“Choosing the tallest dwarf”: The rot in New Zealand politics
Every serious failure in this country has already been diagnosed, costed and written up by people the taxpayer hired to do it. What is on offer on 7 November is not a set of remedies. It is a choice of brands.
Grant McLachlan
2 days ago20 min read
The octopus that turned on National
Jordan Williams started as an apprentice to the men who wrote the playbook. Twenty years later he runs the octopus they trained him to build — and its tentacles now reach into National’s own polling and the Prime Minister’s “captain’s calls.” This is how the apprentice became the thing his masters never controlled.
Grant McLachlan
Sep 113 min read
Should Christchurch City Council tear up the Wolfbrook Arena naming rights deal?
Ratepayers built the arena. Two developer families have since put their name on it. Between them sits a Commerce Commission refund, two Financial Markets Authority warnings, a High Court finding, and a fast-track bid the Government itself has now declined.
Grant McLachlan
Aug 249 min read
How New Zealand Tourism saw stars rather than the purpose behind the Michelin Guide
The Government paid $6.3 million to bring the world's most famous restaurant guide to New Zealand, then confined its inspectors to the four cities least in need of the introduction.
Grant McLachlan
Jul 45 min read
Are we grown up enough to be a republic?
Jacinda Ardern says New Zealand will be a republic in her lifetime. She has not said what problem it solves — or whether we are mature enough to do it well.
Grant McLachlan
Jun 226 min read
Whose bank is it to sell?
Taranaki is being asked to bless a $620 million deal that hands its last locally owned bank to a listed company — at a discount, with the seller lending the buyer the money. New Zealand has watched this story before.
Grant McLachlan
Jun 1412 min read
