Social issues

Categories under Social issues

Will This Be a One-Term Government?

Written By: - Date published: 12:21 pm, October 20th, 2024 - 24 comments

Elliot Crossan at System Change Aotearoa reviews the past year. Despite the tepid public support for this government’s problematic actions, he warns that ‘The Right Is United By Power — Don’t Underestimate Them’

Where’s The Opposition?

Written By: - Date published: 11:36 am, October 13th, 2024 - 61 comments

Labour, Green Party and Te Pati Māori have been relatively quiet as the Coalition government move at breakneck speed to roll back laws and transfer wealth. Is it a matter of resources, media coverage, or will?

The best Government that money can buy

Written By: - Date published: 9:31 am, October 11th, 2024 - 35 comments

Radio New Zealand has reported that $500,000 in donations to National, Act and NZ First were made by entities associated to those who had their projects included in the recently released schedule to the Fast Track Projects Bill.

Where’s the “Oomph”?

Written By: - Date published: 2:04 pm, October 6th, 2024 - 92 comments

Join us to protest privatisation of health on the 23rd October. But can we have more oomph and co-ordination please?

She did her own research

Written By: - Date published: 11:23 am, October 4th, 2024 - 25 comments

It has been revealed that Casey Costello bypassed and second guessed official advice by an internet search and reading a collection of articles that do not way what she thought they said.

Inventing a crisis to privatise NZ healthcare

Written By: - Date published: 10:41 am, October 4th, 2024 - 12 comments

Yesterday a former Health NZ Chair said the government is intentionally manufacturing a crisis to privatise healthcare. However privatisation will not solve anything and will only lead to worse financial and health outcomes for all Kiwis as confirmed by Lancet Medical Journal and case studies around the world.

NZ Right Wing Government Moves to Privatise Health

Written By: - Date published: 9:49 am, October 2nd, 2024 - 41 comments

The National-ACT-NZ First government have signaled they want to privatise our health system. It’s a now or never moment.

When will Costello be sacked?

Written By: - Date published: 10:06 am, October 1st, 2024 - 35 comments

Casey Costello’s decision to give Phillip Morris a $216 million tax cut was based on alternative advice that she has received but which she is not disclosing. And Christopher Luxon is comfortable with this.

Submit as if your grandkids’ lives depend on it

Written By: - Date published: 10:39 am, September 30th, 2024 - 19 comments

The Government plans to smash through the reintroduction of off shore oil and gas drilling under some urgency and has given the people of New Zealand only five days to submit.

The Hospital Dunedin needs?

Written By: - Date published: 10:19 am, September 28th, 2024 - 69 comments

The question has to be asked, can we trust National to do anything that it has promised?

Bye, Bye Health!

Written By: - Date published: 12:59 pm, September 26th, 2024 - 45 comments

NZ has already spent $1bn on thin air (Kiwirail ferries), $70bn on roads, and $35bn on tax cuts so no to your hospitals and investments!

Luxon loses his cool when asked about doctoring gang membership statistics

Written By: - Date published: 8:26 am, September 20th, 2024 - 47 comments

On the same day that National had Parliament pass onerous anti gang laws to address allegedly dramatically increasing numbers of gang members Christopher Luxon lost his cool when it was pointed out to him that the Government is purging the list to reduce the numbers.

Lester Levy, $320,000 Part time Health NZ Commissioner: “It’s not for me to fix everything”

Written By: - Date published: 2:12 pm, September 19th, 2024 - 16 comments

Lester Levy claims he is working so hard it’s probably not good for his health. Meanwhile, he failed to bring financials to the Health Select Committee while explaining he was doing well on cutting costs – and would continue to do so.

New Zealand treats the wealthy better than comparable nations

Written By: - Date published: 10:51 am, September 19th, 2024 - 26 comments

A recently Tax Justice Aotearoa study suggests that the country could impse a capital gains tax or wealth tax and the wealthy would still be better off than they would be in similar countries.

National’s gang patch ban may hinder police investigations

Written By: - Date published: 10:55 am, September 18th, 2024 - 18 comments

The police’s recent successful operation against the Comanchero gang could concievably have been compromised by National’s proposed gang patch ban.

Under National crime is out of control

Written By: - Date published: 9:07 am, September 17th, 2024 - 35 comments

Christopher Luxon yesterday celebrated a 22% reduction in crime in Downtown Auckland even though crime in the Auckland region went up by 7% during the same time. And later that day had to explain how the number of victims of violent crime had increased by 30,000.

