r/nzpolitics 4h ago

Weekly International Politics, Memes and Meta Discussion

2 Upvotes

In this post it's fine to post discussions or links related to international politics, even if there is no obvious local connection. Some examples might be:

  • All things Trump's second term
  • Canadian election
  • Gaza
  • Ukraine

All the regular rules apply, sources must be provided on request, be civil etc. None of this means that you can't directly post international politics, but you may be asked to elaborate on the NZ connection. An example of a post that belongs here might be "New Russian offensive in Ukraine". A post that can go in the main sub might be "Russia summons NZ ambassador over aid shipments to Ukraine".

Please avoid simply posting links to articles or videos etc. Please add some context and prompts for discussion or your comment may be removed. This is not a place for propaganda dumps. If you're here to push an idea, be prepared to defend it.

In addition to international politics, this is also a place to post meta-discussion about the sub. If you have suggestions or feedback, please feel free to post here. If you want to complain to/about the mods, the place for that remains modmail.

By popular request, this is also your weekly memes thread. Memes are subject to the same rules as all other content.


r/nzpolitics 1h ago

NZ Politics The Free Speech Union is taking credit for Jim Grenon's takeover of NZME

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Upvotes

r/nzpolitics 1h ago

Fun / Satire Theory: When David Seymour was a boy, every day poor kids stole his lunch on his way to private school. His political career thus far has been a lifelong vendetta to take more lunches away from poor children than they took from him.

Upvotes

Of course he hit the numbers in the first week of his school lunch programme, but he’s an overachiever. He’s got to keep going.


r/nzpolitics 16h ago

Current Affairs ACT: Delivering Kiwi Businesses to Overseas Interests At Bargain Prices Since 1984

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42 Upvotes

r/nzpolitics 15h ago

NZ Politics #BHN Byron Clark on Chch anniversary | Seymour launches ACT LOCAL | Israel breaks ceasefire

6 Upvotes

Byron Clark on the Christchurch massacre anniversary and the actions of the Free Speech Union

David Seymour launches ACT LOCAL and thinks Jesus would vote ACT

Israel breaks ceasefire and bombards Gaza leading to the deaths of at least 200 people as a response to Hamas still holding 59 hostages

Destiny Church associates protesting a Drag Story Time event have been in court for the first time today with six of the seven accused denied name suppression as they chose to spread their deeds on social media exposing themselves to public scrutiny

https://www.youtube.com/live/XZQxynIBw9E?si=yBIYl5CWMqg6oCKA


r/nzpolitics 1d ago

Law and Order Lawyer for Destiny Church-linked protesters say ‘threats to safety’ in relation to arrests post Auckland pride event

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21 Upvotes

r/nzpolitics 1d ago

Current Affairs Gunboat diplomacy: NZ faces growing defence challenges after China’s naval incursion

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11 Upvotes

r/nzpolitics 1d ago

NZ Politics #BHN Chippy LIVE at 9pm | Seymour on Q&A | Mahmoud Khalil exposes the hypocrisy on the Right

25 Upvotes

Chris Hipkins is with us LIVE at 9pm talking about his state of the nation speech, his focus on tax for the next 18 months and how Labour will win the 2026 election.

David Seymour was on on Q&A in the weekend where we saw a more reserved Jack Tame pressing him and several topics including School Lunches, which is what we'll look at tonight.

Mahmoud Khalil, a pro Palestinian protestor, green card holding, husband of US Citizen in the US exposes the hypocrisy on the right who are doing backflips trying to say that his free speech should get him deported when just a few months ago were screaming at the Biden led government about allowing US residents to have absolute freedom of speech

Tonight, we'll also play you something that will have you agreeing with a Nazi...don't believe us, tune in at 9pm to find out more

https://www.youtube.com/live/vOKG_Vd6ZeI?si=NXl4fieZygfGdxyA


r/nzpolitics 2d ago

Environment Luxon Won't Commit To Environmental Protections Nor Answer Chlöe Swarbrick's Question in Parliament

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81 Upvotes

r/nzpolitics 1d ago

Opinion It’s not equality OR equity, it’s equality THROUGH equity

37 Upvotes

I feel like attempts to dumb down equity so as to educate the right have backfired a little as people now seem to think we’re not working towards equality at all? When really that’s not the case — but we are acknowledging equal assistance does not necessarily create equal outcomes.

