families

Categories under families

How far right is John Key’s “centre”?

Written By: - Date published: 10:17 pm, May 26th, 2013 - 69 comments

Once again the MSM reports John Key’s assessment of his party’s place on the political spectrum without any critique.   The NZ Herald has repeated Key’s line about his government being “centre right” and the Greens being “far left”.  Key’s government’s continuing abuse of democracy is a long way from the centre of  the “right”.

Family first deregistered

Written By: - Date published: 11:46 am, May 6th, 2013 - 32 comments

Family First have been deregistered as a charity, and they are pushing the line that it is because of their “traditional view of marriage”.

Surplus 2014/15: an excuse for not doing what needs doing

Written By: - Date published: 7:50 am, May 6th, 2013 - 30 comments

John Key’s excuse for the planned veto of the extension of paid parental leave is that it would put the 2014/15 surplus at risk. There’s several reasons that’s bullshit, the main one being: why is going just under or just over some arbitrary line in the Crown’s books the Nats’ one aim for the economy? The truth is, Key’s using the surplus as an excuse for not doing the right thing.

Security: social, financial, personal, digital

Written By: - Date published: 9:05 am, April 10th, 2013 - 18 comments

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.

Real social security; real jobs – not bennie bashing

Written By: - Date published: 10:41 am, March 27th, 2013 - 55 comments

Opposition MPs (e.g. Ardern & Mathers) and Sue Bradford highlight that the Social Security (Benefit Categories and Work Focus) Amendment Bill destroys lives, furthers NAct’s elitist agenda, & is more propaganda than social security or job creation.

When Paula Bennett is positive about a group of beneficiaries, be suspicious

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 pm, March 26th, 2013 - 47 comments

Paula Bennett has found one group of beneficiaries who she doesn’t think are bludging scum!  Surely this is a feelgood story, and not a workaround tactic to bash other beneficiaries, right?  Bueller?

Changing minds; changing lives

Written By: - Date published: 11:10 am, March 26th, 2013 - 14 comments

The Green Party held a public meeting in West Auckland, on their Home for Life, Affordable Housing policy – it prioritises children in poverty. It was informative, questions were raised.  Mindsets need to change to achieve a good quality of life & strong communities for all.

Benefit reforms trigger surge in DPB births?

Written By: - Date published: 9:58 am, March 25th, 2013 - 120 comments

National, the party of beneficiary bashing that has lead a crusade against parents on the DBP, appears to have triggered a surge of new births to DPB parents.

Another day, another bullshit Family First/Curia poll

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 pm, March 23rd, 2013 - 187 comments

Oh look, once again Family First’s rhetoric fails to match its reality.

International Women’s Day

Written By: - Date published: 1:07 pm, March 8th, 2013 - 8 comments

Happy International Women’s Day; the fight for equality still has some way to be won

Child Support (Almost) Amendment Bill: Cunliffe speech

Written By: - Date published: 7:51 am, February 28th, 2013 - 34 comments

Another excellent Cunlife speech last night, speaking to the Child Support Amendment Bill (Committee Stage Schedule 2).  An “almost” Bill showing the government’s callous disregard of child poverty and single/separated (usually women) parents.

Family members of traitors of the Motherland

Written By: - Date published: 1:16 pm, February 20th, 2013 - 85 comments

No-one likes fraudsters, whether they’re ripping us off as beneficiaries or as suit-clad businesspeople. National’s announced some ineffectual steps to ‘crack down’ on the minor amount of benefit fraud that occurs (no similar crackdown on white collar fraudsters). But they’ve gone to far in trying to criminalise people just for being partners of benefit fraudsters.

Save the Family Court

Written By: - Date published: 10:20 am, February 11th, 2013 - 8 comments

The Government’s Family Court Proceedings Reform Bill is receiving submissions until this Wednesday, 13 February.  This Bill needs drastic alteration, as it puts the Family Court out of financial reach of many of those who most need it, reduces needed rights to legal representation, and forces those who’ve been experiencing violence into inappropriate mediation as it’s cheaper.  Best we all submit against it…

Help our kids!

Written By: - Date published: 2:25 pm, December 10th, 2012 - 4 comments

Irish has already covered the appalling statistics from the Children’s Social Health Monitor. What struck me was the paucity of the Government’s response. Tony Ryall – unavailable for comment – merely put out a statement saying the Government was doing plenty as 33% of the budget went on social security and similar things.  One might […]

My Dad the bowler

Written By: - Date published: 10:46 am, November 26th, 2012 - 21 comments

My father remembers Labour Party meetings in our local town hall through the 70’s and 80’s. Staunchly Labour, Dad had many rousing discussions at the local pub with men of varied political persuasions – most of whom were his good friends. A heated debate on a Thursday night would often melt nicely into a friendly roll up at bowls on a Saturday.

