RT @tmurphyNZ: 2/ Peters in full flight gets his decades mixed up, saying Labour's leader Chris Hipkins got himself in a tangle "on the Hol….

RT @toddniall: Top adviser to leave Wayne Brown's office after undeclared liquidation @NewsroomNZ

RT @thomas_manch: A year on from the EU-NZ FTA coming into effect and trade is up. There’s hope prior expectations will be exceeded. This w….

Walton Goggins should start up an NZ trail mix brand and call it Walton’s Scroggins.

NZers who publicly express support for terrorist groups could be charged with a criminal offence under proposals being considered by the Govt. One civil liberties group fears the law may be misused to suppress free speech, citing recent cases in the UK

RT @richardboock: They're just trolling us now.

RT @benmackey: Tuvalu minister Simon Kofe gave an insightful interview to the ABC explaining that (a) its open to the Tuvalu diaspora, and….

Was a great privilege (and slightly terrifying) to deliver a speech to the Otago Foreign Policy School last weekend, on NZ's relations with the US and China. A lightly edited version of the speech is now on Newsroom for anyone interested:

As always, I remain. unconvinced. about the grounds for some redactions in MFAT documents.

We have a warm and what relationship with Mongolia? Warm AND WHAT??

I'm not sure Act's suggestion that critics are deliberately misinterpreting the provisions in the Regulatory Standards Bill is helped by then selectively quoting excerpts from an old speech about the bill, without including the criticisms.

David Seymour described smokers as “fiscal heroes” during a speech to a neoliberal thinktank in London this month: “If you want to save your country’s balance sheet, light up … lots of excise tax, no pension.”. Tobacco researchers are…unimpressed:.

RT @NewsroomNZ: Confusion as NZ becomes midpoint on China route to South America . China considers a long-mooted Southern Link deal part of….

Big year for a very specific Simpsons meme in NZ political discourse. First Chris Hipkins in March on Winston Peters, then Peters himself yesterday on the Govt's foreign policy critics - who will next to face accusations of shouting at clouds?

RT @NZIIA_live: As the global context shifts, how should New Zealand evolve its foreign policy? This session explores our values, alliances….

RT @asianewzealand: After returning from the recent Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, our CE @SuzJessep shares her thoughts and takeaways f….

RT @KyleKulinski:

RT @Blake_J_Johnson: Important piece by @benmackey on Pacific media struggling after US cuts. The vacuum is being filled by China. Already,….

RT @benmackey: The political cuckold and the chihuahua job-share, now "dangerously united" at the heart of the New Zealand government: a pi….

Hamish Cooper has just been named as NZ's next permanent High Commissioner to the UK, after Phil Goff was sacked earlier this year - he'll take up the post in September, with former Mfat boss Chris Seed continuing to fill in until then: