Remember the sex scandal last year at the Young Labour summer camp? You do? I’m surprised you do, because no one knows what happened, who was responsible and what the outcome was. Labour is a master at ‘reviewing policies around the issue’ – it is all they ever seem to
Questions to Ministers Dr DEBORAH RUSSELL to the Minister of Finance: What recent reports has he seen on the New Zealand economy? DAVID SEYMOUR to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by her statement that GJ Thompson took “a leave of absence” to work in her office as chief of
Perhaps it’s because I’m used to Question Time in the Australian parliament, but lor’, you Kiwis sound a bit soft. Is “part-time prime minister” really the worst insult ever used in the Beehive? Or do New Zealand’s media just need to get out more? National leader
By C McCoy Government disband the role of Animal Welfare Minister and refuse to appoint an independent commissioner. Gareth Hughes tries not to look feckless in the face of the animal cruelty crisis.
For every David Attenborough, Prince Harry or James Shaw there are at least as many man-made climate change sceptics supported by science. But how good is the science? Sanjeev Sabhlok writing for Climate Change Dispatch says “Driven by Bad Science, Climate Change Climate Alarm is an Excuse to Ignore
It is interesting how leaders of political parties react to opinion polls. They, not unexpectedly, react positively if the polls are favouring their party or themselves and negatively if they don’t. The polls, of course, are only a guide to people’s thinking at the time of publication. The
Overseas, Jacinda is still seen as some kind of Madonna… one who bore a child, donned a hijab and hugged a few people… but no one seems to understand that this is all pretty basic stuff. Anyone can do that. Jacinda is naturally empathetic, but that does not make her
No matter which side of the debate you are on, most people would agree that having an abortion is a big deal and is a very weighty decision. There is a lot of room for regret afterwards and the danger of women being pressured into them. There is also a
I am disappointed with the lack of sensible political leadership regarding the situation at Ihumatao, and even more disappointed with the media coverage of it which appears, in several quarters, to verge on advocacy for the squatters occupying the land. There is much more to this story of Maori-Pakeha
As I’ve written several times now, the parallels between Jacinda Ardern and former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd are many – and ominous, for NZ Labour. Rudd was even more opinion-poll popular and media-beloved than Ardern. For a while. But Rudd soon found that glamour and fairy-dust
Simon Bridges has been the subject of a lot of attention from the government, and most of it has been particularly disrespectful. While I am of the opinion that any publicity is good for Simon’s profile, there is definitely a real nastiness to it. From the Greens’ nasty attack
Today’s face of the day criticises police actions despite being a member of parliament. Should we be surprised given that she has supported the unlawful actions of the protestors in person as well? This new breed of activist list MPs like Marama Davidson have no respect for the rule
Questions to Ministers JAMI-LEE ROSS to the Minister of Justice: What is the latest date he can receive recommendations from the Justice Committee on foreign interference, that he asked it to look at as part of its 2017 general election inquiry, in order for him to introduce any necessary
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Information Satire Things that we will never witness: An important message to my country from the Honourable Mr Underpants Bridges. Just yesterday the Leader of the Communist Party of Aotearoa called me names, saying I was a ‘Denier’ and that I represent a threat to climate policy; and he’s
