Category: Social Issues
We believe that the growing role that government has played in financing and administering schooling has led not only to enormous waste of taxpayers’ money but also to a far poorer educational system than would have developed had voluntary cooperation continued to play a larger role. Milton and Rose Friedman, “Free to Choose”.
During 2004 I wrote a book “What’s up with our schools? a New Zealand principal speaks out”, published in 2005 by Random Press. Here is an extract from the chapter that I called “Conspicuously Politically Incorrect”...
As the government progresses it’s so-called “razor gang” line-by-line review of government expenditure, it will be interesting to see whether those controversial and costly policy areas, that are clearly long overdue for reform, go under the microscope.
On 16 February Principal Family Court Judge Peter Boshier gave a speech to a hui in which he questioned the value of stopping violence programmes (Boshier, 2009) . He recognises that there are problems with the current “one-size-fits-all” approach of current anti-violence programmes. Some might see this as a significant development. Others will be sceptical.
Ironically it has taken the South African Rugby Union (SARU) to expose the fact that racism exists in New Zealand. Sadly, in these politically correct times, anyone who dares to comment on this dark national secret risks being attacked as a racist. With successive governments entrenching racism under the guise of cultural sensitivity and bogus Treaty partnerships, it is indeed a tragic indictment of our society that it has been left to South Africa to expose the truth.
Some little while ago, I was invited to contribute to a study on the social and economic progress of Maori. It was suggested that I might examine the Maori seats in Parliament. A moment’s hesitation and I said “yes”. My decision did not take long. Before me was, as it were, a blank canvass. I had not had occasion to consider the Maori seats and I had no views on whether they should be retained or done away with. So I set about examining the issue and came to a decided (indeed considered) view: that the separate seats compromised the Mixed-Member Proportional (MMP) system and should be abolished.
The next few months will be critical for the new government. It’s a time when the expectations of change must be honoured.
New Zealand is now emerging from nine years of creeping socialism. During those nine years, we have been told that the state knows best how to run our lives - and our country. Whether it is what we eat, how we bring up our children, or what sort of light bulbs we can use in our homes, laws have been developed to control our behaviour.
Nia Glassie’s crime was two-fold. Firstly, and tragically, she lived in the same dysfunctional household as a bunch of boozing, dope smoking, layabout no-hopers who got a kick out of torturing her when they were bored. Secondly, she had a woman as a mother who brings total shame on the honoured tradition of motherhood. Rather than being prepared to protect and defend her child to the death, she stood by and allowed her to be killed.
In the wake of the Nia Glassie case, New Zealanders across the country are asking “How on earth did this happen?” The death of the gorgeous three year old and the details that have emerged during the trial have left us, as a nation, shaken to the core and in a state of disbelief.
Loading ...
