NZ Politics Daily - 4 October 2013

NZ Politics Daily: 4 October 2013
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NZ Politics Daily: 4 October 2013 Why you shouldnt vote

If youre feeling disinclined to vote in the current local government elections, then perhaps you simply shouldnt. Ignore the chorus of political commentators, bloggers and various politicos who are pleading and hectoring you to vote, and simply refuse to take part in this years elections. Certainly if youre bored by it all, unimpressed with the lack of meaningful electoral options, or just disgruntled with the state of your local authority and democracy, then one of the most powerful options you have is to protest by not participating. Although such a message is considered beyond the pale by the political class, in reality its your legitimate right not to endorse what might seem like an electoral sham. This years non-vote is certainly shaping up to send a powerful message that the system isnt working. Signs are that voter turnout will be the lowest in living memory. If central and local government politicians are truly listening, then two million eligible voters refusing to participate could lead to some sort of radical reform of local democracy. The extent of public discontent and disconnect with the local government elections is plain to see in numerous news articles reporting the very low turnout so far. In terms of Auckland, see TV3s 87 percent of Aucklanders still to vote (http://bit.ly/18z1mpn) and Wayne Thomsons Auckland voters taking their time to decide who will run their city (http://bit.ly/1744C8d). For the capital, see TV3s Wellington voter turnout 'to be ashamed of' (http://bit.ly/1a3MazN). For Christchurch see Glenn Conways Low voter turnout feared (http://bit.ly/1bBkzb5). And for an overview of the nation, see Daniel Adams Apathy leading contender at the polls (http://bit.ly/1aPwJfD). The last item is particularly worth reading, as it looks at some of the reasons that citizens are choosing not to participate. It reports the analysis of Massey University academic and specialist in local government, Dr Andy Asquith, who focuses much of the blame on the local authorities: He said the disconnect between councils and their constituents, confusion over the role of elected members, and the public's lack of understanding about the importance of voting were all factors in declining turnouts. Local politicians had two roles: to be "our voice", and making sure the organisation was well governed, but often became mired down in the latter, he said. That left local politicians "appearing" every three years at election time, he said, when they had a responsibility to be far more visible mid-term. The article also says that the huge non-vote is sparking calls for a radical overhaul. Therefore, its realistic that some good might actually come from choosing not to participate in 2013. Not voting in these elections helps indicate that the system lacks legitimacy. So what exactly is wrong with local government? I suggested some of the problems in my column last week Who's killing local democracy? Compiled by Bryce Edwards; Sponsored by Ideas Shop
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(http://bit.ly/18Vr724). But a much better analysis of the key problem of local government in New Zealand is put by Brian Easton in his latest Listener column, Voting in a vacuum (http://bit.ly/1f3yYkv). This points out that New Zealand is one of the most centralised states in the world and local authorities have little power to act, except at the behest of central government, which frequently overrules them. Easton doesnt sound very convinced about the need to vote: Is there any point voting in local body elections? I shall vote in order to demonstrate to the centralists that I believe in local democracy, even if they dont. In Auckland, Brian Rudman has also expressed his lack of enthusiasm to vote and the reasons why: For the first time in my life, I'm finding it hard to argue against those who can't be bothered voting in the upcoming election see: Super City elections all too hard (http://bit.ly/GzXwTO). He complains that the Auckland Super City model has been a failure for local democracy: The promise of a Super City, headed by a super-council more akin to a state government, has not been fulfilled. By government-design it's become little more than a cypher for the mayoral agenda. It's failed to excite public attention, or assert itself, either collectively, or as individuals. Is it any wonder that voter apathy is their reward. So should local authorities be given much more power? Radical reform is proposed by the rightwing New Zealand Initiative think tank, which has published an excellent discussion document by its executive director Oliver Hartwich you can download the PDF here: A Global Perspective on Localism (http://bit.ly/1bBqlcI). The best media coverage of the report is Brian Fallows Calls for public services to be funded by local government (http://bit.ly/1brTB9i), which emphasizes the fact that New Zealand local authorities have only 11% of government spending, compared to the OECD average of 30%. David Farrar comments as well see: Localism (http://bit.ly/1f3vKNF). Such reforms arent the only way to shake up local government. Another possible solution is to properly reintroduce political parties to the contests. Masseys Andy Asquith is reported as advocating this: He also believed national political parties should stand candidates in local races. "If we have party politics in local elections, you'll actually know what candidates are standing for. This change would make the elections more coherent, and locals would have a better idea of what they are voting for, thus making the elections more meaningful. In reality, the idea of all candidates being independent has always been a farce. This is an aspect that Brian Rudman has complained about in Auckland: With the majority of council and board candidates lurking behind a babel of 62, mainly meaningless, labels, it's all too hard. With 119 candidates, for example, claiming to be "independent", including seven of the 17 mayoral hopefuls, what's a voter to do? Similarly in Christchurch, local blogger Caleb Morgan has written his review of the candidates on offer, complaining that the main barrier to informed voting seems to be that most candidates are doing their utmost to portray themselves as being non-party-affiliated and sometimes even non-political.
Compiled by Bryce Edwards; Sponsored by Ideas Shop
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see: Politics without politics a local election guide (http://bit.ly/175yIt7). He explains why this happens: I guess candidates want to cash in on cynicism about politicians, and appeal to our lazy post-modern post-political post-ideological political ideology. But it does make it rather hard to tell what theyre actually standing for, when nobody really follows local politics, and then all we get from the candidates is vague billboards and a paragraph of meaningless platitudes. Arguably, without political parties contesting the electoral contests, the competition becomes a focus on name recognition. By extension, most councils, particularly provincial ones, are very conservative and beset with conflicts of interest. It also means that the majority of candidates tend to be those, who, to put it bluntly, have seriously vested interests, or a lot of time on their hands. Whats more, under the current pro-independent model, the political parties are involved in council campaigns, but the individual candidates simply skirt around their actual political associations. Brian Easton isnt so sure about the value of the parliamentary parties: Libertarian Act was hardly pro-decentralisation when it held the local government portfolio. You might expect the Greens to be, but MMP has given them a direct route into Parliament instead of building a platform in local body politics. In any case they, like the rest, are all too keen to grab power at the top and use it to direct everyone else. Therefore it might be best to boycott the current elections, and try to force change. However, theres certainly a different view on this. For the best defence of voting in local elections, see political scientist Jean Drages Your vote counts in local elections (http://bit.ly/1fJOW4k). And there are plenty of other variations on this message going around at the moment. For the ultimate list of reasons, see Liz Breslins Voting is sexy, polite, easy ... and a privilege (http://bit.ly/1buyjYA). The head of Local Government New Zealand, Malcolm Alexander puts forward his arguments in his Herald column, Have a say on how your city is run (http://bit.ly/16lGqTp). From the left, Julie Fairey writes Why You Need to Vote in the Local Body Elections (http://bit.ly/16lEiLc) and Greg Presland of The Standard says: Vote! (http://bit.ly/15OAy17). Finally, even renegade ex-MP Aaron Gilmore is getting in on the act, urging people vote as well as endorsing Lianne Dalziel for the Christchurch mayoralty see his blogpost, Local Body Elections (http://bit.ly/19l8Ij7). He says: There is another week to vote for local body elections. Please do so. Your vote is important. For me Im fortunate to be able as a multi property owner/resider to be able to multi vote in multi areas, but I am only voting once in Christchurch and in Burwood Pegasus in 2013. Bryce Edwards NZPD Editor (bryce.edwards@nzpoliticsdaily.co.nz)
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Todays content
Local government elections Brian Easton (Listener): Voting in a vacuum Kurt Bayer (Herald): Gilmore backs Dalziel in Christchurch mayoralty race Daniel Adams (Stuff): Apathy leading contender at the polls Kurt Bayer (Herald): Candidate won't be charged over sexts 3 News Online Staff (TV3): Wellington voter turnout 'to be ashamed of' Peter Beck (The Press): Beck reflects on council experience TV3: 87 percent of Aucklanders still to vote Aaron Gilmore (Mighty Rocket): Local Body Elections Wayne Thomson (Herald): Super City elections 2013: Auckland voters taking their time to decide who will run their city Beranrd Orsman (Herald): Len Brown's financial record David Farrar (Kiwiblog): The Wellington Mayoralty David Farrar (Kiwiblog): Lens borrowing Julie Fairey (Daily Blog): Why You Need to Vote in the Local Body Elections Liz Breslin (ODT): Voting is sexy, polite, easy ... and a privilege Malcolm Alexander (Herald): Have a say on how your city is run Caleb Morgan (Cut your hair): Politics without politics a local election guide Brian Rudman (Herald): Forget mowers, let's use cows Ashleigh Stewart (Stuff): Council boss may get pay rise Glenn Conway (Stuff): Low voter turnout feared John Minto (Daily Blog): Len Browns big porkie Will de Cleene (Gonzo): Five STVs and a Shoo-in NBR: Auckland mayoral race: Exit poll has John Palino within 4% of Len Brown Greg Presland (The Standard): Vote! Ele Ludemann (Homepaddock): Apathy front-runner in council elections Shelley Robinson (Star Canterbury): Vote on $91k pay rise for acting Chch City Council Radio NZ: Think tanks wants more power for local government David Farrar (Kiwiblog): Localism Housing Matthew Dallas (Stuff): Lame response from Govt on housing Dubby Henry (Stuff): Interest rate hopes pinned on extra homes Rob Stock (Stuff): Bank profits back to pre-crisis levels Newswire: Govt stole our housing policy - Greens TVNZ: Get ready to pay more on your mortgage Governor Dubby Henry (Stuff): Scheme to build 282 affordable homes Graeme Wheeler (Herald): Brakes on lending aim to cut risks Karen Rutherford (TV3): Auckland's housing project a needed boost David Farrar (Kiwiblog): Reserve Bank decision making Ele Ludemann (Homepaddock): LVRs introduced for good reason The Standard: (Un)affordable rents in Berm City Alan Papprill (The Irascible Curmudgeon): What happens when private interests get in the way of efficiency?
