Damien Grant argues that Christopher Luxon sacrificed Andrew Bayly to avoid negative media attention rather than handling the situation pragmatically. He contrasts this with John Key, who stood by his ministers despite controversies. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

Great minds share alike. Pass it on!

Economy

Health

Briefing for 05 March 2025

Luxon's leadership crisis: Bayly's resignation exposes PM's weak hand

Political columnist Damien Grant argues that Christopher Luxon’s decision to sacrifice Bayly shows his obsession with media optics over real governance.

“Luxon could have chastised his minister for being an idiot while recognising the offence was trivial and the media reaction disproportionate. He didn’t,” Grant writes.

Luxon tells parents to ‘make a Marmite sandwich’ over school lunch complaints

Asked about complaints regarding poor-quality meals, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon dismissed the outrage, telling parents to "make a Marmite sandwich and put an apple in a bag, just like you and I had."

Despite the government’s promise to fix the problems, Luxon’s message was clear: if parents are unhappy, they should pack their own lunches.

Simeon Brown takes on media spin over health worker survey

New Health Minister Simeon Brown pushed back against questionable media coverage of a Public Service Association (PSA) survey on health worker stress.

While Christopher Luxon chuckled in the background, Brown called out the press gallery for reporting partisan distortions designed to embarrass the government.

The fight for a knowledge-rich curriculum in New Zealand

Professor Elizabeth Rata argues that New Zealand’s curriculum has been hijacked by ideology, and Education Minister Erica Stanford is trying to take it back.

For years schools have operated without a standardised curriculum, allowing teachers to push sociocultural beliefs over academic subjects.

Rata says the result has been widening inequality, with some students excelling while others are fed propaganda.

UN panics as Trump cuts off billions in US funding

The United Nations is scrambling after the Trump administration’s budget cuts slashed US contributions.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres warns of a “liquidity crisis,” claiming the cuts will be “devastating for vulnerable people.”

But critics argue the real issue isn’t lost funding—it’s how that money was being spent in the first place.

Former FDA official exposes White House pressure to rush COVID vaccine approval

Dr Philip Krause isn’t an anti-vaxxer—he was the deputy director of the FDA’s vaccine division.

But in 2021, he resigned in protest, revealing how the Biden administration strong-armed the FDA into fast-tracking COVID vaccines and boosters for political, not scientific, reasons.

Parenthood may slow brain ageing, study finds

Raising children might keep parents’ brains younger. A new study analysing brain scans from nearly 38,000 UK adults found that parents showed stronger brain connectivity in regions that typically decline with age.

Lead researcher Avram Holmes from Rutgers University found that parts of the brain usually slow down with ageing. Yet, those same brain areas stay more active and connected in parents with multiple children.