Under 16 social media ban indicative of wrong priorities

Last week amid the thunderstorm of anger directed at the Government over pay parity, another potentially troublesome law change was introduced to Parliament. Minister for Education, Erica Stanford, has announced a plan to prohibit people under the age of 16 from being on social media. But as we see below, it has some significant challenges … Continue reading Under 16 social media ban indicative of wrong priorities

Labour doing nothing to improve their election prospects

Labour leader Chris Hipkins (Credit: Office of Governor General 25/01/23) New Zealand is coming to the half way point of this political term. The Deputy Prime Ministership of David Seymour starts in a few weeks. And the Leader of the Labour Party has just made one of the most delusional statements I have seen in … Continue reading Labour doing nothing to improve their election prospects

Worsening global politics – and their players – do nothing for N.Z.

Around the world - for any number of reasons - tensions are rising. Bigger nations are becoming more and more belligerent. Medium size nations are increasing defence spending and philosophically digging in. For New Zealand, a nation that grew strong on the rules based order, this is a worrying sign. Like it or not, New … Continue reading Worsening global politics – and their players – do nothing for N.Z.

New Zealand First not for New Zealand first

I was a member of New Zealand First 2002-2006; 2010-2017, during which time I saw the party grow, implode, revive itself and grow a second time before imploding again in 2020. Now quite the different beast from the one I knew, is New Zealand First really the party that it says it is? When I … Continue reading New Zealand First not for New Zealand first