Matthew Hooton
Matthew Hooton has more than 30 years’ experience in political and corporate strategy, including the National and Act parties.
Matthew Hooton has more than 30 years’ experience in political and corporate communications and strategy for clients in Australasia, Asia, Europe and North America, including the National and Act parties and the Mayor of Auckland.
Check out Matthew’s latest content
Matthew Hooton: Labour’s Te Pāti Māori problem
OPINION: Fear of the alternative is Christopher Luxon’s easiest path to a second term.
Matthew Hooton: If superannuation can’t be cut, wage subsidies must be
Opinion: Nicola Willis has few options for big savings next year, but there are some.
Matthew Hooton: Budget reveals we’re going broke faster than we knew
OPINION: Gross debt is projected to increase by $73b, reaching $283b by 2029.
Matthew Hooton: Te Pāti Māori should leave Parliament voluntarily
OPINION: If Parliament isn’t legitimate, why do Ngarewa-Packer and Waititi show up?
Matthew Hooton: Desperate times call for bold measures
OPINION: Brooke van Velden’s pay equity move is just the start of the savings needed.
Matthew Hooton: Labour’s credibility demands big new tax promises
OPINION: There’s no room for any new spending by anyone without massive tax hikes.
Matthew Hooton: Why we should introduce universal military service
OPINION: Call for universal military service amid rising defence costs.
Matthew Hooton: Cool heads needed as Trump disaster unfolds
OPINION: No one knows where Trump’s lunacy will lead – the priority is not making it worse
Matthew Hooton: Trumpism will force nuclear-free policy review
OPINION: Climate change is also a factor in anti-nuclear policy becoming outdated.
Matthew Hooton: RMA finally being fixed after 30 wasted years
OPINION: Chris Bishop built a team that has succeeded where his predecessors failed.
Matthew Hooton: Luxon’s India trade push could secure second term
OPINION: The PM might gain from trying the same approach he used in New Delhi back home.
Matthew Hooton: Why Winston’s the right person to lead us through transition to Trump’s new world order
OPINION: No Foreign Minister is better prepared to deal with Donald Trump than ours.
Matthew Hooton: Luxon has one job next week – don’t blow investment summit
OPINION: The PM must convince investors they face no political risk putting money into NZ.
Matthew Hooton: China flotilla about keeping NZ and Australia in our box
OPINION: Beijing wants free rein to colonise the South Pacific.
Matthew Hooton: Interest rate forecasts great news for National re-election
OPINION: Risks remain if interest rates start rising again in election year.
Matthew Hooton: Labour eyes swift return to Government – but may need to woo NZ First
OPINION: Te Pāti Māori is perhaps the biggest threat to Labour’s chances.
Matthew Hooton: Should New Zealand invade the Cook Islands?
OPINION: There are few non-military options to avoid this attempted secession.
Matthew Hooton: Luxon's single most important personal initiative
OPINION: Company tax cuts and RMA reform later in the year would be much too late.
Matthew Hooton: NZ needs a strategic approach to building wealth like Singapore's Temasek
OPINION: National, Act, NZ First and even Labour could achieve a historic agreement.
Matthew Hooton: Luxon’s big economic speech a good start, but needs more
The Beehive plans to spend the whole year on a rolling maul of announcements.
Matthew Hooton: Luxon promises laser-focus on economy, but will his aim be off?
OPINION: Luxon's State of the Nation speech should outline urgent, bold reform.
Matthew Hooton: The issues leaving the race debate in their dust
Opinion: Much attention follows Treaty Principles Bill, but voters tell a different story.
Matthew Hooton: Fiscal policy will push New Zealand back to China
OPINION: New Nato rule would require NZ to spend about $10b a year more on defence.
Matthew Hooton: Government faces death by a thousand cuts
OPINION: Five of the top columns of the year from Matthew Hooton.
Matthew Hooton: How to get things looking up in 2025
A whole new approach is needed when we return from holidays.
