NEW: The High Court has ruled that Paul Goldsmith's appointment of Dr. Stephen Rainbow as Human Rights Commissioner was unlawful www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...

Chris Hipkins has a big decision to make over the summer: Try to destroy TPM entirely, or keep them in play? www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...

MINISTRY MEGA MERGER: Government are combining the ministries for Transport, Environment, and Housing and Urban Development with the local Govt functions from DIA, to create the Ministry of Cities, Environment, Regions and Transport (MCERT). Fully operational by July 2026.

NEW: All we learned from the hundreds of pages from Te Pāti Māori court docs, including: - The full timeline of the budgetary blowup - Mariameno Kapa-Kingi calling John Tamihere a "fucking cunt" - The rules for who MPs can drink with www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...

The RMA reform will make building things faster and cheaper. But if we really want to stop costs spiralling out of control for everything we may need to go far further back than 1991. Column today on how the common law tradition holds our infrastructure back: www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...

I’ll be on RNZ at about 8.10pm to talk Ruth V Nicola

Nicola Willis going thermonuclear on Ruth Richardson and TPU's upcoming campaign against her. She says she wants Ruth Richardson to stop "lurking in the shadows with secretly funded ads in the paper" and debate her directly on her "tolerance for human misery". www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...

Henry (@henrycooke.bsky.social) references a couple of past cases in this (very good) piece on the issue of what natural justice requirements apply to political party decisions. Worth noting the slightly different context for these precedents ...

Column today on the big question the Te Pāti Māori case is forcing on the courts: What exactly is a political party? Can you force yourself back into one?

Chris Bishop: Ask your landlords for cheaper rent www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...

Social Development Minister Louise Upston admitted this morning the ACT/National coalition pledge to create an approved list of GPs for sickness benefits isn't going to happen: www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...

If we take our 2023 emissions profile and remove literally all transport emissions, we still don’t quite meet our 2030 NDC target. Yet the Government is currently saying we can do it without buying offshore credits. Column this week on how close 2030 really is: www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...

The rates cap is a political time bomb. Column today looks at how capping our only real wealth tax will force uncomfortable conversations for all involved: www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...

Long read this morning on the Labour conference, featuring: - The desperate race for winnable seats - The BTS policy remit battles - Leadership’s extremely narrow focus www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...

Barbara Edmonds tells Labour it ‘can’t say yes to everything’ in speech to conference www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...

In the column today, I make the case for (and against) rolling Christopher Luxon www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...

The Government is set to abolish regional councils later today, The Post understands. www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/3608...

David Seymour says it sounds like Winston Peters is getting ready to go with Labour again, following Peters' promise to campaign on repealing the Regulatory Standards Bill. www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...

The Post is free today! If you’ve ever wanted a look behind the paywall, today is the day. I’ll link some great pieces in this thread:

The Government is banning new patients from being prescribed the most common form of puberty blocker and is explicitly aligning NZ's future policy on this matter to the UK's. PR below.

The last sliver of the millennial lifestyle subsidy is safe under this Govt. Column today: www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...

NEW: Chris Bishop used housing money to fund a bridge in his electorate his own Govt had killed off. Officials were against the move and Labour say he shouldn’t have been anywhere near the decision. www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...

Great morning out in @zealandia.bsky.social

NEW POLL: Labour has surged to 38% support following its CGT release, per a TM poll obtained by The Post. But it would still need TPM to govern. - Labour: 38% (+3) - National: 33% (+4) - Greens: 9% (-1) - NZ First: 8% (-4) - ACT: 7% (-1) - TPM: 2.4% (-1.2) www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...

Key never really won the public over on asset sales, even with 50% support and an economy staggering. Will Luxon manage it? Column today: www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...

Absolutely horror IPCA report on how the Police handled complaints against McSkimming. A woman, who said she had a sexual relationship with him when she was 21 and he was 40, made complaints about him and instead of taking it seriously they prosecuted her under the HDCA.

Juggernaut season 2 is out! It’s the story of the 90s in NZ politics, the decade that shaped our world just as much as the 80s but is far less examined. I was very honoured to help with the research. Out now whereever you get your podcasts.

Chris Hipkins says TPM are still not ready for Govt and he hasn't met the co-leaders in months. Asked what they could do to show themselves ready, he said turning up to Parliament and contributing: www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...

With both of the expelled MPs intending to challenge the decision and an open question on the support of the rest of their caucus, I don't think the TPM co-leaders attempt to end the story this morning will work. www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...

The Govt quietly announced a loosening of climate rules at 8pm last night: - Decoupling the ETS from Paris - Shifting ETS resets to every 2 years - Delaying the public sector target by 25 years - Removing CCC advice from *before* emission reductions plans: www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...

Firework bans win out over gender politics: NZ First say its bill banning private fireworks sale is replacing its definition of a man and woman bill in the biscuit tin.

Labour’s medicard is an attempt to make a promise physical, to put a little bit of the welfare state right inside your wallet. Will it work? Column today: www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...

At about 4am on the night before he met Trump, it sure seemed like the PM couldn’t sleep. Could you blame him? My wrap of the weeklong trip to Asia: www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...

I’m in Korea this week and the country is really showing off. Oodles of free skincare, impressive tech, and delicious food. All this from a country that was 15x poorer than us just 70 years ago. Christopher Luxon wants us to replicate that success - my column today is on whether we can

Is there space for Christopher Luxon at the Trump show? My piece from Malaysia on how NZ fits into the new world of intense personality-driven diplomacy that Trump has created: www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...

Is National’s version of bipartisanship just demanding Labour back whatever it decrees is in the the national interest? Column today: www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...

Labour’s future fund could be huge or tiny. It can mean anything you, a target voter, wants it to mean. Column today on the benefits and risks of this much ambiguity: www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...

NEW: Labour's first election policy is a 'future fund' - an investment fund aimed at NZ infra and businesses. It would be built on an unspecified capital injection + dividends from an unspecified range of crown-owned assets. The super fund guys would run it. www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...

National usually lead on the economy. They are now behind on two most important economic issues for voters, and sliding elsewhere: www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...

many are saying it can’t be beat on a good day

Former PM Jim Bolger has passed away following months of treatment for kidney failure. He was 90. www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...

It’s raining polls: New Talbot Mill/Anacta is the second in two weeks to show National below 29 www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...

NEW POLL: Half of voters want Christopher Luxon to step down - and Christopher Bishop is the top choice to replace him www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...

NEW: I caught up with TPM MP Tākuta Ferris on his way into Parly. He’s clearly not happy with the email + said he backed his electorate committee voting no confidence in the leadership thepost.co.nz/politics/360855030/mp-speaks-out-te-pati-maori-email-his-electorate-votes-against-party-leadership

Is Chris Hipkins leading a Ardern restoration project, and if he did would that be smart? Column this week: www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...

NEW poll from The Post/Freshwater Strategy has National flirting with 30% and Hipkins well ahead as preferred Prime Minister www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...

I’ve made a professional Instagram for videos on politics and whatnot. www.instagram.com/reel/DPstenh...

“We’re just living how we believe ... and that doesn’t make us dangerous. Weird? Maybe. But not dangerous.”

Amelia Wade dives into the Family Boost policy, which was designed in a hurry using guesswork, and is now so complex one Kindergarten has hired a staffer explicitly to help parents navigate it: www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/3608...

In a column today I try to guess the election date 🎄🎄🎄 www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...