The way to get the Ports of Auckland back on track is for the Auckland City Council to step back, change its expectations and take the long view. As it stands, two key assumptions about the port are dragging it down
Read MoreGreat Digital Switch-On could be a Great Switch-Off for Regional TV
Our broadcasting bureaucrats are herding regional television broadcasters into using digital terrestrial transmission services. Unfortunately, the folks at home aren’t following their lead.
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Tuesday March 13
US Army sergeant kills 16 in Kandahar, provoking outrage in Afghanistan and retaliation threats; Personal revenge likely motivation, theorizes Pentagon; Bodies found in street after Homs masscare – but who's to blame? Japan struggling to rebuild one year on from tsunami and quake; Signs of weakness in Chinese economy; Pakistan wants to talk to terrorists; and more
Read MoreDavid Shearer steps out – says a lot & not much
The new Labour boss has read the public mood well by putting his name to limits on foreign ownership, but is playing his cards close to his chest on the policies that will define the first chapter of his leadership. So what policies are for the chop?
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Friday March 9
Syria's deputy oil minister defects from President Bashar al-Assad's regime and joins opposition; Chinese official accuses Uighur militants of having ties to Pakistan; Myanmar's military-backed government is holding peace talks with rebels; US investigates alleged drug running in Afghan air force; video on Ugandan rebel Joseph Kony goes viral; and more
Read MorePoll of Polls archive: 2008 to 2011
For your statistical, nostalgic pleasure.
Read MorePoll of Polls: Post election shake up
The first few polls of the new year and the new term are in, and together they suggest a markedly different political landscape has developed since the election.
Read MoreWomen under-represented as leaders in New Zealand - so what to do?
The first nation to give women the vote now has few women leading newspapers, businessness and political parties. So this international women's day, what can we do about that?
A Lange summer spent re-thinking asset sales
There are altenatives to selling off the SOEs, so why not look at some other options?
Read MoreWhat do we mean by "news media"?
This post from the Law Commission looks at the Review of Regulatory Gaps and the New Media issues paper. Please feel free to join the discussion
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Wednesday March 7
Netanayahu insists Iran is developing nuclear weapons, therefore Israel is justified in attacking Iran's nuclear facilities; Asian markets drop in response to China's slowing economic growth; Tibetan teen is latest to set fire to himself as protest against Beijing's Tibet policy; Syria consents to United Nations visit; thousands protest in Russia after Putin's win; and more
Read MoreAli Baba & the mining of New Zealand
The government says it wants to balance green growth with digging holes, but can we do both? Perhaps we should slow down, rather than end up somewhere we don't want to be
Read MoreOf 'sluts' and 'prostitutes' and...Rush
Talkshow host Rush Limbaugh has 'apologised' for his vicious, personal attack on a university student who dared to argue the case for public funding of women's contraceptive health...but it was how he did it that says so much more about him and his Republican party devotees....
Read MoreLooking abroad beyond the smoke of their own chimneys
Why is it that New Zealand's Supreme Court thinks that foreign law helps us know what our law should be?
Read MoreOn exactitude in democracy
The Electoral Commission has to review six aspects of MMP (plus whatever else the public puts before it). Here's my thoughts on the first issue: the thresholds for representation in Parliament.
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Tuesday February 28
Taliban launch suicide attack outside NATO air base in Afghanistan--nine Afghans killed; Julia Gillard defeats Kevin Rudd in leadership battle; US and South Korea launch joint military exercises on Korean peninsula; North Korea says it is ready for war; Saleh hands over power in Yemen; Bin Laden's Pakistan compound destroyed; G20 defer decision on Greece
Read MoreIran and Hollywood...a brilliant combo with real life lessons
An Iranian movie embraced by Hollywood no less, has poignancy for the sort of belligerence Ahmadinejad and Netanyahu are embroiled in...if only they could see what the Screen Actors Guild could.
Read MoreGillard v Rudd: understanding this fight to the death
With most of the difficult policy changes made, it seems Australian PM Julia Gillard is now tidying house. Opponent Kevin Rudd is being swept to the backbenches to clear the path to the 2013 elections
Read MoreOn the matter of coming 2nd and yet winning
The latest opinion polls raise the prospect of a scenario that's new to modern New Zealand politics – the party that comes second leading the government. And it's something we need to front early
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Thursday February 23
Homs crackdown continues for 20th day, as two foreign journalists killed; Analysis: the role of business owners and questions about military intervention; Rudd resigns prefacing battle for leadership of Australian Labor party; Iran denies nuclear inspectors access to plant; UN council to vote on more peacekeepers for Somalia; Cameron declares al-Shabab a "substatial" threat; and more
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