Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Well it's Christmas and this city girl is heading to small town surburbia for the holidays this afternoon. Where the weather will be fine, it will be warm and wind will not mean I get left highly embarrassed on the corner of a major intersection after my skirt blows up.

I hope everyone here has a very Happy Holiday and gets some relaxation in - I know I will be.

Have a great Christmas and Happy New Year - don't do anything I wouldn't.

Goodbye

Marian Hobbs has officially announced that she will not be contesting the Wellington Central seat in the 2008, this is a sad lost for the Wellington Central electorate, as Marian is a fantastic MP admired by people from across the political spectrum, as she will stand up for what she believes in, even if that means getting the PM's back up.

I had the wonderful opportunity of working for Marian, she was a great boss. The way she dealt with things, and even in some really 'interesting'(the niceset way to phrase it) times she kept a cool head on her. She also offered lots of support and advice on work related things, but also in times of personal need.

Marian has been in Parliament for 12 years, been in Cabinet and then stepped back, she feels that she has gone in, worked her bum off, and now should take a step back to allow for rejuvenation, she was never a "career politician" unlike many others in Parliament.

Marian will be heading over to the UK to teach after the 2008 election, I wish her all the best and thank her for the way in which she has looked after the people of Wellington Central and for her work in Parliament as well.

More Money

Minimum wages are set to incerase by $1, from $10.25 to $11.25 on April 1 next year. This is great news for unions and workers who have long been struggling to get a wage increase.

Although, I would have preferred Youth Rates to have been abolished, I am pleased that they too will get an increase with an 80c wage rise to $9 an hour.

I am slightly worried about how businesses may react to this, and therefore not employ unskilled workers and young people. However, there are plenty of jobs which skilled persons usually do not apply for and therefore I do not feel that there is suddenly going to a massive increase in the unemployment levels - as some people believe this is what will happen.

Hopefully under the Labour Government we will get a minimum wage of $12 an hour at the end of 2008, because chances of that happening under a National Government are slim to none.

Police Protection

The New Zealand Police are being given protective body armour to wear to emergency calls. The first area to receive the gear is Counties Manakau. They will be followed by Auckland, Northshore and Northland.

I think it is a pity that NZ has come to a point where our police force need to be dressed in such gear, because the risk of being hurt or killed on the job has increased significantly.

However, even though the Police now have extra protection, they will still need to use their tactical training to deal with the criminal/s, as protective gear does not do that. Hopefully the extra weight will not impede police from being able to give chase if necessary.

I am pleased that the Police will now be better protected, I just hope that it also means that the people of New Zealand will be as well.

Please report it and get help!

Here is a letter that one of the victims of the recent spate of date rapings in Taranaki wrote. It is sad and it certainly moved me to tears.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim to this, and not just in Taranaki, go to the police. It does not matter if you can not remember descriptions, times etc REPORT IT! Rape is not something you bring on yourself, the person who commits such offences should be in jail to prevent them hunting on innocent people.

While you are out partying, and especially at this time of year, be aware of your drink, your friends drink and people around you. Also keep an eye on the amount you and your friends are drinking, and if someone seems remarkablyl drunk for the amount they have to drink there is a warning sign and you should report is ASAP.

If you do fall victim to such a horrific attack go to a Police Station or dial 111, then get some counselling this can be sought from Rape Crisis or privately. People are there to help you through such an experience so use them, because keeping it inside will not help

Not your typical request...

Durex are looking for people to help test their products.

I am intrigued as to how exactly this works, do people ring up on an individual basis and then get paired with someone, or do couples sign up, or does a person get given some magazines and a room and then they see if anything leaks though.

I always figured that Durex must have some way on testing their products, I guess i never really thought about how it was done.

And the winner is....

The winner of North and South New Zealander of the Year is .... Gareth Morgan.

It was a lovely event, held at the Boatshed on the Taranaki Wharf, beautiful weather, plenty of food and alcohol.

A few brief speeches and it was a pleasant way to spend ones evening.

For more on the winner purchase the January issue of North and South.

Susan Wood

This is just a quick post that:

Susan Wood has resigned from being the presenter of Close Up effective immediately.

She has a lump on her neck and wishes to spend more time on her health and her family.

Mark Sainsbury and Paul Henry will cover the position until a replacement is found.

Why bother keeping the law the same???

So although it has been decided to keep the drinking age 18 and above, rather than raising it back up to 20, it appears that some bars are taking matters into their own hands.

Does this mean someone could open a bar and ban all over 40s, so as there are no seedy creepy older guys in the bars??? (see stereotyping is BAD) It is ridiculous. Even if 18 and 19 year olds are deemed to be less socially responsible with their drinking, they can always be asked to leave, or kicked out, if the bar staff or bouncers feel that they have had too much to drink.

I have also been told that there are a number of bars in Wellington that are refusing entry to people under twenty and have no doubts that this will be happening in most major cities.

I would appreciate if anyone knows of any bars which are doing this to list their name and city of location under comments.

