National rules out coalition with NZ First
Election 2020

National rules out coalition with NZ First

The National Party under Simon Bridges's leadership is ruling out New Zealand First as a coalition partner following the 2020 election.Bridges made the announcement at the start of the party's election year caucus retreat, in Havelock North, this afternoon.“A vote for NZ First is...

Pattrick Smellie 02 Feb 2020
Barry Colman sells his last title: The Capital Letter
Law & Regulation

Barry Colman sells his last title: The Capital Letter

Millionaire business news and commercial publisher Barry Colman has sold boutique legal newsletter The Capital Letter, the last remaining publication in his once large stable of titles.The sale to Freeman Media, an online news and events company, ends an involvement in publishing...

Pattrick Smellie 27 Jan 2020
OPINION: A strange bedfellow and a tenuous lifeline at Ratana for Bridges
Policy

Pattrick Smellie: OPINION: A strange bedfellow and a tenuous lifeline at Ratana for Bridges

National Party leader Simon Bridges was thrown an unlikely, admittedly tenuous, lifeline at today's annual political pilgrimage to the seat of the Ratana church, a traditional Labour Party bastion.That lifeline came in the form of an unexpected endorsement by the Green Party's Ja...

Pattrick Smellie 24 Jan 2020
Complacency leaves NZ 'exposed' to global corruption
Law & Regulation

Complacency leaves NZ 'exposed' to global corruption

New Zealand's government and business communities are failing to drive value for the country from its ongoing status as one of the least corrupt countries in the world, says the head of Transparency International New Zealand, Suzanne Snively.New Zealand emerges first equal with D...

Pattrick Smellie 23 Jan 2020