The coalition government has lost its way after the burst of policy in its first 100 days. So Jacinda Ardern's return this weekend signals a key moment in its life... and its path to 2020
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Making sense of the Winston (six week) era
Late on Thursday night Winston Peters will turn back into a minor party pumpkin... or, um, Foreign Minister. So how do we judge his rein as PM? The Winston weeks... the Peters period...How do we make sense of this political epoch?
Read MoreWho do we think we are? The free speech debate
Debating the rights and wrongs of rights starts with the acknowledgement there is no right and wrong... so where do you draw the line?
Read MoreFreedom of speech means what we want it to mean
In New Zealand, freedom of speech doesn't have to be, and currently isn't, exclusively concerned with preventing the state from punishing people for speech. Nevertheless, people sometimes claim that freedom of speech has to take on that narrow meaning.
Read MoreThe unnecessary martyrdom of Southern & Molyneux and the need to win the argument
The national debate over free speech is in many ways a sucker punch - "Squirrel!" - that has drawn our view away from the equally important job of winning the argument against the racist and ignorant views being expressed by the alt-right commentators
Read MoreSouthern and Molyneux: hard questions and no easy answers
As a society, must we let obnoxious provocateurs have a public stage? How do we decide when others must bear the burden of their speech?
Read MoreTOP, we hardly knew ye
Want to understand why Gareth morgan's TOP didn't work? Take a look at the world of professional wrestling. AKA Too woke for talkback town, too talkback for woke town.
Read MoreState of the Union: The 'when a child is born' version
The birth of a child is almost always a joyous event, but it's especially so for a government that desperately needs the time-out to re-set itself and rediscover its discipline and competence
Read MoreGreens in mortal danger
The Green's water bottling decision exposes potentially fatal flaws and complacency at the heart of Green Parliamentary operations
Read MoreMore questions from the Nicky Hager case
Our police force are yet to fully discharged their duty in the Dirty Politics case, which raises further questions about government agencies' respect for journalism
Read MoreWhy the police's apology to Nicky Hager matters
In the wake of the publication of Dirty Politics back in 2014, the New Zealand Police undertook multiple unlawful breaches of Nicky Hager's privacy. They've now apologised for that - but the important thing is to make sure it does not ever happen again.
Read MoreMeth house clean-up only just begun
I started this blog post wanting to layout the issues left unresolved after a week of reportage on meth houses. I finished it furious at the inept government response, not just since 2016, but since the report was released. Phil Twyford has work to do
Read MoreNew welfare taskforce is a slow train... but on which track?
Will the Welfare Expert Advisory Group be simply an excuse for inaction, or an exercise in transformation? Sadly, we will have to wait a while to see
Read MoreIt’s easy to be friends with one who shares the same opinions
There has been a call for a review of the Waitangi Tribunal based on a view that the Tribunal leans against the Crown in challenges to settlement negotiations. Lets just fact-check that.
Read MoreWhy can’t we all just get along?
Overlapping claims in Treaty settlements have been before the Supreme Court and raised on Parliament’s lawn this week. Here’s a quick explainer as to why these can be such difficult issues.
Read MoreBudget 2018: Backing empathy with steel?
Will the Budget truly stand behind the new kindness initiative? Here's a wish list to set the agenda
Read MoreWhere it is not necessary to change... take a seat
History doesn't always go in one direction, so why rush to abolish the Maori seats?
Read MoreRules of engagement: think of the children
Here's a rule for how you might – and might not – debate politics online. Ask yourself if youd say it in front of someone's children
Read MoreThe Budget whodunnit?
Two weeks out, Labour is positioning its first budget as a noble quest story in which it saves the nation from under-funding whilst also being super-responsible. But with questions about how it will try match its spending to its rhetoric, it feels more like a plot-twisting mystery
Read MoreOil be alright. But has Labour learnt the wrong lesson from its past?
Jacinda Ardern has drawn on our national pride in New Zealand's nuclear-free stance to rally support for her decision to end offshore oil drilling. But her announcement has echoes of Douglas and Prebble as much as Lange and Palmer
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