human rights

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$18.40 an hour to live, not just exist

Written By: - Date published: 8:01 am, February 14th, 2013 - 89 comments

The Living Wage Coalition has released the results of their research, calculating that a wage of $18.40 is needed for workers and their families to have a decent life and participate in society. About 40% of workers currently earn less. The pressure is now on bosses of businesses and public bodies to pay the living wage or explain why they deserve a decent life but their workers don’t.

February 14 – One Billion Rising

Written By: - Date published: 9:32 am, February 12th, 2013 - 31 comments

Never mind Valentines Day. This February 14 is One Billion Rising…

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…

Britain – gay marriage bill progresses

Written By: - Date published: 11:01 am, February 6th, 2013 - 9 comments

After a fascinating debate in Britain, their gay marriage bill has passed it’s first hurdle with a huge majority. This bodes well…

Building a movement: acting local, talking global

Written By: - Date published: 12:41 pm, January 29th, 2013 - 42 comments

The Greens, I’m in for the Future, is a promising initiative.  The Greens’ focus on Auckland transport will be a great start. To end the “neoliberal” dominance, it is necessary to apply pressure from below.  What can we learn from Canadian anti-“neoliberal” groups like Common Causes & Idle No More? [Updated]

Marriage equality and polygamy

Written By: - Date published: 5:00 pm, January 24th, 2013 - 34 comments

Another day, another bigot trying to derail the marriage equality conversation by bringing up polygamy.  Just ignore them, people.  Because we’re winning this one.

Will the real David Shearer please stand up?

Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, December 28th, 2012 - 104 comments

Many want Shearer to break with neoliberalism, clearly state his politics and a new political direction.   He became leader with a compelling, but worryingly selective, back-story.  Party members want democratic participation. What of consensus-building, coercion, public services, social security, TPP, PPPs, state assets, sustainability?

Business NZ threatens members will violate human rights over PPL

Written By: - Date published: 9:39 am, October 25th, 2012 - 19 comments

Here’s Business NZ’s shill on extending paid parental leave: “Employers who have been forced to bear considerable replacement costs, or to find those amongst their other employees willing to provide cover, may well think hard before again employing a woman of child-bearing age”. 1) that makes no sense 2) it’s illegal under the Human Rights Act.

Adventures in the slave trade

Written By: - Date published: 9:50 am, October 22nd, 2012 - 74 comments

Slavery was abolished in the 19th century, wasn’t it? From wage-slavery to human-trafficking, modern day forms of slavery have many faces, all in the interests of profits for the few.  What are these different faces, and what impact do they have on the lives of ordinary people?

Suffer the children

Written By: - Date published: 8:26 am, September 13th, 2012 - 17 comments

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.

Marriage equality – how they voted

Written By: - Date published: 10:57 am, August 30th, 2012 - 165 comments

How they voted, some wise words on the range of christian belief, and credit to John Key.

We are all beneficiaries

Written By: - Date published: 9:04 am, August 23rd, 2012 - 85 comments

Deborah Russell’s piece in the Dominion Post sets out some constructive thoughts on welfare.

Bennett, a disgrace to her office

Written By: - Date published: 1:15 pm, August 17th, 2012 - 25 comments

You can’t really understand and fix a problem unless you have some reference points to measure progress against. So, when Paula Bennett’s Green Paper on poverty said that 20% of children live in poverty, people said ‘wow, what are you policies to reduce this and how much will they reduce it by’. But Bennett has no policies to reduce poverty, so she’s resorted to zen-like wavering over whether we can and should measure poverty.

Standing up for freedom for the sexually adventurous Right

Written By: - Date published: 12:38 pm, August 5th, 2012 - 109 comments

For a guy whose god had two dads, Colin Craig seems pretty worked up about gays. He’s raised the spectre of marriage equality leading to polygamous marriage. I’m not sure what’s meant to be so scary about that. Polygamous relationships are legal. But Craig seems fascinated by it. It’s often those things we like least in ourselves that we criticise in others.

Gay marriage

Written By: - Date published: 9:17 am, July 28th, 2012 - 181 comments

What possible reason is there to deny a couple marriage? With luck the only dissenting voices will be isolated extremists like Colin Craig.

A good week for the opposition

Written By: - Date published: 10:20 am, July 27th, 2012 - 52 comments

3 opposition private members’ Bills passed – extended paid parental leave, Mondayisation, and lobbying disclosure – on Wednesday (moving a ban on land sales to foreigners up the list). Then, all 5 drawn from the ballot on Thursday opposition bills too: marriage equality, $15hr minimum wage, super-majority/referendum protection for asset sales, charging government agencies that pay access to info, and controlling water pollution.

He’s not the messiah, he’s a very naughty boy

Written By: - Date published: 6:21 am, May 8th, 2012 - 136 comments

Don’t get me wrong. Apart from a couple of policies (asset sales, overseas investment, no borrowing for tax cuts), Colin Craig’s politics are bad. But I like his Boscawen-like mad honesty. It’s fun. Mainly because it makes him so uncomfortable for his new National suitors. But his up-frontness ends when asked about his compulsory Christianity employment contracts.

