McBlog by Bob McCoskrie

In a recent interview on TVNZ"s Q&A, a promoter of hate speech laws – Green MP Chloe Swarbrick – proved to us just how flawed & dangerous hate speech laws would be. This is because 'hate speech' is generally defined by the promoters of such a law, who then use them inconsistently but always to their advantage.

One of the superb parts of the coalition agreement between National and NZ First was the plan to scrap the controversial & radical RSE curriculum being indoctrinated in schools by harmful groups such as InsideOut (RainbowYouth) and Family Planning Association. But the media and the teacher unions are mad! And they’ve already started campaigning against any changes to their agenda.

The Midwifery Council in NZ wants to cancel any mention of women. 'Midwife' is to be renamed 'Midthingamy'. You'll also be astounded to hear their response to the simple question "what is a woman?" But they're not the only wokesters in the health field.

When companies go woke, they often go broke. And the reason they go broke is because people like you and me choose to purchase from companies and retailers who don’t lecture us with woke gender and sexuality virtue signalling as part of our purchase. But more and more companies are going woke - Budlight, Target, Ford, Nike, Adidas, Bonds, Rip Curl, Oreo, and more. You need to be aware of them – so that you can exercise your purchasing power.

Dr. Jordan B. Peterson is a renowned Canadian psychologist, author, and online educator. He first really came to fame in 2016 when he posted a video on YouTube criticising personal pronouns, gender ideology and political correctness in Canada which went viral. The College of Psychologists of Ontario want to force him to be woke. He has written a fabulous response.

Four months ago, war returned to the Middle East with a surprise terrorist attack by Palestinian terror group Hamas which killed 1200 people and wounded thousands more in land assaults and airstrikes. The images of those attacks were truly frightening and disturbing. Hamas also took dozens of Israelis hostage. In response Israel ordered a ‘complete siege’ of Gaza in order to eliminate Hamas once and for all. Today we speak to our Israel correspondent David Silver from Out of Zion Ministries.

As we speak, there are currently negotiations going on to form a three-party coalition. For many months leading up to the election, it was believed that it would be a simple process with just two parties – National and ACT. Then a couple of things happened, and one interview in particular on our online weekly programme "StraightTalk". Did it change the election outcome?

Breastfeeders, chest feeders, birthing people etc. 😳😳😳La Leche League is an organisation that works in over 80 countries, and exists to help mothers to breastfeed. It even has status at the U.N. But no longer is it just mothers who can breastfeed, according to La Leche League. They have become super woke, sadly. Just like some other groups in NZ, who should all know better.#parenting #mothers #biologymatters #familyfirstnz

Here's the interview you won't get from the mainstream media - a child psychiatrist challenging gender ideology, pushing back against directives from health authorities. Dr Jillian Spencer is an expert in her field, with over 20 years of experience as a medical practitioner and 10 as a specialist psychiatrist. She was recently stood down from her job as a senior staff specialist at a public children’s hospital in Queensland. She has been open about preferring a cautious and holistic approach to the treatment of gender dysphoria cases, rather than an automatic ‘affirmation’-only approach.

The Ministry of Health has just released the latest abortion statistics. We take a look at the latest disturbing trends and dumb (and woke) comments in the report. The report comes just over three years on from when our politicians decriminalised abortion and introduced one of the most liberal and extreme laws in the world, effectively legalising abortion up to 40 weeks with token safeguards. We need to continue to fight for the rights of the unborn child and the welfare of the pregnant mum.

Here's our latest episode of Family Matters with a really important topic in our current cultural setting.Brad Wilcox is Professor of Sociology, Director of the National Marriage Project and is the Future of Freedom Fellow at the Institute for Family Studies. He is a renowned expert in family studies, and co-author of “Why Marriage Matters, Thirty Conclusions from the Social Sciences”. He is also the author of a forthcoming book “Get Married: Why Americans Must Defy the Elites, Forge Strong Families, and Save Civilization,” due to be published on February 14, 2024.The Institute for Family Studies has just published a report he co-authored entitled “Do Two Parents Matter More Than Ever?” We talk to Brad Wilcox about the findings of this new report, his new book due out soon, and what the research actually says about marriage.