The stadium solution

Hahahaha. God this is funny. Nice one, Farrar.

Boobs beat safe sex

So, The Advertising Standards Authoirty said "condoms bad" but the Broadcasting Standards Authority say "boobs on bikes - great!" - ok yes I get that boobs on bikes for some people is appealing, but these different rulings seem stupid.

I mean Boobs on Bikes is part of the Erotica Expo, so what, we can have women displaying themselves on the streets where children may see. But we can't put condoms in letterboxes which children may also find and then learn how to be safe. What does boobs on bikes teach them - that women should be oggled and there for people to dream about???

I think both should be allowed, and then children can be told (especially boys) if you want to be with one of the girls on the bikes and do all sorts of 'naughty' things then make sure you use a condom - provided courtesy of hell's pizza.

I am sure if the girls on the bikes were throwing out condoms there would be complaints, but I am sure no complaint would be upheld. Maybe its true - having boobs will get you out of almost anything.

The Boobs on Bikes dismissed complaint article can be found at :http://xtramsn.co.nz/news/0,,11964-6638659,00.html

Suprise, Suprise

Well Hell's Pizza have been found in breach of the Advertising Standards when Members of the Advertising Standards authority unanimously agreed the promotion breached basic principle 4 of the code, which requires advertisements to be prepared with a sense of social responsibility.

Family First and Family Life are claiming it as a victory, that will see companies cautious of putting out smutty campaigns.

For more info the stuff story is at :http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3882877a11,00.html

John Quays

I was sent this email entitled " I wonder if this song by the fall will come to haunt national"

It made me think lol, and so have decided to share it:

NO X-MAS FOR JOHN QUAYS
The x in x-mas is a substitute crucifix for Christ
No Christmas for John Quays

The powders reach
And the powders teach
And when you find they can't reach
There is no Christmas for junky

He thinks he is
More interesting
Than the world
But buying cigs
Puts him in a whirl

A packet of three-five fives
555
A packet of those over there
And 20 special offer cigars

Found talking to the cigarette machine
Into nicotinic acid
Good king Wenceslaus, he looked out
Silly bugger, he fell out

He spits in the sky
It falls in his eye
Then he gets to sit in
Talking to his kitten

And talking about Frankie Lymon

Tell me why is it so?
Tell me why is it so?

Out of his face with The Idle Race
Out of the room with his tune

Although the skins are thin
He knows its up to him
To go out or stay in

I'll stay in
I'll stay in

You
Me
X-Mas
X-Mas

There is no Christmas for junkies
No girls
No curls
Just the traffic passing by
Bye bye bye bye bye bye bye bye
1,2,3,4

No X-mas for John Quays

ME... according to Cosmo

So I was bored at work and over the past few days have taken a number of Cosmo quizzes.
I promise I only did each one once and was honest - so here is a brief description of what I am like, well at least according to Cosmo, and Elle Woods said, Cosmo is the Bible.

AM I BAD GIRL?
Slightly sinful femme

Sure, you'll toss your Clooneyesque boss a compliment, ditch your diet for a night of chocolate bliss or hook up with a random guy on holidays, but there's always a deliberation process that keeps you in check. "You know how to let loose and live in the moment, but you always weigh up the consequences before acting," says psychologist Dr Nancy Rosenbach. What's the secret of your self-control? "You know that it can be even more enjoyable to be slightly bad and savour it, rather than being full-blown naughty and suffer for it," says Tracey Cox, author of Superdate. "You'll flirt with a guy who's taken and enjoy yourself, but won't push it to a point where it compromises a friend's trust. Similarly, you'll relish a random day off, but you realise that being a serial skipper doesn't give you a rush, just a slacker rep."


HOW FABULOUS AM I?
You're a fabulous femme

You’re confident, charismatic, and super-sexy, but you don’t flash it in everyone else’s face – that’s what makes you truly fab. Sure, you’ll toot your horn a little at an interview or dress to wow your new boyf’s friends, but you don’t try so hard to impress that you steal everyone else’s thunder.Because you’re so secure, you don’t feel the need to bulldoze people to prove you’re worthy of getting what you want, says Julia Bourland, author of The Go-Girl Guide (amazon.com). For example, when your stylist gives you highlights that would even scare Pink, you feel entitled to a redo but ask for it nicely. Similarly, you don’t put guys through hell when they don’t give you 110 per cent of their attention. Still, you will give a distracted date a subtle reminder (“Waiter, a glass of your best merlot, please!”) that you’re worth your weight in golden mobile phone minutes. Cheers to you, sister!

