Prime Minister John Key is taking a hard line in response to recent youtube video showing bullying in schools. He's instructed Anne Tolley to write to school Boards of Trustees, asking .... oh ... that's it? That's the hard line from Key?
Inspirational!
12 comments:
Asking her to stop role modeling bullying behavior to the children. And from a minister, I have to say
Speaking of bullying, it was nice to see Kevin Hague denounce homophobia in a SST story yesterday:
Hague said he had never been the target of taunting over his sexual orientation since entering the halls of parliament in 2008.
The same, he said, couldn't be said for other gay MPs, citing "prejudice" directed at Attorney-General and Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Chris Finlayson.
"Trevor Mallard, and also Clayton Cosgrove, refer to Chris Finlayson as `tinkerbell'. And I f---ing hate it," Hague said. "That sort of overt taunting as a `fairy', it is nothing other than prejudice. I don't like that culture of abuse."
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sunday-star-times/features/4810616/Arresting-times
Who'd have ever thought Trevor Mallard would be a homophobic bully? What makes it even worse was that his benchmark on the of the days when he made that interjection was none other than Chris Carter!
Well done Kevin Hague for not pulling his punches on this.
There is this great piece about the FIASCO that is Phil Goff's response to the hughes issue:
Goff's response to fiasco lays bare internal cracks in Labour caucus
OPINION: If Phil Goff is expecting a shoulder to cry on when he enters today's front bench meeting in Dunedin, he will be disappointed.
His appearance on Q+A yesterday would have done nothing to solidify support over his handling of the Darren Hughes affair. He was defensive, continued to insist he held the moral high ground and accepted no responsibility for the fiasco that ended in the resignation of one of his more talented and popular MPs last week. He even refused to accept that it was a fiasco.
With front benches being what they are - occupied by people consumed by ambition and ego in equal measure - there will no doubt be some harsh words spoken behind closed doors, even if the clear intention of the Labour caucus for now is to put a brave face on matters and insist it remains 100 per cent behind Goff.
If that's true, it is only because there are no credible contenders yet to emerge on the horizon. As one long-time Labour insider observes, most MPs are probably of a mind to roll Goff now if they could, but there is no candidate for them to line up behind. There is just the "Phil" and "not Phil" camps.
But that is hardly good news for Goff. He now finds himself in the territory occupied by the likes of Jenny Shipley, Bill English, Don Brash, Mike Moore and others. He is being white-anted by his own colleagues and the cracks in Labour's legendary party discipline have been laid bare. Note that none of those leaders went on to win an election.
The witch-hunts are now under way within Labour, but Goff can't afford to alienate any more of his MPs. He needs friends now, more than he needs to make examples of his enemies. Besides, the last thing he wants to do is fuel the suggestion of disunity.
But the next round of polls still looms as crucial. There is already widespread angst within Labour at Goff's inability to make traction against a hugely popular prime minister and a government that should be vulnerable on many fronts, including the economy and spending cuts.
Labour Party members fear that Goff will lead them to a 2002 scenario, when Bill English led National to its worst defeat.
If the next polls show that Labour has plumbed even greater depths than previously, the white-anting will begin afresh. Whether a credible contender has emerged by then is another question.
The Dominion Post
Robert? The great proclaimer of free speech who chides those who delete his comments that have nothing to do with the bloggers post is deleting my comments?
Shame on you robert. You are denying me my right to free speech!!
Double standards?
Bio - you've got it in one!
Authoritarians beget bullies.
The Tolley legacy.
Inv2 - I read that from Kevin. He's quite right. Have you met him? Kevin's a very thoughtful guy. He and I were speakers at the protest march opposing mining the national parks.
Iolian - you don't know me at all well, you knee-jerk-guy! I don't delete. If you've lost a comment, I'll search it out for you because I care. The FIASCO comment you made, is that it or should I be searching for something else. Is that even your comment? It reads like a cut and paste from elsewhere and are you sure you dropped it into the right thread?
That whole 'shame on you' thing's a bit silly I thought.
You know which post it was RObert because you deleted it.
@ Rob; I'm not having a dig at Kevin; I sincerely support his stand against homophobia, especially from those who should know better, or be more tolerant; Mallard and Cosgrove.
I blogged about Mallard's comments at the time, because the media gave him a free pass. I'm glad that Hague has shone a light on him once again. I have a close family member who is gay, and I am only too aware of the prejudice that he has experienced. Despite that, he is one of the most successful people in his chosen field in the world and I am exceptionally proud of him.
Inv2 - I realised that you were supportive of Kevin Inv and my response was made in that light.
Iolian, I haven't/didn't delete any post by you or any one else for that matter. I've checked my spam catcher and there's nothing in there either. If you are going to keep insisting that I'm deleting your comments, I'm going to begin accusing you of stupidity.
Lets hope the property owner owners of Chch CBD really up the ante and write Mr Key a strongly worded letter, too, eh?
Think they'll use capital letters and underlining?
Cripes!
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