Posts by Kevin Hague

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  Health Budget predictions and alternatives - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  As I write this I am preparing to go into  Parliament to hear the Budget, and no doubt to see  Government Ministers crowing about “more money than ever before” spent on Health, and ‘brave new’ programmes for this and that. I only get the Budget documents once I’m actually in Parliament, and have to frantically [...] read more
  May 16, 2013 1:09 pm - 3 Comments
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  Christchurch mental health initiative better than “all right” - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  Seeing images of the extent of the devastation wrecked by the earthquakes on Christchurch was depressing. I couldn’t even imagine how life must be for the people who had to work and raise their families in such tough conditions. So it’s great to see bright splashes of colour with the positive message of caring and [...] read more
  May 10, 2013 9:57 am - No Comments
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  Marriage Equality: Difference of world views - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  The debate over Louisa Wall’s marriage equality bill has been raging for almost a year now, and I have received thousands of emails and letters, as well as having read many thousands of submissions during the Select Committee process I thought the contrast between those in favour and those opposed was striking, and have blogged [...] read more
  April 12, 2013 12:32 pm - 30 Comments
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  The Marriage Equality Bill and religion - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  One of the themes winding its way through the debate over marriage equality is the relationship between the church and the state. New Zealand has no official religion and great effort has been expended to keep the church out of law-making and the State out of religious matters. So marriage presents an interesting set of [...] read more
  March 11, 2013 1:09 pm - 8 Comments
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  Family First, own goals and desperate measures - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  I guess Family First is in a hard position. They really don’t want Louisa Wall’s marriage equality bill to succeed but they’re faced with a situation where most New Zealanders support it, where it passed its First Reading with an emphatic majority, and where the Select Committee that heard submissions has given the Bill a [...] read more
  March 5, 2013 5:15 pm - 12 Comments
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  Police move to protect cyclists - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  In 2011, I discovered that the Police were failing in their duty of care to cyclists when it came to policing bicycle safety. The Police weren’t keeping any meaningful records on bicycle accidents reported by the public on their Community Roadwatch site. Now that’s changed: This small addition will make the world of difference to [...] read more
  March 5, 2013 9:49 am - 13 Comments
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  Marriage equality – the submissions against - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  I haven’t blogged this year yet on the Marriage Equality Bill, but it has in fact been a major focus for me. I know some opponents of the Bill are trying to kick up a fuss about lots of submitters who wanted to make an oral submission not getting the opportunity, but having read literally [...] read more
  February 27, 2013 10:25 am - 8 Comments
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  Biggest Gay Out - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  This Sunday was definitely the biggest Big Gay Out I have attended, with some news reports estimating crowds of 15,000 people. The event is one of the highlights of the LGBTI calendar with a really positive and welcoming environment. I spent most of the day wandering around, not getting sunburnt, talking with what seemed like [...] read more
  February 11, 2013 2:50 pm - No Comments
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  JT does the time warp, again - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  The John Tamihere Horror Show has returned and is not so much about a jump to the left or a step to the right, but a giant leap backward into some weird chauvinistic 1960s time warp where “no fat chicks” or gays are allowed. For that he’s been called a charming rogue, who represents the [...] read more
  December 5, 2012 12:44 pm - 5 Comments
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  Pike River, two years on - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  At the Pike River memorial service held at our local racecourse on a hot, still day in the weeks following the disaster, Grey District Mayor Tony Kokshoorn, who has often had the knack of putting his finger exactly on how our local community is feeling, referred to the Paparoa Ranges towering beside us as “our [...] read more
  November 19, 2012 12:54 pm - 11 Comments
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  Gay red top - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  Oh all right then. The issue with using the word “gay” in the way the PM did is that it works as a put-down only because it taps into and reinforces a bunch of negative ideas about homosexual people (actually, I didn’t think weird was one of them). As an adult gay man who has [...] read more
  November 7, 2012 2:42 pm - 50 Comments
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  Wilkinson resignation only symbolic - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  On Monday, in light of the Royal Commission report into Pike River, Kate Wilkinson resigned as Minister responsible for the Department of Labour. This was the right decision, given that Pike River was the most serious industrial disaster in the last fifty years, and it happened on her watch. What’s interesting is that she has [...] read more
  November 7, 2012 10:19 am - 5 Comments
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  Modernisation of adoption law - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  “Kevin Hague launches gay adoption bill”. Sigh. I’m gay, but that doesn’t make my bill a gay adoption bill. It’s true that in 2009 I did have a Bill in the ballot to extend the categories of people who could adopt to include same-sex and de facto opposite-sex couples. But I was persuaded that the [...] read more
  October 15, 2012 5:12 pm - 8 Comments
