Political analysis and commentary shaping the progressive debate in Aotearoa New Zealand, focused on power, policy, and accountability.
Winston Peters came to my home town of Kumeu last weekend. I thought I’d go along to check him out. I’d wondered why people vote NZ First, though a number of good people I know are keen supporters. I wanted to see if the hype was true about his alleged charisma and charm, get to the bottom of those provocative immigration policies, try to get a measure of the man.
Mental health workforce shortage statistics published this week demonstrate a staffing deficit that will surprise no-one except Health Minister Jonathan Coleman. But what they don’t show is the major culture change needed within that workforce that will also be needed to make a real difference to the effectiveness of this country’s mental health system.
“We are inching closer towards dictatorship and the ensuing bloodshed and violence that must come from the hostility towards it. But, like lemmings and sheep, we are led to that reality with little resistance at all. Is this the Papua New Guinea we all believed in once upon a time?” — Oro Governor Gary Juffa
New Zealand’s good name is being tarnished by comments in Iraq by Kiwi Brigadier, Hugh McAslan. In his role as deputy commander of the Combined Joint Forces Land Component Command-Operation Inherent Resolve, McAslan is supporting the use of white phosphorus weapons, which have been widely condemned, including by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
Amy Adams, our most propertied MP and ironically the “Minister for Social Housing”, announced last week that three consortia had been selected to bid for the homes built by our parents and grandparents.
Because of NZ First’s continuing bizarre policy of refusing to make clear their coalition preferences, reminded me of Monty Python’s cheese sketch. Adapted to our present circumstances, I present to you, The Cheesy Voting Sketch;
Summary of the June, 207, CTU Economic Bulletin
On 15 June 2017, a gang of Zionist fanatics from the Itamar Occupation settlement, near Jenin, assaulted a handicapped eight-year-old Palestinian boy, Bashar Abdel-Latif Ghazal Malitat, and abducted him to their settlement. There, they tortured him, smearing his handcuffed body with hot molten plastic.
. . Hutt Valley, 29 June – As reported on Tuesday (27 June) a woman, “S” – and her family,…
The days of capitalism are numbered because it can’t get the basics right – including the right to life itself. People need jobs, housing, health care, education. To achieve those goals for all requires a radical attack on wealth inequality.