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James Henderson (The Standard): National playing catch-up on affordable housing Colin James (ODT): Finding the exit when there is no sign Electricity TVNZ: Energy Minister burying power price rises Labour TV3: Labour: Govt hid 'bad news' about power prices TVNZ: Power companies may sue if Labour-Greens win James Weir (Stuff): Polls add volatility to Meridian's likely price Tim Hunter (Stuff): Firm demand for Meridian shares Labour Party Newstalk ZB Staff (Newstalk ZB): Cunliffe taking nothing for granted Danyl McLauchlan (Dim-Post): What are they thinking? Scott Yorke (Imperator Fish): Ten questions for David Cunliffe Daily Blog: About Jenny Michie Jennie Michie (Daily Blog): Rating Labours Coms since Cunliffes win Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): The Goal and the Movement: The Debate Between John Moore and Chris Trotter Continues. Giovanni Tiso (Bat bean beam): The struggle for democracy Ruataniwha Dam Matt Chatterton (Newstalk ZB): Cunliffe denied access to Ruataniwha Dam land Cameron Slater (Whaleoil): Stinking up the joint over Ruataniwha NZ-Australian relations Alexia Russell and Corazon Miller (Newstalk ZB): Key says Kiwis moving to Australia need to be forewarned Dan Satherley (Newstalk ZB): Kiwi rights deal saves NZ money expert Greg Ansley (Herald): Abbott firm on Kiwi expats Greg Ansley (Herald): Key under fire over expat welfare Peter ONeill (Timaru Herald): Editorial: Howdy bro, or is that cuz? Dominion Post: Editorial: Unloved Kiwis should come back Kim Dotcom Sam Thompson (Newstalk ZB): Dotcom confirms political party aspirations TVNZ: Kim Dotcom speaks about political party plans Patrice Dougan (Herald): Dotcom backs Orcon's cheaper broadband bid Briar Marbeck (TV3): Dotcom wants 'digital future' for NZ Amanda Sachtleben (Idealog): Dotcom plays poster boy as Orcon fights data caps Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Dotcom 'bullies' claim doubted Tertiary education Radio NZ: Staff and students oppose representation plan Teuila Fuatai (Herald): NZ universities: how ours rate The Standard: Large representative bodies slow, unwieldy Warm Up programme
NZ Politics Daily: 4 October 2013 Stacey Kirk (Stuff): Home insulation scheme success Newswire: Home insulation scheme tops 235,000 homes Migrant workers bill Newswire: Tough sentences for exploiting migrants Peter Wilson (Newswire): CTU backs migrant worker bill
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Economy Maria Slade (Stuff): Taxpayer value from hobbits and widgets Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Wait on broadband price ruling 'sign of progress' Bernard Orsman (Herald): $800,000 salaries for top city staff the market rate, says mayor Herald: Editorial: Solid Energy shows pitfalls of public ownership Adam Bennett (Herald): Labour looks to forestry to create Northland jobs Waikato Times: Editorial: Welfare fraud vs tax fraud Phil Twyford (Red Alert): The government of social problems Eloise Gibson (Stuff): KiwiSaver advice maintained David Chaplin (Herald): Inside Money: ACC has NZ covered, may have to go offshore Other Toby Manhire (Herald): Key needs a new partner John Drinnan (Herald): RNZ to spread its wings Dita De Boni (Herald): Time to look beyond the big smoke Hannah Lee (Stuff): Drawing on future cartoonists Morgan Godfery (Maui St): Is it past time to abolish the Maori Council? Tahu Potiki (Stuff): Ngai Tahu report makes good reading Mai Chen (Herald): US breakdown gives us a reminder Chris Trotter (Stuff): Monarchy gives somewhere safe to hide David Farrar (Listener): Book Review: On Offence: The Politics of Indignation, by Richard King Jane Clifton (Listener): degenerative disorder Gordon Campbell (Werewolf): TPP: The Parley in Bali Gordon Campbell (Werewolf): TPP: No Ifs, No Butts Murdoch Stephens (Werewolf): Doing Less, For Fewer Gordon Campbell (Werewolf): The Politics of Low Expectations The Listener: Editorial: win or lose, Cup pays off Susan Wood (Newstalk ZB): Labour stunt misses the mark Barry Soper (Newstalk ZB): It's the will of the people... Kinda Adam Bennett (Herald): Fears for future of Maori Council The Standard: Kris Faafoi on Broadcasting Colin James (ODT): How are the polar bears? Is NZ bothering? Michael Field (Stuff): Helen Clark conquers fear - almost Greg Presland (The Standard): Crony Capitalism and Chorus Stuff: Today in politics: Friday, October 4 Isaac Davison (Herald): GM soybean needs animal testing, says lobby group Adam Bennett (Herald): SIS seeks new deputy Lincoln Tan (Herald): NZ passport opens world's doors Herald: Kiwi buys Mediterranean island - for a bargain Rosemary McLeod (Stuff): Courts still gentle with women
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Cecile Meier (Stuff): Government 'keen to back' new TNZ challenge Hamish Clark (TV3): Govt 'landgrab' slammed by Chch residents Radio NZ: Chairman suggests Maori board method be adopted nationwide The Standard: An expensive shit sandwich David Farrar (Kiwiblog): An editorial on Masseys EXMSS Nelson Mail: Editorial: Positive trends in latest crime figures Gareth Hughes (Frogblog): It is time to change Parliaments prayer No Right Turn: Climate change: Time to act Vernon Small (Stuff): Forums see PM heading back overseas Ele Ludemann (Homepaddock): Knowing when to go Karl du Fresne (Stuff): Suspicions of rorting raised David Farrar (Kiwiblog): The parliamentary prayer
NZ Politics Daily: 4 October 2013 Local government elections Brian Easton (Listener): Voting in a vacuum 3rd October, 2013
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Wellingtons disdain for local councils makes the present elections almost meaningless. The abolition of the provinces in 1876 made New Zealand one of the most centralised states in the world. Not completely, however a second level of regional, city and district councils exists that we are voting for at present. But local authorities have little power to act, except at the behest of central government, which frequently overrules them. It is as if they were courts. Any litigant who dislikes a local authority decision can appeal to the higher court of central government, which will overrule the decision if the appellant often business interests puts up a powerful enough case. Overruling, which can come in the form of a law change, replacement of a council by a commissioner or arbitrary threats and directions, is frequently done with the excess and enthusiasm reminiscent of a bully. For instance, was it necessary to replace the dysfunctional Canterbury Regional Council with a commission that has lasted beyond two elections? Sometimes the centralist argument is that our money is involved. They mean general taxpayers money. The money, and the need for urgent co-ordination, might have justified the imposition of the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority to deal with the quake mess, but need Wellington dominate the rebuild? Should not the citizens of Christchurch have a greater say? It is not only money. According to its citizens representatives, Auckland faces future transport needs at an infrastructural cost that cannot be afforded from rates. A committee recommended user-pays, including tolling and petrol taxation. Not only would those measures help meet the funding target but, properly applied, they would reduce demand especially during peaks and encourage commuters to use public transport. That sounds right to me, especially as one of the 70% of New Zealanders who live outside Auckland, I am not happy with paying for its infrastructure unless I get to use it. But the Minister of Transport, Gerry Brownlee, vetoed Aucklands proposals. Hopefully a future minister will show more common sense. But what is instructive, for this columns purposes, was Brownlees instant reaction. The minister could have said he was glad to see the Auckland Council working through its problems, especially its acceptance of the need for a local initiative with a corresponding willingness to bear the additional cost. He could have worked with it to pass enabling legislation. All Parliament would require would be that Aucklands actions reflected local wishes and did not compromise the general principles of government, including the needs of other localities. But oh no, the Wellington control freaks werent having any of this local democracy thing, any more than the citizens of Christchurch could be allowed to decide the shape of their own city. Local democracy is verboten unless it does what the centralists want.
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I wonder why? The Governments behaviour typifies the long tradition of bullying locals, for the other side has been no better. The minority parties havent shone, either. Libertarian Act was hardly pro-decentralisation when it held the local government portfolio. You might expect the Greens to be, but MMP has given them a direct route into Parliament instead of building a platform in local body politics. In any case they, like the rest, are all too keen to grab power at the top and use it to direct everyone else. Is there any point voting in local body elections? I shall vote in order to demonstrate to the centralists that I believe in local democracy, even if they dont. The more people who vote in local body elections, the stronger the message that we want a less-centralised system. Perhaps one day we will get a central government that listens to, rather than bullies, us. But I vote this month knowing that my real local body election the one that actually affects my local community is in a years time. http://www.listener.co.nz/current-affairs/economy/brian-easton-voting-in-avacuum/
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Kurt Bayer (Herald): Gilmore backs Dalziel in Christchurch mayoralty race 6:09 PM Thursday Oct 3, 2013 Former National MP Aaron Gilmore has backed Labour stalwart Lianne Dalziel in the Christchurch mayoralty race. Mr Gilmore revealed his preference in next weeks' local body elections in his blog. He's vowed to vote for Dalziel in a stance which "I'm sure shocks some - not the least of which probably her!" The 39-year-old has backed another left-leaning candidate, current city councillor Glenn Livingstone, as well as Dave East who he calls "a true Eastie and a moderate righty". Dalziel, who last month stood down as Christchurch East MP after a 23-year parliamentary career, today welcomed the endorsement. "I don't think he's got a wide readership of his blog... but I've got a lot of support from the National party generally. I'm very pleased." Mr Gilmore resigned as National List MP in May after reports of a boozy night out in Hanmer Springs where he was abusive to a waiter. He's kept a low profile since he was "hounded out of public office", he said in an earlier blog. He urged Cantabrians to get out and vote in next Saturday's local body election. "Your vote is important," he says. Mr Gilmore said despite owning multiple properties and being able to vote in multiple wards, he was only voting in Burwood-Pegasus. "Many local people have asked my views. Burwood-Pegasus has been smashed by earthquakes, as it is where I grew up, and 33,744 other local people are also enrolled to vote, despite some views by outsiders that the area is empty." http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11134257
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Daniel Adams (Stuff): Apathy leading contender at the polls 05:00 03/10/2013 Voting packs are lying ignored in households around the region as residents switch off from local-body elections, sparking calls for a radical overhaul. Votes votes are trickling in to electoral officers, with Hamilton currently the worst performing. Just 9.8 per cent of the city's 100,000 voter ballot papers had been received by Tuesday - 25 per cent below 2010 returns. The trend is being seen around the country, with Dunedin's returns currently running at roughly half the tally at the same time in the last elections. Education, more money and electoral reforms are suggested as the answer by commentators - none of whom believed compulsory voting would help. Massey University academic Dr Andy Asquith, a local government and public management specialist, said there was no silver bullet to local turnouts that have steadily been falling despite politicians offering up "laudable words". He said the disconnect between councils and their constituents, confusion over the role of elected members, and the public's lack of understanding about the importance of voting were all factors in declining turnouts. Local politicians had two roles: to be "our voice", and making sure the organisation was well governed, but often became mired down in the latter, he said. That left local politicians "appearing" every three years at election time, he said, when they had a responsibility to be far more visible mid-term. He also believed national political parties should stand candidates in local races. "If we have party politics in local elections, you'll actually know what candidates are standing for." Another initiative he believed would improve voter turnout would be civic education classes in schools, to try and head off young voters' apathy. Research suggested that young people who didn't vote in their first two elections after turning 18 were unlikely to ever vote, said Asquith. He doubted there would be any political appetite for compulsory voting. According to Local Government New Zealand, an increase in the 2010 vote was due to a record turnout in the newly amalgamated Auckland Council and
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higher than usual voter turnout in post-earthquake Christchurch City, whereas most councils elsewhere saw further declines in their turnouts. LGNZ president Lawrence Yule said millions were spent raising voter awareness for general elections, and he wanted to "have a conversation" with internal affairs officials about the prospect of similar effort for local government. He believed postal voting had "trivialised the decision-making process" for voters selecting candidates. "I think we need to look at electronic voting in a serious way. "That is how young people particularly, and a lot of others, do things," said Yule. The council sector advocate also criticised the length of the voting period, suggesting three weeks should be cut to between a week and 10 days. Hamilton West MP Tim Macindoe led an inquiry into the 2011 general election as then chairman of the electoral and justice select committee. He said many young people didn't seem to feel any need to be involved, and that trials of electronic voting in 2016 would likely be part of the solution. Macindoe agreed that civics classes in schools would help and he was interested in the idea of national parties standing candidates. http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/local-body-elections/9237354/Apathyleading-contender-at-the-polls
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Kurt Bayer (Herald): Candidate won't be charged over sexts 2:17 PM Thursday Oct 3, 2013 A Christchurch community board candidate who withdrew from the election race after posting explicit images and messages online to someone purporting to be 15-years-old will not be charged, police said today. People's Choice candidate for the Hagley-Ferrymead community board Paul Findlay quit the race after a blog published screenshots of an online conversation apparently between 27-year-old Mr Findlay and a 15-year-old. Detective Senior Sergeant Neville Jenkins today said police have completed an assessment of the material and concluded there was "insufficient detail in the material'' to take the matter further. "It does, however, highlight the foolishness and risk associated with sending private material which is of an indecent nature through social networks,'' Mr Jenkins said. "There is always the prospect of it ending up with someone it wasn't intended for.'' A statement from Mr Findlay on Friday said he regretted his actions and agreed they were wrong. He also resigned as a board member of Q-topia, a social support group for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex youth aged 14-25 in Canterbury. The group accepted the resignation. "We understand that at no time did any interaction progress beyond the online environment,'' Q-topia said in a statement. "As a board, we have every confidence that Paul's time on the Q-topia board was undertaken with the utmost integrity, and that he maintained the highest standards that are expected of all board members while undertaking Q-topia duties. "We respect Paul's decision to remove himself from the board, and believe that this decision has been undertaken to ensure that the Q-topia standards are not affected in any way.'' http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11134 248
