Category: imported_weekly

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Education or Social Engineering?

This week, in an unusual move, the Ministry of Education agreed that some Northland parents would not be forced to send their children to a poorly performing high school.


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Letter to the Prime Minister

The economy is in trouble. So much so that the Prime Minister has signalled it will become her government's major priority.


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History in the Making

New Zealand history is full of contradictions. In the very week that the government launched their $1 million road show to educate the public about the “official” history of New Zealand and the importance of the Treaty of Waitangi, a UK based group released a different interpretation of world history (see the Economist).


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The Smacking Debate

Last week the Body Shop announced that stores throughout the country would be encouraging customers to sign a petition to Parliament supporting the Green Party's bill to abolish section 59 of the Crimes Act. (click here to view the bill).


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Local government the new GM battleground

Having been rejected by central government, GM radicals are now putting pressure on local councils to further their cause.


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The feminist agenda three decades on

Last month, when the public furore erupted over an airline policy that bans men from sitting next to unaccompanied children, I wondered whether the feminists were celebrating. A few years ago, the mere suggestion that a man on a plane could be a likely child molester, would have been greeted with derision. Now, however, not only has the concept been taken seriously by the airlines, but some public servants – including the Commissioner for Children - have said it’s a good idea.


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Solving Crime not Rocket Science

One of the core roles of a government in a democracy is to protect its citizens from crime. In 1999, New Zealanders were given the opportunity to send the government a message on that issue: by voting overwhelmingly in favour of Norm Wither’s law and order referendum, the public indicated they wanted the justice system reformed and violent crime reduced.


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Time for a Flat Tax?

In 1990, my husband Frank and I co-authored the book How to Grow Rich: secrets to better money management, a guide to financial independence. It became a best seller, both here, in Australia, and interestingly, in Hong Kong.


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Saving the Kiwi

The green agenda in this country has already been won. Not the radical agenda of green politics, which has embraced socialism as its new cause, but a sensible and moderate approach to conservation and environmental protection.


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The Referendum Option

Next year's census will be held on March 7th and it will be followed by the Maori Electoral Option. This five-yearly survey gives electors of Maori descent an opportunity to choose whether they want to be registered to vote on the Maori roll or the general roll.