Politics
With popular support, a willing partner and many New Zealanders facing unemployment, now is the time for Labour to overhaul welfare. Instead, it has divided beneficiaries into the ‘deserving’ and ‘undeserving’
Read MoreTodd Muller was National’s inevitable leader who never was, until he became it, writes National Party insider Hamish Price.
Read MoreA leadership coup so close to a general election isn’t the ideal situation for a party in freefall but by electing Todd Muller as its new leader the National party may see a positive turnabout in fortune writes John Elliot.
Read MoreToday’s Budget 2020 was nothing like the one Finance Minister Grant Robertson was expecting to give two months ago. It’s a life-support budget, which in any normal year would guarantee an election loss, but instead could help shore up a Labour win
Read MoreAs we come out of lockdown. so does the economic freeze ray holding our economy in place wear off. Budget 2020 will be all about finding ways to minimise the brutal economic damage that is only just beginning
Read MoreThe email from the 9th floor telling ministers to ‘dismiss’ interview requests about thousands of pages of Covid-19 related decisions wasn’t just bad for government transparency, it was politically stupid
Read MoreHow the little country that could somehow did it again
Read MoreNew Zealand media were in trouble before Covid-19. But in a matter of weeks the situation has become much worse. Getting the media through the crisis will not be enough. Change is required.
Read MoreNew Zealanders are due to elect a Government in September. Will it be the way the Covid-19 crisis was handled or the creation of a new normal that will determine who wins?
Read MoreThe outcome will be Level Three or Level Four, but the decision itself is not a simple binary. The government has to balance many factors, not least the public’s state of mind
Read MoreA short, sharp curtailment of freedom might be better than a protracted, dull one.
Read MoreCOVID-19 has exposed Trump as not up to the job and America as a failing state. None of this is good for America or the world. Bob Dylan’s Murder Most Foul captures the mood of the times.
Read MoreCovid-19 is a crisis. Everyone agrees there is going to be a new normal. It is time to start saying what we want the future to look like.
Read MoreIt is imperative that government ministers not be the only people immune from the inevitable vicissitudes of the lockdown.
Read MoreIf we don’t have unity we must have sharp, focussed and vigorous opposition.
Read MoreTwo weeks ago Grant Robertson announced the coalition government’s $12.1 billion rescue package as “just the beginning”. So when do we get the next bit?
Read MoreLoyal opposition is no longer possible, so national unity is now required.
Read MoreIn times like these, the role of experts is too valuable to imperil through politics
Read MoreAt a time of crisis, voters look for leadership and politicians have permission to act in ways they are seldom able. Tomorrow’s economic package will test this government and could win or lose them the election.
Read MoreThe government needs to go big or go home. Here are a few things Liam Hehir hopes it plans to announce.
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