Written By: - Date published: 10:35 am, December 15th, 2015 - 172 comments
Written By: - Date published: 1:45 pm, December 12th, 2015 - 195 comments
It is that time of year when poor people realise just how poor they really are – the season for giving, the season to be jolly. Well that may be so for some of us, but some people will be working on Christmas day instead of spending time with loved ones. These will probably be […]
Written By: - Date published: 5:56 pm, December 11th, 2015 - 138 comments
John Key’s $26 million dollar flag flop bores it’s way to the halfway line tonight. The first referendum closes at 7 PM, first results at around 8.30. $26 million … that’s a lot of cancer drugs, child care centres and elder care we won’t be getting because the PM wants a signature legacy his dreary leadership doesn’t actually deserve.
Written By: - Date published: 8:30 am, December 3rd, 2015 - 156 comments
The Salvation Army, and not the Government, has pointed out some very worrying trends relating to home ownership in New Zealand.
Written By: - Date published: 7:33 am, November 27th, 2015 - 38 comments
The Official Information Act is now moribund and access to information beyond its scope is granted only to a chosen few and under strict conditions.
Written By: - Date published: 10:30 am, November 25th, 2015 - 47 comments
“Why would Goff stand for the Auckland mayoralty as an independent candidate considering his life-long commitment to the Labour Party?”
Why indeed?
Is it time for Labour to stand candidates in local elections under the party banner? And can the party lift its profile and its general election prospects by being bolder in the provinces?
Written By: - Date published: 9:40 am, November 24th, 2015 - 22 comments
Max Rashbrooke has another excellent piece in The Guardian, on inequality and on the ways he has been attacked for his writings on this issue.
Written By: - Date published: 8:38 am, November 21st, 2015 - 10 comments
An International Labour Organisation (ILO) report warns that austerity measured are an international threat to jobs and growth.
Written By: - Date published: 10:09 am, November 20th, 2015 - 54 comments
The fifth anniversary of the Pike River disaster has just occurred. This post records some comments made by Andrew Little on his recollection of the day after.
Written By: - Date published: 4:59 pm, November 17th, 2015 - 20 comments
I/S at No Right Turn: “The House has just gone into urgency for two key (for the government) bills – the first to punish retroactively people who have already been punished, the second to steal from the poor.”
Written By: - Date published: 1:04 pm, November 13th, 2015 - 78 comments
A National List MP has been snapped trying to heavy the Housing Ministry into funding a lift in her personal profile. Remember John Key’s ‘higher standards in Government’? Nick Smith’s Ministerial office apparently doesn’t care too much about about such trifles. Worse, the Housing Ministry has been caught trying to cover up for the Tories by redacting an OIA request. Here’s your Brighter Future, folks. Enjoy.
Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, November 10th, 2015 - 65 comments
Anarchism, past and present.
Written By: - Date published: 7:10 am, November 10th, 2015 - 65 comments
Inequality is a choice. It isn’t a choice made by individuals, it is a choice made by governments. Check out Joseph Stiglitz’s new book Rewriting the Rules of the American Economy: An Agenda for Growth and Shared Prosperity.
Written By: - Date published: 2:00 pm, November 9th, 2015 - 54 comments
The question of identity politics and Labour’s direction just never go away. But maybe we’re just thinking about it all wrong.
Written By: - Date published: 10:02 am, November 8th, 2015 - 68 comments
While pondering this post, I was pointed to a post from last year, in which poverty and the cost of breakfast were on the agenda. Stephanie was writing in response to the ignorance of Nikki Kaye who claimed that giving affordable nutritious breakfast to children was easy. While I haven’t taken the time to read all of the comments on the subject, I thought Stephanie proved the point quite aptly that the reality is far different than the hypothetical world of poverty in which Nikki Kaye lives.
Written By: - Date published: 7:02 am, November 6th, 2015 - 73 comments
“Less debt more jobs” says National’s billboard. Instead we good the opposite. With extra helpings of icing on this Cake of Fail.
Written By: - Date published: 8:30 am, November 3rd, 2015 - 44 comments
This morning’s media has reports of increased domestic violence being reported by beneficiaries and an increase of the time and resources the police are having to put into helping the mentally unwell. And record profits earned by the Australian banks.
Written By: - Date published: 4:45 pm, October 30th, 2015 - 97 comments
Guest post from Kōrero Pono on the politics and ethics of food banks.
Written By: - Date published: 1:48 pm, October 23rd, 2015 - 11 comments
A short film from AJ+ which clearly describes what has gone wrong in the US since the 1980s. The film is just as relevant for New Zealand.
Written By: - Date published: 7:04 am, October 22nd, 2015 - 17 comments
After twice killing off pay equity legislation (2009, 1990), National have been forced to confront the issue again.
Written By: - Date published: 7:01 am, October 16th, 2015 - 37 comments
Three of the four member’s bills drawn yesterday were sponsored by Labour leaders. What followed was one of the most disgusting maneuvers ever pulled by this government, justifying the headline – Nats play politics while Kiwi kids die in homes.
Written By: - Date published: 10:45 am, October 14th, 2015 - 73 comments
We need a welfare system that acknowledges the realities of cancer and other major medical conditions. That isn’t “special treatment”, it is basic human decency.
Written By: - Date published: 7:01 am, October 12th, 2015 - 143 comments
Rod Oram’s Sunday Star-Times column, as made available on Facebook, is a level-headed evaluation of the TPP. He lists five points of concern…
Written By: - Date published: 9:37 am, October 11th, 2015 - 39 comments
Great post on the UK based NEF Blog: Don’t be fooled, dismantling the rights of workers is not good for you, or for the economy.
Written By: - Date published: 5:43 pm, October 10th, 2015 - 41 comments
The proposed TPP is a protection racket – not a trade deal.
Written By: - Date published: 12:07 pm, October 5th, 2015 - 22 comments
I guess it’s not exactly news that WINZ is dysfunctional, but its interesting to have some actual data on one of the symptoms. Bonus feature – one of the Nats’ worst excuses ever.
Written By: - Date published: 1:49 pm, September 28th, 2015 - 34 comments
The Rebstock Panel inquiry could be read to confirm that Child Youth and Family is unable to perform its job properly because of it is not properly resourced to provide the job. But it is clear that National is loathe to provide it with any more resources. And the elephant in the room is that the Government fails to understand that escalating child poverty is the cause the crisis.
Written By: - Date published: 8:32 am, September 26th, 2015 - 98 comments
Pope Francis has given two important speeches recently.
Written By: - Date published: 10:16 am, September 17th, 2015 - 33 comments
Not only is Housing Corp planning to pay a $118 million dividend to the Crown this year but hidden away in its accounts is the payment of a further capital contribution of $336 million. Talk about strip mining …
Written By: - Date published: 3:15 pm, September 16th, 2015 - 17 comments
I/S at No Right Turn on the WINZ underpayment fiasco.
Written By: - Date published: 7:52 am, September 16th, 2015 - 37 comments
In recent news it has been stated that the Government has let Serco off fines totalling hundreds of thousands of dollars while at the same time it is sneaking through retrospective changes to the law to deny thousands of beneficiaries money they are otherwise entitled to.
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