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  Asset sales costing jobs not creating them - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  Solid Energy’s announcement last week of the suspension of work at the Spring Creek mine is a devastating blow to the West Coast economy and our local community. Up to 230 jobs could go (plus others in contractors and related industries), which is very bad news for the workers and their families who are dependent [...] read more
  September 6, 2012 5:43 pm - 54 Comments
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  3 way voting on alcohol purchase age more democratic - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  In the wake of the parliamentary vote on alcohol purchase age there are some people (the ones I have seen are people who favoured 20) who are suggesting that the voting procedure used led to a perverse outcome. I disagree completely. This is not a post about the merits or otherwise of the various options, [...] read more
  September 1, 2012 10:46 am - 15 Comments
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  There will be no electoral backlash against MPs who support Marriage Equality - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  In the lead-up to the First Reading of Louisa Wall’s marriage equality bill, all MPs are receiving quite a lot of mail and email on both sides of the debate. A point frequently made by opponents of the reform is that they won’t vote for MPs who support the Bill. List MPs are insulated from [...] read more
  August 28, 2012 5:17 pm - 5 Comments
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  Me and Marriage Equality - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  So here’s a sample of the kind of thing MPs are receiving in our inboxes: EXACTLY WHAT ARE GAYS #4 WHO SAYS WE NEED ‘OFFICIAL MARRIAGE’ FOR INSECURE HOMOSEXUALS? WHAT’S WRONG WITH CIVIL UNION? OR FOR EXTREME INSECURITY, MAYBE CASTRATION COULD RELIEVE THEIR ANXIETY (IT DID FOR MY DOG) (BE LIKE GENETIC ENGINEERING TOO). OR [...] read more
  August 26, 2012 10:48 pm - 29 Comments
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  Catholic Bishops over-reach on marriage equality - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  It’s not a surprise that the NZ Catholic Bishops have chosen to oppose Louisa Wall’s Bill for marriage equality. After all, they opposed Homosexual Law Reform, they opposed human rights protection on the grounds of sexual orientation and they opposed Civil Unions. I’m beginning to sense a theme. The Catholic Bishops Pastoral Letter  is addressed [...] read more
  August 23, 2012 9:58 am - 27 Comments
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  Palliative care vs assisted dying: A false dichotomy - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  A necessary survival skill in this place is to be able to manage big differences of views on a daily basis, without becoming damaged by it. I’m usually quite good at it. I’m also a very big supporter of cross-Party approaches and working groups, and work hard to try to maintain good relationships right across [...] read more
  August 16, 2012 4:13 pm - 6 Comments
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  Marriage Equality – idea whose time has come - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  Marriage equality is about basic fairness. It is a pretty basic principle of law that discrimination that disadvantages a particular group based on irrelevant criteria is unacceptable, particularly when it is practised by the State. Louisa Wall’s bill to redefine marriage to exclude discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity is about eliminating exactly [...] read more
  August 14, 2012 11:00 pm - 54 Comments
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  What the ACC recording means - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  I’ve done a day of media interviews about the revelation that the crucial meeting last December between two senior ACC managers, claimant Bronwyn Pullar and her support person Michelle Boag was recorded. Several journalists have now heard the tape of the meeting and/or read a transcript, and have been reporting today that the tape does [...] read more
  April 30, 2012 7:15 pm - 3 Comments
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  Serious process failures by ACC: Bronwyn Pullar’s list - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  As you scan this list, please reflect on the fact that every one of these reminds me of issues other claimants have brought to me, and are endorsed by claimant organisations, lawyers and service providers who deal with ACC on a regular basis. And ask yourself if it is okay for this catalogue of issues [...] read more
  March 28, 2012 8:44 pm - 32 Comments
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  ACC: what we really need to ask - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  There’s nothing quite like a ministerial resignation to send political insiders and journalists into a frenzy. There are big issues arising from Nick Smith’s interference in Bronwyn Pullar’s ACC claim. Such as: Are the four letters that Nick Smith wrote concerning Ms Pullar’s claim the extent of his interference in her claim, or is there [...] read more
  March 22, 2012 11:32 am - 19 Comments
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  Fat, fate and disease – giving up on a generation? - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  I’ve just seen Andrea Vance’s Dompost piece concerning planned changes to the types of nutrition programmes to be funded by the Ministry of Health. This follows the publication of Professor Peter Gluckman and Professor Mark Hanson’s new book Fat, Fate and Disease: Why exercise and diet are not enough. I’ve just dashed out and picked [...] read more
  March 13, 2012 5:05 pm - 16 Comments
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  Drug Courts a giant step closer - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  I go to quite a few conferences and, to be honest, most of them are rubbish. A pretty standard format is researchers taking turns to get up and tell us about their work. Sometimes interesting, sometimes not, but essentially always geared around the researchers’ need to disseminate results (and often they only get to attend [...] read more
  March 5, 2012 11:44 am - 6 Comments
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  It’s official: Bicycling can save your life - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  The highly esteemed British Medical Journal has found, after an extensive study, that cycling literally saves lives. The research looked at the differences in health benefits of using a bicycle sharing scheme run in Barcelona compared with travel by a car in an urban environment. The results were clear: public bicycle sharing schemes can improve [...] read more
  October 20, 2011 10:02 am - 4 Comments
