The leader of the Conservative party in Canada, Pierre Poilievre, recently gave a masterclass on how to handle left-wing media and journalists. The video went viral – for good reason. And he eats an apple while he’s doing it.

New Zealand should be following the lead of Sweden, which is pulling away from providing transgender treatment to minors due to concerns about safety. Instead the focus is being placed on “good psychosocial care”.

New research is finding increased connection between cannabis and suicide. Not only are cannabis users more at risk of developing serious mental health conditions that could lead to suicide, they’re also more likely to use cannabis in suicide attempts.

In October 2018, Canada was the first G-20 nation to legalise recreational cannabis. Five years on, public health experts say legalisation hasn’t created any health benefits — but it has been linked to some serious concerns.

Compelled Speech is never acceptable, especially when it’s being pushed onto primary-aged children. But at Auckland’s Melons Bay School students are being compelled to use “preferred pronouns” and gender-neutral language e.g. Police Officer, Fire officer, instead of Policeman, Fireman.

Do our dumb actions as teenagers disqualify us from leadership? Do even our past actions as adults permanently disqualify us? Or does it depend on what the action was, what the consequence at the time was, and how we responded?

Despite the optimism, the significant effort of time and expense, the passion, the utter hard slog, the results are in for the minor parties. Politics is a brutal sport. Good on these parties for putting their hand up and being willing to get involved. But where to from here…?

As we await the final count and watch the make-up of a National-led Government under Christopher Luxon’s leadership, not a lot will change for Family First. It’s business as usual.

A study published in the New Zealand Medical Journal found children are spending a third of their after-school time on screens, including more than half their time after 8pm.

A new study came out last week that claims that shouting at children or using a raised voice can be as damaging as physical or sexual abuse. It raises a couple of important issues around parenting advice and why the anti-smacking law has been a failure.