Author: Ani O'Brien

When the media moves in unity, even a 1% party can be framed as a rising force. The Opportunity Party’s surge says less about voters — and more about who the media chooses to elevate. by Ani O’Brien Political momentum is one of the most powerful forces in an election. As the original piece notes, “people want to support parties that appear viable and relevant.” Media repetition creates legitimacy: interviews, profiles, speculation, and commentary all signal to voters that a party matters. Once that perception takes hold, support grows—not necessarily because people agree with the ideas, but because they believe…

Ani O’Brien. “Political failure lies at the heart of the scandal.” The most shocking and damning thing about Britain’s rape gangs scandal is not that it happened. Don’t get me wrong, the fact that it happened is truly horrific, but human societies have always produced monsters. The truly unforgivable fact is that so many people knew what was happening and chose not to stop it. That is ultimately an indictment on the British establishment. For decades, vulnerable girls in towns and cities across England were groomed, trafficked, raped, beaten, terrorised, and discarded. They were abused in Rotherham, Rochdale, Oxford, Telford and numerous…

OPINION: Ani O’Brien Labour has released its 2026 election list and, for all the talk about fresh voices and renewal, it is pretty obvious that this is not by any means a new Labour Party. This is the 2020-2023 Labour Government in a slightly different jacket and Chris Hipkins carefully rearranging the furniture so nobody too threatening gets too close to his chair. Yes, experience matters, but if the country biffed your team out it is probably wise to make substantial changes before asking for their vote again. The top of the Labour list is very familiar. Chris Hipkins, Carmel…

Opinion: Ani O’Brien The sudden enthusiasm for a “Grand Coalition” between the New Zealand Labour Party and New Zealand National Party is being presented by proponents as a sober, pragmatic response to the complexities of modern governance. Its advocates speak the language of stability, maturity, and responsibility. They gesture toward international examples, invoke economic necessity, and lament the supposed distortions of coalition politics under MMP. But under the paternalistic managerial tone and the carefully chosen euphemisms, is an admission of political failure and more troublingly, a repudiation of the democratic choices voters have been making and the subtle-as-a-gun signals they have been…

by Ani O’Brien Inside the Press Gallery: power, silence, and the accountability gap in New Zealand media On the evening of 13 May 2025, Finance Minister Nicola Willis hosted a pre-Budget drinks event in her parliamentary office. The event appears, in official records, as “EVENT: Press Gallery… Parliament… Invited Guests” at 6pm in her ministerial diary. It was intended to be a fairly standard engagement. These gatherings are a familiar ritual; relatively informal, off-camera, and populated by the country’s most senior political journalists alongside ministers and staff. They exist in the grey space between professional obligation and social familiarity and are a…

OPINION: Ani O’Brien. Today must end it. After a weeks and months of constant cycles of breathless speculation, anonymous briefings, and increasingly hysterical headlines, Christopher Luxon walked into caucus, forced the issue, and called a vote of confidence on his own leadership. It passed. That has to be it. Line drawn in the sand. What happens next inside the National caucus will determine whether they crash and burn before the election. The vote has been held and the question of confidence in Luxon’s leadership has been tested and answered. From this point forward, the only thing that will register with…

Opinion: Ani O’Brien. TOP isn’t above Left and Right. It’s just the Left in better packaging. Every election cycle, like clockwork, Opportunity (TOP) reappears. It refreshes its branding, gets a new leader, rolls out a new slate of candidates, and the media, just as predictably, froths over them. Since Gareth Morgan founded the party in 2016, this has become a familiar ritual in New Zealand politics. TOP is treated less like the minor party polling at less than 1% and fighting for relevance, and more like a recurring idea of the sensible alternative, the one that might break through this…