human rights Archive

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  A bizarre human rights appointment

  
  
  
  Brian Neeson has spent most of his political life espousing bigotry and opposing human rights. So why appoint him to the Human Rights Review Tribunal? This is a truly bizarre appointment. read more
  December 21, 2009 3:17 pm - 27 Comments
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  TVNZ – step up to the Convention

  
  
  
  TVNZ might be at risk of becoming blasé about complaints to the Human Rights Commission. After all, it is becoming a regular occurrence thanks to their ongoing support for Paul Henry’s barking and dog whistling. Henry is willing to incite prejudice and contempt for women who are not Barbie and people with intellectual impairments. read more
  December 3, 2009 6:41 pm - 59 Comments
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  Time for debate in NZ on discriminatory royal succession rules

  
  
  
  Britain’s current dilemma over the discriminatory nature of royal succession will hopefully stimulate a similar debate in New Zealand. The timing is good, now that my Head of State Referenda Bill – to see whether Kiwis want to stay with the monarchy – has been picked from the Private Member’s Bill Ballot. read more
  December 1, 2009 2:27 pm - 35 Comments
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  Access to Dental Care a Human Right

  
  
  
  I am horrified that the Ministry of Health’s mobile dental clinics won’t be wheelchair accessible.  If the vision is to take health out to the people then access is a fundamental issue.  The excuse that a ramp would cost $70,000 must be examined.  What has happened to the DIY approach to practical problems like building a [...] read more
  November 6, 2009 3:56 pm - 107 Comments
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  October 15th 2007 – Lest we forget

  
  
  
  Yesterday was the second anniversary of the so called “terrorism” raids. Police carried out dawn raids on dozens of houses in Te Urewera and around Aotearoa which was definitely terrifying for the victims of this debacle who turn out not to be terrorists. I will not forget the conversations I had with people from Ruatoki about [...] read more
  October 16, 2009 11:42 am - 23 Comments
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  NZ must take a stand on human rights abuse in Iran

  
  
  
  All eyes were on Iran during its presidential elections on June 12. The re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was seen as fraudulent by many, and set off a spate of protests in following weeks. The crackdown by the Iranian government shocked the world. Many protestors and bystanders were killed or injured; over a thousand were detained. Though [...] read more
  September 7, 2009 5:47 pm - 51 Comments
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  Time is Now

  
  
  
  The Minister of Justice has missed the point of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. National is prevaricating about recognising the Declaration because they are afraid it might actually mean something and affect the law of the land. They are failing to embrace the opportunity the Declaration offers us of a deeper engagement over [...] read more
  July 24, 2009 1:40 pm - 176 Comments
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  Hard-hearted immigration policy does NZ reputation damage

  
  
  
  I’m glad New Zealand Immigration has cancelled its edict that a Lithuanian visitor, Jurga Skiauteris, must hop on a plane, despite medical advice that she should stay put in new Zealand  because of complications with her pregnancy.   What a heartless policy New Zealand Immigration has towards pregnant women here on temporary visas.   It is actually a discriminatory [...] read more
  June 10, 2009 1:18 pm - 27 Comments
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  Declaration of Indigenous Rights Down Under

  
  
  
  On Tuesday I got to ask my first proper Question in the House. Unsurprisingly Hone Harawira asked more or less the same question. Will the Government follow the lead of Australia and change their position to support the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People? The Prime Minister did a good imitation of saying nothing [...] read more
  April 2, 2009 7:00 am - 106 Comments
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  GEO Group record in private prisons – very very bad

  
  
  
  One of the companies that is apparently in discussions with National to run a private prison is The GEO Group Inc. They ran the Auckland Central Remand Prison when it was privatised. John Key is reported as saying that they produced “very good results”. The GEO Group, Inc. is part of the The [...] read more
  March 12, 2009 11:08 am - 27 Comments