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3 News Online Staff (TV3): Wellington voter turnout 'to be ashamed of' Thursday 03 Oct 2013 1:19p.m. Only 15.5 percent of eligible voters in Wellington have voted in the local body elections halfway through the election voting period. The turnout so far has disappointed Wellington City Council electoral officer Charlie Inggs, who says the city may be in for a turnout "to be ashamed of". "In 2010 we just managed to get over the 40 percent turnout mark. This time, if things keep going the way they are, I'll be surprised if we get to 38 percent. "Wellington is a political town we are all supposed to eat, sleep and breathe politics." So far 21,096 of the city's eligible voters have done their civic duty out of a pool of 136,390. The turnout at this stage of the voting period is less than the 15.9 percent and 16.1 percent in the 2010 and 2007 elections respectively. But if it's any consolation, Auckland is doing worse with only 12.6 percent of eligible voters posting their ballot. Christchurch, however, is sitting on 20.65 percent. Mr Inggs is urging people to take the time to vote. "If the envelope's sitting on your kitchen table, please deal to it this weekend and get it back in the mail. It's easy and it comes with a guidebook with bios on all the candidates if you don't know who to vote for. "And you don't even need a stamp the postage is free." To ensure delivery by the end of the voting period, voting papers need to be sent by October 9. They can also be delivered to the Election office at 101 Wakefield St or after hours in its overnight drop box or any city library until midday on October 12. Election votes by ward as of October 2: Southern ward 16 percent Eastern ward -16 percent Onslow-Western ward - 16 percent Northern ward 15 percent Lambton ward - 13.7 percent http://www.3news.co.nz/Wellington-voter-turnout-to-be-ashamedof/tabid/1607/articleID/315705/Default.aspx
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Peter Beck (The Press): Beck reflects on council experience 08:08 03/10/2013 Peter Beck reflects on his brief experience of being a Christchurch City councillor during one of the most stressful and difficult times in the city's history. I recently gave my first valedictory at the Burwood Pegasus Community Board. It seems presumptuous for someone who has only been on the council for a mere 20 months to give a valedictory speech. What can I say of my brief experience of being a city councillor in the most stressful and difficult of times in our city's history, when some are standing down after as much as 15 years of service to our city? As the rookie councillor, though, I will have my say. In my opinion the council has in this last term continued to provide levels of service to our ratepayers that have given us a 71 per cent approval rating. Pretty good. So from me, a hats off to the on the ground staff for their dedication and commitment. And let's celebrate the achievements which the council has actually made, amongst them notably the Central City Plan, with its 106,000 share an ideas (even though this was semi-scuppered by Gerry Brownlee's blueprint for the city centre!) Of course, even in the best of times, councils will never get it right for all the many thousands of our shareholders, the ratepayers. This council has decidedly dropped the ball in some key areas. Many will be glad to see the back of us and look for a good clean fresh start with a new mayor, many new councillors and, in due course, a new chief executive. I agree with them. Our behaviour as councillors has often left a lot to be desired and the election is a time for new blood and a new culture. When trust and confidence is eroded then it is immensely difficult to maintain an open, transparent culture. I'm not into blaming one another, and I celebrate what has been achieved despite our dysfunctionality, but we all bear responsibility for where we have failed. That trust and confidence hasn't been helped by such an uneasy relationship with Wellington. It continues to irk me that we councillors have been asking,
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indeed pleading, for regular meetings with the Minister for Earthquake Recovery for the best part of two years. The last time we, the governing body of the city, met with him, as the governing body of Cera, was before Christmas. That is simply not good enough. In 2016 the current plan is that Cera will cede its responsibilities back to the democratically-elected Christchurch City Council. A true partnership needs to be forged now so that the council and Cera are working together toward the time when the city gets back the reins of local government. I'm not the first to advocate for a viable board of governance with strong local flavour to be injected in to the Cera structure, a board which is committed to a real partnership with the city. "Done with" rather than "done to" is a good maxim to describe a more constructive and collaborative arrangement. Election voting papers are now in our hands. In my view we regularly get the local government we deserve. There is a low turn out of voters, and many good and skilled people are not willing to step up. Thanks to those that are doing just that for this election. As electors we have the responsibility not to vote on name recognition or because some one is a sitting member, or because some current councillors may be desperately grandstanding in the media to garner votes. Electors please seriously look at the profiles and record of the aspirants, talk to friends and neighbours and then make as informed a vote as you can. There is no doubt that the governance and management culture of the council need to change. The mayor and councillors in the new term of council need to show clear, transparent and credible leadership in the governing of our city. My hope is that the next mayor and council sign up to and agree to abide by the Charter and Code of Conduct such as we signed up to in early 2012, and largely failed to follow. It requires a commitment to banish hidden agendas, to forge a robust and collaborative relationship with council staff (and them with the councillors), with Cera and the other key agencies involved in the rebuild, standing up for the democratic rights of our citizens. It means being a council that truly engages with and listens to the communities which are our city.
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Trust and open honest relationships where appropriate and agreed confidentiality is abided by is an absolute bottom line. As councillors we were asked what we might suggest as elements in an induction programme for the new council. Here are some of my thoughts: All councillors, and not just the new ones, attend an Institute of Directors' course (or similar) as soon as possible after election. A respected and experienced mayor/ councillor coaches our councillors on the particular role they have as governors/ directors and the responsibilities they have in dealing with constituent issues. (A director of a corporate board has to front up to shareholders once a year at an AGM. Councillors front up to their shareholders, the ratepayers, 24/7. This has to have an impact on how we discern our role.) The charter and code of conduct need to be worked through very carefully, talked through and agreed by all. A weekend away very early on in the term for the mayor and councillors to decide how they will work together, what the protocols are, how they will deal with disciplinary issues if and when the code of conduct is broken. Then time with the executive team to build relationships and working protocols. Exploring and strengthening the role and relationship of the community boards in the governance of the city. And alongside this being willing to listen to the communities of your city, the people, learning what engagement with the people really looks like. Felicity Price's communication audit would be a good place to start. As for myself post-election, I'm in the lucky position of having a Supergold card. I'm going to take a real break for a few months. In fact, I will be priest in charge of a parish in Auckland over the summer, helping them change to a new vicar. Not only can I keep my hand in as a parish priest, it makes it easier for me to get to Hastings to spend time with our toddler grandchildren. I will come to Christchurch regularly to make sure I keep in touch with what is going on.
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Then come March or thereabouts I will be back here and I will continue to work with and among the community groups I have been part of and especially to advocate for the east of our city. I'm looking forward to that. I fully intend to be involved in doing all I can for the good of this city, subscribing as I do to the vision of a city where, as social entrepreneur Vivian Hutchinson wrote, "we can raise our children, foster friendship, lead a satisfying life, and look after each other and the earth". In other words I am passionate about working with everyone I can to build a city with soul. The Reverend Peter Beck ends his term as a city councillor for the BurwoodPegasus Ward at this month's election. He is the former Anglican Dean of Christchurch. http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/opinion/perspective/9237638/Beck-reflectson-council-experience
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TV3: 87 percent of Aucklanders still to vote Thursday 03 Oct 2013 10:19a.m. With 87 percent of Aucklanders yet to express their preference in the local body elections, Auckland Council is urging people to vote. Voting documents went out on September 22, and only 125,294 have been received so far. The national trend for participation in local elections has been steadily declining, but this year looks likely to see the biggest fall. At the same stage in 2010, nearly twice as many votes were already in. Aucklanders managed to reverse this trend in 2010 with the first super city elections however, when the national average was lifted to 49 percent. Electoral officer Bruce Thomas says it's "disappointing" to see Aucklanders are now dragging this average down. "We're lagging well behind Wellington and Christchurch at the moment," he says. "Auckland voters are not taking the opportunity to exercise their democratic right. "This weekend, open that envelope, choose your representatives and post off your vote." Voting ballots close at 12pm on Saturday, October 12. http://www.3news.co.nz/87-percent-of-Aucklanders-still-tovote/tabid/423/articleID/315647/Default.aspx
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Aaron Gilmore (Mighty Rocket): Local Body Elections 02 October 2013 Well its been a while since my last post, as have been busy with, the words of Douglas Adams, the life, the universe and everything. There is another week to vote for local body elections. Please do so. Your vote is important. For me Im fortunate to be able as a multi property owner/resider to be able to multi vote in multi areas, but I am only voting once in Christchurch and in Burwood Pegasus in 2013. Many local people have asked my views. Burwood-Pegasus has been smashed by earthquakes, as it is where I grew up, and 33,744 other local people are also enrolled to vote, despite some views by outsiders that the area is emptyfor what it is worth here are my votes In Christchurch in the Burwood Pegasus ward Im voting Lianne for Mayor, which Im sure shocks some Not the least of which probably her! Im also voting Glenn Livingstone and Dave East for council as I think this is the best combination. Glenn is a moderate leftie and Dave has great skills and experience on the Community board, and is a true Eastie and a moderate righty. For Community board Im voting Tim Sintes, Stan Tawa, Mary Macammon, Mike Stevens, and Linda Stewart. This gives a good mix of new blood, views, experience and skills. For CDHB Im voting Wendy Gilchrist, David Morrell, Jo Kane, Andrew Dickerson, Aaron Keown, Sally Buck, and George Abraham. There are some standing who are charlatans, and others are just batty. Make sure you vote for at least 7! Thats all for now folks :-) Arohanui Aaron http://aaronwgilmore.wordpress.com/2013/10/02/local-body-elections/
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Wayne Thomson (Herald): Super City elections 2013: Auckland voters taking their time to decide who will run their city 5:30 AM Thursday Oct 3, 2013 Aucklanders have been slow to vote in the local body elections - votes have been received from only 12.59 per cent of people eligible to vote. Ballot paper deliveries to homes began on September 20 and by yesterday 125,294 votes from around the city had been received, Auckland Council figures showed. In the 2010 elections, 20.4 per cent of votes had been received at the same time. Auckland Mayor Len Brown and mayoral candidates John Palino and the Rev Uesifili Unasa have called on people to get their votes in. The lowest percentage of votes posted - 9.3 per cent - is in Kaipatiki, on the North Shore. Kaipatiki Local Board candidate Lindsay Waugh said she she did not get her papers until last Friday. She was concerned other voters may have been similarly affected, and not had time to make their selections yet. The East Coast Bays division of the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board had 9.4 per cent of eligible votes and board chairwoman Julia Parfitt said it could be a case of bad timing for the voting period. "Two of the three weeks' voting fall in the school holidays when a lot of the Bays residents are away with children and grand children." Upper Harbour Board chairwoman Margaret Miles said the 9.4 per cent voting in the board's area reflected a feeling she had picked up on the campaign trail. "On this side of the bridge, they are disillusioned with the Super City and don't feel they are getting value for their rates money." Keenest Super City voters are Great Barrier Island (26.4 per cent) and Waiheke Island (23.3 per cent). http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11133826
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Bernard Orsman (Herald): Len Brown's financial record 5:30 AM Thursday Oct 3, 2013
SinceLenBrown'sfirstbudgetin2011,debthasrisenfrom$3.9billionandisprojectedto reach$6.7billionthisfinancialyearnotincludingtheMayor'spet$2.86billionrailloop. OrakeicouncillorCameronBrewersaysthesearehugenumberswhilemayoralchallengerJohn PalinobelievestheSuperCityisbeingbankrupted. Soaringdebt,heftyrateincreasesandablowoutinthewagesbillhavemarkedLenBrown'sfirst termasMayorandTreasureroftheSuperCity. TheHeraldhasopenedthebooksonMrBrown'smanagementofthecity'sfinancesandfounda patternofbigborrowing,risingstaffcostsandratespainforAucklandCity,NorthShoreand Howickhouseholds. MrBrowninsistsmostAucklandersareintunewiththe"balanced,prudentfinancial framework",butcriticslikemainmayoralchallengerJohnPalinobelieveheisdrivingtheSuper Citytobankruptcy. Asthepersoninchargeofa$4.5billionannualbudget,MrBrownsayshehasshown"gutsand vision"toinvestinprojectstoaddressdecadesofunderinvestmentandpopulationgrowth. Hemaintainsthespendingisbeingdonewithinalowratesscenario,reasonabledebtlevel, prudentfinancialmanagementguidelinesapprovedbytheAuditorGeneral,thecouncil'shigh creditratingofAAandagrowingassetbase. What'smore,hesaysborrowingforcapitalworksismoderatedbydevelopmentcontributions, Governmentsubsidiesforthingslikeroadsandpublictransport,and"discreet"salesofassets likesurplusproperty,whichraised$120millioninthepastyear.
