Fran O’Sullivan writes:

Christopher Luxon’s Government is putting its distinct imprint on New Zealand’s trade strategy, one that treats economic security as seriously as market access.

This will come into sharp focus when Luxon travels to Singapore in early May for top-level talks with his prime ministerial counterpart Lawrence Wong, the launch of the inaugural Singapore New Zealand Leadership Forum and the first steps in a strategy to triangulate the Singapore, New Zealand, Australia relationship.

The evolving economic security architecture owes far more to Covid-era improvisation and the current fuel crisis than to traditional trade diplomacy.

The most obvious demonstration is a novel agreement with Singapore under which the city-state commits to continue supplying fuel to New Zealand in return for continued food exports.

According to a senior official, it is possibly unique in the world: two countries voluntarily waiving their rights to impose export restrictions on each other in a crisis.

This agreement is a life saver for NZ. We guarantee food exports to Singapore and they guarantee fuel to NZ. As supply reduces and prices increase, this could make a huge difference.

This is why trade agreements with other countries are so important. Both for the actual legal commitments, but also for the relationship it builds. NZ is a very small country, and needs friends.

This is why scaremongering over the India FTA on the basis of 200 extra migrants a year is so stupid. It is literally putting New Zealand last. You really want to snub the most populous country on earth?

So the Green Party selected as a candidate a guy who:

• calls Police c**ts and pigs
• calls a Minister a “piece of shit”
• shared a cartoon that depict one minister with faeces streaming from his eyes and an anus for a mouth
• shared a cartoon showing a baboon with a minister’s face on its rear
• celebrated the assassination of Charlie Kirk

The Green Party say their values include:

Engage respectfully, without personal attacks

Such effing hypocrites.

David Seymour announced:

Regulation Minister David Seymour welcomes the appointment of the Regulatory Standards Board (the Board), established by the Regulatory Standard Act 2025 (the Act). 

“The Board will provide expert oversight and advice on new and existing regulation. It will assess laws against principles of good regulatory practice, including necessity, proportionality, transparency, and consistency with the rule of law,” says Mr Seymour. 

“The Board will be a strong watchdog. It will make sure the costs of regulations are made clear to voters. 

One of the biggest drags on the economy and productivity is regulatory burden, especially regulations that produce few benefits and exact great costs.

The members are:

• Mr Paul Ridley Smith (Chair)
• Mr Ian Chamberlain 
• Ms Julie Hardaker 
• Professor Ananish Chaudhuri 
• Mr Carl Hansen 
• Dr Nicola Swain 

I know and rate half the members of the board, and the others seem well qualified. If they do a good job, we will all be the winners.

I’ve been impressed with what I would call the PM getting some mongrel in the last few weeks, as his leadership came under attack. Let’s look at what he did.

1. Someone (not necessarily the PM) arranged for the names of suspected dissident MPs to be given to Hosking.
2. Called a vote of confidence in his own leadership, forcing people to put up or shut up
3. At the press conference refused to take questions from media, correctly judging that the result would speak for itself
4. Hit back at Peters (along with Willis) when Peters decided he would become a political commentator on the National leadership, reminding people he put Ardern and the Greens into power.
5. Got a complaint filed against TVNZ banging on the office door of National MP Stuart Smith, demanding he come out
6. Pulled out of Breakfast TV as it became apparent the interviews were more about gotcha moments (can you name your Maori Ministers) than discussing issues that matter to NZers

I think it is good the PM is showing some teeth.

Something I have picked up anecdotally is that there has been a bit of a sympathy backlash in the PMs favour, as people think that breathless coverage updated hourly over bad poll results is just ridiculous. Several people I know who are not particularly political have said that they think it was just too much, and they felt sorry for Luxon.

This non-story was the lead item on every major media outlet. It is not a story. Chris Bishop attended five ANZAC Day services. There was some sort of muckup at another service where someone thought he had been invited, but he had not.

Matthew Tukaki is no fan of the Government. So when he is calling this out as a bullshit non-story, you know it is really bad.

