Browsing: Opinion
hand wringers section
OPINION: Dr. Christopher Longhurst KSO The New Zealand Catholic Church’s Safeguarding Guidelines clearly establish a structure in which the Church’s…
OPINION: Ani O’Brien Forget “a week’s a long time”. A day is an eternity in politics. And yet consequences can arrive…
OPINION: Natalia Albert Back in April I wrote that Luxon likely wouldn’t make it to November as National’s leader, while…
OPINION: Ani O’Brien. A plan for a very different New Zealand The campaign policies of the Green Party of Aotearoa…
OPINION: Michael Swanson With the election drawing closer, one of the quieter but genuinely consequential questions hanging over the new…
OPINION: Bryce Wilkinson. Last month, the Ministry of Social Development released the latest of its excellent statistical reports documenting the…
The Coalition’s proposed shakeup of local government is well underway. Time is now running out for councils to decide on…
OPINION: Michael Swanson When the polls closed on election night in 2023, Labour had been reduced from a governing majority…
OPINION: Lindsay Mitchell. For those of us who take an interest in child welfare and listen to various media outlets,…
OPINION: Bruce Cotterill. There once was a young woman. She had long dark hair and a nice smile. She was…
OPINION: Michael Swanson. Anyone who has watched New Zealand politics over the past few weeks will have noticed something about…
Opinion: Karen Lehmann. For a few remarkable weeks, the World Cup reminded us of something we too often forget. Billions…
OPINION: Oliver Melnick The word Genocide has become a leitmotif when Israel is being discussed among foes. It has become…
OPINION: Mike Bain Ray Davies, frontman of The Kinks, once sang about a “mixed‑up muddled up shook‑up world” in Lola.…
OPINION: Don Brash There is an old political lesson which Christopher Luxon and the National Party would do well to…
Jonathan S. Tobin /JNS.org That’s the defense being employed by supporters of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani in the wake of…
OPINION: Maurice Williamson Imagine you’d decided to leave the car at home and make the shift to public transport. After…
OPINION: Michael Swanson Every sitting day in the New Zealand Parliament, when a contested vote is called, MPs do not…
OPINION: Roger Partridge. The exercise has many names – privilege walk, power line, power walk – and a well-documented lineage.…
Some significant progress was made in a room where communities in conflict grappled with peaceful agreement and disagreement. Opinion: Michael…
OPINION: Michael Swanson I asked AI to model the 2026 General Election Last Friday night, when I was sat on…
OPINION: Lindsay Mitchell A report from the Chief Executive of the NZ Council of Christian Social Services has made some…
OPINION: Peter Williams. Money triumphs over editorial sense In the immortal words of tennis legend John McEnroe: “You cannot be…
Opinion: Dr Muriel Newman After decades of rampant migration across Europe, governments are finally confronting a problem they have ignored…
OPINION: Ani O’Brien. Note: it is my editorial policy to use pronouns that relate to the biological sex of the…
Opinion: Brandon Showalter, Opinion writer and social commentator Several years ago, someone I’d gotten to know at a church I…
Opinion: Rodney Hide. Last year in New Zealand 486 people had their lives ended under the End of Life Choice…
Opinion: Peter Williams. It’s sure to be second time successful for the former TV host One of the rapidly emerging…
OPINION: Oliver Hartwich Nostalgia is a wonderful state of mind but, almost by definition, it glorifies the past while ignoring things that were not…
Opinion: Melanie Phillips Anti-Zionism, wherever and whenever it appears, is an attack on Judaism itself. The current onslaught against the…
OPINION: Rodney Hide. Sitting through karakia I am invariably reminded of the book of Daniel in which faithful Israelites found…
OPINION: Chris McVeigh KC. A small part of me wants to take some pride in the bestowing of an honorary…
OPINION: Lindsay Mitchell According to Treasury, “People present in New Zealand each year are increasingly non-NZ citizens”: “In 2024, there…
OPINION: John McLean. In the wake of the 1815 Battle of Waterloo, which ended once and for all the centuries…
Opinion: Rev. Dr. Stuart Lange In the last couple of weeks, there has been some public concern about words spoken…
OPINION: Peter Williams. Is the cheerleading of expensive eating an appropriate use of TV news time? Sometimes you just cringe…
Editorial: Mike Bain Last week’s plea for unity lasted exactly seven days before the churches of New Zealand were forced…
OPINION: Michael Swanson. Incremental change, critical junctures, and the impact of path dependency. New Zealand occupies a curious position in…
OPINION: John McLean Near where I live the authorities are constructing a roundabout on the junction of State Highway 1…
OPINION: Lindsay Mitchell It’s appalling that a quarter of a million children now need an income from the state to…