Ananish Chaudhuri writes – Dame Anne Salmond recently wrote a column on Newsroom berating people for having views on the Treaty of Waitangi when they cannot even read the Māori version of the treaty. So, what she is saying is that even when customs, laws or treaties impinge on your daily life, you cannot hold any views […]
Inability to understand te reo Māori does not prevent people from asking questions about race relations in New Zealand
Inability to understand te reo Māori does not prevent people from asking questions about race relations in New Zealand
12 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economic history, income redistribution, International law, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: Age of Enlightenment, constitutional law, free speech, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
The WaPo describes (and distorts) a big “culture war” in New Zealand
10 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in defence economics, discrimination, economic history, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice Tags: affirmative action, Age of Enlightenment, constitutional law, free speech, media bias, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left

ADDENDUM: See added comments and clarifications under “addendum” at bottom. ******************** I’ve written many times about the battle of the indigenous people in New Zealand (the Māori) to get their “way of knowing”—which includes a lot of superstition and unreliable word-of-mouth “knowledge,” as well as legends and morality—adopted as official policy or as a “way […]
The WaPo describes (and distorts) a big “culture war” in New Zealand
RICHARD PREBBLE: Letter of resignation from the Waitangi Tribunal
06 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in constitutional political economy, discrimination, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: Age of Enlightenment, constitutional law, free speech, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
Hon Tama Potaka Minister of Maori Development 28 February 2025 Dear Minister, After careful consideration I must resign as a Member of the Waitangi Tribunal. The treaty is not just our founding document, it makes New Zealand unique. Two peoples peacefully agreeing to form a nation. Over the summer I have been reading Tribunal reports […]
RICHARD PREBBLE: Letter of resignation from the Waitangi Tribunal
GRAHAM ADAMS: John Tamihere and Te Pāti Māori are in a world of pain
05 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: constitutional law, free speech, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
The government cutting Whānau Ora funding would be a crippling blow. For the longest time, it has been impossible to make Te Pāti Māori…
GRAHAM ADAMS: John Tamihere and Te Pāti Māori are in a world of pain
DON BRASH: From the internet to medicines, nothing in New Zealand is safe from Treaty mania
01 Mar 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of education, economics of regulation, industrial organisation, labour economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, occupational regulation, politics - New Zealand Tags: affirmative action, free speech, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
The following is written in Don’s capacity as Hobson’s Pledge trustee. You may not have heard of InternetNZ or know exactly what they…
DON BRASH: From the internet to medicines, nothing in New Zealand is safe from Treaty mania
Industry veterans slam Pharmacy Council’s forced cultural competency rules as Health Minister demands explanation
28 Feb 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, economics of regulation, health economics, labour economics, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, occupational regulation, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice Tags: affirmative action, free speech, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
Chris Lynch Media reports – Health Minister Simeon Brown says he will demand an explanation from the Pharmacy Council over its competence standards for pharmacists, which have been described as “deeply disturbing.” It follows inquiries to his office by chrislynchmedia.com over the standards, published on 15 June 2023 and enforced from 1 April 2024, which require […]
Industry veterans slam Pharmacy Council’s forced cultural competency rules as Health Minister demands explanation
RODNEY HIDE: Schooling Through a Te Ao Maori Lens
16 Feb 2025 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economics of education, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: age of empires, Age of Enlightenment, conjecture and refutation, economics of colonialism, free speech, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
Last week my 13-year-old at Wakatipu High studied in English “An introduction to culture and identity in literature”. The class guide was as follows: Below are some links to helpful clips that may be useful for understanding ‘The Why’ when it comes to teaching and learning about all things culture and identity through a Te…
RODNEY HIDE: Schooling Through a Te Ao Maori Lens
It’s comforting to hear Hipkins’ stance on an all-powerful Treaty Commissioner – but what might change his mind?
06 Feb 2025 Leave a comment
in discrimination, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: Age of Enlightenment, constitutional law, free speech, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
Bob Edlin writes – Labour leader Chris Hipkins has told RNZ’s Morning Report the Labour Party will not support the Māori Party’s outrageous call for the establishment of a parliamentary commissioner for the Treaty of Waitangi with the extraordinary power to veto parliamentary decisions. His position is stated in this account of his response to […]
It’s comforting to hear Hipkins’ stance on an all-powerful Treaty Commissioner – but what might change his mind?
Identity-based hiring goes wild in New Zealand
05 Feb 2025 Leave a comment
in discrimination, economic history, economics of education, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, occupational choice, politics - New Zealand, property rights, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking Tags: affirmative action, Age of Enlightenment, constitutional law, free speech, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left

