Steve Baron

Steve Baron: The Paywave Surcharge Ban Is Dead: Time To Stop Tapping?

20.08.2026 No Comments Steve Baron

You order a coffee and a muffin at your local cafe expecting to pay $12. But before you tap your card or wave your phone at the machine, the EFTPOS…

Steve Baron: Why Smart People Believe Stupid Things

07.08.2026 1 Comment Steve Baron

The smartest person I know once tried to convince me that 5G towers were causing COVID. He had a PhD in biochemistry. He sent me a 40-page PDF dense enough…

Steve Baron: Tauranga: The Anal-Retentive Capital of New Zealand

29.07.2026 No Comments Steve Baron

Anal-retentive — the Freudian term for an obsession with order, rules, and control down to the smallest, most pointless detail — could have been coined specifically for Tauranga City Council’s…

Steve Baron: The Cross-Bench Opportunity

28.07.2026 No Comments Steve Baron

There is a playbook for minor parties under MMP that nobody wrote down, but everyone follows. Get enough votes to cross the threshold. Negotiate with the major parties. Trade your…

Steve Baron: Who is Qiulae Wong? And Why Should You Care?

14.06.2026 2 Comments Steve Baron

I was having a coffee with my mate Gary the other day — a political animal if ever there was one — and I told him something I’d been turning…

Steve Baron: The Nightman Returns: God, Silicon Valley and 8,700 Bureaucrats

27.05.2026 1 Comment Steve Baron

Last November, I wrote about the nightman — that poor soul trudging around 1920s New Zealand emptying backyard dunnies, whose entire profession was wiped out by indoor plumbing within a generation. The…

Steve Baron: Motorhomes – The reality of living on wheels

13.05.2026 2 Comments Steve Baron

A motorhome or campervan is the primary home for a growing number of New Zealanders — not a summer escape pencilled between work weeks, but the place they sleep, work,…

Steve Baron: The Capital Misallocation Trap: A Macroeconomic Dead End For New Zealand

25.03.2026 3 Comments Steve Baron

Most countries measure their wealth by what they produce. New Zealand measures it by what houses are worth. These are not the same thing, and the gap between them is…

Steve Baron: Who Is Really Buying Our Democracy?

17.03.2026 2 Comments Steve Baron

Every three years, New Zealanders are handed a ballot paper and told they are participating in democracy. And they are — up to a point. What they are rarely told…

Steve Baron: When Politicians Weaponise Referendums: Winston’s Dangerous Game

14.02.2026 11 Comments Steve Baron

Winston Peters launched my first book on direct democracy at a public meeting. We stood together, arguing that New Zealanders deserved real power to control their government. I believed in…

Steve Baron: The NZ-US Critical Minerals Deal: Sovereignty for Sale?

06.02.2026 9 Comments Steve Baron

“Frothy.” That was the Prime Minister’s word for it. Speaking on RNZ’s Morning Report, Christopher Luxon told New Zealanders that reporting about a critical minerals deal with the United States was…

Steve Baron: If I Were Prime Minister: Three Laws That Would Change Everything

30.01.2026 13 Comments Steve Baron

The question catches most of us off guard at dinner parties. “If you were Prime Minister, what would you do first?” People usually mumble something about tax reform or housing…

Steve Baron: Democracy for Sale? The Atlas Network’s Playbook in New Zealand

19.01.2026 11 Comments Steve Baron

A friend mentioned over coffee that a shadowy organisation was controlling policy decisions worldwide. When I asked who, she said, “The Atlas Network.” I’d never heard of it. It sounded…

Merry Christmas and a Happy New 2026

21.12.2025 12 Comments Steve Baron

As 2025 draws to a close, we want to take a moment to thank you, our readers, for engaging with Steve Baron Unfiltered throughout the year. It’s been another year…

Steve Baron: Rate Caps: When Cheap Politics Meets Expensive Reality

18.12.2025 3 Comments Steve Baron

Local Government Minister Simon Watts stands in front of Wellington’s Inglewood Place toilets—price tag $2.3 million—and declares war on wasteful council spending. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon points to endless speed…

Steve Baron: IKEA Finally Arrives: Why Do Global Retailers Avoid New Zealand?

