Political analysis and commentary shaping the progressive debate in Aotearoa New Zealand, focused on power, policy, and accountability.
What we appear to be witnessing gradual and growing movement of support from diverse corners of the electorate, all converging on a singular (if somewhat hazy and ill-specified) goal.
Better drug-laws around cannabis that help rather than harm society.
Socialism in New Zealand will be different to what it looks like in any other countries because each country has a different history and different realities. However the principles of socialism are common everywhere and will be reflected in the kiwi socialism for which we are striving.
Our politicians will not address the empty-house syndrome. We can easily imagine why. Our mainstream media will not do so either; same reason. There are some issues that we, the middle 50%, have to raise – and keep raising – through other channels.
No New Zealander wants the government to waste money on unnecessary naval capacity, but in that respect the first assets to get rid of are the navy’s two frigates. They are designed for combat operations in a larger (American-led) task force.
It is clear now that one of the arguments which will be deployed in the immediate future to oppose sensible reform of our cannabis laws, will be the Government’s previous insensible experimentation with synthetic highs.
Last week National announced it was fast tracking the report from the Foreign Affairs Trade and Defence Committee on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) from the end of May to 4 May. While the select committee process itself is a farce as it can’t change the deal, there are more sinister motivations behind the new deadline.
As I have pointed out in previous blogposts, when threatened with bad headlines or a scandal of some description, National’s automatic defense is generally to default to one of three* deflections;
Blame previous the Labour government
Release story on ‘welfare abuse’
Blame Global Financial Crisis or similar overseas event
There are plenty of past instances of this kind of strategy.
In NZ patients continue to suffer. The existing criteria are too restrictive, the process is too slow and Sativex – the one pharmaceutical extract that is approved here – is far too expensive. The result is that most doctors are put off applying and, even if they can get Sativex prescribed, most people cannot afford to pay for it.
that was then, this is now
Alarmist New Zealand Herald headlines condemned a Housing New Zealand tenant for taking in boarders.