Children are being endangered by the speed of welfare reform – just as children are put at risk by excessive speed on our roads. In a written submission Caritas says the speed of consideration was unreasonable and unrealistic. Only 11 working days were provided between the first reading of the Social Security (Youth Support and Work Read more
Family First says the Government is undervaluing mothers by not allowing a bill, proposing to extend paid parental leave, to proceed to a first reading. In the week before Easter a member’s bill which aims to extend paid parental leave in New Zealand from 14 to 26 weeks came up in the ballot. It is being proposed by Labour’s Sue Read more
The Speaker of Parliament, Jeffery Nape, has called on the Electoral Commission to set new dates for the election that’s supposed to be held in June, even though the Prime Minister and the Electoral Commissioner now say the elections will go ahead as scheduled. On Tuesday a crowd variously reported to number 100’s to 10,000 people, including students, Read more
“Enter at your own risk” notices have been appearing on many of the churches in the Wellington Archdiocese. More than half of the Archdiocese’s buildings have been labelled as “immediate concern” of earthquake risk, with 25 churches deemed earthquake-prone. The Archdiocese is facing a price-tag of more than $3 million just to complete assessments and Read more
The death in Auckland on Thursday of a senior Anglican Priest and Child Advocate, the Venerable Dr Hone Kaa B.A., M.A.(hons), D.Min. (EDS), after a short battle with cancer, has been greeted with sadness from all sides. Over 50 years Dr Kaa had an extensive career that included parish ministry, broadcasting, local and international activism, teaching Read more
Bishop Peter Cullinane has retired after almost 32 years as the Bishop of Palmerston North. Bishop Peter was born in Dannevirke, 29 November 1936, was ordained a priest at Brignole Sale College, Genoa, on 23 December 1961, and ordained as the first Bishop of the newly established Diocese of Palmerston North at St. Patrick’s Palmerston North, Read more
According to the recently released Roy Morgan Report, State of the Nation Report 4 – ‘Spotlight on New Zealanders Aged 55+’ – the net wealth of the 55+ has risen 179.5% since 2002, despite New Zealand’s total net wealth only rising 130.2% over the same period. This group now has over 50% of the nation’s net wealth, despite Read more
The Catholic Diocese of Auckland’s Justice & Peace Commission has just issued a leaflet entitled “Catholic Social Teaching and the Ports of Auckland Dispute” which is being distributed to all parishes in the diocese. It is accompanied by a letter of support from the Bishop of Auckland, Bishop Patrick Dunn. The leaflet gives an overview of Catholic Read more
The Archbishop of Canterbury has announced his resignation. Dr Rowan Williams says he will quit at the end of the year to return to academic life. He has accepted a position as Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge University. Hinting at the pressures of the job, he said he hoped his successor would have ‘the constitution of Read more
Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand has launched a Special Appeal and pledged NZ$50,000 towards averting severe hunger and deaths in the Sahel region of West Africa. ‘An estimated 13 million people are in grave danger,’ says Caritas Director Julianne Hickey. ‘This has been brought on by severe drought, poor harvests, and rising food prices – made Read more