09.12.2025 2 Comments Steve Baron

IKEA opened its first New Zealand store this month. If you’re thinking “about bloody time,” you’re not alone. The Swedish furniture giant has been operating in Australia since 1975—that’s half…

Steve Baron: Who Voted for Ministerial Dictatorship?

08.12.2025 8 Comments Steve Baron

Who Voted for Ministerial Dictatorship? Something is seriously wrong with how New Zealand makes its laws. This morning on Radio New Zealand, former Prime Minister Sir Geoffrey Palmer – normally…

Steve Baron: Two Letters Worth Millions: How a Tiny Island Beat the Odds with .ai

04.12.2025 2 Comments Steve Baron

Here’s something that’ll make you rethink everything you thought you knew about the digital economy: a Caribbean island smaller than Waiheke, with far fewer people than Whanganui, is raking in…

Steve Baron: The Untouchable Elite: When Power Protects Its Own

25.11.2025 5 Comments Steve Baron

There’s an old European custom called droit du seigneur — the lord’s right. According to legend, medieval nobles claimed the privilege of sleeping with any bride in their domain on…

Steve Baron: The New Zealand Brain Drain Crisis

19.11.2025 3 Comments Steve Baron

A young builder I know has already packed up and left for Australia with his family. Mid-thirties, ran his own business, employed several people—the type of go-ahead young man New…

Steve Baron: Nobody Mourns the Nightman

11.11.2025 6 Comments Steve Baron

It’s 1920s New Zealand and the nightman is about to do his rounds, emptying backyard dunnies across the neighbourhood. It’s honest work. It pays the bills. It feeds his family.…

Steve Baron: Warning Signs Flash: When Wall Street Runs Out of Cash at Midnight

07.11.2025 6 Comments Steve Baron

Something happened on the 31st of October that should have made headlines, but didn’t. The US Federal Reserve injected US$72 billion into the US banking system over two days—US$50 billion…

Steve Baron: Selling the Farm: Why Fonterra’s $4.2 Billion Brand Dump Shows New Zealand Has Lost Its Economic Way

03.11.2025 No Comments Steve Baron

Selling the Farm: Why Fonterra’s $4.2 Billion Brand Dump Shows New Zealand Has Lost Its Economic Way Last Wednesday, 88.5% of Fonterra’s farmer shareholders voted to sell Mainland, Anchor, and…

Steve Baron: Capital Gains Tax: Where Fairness Meets Economic Sense

30.10.2025 5 Comments Steve Baron

My son’s a builder in Australia. Hard physical work, long hours, and he pays tax on every dollar he earns. His neighbour down the street? He also pays tax when…

Steve Baron: 100,000 Workers Walk Out: Will Luxon’s Big Punt Come Off?

28.10.2025 1 Comment Steve Baron

More than 100,000 public sector workers walked off the job today. Teachers. Nurses. Doctors. Firefighters. Social workers. One in five public sector workers. The biggest strike in over 40 years.…

Steve Baron: Don’t Celebrate the PayWave Surcharge Ban Just Yet

23.10.2025 3 Comments Steve Baron

I’ve just paid $6.30 for a coffee. Actually, that’s not quite right. I’ve paid $6.47 for a coffee because the café added a ‘card payment surcharge’. Seventeen cents to use…

Steve Baron: Water Wars Reincarnated: Is “Local Water Done Well” Just Three Waters in Disguise?

21.10.2025 2 Comments Steve Baron

Ray Charles had it right back in 1967 when he sang “Here we go again”. Just when ratepayers thought they’d dodged the centralisation bullet, five Wellington councils have announced they’re…

Steve Baron: The Brutal Truth About New Zealand’s Local Body Elections: Democracy Isn’t Working

14.10.2025 4 Comments Steve Baron

Only 31.61% of eligible voters bothered to vote in this month’s local body elections. In Auckland, turnout barely scraped 30%. If this were a company AGM with that level of…

Steve Baron: Big Tech’s Tax-Free Ride: The Politics Behind NZ’s Digital Tax Retreat

13.10.2025 7 Comments Steve Baron

Remember when David stood up to Goliath? These days, it seems our government would rather offer Goliath a cup of tea and apologise for the inconvenience of having to step…

