And if it's not, it should be.

Last Friday, secondary school teachers and principals rejected the Government's second pay offer, and voted to strike in term one.

While the strike may still be averted, it's not looking good, with the Government offering three percent pay rises each year for three years.

The union is asking for an initial rise of 15 percent.

Union boss Jack Boyle says the Government's offer is so far off what teachers are asking for, "it's almost a failure of their moral responsibility".

Meanwhile, primary teachers and principals have rejected two offers, and have already gone on strike twice this year. NZEI members are currently voting on whether to accept the Government's third offer: if it's a no-go, more industrial action is likely to be in the pipeline.

The new year could see the Government facing a so-called "superstrike", with thousands of primary and secondary teachers and principals walking off the job arm in arm.

Jacinda Ardern, Chris Hipkins and Tracey Martin have repeated their line until they're blue in the face: frustrations are noted, but not everything can be fixed in one budget.

PPTA vice president Melanie Webber acknowledged this on Friday, saying the issues facing education weren't Ardern's fault or her government's, but it's now it's their responsibility to fix it.

A solution nobody asked for?

The problem is the Labour-led coalition decided to spend $2.8b on its tertiary education fees-free policy.

That's a massive spend on a policy no-one was screaming for, with its implementation fast-tracked.

New figures show more than 50,000 students are expected to receive fees-free tertiary education this year, but the overall number of students has declined 0.4 percent, or by 1174, according to the Tertiary Education Commission.

Straw polls carried out by this reporter over recent months have found it's universally believed the fees-free policy should not have been first on the Government's education to-do list.

It's not that it's a bad idea for a Labour government to walk the talk on free, state-run education systems, but it needn't have been the priority while primary and secondary schools are in crisis.

PPTA boss Jack Boyle says it's up to the Government to set its priorities, but if something matters and you've got the will, you can make it happen. Continue reading

• Laura Walters is a senior political reporter for Newsroom. She is based in Wellington and covers justice, education and immigration.
• Image: Stuff.co.nz

The choice of the Labour-led government to trample on the human rights of our precious unborn and the right of women to be protected from the violence of abortion, in my opinion, means it forfeits its right to govern.

The report of the Law Commission on recommendations for taking abortion law out of the Crimes Act and treating it as a health issue, was presented on Friday to the Minister of Justice.

The review had been requested by the Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern.

Ms Adern claims to be a strong advocate for women and children but with this move has abandoned protecting both.

The government has no mandate from the people of New Zealand to remove women and their unborn from the protection of the Crimes Act.

There is to be no public consultation or debate about the contents of the review prior to the government presenting a bill to Parliament.

The Law Commission advised Right to Life under the Official Information Act that

• 3,419 submissions were received on the review of the abortion laws in New Zealand.
• 1,677 submissions opposed to removing women and their unborn children from the protection of the Crimes Act.
• Only 603 submissions that supported making the killing of an unborn child in abortions a health issue and a choice for women.
• 69%, were opposed to the decriminalisation of abortion.
• 49% specifically supporting retaining abortion in the Crimes Act.
• An additional 20% supporting legal protection for the child in the womb.
• The remaining 13% did not address the issue of decriminalisation.

It is worth noting, that since 1856 the Crime's Act has recognised the killing of an unborn child in an abortion as a serious crime and violence against women.

The authentic feminist position is to oppose the decriminalisation of abortion.

The three legal models presented by the Commission represent an unprecedented attack on the weakest and most defenceless members of our human family.

These proposals constitute an unprincipled denial of the humanity of the child in the womb.

The Law Commission's proposed models provide for the unborn, deemed by the mother as unwanted, to be removed from the protection of Part VIII of the Crimes Act.

Currently, the Crimes Act states that abortion is a serious crime that on conviction the accused may be imprisoned for up to 14 years.

The Law Commission's three models provide for the killing of the unborn, effectively up to birth, and for this to be considered a health issue on part of the woman.

The Law Commission's three models means it no longer be a crime to kill an unborn child, but a health service.

However, it is the duty of the state to protect the lives of every member of our community from conception to natural death and not to preside over their destruction.

The decriminalisation of abortion will allow the government to declare that they have no interest in protecting the lives of New Zealanders in the first nine months of their lives.

The Labour-led government admits that it has no evidence to substantiate the claim that in a modern society it should not be a crime to kill an unborn child; it intends to replace truth and justice with personal opinion.

It is time for the Labour Party return to the high social principles of its founders to uphold the sanctity of life ethic and to protect, rather than destroy, the lives of the most vulnerable members of our community.

• Ken Orr is a spokesperson for Right to Life.