Articlecontinuesbelow
ButwhileMrBrownishappytousedebtforcapitalspending,hesaysthecouncilcannotafford tofullyfunddepreciationapotofcashbuiltuptorenewassets.Thecounciliscurrentlyfunding 63percentofdepreciation,whichcomesfromoperatingrevenuessuchasrates.Thecouncilwill notfullyfunddepreciationuntil2025. SinceMrBrown'sfirstbudgetin2011,debthasrisenfrom$3.9billionandisprojectedtoreach $6.7billionthisfinancialyear.Everydaythecouncilhasborrowed$2.5millionandtheinterest billthisyearis$347million.OrakeicouncillorCameronBrewersaysthesearehugenumbersand showaworryingskywardescalationwithdebtforecasttoreach$12.9billionby2022with repaymentsof$752million. Thefiguresarebasedoninterestratesremainingbetween5and6percentwhich,hesays,won't last.What'smore,heclaimsmuchofthedebthasgoneon"bitsandbobs".MrBrownrejectsthe "simplisticspin"thatdebtisbeingfritteredaway,citingthehugesumsbeingspentontransport, waterandstormwaterinfrastructureandcommunityprojects,likethenewOtahuhuswimming pool,anartscentreinGlenInnesandnewlibrariesincommunitiesthatpreviouslymissedouton theirshareofthepie. Whenitcomestohispetproject,the$2.86billionundergroundrailproject,MrBrownistight lippedabouthowhewillfundthecouncil'shalfshareofthecost,despitesayinglastyearthatby thetimeofthelocalbodyelections,Aucklanderswouldbeundernoillusionabouthis preferencesforfundingoptions. However,itdoesappearthatfromtheoptionsputforwardbyamayoraladvisorygroupthatMr Brownfavourstollsonexistingroadsand/ortollsonnewroadstotheotheroptionsofhigher
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ratesorafueltax.AmodelwillbeworkedupaftertheelectionforMrBrowntopushforastart onconstructionby2016. Therailprojectispartofa$12billionfundinggapthatrequires$400millionayearover30years toplug.Again,ratepayersarenonethewiseraboutwherethismountainofmoneywillcome from. Onthethornyissueofrates,MrBrownhasproudlydrivenoverallratesincreasesdownfrom3.9 percentto3.4percentand2.9percentinhisfirstterm,butbeenblindsidedbythemovetoa singleratingsystemin2012resultinginsomeratepayerspayingmorethantheaverageand someless. TheGovernmentcametohisrescuetocapmaximumincreasesat10percentforthreeyears, buttherehasbeenratespainalongthewaywithAlbertEdenhouseholdscoppinga19.7per centincreaseinthepastthreebudgetsandPuketapapa(19.6percent),Orakei(18.3percent), MaungakiekieTamaki(17.6percent)andHowick(15.7percent)alsobeingclobbered. HendersonMasseyhouseholdshavefaredbestwithanoveralldropof2.8percentintheirrates overthreeyears. WhatMrBrowncanbecreditedwith,orblamedfor,isthedecisionlastyeartosetthefixed generalchargeforallpropertiesat$350,whichbenefitslowvaluepropertiesandhitshighvalue properties.Hehasnotruledoutraisingitinthefuture. OneofthebigpromisesoftheSuperCitywasdoingmorewithless,butthatdoesnotappearto bethecasewiththestaffwagesbill,whichisforecasttohit$702millionthisfinancialyear. TheagencythatdesignedtheSuperCitytrimmedstaffnumbersfromthe9430oftheprevious eightcouncilsto8207andforecastanannualsalarybillof$513millionby2012.Theactualbill hit$655millionin2012.MrBrowntoldtheHeraldthatthecouncilgroupcurrentlyhas7800 staff"significantlylessthanwhatwewerebefore". However,figuresinthejustpublishedannualreportshowaheadcountof10,616fulltimeand parttimeemployees.Thenotessay"thetotalnumberoffulltimeemployees"is8074andthe fulltimeequivalentof"parttimeemployees"is1490.Acouncilspokesmansaidparttimerswere includedinthefulltimefigure. What'smore,thenumberofstaffearningmorethan$100,000hasclimbedabout20percentin thepastyearto1500,113ofwhomearnedmorethan$200,000,costsoftheseniorexecutive leadershipteamrosefrom$3.1millionto$3.6millionandWatercarechiefexecutiveMarkFord bankeda$70,000payrise,takinghissalarytobetween$780,000and$790,000. MrBrownisalsopayingmorethan$13millionayeartoruntheboardsandexecutiveteamsof thesevencouncilcontrolledorganisationsafigureequivalentto1percentofrates. MrPalinosaysAucklandersweretoldtheSuperCitywouldbemoreefficientthanitseight leggedpredecessor,buttheoppositehasoccurredraterisesaboveinflation,moremoney spentonstaffandnearly$3billionofnewdebt."TheAucklandCouncilcannotcontinuetobeled bysomeonewithsolittlefocusonthefinancialunderpinningsoftheorganisation,"hesays.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11133645
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David Farrar (Kiwiblog): The Wellington Mayoralty October 2nd, 2013 at 3:00 pm
It probably wont surprise anyone that I wont be voting for Celia WadeBrown to be re-elected Mayor. However it might not be for the reasons people assume that she is a Green Party member. I have endorsed a number of Labour and Green party members for local government positions in the past. I basically assess local body candidates on what I call the 3 Ps policies, personality and political management. Now when it comes to policies, of course there are not that many areas I agree with Wade-Brown. However the Mayor is just one vote of 15. So policies alone is not a sufficient reason to not vote for someone. Personality isnt a problem for me with Celia. She pleasant and engaging, and generally gets on well with people. She is no Bob Parker who managed to alienate huge swathes of people. It is the third area, political management, where the Mayor hasnt been successful. The Council under her leadership has been almost embarrassing at times as it flip-flops backwards and forwards on issues such as the Basin Reserve. Dave Armstrong notes in the Dom Post:
Sadly, one of Ms Wade-Browns strengths that she is largely a democratic consensus politician is also one of her weaknesses. With an evenly divided council, there is a feeling, even amongst Wade-Browns supporters, that she hasnt rammed through much of her own policy, so not a lot has been achieved. Worse, the outsourced and CCO (Council- controlled Organisations) tail seems to be wagging the council dog, with the mayor and council being kept in the dark.
Being unaware of the costs of your own office refurbishment and the fact that the Council had outsourced most of its works operations is almost unforgivable in terms of political competence. But also, the failure to get much done through Council. You dont achieve that by ramming things through (as you only get one vote). You achieve that by working with Councillors on win-wins. A Mayor should never turn up to a Council meeting unaware of how a vote will go. They need to be constantly talking to colleagues, building coalitions, and the like. I dont like Len Browns policies very much (and very much like some of John Palinos ideas) but you have to credit Brown that he hasnt lost too many votes at Auckland Council. His team have run a reasonably tight operation.
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So thats why I wont vote for Celia partly policies and partly political management. If she does get re-elected, then of course her policies will not change but I do hope she improves her political management. There are five other candidates, and the Dom Post has their views on leadership here. Karuna Muthu and Rob Goulden both have some good policies. Theyre both fiscally conservative and pretty balanced on issues such as transport. But no-one thinks either can win. Karunas challenge is his lack of experience on Council and Robs is being able to persuade people that he has got over the battles of yesteryear from when he was last on Council. Jack Yan has run a good campaign for the second time. Armstrong notes:
Mr Yan is a younger, impressively multilingual entrepreneur with the rare distinction of being both an ex- Alliance candidate and involved with the Miss Universe competition.
I do have a suspicion of anyone who has been an Alliance candidate. Yan does have some good ideas and has done well in business. However I have reservations about whether he would be up to the political management needed to be Mayor. They are different skills. John Morrison is the person most likely to beat Celia. If this was an FPP election Id vote for John. Ill be happy if he becomes the Mayor. Ive been on Radio with him a few times, and hes a well grounded funny guy. He also has a very impressive record of achievement as a Councillor in bringing both sporting events and jobs to Wellington. However his campaign hasnt been the best and stuff such as the comments about a model, and objecting to voting booths at the university have caused reluctance with some people who want a change, but are unsure if he is a change for the future. As I said, Im hoping hell beat Celia. I think a Morrison mayoralty will stabilise the Council, and we wont end up with a Council that is flipflopping all over the place. Ill be ranking Morrison No 2. My No 1 vote will go to Nicola Young. I think Nicola has the policies, the personality and the political skills to be a good Mayor. Having only launched her campaign mid-year, the odds are against her. But I constantly hear feedback from people saying that they badly want change, they have hesitations about John, and like what they have seen to date of Nicola. I really admire her for staying true to her principles and not saying shell vote for a living wage, despite the baying from some on the left who see that issue as a litmus test for humanity (which says more about them). Ive also had good feedback from various groups around Wellington such as Vic students who have said Nicola has engaged with them, listened to them and even adopted some policy suggestions.
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So Ill be voting Nicola Young 1, John Morrison 2. If you want change for Wellington the key thing is to make those two your top two choices. It doesnt matter so much which is 1 and which is 2 follow your own preferences. They key thing is to put the person you least want elected as No 6 or leave them unranked entirely.
http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2013/10/the_wellington_mayoralty.html
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David Farrar (Kiwiblog): Lens borrowing October 3rd, 2013 at 9:00 am
The NZ Herald reports:

Since Len Browns first budget in 2011, debt has risen from $3.9 billion and is projected to reach $6.7 billion this financial year not including the Mayors pet $2.86 billion rail loop. Orakei councillor Cameron Brewer says these are huge numbers while mayoral challenger John Palino believes the Super City is being bankrupted. Soaring debt, hefty rate increases and a blow-out in the wages bill have marked Len Browns first term as Mayor and Treasurer of the Super City. Since Mr Browns first budget in 2011, debt has risen from $3.9 billion and is projected to reach $6.7 billion this financial year. Every day the council has borrowed $2.5 million and the interest bill this year is $347 million.
A good story, that would have been better if it had been done a month or two ago!
On the thorny issue of rates, Mr Brown has proudly driven overall rates increases down from 3.9 per cent to 3.4 per cent and 2.9 per cent in his first term, but been blind-sided by the move to a single rating system in 2012 resulting in some ratepayers paying more than the average and some less. The Government came to his rescue to cap maximum increases at 10 per cent for three years, but there has been rates pain along the way with Albert-Eden households copping a 19.7 per cent increase in the past three budgets and Puketapapa (19.6 per cent), Orakei (18.3 per cent), Maungakiekie-Tamaki (17.6 per cent) and Howick (15.7 per cent) also being clobbered. Henderson-Massey households have fared best with an overall drop of 2.8 per cent in their rates over three years.
Rates should increase no faster than inflation, on a per capita basis.

The agency that designed the Super City trimmed staff numbers from the 9430 of the previous eight councils to 8207 and forecast an annual salary bill of $513 million by 2012. The actual bill hit $655 million in 2012. Mr Brown told the Herald that the council group currently has 7800 staff significantly less than what we were before. However, figures in the just-published annual report show a head count of 10,616 fulltime and part-time employees. The notes say the total number of fulltime employees is 8074 and the fulltime equivalent of part-time employees is 1490. A council spokesman said part-timers were included in the fulltime figure. Whats more, the number of staff earning more than $100,000 has climbed about 20 per cent in the past year to 1500, 113 of whom earned more than $200,000
So Lens Council is spending almost 30% more on staff that was proposed.
http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2013/10/lens_borrowing.html
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Julie Fairey (Daily Blog): Why You Need to Vote in the Local Body Elections October 3, 2013
Because libraries these are vital community infrastructure. Not just places to get a book anymore, they are important hubs of education and research, social connection and community events. Local body politicians control libraries; make sure you vote for ones who value them Because parks more vital community, and environmental, infrastructure. You can go there to run around madly with a kite or a ball, to meet neighbours, to enjoy the bush, to go for a walk, to play sports, to have fun with the kids, to just sit in the sun with a book or watch the clouds. The green lungs of our city, parks are also controlled by local body politicians; make sure you vote for ones who understand that. Because transport how we get around, and how we move stuff around too. Many modes, but how to fund them, how to prioritise, how to make a complex system work? More public transport? (yes please!) Encouragement for active transport like cycling? (Definitely!) Encouraging local economic development so people dont have to travel so far to work or get the things they need? (Good idea). Transport decision-making is done by local body politicians; make sure you vote for ones who share your priorities. Because fairness its not ok to neglect some communities while privileging others, or to pay some people less than it costs them to live. Choosing what goes where, how each community can be well served by their council, how we get regional fairness while allowing for local differences. These are all important matters that local body politicians decide, with your input; make sure you vote for ones who have integrity, clearly stated values and who will listen to their constitutents. Because housing where we live, not just you or me, but our neighbours, our colleagues, our family, our friends, complete strangers on the other side of the city. Housing should be warm, dry, safe, and tenancy or ownership needs to be secure or else it is impossible for those living there to connect with their neighbourhood. We are at a cross-roads in terms of housing in many areas of Auckland, not just in terms of affordability for buyers, but also secruity for renters, addressing the lack of social housing, looking at new models of housing like high quality apartment developments which could suit families, where more housing should go (and where it shouldnt), how we retain character in established neighbourhoods and create it in new ones. Local body politicians have a huge say in all these matters; make sure you vote for those with a vision and some foresight on these issues, who can take us beyond a status quo that isnt working for many. Because democracy you have a stake in your community, far beyond the end of your driveway, and this is your big chance to have a say in how it is run for the next three years. You can use your vote to show who you think has done a good job, who has not, who has some good ideas, who has the work ethic and the community focus you want all politicians to have. And heres a reminder of whats at stake, at the local level:
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A list of the physical facilities accessed by 56,000+ residents [for Puketapapa] gives only part of the picture; theres local community development, economic development, input to regional and isthmus matters, the Unitary Plan, heritage matters, community funding and leases, and so much more. The Remuneration Authority recently estimated the typical local board member will need to put in 24 hours a week, and chairs close to full time. Its not an insignficant role, the power and funding has great potential to make change for local communities.