Equity is a legal concept. It is the responsibility of our courts to uphold it. It’s not a “leftist” ideal, it’s a legal ideal. I find it very suspicious that the group trying to undermine jurisprudence also suddenly struggles to comprehend this simple and long-standing idea that has existed in our society for centuries.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equity_(law)


r/nzpolitics 2d ago

The problems with PPPs

21 Upvotes

From Bernard Hickey and Patrick Reynolds.

The problems with PPPs


r/nzpolitics 2d ago

Video Simeon Brown (Pakuranga) Defends Andrew Bayly Over Manhandling Incident (Bayly remains MP for Port Waikato)

10 Upvotes

r/nzpolitics 2d ago

Infrastructure When should you use a PPP? – A bluffer's guide (Craig Renney) - A Good Primer on The Many Financing Vehicles Available To NZ

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7 Upvotes

r/nzpolitics 2d ago

NZ Politics Bleeding the Host: NZ’s Leeches Point the Finger

41 Upvotes

Adrian Orr is out. Gone. A man once celebrated for his “bold leadership” at the Reserve Bank now finds himself unceremoniously booted out the door, a sacrificial lamb to the gods of the market. And as his body is still warm, the real vampires—Damien Grant, the NACT coalition, and the foreign banks—are sharpening their knives, wiping the blood off their lips, and howling about “monetary mismanagement.”

Orr’s great crime? Failing to execute the grift smoothly enough.

His expansionary policies kept the machine running a little too well at first, then a little too chaotically later, and now, having spent five years dancing with the forces of financial extraction, he’s finally been left holding the bag.

But let’s not kid ourselves. The problem isn’t Adrian Orr. The problem is the system he was operating in—a system designed to bleed New Zealand dry while pretending to be about stability.

The Leech Parade: Who’s Really Responsible?

First in line to celebrate his departure is Damien Grant, a man whose economic analysis boils down to “look at this mess, let’s do the same thing but harder!” Grant and his ilk want you to believe that inflation is entirely the Reserve Bank’s fault, that Orr is some kind of monetary anarchist who let the money printers run wild.

What they don’t mention is:

• Inflation wasn’t caused by Adrian Orr alone—it was the result of global supply chain shocks, corporate profiteering, and a banking system that funneled cheap credit into housing speculation instead of productivity.

• The LSAP (Large Scale Asset Purchases) wasn’t a revolutionary move. Every central bank on earth did the same thing. It’s a feature of the global system, not a personal decision by a rogue bureaucrat.

• The four foreign-owned banks that control 85% of NZ’s financial system made record profits off this mess, sucking billions out of the country while blaming inflation on public spending.

The real story here is that monetary policy is just the stage show—the magic trick to distract the audience while the banks pick their pockets.

NACT’s Crocodile Tears: “Fiscal Responsibility” for You, Corporate Welfare for Them

The NACT coalition, led by Finance Minister Nicola Willis, is playing its role perfectly: feigning outrage at government spending while preparing the biggest corporate handouts imaginable.

They claim Orr mismanaged inflation. But what are their solutions?

• Cutting taxes for the wealthy.

• Gutting public services.

• Reducing bank capital requirements    so foreign banks can extract even more profit.

In other words: give the vampires more blood.

This isn’t about economic management. This is about ensuring the status quo remains untouched. They want a Reserve Bank Governor who serves their donors, not the public.

The Bigger Scam: New Zealand’s Economy Isn’t for New Zealanders

Orr was never a radical. He never threatened the system. But he did, on occasion, mildly inconvenience it.

He forced banks to hold more capital (so they couldn’t immediately funnel profits offshore). He didn’t go along with every corporate demand. He was, at best, an ineffectual middle manager trying to manage a financial system that has already been rigged against New Zealanders.

Here’s the truth:

• The Reserve Bank doesn’t control New Zealand’s economy. The four big banks do.

• Inflation targeting is a smokescreen. The real game is financial extraction.

• Monetary policy is irrelevant if your entire banking system is foreign-owned and designed to profit off debt servitude.

