Category: society

My (over-priced) house, my castle? Tauranga’s catching Auckland’s housing fever

Tauranga City Council has just completed its latest housing valuations from which it will determine the rates we pay for the next few years. Our personal house and property value jumped a massive 22 percent from the previous valuation. Only 28 percent of that increase was improvements to the house; the majority can really only… Read More My (over-priced) house, my castle? Tauranga’s catching Auckland’s housing fever

grahamcameron

The State cannot understand whānau; the State cannot restore whānau

“There are close connections between the structure of the family and the structure of the nation.” – Frantz Fanon, Black Skins, White Masks pp 141. I was struck still for a moment when I read these words. I have been involved with supporting whānau in a myriad of settings over 15 years as a professional… Read More The State cannot understand whānau; the State cannot restore whānau

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The Ashley Madison hack: the rights of the community & the triumph of the individual

The Impact Team, a group of hackers, has followed through on their threats and dumped, en masse, 35 million + email addresses and other details they hacked from Ashley Madison online for all and sundry to trawl through. Ashley Madison is the champ of online affairs; specifically targeting married people, their byline is “Life’s short, have… Read More The Ashley Madison hack: the rights of the community & the triumph of the individual

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Would we take a softly, softly approach if Gloriavale was a Māori community?

Campbell Live’s activist journalism has thrown a spotlight on the West Coast Christian community of Gloriavale. Anchored by the courage of Julia to tell a tragic and painful story and followed by the telling testimony of other ex-members, the claims are disturbing and myriad. The claims to date have included: bullying (particularly of young women);… Read More Would we take a softly, softly approach if Gloriavale was a Māori community?

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Executing John Campbell & the dying art of being Pākehā #SaveCampbellLive

John Drinnan in the New Zealand Herald revealed Campbell Live is under threat of being scrapped by Mediaworks. The options paper presented to Campbell Live staff apparently included replacing the current format with a Jono and Ben style comedy show (NB as opposed to actually being replaced with Jono and Ben, so don’t hate on… Read More Executing John Campbell & the dying art of being Pākehā #SaveCampbellLive

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Bede would turn in his grave: raising boys to worship money & power – thoughts of an Old Boy of St Bede’s

When I was 12 or 13 years old, on occasion I used to ride the long way home from Casebrook Intermediate to Pāpānui via St Bede’s College. I would stop and gaze through the fences at the pristine school grounds, the grand buildings and the sharp red and black uniforms. I couldn’t have articulated this… Read More Bede would turn in his grave: raising boys to worship money & power – thoughts of an Old Boy of St Bede’s

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Burning down the house: how social housing could break NZ communities

Merivale in Tauranga, New Zealand has 22 streets. There are just under 900 houses in those streets. We have comparatively low levels of home ownership and high levels of absentee landlords. Over 200 of the houses are owned by Housing New Zealand, the government’s state housing organisation. Originally the Housing NZ houses were all built… Read More Burning down the house: how social housing could break NZ communities

grahamcameron