Latest from Social Issues

Sykes brings years of battling social issues to election campaign

With her Auckland ties, Annette Sykes says she could have easily stood in the Tamaki Makarau electorate.

Nick Smith pilloried at housing forum

Housing Minister Nick Smith was shouted down when he claimed at a forum on Auckland's housing crisis that foreign buyers weren't impacting on prices.

Officer found guilty of racial abuse

A Queenstown policewoman accused of racially abusing a taxi driver in the resort last year has been found guilty.

Peter Lyons: I've learned my lesson, life's just not fair

Teacher Peter Lyons says he's finally learned a valuable lesson - life isn't fair, so he explains why he's decided to vote the right way this election.

Ewen McQueen: Cinderella effect can't be ignored

Overseas studies support Kiwi research on role of casual relationships in child abuse, writes Ewen McQueen.

Cop denies racial abuse

A police officer denies allegations she racially abused a taxi driver in Queenstown last year while affected by a cocktail of prescription drugs and alcohol.

John Hawkes: Williams a remarkable man in any language

Dr Harold Williams has long been featured by Guinness World Records as the world's greatest linguist. He spoke 58 languages.

Builders on urgent hunt for apprentices

New Zealand's expanding building industry has signed up its 9000th apprentice - but says it is running out of young people to fill the demand for more.

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.

Dita De Boni: ChCh locals left out in the cold

When I was in Christchurch recently to interview the two main candidates in the Christchurch Central electorate, I was shocked to see that people on the street seemed even more weary than ever.

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.

Loan shark victim welcomes crackdown

A new war on "loan sharks' should help bankrupt Auckland mum Farrah Matthews, who ended up paying $29k for a $12k car - borrowing money at 29 per cent interest.

Loan scheme to knock out 'loan sharks'

Almost 1 million families will be eligible for low- and no-interest loans under a new Government-backed scheme aimed at saving low-income families from "loan sharks".

Peter Calder: Away from trouble, on to throne

Peter Calder writes: Waikowhai Primary School in Mt Roskill is one of 15 schools where the seven-week course called Kiwi Kids has been run over the past eight years.