Opinion
Laws - the parents are the problem

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

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

OPINION: The only way to handle issues with the electoral system is to go to the public, writes Vernon Small.
Gilmore bows out and forgoes utu

OPINION: Dogboxed MP Aaron Gilmore certainly passed the test of leaving Parliament well, writes Jane Clifton.
Laws: Police hands tied over legal highs

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

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

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

OPINION: If you're Maori and you're dead then you're the patron saint of niceness. But if you're Pakeha and drunk, then everyone is on your case, writes Michael Laws.
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Wanting something more meaningful

OPINION: I am bored, bored, bored by the prospect of a New Zealand constitution, writes Rosemary McLeod.
Dead rat time looming for National

OPINION: National may face some hard coalition partner decisions in the 2014 election, writes Vernon Small.
A lot riding on power play

TRACY WATKINS - © Fairfax NZ News
OPINION: There is a lot more riding on Labour's power play than an argument over electricity prices, writes Tracy Watkins.
Little glory in real war

© Fairfax NZ News
OPINION: The notes of The Last Post have faded into the dawn skies of Anzac Day for another year.
Bridges shuts down power play

OPINION: For once, a minister put on the spot in Parliament had a really good excuse for ducking culpability for his party's past policies.
GCSB law changes - is there evidence?

OPINION: Andrea Vance asks, did Prime Minister John Key just bust out his own WMD dossier?
Laws: Should we stop some people having kids?

OPINION: It's time we debated the big question of whether some people should be allowed to have - and keep - children, writes Michael Laws.
It's all about the weather

OPINION: The standard of news and current affairs has for years been subject to strong criticism.
Inquiry into future of GCSB warranted

OPINION: The firestorm over the potential - make that probable - illegal spying on New Zealanders comes down to one central question, writes Vernon Small.
English sticks to party line

JANE CLIFTON - ABOUT THE HOUSE - © Fairfax NZ News
OPINION: Some Government documents are so secret that even the people who are allowed to know about them daren't find out who else knows about them, or even who else knows who knows about them, in case they get asked about it in Parliament. Or something like that, anyway.
Laws: Teachers using kids as political pawns

Primary school teachers have no right to use their charges as political pawns in their fight against the Government, says Michael Laws.
Another brain-fade hard to believe

OPINION: Why didn't PM John Key come clean last week, Andrea Vance asks. | Key forgets tip to friend
