Gun sales in the US have increased. Requests for access to courses at shooting ranges are up.

Rob Campbell, once one of the sharpest young minds in the trade union movement, has kept a lower profile since his thinking changed radically in the 1980s.

Pharmac is possibly the most publicly respected body in this country.

Four years have passed, another Rugby World Cup has been won, and still the "people's wharf", "party central" of 2011, languishes largely forgotten.

As the Prime Minister said, "It makes no sense to be calling for emissions restrictions on one hand while subsidising emissions on the other."

When Brendon McCullum testified at the trial of Chris Cairns, the defence asked why he had not come forward with his allegations much sooner than he did.

Labour leader Andrew Little has carried out a refreshing reshuffle of his parliamentary line-up.

The origin of some of our most nutritious food does not bear thinking about. Milk, eggs, even some fruit, are nutrients intended for the young of other species.

Admit it, the ballot paper is still sitting on the sideboard while you wonder what to do.

These disturbing contracts seem symptomatic of an unfortunate attitude that has permeated the public service under this Government. Its "no surprises" principle seeks to control the release of any information which might be awkward to explain.

Phil Goff is the instant front-runner, if not a near certainty, to be the next mayor of Auckland.

It does not seem 28 years since legislation was passed requiring home swimming pools to be fenced.

A "hikoi for homes" in Auckland today may be the forerunner of social unrest on a greater scale.

In a week when we have lost one of our model sportsmen and marked the retirement of another, it is thrilling to see a good spirit catching on.

Ever since the party's former president, Mike Williams, stepped down there have been murmurs that his successors did not have the same persuasive touch with business donors.

It is possible that Jonah Lomu was better known worldwide than any New Zealander at any time, even Sir Edmund Hillary.

COMMENT: Announcement that Len Brown is going to the world climate change conference in Paris will anger many.

Paris is a special place, a city the world associates with romance, culture, good times and the fine things of life.

Investigations into six tertiary institutions, from Southland to the Bay of Plenty, have identified more than $25 million in misappropriation. One of them, we reported this week, has been stripped of its registration.

Labour MP Kelvin Davis is right. It is disingenuous of John Key to say Australia's detainees at Christmas Island are free to leave if they want.

Seldom has New Zealand seen, at any level of politics, a rise and fall as rapid as that of Len Brown.

Auckland house prices have been driven by speculative demand as much as - or probably more than - a shortage of supply.

Ron Mark's attack on Melissa Lee's right to criticise her adopted country would have been poor in public but is appalling in Parliament.

A war of words preceding the cricket test under way in Brisbane may partly explain the first two days' action in the middle.

Teachers' pay should contain a decile element to encourage them to stay where they are most needed. Decile funding, too, should be more heavily weighted to compensate.

Not before time, the United States Navy has been invited to send a ship to New Zealand which, if accepted in the spirit in which it is given, could end a 30-year suspension of visits to our ports.....

New Zealanders and Australians have much in common, but not everything. Our respective attitude to knighthoods is one area we, in general, differ.

News media in other free countries would be amazed at the restrictions on reporting deaths in New Zealand by suicide.

When the All Blacks won the World Cup in New Zealand four years ago, it was hard to imagine any victory could be sweeter.