equality
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National – No Friend to Women
Written By: - Date published: 2:44 pm, November 9th, 2010 - 45 comments
The gender pay gap is increasing by about 1 percentage point each year under Pansy Wong’s watch – it’s now 13%. And a new report out shows women’s level of participation in key leadership areas is static or falling. Female unemployment had passed 7 percent for the first time in 12 years. National’s policies equate to an attack on women.
Universal Income & the Minimum Wage
Written By: - Date published: 12:50 pm, October 26th, 2010 - 101 comments
There is no need to tolerate the existence of poverty. It is an economic and social drag on our country that wastes human potential. The minimum wage, super, and benefits help, yet 15% of Kiwis, and 20% of kids, live in households with incomes below 60% of the average income. A universal income is the best way to eliminate the blight of poverty.
Digested Read – Spirit Level 6: Future Options
Written By: - Date published: 10:00 am, October 10th, 2010 - 11 comments
The last in a series of 6 summarising the argument of The Spirit Level. This post looks at how we might achieve a more equitable future.
Growth and Money: Means, not Ends
Written By: - Date published: 11:40 pm, October 8th, 2010 - 21 comments
This government seems to have confused the means and the ends. Growth and money have become the ends, when they only ever should have been the means. Surely what should matter now is that we have a happy, fulfilled society, where people have the opportunity to do what they want.
Digested Read – Spirit Level 5: Sustainability
Written By: - Date published: 12:58 pm, October 1st, 2010 - 16 comments
The fifth of 6 in a series summarising the argument of The Spirit Level. This post looks at how a more equal society may also be a more sustainable one.
Hickey sees the light
Written By: - Date published: 12:49 pm, September 29th, 2010 - 73 comments
Bernard Hickey, one of the country’s leading economic commentators, was a hardline neo-liberal – ie. the market is god. Now, he’s changed his mind. He’s come to the realisation that there’s no invisible god’s hand directing capitalist markets. Instead they are directed by short-termist elites. We need to take back control.
Women majority in Swiss Cabinet
Written By: - Date published: 2:59 pm, September 25th, 2010 - 7 comments
4 out of 7 of Switzerland’s cabinet are now women – a progressive surprise from a conservative country.
Digested Read – Spirit Level 4: Other Social Problems
Written By: - Date published: 12:22 pm, September 25th, 2010 - 40 comments
The fourth of 6 in a series summarising the argument of The Spirit Level. This post examines how inequality affects education, social mobility and teenage pregnancies.
Digested Read – Spirit Level 3: Trust & Crime
Written By: - Date published: 12:30 pm, September 24th, 2010 - 36 comments
The third of 6 in a series summarising the argument of The Spirit Level. This post examines how inequality affects crime and our attitudes to others.
Digested Read – Spirit Level 2: Health
Written By: - Date published: 12:00 pm, September 18th, 2010 - 63 comments
The second of 6 in a series summarising the argument of The Spirit Level. This post examines how inequality affects mental and physical health.
Digested Read – Spirit Level 1: The Problem
Written By: - Date published: 12:00 pm, September 17th, 2010 - 43 comments
We bang on about The Spirit Level from time to time, and I promised a series summarising the book… well here it is. It’ll be six parts.
Equality of opportunity
Written By: - Date published: 7:20 am, September 13th, 2010 - 194 comments
“The Spirit Level” is a book with a simple message: An unequal society is a sick society. It’s a message that has the right wing running scared, and trying to dodge the issue by pretending that they believe in “equality of opportunity”. But across society there’s no such thing…
Today’s Inequality Report
Written By: - Date published: 3:36 pm, August 12th, 2010 - 3 comments
A quick vid from The Equality Trust
Rethinking Growth
Written By: - Date published: 7:31 am, August 8th, 2010 - 82 comments
For the last several decades the over-riding mantra across western governments has been that what is important above all else is economic growth. Now is the time to question whether it should still be our main aim and guiding light.
Nats floundering on inequality
Written By: - Date published: 7:16 am, May 25th, 2010 - 35 comments
Pointing out that a “rich get richer” budget is going to increase inequality in NZ seems to be making the Nats uncomfortable. Bill English tries to simply deny the facts. DPF tries to divert attention to “social mobility”. Lame efforts in both cases. The truth is that inequality isn’t on the Nats radar. They simply don’t care.
Inequality Aspiration Envy
Written By: - Date published: 11:04 am, May 19th, 2010 - 71 comments
Inequality is terribly damaging to society. National want to increase inequality by transferring wealth from the poor to the rich. They argue that this provides “incentives” for the vast majority of the rest of us to “get ahead”. But this aspirational argument is both incoherent and absurd.
