Social issues

Categories under Social issues

Tāme

Written By: - Date published: 10:29 am, September 22nd, 2022 - 18 comments

Tāme Iti’s pitch perfect, political performance art sets activist hearts aflutter.

Luxon’s mishandling of the Uffindell report

Written By: - Date published: 8:11 am, September 21st, 2022 - 65 comments

The only word that I can think of is clusterfuck. I cannot understand how badly Christopher Luxon has handled the Maria Dew report into what Sam Uffindell may have done when he was a younger person.

Has Uffindell been cleared?

Written By: - Date published: 9:12 am, September 19th, 2022 - 98 comments

It appears that the Dew report may clear Sam Uffindell and he may be returned to National’s caucus.

The right’s last desperate throw of the dice in Auckland

Written By: - Date published: 12:50 pm, September 16th, 2022 - 18 comments

Even though her name is on the ballot paper and people can vote for her National aligned Mayoral candidate Viv Beck has purported to withdraw from the Auckland Mayoral race.

The right is weirdly gleeful about the end of the mask mandate

Written By: - Date published: 6:59 am, September 14th, 2022 - 40 comments

National MPs and their supporters have been celebrating the removal of the mandate with weird levels of glee.

Covid review due today

Written By: - Date published: 8:37 am, September 12th, 2022 - 45 comments

The Government is to make an announcement today on the future of covid mandates and the traffic light system.  With infection numbers and hospitalisation and death rates plummeting it appears likely that these measures will not be renewed.

Freedom is Not Guaranteed: Sometimes You Must Fight

Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, September 11th, 2022 - 177 comments

If we fail to support Ukraine’s struggle we all lose far more than self rule for 44 million people.

Re-Nationalise Electricity Generators Now

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, September 8th, 2022 - 60 comments

This COVID era is the decade in which the state is back, bigger and faster than ever before. But the one area this government won’t let the state expand again is the one area in which New Zealand is the most vulnerable: electricity generation. It needs to change.

Transition at the Limits of What People Can Cope With

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, September 7th, 2022 - 39 comments

Many European governments now face a perfect storm of threatened energy security, rising inflation, war-propelled refugee crisis, and climate objectives. New Zealand be warned.

Newshub’s incredibly bad gang take

Written By: - Date published: 8:40 am, September 6th, 2022 - 55 comments

Yesterday the Government announced a slate of new powers designed to address gang violence.  Newshub chose that day to imply that Labour was soft on gangs because a gang member said on social media not to vote for National.

Viv Beck going full Trump backfires

Written By: - Date published: 10:48 am, August 31st, 2022 - 28 comments

Recent leaks and publicity have caused huge damage to Viv Beck’s campaign to become Auckland’s next mayor.  They also highlight the stark difference between the left and the right in terms of campaigning.

Sharma keeps digging

Written By: - Date published: 10:10 am, August 30th, 2022 - 33 comments

Last night a 4,761 word rant was published on Gaurav Sharma’s facebook page.  In it he details information which on the face of it may have breached confidentiality requirements. And the overwhelming effect of the allegations is Meh.

Mark Mitchell is Kim Hilled on National Radio

Written By: - Date published: 11:07 am, August 29th, 2022 - 35 comments

National should learn.  They should never send an MP into an interview with Kim Hill unless they are completely prepared.  As Mark Mitchell learned this morning.

Labour’s Ardern and Democrats’ Biden: Learnings

Written By: - Date published: 7:47 am, August 28th, 2022 - 47 comments

For those fishing around for a progressive playbook in this fractious world, Biden and Ardern are pretty similar. But Biden appears to be turning the fortunes of the Democrats around but Ardern is currently unrewarded. Is there anything to learn?

The Conversion Practice Prohibition Act: what does it mean for counsellors, parents and teachers?

Written By: - Date published: 6:05 am, August 26th, 2022 - 3 comments

Will the Act catch counsellors or parents who don’t offer automatic affirmation for a young person who declares a gender identity?

Labour poised to resolve housing supply crisis

Written By: - Date published: 12:25 pm, August 25th, 2022 - 89 comments

It is possible that within the next year New Zealand’s housing supply crisis will be resolved.

