<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[Bassett, Brash & Hide]]></title><description><![CDATA[Brash&Mitchell]]></description><link>https://www.brashandmitchell.com/home</link><generator>RSS for Node</generator><lastBuildDate>Sun, 18 Oct 2026 04:27:39 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://www.brashandmitchell.com/blog-feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><item><title><![CDATA[ERIC NESS: THE 4% RATES CAP — NOW WE FIND OUT WHAT COUNCILS REALLY THINK IS ESSENTIAL]]></title><description><![CDATA[For years the council rates debate has followed a familiar pattern. Council announces another increase, ratepayers choke on their coffee, and council explains that everything costs more. Insurance is up, interest is up, construction is up, infrastructure is ageing, roads need repairing and pipes need replacing. Much of that is true. But there is another part of the story that gets less attention. Councils are also doing far more than they used to. Most people understand paying rates for...]]></description><link>https://www.brashandmitchell.com/post/eric-ness-the-4-rates-cap-now-we-find-out-what-councils-really-think-is-essential</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6ad3180515649534cca967e5</guid><pubDate>Sun, 18 Oct 2026 03:55:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/7b14b8_50e5e24b9b4148d9a0b28170bb34c5aa~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_322,h_157,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator></dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[RODNEY HIDE: I asked AI to find David Seymour's worldview]]></title><description><![CDATA[I continue in the series: today it is David Seymour.  I told AI read his maiden speech, his speeches, his bills and his votes. Work out what he believes about truth, human nature, purpose, government and markets. Tell me where it comes from. Quote him exactly and source every quote. Keep what he said separate from what you think it means. It did the research and wrote it up. Here is its report. The AI's report The engineer from Whangārei Seymour was born in Palmerston North in 1983 and grew...]]></description><link>https://www.brashandmitchell.com/post/rodney-hide-i-asked-ai-to-find-david-seymour-s-worldview</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6ad3d3b2243629b2a9d813ee</guid><pubDate>Sat, 17 Oct 2026 23:39:58 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/7b14b8_07df6a2a3fc548959704ead275957d4e~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_150,h_150,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator></dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[LINDSAY MITCHELL: If welfarism matters, the choice is clear]]></title><description><![CDATA[Benefit numbers are out for September. The last before the election. Up again. There are now 417,000 working age people on a main benefit. Christchurch, New Zealand's second largest city, has a population of 411,000. Think about that. Up till the mid seventies the percentage of 18-64 year-olds on a benefit never exceeded two. One person in fifty. Right now it's 12.9 percent or one in eight people. Every type of main benefit is up - Jobseeker, Sole Parent and Supported Living. Yes, the...]]></description><link>https://www.brashandmitchell.com/post/lindsay-mitchell-if-welfarism-matters-the-choice-is-clear</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6ad2f8f5d856561d332b6d81</guid><pubDate>Sat, 17 Oct 2026 19:52:59 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/7b14b8_224927ca41ee4896bb17b0948d80fde6~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_597,h_335,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator></dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[RICHARD PREBBLE: Those about to be defeated]]></title><description><![CDATA[“The average length of time served in Parliament has dropped since MMP was introduced”, says the Association of Former Members of Parliament. For list MPs it is “about four years”. The Association ran at a loss this year of $2,806, but the treasurer “expects the situation to improve next year as more MPs leave Parliament following the 2026 General Election.” The Association reports that many former MPs struggle to find employment. There are few other jobs that require no educational...]]></description><link>https://www.brashandmitchell.com/post/richard-prebble-those-about-to-be-defeated</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6ad316ae15649534cca964f7</guid><pubDate>Sat, 17 Oct 2026 06:35:50 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/7b14b8_6a8b6e67a31b4feb8b1c60d8cae0a2b6~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_297,h_169,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator></dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[RODNEY HIDE: Henry Cooke wants a do-over if you vote wrong]]></title><description><![CDATA[The Post's political editor, Henry Cooke, has a plan if the MSM’s relentless campaign for the Opportunity Party fails. It’s a simple plan: if you vote the wrong way, you vote again. https://www.thepost.co.nz/politics/361099333/dirty-deal-chris-hipkins-and-christopher-luxon-should-actually-strike He says so plainly. He wants Christopher Luxon and Chris Hipkins to promise that "if an overhang is the only path to government, then we'll ask the Governor-General to call another election instead."...]]