Just to show you how, in the hiring process, New Zealand gives much more weight to identity than to merit, I enclose part of the job description for the position of Chief Operating Officer of Wellington Water, the water utility for the Greater Wellington region (Wellington, a lovely city, is the capital of New Zealand). […]
Identity-based hiring goes wild in New Zealand
ANANISH CHAUDHURI: Oral submission on the Treaty Principles Bill
30 Jan 2025 Leave a comment
in comparative institutional analysis, development economics, discrimination, economic history, growth disasters, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: affirmative action, Age of Enlightenment, constitutional law, free speech, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left
Presented Jan 30, 2025 Kia Ora. Morena. Tena Koutou, Tena Koutou, Tena Koutou Katoa. My name is Ananish Chaudhuri. I am Professor of Economics at the University of Auckland. My views are my own and not those of my employer. Thank you very much for giving me an opportunity to speak this morning.…
ANANISH CHAUDHURI: Oral submission on the Treaty Principles Bill
Trying to reconcile indigenous ways of knowing with “white” ways of being in New Zealand
29 Jan 2025 Leave a comment
in economics of education, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: Age of Enlightenment, conjecture and refutation, free speech, philosophy of science, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left

This article actually appeared on the Museum of New Zealand’s website, and is about as explicit an argument for the country adopting indigenous “ways of knowing” (Mātauranga Māori, or MM) as I have found. You may remember that MM is a mixture of practical knowledge, religion, superstition, morals, teleology and guidelines for living. Despite this […]
Trying to reconcile indigenous ways of knowing with “white” ways of being in New Zealand
The 1920s immigration restrictions
29 Jan 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, discrimination, econometerics, economic history, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, politics - USA Tags: economics of immigration, racial discrimination
The 1920s immigration restrictions in the US did not affect manufacturing wages. The US immigration restrictions of the 1920s lowered the occupational standings of whites and incumbent immigrants. US counties with more immigrants excluded by the quotas of the 1920s saw increased in-migration. During the Great Black Migration of the US, black southerners moved to […]
The 1920s immigration restrictions
ELIZABETH RATA: Oral Presentation to the Parliamentary Justice Committee on the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill
28 Jan 2025 1 Comment
in economic history, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: constitutional law, racial discrimination
January 27, 2025 What is the best title given to any New Zealand legislation? My money is on the 1877 Education Act – ‘An Act to make Further Provision for the Education of the People of New Zealand’ – the People of New Zealand. So as early as the 1870s there’s the commitment to a…
ELIZABETH RATA: Oral Presentation to the Parliamentary Justice Committee on the Principles of the Treaty of Waitangi Bill
MICHAEL BASSETT: REFORMING THE WAITANGI TRIBUNAL
27 Jan 2025 Leave a comment
in economic history, law and economics, politics - New Zealand, property rights Tags: constitutional law, racial discrimination
So loud are the squeals from the likes of Debbie Ngarewa-Packer against the new appointments to the Waitangi Tribunal that I can only assume that Minister Tama Potaka has got things right. And that the new members are likely to shake the organisation into some sort of compliance with its mission that was set out…
MICHAEL BASSETT: REFORMING THE WAITANGI TRIBUNAL
A celebration of Christopher Hitchens by Richard Dawkins, Stephen Fry, Douglas Murray, and Lawrence Krauss
27 Jan 2025 Leave a comment
in liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA Tags: Age of Enlightenment, free speech, Freedom of religion, political correctness, racial discrimination, regressive left, sex discrimination

Christopher Hitchens, whom many of us admire despite occasional differences of opinion, died at only 62 on December 14, 2011. Lawrence Krauss organized an event with four of Hitchens’s friends, all reminiscing about the Great Lion of Rhetoric. The panel was filmed in London on December 13, 2024—just 19 days ago—and I’ve put the video […]
A celebration of Christopher Hitchens by Richard Dawkins, Stephen Fry, Douglas Murray, and Lawrence Krauss
Recent Comments