From 2021 to 2026 Don wrote numerous articles which appeared at the website Bassett, Brash and Hide, his fellow authors being former politicians Michael Bassett and Rodney Hide. These appear below.
A day or two ago, I read an attempt by a Minister in the present Labour Government to justify “co-governance”, a word now used to mean governance where Maori New Zealanders share, on a 50/50 basis (sometimes with a veto), the governance of public services or natural resources with those...
I read with dismay this week that the Labour Party is contemplating removing GST from fresh fruit and vegetables. It will seem such a sensible policy to a great many people, and may therefore attract a lot of votes.
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...
Earlier today, I was sent a statement which read:
Updated: Jul 23, 2023
On the odd occasion when I have found myself in a TV studio with Shane Te Pou, I have always found him a likeable and reasonable kind of person but he completely lost me in his Herald on Sunday article, "Shane Te Pou asks Christopher Luxon to stop playing the...
I have subscribed to the National Business Review for many years and try to read their daily emails most days. Sometimes, they have had some good articles, and one of their reporters is one of the best investigative journalists in the country.
I’ve just read a depressing defence of the Government’s policy of prioritizing Maori and Pasifika when it comes to surgical waiting lists. It was written by one Will Trafford and published by Te Ao Maori News.
In Newsroom today (8 June 2023), Dr Iresh Jayawardena, a lecturer in the School of Architecture and Planning at the University of Auckland, has a column criticizing the National Party’s recently-announced housing policy.
A few days ago, I spoke in the Public Forum part of a Western Bay of Plenty District Council meeting. For me, this was a first – I had never spoken at a local body council meeting before.
Some months ago, this blog reprinted the final chapter of my autobiography, Incredible Luck. The chapter was headed “Does democracy have a future?” and dealt with the inherent temptation for elected governments to bribe voters with their own money.
My heart sank when I saw the results of the latest Roy Morgan poll yesterday: if those results were reflected in the election in October, New Zealand would be in for three years of a Labour/Greens/Maori Party coalition government, arguably a worse government than the three years of Labour that...
The announcement over the weekend that Australia has decided to allow New Zealanders who have lived in Australia for four years to acquire Australian citizenship has been greeted with mixed emotions in New Zealand.
A review appeared at Newsroom on April 5 titled, "Book of the Week: The truth about 'Māori privilege'." Despite it containing an attack on Don Brash, he was refused right of reply by Newsroom editor Jonathan Milne who stated, "It’s a book review. Book reviews are meant to be opinionated.
A few weeks ago, the New Zealand media gave some coverage to the spectacle of the US President and the Prime Ministers of Australia and the UK signing an agreement whereby Australia will buy eight nuclear-powered submarines over the next two decades at a cost of some $400 billion, confirmation...
I’m not sure whether to be amused, depressed or angry at the reaction to the article by Richard Dawkins in The Spectator recently.
I’ve just read a book entitled New Zealand’s History Curriculum: Education or Indoctrination? It makes it clear that Goebbels would have been proud of the new curriculum!
All my life I’ve had an intense interest in foreign policy. Growing up in the shadow of the Cold War, that was hardly surprising.
It’s impossible to avoid the conclusion that New Zealand is rapidly approaching a crisis point.
The following is an updated version of the final chapter of Don's autobiography Incredible Luck, published in 2014
Copyright © 2026 Don Brash.