></description><link>https://www.brashandmitchell.com/post/rodney-hide-henry-cooke-wants-a-do-over-if-you-vote-wrong</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6ad2ac950309c5e579e703e1</guid><pubDate>Sat, 17 Oct 2026 02:56:22 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/7b14b8_c6a1be880ec143f7ae0ecebfd9a4b726~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_135,h_139,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator></dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[RODNEY HIDE: I asked AI to find Rawiri Waititi's worldview]]></title><description><![CDATA[Rawiri Waititi proved the easy one. He doesn't hide anything. He says he's "unapologetically Māori" and he means it. I gave my AI research assistant the job. Read his maiden speech, his interviews, his bills and his votes. Work out what he believes about truth, human nature, purpose, government and markets. Tell me where it comes from. Quote him exactly and source every quote. Keep what he said separate from what you think it means. It did the research and wrote it up. Here is its report. The...]]></description><link>https://www.brashandmitchell.com/post/rodney-hide-i-asked-ai-to-find-rawiri-waititi-s-worldview</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6ad1c8053ad712495ad7fc5e</guid><pubDate>Fri, 16 Oct 2026 22:07:16 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/7b14b8_c6a1be880ec143f7ae0ecebfd9a4b726~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_135,h_139,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator></dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[REALITY CHECK RADIO: Paul Brennan in discussion with Don Brash and Matt Robson]]></title><description><![CDATA[Former NZ Reserve Bank Governor &#38; Auckland Barrister, both ex MPs, discuss the critical choices on voting and superannuation with RCR's Paul Brennan. The advert mentioned at the outset appears below:]]></description><link>https://www.brashandmitchell.com/post/reality-check-radio-paul-brennan-in-discussion-with-don-brash-and-matt-robson</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6ad272684837cdef095cb666</guid><pubDate>Fri, 16 Oct 2026 19:02:10 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/7b14b8_e8bf855749f145429983a0dfb6a05477~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_573,h_703,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator></dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[NICOLE MCKEE: Look who's courting votes at a Mongrel Mob pad]]></title><description><![CDATA[Look who's courting votes at a Mongrel Mob pad. It's hardly surprising they think this is a promising place to campaign. The Greens oppose measures to put more offenders behind bars, and Te Pāti Māori wants to abolish prisons by 2040. Oriini Kaipara says the visit was about the ‘health and wellbeing of the Mob community’. Their health and wellbeing would be a lot better if they stopped cooking meth, assaulting each other, and abusing their families. ACT isn't expecting any votes from Mongrel...]]></description><link>https://www.brashandmitchell.com/post/nicole-mckee-look-who-s-courting-votes-at-a-mongrel-mob-pad</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6ad1500ffa76a34db6e5021b</guid><pubDate>Fri, 16 Oct 2026 06:08:42 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/7b14b8_c4254d1a9caf4db4b86fbc03a6c6e0f6~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_225,h_225,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator></dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[RODNEY HIDE: I asked AI to find Qiulae Wong's worldview]]></title><description><![CDATA[Qiulae Wong is quite possibly the most important politician this election and most New Zealanders couldn't pick her out of a line-up. A year ago she led a party polling 0.4 per cent. But with the relentless pimping of the MSM \Opportunity sits above the 5 per cent threshold and she talks correctly of being kingmaker. She has never sat in Parliament, so there are no decisions, no maiden speech and no Hansard record to go on for what she thinks. There are speeches, policy launches and a stack...]]></description><link>https://www.brashandmitchell.com/post/rodney-hide-i-asked-ai-to-find-qiulae-wong-s-worldview</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6ad0344fcbb6543b8a20e528</guid><pubDate>Thu, 15 Oct 2026 21:58:28 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/7b14b8_c6a1be880ec143f7ae0ecebfd9a4b726~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_135,h_139,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator></dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[MURIEL NEWMAN: Cultural Capture]]></title><description><![CDATA[Earlier this year, at a time of rising geopolitical tension and increasing regional insecurity - with China flexing its muscles and our allies expanding combat readiness - New Zealand’s Army hit the headlines for forcing soldiers to sing waiata!   The Army had gone down the vortex of cultural indoctrination.   On 26 January 2026 “Army General Orders Personnel, Part 1 - Ngati Tumatauenga” had been issued to introduce the “Ngati Tutanga Policy”, which imposed a new Cultural Skill Framework...]]