Articles in ‘Opinion’

exclusivley on Voice Media The Police Attacked Me & Broke My Sternum bone · Jeanette Wilson travelled to the Wellington protests as paid of the Trucker’s convey that ran the length of the country. Her experience on that last day resulted in her being arrested and a broken sternum, she says was at the hands of the police. She reported it to the IPCA, (Independent Police Complaints Authority) but was not happy with the outcome. Watch her story…

exclusively on Voice Media Samantha Blanchard wrote, produced and directed the documentary Silenced, released at www.silenced.co.nz, at Easter this year. Samantha holds a degree in broadcast journalism and writes for a local print publication in the Tasman region. Silenced is her first documentary: a gentle introduction to the imbalance of reporting and the silencing of dissenting voices when one simple narrative was followed along by…

Daniel Newman is the Manurewa-Papakura Ward councillor who voted for a balanced budget while rejecting a big borrow-up and 14 per cent rate increases. He is also the deputy chairperson of the Wiri Licensing Trust and is focussed on delivering a range of renewed community assets for families throughout Manurewa and Papakura. By a majority decision, Auckland Council has balanced its budget and is addressing a $325 million deficit. It is a painful…

By Guy Hatchard PhD So what exactly will the regulator’s draconian powers replace? · • Well of course free speech—the right to speak your mind—will be off the table. In other words, the ordinary process of discourse will be muted by the fear of arbitrary punishment. · • This will supersede the NZ Bill of Rights, which was designed to guarantee our freedom of thought, conscience, expression, and religion. · • The proposals will compromise the…

Unfortunately, welfare spending is addictive. And addictive in two ways. First, once government has committed to a particular level of benefit, it is exceedingly difficult to reduce that level. And second, the benefit itself changes behaviour: many people who might otherwise have tried harder to find employment choose to go on, or stay on, a benefit, something strongly encouraged by the very high effective marginal tax rate faced by those…

PART ONE Over the last couple of decades, the world has watched the Middle East as country after country has tried to establish a democratic regime and country after country has failed. The United States and its allies toppled Saddam Hussein and announced that they wanted to see a democratic regime take root in Iraq. The western powers helped to topple Colonel Gaddafi in Libya, and welcomed moves towards democracy in Tunisia, Egypt and the…

A couple of months back I wrote a column on New Zealand’s high and, at that time, accelerating rate of inflation. I concluded that column with the following comment: · There has to be some risk that, faced with growing public concern about inflation and the impact of the rising interest rates which the Reserve Bank is using to get on top of inflation, the Government will reach for a dopey policy like reducing GST to produce a one-off reduction…

As I write this, the Auckland region has been hit by once-in-a-century flooding. Over a third of Auckland’s annual average rainfall fell in just 24 hours at the start of the Anniversary Weekend. And it’s not over yet. More bad weather is forecast, with red and orange warnings issued for heavy rain. · Our Franklin district has been seriously affected, albeit not quite as badly as other areas of Auckland, but the local Facebook grapevines include…

As we look into the New Year, there are a lot of crucial issues facing the country – how do we deal with the ongoing unaffordability of housing (notwithstanding the recent fall in house prices); how do we increase our rate of productivity growth so that we can afford the good things of life that wealthier countries take for granted; how do we improve the serious problems in our education and health sectors; how do we deal with the longer-term…

We are living in an uncertain world. After the ups and downs of Covid, many hoped we would return to a sense of normalcy, but life is very different now, not just on the home front but across the world, and we are having to deal with a high degree of uncertainty. · Sadly, at this time last year, I wrote that uncertainty was the biggest factor we were facing, with the traffic light system and vaccine passes causing a great deal of stress for…