In this environment progressive New Zealanders must fight for free speech in every arena possible but this does not include defending “rights” of anyone to promote racist or religious hatred which smooths the path to fascism.
The semi-hysterical response from employers to the Labour government’s mild (Oh so mild!) plans to reform Labour relations show the government is on the right track.
New Zealand is a low-wage economy after the crushing of unions in 1991 through the Employment Contracts Act and that’s the way the bosses love it.
And they are fighting to keep it that way.
The early signs are good for the government review of Tomorrow’s Schools.
These are the people who have to go. They presided over an out of control Housing New Zealand Corporation with brutal, punitive policies towards the most vulnerable of people.
Last week I received this message from a former employee at Housing New Zealand Corporation.
Housing Minister Phil Twyford is right to lay the blame squarely with the former National government and in particular with its Housing Minister Paula Bennett. Her attempts to distance herself from this debacle are in tatters after this Mediawatch report in the weekend.
Bennett is revealed as the loathsome liar she is.
“Housing New Zealand’s chief executive Andrew McKenzie refused to be interviewed again today.
He has never given RNZ an interview on his agency’s meth testing policy and his communications manager said he never will.”
In a week when the government has announced hundreds of millions to compensate farmers, many of whom are exceptionally wealthy, for something which appears to be no fault of the government, Housing Minister Phil Twyford is refusing to compensate state house tenants for what amounted to state-sanctioned abuse of vulnerable families by Housing New Zealand.
The Talley Brothers are the embodiment of the old saying that “Capitalism is the extraordinary belief that the nastiest of men for the nastiest of motives will somehow work for the benefit of all”
All young New Zealanders starting out in life should give these particularly vile New Zealanders a wide berth.
When will the senior leadership of WINZ, who inculcated a toxic culture of blame and shame at all levels of the organisation on behalf of the previous National government, be required to resign?