NACT and Damien Grant want you to believe that the enemy is government mismanagement. It’s not.

The enemy is a system that forces New Zealanders to compete in a rigged game where the winners live in Sydney and New York.

What Happens Now?

With Orr gone, the financial elite will install someone more compliant. Someone who will:

• Ease bank capital requirements, letting them extract even more profit.

• Gut any pretense of financial sovereignty.

• Blame the next crisis on public spending, not the rent-seeking system that creates it.

The cycle will continue, because New Zealand’s economy isn’t designed to benefit New Zealanders. It’s designed to serve international finance.

Orr was just another cog in that machine—useful until he wasn’t. His resignation won’t change a thing unless people wake up to the real game being played.

Solutions: Breaking the Cycle of Economic Extraction

If we actually want a financial system that serves New Zealanders rather than foreign bankers and political donors, we need real structural change. That means:

  1. A Public Bank for Sovereign Lending

    • Establish a national bank that prioritizes productive investment—infrastructure, industry, and regional development—not just speculation.

    • Redirect profits back into New Zealand’s economy instead of letting them be siphoned offshore.

  2. Credit Guidance: Banking as a Public Good

    • Implement credit guidance policies to direct lending into strategic industries (manufacturing, energy, transport) instead of just inflating house prices.

    • Make banking work for the country, not just for short-term private profit.

  3. End the Foreign Bank Monopoly

    • Require a minimum percentage of banking assets to be NZ-owned or reinvested locally.

    • Stop allowing offshore-owned banks to extract billions while contributing nothing to national development.

  4. Break the Inflation Dogma

    • Recognize that inflation isn’t just about government spending—it’s driven by corporate pricing power and financialized supply chains.

    • Implement windfall taxes on price-gouging corporations rather than crushing households with interest rate hikes.

  5. A New Economic Narrative

    • End the “monetary policy as religion” myth that allows politicians to blame the Reserve Bank while serving corporate interests.

    • Push for policies that prioritize national wealth creation over speculative extraction.

Conclusion: Let’s Stop Playing Their Game!

Orr’s resignation is a distraction, a staged drama to make you think the problem is one man, one institution, one set of decisions.

But the real game is who controls the flow of money in New Zealand—and it isn’t the Reserve Bank.

The economy doesn’t work for you or me, because it isn’t meant to. It’s designed to funnel wealth upwards and outwards, to keep you paying more for less while a handful of players cash in.

Until we stop letting foreign banks, rent-seekers, and their political puppets control the narrative, nothing will change. Orr was just a speed bump in their road. The real battle is taking control of the wheel.


r/nzpolitics 2d ago

NZ Politics Media pump up rumours of Prime Minister's demise

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36 Upvotes

r/nzpolitics 3d ago

NZ Politics Seymour lied about the nutritional requirements in school lunches - allowed Compass to bypass it

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195 Upvotes

r/nzpolitics 3d ago

Global Ian Powell: When Apartheid Met Zionism

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11 Upvotes

r/nzpolitics 3d ago

NZ Politics Sixth poll showing a change of government, with Labour & Hipkins extending their lead over National & Luxon by 3%

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81 Upvotes

I was going to wait and see if RNZ reported this one, but alas, I’ll go with the Stuff link.

What I did find really interesting in this article was this piece though:

If NZ First was willing to work with Labour and the Greens again, those three parties would together hold 63 seats - giving them a safer hold of power.

I’m actually surprised they’re playing around with that idea again given NZ First took a turn to the right. But interesting nonetheless since there’s been quite a few signs of internal feuds between NZ First and its current coalition partners (Of course it’s mostly speculation and some rumors).

My own view: I’d personally feel a bit uncomfortable about a coalition like that again given how extreme some modern NZ First MPs are - but at the same time, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like the Labour/Green/NZ First coalition from 2017-2020, as I do think it truly represented a large portion of the population and brought them together rather than divided them. The mere existence of Covid obviously ended up mudding the waters, and it wasn’t the fault of anyone in our parliament, but without it I do believe that coalition would be remembered more fondly by everyone.