AM I FUN TO BE AROUND?
You're a good-time gal

Your definition of fun isn’t pushing yourself to the limit but finding pleasurable ways to unwind. For instance, you’ll skip out of work early and hit a party with colleagues after a tough day, but you don’t go overboard, dance with every guy in the place, and end up missing work the next day to recover. “You’ve achieved a sense of balance,” says Cameron Tuttle, author of The Bad Girl's Guide to the Party Life (amazon.com). “You know when it’s important to get out of your serious mind-set and let loose, even if you’re feeling stressed or worried about something. You also know when it’s wise to spend quality time by yourself on the couch.”Similarly, you don’t need to prove to everyone what a fun person you are. If skydiving sounds less than enjoyable, you’re not about to free-fall just to impress a new guy. Still, you’re flexible enough to step outside your comfort zone occasionally. Because of your mix of charisma and calm, both friends and potential boyfriends find you enchanting to be around.

ARE YOU A BALL BUSTER?
Balanced babeCongrats!

You know when to stick up for yourself and when to let things slide - and you do it all with the utmost finesse. You're secure enough to tell a guy when you think he's done something dastardly, but you are also tolerant enough to accept his shortcomings. You're unabashed and don't let people walk all over you, but you also don't boss them around. Instead, you know how to negotiate and motivate people so they do their best and get their fair share. "By combining empathy and caring with confidence, you get fabulous results more often," says psychologist Dr Vivien Wolsk. Your self-esteem is alluring to those around you. That's why you're the one to snag the promotion, hook the guy or attract the gang of fab friends. In the end, you're most likely to succeed in everything because you know how to keep yourself and those around you content.

Riiight

Oh. My. God.

As Pam requested...

Last Book read: Blindsight, Maurice Gee

Last time you cried: Can't remember exactly, maybe last saturday?

Last Drink: Long Island Iced Tea (last night) ... i have drunk far too much since thursday night

Last indulgence: Krispa Salt 'n' Vinegar Chippies

Current Book reading: nothing... finished book metioned above ten minutes ago

Boredom level right now: If I did not feel like a bear with a sore head it would be high

Favourite Movies: The Sweetest Thing, The Hairy Bird (fantastic girl power), Mr Holland's Opus, Bridget Jones and Love Actually (best christmas movie)

Favourite Tv Shows: Greys Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, ER

Favourite drink: Absolut Vanilla Vodka, Gingerale and Lime.... to die for

Favourite foods: Pizza, Chocolate, Mars Bars

Favourite ice-cream: Chocolate Eclair

Do you have a tattoo: No

Want a tattoo? No (i hate needles). But if I was it would probably be a small aussie flag or shamrock

Piercings: Ears

Currently doing: Checking emails, and listening to radio. Drinking lots of water!

Hate is not a family value

One of the saddest parts about our society is that these arguments, before the humorous common sense, are the real reasons why people can't accept gay marriages.

Written more for an American audience...

1) Being gay is NOT natural. Real people always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, and air conditioning.

2) Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.

3) Gay marriage will change the foundation of society; we could never adapt to new social norms. Just like we haven't adapted to cars, the service-sector economy, or longer life spans.

4) Straight marriage has been around a long time and hasn't changed at all; women are still property, blacks still can't marry whites, and divorce is still illegal.

5) Straight marriage would be less meaningful if gay marriage were allowed; the sanctity of Britney Spears' 55-hour just-for-fun marriage would be destroyed.

6) Straight marriages are valid because they produce children. Gay couples, infertile couples, and old people shouldn't be allowed to marry because our orphanages aren't full yet, and the world needs more children.

7) Obviously gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children.

8) Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That's why we have only one religion in America.

9) Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home. That's why we as a society expressly forbid single parents to raise children.

10) Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.

Hell's Pizza campaign.... seen as hellish

So the crowds have complained about the hell's pizza campaign using condoms to the advertising complaints authority and Family First are over the moon : http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0611/S00208.htm

I admit that maybe Hell's Pizza did not target their campaign in the right areas, nevertheless the uproar surrounding it has undoubtedly created alot more publicity for the company... even I admit that I went into get a pizza from them only a few days later to see if they actually had the condoms in store as well - they certainly did and one of the guys who worked at this store told me they had had heaps of people coming in and asking them about the campaign, so I do not really see why Family First are happy they have helped create a successful campaign for a something they were against.

If Hell's Pizza end up getting fined, the extra revenue they have generated from the help of Family First and other complainants will help cover the cost I am sure.

Exercise the fun way...

I discovered this story this morning on stuff:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3859887a11,00.html

It is interesting because Salient earlier this year ran an article about pole-dancing as a form of exercise. I must admit I was a bit skeptical at first, but now have decided that I may just do it - it is supposed to be really good for you and gives you a great work out.

My next step is to get over the fact that people are going to see me walking into Santa Fe (a strip bar in wellington) at 7pm on a tuesday and thursay night. And wellington is such a small town who knows what kind of rumours could start.... although I think I would prefer the rumour I am a stripper compared to the one I was joining ACT!!!

This new exercise regime has taken off over the world with movie stars jumping on it, Teri Hatcher swears by it and even did a demonstration on Oprah. I am sure it would also spice things up in th bedroom.

So, I think I may take on this new and exciting form of exercise, I just have to swallow my pride. If any one else feels like joining me let me know and I am sure it will be fun.

To keeping fit and healthy....

A xxoo

PAY IT BACK

It always makes my day when I still see some intelligent comments on Kiwiblog. No disrespect against DPF, who at least makes intelligent commentary as opposed to the other right wing blogs out there which offer no new material and just reiterate National Party wank.

"Refusing to pay the GST on the media advertising spending was clearly and unambiguously illegal. Bash [sic] helped to design New Zealand’s current GST policy in the 1980s so it’s hard to imagine that the Nats weren’t aware of this. The Nats should bite the bullet and pay the GST back, and then pay the fine for the overspending. It's the only honourable course of action. Refusing to pay the fine would be like getting a whole pile of illegal drugs on tick and refusing to pay for them would because it would provide evidence for consuming the drugs. What National is essentially trying to do now is say, “oh, we now want to pay for the drugs, but are now aware that doing so would incriminate us, so how about we just change the law so it’s legal to pay the dealer back Sorry, but that just ain’t going to fly with any right minded person."

Phillip John

I'm sure I've just effectively opened the floodgates. Flame away!

txt spk ok 4 xams, or is that xms?

As a member of the first group of students that were examined under NCEA we constantly had drummed into us that we needed to have correct spelling as it could determine the difference between an achieved, merit, or excellence.

I am outraged that students are going to be able to use txt language - but does it have to be 'correct' language because there are so many variations how on earth is a marker supposed to be able decifer some words - i am 20 can barely make out what some of them are - or should I say "sme of dem r"

Seems hypocritical in an ENGLISH exam not to have to use correct english (and stupid as well), spelling is a skill they are going to need at uni and in jobs, especially as spell check not always accurate

Cme on NZQA gt ur sht 2gtha

American Politics & Alcohol

Donald Rumsfeld has stepped down as US Secretary of Defence, only a day after the American mid-term elections.

The article on stuff http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3855235a10,00.html has an excellent quote from Bush stating that the Iraq policy was "not working well enough, fast enough"... more like its not working at all.

Very pleased to see that the Democrats have one power of Congress and are currently only one seat away from controlling the senate... the next two years are going to be very interesting to follow and the next presidential election will be better yet.

YAY!!! NZ politicians have voted to keep the drinking age at 18, pleased to see they realised that raising the drinking age back to 20 would not have fixed the drinking problems that NZ faces. Now that this bill has failed maybe they will work on some good campaigns done through the media which could work well, as have the drink driving and "make it click" campaigns

Super Busy...

Have been remarkably busy today...

Have been following drinking age debate, I think it is great to see the youth branches of most political parties working together to make sure that this bill gets defeated, and are collectively working for the benefit of youth - the people who we essentially represent.

There has been some good media coverage - TV1, TV3 and stuff (probably others as well)

For those who do not know I also post on http://windycitygirl06.blogspot.com this offers a bit more a personal side to me rather than mainly politics... maybe those of you who want to know who I am can do it this way hehe

Saddam Hussein must die...

So Saddam Hussein has been sentenced to death by hanging, I do not know my exact stance on this, as I am against the death penalty, but we know that this guy is guilt beyond all doubt, and if one is to look for similar cases to base his sentence on, then we are forced to look at Nuremburg which tried Nazi war criminals - crimes against humanity, the same charge as Hussein had, and those men were condemned to death by hanging as well, so it is not like it is an out of line sentence.

I find it hard to believe that after everything he did that Iraqi's still worship him and are crying that he is to be hanged. I guess this too is probably similar after the end of WWII and how people remained loyal to Hitler, these seem two cases of true "dear leader".

Hi Everyone

Hi,

I have had the priviledge of being invited to contribute to this WONDERFUL blog by Pam, thanks.

A xxoo

Check out my cool flow chart...

Easier to view at http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/images/0610/c3b3479f859e47b0e3ad.jpeg

Aloha

Let me introduce myself: My name is Lulu, the new addition to Red Confectionery.

I like boy bands, bistros, and anything left. And boys, although I think that our 'patron god' has to go. My philosophy is that every reasonable human being should be a moderate socialist.

Sophia and Pam thought I would be an interesting contributor, but mostly I just like to talk about fluff.

Anyone seen the new jockey pictures of Dan Carter? Hott. I'd shop at Farmers for him. Heheh.

Over and out...

The world of myspace...

So, what exactly is the point of myspace? I'm stumped.

But I need more friends, so if anyone has a myspace, add me: www.myspace.com/pamziewamzie

Apparently I'm a SWINGER. But I only said that because its funny.

And add Sophia too.

Boobs, bikes and battles

As much as I absolutely (and almost christianly) despise porn, I am shocked that Dick Hubbard is literally raining down on this parade, with the support of 13 other city councillors.

If Erotica's permit is revoked, they're going have a march down Queen St anyway, as they have in the past. It makes sense to allow them to do it and ensure it takes place safely, with the help of a few police officers.

And what I don't get is how ignorant our city council is being. At least half (and we all know which half) of the population looks at pornography; as voters and ratepayers, their views should be taken into account when the mayor decides exactly what are the 'right' kind of marches for this city. How in touch is this council with the people? Should a bunch of people past their motorbike days (with the exception of the lovely Leila Boyle) have the right to decide what is 'moral' for this city when it comes to Erotica expos? And hello, how long has pornography been around, are they going to try and outlaw it altogether? (By the way I'm not a council hater, I think on the whole Auckland City is doing a great job)

And will the public complain... Or is a love of pornography everyone's guilty little secret?

Spain baby!!

Finally... after a few vacuous posts, I'm writing about Young Labour's amazing trip to Spain a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately I lost many of my photos, but there's a few in the next post...
IUSY Festival 2006

Alicante Spain

The IUSY festival was a wonderful experience for me. To be surrounded by 4,000 other young people, all united in Alicante for the same cause, was very inspiring. There are no words to describe the sense of belonging and tenacity that I felt with my comrades whilst in Spain.

The first day was good for the New Zealand delegation. Despite being a group of only eleven people we received loud cheers at the opening ceremony, and threw out Labour wristbands, which proved to be a hit among other delegates. Occasionally we would get mistaken for Australians because of our similar accents and flags, but once that was cleared up we were extremely popular.

Socialising with such a wide range of different nationalities was a very new and interesting experience for several of us. I made good friends with some comrades from the German delegation and had a fascinating discussion with them about patriotism and Spanish and German history. We hung out with Palestinian, Israeli, Spanish, and UK delegations too, and despite some language barriers we all got along famously well. (Phrasebooks were made fun of) Talking with other delegates was as educational as the formal workshops at times.

On the subject of workshops, the ones I found most outstanding were focussed on Feminism and Global Governance.

I attended two workshops on Feminism, concerning women in work and in politics. In both workshops I was asked to share insight on what it is like to be a female New Zealander. I was extremely proud to admit that I come from the first country to grant women the right to vote, and I shed light on our relatively equal representation in parliament and leadership positions. I also admitted, however, that females on average here earn 82 cents for every dollar that males earn in the workforce. I talked about the fact that females take twice as much time to pay back their student loans after graduating, but how we are combating this with our interest free student loan policy.

At the women in politics workshop we discussed ways in which gender equality can be achieved in government and the private sector. Solutions that were identified included:

• Quotas for women
• Encouraging working laws with flexible maternity and paternity leave
• Acknowledging different personality traits in men and women; that men tend to be very loyal in their support of other men – this is perhaps something women need to work on in their relationships with one another. (A contentious issue, but a possibility nonetheless)

These workshops were meaningful to me; as women we empathised with each other, shared ideas and common beliefs – with a different but equally valid perspective expressed from different parts of the globe. A young socialist from Sweden told us an analogy – “If an alien was to land in front of me I would not introduce myself as a woman, but first and foremost, a human being. That is simply how we should all see each other.”

Another couple of good workshops were on the topic of European Union migration and development policy, where I learnt useful information that could relate to New Zealand’s 0.7 campaign. EU development policy certainly does have its positives: EU member States provide 55% of the world’s Development aid and they have recently promised to reach 0,56% of their GDP by 2010 and 0,7% by 2015. Half of their aid has been specifically allocated to Africa in the future.

However, the workshop pointed out several issues wrong with EU aid, such as misleading figures of EU member states in their official Aid budgets. In 2005, EU Member States have spent almost one third of total EU Development aid (13,5 billion €) on:

• Debt cancellation (despite the illegitimacy of most of it)
• Housing refugees within the EU (refugees trying to escape political persecution or misery)
• Educating foreign students within European countries.

Guillaume Fine, the French presenter, also talked about the inconsistencies of development policy: Actual assessment and self-criticism of policies are apparently not very frequent and, whenever they exist, rarely question the overall approach. Criticism often raises administrative, financial or technical issues but rarely points out the political causes of the failures.

Due to internal pressure from EU Member States to “spend the European Development Fund money fast”, “quick disbursement” programmes have emerged, such as budgetary aid given directly to the treasury of the recipient country. Such processes lead to allocating budgetary aid regardless of the political situation, the nature of political regimes or the level of transparency in national spending. The EU is apparently also not keen on financing, supporting and observing national electoral processes.

Guillaume also pointed out problems with migration policy: A large number of countries from which migrants are fleeing are governed by illegitimate or dictatorial regimes that loot the natural resources (raw materials, forestry, crude oil), at the expense of their population. Eg. Cameroon, Gabon, Congo Brazzaville, Togo, Chad and Mauritania (until August 2005). Yet these immoral regimes continue to be supported by some EU member States, which want to maintain a “stable context” in their former colonies for commercial, geo-strategic or military interests.

While EU officials or Member States advocate the implementation of sound socio-economic policies in the countries of origin in order to prevent massive migratory flows, needless to say that the harmful effects of the globalised economic system have to be tackled first, and that neo-colonialism must be stopped.

