Gordon Campbell: On Failures Of Care For Those With Mental Disabilities
Hard to imagine a more disturbing insight into the treatment of the vulnerable than the Health Ministry report on Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau. The Ministry has found that the country’s only kaupapa Maori intellectual disability residential care provider has been “seriously dysfunctional.”
The ministry says the business has failed to recruit and retain quality staff – and says the kaimahi (caregivers) that have been employed are seriously unsuitable for the job, lacking basic knowledge. But Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau doesn’t get all the blame. The report says there’s a significant gap under disability laws to ensure there’s oversight by qualified clinical professionals. More>>
Judgment: Court Finds Against Legal Aid Changes
The Court has allowed in part an appeal by the Criminal Bar Association from a judgment of the High Court concerning the lawfulness of the Government’s criminal legal aid policy. More>>
Mighty River: 'Mum And Dad’ Investors Myth Busted
Green Party research, confirmed by Treasury, shows that half of the shares in Mighty River Power that National sold to retail investors went to just 13,000 people and that 10 percent of the retail shares went to just 400 wealthy people and organisations. More>>
Lockwood in London: Answers Needed On High Commissioner’s Residence
New Zealand taxpayers should be told why they are having to fork out $7500 a week to pay for alternative premises for the High Commissioner in London while the official residence remains empty, Labour’s Foreign Affairs spokesperson, Phil Goff, says. More>>
Wellington: Council Kick-Starts Airport Extension
Mayor Celia Wade-Brown said today that a runway extension is crucial to attracting long-haul international flights to the Capital City and will grow the economy of the lower North Island. More>>
Burst Of Psychoactivity: Legal Highs Bill To Be "Even Faster-Tracked"
Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne wants to push the Psychoactive Substances Bill through Parliament faster than planned when it returns from the select committee in mid-June, with the aim of having the legislation in place in July. More>>
Colin Craig: New Twitter Security Welcomed
Conservative Party leader Colin Craig is welcoming the announcement from Twitter today that new security measures are being introduced. This announcement coincidentally follows yesterday’s hijacking of his twitter account. More>>
"Unlawful, Unjustified And Unreasonable": Report Into Urewera Raids Finds Police Acted Unlawfully
IPCA Chair Judge Sir David Carruthers said today that the decision to undertake the operation in Ruatoki Valley and elsewhere on 15 October 2007 was reasonable and justified. “However, the road blocks established by Police at Ruatoki and Taneatua were unlawful, unjustified and unreasonable... ” The detention of the occupants at five properties examined by the Authority was unlawful and unreasonable. More>>
Better Insulate Than Never: Reaching For The Rug This Winter? You’re Not Alone
The nationwide Canstar Blue survey - of 2060 people examining consumer satisfaction with electricity providers - found that more than one third (36%) of respondents can’t afford to heat their home adequately in the winter, with Gen Ys and women finding it the toughest. More>>
One More Stays Open: Interim Decisions For Five Aranui Schools
“The proposal for a new campus originally included all five schools in the Aranui area. In reviewing the submissions and undertaking further analysis – with a focus on ensuring an exciting brand new education concept for Aranui children – we can achieve this and maintain a strong intermediate option in Chisnallwood. More>>
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Arguably Reassuring: Inspector-General Finds GCSB "Arguably" Legal
The Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security has completed an inquiry into potential breaches of the Government Communications Security Bureau Act (2003). More>>
Roy Morgan State Of The Nation: All About Attitudes
As the latest Roy Morgan State of the Nation New Zealand reveals, the different attitudes of Kiwis around the country offer a fascinating glimpse into its varied population. More>>
Various Deadlines: Make Sure You Can Vote In The Ikaroa-Rāwhiti By-Election
“You can only vote in the Ikaroa-Rāwhiti by-election if you are eligible and correctly enrolled,” says Sue Braybrook, Registrar of Electors for the Ikaroa-Rāwhiti electorate. More>>
Scoop Business: NZ Houses Overvalued By 25%, IMF Says
New Zealand housing is already overvalued by about 25 percent and if it continues to rise may force the Reserve Bank to hike interest rates, according to the International Monetary Fund. More>>
Unsold Energy: Government "At War With Solid Energy Board"
Despite having known the scale of Solid Energy’s troubles for years the Government was prepping the company for sale just days before it cut 400 jobs and revealed it was in serious trouble, says Labour’s SOEs spokesperson Clayton Cosgrove. More>>
Special Schools: Salisbury Stays open After Court Ruling, Community Pressure
The Minister of Education Hon Hekia Parata met with Salisbury School students and the Board this morning and confirmed that Salisbury will remain open as part of the delivery of service within the new Intensive Wrap-Around Service, along with the other two residential special schools. More>>
Gordon Campbell: On The Government’s Trampling On The Rights Of Family Carers
Don’t want to be unduly alarmist about this, but we seem to have an outlaw government on our hands – if by that we mean a government willing to suspend the ability of citizens to seek the courts’ protection if and when the government violates freedoms set out in our Bill of Rights. More>>
Wellington Local Government Survey Results: "Support For Change"
Almost 2000 submissions have been received by the four Wellington councils consulting on possible change to the region’s local government, demonstrating support for change. More>>
Wellington.Scoop: Derailment Stops Wellington Train Services
A morning derailment stopped all Wellington train services for most of the day Monday. A KiwiRail spokesperson said the derailment had involved the 7.43am train from Porirua and there were no reported injuries. More>>
Salvation Army Report: Pacific Peoples Making Progress Despite Increasing Adversity
Co-author Ronji Tanielu says the report shows that while Pacific communities continue to face social, health, education, and economic problems that became pronounced in the 1970s, and in many cases have worsened, the Pacific community is tenaciously making progress in some areas, but struggling in others. More>>
Trans-Pacific Trade Agreement: NZ-Born Fair Deal Coalition Gets Global Makeover
The Fair Deal Coalition announces that it is ramping up its presence with a global publicity and education campaign that will raise awareness of intellectual property rights proposals in the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). More>>
Gordon Campbell: On The 2013 Budget
We are apparently on track for a margin-of-error $75 million surplus, now in sight for 2014/15. But this sickly creature is hobbling out of the lab on the basis of all kinds of facilitative conjuring... With this strictly nominal surplus in sight, the 1984-ish justification for eternal austerity will have a news talisman: namely, getting Crown debt down to 20% of GDP by 2020. More>>
Auckland Discord: Govt’s Power Hungry Housing Approach A Threat - Labour
Last week the Government said this, ‘The Government commits not to use any proposed or existing powers ... to override the council's planning and consenting processes’. But its housing Bill says this; ‘If an accord cannot be reached in an area of severe housing unaffordability, the Government can intervene by establishing special housing areas and issuing consents for developers’. More>>
Extending Protest Ban, Relaxing Permit Rules: Govt Abuses Urgency To Extend Anadarko Amendment
The Government is trying to pass legislation under urgency which would make the Anadarko Amendment – which limits protest at sea – apply to an additional 1.7 million square kilometres, the Green Party said today. More>>
Gordon Campbell:
On Stonewalling About The GCSB And MMP
This week has seen two examples of turkeys refusing to vote for an early Christmas – while busily denying the evident self interest involved. First, the GCSB is refusing to identify the 88 people it has illegally spied upon – as revealed in the Kitteridge report – and is donning the cloak of national security to justify its refusal to be transparent.
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