Wednesday, September 2, 2026

TOP’s rapid rise under scrutiny after Helen Clark’s ‘train wreck’ verdict

TOP polling
Helen Clark (L), Qiulae Wong (R).

Former prime minister Helen Clark has labelled Opportunity Party leader Qiulae Wong’s Q+A interview over the weekend a “train wreck,” criticising her defence of TOP’s positions as “fantasy posing as policy”.

Wong was also challenged over the party accepting more than $400,000 in large donations while proposing restrictions on them, and conceded its board could overrule elected MPs in some circumstances.



With TOP reaching 8% in recent polls, RCR’s Fourth Estate panel examined the party’s sudden rise and asked how much of its growing support is being driven by media coverage and strategic PR. Read more at Chris Lynch Media or watch The Fourth Estate on RCR.

This story has been republished with permission from RCR Bites. For news like this direct and free to your Inbox every day, go to biteme.news to sign up for RCR Bites.

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28 COMMENTS

    • Clark has a lot of experience with train wrecks… at her failed attempt at UN Sec-Gen bid, and her failed leadership on Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response which had zero effect on COVID times.

  1. Auckland’s propertied classes must be having apoplectic fits as to the land taxes proposed by the communist party aka as opportunity party.

  2. Opportunity Party polling higher and higher. Health practices bringing back covid-era masking and social distancing for surging respiratory illness.
    Fast- tracking residential subdivision without sewerage connection for 7 years.

    How retarded is New Zealand?

  3. The TOP Party just wants to turn this country into one giant }reverse mortgage. We’ll own nothing and be really F’ing pissed off. After years of blood sweat and tears that these lazy millennial grifters couldn’t be bothered doing. Living up to their “I want it now” traits.

    • You have it in one, well said. Yeah, we are leaving, they want to crush the middle class without asking what comes after they have robbed us all blind with excessive taation. Who’s going to pay for all the free loading then?

  4. Had a couple of exchanges with Clarke. Clever woman. That said, I don’t agree with her on many issues. In this case however, she and I are on the same page. TOP I wouldn’t touch with a barge pole. The land value tax they are proposing is downright vicious and will hurt older Kiwi’s in particular. They come across as yet another mainstream party, after all the MSM are wiling to talk to them, which, to my mind, is never a good sign.

  5. Everyone should be concerned, this LVT nonsense will hit older Kiwi’s really hard and play to banks with their reverse mortgages. I’d never ever give them my vote.

  6. Would not be surprised if George Soros is some where helping to fund this extreme left party, as his motive is to destroy the West.

  7. When you think about it, the taxes we pay to the Government are for infrastructure like roads, hospitals, military, education, social welfare, regulation authorities, courts and justice, police, prisons and much more.

    Why is it we are told to pay separately for healthcare, toll roads, lawyers, education, government administration like appling for a passport. Filling fees at court, permits, licenses, parking fees and the list goes on and on?

    All the taxes collected from us, levies, fees, rates, gst, payee, withholding, registration, ongoing compliance training, tolls or whatever name you like to use has left business with much less income along with paying for accounting fees.

    And now we are told that some form of capital gains tax is on the horizon. I recall when GST was introduced was 10%, then it was 12 1/2% and now it’s 15%.

    It is no wonder that business have disappeared. That many people are unemployed. That people have sought employment in Australia.

    The missing 30 billion from the government accounts during the covid handouts is corruption. I was wondering why government authorities and police are not investigating where this public money is.

    It is a complete shambles. Where is the accountability? It’s hard to believe that the man responsible for that 30 billion is applying to be the next prime minister. Chris Hipkins should be questioned by police.

    • Exactly -someone needs to do “where’s the missing 30 billion’chippy’”? Billboards

      Another suggestion “chippys a liar”

      “labour are communists”

      Feel free to add to my suggestions……

  8. The j3ws can’t tolerate anyone scrutinising their donations and bribes to political parties.

    Yes. She’s one (in case you’re thick).

  9. TOP’s rise in the polls has been created by the media at the behest of the globalist owners of the media. The globalists are well aware that the betrayed voters from both the left and the right don’t trust national nor labour and hence use TOP as a political vehicle to attract those disgruntled votes by ensuring TOP pretends to be “centrist” willing to “work with either national or labour”. TOP will be a dismal flop on election day and the media should be held accountable for their electoral manipulation via their propaganda.

