Labour MP Jacinda Ardern is putting a different spin on the phrase "on the record" by agreeing to do a slot as a DJ at the Laneway Festival on Monday night.

The frenetic activity is all about National and Labour grappling with one another for the early election-year political initiative and - hopefully - retaining it, writes John Armstrong.

Labour is looking at the Norwegian model for regulating the oil and gas industry, including stronger environmental safeguards and steeper taxes.

Meet the backbenchers - Andrew Little, 48, married with one son, Labour List MP, elected in 2011.

Bill in works to make domestic violence a factor at sentencing - but first, the beach.

Labour says it will tackle "aggressive tax avoidance" by multinationals such as Facebook and Google which it says is costing the taxman hundreds of millions of dollars.

Labour's David Cunliffe faces a conundrum - how to convince New Zealand voters it's time to break away from the "old economic orthodoxies" when the data shows the country is poised for a relative boom, writes Fran O'Sullivan.

David Cunliffe says he has been given a written warning about a tweet he posted on the day of the Christchurch East byelection urging people to vote for Poto Williams.

A Labour Party candidate in the first Super City elections has been found guilty of two counts of using forged documents but has been acquitted on 18 other electoral fraud allegations.

A police log the Maori Party claims shows extended surveillance of those associated with the Ruatoki raids contains nothing to be worried about, National's Tau Henare says.

Labour's Shane Jones says Maori Party co-leader Te Ururoa Flavell should "put up or shut up" over Operation Eight and Ruatoki raids documents.

A members bill put forward by Labour’s Phil Goff which would tighten up rules for foreigners buying rural land will be debated in Parliament after it was drawn from the ballot.

Labour would raise the age of eligibility for NZ Superannuation to 67, make KiwiSaver compulsory for employees and increase the KiwiSaver contribution rate if voted into power.

Mood for change seen in quake city as a good omen for party's chances in next year's election, says Cunliffe.

Editorial: Regulation appeals to governments because it is the easiest response to a problem. But each affects people's freedom in some way.

Shadow police minister Jacinda Ardern says she has been "banned" from visiting police stations by the Police Minister because cops were too busy to host her during the summer months.

David Cunliffe has seized the moral high ground from the PM by offering to pay compensation to the Pike River families, John Armstrong says.

Is David Cunliffe exploiting the Pike River tragedy for political purposes? Of course he is, writes John Armstrong.

Air New Zealand has frequently been a political football for politicians of all stripes.

Labour list MP Moana Mackey is using taxpayer money to rent her Gisborne electorate office from her mother.

Allies and enemies of David Cunliffe are quickly discovering that Labour's leader is something of a two-headed hydra, says John Armstrong.

Labour leader David Cunliffe says John Tamihere has a "snowflake's" chance of becoming a Labour candidate for the next election.

You have to feel for David Cunliffe. He is beavering away making Labour a credible alternative, say Rodney Hide.

Spring has sprung and with it a focus on renewal among political parties, writes Claire Trevett. National MPs are obediently acting like deciduous trees.

The Government caucus has only 14 women, only 24 per cent of its 59 MPs, resulting in a Parliament, as a whole, in which only 32 per cent of MPs are women, writes Brian Rudman.