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all John's columns
John Minto's latest "Frontline" blogs on www.stuff.co.nz
Mon 24 Aug 09
John Minto: Chief Justice puts the cat among the pigeons
Mon 27 Jul 09
NZ Herald
27th July 2009
Some of the reaction to Chief Justice Sian Elias's comments calling for a rethink on penal policy was not surprising.
Justice Minister Simon Power said the judge should butt out. He told the media her job was implementing Government policy - not commenting on it. Just why the Chief Justice should not use her expertise to express concerns about penal policy was unclear, aside from the fact that it's embarrassing for the Government.
John Minto: The dogs are out
Fri 24 Jul 09
Frontline Blog for stuff.co.nz
24th July 2009
They are coming thick and fast now. Act and National are finally getting into stride. Till this week National has been keeping its ideology close to the chest behind the smiling face of Prime Minister John Key. However, the build-up of bile has finally burst through the John Key façade.
This week we've seen the rollout of a string of advanced neo-liberal economic policies to complete the economic destruction begun by the 1984 Labour government. We are on to what former Labour finance minister and now ACT MP Roger Douglas describes as his "unfinished business".
With the public mesmerised with the appalling displays of narcissism by Clayton Weatherston, the Government got to work. It has the feel of 1984 all over again.
John Minto: School bullies should back off
Thu 16 Jul 09
Frontline Blog for stuff.co.nz
16th July 2009
I don't pay the voluntary donation at the local high school where my son attends. I get a reminder in the mail each term that the $250 remains unpaid but it goes in the recycling bin.
I'm sick of schools putting more pressure on parents than they do on the government for the money needed for "free" education.
John Minto: A Kiwibank for Australia?
Mon 13 Jul 09
Frontline Blog for stuff.co.nz
13th July 2009
Six of Australia's most influential economists last week called on their government to follow New Zealand's example and establish a government-owned bank.
They saw Kiwibank as a model desperately needed in Australia because of frustration with the domination of Australian banking by their big four commercial banks - much the same beasts that dominate New Zealand banking.
The Australian economists make the same criticism of the banks that New Zealanders do: they act more as a cartel than as competitors, have not passed on decreases in interest rates to customers and are more focused on profits than service.
John Minto: Harre's appointment a win for business
Wed 8 Jul 09
Frontline Blog for stuff.co.nz
8th July 2009
Laila Harre's appointment to a human resources role at the Auckland Transition Agency (ATA) for the new super-city is a big win for business.
ATA Executive Chairman Mark Ford announced her appointment to his "team" yesterday and said she would be "engaged on project work involving human resources and change management."
Harre comes with left-wing credentials as a former alliance MP and cabinet minister in the 1999 - 2002 Labour-Alliance coalition government. After the Alliance imploded she worked for the New Zealand Nurses Organisation and more recently as National Secretary of the National Distribution Union.
So why would the right-wing ATA, dominated by ACT/National appointees want her on board?
John Minto: Before we forget about swine flu altogether….
Mon 29 Jun 09
Frontline Blog for stuff.co.nz
29th June 2009
Most of us are well over swine flu. The much hyped virus is spreading at will around the world and public health authorities have moved to managing the spread from their initial attempts to stop the outbreak. Partly this is because the latter would place a huge economic burden on national economies but more importantly because the virus itself produces only mild influenza symptoms in most patients.
If the virus should mutate to a more deadly, infectious strain then all bets are off and we'll be back to square one with a humanitarian crisis not seen since 20 million died worldwide of the so-called Spanish flu pandemic in 1919.
John Minto: Should we be able to beat our kids without risking prosecution?
Mon 22 Jun 09
Frontline Blog for stuff.co.nz
22nd June 2009
No matter which way you look at it, the coming citizens initiated referendum is dead in the water. Before the first postal ballot is counted we all know nothing will change because those organising the referendum have been caught between their own misleading question and political lethargy.
The question "Should a smack as part of good parental correction be a criminal offence in New Zealand?" was always going to be a problem because of its value judgement associating smacking with good parenting and its assumption that anyone smacking a child is automatically criminalised by the law.
A case of educational vandalism
Mon 15 Jun 09
Frontline Blog for stuff.co.nz
15th June 2009
The aftermath of the 2009 budget reminds me of the 1991 budget. For a start the context was similar. A new National government had been elected and used the threat of recession to cut government spending which included the infamous slashing of welfare benefits in Ruth Richardson's "mother of all budgets".
Bill English's budget was a more conservative document but like the 1991 budget it has taken a couple of weeks for the full details to be absorbed and these reveal that while the overall education budget increased, there are savage funding cuts to many areas of public education. The most quickly and widely felt of these are the cuts to funding of night classes.
John Minto: Educational vandalism - night-school funding slashed
Tue 9 Jun 09
The Press
June 9th, 2009
Have you ever done a night school class at a local secondary school? If the answer’s yes then you’re in good company. Hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders have expanded their interests, tried new things or built up skills for a new job via night classes at their local high school.
The classes, called Adult and Community Education or ACE by the government, include such things as car maintenance, healthy cooking, quilting, budgeting, ballroom dancing, computing skills, yoga and a hundred and one others. What makes these courses so popular and accessible are government subsidies which keep the costs low.