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2013/10/03/why-you-need-to-vote-in-the-local-bodyelections/
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Liz Breslin (ODT): Voting is sexy, polite, easy ... and a privilege Wed, 2 Oct 2013 lists 10 good reasons to vote in the local elections. Yes, it's true the local elections lack the kapow of the nationwide political circus, or of texting your preferences for New Zealand's Got Talent or The Block, but your local representatives perform some pretty fundamental duties - for you. So here are 10 good reasons to make sure you get engaged, read about the candidates and return the ticked boxes (or numbered preferences) on your voting papers by October 12. 1. Democracy is a privilege If you're rolling your eyes at this obvious starter, please consider this. We are so lucky that we can be so blase as to choose whether or not to vote. People have died for the right. People have killed. In more countries than not, voting is a democratic dream. At the other extreme, Australia made it mandatory to vote in the 1920s after particularly low electoral turnouts. You can get fined there if you don't show at the polling booth or send your forms back in. We don't need that here - we just need people to vote because they can. 2. Your vote makes a difference OK, so very few elections are won and lost on a single vote, but lots of singles make multiples and make a difference. Solitary becomes solidarity, if you like. 3. Waste not want not They've printed the papers, they've mailed them to you. You might as well fill them out because the alternative is landfill. (Assuming that if you're too busy, or lazy to vote, you're also too busy, or lazy to recycle paper.) 4. Voting makes you sexy Yes, I made that up.
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I can't find a single research paper that says so. But I believe it's true. Not necessarily the act of voting, but giving enough of a stuff to vote. Empowerment. That's sexy. 5. Spend time to save time Good local governance can actually make a positive difference to your life. As the LGNZ website points out, ''the people who sit around the council or community and local board tables get to make important decisions that affect our daily life. After all, without good transport planning would we be able to get to work each morning?'' A few minutes reading candidate information and ticking boxes can help shape your community the way you want it. 6. It's polite Some of the people standing have spent sleepless nights worrying about the issues they're driven to address. Some have spent time and money plastering their faces over your verges and in your mailboxes. Some have opened their hearts and shared their principles and aspirations with you. All in the hope that you'll open an envelope, tick their name in a box, seal it up and send it away. And let them work for you. 7. It's easy Yes, I know everything is digital whiizzydoo these days but there's a certain charm about a pen, a piece of paper and a prepaid envelope. If you're really adverse to the paper approach and think it should all be done online, please try and think of it as some kind of kitsch retro engagement experience this time around (as hopefully there'll be other options by 2016). You might even enjoy it. 8. Grumbling rights
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If you vote, you get to legitimately gripe about the decisions your local councillors make for you over the next three years. If your chosen candidates are successfully elected and go on to disappoint you, you can say things like ''I never would have voted for her if I'd thought she'd turn around and do that; she'll never get my vote again''. On the other hand, if your preferred candidates don't make it, you can go for the tack of ''Well, he wouldn't have made a hash of the issue like that.'' You voted, they're your representatives, so you have the power to get peeved. 9. Beating the Americans It would be great to wallop them decisively at something this year. Voter turnout is notoriously low in the US. In a recent round of mayoral elections, at least two cities enticed less than 10% of their population to vote. San Francisco came in with the highest participation level in a 2011 survey at 43%. We can do better, Kiwis! Let's win this one. 10. It's better than the alternative It's your local government. If you don't vote, your representatives may think you don't care what they do. And that's a very dangerous thing to let a politician believe. Liz Breslin is a Lake Hawea Flat writer. http://www.odt.co.nz/opinion/opinion/275329/voting-sexy-polite-easy-andprivilege
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Malcolm Alexander (Herald): Have a say on how your city is run 5:30 AM Wednesday Oct 2, 2013 If you were a shareholder in a huge business, one with $120 billion of assets and an annual budget of more than $8 billion, wouldn't you want a say in who should run it? Well, effectively, that's what you as a shareholder in your community have the chance to do every three years in the local authority elections. Local authorities in New Zealand own vast assets and even small councils' annual budgets run into the millions. Once every three years you have the opportunity, by casting your ballot, to play your part in deciding who will be running New Zealand's towns, cities, districts, regions and health boards. Democracy really does not get much better than that. Yet just over half of New Zealanders who are eligible to vote will not do so. Research has revealed that 31 per cent say they do not vote because they do not know enough about the candidates. A further 24 per cent intend to vote but forget and around 14 per cent were too busy. Only 14 per cent were genuinely not interested. These statistics are surprising - apathy is the enemy of democracy. It appears many people have lost sight of the democratic process by which our local authorities are run, and simply take for granted this vast range of services, without understanding the processes behind it. Local government needs to better tell the story of what we do - providing and managing the vast local infrastructure that supports the very fabric of New Zealand's communities. Supported by skilled council employees, elected representatives oversee a huge range of services. It is the water you drink, wash your clothes in and shower in. It's the pavements you walk on, the roads you drive on, the swimming pools and parks where you exercise, and the recreation grounds where you cheer your kids on. Local authorities oversee many services including roads, swimming pools and libraries. Pictures / Dean Purcell, Sarah Ivey, Richard Robinson Local authorities oversee many services including roads, swimming pools and libraries. Pictures / Dean Purcell, Sarah Ivey, Richard Robinson Your local authority takes your rubbish away, manages your sewage, provides street and traffic lighting, the libraries where you borrow books, and much, much more. Frequently, tough decisions have to be made about how to prioritise use of the rates you pay. By voting for those who have the skills and leadership to strengthen local communities and revitalise our communities, you are providing your personal input into how your money is used.
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This is how we have our say on the value we receive. If something doesn't go the way they want it to, New Zealand ratepayers are quick to complain. Pretty much any hiccup in the system will see council switchboards light up like Christmas trees and letters to the editor increase tenfold. That is good. It's healthy for people to hold their elected representatives to account. But exercising your democratic right as a citizen to vote and select those representatives is much more effective than simply complaining if you don't like what they do. If you want the best value from the services your council provides then you need to ensure that the people who are elected best represent your values and your ambitions for the community you live in. It is time to find out about whether the people standing in your area are openminded, sensible and can effectively weigh up the pros and cons on an issue, and then vote for them. Finding out about what your local candidates stand for has never been easier. Read the voting papers or simply go to vote.co.nz, key in your postal address and you will immediately be provided with details about the candidates standing in your area. Local authorities oversee many services including roads, swimming pools and libraries. Pictures / Dean Purcell, Sarah Ivey, Richard Robinson Local authorities oversee many services including roads, swimming pools and libraries. Pictures / Dean Purcell, Sarah Ivey, Richard Robinson All local authority elections are conducted by postal vote - you are not required to go to a polling station. You can simply fill in your voting form, slip it into the prepaid envelope provided and next time you are passing a post box, drop it in. It needs to be posted in time to reach the electoral officer by midday on October 12 - but there's no need to wait. Why not fill it in tonight and post tomorrow morning? Voting is pretty straightforward and in 2016 it will get even easier when the local authority elections will be trialling an e-voting system. I've already cast my vote, weighing up candidates standing in my local area and those which best reflect the leadership I'm looking for. I accept that mine is only one of many votes and my chosen candidates may not be elected - but that is democracy - I've had my say. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11133 057
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Caleb Morgan (Cut your hair): Politics without politics a local election guide
We have a week and a half to send in our votes for local body elections and then a few days later well have a dramatically changed city council. Quite an exciting time, but the main barrier to informed voting seems to be that most candidates are doing their utmost to portray themselves as being non-partyaffiliated and sometimes even non-political. For some reason, this phenomenon seems particularly strong in Christchurch Wellington have a Green mayor and Labour candidates. I guess candidates want to cash in on cynicism about politicians, and appeal to our lazy post-modern post-political post-ideological political ideology. But it does make it rather hard to tell what theyre actually standing for, when nobody really follows local politics, and then all we get from the candidates is vague billboards and a paragraph of meaningless platitudes. Ive been looking into what lies behind these meaningless platitudes. Heres what Ive found out four quick questions I think are worth asking: 1. Who voted for Marryatts pay rise? 2. What do the parties mean? 3. Who are the independents? 4. How about the mayoral candidates? 1. Who voted for Marryatts pay rise? The seven right-wing councillors who voted for Tony Marryatts $68,000 pay rise wont hold the balance of power anymore after the election Bob Parker, Sue Wells and Barry Corbett are stepping down. But the other four are standing again Jamie Gough and Claudia Reid are standing for I-Citz in Fendalton-Waimairi, and Ngaire Button and Aaron Keown are standing for City 1st in Shirley-Papanui. Theres been some helpful billboard adjustments to remind us of who they are. Gough is grovelling and asked to be forgiven, pleading youth and inexperience. $538,529 probably doesnt sound like too much to a member of the Gough family I guess he didnt realise how pissed off everyone would be. Anyway, hopefully voters havent forgotten how pissed off we were. James Dann is predicting two of the four will make it back hopefully its less. 2. What do the parties mean? I-Citz (Independent Citizens) National I-Citz are in essence, the local body version of the National Party. Their typoriddled website boasts of formal independence from national political parties, and National officially dont dabble in local politics (see comment section). But ICitz candidates are all right-wingers such as the aforementioned Jamie Gough,
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Helen Broughton (whos taken a better stance on Marryatt than her I-Citz colleagues) and conservative blogger John Stringer. The Peoples Choice = Labour Peoples Choice (formerly Christchurch 2021) was founded by Labour Party members in 1995. Theyre open about their connection to Labour on their website. The current Peoples Choice councillors (Yani Johanson, Jimmy Chen, Glenn Livingstone) seem to have done pretty well from what Ive heard. City 1st National/ACT A new spin-off of I-Citz and the now-defunct City Vision, City 1st try harder than the other parties to act like theyre not a party. I challenged them about this on their Facebook page and while Ngaire Button responded, she didnt give me a good explanation of what makes her party not really a party. There were a few more comments today, but before I got a chance to read them, they deleted the whole thread and seem to have disabled all comments on their page. Thankfully I was paranoid enough to expect this and save some screenshots. Anyway, Aaron Keown stood for ACT in the 2008 general election, while Button appears generally right wing and stood for I-Citz last time. Saying the names of these independent parties with a Sean Connery accent seems to make them more accurate. A network of the like-minded ??? Greens ??? Student Volunteer Army ??? Gap Filler ??? A Paradise Built in Hell??? Well-meaning yuppies ??? I learned today that apparently four other council candidates are standing as a loose alliance Raf Manji, Vicki Buck, Ali Jones (more on them below) and Erin Jackson. Theyre not using shared branding and they dont have a group name, but they know each other, agreed to stand in four different wards, and seem to be into the same kind of things: participatory democracy and budgeting, environmental sustainability, community collaboration, e-democracy and social entrepreneurship. Theyre arguably just as much of a party as the others, and perhaps a lot of the same criticisms Im making to City 1st apply to them too. But I think theyre a more genuine alternative to party politics than City 1st they seem to have a quite different view of how to do democracy. They also seem more genuinely bipartisan - they seem keen to work with Dalziel as mayor, and they seem more left than right, but not in really a traditional sense. But theyre enthusiastically endorsed by the right-leaning Sam Johnson, whos not standing this time but hes amongst their group.
