Category: Social Issues
Leaders grow things; they also make positive possibilities happen. So where are our ones when we need them most?
With the Rugby World Cup now almost behind us – and a HUGE congratulations to the All Blacks for their win and to all of those who made the tournament so successful – the country’s focus will soon turn to politics. With the 2011 general election just four weeks away, we should expect a flood of well rehearsed policy announcements from all political contenders aimed at attracting our votes. Since this is the season for new ideas we thought we would share some of the initiatives that we have come across during our NZCPR research work, that are being used by countries around the world to address their public policy challenges.
The Maori Party is claiming that New Zealand’s justice, police, courts and corrections processes systematically discriminate against Maori. Co-leader Pita Sharples says that he has based his stance on a series of top-level reports. But it is clear that he is ignoring overwhelming evidence that show his claims of prejudice to be not only blatant electioneering, but blatant racism as well!
The Rugby World Cup is showing New Zealanders what is possible when we all unite behind a common purpose. Imagine how far we could go as a country if we all got behind a goal like lifting our living standards! Becoming a wealthy county again would certainly be within our reach.
“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.
Loading ...
