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.
“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.
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?
The House believes that the Sun should never have set on the British Empire
At the risk of triggering a torrent of abuse, I can’t refrain from expressing my strong support for the visit which Helen Clark and John Key made to Beijing a few days ago to attend the parade marking the 80th anniversary of the end of the war in the Pacific.
In recent years, when addressing Rotary and other audiences, I often talk about the five big challenges facing New Zealand – persistently slow growth in productivity, and therefore in income levels; ridiculously unaffordable house prices; the increasing division of our society into those with a Maori ancestor and those without;...
The following is written by Don Brash in his capacity as Hobson's Pledge spokesman
Having listened to my discussion on foreign policy with Sean Plunket on 10 June, I feel the need to clarify my position.
Almost since I returned to New Zealand from nine years abroad in 1971, there has been a widespread assumption that house prices always go up, if not every single year then almost every single year. And that those prices would rise faster than general inflation and faster than income growth.
I don't know about you, but I have had a gutsful of the disrespect and disdain Te Pāti Māori show for our Parliament and for all of us.
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.
Written by Don Brash in his capacity as Hobson's Pledge trustee
The following is written by Don Brash in his capacity as Hobson's Pledge trustee.
A few days ago, I read an article by Oliver Hartwich, the executive director of the New Zealand Initiative, entitled “Time for ANZAC 2.0”. I generally agree with material produced by the New Zealand Initiative, and in particular with articles written by Dr Hartwich. But not this time.
The following is written in Don's capacity as Hobson's Pledge trustee.
Surely, in a liberal democracy, there are few words more chilling to read written in earnest than the “flawed concept of ‘equality’”. But there they were, in print, in an opinion piece by the National Urban Māori Authority’s Lady Tureiti Moxon published in the NZ Herald on Tuesday last week.
I didn’t have the privilege of working with Dame Tariana in any substantive way but I developed a very high regard for her integrity and commitment to the wellbeing of New Zealanders, and especially Maori New Zealanders of course.
On the last day of 2024, the New Zealand Herald ran an article under the heading “House prices start to rise”. The first sentence quoted OneRoof, an organisation owned by the publishers of the New Zealand Herald and specializing in promoting house sales, stating that “OneRoof’s latest monthly house price...
I was surprised, indeed astounded, when I discovered that some of my New Zealand friends were enthusiastic about Donald Trump’s winning the US presidency. How could they be supportive of such a man becoming the chief executive of the most powerful country in the world? How could John Key support...
It is just over a year since last year’s general election, and nearly a year since the new coalition Government was formed. How are they going?
I watched Tuesday night’s debate between David Seymour, Leader of the ACT Party, and Helmut Modlik, an iwi leader, with dismay.
Copyright © 2026 Don Brash.