1. Vaccine Drug Company Targeting Boys For Profit
Family First Media Release 3 February 09

Family First NZ says that calls for the cervical cancer vaccine to be given to boys as well as girls is based on shonky research, marketing pressure, and wrong spending priorities. “The claim that Gardasil prevents penile cancer is based on a study of 16 to 26-year olds, funded by the drug company Merck which sells the drug, and the study lasted only five years,” says Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ. “But penile cancer does not normally present until a person reaches the age of 50, and is extremely rare at approximately 1 in 100,000 men. There has also been no research on whether the vaccine actually reduces the carriage of HPV in the community and this is acknowledged by NZ’s Immunisation Advisory Centre.”
“Any research by Merck should be treated with extreme caution as they have just funded a $4.85 billion payout to settle 26,500 lawsuits regarding Vioxx — a painkiller which caused heart attacks, strokes or deaths. They were accused of waging ‘a campaign of deception to promote its drug, moving slowly to warn of possible hazards while at the same time dressing up in-house studies as the work of independent academic researchers’.” READ MORE

Cervical cancer vaccine for boys
The Dominion Post 03 February 2009

The cervical cancer vaccine should be given to boys as well as girls, to protect them and their future partners from genital warts and cancer, public health experts say. The main introduction of the $177 million vaccination programme, which aims to immunise 300,000 Kiwi schoolgirls over five years, begins this week. READ MORE

2. Schools fear the worst as cash dries up
NZ Herald Feb 02, 2009

The first weeks of a new school year can be expensive for parents, but term one, 2009, could prove a struggle for schools as well as the global recession starts to bite. Secondary Principals’ Association president Peter Gall said New Zealand schools will be hoping families pay their “voluntary” donations this year despite the economy.

..Family First national director Bob McCoskrie said it was difficult for parents to receive expenses in one lump sum just as they were recovering from the holiday period. “It’s like that every year and I guess this year is going to be that much more trying.” He said the recession seemed a catchphrase for what families had been going through for the past couple of years as they deal with high mortgage repayments, increases in petrol costs and rising commodity prices. “Families have felt under pressure for a number of years and finally the experts have put a label on it. They call it a recession, [but] for families it is just unfortunately business as usual.” READ MORE
READ Family First Media Release Government Must Clarify School ‘Fees’ or ‘Donation’

3. Pregnant, drink-driving ‘child’ dismays police
NZ Herald Jan 30, 2009

A 14-year-old Whangarei girl, legally too young to have sex, buy alcohol, or drive a car, has shocked police who this week caught her behind the wheel, five times the drink-drive limit and four months pregnant. ..Family First lobby group director Bob McCoskrie said the girl’s situation showed a lack of proper boundaries in her discipline. “There’s a huge issue of lack of supervision for this case,” he said. The case highlighted a lack of pre and post-natal advice for women as well as a lack of debate around the country’s attitude to alcohol, Mr McCoskrie said. New Zealand had extremely high teen pregnancy and binge drinking rates, and the girl’s case could be just the “tip of the iceberg”, he said. READ MORE

4. Having more than two children is ‘irresponsible’ – Greens (UK)
Mail Online (UK) 1st February 2009

Couples who have more than two children are putting an ‘irresponsible’ burden on the environment, the Government’s leading green advisor has warned. Jonathon Porritt called on ministers to divert money away from curing illnesses towards contraception and abortion services to limit the country’s population and help in the fight against global warming. READ MORE

Family First Comment: Before you say “only in the UK”, last year during the election campaign the Green party in NZ floated the same idea!!
READ Greens Want To Tell Parents How Many Children To Have 17 Oct 2008

5. Female Empowerment Has Caused Family BreakUp
Times on Line (UK) 1 Feb 09

BRITAIN’S cult of individualism, greed and selfishness has so blighted children’s lives that families and pupils need basic training in love and moral responsibility, according to a landmark report on the state of childhood. More than 35,000 people contributed to the inquiry…It paints a stark picture of social breakdown. One of the most controversial areas covered by the report is the effect of women working. It claims female economic independence as well as feckless fathers have contributed to family break-up while also reducing the amount of time a child spends with its parents. …The inquiry warns that parents should not rely excessively on nurseries but should turn more to relatives to help with childcare. READ MORE

6. Grandparents ‘lose children to gay couple’
The Herald (Scotland) 29 January 2009

Church leaders hit out at social work chiefs today over claims that a couple were “forced” to give up their grandchildren for adoption by two gay men. The grandparents wanted to care for the five-year-old boy and his four-year-old sister because their mother was unable to look after them. And the grandparents claim they have been warned they risk never seeing the youngsters again if they continue with their opposition to the same-sex adoption. READ MORE

7. Working for Families no help to most needy, agency says
Otago Daily Times 29 Jan 2009

One of the Labour government’s most comprehensive social assistance packages, Working for Families, has “failed to impact on the lives of the most vulnerable”, a Presbyterian Support Otago report on poverty has found. READ MORE

Cindy Kiro’s term ending!
Herald on Sunday 25 January 2009

Controversial Children’s Commissioner Cindy Kiro will finish her five-year term in April. The Ministry of Social Development has advertised the high-profile role, with an annual salary of $195,100. Critics have accused Kiro as being a toothless figurehead, but she has defended her record as an independent voice for children. READ MORE

Family First Comment: Cindy Kiro has been openly hostile towards Family First, and in fact to any people who may have a Christian faith – no matter how qualified they are to speak up. Apart from completely misrepresenting the facts in the smacking debate and misrepresenting Family First’s position, last February she attempted to discredit the 300,000+ NZ’ers who had signed the petitions on the anti-smacking law by saying that previous generations of parents didn’t parent as positively and were less qualified in knowing how to raise their children than parents of today!!
We also would like to know why she was

• silent after the pathetic sentence handed down to the caregivers of Ngatikauri Ngati who abused the little 3 year old to death
• silent during the Trevor Mallard incident during the “It’s Never OK” Violence Campaign funded by the government.
• silent when the prostitution report from South Auckland was released last year highlighting the number of young teenagers prostituting themselves
• silent when Police refused to prosecute a 21 year old who got a 13 year old pregnant (after starting the relationship when she was 11)
• silent over the recent cancelling of the sentence for a woman who pleaded guilty to infanticide
• silent over the ultimate child abuse of abortion

….yet is more interested in the rights of children to be able to purchase spray cans of paint for the purposes of tagging, and wanting to monitor every child with a social worker as soon as they are born!!!

The problem is not just with Dr Kiro but with the office itself. Children’s interests are best served in the context of their own family. Government support for children must be through their families, not apart from families. Any office or structure which even appears to separate children from their parents and families will be destructive in the long run – no matter how well intentioned. Laws are already in place which protect children in seriously dysfunctional families.

If the National government is serious about doing away with unnecessary governmental spending, this would be a good place to start – rather than just cancelling a few conferences. So why are they advertising for a new Commissioner?????
READ MORE “Parents deserve the right to raise their children.”
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