National plan for 2000 extra Kiwis in prison per year

Written By: - Date published: 9:01 am, September 17th, 2024 - 20 comments

The government plans to put up to 2000 more Kiwis behind bars by 2034 at a potential cost of up to $1.2bn per budget in today’s money. Meanwhile crime, including violent crime is increasing across all of NZ.

Free School lunches have a profound beneficial effect on learning

Written By: - Date published: 11:23 am, September 13th, 2024 - 23 comments

This is what David Seymour was told. But he and the Government still chose to push through significant cuts to the scheme.

Attorney General’s constitutional advice on Treaty Principles bill will be interesting

Written By: - Date published: 10:13 am, September 12th, 2024 - 46 comments

Judith Collins - Attorney General

David Seymour finally released some hard information about Act’s coalition bone – Treaty Principles bill. The regulatory impact statement is damning and points to the status quo as being preferable. It will provide an interesting scope for Judith Collins in her non-partisan role as Attorney-General.

Towards the abyss

Written By: - Date published: 12:34 pm, September 10th, 2024 - 37 comments

Yesterday it was confirmed that Act’s Treaty Principles Bill had been approved by Cabinet for drafting and introduction into Parliament in November this year. Get ready for the circus to start.

Guess who needs help with his literacy and numeracy?

Written By: - Date published: 10:37 am, September 5th, 2024 - 76 comments

Remember when Christopher Luxon told the National Party that we had a maths teaching crisis? Experts have concluded that the statement is misleading. And an OIA dump suggests that behind the scenes there is an attempt to radically rewrite the existing curriculum.

Shane Jones is obsessed with communists

Written By: - Date published: 1:50 pm, September 4th, 2024 - 20 comments

Shane Jones has been getting into the news recently after his comment that High Court Judge Cheryl Gwyn was a communist made at a private meeting was revealed in the media. He has been called out by Judith Collins and Winston Peters but surprisingly not by Christopher Luxon.

Let’s Talk About Tax

Written By: - Date published: 4:08 pm, September 2nd, 2024 - 44 comments

Yes, Labour can restore its woeful tax position.

About David Parker’s and Labour’s debate about taxation

Written By: - Date published: 10:58 am, August 31st, 2024 - 69 comments

Guest post by Nigel Haworth discussing recent publicity given to the Labour Party’s debate around tax reform.

What Happened in the House (Videos)

Written By: - Date published: 12:24 pm, August 30th, 2024 - 8 comments

NZ Parliament sitting where Labour’s Kieran McAnulty implores the Coalition government to stop deceiving Kiwis, and Winston Peters and Louise Upton both get fired up. Meanwhile, Casey Costello still doesn’t know who wrote her tobacco Ministerial papers.

National’s solution to the housing crisis

Written By: - Date published: 9:21 am, August 29th, 2024 - 14 comments

Dan Bidois has unwittingly exposed that National has a list of well honed talking points that are used and repeated ad mauseum. Normally within context, sometimes not.

Is Casey Costello Corrupt?

Written By: - Date published: 3:15 pm, August 26th, 2024 - 27 comments

Casey Costello and the Coalition government have already halved tobacco excise at a cost of up to $216mn. Today RNZ reports there remain more questions on who wrote her Ministerial papers begging for tobacco industry benefits.

Government contributes to developing homeless crisis

Written By: - Date published: 1:23 pm, August 25th, 2024 - 3 comments

There is increasing concern that recently introduced policy changes by National have made housing for the most needy amongst us more tenuous.

So much for Localism and Devolution

Written By: - Date published: 10:08 am, August 22nd, 2024 - 18 comments

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced that the Government will do away with Local Government’s obligations to consider the social, cultural and environmental implications of their decisions.

Lester Levy Asks Kiwis To Pray For Him – Again

Written By: - Date published: 6:52 pm, August 18th, 2024 - 33 comments

Lester Levy again asks Kiwis to pray for him. But who will pray for us, Dr Levy?

Is a Transformational Left-Wing Leadership of the NZ Labour Party Possible?

Written By: - Date published: 4:57 pm, August 17th, 2024 - 79 comments

It is a painful experience, to have fought long and hard for something you knew was inadequate and to have even that taken away. The Labour Party has long urged activists to be ‘realistic’. Elliot Crossan argues that it will not return to be a socialist party of the working class.