Grooming Bennett
Key is grooming Bennett for a finance role and eventual succession. No point in Nat members making a fuss, they don’t get a say in who leads them.
politicans
paula bennett
WANTED: new ideas on child poverty
It’s great to see John Key taking a sudden interest in addressing child poverty in New Zealand. But why the change of heart?
“VRWC” exposes rift at top of National
There is a self-appointed “Vast Right Wing Conspiracy” in New Zealand. Odgers and Slater are key members. Search VRWC on Slater’s website and you’ll find their activities. After Pansy Wong’s forced resignation from Cabinet for misuse of her travel perk the VRWC thought the National Cabinet needed “some serious steel going forward.” You can read the minutes of their virtual white-board session on post-it cards – the rifts at the top are deep and nasty.
Guest Post: Tracey – Blinglish single handedly reduces teenage pregnancies
Tracey has submitted a series of OIA’s in order to get information about the stats Bill English referred to in relation to the government having reduced the numbers of single mothers. So far…. nothing helpful.
Paula Bennett now believes in education for solo parents
Five years after making cuts to the training incentive allowance for solo parents wanting to educate themselves National is moving to provide some support and now realises that it makes long term sense to invest in education for solo parents. Could it be there is an election around the corner and National realises that it is vulnerable on issues relating to poverty and inequality?
Considering newborns
It’s a classic National manoeuvre. Ask them a straightforward question like “is there support for all newborn babies in New Zealand?” and get a straightforward “Yes” – with several significant caveats that altogether add up to No.
The Herald is turning against the Government
The Herald, normally a bastion of support for National, has this weekend printed a number of stories openly critical of the National Government. As John Armstrong asks, have the wheels fallen off the Government’s reelection campaign?
Poverty denial – NZ Herald editorial
Today’s NZ Herald editorial joins Paula Bennett’s beneficiary-bashing stunt, asking for flying privileges to be cut, & denying there is a lot of poverty in NZ- a view from the privileged part of NZ’s inequality gap.
Bugger the polls!
Auckland Against Poverty protest the Young Nats Ball and Paula Bennett’s war on the poor. Steven Joyce is cynical about the polls. A Stuff poll shows everything that is wrong with the media’s poll beat ups.
Power disconnections increase as hardship grants are cut
Radio New Zealand has reported that power disconnections have soared at the same time that WINZ hardship grants have plummeted. Simon Bridges has suggested that it is the power companies fault. The Government should be blaming increasing poverty and inadequate WINZ hardship grants instead.
LocalBodies: National Slumps in Polls As Ministers Struggle
There is danger of reading too much into polls months out from an election. Commentators were claiming that National was too strong to lose the next election based on a rogue poll. Few looked at multiple polls, accounted for the margin of error nor the trends over past months. The last fortnight has seen a National with the latest Roy Morgan Poll plummeting from the Colmar Brunton result of 51% to 45.5%. And it is based on a lack of ministerial performance…
Smirks & inversions
The Salvation Army’s latest State of the Nation Report is damning on child poverty & unaffordable housing. The government is misrepresenting the conclusions, reversing the main focus on failings, and focusing on the positives: the spin is repeated in an NZ Herald editorial.
Welfare profiteers
Paula Bennett’s punitive welfare reforms are bad enough (pressuring people into unsuitable work, or off benefits without alternative support); then there’s privatising the scheme by outsourcing enforced work placement to private companies – worse still, to overseas corporates. Devaluing & dehumanising people, communities, & nurturing activities. [Update: APM conflicts of interest]
Polity: Some evidence about welfare
This post by polity certainly adds some grist to the debate on unconditional basic income (UBI) and kids. It looks at the example provided by the Cherokee in a natural quasi-experiment in North Carolina on how kids grow up. Being generous and acting early pays off.
The politics of food: Oxfam report
Some MSM reports crow about positive economic indicators, & decreases in the time people spend on benefits. Such statistics fail to show inequalities, & struggles of people on low incomes. An Oxfam comparative international report on food security is not good news for NZ, or the world.
Paula Bennett wastes taxpayers money on drug testing
The first results of Paula Bennett’s drug testing of beneficiaries has been released. Only 0.27% of the 8,000 beneficiaries required to be tested either failed or refused to take the test. The testing is a colossal waste of money but is performing an important political role by making the Government look like it is being tough on beneficiaries.
Making sense of the (un)employment stats: Census 2013
A Statistics NZ Census quick stats page is both useful and puzzling. Nearly a 3rd of adults are not in the “labour force”, unemployment stats mask true unemployment, the young and low income women particularly are struggling, distorted occupation categories, and more….. [Update: Occupation categories]
What chance is there of a bipartisan approach to child poverty?
