Six-year-old Destiny can't walk without a frame because of domestic violence meted out to her birth mother. Now she needs a costly spinal operation in the US.

I don't get excited about the adventure of going to a fantastic location, I worry about how much I'll miss my little kids. It's pathetic, writes Matt Heath.

Labour leader Andrew Little and Prime Minister John Key are gearing up for their state of the nation speeches on Wednesday.

Designers, a poet, a politician and our most famous living soldier helped to inspire a group of Auckland teenagers in an unusual creative workshop yesterday.

Auckland Council is targeting its 1400 pensioner housing tenants to help solve its financial squeeze through an average 20 per cent rent increase.

When people ask Mike Dargaville what he does, he's quick to say "doorman" because he thinks the term bouncer has an unfriendly stigma about it.

Why are we burdening some of the poorest mothers in the country with lifetime debts while writing off the tax debts of some of our richest citizens?

"We've got houses more expensive than LA. How is this possible?" A new survey finds Auckland's surging housing market is pricier than New York, Brisbane and Boston.

You see the words "drink responsibly" everywhere. Fair enough too. It's great advice. I love drinking responsibly.

Thirty years ago, NZ was a much more equal society. It could be so again. But it will take a huge shift in the mindset of the majority. Changing this state of affairs is a moral challenge to us all.

The majority of children admitted to the Starship hospital as the result of suspected abuse or neglect are under 1 year old.

A new year means a wealth of resolutions. Most of us want to make life better, challenge ourselves or realise some of our ambitions

"Oh my God, my hairdresser made my hair far too dark this time." "The service here is appalling - I get so sick of eating out all the time."

So far we've identified the achievements of the Treaty settlement and reconciliation process, and flagged that the process is now being pushed beyond the point of being useful.

The richest people on Earth got richer in 2014, adding US$92 billion ($118 billion) to their collective fortune in the face of falling energy prices and geopolitical turmoil incited by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

New Zealand's eurocentric reference point in trade has been transformed in the past 20 years, writes Philip Burdon.

City comes out swinging over Government suggestion that ratepayer cash be used to prop up SkyCity's international convention centre.

Kiwis are getting healthier, but New Zealand still faces serious health issues, especially in the most deprived areas.

Peter Lyons writes: When we eventually achieve the budget surplus we need to recognise it has been paid for by many of those who had the least to start with.

New in-fill for artificial fields is being investigated as residents near an Ellerslie complex complain of the "horrible" smell of rubber tyres.

Not drinking is the easy part. The hard part is dealing with people’s reactions to your alcohol-free lifestyle, Deborah Hill Cone writes.

Matt Heath writes: Last Christmas my two boys got so many presents they became bored opening them - if your kids get too much, why not take them to see the people who don't?

Scotland Yard is investigating claims that a Tory MP throttled a young boy to death during a depraved sex party in the 1970s and that two other boys were killed by a VIP paedophile ring.

The latest figures show nearly one quarter of our 1.1 million children under 18 live in households with very low incomes after housing costs.

A police officer who racially abused a taxi driver in Queenstown last year has resigned.

The queues start about 3am each day, but the Auckland City Mission says just a third of the donations it needs this Christmas have been raised.

Wriggling toddlers will meet their match when Kidz First Clendon Community Clinic nurses get the best seat in the house.

The All Blacks, Warriors and the Black Caps say proposed changes to alcohol sponsorship and advertising would threaten the sustainability of their codes at nearly every level.

The Government has been told to end alcohol sponsorship of sports clubs and ban any alcohol advertising during televised matches by a ministerial forum.

Catherine Delahunty writes: Gareth Morgan has many interesting opinions and is well informed but his opinion piece on Maori representation on local councils requires a response.