- Teachers’ union to file Waitangi Tribunal claim
Largest education union to file a claim, focusing on policies like the $30m cut to te reo Māori teacher training The post Teachers’ union to file Waitangi Tribunal claim appeared first on Newsroom. ...5 days ago - Silly season sees Seymour sitting in last chance hair salon
Opinion: Latest regulatory review looks more like a photo-op than anything substantive The post Silly season sees Seymour sitting in last chance hair salon appeared first on Newsroom. ...5 days ago
- Buildings ‘pancaked’ in Vanuatu as 7.3 magnitude quake strikes off capital Port Vila
By Stefan Armbruster and Harry Pearl of BenarNews A strong 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Vanuatu today, US geologists said, severely damaging a number of buildings in the capital, crushing cars and briefly triggering a tsunami warning. Witnesses described a “violent shake” and widespread damage to Port ...5 days ago - Fiscal update shows Kiwis paying price for government’s austerity, critics say
The government's opening of the books has been met with derision from its opponents inside Parliament and out. ...5 days ago - Hugh Marks is the new managing director of the ABC. Is he the right person for the job?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Denis Muller, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Advancing Journalism, The University of Melbourne Aspects of Hugh Marks’s record as chief executive of the Nine Entertainment Company raise questions about his suitability for the position of managing director of the ABC, to which ...5 days ago
- Powerful 7.3 magnitude quake strikes Vanuatu – triggers tsunami waves
RNZ Pacific A large 7.3 magnitude earthquake has struck off the coast of Vanuatu’s capital Port Vila , shortly after 3pm NZT today. The US Geological Survey says the quake was recorded at a depth of 10 km (6.21 miles). Locals have been sharing footage of damage to infrastructure in ...5 days ago
- Chris Trotter: Running Us Off The Rails
New Zealand will pay a high price for pulling out of this deal – just as it did 64 years ago when the Second National Government tore up the contract its Labour predecessor had signed with British and American interests to establish a large cotton ...5 days ago - Fast-track bill passes into law, amid protest
Protesters shouted "this bill kills" and unfurled a banner before they were ordered to be removed. ...6 days ago
- Australia’s latest brush with extreme heat shows just how good weather forecasting really is
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ailie Gallant, Associate Professor, ARC Centre of Excellence for Weather of the 21st Century, Monash University Google Earth As a dome of heat developed over north and central Australia last weekend, parts of the country braced themselves for their first taste ...6 days ago
- Tech giant Meta will pay Australians $50 million for enabling the Cambridge Analytica scandal
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katharine Kemp, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law & Justice; Lead, UNSW Public Interest Law & Tech Initiative, UNSW Sydney The Australian Information Commissioner today announced a settlement with tech giant Meta over its involvement in the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The settlement ...6 days ago
- Protesters Disrupt 3rd Reading Of Fast-track Bill
”The fast-track bill is anti-democratic, anti-climate, and anti-Te Tiriti. Regardless of the bill passing today, thousands of New Zealanders are ready to stop these projects from being built in our communities,” says 350 spokesperson Adam Currie. ...6 days ago
- The government is spending millions on news, but crucial community media remains underfunded
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bridget Backhaus, Senior Lecturer in Journalism and Media Studies, Griffith University Shutterstock The Australian government has launched its News Media Assistance Program, throwing a lifeline to public interest journalism and local news. The latest push for a more diverse and ...6 days ago
- Cars in Australian cities are emitting less – but in the regions exhaust emissions are growing
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kai Li Lim, St Baker Fellow in Electric Mobility, The University of Queensland becauz gao/Shutterstock Within five years, transport is expected to be Australia’s top source of greenhouse gas emissions. While renewables and storage are bringing down emissions from the electricity ...6 days ago
- Te Pāti Māori’s Rawiri Waititi says Luxon may be ‘drop-nuts’ if he doesn’t...
The prime minister not attending Waitangi Day would show he "has no balls and may be a drop-nuts", Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi says. ...6 days ago
- Can Syria avoid becoming another Libya or Iraq? A week after Assad’s fall, here are 3 possible fut...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ali Mamouri, Research Fellow, Middle East Studies, Deakin University After the fall of the Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria, the world was moved by emotional scenes of liberation — families reuniting after years of separation and former prisoners walking free from the ...6 days ago
- The fiscal update is no Christmas present for the government – but signs of a slow recovery are th...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Hickson, Economics Lecturer and Director Business Taught Masters Programme, University of Canterbury After a slow economic year, many New Zealanders are eyeing 2025 with uncertainty but also a degree cautious optimism. Interest rates are dropping and unemployment rates remain below expectations. ...6 days ago
- Immigration Minister Delivers Changes In Time For Christmas
"It’s been an incredibly tough few seasons, with huge pressure on farmers who have been unable to find the staff they need to run their businesses." ...6 days ago
- ‘Brutal austerity’ – reaction to opening of govt’s books
The PSA says the reckless drive to cut costs shows the government is prepared to put dollars ahead of Kiwis' lives. ...6 days ago
- Live: ‘Brutal austerity’ – reaction to opening of govt’s books
The PSA says the reckless drive to cut costs shows the government is prepared to put dollars ahead of Kiwis' lives. ...6 days ago
- Why do we revert to our childhood selves when we visit family?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gery Karantzas, Professor in Social Psychology / Relationship Science, Deakin University TORWAISTUDIO/Shutterstock You’re an independent, capable adult all year round. But when you gather with family for a holiday such as Christmas, suddenly the child in you comes out. Maybe ...6 days ago
- Serious youth offenders numbers drop by 7%
It equates to being over a third of the way towards the government's target of 15 percent fewer youth offenders by 2030, Oranga Tamariki says. ...6 days ago
- HYEFU revealed: Nicola Willis deploys convenient new measure amid bleak books
Analysis - The opening of the books at Treasury has revealed a bleak economic outlook, and a new measure to improve that picture. ...6 days ago
- New Zealanders Be Warned – More Brutal Cuts To Public Services Coming
"History and now fresh evidence tell us that austerity doesn’t work, but the Government is failing to listen. Today in the Budget Policy Statement it set the stage for further deep and broad cuts which will impact the services New Zealanders need now and in ...6 days ago
- The best books of 2024: The people’s choice
The results of our reader survey of the best books of the year. Over 300 Spinoff members responded to our call out to discover what people enjoyed reading locally and internationally this year. The results show a healthy crossover with The Spinoff’s best New Zealand books of 2024, with some ...6 days ago - Now We Know Why Nicola Willis Didn’t Want Experts In The Room: Changes OBEGAL Calculation To Appea...
