Peter Jackson: I don't know what to believe

My mother, typically, I suspect, for her generation, had total faith in the media. If it was published in a newspaper or broadcast by radio or TV, it had to be true. Didn't it? No one would publish or broadcast anything they knew to be wrong or weren't sure about.

Mum died almost 30 years ago, and I have no idea if she would still be so trusting today if she was still with us. Perhaps she would be. Her faith in human nature and the fundamental decency of others ran deep. Mine, not so much.

Quite frankly, there are times now when I don't know what to believe.

Professor Jerry Coyne: Now Colossal proposes to “de-extinct” the moa; Peter Jackson helps

It’s an hour until.Walrus Call, so I wanted to bring to your attention another insane attempt by Colossal Biosciences to “de-extinct” a species. This time it’s the moa, one of several species of this flightless bird that used to inhabit New Zealand until the Māori killed them all of by bopping them on the heads with jade clubs. Or so I recall.

Peter Jackson: Defending the Monarchy

As I write this I am drinking coffee at Heathrow, patiently waiting to be called to board my flight home from the coronation of Charles and Camilla. 

Well, not quite true. In fact if I lift my eyes slightly I can see rain falling on roses, as it has done every day for the last week. Had my invitation not gone astray in the mail, as I assume it did, however, I would have been there like a shot. Not simply because I am a fan of the monarchy, which I am, but for the history, to witness an ancient ritual conducted in an ancient building, parts of which date back to the 11th century.

And to have a cup of tea and a marmalade sandwich with my cousin in Oxford.

Every cloud has a silver lining though, and had I been on the other side of the world I would have missed the dubious pleasure of reading Shaneel Lal's column in last week's Herald on Sunday.

Peter Jackson: Education’s failing grade

Are class sizes the answer to teaching the 3Rs properly?

It would not be true to say that the education system hasn’t changed over the years, but much of that change has not been for the better.

I’m sorry if I keep harping on about education, but it’s difficult not to when you consider that an entire generation, at least, of kids in this country is being robbed of opportunities their parents and grandparents took for granted.

Peter Jackson: National’s boot camp plan promising start to solution

Education the long term answer to poverty

We’re told that the fundamental problem is poverty. Well guess what? The only sure path out of poverty begins with education. Lotto isn’t going to do it, and nor is social welfare.

I understand that some of us ordinary folk might have difficulty with the extraordinarily complex idea (not!) of taking kids out of a toxic environment and giving them a chance to learn skills and develop attitudes that will change their lives for the better. The media, though, has no excuse.

Peter Jackson: Want faith in the justice system? Avoid courtrooms

Criminals failing on their promise to pay reparation is old news, minister

Whatever prompted Justice Minister Kiri Allan to publicly refer to the tens of millions of dollars owed to victims of crime by way of court-ordered reparation last week, she wasn’t responding to a new phenomenon. People have been promising to pay reparation, then not paying it, for many years, and however aggrieved Allan might be at the injustice of that, she is unlikely to change it.

Those who have never sat in court might not be aware that a reparation order cannot be imposed without the offender’s agreement. Generally speaking they are happy to say they will pay to make amends for whatever it was they did; in many cases it is an all but assured means of avoiding a prison term.

Peter Jackson: Open-plan classrooms — who came up with that?

What we cannot afford is more experiments, like open-plan learning.

I have a theory about what’s been going wrong with our education system over the last couple of decades. And it is not something that will be fixed with the billions of dollars that Winston Peters promised when he launched New Zealand First’s latest bid to become electorally relevant.

My theory isn’t especially radical. It’s simply that we have abandoned the way kids used to be taught, which worked, in favour of ways that don’t.

Peter Jackson: Speak or hold your peace?

Councils gagged if they accept the Govt’s cash

Whatever you think of Jacinda Ardern, she can hardly be accused of deceiving us when she promised that her Government would be transformational. Indeed, “transformational” might seem like an understatement, as she and her party continue to promote societal changes that promise to last a very long time.

She also promised that her Government would be the most open and transparent that this country had ever seen. The jury might still be out on that, although if they have yet to return their verdict it would likely be that they are enjoying an extraordinarily long lunch.

Many of those whose job it is to obtain information from the Government on our behalf will tell you that that has become much more difficult than it used to be. Even the select committee process, another opportunity for politicians to explain what they intend doing, how and why, has largely become a farce.

There is one field of political endeavour that has become more transparent than it used to be, however.

Peter Jackson: Govt sabotaging recovery

Looking for the good life? Move to Kaitaia, specifically Kitchener St. That’s where Te Tai Tokerau MP Kelvin Davis lives, and, according to him, it’s not bad at all there.

Not quite living the dream, perhaps, but as good as it gets these days. At least that’s the rosy picture he drew in the Northland Age on Tuesday (“Putting people at heart of economic recovery”).

Putting the seriously questionable assertion that we are experiencing an economic recovery, Davis reckons he and his Government are doing a pretty good job for those who are doing it tough.