The National Party is not an ideological movement

With the National Party caucus looking more conservative than it’s been in a long time, Liam Hehir warns of the dangers of ideological factionalism, and why being a conservative party isn’t the same as being a party with conservatives.  Liberals seem to be something of an endangered species in the National Party these days. First … Read more

Paradox, utopia and Don Brash: on liberalism and free speech

The function and frailty of liberalism has been thrust to the fore as New Zealand debates the meaning of free speech. Yet the biggest threat to liberalism may be the failure of elites to make the systems and institutions of modern liberalism work for the rest of us, writes Danyl Mclauchlan If, like me – … Read more

How to tell if your child has fallen victim to a liberal meme hate group

On Monday night, Seven Sharp aired a segment warning against the left-leaning political extremist groups, aka meme pages, on Facebook. Madeleine Chapman expands on the report. It’s a dangerous world out there for young people. No one drives safely, everyone drinks too much, and there’s MDMA laced with something more dangerous than MDMA. But there’s a new … Read more

Liberals got walloped in 2016. Can ‘post-liberalism’ rise from the ashes?

Brexit and Trump hurled rotten fruit at a liberal consensus that included our own former Prime Minister Key. Is the emerging ‘post-liberal’ approach something to reach for, or a recipe for xenophobia? David Hall writes. Who will defend liberalism now? Now that Trump is doubling-down on his sourest impulses? Now that far-right populists are empowered … Read more