Chris Trotter

NZ First’s participation in government is defined not so much by what it does, but by what it prevents its coalition partners from doing, Chris Trotter says

NZ First’s participation in government is defined not so much by what it does, but by what it prevents its coalition partners from doing, Chris Trotter says

Of the five digits making up the Anglo-Saxon fist, New Zealand is obviously the 'pinkie finger', Chris Trotter says

Of the five digits making up the Anglo-Saxon fist, New Zealand is obviously the 'pinkie finger', Chris Trotter says

Chris Trotter casts his eye over the main political parties' election slogans noting only Te Pāti Māori is offering the electorate the prospect of something entirely new

Chris Trotter casts his eye over the main political parties' election slogans noting only Te Pāti Māori is offering the electorate the prospect of something entirely new

Chris Trotter says more and more, conventional wisdom sounds like conventional folly. In the end, no political party is entitled to people’s votes. Loyalty should be earned and renewed, not given blindly and regardless of repeated failures and betrayals

Chris Trotter says more and more, conventional wisdom sounds like conventional folly. In the end, no political party is entitled to people’s votes. Loyalty should be earned and renewed, not given blindly and regardless of repeated failures and betrayals

Chris Trotter says to announce that your party is even 'exploring' bestowing upon Māori the 'right of first refusal' on privately-owned land offered for sale will certainly test the relative strengths of collectivism and individualism in New Zealand!

Chris Trotter says to announce that your party is even 'exploring' bestowing upon Māori the 'right of first refusal' on privately-owned land offered for sale will certainly test the relative strengths of collectivism and individualism in New Zealand!

Chris Trotter says nation-building isn’t just about erecting hospitals, schools and hydro-electric schemes, it’s about resourcing New Zealand’s artists to create and shape the development of a unique national character

Chris Trotter says nation-building isn’t just about erecting hospitals, schools and hydro-electric schemes, it’s about resourcing New Zealand’s artists to create and shape the development of a unique national character

Chris Trotter says the only way to come anywhere near a true equality of outcomes, is to build a system sufficiently well-resourced to accommodate the needs of all New Zealand’s citizens – when they need them

Chris Trotter says the only way to come anywhere near a true equality of outcomes, is to build a system sufficiently well-resourced to accommodate the needs of all New Zealand’s citizens – when they need them

Listening to Christopher Luxon sledging New Zealand, the voters could be forgiven for thinking that, given the choice, the Leader of the Opposition would rather be leading Act, Chris Trotter says

Listening to Christopher Luxon sledging New Zealand, the voters could be forgiven for thinking that, given the choice, the Leader of the Opposition would rather be leading Act, Chris Trotter says

Chris Trotter assesses the strange scenario of RNZ's altered stories about Russia's invasion of Ukraine

Chris Trotter assesses the strange scenario of RNZ's altered stories about Russia's invasion of Ukraine

Chris Trotter says the irony of the long-running generational saga lies in how completely the moral relativism of 20th century youth has congealed into the moral absolutism of their hapless children in the Twenty-First

Chris Trotter says the irony of the long-running generational saga lies in how completely the moral relativism of 20th century youth has congealed into the moral absolutism of their hapless children in the Twenty-First

Effective leaders develop political muscle-memory of their own – National should get one, Chris Trotter says

Effective leaders develop political muscle-memory of their own – National should get one, Chris Trotter says

Chris Trotter argues National needs to grasp the need to be kind if it wants to form a government after October's election

Chris Trotter argues National needs to grasp the need to be kind if it wants to form a government after October's election

Chris Trotter says Labour and National should defer significant constitutional change till there has been an opportunity for all New Zealanders – Māori and Non-Māori – to engage openly on the full range of options for how their country might be governed

Chris Trotter says Labour and National should defer significant constitutional change till there has been an opportunity for all New Zealanders – Māori and Non-Māori – to engage openly on the full range of options for how their country might be governed

Chris Trotter asks: Is New Zealand about to experience storm-force winds from a radicalised Māori electorate?

Chris Trotter asks: Is New Zealand about to experience storm-force winds from a radicalised Māori electorate?

Chris Trotter probes tension within the Labour Party over dismantling the neoliberal status quo

Chris Trotter probes tension within the Labour Party over dismantling the neoliberal status quo

Is a smoothed path for Kiwis seeking Aussie citizenship the quid pro quo for New Zealand signing-on to AUKUS?

Is a smoothed path for Kiwis seeking Aussie citizenship the quid pro quo for New Zealand signing-on to AUKUS?

Trained to espouse only the 'correct' version of reality, the idea of giving 'incorrect' ideas access to the mass media, must strike a large number of young journalists as just plain wrong

Trained to espouse only the 'correct' version of reality, the idea of giving 'incorrect' ideas access to the mass media, must strike a large number of young journalists as just plain wrong

Chris Trotter is watching a growing struggle within the Green Party where radical activists are battling the grown-ups for control, the outcome which may affect Labour's re-electability in October

Chris Trotter is watching a growing struggle within the Green Party where radical activists are battling the grown-ups for control, the outcome which may affect Labour's re-electability in October

Chris Trotter argues Shamubeel Eaqub’s fingering of the Baby Boom Generation as the villains of the NZ Superannuation saga is just plain wrong

Chris Trotter argues Shamubeel Eaqub’s fingering of the Baby Boom Generation as the villains of the NZ Superannuation saga is just plain wrong

Chris Trotter assesses what happened on Saturday at Auckland's Albert Park and what it means

Chris Trotter assesses what happened on Saturday at Auckland's Albert Park and what it means

Looking at Te Pāti Māori, Chris Trotter argues that not since Harry Holland’s Labour Party first entered Parliament in 1919 has the Crown been confronted by such an uncompromising threat to the status quo

Looking at Te Pāti Māori, Chris Trotter argues that not since Harry Holland’s Labour Party first entered Parliament in 1919 has the Crown been confronted by such an uncompromising threat to the status quo

Chris Trotter ponders protests in Israel against planned judicial reforms from a New Zealand perspective

Chris Trotter ponders protests in Israel against planned judicial reforms from a New Zealand perspective

This Election Year, New Zealand desperately needs, and deserves, so much more than the 'least worst' option

This Election Year, New Zealand desperately needs, and deserves, so much more than the 'least worst' option

For Chris Hipkins and Labour, the state highway to October has been rendered impassable by inaction and political slash. Christopher Luxon and National, meanwhile, have discovered an unsealed road without slips and fallen trees

For Chris Hipkins and Labour, the state highway to October has been rendered impassable by inaction and political slash. Christopher Luxon and National, meanwhile, have discovered an unsealed road without slips and fallen trees

Cyclone Gabrielle’s lesson is that NZ’s climate change adaptation efforts have been woefully insufficient, and much more work is needed if we are to survive this 'time of consequences'

Cyclone Gabrielle’s lesson is that NZ’s climate change adaptation efforts have been woefully insufficient, and much more work is needed if we are to survive this 'time of consequences'