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Backwards to the future
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has confirmed that it will be back to the future on planning legislation. This will be just one of a number...
National takes over infrastructure
Though New Zealand First may have had ambitions to run the infrastructure portfolios, National would seem to have ended up firmly in control of...
How the culture will change in the Beehive
Perhaps the biggest change that will come to the Beehive as the new government settles in will be a fundamental culture change. The era of endless consultation will be over. This looks like a government that knows what it wants to...
Free trade agreements may have had their day
Away from the spotlight of the government formation talks, down the road in Symonds Street at the University of Auckland, a group of academics, government officials, lawyers, consultants, and lobbyists spent yesterday trying to formulate a refresh of New...
Bogged down in detail
The government formation talks appear to be stuck, bogged down in detail as the parties go through their respective manifestos line by line. Prime Minister-elect Christopher Luxon yesterday said there were three "big" issues that all three parties had...
Why the talks are taking so long
In a surprising revelation, POLITIK has learned that New Zealand First has submitted its policy wish list to National only this week. That may be what is slowing the talks between the three leaders down. If past experience is anything to...
Winston gets last laugh
Tax cuts will be the big item on the agenda for today’s tripartite talks between the leaders of National, ACT and NZ First. POLITIK understands that though the three parties have discussed their various positions on the cuts, there is...
Luxon’s evasiveness says it all
National Leader Christopher Luxon's point-blank refusal on Saturday to address the question of whether lifting the foreign house buyer ban would survive the coalition negotiations says it all. National must have decided to be ready to drop the proposal if...
Agreement getting closer
Agreement on the shape of the next government appears to be getting closer. ACT Leader David Seymour and NZ First Leader Winston Peters met yesterday and will meet again today to determine the areas of agreement they can then take...
Why Labour lost
Labour leader Chris Hipkins used the word “lost” 19 times in his media conference yesterday. In his read of the election, National ACT and NZ First did not win; Labour lost. It is rare to hear an admission that blunt from...
National’s foreign home buyer concession looks shaky
Strip away the baubles and the nice-to-haves, and one bottom line will dominate the government formation talks. National must, one way or another, get its tax cuts. If it doesn’t, leader Christopher Luxon would almost certainly face the resignation of his...
Public servant numbers jump
Maybe National and ACT had a point during the election campaign; the public service has exploded over the past six years. The size of the...
The booming Irish heartbeat
Assuming that both ACT and NZ First return to Parliament this Friday when the official election results are declared, National will have to tread...
Keeping the government honest
There was an ongoing theme from the 2017 – 20 governments when National questioned one of their Ministers about spending. Almost always, the response was...
Defiant Peters winds up the conspiracy theorists
NZ First leader and former deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters was last night refusing to take down an inflammatory tweet claiming that he was...
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How to keep them down on the farm
Almost below the radar, the country's rural heartland electorates have been the scene of an intense electoral contest between the three centre-right parties, National,...
NZ First goes backwards
National MP Todd McClay's offer to NZ First deputy leader Shane Jones last weekend for Winston Peters to become the Speaker was a vivid...
Luxon trying to hush potential coalition discord
Prime Minister-elect Christopher Luxon is trying to put the lid on the coalition talks. He does not propose to give any updates on progress, and...
Trying to woo Winston begins
The National Party, working through back channels, is understood to have offered Winston Peters the role of Speaker in the next Parliament in a...
It has come down to South Auckland
The election has come down to South Auckland with Labour claiming they are seeing a surge in support and now hope they can pull...
It’s about to get difficult for Luxon
Three polls yesterday suggested that If National is to form the next government, it will have to do a deal with both ACT and...
