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Episode 34 - Billy Brown
Billy Brown is a Māori/Moriori man from North Canterbury who left school at 13 with dyslexia and built himself from the ground up on work ethic and accountability. He argues that New Zealand is a genuine meritocracy — not a racist country — and that the biggest thing holding Māori back in 2026 isn't colonisation, it's the victim politics of Te Pāti Māori. He calls out iwi elites extracting hundreds of millions in "taniwha tax" from mining and infrastructure projects as extortion, and argues National and Labour are functionally identical managers of managed decline. He backs NZ First as the only real alternative.
On the economy, Brown wants New Zealand to dig: coal, oil, gas, rare earths. He calls out Green hypocrisy on electrification — you can't power everything while blocking every dam and mine — and points to the Think Big era as proof that long-term infrastructure investment works. He's scathing about the red tape strangling construction and the political class of career politicians who've never used their hands.
The conversation ranges wide: New Zealand needs a bigger Pacific footprint or China fills the vacuum; Bainimarama's Fiji has lessons for us on constitutional reform and one-nation politics; the civil service blob is the real government and changing the party in power changes nothing until ministers are willing to appoint and sack their own people. On COVID, another inquiry won't get anywhere — the system prevents it.
He closes with a simple pitch: voters are sick of being lied to. Any politician promising to fix New Zealand in three years is lying. The honest message is we're fixing it for our grandkids, not ourselves. Plain speakers, not riddle speakers.
CHAPTER TIMINGS
00:02:00 Prosperous NZ = good for Maori
00:03:14 Background — dyslexia, left school at 13
00:04:29 Upbringing in Kaiapoi
00:05:31 His father's work ethic
00:07:25 The only person who will save you is yourself
00:08:52 Free speech — it's not 2020 anymore
00:09:22 Racist abuse from Maori toward Maori
00:11:22 Is NZ racist? Two Maori Deputy PMs
00:12:39 The only thing holding Maori back is themselves
00:13:02 Te Pāti Maori's victim business model
00:15:02 Leadership is sitting at the table
00:15:45 The Treaty — three articles, no principles
00:16:58 Property rights vs holding NZ to ransom
00:17:16 The taniwha tax — $350M, $150M, $100M
00:18:46 Billy T. James was ahead of his time
00:20:07 Ngai Tahu — settlement should draw a line
00:21:14 Santana mine — opposed only when demands weren't met
00:23:09 If it's so tapu why is it $150M?
00:24:01 Extortion is extortion
00:25:01 Better model: royalties, equity, labour hire
00:25:43 Sea Lord — are Maori on the boats?
00:26:41 Iwi corporates — no long-term people plan
00:28:09 Hapu farm — gates used as hangi pits
00:30:51 Moriori — not Maori, completely different
00:31:45 1835 — stolen ship, genocide at the Chathams
00:33:05 Rewriting Moriori history
00:33:22 Maori are not indigenous
00:34:26 Cultural evolution — can't be stuck
00:37:12 We're just Kiwis
00:37:20 Coming back after COVID — a divided country
00:39:22 National and Labour — a tissue's worth of difference
00:40:07 Labour has abused Maori votes for 100 years
00:41:02 Ardern split the country
00:41:39 Why Billy backed NZ First
00:41:54 NZF at 20% changes everything
00:42:25 National's hatred of Peters — 30 years in the DNA
00:42:51 National manages the decline, nothing more
00:43:15 Dig the coal
00:43:36 Waitaha Dam — the treaty or the frog?
00:47:58 Electrify everything, build nothing — Green hypocrisy
00:48:28 EVs — expensive, grid can't cope
00:49:47 NI-SI cable at capacity — $2B to fix
00:50:19 EVs export our problems overseas
00:50:55 Ditch net zero — dig oil, gas, rare earths
00:51:16 Real wins: clean water, ban microplastics
00:52:05 Lake Rotorua nitrates — a fixable problem
00:53:14 Not feeling good. Feeling smug.
00:53:27 Who votes Green?