Euthanasia became legal in Canada in 2016. If we want to see where New Zealand could be headed , then looking at the trend of Canada’s experiment is a good place to start. And as expected, it’s not pretty.

There's pressure on Early Childhood Education centers to push gender ideology on pre-schoolers, yes preschool kids! A parent who is also an ECE (early childhood education) teacher told us at a recent parents' meeting that there is pressure on ECE centers to push gender ideology on preschoolers. What we found after some research should concern every parent. Gender and sexuality ideology is starting way earlier than you possibly thought, and as some people have warned, they’re coming for your kids. It's time to push back.

Britney Spears has revealed she had an abortion while she was dating Justin Timberlake. But contrary to the narrative that the media and the pro-abortion lobby push, this wasn’t a good thing. It wasn’t 'a good day' – ironically – and her experience exposes a number of myths around the pro-abortion pro-killing narrative.

The leader of the Conservative party in Canada, Pierre Poilievre, recently gave a masterclass on how to handle left-wing media and journalists. The video went viral – for good reason. And he eats an apple while he's doing it.

In October 2018, Canada was the first G-20 nation to legalise recreational cannabis. Five years on, public health experts say legalisation hasn’t created any health benefits — but it has been linked to some serious concerns. None of the negative outcomes are unexpected. What’s really interesting is who’s now expressing concern.

The low point of the Election Campaign came during the final leaders' debate between Chris Hipkins and Christopher Luxon. Luxon took a shot at the five ministers who have left Labour this year, to which Hipkins replied with a reference to the accusations against a National MP from his youth. Do our dumb actions as teenagers disqualify us from leadership? Do even our past actions as adults permanently disqualify us? Or does it depend on what the action was, what the consequence at the time was, and how we responded?

Despite the optimism, the significant effort of time and expense, the passion, the utter hard slog, the results are in for the minor parties. Politics is a brutal sport. Good on these parties for putting their hand up and being willing to get involved. We need their voice in the public domain. They must not give up heart. But where to from here...?

As we await the final count and watch the make-up of a National-led Government under Christopher Luxon’s leadership, not a lot will change for Family First. We might have a new conservative-leaning Government – but it’s not necessarily a socially-conservative-leaning Government. It's business as usual for us.

A new study came out last week that claims that shouting at children or using a raised voice can be as damaging as physical or sexual abuse. It raises a couple of important issues around parenting advice and why the anti-smacking law has been a failure.

Israel is under attack. “Shooting babies in front of their parents” … “it’s a crime against humanity”. In today’s McBlog, we speak to kiwi David Silver live from Israel. David runs a ministry called Out Of Zion Ministries.

We've been saying this for a while now, but recent research published in the Journal of Family Psychology continues to endorse just how important the dinner table is, as well as the presence of parents. Your kids need family dinners.

Last week was the 2nd Leader’s Debate between Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and the person who wants to be the next Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. There were a couple of interesting questions on abortion, gender ideology & policies in schools, and decriminalising cannabis. We check their responses.

ALRANZ which stands for Abortion Rights Aotearoa (yeah - not quite accurate eh!) are a tiny group that are radically pro-abortion and have an American activist as their leader. They've released their list of which parties are the most pro-death pro-abortion. If ALRANZ endorse the party, you should probably avoid them like the plague. You’ll be doing the unborn child and the pregnant mum a massive favour.

And here it is ... a full replay of that EXPLOSIVE interview with ACT leader David Seymour on StraightTalk. Have a listen for yourself.

One of the books that the Ministry of Education and Family Planning recommend for your 9 year old to read as part of the RSE (Relationships & Sexuality) Curriculum is "I am Jazz" by Jazz Jennings. A recent examination of Jazz's life concludes, "Jazz Jennings was sold to us by the LGBTQ+ lobby as a shining example of the success of early gender reassignment for children. In truth, he’s been left sexless, sterilised and physically mutilated. Jazz is not an example to follow. His tragic life is an indictment of the trans movement." Judge for yourself whether you believe Jazz is a wonderful role model for your children. And why is Chloe Cole never mentioned?

