Guest and sponsored opinion pieces published on The Daily Blog, offering diverse perspectives within clear editorial guidelines.
Young people are turning their back on politics in big numbers, and when you look at the current way of doing things it is no surprise. Our two biggest parties make personal digs and squabble over who runs the country when they are the closest together on policy. Meanwhile our potential kingmaker is a one-man band who wants to take New Zealand back to the 1970s. It is enough to turn anyone off.
Last week, we saw another dairy get attacked by intruders; the latest in a string of attacks in Auckland. The Police say that most of the robberies are due to tobacco prices. While some were quick to jump on the “get tough on crime” band wagon and called for tougher penalties: a political manoeuvre that proved successful throughout the 80s and 90s stemming from Nixon.
What of those who are alienated from any family or have no family left (one in five Māori report zero tribal affiliation, and many other affiliates themselves have little connection to the tribal structure)? How would this help address the long-lasting social harms and stigmas that come from having been an inmate, even for a very short time? How would they be able to meet and having meaningful relationships with whanau from inside a prison?
The Swedish authorities have confirmed that time has run out to prosecute alleged right wing rapist Julian Assange and therefore the charges have been dropped. A jubilant Assange has appeared on the balcony of the Equadorean embassy in London and bizarrely claimed that this is a victory for freedom and, in an Orwellian misuse of language, a blow against the patriarchy.
Good on Mike King for attacking the gutless, shamefaced, official line on suicide as part of the problem not the solution. And cheers to The Daily Blog for acting as a forum on suicide with activists like Dave McPherson and Martyn Bradbury exposing the failures of the health system. While I agree that we need to change the official response to suicide, that should be based on what causes suicide.
What happened this week with Mike King quitting the suicide-prevention panel goes beyond politics and demands our focus as a country and as a community.
One of the great conundrums of Kiwi politics is the Peters problem. Unless there is a massive drop in votes for National, Labour will need NZ First’s assistance to form the next government. And that support will almost certainly come at the expense of the Greens, who are likely to be sidelined as part of any coalition arrangement.
SHUSH! DON’T TELL ANYBODY! Could this be the motto of New Zealand mainsteam media, as regards world news that is in any way critical of Israel?
What it said to me back then is that even though there are many Green MPs and policies that I love as a Maori, they’re still not ready to step into the space of being our champions yet. So I cancelled my membership.
Mother’s day has become a day of anguish for our family since our son Nicky Stevens died while in the legal care of the Waikato DHB. This last week has been particularly difficult as we have had to witness the death of another young person in similar circumstances to our son. Our Mental Health system is failing too many of our young people.