I guess if you want a man who'll resist temptation, a Catholic Southland farmer's as good a bet as any. And it's what Bill English hasn't done in the past five and a half years that has National in pole position for this year's election
Read MoreBill English
Three ways Labour's 'new tool' is digging it out of a hole
It's too soon to say whether Labour's onto a fiscal winner, but politically its given the party a circuit-breaker it desperately needed
Read MoreNational’s muddled message on economy could help Labour
How the left could still win
I wrote a column in the National Business Review this weekend, and it’s driving right-wingers there nuts.
At what point does using government services make you a bludger?
Some households get so much back from the state that they're "effectively" not paying tax, says Bill English. Is that fair comment? And should we all be held to account for what we use in state services? Or just some of us?
Read MoreThe Common Good - parallels in the UK’s economy
The challenges faced by Labour in opposition here and in the UK are similar. Both face an economy that is entering a modest cyclical upswing, and right-wing governments wanting to claim it as their recovery.
Read MoreSecond thoughts on Tiwai Pt – wrong deal, wrong time
I tried showing a little sympathy for Bill English last week. That'll teach me. The Tiwai Pt deal has fewer reedeming features that I dared hope and may make little difference to the Meridian float
Read MoreTiwai Pt - just more expedience and poor dealing
The Tiwai Point subsidy buys time, but ultimately is just the latest in a series of deals by governments of different strips that sees the taxpayers stumping up for political reasons. Will it ever end?
Read MoreSolid Lessons
Finance minister Bill English is arguing that we shouldn't second guess business decisions made by Solid Energy. His argument happens to be a convenient way to get him off the hook for government failings
Offensive cartoons are OK, lazy & bullying ones are not
Al Nisbet and his editors have every right to argue 'freedom of the press', but that doesn't make them good cartoons... And the politics behind 'food in schools'
Read MoreGovernment thinks growth needs to slow down?!
One take out from today’s budget says it all.
Read MoreThe Partial State Asset Sale poem
An ode inspired by National's mixed ownership programme, to the tune of 'Five Little Monkeys"... And a few thoughts about the sales and the Supreme Court
Read MoreBill the Builder - can he fix it? Let's hope he can!
Bill English has stepped outside his comfort zone in announcing that he intends to fix our broken property market. Can he get builders to build more 'Toyota Corolla' homes? Or will he end up looking like King Canute before the rising tide of house prices?
Read MoreGetting out of the way is not enough
The government's laid the table for a growth party, but business is failing to RSVP. So why is National acting as if everything's going to plan? Where's Plan B?
Read MoreSurplus, what surplus? National's core brand at risk
Some have always reckoned National's target of surplus by 2014-15 was "fairyland", but oh no said John Key and Bill English, don't you worry. Now Alan Bollard has joined the naysayers, National has to realise just what's at stake
Read MoreThe Optimist’s Budget
The National-led government has delivered an “Optimist’s Budget” forecasting increased tax revenue, increased spending, and increased debt on its journey to a wafer-thin surplus by June 2015.
Read MoreWho you gonna call (out)? Bill English or the Greeks?
Budget 2012 lays the ground for the battle of the narratives that will decide Election 2014. Yes siree, the campaign begins now, with the blame game
Read MoreThe end of the mental recession?
With houses prices hitting new highs in our main cities, is the sense of economic gloom finally lifting from New Zealand? And what implications might that have for MPs?
Read MoreThe opportunity of debt
Just because you and I need to save more, who says the government needs to do the same? With cheap money around, how about we turn this whole austerity kick on its head and start talking about growth?
Read MorePoliticians who pretend – a week of parliamentary delusions
Politicians have been arguing that black is white this week, showing that they're about as connected to reality as a two year-old chasing dragons
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