Most New Zealanders think they've seen the back of legal highs (outside the black market), but the fact is they will be back one day... but the politics is fascinating
Read MorePolitics
Strong New Zealand dollar doesn't mean strong New Zealand economy; it just means our interest rates are higher
What we are witnessing is an old fashioned ideological debate, dressed up as economics.
The high dollar and its causes suit people who have a lot of New Zealand-denominated wealth; a lower dollar is better for producers - people who use capital to earn money.
Read MoreThe lark's on the wing; The snail's on the thorn
The Planet Key song and video can be watched, played on the radio and shown on TV without any restrictions at all. It's great that a judge has been able to make the law say what it should do.
Read MoreJudgment day for Planet Key (the song, that is)
We're finally going to find out if we need to change how our election laws limit satirical speech ... after the period for submitting to Parliament on our election laws has ended.
Read MoreFilling the void left by Winston (until he comes back again)
What happens when (or if) Winston quits Parliament before he is declared the member for Northland? Nothing very much at all.
Read MoreFortune cookies for all parties in Northland
The loudest message went to National. The loudest clap was for Winston (not NZ First). But each party can take fortune cookies from the result in Northland this weekend.
First National. The secret of John Key's Teflon popularity; 'don’t be what we know you really are - Tories.' When National inhabits the centre ground, and behaves like a Labour-lite government, they're hard to beat.
After the rain has fallen: What does Northland mean?
Is the Northland by-election pothole just a flat tyre for National or is it a sign this political vehicle is running out of gas? Here are two things to keep an eye on once Winston's tempest has passed
Read MoreA post-Northland mea culpa
Goddam it - Winston Peters went and made a complete fool out of me. Did he have to do it so publicly?
Read MoreProcess, not pork the problem for National
Matthew Hooton’s jihad against Imam Steven Joyce and his pork-barrel Muldonism is legendary.
But in his desperation to find National party flag-bearers to fight the pork-pushers, he’s picked the wrong martyr.
Read MoreHow National is gift-wrapping Northland for Winston
National really is pulling out all the stops in Northland... they could hardly be doing more to help Winston Peters win
Read MoreOh go up to the king, and the sky is falling in
Even if National loses the Northland by-election (which I don't think it will), things won't change quite as much as voters are being told they will. So why all the forecasts of pestilence, blasting, mildew and locusts if Winston Peters wins?
Read MoreIf we're gonna go that way you're gonna need a bigger knife
David Seymour says he may take Winston Peters to court if he wins the Northland by-election. He doesn't really mean it.
Read MoreTo call each thing by its right name
Why did Mark Osborne get to tell Northland it was going to get ten new bridges that it might want, but doesn't appear to need? And why am I paying for him getting to do so?
Read MoreEverything to play for in Northland
Labour is in a bit of a pickle, but by opening the door for Winston is making life harder for National and ensuring and a close race in the North
Read MoreThe opposite of intervention isn’t peace
John Key hasn’t made the case for military intervention, which doesn’t mean there isn’t one.
Making the case means understanding what drives people to join ISIS and resisting the temptation to retro-fit our own causes onto theirs.
It means staring at the consequences of intervening - and not intervening.
It requires communicating clearly to New Zealanders, the legal premise for intervention, and telling us what peace looks like.
There are a few myths to debunk first.
Read MoreCuriouser and Curiouser
Jami-Lee Ross appears to be a quite exceptional candidate for the National Party. He does things in relation to money given to him that none of his colleagues do - albeit only in relation to one particular donation.
Read MoreAussie foreign minister says NZ's Iraq strategy plays into terrorists' hands
John Key has put a time limit on our stay in Iraq, but Australia isn't impressed with that kind of thinking, showing the Wellington-Canberra divide on Iraq
Read MoreYou can't have it both ways
The National Party's treatment of Donghua Liu's donation is strikingly at odds with with how it treated all the other donations it received. That's not only wrong, but it may even be illegal.
Read MoreGonna move on up to the waterfront
Auckland is again debating the future of its waterfront and port, but the truth is it doesn't all have to be decided now
Read MoreDoes Radio New Zealand Need a Television Channel?
Too much of our national media is located in Auckland and democracy suffers.
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