As we say goodbye to 2024 and welcome in 2025, it’s a good time to catch up on the very best of some of the Herald columnists we enjoyed reading over the last 12 months. From politics to business, these are some of the voices and views our audience loved
Why did John Key endorse Donald Trump? - Simon Wilson
Sir John Key, golfer and political pundit. Photo / Photosport
Opinion by Simon Wilson
Simon Wilson is an award-winning senior writer covering politics, the climate crisis, transport, housing, urban design and social issues. He joined the Herald in 2018.
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It was during a sit-down interview with ThreeNews’ Samantha Hayes. He told her not only that he thought Trump would win the election on November 5, but that “on balance” he wanted Trump to win because he would be “better for the economy”.
This was not the only time recently that Key has shared his economic theories.
He wrote a fundraising email to National Party supporters, noting that reductions in inflation and the OCR are putting downwards pressure on interest rates.
Key declared: “This is happening because National won the last election”.
That is not true. As Key would know, economists agree the main cause of those trends is the restrictive monetary policy of the Reserve Bank. The bank acts independently of the Government and would have pursued its policy whoever was in office.
Key’s praise for Trumponomics is similarly odd, especially as he said he doesn’t even like some of it. Read more >
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Christopher Luxon’s outrageous Waitangi speech - February 6, 2024
Outrageous? Clever? Was it both? Whatever you think about the Prime Minister’s speech at Waitangi yesterday, his message could not have been clearer. We do not want to talk about the Treaty of Waitangi, and we do not want to talk about te reo. So we’re not going to.
Christopher Luxon didn’t use those words. But he made himself plain by barely mentioning either of the flashpoint topics of the Waitangi commemorations.
He would rather talk about growing the economy, because he believes that will benefit Māori. And he would rather talk about education and housing, because he believes making them better will benefit Māori too. So that’s what he did.
Asked later how he could not have realised the thousands of people on the Treaty Grounds expected some response to the big issues of the moment, he changed the subject.
This was certainly outrageous. On an enormously significant occasion of state, the Prime Minister chose not to rise to it. His speech was ditchwater dull.
It was also, in large part, a repeat of the speech he gave last year. What more telling sign could there be that the PM simply doesn’t want to engage on either the treaty or the language? We’re surely not meant to assume he’s lazy, or that no one would notice.
But were there also some smarts to the decision? Read more >
Empathy, accountability and abuse in shoplifting accusations - January 23, 2024
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Green Party co-leader James Shaw were both in the news last week talking about the abuse of women MPs.
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The context was the resignation of Shaw’s former colleague Golriz Ghahraman, who faces charges of shoplifting. Luxon told journalists, unequivocally, that for women in politics, “gendered abuse is a lot worse”.
Shaw said: “Parliament is a stressful place for anybody, but Ghahraman has been subject to continuous threats of sexual violence, physical violence and death threats”.
We can all understand these words. We know what they mean. But if we really understood what it’s like to live with those threats, coming at us “continuously”, wouldn’t there be a national outcry?
Or are we kind of okay with it? Do we think it’s her fault for sticking her head above the parapet, or maybe just bad luck?
It isn’t bad luck, and sticking her head up is part of her job. We expect our politicians to tell us what they think. Read more >
Seven ways we could be like Scandinavia - June 22, 2024
Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Sweden occupy positions 1, 2, 3, 5 and 10 on the UN’s inequality-adjusted Human Development Index. New Zealand is a mere 17th. Those same countries also hold five of the top seven places on the World Happiness Index. They’re doing pretty well.
Are there things we could learn from them? Some suggest that Singapore might offer a better model, but Singapore is not even a welfare state.
Whereas Scandinavia, more properly called the Nordic countries when all five of them are included, has a lot to offer. There are seven things we could definitely copy. Read more >
What people really think of cycleways - and other transport revelations - April 2, 2024
Three sets of numbers to conjure with. The first: New York, city of cars, has three million more people than the whole of New Zealand, but a third fewer traffic deaths.
The second set: we’re heading for 10 billion people on this planet by the year 2050.
And, the third: 69 per cent of urban New Zealanders say they are “highly supportive” of cycling in their community and 60 per cent want more cycleways.
A representative sample of Aucklanders was asked to rate the value of various transport initiatives. Top of the list: a better rail network, safer and easier walking and more frequent buses. At the bottom: more motorway lanes.
Perhaps you’re spluttering into your cornflakes. But this is strong evidence of public support for safer streets, much better public transport and a less car-dependent future. Support for a better rail network suggests support for light rail, although presumably not if it’s like the last Government’s super-expensive version. Read more >
