Dr Eric Crampton: For more help and less noise

Parliament is supreme but it is not infallible.

Governments often propose policies that are wrong in principle. And even when policy is right in principle, it is easy to make mistakes when drafting legislation.

Point of Order: Little heed is paid to select committee advice that an immigration bill is not needed

Malcolm Harbrow, blogging on No Right Turn, has drawn attention to More petulance from Andrew Little

He reminds us that back in June, the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee reported back on the Inspector-General of Defence Bill, making numerous improvements.

But Defence Minister Andrew Little spurned the push for transparency and petulantly undid them.

Brian Easton: Are We Sure That We Have A Well-Functioning System Of Government?

Why doesn’t our government reflect New Zealanders; why doesn’t Parliament make them?

There will be many claims over the next few months that the minor parties will hold the major parties/politics/New Zealanders to ransom. That reflects a misunderstanding of how our system works. Any ransom occurs because the two main parties will not contemplate a ‘grand coalition’ of the two forming the government. It has happened in the past – during the First World War and the Great Depression – but nobody considers that possibility nowadays.