A prominent MP's mother is facing benefit fraud charges this week which exploded into a ridiculous furore over whether that MP should have been removed, writes Kim Gillespie.

People only pretend to like cyclist. Cyclists are a breed unto themselves with their gaudy clothes and their self-righteous sense of entitlement- I am one of them, writes Marcel Currin.

Roger Moroney writes: I was slightly dismayed to hear a caller to a radio station talking about the issues of wandering off to watch some ICC Cricket World Cup action.

Marcel Currin writes: Waitangi Day, our treasured national day off work. What is it all about, really?

I wouldn't consider myself arachnophobic, but I couldn't help but shudder at news a redback spider had been found in Rotorua, writes Kim Gillespie.