Our ‘Weekly Reads’ look at important issues in depth from some of New Zealand’s best writers. You’ll get the other side of the story from what you’ve heard to make sense of what matters.

A new media regulator – a safe haven or Big Brother?

Janet Wilson, Contributing Writer

“Co-governance for your deck!”

Graham Adams, Contributing Writer

An effective campaign against the RMA reforms led by The Taxpayers’ Union and Federated Farmers will be a nightmare for Hipkins.

Politicians and the dark art of misinformation

Janet Wilson, Contributing Writer

“No one has ever doubted that truth and politics are on rather bad terms with each other, and no one as far as I know, has ever counted truthfulness among the political virtues,” the political theorist Hannah Arendt wrote in a seminal 1967 essay in The New Yorker. “Lies have always been regarded as necessary and justifiable tools not only of the politician’s or the demagogue’s but also of the statesman’s trade.”  Why is that so?

Te Pāti Māori: Kingmaker or Labour’s albatross?

Graham Adams, Contributing Writer

Chris Hipkins must be fast realising that with friends like Te Pāti Māori he really doesn’t need enemies. In fact, the strong possibility Labour will require its support to form a government is looking like a real threat to its chances of re-election in October.

Are political parties too tribal?

Thomas Cranmer, Contributing Writer

Political parties play a significant role in democratic systems. They provide a means of organising political representation and facilitating the functioning of the government. However, the question arises whether political parties, with their inherent tribalism and policy conformity, are necessary for a functioning democracy.

Demonising the rich is a risky gamble

Graham Adams, Contributing Writer

Chris Hipkins and David Parker have handed the Opposition a stick to beat them with until the election.

Labour’s Three Waters refresh is a tragi-comedy

Graham Adams, Contributing Writer

The government’s disdain for democracy is a gift to National and Act.

The National Party and Conservative Values: A Clash of Interests?

Thomas Cranmer, Contributing Writer

As the pace of social change becomes more accelerated and, in some cases, radical, a lack of engagement on these issues by the National Party risks leaving their traditional voters feeling disillusioned.

What Hipkins doesn’t want to tell us about Three Waters

Graham Adams, Contributing Writer

The focus on co-governance obscures direct iwi control of water.

Thomas Cranmer, Contributing Writer

In recent years, New Zealand has witnessed a significant rise in identity politics, which poses a considerable challenge to conservative ideology.

Thomas Cranmer, Contributing Writer

The culture wars are often viewed as an exclusively American phenomenon, but the reality is that they are becoming increasingly prominent in countries around the world, including New Zealand.

How Cyclone Gabrielle mugged the Greens and Labour

Graham Adams, Contributing Writer

Enthusiasm for reducing climate-change emissions has dwindled with the storms. Influential commentators on both the left and right have declared that adaptation will be the only viable political strategy this election year.

Hipkins’ stealth revolution in education

Graham Adams, Contributing Writer

The PM’s tenure as Minister of Education has given NZ school students a racialised and unbalanced curriculum.

Balancing free speech and protecting religious beliefs: The complexities of hate speech laws

Thomas Cranmer, Contributing Writer

The government’s most recent failed attempt to enact hate speech laws shows just how difficult it is to strike the right balance between free speech and the protection of religious beliefs.

Has government money corrupted journalism?

Graham Adams, Contributing Writer

The debate over co-governance draws attention to the role of the $55m media fund in shutting down dissenting views. Journalist Graham Adams investigates.

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