Liam Hehir

Liam Hehir is from Rongotea, a small village in the Manawatū hinterland. He was formerly active in the National Party and writes about politics, religion and popular culture. He really hates it when people put cute or quirky references in their online bios.

Politics
Jul 29, 2019

National's path to victory in 2020

The just completed party conference confirmed a widespread unity under Bridges, while Ardern is under more pressure than ever

Read on.

Politics
May 28, 2019

The National Party needs a new Big Bad

With a capital gains tax off the political agenda, the opposition needs to find the government's achilles heel

Read on.

Politics
May 23, 2019

Take it from a Christian conservative: a Ngaro splinter party is a terrible idea

The last thing we need is for the place of Christianity in the public square to become ghettoised and weird.

Read on.

Politics
Mar 14, 2019

Sorry but Shane Jones is Chris Finch from The Office

This man is full of himself, makes vulgar jokes and often blunders over the line of acceptable professional decorum. For all his awfulness, however, Finch never seems to get in trouble

Read on.

Politics
Feb 28, 2019

Does Cameron Slater’s departure from Whale Oil signal the end of an era?

After news of Cameron Slater's departure from Whale Oil, Liam Hehir reflects on the fading influence of New Zealand's politics blogs.

Read on.

Society
Feb 7, 2019

If Jacinda doesn’t know the Treaty, what hope is there for the rest of us?

When even the 'woke' are ignorant about Te Tiriti o Waitangi, it's clear we need to make teaching its history compulsory in schools, writes Liam Hehir.

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Politics
Jan 30, 2019

Nick Smith is the latest cheerleader for a four-year term. Here’s why he’s wrong

Compared with other democracies, New Zealand has relatively few checks on its parliament

Read on.

Politics
Nov 4, 2018

The impossible situation for Iain Lees-Galloway

In the case of Karel Sroubek, the immigration minister can insist on his blamelessness but seems denied the means of proving it

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Politics
Oct 27, 2018

The case for anonymous political donations

In the aftermath of the Jami-Lee Ross saga many have called for increased transparency around political donations, saying it's better for a healthy democracy. But what if that's completely backwards?

Read on.

Politics
Oct 19, 2018

Bridges slammed the waka jumping bill. Now he can, and should, use it on Jami-Lee Ross

Jami-Lee Ross's actions mean they're more than entitled to invoke it to throw him out of parliament

Read on.

Politics
Oct 16, 2018

Is National really so stupid as to jump on a Shearer-Cunliffe-Little-esque carousel?

Bridges is under huge pressure today after the Jami-Lee Ross saga, but his MPs would be foolish to start apeing Labour's approach to leaders in opposition

Read on.

Politics
Sep 27, 2018

Is feel-good symbolism really worth the cost of this oil and gas ban?

If it's all for symbolic reasons, that's fine, but let's be clear that's what it is

Read on.

Politics
Sep 17, 2018

Why are the woke set not battling to de-platform Winston Peters?

There has been a growing effort in NZ to silence those who feed racial division. So where's the clamour from the Greens and the rest on the deputy PM?

Read on.

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