Prime Minister John Key’s big gig in
Politics
Don Brash: the right road to 2025
Dr Brash’s preliminary comments on his new productivity task force suggest it risks heading in the wrong direction. Its focus is GDP and economic growth. The path to the future is different
Read MoreThou whoreson H! Thou unnecessary letter!
To "H" or not to "H", that is the question. Or ... a town by any other name ... .
Read MoreAfghanistan – The return to secrecy
As Prime Minister John Key confirms the NZSAS is back in
Govt's Global Alliance a step towards prosperity and a change of tune
A link to my TVNZ blog, this week posting about the government's plan to lead the world in research into greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture
Read MoreSAS deployment: is the government making it up as it goes along?
Contradicting the convention on SAS deployments... Having no official advice on the Afghanistan elections... is the Key administration out of its depth on foreign policy?
Read MoreWobbly and messy
The benign winter is over but spring is proving autumnal for the Government
Read MoreEmissions trading: learn to count, and look before you leap
Emissions trading just got interesting, in ways the government probably didn’t intend. They’ve mastered the first lesson, but maybe not the second
Read MoreMayoral endorsements and shemozzles: Back Benches in Auckland
At Back Benches' Auckland special, a royal commissioner took aim at the local board structure and Len Brown got a major and surprising endorsement
Read MoreNational's border patrol lottery: biosecurity at risk
Biosecurity New Zealand is cutting the number of staff who protect us from pests and drug smugglers. It makes a lie out of National's 'money to the frontline' promises and is creating some unusual political bedfellows
Read MoreOur Afghanistan strategy – play it by ear
Official papers reveal our new strategy – or lack of it – for military involvement, civilian aid and international diplomacy in war-torn
Burying the lead
For all the government secrecy, it seems that the SAS is back in Afghanistan, ready to be sent to the frontline. It says so in the paper on, er, page 35, paragraph eight.
Read MoreReferendum Madness
Is it praiseworthy or plain dumb for a government to honour a stupid election promise?
Read MoreReturn of the overstayer
The overstayer issue is back on the political agenda with the Supreme Court decision that there are fundamental flaws in Immigration New Zealand’s removal processes
Letter to Laws: Kids are doin' it for themselves
The hypocrisy was bad enough, but Michael Laws' ignorance is worse. How dare he say that young New Zealanders can't come to their own conclusions about issues that matter to them
Read MoreWon't someone PLEASE think of the children?
New Zealanders have spent more than two years angsting over whether parents should be permitted to smack their children. Meanwhile, as a society, we've been failing our kids
Read MoreA poetic response to mining our national parks
For Gerry Brownlee (with apologies to A A Milne, the dormouse, the doctor, and Bad Sir Brian)
Read MoreA call to arms: Peters and Brown enter the battlefield
Winston Peters and Len Brown both made declarations of intent at the weekend that promise a battle royal on the right of New Zealand politics
Read MoreSuper-City needs super-glue
The rush to reshape
Mining the Crown jewels
By all means, let’s have a conservation conversation about mining for minerals in Schedule 4 protected areas – without hysteria, or spin
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