Political analysis and commentary shaping the progressive debate in Aotearoa New Zealand, focused on power, policy, and accountability.
As Parliament recently debated the new government’s Families Package Bill, some National MPs were increasingly upset that Urgency had briefly taken the debate into their precious lunch period;
When born-to-rule Tories – with a bloated sense of self-worth and entitlement – slip up and let us peasant know how they really view us – it is usually unsurprising to most on the Left. Take, for example, Bill English’s candid admission that New Zealand’s lower wage rates were beneficial when it came to competing with Australia. On 10 April 2011, in an exchange with Guyon Espiner on TVNZ’s Q+A, English boasted of the benefits of low wages;
Israeli singer Victoria Hanna is due to perform at the New Plymouth WOMAD festival (17-19 March 2018). She should never have been invited to come. Hanna is currently based at the University of California as part of the Visiting Israeli Artist Programme of The Israel Institute who describe their role in these terms –
Taking personal responsibility Mike Hosking-style
In taking this courageous stand, Lorde follows in the steps of her parents’ generation who stood up against apartheid in South Africa; testing atomic bombs in the South Pacific; New Zealand’s involvement in the Vietnam War; and demanding a nuclear-free New Zealand.
Now is the time of the year when we send in requests to that mysterious red-garbed being at the north pole for ‘goodies’ of one sort or another. This is my belated wish-list of gifts. But not gifts for myself. These are gifts for the whole of New Zealand…
Dear Lorde, your decision will make a difference. Please stand on the side of justice.
In the wise words of Desmond Tutu: “If you are neutral in situation of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor”.
The Gaza Strip has been closed to Israeli journalists for 11 years but globally, the majority of the mainstream news media have themselves chosen to ignore the crimes against humanity committed by Israel, both in Gaza and in the militarily Occupied West Bank. The news media regularly publicise the human stories of individuals caught up in terror attacks and accidents. Except, that is, when it comes to the victims of Israel’s daily violence and oppression against the Palestinian people, struggling to survive in their homeland
The Government’s medicinal cannabis Bill is a huge step in the right direction – and a first for any New Zealand government – but we think a patient-focused approach should go much further.
If you are one of those people anxiously still waiting by the mail box for the gifts you ordered online yesterday to arrive before Christmas, I have got bad news. You are going to have get off your butt and join the rest of the Christmas celebrating world and go to the mall.