The closure of the Manus Island detention camp in Papua New Guinea is long overdue. Now it's time Australia closed Nauru. Australia's

THE Government's recent announcement that it will pursue a goal of New Zealand becoming predator-free by 2050 has been widely and

I'M FEELING hard done by. This week during a moment between making dinner and folding washing, I found myself watching a reality show

Pain - it's something we all experience at some time in our lives. It's about as unavoidable as death and taxes. Chronic pain, however

MONDAY We held a briefing to discuss last week's botched attempt to covertly tape the All Blacks in their team room at the Intercontinental

We won't just miss the Imelda-esque collection of boots ... Mayor Annette Main held her final full council meeting this week and

Carbon foodprint is a term used to describe the CO2 and other global heating gases created by food production. Growing food produces

Wimmin - what do they know? They can have babies - yes. They say they can do anything - but we, the Misogynists Exclusive Network

To my shame I was confronted with another example of my almost complete ignorance on a slice of New Zealand history - this time with

The glittering alloy biscuit that passes for the Olympic gold medal these days is a poor cousin of the pure gold specimens last awarded

HERE'S the thing about trucks - they're big and they're heavy. Yup, no real surprises there. But what is surprising is the number

LAST week Prime Minister John Key announced the formation of a new superspy agency -- a combination of the GCSB which was designed

THE Rio Olympics are over ... that's it for another four years. Hope you enjoyed them. There were some great sporting moments - not

At about the same time as snow closed the Napier-Taupo highway we were in Melaka, acclimatising to the heat and quizzing locals about

SHOULDN'T WE be looking at how top rotect our under-pressure pristine landscapes? Do we need another Great Walk? Regardless of your

MONDAY The Prime Minister said, "Mate, would you like to go to Rio at the end of the day?" I said, "You bet I would, mate!" "Good,"

There is an urgent need to tackle the problem of Vulnerable Political Strategy ... Those who proposed the name of Ministry for Vulnerable

Well, there were a couple of surprises when the nominations closed for local body elections. No fewer than 33 candidates have been

I'M GRATEFUL the Olympics only last a fortnight -- watching all that highly fraught determination to propel bodies, horses and bicycles

IT HAS sometimes struck me that there are people in Whanganui who have an inferiority complex about their home town. As if they need

With our current employment rates at 90.4 per cent, a whole lot of us are spending significant time and energy in our place of work

THERE are lots of good things to be said about Whanganui, and it's worth repeating that we're beautifully situated with the beating

LAST week Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce, Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy and Minister for Maori Development Te

Fires are devastating, and capable of wiping out whole households and memories. THE number of house fires in Whanganui and district

THIRTY-THREE candidates ... count them. That's 33 hopefuls standing for the chance to sit down at the Whanganui District Council

I HAD malaria once, and it was extremely unpleasant. I had been working in Yemen, but I contracted it while flying home on a Dutch

TWO American elections ago, during their primaries when Barack Obama beat Hillary Clinton for the candidacy of the Democratic Party

By Philip McConkey AS MOST of us are aware, United States party conventions have been taking place over recent weeks. Among the many

I remember (only just) when my night didn't even properly start until after 9pm. IT'S probably not especially cool to admit this

NEGOTIATING with a gun to your head cannot be easy ... Is that why Whanganui chief executive Kym Fell was unwell over the weekend? Mr