The Latest Breaking News from National

Crime has been one of the dominant themes of this election campaign and it proved to be the hot button in the second televised debate this week. As Mark Jennings writes, the leaders of the minor parties were taking no prisoners in their battle for crucial votes.

Gateway cities around the world are so important to national prosperity that they need to be actively supported and with customised arrangements. Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown is right when he says a new relationship between government and the council is required, argues Mark Thomas

A veteran politics-watcher says New Zealand First is destined to be part of the next National-led government.

New Zealand enjoyed a return to solid growth in the June quarter, with Stats NZ reporting an 0.9 increase, well beyond market expectations.

Severe cuts could accelerate department's decline, writes David Williams.

Many are feeling the sooner the election is over, the better. The polite and courteous reaction from voters on the doorstop parallels what happened in the 1990 election with Labour's record landslide loss to National – voters had long since made up their minds to change the government, argues Peter Dunne

Community groups across Auckland are petitioning potential politicians to support local planning. 

The 'tough on crime’ narrative, driven by opportunistic politicians, dominating the election campaign contradicts the evidence that prisons are a training ground for harder criminals, writes Bex Silver

If you're disinterested, despondent or deflated by the election campaign and its daily parade of pointless behaviour, here's why you shouldn't miss your opportunity to exercise a little strategy in order to try and engineer a result.