ACT's David Seymour - i like his style.

[ynot]

Perfect combination!

When it comes to BS Davidson takes the cake. Absolutely clueless ! Just imagine for a moment if the greens and co were in power. Incredible how low the bar is set to be running a nation.

[Aaron]

Front page of the herald today Charities providing school lunches concerned that David is being put in charge as he has stated he is against them.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politi...ID72DJNYGJ3ZE/

I agree with him that the parents not feeding their kids are sh*tbags but is it the kids fault?

Seymour really is an ahole.

[Daytr]

Front page of the herald today Charities providing school lunches concerned that David is being put in charge as he has stated he is against them.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politi...ID72DJNYGJ3ZE/

I agree with him that the parents not feeding their kids are sh*tbags but is it the kids fault?

Seymour really is an ahole.

You are certainly right it's not the kids fault.
There is a huge amount of waste with this program.
It's my understanding that the schools that are serviced, that lunches are provided for all kids no matter the need, as they don't want to shame the kids who rely on the food.

Getting parents of kids who need it to sign up for it and the school having some discretion to provide additional lunches would save likely $50M - $80M per year.

I know a teacher at one of these schools and he says most days half is thrown out. Some days if its food the kids don't like, even more. He takes home lunches most days and puts them in the freezer or gives them to his flatmates, rather than them going to waste.

So, I think there is some room to reign in the waste & cost without preventing those in need from being serviced.

[iceman]

You are certainly right it's not the kids fault.
There is a huge amount of waste with this program.
It's my understanding that the schools that are serviced, that lunches are provided for all kids no matter the need, as they don't want to shame the kids who rely on the food.

Getting parents of kids who need it to sign up for it and the school having some discretion to provide additional lunches would save likely $50M - $80M per year.

I know a teacher at one of these schools and he says most days half is thrown out. Some days if its foid the kids don't like, even more. He takes home lunches most days and puts them in the freezer or gives them to his flatmates, rather than them going to waste.

So, I think there is some room to reign in the waste & cost without preventing those in need from being serviced.

I know one too. My wife who relief teaches at a few low decile schools. The waste is 50% on a good day, 80-90% on many other days. The type and quality of food ranges wildly depending on service providers and of course Maori providers are preferred, whether best or not. The idea of school lunches is good and well intentioned, but sadly this program is an abject failure. Again Seymour calls a spade a spade.

[mistaTea]

I agree with him that the parents not feeding their kids are sh*tbags but is it the kids fault?

Seymour really is an ahole.

Yes I do feel for the kids whose parents don't feed them because they use the money for other cr@p they don't need.

Just an awful situation and I really do feel for those kids who are absolutely the victims in those situations.

I would not call Seymour an ahole though for being concerned at the amount of spend. Easy to jump to the conclusion that he is heartless, but I have not seen any evidence yet that this is the case.

He is very big on 'needs based' so I imagine he will not be looking to scrap free lunches altogether, but to find ways to target those who truly are in need and deliver the service more efficiently. And that is the right approach in my view as the govt does have a duty to taxpayers to make sure the money is being spent wisely.

But it is a challenging issue and I watch with interest to see what Seymour does here. I would be aghast if it was scrapped altogether. Though I generally have more conservative leanings, the idea of kids going hungry because their parents are really poor, absolute sh1tbags or a combo of both makes me feel sick.

[Balance]

“Ka Ora, Ka Ako was expanded rapidly and by last year it covered about a quarter of all students. Evaluations found that it led to children eating more nutritious food and contributed positively to their wellbeing, but it had little impact on school attendance and did not deliver the expected benefits for Māori students.

Treasury officials expressed ambivalence in a briefing to then-finance minister Grant Robertson, describing the evidence for the initiative’s effectiveness and value for money as mixed and pointing out that many of the meals had been wasted. “We do not recommend Ka Ora, Ka Ako become permanent until it is shown to be effective for Māori,” Treasury advisers said.”

The parents who do not feed their kids are the big arseholes and those who want the waste to continue without a review and vetting are also arseholes.

[mistaTea]

“Ka Ora, Ka Ako was expanded rapidly and by last year it covered about a quarter of all students. Evaluations found that it led to children eating more nutritious food and contributed positively to their wellbeing, but it had little impact on school attendance and did not deliver the expected benefits for Māori students.

Treasury officials expressed ambivalence in a briefing to then-finance minister Grant Robertson, describing the evidence for the initiative’s effectiveness and value for money as mixed and pointing out that many of the meals had been wasted. “We do not recommend Ka Ora, Ka Ako become permanent until it is shown to be effective for Māori,” Treasury advisers said.”

The parents who do not feed their kids are the big arseholes and those who want the waste to continue without a review and vetting are also arseholes.

Yeah the idea that we should just spend spend spend without taking stock of whether the initiative is as effective as it could be, as targeted as it could be and delivered as efficiently as it could be is nuts.

We should always be willing to review things without people panicking and jumping to the worst case scenario.

I think it is a positive having a guy like Seymour look into it because he will call out the bs where he finds it.

And if the big concern about targeting school lunches to those in need is that the other students will know their parents are broke... well what a load of hooey.

1. That is absolutely NOT a reason for taxpayers to then be expected to pay for lunches for all students in a school; and
2. Guess what? - the other kids at the school already know who is 'broke' and who is not.

[Balance]

Bloody disgrace - the charities squealing like well fed pigs under Labour and are now being held to account for the wasteful spending which takes away funding from where the real needs are.

I say - Fxxk them and the arseholes parents.

[Aaron]

Yes I do feel for the kids whose parents don't feed them because they use the money for other cr@p they don't need.

Just an awful situation and I really do feel for those kids who are absolutely the victims in those situations.

I would not call Seymour an ahole though for being concerned at the amount of spend. Easy to jump to the conclusion that he is heartless, but I have not seen any evidence yet that this is the case.

He is very big on 'needs based' so I imagine he will not be looking to scrap free lunches altogether, but to find ways to target those who truly are in need and deliver the service more efficiently. And that is the right approach in my view as the govt does have a duty to taxpayers to make sure the money is being spent wisely.

But it is a challenging issue and I watch with interest to see what Seymour does here. I would be aghast if it was scrapped altogehter. Though I generally have more conservative leanings, the idea of kids going hungry because their parents are really poor, absolute sh1tbags or a combo or both makes me feel sick.

Your well balanced response to my post makes me feel like an ahole.

Hard to disagree if the programs are not effective and reaching those it was meant for.

Better to wait and see what actually happens than jump to wild conclusions I suppose.

I guess I should give David the benefit of the doubt for now.

[jonu]

Your well balanced response to my post makes me feel like an ahole.

Hard to disagree if the programs are not effective and reaching those it was meant for.

Better to wait and see what actually happens than jump to wild conclusions I suppose.

I guess I should give David the benefit of the doubt for now.

Have a recommend from me for this post. Seldom one sees anyone prepared to acknowledge they were wrong or had misjudged a situation. It's what free speech is about, ratrher than a shouting match. Bravo!