The mojitos are memories and parliament’s bar is back to pulling pints as MPs return to business. Political editor Justin Giovannetti assesses the first week back in Wellington. Parliament’s first week after a long summer break set a different tone for 2021, dominated by a hectic schedule that bounced between serious and silly, with relatively … Read more
The current number of members of parliament is starting to get too low for the job we expect them to do, argues Alex Braae. As a general rule, with the possible exception of their families, nobody likes backbench MPs. But it’s nevertheless time we accepted that parliament should have more of them. There’s no exact … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Trevor Mallard under pressure over legal costs, questions over why border testing review is still under wraps, and Massey academics speak out against cuts. Speaker Trevor Mallard is under pressure over the costs of paying out to end a defamation dispute. In the wake of the … Read more
After 24 years in business the storied, parliament-adjacent Astoria cafe is to close. Danyl Mclauchlan pays tribute to a hotbed of political intrigue that was ultimately too beautiful for this world. How well I remember my first visit. It was high summer in Wellington, the late 1990s, and I met some friends for a picnic … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Early focus put on health select committee, international day for persons with disabilities marked, and appliance delays holding up new builds. The select committees are in the process of being selected. One of the processes of making a law is that it goes through a small group … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Massive workforce boost for horticulture sector, wild opening day at parliament, and dwindling specialist doctor workforce raises burnout fears. Two announcements from the government this morning will give the horticulture sector a major workforce boost. As the NZ Herald’s Derek Cheng reports, 2000 places in managed isolation will … Read more
New Zealand will see some last-minute governing as Labour plans to rush through a legislative agenda before the summer break. Jacinda Ardern’s government is about to undertake a parliamentary sprint before Christmas, with plans to legislate a number of campaign promises and declare a climate emergency in only a few sitting days. The list of … Read more
Forest and Bird’s Kevin Hague recently wrote that the Greens and Labour should work together for the benefit of the environment. Here Justine Sachs argues that a seat at the table isn’t worth selling out the party’s soul. As a Green Party member, I am wary of the Greens being subsumed by Labour’s historic majority … Read more
With only 2.7% of the vote, NZ First will not be returning to parliament this time. But as Winston Peters’ former researcher Josh Van Veen writes, the party’s legacy is too enduring for NZ First to be gone for good. Ambition and ideals are at the heart of politics. More often than not they conflict. … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: For and against a four year term, Labour planning market studies on groceries and building supplies, and NIMBYs fighting youth hub in Christchurch. One of the major newslines out of Wednesday’s leaders’ debate was on a point of agreement between Ardern and Collins. During the quickfire … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Alert level one still a long way away, parliament once again closes for the term, and thousands of primary health workers to strike today. Alert level one could still be a long way away, according to the country’s top health official. Dr Ashley Bloomfield fronted the … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Labour launches campaign while National releases list, frantic final days at parliament wrapped, and new poll shows Shane Jones in trouble in Northland. Some would say the campaign has been underway for months in a proxy form, but officially, it’s now all on. The parliamentary term … Read more
In the blur of the last week of this parliament, a law that discriminated against family disability carers was torn from the books. It’s one of those moments when we can see why political activism of all kinds actually matters, writes Andrew Geddis. Last week, on Wednesday evening (which in parliament’s weird world technically was … Read more
Here’s a snapshot of a single day in parliament. A day where changes were made to laws that govern everything from the milk in your refrigerator to the speed you can drive your car, and to Netflix, and war crimes, and who tests your water. It was a big day. The 52nd parliament is over. … Read more
National MP Andrew Falloon has resigned from parliament following allegations he sent unsolicited pornographic material to young women. Here’s what we know happened and when. Tuesday July 14 9.45pm Judith Collins addresses the media after being elected the new leader of the National Party, replacing Todd Muller, whose shock resignation at breakfast time came after … Read more
