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Latest FromBarry Soper

Families gathered with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Andrew Little at a ceremony on May 3. Photo / Alan Gibson

NEW ZEALAND

Soper: Are public being short-changed by Pike River media ban?

21 May, 2019 6:00am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: In fairness to PM apparently it wasn't Govt's decision, it was the families'.

Alfred Ngaro could stand in the Botany seat, where National has the strongest party vote by far. Photo / George Novak

NEW ZEALAND

Exclusive: Christian party deal in Botany - National's big hope?

17 May, 2019 5:00am
4 minutes to read

Talk within the party's been rife for weeks now with Ngaro's plan being well received.

Social media is of course another matter. Photo / AP

NEW ZEALAND

Soper: Leave mainstream media out of social media crackdown

16 May, 2019 5:00am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: NZ media is self-regulatory, mindful of the harm that publication can cause.

French President Emmanuel Macron. Photo / AP

NEW ZEALAND

Soper: Ardern used by Macron to boost his image

14 May, 2019 6:00am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: What is French President Emmanuel Macron playing at with summit call?

French president Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Photo / Getty Images

NEW ZEALAND

Soper: Ardern's internet pledge laudable but Facebook's a monster

13 May, 2019 6:00am
2 minutes to read

COMMENT: Cleaning up the internet is tantamount to putting toothpaste back in the tube.

National MP Nick Smith regularly clashes with Speaker Trevor Mallard.

NEW ZEALAND

Soper: Nick Smith rekindles bitter history with Speaker Mallard

9 May, 2019 5:00am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: Long bitter history of sparring leading up to Smith being named by Mallard.

NEW ZEALAND

Soper: Got the munchies? Cannabis referendum serves up dead rat for Greens

8 May, 2019 6:00am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: It's becoming a familiar taste for the Greens, swallowing dead rats.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in April. Photo / AP

BUSINESS

Soper: Difficulty of doing business with China highlighted by Air NZ

7 May, 2019 6:00am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: But with so many eggs in the one basket we have little choice.

29 crosses leading up to the Pike River mine near Greymouth. Photo / Alan Gibson

NEW ZEALAND

Barry Soper: Mines are volatile places

3 May, 2019 5:00am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: Human beings should never have seen the inside of that mine.

Few would argue Jacinda Ardern's motivation behind trying to get rid of terrorist material on the Internet. Photo / Mark Mitchell

NEW ZEALAND

Soper: Rid the world of horror found along cyber highway

2 May, 2019 5:00am
3 minutes to read

Comment: Those who unfortunately saw the Mosque slaughter will never forget.

National Party leader Simon Bridges. Photo / Mark Mitchell

NEW ZEALAND

Soper: Raucous caucus - Rattled Simon Bridges a leader under siege

1 May, 2019 6:00am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: Unflappable Collins stares down tough questions behind closed doors.

National Party leader Simon Bridges. Photo / Jason Oxenham

NEW ZEALAND

Soper: Simon Bridges' shot at PM becoming more remote by the day

30 Apr, 2019 6:00am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: Bridges is proving that Opposition leader is the toughest job in politics.

NEW ZEALAND

Soper: Irony to NZ and France's terrorism summit next month

25 Apr, 2019 5:00am
3 minutes to read

Comment: What the Summit is really about - full, frank and meaningless words!

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Photo / Getty Images

NEW ZEALAND

Soper: Killing CGT the painful part of politics for Ardern

24 Apr, 2019 6:00am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: Ardern wasn't able to do what she told electorate she was so determined to do.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Photo / Mark Mitchell

NEW ZEALAND

Comment: If Ardern pushed on with CGT, she'd face a mutiny

18 Apr, 2019 5:00am
3 minutes to read

Comment: It was essential for Ardern to keep all hands on deck.

The social cost of fatal and injury crashes in 2017 has been put at $4.8 billion, up more than a half a billion on a year earlier. File photo / NZME

NEW ZEALAND

Soper: I lost my brother in a crash. The road toll's cost is immeasurable

17 Apr, 2019 6:00am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: My family grieved for many years after my brother had been killed on the road.

Louisa Akavi, Kiwi nurse missing in Syria after being captured by Isis. Photo / Supplied

NEW ZEALAND

Soper: Why PM won't say a word about kidnapped Kiwi nurse Louisa Akavi

16 Apr, 2019 6:00am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: Ardern had pretty good reason not to expand on the details.