></description><link>https://www.brashandmitchell.com/post/muriel-newman-cultural-capture</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6ad10864fa76a34db6e46e5f</guid><pubDate>Thu, 15 Oct 2026 18:43:33 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/7b14b8_2717196bdedb4eda914c91b2abd157c7~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_96,h_96,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator></dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[RODNEY HIDE: One law for Tamaki, another for the party of October 7]]></title><description><![CDATA["Bash the Jews. Cut their heads off." A man shouted that at a pro-Palestinian protest in Auckland in July 2014. It's on video. Dr David Cumin and historian Paul Moon reported to the Herald that the Human Rights Commission didn't think it worth investigating, let alone prosecuting. Its reasoning, as they reported it: no violence followed, so it didn't incite anything. Remember that reasoning. It's about to become very selective. On Thursday police served Brian Tamaki with three charges of...]]></description><link>https://www.brashandmitchell.com/post/rodney-hide-one-law-for-tamaki-another-for-the-party-of-october-7</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6ad06c465510cf48b692e2ee</guid><pubDate>Thu, 15 Oct 2026 06:08:23 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/7b14b8_c6a1be880ec143f7ae0ecebfd9a4b726~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_135,h_139,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator></dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[RODNEY HIDE: I asked AI to find Marama Davidson's worldview]]></title><description><![CDATA[I've done Christopher Luxon, Chlöe Swarbrick and Chris Hipkins. Luxon keeps his Christian belief and his job as CEO of the country separate.   Chlöe is upfront: she’s a critical theorist.  Hipkins calls everyone else's view ideology, but his record shows him undoing the 1988–89 reforms, one Act at a time. Marama Davidson is tougher. She doesn't cite theorists. She doesn't quote books. She tells stories. But a worldview is there all the same, and it's a consistent one. So I gave my AI research...]]></description><link>https://www.brashandmitchell.com/post/rodney-hide-i-asked-ai-to-find-marama-davidson-s-worldview</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6acf1f0ab11d126594db931b</guid><pubDate>Wed, 14 Oct 2026 19:39:48 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/7b14b8_c6a1be880ec143f7ae0ecebfd9a4b726~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_135,h_139,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator></dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[OWEN JENNINGS - When Idiocy Beats Common Sense]]></title><description><![CDATA[Government policy can produce weird outcomes sometimes.  We welcome foreigners coming to our country, buying up farmland, planting trees, decimating rural communities so that foreign entity can claim an offset to their Greenhouse Gas emissions.  But we don’t let our own farmers use their plantings as an offset to their emissions. Is that idiotic or what? Take John and Jill Smith’s typical sheep and beef farm in Hawkes Bay.  These are realistic numbers. •	650 ha total area •	500 ha effective...]]></description><link>https://www.brashandmitchell.com/post/owen-jennings-when-idiocy-beats-common-sense</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6acef114637e824124df189d</guid><pubDate>Wed, 14 Oct 2026 05:56:45 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/7b14b8_addd9a3c5c8b43fdb32b7f506ccd6d8f~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_96,h_97,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator></dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[ERIC NESS - LABOUR, THE GREENS AND WELLINGTON’S MOST POPULAR $10.5 BILLION]]></title><description><![CDATA[There is a wonderful new expression floating around election-year economics: headroom. It sounds reassuring. Spacious. Comfortable. The sort of thing a real-estate agent mentions just before you discover the ceiling slopes down to one and a half metres. Labour says it has almost $10.5 billion of future operating allowances still unallocated. Barbara Edmonds says that gives Labour room to deal with whatever comes next. Labour also says its announced programme fits inside the existing $2.4...]]></description><link>https://www.brashandmitchell.com/post/eric-ness-labour-the-greens-and-wellington-s-most-popular-10-5-billion</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6aceefc3637e824124df157e</guid><pubDate>Wed, 14 Oct 2026 03:02:13 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/7b14b8_f0797c195bec4fb4ac931d0316d326e1~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_186,h_162,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator></dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[RODNEY HIDE: I asked AI to find Chris Hipkins's worldview]]></title><description><![CDATA[I've had my AI research assistant dig out the worldviews of Christopher Luxon and Chlöe Swarbrick. So I gave it the same job on Labour leader Chris Hipkins. This time I asked it to go further: don't just read his speeches and interviews, read what he did. The bills he championed and what he said in Parliament. Here's what it wrote. Chris Hipkins presents himself as a pragmatist. He names no philosophers, no economists and no books. The only influence he credits is Trevor Mallard, and the...]]></description><link>https://www.brashandmitchell.com/post/rodney-hide-i-asked-ai-to-find-chris-hipkins-s-worldview</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6acd900b2ce454f110af6397</guid><pubDate>Tue, 13 Oct 2026 19:29:35 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/7b14b8_c6a1be880ec143f7ae0ecebfd9a4b726~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_135,h_139,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator></dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[RICHARD PREBBLE: Erica mania?]]