Hardly the actions of any "church" that I know of.

gzt: Five arrested with paint cans at library crossing after council repainting:

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/512801/gisborne-s-rainbow-crossing-restored-after-protest

The irony of church members painting over a rainbow probably doesn't keep them awake at night.

I swear I've seen this story before - years ago - about a church painting rainbow steps and protesters painting over them...

sir1963:

 

I wonder...can you still have democracy if you put things like health, education, welfare outside of the political sphere by making them GDP/Population based ?

 

We already tipped billions of extra funding into health, mental health etc. What did it get us? Arguably far less than what we had before we started huge amounts of cash at it. And we're still light years behind our closest labour market - better hours, pay and conditions are still just a two hour flight away. They always will be, to be fair, but it doesn't seemed like we've closed the gap much for what we've spent.

At some point it has to be about the processes that go into the delivery of the actual service. Look at Pharmac. The approvals process takes several years for many drugs, and we've accepted that. Well... why have we accepted it? There's been well-documented issues with governance and culture there, why is the actual delivery and capability not being questioned? Can it be done better?

I feel like this is what the political aspect of the process brings. Just linking spending to population growth and not looking for ways to do things differently or better is only going to result in more of the same which gets less and less effective over time as the outcomes get insulated from scrutiny. Maybe once we figure out how to actually deliver services in the first place, then we can start talking about the political aspect of it all.

This affirms that right wing governments don't give a toss about the planet or what we leave for our mokopuna. They are solely focused on wealth.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/350223648/nz-politics-live-govt-axe-kermadec-ocean-sanctuary-plan

I guess the next government will just have to undo everything this government did.

sir1963: if you put things like health, education, welfare outside of the political sphere by making them GDP/Population based ?

MikeB4: This affirms that right wing governments don't give a toss about the planet or what we leave for our mokopuna. They are solely focused on wealth.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/350223648/nz-politics-live-govt-axe-kermadec-ocean-sanctuary-plan

MikeB4:

 

This affirms that right wing governments don't give a toss about the planet or what we leave for our mokopuna. They are solely focused on wealth.

 

https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/350223648/nz-politics-live-govt-axe-kermadec-ocean-sanctuary-plan

 

Neither left wing nor right wing governments managed to get this through (12 years, 2 terms each of both sides of the political spectrum).  Everyone cares about the environment until it threatens existing (or in this case potential) property rights.  If special interest groups cared about the environment then this would have been a lay-down to get approved as a sanctuary.  The last time there was a vote on this proposal, lead by David Parker, it was 25 nay votes, 1 yay vote and 1 abstention from the iwi involved.  

Would you be prepared to say that the previous left wing Governments didnt give a toss about the planet in their failure to get this done during a majority?

ockel:

 

  

 

Would you be prepared to say that the previous left wing Governments didnt give a toss about the planet in their failure to get this done during a majority?

 

 

 

short answer.... yes

NZHerald: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says he is “highly disappointed” to see universities offering designated areas for Māori and Pasifika students.

gzt: Luxon seems to have waded in to ACTs designated areas cofeve and expressed similar sentiments:

NZHerald: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says he is “highly disappointed” to see universities offering designated areas for Māori and Pasifika students.

Surely Luxon would have seen these and similar areas when he was at uni 30-something years ago. Well.. maybe not. Christchurch was one of the least diverse places back then.

You can easily find similar spaces at universities for any minority you care to name. Mature students, etc, etc, the list is long. I seem to recall a few years ago some alt-right guy and two of his friends were making idiots of themselves going to all these provided areas.

I'm more than a little shocked at the Prime Minister's sentiment on this one.

Erica Stanford and Willie Jackson were on Breakfast this morning. Stanford was visibly keeping her poker face when deflecting questions about Winston calling it the KKK, and stuck doggedly to the party line about how the issue is actually that there are not enough Māori and Pasifika going to University. Jackson said he agreed with her and added that perhaps they should remove the Māori, Pasifika, Women's and Rainbow rooms from Parliament too if that's what Winston thinks. Jackson only held back inasmuch as he left a big old silence the shape of the word "bulls***" in his opinion on Winston's comment. Stanford had to be more circumspect, but it was pretty obvious what she really thought.

Newshub: Stanford [National Party Minister of Education] said she didn't agree with Seymour and Peters that the areas are akin to racial segregation, adding they have existed for decades. "Those spaces have always been there, they were there when I was there, and I am not sure that is racial segregation because I have been in those spaces myself back in the day. They were there 30 years ago.

For anyone who doesn't want to give Shane Jones carte blanche to hand us all another Tui Oil Field taxpayer cleanup bill (because yes, the same company is coming back for another round) you can make a submission against the Fast-Track Approvals Bill here, and the EDS has a comprehensive template you can use if you don't feel like writing your own.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/spending-cuts-without-full-austerity-christopher-luxon-reveals-his-top-priorities-for-the-coming-months/6PEL3E5B2BAA7D6LQC3XBMUYVM/

First 100 days done, Luxon reveals his plans for the next 100.

quickymart:

 

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/spending-cuts-without-full-austerity-christopher-luxon-reveals-his-top-priorities-for-the-coming-months/6PEL3E5B2BAA7D6LQC3XBMUYVM/

 

First 100 days done, Luxon reveals his plans for the next 100.

 

"“We want to find the balance, actually - balancing wasteful spending so that we can protect front-line services, [while providing] tax relief and growing the economy. That’s the key thing that we need to land this quarter.”"

How do you "balance" wasteful spending? You think it's wasteful, you eliminate it, not "balance". Or perhaps he meant "manage" which is still not great if you think it's a waste.

I think he's just using word salads.