NEW ZEALAND

Barry Soper: Cleansing the country won't be cheap

11 Apr, 2019 5:00am
3 minutes to read

Comment: These semi automatic military style weapons are offensive - it's a no-brainer.

Act Party leader David Seymour's euthanasia bill has gone further than any other in the political system. Photo / Paul Taylor

NEW ZEALAND

Soper: Euthanasia's time has surely come

9 Apr, 2019 6:00am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: No one would want to be in a position to be affected by End of Life Choice bill.

The Chinese appeared impressed with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's down to earth charm. Photo / AP

NEW ZEALAND

Soper: Bewildered in Beijing - Ardern's charm eases Chinese anxiety

2 Apr, 2019 6:00am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: Chinese appeared impressed with our PM's down to earth charm.

Jacinda Ardern will be in Beijing today for lunch with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (above) and afternoon tea with President Xi Jinping. Photo / Audrey Young

NEW ZEALAND

Soper: Ardern's Beijing mission - 30 billion reasons to save face

1 Apr, 2019 6:00am
4 minutes to read

COMMENT: Like all damaged friendships, meeting aggrieved on their home turf is a start.

NEW ZEALAND

Soper: Harrowing day in Christchurch remembering massacre

28 Mar, 2019 5:00am
3 minutes to read

Comment: The Prime Minister will again be in the city.

Simon Bridges' deputy chief of staff and former Chief Families Commissioner Belinda Milnes (right) will face technical assault and wilful trespass charges in court. Photos / Mark Mitchell / Supplied

NEW ZEALAND

Simon Bridges' senior adviser charged with assault, trespass

26 Mar, 2019 4:30pm
3 minutes to read

Belinda Milnes says she will 'vigorously defend the charges'.

President Recep Erdogan of Turkey delivers a speech at the Islamic Summit in Istanbul 22 March 2019, as Winston Peters appears to sleep. Photo / Supplied

NEW ZEALAND

Barry Soper: Slumbering Winston Peters fails to set the record straight

26 Mar, 2019 6:00am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: What to him is deep contemplation to rest of us looks a lot like a deep slumber.

NEW ZEALAND

Barry Soper: Never has a petition been so quickly answered

22 Mar, 2019 5:00am
3 minutes to read

Comment: They wanted a crackdown on semi automatic rifles, four hours later they got it.

Flower tributes at Christchurch Botanic Gardens. Photo / Michael Craig

NEW ZEALAND

Soper: Kiwis make themselves proud after Christchurch mosque shootings

20 Mar, 2019 6:00am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: We've risen above deep sorrow lashing out at the perpetrator or where he's from.

Brenton Tarrant in the Christchurch District Court. Photo / Mark Mitchell

NEW ZEALAND

Soper: 20 years too late we're banning semi-automatic weapons

19 Mar, 2019 6:00am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: Courts would do us all a favour by conducting trial behind closed doors.

Ambulance staff take a man from outside a mosque in central Christchurch. Photo / AP

NEW ZEALAND

Barry Soper: Mosque massacre changes NZ forever

16 Mar, 2019 5:00am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: NZ has tragically lost its innocence. We are in a state of profound sorrow.

Green Party leader James Shaw. Photo / John Stone

NEW ZEALAND

Soper: Attacks on MPs are rare in New Zealand

15 Mar, 2019 5:00am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: That's the rough and tumble of politics.

Simon Bridges and Jami-Lee Ross. Photo / Mark Mitchell

NEW ZEALAND

Soper: Someone likely to end up as toast after Nats SFO probe

13 Mar, 2019 6:00am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: Simon Bridges was subdued and he looked shocked as he talked to journalists.

Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones.

NEW ZEALAND

Soper: Memo to Shane 'big chief' Jones - show some humility

12 Mar, 2019 6:00am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: Shane Jones is a colourful fellow but can also be highly irritating.

Tax Working Group chairman Sir Michael Cullen. Photo / Mark Mitchell

NEW ZEALAND

Soper: It's a bit rich for Cullen to call Key a 'rich prick'

8 Mar, 2019 5:00am
3 minutes to read

Comment: He seems to be doing the best to become one himself.

MPI Minister Damien O'Connor is accused of threatening the funding for an animal rescue group.

