We have been sent some photos of some hardy souls protesting at Katrina Shanks office in Johnsonville about the night class cuts. It is not the biggest protest in the world, but I am told John Key was there and they wanted to remind him that the fight against the cuts goes on. And for a weeknight at 6pm, in Johnsonville, I say good on them. Protests around the country have seen hundreds of people show up to public meetings and rallies.
Labour has opposed the cuts since they were announced. Note there is a national day of action against the cuts this Saturday. The details of events right around the country are here.
Well that’s a grand total of 18 protesters,a few of which not even of a voting age by the look of it. Given that John Key didn’t even bat an eyelid on the combined opinion of some 1,5000,000 registered voters, I wouldn’t hold my breath Grant.
One assumes that the placards were painted using the skills and materials so amply provided in the courses demonstrated for.
Good on them, let Mr Key know that the fight goes on. This is the most ridiculous move by the National Government and it is small, but constant reminders like this that will push through that message. I mean $40,000 cuts to training for Youthline volunteers is just ridiculous. Good on those guys for going out on a cold Johnsonville evening- we need to do alot more of this.
Youthline training cuts? That’s disgraceful. Goodluck for all the protests – I have something on,on Saturday and can’t make it.
I heard this was a vocal and effective protest and well-supported by passers by as there are two colleges in the area with well-established night class programmes which will go. Those entering the office, including the PM, clearly got the message.
Night class cuts were also a lively topic on Back Benches last night with most of the audience having attended night classes at some stage of their lives.
@Dimmocrazy – are you suggesting that people under voting age don’t have the right to protest? If anything, non-voting political participation by under-18s should be encouraged.
Cam Calder had his work cut out for him on Backbenches last night. Now we can see why the Nats haven’t fronted on this issue – they have no excuses. Calder’s reasoning for cutting a service that made up only 0.6 per cent of the tertiary education budget: “ten times 0.6 per cent is 6 per cent”. What??
Yeah, there are some fuzzy numbers here.
I guess that one of the problems of being in Government is that you cant be on the side opposing your actions at the same time as the antagonists.
My concern is more about the future fiscal targets for the Government in future years….usuing the recession as an excuse is so 2009.
@Kezia, no that’s not what I was suggesting, I was trying to make an accurate comparison between the CIR (where under aged where not allowed to participate) and this protest.
Dimmocrazy – How can you tell how old these people are from this little photo? They could easily all be over 18.
But that is not the point. Government policies affect people of all ages, so everyone should have a say. With the CIR it was very frustrating that one side of the hitting children debate – ie those under 18, the hittees, the victims of adult violence towards them – did not get a say at all. Makes the referendum even more of a farce.
yes we need more crossstitch classes paid for its not like we have a govt deficet
@graham lowe – is that you, Anne Tolley? While “crossstitch” classes sound like fun, what’s at stake is the chance for many NZers to upskill (ESPECIALLY important in a recession). What’s at stake are vital services like Youthline and Women’s Refuge, who use ACE funding to train their volunteers. Tolley and gang are cutting a whole lot more than “crossstich” classes.
You obviously have never done cross stitch with a group of people. There is a great deal of skill and information sharing and social capital developed over the embroidery.
The sector costs only 0.6% of the tertiary education budget is a tiny amount comparatively and it has been shown to be very good economic value. And skills development is the way to get out of a recession.
SO they’ll get together to protest, that kind of seems like community building sort of activity. Why don’t they continue that community activity and organise their own night classes? Why do they need a $60/course subsidy when they can easily teach each other different skills?
It seems that we’ve let centralised government take the place of community in NZ. Shame
Good point LabRat, but also have a look at Kezia’s comment. There’s something there that I think a lot of people didn’t know, namely that the women’s refuge is also obtaining subsidy through this vessel. Now I have nothing against women’s refuge per se, don’t get me wrong, but I am not venturing on foreign terrain if I say that the ’staff’ at these centres tend to derive from a very specific and small cross section of society, that significantly correlates with the core Labour constituency. Now that’s an eye opener alright. When you want to understand Labour, end of the day, always simply follow the money…..
And Dimm has now been able to alienate all remaining rational objectors.
Katrina Shanks is the List MP in Ohariu (or Karori, I’m uncertain to which), and I see that Tawa, Onslow and Newlands all have high schools in that electorate (I’m not a local)
If they all get the chop, how is that serving the interests of people in that electorate?
Isn’t National about “family values”?
Dimmocrazy – ACE trains volunteers for community groups like Youthline. That means volunteers. People who give their time for free, to help and support others. They don’t always come from the left of politics. It’s very cost-effective. ACE funding pays for a trainer and that ensures there is a trained team of people who donate their time. Perhaps this is a foreign concept for you.
Now – I support Youthline and I agree it needs to be funded.
BUT ACE training is not the end all and be all of the way to train volunteers. If the are all volunteers – why need the funding to do the training in the first place. They cannot run in house courses?
The funding has been cut and at the end of the day it is cut from primarily hobby courses – something that keeps being forgotten by all the people moaning about it. Why should we spend x million when 98% of it is utter tosh training on belly dancing etc.
I think that the vast majority of NZ will be shocked about how much was spent to fund yoga and gourmet cooking classes under labour and will be happy that it is being cut.
I really think that labour has backed the wrong cause on this one.
biker – weighing in on cuts to night classes again I see… 98% is NOT tosh spending – I know you’re just exaggerating but it seems cruel – Tolley has slashed this funding already, no need to kick it while its down. Anyway, your ‘tosh’ spending is someone else’s opportunity to upskill, socialise and learn English, as others have pointed out here.
P.S. It’s good to know that Katrina Shanks does in fact exist. Ohariu is my electorate and apart from one flyer last year pre-election I have never seen nor heard of anything she’s done. I mean, she DOES exist, right? Someone has actually seen her…
She was on Back Benches the other day. But Charles Chauvel and Peter Dunne are much more visible in the electorate and nationally. She has an electorate office opposite the Johnsonville library (scene of this protest) so you could even visit her there sometime. But not if you are a wheelchair user as it is up steep stairs.
@Hilary – I’m sure it has wheelcahir access, there would be rules about that sort of thing
@Hilary, no volunteer work is not foreign to me, do it all the time. But you know what? Often there’s the volunteers doing the grunt work and if you follow the line to the ‘coordinators’, ‘trainers’ ‘planners’ ‘overseers’ or such similar descriptions, then suddenly, by a weird twist, they’re not volunteers any more, you suddenly find people that actually make a living out of ’sustaining’ all these in themself very, very good causes. And you know what? you’ll often find that these folk that make a living out of their ‘organizing’ are of a certain political inclination, with the right connections to where the training and coordination money is to be had, and you know, by the stroke of further coincidence, the trail always ends with the taxpayer.
Abbie’sG – yes there are rules. Doesn’t mean they are complied with. Most of those two storey buildings like those in Johnsonville are not accessible on their first floor. Have you tried getting around in a wheelchair? There are so many places you can’t go.
I wonder how many electorate offices are not accessible.
Hilary
I wouldn’t be so sure about Katrina Shank’s visibility in Ohariu. Her office looks like it is well positioned on a busy street. Unfortunately between the protestors and Key’s visit her new office will now enjoy an even greater profile now, particularly in Johnsonville.
I was part of Charles Chauvel’s campaign team in ‘05 and 08 I’ve seen her on Back Benches, but not in person though.
However, I’ve seen both Charles Chauvel and Peter Dunne in the Ohariu electorate a few times (especially Charles).