As we say goodbye to 2022 and welcome in 2023, it’s a good time to catch up on the very best of the Herald columnists we enjoyed reading over the last 12 months. From politics to sport, from business to entertainment and lifestyle, these are the voices and views our
Richard Prebble: Christopher Luxon looks like a PM after shutting down MP’s abortion post
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National Party leader Christopher Luxon. Photo / Mike Scott
Opinion by Richard PrebbleLearn more
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National MPs are allowed a free vote. Luxon had no power to order O’Connor to remove the post. Luxon has no power to say that the abortion issue is settled.
Luxon is helped that politically he is correct.
O’Connor’s Facebook post has given him the opportunity to prove the government he leads will not have an agenda of conservative lifestyle issues.
Why Nats must rule out a deal with Māori Party - September 21
Almost no poll has had Labour on 50 per cent since election year. The crucial right way/wrong way poll reveals that a large number of voters believe the country is headed in the wrong direction.
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Yet there are still polls that indicate a Labour/Green/Māori Party coalition could win power. How can that be?
As a new MP, Christopher Luxon is on a steep learning curve. He has united the poisonous National caucus. He correctly picked inflation as the number one issue. Yet he still trails Jacinda Ardern - and National could lose.
The reason defeat is possible is because Luxon will not rule out National forming a coalition with the Māori Party. If the Māori Party is a suitable coalition partner for National, then it follows that the Māori Party is a suitable partner for Labour. This raises serious questions about Luxon’s judgment.
Read Richard Prebble’s full column here
Any idiot can run - why so many Kiwis didn’t vote in local elections - October 12
We were told postal voting was the way to increase voter turnout. It was not. Now we will be told internet voting is the answer. It will not be.
Any review has to consider the real reasons for non-participation. Non-voting is a huge problem worldwide. It is increasing in general elections.
In local government the problem is there is no candidate selection process. Any idiot can and does run for office.
The 200-word candidate profiles were largely meaningless. Candidates told me how many children they had. One candidate said “I think”. Few said what the issues are. Fewer had solutions. Even fewer indicated they had any experience in managing a multi-million dollar enterprise. I had to guess who might be able to read a balance sheet.
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In a real sense the mayoralty is a phoney contest.
Why Aussie election is bad news for Ardern - May 25
A change in government in Australia often foreshadows a change in New Zealand too.
The electoral success of the independent “Teal” candidates is a warning to politicians to take climate change seriously, but the killer issue was inflation.
On the eve of the election, the Roy Morgan economic confidence survey revealed a majority of Australians were pessimistic and expecting inflation.
The Roy Morgan survey for New Zealand shows we are even more pessimistic and have even higher inflationary expectations.
Governments are rarely re-elected when the majority of voters are pessimistic about the economy and inflation.
If the Australian election is a guide, next election a new environmental party will contest for the climate change vote.
Why an independent Covid inquiry is needed - September 7
Internationally for the first two years of the pandemic, New Zealand’s response was praised. Commentators often frame the discussion as New Zealand v Sweden. Sweden’s refusal to lockdown or issue mandates, relying instead on their citizens’ common sense, was scorned.
Sweden responded saying that in three years their infection and death rates from Covid will be no higher than countries that have locked down, quarantined and issued mandates. Sweden said they will not have deprived people of their liberties, damaged their children’s education or harmed their economy.
Unlike New Zealand, Sweden has held an independent Corona Commission into its response. The Commission was critical of initial inadequate protection to those in care homes that resulted in 90 per cent of all Covid deaths.
We need an independent Covid inquiry. Not to apportion blame. It serves no useful purpose. We need an inquiry to be better prepared for the next pandemic.