NEW ZEALAND

Soper: The minister, the 'threat' and the animal rescue group

7 Mar, 2019 5:00am
4 minutes to read

Comment: Threat allegation centres on last month's fires in the Nelson district.

National's leader Simon Bridges should thank Michael Cullen for pulling him out of the doldrums.

NEW ZEALAND

Soper: Tax hands Simon Bridges a stick to flay Ardern with

6 Mar, 2019 6:00am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: Nats leader thankful to Michael Cullen for pulling him out of the doldrums.

Consumer Affairs Minister Kris Faafoi and PM Jacinda Ardern announcing Government measures to crack down on ticket scalping during their post-Cabinet press conference. Photo / Mark Mitchell

NEW ZEALAND

Soper: Don't expect fast resolution on ticket scalping

5 Mar, 2019 6:00am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: Well at least it's got the CGT off the post-Cabinet press conference agenda.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern during her post-Cabinet press conference at Parliament, Wellington. Photo / Mark Mitchell

NEW ZEALAND

Barry Soper: Govt's smoke and mirrors on Provincial Growth Fund

1 Mar, 2019 5:00am
3 minutes to read

Comment: no-one in the maze quite sure of what direction they're meant to take.

Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones in his Beehive office. Photo / Mark Mitchell

NEW ZEALAND

Soper: Provincial Growth Fund goes where banks fear to tread

28 Feb, 2019 5:00am
3 minutes to read

Fund agreed to pay up millions of dollars to improve forgotten, weed infested Māori land.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Finance Minister Grant Robertson during their joint post-Cabinet press conference at Parliament. Photo / Mark Mitchell

NEW ZEALAND

Soper: Taxpayers the loser in capital gains tax debate

27 Feb, 2019 6:00am
2 minutes to read

COMMENT: Reaction to CGT report is causing some consternation on upper floors of Beehive.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is finally awake to the political damage a new tax plan is doing to Labour.

NEW ZEALAND

Soper: PM in state of shock at Capital Gains Tax reaction

26 Feb, 2019 6:00am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: Jacinda Ardern finally awake to the political damage tax plan doing to Labour.

NEW ZEALAND

Barry Soper: Aussie PM touches down in Auckland

22 Feb, 2019 5:00am
3 minutes to read

Comment: The irksome Ardern raised an issue that should make the Aussies feel uneasy.

Winston Peters has previously flagged a lack of support for a capital gains tax.

NEW ZEALAND

Soper: Today's tax report coalition Govt's biggest challenge yet

21 Feb, 2019 5:00am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: The election next year could potentially be history repeating itself.

PM Jacinda Ardern insists our complex relationship with China is unchanged - but it is.

NEW ZEALAND

Soper: Chinese whispers - Trump looms large in NZ's woes

20 Feb, 2019 6:00am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: It doesn't take a whisper to see what the real concern here is.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Revenue Minister Stuart Nash, announcing Cabinet has agreed to investigate a new tax on multinational companies targeting digital revenues. Photo / Mark Mitchell

NEW ZEALAND

Soper: We might pay for a tax on internet giants

19 Feb, 2019 5:00am
3 minutes to read

Comment: Particularly when it comes to those entities who're coining it on the Internet.

It's brilliant, it's had the desired effect, getting them all fired up. Photo / Twitter, NZ National Party

NEW ZEALAND

Watch: National Party's BBQ attack ad - worst ad ever...or brilliant?

15 Feb, 2019 5:00am
3 minutes to read

Barry Soper comment: The new advertisement has everyone fired up - and talking.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. Photo / Getty Images

NEW ZEALAND

Soper: No love lost for China from the misguided

14 Feb, 2019 5:00am
3 minutes to read

The Key Government's management of the global financial crisis has been lauded.

Jacinda Ardern and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at the Asean Summit in November in Singapore. Photo / ASEAN

NEW ZEALAND

China puts up NZ wall: PM visit and tourism plan on ice

12 Feb, 2019 5:00am
3 minutes to read

Exclusive: Diplomatic links plummet to a new low as Ardern is given the cold shoulder.

