A few days ago, my good friend Rodney Hide criticized Winston Peters when, as Minister of Foreign Affairs, he made it clear that “New Zealand is deeply concerned by the deteriorating situation in the West Bank”. Mr Peters was referring to the increasing violence in the West Bank involving Israelis attacking Palestinians and destroying their homes, with the connivance of the Israeli military. Rodney appeared to argue that, in the light of the terrible atrocities which had occurred on 7...

The following is written in Don's capacity as Hobson's Pledge Trustee Te Pāti Māori's latest proposal is unlikely to become law. However, with all the ongoing talk about the importance of the Treaty and racial preferences by the Labour Party, Green Party, and TOP, we cannot totally rule it out. As I write, there is no parliamentary majority for it, and most New Zealanders would reject it outright. But that's not the point. The real significance of this latest announcement is that it exposes...

Australia is currently holding a “Public inquiry into AUKUS” . The five members of the panel holding the inquiry are: Peter Garrett AM FTSE, chairman, a former federal minister; Admiral Chris Barrie AC, RAN rtd., former Chief of the Australian Defence Force; Dr Carmen Lawrence, Australia’s first female State Premier and Treasurer, and a former federal minister; Karina Lester, a second generation survivor of the 1953 British nuclear tests at Emu Field; and Leanne Minshull, co-CEO at the...