TVNZ 7 will end in June 2012 when its funding runs out. This will make NZ the only developed country without a Public Service Broadcaster, but it doesn't have to be this way
Read MoreYour Punt
Is New Zealand becoming a prison colony?
The Corrections Department wants to build a new 1,000 bed prison at Wiri for $424 million - based on justice sector projections from 2010. The projections for 2011, however, show a new prison is no longer needed
Read MoreBank Robbery deja vu
In 2008, a depressed man robbed a bank – not for the money but so the judge would send him to prison. He got no help in prison and three years later he did it again. Is it time for an inquiry into our judicial system?
Read MoreThe (creaky) rise of the Grandpa State
We may have got rid of Nanny, but someone’s clearly still doing the babysitting
Read MoreAmerica's 9/11: Ten Years After
As the tenth anniversary of September 11 approaches, Americans are learning what Hope and Change really mean... Is Osama bin Laden still winning?
Read MoreNew Zealand's strange relationship with prisons
New Zealand is widely perceived as a safe country and yet we don't seem to feel safe -- and 20,000 Kiwis spend time in prison each year
Read MoreHow to rehabilitate prisoners
Rehabilitating prisoners requires more action than rhetoric, says the author of a new book on the justice system
Read MoreAchieving a Sustainable City
Healthy, energy-efficient buildings are a key component in creating a healthy community and sustainable city. They are very easy to achieve through the use of the readily available, well proven and inexpensive Passive House standard
Read MoreThis famine is man made
The disaster unfolding across the Horn of Africa is a man-made catastrophe that reflects decisions by developed countries about poverty, war and climate change
Read MoreAlcohol laws in New Zealand – a chance to create an enduring legacy
Hardly a day passes without the media reminding us how alcohol is causing harm. Now the government has a golden opportunity to create a change in our binge drinking culture, so will it step up to the mark?
Read MoreThe proposed Regulatory Responsibility Bill shouldn't be enacted
Why the Government’s proposed Regulatory Responsibility Bill is ill-founded, constitutionally radical, and likelyto hurt democracy.
Read MoreAussie Aussie Aussie? Um... Um... Um...
As we approach Waitangi Day, it's worth considering that New Zealanders are not (contrary to popular belief) uniquely plagued by self-doubt
Read MoreRichard Peacocke on the Mackenzie Basin cubicle farming row
Why debate the greening of the Mackenzie Basin when in reality it is being overrun by weeds and wilding pines and the topsoil is being blown away?
Read MoreWhy shouldn't actors be responsible for the result of their actions ?
As Warner Bros. executives arrive in the country, let's put to bed the concept that the studio would waste its time manufacturing a crisis and look at the economic realities
Read MoreA New Zealander no more?
Beneath the facade of our supposedly tolerant, modern and multicultural society, lies a seething undercurrent of bigotry, racism and ignorance
Read MoreThe Qantas Media Awards, TVNZ and reporting on Iran
Misleading media reporting is fuelling misperceptions of Iran, and even the BSA has recently backed me in that claim
Read MoreSelling arms to the Saudis: Obama's big sell-out
An emerging unholy alliance between Israel, Saudi Arabia and the US is a key driver behind potentially the biggest arms deal in US history
Read MoreClean drinking water is a basic human right
Is our government signalling a green light for the further privatisation of water services?
Read MoreVote! Kean for Columbia
New Zealand's main political websites are joining together, asking you to support an up and coming young journo. Who says we can't agree on anything?
Read MoreCanterbury Water Woes
Removing elected officials, replacing tried and true legal tests and processes with a non statutory, unreviewable Strategy, and changing rights of appeal half way through statutory processes - these features and more are the result of the new Act that signals a new era for the management of water in Canterbury.
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