“Nicola Willis is guilty of manipulating the fiscal indicators in the same way then Opposition Finance Spokesperson Nicola Willis jumped up-and-down about when Grant Robertson changed the way Net Core-Crown Debt was calculated to make the numbers ...6 days ago
- Minimum Wage Decision A Conscious Decision To Increase Poverty
It is an indefensible attack on working people and will only serve to inflame poverty and undermine a weak economy. ...6 days ago
- What makes a great sports coach? We identified 17 of the world’s best, and found some patterns
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cliff Mallett, Professor of Sport Psychology and Coaching, The University of Queensland red mango/Shutterstock The study of leadership in high-performance coaching aims to deepen the understanding of how and why coaches lead the way they do, rather than just what they ...6 days ago
- Government makes it easier for businesses to hire migrants
Cabinet has also agreed in principle to bring in two new seasonal visas from late 2025. ...6 days ago
- HYEFU: Government books to stay deep in deficit until 2029
And Nicola Willis has adopted a new measure for its finances, excluding the impact of ACC, which it said distorted previous forecasts. ...6 days ago
- Forecast surplus delayed two years, Willis vows earlier end to deficit
The Treasury’s end-of-year fiscal and economic update shows the Government’s return to surplus has been delayed by two years on current projections.Using either the traditional operating balance measure or a new measure announced Tuesday, the Government will run a deficit for at least two years more than forecast at the ...6 days ago
- Why zoning reform won’t solve the housing crisis
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Raphaël Fischler, Professeur titulaire à l’École d’urbanisme et d’architecture de paysage, Université de Montréal Montréal’s Plateau-Mont-Royal neighbourhood and downtown are exemplary places for functional diversity. (Shutterstock) There are many good reasons to bring about reforms in zoning, but reducing the cost ...6 days ago
- How can you stay safe from cyber attacks? Here are 2 simple checklists from experts
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jing Jia, Senior Lecturer, Business School, University of Newcastle cottonbro studios/Pexels “Cyber security” may sound like a far-off worry for big corporations or telcos, but that’s far from the case. Cyber security simply means the practice of safeguarding your sensitive data ...6 days ago
- NZTA settles High Court battle with Transmission Gully builder
The The Transport Agency and Wellington Gateway Partnership have been wrangling over claims that work areas have not been properly cleared up. ...6 days ago
- Minimum Wage Announcement “A Pay Cut For The Most Vulnerable”
“The Government has made another callous decision which will make in-work poverty even worse in Aotearoa,” E tū Assistant National Secretary, Annie Newman says. ...6 days ago
- The Spinoff’s favourite TV shows of 2024
From evil penguins to globe-trotting jackals, here are the TV shows that we were animals for this year. We’ve already covered off our favourite local television moments of the year, but there is still so much more to dive into beyond our televisual shores. It was predicted that 2024 would ...6 days ago
- Smallest minimum wage increase ‘since the 1990s’
The minimum wage will rise by 1.5 percent to $23.50 from April 1, it was announced Tuesday. ...6 days ago
- Wellington Council moves ahead with submission against Treaty Principles Bill
One councillor called it a waste of time and ratepayers' money, saying the council should keep out of "central government barn politics". ...6 days ago
- Media Should Make Point Of Speaking To The CTU This Afternoon On HYEFU
Banning the CTU, the Taxpayers’ Union, and groups like Business NZ and the Federated Farmers is not a strategy to get back to surplus. At best, it’s a cheap PR ploy to attempt to control the media narrative. ...6 days ago
- ‘Taken the local out of local government’: Councils react to crackdown
Mayors are accusing ministers of taking "the local out of local government" with proposed changes to rates and spending rules. ...6 days ago
- Empty classrooms, silent language: Kōhanga reo faces a crisis
As the fight to revitalise te reo Māori continues, kōhanga reo are grappling with severe teacher shortages, outdated facilities, and a lack of trust in their national leadership. Te Reo Māori is integral to understanding the Māori worldview. It provides a window into te ao Māori that is nearly impossible ...6 days ago
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