When you’re equating human beings who need wrap-around support in a situation that has been made vastly worse by deliberate reduction of access to services, with rubbish that just “needs to be tidied up”, our values of humanity have also shifted, and perhaps something needs to be done about that.

Another insightful piece by Joel #NZPol

“The mayor-elect has opened a portal.” I remember when politics comms were sometimes fun and not consistently apocalyptic and I miss this for us.

She is a minor. He raped her. Don’t dress it up as ‘services’.

Apparently we should be hearing more about Labour’s election platform soon and I really hope it’s more Mamdani than three Starmers hiding in a Mamdani trench coat 🤞

and you MUST turn out the people to vote! The recent local elections are a warning to the left - especially in Auckland. Voters are being ignored and disenfranchised. If you don't give them something to vote for then the left will lose almost by default.

Regulatory Standards Bill being considered by the Committee of the Whole tonight — and will continue from 9am tomorrow.

Hopeful words from Nikita Gill.

i can’t believe a good thing happened we should do this more often

Good to see this u-turn but also reflecting how often people with less of a profile than a former All Black have called Seymour and the rest of the coalition out on their very consistent bullshit and not received the time of day, in favour of repeating talking points verbatim. More critique, please.

Like clockwork! Someone anonymously posted about people setting them off at 2am (🫠), someone else replied in support and Some Guy™ sailed in, deeply upset at the audacity of asking for polite consideration and deeply unaware that the person was likely posting anonymously because of dudes like him.🙃

If you’re feeling confident about your ability to tell real videos from AI videos, try your luck here (😬): www.instagram.com/reel/DQlJ0gH...

"Our tamariki Māori have a right to learn about their histories, hear their language and experience their culture. Effectively… without a clear obligation, schools will be pressured by extremists to delete Māori from the curriculum in the school programmes.“ The quiet part of the plan, out loud.

"The president of Te Whakarōpūtanga Kaitiaki Kura o Aotearoa - New Zealand School Boards Association, Meredith Kennett, said the change would undermine the legal and practical standing of school boards as Crown entities and risked damaging wider social cohesion, to no clear benefit."

Gee, I wonder what the New Zealand Herald thinks of introducing a capital gains tax that's similar to but weaker than taxes all our allies have.

As a former school board member, this is fucking outrageous. If you are a parent, find the details for your school board members and email them immediately to tell them you expect them to give effect to Te Tiriti whether it's mandated by legislation or not.

Elizabeth Rata wanted it gone, and so it is done.

“In New Zealand, Fisher was “putting groceries on Afterpay” and would regularly spend half of his wages on the weekly food shop. In Australia, he’s spending about a quarter of that amount.”

“Due to the increasing complexity of distress and needs of the people they are supporting, they told us they are often only able to respond to ‘the worst-case scenario’.” Thinking about how our government actively chooses to do nothing about this, and what an ignored crisis means for a second term.

An article with one (1) half-thought about why it might be important to require school boards to give effect to Te Tiriti, or any broader context around why the erosion of it might be a high priority for this government. Propaganda presents information in a one-sided way to persuade an audience.

Can someone ask Simeon Brown how shoving prefabs in carparks is going to help with the "eight months so far" this patient has been waiting for a basic CT scan he can't have treatment without, making the specialist appointment he just had a complete waste?

It’s fascinating to see politicians conceivably at the highest levels of leadership writing on social media like they are children having a tantrum. In Aotearoa there’s one in particular who’s always praised for being a great orator who consistently comes across more like a deflating helium balloon.

Low-key if I were in charge I would phase out KiwiSaver in favour of increasing revenue to fund a pension for everyone as well as free services for the elderly. KiwiSaver only magnifies inequities and will be wielded as an excuse to not provide support to older people.

Join your union.

Cue the local community FB groups kicking off with people politely asking for fireworks to please stop going off at 9.30pm on a random night between now and February because their pet/kid is terrified and Several Dudes responding with some variation of “chill out you hag.” Every year, boundless joy.

“The system was designed by individuals who believed in a specific version of New Zealand — where everyone was theoretically equal, yet the structures of equality were calibrated for only one culture.” — Mark Feary.

RNZ article about people on super or benefit always being short money every week, saying a single person on super is short $17 - utter bullshit. Rent eats 100% of my mum’s super.

It should be concerning how quickly our headlines have accelerated from “NZ government makes controversial policy change” to news that could just as easily be headlines describing actions coming out of the US Government. This is what erosion, and deliberate normalisation of that erosion, looks like.