I also attended a great workshop held by Tony Milne on New Zealand’s civil union campaign. He talked about how the campaign was conducted here - particularly on how many heterosexual individuals got involved and what this did to make it a more ‘mainstream’ issue. He also highlighted the opposition (Destiny Church, etc) to our campaign and the negative public reaction to that. It was empowering to be part of a delegation that can share some wisdom on campaigning for equal rights for homosexual couples.

During the conference New Zealand (for the first time) was asked by other delegations to attend networking meetings with them. The one that stood out most for me was our meeting with the Philippines, or Akbayan Citizen’s Action Party.

It was extremely eye opening to meet such a dedicated group of individuals, who have encountered such a large amount of corruption and many more challenges than the Labour party has ever come across here. For example, most of the group we met slept in their party offices, due to a lack of party funds. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s party have unjustly won their elections by allegedly buying votes from families who don’t refuse the offer because they cannot afford to feed themselves. The government in the Philippines is dominated by wealthy families and is too influenced by big business donations. We were told of government spies at the university there, who keep an eye on ‘political’ individuals. We were told of assassinations of people in their party, simply for being socialists.

The Philippines is therefore a country that we all expressed an interest in helping through future projects, along with a larger focus on helping our Pacific neighbours.

Overall I found the IUSY conference an extremely worthwhile experience, and would recommend it to anyone who has an interest in politics and helping people. One day I would love to return to another IUSY festival and meet again with the friends I have made. I look forward to applying what I have learnt to New Zealand and the wider international community, whatever way that might be.

Kate, Jordan, Conor, Harriet, Tony, Jonathon, Sophie, Alaistair, Jocinda, Caleb - love you all, you guys rock ;)

No matter how cynical you become, it's never enough to keep up

Today has been
BUT: this almost made my day...Yes I take pleasure out of the simple things in life...

Last week in my politics lecture, Murry McCully and Chris Trotter graced my class with their presense for a panel discussion on the "future of the right." So, anyway, I open up the paper today and read Chris Trotter's article where he mentions me! Not by name though. "Last week, a post-graduate political science student asked me if I thought National would ever again be the 'natural party in government'..."

AWESOME.

Although, he got it wrong, I'm not a post-grad student. Oh well. SIGH.

That discussion was so much better than the one we had on Friday with Mike Smith - secretary of the Labour Party. Mike Smith gave us a small speech about how Labour was truly a social democratic party etc and implied that National was fairly scum, because of it neo-liberal policies.
Then Oliver asked him what evidence was there that Labour had moved away from the neo-liberal reforms of the 1980s, and he went on this tangent about the nationalisation of ACC, then mumbled a bit, said something about Wayne Mapp's 90 day bill, but really didn't answer the question. Sigh.

Has Labour really moved away from neo-liberalism, or has it cleverly disguised it under the term "the Third Way"?

Anywho, I have exam preparation to think about, and a trip to Italy! on the 26th to look forward too. Yay. I'm going on a contiki tour :)

Also got a 'guest post' coming later tonight!

Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.

Ok, so I know that the budget was a little while ago, and Michael Cullen did not include any tax cuts. Boo Hoo. Have a Cry. Call the wah-bulence. Whatever.

I absolutely cannot stand rich people complaining about why they have it so hard in life because they have to pay more tax then others. I cannot stand it when they use the justification: "why should I be taxed more just because I work harder?"

Firstly, it makes huge generalisations that just because one earns more, one is naturally a hard worker. I will concede that higher-paying jobs often require a lot more skill then other low paying jobs, but this is not the arguement. I think the cleaners at univerity work hella hard cleaning up the place. Students are messy, I seriously think that students for the most part take them for granted. Many of these cleaners are at uni at 6am cleaning up our rubbish and because the cleaning companies that employ them are notoriously bad at giving them normal hours, they may not leave uni until 7-8pm that night. Not only that, they are doing the jobs that no one wants such as cleaning toilets, changing "feminine" rubbish bins, cleaning urinals - not exactly fun and easy tasks.

Furthermore, often people who recieve high saleries is because they tend to have a lot more responsibility, not always because they work harder than anyone else. Think about major CEOs, if they fuck up, the company fucks up - when you think about this, its a major burdern on one person, and hence why they can command a higher salery.

Finally, to pay for tax cuts we would effectivly take money from health and education- of course this wouldn't affect the well-off because they don't have to rely on these things as heavily as lower socio-economic groups. However, for people who are less well off, they will have to dig deeper into their pockets just to afford the basic nessessities in life.

Basically, I honestly do not have problem paying taxes. I see it as a way of pooling everybodies resources to look after those in society who have been born into disadvantaged situations. People at all times in their life will be dependent, and I see taxes as a way of ensureing that nobody becomes disadvantaged by social and economic inequalities. The system of cource is not perfect, and I don't think it will ever be, but I believe we are on the right track at least.

Anywho, thats just my rant.

