He called him ''Shylock'' and a ''nasty little creep'' but Labour candidate Steve Gibson was among those queueing to shake hands with Prime Minister John Key today

Satirists would be safe from breaching Electoral Commission rules if their work was only for humour and not as an election advertisement, a court has been told.

A move away from the adversarial court system for sexual and domestic violence may be back on the agenda after the resignation of former Justice Minister Judith Collins, a senior National MP says.

Labour and the Greens are backing National's plan to get all prisoners working or studying fulltime within three years.

For the past month, National leader John Key and Labour leader David Cunliffe have bemoaned the focus on Dirty Politics and the lack of attention to their policies.

A re-elected National Government would keep all current military bases open and operational, Defence Minister Jonathan Coleman says.

A re-elected National Government would keep all current military bases open and operational, Defence Minister Jonathan Coleman says.

Armstrong writes: The PM's offer is not so much a tax cut, more like a tax offcut - one which will not be finding its way into your wallet for the best part of another three years.

Maori Television says there will be no job losses at its news show Te Kaea and changes at the station have been put on hold.

Up to 25 people could see their jobs axed as Maori Television ditches its Te Kaea news show, Mana leader Hone Harawira claimed late last night.

The Government plans to establish two marine parks for recreational fishing - and pay millions in compensation to the commercial interests that would be forced out.

After being relinquished by National's Chris Tremain, the battle for the seat of Napier has been heating up between Labour's Stuart Nash and National newcomer Wayne Walford.

The Labour Party election campaign is in a mess after one candidate reportedly made an anti-Semitic jibe shortly after another candidate sent a bizarre email.

Prime Minister John Key slotted in his first campaign visit to the Epsom electorate yesterday and found not everybody was willing to go along with his instructions to vote for Act's David Seymour.

The inquiry just announced by the Prime Minister focuses on Judith Collins and asks whether there is evidence she breached conduct expected of ministers

National voters prefer the prospect of a post-election deal with Colin Craig's Conservative Party rather than Winston Peters' NZ First, a Herald-DigiPoll survey suggests.

An inquiry into allegations former Justice Minister Judith Collins tried to undermine then-SFO boss Adam Feeley will begin a week before the election.

National's polling has barely flickered in the three weeks since the Dirty Politics book was launched the latest Herald-Digipoll reveals.

The election campaign tax battle turned nasty yesterday as PM John Key accused David Cunliffe of punishing grieving children, and he returned with a Pike blow.

Whaleoil blogger Cameron Slater is going to the High Court in an effort to stop media publishing information taken by the hacker known as Rawshark.

John Key says the National Party had nothing to do with the shutting down of the @Whaledump Twitter account.

Collins and Slater appear to have frequent contact over entire time she was a Cabinet minister, including an email discussion about the editing of her Wikipedia page.

Are our politicians sleepwalking, asks Gordon McLauchlan, flabbergasted he's being told the Dirty Politics scandal is all just a distraction.

Federated Farmers is questioning the need for a National Party proposal for a compulsory ban on dairy cattle from all waterways.

National has unveiled $266 million worth of new policies including a $150 million boost to its rural broadband initiative in the past week.