ACT’s Welfare symposium

This looks to have been really good. Alan Duff looks to have been in his normal blunt style. I recall him speaking to a National conference a few years ago, and ripping into National’s much misunderstood policy of market rentals for state houses, referring to the Minister who introduced it as an “out of touch wanker”.

It was brave of Mark Stephens to front up and talk about his background. His rehabilitation is one of the sadly few real sucess stories we have had. He’s now been out of jail for 12 years. Surely it must be time for the media to stop calling him the Parnell Panther, or at least refer to him as “the former Parnell Panther”.

It reinforces to me that early intervention with programmes like family start are critical to keeping down the crime and welfare rates.