Steve Baron: The Great Cryptocurrency Heist

10.10.2025 3 Comments Steve Baron

In 1637, a single tulip bulb could buy you a house in Amsterdam. In 1849, prospectors abandoned everything to chase gold in California. In 1999, companies added “.com” to their…

Steve Baron: The Participation Trophy Generation

08.10.2025 4 Comments Steve Baron

When my kids were at school, they often came home from sports day with medals. Lovely, I thought—until I realised they hadn’t won anything. They hadn’t come first, second, or…

Steve Baron: New Zealands Democratic Deficit Book

07.10.2025 6 Comments Steve Baron

Download My Book FREE: New Zealand’s Democratic Deficit After years of research and advocacy, I’m making this comprehensive work freely available to all New Zealanders. Why This Book Matters Now…

Steve Baron: Young Kiwi Tech Innovators Take on Silicon Valley

06.10.2025 7 Comments Steve Baron

Hello, I’m Steve Baron, and I’m a tech geek. I haven’t gone a day in the last year without playing with AI. I’ve been building my own AI-driven applications, wrestling…

Steve Baron: Four Years Without Safeguards: Why New Zealand’s Parliamentary Term Proposal Needs Real Scrutiny

03.10.2025 3 Comments Steve Baron

The government has quietly allocated $25 million for a referendum on four-year parliamentary terms, potentially to coincide with the 2026 election. You might think this sounds reasonable. After all, three…

Steve Baron: Time to Pull the Plug: Why New Zealand Should Nationalise the Electricity Industry

30.09.2025 16 Comments Steve Baron

When did you last look at a power bill without wincing? We all feel the sting of those rising numbers. And what do we do? What we’ve all been conditioned…

Sir Geoffrey Palmer: How To Save Democracy

28.09.2025 8 Comments Steve Baron

Sir Geoffrey Palmer: How To Save Democracy When one of New Zealand’s most respected constitutional minds sounds the alarm about our democracy, it’s time to listen. Sir Geoffrey Palmer –…

Steve Baron: Should New Zealand Retain Maori Wards?

20.09.2025 4 Comments Steve Baron

Last week, a mate sent me an email with a simple question: “Should we retain Māori wards?” It got me thinking about the upcoming referendums across the country. What strikes…

Steve Baron: Ratepayer Democracy: Why Binding Referendums Could Save Local Government from Itself

18.09.2025 4 Comments Steve Baron

Last month, when people opened their rates bill, some found a 12% increase staring back at them. Like most Kiwis, they swore under their breath, then did what we always…

Steve Baron: The Auckland Recovery Riddle: Why the City of Sails Needs More Than Hope to Navigate Economic Headwinds

04.09.2025 2 Comments Steve Baron

Let me tell you about a conversation I had recently with a West Auckland manufacturer who’s been running his family business for thirty-odd years. “Steve,” he said, nursing his flat…

Steve Baron: Our Economic Operating System: Time for an Upgrade

27.08.2025 2 Comments Steve Baron

Computer operating systems are complicated things. “Starting MS-DOS… C:>_” was what everyone saw during the 1980s when they booted up their personal computers. MS-DOS was written and created in 1981…

Steve Baron: Neighbourhood Disputes: From Historic Feuds to Modern Property Battles

06.08.2025 4 Comments Steve Baron

American folklore tells the tale of a bitter feud in the late 1800s between the Hatfields & McCoys, from rural Kentucky. The story so captured the minds of Americans that…

Steve Baron: People Power: How to Make the Government Listen to YOU, for a Change

28.07.2025 No Comments Steve Baron

People Power: How to Make the Government Listen to YOU, for a Change Originally published as “People Power” (2004) – Edited by Steve Baron and Jonathan Eisen. This book is…

Steve Baron: Electoral Finance and Business Influence: When Money Talks, Democracy Listens

16.07.2025 2 Comments Steve Baron

We’ve all heard the familiar refrain from politicians: tough budget decisions, competing priorities, no easy answers. Public galleries fill with frustrated residents pleading for basic services while Members of Parliament…

Steve Baron: Local Democracy Under Economic Pressure

01.07.2025 5 Comments Steve Baron

The Numbers Don’t Lie When I look at the data from New Zealand’s upcoming local body elections on October 11, the numbers tell a sobering story. Central Otago mayor Tamah…

Steve Baron: Bitcoin and Blockchain: From Speculation to Institutional Reality

11.06.2025 6 Comments Steve Baron

In 1841, Charles Mackay wrote a very famous book that is mandatory reading for anyone in the investment industry. It was called, ‘Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds’.…

Steve Baron: Who Pays When Buildings Fail?

