Mana has established a clear identity, as shown in Hone’s adjournment speech. Based in practice and activism. For all people, especially those on low incomes. A voice for Maori, Pasifika people and children. The Maori Party’s future is in question. What’s the future for Mana and Hone?
Key’s government and his MSM cheerleaders, lead the country backwards to increasing inequalities. It’s been a year of the battle of the men. Yesterday, Metiria spoke of an inclusive country to collaboratively fight for, and Jacinda Ardern spoke passionately for children in poverty.
As an outsider watching the struggles in the Labour Party unfold, I am becoming increasingly despondent about the state of Left wing politics in NZ. Right now, NZ, and those of us who party vote Green/Mana, require a strong, democratic and solidly left wing Labour Party.
The Key government’s sham and failed ideology of freedom and democracy can be seen in two Bills that were before the House this week. This government is increasingly autocratic and anti-democratic, while enabling the powerful to exploit and control the powerless, including children.
A week of [updated: video] protests against the secretive TPP began today outside entrance to Sky City Convention Centre, where the latest round of TPP negotiations are being held. The majority of Kiwis are not happy with the secrecy. Jane Kelsey & Canadian Peter Clark identify problems.
John Key’s crony-capitalist, neoliberal government is failing NZ on the environment, affordable housing, and a living wage. Mana and the Greens are leading the way on affordable housing and anti-poverty campaigns. The Greens still lead the way on pressing environmental issues.
Tomorrow is the centenary of the death of Fred Evans on 13 November 1912, during the Waihi gold miners strike. Out of this struggle of ordinary, but courageous NZ workers, grew the NZ Labour Party. Who now has such courage to lead NZ politics in a new direction? Update: Allison McCulloch’s article on the Waihi strike.
Today is Housing Crisis Day of Action with a march on parliament in Wellington (see Facebook page). The government’s plan will benefit private developers and property speculators, and involves risks of “cutting red tape”. Instead, they should be building more state houses. Updates: General Debate. John Banks heckled by protesters.
The bosses justify their huge pay packets by saying they’re the elite, the wealth creators. They get the money because their genius makes sure things work. But, when it all goes to hell it’s the minions who get blamed. While the CEO gets a $100K bonus when she quits after 11 months! Nice work if you can get it, which is why the bosses congratulated themselves with a 10% pay rise this year.
Buried in Audrey Young’s puff piece on Secretary of Education Lesley Longstone is an interesting insight into Longstone’s thinking on poverty and education. Longstone tries to downplay the link. Ignorance, or overt right-wing agenda?
As National cuts services, incomes, and pushes more Kiwi’s into the gutter, their real agenda it seems apart from creating an underclass is removing them from the Government tit, and after that supporting them with charity. Corporations see charity as tax free advertising, with the added bonus of being able to lobby & pressure the Government of the day.
Sugarbags are a symbol of self-help in the 1930s Depression. Foodbanks are a symbol of the failure of consumer capitalism. Should the left reclaim Labour’s original core values? What are those core values, and are they still relevant today?
The Secretary for Education has drawn the wrong conclusions from data on educational performance, and a bunch of commentators (including a particularly egregious anonymous editorial in The Herald) have been quick to follow. We certainly have a world class education system. The fact that not every child can take advantage of it is our real failing and our shame.
Welcome to Poverty Watch, a weekly update on National’s lack of response to the urgent and growing issue of poverty in NZ. This week, a party that wants to help, and a party that doesn’t.
Here’s Business NZ’s shill on extending paid parental leave: “Employers who have been forced to bear considerable replacement costs, or to find those amongst their other employees willing to provide cover, may well think hard before again employing a woman of child-bearing age”. 1) that makes no sense 2) it’s illegal under the Human Rights Act.
Slavery was abolished in the 19th century, wasn’t it? From wage-slavery to human-trafficking, modern day forms of slavery have many faces, all in the interests of profits for the few. What are these different faces, and what impact do they have on the lives of ordinary people?
A Victoria University study shows that tax evasion is costing the country at least 25 times what welfare fraud is costing, while welfare fraud is punished more harshly in court.
My regular Sunday piece of interesting, longer, deeper stories I found during the week. It’s also a chance for you to share what you found this week too. This week: plutocrats, the New World Order, benefits and solving slavery and extinction.
