National Reopens NZ Nuclear-Free Policy Debate
New Zealand’s nuclear-free stance helped define us as an independent country. Chris Hipkins says National should stop hinting it is up for negotiation.

New Zealand’s nuclear-free stance helped define us as an independent country. Chris Hipkins says National should stop hinting it is up for negotiation.

They call it parliamentary sovereignty. Martyn calls it what it looks like: retrospective law to shield big polluters from a citizen using the courts.

The Bradbury Group turns one because the old show was punished for saying the quiet parts out loud: Israel, think tanks, media power and big polluter influence.

Banks get a token levy. Public servants get the axe. State tenants get higher rents. Budget 2026 is not balance, it is class warfare dressed as discipline.

Marama Davidson says Budget 2026 makes the Government’s priorities brutally clear: landlords, fossil fuels and military spending before Māori, whānau and taiao.

Barbara Edmonds says Budget 2026 was National’s last chance to prove it had a plan. Instead, families get higher rents, job cuts and more pressure.

Banks get a joke tax. Landlords keep their loot. Beneficiaries, students, tenants and public servants get the bill. Budget 2026 is class warfare with spreadsheets.

State tenants pay more. Students lose Fees Free. Beneficiaries are squeezed. The rich remain protected. This is not a recovery Budget, it is punishment with a sermon attached.

Luxon says he is committed to New Zealand’s Paris climate target. Budget 2026 shows no plan to meet it and no honest accounting for the potentially massive bill.

Higher rents, fewer public servants and less help for people already struggling. Chris Hipkins says Budget 2026 proves National has chosen who pays.