Alex Tarrant

About

Alex is interest.co.nz's political journalist based in the Parliamentary Press Gallery in Wellington. He previously spent four years in London as a journalist and assistant editor at global financial newswire Mergermarket, which was part of the FT Group. Alex worked for interest.co.nz between 2008 and 2012, returning at the start of 2017.

Email Alex

Member for

14 years 5 months

Latest articles

CPI surprises to the upside

Housing, insurance and food price pressures have CPI inflation near RBNZ’s 2% target band – annual rate of 1.9% slightly above market expectation, above RBNZ’s 1.6% pick

17th Oct 17, 10:59am

by Alex Tarrant

Housing, insurance and food price pressures have CPI inflation near RBNZ’s 2% target band – annual rate of 1.9% slightly above market expectation, above RBNZ’s 1.6% pick

Will Winston's throne be established forever?

Progress being made by NZ First board and caucus as meeting enters day 2, MP Shane Jones says: References Bible proverb relating to a King's throne being established forever if he is fair to the poor

17th Oct 17, 9:36am

by Alex Tarrant

Progress being made by NZ First board and caucus as meeting enters day 2, MP Shane Jones says: References Bible proverb relating to a King's throne being established forever if he is fair to the poor

'Still outstanding issues' - English

Outstanding issues, including Cabinet positions, mean NZ First board not debating completed agreements Monday, PM English says; Govt formation could come later this week

16th Oct 17, 9:01am

by Alex Tarrant

Outstanding issues, including Cabinet positions, mean NZ First board not debating completed agreements Monday, PM English says; Govt formation could come later this week

NZ First meeting on Monday

NZ First will hold joint caucus and board meeting on Monday to discuss government formation, Winston Peters says

13th Oct 17, 2:48pm

by Alex Tarrant

NZ First will hold joint caucus and board meeting on Monday to discuss government formation, Winston Peters says

NZF board meeting as late as Monday

NZ First board might not meet until weekend or even Monday to discuss which deal to agree to, Peters says

12th Oct 17, 12:35pm

by Alex Tarrant

NZ First board might not meet until weekend or even Monday to discuss which deal to agree to, Peters says

Winston reveals a taste of what he wants

New Zealand First calls for a report into how NZ can best commemorate Passchendaele; Is Veterans' Affairs on the Ministerial cards?

12th Oct 17, 10:22am

by Alex Tarrant

New Zealand First calls for a report into how NZ can best commemorate Passchendaele; Is Veterans' Affairs on the Ministerial cards?

Peters wants big majority of board, caucus to approve deal

Winston Peters says he wants a high majority of NZ First's board and caucus to approve whichever deal the party accepts; Says internal discussions will carry on till then

12th Oct 17, 7:33am

by Alex Tarrant

Winston Peters says he wants a high majority of NZ First's board and caucus to approve whichever deal the party accepts; Says internal discussions will carry on till then

Naval-gazing on Auckland Port-Whangarei compromise

Winston Peters says we're now in compromise territory; National wasn't a fan of the Auckland Port to Whangarei move, but something has to be shifted up there; Is the answer across the water?

11th Oct 17, 2:44pm

by Alex Tarrant

Winston Peters says we're now in compromise territory; National wasn't a fan of the Auckland Port to Whangarei move, but something has to be shifted up there; Is the answer across the water?

Peters: Need to consider deposit guarantee scheme

Peters says we need to consider if NZ needs a deposit guarantee scheme like in Australia, but won't be drawn on whether the NZ First policy has been discussed with National or Labour

11th Oct 17, 1:06pm

by Alex Tarrant

Peters says we need to consider if NZ needs a deposit guarantee scheme like in Australia, but won't be drawn on whether the NZ First policy has been discussed with National or Labour

'I trust her and she seems to be doing a good job of it'

Shaw: Strong and responsible government that will go the distance is top priority for Greens

11th Oct 17, 11:55am

by Alex Tarrant

Shaw: Strong and responsible government that will go the distance is top priority for Greens

Peters treating Labour-Greens as one

Winston Peters indicates he's treating Labour and the Greens as one party in response to question on why he won't meet with James Shaw; 'They've hugged each other for years'; Greens tried to reach out to NZ First - no answer

10th Oct 17, 4:40pm

by Alex Tarrant

Peters on NZ$, housing affordability & coalitions

NZ First leader Winston Peters discusses overvalued & volatile NZ dollar, housing affordability and coalitions - with the media at least

10th Oct 17, 1:34pm

by Alex Tarrant

NZ First leader Winston Peters discusses overvalued & volatile NZ dollar, housing affordability and coalitions - with the media at least

Peters: RBNZ query a "brilliant question"

Foreign ownership rules, post-1984 economic paradigm up for debate in NZ First talks with National and Labour; Peters still not a fan of HNA-UDC deal