    • You nailed it.
      TOP is instituted to sponge up the wrath of the shafted population.
      “willing to “work with either national or labour” says it all.

  10. Train Wreck? Sounds more like a Gravy Train to me.

    TOP Policies

    TOP Major tax proposal

    Citizen’s Income: Almost every adult would receive up to $370 per week. Existing benefits would largely be replaced by this system, with additional support for people with extra needs.

    Land Value Tax: A proposed 1.75% annual tax on the value of land, rather than the buildings on it. TOP argues this would discourage land banking and property speculation and shift investment toward productive businesses.

    Housing impact: TOP says its modelling indicates that the land-tax reform could reduce house prices by approximately 10–15%, while increased construction would address the housing shortage.

    KiwiSaver 2.0: Compulsory retirement contributions would eventually reach 6% from employees and 6% from
    employers.

    Housing
    • More housing construction and higher-density development.
    • Simpler zoning and planning rules.
    • More mixed-use development.
    • Easier construction of tiny homes, sleepouts and extensions.
    • Greater use of off-site and modular construction.
    • Government support or underwriting for selected developments.
    • TOP argues New Zealand has a significant housing shortage and that house prices need to become more
    affordable.

    Energy
    TOP proposes a major expansion of renewable electricity, targeting about 30GW of additional renewable capacity by 2050. Its policy includes wind, solar, hydro and geothermal generation. TOP also opposes the proposed LNG import terminal and argues for greater reliance on domestically generated renewable energy.

    Crime and drugs
    • Decriminalise possession of drugs while keeping drug supply illegal.
    • Increase emphasis on treatment and rehabilitation.
    • Expand drug and mental-health courts.
    • Improve court and probation resources.
    • Focus more strongly on reducing repeated offences.

    Political position — in broad terms

    TOP can broadly be described as economically reformist, socially liberal, strongly environmental and evidence-focused. Its central economic argument is that New Zealand taxes productive activity and income heavily while allowing land and property wealth to accumulate. Its proposed response is to shift taxation toward land while providing a Citizen’s Income.

    • Yeah right, sounds like BS to me, with a side order of excessive taxation. The so called LVT ignores and adds to the massive amount of rates (essentially a land tax) people are already paying in NZ. Well ahead of Australia and even the defunct UK. TOP more like Bottom. They and the rest of the mainstream party’s can take a running jump this election.

  11. RE-POSTED FROM ANOTHER DTNZ ARTICLE YESTERDAY THAT HAS DIRECT SUBJECT MATTER RELATING TO THE ABOVE ARTICLE..
    The ‘Noticing’ Watcher! August 17, 2026 At 8:33 am

    Remember the idea of those who vote- that after voting their party of choice should then take a sworn affidavit from the voter attesting to the fact that they did indeed vote for the party of their choice, and then the votes had better match the number of affidavits!
    Political parties do NOT need to be lazy this (s)el-ection! Make the extra effort tosecure a just and proper vote count!

    “Those who cast the votes decide nothing…those who count the votes decide everything!” – *Joseph Stalin
    (*REAL J3wi$h name; Iosif Vissarionivich Dzhugashvili – a petty criminal & burglar before entering poliTICKS!)

    I wonder IF the same PTB modus operandi also didn’t happen in the Tamaki Makaurau (s)el-ection: that is the (s)el-ection that Kelvyn Alp from the NZ Loyal Party contested…

    On yesterday’s Q&A, Jack Tame really tore into the Opportunity Party ‘leader’..and for good reason!
    You can read about how dangerous the Opportunity Party is below….
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opportunity_Party_(New_Zealand)
    This is who Wong worked for prior to becoming the ‘leader’ of the Opportunity Party;
    === https://kpmg.com/cn/en/services/global-china-practice.html===
    More info via A.I…

    Qiulae “Q” Wong
    Full Name: Qiulae Wong (pronounced /ˈkjuː.leɪ/), commonly known as “Q”

    Background:

    Born: May 1988 in Fiji; holds New Zealand citizenship
    Education: University of Auckland
    Career: Previously worked at KPMG New Zealand (as Associate Director) and served as director of the New Zealand branch of B-Lab (an organization certifying benefit corporations focused on social and environmental impact) (Covid Vaccine approvals??)

