Sunday Reading
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: torture, charter schools, economics and development.
Social issues
Poverty Watch 3
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: Shearer’s education speech stirs up the debate, the Greens start Champions for Children, and the Nats are in denial…
Media: call it as it is
It’s a regular gripe of mine about our media that they don’t establish facts. I don’t find the “he said, she said” reporting style in the slightest bit helpful, and indeed encourages us, the public, to see all news as gossip and reduces our respect for our system.
So when John Key says that “John Banks hasn’t broken the law,” he’s lying: tell us that.
Banks must now submit correct return
John Key is wrong, John Banks has broken the law. He just did not get prosecuted. The return of donations he signed and submitted in 2010 is false, as the Police have stated. He should now correct it, or he is still in breach of the law.
Banks’ story coming apart; Key too weak to act
John Banks is trying to blame the Police for the fact that the transcript of his 3-hour interview with detectives over his campaign donations was held back from the OIA release of the Police file. Another lie. It was Banks’ choice for the transcript to be withheld. So much for “nothing to fear, nothing to hide”. And, now, his press sec’s dropped him further in it.
Latest education stuffup quickest U-turn ever
Brownlee and Parata announced school closures and explained the rationale. Now they’ve backed down and they’re trying to blame a Ministry mistake. This was the quickest U-turn in the history of politics. Update: And this morning it seems that closures and mergers are back on again – does anyone know what is going on?
ImperatorFish: He Who Consults Wins
Suffer the children
Over 2,200 children, according to the Government’s estimates, will end up living in households with their already meager benefit incomes cut in half under National’s plan to punish families who can’t afford to or don’t want to send their children to supposedly voluntarily early childhood education. I’ll give Bill English credit – he at least looked sick as he defended a policy of starving kids.
Labour hits the motherlode
The Police Report into the Banks.com affair, which Labour has distributed to the media, is a gold mine. Banks is shown to be a liar and completely unethical. He insisted that Dotcom’s donation be anonymised. He used the donations, which he had told media he didn’t remember, as an excuse not to help Dotcom while a minister. Banks is lying low now. Key has to sack him.
Known unknowns
My OIA request for the Police file of their investigation into Banks’ anonymous donations arrived today. John Key had said the law would be changed if “they could find the time.” Today David Carter found the time to say the law will be tightened before the 2013 elections.It will be very important that all the lessons from this sorry affair can be properly considered at select committee.
Champions for Children
The Greens have started a new programme – Champions for Children. We should all sign up. We need to make alleviating child poverty the election issue of 2014.
Nats in denial about education and poverty
Shearer’s speech on Sunday has sparked the discussions that this country needed to have about education, about poverty, and about the sad link between them. With every statement the Nats show how deeply in denial they are about these issues.
How long have they been sitting on that?
Shearer gets some traction with a policy that neatly targets parents’ concerns about education, hits a link in the poverty cycle, and is third way enough that National can’t really object. And what happens? National runs a little beat up on how Shearer’s masters thesis says you can’t ignore Maori beliefs in taniwha when allocating water rights. Wonder how long they were sitting on that.
“Kiwis targeted by John Key scammers”
Headline in the new Herald website. That’s all of us.
Who’s heading in the right direction?
While Labour and the Greens are laying out concrete policies to tackle poverty and its consequences that lead to life-long problems (child payment and home insulation from the Greens, food in schools and reading recovery from Labour), National MPs are acting as slum landlords, refusing to spend a few thousand dollars to bring their rentals up to standard.
Education, evidence, and a tale of two leaders
Shearer has set out some bold new ideas for education. Key is clinging to failed national standards. Shearer’s views are well supported by the successful Finnish model, while Key’s are condemned by failures in the UK and USA. Does the evidence matter?
Shearer – excellent education speech
David Shearer’s education speech today was excellent in every way. Core Labour values, a sound understanding of the issues, significant concrete policy, and the promise of more to come. “Under Labour, the world’s best education will be available at your local school”.
