Fittingly, New Zealand's political year always begins with formalities on marae, first at Ratana, then at Waitangi.

Prime Minister John Key says he will not gatecrash Te Tii Marae if he is not wanted after Ngapuhi elder Kingi Taurua said the Government should be denied entry.

Prime Minister John Key says he will promote the merits of the TPP free trade agreement on the lower marae at Waitangi.

The PM's Office has finally agreed to release transcripts from his post cabinet press conferences, and Audrey Young says it's a small, but important, victory.

We enjoyed the group of willow trees in Tuff Crater, Northcote, with their nesting kingfishers and rosellas.

I think Andrew Little might have had his first Tony Abbott moment at Waitangi last Friday.

If the Waitangi Tribunal is right in saying the chiefs of 1840 did not cede sovereignty when they signed the Treaty, the reason was probably that they had more practical concerns on their minds.

Andrew Little made something of "a captain's call" on Waitangi Day when suggesting notions of greater Maori sovereignty should not be dismissed.

Onlookers who rushed to a crash scene on a rural road northwest of Auckland tried to comfort the driver before he died in his upturned car.

With all the politics happening up in Waitangi, Auckland partied at Bastion Point with an inclusive and peaceful family day for all races.

It's 2015. We should be proud of the only national day we have, because this is the only nation we have, writes Lee Suckling.

Motorists are urged to take care on the busy roads this holiday weekend, particularly after a spate of road crashes yesterday thought to be caused by wet conditions.

Prime Minister John Key and Government ministers have been welcomed on to Te Tii Marae without incident.

Last year, two notable New Zealand economists warned of dire consequences if our regional economies were allowed to run down from "benign neglect".

Very few NZers vote on the basis of knighthoods, writes Claire Trevett. Public support for knighthoods tends to depend more on who is awarded them and their behaviour than the title's historic origins.

Imagine if Ngapuhi had settled in the 1990s, as Ngai Tahu and Waikato Tainui did.

Gareth Morgan enjoys an argument and has the wealth to indulge his views. But his latest adopted cause - biculturalism - isn't needed.

Former Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples joked about putting his body on the line to protect the Prime Minister at Waitangi, but successor Te Ururoa Flavell won't be following suit.

Prime Minister John Key says he is expecting a "rough" reception at Waitangi this year as he walks into a hotbed of issues.

The country's biggest iwi wants to move out of grievance mode and into talks with the Crown about settling its Treaty of Waitangi claims.

Treaty Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson has refuted suggestions that a settlement invitation with the country's largest tribe was a "cash offer".

Around rolls another Waitangi Day, and with it the predictable outbursts from a small self-important, racket-making bunch, who so disappointingly let their own kind down by drowning out what should be a time of national reflection, writes Toby Manhire.