To make the media look good by comparison though, we have Labour activist Greg Presland:

Presland gets rightfully savaged in the comments for his incredibly lame attempt to politicise ANZAC Day.

A gunman tried to charge into the WHCA dinner where the President (and VP and House Speaker – No 2 and 3 in line of succession) were. He was thankfully stopped by the Secret Service. There’s been so much to analyse from the husbands who protected their wives, to RFK Jr telling his son that he was just hungry, to the guy who just kept eating, the secret service agent that stood in front of Trump to block a bullet etc, a press conference where everyone is in black tie etc.

The saddest was seeing poor Erika Kirk saying she just wants to get home. She must have PTSD from her husband being shot, and to have to go through another shooting would be terrible.

Occam’s razor is that the gunman was after Trump. Little known except he is a California teacher, registered independent, who donated $25 to the Kamala campaign in 2024.

However trying to burst into a heavily protected dinner is a very unlikely way you will get the President, if he is your target. It seems more like a school shooting where you just want to kill as many as possible.

As he was taken alive, we may get answers.

This is around the 9th assassination attempt on Trump (if he was the target). That’s nine too many.

The Government announced:

A fast-tracked renewable energy project on the West Coast will strengthen regional electricity supply and improve resilience, Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop and Regional Development Minister Shane Jones say.

In August 2025, Westpower Limited lodged a substantive application to build and operate a 23MW hydro scheme in the Waitaha Valley, about 38km south of Hokitika. The project includes a weir and a 1.5km tunnel to a two-turbine powerhouse.

“The Waitaha Hydro project has taken around 20 years to progress. Westpower Limited sought Department of Conservation concessions in 2014. Following a publicly notified process and a hearing in 2016, the Minister for the Environment declined the application in 2019,” says Mr Bishop.

“In 2022, Westpower applied to DOC seeking that the 2019 decision be reconsidered. That reconsideration process was suspended when the project obtained a listing in the FTAA and was subsequently withdrawn by Westpower.

“Fast-track meant this project received all the necessary approvals in around five months from the appointment of an expert panel.”

Fascinating how all the environmental groups say we need more renewable energy, but they always oppose every renewable energy project, and decry the fast track law that has managed to get them consented.

“Westpower estimates the scheme will generate enough renewable electricity to power around 12,000 homes each year and prevent up to 129,000 tonnes of CO₂ emissions annually. This is about the same as taking roughly 69,000 cars off the road annually,” Mr Jones says.

“The West Coast faces some of the highest electricity costs in New Zealand, largely due to its distance from major generation sources and dependence on a 550km-long transmission line. Increasing local generation is expected to help ease these pressures over time.

“The scheme could also contribute to New Zealand’s wider energy system by helping to manage dry-year risks affecting hydro generation elsewhere in the country.”

“Construction is expected to deliver significant economic benefits to the region, with total investment estimated between $160m and $200m. Around 71 full-time equivalent jobs will be created over the three-year construction period,” Mr Bishop says.

The West Coast is often wet, when nowhere else is. It will help with supply, reduce emissions, and create jobs.

Thew Jewish Council does an annual report of antisemitic incidents in NZ. The latest 2025 report records the following:

• 143 anti-semitic incidents (almost three a week) – a record high
• 5 assaults
• 15 desecrations

Before 2023, there was an average of 20 incidents a year, so the level is now seven times as high.

Less than 20% of the incidents took place outside the three main cities. Wellington and Christchurch have the highest levels relative to population.

The five assaults were:

• A Jewish child was assaulted by a teacher at a kindergarten in Hamilton.

• A man attacked a woman who was participating in a vigil for hostages in Christchurch

• A man punched an Israeli tourist in Christchurch and called him a “baby killer”.

• A woman was assaulted in Auckland by a man who tried to take her Israeli flag.

• Two men pushed Israel supporters and ripped Israeli flags out of their hands in Mount Maunganui. They shouted “Heil Hilter” and “we’ll kill you”.

Charming.

The probability that someone jewish is a victim of a hate crime is:

• 1.7 times more likely than a Middle Eastern Kiwi;

• 3.2 times more likely than a South Asian Kiwi;

• 5.0 times more likely than an Asian Kiwi;

• 18 times more likely than a Māori; and

• 160 times more likely than a European New Zealander.