One last thing: To all those libertarian minded people out there, normally I wouldn't mind you responding to this blog, but to be honest, I seen and heard all your arguements. I know exactly what you will say - taxation is theft, Robert Nozick's principles, Ayn Rand is a goddess and I want to have her babies even though she is dead, I will exhume her body, take some DNA, and clone her. It's rather predictable.

Can someone PLEASE come up with an opposing argument from an entirely DIFFERENT perspective? I know a marxist would be against the idea of taxation...

The girl's guide to dating budding politicos

In the spirit of procrastinating, I decided to write a guide for dating men from the youth wing of some of New Zealand's main political parties. I was orginally going to some how link idealogy to dating, but then it got hard. So i've decided to mainly rely on sterotypes.

If anyone has suggestions that would be great!


The Young Nats

In my opinion, the young Nats have one up on every single other youth wing of any political party in New Zealand. That reason can be summed up in one word: SUITS. It is widely known fact that young Nats wear suits regularly on a ratio of 5:1 to all other political parties combined. Suits are hot. Unfortunately, if you do continue dating one of them, eventually settling down with them, etc, you must be aware that he may end up looking like Don Brash, or Jim Bolger (although he is quite cuddly looking) If you MUST date a young National, go for one that reminds you of Bill English. Why? Because he is lovely. Almost as lovely as curtains. Young Nats also tend to fit certain stereotypes about New Zealand, in that many of them show shocking similarities to rugby players –speaking in a strange language that resembles grunting.



Young Labour

If you have found a straight man in Young Labour, congratulations, there aren’t many. If you have found one of these rare men, they will either be a rabid free-marketers, a muldoonist or someone who still dreams of a proletariat revolution. The Muldoonists* tend to buy you a lot of drinks and food in the spirit of collectivism, but the relationships tend to descend into a frozen state, with your neo-Muldoonist boyfriend crying aloud whenever he is forced to confront the harsh realities of a changing society. Free-marketers tend to believe in the spirit of individualism and more often then not will be terrible at sharing popcorn, cheese-lovers pizza, vegetarian curry, fries etc. They will insist that you must engage with the free-market yourself so you as an individual can buy you own popcorn, cheese-lovers pizza, vegetarian curry, fries etc.


ACT

One of the main differences between Act and National is that ACT tend to have a more socially liberal policy. Therefore young ACT are kinky men. If you get sick of the ‘traditionalist’ approach that you have with your young Nat/Labour boyfriend, the young men in act are the people to go to if you fancy a bit of S&M, role-play, threesomes etc. ACT men also love Ayn Rand, and will often ask you to wear a mask with her image on when you are getting down and dirty.


Greens

The men found in Greens tend to messy in that they are not often inclined to getting haircuts. Often, small creatures are born, live and die in their dreadlocked mop. They also run the risk of smelling. Why? Being environmentally friendly and loving all species under the sun, they cannot bring themselves to shower to get rid of the bacteria that actually live on their skin. Even once they get infested with fleas they cannot bring themselves to douse themselves in flea powder. The men in the young greens however have one thing going for them – the bad boy image. They are almost always radicals, believing in bringing down the ‘man’. This will undoubtedly add some excitement to your life as you will end up picketing big bag corporations, attending protests and getting arrested. Also, they are likely to have the largest amount of pot, and will tend to share it more in the spirit of collectivism.

*I know Muldoon WAS in the National party, but his economic policies were quite left. Furthermore this "muldoonist" referes to a muldoon lover within the Labour party.

Last week at Womensfest...

I had the pleasure of listening to Kate Sutton speak in the quad last week at Womensfest, a yearly AUSA event organised by our lovely Women's Rights Officer, Allanah Golder.

This speech really spoke to me, as someone who has been criticised for being outspoken and a feminist at high school. It also made me realise that we as women shouldn't be taking our current position in society for granted, as it was fought hard for in a struggle more recently than most realise - there is a risk that our position can just as easily be taken away from us. And the struggle isn't over, as Kate highlights.

I feel honoured to be friends with this awesome gal and fellow feminist :)




WOMENSFEST SPEECH -

Auckland University Students
11/04/2006

Kate Sutton

Hello, It’s great to be back after two years, it feels exactly the same. I was invited to speak because I am a successful woman. I must say that this is very flattering, as I do not yet feel successful.

When told this I started to think about what success is – Sure I do many things. I am a former president of this student union, a current University of Auckland councillor, I am the chairperson of the Tamaki community board and I am a project manager for a charitable trust in South Auckland as well as sitting on about 4/5 other boards and committees.

These are all things that I do, I don’t know if they make me successful but I am here anyway to talk about how I got here, how important it is to support one another and where women are at in the 21st century.

I wanted to speak about women overseas and their plight – the feminisation of poverty and how vital it is for us to understand what is happening overseas, the HIV/AIDS epidemic which affects mainly heterosexual females and their children. The trafficking of women from one country to the next because they have no home and their only option is to sell themselves.

