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	<title>frogblog</title>
	<link>http://blog.greens.org.nz</link>
	<description>hopping along the corridors of power</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:29:52 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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		<title>General debate, February 10, 2012</title>
		<description><![CDATA[]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.greens.org.nz/2012/02/10/general-debate-february-10-2012/</link>
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		<title>Unemployment: one step forward, two steps back</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Hot on the heels of yesterday’s minimum wage increase announcement – of a paltry 50c an hour &#8211; comes the December 2011 Household Labour Force Survey quarterly report . On the face of it, the statistics indicate a steady decrease in unemployment &#8211; and no doubt John Key’s government will be pitching it in this [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.greens.org.nz/2012/02/09/unemployment-one-step-forward-two-steps-back/</link>
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		<title>Government cherry-picks research to justify school class size increases</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Yesterday, I asked a question in Parliament to Education Minister Hekia Parata: CATHERINE DELAHUNTY (Green) to the Minister of Education: Will she rule out implementing Treasury’s advice to increase class sizes in schools? I was expecting a similar rejection to those we have grown used to from John Key in response to some of the [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.greens.org.nz/2012/02/09/government-cherry-picks-research-to-justify-school-class-size-increases/</link>
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		<title>Waitangi Wisdom</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The Act Party’s sole MP John Banks was moaning in the House this week about the “terrible” protests at Waitangi. The last time he visited Waitangi on Waitangi Day was in 1990 when someone dared to throw a T-shirt at the Queen. Apparently, that makes him an expert.  I have been going to Waitangi every [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.greens.org.nz/2012/02/09/waitangi-wisdom/</link>
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		<title>The NZ Government on Syria:  “not helpful to go into detail; rather wider than I would care to go…”</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Syria is approaching the climax point. The armed forces continue to attack Homs in the name of suppressing the Free Syria Army but, in reality, killing citizens through widespread collateral, if not targeted, damage.  The UN Security Council is rendered ineffectual, again, through use of the veto.  The Arab League’s plan for a controlled and [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.greens.org.nz/2012/02/09/the-nz-government-on-syria-%e2%80%9cnot-helpful-to-go-into-detail-rather-wider-than-i-would-care-to-go%e2%80%a6%e2%80%9d/</link>
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		<title>Super Fund invests in Chinese property bubble?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The New Zealand Superannuation Fund has, on our behalf, decided to take a $23 million bet on a property development company with significant exposure to China — a country where some reports say that there are 64 million vacant apartments. The Fund’s stake in Hong Kong-based property development company Sun Hung Kai is the tenth [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.greens.org.nz/2012/02/09/super-fund-invests-in-chinese-property-bubble/</link>
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		<title>Waitangi Day Speech to Kapiti</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Sorry it&#8217;s a few days late, but as promised here is my speech from Waitangi Day: Tēnā koutou katoa, Toi te kupu. Toi te mana. Toi te whēnua. Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Te Ati Awa, Ngāti Raukawa, mē –tē hapū o Ngāti Haū-mia. Kiā ora koūtoū.  E ngā iwi,- e ngā mana, &#8211; e ngā whānau [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.greens.org.nz/2012/02/08/waitangi-day-speech-to-kapiti/</link>
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		<title>A stingy and evidence-averse decision on the minimum wage</title>
		<description><![CDATA[As I predicted in my blog post last week, John Key’s Government has announced today what amounts to a nil increase in the minimum wage &#8211; a paltry increase of 50c an hour. The nominal increase is 3.8% – but at the same time the Consumer Price Index increased 4.6% in the year to September 2011 [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.greens.org.nz/2012/02/08/a-stingy-and-evidence-averse-decision-on-the-minimum-wage/</link>
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		<title>Member&#8217;s Bills drawn</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Today, there was a ballot at Parliament for two Member&#8217;s Bills &#8211; they get drawn by a Lotto-style &#8220;numbers in a bucket&#8221; system as there are always many more MPs outside the Cabinet wanting to progress legislation than there is time in Parliament to deal with their Bills. I had high hopes for a Green [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.greens.org.nz/2012/02/07/members-bills-drawn/</link>
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		<title>A nation divided?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The Herald has launched a six part series highlighting inequality and poverty in New Zealand, showing why we need action on the root causes, not the consequences.]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.greens.org.nz/2012/02/07/a-nation-divided/</link>