9th Oct 17, 12:26pm

by Alex Tarrant

Foreign ownership rules, post-1984 economic paradigm up for debate in NZ First talks with National and Labour; Peters still not a fan of HNA-UDC deal

'Policy is everything' - Peters

'Policy is everything,' Kingmaker Winston Peters says after first heavy round of talks held Sunday; English and Ardern say talks were positive, set to carry on through Monday

9th Oct 17, 7:34am

by Alex Tarrant

'Policy is everything,' Kingmaker Winston Peters says after first heavy round of talks held Sunday; English and Ardern say talks were positive, set to carry on through Monday

Peters still Kingmaker; Labour-Greens close in on National

National loses 2 seats after special votes, Labour and Greens gain 1 each; NZ First unmoved - Peters keeps Kingmaker position

7th Oct 17, 2:02pm

by Alex Tarrant

219

National loses 2 seats after special votes, Labour and Greens gain 1 each; NZ First unmoved - Peters keeps Kingmaker position

Peters elevated on talks with English and Ardern

Alex Tarrant re-lives Thursday's epic political events as Peters, English and Ardern try to navigate Parliament's notorious internal transport systems. It was a day for the history books

5th Oct 17, 7:32pm

by Alex Tarrant

Alex Tarrant re-lives Thursday's epic political events as Peters, English and Ardern try to navigate Parliament's notorious internal transport systems. It was a day for the history books

An extra $360m to play with

Govt's final accounts for the past year come in $360m better than expected pre-election; National's Steven Joyce warns against spending it all at once; Warns of softer growth potential

5th Oct 17, 12:39pm

by Alex Tarrant

Govt's final accounts for the past year come in $360m better than expected pre-election; National's Steven Joyce warns against spending it all at once; Warns of softer growth potential

Peters meets with English, then Ardern

English and Peters meet to kick off government formation talks; National team includes Brownlee, McClay, chief of staff & top policy advisor; Peters brings along Mark & Martin plus advisors

5th Oct 17, 10:35am

by Alex Tarrant

English and Peters meet to kick off government formation talks; National team includes Brownlee, McClay, chief of staff & top policy advisor; Peters brings along Mark & Martin plus advisors

Winston's past agreements, and present smoke signals

New Zealand First's two previous govt agreements were vastly different. Alex Tarrant considers whether either could be a blue-print this time around. He also wonders whether NZ First has been sending smoke signals the last week

5th Oct 17, 8:34am

by Alex Tarrant

National loving teal deal speculation

National should be loving the 'teal deal' speculation around a Blue-Greens tie-up, Alex Tarrant writes. It could draw Peters closer in giving him another rural vote 'headline win' of stopping National going with the Greens

3rd Oct 17, 8:21am

by Alex Tarrant

Peters talks to English & Ardern

Peters says he's called Bill English back, after National leader said weekend call went unanswered; English keeps speculation of Blue-Green coalition ticking over

2nd Oct 17, 11:05am

by Alex Tarrant

Peters says he's called Bill English back, after National leader said weekend call went unanswered; English keeps speculation of Blue-Green coalition ticking over

Cross-bench clues?

Could NZ First decide to sit on the cross benches and give support issue-by-issue? Turning Right and Left has hurt Peters before; Alex Tarrant sifts through the clues

1st Oct 17, 6:02am

by Alex Tarrant

Could NZ First decide to sit on the cross benches and give support issue-by-issue? Turning Right and Left has hurt Peters before; Alex Tarrant sifts through the clues

‘National & Greens have some policy fit’

National and the Greens have policy fit in some areas, including Climate Change, National’s Paula Bennett says; Would like to talk, but says the Greens don’t look up for it

29th Sep 17, 9:54am

by Alex Tarrant

National and the Greens have policy fit in some areas, including Climate Change, National’s Paula Bennett says; Would like to talk, but says the Greens don’t look up for it

A road map to Winston’s heart(land)

Lessons from Jim Anderton’s time as Industry and Regional Development Minister might well provide a valuable road map to how Winston Peters will be courted by Labour and National

29th Sep 17, 5:02am

by Alex Tarrant

Lessons from Jim Anderton’s time as Industry and Regional Development Minister might well provide a valuable road map to how Winston Peters will be courted by Labour and National

Peters warns on economic risks, wants Super cash into infrastructure

NZ First's Winston Peters warns of global risks facing the NZ economy; Says something will go wrong at some point, and we had better be prepared; Are there any clues as to which way he might go?

28th Sep 17, 11:43am

by Alex Tarrant

NZ First's Winston Peters warns of global risks facing the NZ economy; Says something will go wrong at some point, and we had better be prepared; Are there any clues as to which way he might go?