Latest from NZ National Party

'Tea-break' bill almost law

The Government's Employment Relations Amendment Bill is best known for its removal of guaranteed rest and meal breaks. What else does it do?

John Armstrong: Taxpayer looks the loser in English's pet reform

Bill English's masterplan to radically "reform" the Labour-initiated, octogenarian state housing scheme has all the hallmarks of being ideological for ideology's sake.

Editorial: Speaker gives PM, ministers a licence to duck for cover

The Prime Minister began his third term by warning National MPs and ministers that he did not want to see any hint of arrogance creeping into their behaviour.

PM should've answered Slater question

John Key was wrong when he refused to answer a Parliamentary question about his discussion with Cameron Slater about a car crash victim's mother, the Speaker has ruled.

John Armstrong: Hard work pinning down slick PM

You do not need to be a mind-reader to spot when the Prime Minister is under real pressure in Parliament, writes John Armstrong.

Key spoke to blogger 'not as PM'

John Key's conversations with blogger Cameron Slater were not in his capacity as Prime Minister, he said yesterday as he faced questions in Parliament.

Bryce Edwards: The next three years of National boredom

Blandness seems to be the secret to the National Party's success, and so can we expect a fairly boring third term National Government, asks Bryce Edwards.

John Armstrong: Shadow lingers on National

The rotten smell of the contents of Nicky Hager's book Dirty Politics will linger around the Government this term, writes John Armstrong.

National lullaby

House affordability falls - survey

Houses are going up by $30,000 a year but wages are only rising fractionally in one of the clearest illustrations of the worsening housing affordability crisis.

Editorial: Voters should have been told of reform

A carve-up of the housing portfolio in the new Cabinet has alerted the country to a radical reform the Government has in mind for state housing.

Conservation Minister backs 1080 drop

Fran O'Sullivan: We need to know who tried to fit up SFO boss

When John Key dumped Judith Collins at the height of the Dirty Politics affair, he refused to disclose who gave him a copy of the email that prompted him to dump her from the Cabinet.

Isis: NZ might join fight

A “domestic beheading” inspired by foreign fanatics is one of several threats New Zealand potentially faces from the so-called Islamic State, John Key said this morning.

John Armstrong: Key hits ground running as Labour squabbles

Rust never sleeps. And neither, it seems, does John Key.

In charge of keeping secrets

National minister Chris Finlayson's world has become a little more 007 with his anointment as Minister for Spies, but his first love remains the Treaty of Waitangi settlements.

Bennett's teacher pays her a visit

The path to the top can begin in unusual places. For Paula Bennett, it was performing as Rizzo in a high school production of the musical Grease.

Claire Trevett: English's plan to save the children: scrap RMA

The Prime Minister might get to choose who sits where in the Cabinet and on his front bench, but it seems National's caucus has a far more anarchic pecking order - one based on speed and punctuality just once every three years.