Posts by Catherine Delahunty

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  Corporate welfare at its worst - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  It seems that National is using the confidence and supply agreement with its former MP John Banks acting as an ACT Party MP to push through some silly ideologically driven policies and hope that the terminal ACT rather than National cops the blame for them when the wheels fall off. Among those polices are several [...] read more
  December 6, 2011 1:40 pm - 12 Comments
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  Toxic Legacies Need Serious Leadership - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  The arsenic issues effecting Moanataiari, a small subdivision in my home town of Thames, are part of the very challenging reality of our not so “clean green” country. That is why I challenged the Minister for the Environment to establish a national register of contaminated sites. This led to the work we are doing on [...] read more
  November 25, 2011 3:23 pm - 1 Comment
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  High time to eliminate violence against women - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Amnesty International begin its sixteen days of activism against gender-based violence, with events happening all over the country. This year there’s a focus on calling on the Solomon Islands to enact laws to protect women from violence, and working to defend Norma Cruz, [...] read more
  November 25, 2011 10:38 am - 5 Comments
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  National’s Unhelpful Education Policy - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  The National Party’s education policy launched yesterday lacks a vision for quality public education. Threatening to punish “low performing schools” and reward “high performance”  is a dangerous, divisive and elitist approach to our public education system. The policy is about continuing to enforce Nationals Standards, which are the central failure in education of the last [...] read more
  November 23, 2011 4:02 pm - 36 Comments
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  Odds against women in the Pay Equity Wheel of Fortune - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  On Saturday, I went to the Grey Lynn festival to talk to people about our women’s policy, and draw attention to the inequities between women and men when it comes to paid work. We invited festival goers to spin the Pay Equity Wheel of Fortune – Show Me The Money! read more
  November 22, 2011 12:43 pm - 12 Comments
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  Coromandel Watch Frog: Protecting our endangered amphibians - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  In between a candidate meeting and a cottage meeting, door knocking and radio interviews, I managed to squeeze in a fantastic event organised by Whangamata Earthwatch and Coromandel Watchdog of Hauraki. The groups invited Phil Bishop, Chief Scientist for IUCN Amphibian Survival Alliance to come and speak  in Whangamata on a Sunday morning and at [...] read more
  November 17, 2011 9:02 am - 5 Comments
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  Te Reo – The First National Language - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  The Maori Party announced a policy today that Te Reo should be available in all schools. We agree as this has been our policy for some time. We also agree it would take conscious capacity building to achieve this. Labour say there could be a backlash which I think is an unfortunate stance. The way [...] read more
  November 10, 2011 11:35 am - 28 Comments
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  Making sense at the Marton lockout - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  On a corner of the State Highway near Marton about half the workforce of the CMP (Canterbury Meat Processors) workforce are locked out and holding a picket. I arrived as the breakfast was coming off the barbecue on day nine of the lockout. The workers held placards calling for a fair agreement and the chance [...] read more
  November 2, 2011 9:29 am - 8 Comments
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  National’s war on the poor - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  This afternoon John Key and Paula Bennett announced the National Party’s long-heralded welfare reform package.  As I expected, it is a punitive war on the poor that will harass beneficiaries into low paid jobs, or in many cases off benefit and into no job at all because the jobs simply don’t exist.  Metiria says National is backing [...] read more
  November 1, 2011 5:34 pm - 75 Comments
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  Murder in West Papua - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  The events of the past two weeks in West Papua have been a savage reminder that our neighbours just to the north are not free. First there was the attack on striking miners at Freeport McMoran, possibly the world’s most disastrous gold mining area, and the competition for that title is huge. The workforce was [...] read more
  October 25, 2011 1:43 pm - 3 Comments
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  Nasty surprise in Disability Commissioner bill? - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  The Government has introduced legislation to establish the permanent position of Disability Commissioner at the Human Rights Commission – or has it? read more
  October 25, 2011 10:15 am - 1 Comment
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  Rena Oil Spill Day 12 - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  Midday at Papamoa Beach Surf Club and the free sausage sizzle is competing with the donated cakes stall. A motley group of citizens is broken up into ten people clusters and decked out in the white overalls and blue rubber gloves. With spades and rakes we are packed off down the beach to start cleaning [...] read more
  October 17, 2011 11:17 am - 8 Comments
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  Rena Oil Spill – Day Ten - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  Green Party member Renee Annan and I drove into the car park at Maketu Surf Club. Clumps of people were wandering around and there was a small pile of contaminated sand bags on the edge of the beach. We had no idea how bad the problems were at Maketü but we figured talking to the [...] read more
  October 17, 2011 7:58 am - 3 Comments
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  Rena Oil Spill — Day Six - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  Early morning at Mount Maunganui, Mauao wrapped in sea flog. It doesn’t take long to find the stained sands and scattered particles of the oil spill black against the pale sands. People are standing and looking or scraping oil particles into buckets. The Maritime New Zealand call to register as a volunteer has been tried [...] read more
  October 12, 2011 2:27 pm - 80 Comments
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  Rena Oil Spill Day Five - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  The most critical aspect of any disaster is communication. The Greens have been calling for better communication because people have been calling on us for help. The public meetings and hui started last night which is a good thing and some of us went over to the Papamoa Library to hear from Andrew Berry of [...] read more
  October 11, 2011 10:33 am - 4 Comments
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  The Minister of Evasive Answers - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  Parliamentary questions are meant to be one of the ways in which the Government and its Ministers are kept accountable to Parliament, and through those of us who are privileged to serve as its Members, to the people of New Zealand. So I am pretty disappointed when I get replies like these to written Parliamentary [...] read more
  October 7, 2011 9:37 am - 4 Comments
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  Fair Pay for “Sleepover” work - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  In the very last week of this Parliamentary term a Bill will be passed that actually makes total sense. The so called “Sleepover Bill” implements a Court of Appeal decision that night shift workers working with people who live in supervised residential homes will eventually get fairer pay. The issue of fair pay at night [...] read more
  October 2, 2011 11:24 am - 1 Comment
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  Graduates and gender pay equity - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  A new study from the Ministry of Education shows in many occupations tertiary qualifications make very little difference when it comes to the gender pay gap. Four years after graduating, women earn on average $4380 less than men with the same qualifications. The only professions where this is not the case are the performing arts [...] read more
  September 15, 2011 12:15 pm - 7 Comments
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  “The Year of the Forests” Forum - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  It is the “International Year of Forest” and today I dedicated a forum at Parliament to Kelly Kwalik a forest defender who was murdered in West Papua in December 2009 and to Jose Ribeiro da Silva and Maria de Espirito Santa da Silva forest environmental activists murdered in Brazil May 2011. This is an international [...] read more
  September 13, 2011 6:10 pm - 2 Comments
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  Calls to Free West Papua at the Pacific Forum - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  Genocide is not a word to be used lightly but for the last forty years West Papua has been the dirty secret of the Melanesian Pacific. read more
  September 8, 2011 11:21 am - 6 Comments