Labour has been challenged to reciprocate Ratana's decades-long loyalty by giving four Ratana candidates winnable Parliamentary list positions.

Prime Minister John Key arrived far too early for the party, but got the present he wanted at the annual Ratana celebrations yesterday.

Preventive detention will be retained as a sentencing option for judges under the Government's proposed "three strikes" legislation, Police Minister Judith Collins said today.

Offenders with a record will have "nothing to lose" and could be more likely to kill under the three-strikes law, a prisoners' advocate says.

The Minister of Maori Affairs is warning that people using a 'Maori Traveller's Permit' instead of a driver's licence will be prosecuted.

Maori Party MP Hone Harawira says the sentiment behind his "white mother....ers" remarks remains and the "rape of Maori land" continues.

A Northland hapu leader says flying the "tino rangatiratanga" flag at the Treaty grounds during Waitangi celebrations would be a breach of treaty rights.

The Ministry of Health has given the clearest signal yet that the Government is likely to increase the tax on cigarettes to help slash the number of people who smoke.

A new PM defied the odds as the Govt struggled to deal with the worst recession in decades, and Labour played catch up politics.

Upset about changes to a brochure he designed about Maori flags, Hone Harawira let six Te Puni Kokiri officials know of his displeasure in an expletive littered email.

Peter Dunne has given up on his annual list of worst-behaved MPs, saying Speaker Lockwood Smith's reign has ushered in a new era of propriety.

Rodney Hide survived moves to oust him as Act leader last month after the PM privately indicated National's deal with Act would be off.

Flying the Maori flag should be a cause for celebration, not mean-spirited opposition, says outspoken Maori Party MP Hone Harawira.