Why should we trust SIS, GCSB & Police with more power when they can’t use their current powers legally?
We have Police and Intelligence Agencies stepping well outside the law and not getting punished for it.
New Zealand Politics
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In 9 weeks, Labour has done more to eradicate child poverty than National did in 9 years
This is a great start, but to truly change we need a new Government who will use the looming economic meltdown as an opportunity to borrow and invest directly into the social infrastructure to handle the jump in poverty that economic recession will cause…
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Governing For The “Other Half” Of New Zealand
THE LABOUR PARTY has never been very tolerant of dissenters. It is, therefore, unsurprising that very few within its ranks have reacted positively to my recent posting on The Daily Blog. No matter how many private reservations Labour supporters may be harbouring about Grant Robertson’s “fiscally responsible” economic policies, they would rather his critics refrained from giving public voice to their concerns.
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GUEST BLOG: Dr Liz Gordon – Time for new strategies for women’s equality
I can remember many years ago being told my one of my senior academic colleagues that I should not be so impatient for women’s equality – that it would come, but probably take about 25 years. Well, 25 years has been and gone and progress have been sporadic and regression all too common. In particular, men are still mostly in charge of things. In the private sector and the state, most CEOs are men, most board chairs are men and most of the voices heard are males.
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We will miss Mike Hosking at 7pm the way we miss cancer
I think Mike appeals to those who already have and his quaint musings on working hard and not helping beneficiaries because that only enables them when you feed them slips effortlessly into the cultural norms rich people convince themselves of when they have to step over beggars to get into Louis Vuitton stores.
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GUEST BLOG: Dave Brownz: Regulating or Liberating Cannabis?
The NZ Drug Foundation has published its Briefing Document on Drug reform for the incoming Parliament. The indications are that its approach is one that the Government might favour because while it argues for decriminalisation to remove the worst aspects of our demonic cannabis laws, it also recommends heavy regulation of “production, consumption and sale”.
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Further fraying of the social welfare net
One of the clear threads is the move to a greater reliance on the complex stigmatizing regime of supplementary hard to access add-on means-tested assistance. Core benefits are not enough to live on and low wages are far too low.
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Grant Robertson’s “Mini Budget” Presents Progressives With A “Maxi-Problem”
IT’S OFFICIAL – there is now no prospect of this government living up to its promises of introducing “transformational” change. Thanks to Grant Robertson, the Labour-NZ First-Green Government will, with one exception, be fundamentally indistinguishable from the Clark-Cullen ministry of 1999-2008.
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$639 million upgrade poses question of whether we need frigates
The frigates Te Mana and Te Kaha are a huge drain on the taxpayer. They cost hundreds of millions of dollars a year in running costs and regular upgrades. The current electronics upgrade is now priced at a whopping $639 million.
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Why I do not welcome euthanasia in New Zealand
When I look at the horror our mental health system, prison system & welfare systems have become for the most vulnerable via chronic underfunding & indifferent staff – I fear how euthanasia will mutate in that cruel environment.