New Zealand has a truancy crisis as new figures show almost 40 per cent of students did not attend school regularly in term four of 2020, National’s Education spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says. “Given there has been a serious fall in regular attendance at schools over the past five years,
Darroch Ball Co-Leader/Spokesperson Sensible Sentencing Trust The Sensible Sentencing Trust is calling on the government to introduce body cameras for all frontline police officers. “With more and more officers being attacked and constant online cell-phone footage of alleged violent arrests with little or no context – body cameras
Yesterday the Labour Government blocked an inquiry into the Mental Health and Addiction Services annual report calling into question once again its openness and transparency, National’s Mental Health spokesperson Matt Doocey says. New Zealanders deserve to have confidence in the Ministry of Health, so yesterday Mr Doocey called for
The Government has been forced to take drastic action and freeze public sector pay because it’s allowed the number of Wellington bureaucrats to swell up to an unsustainable size, National’s spokesperson for Public Service Mark Mitchell says. “If Labour wants to reduce costs it only has to look
The Deputy Prime Minister appears to be pushing ahead with an implementation unit without any idea of what that unit will actually deliver, Shadow Treasurer Andrew Bayly says. “It remains unclear what this implementation unit will actually do, other than add another layer of taxpayer-funded bureaucracy to the public
News that unemployment has fallen from 4.9 per cent to 4.7 per cent will provide no comfort for the almost 200,000 New Zealanders on the Jobseeker benefit, National’s Social Development and Employment spokesperson Louise Upston says. “While it’s positive the unemployment figure has decreased, albeit
Dr David Cumin Free Speech Union The Free Speech Coalition is relaunching as a trade union under the name “Free Speech Union” and has successfully registered under the Employment Relations Act. “That name is not ironic”, says Dr David Cumin, a founding member of the Union’s Council. “We think
It is deeply disappointing that the Government has not agreed to National’s call for a new Covid-19 Select Committee, National’s Covid-19 Response spokesperson Chris Bishop says. National’s proposal was to establish a committee, based on the Epidemic Response Committee, which successfully held the Government to
Trevor Mallard has confirmed he is unfit to be Parliament’s Speaker by failing to answer several important questions relating to the false rape accusation saga that cost taxpayers more than $330,000, Shadow Leader of the House Chris Bishop says. “Trevor Mallard failed to justify his actions before Parliament
The Government’s proposed Maori Health Authority is simply not about generating better health outcomes for Maori, Deputy Leader of the Opposition Dr Shane Reti says. “In Question Time, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Health both rejected the need for a Pasifika Health Authority despite the government’s
As we embark on Phase 3 of the Covid-19 vaccine roll-out plan, new data shows New Zealand is ranked as low as 116th in the world in terms of vaccination doses administered, National’s Covid-19 Response spokesperson Chris Bishop says. “New Zealanders were promised we would be
Free Speech Coalition Jordan Williams The Free Speech Coalition supports Human Rights Commissioner Prof Paul Hunt, engaging with all New Zealanders, including Mongrel Mob gangsters, but is calling out his comments that it would be a ‘dereliction of duty’ to turn down invitations to speak about rights – given his blanket
Plans by the Government to reallocate $926 million of money unspent from the Covid Response and Recovery Fund is irresponsible and burdens future generations with even more debt than is necessary, National’s Finance spokesperson Michael Woodhouse says. Finance Minister Grant Robertson told a Wellington Chamber of Commerce audience this
The many thousands of jobs Jacinda Ardern’s Government promised New Zealanders its initiatives would create looks more like a pipedream than reality, National’s Employment spokesperson Louise Upston says. “The Government promised 20,000 jobs would be created as a result of its shovel-ready projects. But through Written
The Government should be much further down the road towards reconnecting New Zealand with the Pacific Islands than it currently is, Leader of the Opposition Judith Collins says. “I’m pleased the Cook Islands travel bubble finally has a start date, but the time it took to figure out quarantine-
The Prime Minister’s continued refusal to state her view on recommendations in the He Puapua report is a worrying sign for the future of the country, Leader of the Opposition Judith Collins says. He Puapua sets out a roadmap to co-governance between the Crown and Maori by 2040.
