It looks like Nick Smith and the National Government may be doing what they should have done from the outset - talking to Auckland Iwi about how they can be the developers of housing on the Crown's land in Auckland.
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Tuesday June 16
US counterterrorism raid targets senior militant in Libya; nine arrested in Hong Kong explosives plot; five new cases of MERS in South Korea; senior Taliban leader killed in Peshawar; Greek debt talks collapse; and more
Read MoreWhat Is Left For the Left?
Those on the left of politics have a choice between defending their past achievements or taking up the challenges which face us.
Read MoreWhat Is Left For the Left?
Those on the left of politics have a choice between defending hteir past achievements or taking up the challenges which face us.
Read MoreTrans-Pacific deal just leaking... or is it sunk?
President Obama has made a Trans-Pacific Trade deal is top eocnomic priority, but his own party has stared him down and now the entire deal hangs by a thread
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Thursday June 11
US to boost numbers in Iraq; South Korean President postpones visit to US due to MERS; China rejects calls to release Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo; suicide bomber attacks Luxor in Egypt; African countries set up free trade zone; and more
Read MoreLive sheep exports: I'm grumpy
Make no mistake - the live export of 53,000 animals from Timaru to Mexico is worth getting grumpy about
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Wednesday June 10
Group of Seven leaders agree on carbon goal; Aung San Suu Kyi to visit Beijing; South Korea confirms seventh MERS death; Mexicans elect first independent governor; UN presents unity plan to Libya; and more
Read MoreWhere to next for aid in dying?
The Seales v Attorney General decision was a pretty comprehensive legal loss for proponents of aid in dying. But it is by no means the last word on the matter.
Read MoreWaste not, want not... why we throw away good food
Food is being thrown away in huge amounts. Is it because we've just made it too darned cheap? And what New Zealand could do...
Read MoreAre We Saving the Right Way for Retirement?
Should membership of Kiwisaver be compulsory? Research on how humans behaviour, some of it thirty years old, points in that direction.
Read MoreThe Taxpayers Union and passports - for the win!
You should always be careful for what you wish for, in case you happen to get it.
Read MoreDirty Politics 2.0
In which a former confidant of Cameron Slater's claims he was paid to commit a hack of The Standard blogsite; police are investigating
Read MoreAnd then another elephant came along
In 2012, the Government promised Auckland Maori that they would have first dibs on any new housing developments on its land. So why aren't they involved at all in Nick Smith's 500 hectare vision?
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Thursday June 4
US puts end to post 9/11 bulk phone data collection; MERS hits South Korea; Philippine president compares China to Nazi Germany; Greece's creditors offer take-it-or-leave-it deal; wars in Pakistan and Afghanistan have killed 150,000; and more
Read MoreA tangata whenua shaped elephant on the path
The Government's plans to use the Crown's land for houses for Aucklanders face a bit of a problem - it may not be able to sell them the land on which those houses sit.
Read MoreJames Shaw as 'The Bachelor'. Can he win hearts?
The new Greens co-leader has the job of winning roses from thousands of sceptical New Zealand voters. Can he come across as credible enough? And is his 'no Nats' gamble the right move?
Read MoreWhat Sort of TPP Deal?
The US senate has given trade promotion authority to the President. What next? Will the TPP agreement be acceptable, and to whom?
Read MoreWhat Labour has to learn from the budget
The Left must learn from the political techniques deployed so successfully in this budget. Unless we ask ourselves the hard questions the right ask themselves, and are prepared to prioritise and make some tough decisions, we will maintain poll ratings bleakly far behind the Government's.
Read MoreWorld News Brief, Friday May 29
FIFA indictments continue to shock; US rebukes China's maritime ambitions; Thai protest leaders receive prison sentences; Pentagon accidentally ships live anthrax; Afghan Security Force members join Taliban; and more
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