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.
I watched Tuesday night’s debate between David Seymour, Leader of the ACT Party, and Helmut Modlik, an iwi leader, with dismay.
As you probably know Hobson's Pledge has been running a petition to End the Waitangi Tribunal. That campaign continues, but in the meantime we heard some news that brought a smile to our faces. . .
Recap: the Helen Clark Labour Government gave local councils the right to establish Māori wards but, because creating racially-based wards was a major constitutional issue, also gave ratepayers the right to demand a referendum if they objected to such wards.
This week, Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins has stirred controversy by asserting that “Māori did not cede sovereignty” when signing the Treaty of Waitangi. According to the New Zealand Herald, Hipkins was “unequivocal” in this claim.
Christopher Luxon has sold us down the river.
A letter signed by more than 170 legal “experts” has been circulated around the media in the last few days and quoted extensively. Unfortunately, I have not been able to locate the letter in its entirety but have gathered some quotes.
He doesn’t want to have difficult conversations.
Former National Party leader Sir John Key has urged people to “take the temperature down a wee bit” in the debate surrounding race issues. He believes this is an area where any government needs to “tread carefully.
Four months ago, I described a speech by Chris Bishop in his capacity as Minister of Housing as perhaps the most important speech given by any Government minister since the election last year.
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…
The following is a speech delivered by Don Brash, February 23rd, 2019. If anything, five years on, it has gained in relevance.
Earlier this month, something shocking happened at Waitangi.
And no, I’m not referring to my being shouted down at the Lower Marae.
The Coalition Agreements which the National Party reached with the ACT and New Zealand First parties oblige the new Government to “restore the right to local referendum on the establishment or ongoing use of Maori wards, including requiring a referendum on any wards established without referendum at the next local…
There was a rather revealing headline in the Herald on Sunday today (12 May). It read
“One in 8 Auckland homes on market were bought during boom, may now sell for loss”.
The following was written on behalf of Hobson's Pledge:
Dear Vice Chancellor Damon Salesa,
We are a group of New Zealanders whose primary objective is to fight for equality under the law and advance the vision Governor William Hobson expressed at Waitangi in 1840.
A few days ago, I posted a short article entitled “Why not AUKUS”. Unsurprisingly, it prompted a range of reactions.
There were some who agreed with my analysis and conclusion, but many of those who commented did not.
A few weeks ago, Helen Clark and I wrote a joint op-ed for the New Zealand Herald entitled “We must not abandon our independent foreign policy”.
There has been fairly predictable outrage this week at the revelation by Judith Collins, the minister in charge of the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) and Security Intelligence Service (SIS), that China spied on our Parliament in 2021.
As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created by humankind, and a strong view…
The following is written by Don Brash in his capacity as Hobson's Pledge Trustee.
Last week, Housing Minister Chris Bishop gave perhaps the most important speech by the new Government since the election.
A week or so ago, Helen Clark and I argued that New Zealand would be nuts to abandon the independent foreign policy which has been a characteristic of New Zealand life for most of the last 40 years, a policy which has seen us retain a close and cordial relationship…
Copyright © 2026 Don Brash.