The Star: January 26, 2017

22 Thursday January 26 2017
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They have shown this by
attempting to sell off what
isn’t in reality theirs to sell to
speculators both NZ and
foreign.
I am a pakeha myself whose
disgusted in this mockery that
politicians make of past promises
and then expect respect honour
and speaking rights at Waitangi
Day celebrations.
Peaceful protest is my right as
a New Zealander and Mr Gough
needs to wake up to the reasons
we are protesting lately against
having this country sold out by
this Government to the growing
power of global corporations
that respect neither our human
rights or our environment or the
indigenous rights in countries
they want to use to grow their
profit margins.
The dildo throwing I recall
was at a politician who is all for
letting this happen.
Trust Gough to not point out
the reason for recent accelerated
protests.
He’s all for selling us out
too.
Dave Moore – One must
have pretty low expectations
for your day when you take a
dildo along in your bag and then
throw it away.
Back to school adds to financial struggle
NEXT WEEK thousands of
children and young people
will swap the freedom of the
summer holidays for another
year of school.
Friends will be reunited after
the break, there will be more
than a few relieved parents, and
inevitably the golden weather
will begin!
THere will also be an added
financial strain on already
stretched household budgets still
recovering from the Christmas
and holiday period. Uniforms,
stationary and voluntary
donations all add up.
THat families are feeling the
squeeze is not surprising when
you look at the facts.
THe price of a child’s state
education has risen by 15 per
cent since 2007.
Figures released by the
Australian Scholarships Group
planning and education index
show that parents can now
expect to pay up to $40,000
towards the cost of a child’s state
schooling.
It is now clear that the
National Government’s
underfunding has killed off the
notion that education in New
Zealand is free.
In last year’s Budget, National
froze 2017 school operational
funding and continued a seven
year freeze of early childhood
education funding.
THe simple fact is that
Government funding simply
hasn’t been keeping up with the
cost of educating kids.
If they don’t get the money
from government, schools have
to look elsewhere and parents are
the ones most likely to end up
footing the bill.
I know from talking with
teachers and principals that
they know that their parents
are strapped for cash. A
survey of principals late last
year shows that many schools
will instead be forced to cut
teacher aide hours because their
communities simply can’t afford
to pay more. That means the
children who most need extra
support miss out.
We’ve certainly seen an
upswing in the electorate office
of people coming in who can’t
get the support their child needs.
THis is not right. By law,
schooling in New Zealand is
supposed to be free, but under
National that’s simply not the
case. Failing to fund education
properly is costly to parents,
but the biggest losers are our
children.
Labour has made a very clear
commitment to fund schools
properly so they don’t have
to rely on contributions from
parents. Every Kiwi kid deserves
a fair shot at a great education.
Megan Woods is Labour’s
Canterbury spokeswoman
Temporary housing units available for farmers
LOSING YOUR home is
distressing in any circumstance,
especially after a natural disaster
when whole communities are
disrupted.
As a small nation prone to
various natural disasters, we
have to be innovative and flexible
in the weeks and months that
follow a large-scale event.
The magnitude 7.8 earthquake
that struck near Kaikōura
on November 14 caused
widespread damage to essential
infrastructure – including state
highways and other roads – and
to thousands of homes and
properties.
Farm properties were hit
particularly hard, with many
isolated farmers forced to take
matters into their own hands to
ensure their stock had access to
food and water.
The Government recently
announced it would sell the
temporary housing units used
in Christchurch after the 2011
earthquake to help farmers in
Gerry Brownlee
the Hurunui, Kaikōura and
Marlborough districts recover.
The 20 temporary
units at the Rawhiti
Domain in New Brighton
were used to support families
through the Christchurch
earthquakes and will now
support those farmers with
significantly damaged homes.
Farmers will be able to buy a
unit for $25,000 and use them
while their homes are repaired as
they need to stay on their land to
keep their businesses running.
The Government was in negotiations
to sell the remainder of
the temporary houses at Rawhiti
and Linwood to the city council
when the Kaikōura earthquake
struck.
This option of relocating
the temporary housing, now
surplus from the Christchurch
earthquake recovery, is among
the support initiatives the
Government has put in place
since the Kaikoura earthquake.
Between the earthquake and
Christmas, the Government’s
response included rolling out
a wage subsidy package for affected
businesses, passing three
pieces of emergency legislation
to expedite important recovery
work and announcing $3.7 million
health support for affected
regions.
The National Government
is committed to making New
Zealand resilient in the face of
natural disasters and will this
year continue on the work it
has been doing over the last six
years.
Gerry Brownlee is Minister
supporting Greater Christchurch
Regeneration