National’s culture problem
National MP Sam Uffindell has today been engaged in a media wide mea culpa after allegations that he bullied a young student and was expelled from Kings College have been publicised.
Social issues
child discipline
Black lives matter Aotearoa version
The Black Lives Matter movement is causing many countries to reflect on their history and practices. And the decision of the police to discontinue the Armed Response Teams Trial and the Childrens Commissioner’s scathing report on Oranga Tamariki’s practices in the uplifting of young children, mostly Maori, from their mothers are examples of the change that is happening.
Rude ‘n Terrible?
Trump’s…I don’t actually have words for this little escapade.
Nat branch chair calls for “corporal punishment”
Bill English should have spoken out to dissociate his party from Price’s archaic views. Why hasn’t he?
$46.25 per week Minister!?!
One way the Government is transforming the disability support system is by keeping quiet about allowances desperately needed by those caring for disabled children.
National and Pasifika
National’s desire of increasing its support among Pasifika is understandable in an MMP world. But John Key’s and National’s selection of socially conservative candidates in South Auckland in an attempt to be attractive to some socially conservative voters is more than a little disingenuous.
Key rewrites history for “Crazy Colin”
Answering questions on the up-coming Asset Sales referendum, John Key spoke some appalling un-truths. He is rewriting political history to suit “Crazy” Colin Craig’s possible coalition bottom lines on the “anti-smacking” law. Cunliffe finally got there in the General Debate, but the opposition was too slow in countering Key’s lies & spin.
Flogging a dead horse
Irrelevant fringe group “Family First” really only has one drum, so I guess that they have nothing better to do except continue to beat it.
Education Standards and National Standards
The guys at RSA Animate provide their illustative talents to a quite brilliant and wide ranging lecture by Sir Ken Robinson on the topic of education. In the space of just over 10 minutes, he ranges from it’s industrial beginnings to its doped out, standardised present and argues finally, that educationally we’re heading in exactly the wrong direction and suggests alternatives.
Child crime and bullying
Under Key’s government we are seeing an escalation in violence committed by children. Why? TV and media violence hasn’t noticeably step-changed in the last year. More likely it is a symptom of the stress that families are under. Children are the canaries in the coal mine…
Right wing tantrums
The mind set of your typical far RWNJ (Right Wing Nut Job) reminds me of nothing so much as a spoiled greedy baby. Never more so than after reading a couple of notable tantrums from right wing politicians lately.
Corporal punishment bullshit
Family First have a history of trying to make political capital out of stacked questions. They’re are at it again, distorting the results of a survey question to push for bringing back corporal punishment in schools. They are aided and abetted by some spectacularly bad journalism.
The next step on smacking
Smacking and the reform of Section 59 was one of the big political issues of the last few years. Key’s position on facing down the appallingly worded “smacking referendum” remains one of the very few things that I can respect and applaud him on. Key will not want to revisit this issue, but the evidence from a new study suggests that he should…
How much astroturf can you buy for $500,000?
Tomorrow the Christian Right are holding a self-styled ‘March for Democracy’ that’s been bankrolled to the tune of $500,000 by Auckland property developer […]
What matters
Did you see Brain Rudman’s article in the Herald yesterday? The quote says it all: It just reminds you what an absurd debate […]
30 years without smacking
Sweden has had a smacking ban for 30 years. How is that working out? Stockholm When celebrating the 30th anniversary of the world’s […]
Does John Key believe a word he says?
This 2007 quote from John Key is doing the rounds among angry “No” voters: Labour shows contempt for New Zealanders The Labour Government […]
Two referendum editorials
In the aftermath of the “smacking” referendum I was struck (as I often am lately) by the range in quality of editorial / […]
Reaching out to the ‘No’ vote
I must confess that Key’s position on the repeal of s59 has puzzled me from the moment he started cooperating with the Labour […]
S59, an opening for Winston?
In 2007, 113 MPs voted for the Bradford amendment to s59 of the Crime Act. Eight voted against it. One of them was […]
Basher bill puts pressure on Key
John Boscawen’s private members’ bill to amend s59 of the Crimes Act has been drawn from the ballot. Essentially it would take us […]
Beating lobby loses the plot
Beating lobby spokesman Larry Baldock appears to be losing the plot now that it’s dawned on him that his gaming of the smacking […]
Time for Key to show some backbone
John Key thinks there’s no need to change the law in the wake of the smacking referendum, but he does think there’s a […]
Referendum results
I can’t say I’m all that surprised about the results of the ‘smacking’ referendum. As any good pollster will tell you, if you […]
Will Key fold?
Interesting times for Key. Rodney is trying to wag the dog over Maori seats. He’s also trying it on over the “smacking referendum” […]
Smackathon planned
Anti-violence campaigners are urging Auckland parents to be especially vigilant in the wake of news that “Vote No” campaigner Larry Baldock is planning […]
Someone give Rodney a Smack
Rodney Hide is increasingly becoming an embarrassment to the government. The perception that he has created is that he will back to the […]
Section 59 and child abuse
Late last week households around the country received their referendum envelope that asks “Should a smack as part of good parental correction be […]
Should a…
www.should-a.com, a website “created for the express purpose of openly mocking the citizen’s initiated referendum aimed at The Crimes (Substituted Section 59) Amendment […]
Crossing the line
Tuesday’s post, A Rankin headache started: There must be an automatic recoil on the Government benches when Christine Rankin’s name is mentioned. In […]
A Rankin headache
There must be an automatic recoil on the Government benches when Christine Rankin’s name is mentioned. Even Bill Ralston has noticed the difficulty […]
Hiding to nothing
Did anyone else detect a whiff of desperation in Family Fist’s PR offensive today championing the case of a man who lost control […]
The mask slips
The child beating lobby launched its “Vote No” campaign site today. They’ve worked hard in this campaign to present themselves as regular Kiwis […]
Do citizens-initiated referenda hamper democracy?
It’s hard to argue with the idea of referenda. What could be more democratic than citizens deciding precisely what issues the New Zealand […]
Still voting yes
I fully understand the political reasons for both Key and Goff not voting in the upcoming referendum. Neither want to have an official […]
Baldock gets a smacking
The folks at The Yes Vote point to a hilarious exchange this morning between Sean Plunket and Larry Baldock on Morning Report. Challenged […]