Category: Social Issues
“Nia Glassie died in Starship Hospital on 3rd August 2007 aged three years. She had been on life support for 13 days. She had such severe brain damage that she was unable to breathe without life support. The medical evidence at the trial established that the horrific injuries and swelling to her brain were consistent with blows, and possibly, kicks to the head...” Coroner’s Report, Wallace Bain August 2011[1]
When I was a student, I took a course in the sociology of deviance. After weeks reviewing theories about the causes of law-breaking, the lecturer announced that we were asking the wrong question. The real question, he said, is not why some break the law. It is why we don't all break the law.
There are no excuses for the rioting and hooliganism that took place in Britain in recent weeks. It was criminal and cowardly behaviour – the worst form of opportunism by (mostly) young delinquents. That the government has made a commitment to the British public that the rioters will face the full force of the law is as it should be. The tragedy is that the initial response to the crisis by the Police was so inadequate that rampaging mobs were able to create widespread mayhem and death.
Let me first explain the backdrop to the situation we find ourselves in today. Back in the 1970s businesses avoided the UK because of its high taxes, high strike rates and low productivity. Most commentators felt that there was little that could be done and decline was inevitable. Yet, after some radical reforms, strikes declined, productivity improved and as tax rates came down, companies started to invest in the UK once again.
The rate of marriage in New Zealand is continuing to decline. According to Statistics New Zealand the rate of marriage has plummeted over the last 40 years by 72 percent from 45.5 per 1,000 people aged 16 years and over in 1971, to 12.45 last year. While the population has grown from 2.9 million to 4.4 million over that period, the number of marriages has fallen from 27,199 in 1971 to 20,940 in 2010.
In New Zealand today we have our own Hydra; our system of family law. Like the multiplying heads of the mythical Hydra, the costs and delays of the Family Court have grown out of control.
The 70 job losses announced last week by KiwiRail in Dunedin and Wellington, and the 41 from Yarrows bakery in South Taranaki are reminders of how difficult business conditions are in New Zealand at the present time. Herald reporter Simon Collins spelt it out in a story on Saturday that outlined the problems faced in Northland - the region with the country’s highest rate of unemployment. At 9.8 percent at the end of the March quarter, Northland’s unemployment rate is almost 2 percentage points above the next-highest regions of Auckland and Gisborne/Hawkes Bay. With unemployment amongst young people aged 18 to 24 running at 29 percent and amongst Maori at 48 percent, more than half of all young Maori in Northland are on welfare.[1]
The recent Budget raised the question: What should we be doing to grow the economy? Its focus on reducing government debt and spending was positive, most said, and essential for getting our finances on a firmer footing to head off future problems with overseas creditors and consequential interest rate rises. But beyond that, many felt it did not contain much direction for strategic change.
With the financial crisis forcing governments around the world to tighten their belts the call for welfare reform is growing stronger. Welfare becomes a serious problem for society when it impacts on family structure and functioning, creating incentives for family breakdown and intergenerational dependency.
One of the problems of being a doctor in New Zealand is being asked to sign documents that are untrue for the benefit of patients or patient’s parents. I wrote to the Minister of Social Development twice after I had a confrontation with a patient’s parent
Loading ...