    Political Role:

    Current Position: Leader of The Opportunity Party (TOP) since November 2025
    Deputy Leader: Daniel Eb
    Electorate: Contesting Mt. Albert seat

    The initial founder of the Opportunity Party was ‘economist’ Gareth Morgan, who wanted to eliminate all cats from NZ…
    What Happened in 2013

    Gareth Morgan’s Proposal:

    In 2013, economist and philanthropist Gareth Morgan publicly called for the eradication of domestic and feral cats from New Zealand
    Through his Morgan Foundation, he promoted this campaign arguing that free-roaming cats were responsible for the extinction of nine native bird species and were threatening approximately 33 more native species
    He urged cat owners to neuter their pets (“desex”) and advocated for a coordinated trap-neuter-release program aimed at eliminating feral cat populations
    He famously referred to cats as “killer balls of fluff”

    Public Reaction:

    The proposal sparked significant public backlash and anger from cat lovers across New Zealand
    Nearly half of New Zealand households have cats, making New Zealanders among the world’s biggest cat owners
    The campaign generated intense debate about balancing wildlife conservation with pet ownership rights

    Opportunity Party Clarification

    Later clarification from The Opportunity Party indicated:

    The party itself never had an official policy to kill all cats
    Their position was refined to support the removal/eradication of feral cats specifically rather than a blanket ban on all pet cats
    Morgan’s stance remained more extreme than the eventual party platform

    ANY POLITICIAN OR APPOINTED ‘LEADER’ WHO DELIBERATELY KILLS ANIMALS OR CALLS FOR THE SAME, AND ABUSES THE SAME WILL EVENTUALLY KILL HUMANS.!! This is a noteworthy behaviour pattern of serial killers, psychopaths, and politicians!
    Compare this to the below;
    https://www.youtube.com/shorts/0NFa2EXHdf8

    This November, VOTE FOR THE NEW ZEALAND LOYAL PARTY!
    Reply
    Anonymous August 17, 2026 At 12:35 pm

    The Opportunity Party will Tax everybody off their land
    One estimate for a house in Auckland was $13,000
    You will Own nothing and be very pissed off
    Reply
    Anonymous August 17, 2026 At 1:11 pm

    The Mainstream media tell everyone this year is different you have to register to enroll before you can vote what about the people that don’t enroll or vote next minute somebody else registers them behind closed doors for a particular party with out there knowledge or any oversight to push out the smaller parties 🥳
    Reply

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    • One interesting item that the ugly on the inside <Morgan family should know is:
      ● Cats provide a stabilising behavioural and olfactory barrier that suppresses rodent
      breeding.
      ● Removing sterilised colonies leads to rodent surges that cause greater ecological
      harm than managed cat colonies.

  12. As usual, the PTB Global Government piss-ants pulled this TOP Party out of it’s ass and is attempting to resurrect the same!
    In the meantime, the New Zealand Loyal Party is DELIBERATELY IGNORED, DISENFRANCHISED FROM ANY MEDIA COVERAGE, ALONG WITH COUNTERSPIN MEDIA, AND THE LOYAL PARTY MEMBERS ARE BEING DE-BANKED, HAVE HAD TO FILE FOR BANKRUPTCY DUE TO HAVING TO DEFEND AGAINST FAUX CHARGES RELATING TO THE CHCH MASSACRE, AND NO DOUBT WILL SUFFER FROM ‘MISCOUNTED’ VOTES AFTER THE POLLS CLOSE!

    Kelvyn Alp’s Bankruptcy: A Corrupt Establishment Hit Job
    July 4, 2026 Published by Secretary

    Claims circulating online that New Zealand Loyal leader Kelvyn Alp is ineligible to stand in the election are false.

    Attorney General Judith Collins signed off on Alp’s bankruptcy as one of her final acts in office before fleeing politics to the Law Society.

    It stemmed from a lawsuit over his false arrest. The presiding judge – a former senior police advisor – ruled that police can act on false information in their system without any duty to verify it, granting them full indemnity.