Welcome to Poverty Watch, a weekly update on National’s lack of response to the urgent and growing issue of poverty in NZ. This week, “International Eradication of Poverty Day”, and the tragic link between poverty and child abuse.
Revolutions, political movements and protests are fueled by songs. They bring people together in common cause, draw attention to devastating conditions, reassure the oppressed that they are not alone, and inspire people to take political action. What songs have engaged, inspired, or motivated your political conscience and compassion? Update: : The winner is…
There’s no class war in New Zealand. It’s not class war when the company that is laying off workers boosts its directors’ pay by 28%. It’s not class war when rich Tories who have given themselves massive tax cuts deny people on benefits are in poverty. It’s not class war when a rich Tory makes up numbers to oppose extending paid parental leave.
Dave Kennedy (bsprout) at Local Bodies writes on crime statistics and the vulnerable in our society.
Welcome to Poverty Watch, a weekly update on National’s lack of response to the urgent and growing issue of poverty in NZ. This week, three good pieces on the recent Children’s Commisioner’s report, the Nats dither on food in schools, and much more…
Youth rates are an admission of economic failure.
I was surprised this weekend to see The Herald come out with a strongly stated piece in favour of cheating and tax evasion.
So, it turns out that our ‘foreign trusts’ regime is being exploited so that billionaires from developing countries can avoid tax in their countries. We’re a tax haven. And the Government sees nothing wrong with that. It’s legal, so it’s OK. Yes, we’re helping a foreign elite avoid paying their fair share and rip off poor people, but hey, this is a National Government – that sounds like paradise to them.
Welcome to Poverty Watch, a weekly update on National’s lack of response to the urgent and growing issue of poverty in NZ. This week, immigrant Pacific Island families in poverty, and a thoughtful and challenging piece on the role of philanthropy in NZ.
It’s now clear that National are unfit for office anywhere but Planet Key. Which is unfortunate, because here on Planet Earth, things aren’t going so well. We need new ideas, we need action, we need results. We aren’t going to get them from National.
Today there have been protests around NZ, against Paula Bennett’s punitive welfare reforms.
Updates: Include ODT article link and extract, photos of Henderson protest, and links to several news articles.
Split Enz once sang, “History Never Repeats”… Or does it? Destructive prejudices separating ‘deserving’ and ‘undeserving’ poor have been around a very long time. When the likes of Paula Bennett pander to such ill-informed vindictiveness with punitive social welfare reforms, they will damage large numbers of children – our future citizens.
Paula Bennett on Q+A: “I don’t think that every child actually needs to be in early-childhood education” says Bennett. There will be cases where parents can do just as good or better job for their child. Yet, her policy is to take away half the incomes of parents and children on benefits who don’t go to ECE. The gap between Bennett’s spin and what she is actually doing has never before been so clearly revealed.
John Key on the impoverished Chatham Islands, holding a huge crayfish. He says ‘big as a horse, freshly cooked, $80 a kilo.’ He kisses the cray, then looks at the camera and says ‘jealous?’ Christ, what a cock. Those 270,000 kids aren’t jealous, arsehole. They’re hungry. The fact he knows the price of cray off the top of his head but not how many Kiwis are unemployed tells you all you need to know.
Does anyone have the number for John Key’s supplier? Because when he answered a question in the House yesterday about poverty and low pay by saying that in his paradise, Planet Key, there would be no toilets and no jobs, my first thought was ‘man, that guy is on some good drugs’. My second thought was he’s gone and made that Planet Key tease into a meme that’ll haunt him.
David Clark’s private member’s Bill to increase the minimum wage was voted down 61 to 59 last night. Shame on John Banks and Peter Dunne.
In the House yesterday, Metiria Turei threw National’s ‘Planet Labour/Planet Green’ line back at Key, asking if ordinary people get to break the law too or if that privilege is reserved for ministers on Planet Key. Like all little bullies, Key couldn’t take it back. He lashed out and, like Romney’s fatal gaffe the same day, it exposed something of Key’s real world view.
With proposed ETS changes National is abdicating our responsibility on the world stage, and sending the bill to the taxpayers. The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment calls it ‘a farce’. It’s cowardly, it’s weak, and it’s shafting the working Kiwi.