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At least, this is the impression I got from the one not-very-critical article I read. Im not sure how reliable that article is (Gen Y? Really? Vicki Buck was mayor when Gen Y-ers were born). Seems interesting though. 3. Who are the independents? The best way to find out about unaffiliated independents seems to be to google them and see what theyve done before, and check if they have blogs etc. I can only comment on a few Fendalton/Waimairi: Raf Manji seems an intelligent guy with his finger in a lot of pies. Faimeh Burke seems most famous for her husband, Sir Kerry Burke, a former Labour MP and one of the ECan councillors the government dumped in 2010. Shirley-Papanui: Ali Jones is a prominent critic of EQC and advocate for claimants. Jono Corfe is the quizmaster at Chchs best pub quiz. Riccarton/Wigram: Vicki Buck is bringing herself back (yet sadly without taking great pun opportunities). She was a popular (independent) mayor from 1989 to 1998 and since then has worked in clean energy and set up Unlimited and Discovery One schools. 4. How about the mayoral candidates? Lianne Dalziel = Labour I almost forgot to the mention the mayoral race, because it seems to be in the bag for Lianne Dalziel (but please nobody mention seismic shifts). Dalziel is running as an independent but shes been a Labour party MP since 1990 (shes stepping down to run for mayor). Since the earthquake she seems to have battled for the people of Christchurch better than most local MPs, particularly for her Christchurch East electorate. Its a shame she wont get a chance to take Gerry Brownlees job when the next Labour government gets in. But I think shell make a pretty good mayor, particularly if she follows through on social housingpromises. A fun fact about Dalziel that you wont read elsewhere: as an idealistic teenager just returned from Cambodia, I e-mailed every MP and asked them to sponsor me for the 40 Hour Famine. Lianne Dalziel was the only one who did she sponsored me $40. Paul Lonsdale National/Business Dalziels main competition, Paul Lonsdale, is best-known as manager of the Central City Business Association, which meantdriving the youths away from the Hack circle before the earthquake, and managing the Re-Start container mall after it. He thinks political organisations should be run like businesses rather than political organisations (so hes moving in the opposite direction to the post-corporate democratic ideas of Manji et al).
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Following a familiar theme, Lonsdale claims to be completely apolitical, but all his friends seem to be National Party/I-Citz members, and he thinks we need to work alongside Brownlee et al rather than challenging them. He also thinks dumping ECan democracy and selling council assets makes sense.
http://cutyourhair.wordpress.com/2013/09/30/politics-without-politics-a-localelection-guide/
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Brian Rudman (Herald): Forget mowers, let's use cows 9:30 AM Friday Oct 4, 2013 One-time Rodney dairy farmer Penny Webster got us into this berm-cutting mess as chair of Auckland Council's strategy and finance committee. What's her way out? Trucking a herd of cows into town? Indeed, as Mrs Webster is a one-time Act MP and Auckland Federated Farmers president, perhaps the entrepreneurial possibility of grazing the urban "long-acre" was her masterplan all along. Not only was there lush grass going begging, but there were spin-off advantages. Anyone who's tripped around India knows the traffic-calming effects of randomly wandering cows on city streets. Once drivers realised a half-tonne of meandering beast could be lurking behind every parked car, hooning down Ponsonby Rd would rapidly become a thing of the past. If urban New Delhi can accommodate - and milk - a herd of 40,000 cows, why not Auckland? With a cow or two on every street, Mrs Webster could also rethink Auckland Council's grandiose - and expensive - green recycling plans. Instead of wasting millions of dollars on manufacturing, distributing and then regularly collecting 440,000 new greenwaste recycling bins, how much more planetfriendly to feed our food scraps to friendly Doris or Matilda at the front gate. The byproducts? No problems. Dried cow pats make ideal barbecue fuel. Just slap them on the sunny side of the house and let them dry. Daft? Well, no dafter than a bunch of ex-suburban politicians from Mayor Len Brown down slashing a service that Auckland City ratepayers had previously paid for collectively. Mrs Webster pumped out a press release this week sneering that "the rest of the region has always got on with it and mowed their own berms because local people have taken pride in their local community". What she conveniently ignores is that residents of the old Auckland City had equal pride in their local community. They just preferred to pay for services such as berm mowing through their rates. We also expressed our pride in our city by funding a major art gallery, a public library service, a regional performing arts centre and many other facilities, all with little or no help from the citizens of Rodney or the other fringe areas now part of the Super City. Mrs Webster and her fellow outlanders have inherited these fabulous regional facilities, all built at no cost to them. Instead of lecturing us on civic pride, they should be thanking the ratepayers of the old city. But instead of thanks, they squeeze the stone for more.
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Perhaps they think old-city ratepayers haven't noticed that in Rodney, where Mrs Webster was once mayor, rates have gone up, on average, over the past three years, a minuscule 2.1 per cent, while in old Auckland City wards such as Orakei and Maungakiekie-Tamaki they've rocketed 17-18 per cent. In other words, the ratepayers of the old city are now being called upon to subsidise the cost of dragging Rodney and other outlying areas into the 21st century. But to the outlanders now running the show, it's still not enough. They want to grab the $3 million a year it costs to continue berm-mowing in the old city as well. Mrs Webster can be assured that trying to shame those without a mower is not going to work. Auckland Transport, which is in charge of trying to enforce this fiasco, is trying the heavy hand. It's implying it has some sort of statutory power to force residents to mow. It's even going through the farce of requiring people to produce a medical certificate to prove they're too infirm to carry out their "civic duty". It should stop wasting public money. There is no bylaw or statute to back their bluster. Auckland Transport has admitted that, telling me, "There is no legal power to pursue and AT would not now be pursuing now this is delegated to us." The plan seems to be to punish by neglect instead, mowing berms outside the homes of only those who've produced medical certificates proving they're too unwell to do it themselves. Those and the odd berms which are excessively steep or inaccessible. It's taken just a few short weeks of spring growth to demonstrate what a penny-wise, pound-foolish decision this was. Pockets of the streetscapes in the old Auckland City are now looking more like a rural Rodney road, which might make Mrs Webster nostalgic. But it's hardly the transformation the Super City was supposed to deliver. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11134 360
NZ Politics Daily: 4 October 2013 Ashleigh Stewart (Stuff): Council boss may get pay rise Last updated 10:52 04/10/2013
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NEW BOSS: Christchurch City Council's Jane Parfitt took over from Tony Marryatt in July in an acting capacity. Tony Marryatt's replacement may receive a $90,000 pay rise today. A salary boost for acting Christchurch City Council chief executive Jane Parfitt will be discussed today by city councillors behind closed doors, The Star has reported. The newspaper said councillors will vote on whether Parfitt will see a $91,104 hike to her current $324,651 pay packet. The pay rise acknowledges increased responsibilities Parfitt has as the council's acting boss, according to a confidential report prepared by the council's general manager human resources. The report said advice was sought from the State Services Commission on setting the pay hike. Her "acting allowance" was calculated at "85 per cent of what a competent chief executive in an acting role would be paid in the public sector". Parfitt took over from Marryatt in July in an acting capacity after he was sent on leave pending a Crown investigation into the council's loss of its consent accreditation. She was promoted from her role as general manager city environment. Marryatt walked away with a payout and earnings of more than $400,000. He had been on an annual salary of $538,522. This week information has also surfaced about how much city council staff are paid. The council's annual report for 2013 has for the first time shown what councillors and staff are paid. Under the Local Government Act rules, the report must include the number of employees on more than $60,000 a year. It has indicated over 200 staff are on more than $100,000 a year of 2803 employees in total. However, the vast majority of staff, 1858, earn less than $60,000. Just one council employee falls into the $540,000 to $559,999 bracket.
NZ Politics Daily: 4 October 2013 BY THE NUMBERS Less than $60,000: 1858 $60,000 - $79,000: 427 $80,000 - $99,000: 270 $100,000 - $119,000: 143 $120,000 - $139,000: 63 $140,000 - $159,000: 19 $160,000 - $179,000: 10 $180,000 - $239,000: 6 $240,000 - $339,999: 6
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$540,000 - $559,999: 1 http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/9244543/Council-boss-may-get-payrise
NZ Politics Daily: 4 October 2013 Glenn Conway (Stuff): Low voter turnout feared Last updated 09:47 04/10/2013
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Nearly a third of all voters in the Banks Peninsula ward have had their say in the local body elections but there is still the prospect of a low turnout across the city. With just over a week until polls close, 22.5 per cent of all eligible voters have had their votes processed by Christchurch City Council scrutineers. At the same time in the 2010 election, that figure was 24.3 per cent. As of 7pm last night, 30.4 per cent of all Banks Peninsula voting papers had been returned and processed - the highest of all the seven council wards. That ward is predicted to be too close to call with five strong candidates Andrew Turner, Paula Smith, Jane Broughton, Mark Belton and Nuk Korako all vying to replace sitting member Claudia Reid who has moved from the area. The lowest returns were in the Hagley-Ferrymead ward which has the biggest field of any ward with 12 candidates seeking its two council seats. The latest returns are: Shirley-Papanui ward 21.88 per cent, FendaltonWaimairi ward 22.83 per cent, Burwood-Pegasus ward 24.38 per cent, Riccarton-Wigram ward 22.44 per cent, Hagley-Ferrymead ward 20.55 per cent, Spreydon-Heathcote ward 21.70 per cent and a 30.40 per cent turnout in the Banks Peninsula ward. Overall, 54,402 voting papers, or 22.52 per cent of all voting forms, have been processed. The voting turnout at Christchurch local body elections has risen at each election over the last decade. In 2004, the overall turnout was just 38.77 per cent which rose to 42.02 per cent at the 2007 poll while the last election, held just after the September 2010 earthquake, attracted a 52.15 per cent response from voters. This year's poll closes at noon next Saturday, October 12. http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/local-elections-2013/9244256/Lowvoter-turnout-feared
NZ Politics Daily: 4 October 2013 John Minto (Daily Blog): Len Browns big porkie October 2, 2013
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From the New Zealand Herald election guide published 1 October: Do you support the SkyCity pokies for convention centre deal? Len Brown: I support the need for Auckland to have an international convention centre and the economic benefits it will deliver but I do not support the deal done to finance it. What a shameless porkie. Len Brown has always been a strong supporter of the pokies for convention centre deal. On 27th June this year he voted against a motion brought by Councillor Cathy Casey to oppose the Governments proposal for SkyCity to develop a convention centre in return for changes in our gambling legislation to increase gambling at the SkyCity casino. The motion passed by 10 votes to 7 with the mayor in the losing minority. For the mayor to now pretend he doesnt support the deal is a brazen lie. The Len-Brown-endorsed deal includes an agreement between SkyCity and the Government to build an international convention centre in exchange for legislative changes allowing an extra 230 pokie machines and 40 gaming tables, a 27-year extension to SkyCitys Auckland casino licence, and other regulatory concessions. Now in the middle of the election campaign Len Brown wants to rewrite history. Hes embarrassed that hes offside with Aucklanders on this issue so has misrepresented his position. Its normal for politicians wanting to be liked but Brown has to be more than a smile and wave mayor whos good for a cup of tea but rolls over whenever the government or SkyCity come calling. His supposed principles are for sale at a rock-bottom price. He pretends to be a man of the people but he spends all his time on the other side of the fence supporting big business interests. Thats why Brown sold out Aucklands port workers when the port company bully a council controlled organisation under Len Brown attacked their pay and conditions of employment. Brown still sits on the fence wringing his hands.
