Articles

When the UN Refugee Convention was passed in 1951, climate change was unimaginable. In those days and in the shadow of WWII, the focus was […]

The charade of bogus “independence” by the Remuneration Authority has produced the latest round of backdated Christmas bonuses for MPs, Cabinet Ministers and the Prime […]

The controversial Texas oil company Anadarko are due to commence exploration drilling off the coast of Raglan this week. Now, you would think that any […]

The last time Air New Zealand got into serious trouble was through its investment in Ansett Australia during the late 1990s – an investment touted […]

Another coronial inquiry into a series of deaths from quad bikes, another call for better safety protection measures to be put in place: The coroner’s […]

It will not be until December, when the article on the Lombard case by retired judge Ted Thomas is finally published, that anyone one can […]

Is there any New Zealander who doesn’t like Kiwibank? From the outset, Kiwibank has introduced fresh competition into banking in this country, and – although […]

It seems to be a basic law of political thermodynamics that centre left parties can only ‘lurch’ or ‘swing’ when they begin to sound more […]

Not many winners in the NSA spy scandal, are there? Oh sure, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been reaping some political applause at home for […]

A curiously meandering interview on RNZ’s Business programme by Reserve Bank governor Graeme Wheeler, this morning. During it, Wheeler shed crocodile tears on behalf of […]

So only 62,000 investors have lined up to buy Meridian, even at the rock bottom price of $1.50 a share. That’s even after the process […]

According to Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce, Team New Zealand “is not a job for life” but it certainly seems the next best thing to […]

A lot of the time, policing is a difficult and unpleasant job and when its done well, the Police get little credit for doing it. […]

The defence that John Banks has been offering to the charges of electoral fraud – that he didn’t read the document he signed, and therefore […]

Leaving aside the tawdry details of Auckland mayor Len Brown’s extramarital affair, the oddest feature is the timing of the revelations. By Brown’s own account […]

It seems incredible that a tiny faction of the Republican opposition in the US Senate can hold to ransom the entire country – and the […]

The style of David Cunliffe’s speech to the Council of Trade Unions conference yesterday was almost as important as the content. Plainly, Labour now has […]

How is this for a ‘cart before the horse’ notion of democracy, as practiced by the Key government? From the NZ Herald this morning: [Prime […]

Surely, isn’t it time for the Republican Party to be designated as a terrorist organisation? Their current shutdown of the federal government has been bad […]

Prime Minister John Key’s speech to the United Nations was aimed mainly at the audience back home, in a plucky, we’re punching above our weight […]

Like a dog with a bone, the media can’t seem to let a good angle about the Labour team reshuffle die without a fight. It […]

Yesterday’s attempts by Conservation Minister Nick Smith to nitpick his way out of the Ruataniwha scandal seem to have reached a stalemate. Smith continues to […]

The Ruataniwha dam proposed for Hawke’s Bay has been controversial on a number of counts, but the issues involved have just cranked up a whole […]

The decision to proceed with the share float of Meridian Energy is outrageous enough, given that a referendum on the entire asset sales programme is […]

Finally, David Cunliffe can begin the task of rebuilding and repositioning the Labour Party that should have occurred at the end of the Helen Clark […]

It goes without saying that Labour supporters don’t like Prime Minister John Key very much. And since it will be Labour Party members, unions and […]

As Prime Minister John Key said at yesterday’s post-Cabinet press conference, the briefings on Syria and the exchanges of views New Zealand has been engaged […]

In Papal elections, the front-runner is often doomed to disappointment, as the weaker factions combine and wear the main contender down. Not always (e.g. Pius […]