Lame Duck?
OPINION: The media is already playing the 'who will Winston choose?' game every time the polls show Labour and National neck and neck.
OPINION: If old Winston Peters thinks building trade relations with new nations, such as India, isn't a necessary investment in our future, he has rocks in his head.
Our dependence on the US and China with the rapid changes in the world order is fast becoming a liability.
Australia has already discovered what this means in practice.
In October, Canberra signed an $8.5 billion minerals deal and the mining industry celebrated.
The agreement included American guarantees of minimum prices, so that if China flooded the market with cheap supply, Australian mines would still be worth the investment.
In the first week of Feb, those guarantees were quietly withdrawn.
Australia played by the rules, signed a big deal and trusted that the relationship would hold.
It now carries the risk on its own.
The New Zealand red meat sector has signed an open letter to parliamentarians from BusinessNZ, urging swift ratification of the India-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
Wools of New Zealand is joining calls for New Zealand to urgently ratify a Free Trade Agreement with India.
Fonterra says Richard Allen will succeed Miles Hurrell as its new chief executive.
Cyclone Vaianu is continuing its track south towards the Bay of Plenty, bringing with it destructive winds, heavy rain, and large swells, says Metservice.
While Cyclone Vaianu remains off the East Coast of New Zealand, the Waikato Civil Defence Emergency Management (CDEM) Group says impacts have been felt overnight.
A Local State of Emergency has been declared for the Waikato for a period of seven days as the region prepares for Cyclone Vaianu to hit the area.