In 2023, special votes meant National lost 2 seats and could not govern with ACT alone. The Green Party and Te Pati Māori gained after special votes were counted (special votes include from people who ...

The radicals on the right are radical because they don’t want to see crime … The radicals on the left are the problem – and they are vicious and horrible and politically savvy. They want men in ...

Watching NZME Newstalk ZB is like watching Fox News to my mind. Earlier in the year, Fox hosted then “DOGE” (Department of Government Efficiency) head Elon Musk where he spouted the “benefits” of his ...

Some suggestion that Rayner's misdemeanour of ignoring legal advice to consult a tax expert was weaponised by the Labour right to damage her. Which raises the possibility that they may have even ...

Classic Key clanger By: Demeter - 3:43 pm, March 18th, 2010 - 6 comments In this article, in which a Kaikoura Whale Watch spokesman states the bloody obvious (that if New Zealand turns pro-whaling his ...

The NZ dollar is currently worth 0.44 pence….it was worth 0.54 in 2020. That is a fall of nearly 19%. So a NZ$5 million house will cost 2.2m pounds rather than 2.7m pounds. Bargain. I can see lots of ...

OK, so what’s been happening on 7AA then? The government wants to repeal it. It honours and entrenches the Treaty of Waitangi into the legislation, it honours and respects Maori customs and culture – ...

As Jane Austen commented to her neice: "You are now collecting your People delightfully, getting them exactly into such a spot as is the delight of my life;—3 or 4 Families in a Country Village is the ...

A track record of deception and pro tobacco industry policies is becoming evident in the Coalition. Casey Costello is at it again, this time quietly halving excise tax for some tobacco products. This ...

I posted recently about the abuse in care report and how the release of the report jarred with National’s recent opening of a new boot camp facility. This made me reflect on the history of National’s ...

In the words of the Prophet Springsteen: "At the end of every hard-earned day people find some reason to believe" (Nebraska). It is complacent to presume voter party loyalty if you don't give them ...

Defence cost us more than $6.7 billion in 2023/24. Why does our small, remote country have such a costly defence force? Is it fit for purpose – and in 2024, what is that purpose?