Massive data study reveals at-risk youth . . . are poor
Since 2013 Statistics New Zealand has collected data from government agencies including the Ministries of Social Development, Health and Education, as well as Child Youth and Family (CYF), Corrections, Police and Housing to create what Bill English calls a “world-leading Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI)”. He says it will help the government solve “long-term, complex social […]
TeachFirst – privatisation by stealth?
At a time when the National Party have overseen cuts to student allowance eligibility and continued underfunding of education, there’s one educational provider that they’re happy to put millions into: Teach First NZ. But their plans for Teach First NZ have recently hit a snag. The Employment Relations Authority ruled that all this time employing […]
The Housing Question in Dunedin
In early 2014 Finance Minister Bill English boasted that the government’s new housing policy would see “the biggest changes in state housing since it was invented”. He was not talking about the vastly increased dividend that the government demands from HNZ ($215 million net in the 4 years up to 2013), or changes to the […]
Chinese are not to blame – a New Zealand Housing Crisis
Auckland and Christchurch are in severe housing crises due to a lack of supply among other things. In Auckland, according to Fiona Rotheram in The Listener, the average house price is now $776,729 as of February and is at its highest since before the global financial crisis. An Auckland house now worth $1,000,000, earned $2200 […]
“Social Bonds”: An Experiment On The Vulnerable
Leith McLean is not a member of the International Socialist Organisation, but kindly allowed us to reprint his article here in order to spread awareness of this important issue. Earlier in June, in the middle of a long weekend and amidst the massive FIFA scandal, National announced a pilot scheme for a radical experiment in […]
Cruel and Usual: Housing NZ Kick Out Tenant
Housing New Zealand has done an about face on its duty of care towards its tenants with more stories coming out every day. Even the mainstream media has picked up on some of the abuses such as the elderly disabled man getting kicked out of his house in Mt Roskil, or the continued stories of […]
The Budget: State of the Nation
Bill English’s “boring budget” is full of miscommunications and misleading information, fairly typical of a right wing government that wants to hide what it really has planned. Included in this budget is the giving away of state land in Auckland, the continuation of massive changes in the public sector and of course wildly hopeful expectations […]
Budget 2015 – Normalising Poverty
Workers on welfare will get an extra $25 a week. This is the “take home message” of Budget 2015. After promising a “boring Budget”, and downplaying any expectations of help for children in poverty, Bill English has delivered a substantial increase to the money struggling families will receive. Of course, there are strings attached. The […]
Mana College Under Attack
Government moves to put Mana College into statutory management smacks of the racism and contempt for workers and the poor that is prevalent throughout the government’s approach to public education. All working people should take an interest in these developments. Mana College, Porirua, had of last year a student composition that was 65% Māori , 18% […]
Disability is a Working-Class Issue
Juliet Thomborson spoke with a person who is disabled and employed as a care worker about some of the issues that come up around disability and work. In what ways have you noticed the latest National government making life harder for you (or other disabled people)? The benefit ‘reforms’ have made life harder: if you’re […]