></title><description><![CDATA[The real election campaign is taking place on social media. Those on the other side of the digital divide do not even know this campaign is happening. But even those who scroll through social media do not see campaigns that are reaching tens of thousands of voters. Algorithms select posts that we will like. I am sure the algorithms have me profiled. With that warning, the best campaign posts I have seen are Erica Stanford’s. It is difficult to talk straight to a camera and be authentic. It is...]]></description><link>https://www.brashandmitchell.com/post/richard-prebble-erica-mania</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6acd8bbe2ce454f110af59f0</guid><pubDate>Tue, 13 Oct 2026 01:49:26 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/7b14b8_6a8b6e67a31b4feb8b1c60d8cae0a2b6~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_297,h_169,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator></dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[RODNEY HIDE: I asked AI to find Chlöe Swarbrick's worldview]]></title><description><![CDATA[I previously asked my AI research assistant to dig out Christopher Luxon's worldview. It found a man who keeps his faith in one room and his management manual in another, and calls the result "not ideological". So I gave AI the same job on Green co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. Read her maiden speech, her columns, her interviews. Work out what she believes about truth, human nature, purpose, government and markets. Tell me where it comes from. Quote her exactly. Keep what she said separate from...]]></description><link>https://www.brashandmitchell.com/post/rodney-hide-i-asked-ai-to-find-chl%C3%B6e-swarbrick-s-worldview</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6acbf2df7ea08a33d77cc051</guid><pubDate>Mon, 12 Oct 2026 18:22:36 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/7b14b8_07df6a2a3fc548959704ead275957d4e~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_150,h_150,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator></dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[ERIC NESS: THE CLIMATE EMERGENCY WAS DECLARED — NOW SHOW US THE BILL]]></title><description><![CDATA[In 2019, tens of thousands of New Zealand schoolchildren marched over climate change. Climate Change Minister James Shaw told Parliament that the Government was acting to safeguard the future those students would inherit. He described the consequences of allowing global temperatures to rise more than 1.5 degrees as “catastrophic” and said New Zealand needed to do everything it could over the following 30 years to limit warming. An entire generation has grown up hearing words like climate...]]></description><link>https://www.brashandmitchell.com/post/eric-ness-the-climate-emergency-was-declared-now-show-us-the-bill</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6acc3168600a7efb2159ee08</guid><pubDate>Mon, 12 Oct 2026 02:35:36 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/7b14b8_f9014e2946374d0291bcb9cdacacf141~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_620,h_465,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator></dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[GARETH MORGAN: Not All Tax Reform is the Same]]></title><description><![CDATA[Wealth taxes kill entrepreneurship – and New Zealand needs entrepreneurship these days more than ever. Our abysmal productivity record will not be reversed any other way. Real incomes cannot rise without productivity gains. Against this backdrop the tax reforms proposed by Labour, the Greens and now Opportunity are regressive for New Zealand. There exist far better ways to facilitate productivity gains, lifts in real income per person, and equitable outcomes. Labour proposes a capital gains...]]></description><link>https://www.brashandmitchell.com/post/gareth-morgan-not-all-tax-reform-is-the-same</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6acbcff003ce31675d0ad96e</guid><pubDate>Sun, 11 Oct 2026 22:06:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/7b14b8_c8b97a02f6c5457b8e5dba7446877239~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_96,h_95,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator></dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[RODNEY HIDE: I asked AI to find Christopher Luxon's worldview]]></title><description><![CDATA[Every politician has a worldview. Most don't know it. They pick it up from parents, stories, church, lecturers, workmates and friends. But it's there, and it drives what they do. I know mine. I started in Parliament as a libertarian. My experience led me to think the government could never be kept in a box. I concluded the possible good would always be far outweighed by the bad. I ended up an anarchist. I'm now a Christian conservative. I had to think my way through both. So I set my AI...]]></description><link>https://www.brashandmitchell.com/post/rodney-hide-i-asked-ai-to-find-christopher-luxon-s-worldview</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6acbcc170ef348ee9755b7c7</guid><pubDate>Sun, 11 Oct 2026 18:25:07 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/7b14b8_07df6a2a3fc548959704ead275957d4e~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_150,h_150,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator></dc:creator></item></channel></rss>