John Roughan
Opinion Writer
Former editorial writer and columnist, NZ Herald
We are your advocate, Aotearoa. Uncovering stories that matter, asking hard-hitting questions of those in power, live-blogging sport events, monitoring the highs and lows of the NZX and providing Premium expert opinion and analysis. Bringing you distinctive, quality journalism and breaking news from across New Zealand and around the world. With specialists working together to create indepth reads, engaging video, and unmissable podcasts.
Check out John’s latest content
John Roughan: King Charles coronation, the monarchy debate and the splendour of Buckingham Palace occasions
Charles wants a “modernized” coronation. My worry is that he will take that too far.
John Roughan: To tax or not to tax - or the third rail
The question of whether to tax capital gains or not returns to the fore
John Roughan: Hipkins, water reform and why Kiwis must vote with eyes open
Even elite revolutions in a democracy eventually come to a popular vote.
Opinion: How long will the harbour crossing ‘vision’ of light rail, walking and cycling link last?
Michael Wood is wasting our money to plan and design another mirage across the harbour.
John Roughan reflects on what we have lost with Jacinda Ardern’s departure
A look at Jacinda Ardern's legacy
John Roughan: decision on Three Waters needed to prevent regret in October
Co-governance is just part of the plan to remove water infrastructure from accountability
John Roughan: We need commonsense after the rugby coach debacle and farce
NZ Rugby chose the right man as coach but the arrangements for the hand-over are lacking
John Roughan: Govt is scared of upcoming elections, not cost of living
We need a strong government that advises saving, not spending.
John Roughan: Is the Govt’s about-face post-cyclone or pre-election?
There's been a change in leadership, but is it one of substance?
John Roughan: We need to see the scale of the disaster
When you can see the boundary of a disaster it becomes easier to deal with it.
John Roughan: We need to be proactive in maintaining infrastructure
John Roughan fears the storms will stop the Government’s retreat from Three Waters
John Roughan: Seymour should be lauded for embracing te reo
The Māori language will not be secure until it is spoken on both sides of politics.
John Roughan: We need to learn to live with climate change
Auckland has never had a January as wet and never a day like last Friday.
John Roughan: Jacinda’s goodness will be a hard act to follow
Politics aside, Jacinda Ardern was a fine model of a modern, young female political leader
John Roughan: Sports events need more focus, less spectacle
Sports events are becoming too much like a circus for John Roughan
John Roughan: When will this Harrying of the royals end?
I’m picking Harry’s childishness will save him in the final act
John Roughan: A few more Covid cases arriving from China will not matter much
Tourism and economic development post-pandemic good reasons to encourage travel.
John Roughan: 'We’ve had a year of valour'
War on Ukraine and post-lockdown inflation have been met with valiant responses.
John Roughan: A week of political corrections
The irony is that privatisation is not very different from what the Government is doing.
John Roughan: I vote for Dominic Abelen as New Zealander of the Year
We can declare our pride in him and honour the risks he took for the sake of democracy
John Roughan: The young deserve their say in running the country
The young who vote are likely to be thinking voters. I’d like to boost their numbers.
John Roughan: Another bridge would be a visual disaster
OPINION: A second bridge would unbalance Auckland - in more ways than one.
John Roughan: There’s more to inflation than wages
OPINION: Treating inflation as simply a cost of living problem does more harm than good.
John Roughan: Transport planners need to work with, not against, the people
OPINION: Public transport doesn't mean mass transport.
John Roughan: Govt needs to take lead in fighting inflation, the economic cancer
OPINION: Tackling inflation can't be left entirely to central banks.
John Roughan: Wayne Brown may be the bull in the china shop of NZ’s assets
OPINION: When I voted for Wayne Brown I had no illusions about his economics.
John Roughan: Political sea change shows how the wind is blowing
OPINION: Wayne Brown's first week in office has been a breath of fresh air.
John Roughan: Stop spouting idealism against Putin's nuclear threat
Will Putin break the unspoken nuclear code?
John Roughan: It's time true local government is revived
OPINION: I'm holding high hopes Wayne Brown can change the Auckland Council.
John Roughan: A new lease of life for royalty
"Grief" is not a sufficient word to sum up the feeling around the royal funeral.
John Roughan: King Charles needs to sign off on petulance
OPINION: The Treaty of Waitangi was made with the Crown, not the state.
John Roughan: Why Wayne Brown will be getting my vote for mayor
OPINION: To believe in a car-less vision of the future you have to want to believe it.
John Roughan: I admired the Queen's stiff upper lip - especially after Diana died
OPINION: One of my few regrets of 50 years in journalism is that I never met the Queen.
John Roughan: Why we need a new Spring public holiday
OPINION: Spring would be the natural time for a seasonal celebration.
John Roughan: Is helping Kiwibank a political step too far?
OPINION: Kiwibank has been given the kiss of death.
John Roughan: Foster fiasco shows it's the rugby leadership that needs a shake-up
The Foster fiasco - the leadership needs a shake-up
John Roughan: Local elections are a public affair but with little power for the victors
The battle for mayoralty is a public affair with little power for the victor.
