. We are no longer pursuing a strategy of elimination. We need to rethink our economic strategy. National has today released ‘Back in Business’ – the plan that we believe the Government should be implementing immediately, given the unwelcome return of Covid into the community. · National believes the business sector should play a much bigger role in our Covid response. As we head…

You may have missed it but the Water Services Act that became law a week ago quietly added to legislation water “partnership” while establishing a framework “to provide transparency about the performance of drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater networks and network operators”. · Water “partnership” was legalised by a “Te Mana o te Wai” clause, that functions like a Treaty clause in other legislation, to enable the “Treaty partner” to…

Students are expected to pay FULL, UNSUBSIDISED FEES for the sub-par education that they have received online. That's upwards of $9,000 for pdf slides and pre-recorded videos. WE WANT CHANGE! The University of Auckland claims that most of the fees paid by students go towards laboratories, campus expenses, recreational centre use and other practical overhead costs. All of which have been BARELY USED since the initial COVID-19 outbreak. ·…

Petition to eradicate ‘Aotearoa’ from official use Lobby group Hobson’s Pledge is pushing for the name “Aotearoa” to be removed from official use until a binding referendum is held to decide whether or not to proceed with changing the name of New Zealand. Hobson’s Pledge spokespersons Casey Costello and Don Brash launched a petition today calling on Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to publicly affirm that the official name of our nation is New…

Groundswell NZ is a volunteer group of farmers and rural professionals advocating for our Grass Roots farmers and rural communities. They recently took to the streets in the biggest protest since Bastion Point and converged on all the main centers nationwide in a convey of tractors – pushed to the limit with the number of regulations and perceived unworkable legislation that they feel is out of touch with what is happening within the actual…

New Zealanders are being left out of important decisions by the Labour Government, and National is launching a series of campaigns for Kiwis to ‘Demand the Debate’. The first campaign relates to the Government’s 2019He Puapua report. Kiwis were never told about it at the time and it was never campaigned on by Labour. It has recently been considered by Cabinet and is being consulted on with a select few New Zealanders. · Background · In 2019,…