NZ needs power to impose autonomous sanctions

The deepening crisis in Ukraine is something that should worry us all. We have not seen this sort of blatant aggression since the late 1930s.

We should not draw this historical analogy too far, but some parallels are clear: Western democracies understandably are not willing to be drawn into war and an increasingly aggressive state making absurd demands; and now, that same state going to war with its European neighbour. The acts of Putin and his allies must be condemned in the strongest possible terms, and heavy consequences felt by him and all those who support him.