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His fingerprints are all over the grubby deal with SkyCity and the trashing of Auckland port workers. People should remember this when they vote. http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2013/10/02/len-browns-big-porkie/
NZ Politics Daily: 4 October 2013 Will de Cleene (Gonzo): Five STVs and a Shoo-in
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One symptom of a political junkie is when a sizeable chunk of one's social network is standing in the local government elections. The ones who aren't MPs, anyway. And good on them. Better the devil you know. Even so, I am finding it extraordinarily difficult to give a fat rat's crack about filling in those pumpkin-coloured electoral papers. This may be because I live in a three-horse town (they sometimes gait past my gate). It's not Auckland or Otautahi, where things actually matter. Nor is it Wellington, with a choice between a disappointment of a mayor with her base deserted, or a has-been 70's cricketer who can't stop bodylining his audience. Giant Douche or Turd Sandwich indeed. Sure, there are issues facing Kapiti. The debt per resident in the previous year was $2642, compared to Wellington City's $1843, but that can largely get resolved by moving the rates base away from an anomalous land only rating (the only council in the province with a rating system that excludes capital improvements), and introducing a business differential (at present, rates in Kapiti are the same for business and residential. No other council in the region has this policy either). Jenny Rowan gets my tick as mayor of Pram, mainly on the basis of actually having met her once in person (Call it the Peter Dunne Effect). Gru Gurunathan was number two, because of his visibility in the local rag. I have never read his columns (or at least, none were memorable) but at least he's visible. The rest of the list was ranked based on the meaningless blurbs submitted in the accompanying 68 page electoral instruction and candidate information booklet (WARNING: MAY CAUSE NARCOLEPSY), and the only article I could find on local candidate meetings: David Scott 3, Ivan Sage 4, Jackie Elliott 5, Ross Church 6, Gavin Welsh 7. Yeah, I know I didn't have to rank Jar Jar Binks, but he's still preferable to Darth Nutter. I have yet to decide on electing 5 At Large District Councillors. I wouldn't recognise any of the 15 candidates if they were lying in the gutter pissing lager. I don't like this At Large vote, anyway. Stuff what Local Government NZ thinks. I may just leave this blank out of plain, unadulterated apathy. There is only one candidate for the sole ward seat, so no democracy needed there. Janet Holborow, elected unopposed. Seven candidates vying for four seats on the community board. Two of them are also running for councillors jobs. David Scott is running for mayor as well, so screw his triple-dipping arse. In fact, none of them matter. Do not care. Will probably ending up ranking them out of drunken spite.
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Flipped a coin for the sole Regional Councillor. Nigel Wilson 1, Chris Turver 2. 23 candidates for 7 District Health Board positions. Not even bothering to try to sort that snout trough out. If DHB elections disappeared from the ballot, noone would notice. I'll probably leave that blank too. Ta for the useless formalities, Labour! Posted by Will de Cleene at 21:00 http://gonzofreakpower.blogspot.co.nz/2013/10/five-stvs-and-shoo-in.html
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NBR: Auckland mayoral race: Exit poll has John Palino within 4% of Len Brown October 04, A mid-election poll shows only a 4% gap between Auckland mayoral candidates Len Brown and John Palino. Mr Brown has secured 37.4% of votes cast up until October 2, and Mr Palino 33%, according to a survey by online polling specialist Horizon Research. In contrast sharply with a UMR telephone survey released August 20 - before voting opened in what has been a low-key race - had incumbent Mr Brown on 47% and Mr Palino on 14%. The outcome will depend on how many of the super citys voters will post back or return ballots before voting closes at noon on Saturday October 12, Horizon says. If all those who are both registered and say they are 100% likely to vote actually do vote Mr Brown would win over Mr Palino by 8.3%. (Brown 38.2%, Palino 29.9%). The exit and likely vote results are from a Horizon survey of 1,072 Aucklanders aged 18+, conducted between 3pm October 1 and midnight October 2, 2013. Results are weighted by age, gender, ethnicity, educational status, personal income and party vote 2011 to provide a representative sample of the Auckland adult population. At a 95% confidence level, the maximum margin of error is +/- 3%, Horizon says. Horizon Research says a lower turn out so far is favouring the centre-right Mr Palino, a US ex-pat best known as the host of TV3's The Kitchen Job. The American has been seen as a long-shot through most of the campaign, but regardless is the sole standard bearer for the right since National's Maurice Williamson decided not to stand. Getting voters out will be key to the success of either main contenders campaigns. Those yet to vote favour Mr Brown more than Mr Palino. Of those yet to vote 20.5% are still undecided. Those yet to vote and who are still undecided are leaning 19.5% to Mr Palino, 12.4% to Mr Brown. However, when the undecided are filtered by those who say they are 100% likely to vote, they lean 8.4% to Mr Brown and 5.8% to Mr Palino. A Horizon June 13-21 poll of 1,106 adult Aucklanders, found a 12% gap between Messrs Brown and Palino when respondents were given a choice of them, Mana Party candidate Mr John Minto and others.
NZ Politics Daily: 4 October 2013 The Mayoralty election is a two horse race to date.
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Mr Minto has won 3.6% of votes cast up until midnight October 2, Uesifili Unasa 2.4%, Rueben Shadbolt 2.3% and Penny Bright 2%. Among those who had voted by October 3, Mr Brown was winning in five of the seven former cities which make up the new super city. Mr Palino was winning Franklin and enjoying overwhelming support on the North Shore. The result was close in Rodney and East Auckland (Pakuranga, Howick, Botany and Whitford). The closer mid-election result in South Auckland (32.8% Brown, 27.4% Palino) could indicate Mr Brown has yet to get voters out there, Horizon says. http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/auckland-mayoral-race-exit-poll-has-john-palinowithin-4-len-brown-ck-146702
NZ Politics Daily: 4 October 2013 Greg Presland (The Standard): Vote!

WrittenBy: MICKYSAVAGE - Date published:8:56 am, October 4th, 2013
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There is just over a week to go to the end of the current local body elections and turnout is small. In Auckland as at yesterday the return of votes was running at 14.64% compared to 22.6% in 2010. Things are not much better in other parts of the country. In Wellington the proportion is 15.47% compared to 15.87% at the same time last election. Christchurch is doing relatively well at 20.65%despite it appearing that Lianne Dalziel will romp home in the Mayoral contest. In Dunedin turnout is so far half what it was last time. This is concerning, particularly in Auckland. Elections there tend to zig zag between left and right. With low turnouts the main motivating factor is grumpiness with the incumbents so apart from long serving representatives who tend to hang around the middle there is often a lurch from left to right and back as grumpiness amongst the electorate punishes those perceived to have gone too far. Auckland Council is finely balanced with progressives being a minority and a group of independents deciding issues vote by vote. The right is not far from control and the nature of the next Council will depend on a handful of competitions. Privatisation of Council assets and the loss of the living wage campaign could only be a couple of votes away. There are a handful of Council contests that could be vital. Out west Christine Rose is up against number 74 on Nationals list Linda Cooper. Linda claims to be an independent despite strong links to the National Party and a loss out west will be a net gain for the right. Christine is a progressive with impeccable credentials and has been endorsed by former Councillor Sandra Coney. In the Whau ward Labours Ross Clow stands a good chance against C&R Nolene Raffles. In Maungakiekie Labours Richard Northey is under a well funded and sustained attack by Denise Krum. In Albert Eden Cathy Casey is also under threat from C&Rs Nigel Turnbull. Cathy is not helped by the presence of another progressive candidate Phil Chase. All of these battles are vital and could be won or lost by a handful of votes. And why is this important? Because Local Government provides the best way to change the place you live in. Whether through ensuring environmental protection or support for community decisions made at a local level can have a huge and lasting effect. As Julie Fairley has put it local government is vital because of libraries, parks, transport, fairness, housing and democracy. The right wing approach to these issues is short sighted and damaging, the progressive approach is futuristic and nurturing. So wherever you live make sure you vote. And while you are at it get your family and friends to do the same. Votes have to be posted by October 9 to make sure they count. http://thestandard.org.nz/vote-2/
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Ele Ludemann (Homepaddock): Apathy front-runner in council elections Only 15.5 percent of eligible voters in Wellington have voted in the local body elections halfway through the election voting period. The return rate is even worse in Auckland with only 12.6% of eligible people having voted so far. Local body elections rarely get the same participation as general elections do but participation in both has been dropping. The reasons for that are many but I think postal voting, and particularly the length of time people have to vote, might have some impact on council elections. Its too easy to miss the envelope or put it somewhere intending to get back to it then forget about it or lose it. This must be very frustrating to candidates who are putting serious time and money into campaigning. Some, perhaps many, of those who havent voted yet might intend to, but it looks like apathy is the front-runner in council elections at this stage. There is no easy answer to turning that around, though Keeping Stock points to a Facebook Page Roy Williams for Mayor which seeks to spice the Wanganui mayoral race with satire. http://homepaddock.wordpress.com/2013/10/04/apathy-front-runner-incouncil-elections/
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Shelley Robinson (Star Canterbury): Vote on $91k pay rise for acting Chch City Council 10:12 AM Friday Oct 4, 2013 Acting Christchurch City Council boss Jane Parfitt may get a $90,000-plus pay rise today. The Star can reveal that city councillors will meet behind closed doors to vote on whether Ms Parfitt will get an extra $91,104 added to her current $324,651 annual pay packet. A confidential report prepared by the city council's general manager human resources Chris Till says the pay hike acknowledges the increased responsibilities Ms Parfitt has as acting chief executive. She took over the reigns in July after controversial chief executive Tony Marryatt was sent on special leave pending a Crown investigation into the city council's loss of its consent accreditation. Ms Parfitt was promoted from her role as general manager city environment. After an investigation into the consents debacle Mr Marryatt resigned with an exit package of more than $400,000. He had been on an annual salary of $538,522. The city council has yet to advertise for a new chief executive. Ms Parfitt will stay in the role until a new one is appointed. Mr Till's report to city councillors says that advice was sought from the State Services Commission on setting Ms Parfitt's pay rise. The commission said as Ms Parfitt was "only in a temporary caretaker arrangement" she was not entitled to receive the full remuneration of (a chief executive's) position. Ms Parfitt's "acting allowance" has been calculated as "85 per cent of what a competent chief executive in an acting role would be paid in the public sector". If city councillors vote in favour of the increase it will take Ms Parfitt's salary to $415,755 and the "acting allowance" will be backdated to July 4 when she took over. The report that will go to councillors today also shows that Ms Parfitt has asked city councillors to consider increasing her notice period to six months from three in the event of a redundancy situation as the "new CEO may disestablish her position" - that being the general manager of environment.
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Ms Parfitt was chief executive of the Waimakariri District Council for three years before moving to the city council. She was also the chief executive of Healthlink South and is a fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Management. - STAR CANTERBURY http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11134725
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Radio NZ: Think tanks wants more power for local government A business think tank is proposing New Zealand follow in the footsteps of Switzerland and have more services controlled at a local government level. The idea was debated by a panel at the release of the New Zealand Initiative's Global Perspective on Localism paper in Wellington on Wednesday night. The author of the paper and executive director at the New Zealand Initiative Oliver Hartwich says New Zealand has one of the most centralised forms of government in the world. He says New Zealand should emulate Switzerland where local communities make decisions on infrastructure and economy. Dr Hartwich says local communities are often better placed to make such decisions because they know their area better than central government does. He says if councils controlled services such as transport and education, people would be more interested in voting at local body elections. One of the panellists discussing the idea, columnist Rod Oram says at the moment New Zealand's local economies just are not capable of being responsible for key infrastructure. http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/223598/think-tanks-wants-morepower-for-local-government
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David Farrar (Kiwiblog): Localism October 3rd, 2013 at 3:00 pm
Brian Fallow writes in NZ Herald:

Local Government New Zealand and the New Zealand Initiative are calling for more public services to be provided by local government and funded by local taxes. At least they would like to see a debate about whether the split between the responsibilities of central and local government is optimal. NZ Initiative executive director Oliver Hartwich said New Zealand was an outlier among developed countries in having so small a share 11 per cent of total government spending undertaken at the local level. The OECD average for spending by levels of government below central government was 30 per cent, he said, and only Greece and Ireland were more centralised.
We are unusual in having only two tiers of Government central and local no provinces or states. Now that I advocate that.
Local Government NZ chief executive Malcolm Alexander said a greater devolution of real authority to local government might encourage greater participation by the public, pointing to reports that in the local body elections now under way only 10 per cent of eligible voters in Auckland have voted so far.
