Commentary & News

In a sign of worse things to come Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, announced a general election for July 4th while reading out a robotic speech as he was drenched in the rain.

For many years the Australian “returning offender 501” legislation has had a significant strain on the New Zealand justice, welfare, and corrections systems.

Six months after the election a coalition deal of sorts was announced in The Netherlands by the PVV (Party for Freedom) leader Geert Wilders.

Amie and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary this week, and her 30th birthday the week prior. The celebrations were a bit low-key as we're going to take an extended holiday together in a few months, without the three kids for the first time.

A video game review might not exactly be the kind of political content you expect from me, but I spent a few hours playing a newly released game last Saturday.

"They fought for freedom" is a common refrain heard today when it comes to our veterans and honoured dead from the two world wars.

The School Strike 4 Climate NZ campaign has had a bit of scope creep: it's about Palestine, honouring the Treaty, lowering the voting age, and changing the weather.

One of the hard problems for the new right to grapple with is how to turn dissent and protest into real political victories.

In response to the Rotorua public library cancelling a drag performance for kids, the Free Speech Union released a statement:

The case of unjust judgements is becoming an increasing feature of our society. It's probably been this way for a long time, but the visibility is becoming greater.

It's been 100-days since the Coalition government started their first three year team. They announced an ambitious 100-day plan with over 40 points of action.

This week has been a bit of a wild ride and I have an unexpected follow up on a column from two weeks ago, A Turn for the Better. You will have read about the sudden death of Newshub by now with the organisation slated to close its doors in June.

My first radio show "The Dialogue" was broadcast yesterday from 10am-1pm on RCR. It was a childhood dream I never truly expected to eventuate. I grew up listening to a lot of talk radio—and I mean a lot. There were years where I listened almost daily.

In case you missed it: I am hosting a summer series of shows on Reality Check Radio starting Wednesday 14th February—the day after my 29th birthday. Thanks to Paul Brennan and Cam Slater who have done some promos for me on their shows this week.

Shows will be embedded here in the future, but for now click through to the RCR website.

Detailed show notes and some transcripts for featured interview will be posted separately.

Before I tackle this week's column, I would like to start with a word of thanks to all the paying subscribers of The BFD and also to Juana, our amazing editor, and to the proofreaders who help her in the background.

Google released its new Gemini AI to the public this week, and the results were… worse than expected. The feature that everyone is immediately interested in when it comes to a new AI tool is the "safety" feature.

I've wanted to go ever since I found out it existed: the Lion and Tusk Museum of the Rhodesian Services Association.

Prior to the shoplifting allegations that led to her resignation, I'd almost forgotten about Golriz Ghahraman.

My paternal grandfather ("pake" in Frisian) passed away at home aged 76 in the early hours of December 22nd after a long illness. He had been diagnosed with terminal cancer eight years ago and was given nine months to live.