Author: Lindsay Mitchell

OPINION: Lindsay Mitchell. It took becoming a mother to awaken an interest in politics in me. Having then become increasingly aware of the detrimental role welfare was playing in weakening family structure and what it meant for children, I developed an unfavourable view of big govt and extensive redistribution. In that context libertarianism made sense to me. I listened and read in that sphere, gravitating first to Lindsay Perigo’s minor party (slogan – “Its enough to make you vote Libertarianz”) and then ACT. During the 2000s the one person constantly drawing welfare dependence to the attention of the public was…

OPINION: Lindsay Mitchell. Immigration Minister, Erica Stanford, criticizing ACT’s proposed levy on immigrant workers, said it will fall to farmers to pay it. Farmers need immigrant workers because: “There are certain regions in New Zealand where there is low unemployment or there are Kiwis who are simply not willing to do some of those jobs, be it in agriculture or aged care,” she said. At December 2025, one of the lowest unemployment regions was Canterbury at 3.7 percent (all of NZ is 5.4%). At the same time there were 41,676 working age (18-65 year-old) people in Canterbury dependent on a…

Opinion: Lindsay Mitchell. For the last four years, the Ministry of Social Development, the main agency for the Wage Subsidy Scheme, has relentlessly reported on people who committed fraud during the Covid period. For example: You can go here to read names, court case details and outcomes dating back to 2022. What’s interesting is MSD does not report cases of beneficiary fraud. Yes, fraud is fraud, but it seems to me that people not on a benefit, who submitted false applications for wage subsidies during covid, get treated differently. They are all being made public examples of, while nothing is…

OPINION: Lindsay Mitchell Speaking after his cabinet meeting yesterday, affirming his continuing leadership of the National Party, Prime Minister Chris Luxon said: “Everyday Kiwis will not be losing sleep over political sideshows in Wellington – they’ll be thinking about their mortgage, their kids’ education and the safety and security of their community.” It suddenly hit me. He’s not talking to me. A good portion of New Zealanders have either paid off their mortgages or are renting. A great deal more than have active mortgages. Most voters don’t have children at school or uni. And most people feel safe and secure…

OPINION: Lindsay Mitchell I am not a supporter of government hand-outs. That’s because I am not a supporter of the government taking people’s money by force and deciding who to redistribute it to. That ability confers enormous power on the state. Taxing to redistribute only ever spirals upward. Wherever possible, earnings should be left largely with the earner – not expensively churned by dead weight bureaucracy. However, this latest ‘rescue’ package raising the In Work Tax Credit (IWTC) by $50 a week makes sense. It was Helen Clark’s Labour government that introduced the IWTC as part of Working For Families.…