Fran O'Sullivan doesn't like it when commentators present their readers with "very thin analysis". Perhaps she ought to stop doing so, then.
Read MorePolitics
Goodbye Act, hello Libertarians
We already know there are 100,000 New Zealand voters willing to put a party into Parliament which upholds the principles of small government, choice, individual freedom and responsibility. Now that 'Brand Act' is well and truly stuffed, there's talk the Libertarianz Party might fill the vacuum.
Read MoreHow to pass national standards – according to Hekia Parata
In which I work my way through the minister's explanations of national standards and award myself a gold star for effort
Read MoreJohn Key risks being undone by first rule of politics
People won't change how they vote because some spies over-stepped the mark. But the Dotcom-GCSB saga still poses a threat to the government, one it can't afford to ignore
Read MoreWe got the power... So now what?
US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta's visit marks a turn in New Zealand-United States relations. We have won the cake and are getting to eat it too, but that doesn't mean there aren't still risks
Read MoreWelfare protest - back to the cells
Arrested for the first time in over a decade in protest against welfare reforms - a response to the critics - and I also stage a return to Pundit
Read MoreJust when I thought I was out, they pull me back in
National's "we know you are going to do bad things" law is now before the House. Can the people of Whanganui now sleep safe in their beds?
Read MoreWhy Key & Shearer BOTH need the Wizard of Oz
In which John Key plays the part of the scarecrow and David Shearer the cowardly lion
Read MoreWhy don't I have a right to know what I have a right to know?
John Banks knows who gave money to his mayoral campaign. We know John Banks knows who gave money to his mayoral campaign. So why don't we know who gave money to John Banks' mayoral campaign?
Read More“They Won’t Magically Turn You Into A Lustful Cockmonster”
Who says sport, politics and literature can't mix?
Read MoreAsylum seekers bill a boatload of needless nastiness
National says it's time to get tough with asylum seekers, to keep the boats at bay... Even though no boat has reached New Zealand. Ever
Read MoreTale of two speeches -- Michelle & Bill
Michelle Obama's speech at the Democratic convention never once mentioned her husband's opponents. Yet that's what it was all about. Bill Clinton's focused heavily on the Republicans, but was all about Obama
Read MoreThe price of water
Perhaps no-one can own the water, but it certainly has a high value
Read MoreParliament - the House of Representatives (even for the childless)
Parliament is supposed to be just that, the House of Representatives, its members a proxy for each and every one of us, warts and all. So sometimes we have to tolerate debates about subjects we might think are frivolous
Read MoreGet foliced! Now science is just a 'nice to have'
If a majority of submissions said dragons were the biggest risk to our nation's defence, would National change its foreign policy? Such are the questions that arise when a minister shrugs off science in favour of "listening"
Read MoreA sort of, quite limited defence of Stewart Murray Wilson
Yes ... Stewart Murray Wilson is a "Beast". But that doesn't mean you can treat him howsoever you want.
Read MoreSolutions to child poverty, easy as 1,2,3
Child poverty will be back on the radar this week, but will anything actually be done? If National's so determined to help the 1 in 6 in the education tail, what about the 1 in 5 without enough to make ends meet?
Read MorePush on or delay? National's defining, high stakes choice
Is National's plan to part-sell assets dead in the water? Or will is push ahead regardless of the Waitangi Tribunal's qualms and the risk of losing a coalition partner? As the Maori Party stakes out its ground, what happens next?
Read MoreIs someone trying to game the MMP review?
The Electoral Commission is in the midst of its second round of consultation on how to reform MMP. In recent days, it seems to be getting an oddly uniform message.
Read MoreLook - rape is rape, OK?
Male politicians, whether of the left or the right, should stop trying to tell women what rape really is.
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