Setting the Agenda

Political analysis and commentary shaping the progressive debate in Aotearoa New Zealand, focused on power, policy, and accountability.

Most Recent Blogs · Setting the Agenda

Dr Liz Gordon – Oh no, not more exams!
ByThe Daily Blog 20 May 2019

The Minister intends to fix the terrible workloads that this causes, not by reducing the qualification burden but by shifting from internal to external assessment and thus reducing the assessment burden on teachers.
Of all the reforms possible, he has chosen the worst one. I will debate this with anyone. I have studied assessment systems for over 30 years and I know as much as anyone about them. So here is the truth about assessment systems in five easy lessons.

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John Minto · Most Recent Blogs · Setting the Agenda

The fantasy world of Alfred Ngaro
ByJohn Minto 19 May 2019

Whatever Ngaro may offer the country as a conservative Christian leader it won’t be compassion, tolerance, justice or truth. Instead it will be a conservative straitjacket of bigotry, arrogance and injustice.

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Setting the Agenda

Israel Lobby influence in New Zealand
ByLeslie Bravery 19 May 20198 April 2026

In a Press Release published on 28 April, ACT MP David Seymour took our Chief Human Rights Commissioner, Paul Hunt, to task because he had “failed to condemn” what he asserted was “the anti-Semitism of UK Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn.

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John Minto · Most Recent Blogs · Setting the Agenda

Inquiry will miss the main issue which keeps us at risk
ByJohn Minto 17 May 2019

The most worrying aspect of the commission of inquiry into the Christchurch shootings is that the terms of reference give too much room for our security agencies – the SIS and GCSB – to hide.

Read More Inquiry will miss the main issue which keeps us at risk
Mike Treen · Most Recent Blogs · Setting the Agenda

Phil Twyford the privatiser of state assets
ByThe Daily Blog 17 May 2019

I used to feel a bit sorry for Minister of Housing Phil Twyford being blamed for failing to deliver something he can’t control – the market price for housing. When Labour was elected the market had already driven prices to the unaffordable level for the vast majority.But when he started taking Housing NZ land that should be used for more state housing to achieve that goal he became another privatiser of state assets.

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Most Recent Blogs · Professor Jane Kelsey · Setting the Agenda

Add ‘Trade for All’ to the list of government sell-outs
ByThe Daily Blog 16 May 2019

Some have asked why my radio silence over recent months. Simple. Once it became clear that I could have zero influence on this government’s trade and investment policy, I have been working where I can make a difference. There are other governments, international institutions, and influencers who are genuinely rethinking the current rule-book and resisting moves to make it even worse.

Read More Add ‘Trade for All’ to the list of government sell-outs
Most Recent Blogs · Setting the Agenda

Dave Macpherson: Same mental health system, with the same creaking around the edges
ByThe Daily Blog 14 May 2019

The problem to date is that, apart from a literal handful of pilot/trials, no new initiatives have yet started as a result of these findings, and the Government itself has three times delayed the release of its statement as to what it will be doing, now tieing that in with the upcoming budget. And the thing about budgets is that they do not get things started immediately – very often the earliest implementation of budget initiatives happens the next financial year (after April 1) or, if you’re lucky, in the new calendar year.

Read More Dave Macpherson: Same mental health system, with the same creaking around the edges
Christine Rose · Most Recent Blogs · Setting the Agenda

Fragile, finite ….fucked?
ByThe Daily Blog 12 May 2019

The underwhelming decision on climate change follows the disappointments of the non-binding marijuana referendum, timid welfare responses, the jettison of a recommended capital-gains based redistributive tax system, labour reform limitations, and KiwiBuild’s failure to deliver affordable homes, I’m too cynical to expect much improvement in frameworks to protect endangered species from extraction, waste or exploitation.

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John Minto · Most Recent Blogs · Setting the Agenda

Open letter to Winston Peters
ByJohn Minto 10 May 2019

We are appalled the government appears to be considering an even closer relationship with Israel despite the ongoing theft of Palestinian land, the ongoing brutal Israeli military occupation of the West Bank and the siege of Gaza while Israel continues to thumb its nose at international law and United Nations resolutions.

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Mike Treen · Most Recent Blogs · Setting the Agenda

Unite Union accuses Immigration Minister of breaking promise to Chinese construction workers
ByThe Daily Blog 7 May 2019

Unite Union has accused Immigration New Zealand of doing nothing to help a group of 50 Chinese workers brought to New Zealand by National Personnel Limited and their agent Peter Li.

Read More Unite Union accuses Immigration Minister of breaking promise to Chinese construction workers