Yes, a new scheme where the New Zealand Government guarantees a certain minimum price per kilo of milk solids to dairy farmers, much like the US Dairy Price Support initiatives and the Indian Minimum Support Price scheme, is the need of the hour
Morally - and borrowing Michael Sandel's terminology here - there must be some limits to markets; and running a correctional facility is certainly crossing it. Factually: US' private prison system has reduced itself to national shame, and arguments for why it would be any better in New Zealand are not convincing enough.
Americans are talking about it, some in UK are also sitting up and taking notice; it's time New Zealand also tackles Rugby safety issues head-on
With Christchurch and Wellington city councils crossing the million mark; Auckland and Marlborough's touching 400,000 dollars; followed by Hawke's Bay and Hamilton city councils spending close to $300,000; it's time for some clear-cut guidelines on how tax-payers money is spend by councils on their website redevelopment
With a sex ration favourable to women since last few decades, New Zealand faces the problem contrasting to emerging nations such as India and China where female foeticide is a major social evil
With proliferation of retirement villages in recent times, the need now is to put in place regulations to protect the interests of elderly residents of such homes
New research points that about 15,000 Indian troops – almost three times more than previously thought – served at the Turkish battlefield side-by-side the Anzacs
After Labour's ill-conceived Chinese surname saga, Finance Minister Bill English gave a hint about potential backlash (though, not in so much words) from the Chinese Government after returning from that country recently. But if Singapore example is anything to go by, protecting one's national interests (read - selling milk to China) without upsetting the Chinese Government (read - enforcing a stamp duty on foreigners buying property in Auckland) is certainly feasible.
Be it the 1835 Declaration of Independence, 1840 Treaty of Waitangi or the Waitangi Tribunal of 1975, the wait by Māoris – indigenous people of New Zealand – for resolution of their rightful grievances seems long and never-unending, with the latest contention being the Maori freshwater rights
Ever since the country started marking the Maori Language Week forty years ago, the cultural and historical argument to preserve the language has held its ground. It's time to introduce the economic element into it as well.
With Te Matatini National Kapa Haka Festival coming to Christchurch this year, spotlight was once again on the contributions made by the traditional Maori warrior dance to social cohesion, health and education outcomes
A 41-years-old senior legal and policy advisor with the Law Commission, suffering from terminal brain cancer has reignited the debate about assisted dying in New Zealand
New Zealand, like majority countries world-wide, must stop using the toxin sodium fluoroacetate, popularly known as 1080; but threatening to poison babies is no way to achieve that
While absolute numbers have shown a decline in recent years, the comparative teen pregnancy rates are still among the highest in the developed world, raising questions on the country's familial and societal support structure
While none can argue against ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) being a terror organisation that needs to be eliminated at all costs; Prime Minister John Key's decision to send 143 defence personnel for a non-combat mission in Iraq has more to do with international politics than anything else
The Bishnois - India's 'original conservationists' – would be so proud of Michael Tavares spending four-days on a 500-year-old Kauri tree in Titirangi, West Auckland
