OPINION: John Key's response to the claim that we lead the stakes for the world's most promiscuous young women gets Richard Long's political award for the week.

OPINION: Did bullying like Mitt Romney's attack on a fellow student happen all the time at his school, or should he have known better? Or both?

OPINION: Protest is fine, but it's constructive radical action that those of us interested in keeping state assets in state hands really want to hear, writes Dave Armstrong.

OPINION: While National has applied liposuction to the costs of the interest-free student loans scheme, it accepts it can't risk reversing it, writes Vernon Small.

OPINION: As the Kim Dotcom donation furore headed further towards burlesque, Labour leader David Shearer asked what may be the most pertinent question, writes Jane Clifton.

OPINION: If there was going to be a man overboard yesterday, it sure as hell was not going to be John Key, writes Vernon Small.

OPINION: Inside the beltway - a phrase Labour's new leader and party strategists should repeat before they take instant stances on complex issues, writes Richard Long.

OPINION: But in the spirit of Easter, I thought I would look at the odds of these 10 political things rising again instead.

OPINION: It's going to take more than angry diplomats and the threat of a citizen's initiated referendum to knock this Government from its course, writes John Hartevelt.

OPINION: Robust communication has been a hallmark of the internet since its inception. Free speech values and an abhorrence of censorship are central to its culture.

OPINION: Someone should take the temperature of the Government, and maybe order a spell of bed rest, writes Vernon Small.

OPINION: Prime Minister John Key hit on a cute method of deflating the Opposition's ambush question strategy yesterday – though he probably won't try it again, writes Jane Clifton.

OPINION: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs should not be immune from change, writes Murray McCully.

OPINION: It's weird, a government that seemed to have discovered the secret of political longevity is now trying to kill itself.

OPINION: Does a new book on David Bain simply reprise the defence case?

OPINION: Turangi attack reminds us that the ferals' kids are growing up - and they're feral too.

JOHN BIRMINGHAM - Brisbane Times

OPINION: Australian columnist John Birmingham reckons it's time to take over New Zealand, and he's got a few ideas about what to do with the country.

NICK VENTER - © Fairfax NZ News

OPINION: A malicious message that might once have been seen by a handful of people can now be viewed by millions.

OPINION: John Key was in his element last night as he repeatedly demanded that Goff "show me the money" during a rollicking debate in Christchurch.

OPINION: The pretence that the Rugby World Cup would be a politics-free zone has finally been dropped.