Over 100 Catholic schools in Cleveland (USA) have set out clear guidelines for sexuality and gender based on Catholic teaching – and they should be music to your ears. The real question is – do NZ faith-based schools adopt similar biblical-based guidelines? If not, why not.

We finally got to see the National party leader Chris Luxon up against current Prime Minister and Labour leader Chris Hipkins in the first Leaders Debate last night. There were some interesting questions and answers that we highlight. Bob also says with absolute confidence who won the debate.

It’s General Election time – and because we operate under an MMP mixed member proportional voting system, the concept of the “wasted vote” always comes up in discussion. Generally the statement is thrown around, something along the lines of, “If your vote is wasted, it goes to another party” – “Another party benefits”. But is this true? We explain how the wasted vote phenomenon works in practice – based on what happened in the General Election in 2020.It still comes back to you though. You have a choice. They may call it a ‘wasted vote” but it’s not wasted if your goal is to send a message to both the party and to the public in general that you support the principles and policies of that party – even if they don’t get in – this time. On the other hand, you may decide that you don’t want the major parties to get extra seats because of wasted votes – as happened in 2020.But at least you’ll now know how the system works.

On the same day as our General Election here in New Zealand, Australians will also be going to the polling booth to have their say in a referendum. The question on the ballot paper will be: “A Proposed Law: to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. Do you approve this proposed alteration?” We speak to John Anderson – former Deputy Prime Minister under the Howard Government and guest speaker at our recent conference – who is campaigning for a NO vote.

Australian Kirralie Smith is a passionate wife and mother who challenges Australia’s political leaders to protect children, parents’ rights, women’s spaces and services, sport, the military and education from radical gender ideology. In 2019 Kirralie formed Binary Australia. But it has all come at a cost - a huge cost. Let’s meet Kirralie and hear her story.

Australia's 7News called it “the most controversial story of the year as Spotlight uncovers the irreparable damage being visited on a generation of confused kids wrongly diagnosed as transgender.” It was shown on mainstream television in Australia last Sunday. Will TVNZ's Sunday also broadcast it? We asked them. No response.

“There was no compulsory vaccination” … Hmm, I have a feeling that with that one statement Prime Minister Chris Hipkins just all but confirmed his demise on October 14. But you be the judge.

What do Kiwis think about gender ideology? In schools, in sports, getting teachers deregistered because they won’t use preferred pronouns and tell a biological lie, giving teenagers puberty blockers, cross sex hormones, and castrating and mutilating health body parts. The media will never tell you - but we will, because we asked Kiwis for their view. You may be surprised by the results.... or maybe not.

Over the last week, there have been two Labour politicians who have struggled to define or understand what a woman is – one an ex-Prime Minister of Australia - the first woman PM of Australia for that matter - and the other a current female MP in the NZ Labour Party. They need our help.

Quiana Casamayor is from the Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform (CCBR). Having started in the pro-life movement as volunteer herself, she now equips volunteers with the tools they need as they reach Canadians with the truth about abortion through various outreach projects. Quiana was introduced to the issue of abortion and the work of CCBR at a young age by folding CCBR’s newsletters with her family. That’s one way to get your children hooked into your ministry. And next month she’s coming to New Zealand. I had the opportunity to speak to Quiana about her upcoming visit. Quiana will be speaking at the March for Life Rotorua on Saturday 23 September 10am.

Chris Hipkins turned up to do a speech yesterday. Apparently, it was supposed to be about 'unity' and refusing to talk about the so-called 'culture wars'. Rather than unifying, it was divisive, and focused extensively on the culture wars including the Labour party’s obsession with abortion. Chris Hipkins gave the media the perfect opportunity to rush off to the other nominee for PM - Christopher Luxon - to get a commitment out of Luxon on abortion.

