A political panel will tell us why they oppose the signing of the TPPA: Grant Robertson, Labour; Metiria Turie, Greens; Marama Fox, Maori Party; and Fletcher Tabuteau, NZ First.
Some consideration should, nevertheless, be given to the problem created by the Police’s announcement that it has been engaged for some time in “Public Order Training” – a.k.a. Riot Control.
Despite a clear majority of the New Zealand public being opposed to the TPPA, John Key is set to sign the trade deal in Auckland on the 4th of February at SkyCity casino. This is an outrage, and a challenge.
It’s deeply disturbing to think that a full five years after the quakes vast swathes of the city centre remain in ruins.
You can’t ban gambling, but by God you should put a stranglehold around their expansion and limit their social damage. 20 years of SkyCity has seen nothing but weak legislation watered down further by crony relationships with the current Government.
According to the NZ Herald, parents are paying a record high amount for school donations, with costs for public secondary schools amounting to $3139 a year and $2047 for primary.
Trump’s populism is so great because he is talking to those insecurities in a way none of the other candidates would dare to if they wanted a serious shot at winning over independents post winning the Republican nomination.
Education is for the people, and our society prospers from an educated population. 30 years of neoliberalism has transformed it into a privileged class made impotent by user pays culture.
2016, modern life. It’s a ‘Tale of Two Cities’. It’s ‘the best of times, and the worst of times’, a time of plenty for some, in a post-Dickensian dystopia, a Mad Maxian eco-apocalypse.
I’m suspicious. Because John Key is not prone to making tactical blunders. Which raises the worrying possibility that the readily predictable consequences of his decision – mass protest action outside Sky City, with a high probability of violence and property damage – may be exactly what he wants to happen.