Back to Blog

NZer’s should not be homeless or hungry in the land of plenty.

We have proven to ourselves, and to the world, that we are very good at handling emergencies when we all pull together for a common cause. An example is our covid-19 response which has been one of the most effective in the world.We also know that when we don’t pull together for the common good emergencies can become catastrophic for the most vulnerable in the community. We learned that in the mid-1980s when an economic downturn hit business and employment very hard. Jobs were lost, private ent...

Te Reo Maori need not be translated

In spite of more than 200 years of European settlement of, and presence in, New Zealand can we still hear the faint echoes of the clash of cultures or have we become a little too sensitive about our differences?The use of te reo Maori by Opotiki District councillor Louis Rapihana at the opening of a Whakatane Grey Power meeting brough a surprising suggestion that he had insulted those who did not understand what had been said. If anyone has been insulted he has and he responded with an initial d...

Referenda is Democracy

The bleating, bitter recriminations and speculation about why people voted in the two referenda, run in association with the recent general election, have thankfully finally died. In a rare move New Zealanders were asked to decide if they wanted a legal end of life choice and recreational cannabis legalised. For many people these two questions were more important than the general election and rival activists spent significant amounts of time and money trying to swing the vote their way. There ha...

Cannabis Law Change not worth it

When experts have opposing opinions on an important issue it becomes very hard for lay-people to make an informed decision. Juries are faced with that dilemma in court with prosecution and defence lawyers attempting to persuade lay-people that their arguments are right and the other side wrong. Jury members however have a judge to guide them through the complex intricacies of the law. Unfortunately, the general public has no one to take that role in the upcoming referendum on the ...

Dictatorial Socialism by Stealth

Like all protests the, initially legal, anti-vaccine mandate gathering currently paralysing Wellington quickly generated it’s own energy and velocity with a wide range of unconnected and vaguely associated causes, groups and individuals attracted to the free publicity like flies to an abandoned dirty nappy. The Government’s opening response to the arrival of Covid-19 almost three years ago was to close the borders and lock the country down to buy time for everyone, particularly the most...