"Toitū Te Tiriti’s vision for New Zealand would result in a complete fracturing of our country and systems."

"Eru Kapa-Kingi ... [threw out a call this week] to reshape New Zealand’s constitutional order, to carve out areas of separate governance, and to take steps toward a future where Māori and non-Māori live under completely separate systems.

"This is not even a conversation about co-governance anymore. This is a manifesto for secession. ...

"Eru Kapa-Kingi is not a random activist shouting into the void. ... He is politically connected, academically legitimised, and strategically placed to influence the next generation of lawyers and activists. His writing is not just a personal opinion. It is a roadmap for the movement that is inextricably connected to Te Pāti Māori.

"[He] rejects the Treaty settlement process altogether ... [calling instead] for restoring Māori authority over whenua rangatira*, creating hapū-based systems of decision-making outside of Crown control.

"This is not the 'partnership' that New Zealanders have been told must exist for the past several decades. This is not collaborative nor inclusive. It is parallel sovereignty with the Crown ejected. It is constitutional revolution, internal secession, ethno-national partition, annexation, balkanisation. ...

"[Kapa-Kingi is the leader of] Toitū te Tiriti ... the activist movement at the heart of the new push for Māori sovereignty. It emerged in 2023 as a coalition of iwi leaders, activists, and academics opposing the Government’s Treaty Principles Bill, and quickly became the most organised expression of resistance to Crown authority in recent memory.

"Toitū te Tiriti is not merely 'aligned' with Te Pāti Māori, it is stitched into the party’s very fabric. ...

"Its kaupapa goes far beyond repealing specific legislation or opposing the Treaty Principles Bill. It calls for a complete constitutional reset and the recognition of tino rangatiratanga as an independent source of authority. In effect, Toitū te Tiriti is building the intellectual, legal, and activist framework for Māori self-government that operates separately to the Crown. ...

"Toitū te Tiriti functions as both the conscience and the shock troops of Te Pāti Māori, pulling the Overton window toward a future where Crown authority is eroded piece by piece.

"The strategy is pretty sophisticated. But it isn’t new. ...

"Toitū Te Tiriti’s vision for New Zealand would result in a complete fracturing of our country and systems."

~ Ani O'Brien from her post 'The path to the balkanisation of New Zealand' 

* Whenua rangatira translates to “chiefly land” or “paramount land.” In context, it refers to land that is considered ancestrally significant, collectively owned, and central to the mana of an iwi or hapū. When activists or scholars refer to whenua rangatira, they are usually talking about land that should remain in collective Māori control (not sold off or alienated under Crown law) and that carries a spiritual and political significance, not just economic value.

"It’s not really about te reo, tikanga, or even Māori. It’s about power."

 

"It’s not really about the words.

"That so many Kiwis care about [the wording on a passport] shows this is a symptom of a much bigger problem. ... a microcosm of the slow-burning cultural tension that has been building in New Zealand for years. ...

"What began as a well-meaning effort to honour Māori language and culture has, in the hands of our cultural elites, become a tool for ideological conformity and social stratification.

"It’s not really about te reo, tikanga, or even Māori. It’s about power. ... They get to be the priest class. They can sneer at the plumber in Palmerston North who doesn’t want his kids doing karakia at school, and tell themselves they’re not just smarter, but better. ... 

"Today, we’re swimming in a sea of te ao Māori frameworks, mandatory karakia in secular spaces, and public servants scrambling to prove their cultural credentials rather than deliver basic services. The line between recognising Māori as tangata whenua and enforcing a cultural ideology across every aspect of national life has become increasingly blurry and people have noticed.

"I am wound up that we’ve arrived at a place where people can’t distinguish between cultural recognition and cultural imposition. Where using Māori names is no longer about embracing heritage, it’s about enforcing allegiance."

~ Ani O'Brien from her post 'It's just a passport cover... except it's not'

"The Greens' vision a pathway to Venezuela"

"LET'S STRIP AWAY THE political gloss and assess the Green Party’s 2025 budget for what it is: a document heavy on ideology, neo-Marxist buzzwords, and te reo, but dangerously light on pragmatism, economic credibility, and operational realism. ...

"Fundamentally, their budget is about lifting government revenue by taxing New Zealanders an extra $88billion over four years. They have no plan for growing the economy. ... for additional capital, the Greens have decided to simply borrow more. ...

"Included in the Greens tax grab are following revenue channels: Inheritance Tax [i.e., Death Tax]... Private Jet Tax ... 10-year Brightline test ... Labour’s removal of interest deductibility for residential property ... Companies/Corporate Tax [hike] ... Income Tax [threshold] change ... Mining Royalties [hike] ... Wealth Tax...