So far in NZ anti-semitism has not been lethal, but in Europe, US and Australia the number of Jews killed in anti-semitic attacks has been 59 since 2014.

A guest post from Owen Jennings:

Everyone seems to have an opinion on Christopher Luxon’s future.  Why not?  He is Prime Minster, after all.  He has to be open to scrutiny.  

But, is what we are encountering the normal, hurly burly of politics and strong media coverage?  Or is there some other force at play?  Some homework, using Artificial Intelligence, suggests there is and it’s something that should concern every New Zealand voter.

In a ChatGPT analysis of the Herald – the country’s leading print media and a self-determined, major opinion former – the results on opinion pieces showed:

Tone                                          Luxon                     Hipkins

🔴 Negative                      73%                         50%

🟢 Positive                         14%                         30%

Luxon is three times more likely to receive a bad rap than Hipkins.  He gets five negative articles to every positive one while Hipkins gets less than two.  They have similar numbers of news items and similar numbers of opinion pieces.  That is not just difference at the margins – it is heavyweight bias.

We know that opinion pieces are more prominently placed, more interpretive, more influential, and more memorable.

The Herald does not claim to be neutral, but it does state very clearly it provides balanced journalism.  The numbers above show it fails woefully and dangerously.  ‘Woefully’ because it doesn’t come anywhere close to a balance and ‘dangerously’ because it holds a highly responsible position as a leading media outlet.  It is in danger of being interpreted as running a deliberate and planned campaign to oust Luxon and, with him, the current Coalition.  

The mainstream media has lost a huge amount of credibility in the last few years.  That is due, in no small measure, to its inability to get anywhere near balance in its output.

We are not the Third Reich nor are we expecting a banning of junior reporter’s attempt at writing opinion columns.  But we have every right to a professional and more obvious adherence to the norms of balanced journalism.

If you click on the link you’ll see Pauls Valley High School (in Oklahoma) principal Kirk Moore tackle an armed intruder. Moore was wounded and shot, but probably saved many of his students from being murdered.

We all like to think we would be brave enough to do what Moore did, but to rush an armed gunman takes huge courage – you are doing something that not even trained soldiers and police officers do.

He is a massive hero, and shows how one person can make such a difference.

World War I saw around 1 in 100 humans on the globe killed. World World II saw the death of around 3 in 100 humans. It is almost impossible for those us alive today to understand what death on that scale is like.

We truly owe previous generations a huge debt for their sacrifices. We will not forget them.

RNZ reports:

Auckland mayor Wayne Brown referred to an RNZ staff member of Indian descent as “a Muslim terrorist” and commented on his beard as the man escorted him into the building for an interview.

Brown said the comments were a “fumbled attempt at humour”.

RNZ said the man was greeting Brown as he arrived at RNZ’s Auckland offices for an appearance on the Afternoons programme on Monday.

The staff member apologised to Brown for the wait, mentioning security being tight in the building, an RNZ spokesperson said in a statement.

“The Mayor responded with a comment along the lines of ‘security can’t be very tight if we’re being escorted by a Muslim terrorist’,” the RNZ spokesperson said.

Referring to a stranger as a terrorist because of their skin colour is racist. It is disgusting. It isn’t funny. I’m not sure if it would have been better or worse if the man actually was Muslim, but it doesn’t matter. It is simply racist and wrong.

The Herald reports:

Labour’s revenue spokeswoman won’t say whether the party’s capital gains tax proposal goes far enough.

When asked repeatedly whether the party’s property-focused CGT went far enough, the furthest Deborah Russell would go was to say she was “very comfortable” with the policy.

She was asked six times to say whether it went far enough, but declined to say it did.

Russell yesterday faced criticism from National – who accused her of opening the door to more taxes should the party return to power.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins, meanwhile, hosed down suggestions the party was contemplating additional taxes.

Of course they are. They need the money. And they need the Greens and TPM to govern, both of whom want to tax everything that moves. The Greens have proposed $90 billion of extra taxes!!

