Category: imported_weekly
A country’s constitution belongs to the people. It’s the charter that sets out the basic rules by which a nation is governed: the rights and safeguards of citizens; how state power is exercised; the type of voting system; the number of Members of Parliament; whether representatives are elected freely or through some form of quota system.
The reality is that a sophisticated political campaign is being run by public health, safety and environmental groups to persuade the government that a compulsory Warrant of Fitness scheme is needed on private sector rental housing. But given that many poor outcomes are behavioural, there is no guarantee that costly home interventions on half a million houses will work.
We say not only is any suggestion that social dysfunction is a Treaty matter preposterous, but it is an admission that the multi-million dollar race-based “by-Maori, for-Maori” social service experiment - that has been operating since the eighties - is a failure and should be scrapped.
If Labour and the Greens - and all of the other advocacy groups that are rallying behind the child poverty cause - really cared about those children who are living in poverty, their primary target would be families on welfare, rather than working families, since all of the evidence points to children living in single parent families that are reliant on welfare in the long term, as being at the greater risk of deprivation and poor outcomes.
The owner of the popular Ponsonby Chapel Bar and Bistro got into trouble recently for publishing an on-line ad for staff that said, “We need female bar & floor staff … drop us an email if you or a friend needs a job.” His sin was to mention that they needed female staff. According to the law, that is gender discrimination!
Last year Peter and Diana Standen of Otaki decided to trim rotten trees in a patch of bush on their new property. As a result of their actions, the Standens, and their arborist separately, have been charged with contravening the District Plan and face up to two years in prison or a fine of $300,000 for breaches of the Resource Management Act!
The Labour Party’s grabbing of headlines over the alleged poor treatment of suppliers by Australian-owned supermarket chains is an early reminder that the 2014 general election campaign has already started. Labour Party MP Shane Jones used Parliamentary privilege to make such alarming claims that a Commerce Commission Inquiry has been launched.
It can be argued that it is the detractors of citizens’ democracy, like Sir Geoffrey, that are out of step with society, and that more direct participation is needed, not less. Especially at a time when nations around the world are struggling to find better ways to connect with voters and keep them engaged in the democratic process.
Unfortunately Waitangi Day is not what it should be – a day celebrating national unity. “He iwi tahi tatou” - Now we are one people – were the words uttered by Captain Hobson at Waitangi after the signing of the Treaty on 6 February 1840. Those are the words and sentiments we should be celebrating. Instead, it has become a day of division, where fawning and kow-towing politicians seek the favour of Maori radicals.
The admission that the Dunedin City Council is facing significant and long-term cost blow-outs over their new $230 million covered stadium should serve as a stark reminder that in local government bigger is not always better.