After Homs

Written By: - Date published: 11:04 am, March 5th, 2012 - 39 comments

In my previous post I laid out the reasons why a NATO/US intervention in Syria is unlikely, even though the alternative will almost certainly be defeat of the freedom fighters and even more mass murder by the regime. There’s no strategic gain from the Right’s perspective and many on the Left would rather see a massacre than US military action. Homs has fallen. So, what next for the rebels?

Syria

Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, February 24th, 2012 - 146 comments

In a perfect world, we would all live free, in some kind of ideal democracy. We’re not there. But what we and the rest of the developed world have is a hell of a lot better than what the people of Syria have: despotic rule by the murderous son of their former murderous despot. The Syrians are trying to overthrow their tyrant, should the world help?

NRT: The nuclear option

Written By: - Date published: 9:53 am, February 15th, 2012 - 27 comments

Lockwood ‘small hands’ Smith is digging himself deeper into a hole that is going to destroy his legacy as Speaker over the Mojo Mathers’ right to participate in Parliamentary debate. The Minister for Disabilities, Tariana Turia, is missing in action (probably off granting more of your money to her mates). Key wants nothing to do with it. So, I/S at NoRightTurn has proposed the ‘nuclear option’.

NoRightTurn – Catch-22

Written By: - Date published: 9:37 am, November 23rd, 2011 - 1 comment

The Nats won’t give employees greater access to pay information  to detect gender pay disparities, saying employees suspecting gender discrimination should a labour inspector to find the evidence. When 261 workers did just that the govt said it wouldn’t look for evidence of discrimination without evidence there was discrimination.

Slave fishing – NZ’s shame

Written By: - Date published: 6:48 am, October 25th, 2011 - 13 comments

You won’t find much praise for Talley’s on this site. But, fair dues, they harvest their fish with Kiwi crews and have this to say on slave fishing: “If it is uneconomic to harvest a New Zealand resource under New Zealand labour conditions and costs then it is not a resource. Blood diamonds and Asian textile sweatshops use the same justification”

Amnesty International: Arrest Bush for war crimes

Written By: - Date published: 10:30 am, October 13th, 2011 - 22 comments

Perhaps Mr Key’s staff might like to explain to him what the implications of this development, in conjunction with the recent UN Report on NZ SAS rendering prisoners in Afghanistan and the housing of CIA operations at NZDF bases, might mean for the PM. Amnesty International (London) has issued a call to Canadian authorities to arrest […]

Let the courts decide

Written By: - Date published: 9:46 am, October 11th, 2011 - 59 comments

The threat of invoking defamation is a standard tactic to intimidate those who can’t afford the legals bills to shut their mouths. Such threats are sometimes known as strategic lawsuits against public participation or SLAPPS. My understanding of Lange v. Atkinson (2000) and the qualified privilege afforded to political commentary that it enshrines, suggests there is no way […]

Why an apology should be delivered to the Urewera 18

Written By: - Date published: 7:25 am, September 8th, 2011 - 22 comments

Four years ago we were told tales about military style training camps, terrorism, Molotov Cocktails, firearms etc. Police laid charges and put people’s lives through hell. Now, four years later, they can’t prove any of it. If you or I were put through what they were put through we’d expect, and deserve, an apology. Why should it be any different for them?

Freedom and security

Written By: - Date published: 9:22 am, August 25th, 2011 - 30 comments

The government is planning a crack down on “organised crime”.  What could possibly be wrong with that?

Blood money

Written By: - Date published: 11:12 am, August 15th, 2011 - 14 comments

Nats to deport slave-fishing witnesses

Written By: - Date published: 11:01 am, August 12th, 2011 - 35 comments

An Auckland University study, “Not in our waters, surely?” was released last night. It details a gruesome list of human rights abuses, crimes, and breaches of labour law being carried out abroad the slave ships contracted by our quota-holders to harvest our fish. Now, the government is moving to deport the prime witnesses before they can testify.

The refugees

Written By: - Date published: 12:45 pm, July 13th, 2011 - 50 comments

Nats to slash wages

Written By: - Date published: 6:38 pm, June 16th, 2011 - 155 comments

Patrick Gower has revealed the Nats are poised to announce a policy to reintroduce the youth minimum wage at a rate of about $10 an hour, and potentially make it apply to people in their 20s. Outrageous and a breach of human rights. You should get paid for the work you do. Not your gender. Not your ethnicity. Not your sexuality. Not your age.

Free speech hate speech

Written By: - Date published: 11:08 am, May 13th, 2011 - 49 comments

The free speech / hate speech boundary is always a difficult call.  I’m glad to live in a country that tries to err on the side of the former.  Even so, the latest bullshit from the “Right Wing Resistance” really rankles.