OPINION: The teaching profession needs to accept there are people who shouldn't teach any more, writes Michael Laws.

The row over the violent child expelled from Paeroa Central School illustrates once again the folly of closing special schools, says Michael Laws.

OPINION: Journalistic balance doesn't mean providing misinformed opinions and shonky research, writes Grant Smithies.

OPINION: Life could imitate art, if John Key faces near impossible task of creating a govt from an election which no clear majority is readily discernible for Right or Left.

OPINION: It was official Pick on Peter Dunne Day at Parliament yesterday, writes Jane Clifton.

Tattoos should be covered up in public, regardless of whether you're Maori writes Michael Laws.

OPINION: Soaring real estate prices will remain a key issue for the Government, writes Vernon Small.

OPINION: How long before Labour asks whether David Shearer is the solution or the problem, Tracy Watkins asks.

OPINION: We should give the Government and business credit for their work to date, but it's not enough writes Rod Oram.

MICHAEL LAWS - © Fairfax NZ News

Environmentalists who oppose mining on the Denniston Plateau are irrational zealots attempting to sabotage our economic future, writes Michael Laws.

OPINION: In which Grant Smithies stirs up a deep well of vitriol in middle New Zealand.

OPINION: Despite the lure of a large chunk of voters, occupying the centre ground of politics can be fraught, writes Stephen Mills.

OPINION: Remember the Budget? No? Well, a week is a long time, especially for such a pared-back spending programme.

OPINION: We don't have a child poverty problem in New Zealand, we have a parenting problem, says Michael Laws.

OPINION: Despite some minor surprises, there's nothing much to see in the 2013 Budget, writes Vernon Small.

OPINION: The only way to handle issues with the electoral system is to go to the public, writes Vernon Small.

OPINION: Dogboxed MP Aaron Gilmore certainly passed the test of leaving Parliament well, writes Jane Clifton.

This past week the Police Complaints Authority chastised chasing police officers after three people did a Darwin in Gisborne last July.

OPINION: Aaron Gilmore's behaviour raises some interesting questions about the qualities required of a successful backbencher, writes Chris Trotter.

OPINION: While still in his 50s, Parekura Horomia observed that as a Maori man he probably had only about a decade left to live.