Minister Responsible for Pike River Re-entry Andrew Little has signed off the Pike River Recovery Agency’s Concept Plan outlining three re-entry options.

A 21 per cent drop in the number of benefit sanctions imposed since Labour took office and a worrying increase in the number of people receiving main benefit is a warning to the Government, Social Development spokesperson Louise Upston says.

The Government’s plan to introduce a new Zero Carbon Bill has brought thousands of people together to discuss how we address climate change.

More than 14,000 submissions were received during the six week consultation, which closed today.

Regional terrorism trends, and New Zealand’s measures to address these, were discussed during a visit to Massey University by three top international security agencies.

The Electoral Commission has made a referral to the Police over the failure of the party secretary of the New Zealand People’s Party to declare donations over $30,000 within the required time frame.

Catherine Drayton, Simon Botherway and Henk Berkman have been appointed to the Board of the Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation, Finance Minister Grant Robertson announced today.

National’s Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson Todd McClay has welcomed the United Kingdom’s decision to launch public consultations of a NZ-UK FTA but says a negotiation must also ensure better access for New Zealand workers and tourists to the UK.

While the new proposed Government restrictions and legislative changes on foreign investment are aimed at reducing the amount of foreign investment for New Zealand’s pristine assets, such as high-country stations and large tracts of land, it is having unintended consequences on more intensive a

Revelations that Government Ministers have stopped efforts to get hundreds of unemployed New Zealanders into work in order to aid an industrial dispute is extremely disturbing, National’s Social Development spokesperson Louise Upston says.

The Infometrics analysis released last night is far from a glowing endorsement of this Government’s economic management and shows that it must act to improve declining economic forecasts and plummeting business confidence, National’s Finance spokesperson Amy Adams says.