5 days ago · Stuff reports:. Green MP Tamatha Paul has launched a fundraising campaign for a group wanting to “defund the police” and close the court system. Paul has been attracting attention over recent weeks for her comments about policing and support of groups that call for the abolition of police, jails, and courts. While she and the Green Party have denied wanting to “defund the police”, Paul ...

13 hours ago · In 2014 I was involved in beginning South Auckland Middle School in Manurewa. We had 120 students to start and quickly grew to 180 and with a waiting list of over 100. The students were over 85% Maori and Pasifika. When they left us, at the end of Year 10, we tracked their progress and

1 day ago · A teen who took part in a violent and unprovoked street attack, king hitting one of his victims, has narrowly avoided jail after a judge ruled it would not be the “just” outcome. So this was not a moment of madness, or a situation with provocation. He just viciously assaulted a …

1 day ago · Stats NZ reports: Local authority rates and payments increased 12.2 percent in the 12 months to the March 2025 quarter (14 percent contribution to the 2.5 percent increase). Rates are captured once a year in the September quarter, as this is when ratepayers see price changes set by councils. That level of increase is obscene.

Judith Collins announced: The Government’s move to cut public sector spending on consultants and contractors is on track to save $800 million over two years – double the initial target, Public Service Minister Judith Collins says. “We set a two-year target to cut $400 million in spending on consultants and contractors across the public sector

3 days ago · This chart really ought to accompany every news story claiming government 'austerity'. Budget 2019 was the Great Wellbeing Budget. It was going to solve every problem NZ had ever had, and Core government spending was going to remain well below 30% of GDP.

‘The fact that a principal regards it as a bad thing that more students are bringing their own lunch speaks volumes.’ Exactly. And every time TVNZ shows laughing, healthy kids, egged on by teachers and reporters, to empty what appear to be perfectly edible lunches into a slop bucket and fed to pigs, most viewers would be appalled at the apparent waste of …

A problem I see with “select committee control generally revert to the opposition, allowing better scrutiny of the Government of the Day” is that the losing party(s) do not necessarily have the quality of candidates to perform this function productively, and as seen in recent times, they do not even seem to respect their role & position.. On a wider view, it …

An important speech by Chris Bishop to the Committee for Auckland. Key aspects are: Congestion stifles economic growth in Auckland, with studies showing that it costs between $900 million to $1.3 billion per year. Congestion is essentially a tax on time, productivity, and growth. And like most taxes, I’m keen to reduce it. The government

Some useful recommendations from the LGNZ working group on local elections. Move to a nationally consistent system of in-person voting for all local elections that is as similar as possible to parliamentary elections over a two-week timeframe in which to vote, with polling booths in venues where people frequently visit. Preferably by the 2028 local