Helen Clark gave her valedictory speech yesterday in Parliament, I watched it on the web and felt a huge sense of loss. She is an amazing woman and has been an inspirational leader of the Labour party, and our country. I am sure she will make a huge contribution to the United Nations in her new appointment.
It is strange to think of parliament without her, She became an MP in 1981, and a minister in 1987, the leader of NZLP in 1993. She is probably the main political figure who has remained constant in my lifetime so far. Helen is a remarkable woman who has made a huge impact in her career so far. She is the PM I have respected the most, I remember growing up calling the PM "piggy", and then watching my parents become disillusioned as Labour turned its back on its core beliefs in the 1980s. Helen's steady leadership brought my family back to the Labour fold and the return to core social democratic beliefs for our country.
I joined the Labour party in 1999, I was unhappy with the thought of National having another 3 years in power, I was a student, my student loan was growing daily with interest and I knew that change was necessary.
I have met Helen on many occasions and found her to be warm and caring, and genuinely interested in what was happening to people around her. I have been inspired by her and will continue to be.
D
Showing posts with label labour. Show all posts
Showing posts with label labour. Show all posts
feminist... a dirty swear word
Posted in abortion, feminism, labour, pregnancy on by
I belong to an online political grouping, there is a discussion in one of the subgroups that a new member has started, it this he states that abortion equals murder and that Helen Clark is a radical and a feminist and that is why we lost the election....
I joined said political party in 1999, Helen was about to become our Prime Minister and I was excited to be part of the movement towards a social-democratic NZ. To me she never seemed radical, and being a feminist was all good by me too.....
It never seems to amaze me though how people use feminist as a bad word, as something that obviously means you must hate men or something like that, and you must be a lesbian too..... what crap. I am a feminist, I am married, have 3 children, and dont hate men at all, some of my closest friends are male and i love them all.
Feminism to me is believing in equality of gender and the use of policy etc to ensure equity for women.
I read the person's post in disbelief that he thought Helen was too radical and that there were too many feminists at the top of the party... it felt like I was reading something written by a Tory.
As for abortion, I am pro choice... yep I think that there is a place for Abortion, its not something I would choose to do, but it is something that is necessary for others. I also get annoyed when men tell us what we should or shouldn't do with our bodies... to sustain a pregnancy is hard work on the body and the mind, its not easy being pregnant, i know I have done it 3 times to term and as much as I enjoyed it, I made the choice to be pregnant and to take on the responsibility of caring for the child that would be born. To force women/girls to go through with an unwanted pregnancy is wrong.
Anyway thats my big political rant for now... feminist isnt a swear word.
I joined said political party in 1999, Helen was about to become our Prime Minister and I was excited to be part of the movement towards a social-democratic NZ. To me she never seemed radical, and being a feminist was all good by me too.....
It never seems to amaze me though how people use feminist as a bad word, as something that obviously means you must hate men or something like that, and you must be a lesbian too..... what crap. I am a feminist, I am married, have 3 children, and dont hate men at all, some of my closest friends are male and i love them all.
Feminism to me is believing in equality of gender and the use of policy etc to ensure equity for women.
I read the person's post in disbelief that he thought Helen was too radical and that there were too many feminists at the top of the party... it felt like I was reading something written by a Tory.
As for abortion, I am pro choice... yep I think that there is a place for Abortion, its not something I would choose to do, but it is something that is necessary for others. I also get annoyed when men tell us what we should or shouldn't do with our bodies... to sustain a pregnancy is hard work on the body and the mind, its not easy being pregnant, i know I have done it 3 times to term and as much as I enjoyed it, I made the choice to be pregnant and to take on the responsibility of caring for the child that would be born. To force women/girls to go through with an unwanted pregnancy is wrong.
Anyway thats my big political rant for now... feminist isnt a swear word.
survival.....
Posted in home alone, kids, labour on by
I did it, Ben was away from friday morning till late last night and I survived being home with the kids. I am quite proud of myself, its the first time I have been home alone here in palmy since K was little.
We had a nice weekend, spent time with friends, did some sewing (two funky new bags), and K had her first girls brigade church parade which was nice. I am a parttime/oncall leader with her company so was nice to see her as part of it now. She looked very cute in her wee pinafore and red sweatshirt.
we also helped Iain campaigning at the market, the girls were so funny, I had a couple of small hoardings to hold and let K have it for a while, then they started fighting over them so they ended up holding one each. k knows they say tick labour tick lees-galloway.... and knows that Helen clark is pm and belongs to labour. shes very proud that she can read the signs now.
