Thank you for the opportunity to discuss the Pae Ora health reforms with you.

Since I was sacked by the Health Minister I have taken time to reflect on the experience and to make a considered assessment of what I learned in the process. My intention tonight is to share that with you, making the assumption that we share common ground in wanting to have an effective, efficient, excellent and equitable public health service.

If anyone does not want that, I don’t really have anything useful to share with you.

Mike Smith

Hello, my name is Mike Smith, from the New Zealand Fabian Society. It's my great pleasure today to interview Ambassador Wang Xiaolong from the People's Republic of China to talk with us about China's values. I heard Ambassador Wang speak at a meeting convened by the Institute of International Relations（NZIIA） last year and in the course of that meeting, he addressed the question of China's values and said, "China's choice for values, social system and path to modernity is made by our own people, based on our own history, culture and realities. All these choices have proven to be suitable and effective to solve China's problems and meet the needs of the Chinese people".

So, Ambassador, thank you very much for agreeing to this interview. And thank you very much for coming to explain to us China's values in more detail than when you were able to address to the Institute of International Relations. But before we do that, I wonder if you could tell us a bit about yourself, where you're from in China, where you grew up, what you've done, where you've been, what your own personal interests are, so we get a bit of a feel for your own situation.

In this recent presentation, Robert highlights the variety of terms used by these institutions to highlight their 'ethical' credentials. These include 'sustainable', 'ESG' (Environment, Social and Governance) and 'responsible'. In the majority of instances, these are not validated and, as a result, the methodologies used to implement these notions result in funds investing in unethical companies. Examples are provided in the slides, dealing with Kiwisaver funds and the NZ Superannuation Fund.

Thank you for your feedback on topics for the months ahead.  Our organizing group believe that we need to focus on building a progressive election agenda – and many of you have responded with what you see as the key issues.  And some have also commented on how we draw a wider audience into some serious discussion and debate.  

  

  • Climate crisis, go hard on methane emissions
  • Increasing inequality. 1% own 50% I think.
  • Foreign policy. Stand up vs foreign hegemony. (Kit)

 

Key issue - climate change.  How to engage on the denial and desperation which keeps us in arrogance and paralysis.  It's not that we can't do what needs to be done.  We choose not to do it.  National's leader, Luxon, accuses Labour of not being able to do things.  Really rich after its performance.   How can they overcome their nature as empty-headed desperadoes?  (Richard)

 

One issue that I would like to hear more about is the 3 waters changes.  What does it really mean for the average person?  Perhaps you could have a supporter of it and a person opposed to it. (Margaret)

 I think agenda-setting is key here. To me that looks like having progressive scholars and organisers along to outline what they think should be on the agenda, with discussion and questions to follow. Every Fabians talk I’ve been to has been excellent, so I don’t have any feedback on that. (Ti)

 

David Parker or Chloe Swarbrick. She would remind us  of what “socialism” (could) look/s like and would bring in the punters. (Tom)

 

Endless growth vs environmental and social sustainability (the colonial approach to economic growth via population growth and foreign investment) from the perspective of international solidarity Thank you for your work. (Daniela)

 

It is imperative that the Right does not win the election. And the public is being encouraged to by both the media and social media, from what I see. I will vote Labour for my electoral vote, but I am a Green Party member and will give them my party vote. I would like to see Labour win the election, but with a much larger Green presence in Parliament. This is because Labour needs the Greens to keep them from becoming a tame  Centrist party and from missing all the opportunities and work required to a) fight climate change and prepare for what we can't reverse and b) put a halt to the runaway profiteering of corporations, while the poor get poorer and their lives more desperate. These topics need intensive discussion and planning for the election. 

 We also need to find ways to activate young voters to take an interest in the election, perhaps to educate them about the Fabian Society and its past and to inspire them to fight for social justice and the environment.

We also need to find a way to educate people about the forces at work on social media to promote lies and conspiracy theories. People need to be able to discern the difference, to understand that the democratic system is not perfect but is valid and our only hope and that their part in it is crucial to the future. They need to understand the corrupt nature of big business and the Right.

This may mean doing more than holding online talks and discussions amongst members. It may mean getting out to schools, polytechs and universities and anywhere where people gather. It may mean having a presence on social media. It may mean recruiting younger people to help. (Deborah)

Unemployment is a political choice, says economist Bill Mitchell, and Covid-19 presents us with the opportunity to eliminate it. In this Zoom meetup, Professor Mitchell, a long time proponent of a job guarantee, shows what went wrong when economists began preaching austerity and why a state guarantee of full employment is central to fixing it.

  1. Zoom Meetup – Fixing unemployment: Social insurance and a job guarantee
  2. Dr Geoff Bertram - How to pay for Covid-19 - May 2020
  3. By failing to protect our water we have failed everything New Zealanders value
  4. Fabian Society Events Postponement
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