448 days ago

Phoney Policies

Marie from Waikanae

Does the National party actually have any real policies? We are beginning to wonder. Aside from taking a hatchet to anything that Labour has introduced, and banning, cutting and scrapping a wide range of entitlements, have they actually got anything remotely original?
So far, all I'm hearing are platitudes and Trumpisms.

Perhaps they don't want an informed electorate (they might see through them) but instead want to force people to vote on sentiment alone. We are still waiting to hear how they intend to fund their much touted tax cuts. Despite the fact that the same scenario was hastily withdrawn by the Tories in the UK last year, on the grounds that it would engender financial collapse, the Nats are pressing ahead with it. In the absence of any details we can only assume the worst. That it will come out of vote Education, Health and Social Welfare, putting more money in the pockets of people who are already wealthy and increasing inequalities, poverty, poor health and all the crime and substance dependence that goes with it.
As for banning cellphones. Our view is that schools are more than capable of setting their own policies regarding cell phone use at school. They don't need the government telling them what to do. There are more pressing issues in the teaching sector. And teachers will not be looking forward to teaching a class with hungry children if National removes the food in schools program as stated. Its a lose-lose situation.

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More messages from your neighbours
20 hours ago

Poll: Do you think NZ should ban social media for youth?

The Team from Neighbourly.co.nz

The Australian Prime Minister has expressed plans to ban social media use for children.

This would make it illegal for under 16-year-olds to have accounts on platforms including TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and X.
Social media platforms would be tasked with ensuring children have no access (under-age children and their parents wouldn’t be penalised for breaching the age limit)
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Do you think NZ should follow suit? Vote in our poll and share your thoughts below.

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Do you think NZ should ban social media for youth?
  • 85.1% Yes
    85.1% Complete
  • 13.4% No
    13.4% Complete
  • 1.5% Other - I'll share below
    1.5% Complete
611 votes
8 hours ago

Got a Minute? Prove You’re the Smartest Neighbour!

Riddler from The Neighbourly Riddler

What is it that when given one, you’ll have either two or none?

Do you think you know the answer to our daily riddle? Don't spoil it for your neighbours! Simply 'Like' this post and we'll post the answer in the comments below at 2pm.

Want to stop seeing riddles in your newsfeed?
Head here and hover on the Following button on the top right of the page (and it will show Unfollow) and then click it. If it is giving you the option to Follow, then you've successfully unfollowed the Riddles page.

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8 days ago

OCTOBER'S WEATHER IN KĀPITI

Murray from Paraparaumu

This third spring month in Kāpiti was milder and sunnier than average, and for three weeks we also seemed to be heading for a record dry one, but rain here and over most of the country on the last week changed that.

We ended up with 110mm of rain (airport), but this was only 12mm above the historic average for this month that is frequently our wettest. Despite the rain, we had the equivalent of 15.5 sunny days, slightly above average.

Our daily average maximum temperature was 17.8, almost 0.4C above average and 0.7C above last year, and our overall mean temperature was 14.2C, 1.3C above last year, and the warmest in central New Zealand.

November could average around 20C, as it often does, so we can look forward to the possibility of enjoying our first summer month.