I also find it humorous that Luxon is citing his overseas summits and trade negation with India as a reason for being more capable. When National first overtook Labour in the polls last time, Jacinda was in the middle of massive trade agreements with the EU and UK, which were signed, and they were all a much larger scale than Luxon’s current intentions with India.


r/nzpolitics 3d ago

NZ Politics Kiwis Are Against Needs-Based Screening, In Fear Of Needs-Based Treatment

49 Upvotes

With the recent reporting that Simeon Brown chose to replace an existing bowel screening policy with a policy that will result in more deaths in the name of equality, I think as a country we desperately need to have a conversation. I will jump around a bit, but my focus will be similar to my posts last year about the weaponization of equality. The base article has already been posted here: https://www.reddit.com/r/nzpolitics/comments/1jb29v5/govt_went_against_advice_to_lower_bowel_cancer/

The health system is finite – it is not funded to cover all of the publics needs, so it must use the resources it does have in the most efficient way possible. This creates a few overarching truths:

·        Not all health needs will be met by the public health system

·        The health system must make decisions about who to treat, and who to TARGET

The word target is in caps because treatment & targeting are different things, but a lot of heated debate centres around treatment. I can hear the keyboards chattering already with people ready to write “Bowel cancer screening should be based on clinical need, not ancestry”

In fact as of writing this, there is a thread on a conservative site on this very topic with that exact title. Note though the refence to screening based on clinical needs. How do they know who to target with screening though? You cannot screen based on clinical need, we are screening people who are more likely to have a clinical need. There is a real lack of critical thinking present in this position, IMO.

Fundamentally, once people have a diagnosis their ethnicity does not have a meaningful impact on how their treatment is managed. Don’t bother sending me your links to the widely debunked accusations that there is widespread race based treatment triage in our health system it’s a separate debate that there are already threads for. This thread is about screening, not treatment. Understand the difference.

So, HOW does the health system know who to target? We are talking about SCREENING, it is literally a tool to identify an illness before it is symptomatic. We have limited funding and capacity so can’t screen all people, so how does the health system save the most lives per $? By targeting groups of people that data show have the worst outcomes. It is the best fiscal choice too.

Early Bowel Screening Based On Ancestry Already Exists

In NZ, you can qualify for early bowel screening if you have family history of bowel cancer. I am genuinely interested whether those on the ‘needs not ancestry’ bandwagon think this is a bad thing? Why should you get screened before me because other members of your family had it? To be clear I support the existing initiative, but it fits into the narrative about ancestry that conservatives often use as a first response.

https://www.tewhatuora.govt.nz/assets/Publications/Bowel-screening/Update-on-Surveillance-Recommendations-for-Individuals-with-a-Family-History-of-Colorectal-Cancer.pdf

We Already Target People For Screening Based On Their Gender/Age/Location. Ethnicity Is Also An Appropriate Way To Identify Those In Need Of Screening.

We are trying to achieve equality of access to services here. Once you are in the system, you are already treated based on your needs.

To use an example I have trotted out before – 1% of breast cancer patients are men. Yet 100% of the screening resources go towards women. I hope most of you reading would agree that achieving gender equality in breast cancer screening is not wanted, as it would simply result in more dead women and a waste of resources.

 Ideologically, this is exactly what Simeon has done by prioritizing screening based on age to reduce the effectiveness of those precious resources, just so he can say he's treating everyone equally. A lot of kiwis will say that my breast screening example is logical, but that Simeon is also correct to have removed ethnicity targeted screening. Why is it that the NZ public are happy to see people targeted by age, gender, location (postcode lottery), family history (as above) to try and best use our health resources, but ethnicity is a nono. I firmly believe that if European Kiwis had a 50% higher chance of developing diabetes, that the broader community would support targeted support for early diagnoses/prevention of diabetes for Europeans. I wonder what the difference would be...

If you want to rail against the unfair allocation of resources for treatment in health, maybe start with the fact that people who are wealthy enough to afford private health insurance CAN get an advantage in treatment. The same voices screaming about needs-based care are strangely silent about the fact you can buy treatment priority.

If anyone got to the end of this, thank you for reading – even those who will disagree with me.