Something missing from asset sales debate
Something’s missing from Labour’s position on asset sales. It’s what it will do with the partially privatised companies (if the sales do go […]
Brian Easton on Light-handed regulation
Brian Easton will introduce the Fabian Society Light-handed Regulation Series at Connolly Hall, Guildford Terrace, Wellington, on Monday 10 September at 5:30pm. Brian’s presentation will discuss the disastrous effects of ideological light-handed regulation on work safety, the finance sector, the energy sector and construction and building. His paper is a significant contribution to what is an extremely important issue. All welcome.
Unqualified teachers in charter schools condemned
A stinging report from the Ministry of Education condemns the proposed use of unqualified teachers in charter schools. The Nats won’t listen because the Nats don’t care about the quality of education, they only care about privatising it.
ImperatorFish: On “The Issues That Matter”
Scott writes in response to Stuart Nash and Jordan Carter‘s differing views on “strategy” for Labour around marriage equality.
NRT: Nats sit on their hands as Chch housing crisis grows
There’s a major housing crisis in Christchurch. People are living in unsafe, cold houses and their health is suffering. Rents are at criminal levels. And people are still fleeing the city. So, what’s the Government doing about it? As I/S at No Right Turn reports, OIA requests show that they are doing nothing and leaving it to the market to house people after a national disaster.
Open mike 05/09/2012
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
Will National think of the children?
The Herald has had a plethora of columns urging action on the 230,000-270,000 in Child Poverty this week. There have been 3 weighty reports on Child Poverty out recently to spur them, but the even conservative ol’ Granny Herald seems to have got the message – will National?
Greenpeace – working for others.
Greenpeace has a case in front of the Court of Appeal today. It is going to be important for any number of small charities who do some advocacy work that may be considered to be ‘political’.
But Greenpeace deserves a resounding cheer for taking this case when it is far more important to other advocates from poverty groups to churches to climate deniers than it is to themselves.
I wonder who earned their Christmas bonus for coining the term “Breastapo”?
There’s been a lot of coverage of breastfeeding “controversies” in the last couple of months.
We’ve reposted Queen of Thorns’ take on it…
Open mike 04/09/2012
Open mike is your post. For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the link to […]
Cone of Silence?
A couple of weeks back I wrote a post offering Shearer, Robertson or Pagani an opportunity to justify their (more or less) blanket […]
National – Conservative coalition
The National – Conservative dream ticket for 2014 suffered a bit of a setback in the weekend, when Colin Craig pronounced Key “too gay for Helensville”. Note – this post is not satire.
Schadenfreude
I hope you won’t think less of me when I say I’m enjoying Key’s angst over baby formula companies using him in their ads in China. Key says it wasn’t an endorsement when he went to the factory, signed a tin of formula, and smiled for the cameras holding it. That, we’re supposed to believe, isn’t a promotion. Actually, it’s meant to be a one-way promotion: of Key.
Shearer Says #4
David Shearer’s weekly e-newsletter, this week on inequality, poverty and more.
We’re happy to post similar newsletters from other opposition leaders – our email is on our contact page.
Government in turmoil over spending cap
Conflict between support parties. The government without the majority needed for legislation. The Nats’ economic plans in turmoil. Thank goodness the country is in such safe, steady hands.
The conservative’s nightmare
Soon, a 18-year old gay man will be able to get married and, then, celebrate by having a drink. If Jacinda Ardern’s Bill passes, he’ll be able to adopt his husband’s child. And, if David Clark’s Bill passes – he can then earn $15 an hour at his minimum wage job! It really is the conservative’s nightmare at the moment. I’m loving it.
The drinking age
The alcohol reforms miss the real issues and focuses on wowserism over teens drinking, instead. The Hospitality Association will be rubbing its hands at the split age suggestion. But there ins’t a growing problem with booze. Alcohol consumption is falling. 25 years ago, we consumed 140 litres of alcoholic beverages per person (including children!) per year. Today, that number is 105 litres.
Marriage equality – how they voted
How they voted, some wise words on the range of christian belief, and credit to John Key.
Alcohol distraction
Today MPs will have a conscience vote on the drinking age. But National won’t be moving on anything that will hurt the alcohol industry, even though action on price and advertising is what’s really needed to make a difference to New Zealand’s alcohol problem.
Update: And remain at 18 it is.