The brother of the man controversially appointed to New Zealand's top spy job after a nod by John Key is a former schoolmate and debating team member of the Prime Minister.

Prime Minister John Key was pushing his childhood friend Ian Fletcher as a good candidate for a top-level government job as early as 2009, says Ian Rennie.

Claire Trevett says when it comes to delivering bad news about the fauna and flora of NZ, the same advice applies as to tramping near fairy tern nesting sites: tread with meticulous care.

Someone should tell David Shearer that getting all indignant about someone else's blunder was not the best of tactics to employ in Parliament, writes John Armstrong.

Were senior Cabinet ministers asleep at the wheel? Did they fail to step in soon enough when problems at Solid Energy were apparent? John Armstrong investigates.

Why has National remained so incredibly popular for so long despite suffering continuing calamities, embarrassments and unwanted distractions, asks John Armstrong.

John Key was touted as a dinner companion in a lucky dip contest fronted by a National Party minister - but never knew he was the prize used to lure entrants.

Since the 1980s, too, successive Governments have become increasingly high-handed, and ideologically driven, writes Anne Salmond.

Nine months in the political wilderness awaiting Lyn Provost's painstaking report may well have done the trick, writes John Armstrong.

All manner of people, policies and practices are being blamed for the near-collapse of Solid Energy, the state-owned coal company that is burdened with $389 million in debt.

A Parliamentary committee has recommended a starting wage for youth be passed into law.

National has risen above 50 per cent again in the latest 3 News political poll, while Labour and the Greens polled 43 per cent between them - well short of a majority.

Hekia Parata or no Hekia Parata in the job, Cabinet ministers had few illusions from the start.

The Herald met Nikki Kaye in 2013, she was a fresh-faced Cabinet Minister.

Longstanding National MP and former Speaker Lockwood Smith has used his final speech in Parliament to tell of his regret at voting against homosexual law reform.

As you'll know by breathless media reports, the old battle-axe Titewhai Harawira took the country to the brink of disaster just as the Prime Minister and other dignitaries were about to arrive at the lower Waitangi marae.

In between overseas trips, Murray McCully talks to political editor Audrey Young about his hectic year ahead.

Carter takes over as Speaker of the House despite Labour move to install Mallard

Times are very tough in manufacturing. The global recession has merely contributed an additional woe to a sector whose share of economic activity has been declining for more than two decades.

Police allege an illegal immigrant living here on a false Australian passport was also able to obtain three other false passports - including two from New Zealand.

He has more combativeness than the sort of bonhomie that endeared predecessors such as Don McKinnon, John Carter and Simon Power to political enemies but is still regarded as a pleasant enough fellow.

Justice Minister Judith Collins rejected the advice of an independent panel which recommended a woman lawyer for a top state service job and selected her own nominee, despite a plea from the Chief Human Rights Commissioner.

Prime Minister John Key was left in little doubt that there was at least one place he wasn't the preferred Prime Minister: at Ratana Pa.

Hone Harawira says dumped Cabinet Minister Phil Heatley is a "smarmy p****'' who jokes about the poor, but the Whangarei MP says he takes poverty seriously.

Disappointed but unbowed, Whangarei MP Phil Heatley says his dumping as a Cabinet minister means he will have more time to concentrate on his electorate.