Guest and sponsored opinion pieces published on The Daily Blog, offering diverse perspectives within clear editorial guidelines.
The prisoner voting ban law was simply another law passed by the majority to take away the rights of a minority one that they no doubt saw was powerless and vulnerable just as Maori were seen, at least until more recent and enlightened times when they were able to begin enforcing their rights through the courts.
Mayor Phil Goff’s intentions regarding the Ports of Auckland always struck me as quite ambiguous. While he has been free with comments about wanting to physically move the port… to the Firth of Thames, to the Manukau Harbour, to anywhere…I have noticed he has always fallen silent when the question of his commitment to public ownership of the port comes up – ‘coy’ as NZ Herald’s Bernard Orsman puts it.
Pubs are great places for a chat. Last night, in between games of darts, I talked with a mate about the coming election. He told me he was going to party vote Labour but electorate vote the Greens because he liked their local candidate.
I want people to stop blaming mental health alone and start realising that the hand to hold closest to us is theirs. Some things can’t be fixed but all things can be fought and every enemy subdued – not by an offices intellect but by the collective might of enough civilian foot soldiers.
Speech by New Zealand First Leader and Northland MP Rt Hon Winston Peters
Public Meeting,
Forbury Racecourse, Bart Winters Room,
45 McAndrews Rd,
South Dunedin.
10.30am, Wednesday, May 24, 2017
We have a violent crime wave in our community and it is time we were honest about it.
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.