Mike Houlahan

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins tours around Dunedin

The weather should be politically neutral but sometimes you wonder . . . a fortnight ago Chris Luxon came to Dunedin in the midst of teeming rain, while both Grant Robertson and Chris Hipkins have enjoyed glorious sunshine for their visits.

From protester to protested

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins speaks to University of Otago students, in front of a backdrop of...

From protester to protested

Once upon a time Chris Hipkins used to organise student protests. These days he has to run the gauntlet of them.

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Bold to rule out working with Te Pāti Māori

Thumbs up from the relentlessly positive Chris
...

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Bold to rule out working with Te Pāti Māori

Get used to seeing National leader Chris Luxon out and about in Otago and Southland.

Win for Kloogh's wife as fraud victims get pennies

Hundreds of people defrauded by Ponzi scheme operator Barry Kloogh are to receive a minuscule amount of the millions he stole from them while his wife has been allowed to keep $40,000.

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Robertson voices concerns about university

King’s old boy Finance Minister Grant Robertson poses with He Waka Kōtuia, the King’s and Queen’s...

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Robertson voices concerns about university

Finance Minister Grant Robertson says he wants more information about the seemingly parlous state of the finances of the University of Otago.

Luxon upbeat about leadership

National leader Christopher Luxon addresses the party’s southern region conference in Mosgiel on...

Luxon upbeat about leadership

National leader Christopher Luxon has shrugged off a week of missteps and a poor opinion poll to claim his party still has faith he can lead it to victory at this year’s election.

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Mooney vexed by messy conundrum

The Thomas Burns freedom camping site. PHOTO: PETER MCINTOSH

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Mooney vexed by messy conundrum

It has been said, from time to time, that politicians talk nothing but crap.

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Mooney vexed by messy conundrum

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Mooney vexed by messy conundrum

It has been said, from time to time, that politicians talk nothing but crap.

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Holy grail still tantalisingly close for Robertson

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Holy grail still tantalisingly close for Robertson

Ever since 1987, when Roger Douglas remarkably announced that most unexpected of things, that the government was going to record a surplus rather than a deficit, successive finance ministers have...

A steadfast and stolid Budget

Grant Robertson promised a no-frills Budget and, boy, did he deliver.

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New PM, new Budget priorities

Minister of Finance Grant Robertson speaks at a Chamber of Commerce breakfast at Parliament last...

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New PM, new Budget priorities

The Budget process is now a very familiar one to Finance Minister Grant Robertson, but next Thursday’s statement of the Government’s financial plans will feel very different, he...

A Bill with profound possibilities

Labour Dunedin MP David Clark shares a family story with the House. PHOTO: PARLIAMENT TV

A Bill with profound possibilities

Parliament generally, makes laws which apply to anyone and everyone, including the Crown. But, rarely, it considers a law which applies to only a single person.

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‘Waka jumping laws’ put to the test

The question raised by Meka Whaitiri this week. PHOTO: MARK MITCHELL

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‘Waka jumping laws’ put to the test

Michael Woodhouse has danced delicately around the sensibilities of Speaker Adrian Rurawhe a few times since returning to the role of shadow leader of the House.

Brooking’s fishing gig far from easy

Launching public consultation on the draft Fishing Industry Transformation Plan are (from left)...

Brooking’s fishing gig far from easy

If you are a newly-appointed minister, what you crave is something nice and simple to do early doors.

Not given in vain

The memorial card of Wilfred Knight, possibly the first New Zealander killed at Gallipoli. Photo:...

MP goes in to bat for rare ‘honour’

A Dunedin MP’s diligence confirmed a place of unusual prominence for an Otago soldier during the Gallipoli landings, Mike Houlahan writes.

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Southern candidates’ struggles

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Southern candidates’ struggles

It has not been a good few days for parties other than Labour hoping to elect MPs from the southern region to Parliament.

Sad ironies as patient’s advocacy lives on

Melissa and Blair Vining attend a 2019 celebration of his petition for a national cancer agency...

Sad ironies as patient’s advocacy lives on

Parliament does not usually set out to be deliberately ironic, but often the way its processes work mean that it inadvertently gives one cause to shake one’s head.

Southern cancer patients harmed by long delays

Southern cancer patients harmed by long delays: report

Hundreds of people in Otago and Southland suffered harm as repeated calls to address dire wait times for cancer treatment were ignored, an explosive new report says.

Cancer report 'horrendous' read

Melissa Vining, whose husband, Blair, died from bowel cancer in 2019. PHOTO: SUPPLIED

Cancer report 'horrendous' read

Patient advocate Melissa Vining was utterly overwhelmed when she read the Health and Disability Commissioner’s scathing report on Southern cancer treatment services.

Brooking takes up Minister of Oceans and Fisheries position

New Oceans and Fisheries Minister Rachel Brooking. PHOTO: LINDA ROBERTSON

Brooking takes up Minister of Oceans and Fisheries position

Dunedin list MP Rachel Brooking yesterday made a meteoric rise from first-term backbencher to be a minister of the Crown.

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Mike Houlahan