The rhythms of life

Written By: - Date published: 9:10 am, October 28th, 2012 - 18 comments

On Planet Key natural body processes are ignored, and nature has been tamed into a golf course. It’s a place where mothers don’t lactate or have a heightened sensitivity to their babies’ cries; a place disconnected from the chaotic consequences of climate change.

Shifting ground: PPL

Written By: - Date published: 11:55 am, October 24th, 2012 - 27 comments

The government is vulnerable around Sue Moroney’s Paid Parental Leave Bill.  The Nats don’t want it to pass, but they risk losing support from women.  A government veto of an entire Bill is on experimental ground, and Bill English has shifted his reasons for not supporting the Bill. Updates: BusinessNZ submission

Children of Men: money or our lives

Written By: - Date published: 11:30 am, October 18th, 2012 - 28 comments

Paid Parental Leave, Charter schools, compulsory early childhood education for beneficiaries: for NAct it’s all about money, and they use ‘shonky’ figures to justify their ‘shonkey’ policies and vetos.  This is ostrich and patriarchal behaviour, ignoring the evidence of the wider benefits to communities and society of good quality child care, education and Paid Parental Leave.

White Wash Paper

Written By: - Date published: 8:19 am, October 11th, 2012 - 10 comments

Paula Bennett “can’t find the time” to appear on Morning Report this morning. The release of her White Paper on Vulnerable Children is – as she puts it – “one of the biggest and certainly most significant changes that will be in my time as minister.” So why doesn’t it include any action on Child Poverty? And why is she running from the hard questions? Our government ministers seem to have forgotten about accountability to the voting public.

Will National think of the children?

Written By: - Date published: 3:21 pm, September 4th, 2012 - 25 comments

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?

I wonder who earned their Christmas bonus for coining the term “Breastapo”?

Written By: - Date published: 6:59 am, September 4th, 2012 - 25 comments

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…

Child Poverty to Increase; Key won’t care

Written By: - Date published: 1:22 pm, August 29th, 2012 - 8 comments

The Children’s Commissioner’s expert group has recommended that things must be done about Child Poverty, and made very specific suggestions as to what should be done, including a universal child payment for under 6s.

John Key’s response to the indepth analysis of a bunch of our finest minds and Phil O’Reilly: “Dopey.”

Conscience votes

Written By: - Date published: 7:06 am, August 28th, 2012 - 91 comments

Two high-profile conscience votes are coming up in Parliament over the next two days. It will be interesting to see the breakdown of who votes which way on the issues. But the level of malice expressed by some of those opposed to marriage equality is disturbing.

Invest in parents to invest in kids

Written By: - Date published: 4:44 pm, August 2nd, 2012 - 7 comments

Labour’s people-centred economic policy got a huge boost last week, courtesy of the Members’ Bill lottery. Paid parental leave extended, holidays Mondayised, minimum wage raised, and assets fenced off from sale. The first two have gone to Select Committee. They are worth supporting.

Choices: Paid parental leave

Written By: - Date published: 10:00 am, July 26th, 2012 - 46 comments

Key loves mythical “mum and dad investors”. Real mums and dads – not so much.

Just a domestic?

Written By: - Date published: 12:20 pm, July 25th, 2012 - 11 comments

It’s been 16 years since Susan Snively’s ground-breaking report  on the economic cost of domestic violence in New Zealand. In 1996 the prevalence rate of domestic violence was estimated at 1 in 7 people – 301,691, including 129,556 children – with an economic cost of $1.2 billion annually. In addition 40% of all homicides were the result of domestic disputes.

Don’t feed the troll

Written By: - Date published: 10:46 am, June 7th, 2012 - 33 comments

Bennett is running misdirection for the Parata. Not letting bad parents have more kids is nothing new. It’s just the existing powers courts have to order CYFS to take newborns into custody and to ban people from contact with kids. With the meaningless addition of making these orders before a woman is pregnant. Good talkback bait though. Bennett’s just trolling again. Which is all she seems good for.

Lifestyle “choices”

Written By: - Date published: 3:58 pm, June 6th, 2012 - 192 comments

Last year John Key said that the poor and those on benefits had made lifestyle choices.  If they budgeted properly, they’d be fine. Things aren’t fine, and they’re getting worse, which is why a 40-yr-old DPB Mum in Christchurch – facing an $80/week rent increase, because Key hasn’t done anything about Christchurch’s housing shortage – has had to resort to the lifestyle “choice” of prostitution.

Pre-budget reading

Written By: - Date published: 7:09 am, May 24th, 2012 - 3 comments

An excellent column from Bryan Gould, and a picture of working families in financial distress. Something to ponder, as we await the zero budget.

Life is what happens

Written By: - Date published: 11:03 am, May 15th, 2012 - 21 comments

A short, poignant guest post.

Gay marriage – what is wrong with us

Written By: - Date published: 10:48 am, May 14th, 2012 - 38 comments

Gay marriage looks set to become a “key election issue” in the Obama vs Romney presidential contest. How utterly depressing.