00:53:48 NZ was an economic powerhouse in the 50s
00:55:08 Kiwi innovation killed by red tape
00:55:26 Road cones — 15% of a tender is compliance
00:56:36 Whangaparaoa tollway: 6 years for 5km
00:57:05 Otiha Valley busway — moved the bottleneck 4km
00:58:32 Think 12-24 years, not election cycles
00:59:06 Think Big — all opposed, all essential
00:59:41 Without Think Big: $10 a litre
01:00:31 NZ's Pacific footprint — stop lecturing
01:01:01 China filling the vacuum
01:03:29 Bainimarama — NZ boycotted, China moved in
01:06:28 Fiji's income: remittances and UN soldiers
01:15:06 One nation, one people
01:16:40 Frank's downfall — AG corruption
01:18:55 Should NZ become a republic?
01:19:42 The treaty blocks a republic
01:20:21 Bill of Rights should be primary legislation
01:21:01 Another COVID inquiry won't get anywhere
01:21:47 River of filth — we remember
01:22:00 We're changing managers, not government
01:22:44 The blob in action: the vape ban
01:25:08 Drain the swamp or nothing changes
01:25:54 Ministers need to appoint and sack
01:26:28 The mandarins — never held accountable
01:27:35 Willis's advisors were Robertson's advisors
01:28:57 The PSA — two messages, one Labour candidate
01:29:50 Labour: 40,000 more civil servants, worse services
01:30:20 Whanau Ora — Maori health didn't improve
01:30:52 Cigars, nicotine, strong men
01:31:38 Strong men, strong families, strong economy
01:32:27 Labour tells Maori they're feeble
01:33:40 National: remove Maori seats and I'll lose mine
01:35:02 Labour now represents elites, not workers
01:35:29 Winston rode a horse to school. Hipkins went to Wellington.
01:36:12 Everyday Kiwis back in Parliament
01:38:12 Luxon — rehearsed, empty
01:39:30 Plain speakers not riddle speakers
01:40:38 Fixing it for your grandkids
View all episodes
By Cam SlaterBilly Brown is a Māori/Moriori man from North Canterbury who left school at 13 with dyslexia and built himself from the ground up on work ethic and accountability. He argues that New Zealand is a genuine meritocracy — not a racist country — and that the biggest thing holding Māori back in 2026 isn't colonisation, it's the victim politics of Te Pāti Māori. He calls out iwi elites extracting hundreds of millions in "taniwha tax" from mining and infrastructure projects as extortion, and argues National and Labour are functionally identical managers of managed decline. He backs NZ First as the only real alternative.
On the economy, Brown wants New Zealand to dig: coal, oil, gas, rare earths. He calls out Green hypocrisy on electrification — you can't power everything while blocking every dam and mine — and points to the Think Big era as proof that long-term infrastructure investment works. He's scathing about the red tape strangling construction and the political class of career politicians who've never used their hands.
The conversation ranges wide: New Zealand needs a bigger Pacific footprint or China fills the vacuum; Bainimarama's Fiji has lessons for us on constitutional reform and one-nation politics; the civil service blob is the real government and changing the party in power changes nothing until ministers are willing to appoint and sack their own people. On COVID, another inquiry won't get anywhere — the system prevents it.
He closes with a simple pitch: voters are sick of being lied to. Any politician promising to fix New Zealand in three years is lying. The honest message is we're fixing it for our grandkids, not ourselves. Plain speakers, not riddle speakers.
CHAPTER TIMINGS
00:02:00 Prosperous NZ = good for Maori
00:03:14 Background — dyslexia, left school at 13
00:04:29 Upbringing in Kaiapoi
00:05:31 His father's work ethic
00:07:25 The only person who will save you is yourself
00:08:52 Free speech — it's not 2020 anymore
00:09:22 Racist abuse from Maori toward Maori
00:11:22 Is NZ racist? Two Maori Deputy PMs
00:12:39 The only thing holding Maori back is themselves
00:13:02 Te Pāti Maori's victim business model
00:15:02 Leadership is sitting at the table
00:15:45 The Treaty — three articles, no principles
00:16:58 Property rights vs holding NZ to ransom
00:17:16 The taniwha tax — $350M, $150M, $100M
00:18:46 Billy T. James was ahead of his time
00:20:07 Ngai Tahu — settlement should draw a line
00:21:14 Santana mine — opposed only when demands weren't met
00:23:09 If it's so tapu why is it $150M?
