Opinion

The new Labour-led government’s plans for its first 100 days has a depressing inevitability about it. Various lollies handed out to key voting blocks - students get the first year of tertiary education free and an extra $50 a week living allowance; family allowances to increase, and sundry other measures with cost implications

2017 has been a deeply disappointing year for those of us on the right-wing or populist end of the political spectrum, with the hard-won victories of 2016 turning to a bitter counter-attack from the establishment in 2017.

The UK parliament last week ensured a crucial amendment to the proposed EU Withdrawal Bill. A group of 12 ‘rebel’ Tories defied their party whip.

In response to my article about the Golriz Ghahraman I received a number of claims that she had done no wrong and never attempted to hide or embellish her life's story.

It's not really a problem when you've never lived under enemy fire, worked as a defense attorney for war criminals, posed for photos with said war criminals, and co-authored a paper denying genocide.

I consider Mark Steyn to be one of the best and most relevant commentators of our time. His words are almost always on point and his books from a decade ago read like prophetic visions of a dark future fast becoming reality. In his blog post, The Triumph of Amoral Will, he sums up the scene.

The fireworks seem louder and brighter than last year. Maybe it was just the new neighbours, but we certainly got the impression that the horizon looked and sounded more spectacular this year. The fun police get louder every year and you never know when they could ban the celebration.

The new government is facing what the New Zealand Herald have described as its "first international crisis", after European Union ambassador Bernard Savage condemned the government's plans to reopen trade negotiations with Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan

With Jacinda Ardern duly sworn in as Prime Minister, what can we expect to see over the next 3 or more years? In a nutshell: more government, more taxes, and more centralised control.

For nearly a month after the election, this country did not have a government. There were continuous stories about how Winston Peters was keeping everyone waiting and that he should just hurry up.