John Key and Bill English are sending out mixed signals about the next government budget while public confidence in New Zealand’s economic recovery wanes. Why?
Read MoreJohn Key - "National park miner"
John Key expects more mining in Crown land, which includes our national parks. Is this going to be his year for living dangerously?
Read MoreParents and pupils—pawns in a power game
The stand-off between teachers and politicians over the introduction of national standards in schools is simply a side-show in a much bigger struggle over who controls the country’s education system
Read MoreKey lifts the SAS veil – a little bit
Willie Apiata, the “Jesus gun” and other secrets
War hero Willie Apiata is back on the frontline. New Zealand troops are armed with so-called “Jesus guns”. Our troops are training Afghan soldiers and police in counter-insurgency operations. Now, why shouldn’t we know that?
Read MorePrince Charming and the Temple of Doom
The saga of Prince William’s encounters with the natives of New Zealand during his first Royal overseas mission – to open one of the world’s ugliest buildings
Read MoreHi Hillary, waddaya really, really want?
Last time Hillary Clinton cornered a New Zealand politician she got what she wanted: 71 Kiwi SAS troops for special operations in Afghanistan. So what does she really, really want this time?
Read MoreWellington warm-up for climate change clash
Forget Copenhagen. The next target for international climate change activism is Wellington. This week’s protests in the capital are just a warm-up for the big event in March
Read MoreKiwi connections in Kabul embassy scandal
Sexual molestation rituals … illegal brothel visits … drunken brawls … unauthorized “cowboy” missions. That’s life for New Zealanders in the private security unit set up to guard the US Embassy in Kabul.
Sorry about the SNAFU in super city
Situation Normal – All Fouled Up. That sums up the current state of Rodney Hide’s plans to turn Auckland into New Zealand’s first super city as the citizens start wondering what happened to the local in local government
Read MoreLeaky homes—our multi-billion dollar shame
The shameful saga of New Zealand’s leaky homes keeps dragging on—while more than 40,000 people sit in homes that are rotting away because of flawed law, lax regulation, and shoddy design and building practices in the 1990s
Read MoreAfghanistan – Our issues with Karzai
New Zealand has quietly raised four crucial human rights issues with Afghanistan. But what happens if President Karzai’s new government fails to respond?
Rugby row raises bigger TV issues
Ructions over free-to-air television coverage of the Rugby World Cup raise major questions about the sustainability of
Afghanistan: time to lift the veil
John Key says his government will review the long-standing convention of secrecy over Special Air Service operations. He needs to lift the veil on much more than that
Kicking out the jams
Everyone is talking about economic recovery – but where is the transformation we were supposed to make?
John Key: Mission accomplished – back to business
Prime Minister John Key’s big gig in
Afghanistan – The return to secrecy
As Prime Minister John Key confirms the NZSAS is back in
Our Afghanistan strategy – play it by ear
Official papers reveal our new strategy – or lack of it – for military involvement, civilian aid and international diplomacy in war-torn
Return of the overstayer
The overstayer issue is back on the political agenda with the Supreme Court decision that there are fundamental flaws in Immigration New Zealand’s removal processes
Super-City needs super-glue
The rush to reshape