Articles

Paula Bennett’s refusal to front up on National Radio this morning and discuss her latest spasm of beneficiary policy is symptomatic of her overall performance […]

Once upon a time, the APEC gathering of nations threatened to become a significant free trade bloc in its own right. Remember the Bogor Goals […]

Jobs, jobs, jobs. Gosh, who would have thought that if you cut government spending and jobs in the teeth of a recession, the economy would […]

Once again, when Parliament went into conscience vote mode last night on a contentious issue, the quality of debate markedly improved – as MPs briefly […]

When it comes to the Waitangi Tribunal ruling on water rights, Prime Minister John Key appears to be balancing midstream on two different logs that […]

Inequality is becoming ingrained in the culture. One of the more interesting ads on television is the long running one where a trio of All […]

Remember when the Law Commission was worried that young women were the prime targets of alcohol industry RTD alcopop advertising and promotion? Remember when the […]

Under its current operating rules, the New Zealand forces in Bamiyan have already been given authority by Cabinet to cross over into neighbouring regions such […]

The killing of three more New Zealand members of our Provincial Reconstruction Team by a roadside bomb in northern Bamiyan would seem to indicate that […]

As in so many international disputes, the key to the resolution of the Julian Assange asylum case is the United States. If the White House, […]

You don’t really have to be a theologian to know that if you’re truly sorry for doing something, repentance includes a commitment not to do […]

As expected, the MMP review proposal paper has come up with a trade-off between the two main voting thresholds. It suggests scrapping the one electorate […]

So the Olympics has come and gone amid the usual “These were the best Games ever” accolades that seem the automatic verdict issued every four […]

It has been quite a week for Labour, on three counts at least. First came the signs in the polls that the recent slide in […]

In the wake of the weekend’s deadly attack on New Zealand forces in Afghanistan, the interesting aspect of the political response has been the across-the-board […]

If anyone is still wondering what happened to the energies and the organising principles that drove the Occupy movement – or if they’re merely wanting […]

Surprisingly to some, Labour women’s affairs spokesperson Sue Moroney is showing a genuine ability to get up the nose of the government, as she goes […]

It isn’t often that we see how the United States feels when it sees itself on the receiving end of a secretive international treaty process […]

Well, what an exciting weekend it must have been for the nation’s media. After a 2012 full, thus far, of gaffes, resignations, dodgy dealings at […]

Alexander Cockburn would probably be amused and annoyed that his death in Germany at the weekend will attract a mere fraction of the accolades heaped […]

So the brake pads on every single one of the 500 freight wagons delivered to KiwiRail by its favoured Chinese supplier have had to be […]

It seems a simple enough concept; counselling is meant to help victims to recover from their experience. The conditions for getting access to counselling are […]

In this time of fiscal austerity, some people are being asked to be more austere than others. Thus, the news on RNZ this morning that […]

The Maori Party’s relationship with National is looking more and more like that of a battered spouse, a pitiable creature who will swallow any indignity […]

So KiwiRail is about to cut up to 220 jobs by October, and SOE Minister Tony Ryall has refused to front up to explain what […]

Public private partnerships (PPPs) are still being envisaged by the Key government’s as its favoured method for financing new schools, motorways etc, but the experience […]

Television news is notorious for having no memory, and little room for history or context. The average news bulletin consists of a series of talking […]

During the past month, how many people working in the Parliamentary precinct might have engaged in recreational drug use that impaired their performance on the […]

A good morning for the rule of law. The High Court here finds the search of Kim Dotcom’s house to have been illegal and ditto […]

Imagine this wacky, unbelievable scenario. Prime Minister John Key announces that for too long, too many people earning over $100,000 have been paying too little […]