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  Mental Health Awareness Week - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  This week is Mental Health Awareness week. The culture around mental health in New Zealand has come leaps and bounds from where it was even five years ago. I congratulate everyone who has helped bring about this culture change and raise awareness about mental health issues, and I thank them for doing so. However, this [...] read more
  October 12, 2011 1:44 pm - 6 Comments
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  Blueprint for safer queer youth - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  Last week I had the chance to participate in several of the events in the Hamilton Pride Festival for queer and transgendered people in the Waikato. I spent my secondary school years at Hamilton Boys High School, so I really valued the opportunity to launch there a landmark new report by Murray Riches entitled “How [...] read more
  September 29, 2011 8:13 am - 1 Comment
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  Where are you now, Mr. Key? - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  I have spent a bit of time in  Courthouses. They are typically depressing places, cold, hard, unwelcoming; the people angry, fearful, resigned. The Greymouth Courthouse is a new one. The waiting room is well lit. There are paintings on the walls, carpet on the floor. Yet those same feelings are almost palpable, along with a [...] read more
  September 9, 2011 12:37 pm - 19 Comments
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  Pike Inquiry reveals regulation shambles - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  Thanks to my awesome Caucus colleagues I have been given leave from Parliament this week to attend the first week in this second phase of the Pike River Royal Commission of Inquiry. The Green Party was one of the voices calling for an inquiry with wide terms of reference, that families and mine workers could [...] read more
  September 8, 2011 7:58 pm - 13 Comments
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  Riding the first of the on-road Cycle Trails - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  This weekend, I got to ride big parts of the 180km route from Taumarunui to New Plymouth. The ride was a celebration of the opening of the first on-road component of Nga Haerenga, the New Zealand Cycle Trail. The weekend had a bit of everything: gorgeous scenery, local hospitality, wide-eyed children, even local political drama. [...] read more
  August 24, 2011 10:50 am - 11 Comments
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  Exciting next phase in National Cycle Network - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  I’m writing this from the Overlander train, heading North to Taumarunui. Tomorrow morning I’m part of an event there to launch the next phase of Nga Haerenga: the New Zealand Cycle Trail Network. Nga Haerenga is a joint project of the Green and National parties – Green cycling expertise and Government money. You may remember [...] read more
  August 19, 2011 9:43 am - 2 Comments
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  Misuse of parliamentary procedure to change Misuse of Drugs Act - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  Today Parliament debated a proposal from Peter Dunne to change the Misuse of Drugs Amendment Bill to allow him to ban any substance that might cause harm, essentially by decree. The original bill — which went through the health select committee in November last year — was flawed to begin with. The original bill was [...] read more
  August 3, 2011 9:19 am - 11 Comments
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  Labour’s adoption approach underwhelming at best - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  Labour MP (and perhaps crucially candidate for Auckland Central) Jacinda Ardern announced last week that she will seek to introduce a Member’s Bill to require the Law Commission to update its previous advice on adoption law and draft a bill to overhaul the current law in this light. Readers may well have heard me talk previously [...] read more
  August 2, 2011 8:18 pm - 12 Comments
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  Mine safety improvements needed NOW - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  When someone heads off to work in the morning, they have a right to expect that their workplace is as safe as it can possibly be, and that they will return home again after work, safe and well. In the immediate aftermath of the Pike River mine disaster Cabinet ministers, most notably John Key himself [...] read more
  June 23, 2011 1:52 pm - 3 Comments
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  Police fail cyclists elsewhere too - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  It seems the Police are not only failing cyclists here in New Zealand but abroad. In fact, a quick search of YouTube reveals dangerous driving behaviour in all those countries where the car is still king, especially in Australia, the UK, and the USA. This clip from New York shows how one cyclist is fighting [...] read more
  June 14, 2011 12:50 pm - 1 Comment
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  Police failing duty of care to cyclists - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  Have you ever lodged a Community Roadwatch report documenting dangerous driver behaviour on our streets only to get the feeling later on that nothing has been done about it? I have, and when I used the Official Information Act to find out if my experience as a cyclist was shared by others, the Police couldn’t [...] read more
  June 13, 2011 8:53 am - 37 Comments
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  Happy International Nurses Day - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  Happy International Nurses Day to all nurses in New Zealand. And happy birthday Florence Nightingale, whose influence on the nursing profession was profound, and who would have been 191 today. The theme of International Nurses Day 2011 is increasing access and equity, and it is particularly timely. Next week’s budget will see cuts across a [...] read more
  May 12, 2011 1:20 am - 10 Comments
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  Blackball Mayday Speech - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  While some others were focused on political events elsewhere in the country, I was in Blackball for the annual Mayday celebrations and for the launch of a memorial wheel for those who have lost their lives in West Coast mines in recent years, most notably the Pike River 29. Families had made tiles with the [...] read more
  May 1, 2011 11:59 am - 2 Comments
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  How bicycle lanes brought down Nazi Germany - by Kevin Hague

  
  
  
  A Friday funny. If only it could be true of this Government too (sigh): read more
  April 8, 2011 11:13 am - 3 Comments