A subsidy that has helped to insulate about one in every six low-income homes looks likely to be cut back in next month's Budget to a more targeted scheme.

The Government has been urged to introduce facial-recognition technology for poker machines to restrict problem gamblers as part of an overhaul of gambling laws.

New Zealand's infant mortality rate has fallen to 4.2 in the latest Statistics NZ figures for 2012.

New welfare reforms will address the "major" issue of beneficiaries being unable to pass drug tests to get a job, Social Development Minister Paula Bennett says.

With four children, solo father Jamie le Bas has the odds stacked against him.

Paula Bennett ate her pets - and she's taken a similar hardline stance on her changes to the welfare system under which only the most disadvantaged will be left alone.

The number of beneficiaries who have had their income cut after failing to meet work-testing requirements has doubled under National and is set to rise further.

Buskers, beggars, bucket-shakers - and a saintly young man called John simply wanting to tell his fellow Aucklanders they are "perfect" - Queen St has them all.

A family with three autistic children have been told they need to manage their children's behaviour if they want to get a state house.

Police have denied there is a problem with underage prostitution, writes Dave Crampton. Perhaps this is because nobody has laid a complaint with the police?

Bloody flight attendants; they have no sympathy for those with time management problems.

Geo-politically, socially, environmentally, economically, financially and spiritually, the world and state of human affairs is in a state of unparalleled flux and change.

Asians are dominating in visitor and international student numbers and in most family-migration categories to New Zealand.

"As a nation do we drink too much?" asks Roger Hall. "Many societies can enjoy themselves without alcohol being involved."

The bars on Ponsonby Rd are pumping when I turn up at the Auckland office of the New Zealand Prostitutes' Collective, behind an unassuming frosted-glass window at the western end of Karangahape Rd.

How can a second-term government - often distracted by its own blunders - continue to poll around the record levels it was elected on, asks Bryce Edwards.

The reaction to the appointment of Susan Devoy as the new Race Relations Commissioner demonstrates NZ's sensitivity on Maori issues, writes Bryce Edwards.

Police are considering trying to ban gang patches in New Brighton, Christchurch, after a flare up between gang members and ongoing intimidation.

Following the second reading of my marriage bill last week, there has been a concentrated move from those opposed to my bill to argue that it will "enable gay adoption.

A flying-fox and a lollipop shop were among the first items suggested when the children of Taurus Cres were asked what they wanted in their local park.

Child poverty is not a party political issue; it is a moral and ethical issue, writes Susan St John. "It may have been possible some time ago to bury our heads in the sand and ignore the prevalence of child poverty in NZ."

Welfare benefits will go up by just 0.61 per cent from April 1 because the Government has decided not to give beneficiaries any compensation for higher cigarette prices.

Sweeping changes to the welfare system came closer to passing into law.

The mother of a young woman who was hit by a train when her wheelchair got stuck at an Auckland railway crossing last month says people are culpable for the tragedy and should pay reparation.

The woman, now 22, overcame huge odds to get to where she could get around Auckland unaided in her electric wheelchair.