Catherine Delahunty Archive

• 

  On the ground in Waitangi - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  I am always astonished by the contrast between the media reporting on Waitangi and the experience on the ground. This year was no exception. There has been a lot of media talk about Hone Harawira’s “State of the Maori Nation” speech. Actually, he was a member of a panel which included Metiria Turei and Parekura [...] read more
  February 7, 2011 2:54 pm - 21 Comments
• 

  What is a real education? - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  I asked young people directly what they need from their education. Their answers are summarised in our report, ‘What is a real education’, released today. read more
  February 4, 2011 9:25 am - 12 Comments
• 

  12 Days of Christmas wraps up - by frog

  
  
  
  Today is Day 12 of our mini ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’ campaign. Each day, Metiria and Catherine have highlighted issues relating to inequality and child wellbeing, and presented Green solutions to those issues. Check it out day by day: Day 1 – Introduction Day 2 – Child poverty Day 3 – Disability Day 4 – [...] read more
  December 21, 2010 12:13 pm - 10 Comments
• 

  Only one week left for submissions to Welfare Working Group - by frog

  
  
  
  There is just one week to go to make submissions on the Government’s Welfare Working Group’s Options Paper – submissions close on Christmas Eve, unless the Welfare Working Group heed Catherine Delahunty’s call for an extension of the submission date. It really is ridiculous that such a short time is provided for public submissions on [...] read more
  December 17, 2010 2:01 pm - 18 Comments
• 

  And a partridge in a pear tree - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  It’s day three of our ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’ campaign today. This isn’t an official part of the campaign, but for your entertainment I’ve penned a wee ditty thanking John Key’s Government for all the lovely presents they got us this year. read more
  December 8, 2010 3:42 pm - 10 Comments
• 

  Today is International Volunteer Day - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  Today (December 5) is International Volunteer Day – the day we celebrate volunteering, the effort that what really makes the world go round. Imagine if no-one helped out at Kohanga or Playcentre unless they were paid? Imagine no-one bringing meals to elderly people in their homes unless they were paid. Who would care for people [...] read more
  December 5, 2010 9:35 am - 1 Comment
• 

  “The Morning Star” of West Papua - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  Today, December 1 is the day that people from all over the world show solidarity with West Papua. The much loved and contested symbol of West Papuan rights is the flag “The Morning Star” which will be flown in many places today. Keith Locke was at the flag raising in Auckland, while Russel Norman represented us [...] read more
  December 1, 2010 1:41 pm - 2 Comments
• 

  Welfare reports worlds apart - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  In the past two days, two significant reports have come out about welfare. I’d like to say that together they provide a comprehensive picture of the welfare debate and the options for reform, but sadly that’s not the case. read more
  November 26, 2010 3:44 pm - 252 Comments
• 

  Welfare Working Group worries - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  I watched with concern Paula Rebstock’s appearance on ‘Q and A’ last weekend. (We have two concerning Paulas to deal with in the welfare sector, this one’s not the Minister, but the chair of the Welfare Working Group). Paula R seemed to be crying some crocodile tears for beneficiaries trapped in poverty, while manufacturing a [...] read more
  November 17, 2010 1:04 pm - 8 Comments
• 

  What are our MPs listening to? Latest podcast - by frog

  
  
  
  This podcast is inspired by a close encounter with John Key in the Parliamentary gym by one of our staffers, who observed the PM listening to headphones while pounding the treadmill. It got us thinking: what do our MPs listen to? What’s on their iPods? Do they even have iPods? And if not, where does [...] read more
  November 15, 2010 4:37 pm - No Comments
• 

  No Minister, it’s not getting better for women - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  On Tuesday I asked the Minister of Women’s Affairs whether she was happy with the progress towards her goals of getting more women into leadership positions and closing the gender pay gap. She had to dance around a bit because no one could be happy with the evidence as presented in the 2010 Census of [...] read more
  November 11, 2010 2:09 pm - 4 Comments
• 

  “Coromandel No More Mining” – It’s Not Over! - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  Yesterday about 50 local Coromandel people and some Auckland supporters protested peacefully against a Newmont Gold drilling rig at Opoutere, a small coastal community on the Coromandel. The drilling rig is working in forestry land upstream of the beautiful Opoutere estuary and dotterel recovery programme area. It is interesting that Newmont has funded a salary [...] read more
  November 1, 2010 3:52 pm - No Comments
• 

  Establishing a Disability Commissioner - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  Before I came to Parliament I thought making change happen was all about passing legislation and getting the numbers in the House. In many ways, that’s true, but sometimes it’s about even stranger twists of politics. Take the example of the member’s bill I placed in the ballot last year to establish a fulltime Disability [...] read more
  October 28, 2010 9:00 am - 4 Comments
• 

  Latest podcast – this time with transcript - by frog

  
  
  
  Here’s our latest podcast from Parliament, this time about the cross-party friendships Green MPs have struck up across the chamber. Parliament is a strange place, and often the only images we get are of MPs shouting at each other across the chamber during Question Time. But when the gloves are off, how do MPs from [...] read more
  October 26, 2010 3:45 pm - 4 Comments
• 

  The latest on the gender pay gap - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  On Thursday Statistics NZ released its annual Household Incomes Survey. The headline news from the survey was that average wages have dropped slightly in the last year – not great news for anyone – but I was interested to see the Government’s response on what the survey says about the gender pay gap between men [...] read more
  October 9, 2010 9:29 am - 70 Comments
• 

  Captioning the Rugby World Cup - by frog

  
  
  
  It was pleasing to discover yesterday, via a question from Catherine to Broadcasting Minister Jonathan Coleman, that the seven Rugby World Cup matches screened live on TVNZ next year will include live captioning for the deaf community – after all, we promised the world a ‘stadium of 4 million people’, and this ought to include [...] read more
  September 23, 2010 2:25 pm - 2 Comments
• 

  Wake-up call on women’s rights - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  Sunday was Suffrage Day, a day on which we are urged to celebrate the struggle for Votes for Women. Determined to celebrate, I attended several suffrage events, but ended up somewhat sobered by the work we still need to do to achieve gender equity in the 21st Century. The gender pay gap is 12 percent [...] read more
  September 21, 2010 1:48 pm - 17 Comments
• 

  PPTA strikes for pay and conditions - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  Yesterday I ducked out of the office to march through Wellington with the secondary school teachers on strike for improved pay and conditions. I talked to teachers on the march about how it felt and they all said they would rather be negotiating. There had been eight years of successful negotiations and now the new [...] read more
  September 16, 2010 10:34 am - 5 Comments
• 

  Podcast: Bird of the Year - by frog

  
  
  
  Forest and Bird are launching their Bird of the Year competition this week and Green Co-leader, Russel Norman, is officially championing the kokako. I talked to Russel about his choice of native bird and his great dream of a Giant Totara National Park that inspired it…along with a gaggle of other Green MPs on their [...] read more
  September 13, 2010 12:20 pm - 1 Comment
• 

  More from inside the WWG welfare forum - by frog

  
  
  
  Paula Bennett: “This debate could get uncomfortable…it could get emotional…we may even see an ugly side of New Zealand…” And who created that ugly side, Paula? read more
  June 14, 2010 11:54 am - 73 Comments