Open email to Carmel Sepuloni from John Minto
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?
Setting the Agenda
Political analysis and commentary shaping the progressive debate in Aotearoa New Zealand, focused on power, policy, and accountability.
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Dr Liz Gordon – The narcissist twins and the future of humanity
Donald Trump is a narcissist. While I don’t think he has actually killed anyone (there are plenty of stories about the big T but I haven’t heard any about dead bodies in concrete boots at the bottom of the Hudson River), he lives life on a dangerous edge of immense sensitivity to criticism and a retaliatory instinct. His disregard for other people, his lack of empathy, the feeling that he is the only actor who counts on his own stage, all demonstrate his deeply narcissistic streak. Someone once noted he was personally unfit to be President, and that indeed is true.
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MUST READ: Why the Price of Oil is a Class Concern
Modern life has most of us over a barrel. An oil barrel. The price of oil is a fundamental force in shaping our quality of life and how much take home pay is left for other needs and wants. This has all hit home in the last few weeks as the price of fuel at the petrol pump has reached its highest ever.
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Toil and Trouble
When Smith City was ordered to back pay the workers it had been ripping off for 6 years for all unpaid staff meetings, it didn’t take three witches or a crystal ball to know that the flood gates would open. They have. At First Union along with over 1500 people responding to a survey, the call centre and organisers are all being contacted with people wanting to lament all the unpaid hours or the time off never taken in lieu. As the National Organiser for The Warehouse and Cotton On I have received more than my share.
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What is more important for Christchurch? A rugby stadium or social housing?
It’s been a tough couple of weeks for Christchurch city councillors hearing submissions on the council’s long-term plan. A vast range of community groups and individuals, fronted by positive, passionate people concerned for Christchurch’s wellbeing, have presented funding wish lists both great and small. However, there is a finite amount of money and hard decisions need to be made.
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Testing The Speaker
QUESTION TIME IN PARLIAMENT this afternoon was a useful reminder of what Jacinda and her government are up against. In theory, Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition are supposed to impress the Visitor’s Gallery as a government-in-waiting: sagacious, witty and (to use a favourite parliamentary term) honourable. In practice, Simon Bridges’ National Party Opposition comes across as ignorant, boorish and disturbingly truculent.
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Cannabis referendum: Bring it on!
Great news today with the Government announcing it is considering bringing forward the binding referendum on legalising cannabis to next year, 2019, rather than during the 2020 general election.
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The Mendacities of Ms Amy Adams – 2,000 more state houses?!
Soon after criticising the Coalition for “hiding debt in SOEs” – a capital offense that National was guilty of in 2009, and which contributed to bankrupting Solid Energy by 2015 – National Party’s finance spokesperson, Amy Adams, was at it again.
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MUST READ: Does this budget turn the tide?
Let’s be clear, the family poverty inherited from the last decade of entrenched poor policies, sheer neglect or deliberate attacks on living standards won’t be fixed overnight. We get that. We know the PM has solving child poverty at her core, and her values and integrity are the best thing that has happened to children for a very, very long time. But CPAG is the critical friend and has to say the hard stuff on behalf of children.
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MUST READ: Budget 2018 – Half of something and half of nothing
In its first Budget the Government had an opportunity to break the neo-liberal mould which has been the basis of every budget for the past 32 years but they didn’t.