The Gap Widens: NZ Rich Buried in Money

Graeme Hart, worth $10billion. pn241

While New Zealand's richest men just got a lot richer, the collective wealth of the country's poor nose-dived.

A report, Public Good or Private Wealth, being released by Oxfam at 1pm today (12.1.19) shows how the growing gap between rich and poor was undermining the fight against poverty, damaging local economics and fuelling public anger across the globe. Read all about it here.

How Warring Egos Hobble Maori Land Trusts

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Kiri Dell | Guest writer
Opinion

Why is Māori land rife with conflict and challenges that impede land aspirations? A new study reveals that big egos are in the driving seat of many Māori land trusts. Researcher Kiri Dell (Ngāti Porou) looks at the causes, consequences and ways forward.

Religion and the State in Fiji

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The ongoing argument between the Catholic Archbishop who insists Catholic schools are headed by Catholics and the "State" that says Catholic schools are partly paid for by the state and that promotions should be on merit has been going on too long.  Both sides need to talanoa, and find a mutually acceptable solution.

These comments from today's media

Catholic Church threatens schools closure

Closure must be the last option

Why Do So Few Aussies Speak an Australian Language?

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Linguistically speaking, Australia is special. With around 250 languages spoken when Australia was first colonised, Australia was one of the most Reqaaaalinguistically diverse places in the READ MORE ...world.

But few people speak its Indigenous languages. As of 2016, only 10% of Australia’s Indigenous population spoke an Indigenous language at home. (This link shows census info on the aboriginal population.) 

Most Indigenous languages are now “asleep”, waiting to be woken up by language revivalists.

Australian languages did not simply fade away; they were actively silenced by governments, schools and missions.   READ MORE ....

Maori Education: "We Certainly have got a lot of work to do."

 

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John Boynton, Te Manu Korihi Reporter

john.boynton@radionz.co.nz

The Tomorrow School's Review has shown changes are needed to the education system to stop it failing Māori.

A He Kākano student works on his art. Photo: RNZ / Mihingarangi Forbes 

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The review taskforce is calling for a national Kaupapa Māori education hub committed to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi to be set-up.

The review showed it was yet to significantly improve Māori students' learning experiences and success.

The task force recommends setting up a national hub dedicated to Kaupapa Māori allowing principals, boards of trustees, iwi, and the community to work together and lead change.

And it's estimated Māori educational inequity is costing the economy $2.6 billion a year.

The Social Progress Index: an Exciting New Tool to Assist Policy-Makers and the Public

Listen to Michael Green on TED by clicking1
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This is an exciting new statistical  tool, first published in 2014,  that can assist policy-makers, and the public that elects or appoints them, by measuring  social wellbeing between nations, and within nations, by region,  urban places and their suburbs, and by socio-economic and socio-cultural groupings. 

When the World Discovered the Pacific: 2018 Politics Roundup by RNZ's Johnny Blades and Jamie Tahana

It was a busy year for the countries of the Pacific, which had more global spotlight than usual as it found itself in the middle of feuding great powers. That brought a slew of new deals and partnerships, but also pressures. RNZ Pacific's Johnny Blades and Jamie Tahana look back on the year the world discovered the Pacific.

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From left: PNG's Foreign Minister Rimbink Pato, Prime Minister Peter O'Neill and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the APEC leaders summit in Port Moresby, 17 November 2018.  Photo: APEC Papua New Guinea Media team

Weekend Reading 19-20th January 2019: the Pacific in 2018: the Social Progress Index Explained, Maori Education, Few Aussies Can Speak Aussie Languages

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• The Pacific in 2018: a political round-up by Johnny Blades and Jamie Tahana pn220

• Exciting new statistical tool to measure wellbeing: the Social Progress Index. With a video link to SPI executive Michael Green who explains it all. pn235

• Maori education: "We have got a lot of work to do" by John Boynton, Te Manu Korihi reporter. pn238

• Why do so few Aussies speak an Australian language? The state of Austalia's Te Reo (Whoops! Nga Reo) pn239

Go to Search in the right-side toolbar and type the pn (posting number) you want to read, e,g., Maori education, type pn238

National is Holding Us to Ransom on Climate Change Outlook

Lisa McLaren in Stuff.  OPINION: 

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I believe it is high time for the National Party to retire their climate villain persona. US president Donald Trump has already taken that position on the global stage so it's time for National to bow out gracefully.

Let me be clear – if we get an insufficient draft Zero Carbon Bill ... it will be because the National Party is using the futures of all Kiwis as a political football. An ego-driven, point scoring game.

So Many Ways to Bring Down NZ Prison Numbers

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With such a high proportion of all prisoners being sentenced to two years or less in prison, there is space to look at alternatives. Most countries have different types of prisons, but New Zealand has only one.  Options such as open prisons for minimum security prisoners, employment training prisons, drug and alcohol therapeutic prisons and so on are possible.
Read what Dr Lis Gordon has to say.

The HOLE (sic!) Truth

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"... nobody has any idea what that is any more." Right, but no one ever fully knew what it was before.

Each of us has our own perspective on a truth, sometimes no better or worse than one of the blind men describing the proverbial elephant. Some have more knowledge but none of us can see or know the whole truth. 

As Laura Ingliss Wilder, the author of the once popular Little House on the Prairie series of children's books, said: "All I have told is true, but it is not the whole truth."

--ACW

Fiji Links and Comments: the Archbishop and Rosy Akbar, the Code of Conduct Bill,No PM New Year Message in FijiTimes

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It's good news that, as schools reopen, students will not be paying for textbooks and fees, and that 80,000 will not pay bus fares to school and back.  Vinaka, FijiFirst Government. 

■ Less welcome is the stand off between Education Minister Rosy Akbar and Catholic Archbishop Peter Loy Chong who wants see Catholics appointed as Principals in Catholic-administered schools (Muslim schools have no objection to non-Muslim Principals).