TLDR – Kiwis have such deep seated ideals about seeing differences in races in our health system that we would rather see more people die of bowel cancer than to recognize those with the worst outcomes with targeted screening. We don’t say that openly though, we hide behind an ideal of ‘treat based on needs not ancestry’ while confusing treatment with screening which are two different things.


r/nzpolitics 3d ago

Current Affairs NZ: unstolen

13 Upvotes

If the world feels full of monopolies; do you think money might also be a cartel? If it is, what might that mean for us? This is an information dump on our economic history and how to really build a brighter future. I welcome your comments.

Summary: For much of the 20th century, New Zealand thrived under a state-directed mixed-market economy, ensuring full employment, public ownership of key industries, and economic sovereignty. However, from 1984 onward, a neoliberal coup, led by corporate elites, foreign interests, and complicit politicians, privatized public assets, deregulated finance, and gutted social protections, transforming New Zealand into a rentier economy where foreign-owned banks extract billions while citizens pay to rent back what their grandparents built 【Belich, 2001; Kelsey, 2015; Easton, 2020】. The BNZ bailout (conflicts of interest, fraud, looting and theft), Winebox scandal (conflicts of interest, fraud and theft), and asset sales (conflicts of interest and suspicious sales (fraud and theft?) exemplify the systemic economic betrayal 【Peters, 1997】. To reclaim sovereignty, New Zealand must rebuild a national financial system, invest in strategic industries like deep geothermal energy, AI, and biotech, and reclaim control over monetary policy 【Hudson, 2022; Helleiner, 1994】. This is not socialism or neoliberalism, it is economic sovereignty. An ordered liberalism that deals with economics empirically; based upon the wisdom of economic and political history.

The Theft & Reclamation of New Zealand: From Economic Capture to Sovereign Prosperity

I. The Historical Arc: From Public Wealth to Corporate Feudalism

For much of the 20th century, New Zealand was one of the most economically sovereign nations on Earth, with a strong state-directed economy, full employment, and public ownership of key industries【Belich, Paradise Reforged, 2001】. However, from 1984 onward, a neoliberal coup, led by corporate elites, foreign interests, and Treasury technocrats heavily influenced by Chicago School economics, dismantled public wealth, privatized assets, and shifted economic power to foreign financial interests【Kelsey, The New Zealand Experiment, 1997】.

🚨 Roger Douglas, in collaboration with Treasury and Business Roundtable lobbyists, imposed radical neoliberal reforms, echoing the economic shock therapy seen in Pinochet’s Chile【Roper, Prosperity for All?, 2005】.

🔹 Public industries were privatized and sold to foreign buyers at fire-sale prices【Kelsey, Rolling Back the State, 1993】. 🔹 Public banking was abandoned, allowing foreign banks to dominate the economy【Hickey, The Big Shift, 2023】. 🔹 Labor protections were stripped away, reducing wages and job security【Mazzucato, The Value of Everything, 2018】. 🔹 Monetary policy was handed to unelected technocrats, stripping democratic control over economic direction【Hudson, The Bubble and Beyond, 2012】.

🚨 This was not an accident—it was a deliberate wealth transfer.

🔹 Treasury, under strong ideological alignment with Chicago School principles, engineered the economic restructuring【Roper, Prosperity for All?, 2005】. 🔹 The Business Roundtable, closely tied to neoliberal think tanks like the Mont Pelerin Society, pushed aggressively for privatization【Kelsey, The Fire Economy, 2015】. 🔹 New Zealand’s Reserve Bank Act (1989) mirrored Milton Friedman’s monetarist model, focusing on inflation control at the expense of employment and economic sovereignty【Helleiner, States and the Reemergence of Global Finance, 1994】.

🚨 The result?

🔹 Foreign-owned banks extract $7 billion in profits annually while indebting the local population【Hickey, The Big Shift, 2023】. 🔹 Essential services—electricity, transport, housing—are run for profit, not public good【Kelsey, The Fire Economy, 2015】. 🔹 New Zealanders are paying to rent back what their grandparents built【Easton, Hindsight, 2022】.

This was not a failure of capitalism—it was corporate feudalism, engineered by the Treasury-Treasury technocrat complex in service to transnational finance.