John Roughan: Universal benefits that don't benefit us all
The generation that paid 66c never gave up the notion they had paid for their pensions.
John Roughan: The lingering lethargy of our national long-Covid
OPINION: We're suffering a lack of spirit, the absence of a spark we used to have.
John Roughan: Saving not spending the key to slaying inflationary dragon
OPINION: The current economic inflation situation has echoes of the 1970s.
John Roughan: Rugby should be judged on the field
OPINION: Will rugby come to its senses about issuing penalties?
John Roughan: Independence is limited when you need help
Every free country makes its own foreign policy but few others feel the need to say so.
John Roughan: Change for change's sake or will the health reform work?
OPINION: If you can believe it, our public health system has been reformed.
John Roughan: Democracies must stand together at Nato summit
OPINION: Seldom has it been more important for democracies to stand together.
John Roughan: Go-to guy Chris Hipkins a trustworthy choice to deal with police
Hipkins is a straight-talker but will have his hands full with education and police.
John Roughan: The half-truths spinning in Three Waters
OPINION: Three Waters progress continues with half-truths.
John Roughan: Why our supermarkets really are super
OPINION: Probably no industry serves the public better than supermarkets.
John Roughan: Democracy is a freedom worth fighting for
OPINION: Democracy is a delicate flower, depending on many institutions.
John Roughan: The bad news about this week's Budget
OPINION: The public debt is the secret of our success.
John Roughan: Congestion charges - tax the roads, not the CBD
OPINION: How often have we heard a congestion charge proposed for Auckland's traffic?
John Roughan: For whom the polls toll - the trespass fallout
The occupation of Parliament Grounds continues to shake Labour
John Roughan: Was the reaction proportionate to the pandemic?
Were lockdowns proportionate to the pandemic, asks John Roughan
John Roughan: The fungus growing in our water pipes and drains
OPINION: I don't know how the lack of a plan makes water unsafe to drink.
John Roughan: Testing the spirit of Ukraine nationalism - and Nato
OPINION: Not only has the Ukraine found inner strength, so has Nato.
John Roughan: Govt's income insurance scheme an idea to be enthused by
OPINION: The income insurance scheme looks worthwhile.
John Roughan: Not all crises are equal
OPINION: Austerity seems a better word than "crisis", says John Roughan.
John Roughan: Why, ultimately, Putin cannot win his war with Ukraine
Is it fair to blame Russians for Putin's imperialism, asks John Roughan
John Roughan: Andrew Coster's shut-down of the protest was heroic
OPINION: It was a protest unlike any we have previously seen in this country.
John Roughan: Naivety soon to be a thing of the past for NZ faced with rising Omicron
OPINION: Fearful or naive, we are going to meet the virus now.
John Roughan: Protestors show there's a limit to compliance
The past two weeks have changed how the future will interpret the pandemic in NZ
John Roughan: Is there something dirty in the Three Waters plan?
There's something dirty about the Three Waters plans, says John Roughan
John Roughan: We can't afford to lumber ourselves with the cost of light rail
OPINION: This is a bad time to be making a major investment in public transport.
John Roughan: Finally we're rejoining the rest of the world
The Government's response to Covid is going to be very different this year.
John Roughan: The America's Cup has outgrown NZ but it should have greater world status
Participants, profile and prestige necessary to bring America's Cup from the periphery.
John Roughan: Djokovic is the culprit, not politics
OPINION: Sports vs politics shouldn't be at issue.
John Roughan: Djokovic would not be missed
Djokovic reveals why so many people who like tennis do not like him.
John Roughan: We mustn't let 2022 be the year of inflation
Lessons we've learned from the 1930s can apply in pandemic.
John Roughan: The mandate - do the ends justify the means?
How awkward was Christmas in some Kiwi households?
John Roughan: Why I am angry about Aotearoa
Why are we angry - and what about, really?
John Roughan: Luxon primed to star in latest compulsive viewing drama
OPINION: Christopher Luxon should end the old ruse of filing the question.
John Roughan: Who said we would never see another John Key?
The leadership has come sooner than Luxon wanted but it may be a good thing.
John Roughan: The battle for rugby's soul is not finished
OPINION: The All Blacks' losses were not at all bad for the game.
John Roughan: I think I should be scared of Covid, but I'm not
The news is still focused on rising daily cases numbers and ominous predictions
John Roughan: Let's not push lockdowns too far
OPINION: We are overdue for certainty, so business takes the lead for freedom.
John Roughan: We're finally getting somewhere in our fight with Delta
In time the virus will reach all parts of New Zealand, as it has reached all of Auckland.
John Roughan: Let an isolated city look on the bright side
OPINION: While Covid numbers continue to rise, so do temperatures.
John Roughan: Why cyclists deserve a chance to prove to me that I'm wrong
OPINION: Canning new Auckland bridge not end of the road for cycle commuters.
John Roughan: We need to make a super effort for Super Saturday
OPINION: Vaccination is not a silver bullet, it's the only bullet.
John Roughan: Enough kindness, let's get tough
OPINION: Time to swap kindness for steel in the anti-Covid campaign.
John Roughan: Vaccination is the only way out of this siege
The truly frightening thing about life in a hermit kingdom is that you get used to it.