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.

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

Calling somebody Trumpesque has become the insult du jour in Parliament, way up there with calling somebody Muldoonist or the offpsring of Margaret Thatcher.

It was an ominous sign when Prime Minister John Key wandered into his weekly post-Cabinet press conference and announced, "I've got a bit of a head cold."

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.

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.

Veterans of the January visit to Ratana know the two key rules: take sunscreen and a hat, writes Claire Trevett.

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

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.

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.

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.

If apologies were commodities the Government surplus would be assured in perpetuity given the extent to which demand is outstripping supply, writes Claire Trevett.

It must be tempting for the royal family to simply give up on New Zealand and Australia.

The Prime Minister doesn't care if we're laughing at him or with him as long as we're laughing and he's in the frame, writes Claire Trevett. "The PM does at least give back in entertainment value what he costs in coin.

The Finance Minister's long sought Holy Grail (a surplus in 2014/15) was so slim even he had to poke some fun at himself for the size of it.

Claire Trevett reflects on her whirlwind trip to Taji with Prime Minister John Key.

It was hard for some to see the justification in Key's decision to deploy the troops in the first place, writes Cliare Trevett. It is harder still to see how Key will justify a decision to cut and run.

The real aim of Key's visit is the Trans Pacific Partnership, writes Claire Trevett. Talks are in the make-or-break stage in Atlanta and whether world peace emerges from the General Assembly or not,

In an attempt to look as if they were both trying to be constructive, the olive branches were ordered, writes Claire Trevett. Then they started slapping each other about the chops with them.

My first real-life glimpse of the Queen was when I was changing my clothes in the parking lot outside the gates of Balmoral Castle in 2013.

All we have agreed on in this search for a unifying piece of fabric is that those it is meant to unify can agree on nothing, writes Claire Trevett.

Amy Adams fits in with the "compassionate conservatism" tag Prime Minister John Key has used to describe his Administration, writes Claire Trevett.

The Labour leader is walking a tightrope in delivering trade messages, writes Claire Trevett.

Winston Peters clearly got some momentum from the Northland win. The question is whether he's made the most of it, writes Claire Trevett.

Those expecting fireworks in John Key and Andrew Little's first encounter since the Chinese-sounding-surname debate broke out were sorely disappointed, writes Claire Trevett.