In case you needed any more evidence that this government is actively in support of dire conditions for the most vulnerable members of our population, including disproportionate impact to women and kids. This is so bleak, and I’m furious that they are allowing this when they can absolutely fix it.

So fucking sad, depressing ... and predictable. Whoever sets benefit levels has no idea of cost of outgoings. Beneficiaries, pensioners don't have enough money for basics - report www.rnz.co.nz/news/busines...

The push for clean air in schools isn’t *just* about preventing COVID. It’s that COVID really showed how poor the air quality is in schools, and we already knew how much respiratory conditions impacted on our general health from all the Healthy Homes convos.

One thing about this is the budget can absolutely be found - and, to be honest should already have been provided from any future-focused government who believes in things like the long-term health of the public, expert advice, and science. The lack is political willingness from almost all parties.

At some point wouldn’t it be great to talk about expert advice to treat mitigation of airborne diseases as a logical piece of obvious infrastructure that requires investment, like roads, as opposed to say, consistently communicating that kids must be at school with none of said mitigations in place.

NZ PSA: Did you know you can book your MMR shots just like your Covid ones? The Book My Vaccine app is super easy to use; I was worried about trying to get a measles vaccine before some upcoming travel and I just found and booked one for tomorrow, easy as 👇 app.bookmyvaccine.health.nz

Everywhere! It’s outrageous! bsky.app/profile/dave...

But you are tolerating it, Andrew. This doesn't explain why you chose to distinguish someone who repeatedly exhibited this behaviour (who was elected by a VERY small margin, iirc) over other councilors who do no such thing.

“I have been clear throughout my campaign and since the election that I condemn misogynistic abuse. Under my mayoralty it will not be tolerated.”* *Except when rewarding unacceptable conduct with leadership roles, apparently. When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.

Just a note to say that @rebeccamatthews.bsky.social didn’t get a chair role. Ray did.

Re sharing these posts for a reminder of what Ray Chung did and the impact of this kind of behaviour (from my instagram) #nzpol

"This is where we are now. And where we are is totally fucked." www.thenerve.news/p/stewart-le...

“More than one in three women experience sexual assault or harassment in their lifetime.” Absolute solidarity to anyone speaking out about their lived experience and also wish we had more articles centering the fact the above indicates more than one in three men in New Zealand are sexual abusers.

Amazing to see @siouxsiew.bsky.social has smashed her original goal on Pledgeme already but this is less than 2% of the amount she is out of pocket. Check out the amazing rewards on offer and contribute what you can! www.pledgeme.co.nz/projects/852...

Was having this exact thought earlier. It makes me really sad and angry for my daughters. Even if they never choose to do anything like public service, this violence and abuse can still creep into the things they DO choose.

Since this is getting more attention than expected, I have to say this is something I've been told anecdotally as being shared in teacher groups online. I've been searching for verification but looks like the original posts have been deleted. It was not in the NZATE OIA as far as I can tell.

Cool how we say to our kids “you can be whatever you want to be” but the reality is that for women and girls who might want to be in public life, we’re actively doing almost nothing to prevent gender based violence - it is currently a deliberate choice to allow this in our policy and in our culture.

It is an absolute travesty and disgrace that a national hero who worked tirelessly in a worldwide crisis to save lives, enduring thankless conditions and (ongoing) vile misogyny while doing so, is $400,000 out of pocket. This is something that can be put to rights - I’ve donated, will you help? 🙏

Honestly media the joy and delight about getting a few minutes with a man who is systematically eroding any semblance of democracy including removing access to food and healthcare is getting weird - unless of course we’re now a country aspiring to systematically erode any semblance of democracy? 🤔

Weirdly little analysis here; more a recitation of events with barely concealed excitement that meeting with Trump means Big Things For Us. The US is supposed to like us: *Trump* liking someone is a precursor to using them. Analysis of what an authoritarian government might want would be great. 🫠

I was today years old to discover NZ’s largest Govt Dept, WINZ doesn’t accept the official NZ Govt ID system RealMe. My mum doesn’t have a drivers licence or passport (being almost blind & wheelchair bound). It’s by design to keep our most vulnerable down trodden innit.

“The time is made for the Democrats. If the party stands for anything, it should be the growing needs of the bottom 90% – for affordable groceries, housing and childcare... For busting up monopolies that keep prices high.” “It should mark the birth of the people’s Democratic party.“ Cc Labour 👀👇