07.05.2025 2 Comments Steve Baron

How New Zealand’s Biggest Construction Reform in 20 Years Could Transform Local Government Finance Twenty-eight years ago, I watched a mate in Auckland discover rot creeping through his weatherboard villa’s…

Steve Baron: Council Policy Costing New Zealand Ratepayers Billions

14.01.2020 No Comments Steve Baron

Is “prudent financial management” really all that prudent when city and district councils around New Zealand continue to opt for fixed interest rates on their loans (rather than floating interest…

Steve Baron: Messara is NZ Racing’s Modern Messiah

06.09.2018 No Comments Steve Baron

Centuries ago, in Egypt, after toiling for forty days and forty nights, the great prophet and leader of the Israelites, Moses, descended from Mount Sinai with the words of God…

Steve Baron: Winx – World Champion

08.08.2018 No Comments Steve Baron

Australian race mare, Winx, is the undisputed world champion of horse racing, having just been ranked Longines World’s Best Racehorse. She is the pride and joy of Coolmore Stud in…

Steve Baron: Let the Great Unwashed Decide on Cannabis

21.06.2018 No Comments Steve Baron

In 1995, McArthur Wheeler walked into two Pittsburgh banks and robbed them in broad daylight. He made no attempt to even disguise his face. Later that night, he was arrested…

Steve Baron: Freedom of Speech

05.06.2018 No Comments Steve Baron

The ultimate price for voicing your opinion as a newspaper columnist/journalist … is death. Probably at the hands of some demented, frenzied murderer who was offended by something you had…

Steve Baron: System Punishes Us for Doing Well

09.03.2018 No Comments Steve Baron

Economic systems are complicated things, and our economic system seems to have barely improved over the years. It lurches from boom to bust time and time again, creating havoc and…

Steve Baron: Noose Should Be Around Rodeo’s Neck

20.02.2018 No Comments Steve Baron

Yet another rodeo season is coming to an end, and the rodeo industry itself is fighting to stay alive. The Richmond Rodeo branch folded in 2016, and the Upper Mohaka…

Steve Baron: Cyber Security in a Connected World

30.01.2018 No Comments Steve Baron

Eric Winsborrow, a Silicon Valley cyber-security veteran of 20 years, warns us that cyber war is beneath the surface. It will not be fought with bombs and bullets but with…

Steve Baron: It’s Time To Look at the Swiss System

19.10.2017 No Comments Steve Baron

Pigeonhole: a neat category that usually fails to reflect actual complexities. We are a funny breed, we human beings. We like to pigeonhole people … put them in boxes. Perhaps…

Steve Baron: How to Cast a Vote That Really Counts

13.09.2017 No Comments Steve Baron

On the 13th March 2010, a very dear friend of mine passed away at just 58 years of age. Some of you may remember him. In 1987, he almost pulled…

Steve Baron: Tide May Be Turning in Favour of STV

11.08.2017 No Comments Steve Baron

On Tuesday, the Whanganui District Council decided to delay choosing between staying with the First-Past-The-Post (FPP) voting system for local government elections or changing to the Single-Transferable-Vote (STV) system. The…

Steve Baron: Waitangi Day and the Growing New Zealand Underclass

14.02.2012 No Comments Steve Baron

In 1875, a year before Col. George Custer fought the battle of the Little Bighorn in the USA and after a passage of 114 days on the ship Edwin Fox,…

Steve Baron: A Political Love Affair

09.12.2011 No Comments Steve Baron

Once upon a time, I fell madly in love. She was the most gorgeous, intelligent and successful woman I had ever met—she changed my life forever. Unfortunately, she went back…

Steve Baron Unfiltered

Common Sense in Uncommon Times