Incumbency is the super power every politician craves, yet this oddly muted new Labour-led government doesn't seem to have figured out how to use it yet. This week's mini-Budget is now crucial if it wants to position itself as a truly transformational government
Read MorePolitics
Opinion is killing journalism
The 'little men' of the modern media are dragging down a once respected profession because they lack the courage to maintain the standards journalists once held dear
Read MoreWe're getting the band back together!
Nostalgia acts are all the rage right now. The Golriz Ghahraman story gives us a chance to revisit the good old pre-2014 days of Dirty Politics.
Read MoreWhy does Don Brash think it is so important that we are one people?
Hearing the use of the Maori language on mainstream media during Maori Language Week provoked Don Brash to again demand that we be "one people" united in our Britishness. No doubt there are many people who agree with him. But is the tide of history leading to a more diverse society and is Maori language and culture becoming part of all of our lives?
Read MoreContra Quin: Ghahraman still did nothing wrong
Phil Quin says Golriz Ghahraman's time working for defendants in Rwandan war crimes trials deserves our condemnation. I don't think he's established the basis for such a claim.
Read MoreDid Golriz Ghahraman do anything wrong?
The job of an international human rights lawyer isn't always battling for the angels. Sometimes it involves having to look out for the interests of devils, as Golriz Ghahraman did.
Read MoreHow goes the revolution? Too soon to say
While they're still getting used to being taken seriously and driven around in limos, we've already seen some fumbles and fair play by the new government
Read MoreIn defence of discord
Kumbaya be damned... Labour needs to pull-up its big boy pants, thank National for its robust approach and get on with business. That is how you become a great government
Read MoreSimon Bridges thinks that Simon Bridges is eroding parliamentary democracy
Changes to parliamentary procedure that Simon Bridges helped craft and then explicitly championed while in Government now appear to be bad for National in opposition. So Simon Bridges thinks that they are the worst attack on democratic rights we have ever seen.
Read MoreWe can do better than this
A dislike of capitalism is something that unites the partners in the new government. They believe it has done more harm than good. But what do they actually mean? And what is their alternative? Over the next three years we will find out and whether our lives can be better.
Read MoreWell you picked your tree, now bark it up
The Labour-NZ First coalition deal proposes taking our electoral laws back to 2001-2005. I don't think thats a good place to revisit.
Read MoreSchrodinger's cat is Malawi's flag
Winston Peters' announcement that he will enter a coalition with Labour gives the 2017 election its final meaning. But it sounds like it was a very, very close run thing.
Read MoreThis is it - a government - soon - maybe
Maybe there will be a government this week. Maybe not. To fill the vacuum speculation is the only alternative.
Read MoreWhile we wait, a few lessons from the caretaker days
New Zealand will not fall apart while we wait for a government to be negotiated. But that does not mean we have to just accept a lack of respect for transparency and shouldn't expect better
Read MoreRelax - Winston Peters, Negotiations and getting the best from MMP
It has been 21 years since the first Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) election. But we do not seem to be learning how to get the best from the system. We are treating it like First-Past-the-Post (FPP). It is time to relax and play to strengths of MMP.
Read MoreThis much we know: It's a different kind of drag race
Amidst a pletohora of speculation around the government coalition talks, this weekend's final results made one thing very clear and Winston Peters knows it
Read MoreSchrodinger's election
Was the 2017 election a vote for change? Or was it an endorsement of the status quo? The answer is yes ... and no.
Read MoreThe numbers are in, let the politics begin
The official election results finally have been announced. They tell us what we thought they would - so now what will they mean?
Read MoreA worry-wort's guide to Election 17 - the Majors
While we wait for the specials to be counted and negotiations to begin, we can review what happened in Election 2017. A determinedly glass half-empty view of the results shows the big two parties have plenty to fret about
Read MoreExclusive: Winston weighs up which way to go
Pundit can reveal an exclusive report from inside Winston's head... We see what he's actually thinking
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