Walt Glazer asks whether Auckland should become the Hong Kong of the South Pacific or remain a Kiwi oasis of security for the future.

Salvation Army says housing shortage adding "incredible stress" to families as its State of Nation report shows Auckland's crisis worsened by a record near-4000 houses last year.

A counsellor in charge of an addiction rehab centre, where patients were given pocket knives and allowed to use air-rifles, fleeced one by charging for numerous counselling sessions that never took....

Current Miss Universe now has the opportunity to help stop fighting in her home country of Colombia.

A tough new policy cracking down on beneficiaries with unresolved arrest warrants has resulted in the issuing of thousands of alerts.

Ngati Whatua state house tenant Apihai Pihema supports returning state housing to iwi in principle - but he worries that the rents could go so high that he might have to leave.

A charity tagged as a likely buyer of state houses says it is reviewing its involvement unless it can get either more capital from the Govt or a very low price for the houses.

Gareth Morgan says the National Party a decade ago was "harsh and intolerant" - but not many people turn up to hear him speak.

Leading Maori tribes are lobbying to get first bidding rights for state houses when they start going up for sale this year.

It is difficult to erase the suspicion that the social housing policy is motivated by ideology as much as anything else, writes John Armstrong.

Police stations have become "mini prisons" because of an unexpected overflow of inmates and a senior police officer fears frontline staff may be pulled from their duties to help man the cells.

Those at Davos, seemingly representing the interests of the very wealthy, like to think they are working to make the world a better place - as long as they are not inconvenienced in doing so.

State of the Nation speeches, so called, are really about the state of the government or the party in opposition at the opening of a new political year. Politicians, like the public, have been refreshed by a summer break.

"The Labour Party I lead is about jobs, good jobs, skilled jobs, well-paid jobs." Andrew Little has delivered his first state of the nation speech.

87 per cent of teenage mums, and virtually all teen fathers, are missing out on education at specialist units designed for them.

Auckland is a great place - but it can be even better. In the second of our five-part Future Auckland series we aim to stimulate debate. Teuila Fuatai reports.

In Europe and even parts of the United States, Jews report rising levels of the "oldest hatred". And we aren't immune from the subject here in New Zealand, writes Inge Woolf.

Labour leader Andrew Little and Prime Minister John Key are gearing up for their state of the nation speeches on Wednesday.

Designers, a poet, a politician and our most famous living soldier helped to inspire a group of Auckland teenagers in an unusual creative workshop yesterday.

Auckland Council is targeting its 1400 pensioner housing tenants to help solve its financial squeeze through an average 20 per cent rent increase.

Why are we burdening some of the poorest mothers in the country with lifetime debts while writing off the tax debts of some of our richest citizens?

When people ask Mike Dargaville what he does, he's quick to say "doorman" because he thinks the term bouncer has an unfriendly stigma about it.

"We've got houses more expensive than LA. How is this possible?" A new survey finds Auckland's surging housing market is pricier than New York, Brisbane and Boston.

You see the words "drink responsibly" everywhere. Fair enough too. It's great advice. I love drinking responsibly.

We show you how SkyCity's new convention centre would look in central Auckland, as details are revealed for the first time in its resource consent applications.

Thirty years ago, NZ was a much more equal society. It could be so again. But it will take a huge shift in the mindset of the majority. Changing this state of affairs is a moral challenge to us all.

The majority of children admitted to the Starship hospital as the result of suspected abuse or neglect are under 1 year old.

A new year means a wealth of resolutions. Most of us want to make life better, challenge ourselves or realise some of our ambitions