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Social issues

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Garner on Nats’ brighter future fail

Written By: - Date published: 10:11 am, August 26th, 2017 - 70 comments

Duncan Garner reviews National’s record, and is not impressed: “Because the list of blind spots for National is too long. If this is success then our standards have slipped.”

A tale of two hospital announcements

Written By: - Date published: 7:39 am, August 26th, 2017 - 54 comments

There were some notable differences between Labour and National’s accouncements of a new Dunedin hospital…

Another DHB in trouble

Written By: - Date published: 9:18 am, August 22nd, 2017 - 45 comments

National found $10b down the back of the sofa for roads roads roads, but is under funding our health system to the point of collapse.

Still no answers on housing from Nats

Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, August 20th, 2017 - 14 comments

Yesterday Phil Twyford debated Amy Adams on the housing crisis. Adams was hopeless, the Nats still have no answers.

Godwin on Godwin

Written By: - Date published: 6:20 am, August 20th, 2017 - 83 comments

It’s ok to call Nazis Nazis.

Excuses/reasons, for not doing anything about children in poverty.

Written By: - Date published: 7:06 pm, August 19th, 2017 - 27 comments

Excuses/reasons, for not doing anything about children in poverty.

This is a re-post from 2013. Unfortunately the need to talk about poverty is even greater now.

Equal pay protestors chase the Government out of the Dunedin hospital

Written By: - Date published: 1:50 pm, August 19th, 2017 - 50 comments

They ran away from equal pay. 

A “Culture of Entitlement”?

Written By: - Date published: 3:39 pm, August 17th, 2017 - 48 comments

With the current dialog about welfare, It is time to look at the people who are the real  beneficiaries, of the welfare system.

Who use the educated and healthy  workforce our system provides

The people who say “everyone should stand on their own two feet”, “you don’t work you don’t eat”,  and “take personal responsibility”,

The business sector.

Labour addresses urgent mental health need in Canterbury

Written By: - Date published: 12:41 pm, August 17th, 2017 - 5 comments

In the wake of devastating earthquakes in Canterbury, National’s treatment of mental health needs in the region has been absolutely shameful. Yesterday Jacinda Ardern released new policy to help address the crisis. Great work from Labour in an area that National have cruelly neglected.

Race Relations Commissioner calls on UN to to support inquiry into the abuse of children in state care

Written By: - Date published: 9:53 am, August 16th, 2017 - 14 comments

Race Relations Commissioner Dame Susan Devoy has called on the UN to tell the government to hold an independent inquiry into the abuse of children and people with disabilities in state care. (Some of us were wrong about Devoy!)

Nats repeat failed bootcamp policy in plea to rally their scared angry base

Written By: - Date published: 7:01 am, August 15th, 2017 - 30 comments

English’s “boot camp” policy is pure politics. As much as he tries to deny it, it’s more or less an exact repeat of Key’s failed 2008 attempt, it would do much more harm than good if ever implemented. More than any other flailing to date, this mess is a sign of National’s desperation.

Labour’s School Leavers’ Toolkit

Written By: - Date published: 12:25 pm, August 14th, 2017 - 100 comments

“Labour’s School Leavers’ Toolkit will help students learn to drive, understand practical budgeting, be equipped with workplace skills, and learn how our political system operates through civics education at school. Every secondary school will be resourced to provide these courses.”

Brutal

Written By: - Date published: 7:35 am, August 14th, 2017 - 157 comments

Punitive welfare settles into a new low.

National promises stronger, more skilled criminals

Written By: - Date published: 7:13 pm, August 13th, 2017 - 28 comments

National are going to send our most “hardened” youth offenders to the Army to be trained up. If that fails, they’ll send them to adult prisons to learn their craft better.

National promises to get tough on youth crime

Written By: - Date published: 1:08 pm, August 13th, 2017 - 77 comments

National has announced its policy to deal with youth crime by reannouncing a military service scheme that already exists, proposing a special category for young offenders that will have some young people seek that status and by proposing to fine parents who can’t keep their kids home at night.

