DonBrash.com
Don has been one of New Zealand's leading economic policy advisers. More…
Landmark Statements
We can't say we weren't warned
“America First” was long the guiding principle of President Trump’s approach to policy. And his understanding of what putting America’s interests first really means was always limited by his background as a real estate developer with no formal training in economics.
At the end of year two, how are they doing?
With less than a year to go to the next general election, polls suggest that the current Government could well lose to a Labour-led coalition, despite the mess which the last Labour Government left just two years ago. Is that negativity warranted?
My Oxford Union Speech
The House believes that the Sun should never have set on the British Empire
Open Letter to PM Christopher Luxon from Don Brash and five others
In June 2025 an Open Letter to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon ran in New Zealand's weekend newspapers. It was written by Helen Clark, Geoffrey Palmer, David Carter, Don Brash, Carl Worker, and David Mahon - former Prime Ministers, a Speaker of Parliament, Party leader, Ambassador to China, and Beijing-based New...
Our foreign policy is increasingly nuts
Until quite recently, New Zealand Governments of both the Left and the Right were keen to maintain a broadly cordial relationship with China, our largest trading partner, and with the United States, our traditional security partner.
Was sovereignty ceded in 1840?
I watched Tuesday night’s debate between David Seymour, Leader of the ACT Party, and Helmut Modlik, an iwi leader, with dismay.
HELEN CLARK AND DON BRASH: We're approaching a critical junction
Four months ago, we argued (NZ Herald 13/2/24) that it is critically important that New Zealand does not abandon the independent foreign policy which we have pursued over the last 40 years, and that in particular we should not be seduced into forming any kind of relationship with AUKUS, an...
HELEN CLARK AND DON BRASH: Aukus - NZ must not abandon our independent foreign policy
The following was co-authored with former Prime Minister Helen Clark:
I love America but ...
I love the United States. I travelled across the US by car when I was a 19-year-old, and lived in Washington, DC, for five years. On returning to New Zealand, I was the chief executive of an investment bank, partly owned by Wells Fargo Bank, a role which had me...
ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST SUCCESSFUL DEMOCRACIES AT RISK
On the night before the 2002 election, when I was a list candidate for the National Party, I was attending a black-tie event in Napier. Before we sat down to eat, the host asked the local vicar to give thanks.
What a mess we're in
By the time this column sees the light of day, the Labour Government – now freed of the constraint of New Zealand First – will have been in office almost exactly a year. And to look at the opinion polls, they are doing a fine job – or at least...
Trump: the worst U.S. President in my lifetime
Days after Donald Trump was elected as US President in November 2016, I wrote one of my very first columns for Elocal. This was my opening paragraph:
New Zealand failed Peter Ellis
There can be few cases in New Zealand history where a person has been so egregiously failed by the police, the court system, and by successive Governments, both National and Labour, as Peter Ellis has been.
Yes, let's remember our history
In the Autumn edition of the RSA Review, there was an article by Defyd Williams arguing that when we remember our fallen on ANZAC Day we should remember not just those who died at Gallipoli and in subsequent battles throughout the 20th century, but also those who died in the...
“The banks are ripping us off” (Part 2)
Last month, I wrote about some common misconceptions about the profitability of the banks operating in New Zealand, and noted that the Big Four Aussie banks, while quite profitable compared with banks elsewhere in the world, are not wildly profitable in comparison to many other listed companies in New Zealand.
“The banks are ripping us off” (Part 1)
Every now and then, there’s a surge of concern, sometimes even anger, at the banks. They make too much money. Their profits go overseas. They no longer provide services in country towns. Their culture needs watching carefully by the regulators, lest they exploit their customers.
Was zero out of ten too harsh?
A few weeks ago on a breakfast TV programme, I was provoked into quoting a recent assessment of the Key/English Government by Kerry McDonald, a former director of the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research, and chief executive or chairman of a number of major companies.
Since when has urging equality before the law been “racist drivel”?
A few weeks ago, the Hon. Peter Dunne, a minister in the current coalition Government, denounced a pamphlet distributed in his Ohariu electorate as “racist drivel”. The pamphlet was distributed by Tross Publishing and was promoting a book entitled “One Treaty One Nation”.
The Book
Don's book, 'Incredible Luck', published in 2014, is available for purchase as an eBook on Amazon.com by following this link.
One Law for All?
A major policy speech made while ACT Party Leader, focusing on the need to ensure all are equal before the law
Building a More Prosperous New Zealand
A major policy speech made while ACT Party Leader, outlining the economic policies needed to grow New Zealand's economy and living standards.
Letter to John Key
Don's letter resigning from the National Party
Return to Orewa
An address to the Orewa branch of the New Zealand National Party
Challenges for New Zealand's Future Pension System
Can the New Zealand Superannuation scheme survive the ageing of New Zealand's population, and if not, what should be done about it? A speech given to the Asset Allocation Summit at the Hilton Hotel in Auckland
Why bother with public life?
Speech given at the opening dinner of Consilium, hosted by the Centre for Independent Studies, in Coolum, Queensland
Foreign Investment: Does it Threaten our Prosperity or our Sovereignty? A Host Country point of view
Speech to the 14th Global Finance Conference in Melbourne outlines the benefits of foreign investment
Orewa 2004 - Nationhood
The speech which, for a time, changed "Orewa" from a place to a date, outlining the dangerous drift to racial separatism in New Zealand and the development of the Treaty grievance industry
Why are Schools Failing so many of our Kids?
An address to the Visionschools annual conference
Maiden speech in Parliament
Don's personal credo
Inflation targeting 14 years on
A summary of New Zealand's experience of inflation targeting in a speech to the American Economics Association in Atlanta
Faster growth? If we want it
A speech to the Knowledge Wave conference in Auckland
Comments on accepting the NZIER/Qantas Economics Award
Discusses the success or otherwise of the post-1984 economic reforms and criticizes professional economists for failing to explain those reforms to the public