Focus on Politics

One case of a autistic boy being locked in a seclusion room in a Wellington has led to revelations the practice is much more widespread than authorities were aware of. An investigation into the use of seclusion rooms in schools around the country is now being carried out by the Ombudsman, and in one case, by the police. Here's our political editor, Jane Patterson.

The sudden increase in the country's prison population means the Government will now have to stump up an extra billion dollars to build more beds. The move means there is less in the pot for other spending, but the Finance Minister says the Government has no choice. Deputy Political Editor Chris Bramwell reports.

The government has acknowledged it has to restrict the numbers of new residents allowed to come to New Zealand, as those numbers show no sign of abating. Changes introduced this week are aimed at making it harder to get residence through the Family and Skilled Migrant categories.

A proposal by the Police Minister Judith Collins to boost front-line officers has been given to the Prime Minister and other senior members of Cabinet. The level of police numbers have been in the spotlight recently, with statistics showing an increase in assaults and burglaries, and the force's own annual workplace survey revealing officers are stressed and under-delivering.

The Law Society says the Government has its head in the sand over the state of the legal aid system. The society says over the past five years, there's been a 25 percent drop in the number of lawyers providing family legal aid services because it's too stressful and poorly funded. The Government says it's working fine. Our political reporter, Demelza Leslie, has more.

Sweeping changes to family violence laws were unveiled this week, lifting the lid on what have been described as devastating and insidious statistics. Cabinet papers say the police attend an average of 280 family violence incidents each day, with children present at two-thirds of them. But those incidents are understood to only be a fraction of the numbers that are occuring with eighty-percent of family violence incidents never making it to the police. Here our political reporter, Demelza Leslie.

The Government is facing continued criticism for not having a plan to deal with the housing crisis. This week it passed legislation allowing special housing areas to be extended for another three years, and boosted funding for social housing places in Auckland. That came hot on the heels of Auckland homes tipping the million-dollar mark for average price. Here's our political reporter, Demelza Leslie.

Much of the debate around national security centres around the threat of a physical terrorist attack in New Zealand, but cyber security is also gaining an increasing amount of attention. The electronic spy agency, the GCSB, says cyber crime is on the rise, and shows no sign of abating. Our political editor Jane Patterson examines the different types of cyber threats, and how they could impact New Zealand.

The Maori King dealt a blow to the Labour Party this week by backing the Maori party and saying he would not be voting for Labour again. However, Labour have the upper hand heading into the election next year holding six of the seven Maori seats, and unphased by the royal comments, the party's leader says they're aiming for them all. With political reporter Mei Heron.

In a law change that had its genesis in the illegal spying operation against Kim Dotcom in 2012, the Government Communications Security Bureau will be given an explicit mandate to spy on New Zealanders. The New Zealand Intelligence and Security Bill will also set new guidelines for the sharing of personal information, and create a new offence for people who leak classified information.