    “The corrupt system protected its own. Justice was denied,” Alp said. “I am able to contest the 2026 Election, and I will deliver justice for all who have been wronged by the system.”

    “Perhaps the New Nation Party should read the Electoral Act before publishing confident legal claims about it.”

    Section 47(1) of the Electoral Act 1993 states that a person registered as an elector is qualified to stand as either an electorate or party-list candidate. Sections 47(2) and 47(3) add that the person must not be disqualified from electoral registration and must be a New Zealand citizen.

    Section 80 then specifies the disqualifications from electoral registration.

    Undischarged bankruptcy is not one of them.

    The Act contains no provision disqualifying an undischarged bankrupt from standing for Parliament. The Electoral Commission likewise states that a candidate must be enrolled to vote and be a New Zealand citizen by the nomination deadline.

    So the assertion that Kelvyn Alp “likely cannot stand” because he is bankrupt is not an interpretation of the legislation. It is simply made up.

    This is elementary statutory checking. A political party making public claims about electoral law should perhaps bother to read the sections it invokes before lecturing anyone else about eligibility.
    Secretary – avatar
    About the author: Secretary
    NZ Loyal Secretary

    AND-

    New Zealand Government: Above the Law, Guilty of Cover-Up, and Laughing at You
    May 1, 2026 Published by Kelvyn Alp

    The New Zealand state can literally get away with murder – and they’re proving it right now.

    On March 15, 2019, the Christchurch Mosque attacks shook the nation. Fifty-one people died. The world watched in horror as the ‘livestream’ captured the ‘terrorist act’. Or did it?

    A detailed forensic video analysis – conducted outside New Zealand because the evidence itself is banned here – has concluded with absolute certainty: the official video is fake. Staged. Zero real victims visible. Anomalies in recoil, ballistics, blood, injuries, digital manipulation, and replica-style weapons that scream Hollywood production, not raw reality. This isn’t speculation. It’s forensic examination by experts who examined the footage frame by frame.

    And what did our government do? They didn’t investigate. They didn’t debate. They banned it. Under the Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act, possessing, viewing, or sharing the video became a criminal offence – punishable by up to 14 years in prison. They classified it “objectionable” faster than you can say “damage control.” The manifesto too. Evidence suppressed by decree.

    This is the same system that can deem something as benign as a Winnie the Pooh reference or image “objectionable” if it suits their filters. Think about that: cartoon bears can be criminalised, but questioning the state’s narrative on the worst terrorist attack in our history? That’s dangerous thoughtcrime. The people are not allowed to see, judge, or impart the raw evidence for themselves. Free speech, public scrutiny, and the right to evidence? Mocked and crushed.

    This is not about protecting the public. This is the system protecting itself. Self-preservation at all costs. Legislation rushed through to censor anything that challenges the official story. Complicity in whatever truly transpired that day is being shielded by the full force of the state apparatus – police, politicians, censors, and compliant media.

    Every politician has seen the forensic report. Every major media outlet, including the so-called “alternative” ones. The Police Commissioner. They all received it. With the exception of The Daily Telegraph NZ – Not one has uttered a word. Silence. Complicity by omission. Who exactly are they working for? The public they claim to serve, or the machine that keeps them in power and protected?

    The same pattern repeats with the COVID jab rollout. Questions about excess deaths, adverse events, and the aggressive mandates were met with heavy-handed censorship, dismissal of data, and attacks on anyone raising concerns. Official narratives were protected at all costs, while dissenting voices – including those with legitimate data – were silenced or punished. Just like Christchurch, inconvenient truths about the jab were buried to shield the elites who pushed the rollout.

    We see this theatre time and again. Take the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State Care. We all know the horrific truth: systemic abuse of the most vulnerable over decades. The evidence was overwhelming. Yet the response from the government and state apparatus has been classic lip-service – public apologies, vague promises of “redress,” and carefully worded reports that ultimately protect the guilty parties within the system. Real accountability? Almost none. The club of criminal elites looks after its own.

    As a journalist holding power to account, I’ve been targeted for simply demanding transparency on these issues. Lawyers? Their hands are tied within the very framework the state designed to maintain the illusion of justice. They operate inside the system; rocking the boat too hard risks their place in it. If you’re connected to the state apparatus, crime pays very well. For the rest of us? Dissent is rebranded as extremism.

