Most of us take it for granted that when we go to sleep at night it will be in a bed, but for a number of our children – not just one or two but several thousand- a mattress on the floor, sleeping on the couch or sharing a bed is the norm. I see, for example, there is a Beds for Christmas campaign running in Whangarei to get some beds for kids who don’t have one.
AN “AFFRONT TO DEMOCRACY”, was the State Services Commissioner’s characterisation of the state bureaucracy’s decision to spy on political activists. Few would disagree. That multiple state agencies felt entitled to contract-out the gathering of political intelligence to the privately owned and operated Thompson & Clark Investigations Ltd reveals a widespread antidemocratic disdain for citizens’ rights within the New Zealand public service. The alarming revelations of the State Services’ inquiry raise two very important questions: How did this disdain for democratic norms become so entrenched? And what, if anything, can Jacinda Ardern’s government do to eradicate it?
It is utterly unacceptable that this has occurred, there must be a purge of the public service and if the Government doesn’t do it they must ask themselves this question, if you can’t control these Ministries, who actually runs NZ?
…didn’t you oversee a grotesque abuse of surveillance powers with the deeply flawed Urewera terrorism case that saw an entire Māori township come under illegal martial law?
It’s good to see the lynch mobs don’t hold sway over process yet.
…but this time there will be an interesting twist. This week Justice Helen Winkelmann was appointed to the Supreme Court…
As we spin on this tiny rock completing another circle around a medium sized sun at the arse end of the Milky Way Galaxy, these are insignificant ramblings trying to fish up some meaning for a 12 month period where nothing seemed to matter in the face of climate change while simultaneously everything managed to offend huge swathes of people you’ll never meet.
The Daily Blog has heard that a leadership challenge against Simon Bridges is set for January.
GDP – Gross Domestic Product- is a figure politicians like to quote to tell you how wonderfully they are managing the economy, but it’s next to useless in that regard. A thief adds to GDP when he steals your car or your bike and you have to buy a new one.
For 6 years I have been publicly naming Thompson & Clark Investigations Limited for having been involved in the political targeting of me for my activism and journalism.