Fire and Fury over North Korea

Written By: - Date published: 3:00 pm, August 12th, 2017 - 60 comments

Donald Trump may not know it but Koreans certainly remember  the last time the United States unleashed fire and fury over North Korea. In the 1950s, B-29s used bombs and napalm to flatten every North Korean city. Gen Curtis Lemay boasted that the USAF killed off 20% of the population. That’s why this time they have nuclear weapons.

3:43

Written By: - Date published: 12:15 pm, August 12th, 2017 - 4 comments

Great (Aussie) video on the gender pay gap… [twitter_video id=”895540259642986497″]  

Do you?

Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, August 11th, 2017 - 69 comments

In the interests of keeping it simple, an obvious fact or two and a basic proposition.

Corbyn-esque NZ

Written By: - Date published: 6:17 pm, August 9th, 2017 - 13 comments

This post was written and ready to go and then news of Metiria Turei stepping down hit. Some of it might read a little strangely because of that. I’ve changed some of the tenses used.

The Listener on our health system crisis

Written By: - Date published: 2:58 pm, August 7th, 2017 - 17 comments

A major piece by Jessica McAllen in The Listener out today. Cash-strapped hospitals are using unsafe hardware-store versions of proper surgical-grade equipment, and reusing “single use” devices.

Messages for the Left

Written By: - Date published: 6:59 am, August 6th, 2017 - 107 comments

Kōrero Pono writes about the class divide within the parliamentary Left and the importance of the wider Left’s message in this election.

Health disasters – useless Coleman in all kinds of shit

Written By: - Date published: 9:59 am, August 4th, 2017 - 36 comments

The Health system is riddled with crises and useless Minister Jonathan Coleman is in all kinds of shit. He doesn’t seem to care any more and we won’t front up for interviews. Coleman is a disgrace.

No Right Turn: Dealing with ghost homes

Written By: - Date published: 6:23 am, August 4th, 2017 - 11 comments

“we want houses to be homes for people to live in, not gold bars for the rich”

Lifeline funding cut

Written By: - Date published: 1:10 pm, August 2nd, 2017 - 58 comments

Funding to Lifeline has been cut in favour of an organisation with a family link to Bill English. It may be completely innocent as all the interested parties claim. But it’s not a good look to be destroying Lifeline, an organisation doing world class work in an area of desperate need. You don’t easily replace that experience.

Daily Review 01/08/2017

Written By: - Date published: 5:30 pm, August 1st, 2017 - 72 comments

Daily review is also your post. This provides Standardistas the opportunity to review events of the day. The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy). Don’t forget to be kind to each other …

Trying to bury bad news

Written By: - Date published: 5:06 pm, August 1st, 2017 - 29 comments

It’s a busy news day, so… Government axes Lifeline contract. Yes, we still top the western world on youth suicide.  We still have regular stories like this today. So what does the Government do?  Cancel the money that Lifeline uses to train thousands in suicide prevention. $800,000 – a massive amount to Lifeline and the […]

A couple of morning cartoons

Written By: - Date published: 10:57 am, July 30th, 2017 - 9 comments

Paula Bennett gets owned by Phil Twyford in question time

Written By: - Date published: 4:35 pm, July 27th, 2017 - 22 comments

This afternoon in Parliament during question time Paula Bennett showed clearly that this Government has no idea what to do about the housing crisis.

Let’s get rid of these clowns

Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, July 25th, 2017 - 46 comments

The Government’s failure to do anything about the housing crisis or about zombie cannabis is evidence they should be removed from office.

The truth behind job numbers

Written By: - Date published: 7:04 am, July 25th, 2017 - 25 comments

Bruce Munro’s excellent piece in the ODT, looks in to the truth behind the Nats’ job numbers: “It does not take much digging in Statistics New Zealand’s latest Household Labour Force Survey to uncover a growing world of low-paid work, insufficient working hours, financial struggles and unfulfilled lives”.

The Nuk Korako Cover Up

Written By: - Date published: 7:56 am, July 24th, 2017 - 46 comments

Will Nuk Korako blame his children this time?