The findings of the child poverty monitoring report are being released today. One in four or 265,000 children live in poverty and one in ten live in severe poverty. Children’s Commissioner Dr Russell Wills has called for a bipartisan political approach to the issue but Paula Bennett has replied by saying that she is incredibly proud of the Government’s record. How can you be incredibly proud of allowing one in four children to live in poverty?
Child Poverty in New Zealand
The Herald on Sunday this morning has produced a series of chilling articles showing that a computer glitch has caused the under reporting of abuse notifications, and a worrying increase in admission to hospital of children suffering form third world diseases. And the Children’s Commissioner had to secure funding from a private trust so that the data for this report could be collated. It makes you wonder if the Government wants to know the extent of child poverty in Aotearoa.
Coat-tail of Many Colours
Te Reo Putake speculates on exactly what plan that National and John Key have to distort the MMP review and Iain Lee Galloway’s private members bill so that it allows them to stay in power. Most probably by gifting Crazy Colin and the Conservatives with several chances to get several partners into parliament while discarding the husks of their former coalition partners.
Proud to be a westie?
Formerly proud to be a westie National MP Paula Bennett has decided to seek to become the MP for the new Upper Harbour seat. Does this mean that she will now give up wearing leopard skins?
Draft electoral boundary changes released
The draft boundaries for the 2014 election have been released. Down south there are significant changes in Christchurch. In West Auckland the changes are most pronounced, with a new North Harbour seat being proposed.
Poverty, women & rape culture
In our highly gendered socio-economic system that has institutionalised poverty, gendered violence, sexual violence and rape culture, low income women are multiply disadvantaged. Trigger warning: This post addresses some difficult and sensitive issues about poverty, women and rape culture. Subsequent comments will be tightly moderated.
Outsourcing poverty: Paula Bennett’s shame
A charity is taking on the funding of the essential work on monitoring poverty, in the face of Paula Bennett, Bill English and John Key et al failing to do their job: a return to Dickensian & Edwardian times.
Because it’s all about “me”
Cunliffe talked of moving from a “from a cost-based to a values-based” strategy. We need a new narrative: valuing all, including children of those on benefits; about long term benefits for all of less inequality & poverty, and more affordable housing & better public transport, & more.
Your Brighter Future: Burn.
“I just utter one fear…”
Remember that?
Vulnerable Children: The big picture
Yesterday Paula Bennett introduced the First Reading of the Vulnerable Children Bill. Nat MPs separated child abuse from issues of poverty and income inequality. Opposition MPs from Mana, Labour & The Greens called the Nats on it, arguing for the bigger picture.
Paula Bennett plans legislative witch hunt
Paula Bennett’s latest idea is to remove the rights of natural justice for state employees who do not take the proposed child abuser vetting test, even though the test has not even been designed. Even for Paula the stupidity of this idea is extreme …
Another diversion – “suspected” abusers
Time for another law-and-order-tough-on-crime distraction! Look! Over there!!
Poverty Watch 42
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, the CPAG report on the links between poverty and child abuse, and why it shows that government policy is misguided. Green MP Holly Walker tries to get a straight answer out of Paula Bennett.
Beneficiary bashing crocodile tears
The Nats have created a beneficiary bashing culture so rigid and so nasty that crazy stuff happens. They cry some crocodile tears about it – but only for cases publicised by the media.
War on social security: demonisation of beneficiaries
Sweeping changes to NZ’s Social Security system begin today. This is a major shift from the the 1938 Social Security Act: a shift from support of those in need, to treating them as potential criminals, self-serving addicts, and malingerers. Shame on John Key & Paula Bennett! [Update: RNZ & BAF & AAAP]
The stealthy dismantling of democracy
John Key’s government has been gradually dismantling NZ’s democratic processes. Various activities this week are a major part of a frightening shift: a Bill enabling mining conservation land; punitive social security Act; Key’s control over NZ’s “intelligence community”.
NRT: Paula Bennett giggles at child poverty
The government doesn’t measure child poverty, so has no way to tell if it is getting better or worse. Hilarious right? Paula Bennett certainly thinks so. “Gosh!”
Security: social, financial, personal, digital
Yesterday more planks in the NAct raft amounting to major changes, were before the House. These undermine democracy, fairness, the security and rights of individuals, and increase hardship for those on low incomes. Ardern on Social Security. Cunliffe on child support, privacy breaches & trust.
How austerity is destroying Britain… coming soon near you
A raft of Tory policies have been dismantling the British welfare state: bedroom tax, privatising the NHS: NZ’s NAct government is following the same pattern of slyly changing small things, adding up to major changes that are ultimately socially & economically destructive.