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		<title>General debate, February 4, 2012</title>
		<description><![CDATA[]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.greens.org.nz/2012/02/04/general-debate-february-4-2012/</link>
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		<title>Public education under attack</title>
		<description><![CDATA[This has been a week of disturbing announcements by the National Government although the leader of the pack was actually John Banks &#8211; the lone ACT MP. Before final sign off and maybe as a way to keep the pressure on, John announced that Catherine Isaac (number 3 on the ACT list and rumoured to [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.greens.org.nz/2012/02/03/public-education-under-attack/</link>
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		<title>The best way to oil independence is to provide alternatives and use less</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The Ministry of Economic Development’s Briefing to the incoming Energy Minister predicts New Zealand could become a net exporter of petroleum by 2030 if new oil fields are developed. It’s a laudable goal to reduce our expensive dependence on foreign oil but it would be a lot smarter to invest in alternatives like better public transport, renewable electricity and sustainable alternative fuels.]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.greens.org.nz/2012/02/03/the-best-way-to-oil-independence-is-to-provide-alternatives-and-use-less/</link>
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		<title>Another reason to care about equal pay</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Aside from the obvious ‘minor’ issues of justice, equality, child poverty, women’s ability to participate in society on an equal footing with men, ethnic/gender disparities and poverty, Australia has just given us another reason to care about Equal Pay. Fair Work Australia workplace tribunal has just made an historic equal play decision for aged care [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.greens.org.nz/2012/02/03/another-reason-to-care-about-equal-pay/</link>
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		<title>Doing a stretch in the safety net</title>
		<description><![CDATA[United States Republican Presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney is getting a pasting for his comment: &#8230;I&#8217;m not concerned about the very poor; we have a safety net there. Over on Denise Roche’s minimum wage thread here at frogblog, commenter dbuckley recalls for us just what that &#8220;safety net&#8221; actually is: Yeah… but… you have that wonderful [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.greens.org.nz/2012/02/03/doing-a-stretch-in-the-safety-net/</link>
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		<title>Syria: The Litmus Test for Palestine</title>
		<description><![CDATA[This week the UN Security Council is meeting to discuss the situation in Syria. The Council has the opportunity, along with the obligation, to lead in the international community’s call for respect for human rights and political freedoms in this latest country to enjoy the warmth of the Arab Spring. Manoeuvring delicately within the grey [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.greens.org.nz/2012/02/02/syria-the-litmus-test-for-palestine/</link>
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		<title>Government stuck in the ‘80s on the minimum wage</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Sometime around now, Cabinet will be undertaking its annual review of the minimum wage, which currently stands at a lowly $13 an hour. My bet is that we will see another effective nil increase, with the minimum wage being adjusted upwards no more than the level of inflation over the past year. That would be [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.greens.org.nz/2012/01/31/government-stuck-in-the-%e2%80%9880s-on-the-minimum-wage/</link>
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		<title>General debate, January 31, 2012</title>
		<description><![CDATA[]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.greens.org.nz/2012/01/31/general-debate-january-31-2012/</link>
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		<title>Children&#8217;s privacy rights at risk</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The Green Party supports NZEI’s call for schools not to share their  Nationals Standards information because it could lead to the publishing of league tables that unfairly rank schools and infringe on pupils’ privacy. Schools must protect this information from publication because once it is centralised, there is no guarantee it can be kept out [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.greens.org.nz/2012/01/30/childrens-privacy-rights-at-risk/</link>
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		<title>Energy Strategy to worsen Energy Outlook</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The Ministry of Economic Development have released their Energy Outlook for New Zealand and it should be a wake-up call for the Government. The report projects New Zealand’s future energy supply, demand, prices and greenhouse gas emissions but the major challenges identified in it are at odds with the Governments  ‘drill it, mine’  fossil-fuel-focused Energy Strategy.

]]></description>
		<link>http://blog.greens.org.nz/2012/01/30/new-energy-outlook-report-contradicts-governments-drill-it-mine-it-energy-strategy/</link>
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