If all of the next generations of New Zealanders are to achieve their potential then they need support and encouragement from their birth through their early years and into childhood.  They need access to quality affordable health and education, and to have their families supported through good and bad.  That is what they are getting and will get with Labour.  What they got from John Key today was talkback laden rhetoric ( is he actually blaming the government for Nia Glassie’s tragic death?) and a couple of lame policy ideas- one destined to wither on the vine, the other seemingly the result of watching way too many reality TV shows.

The underlying topic is an important one to address- how do we ensure that all our children achieve their potential and play a positive part in their neighbourhoods and communities?   For Key, sadly, that is merely a vehicle for a populist message, and to itch a public scratch in part created by a media obsessed with crime stories.  

Credit- there are a number of policy ideas in the speech. Some of them are things that are already underway, and one or two (eg more drug and alcohol rehabilitation programmes) are useful.  But for the most part there is little to recommend. Just talking about youth crime/under acheivement is one thing- actually having workable solutions is quite another. 

To look at just the two ideas that National has promoted.  The educational entitelement is laughably ill conceived.  Why does National believe that children who are struggling when at school will do any better in an environment where there will be less attention paid to them, and where there will be no one asking them if they have done their assignments or even concerning themselves if they show up at all?   Where is the equity in giving some students at a polytechnic and PTEs a free education and others not, solely on the basis of when they leave school? 

Labour through the Gateway programme has the right approach, mixing continuing with establishing a good grasp of basic skills (Maths and English) with practical work experience.  This can then lead to tertiary study when the time is right, or a move straight to the workforce or a Modern Apprenticehship.  If John Key wanted to advocate for something useful it would the extension of Gateway to every secondary school.

The focus on ‘boot camp’ style programmes is classic ‘ambulance at the bottom of the cliff’ thinking.  Key wants us to believe he is not thinking about screaming ‘seargent majors’, but the army is the main provider he offers in the speech.  Is this really what we want our army to be focusing on?  Not to mention the experience in terms of these kinds of programmes in the USA is not exactly a recommendation. 

Key’s is not an ambitious plan for New Zealand. By all means let’s think about how all young New Zealanders are given a fair go and a chance to fulfil their potential.  But that will not happen if we ferment fear, throw up populist ideas and focus on interventions that label and blame.