Women are the victims war fought by men – women look after the children, keep the household and earn the money while the men are out fighting – it is not an equal or fair world for women overseas in our poorer countries who are raped, mutilated, tortured and without homes – they are victims not perpetrators.

To an audience like this it’s too hard, the issues are too complex and the subject matter to serious for us to listen to on a lovely sunny day in the university quad - it’s best to start here in New Zealand, at home.

The latest Human rights commission census on women tracks women’s participation in major decision making roles in New Zealand – you can ask most women if they are discriminated against and most pakeha women will say no. The problem is that the statistics tell a different story 24.2% of judges, 19.2% of newspaper editors, 17.2% of legal partnerships, 18.9% of mayors are women.

My party, the labour party talks about ‘half now’ and putting women out there yet only 32.2% of MPs are women and 23% of cabinet are women – its disgraceful – there is certainly the ability out there.

41% of state sector statutory bodies are women due mainly to the hard work of the Ministry of Women’s affairs yet only 8% of the NZX market directors are women – our private sector directorship take up is moving at quote the human rights commission ‘ glacial speed’
These statistics are not this way because women do not have the skills its because choices are limited for women in many of these roles and also because the systems that we work within are male dominated systems that are constructed by men.

The Executive director of the business round table Roger Kerr says that the reason why businesses do not take on female directors is because they are conservative – he also made comment that maybe this was not the role of women. My biggest concern about this statement, if we ignore the arrogance of Roger speaking about the ‘role of women’ is that business may see appointing female directors as risky – certainly many women have the skills to be directors and we know that diversity leads to good decision making, but I would have thought that business would be to conservative to take on migrants and refugees, non English speakers and people without formal education– not women – it seems like we have stepped back in time 30 years. To take on women, especially a well educated, pakeha woman is conservative!

I am passionate about good governance and directorship and I am trying to break the mold of these statistics and bring my sisters with me, but it’s a long slow battle.

At this university where many of you feel safe and free from discrimination, the so called ‘critic and conscience of society’ –is one of the worst places that systematically discriminates against women at every level. Why is it that 17% of professors and associate professors are women? But it that over 50% of general staff are women – its because there is still a hierarchy of jobs and there is a still a system where women have choices to move ahead - the boys network still exists in this university and ignores merit and denies women the choice to move forward in their career.

Why was I only the 5th female president out of over 100 presidents at the student union?
You could argue that women are not stupid enough to take up a role that earns only $20,000 per year but the truth is that it’s a boys club.

When I was running for president and throughout my presidency I was called fat, ugly and a slut – why is it that people will not attack my ideas but will readily attack my appearance and what I may or may not do in my private life.

This place is fucking appalling – men tell you what to do, men make you feel bad – men for the benefit of men shape the system. As students we are objectified – I have been one of the people who have made jokes about “easy first years” and I regret that – I did not do the sisterhood any favours. The reason why I made these jokes is because I bowed to covert peer pressure. I picked up on the language and I existed to be liked by men and envied by women but I was never going to be a fuckable first year so I went to student politics and that made me attractive to a whole other group of men – who run the place, who attack me, who judge me on whether they would fuck me or not.

University is a sad story for women and we don’t fight against it because we ignore it or see it as tough luck cause its normal.

Date rape, gang rape, sexual violence are all a norm here – it’s a joke because men make it so and they are the blokes, the boys club and they are putting us down and taking our jobs.

So the stats look bad, the story is still bad - what do we do? You have all taken the right step – being educated is the key – information is power and you are learning the tools to access this power here at university.

We must support our sisters and men must support us – women only got the vote through the help of men who went in and voted for the vote to be ours.

You can support other women into positions of responsibility by helping them out when the going gets tough, voting for them, mentoring them, finding role models in them. You can support women by finding them to give them opportunity – they are out there they just are not as obvious as men because they are off doing other things.

We must encourage a culture of diversity and this starts with accepting women as equal in our society by providing them with equitable opportunity. You have the key and the power to do this with your votes, your support, and your skills. When you become aware of who you are choosing and why then you can consciously offer women their rightful place in society.

The only reason that you are sitting here in the quad if you are women is because women before you fought for your right to be here and men supported them.

You all have an obligation to wake the fuck up and realise how every thing that you have now, all the rights to be free to earn money to marry when you want, to gain an education, to control your sexuality and bear children when you want – all of these rights have been fought for by women and they can be taken away.

A women’s place is in the struggle and we must continue to fight for others who are oppressed as they fought for us, we must take men with us and to do that we must understand what feminism is for this generation – we must act because to continue on without recognising the disadvantages of this system we will not get anywhere.

In solidarity
Kia Kaha

UPDATE

Just to illustrate the anti-feminist backlash, here are some views on this speech:

Ranting on the ROK
NZB3
The Whig
On the Right
Lindsay Mitchell
David Farrar

And Xavier sticks it to them at Kete Were by writing 'Is that all they could come up with'