Latest from Social Issues

Three gender options under Labour

Labour wants drivers' licences and passports in New Zealand to offer three gender options.

Lydia Sosene: Licensors blind to social impact of bottle shops

Lydia Sosene writes: A full-strength alcohol outlet would be a recipe for disaster and the social cost on our struggling community will continue to triple.

Bernard Hickey: Income fairness improves economies

United, the world in a suburb

When Cecil Lochan settled in Mt Roskill in the mid-1970s, the Fijian-Indian was the first non-European in the street. His neighbour wasn't happy.

Calder: Helping prey fight off the sharks

The Government’s proposal for get-ahead loans is okay, but it won't help New zealanders who are still in serious financial trouble, writes Peter Calder.

Choice between the carrot and the stick

Voters comparing social policies at this election have a clear choice: "Unrelenting focus on work" with National, or a softer line if Labour wins.

Paul Gibson: Still work to do on disabled rights

Most New Zealanders take their rights for granted, but they're rights often not realised by disabled people, writes Paul Gibson.

Editorial: Unfairness of pokie funds must change

The Auckland Council was an early supporter of Te Ururoa Flavell's Gambling Harm Reduction Bill and it saw the legislation as a toolkit.

Kathy Marks: Gammy critics fail nutcase test

David and Wendy Farnell blundered their way through a 60 Minutes television interview about their disabled son, Gammy, born to a surrogate mother in Thailand.

Matt Heath: No matter how good, it can be even better

I tuned into an annoying discussion on the radio this week. It was a bunch of baby boomers claiming young people who haven't seen war have no right to complain.

School says bienvenidos to a growing change

For the first time, US public schools are projected this northern autumn to have more minority students than non-Hispanic whites.

Brian Rudman: Time to cull the human-attacking dog breeds

Let's not get sidetracked over whether or not Housing New Zealand's dog ban failed.

Sex offenders register signed off

New Zealand's first sex offender register has been signed off by Cabinet, but will only be available to agencies and not the general public.

Town that turned its prospects around

Pinepine Savage holds proof in her own life that it is possible to turn around a town that everyone had written off.

Family overwhelmed by generosity

An Auckland Congolese family whose children are sponsored by NZ donors have been overwhelmed by readers' generosity since their story featured in the Herald.

Anyone can overcome bullies

I look in the mirror and wonder how I managed to survive the torture and humiliation I faced when I was a teenager, writes Jesse Greenslade.

Paul Moon: Look closer to home for cause of WW1

Even while "the monstrous anger of the guns" was hauling millions to their death, the blame game was already well under way.

Richard Keegan: Children need our unconditional support

Picture your son or daughter watching an event at the Commonwealth Games, then turning to you and saying: "I want to do that."