Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 16/12/24

Shakeup for regulatory impact statements – the bureaucratese will be shaken out

Regulation Minister David Seymour has taken another step in his deregulatory purge, requiring government agencies making new regulations to follow a more simplified and streamlined process from 1 January 2025.

Lindsay Mitchell: Cultural indoctrination of the NZ Police

I asked my better half, "What is the job of the police?" Quite quickly he responded, "Ultimately, to protect the community." That's not bad. I had toyed with, "To enforce law and order," but on reflection, some laws are 'an ass' and regarding 'order' police actions during the parliamentary protest remain controversial. 

Why am I grappling with this?

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 26/8/23

Govt sets about taking UN advice on caring for the disabled and provides $1.765m for ethnic communities to combat violence

It looks like our hard-working ministers have done with impressing on us how our wellbeing will be improved by the legislation they have bulldozed through Parliament under urgency.

The two new press statements on the government’s official website nevertheless are intended to highlight the way we are being cared for.

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 14/6/23

Statements gush from the Beehive but there’s a dearth of figures for taxpayers who might want to check the costings

A gush of press statements has poured from the Beehive in the past 24 hours.

Ministers, plainly, have been busy. But they were sparing with their information when it came to telling us how much is being spent on the initiatives and what-have-you they were announcing.

Point of Order: Maori caucus – by the looks of things....

.....has had a say in who should benefit from $15m of cyclone relief funding

Point of Order hasn’t kept count of the millions of dollars the Government has been pouring into cyclone-devastated communities in the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle.

But we don’t recall the several announcements suggesting there might be a discriminatory element to the way the beneficiaries would be determined. If there was a need for help, then that’s where the money would go, although – fair enough – funding for farmers would probably go to farmers, and funding for horticulturalists would go to horticulturalists. And so on.

Point of Order: Bold ambitions – Govt aspires to rid us of bashers and the Security Council veto while building a “great” workplace for women

The Government has declared or reiterated three bold ambitions, one of them (the elimination of family violence) probably unachievable.

Whether progress is being made towards the achievement of another (ensuring New Zealand is “a great place for women to work”) raises measurement issues. No matter what is accomplished, there are bound to be demands for more to be done – and what is “a great place” for women to work?

A third bold ambition – which looks like another mission impossible – was declared in a speech headed PM’s comments to NATO session.

John Robinson: Response to claims colonisation caused Maori violence

Comments on Every 4 minutes: A discussion paper on preventing family violence in New Zealand by Ian Lambie (Office of the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor, 6 Nov 2018)...

This report claims that Maori experienced little violence before colonisation, but are now highly exposed to violence and should be given culturally appropriate solutions.  It has been widely reported, as in a Herald article, New Zealand lacks comprehensive strategy to counter family violence – new report:

“Colonisation had had a traumatic affect on Maori, and culturally-appropriate solutions – informed by science – were needed for Maori and Pacific communities.  Despite the well-reported relative absence of whanau violence before colonisation, Maori are now highly exposed to it.  The trauma of colonisation has had an inter-generational effect on Maori, who experience disproportionate rates of family violence, combined with other negative social effects of racism, discrimination and dislocation, alongside strengths and resilience factors that endure.”

Steve Baron: Fighting violence with violence

Some people smoke, others debauch themselves with alcohol, drugs and gambling; my indulgence is for cafés. I enjoy the chance to read the newspapers, to get that quick fix of caffeine and a chance to chat with all sorts of interesting people from time to time. The eternally effervescent girl with the dragon tattoo and cheeky smile always has something to say when I bump into her in the café. Something she said to me today, about a moment in her life she considered ‘not one of her finer moments’, got me thinking. We all have times like this when we make mistakes and do and say things we regret. 

Unfortunately Christmas is a time when stress levels often become elevated, dangerous situations arise and physical abuse eventuates. Oh of course he didn’t mean to do it and he promises never to do it again and after all it’s really out of character for him. Yes, its amazing how people can often justify almost anything—even murder. The abuse of women and children should never be brushed aside because these instances usually have a tendency to escalate. If a guy will hit you once, he will hit you again and it will probably be worse next time because he knows he got away with it last time.