"It is worth remembering that the Green Party only claims these policies will generate nearly $90 billion in new revenue over four years. This is an implausibly optimistic figure. The reality is you can’t just plug in tax rates and expect static revenue. People adapt and restructure in reaction to law changes and shifting systems. Sometimes they just straight up leave. These are not 'guaranteed billions.' They are some pretty wild assumptions disguised as policy. ...

"CLAIMING TO HAVE FOUND $88 billion in additional revenue thanks to taxing the shizzzzz out of New Zealanders, the Greens have gone to town spending big. ... their budget is more manifesto than fiscal plan. At the heart of the document is the assumption that profit should be avoided and the state should act to hamper it as much as possible. Other assumptions of note relate to their allergic reaction to anything that remotely suggests that adults should be responsible for their own wellbeing. ...

"In classic modern Marxist fashion, they are determined to try things that have already failed multiple times over in other jurisdictions. ...The biggest problem with [their] extensive list of spending [outside the morality of altruism and theft, Ed.] ... is that there’s clearly a lack of capacity in our systems to deliver any of these services. ...

"It is also a strategy that assumes infinite government competence. The Greens are highly critical of our existing systems and yet they want to expand them, give them vastly more power, and put them under further pressure. ...

"'As Venezuelans have learned over the past 20 years of socialism, “free things” come at a high price'.' ...

"Most depressing of all, in my view is the way the Greens would set out to cause lifelong structural dependency on the state. Accusations of Marxism and socialism are often overblown, but in this case they are truly warranted. This plan contains no serious expectations of any personal responsibility nor any incentives to engage in commerce and grow the economy. Guaranteed incomes, regardless of effort, encourage longterm unemployment or permanent student life. There’s no point in saving, working hard, starting a business, or taking financial risks. In fact, those who do would be penalised severely by the Greens through taxation. This is a social model built not on empowerment, but entitlement. ...

"This budget is a blueprint for turning our country into the next Venezuela. It is easy to dismiss the insanity of the Greens as the fantasies of the irrelevant, but the assumption that will not get close to the levers of power is a naive one. ... unless MMP is overhauled ..."

~ Ani O'Brien from her posts 'The Greens' vision a pathway to Venezuela' and 'Greens' moral crusade masquerading as an economic plan

WATCH: Greens's co-leaderette Chloe Swarbrick attempts defending the impossible against Jack Tame's timid prodding:

... the *state* of this nation! [updated]

"Brief thoughts on [the PMs'] 'State of the Nation' [speech]: Focus on economy is good. Saying 'economic growth' a lot & renaming the Economic Development portfolio doesn't do much.  [I'm] confused as to what the role of Invest NZ is compared with NZ Trade & Enterprise (NZTE). 

    "The idea of less saying 'no' is great but it is not a policy or a roadmap. 

    "There was a whole lot of nothing in that speech. Aspiration, ideas, hopes. We need some steel spines & brass balls when it comes to the economy. Nicola & Luxon need to stand up & unapologetically declare that they are going to be brave, bold, ruthless. Spending has to come down. Growth doesn't matter if spending outstrips it. 

    "I am underwhelmed and anxious. I'm a swing voter; past two elections I've voted centre-right. That State of the Nation speech has given me anxiety. With scores of advisors, comms people, ministers etc that was what they came up with? I WANT THE GOVT TO SUCCEED!! Because I want to live in NZ. 

    "That was depressing."

          ~ Ani O'Brien

"Luxon’s ‘going for growth’ just grows the government bureaucracy. ...

    "Christopher Luxon’s State of the Nation speech on the economy strikes, but misses the mark, with no announcements that will increase New Zealand’s productivity, or unshackle the private sector that drives growth. 

    "[T]he speech was more about 'feels' and repeating old announcements than concrete policy changes to improve New Zealand’s prosperity.

    "The only exception is, bizarrely, another government agency, apparently to attract foreign investors.”   

    “The speech represents shifting deck chairs, not the sort of economic reform the times call for.” 

    “People don’t invest in a country because a government agency tells them to. Claims that this model is seen in Ireland or Singapore are fantasy. Investors in those countries don’t have among the highest corporate tax rates in the developed world. Today’s speech would have meant something had it tackled our tax settings or securities law which make investing here so unattractive.”

    “New Zealand’s lack of foreign investment isn’t because of a lack of bureaucrats. It’s because we don’t offer competitive investments. Today’s speech lacks the seriousness or urgency in ‘going for growth’.”
          ~ Jordan Williams

[Hat tip cartoon Dr Stephen Clarke]

UPDATE:

Eric Crampton tries for more optimism. Like Denis De Nuto, it's all about "the vibe," he reckons: 

A shift in vibe has to be backed by more than speeches. The culture in our bureaus and agencies needs to change, along with the regulatory regimes. That will take real work.
    But the shift in vibe is welcome. It’s time to build.