Did Labour set up an overseas intern scheme in order to evade the limit on political party election expenses? No ... no it did not.
Read MoreBill English
Two bad decisions, one awful day for National
National's problems are entirely of their own making and come down to some bad decisions. But the real concern will be that it now seems the Prime Minister has been involved in a cover-up
Read More"Wellington, this is Auckland calling. Let us out of this maze"
Auckland is like a rat in a maze of the National government's making. But Phil Goff is determined to find his own way out... and he just might be about to find a door
Read MoreIs it enough? Budget 2017 dissected
It's a Key-less budget giving National a new selling point... an Election Year Budget... and a Catch-Up Budget. And it's a budget that starts the thaw after the frozen years. But is it enough for New Zealand and New Zealanders?
Read MoreWhy the TPP11 will have to go back before Parliament
Bill English seems to think that New Zealand could become a part of a new, non-US Trans Pacific Partnership trade bloc without Parliament having to look at the issue. I'm pretty sure he is wrong about that.
Read MoreWhy Bill English has done the hard thing, with Hit & Run
It's too easy to call an inquiry just to put the questions to bed, so the Prime Minister has called it right. Why put people through the mill without incontrovertible evidence?
Read MoreWhich way is Bill English's moral compass pointing?
The Prime Minister has in recent times been prepared to shift some moral ground for political ease. Now he faces the greatest moral test of his short time in power in the face of calls for an inquiry into the O'Donnel raid
Read MoreBrave Bill's super pledge: But what about tax & health?
Touching the third rail of superannuation is a brave act by any government, but what about those other curly questions?
Read MoreLittle's dubious numbers, writ large: why no-one's sustainable on super
Welcome to the topsy-turvy world where no-one cares what Treasury says and only the only party that seems to give a toss about sustainability is... ACT
Read MoreThe true cost of National's not so super duper super policy
Bill English has made a brave call on super, but is it mere penance for years of bad calls, will New Zealanders face the facts and has he just started a new inter-generational war?
Read MoreMasterstroke, manoeuvre or muddle: Bill English's super punt
Why grasp one of the third rails of politics just six months from an election? Well, three possible reasons come to mind...
Read MoreCleaning house, English-style: Water was just the start
Last week National made some promises about water, and copped plenty of flak on the way. That move signalled the soft launch of National's election campaign, as it starts to tidy up the policies that put victory in September at risk
Read MoreLet me count the ways; three potential governments in 2017
Come September 24, there are really only three likely scenarios as to who could form a government, and odds-on Winston Peters will face two difficult choices
Read MoreNo, not that one. The other dangerous bit we could inherit from the US election campaign
Recent elections and votes in America, Britain and Australia have been brutal and brittle affairs with plenty of rancour, and some fear the same here this year. But I wonder if they're looking in the wrong direction
Read MoreWhen Donald calls Bill... make him an offer
Bill English has the chance to be heroic without indulging his inner Hugh Grant. He can be on the right side of history, China and even Ronald Reagan, if he seizes the moment
Read MoreWhy Bill English booted Collins off Corrections
In many respects, Judith Collins has been the worst Minister of Justice and Corrections New Zealand has ever had. She had to go – even if that changes absolutely nothing about how the country deals with the drivers of crime or the growing prison population. And it won't.
Read MoreLetter to Bill
Your In-tray is piled high.
Read MoreWait or go? The big choice for the substitute Prime Minister with a tail wind
Despite the polls, an English win at next year's election would be an historic achievement. Which makes the choice of when to go to the country, so very important
Read MoreThe call of the centre
As John Key exits stage centre undefeated and to much applause, the question becomes who will be bold enough to take up his mantle in the middle? As voters start shopping around, who's looking the part to succeed him?
Read MoreBill English admits his Government is a 'moral and fiscal failure'
New Zealand has fallen prey to penal populism: our prison population is at an all time high – driven by victims rights groups and the public's moral panic over violent crime
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