Power Play

Kim Dotcom continues to loom large over New Zealand politics. He's getting plenty of attention, but probably not in the way he would like.

Young people are increasingly boycotting the ballot box and staying home on voting day. Do we give up on them, or do we make it our mission to get them interested?

New Zealanders may still be finding it hard to believe a man accused of a sex crime was allowed to leave the country while facing charges of attempted burglary and sexual assault.

After a week of diversions, the Labour Party got the focus back on its policies with the release of its alternative Budget, a key of which is upping tax rates for those on $150,000-plus.

Sometimes the frenzy of the parliamentary press gallery's political reportage can lead to hysteria. When the story of David Cunliffe's letter broke, calls for his resignation were immediate.

Political parties are emphasising pragmatism, not principle, as the election draws nearer. It's leading to most of them doing deals, or at least considering it.

Just when John Key thought the John Banks saga would be at an end, it looks set to dominate attacks on his Government as it prepares to go into full-blown election mode.

The battle for votes on the left has become a far more interesting contest with the reappearance of former Alliance Party MP Laila Harre on the political scene.

The political argument around housing is becoming as over-heated as the housing market itself, as politicians fight to convince the public they can fix it.

The Government had to do two things in this week's Budget: deliver a surplus and reward struggling families. So did it deliver on the two politically important platforms?

The Government is not promising any election year sweeteners when it delivers this Thursday's Budget and unveils a paper-thin surplus in the nation's books for the coming financial year.

Justice Minister Judith Collins, on leave apparently for stress, poses a problem for Prime Minister John Key over her Oravida difficulties and comments on a journalist.

Political resignations are becoming all too common at the moment, with Shane Jones sudden departure from Labour last week followed on Thursday by National's Maurice Williamson.

Is Shane Jones' departure from Labour less damaging than the questions it prompts about the state of the party and its leadership?

Voters deserve a rational economic debate from politicians in the lead up to the election in September, not polemic and rhetoric.

Labour has spurned a Green Party approach to campaign jointly in the lead-up to the election. But despite the rejection both parties still need one another.

The weekly column from Radio New Zealand's gallery staff, analysing the stories, themes and issues focusing the minds of the nation's political leaders.