Bill of Rights gets some bite
On Monday, with little fanfare, the Government announced it intended to enact what may be the most profound law change of its term of office.
politics
Hoping for Jacinda effect
Hoping for Jacinda effect
Young voters made a significant contribution to the elections in the United Kingdom, the United States and France and George Sabonadiere (16), of Dunedin, is hoping for similar results in New Zealand.
NZ no longer at Interpol cybercrime facility
NZ no longer at Interpol cybercrime facility
New Zealand no longer has a presence at a major Interpol facility fighting cybercrime because of a lack of funding.
No National candidate in Mt Albert byelection
No National candidate in Mt Albert byelection
The National Party has waved the white flag in the coming Mt Albert byelection, announcing it will not stand a candidate.
Open-minded Robertson quick learner
Open-minded Robertson quick learner
Grant Robertson demonstrated yesterday he is a fast learner.
Government rejects further changes to Food Bill
Government rejects further changes to Food Bill
The Government is assuring food traders a Bill reforming the industry does not need further protection for small traders, nor do the proposed powers for food safety officers need to be curbed.
Focus on disclosure
Focus on disclosure
Moves to enable criminal histories to be checked at transtasman border posts will be discussed in talks in Melbourne this weekend between Justice Minister Judith Collins and Australian Attorney-general Nicola Roxon.
Staggering gains of top 1% beggars more than belief
Staggering gains of top 1% beggars more than belief
It is the political Right which should be most concerned about rising income inequality, says Tim Hazledine.
Criticism of Govt's new welfare policy from Dunedin
Criticism of Govt's new welfare policy from Dunedin
Prime Minister John Key, facing "nanny state" criticism over the Government's new $25 million welfare policy for young people, says he is not going to apologise to anyone for intervening in their lives.
Students can choose to opt out
Students can choose to opt out
Student radio looks likely to become the first high-profile casualty of voluntary student association membership. Let us get the facts on the table. Students can already choose to opt out of...
Case for a capital gains tax flawes: consultant
Case for a capital gains tax flawes: consultant
Claims that a capital gains tax would create large amounts of government income and make houses cheaper were flawed, Polson Higgs tax partner Michael Turner said yesterday.
Another dip in our pockets
Another dip in our pockets
It might be thought by some taxpayers that after all the fuss stemming from the Labour government's abuse of spending public funds for electoral purposes - it and half a dozen other lesser offenders claimed ignorance - parties might have mended their ways.
Inappropriate for Government to intervene in process
Inappropriate for Government to intervene in process
I'm well aware of the strong heritage of the Hillside Engineering workshops in Dunedin. I grew up three blocks away from the workshops and my grandfather was a boiler maker there many decades ago. ...
Obama struggling to keep pace
Obama struggling to keep pace
Barack Obama's speech on the Middle East lasted 40 minutes, but did it say anything new? Not exactly, although it did reinstate an old rule that had been abandoned.
America 2049: Online game puts US human rights in spotlight
America 2049: Online game puts US human rights in spotlight
America may not be headed towards a future of citizens tracked with implanted chips, pacified by drugs and tightly segregated, but creating that Orwellian future now could be the best way to prevent it, one activist group thinks.
A spanner in the free-market media works
A spanner in the free-market media works
Not quite so fast, Mr Joyce. A disquieting tendency is beginning to emerge around matters of public interest in so far as they concern the powers that be and anyone who questions or criticises how those powers are exercised.
An unlikely lecturer
An unlikely lecturer
A lecturer was never something Dr Bryce Edwards expected to be. Least of all the lecturer of a first-year paper he studied, and in which he did not excel.
Making the most of Maori division
Making the most of Maori division
Hone Harawira has been singing the same waiata since the 1970s, even as a youthful member of the first modern Maori protest group, Nga Tamatoa, a classic hit about the Treaty of Waitangi.
Problems posed by a prodigal
Problems posed by a prodigal
Should Hone Harawira prove to be the National-led coalition Government's heartbreaker, it will not be the first time that a member of this forthright northern Maori whanau has elicited political tears before bedtime.
Politicians set to man the front lines
Politicians set to man the front lines
Imagine dapper Health Minister Tony Ryall emptying bedpans in a hospital ward.