Labour on the wrong side of history

Last week, Stuff asked Associate Education Minister Kelvin Davis about compulsory te reo Māori in primary schools. And as usual for Labour, he firmly rejected the idea, citing fears of a public backlash. Today, Stats NZ released data from the 2021 General Social Survey, showing us thatfears of that backlash are imaginary. In addition to a welcome uptick of use of te reo, there was also this:

62 percent (up from 57 percent) of people agreed or strongly agreed that te reo Māori should be a core subject in primary schools

57 percent (up from 53 percent) agreed or strongly agreed that the government should encourage and support the use of te reo Māori in everyday situations

56 percent (up from 51 percent) agreed or strongly agreed that signage should be in both te reo Māori and English

Which makes sense. There's been a significant change in public use and acceptance of te reo in the past few years (which comes on top of significant change over the course of my life). There's a public recognition that te reo is a taonga, one of the things that makes Aotearoa Aotearoa. Its everywhere now - on the street, on TV and radio, in government press conferences. And apart from a few dirty old racists (who are gradually dying off), we like this, because its who we are now.

And in the face of this change - which they helped promote years ago - Labour is resolutely on the wrong side of history. As with capital gains taxes. They need to learn to read the fucking room. But maybe the real problem is that the only room they're interested in is the one full of rich old racists?

The "most open and transparent government ever" again

According to the Prime Minister and other Ministers, the decision to open up Auckland and allow Covid to spread was made on the basis of "eroding social licence". The phrase repeatedly appears in Cabinet Papers on the subject, particularly in the 4 October review of alert level settings which caused the whole shitshow. But while this phrase is apparently crucial to government decision-making, the Prime Minister and a bunch of other senior Ministers claim not to know what it means.

If taken seriously, this should cast serious doubt on their decision-making on such matters. But its clearly not meant to be taken seriously. Instead, it's a casual "fuck you" response from the self-proclaimed "most open and transparent government ever", and an example of their obsession with secrecy and reluctance to release anything if they can possibly contrive an excuse not to.

I mean really, would it have killed them to just point at a dictionary? And would it really have taken them 16 working days to do so?

Now prosecute them

When Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis was first confronted with Corrections' abuse and torture of Mihi Bassett, he tried to deny the court ruling and undermine the judiciary. Now, he's been forced to admit and personally apologise for it:

Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis has directed the Department of Corrections to conduct an urgent overhaul and review of women's prisons.

The minister has written to written to Corrections chief executive Jeremy Lightfoot demanding an urgent overhaul of the maximum security classification for women and development of management plans for women, and a review of all women's prisons.

Corrections confirmed its officials had met with three women to acknowledge and apologise for the way they were managed at Auckland Women's Prison, following preliminary findings of an investigation by the independent Corrections Inspectorate.

Davis, who also apologised to the women, said he wanted and expected better from Corrections.

If he wants better, here's an obvious solution: prosecute and sack those responsible for Bassett's treatment. Because some of what was done by corrections officers appears to be criminal: offences of ill-treatment or neglect of child or vulnerable adult, assault with a weapon, and arguably torture. The people responsible need to be held to account. And if they're not, its clear that the New Zealand government condones this sort of cruelty and abuse in its prisons.