Category: Social Issues
To date our politicians have not explained how they think New Zealand can “live” with Covid-19. Most seem to think a vaccine will ‘save’ us, but with few experts suggesting that is realistic, we await their policy releases with interest!
New Zealand is lauded as the perfect example of how to crush the virus, but would anyone be surprised if it too has to pay the price somewhere down the line? Four new cases locked down the 1.6 million inhabitants of Auckland in a monstrously excessive overreaction...
The ‘by Maori, for Maori, with Maori’ separatist “solution” that’s being proposed is sinister. It not only fails to address the real cause of the child abuse crisis, but it also fails to even acknowledge it. The real problem is not the government agency - nor institutional racism or colonisation - but family members threatening the safety of their children.
At its core, the Indigenous child welfare system is broken because so many Indigenous families are broken. Until this is recognized and confronted, it will be impossible to make progress. Blaming colonialism or other past injustices is a triumph of the victim narrative that will put more Indigenous children at risk.
As we look to the election, a major question on the mind of most voters is which government will best manage New Zealand out of the current crisis – one led by Labour or National.
While many of the adverse effects of cannabis use are well recognised, the adverse respiratory effects are not. Cannabis is much more damaging to the lungs than tobacco: one cannabis joint is equivalent to between 2.5 and 5 tobacco cigarettes for adverse effects on lung function and in terms of lung cancer risk, it is similar to 20 tobacco cigarettes.
No doubt the middle classes who fashionably use cannabis for recreation will happily bear the extra costs of their habit and also be relieved that their reputations are no longer at risk from prosecution. The harm that is being done with the growth of the cannabis, meth and heroin markets elsewhere is to them someone else’s problem.
Looking forward, strengthening the welfare system to ensure the unemployed take on available jobs must be a Government priority – as must growing the economy.
The links between welfare dependence from birth and poor, if not disastrous outcomes for children, have now been well-explored by institutions like AUT and Treasury.
New Zealand is not immune from the consequences of protests over the tragic death of George Floyd at the hands of US Police being captured by political extremists pushing their own radical agendas.
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