The case of the latest MP in trouble shows once again how perilous it is to risk becoming an MP -- and how party selection processes militate for MPs who are 'safe', to the detriment of democracy
Read MorePolitics
Quakes & Hades: What John Key and Ken Ring share
The Budget - zero or otherwise- has suddenly become even more important than ever, as the government tries to borrow without incurring debt and cut spending without taking money from the economy
Read MoreCuriouser and curiouser: Government u-turns on austerity measures and tax cuts
The government’s austerity measures are exactly what they ruled out in 2009. And so is their defence of cutting taxes in a fiscal hole. This tells us more about backroom dealings in the Beehive than about a good plan to get New Zealand back on track.
Read MoreNuclear policy meltdown
Assuming nuclear-generated power for New Zealand is a non-issue, what should be our stance on it globally?
Read MoreThere's glory for you!
There'll be a lot of silliness before National's foreshore and seabed law gets passed. Here's my contribution.
Read MoreImagining a green manifesto
The Greens’ policy platform needs as much rebuilding as any other party’s, to make it strong and sustainable
Read MoreBaby farms & welfare mums
Huge changes are being made to early childhood education under the cover of the earthquake, as the government warms up for welfare reform
Read MoreFarrar and Cactus appoint themselves taste police
How soon is too soon to ask the government how it intends to pay for rebuilding Christchurch? A spat has broken out on the blogs about where politics starts and stops, but who's kidding whom?
Read MoreReluctant Keynesians shaken into spending - again
The earthquake will ask some tough questions of all politicians this year - What will they cut? How much can they borrow? Either way, the government's austerity plans are on hold
Read MoreMeet James Shaw, Wellington Central Green candidate
In the Wellington Central electorate, Green candidate James Shaw is challenging Green stereotypes. “Give up your old prejudices,” he says, because it takes all kinds to save a world, including kinds like him
Read MoreRebstock report a little ripper
From eugenics to workfare, the Welfare Working Group report released on Tuesday has the potential to destroy lives, hopes - and our welfare system itself
Read MoreSometimes an emergency really is just an emergency
I know everything is political. But not every political decision is partisan.
Read MoreKyrie, eleison
There isn't much I can say about Christchurch's pain that we don't all know already. So this is a post about something a lot less important - politics.
Read MoreWhat does John Key's BMW screw-up remind me of?
Tough as it may be to blame the PM for what looks like an extravagent car upgrade, it's the sort of mud that sticks and recalls another car-related mess and another PM's pleas of ignorance
Read MoreI still choose to lose the way I like
John Key thinks that people using food banks are engaged in a lifestyle choice. So where's the evidence?
Read MoreWould a poll of any other words smell as sweet?
A dinner-time phone call from a Tory pollster sparks some thoughts about the wording of political questions and the biases that appear between the words
Read MoreThe proposed Regulatory Responsibility Bill shouldn't be enacted
Why the Government’s proposed Regulatory Responsibility Bill is ill-founded, constitutionally radical, and likelyto hurt democracy.
Read MoreGoodby patience... and goodbye Hone Harawira?
Rush, rush rush... if only the protagonists in the Maori Party squabble could taiho they may find a way to reconcile. But the political timetable is pushing them towards division
Read MoreAnd now the storm-blast came, and he Was tyrannous and strong
"Day after day, day after day, we stuck, nor breath nor motion; As idle as a painted ship Upon a painted ocean." Could this be Hone Harawira's parliamentary fate?
Read MorePolling trends are bad crystal balls
When a pundit says "if this trend continues to the election," stop listening
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