Labour’s “tenant tax” is neither a tax nor for tenants

Written By: - Date published: 10:16 am, August 22nd, 2022 - 33 comments

National’s media spin team is at it again claiming that removing interest rate deductibility for landlords is a “tenant tax” when it is neither a new tax nor for tenants.

Not A Ripple of Difference

Written By: - Date published: 1:24 pm, August 19th, 2022 - 24 comments

The polls are out and the internal revolt last month to remove James Shaw as Greens co leader hasn’t made a ripple.

Molloy drops out of Mayoralty race

Written By: - Date published: 12:57 pm, August 12th, 2022 - 35 comments

Self described tough man Leo Molloy has found the going too tough and has pulled out of the Auckland mayoralty race.

Bastards Versus Assholes

Written By: - Date published: 10:53 am, August 12th, 2022 - 47 comments

This post was written before Gaurav Sharma’s Herald article and should not be taken as validation of his comments.  There are necessary bastards in political life, and in developed democracies compared to everywhere else ours are gentle as lambs

Notes from the CATA Conference: keynote address by Stella O’Malley

Written By: - Date published: 6:05 am, August 12th, 2022 - 3 comments

The Child and Adolescent Therapists Association hosted a conference recently on children, adolescents and gender identity.

The Three Strikes abomination is no more

Written By: - Date published: 7:50 am, August 11th, 2022 - 44 comments

The three strikes legislation, the brainchild of dead baby identity stealing former ACT MP David Garrett, is no more.

Was This The Change We Needed?

Written By: - Date published: 1:07 pm, August 9th, 2022 - 11 comments

Crises that profoundly test a small developed state like New Zealand have required huge growth in state strength and policy power. But was it the change we needed?

National’s culture problem

Written By: - Date published: 9:14 pm, August 8th, 2022 - 139 comments

National MP Sam Uffindell has today been engaged in a media wide mea culpa after allegations that he bullied a young student and was expelled from Kings College have been publicised.

Luxon’s latest gaffes

Written By: - Date published: 9:48 am, August 4th, 2022 - 57 comments

Hot on his confusion of Hawaii with Te Puke Christopher Luxon’s has dropped a couple of new clangers by admitting then denying that National will not increase health funding at least by the rate of inflation and then by displaying his class prejudice by saying people are not going to get rich on welfare.

National’s weird take on the Government’s Climate Adaption Plan

Written By: - Date published: 9:05 am, August 4th, 2022 - 7 comments

The Government’s release of the National Adaption Plan to deal with climate change has been met by National with an insistence that who should pay for potentially hundreds of billions of costs should have already been identified.

Should therapists and counsellors speak about the medicalisation of gender non-conforming children?

Written By: - Date published: 6:05 am, August 4th, 2022 - 48 comments

Is there a connection between the closure of the Tavistock Gender Identity Development Service in the UK, and a conference being held 12,000 miles away in Nelson, Aotearoa?

Chris Bishop supports AND opposes vaccine mandates

Written By: - Date published: 8:28 am, August 3rd, 2022 - 51 comments

Remember when National’s Chris Bishop thought that Labour was not being staunch enough of mandates?  He now thinks that Labour is being too staunch.

Political donations law needs reform

Written By: - Date published: 2:44 pm, August 1st, 2022 - 7 comments

Judge Jagose’s decision to acquit two persons linked to New Zealand First charged with obtaining control over $750,000 has opened up rather large holes in the obligations of political parties to report donations.

Ardern’s Leadership Generates Pacific Results

Written By: - Date published: 8:33 am, July 28th, 2022 - 9 comments

New Zealand has been overdue to show strong results in the Pacific Islands. Not a moment too soon, this is what Prime Minister Ardern delivered.

Really bad takes on the Green’s leadership issue

Written By: - Date published: 9:55 am, July 26th, 2022 - 60 comments

There have been some spectacularly bad takes on Green Party leadership issues by voices on the right and academia which were all shown to be spectacularly wrong after Chloe Swarbrick announced that she was not seeking the Green Party leadership.