This is significant, with Peters ruling out Labour, not just Hipkins. It reinforces the only route to power for Labour is with Te Pati Maori.

People will debate whether or not you can trust what Peters has said. He did famously wave a no sign up at a press conference repeated times, and the actual answer it transpired was yes – he did know of Owen Glenn’s donation.

Personally I would be surprised if Peters did go with Labour. Not because I particularly trust him, but because 90% of his current support comes from people who voted for National, NZF or ACT in 2023. He would face a huge backlash if he turned around and put Labour in.

The Herald reports:

Labour is promising to support the Government’s free trade deal with India but is warning exporters could have their market access revoked if New Zealand can’t fulfil a $33 billion investment commitment. 

Leader Chris Hipkins revealed his party’s position at Parliament today, having spent weeks meeting with officials to better understand the deal which requires Labour’s support to pass it through the House given New Zealand First opposed it.

Full credit to Labour and Chris Hipkins for putting the country ahead of politics, and supporting the deal. We should be grateful that at least in trade policy, we have bipartisan co-operation.

In return for a measly 200 extra migrants a year, we get enhanced access to a market of almost 1.,5 billion people. It’s a great deal.

NZ First has opposed every free trade agreement NZ has signed with an Asian country. Their opposition to the India FTA has nothing to do with the details of the agreement. A 0.004% increase in our population in exchange for fewer export barriers is a no brainer.

• Playing whale songs to kauri trees
• A horror graphic novel
• A prayer
• A virtual reality game
• finger painting by 9 year olds

This is not a joke. What is even worse than the fact this all happened, is the silence by almost all legacy media over this.

Shayne Currie reports:

One of New Zealand’s biggest news organisations is appealing a precedent-setting court decision, in which a man convicted of assaulting his partner convinced a judge that an online news article about him and the attack should be removed.

The district court judge agreed the man, who did not receive name suppression at the time of his conviction in 2018, had suffered “emotional distress” as a result of the story.

Yeah having people know you bashed your partner can be distressing. It’s known as a consequence.

One media lawyer said the Harmful Digital Communications Act – which the man had used in his case – was being increasingly cited against news media in ways that the lawyer believed Parliament had not intended.

HDCA was meant to be about protecting young people from bullying. Not to allow convicted violent criminals to hide their offending.

The man – who punched his partner in the face twice before she grabbed his testicles to stop the assault

Smart way to stop it!

Judge Greig said the man’s conviction was entered on August 8, 2018. “Seven years after his conviction, the article remained available online. The Criminal Records (Clean Slate) Act 2004, however, mandates that this conviction is spent and consequently, [the man] is now deemed to have no criminal record.”

The man had asked the news organisation several times in 2025 to have the online article removed, without success.

The clean slate law is not meant to allow for censorship of accurate news reports of the time.

The Herald reports:

A major education union is seeking legal advice in a bid to exempt state schools from the Official Information Act after an Auckland law student sent an onerous “system-wide” records request to nearly 2500 schools.

So the union thinks schools should be exempt from transparency laws. Why am I not surprised.

Spanz president Louise Anaru also wrote a scathing letter of complaint last month to University of Auckland (UoA) Vice-Chancellor Dawn Freshwater after law student Regan Cunliffe sent a mass request for details of school trustees’ use of personal devices to 2422 state and state-integrated schools.

She wrote that Cunliffe’s request was not a simple exercise to establish how a particular school managed its records.

“It is a carefully designed, system-wide exercise intended to map legislative non-compliance across the school sector.

That sounds like an excellent use of the OIA. We should know if there is a problem with legislative non-compliance.

Cunliffe’s latest OIA sought information on policies and procedures regarding trustees’ use of personal devices and accounts for board business.

This sounds like a simple request. You either have a policy, which you can send him. Or you don’t have a policy, and you say you don’t.

In 2018, Cunliffe uncovered what he said was a nationwide failure by schools to properly protect children, after discovering his own child’s school lacked a required child protection policy. 

After extending the investigation to other schools, OIA responses revealed patchy compliance with the Vulnerable Children Act.

Sounds like Regan is performing a public good.