John MacDonald: Free speech rules shouldn't stop at universities

Here’s how I would sum up the Government’s changes to the free speech rules for universities. It wants more Posie Parkers and less posey political statements. Which I’ve got no problem with - but I don’t think it should stop at universities. I think the Government also needs to look at other publ…

John MacDonald: Timing of Lake Alice compo offer is wrong

Some people think the Government’s offer of a $150,000 rapid payment to Lake Alice torture survivors is an insult, but I think it’s a mistake.    Not because I don’t think compensation should be paid. It’s just that I don’t think the Government should be offering it right now for people who went t…

John MacDonald: Kneejerk reactions won't fix the fiscals

If New Zealand was a company staring down the barrel of running at a loss for at least the next five years and finding itself needing to borrow $20 billion more than it thought it did just six months ago, it would be lights out, wouldn’t it?   And no amount of creative accounting could change that…

John MacDonald: It's time we had less local councils

The Government thinks it’s getting all tough on it with local councils, but I think Christopher Luxon and Simeon Brown are just tinkering around the edges and they need to go harder.   Instead of just telling the councils what they expect of them, they should be telling councils that, for some of …

Christopher Luxon: Prime Minister talks Oranga Tamariki contracts, Green Party, ferry announcement

Christopher Luxon says he wants nothing to do with the Greens while he's Prime Minister.  Luxon's confirmed a National-Greens Coalition wasn't off the cards when James Shaw was co-leader of the Green Party.  But he says the party has changed significantly under new leadership.  The Prime Ministe…

Andrew Wilson: Salvation Army Director of Community Ministries on the charity's need for donations

The Salvation Army is reiterating pleas for donations for Kiwis in need this Christmas and beyond, saying every cent adds up.  The charity says its appeal this year —which launched last month— is especially important, with one in five New Zealand children living in households struggling for food. …

Shayne Cunis: Watercare Chief Programme Delivery Officer gives an update on the Central Interceptor project

Watercare’s seven year Central Interceptor project is over halfway complete.   The aim of the project is to reduce water overflow in the central Auckland area with the construction of New Zealand’s largest wastewater tunnel.  The team is about to hit the penultimate breakthrough before arriving a…

Kerre Woodham: Ignorance is not bliss when it comes to sex education

How did you learn about sex? Was it your parents? Your friends? A nice, dry, factual at school, or Heaven forfend, the internet? I was at a Catholic girls’ school in the 80s —that would be the 1980s, not the 1880s just for clarification— and we got pretty much nothing, as you'd expect. I received t…

Kerre Woodham: On where the bootcamps stand now

The hooha over the efficacy of the boot camps hasn't gone away anytime soon, although over the weekend we did hear supporters of the scheme, along with the critics. I frightened the horses on Friday morning when I suggested that this iteration of the boot camps - and there have been many, as you kn…

Eric Thompson: Motorsport Correspondent on Liam Lawson 'ticking all the boxes' for next year

Liam Lawson awaits his fate as his last six races are deemed an 'audition' for next year.  Motorsport Correspondent Eric Thompson says the 22-year-old has done everything required of him.  "He's young, he is quick and he is marketable, which matters at this elite level of sport." Thompson says t…