COMMENT: After Green Party unearthed documents showing Key's lawyer name-dropped "PM" to get a meeting with McClay we learned a great deal about Key.

COMMENT: This is exactly the sort of personal connection to a scandal that John Key's been trying to avoid, writes Frances Cook.

Not so long ago, when trying to capitalise on Labour's campaign against housebuyers with Chinese-sounding surnames, John Key did not believe any measure was warranted, writes Claire Trevett.

COMMENT: Murray McCully believes Helen Clark had the best start possible in the first phase of her bid to become the next Secretary General of the United Nations, writes Audrey Young.

COMMENT: As a group of MPs heads to South America to strengthen ties with overseas parliaments, Barry Soper looks at how exactly the public benefits from the trips.

COMMENT: Labour leader Andrew Little put on a show of going the extra mile by releasing his income tax records and calling on Key to follow suit, writes Claire Trevett.

COMMENT: This year it's gone from bad to worse for Labour, writes Barry Soper. Even though John Key lost the flag debate he's untainted with National at 50 percent.

COMMENT: New Zealand has no shortage of tea-stained reports about the failures of Child Youth and Family and its hard-working, well-meaning staff.

COMMENT: Winston Peters claims SuperGold card concessions are under attack and criticises the Governmennt over its handling of offshore trusts, writes Claire Trevett.

It has long been a bad habit of New Zealand that just when we have a chance to beat Australia at something, we choke.

If further evidence of Collins' reincarnation was needed, it came in her response to questions about police being urged to review their pursuit practices, writes Claire Trevett.

The plump green upholstery of the parliamentary debating chamber puckered with terror this week, as the backsides of our elected representatives nestled in after a couple of months away.

Given a lot of adult novelty items on the market are from the US and Canada, the TPP should at least make commemorating our national day a bit cheaper, writes Claire Trevett.

Mr Key's decision is understandable. There is only so long a Prime Minister can sit and look as if he is at someone else's beck and call, writes Claire Trevett.

It has all worked out in the end and tomorrow Key will again walk down that aisle toward Ngapuhi with a chorus of protesters as guests, writes Claire Trevett.

It would be a big step for powerhouse to accede to TPP agreement, with intellectual protection a thorny issue.

The Greens' mad rush for the centre is a huge about-face. It's like Winston Peters welcoming refugees or Peter Dunne declaring himself communist.

"For anyone who has paid only scant attention to the Democratic nomination contest, it took only a few minutes to grasp the state of the race."

COMMENT: John Key and his advisers, radio jokers and petitioners all need to reflect on their roles, writes Claire Trevett.

Lack of clear winners echoes uncertainty over who will claim party nomination.

Spare a thought for Bill English's family this Christmas, for he has come up with a belter of a way to spend the summer.

To attack your rival for being experienced, and to claim your biggest asset is being ignorant of the political process, is perverse, writes Brian Rudman.

Three wise men and four idiots featured in Parliament's last question time of the year.

Judith Collins has put on a good impression of bread dough, which is left to rise once, then has the bejeezus pummelled out of it before being left to rise again.

COMMENT: She doesn't have Tim Groser's intellectual subtlety and flair but Paula Bennett does have a strong opportunistic streak, writes Fran O'Sullivan.

COMMENT: Yes, she has a Machiavellian style, but that hardly disqualifies her for high political office, writes Audrey Young.

Labour MPs can learn an important lesson from leader Andrew Little's reshuffle. It is that he does not like to feel beholden to anyone, writes Claire Trevett.

Spare a penny for the poor? This time around, the poor in question are not the homeless or the children, but the MPs themselves, writes Claire Trevett.

Former Prime Minister Jim Bolger says it is time to change the New Zealand flag and he hopes New Zealand has "the maturity" to do it and to look forward and not back.