00:24:01 Extortion is extortion
00:25:01 Better model: royalties, equity, labour hire
00:25:43 Sea Lord — are Maori on the boats?
00:26:41 Iwi corporates — no long-term people plan
00:28:09 Hapu farm — gates used as hangi pits
00:30:51 Moriori — not Maori, completely different
00:31:45 1835 — stolen ship, genocide at the Chathams
00:33:05 Rewriting Moriori history
00:33:22 Maori are not indigenous
00:34:26 Cultural evolution — can't be stuck
00:37:12 We're just Kiwis
00:37:20 Coming back after COVID — a divided country
00:39:22 National and Labour — a tissue's worth of difference
00:40:07 Labour has abused Maori votes for 100 years
00:41:02 Ardern split the country
00:41:39 Why Billy backed NZ First
00:41:54 NZF at 20% changes everything
00:42:25 National's hatred of Peters — 30 years in the DNA
00:42:51 National manages the decline, nothing more
00:43:15 Dig the coal
00:43:36 Waitaha Dam — the treaty or the frog?
00:47:58 Electrify everything, build nothing — Green hypocrisy
00:48:28 EVs — expensive, grid can't cope
00:49:47 NI-SI cable at capacity — $2B to fix
00:50:19 EVs export our problems overseas
00:50:55 Ditch net zero — dig oil, gas, rare earths
00:51:16 Real wins: clean water, ban microplastics
00:52:05 Lake Rotorua nitrates — a fixable problem
00:53:14 Not feeling good. Feeling smug.
00:53:27 Who votes Green?
00:53:48 NZ was an economic powerhouse in the 50s
00:55:08 Kiwi innovation killed by red tape
00:55:26 Road cones — 15% of a tender is compliance
00:56:36 Whangaparaoa tollway: 6 years for 5km
00:57:05 Otiha Valley busway — moved the bottleneck 4km
00:58:32 Think 12-24 years, not election cycles
00:59:06 Think Big — all opposed, all essential
00:59:41 Without Think Big: $10 a litre
01:00:31 NZ's Pacific footprint — stop lecturing
01:01:01 China filling the vacuum
01:03:29 Bainimarama — NZ boycotted, China moved in
01:06:28 Fiji's income: remittances and UN soldiers
01:15:06 One nation, one people
01:16:40 Frank's downfall — AG corruption
01:18:55 Should NZ become a republic?
01:19:42 The treaty blocks a republic
01:20:21 Bill of Rights should be primary legislation
01:21:01 Another COVID inquiry won't get anywhere
01:21:47 River of filth — we remember
01:22:00 We're changing managers, not government
01:22:44 The blob in action: the vape ban
01:25:08 Drain the swamp or nothing changes
01:25:54 Ministers need to appoint and sack
01:26:28 The mandarins — never held accountable
01:27:35 Willis's advisors were Robertson's advisors
01:28:57 The PSA — two messages, one Labour candidate
01:29:50 Labour: 40,000 more civil servants, worse services
01:30:20 Whanau Ora — Maori health didn't improve
01:30:52 Cigars, nicotine, strong men
01:31:38 Strong men, strong families, strong economy
01:32:27 Labour tells Maori they're feeble
01:33:40 National: remove Maori seats and I'll lose mine
01:35:02 Labour now represents elites, not workers
01:35:29 Winston rode a horse to school. Hipkins went to Wellington.
01:36:12 Everyday Kiwis back in Parliament
01:38:12 Luxon — rehearsed, empty
01:39:30 Plain speakers not riddle speakers
01:40:38 Fixing it for your grandkids