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Today is 2 November, and for conservative Christians among us that means All Souls. For the rest, it is just day two after Halloween. Read more

It is hard to make good rules in a hurry. And the period after an earthquake – or any natural disaster – is the worst time for setting new building codes, new city plans, or new rules for urgent building demolition. Read more

The government’s planning changes to freshwater management. Earlier this month, the government released consultation documents outlining its intended approach to improving freshwater quality. Read more

Political scandals usually have a policy core – unlike Botany MP Jami-Lee Ross’ falling out with his now former party, which appears to be about personal issues as much as anything else. Yet at least one policy question has arisen out of this political train crash – whether using the new ‘waka jumping’ law would be appropriate to allow a party to remove defectors from Parliament. Read more

The past fortnight’s shenanigans have raised calls for campaign finance reform. But campaign finance regulation is like squeezing a balloon. Read more

A very long time ago, as long ago as last Friday, Yvette, 5, and Rupert, 6, committed their grandparents to 100 years of thinking time. For the uninitiated, thinking time is a penalty some parents impose on their young kids for misbehaving. Read more

The Tax Working Group’s high-level advice is absolutely correct: The government should simplify the alcohol excise structure, put tobacco excise increases on hold, and not proceed with any sugar taxes until it figures out what it is trying to achieve. This sound advice relies on a rather reasonable summary of the issues produced by the Tax Working Group’s secretariat. Read more

In the media they say if it bleeds it leads. That may be so, but last Friday I took the unusual step of writing a column about some good news. Read more

Normal politics too quickly leads to despair about democracy and humanity. If you are tired of reality-TV political shenanigans, turn off the Twitter feed and turn an eye to the government’s promising work on freshwater management. Read more