Matthew Hooton: Luxon Government guilty of profligacy not austerity
OPINION: Willis urged to adopt drastic spending cuts to avoid economic catastrophe.
Matthew Hooton: Government gets fast-track reform right
OPINION: Expect a construction boom with less risk of corruption than feared.
Matthew Hooton: Luxon in denial about NZ's economy - and sliding support for his Govt
OPINION: The Government seems to prefer to sit on its hands.
Matthew Hooton: Say no to Government having a four-year term
OPINION: Extending their term will just give politicians another year for working groups.
Matthew Hooton: Luxon completely out of his depth
OPINION: From economy to race relations to health, the PM has failed the leadership test.
Matthew Hooton: Willis ready to take on banks to boost productivity
OPINION: Economic and fiscal forecasts demand more aggressive reform.
Matthew Hooton: Why Trump voters deserve respect
OPINION: Their culture, outlook and interests deserve to be taken seriously.
Matthew Hooton: US entering most dangerous period since 1861
OPINION: It was the Mexican peso that first indicated Trump was winning US election.
Matthew Hooton: Trump win would require NZ to double defence spending
OPINION: Nicola Willis will need to find another $5b a year to meet Trump’s demands.
Matthew Hooton: Why the America's Cup race shouldn't be held in New Zealand
OPINION: Grant Dalton has been proven right on pretty much everything.
Matthew Hooton: NZ First celebrates strongest position this century
OPINION: Labour voters and senior figures are being targeted to jump ship.
Matthew Hooton: The women who should be leading National and Labour
OPINION: Willis and Edmonds both show the substance today’s multiple crises demand,
Matthew Hooton: Money doesn’t buy happiness but debt buys misery
OPINION: Treasury is sounding the debt alarm - again. Will politicians listen?
Matthew Hooton: Act achieves total victory on Treaty bill
OPINION: David Seymour has out-negotiated Christopher Luxon at every turn.
Matthew Hooton: Act’s Treaty bill all about attacking Nats in 2026
OPINION: The Prime Minister faces crucial decisions as his party and country’s leader.
Matthew Hooton: New infrastructure plan needs Labour’s support
OPINION: Bishop’s plan will require National and Labour to compromise with each other.
Matthew Hooton: Poll no excuse for Labour complacency
OPINION: Without Chris Hipkins and Megan Woods, Labour would look renewed.
Matthew Hooton: Nicola Willis celebrates while bell tolls for Chris Hipkins
OPINION: Short-term, all the economic numbers point in the right electoral direction.
Matthew Hooton: Why Nicola Willis must prioritise social investment now
From prisons to profits: the moral and fiscal case for social investment.
Matthew Hooton: Kiwibank expansion plan deserves wide support
OPINION: Willis’ proposal honours Jim Anderton and Trevor Mallard’s vision.
Matthew Hooton: What I’d do if I was Finance Minister
OPINION: National Party conference delegates need to push for radical reform.
Matthew Hooton: Wellington bureaucracy faces criticism for intellectual timidity
OPINION: Ministers are frustrated that mandarins remain stuck in the do-nothing era.
Matthew Hooton: Economic outlook improves but Trump looms
OPINION: Should NZ continue our pro-Nato push if Trump plans to wreck it?
Matthew Hooton: Secret tax memo holds key to early interest-rate cut
OPINION: Willis should release memo she says shows that tax cuts aren't inflationary.
Matthew Hooton: How to tackle a much-needed major crime crackdown
OPINION: The new Government plan is a start, but no more.
Matthew Hooton: Chris Bishop's housing obsession - does he want to crash the economy?
OPINION: High immigration should keep a floor on the market.
Matthew Hooton: Household recession 18 months old with no end in sight
OPINION: Interest rate cuts may not happen until election year.
Matthew Hooton: NZ must mine its way out of economic ruin
OPINION: New Zealand has put itself on a path to bankruptcy since 2008.