Judith is the youngest of six. Gerry is the oldest of five. Jacinda and Grant? Youngest of two and three, respectively. But where are the misunderstood middle children in our parliament? Linda Burgess investigates. If my younger sister – the cute-as-a-button baby of the family – smoked, which she doesn’t, she’d have inhaled, nostrils tightening, … Read more
Bullying behaviour is embedded in institutions across our country, and parliament is no exception. But it can be different, writes Jess Berentson-Shaw. Every now and then I find myself imagining what it would look like if our political system was built around the sorts of ideals most of us deeply aspire to. If we had … Read more
Clare Curran’s interview has resurfaced concerns about the toxic nature of parliamentary politics. But while politics shouldn’t be toxic, or misogynistic, or cruel, for the system to be work, nor should it be nice, writes Danyl Mclauchlan. Two high-profile MPs are leaving parliament at the end of this term: National’s Paula Bennett and Labour’s Clare … Read more
Our elected representatives are being worryingly complacent about the Public Service Bill, writes Tony Burton, but it’s part of a trend that should concern them. Public management systems determine what really happens when governments make policy decisions. It’s the boring, process-between-bureaucrats bit, of issues like education and health. Despite the Public Service Bill proposing to … Read more
Budget 2020: Simon Bridges led the critiques, while Winston Peters got personal. Grant Robertson’s budget spends too much money, delivers too little help to businesses struggling due to Covid-19 and will leave future generations swamped by debt, opposition leaders have argued. The finance minister and the prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, faced enormous expectations before unveiling … Read more
The shortcomings seem to reflect a broader problem with how Māori have been overlooked in the plans to move to level two. On Tuesday and Wednesday, parliament raced into law the “new normal” framework for our lives until Covid-19 is finally vanquished. That sounds dramatic, but it’s true. The now in force Covid-19 Public Health … Read more
Jenée Tibshraeny can forgive a genuine, if rather extraordinary, mistake, but the government’s lack of transparency around decision-making creates confusion at a time when we need confidence, she writes in a piece originally published on interest.co.nz. The creator of Veep, The Death of Stalin and In the Loop, Armando Iannucci, could’ve filmed a political satire … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Spotlight on the Pacific and Covid-19, health minister in yet another spot of bother, and schools reopening to very limited numbers. For a lead today, I thought it would be useful to check in on our nation’s neighbours in the Pacific, and how they are … Read more
Over the past month, we became deeply aware that we were all only as safe as our most marginalised and at-risk. Nobody was immune. We need to channel that knowledge to the core of how we do politics, writes Green MP Chlöe Swarbrick. Yesterday, Aotearoa New Zealand cautiously toned down the world-leading, robust safeguards designed … Read more
For the decade Sue Bradford spent in parliament as a Green MP, party co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons led by example, bringing a quiet but steely determination to everything she did. The news of the sudden death of Jeanette Fitzsimons has been a shock. My heart goes out to her dear partner of many decades, Harry Parkes, … Read more
Winston Peters was once the one who could plausibly rail against the self-interest of the establishment. Today that seems laughable, So where are the real critics offering reform, asks Danyl Mclauchlan. Politics is messy. It’s chaotic; most things happen for complex combinations of reasons and these are not always obvious, and the best explanations you … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Parliament is back for another fraught year, bad weather news likely to continue, and Winston Peters goes live. After taking a day to mark the life of former PM Mike Moore, Parliament began in earnest yesterday. As is customary, the party leaders each start the year … Read more
As parliament voted all but unanimously to pass the Zero Carbon Bill into law last week, climate change minister James Shaw credited Generation Zero for its very existence. Here, Jenny Coatham explains how the youth-led climate action group pulled off such a monumental task. Our generation has been described as having “climate anxiety” – a … Read more
The prime minister says her misbehaving coalition cabinet minister is taking the Cabinet Manual away to study. Is it the perfect page-turner beach read? Madeleine Chapman finds out. This story was published in October 2019. Is there anything better than reading a trashy thriller while on holiday? For Shane Jones, only one thing: Threatening political … Read more