So will say I am indoctrinating them, and maybe I am, but we all are indoctrinated in some way as children, for example to think that teachers are good, that god made everything, that drs will fix what is wrong. I have yet to decide how we will explain more about the election but as I have three weeks I had better get on to it.
D
We had a nice weekend, spent time with friends, did some sewing (two funky new bags), and K had her first girls brigade church parade which was nice. I am a parttime/oncall leader with her company so was nice to see her as part of it now. She looked very cute in her wee pinafore and red sweatshirt.
we also helped Iain campaigning at the market, the girls were so funny, I had a couple of small hoardings to hold and let K have it for a while, then they started fighting over them so they ended up holding one each. k knows they say tick labour tick lees-galloway.... and knows that Helen clark is pm and belongs to labour. shes very proud that she can read the signs now.
So will say I am indoctrinating them, and maybe I am, but we all are indoctrinated in some way as children, for example to think that teachers are good, that god made everything, that drs will fix what is wrong. I have yet to decide how we will explain more about the election but as I have three weeks I had better get on to it.
D
I have friends lol
Posted in labour, medication, red, sewing on by
I have had a lovely week, I have spent a couple of days with a new friend of mine and her two wee kiddies, its been really nice having someone to talk to who is similar, and has kiddies the same age as my two youngest. so thanks Clare you are so lovely... I feel similar about another friend who I feel i have connected more with lately.
I have also made a couple of pieces of clothing and yesterday made baby slings for O and Clares wee fella, Nice red ones with black with white dots on the reverse, they are so funky....
I have also dropped my meds dosage to just a holding dose of 20mg, which is really nice, my anxiety is up a wee bit but I am working on lowering that.
And shock horror I have tidied my two living areas this morning and vaccuumed... so am feeling pretty good, next up is attacking the pile of washing.
Ben is away for the weekend doing a landmark forum. I dont know what I think of it, but it means I am home alone till monday morning which will be a huge test for me on how I cope with the kids etc. i also have planned to help with campaigning tomorrow morning, and have girls brigade parade at church for K on sunday morning, so enough to keep us busy.
D
I have also made a couple of pieces of clothing and yesterday made baby slings for O and Clares wee fella, Nice red ones with black with white dots on the reverse, they are so funky....
I have also dropped my meds dosage to just a holding dose of 20mg, which is really nice, my anxiety is up a wee bit but I am working on lowering that.
And shock horror I have tidied my two living areas this morning and vaccuumed... so am feeling pretty good, next up is attacking the pile of washing.
Ben is away for the weekend doing a landmark forum. I dont know what I think of it, but it means I am home alone till monday morning which will be a huge test for me on how I cope with the kids etc. i also have planned to help with campaigning tomorrow morning, and have girls brigade parade at church for K on sunday morning, so enough to keep us busy.
D
polls looking good
Posted in campaign, election, labour on by
I have to be honest that I was quite unhappy about the prospect of a national led government, but the two latest polls have given me a boost so I am back out campaigning to help labour stay in and to get Iain Lees Galloway elected as Palmy's next mp.
I went to the market this morning with him and the responses were really positive towards labour, it was really heartening as I was feeling like we were in a sinking boat.
We have also had a hoarding erected in our front yard. We have never done this before so it was quite exciting.
I am enjoying campaigning again, its great, after 4 elections I was feeling really jaded but now I am bouncing again.
I went to a quiz night last night which was really cool too, the team I was in got third out of five teams so not to bad really.
election time
Posted in election, labour on by
Ok, so by now some of you will have guessed that I am a labour supporter.
Well actually I am a labour party member so this time of the election cycle means lots of work for very few people. I used to go out campaigning hard etc, but the advent of three wee kids have curbed this quite a lot, so this election I will be doing my work by talking to people that I know about our policies and how they will help NZers....
I must admit though that I dont want to watch any tv coverage at the moment as it seems very onesided, its all about how we need a change.... what utter crap. we need to keep building on the social improvements that have been made and keep working to make our country a better place to live for all of us, not just the elite few who earn big bucks.
anyway, I am looking forward with hope that a centre left coalition will come out of the election.
D
Well actually I am a labour party member so this time of the election cycle means lots of work for very few people. I used to go out campaigning hard etc, but the advent of three wee kids have curbed this quite a lot, so this election I will be doing my work by talking to people that I know about our policies and how they will help NZers....
I must admit though that I dont want to watch any tv coverage at the moment as it seems very onesided, its all about how we need a change.... what utter crap. we need to keep building on the social improvements that have been made and keep working to make our country a better place to live for all of us, not just the elite few who earn big bucks.
anyway, I am looking forward with hope that a centre left coalition will come out of the election.
D
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