Matthew Hooton: Care needed as Te Pāti Māori inquiries follow proper process
OPINION: Danger lies ahead if process appears politicised in any way.
Matthew Hooton: Debt set to explode under Nicola Willis
OPINION: The Budget isn’t one a serious Government would have presented.
Matthew Hooton: Here’s the big number to watch in next week's Budget
OPINION: Luxon lumbered Willis and National with a tax policy that was instantly panned.
Matthew Hooton: Greens need to move on from scandals
OPINION: A broad definition of sustainability offers the Greens a compelling theme.
Matthew Hooton: Labour needs a bolder leader than Hipkins
OPINION: As the Luxon Government fails, the Opposition needs someone who will step up.
Matthew Hooton: Can Act support a Budget that borrows more than Labour?
OPINION: Act is at risk of supporting a Govt that will never put the books back in order.
Matthew Hooton: All power to the Prime Minister's elbow
OPINION: Performance management for ministers could transform Government.
Matthew Hooton: Government’s savings programme half-hearted, poorly targeted
OPINION: With the dire need to cut costs, agencies should have to justify why they exist.
Matthew Hooton: Full-scale war in Europe and Asia now a real possibility
OPINION: New Zealanders need to engage more seriously in the risks ahead.
Matthew Hooton: Why NZ is doomed to a downhill spiral from 2030 unless we get on top of debt
OPINION: Argentina was one of the world's richest countries until it borrowed too much.
Matthew Hooton: China’s attack on New Zealand first since 1985
OPINION: Winston Peters has done more than anyone to ensure NZ has allies backing us.
Matthew Hooton: Winston Peters and NZ First in survival mode
OPINION: Winston Peters will not allow National to blow out the deficit and inflation.
Matthew Hooton: Government faces death by a thousand cuts
OPINION: Luxon’s approach might work in a corporate, but not in bureaucracy.
Matthew Hooton: Leaky Premier House and broken plane symbolise NZ’s decline
OPINION: Luxon's allowance fiasco is a metaphor for wider fiscal complacency.
Matthew Hooton: Who wins from doubling Auckland’s population again?
OPINION: Government suggests an Auckland of 3.4 million would be 15 per cent better off.
Matthew Hooton: No cash so Luxon needs new ways to generate growth
OPINION: Local initiatives rather than corporate welfare back in vogue.
Matthew Hooton: What Labour must do to reclaim its core support
OPINION: It can't afford to sit back and let the Coalition implode.
Matthew Hooton: How Luxon can clean up Treaty Principles Bill mess
OPINION: The PM has already ruled out controversial bill from becoming law.
Matthew Hooton: Time for Luxon to take charge
OPINION: The Prime Minister has yet to set the clear direction any government needs.
Matthew Hooton: National and Act fail the good-faith test over Treaty Principles Bill
OPINION: Christopher Luxon has described the bill as “divisive and unhelpful”.
Matthew Hooton: National faces its moment of choice - bold reform or do nothing?
OPINION: Luxon is now obliged to deliver.
Matthew Hooton: Helen Clark’s anti-Americanism on show
OPINION: Clark judged that all Washington’s friends, including NZ, ought to help.
Matthew Hooton: Apologies needed for Labour to be taken seriously
OPINION: But Labour’s best bet remains Hipkins and the status quo.
Matthew Hooton: Why education reforms will be the most important change this government makes
OPINION: Complete disengagement from school is growing and average performance is falling.
Matthew Hooton: Nicola Willis should aim for 25 per cent cuts to the public service
OPINION: This week’s $7.5b in cuts can only be phase one.
Matthew Hooton: Why New Zealand’s economy is performing so badly
OPINION: Sufficient progress in New Delhi is needed to justify irritating Beijing.
Matthew Hooton: This Government’s most important minister - it isn’t Luxon or Willis
OPINION: The National Party high-flyer is NZ's long-term productivity czar.