Justice & Democracy Archive

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  Shooting at One’s Feet (US Style) on Palestine - by Kennedy Graham

  
  
  
  On Tuesday I welcomed the decision by the UNESCO General Assembly to recognise Palestine as an independent state. That decision reflects the majority international view that the Palestinian people deserve to be represented as a state at the international level. Murray McCully is yet to give a credible explanation for NZ’s abstention from the vote. [...] read more
  November 4, 2011 12:58 pm - 14 Comments
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  Chogm fails to challenge Sri Lanka on human rights - by Keith Locke

  
  
  
  Human rights was the loser at this year’s Commonwealth Prime Ministers’ conference (GHOGM). Endorsing Sri Lanka to host the next (2013) conference was a slap in the face for those calling for an independent international investigation into the 2009 massacre in northern Sri Lanka and an end to the ongoing persecution of the Tamils. To [...] read more
  October 31, 2011 12:17 pm - 5 Comments
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  Citizen engagement at Occupy Auckland - by Keith Locke

  
  
  
  I got a buzz out of visiting the Occupy Auckland camp again this sunny afternoon. Seventy tents have mushroomed on the grass in Aotea Square  right next to the Town Hall. Hopefully the Auckland Council will continue to tolerate the camp as a venue for citizen engagement with politics. It’s not just the ‘occupiers’ discussing [...] read more
  October 25, 2011 4:43 pm - 17 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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  ‘Debating’ Foreign Policy: National and Green - by Kennedy Graham

  
  
  
  Yesterday, the NZ Institute of International Affairs held an important one-day seminar on ‘The Major Economic and Foreign Policy Issues facing New Zealand, 2012-17’. The programme is here. Some excellent presentations were made, especially by Rick Boven (NZ Institute) and Duncan Currie (oceans consultant). There were three political representatives. The Minister spoke at 8.45 am. [...] read more
  October 23, 2011 10:42 am - 3 Comments
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  Transport funding CONsultation - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  A few months ago I wrote a draft submission on the Government Policy Statement on Land Transport funding and encouraged members of the public to send it in. Normally, I generally don’t encourage people to make form submissions on a topic but because the issue of land transport funding is pretty technical I wanted to [...] read more
  October 18, 2011 1:55 pm - 5 Comments
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  Mapp’s reassurances on torture fall short - by Keith Locke

  
  
  
  It’s not good enough for Defence Minister Wayne Mapp to say he has “no information” that any of the 58 people arrested on the SAS’s joint operations with the Afghan Crisis Response Unit have been subsequently tortured. He admitted that 15 of them had been sent to facilities run by the Afghan intelligence service, the [...] read more
  October 14, 2011 2:15 pm - 5 Comments
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  Protest photo punishment too harsh? - by Sue Kedgley

  
  
  
  What was the Speaker thinking about when he came down so heavily on the NZ Herald, just before the election, for publishing a photo on its website of a highly unusual event in Parliament. I wonder whether he had thought through the implications for democracy of preventing one of the major newspapers in New Zealand [...] read more
  October 10, 2011 11:16 am - 6 Comments
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  Reforming the NZ Parliament - by Kennedy Graham

  
  
  
  The 49th Parliament ended yesterday.  All 122 MPs have headed home.  Most are already preparing for the election. The three years have been a fascinating experience for me.  The most frequent question people have asked is, “are you enjoying it?”; to which I reply, “I am glad I am there”. I am glad I am [...] read more
  October 7, 2011 5:12 pm - 3 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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  PM averse to public service radio - by Sue Kedgley

  
  
  
  The Prime Minister is becoming increasingly picky about who he will speak to in the media. While happily fronting a weekly slot on TVNZ’s Breakfast programme, and on Radio Sports, and a one hour special on Radio Live, he has refused virtually all requests for interviews on Radio New Zealand. He has declined 174 requests [...] read more
  October 5, 2011 2:14 pm - 22 Comments
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  “National will not be raising GST” – 1st anniversary edition - by frog

  
  
  
  Celebrate the 1st anniversary of National breaking its 2008 election promise to not raise GST by making a commitment to vote for a Party you can trust – the Greens. read more
  October 1, 2011 5:49 pm - 12 Comments
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  Sue and Keith’s valedictory speeches - by frog

  
  
  
  Sue Kedgley and Keith Locke — two of the original seven Green MPs who came into Parliament in 1999 — are standing down from Parliament at this election. The House grants outgoing MPs a chance to reflect on their time in Parliament with a valedictory speech. You can watch Sue and Keith reflect on their [...] read more
  September 29, 2011 2:20 pm - 6 Comments
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  Controversial ACTA to be signed this weekend - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  This weekend, the Key Government is yet again putting our country’s sovereignty on the line by signing up to the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) in Japan. Until recently, this international agreement had been negotiated entirely in secret despite huge concerns about sovereignty and copyright law. However, active campaigning and a great deal of leaked [...] read more
  September 28, 2011 4:43 pm - 2 Comments
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  Retrospective surveillance laws shouldn’t be rammed through Parliament - by Keith Locke

  
  
  
  We should be very worried that the government intends to rush legislation through Parliament next week that could restrict New Zealanders’ ability, under the Bill of Rights, to protect themselves from unreasonable surveillance. To add insult to injury, the legislation will be retrospective, to make legal the behavior of the Police over recent times in [...] read more
  September 20, 2011 2:02 pm - 21 Comments
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  Youth! Y U NO ENROL? - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  It is important young Kiwis are involved in the political process. They are the future and have a stake in our democracy. However, at the moment almost a third of 18–24-year-olds and a fifth of 25–29-year-olds are not enrolled to vote in the upcoming election! If you aren’t enrolled you can’t vote and have a [...] read more
  September 16, 2011 9:42 am - 59 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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  Corrections fail to correct, justice perpetuates crime - by David Clendon

  
  
  
  Two reminders today that this (and  previous) governments’ punitive approach to crime and punishment is failing dismally, at enormous economic and social cost, and it needs to change. The Herald highlights the massive cost of building new prisons, with the proposed Wiri project having cost us over $20 million before construction even begins.  The prison [...] read more
  September 13, 2011 10:01 am - 12 Comments
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  Palmer Panel soft on Israel’s flotilla raid - by Keith Locke

  
  
  
  It was seen as a feather in New Zealand’s cap when former Prime Minister Sir Geoffrey Palmer was appointed to head the UN Secretary-General’s Panel of Inquiry into the Israeli attack on a flotilla bringing aid to Gaza in May 2010. Unfortunately, the resultant report, released this month, is far from adequate. It supports the [...] read more
  September 12, 2011 2:18 pm - 6 Comments