In this episode we discuss the cancer of child abuse. The proposed solutions simply aren’t working. So what will. It’s simply getting worse; the Prime Minister doesn’t want to talk specifics about Easter and Christmas but is happy to celebrate Ramadan and other religious festivals. Is that just polite politicking, or do we have a problem. (He’s not the only political leader to do this); do we need to declare English as an official language as we have done with Te Reo Maori and NZ Sign Language – or is it a given; should we have a 4-year election term; ACT want a smaller government. We ask the panellists which government departments should go; and is offensive language more or less accepted these days.
Show summary auto-generated by Descript app:
1 CANCER OF CHILD ABUSE
Children still no safer than when Malachi Subecz was murdered – latest report
Children are still no safer than when Malachi Subecz was murdered, according to a new report from the Independent Children’s Monitor… The 2025 review, titled Towards a stronger safety net to prevent abuse of children, found that little had changed. “There continues to be a high proportion of reports of concern from professionals that do not result in further action by Oranga Tamariki and where tamariki and rangatahi are not seen,” it said. The report noted a further 24 tamariki had been killed by someone who was supposed to be caring for them, since Malachi’s death.
The gaps Dame Karen found in 2022 were:
- When sole parents are charged and prosecuted, the needs of dependent children are not well enough identified
- The process for assessing risks to a child is too narrow and one-dimensional
- Agencies and services are not proactively sharing information, despite having the ability
- A lack of professionals’ and services’ reporting of risk of child abuse
- The system allows children to remain “invisible” even at key moments
2 WEAK, POLITE, STRATEGIC?
Luxon has done social media messages for Christmas (video), Lent (5 line paragraph) & Ramadan (video)
Christmas is “Slow down, bbq, family, sun, beach, thanks to our Defence force, police, hospital workers working while we party, 2025 has been a tough year, but inflation, interest rates, crime, education, infrastructure all under control….” Ramadan is “Holy month, deeply meaningful sacred time, fasting, prayer, reflection, Iftar, open their homes, spirit of care & generosity, reminder why Muslim community make our country a much richer place.”
3 ENGLISH AN OFFICIAL LANGUAGE?
Bill to make English an official language of NZ introduced to Parliament
The government has introduced a bill to make English an official language, to ridicule from the opposition, and a fierce defence from Winston Peters. The legislation would see English be recognised as an official language alongside Te Reo Māori and New Zealand Sign Language. It would not affect the status or use of Te Reo Māori and New Zealand Sign Language as official languages. Just two pages long, the legislation states that English has long been a de facto official language, but not set out in legislation.
4 FOUR YEAR ELECTION TERM?
Government scraps plans for referendum on four-year term
The government has scrapped plans to put a four-year Parliamentary term to a referendum in favour of progressing other legislation. It introduced a bill last year with a caveat that the term would only extend to four years if there were greater checks and balances on the government of the day. Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith said both coalition agreements secured support to get the bill to select committee but no further.
“We’ve fulfilled those commitments. However, we won’t be progressing with a referendum on a four-year term at this election.” He cited the time constraints as the primary reason for ditching a binding referendum. “To have a referendum would require passing the bill through the rest of its stages, with enough time to prepare. “It’s something that a future government might do, but our priority is progressing legislation that will help fix the basics in law and order.”
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/587223/government-scraps-plans-for-referendum-on-four-year-term
5 WHICH MINISTRIES WILL GO?
ACT would campaign this year on a smaller government, which would be made up of:
- no more than 20 ministers, who all sit in Cabinet
- no more than 30 departments, so most ministers have only one
6 OFFENSIVE LANGUAGE ACCEPTABLE?
- More than half of the 26 terms assessed in both 2021 and 2025 are seen as less acceptable than four years ago, though tolerance levels are still relatively high in a longer-term context.
- Six of the 10 most unacceptable terms relate to race, ethnicity or culture. The N-word remains the least accepted, with 70% (up from 65%) of those surveyed deeming it totally unacceptable in broadcasting. A newly tested variant of this word, at 67%, was the second least tolerated.
- The C-word (66%, up from 57%) cemented its place in the top three. This and other terms related to misogyny saw particularly sharp rises in unacceptability – likely influenced by recent public debates and increased visibility in political contexts.
- More people now regard the blasphemy “Jesus F…ing Christ” as totally unacceptable (53%, up from 46%), reversing a softening in attitude between 2018 and 2021.
- Pacific peoples are the least accepting of strong language on air. Asian New Zealanders have lower than average acceptance for general profanity.
- Christians are much more likely than those without a faith to feel some words are unacceptable – the largest differences are for Jesus F**king Christ
