Category: Social Issues
While the education reforms now being introduced by the Coalition, to overhaul the curriculum and the law will improve standards and give Kiwi kids a better opportunity to build decent lives for themselves, it remains unacceptable that provisions are being left in the legislation to empower He Puapua and race-based rule.
The Minister of Education, Erica Stanford is determined to introduce a knowledge rich curriculum for all New Zealand students. It is a standardised curriculum which ensures that students across the country receive the same high-quality knowledge consisting of academic subjects with content selected for its value and justified for its veracity.
The Treaty didn’t give Maori any special right to lord it over non-Maori. If they are worried about the declining educational and health status of too many young Maori they ought to start working out why this is the case. They’ll find it has nothing to do with colonialism, nor blood. Rather it is the result of years of their leadership overlooking sub-standard parenting among too many of those who choose to call themselves Maori.
The cause of the problem we face is, of course, the inexorable rise in expenditure on super and healthcare as our population ages. While we currently have around 800,000 retirees, by 2061 this number is expected to approach 2 million. At that time the number of workers per pensioner will fall from around four to one today, to just two to one.
Competition is just as important in government as it is in private sector markets. The lack of competition, over the past 80 years, in government-owned social service institutions, is why they are in such a mess today, when compared to say Singapore’s welfare institutions.
If we are to succeed the myth of racial superiority must be replaced with an overarching commitment to equality – valuing all members of our society equally and ensuring no one is left behind. Our leaders need to refocus on building success, rewarding those who work hard and condemning those who demand racial privilege.
The Coalition will need to keep a laser focus on eliminating wasteful spending and reducing the size of the State sector if the New Zealand economy is to really take off and deliver the prosperous future to which we all aspire.
If Sir Roger is right in his prediction that none of the existing political parties will support the proposed reforms because they don’t want to relinquish their tight-fisted grip on power, then we will need an army of Kiwis who are prepared to help us create the momentum we will need for a change of this scale...
Most politicians are tribal, they support their political party right or wrong, often in the hope of getting a ministerial job down the line. I never fitted into that category of politicians. For me, policy always came first - that is policy I believed to be in the best interests of New Zealand. Today, I still find it impossible to stay silent...
This article calls on all New Zealanders to be clear-eyed about the state of social services, particularly health, education, welfare and superannuation, and acknowledge that without major changes the system will inevitably collapse under its own weight. No government has had the courage to face up to the fundamental structural flaws of our present system.
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