NEW ZEALAND

Barry Soper: NZ feeling the heat of the Chinese dragon

12 Feb, 2019 5:00am
3 minutes to read

The invitation for Jacinda Ardern to visit Beijing early this year's been put on ice.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Naida Glavish at Te Whare Ruanga Marae for the Waitangi Day celebrations. Photo / John Stone

NEW ZEALAND

Soper: Ardern's embarrassing dinner guest moment

7 Feb, 2019 6:07am
2 minutes to read

COMMENT: Our leaders should have known the articles of The Treaty.

Don Brash is back at Waitangi. Instead of taking a shot, he'll be firing his own, writes Barry Soper. Photo / File

NEW ZEALAND

Barry Soper: 15 years on, Don Brash returns to Waitangi

5 Feb, 2019 6:00am
3 minutes to read

Comment: Don Brash is back at Waitangi. Instead of taking a shot, he'll be firing his own.

Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway, (left), announcing his decision to deport Czech drug dealer Karel Sroubek. Photo / Mark Mitchell

NEW ZEALAND

Soper: Memo to Iain Lees-Galloway - you're not the 'Boss guy'

1 Feb, 2019 6:00am
3 minutes to read

Comment: Lees-Galloway was banging away about the expectation on this Government.

National Party leader Simon Bridges (right) and deputy leader Paula Bennett. Photo / Mark Mitchell

NEW ZEALAND

Barry Soper: PM starts year by dodging questions

31 Jan, 2019 5:00am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: Bridges' State of the Nation speech in Christchurch should have been a breeze.

Finance Minister Grant Robertson's going to bring down the gavel on the unethical practices but not before the insurers get the chance to try and explain themselves.

NEW ZEALAND

Soper: No doubt insurance companies rip us off

30 Jan, 2019 6:00am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: The Govt's bringing down the gavel on unethical insurance practices.

The rubber hits the road this year as a slew of consultants report back to Jacinda Ardern's Government.

NEW ZEALAND

Soper: Ardern's Govt faces much tougher challenges in 2019

29 Jan, 2019 6:00am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: The rubber hits the road as a slew of consultants report back to Govt.

NEW ZEALAND

Soper: Sarah Dowie, the police inquiry, and the text from her phone

25 Jan, 2019 6:06am
3 minutes to read

Comment: Police will be examining the text to decide whether a prosecution should follow.

Barry Soper looks at the political years of Jami-Lee Ross, Iain Lees-Galloway and Simon Bridges. Photos / Mark Mitchell / Getty Images

NEW ZEALAND

Soper: Here's my 2018 Politician of the Year

21 Dec, 2018 6:00am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: Lying. Leaking. An immigration saga. Barry Soper's pick in an eventful year.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern (right) and Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters. Photo / File

NEW ZEALAND

Soper: Wily Winston has dominated the political year

20 Dec, 2018 5:00am
3 minutes to read

Peters certainly reinforces the phrase punching above your weight.

All MPs are referred to as honourable which in many cases is debatable. Photo / Mark Mitchell

NEW ZEALAND

Soper on the year in politics: No party covers itself in glory

19 Dec, 2018 6:00am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: So much for the Ardern administration's promise of open government.

Justice Helen Winkelmann has been appointed the new Chief Justice. Photo / Supplied

NEW ZEALAND

Soper: New Chief Justice's eye-watering salary and super scheme

18 Dec, 2018 6:00am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: Chief Justice a top public service role which brings in more than PM's salary.

Other leaders often seek out Jacinda Ardern's engaging manner. Photo / Mark Mitchell

NEW ZEALAND

Soper: Ardern picks up the John Key playbook

17 Dec, 2018 6:00am
2 minutes to read

COMMENT: Like John Key, Ardern likes to be liked - and, like him, that's not hard to do.

We aren't willing to address the health and wider social issues that drive drug harm. Photo / Supplied

NEW ZEALAND

Soper: No wonder cops are confused over Govt's mixed message on drugs

14 Dec, 2018 5:00am
3 minutes to read

We aren't willing to address the health and wider social issues that drive drug harm.

Labour Minister Iain Lees-Galloway and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

NEW ZEALAND

Soper: Labour pains - strikes dog Govt in Parliament

13 Dec, 2018 6:00am
3 minutes to read

Let's hope Labour doesn't bite the hand that feeds them.

NEW ZEALAND

Soper: Medicinal cannabis law great for drug dealers

12 Dec, 2018 6:00am
3 minutes to read

COMMENT: The terminally ill will, like Helen Kelly, be able to get loose-leaf marijuana.