As a result of the magnitude 8.8 earthquake in Chile, there are tsunami warnings in place for effectively the whole of the NZ coastline, but particularly the east coast. There have been 1.5m waves through the Chathams, and smaller increases recorded in NZ. The key messages from Civil Defence are that this is serious, that later waves may get bigger, and people should stay away from beaches.
Civil Defence site has regular updates.
Our thoughts are with people in Chile effected by the quake. There have been a number of deaths, and many after shocks right across the country.
UPDATE: 11.29am It seems that surges have stabilised for now, but Civil Defence warn there may be higher waves over next 6-12 hours. 1m surge reported in Northland.
Posted in Civil Defence. |
It looks like funding for the Prisoners Aid and Rehabilitation Society is a goner. There is a story in the Dominion Post today that PARS will lose its $2.5 million contract.
This is a tragedy. PARS play a vital role in helping prisoners re-integrate into the community. For well over a hundred years they have helped with accomodation, facilitating job opportunities, and perhaps more than anything else, just being there for people who many in society want to ignore. They perform roles that busy probation officers simply can not do.
As Clayton Cosgrove notes in the article, the community will be less safe as a result of the funding being cut as people released from prison will lack the support to stop them from re-offending.
There are reports of concerns about some financial management issues. The work PARS does is important enough the the Minister and the Department of Corrections need to actively intervene to ensure it survives.
The overall issue of incarceration and rehabilitation in New Zealand needs attention. In the meantime, no matter what we might think of some prisoners, most people in New Zealand prisons will at some point re-enter society. Surely the key task while they are in prison, and immediately on their release is to work with them to make sure we do all we can to prevent further crimes being committed, and to help them find a path to meaningful and positive future. This is what PARS does, and the government needs to help them keep doing it.
Posted in Law & Order and Justice. |
There is something very odd going on with the Heatley resignation. It seems John Key has said in his media conference that he did not think he should have resigned. I was beginning to question my view that he was pushed. From Mr Key’s own words this would seem to be so.
More to come I am sure, but it is clear this is not decisive leadership from Key.
Posted in Uncategorized. |
Details still coming through, but hard to know if he jumped or was pushed. My money on the latter.
Posted in Uncategorized. |
Trevor is too modest to answer his own question directly, but Jane Clifton has captured it perfectly in the Dominion Post this morning.
It’s becoming like a rerun of A Dog’s Show in Parliament these days, with Labour’s Trevor Mallard the purposefully stalking collie, and Education Minister Anne Tolley the heedless sheep that stamps its foot a lot and refuses to go into the pen.
That is certainly how it has felt in the House recently. Trevor’s questions have been factual, and go to the heart of the purpose of the national standards policy. Minister Tolley’s answers have been confusing, vague and often utterly irrelevant. Jane Clifton goes on
Like any good sheep, Mrs Tolley’s purposes are maddeningly opaque, and run to no set pattern. Two things are are becoming clear from their daily stoushes: one, that Mrs Tolley either cannot or would rather not explain the technicalities of the system, and two, that she cannot understand why her answers are regarded as unsatisfactory. This makes her haughty, and redoubles Mr Mallard’s roundup efforts.
The whole article is worth reading, hilarious and accurate. Question Time has not been great for National this year, and now they are wanting to avoid it all together.
Posted in Jane Clifton, Anne Tolley, National Standards and Education. |
