How many more young New Zealanders have to die before the police - and Parliament - concede that patrol cars are a much more deadly weapon than the Glock pistol and the Bushmaster carbine?In the past 10 years, police shot and killed...

Naked self-interest rules, pure and simple.Well may the Government try to blame a lack of consensus amongst Parliament's component parties as reason for not implementing the recommendations of the Electoral Commission-conducted...

The sorry saga of the hapless Aaron Gilmore highlights the weaknesses of the MMP system in picking our parliamentary representatives.Under the old, first past the post selection procedures, the Aarons of this world would have been...

When Bill English unveils his Budget tomorrow, he will no doubt confound the sceptics who ridiculed his claims to get the Government's books back into balance by 2014/15. The indications are that he will achieve that objective and...

The Herald 's editorial about the deregistration of Family First as a charity seems confused.Registration with the Department of Internal Affairs does not confer tax deductibility - that is determined, quite properly, by Inland...

That most picked-upon local television show of recent times, Seven Sharp , seems a little sharper these days. Or have I just been sitting more comfortably than usual?Anyway, I do mean only a little sharper, that is, than the silly,...

The Government should review its priorities. Continuing high unemployment, much greater than its own forecasts, could do far more damage than taking longer to pay down debt. The Government debt is very low compared with other OECD...

New Zealanders often bemoan the fact that we are so remote. There's not much we can do about geography, but we could sometimes make a greater effort to relate our own situation to what is happening in the rest of the world.A case...

Labour might sound like it is talking tough on the SkyCity international convention centre deal. However, should the party be running a coalition government with the Greens after next year's election, it is unlikely to countenance...

After 15 years in New Zealand, I was asked to change my identity to renew my driver's licence.I was born Tan Kim Huat, Lincoln and both my Singapore birth certificate and passport identify me as such.Applying for my New Zealand...

Feel some pity for hitherto obscure MP Aaron Gilmore whose hopes and dreams lie in ashes, albeit through self-immolation.From what we now know, it's easy to imagine him back in 2011 when he first entered Parliament, lying awake...

If SkyCity has not hit the jackpot - as Labour's David Shearer claims it has - the casino company has come pretty close with its deal hammered out with the Government to design, build and operate an international-standard convention...

Politicians are getting turned on to neuroscience. Last week Labour justice spokesman Andrew Little gave a soundbite about how 21-year-old Hastings aggravated robber Elijah Whaanga needed help to "rewire his brain".This sounded...

Housing Minister Nick Smith's boast that his new housing accord with the Auckland Council "is good news for Auckland families wanting access to more affordable houses to buy and rent," is at best, wishful thinking.If he really believes...

I've always wondered why women would inject poison into their faces in an attempt to look younger.It's surprised me, too, that health officials would approve a procedure that involves injecting poison into people's faces three or...