    The Christchurch cover-up exposes the rot: No organised resistance succeeds because the rules are rigged. They write the laws, control the narrative, classify the evidence, and punish those who dare look behind the curtain. They used the tragedy to push gun control, online censorship, and “hate speech” expansions while burying inconvenient truths.

    New Zealanders, wake up. This isn’t governance – it’s a protection racket. The emperor has no clothes, and the video they banned proves the official story is a fabrication. Demand the forensic report be addressed publicly. Demand answers, not bans. Demand the right to see evidence and decide for yourself.

    If they can fake or censor Christchurch, bury the real story on the jab rollout, and turn a Royal Commission into another whitewash, what else are they hiding? The system isn’t broken. It is working exactly as designed – for them, not you.

    Share this before they try to memory-hole it too. The truth doesn’t fear investigation. Only liars do.
    Leader – avatar
    About the author: Leader

    AND-

    NZ Loyal De-Banked!
    April 28, 2025 Published by Secretary

    NZ Loyal is now completely de-banked, following unprecedented obstruction from the banking industry toward the political party.

    Since 2024, the NZ Loyal board has been applying to open an official bank account for the party. In most cases banks have taken weeks or months to process the application before ultimately rejecting it under the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009. NZ Loyal has been completely de-banked by ASB, Kiwibank and NBS. Co-op and SBS were also unable to proceed with our application.

    According to the banks, political parties and Politically Exposed Persons are a risk for money laundering and financing of terrorism. Without a shred of evidence, banks can now imply a criminal risk exists simply because they disagree with their customer’s political opinions. They now have the power to undermine a political party’s ability to collect the membership payments required to register in the next election!

    This matter is being referred to the Banking Ombudsman for urgent consideration. There is a very real possibility that NZ Loyal, a political party in a democratic society, may be completely forbidden from holding a bank account in New Zealand altogether. This has a chilling effect on democracy, which could disenfranchise over 34,000 Kiwi’s who voted for us in 2023.
    Secretary – avatar
    About the author: Secretary

    These reasons are why many will be voting for the New Zealand Loyal party in November- any party that suffers the way Loyal & it’s leaders and candidates have due to being persecuted, prosecuted and disenfranchised HAS MY VOTE!!!

    IMAGINE THE BLOWBACK BITCHING IF THIS HAD HAPPENED TO THE GREENS, MAORI, ETC.

  13. I think TOP are going to get several candidates elected with ease. It will be the $370 a week non-taxable Citizens Income. There are far too many people in this country who have been badly treated by WINZ or whatever it is called, young men and women who honestly want to work and cannot get a job. Then Luxon brings in too any immigrants and reduces the hope of young people for entry level jobs so – back to WINZ. TOP candidates are correct when they talk about an automatic, unquestioned weekly payment retaining dignity, something political parties could have done in the past fifty years but didn’t. Farmers, fisheries and agriculture in general have focussed on exports as though this country was their own little fiefdom, while working people struggle to put food on the table. Nothing done about supermarket prices in over four years. Government owns 51% of major energy providers and could do something to reduce costs but why when they are making so much money?
    None of TOP’s policies will be implemented until 2029 anyway and then beginning with the 18-29 group which may well be their major voting base although funding the CI by eliminating the WINZ bueaucracy will be a pleasure at least half New Zealand will enjoy seeing. Superannuitants will probably be hardest hit. Nobody will care.
    And for those who thought about voting Labour in spite of the fact that that party’s leader should be in jail for life,
    former MP Rivers of Filth Michael Wood has announced his bid to return to politics. Standing for Labour in Mt Roskill. The most rank hypocrite of rank hypocrites with a big speech about how he has learnt his lesson. He hasn’t learnt it hard enough for me!

  14. I view some of these posts as free political campaigning.

    For the most part, people vote for the political party they have always voted for. An exception to this is covid. People who previously voted Labour, dumped them.

    Arrogance. It was nothing for Luxon to agree with a town who voted to remove fluoride from their water. Now his party is paying the fee.

    Hipkins. People are still harmed or dead for taking the vax. He is damaged goods. They need a clean out of those politicians.

    People vote for a party that best suits the outcome or should I say income.

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