In early 2020, two drag queens sued Australian family advocate Lyle Shelton for “vilification”. His alleged crime was to write a blog that highlighted that drag queens were promoting gender-fluid ideology to children and that they were “dangerous role models” after they appeared at a drag queen story time event for children at a Brisbane City Council library. The drag queens made a complaint to the Queensland Human Rights Commission alleging that his post was vilification because it incited hatred, severe ridicule and serious contempt towards them. We talk to Lyle about the court decision that has just been released.

Last week the media were talking about something they don’t normally talk about – marriage. So what was it that got the media so excited about marriage. And what didn’t they seem so excited about?

If you want to talk about the transgender issue and women safety in bathrooms, changing rooms, sports, prisons, domestic violence refuges, and in public policy in general, you’ll get shouted down and shouted out of the public domain. Think Posie Parker at Albert Park and the storm that was shamefully whipped up by the media on that. But suddenly, the political leaders are suddenly talking about it on the campaign trail. In fact, some political leaders who support gender ideology are suddenly questioning gender ideology. How can that be?

Value Your Vote 2023 is now available to view. You can view the information on the website, or you can download the 16-page pamphlet. You can also order free copies for your church or community group.

The deputy leader of the National party made some encouraging remarks recently about the role of parents in sexuality education and where the school fits in to it. Then she walked them back. And then she made further disturbing comments this week on the issue. She seems decisively indecisive, but it's probably not a surprise given her voting track record. It’s important you know where our politicians stand on these issues. We need to vote for political leaders who value what we value.

There’s quite a line up of conservative-leaning minor parties that want your vote at the General Election. What happens if you like them all but you can only pick one. And if everyone picks different ones, then what happens? Is there a solution? Bob puts forward his solution and the reasons for it.

If you’re concerned about the overreach of hate speech laws, then you only need to look overseas to see that your fears are quite legitimate. A 16-year-old British girl with autism was taken into custody recently after committing the heinous crime…. of saying a police officer looked like a lesbian, just like her nana (who is actually ‘married’ to a woman). And a Christian preacher in the US was arrested after protesting a Pride event. He argued that the protection of children’s innocence is paramount and therefore drag queen events – particularly those with sexual dancing – should never be a place for children. This is now ‘hate speech’.

When the euthanasia law was being promoted in New Zealand, disability groups were very concerned about the underlying message it sent. Disability rights groups said, “There are endless ways of telling disabled people time and time again that their life has no value.” So what happens when you combine disability, cost and euthanasia. You only need to look at Canada to see where we may be headed.

Ne-Yo is a 43 year old Grammy-winning American singer, songwriter, actor, dancer, and record producer. He recently shared his thoughts on gender identity where he questioned parents who allow their kids to undergo gender-transition surgery. The reaction was swift. He quickly fell into line with the cultural elite – but then he found his backbone. We show why he found his backbone.

Disney’s live-action remake of its 1937 animated classic, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, is slated to hit theaters in March 2024. The only issue is that it’s not going to be strictly speaking Snow White – where’s the diversity in that? Oh – and we can’t have seven dwarfs. That is… completely unacceptable. In fact, there will be one dwarf. So it’s a Hispanic Snow White, one dwarf and some friends from the local diversity club. Woke as.

New surveys in the USA show that high school boys are trending conservative. High school girls are becoming more socially liberal. However, that all changes as they get older. We check out the latest social trends and its effect on mental health. Because progressivism or liberalism is secular, it's also depressing. If you want to improve your mental health, become a social conservative.

It’s pretty hard to do life without a bank account. In fact, with our move to a cashless world, having a bank account has become an essential service. But what happens when banks cancel your accounts or don’t even want your business – because you happen to be a social conservative. It’s happening – at a disturbing level.

The headline in the Herald on Sunday screamed "School violence on the rise: Thousands of students stood-down or suspended for physically assaulting peers each year." Are you surprised? You shouldn’t be. Children born at or around the time of the passing of the anti-smacking law or after it are now teenagers and children. Using government data, we examine the result of this grand social experiment - data which political and academic leaders refuse to acknowledge, instead lazily blaming bad behaviour on COVID and the climate.