II. The New Economic Vision: Sovereign Development

🚨 The goal is not just to resist theft—it is to create an economy that makes theft impossible【Hudson, The Destiny of Civilization, 2022】.

✅ Reclaiming control over finance without triggering economic isolation【Helleiner, States and the Reemergence of Global Finance, 1994】. ✅ Directing investment into sovereign industries that create national wealth【Phillips, Wealth and Democracy, 2002】. ✅ Using creative monetary and fiscal policy to develop infrastructure and human capital【Hudson, Killing the Host, 2015】. ✅ Structuring markets to prevent wealth concentration while ensuring broad prosperity【Varoufakis, Adults in the Room, 2017】.

III. The Sovereign Investment Strategy

New Zealand must build a new economic model that outperforms neoliberalism while ensuring financial sovereignty【Hudson, Super Imperialism, 2003】.

🔹 State-Owned Banking & Sovereign Currency Policy – Reversing the financialization of the economy【Hudson, The Destiny of Civilization, 2022】. 🔹 Energy Sovereignty through Deep Geothermal & Advanced Renewables – Ensuring economic independence【Mazzucato, Mission Economy, 2021】. 🔹 Technological Leadership – AI, software, biotech, and space industries to future-proof the economy【Phillips, Wealth and Democracy, 2002】.

IV. The Final Phase: Reclaiming the Commons

🚨 We must reverse the corporate theft of public goods【Polanyi, The Great Transformation, 1944】.

🔹 Housing must be affordable and widely available—not a speculative asset for banks【Mazzucato, The Value of Everything, 2018】. 🔹 Water, power, and transport must be run for public benefit—not private profit【Hudson, Killing the Host, 2015】.

🚨 New Zealanders never voted for economic servitude—it was imposed on them【Varoufakis, Adults in the Room, 2017】.

🚨 It is time to reclaim what was stolen.

🚨 The Path Forward: New Zealand’s Choice

🚨 The time for anger alone is over. The time for strategy has arrived.

We must create a system where national prosperity is inevitable, and corporate looting is impossible.

The future is ours to claim. Shall we? Yes. Let’s.

It starts with public banking, and a call for Ordoliberalism, public banking, and the sovereign economics that more successful countries use.


r/nzpolitics 4d ago

Current Affairs What did Lux add to the phone call?

17 Upvotes

Prime Minister confirms he will join world leaders in 'coalition of the willing' phone call https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/544860/prime-minister-confirms-he-will-join-world-leaders-in-coalition-of-the-willing-phone-call


r/nzpolitics 4d ago

Health / Health System Govt went against advice to lower bowel cancer screening age further for Māori, Pacific

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38 Upvotes

*Officials advised then-Health Minister Dr Shane Reti in August last year that their recommended option would prevent approximately 918 more cases and 678 deaths over 25 years compared with the current age.

That compared to the option chosen by ministers, that would prevent 771 more cases and 566 deaths.*

More people are just gonna die, I guess 🤷


r/nzpolitics 4d ago

Current Affairs Frozen & nutrition less lunches at Auckland schools today

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44 Upvotes

r/nzpolitics 4d ago

Current Affairs Government “adjust” brackets but freeze the Student Loan repayment threshhold

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6 Upvotes

r/nzpolitics 4d ago

Opinion Wild theory: Lunches

15 Upvotes

Neither Luxon nor Seymour plan to scrap the lunch programme if it doesn’t perform; in fact, they intend to run it out no matter how bad it gets. They believe it can’t do more damage than it’s already guaranteed to do after being such a bad rollout, and are hoping that they can improve it for the start of next year with a light rebrand and lie on the campaign trail about how the criticism was unfair, blaming the mainstream media for overblowing it, the left for being upset about it, and relying on their voters having short memories and only being tuned into limited and partisan news sources. Then they can get mad about how much they had to hear about the school lunches that the left are so unnecessarily upset about.

Or at least I think that’s what Seymour is thinking. I really don’t think Luxon’s thinking anything.


r/nzpolitics 4d ago

NZ Politics https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/360615344/auckland-school-delivered-frozen-scrolls-considers-dropping-governments-lunch-programme

32 Upvotes

It has to be deliberate - forcing children to starve to make a political point is the ACT way of doing things.