The Swiss Ambassador spoke at an event last night on this topic. She mentioned that in Switzerland all powers started with the cantons etc and over time they decided what to hand upwards to the Federal Government, such as currency and military. In NZ all power rests with central Govt and local government is a creation of central government.
While attracted to the idea of local income taxes, Hartwich stressed that he was talking about reallocating tax between central and local government, not an overall increase.
Absolutely. I have some attraction to the idea of taxes rather than rates to fund local government. Rates increases are only paid by home owners and businesses (directly) and any increases are often hidden by the fact your houses value may have changed. I suspect it would be harder for a local Council to increase a local tax rate than it is to increase rates. Hartwich has a paper on localism here. Bill English also spoke last night and made some great points on the resilience of local communities and how locals care far more about local outcomes than officials in Wellington, and spoke about some of the pilots around the Waikato where some local initiatives are achieving great things.
NZ Politics Daily: 4 October 2013 http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2013/10/localism.html
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Housing Matthew Dallas (Stuff): Lame response from Govt on housing Last updated 09:55 04/10/2013 The National Government's faint attempt to appease first-home-buyers by offloading state houses in areas of low demand has provided Opposition leader David Cunliffe with a free swing. He has accused the Government of trying to distract the public from the Reserve Bank's tough new loan requirements with a "desperate sideshow". It's hard to disagree - the scheme offers next to no appeal. First-home buyers who earn equal or below the average income would be gifted a 10 per cent deposit, up to the value of $20,000, and first opportunity to purchase state homes in the provinces, which would be sold at market rate. Launching it on the same day as the Reserve Bank tightened the screws on lending restrictions, the Government promoted it as a win-win concept. Middle to low-income households would be helped into their first homes while the state could use the cash to build new state houses in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. But until the Reserve Bank got tough with first-home-buyers throughout the country to cool the Auckland market, there wasn't much of an issue in the provinces, at least not one severe enough to make rundown state homes look appealing. In the Manawatu, house prices have remained stagnant, down 1.4 per cent on last year. As everybody knows, the big issue is north of the Bombay Hills. Auckland is expected to be home to 500,000 more people in the next 20 years. Home affordability has snowballed into one of the major issues confronting the nation and is sure to loom large at the 2014 general election. Voters will be looking to the major parties for a viable game plan, and it should be one that includes palpable methods of alleviating the inflated Auckland market and stimulating economic growth further south. The country can only run top-heavy for so long before the head falls off. Building more homes in Auckland and manipulating home loans are shortterm speed bumps and do nothing to abate the migration trend. National needs to get real and confront housing affordability, instead of dancing around it. The more it pushes out weak ideas, such as its state-home
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sell-off, the more necessary and sensible Labour's capital gains tax looks. It's disappointing the Department of Corrections remains as unwilling now as it was during the Privy Council hearing to afford Mark Lundy the right to observe, or at least hear, its judgment as it happens. He may not be entitled to many rights, but he should be able to learn his fate first-hand. http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/opinion/9238911/Lame-responsefrom-Govt-on-housing
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Dubby Henry (Stuff): Interest rate hopes pinned on extra homes 05:00 04/10/2013 Auckland Mayor Len Brown hopes the Reserve Bank Governor will rethink interest-rate rises following an unveiling of plans for the city's first Special Housing Area. A total of 282 homes will be built on a South Auckland site which is the first of a tranche of areas across Auckland earmarked for rapid development. The first homes should be ready by mid-2014 and the entire development finished by 2017, thanks to the Auckland Housing Accord between Auckland Council and the Government which will fast-track the development through the resource consent process. More special housing areas will be announced next week as part of the accord. The $102 million development, to which the Government will contribute $29m, is expected to provide first homes to 113 families, and a further 169 rental units. The announcement follows Reserve Bank Governor Graeme Wheeler's warning that mortgage rates could jump to 8 per cent in two years if house prices continued to skyrocket. But Mr Brown is hoping yesterday's announcement will signal an easing of pressure on housing. "My hope is that that's the sort of message that the Reserve Bank Governor will see, respond to and perhaps be moderate in his assess-ments of how we're going with our interest rates." Housing Minister Nick Smith said the interest-rate warning meant it was "absolutely critical" that the Government and the council deliver on their promise of 39,000 new homes in the city in three years. Keeping interest rates "as low as possible for as long as possible" would help house-building gain momentum, he said. First-home buyers will be given preference for the houses, which will go directly to the private market with an expected price range of between $325,000 and $475,000. They would be able to tap into government support, including KiwiSaver subsidies and Welcome Home loans, Dr Smith said. The remaining 169 units will be rental stock for community and social housing providers from the "third sector", such as Habitat for Humanity.
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Smith said some of the low-income tenants could have a lower-than-market rent if they met the criteria for the Government's social housing assistance. As well as keeping interest rates low, there was a raft of ways New Zealand needed to get house building moving, including putting pressure on building suppliers to reduce costs, bringing in online building consents and reforming the Resource Management Act, he said. The development will be built by a consortium known as the Tamaki Collective as a result of its recent Treaty settlement. http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/9242455/Interest-rate-hopes-pinnedon-extra-homes
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Rob Stock (Stuff): Bank profits back to pre-crisis levels 05:00 04/10/2013 Banks booked a lift in profitability in the second quarter, which has taken them back to pre-GFC levels of return on assets. In its May Financial Stability Report, the Reserve Bank reported "the banking system is now earning a return on assets approaching pre-crisis levels of 1 per cent per annum". The nine banks which respond to the quarterly KPMG Financial Institutions Performance Survey have confirmed the 1 per cent level has now been passed following a fourth successive quarter of profit rises. The nine, including all the big retail banks, reported combined total profit after tax of $1.023 billion compared to total assets of $380.74b, a level of profitability which would, if maintained, push the banks over the one per cent level. Combined profits were up $52million compared with the previous quarter's net profit after tax of $971m. The improvement in profitability was partly driven by banks being able to increase their net interest margins - the difference in the interest they pay on deposits and borrowings and what they lend money out at - and growth in lending as house prices in Auckland continue to rise. KPMG head of financial services John Kensington said banks had returned to the roughly 1 per cent return on assets, which dipped to a trough of around 0.8 per cent after the GFC struck. The margin improvement is linked with a "softening" of competition between the banks as loan growth has returned. "The intense competition in household lending appears to have begun to soften in respect of the rates offered," the report notes, with banks competing on other fronts, such as making one-off contributions to borrowers' legal fees, for instance, or offering TVs, iPads or smartphones to borrowers as an incentive to take a loan with them. But Kensington said the increase in net interest margins may reverse as borrowers continue to shift to fixed-rate loans, on which banks have historically earned lower margins than floating loans. With the Reserve Bank signalling Official Cash Rate rises next year, the shift to fixed-rate loans is gathering pace, KPMG noted in its survey, as borrowers look to get certainty over the size of their future repayments.
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KPMG believes all the signs are that the bottom of the credit cycle "has been and gone", reflected in increasing loan demand, particularly in Auckland and Christchurch. As always, when bank profits are reported, the question of whether they are earning too much arises, Kensington acknowledged. "The problem with the banks is the profit as a raw number is enormous: $1billion a quarter, and that's quite astounding," he said. But he said, if you look at a return on assets compared to a large listed firm, you would find the large listed firm earning profits of six to seven times their assets. "Grossed up to the same size as the banking sector, they would have a profit of six to seven times the size of the banks"' he said. KPMG gave the banking sector a big pat on the back in its report, noting that the World Economic Forum's annual Global Competitiveness Report ranked the country second for the "soundness of its banks". KPMG said that formed a "strong pillar" for an economy to prosper. http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/9242351/Bank-profits-back-to-precrisis-levels
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Newswire: Govt stole our housing policy Greens Friday 04 Oct 2013 5:57a.m. The Greens are accusing the government of stealing their housing policy. Co-leader Metiria Turei says ministers rejected her party's progressive ownership, affordable housing project when it was launched at the beginning of this year - and now it's doing exactly the same. She's welcoming New Zealand's biggest community housing project unveiled by Housing Minister Nick Smith in Auckland on Thursday but says it's just a token effort. Under an agreement with Auckland Council, 282 homes are going to be built in Weymouth on land owned by Housing NZ. Families will be able to buy a part share in them and pay the rest off later, or rent them at 25 per cent of their income. The government is putting $20 million into the $102m development with the rest coming from community and Maori groups. The houses will be priced between $325,000 and $475,000, well below Auckland's average which is pushing $1m. Ms Turei says Prime Minister John Key refused to back her party's policy. "Now his government is adopting Green Party policy in a late attempt to limit the political damage over its own housing failures," she said. http://www.3news.co.nz/Govt-stole-our-housing-policy--Greens/tabid/423/articleID/315760/Default.aspx
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TVNZ: Get ready to pay more on your mortgage Governor 9:49AM Thursday October 03, 2013 New Zealanders are being warned to get ready to pay more on their mortgage after the Reserve Bank said interest rates could hit eight percent as early as next year. Reserve Bank Governor Graeme Wheeler said rates may even get worse if the move to limit the availability of low deposit loans does not cool the housing market. Mr Wheeler has been widely criticised over the bank's decision to restrict new lending by requiring a 20 percent deposit but said pressure on the housing market needed to be reduced, especially given banks had been "competing aggressively" for low-deposit borrowers. In a written opinion piece he said "if the loan-to-value speed limit is unable to slow house price inflation, larger increases in the official cash rate would be required". Prime Minister John Key has said the Government is very focused on "making sure that we have an efficient economy and that we don't put pressure on interest rates". The Government failed in its bid to get the independent Reserve Bank to exclude first home buyers, leaving Labour to keep fighting for the exemption. But the Reserve Bank boss is on the defensive, arguing exemptions "would substantially undermine the effectiveness of the restrictions in reducing house price inflation". And some mortgage brokers believe demand is already cooling after just three days with the Reserve Bank's lending restrictions in place. "Definitely we are seeing some evidence that people are more stand-offish, and it's not just first home buyers," Bruce Patten from LoanMarket said. "We are seeing some purchasers who are saying let's just wait and see what happens." Labour leader David Cunliffe says New Zealand "is about being able to get your way into your own home" but Mr Wheeler has critiqued Opposition calls for more-targeted lending restrictions, saying a regional approach or exemptions for first-home buyers would do little to moderate the inflated housing market. The governor said that if excessive increases in house prices were left unchecked, they could pose a serious risk for the financial system and broader economy.
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But he said calls from some groups to lessen the impact of restrictions on first-home buyers were flawed. "Broad exemptions to other groups such as first-home buyers would substantially undermine the effectiveness of the restrictions in reducing house-price inflation." Mr Wheeler also ruled out an exemption for low-priced housing, calling it a "recipe for rapid increases in the cost of such housing". http://tvnz.co.nz/business-news/get-ready-pay-more-your-mortgage-governor5597656
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Dubby Henry (Stuff): Scheme to build 282 affordable homes 15:20 03/10/2013 Plans for New Zealand's largest community housing development, expected to provide homes for more than 1250 people, have been announced by Housing Minister Nick Smith. The $102 million development, to which the Government would contribute $29 million, was expected to help 113 families into their first home. Smith announced 282 new affordable homes would be built on the edge of the Manukau Harbour on the Weymouth Peninsula in Manurewa. A surplus 16 hectares of government land was being sold to build the houses. In a joint announcement, Smith and Auckland Mayor Len Brown said the area would be subject to a fast-tracked resource consent process which would see the first homes ready by mid-2014. It is the first major project to be announced under the Auckland Housing Accord, signed by the Government and Auckland Council earlier this year. First-home buyers would be given preference for the 113 houses that would go direct to the private market with an expected price range between $325,000 and $475,000. The remaining 169 units would be rentals for community and social housing with a mix of providers. Smith said the entire development would be finished by 2017. Brown said the project showed the potential of working in partnerships with third parties. "These organisations are the real champions of housing in our communities, and the work they do will help to improve the lives and opportunities of Auckland families who may otherwise struggle to find suitable housing," he said. The development will be built by a consortium known as the Tamaki Collective. Consortium chairman Paul Majurey said the development was one of the first outcomes from the recent Tamaki Collective treaty settlement and signalled the leadership role mana whenua would have in the shaping of Auckland. A further tranche of special housing areas would be announced next week. http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9240677/Scheme-to-build-282affordable-homes
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Graeme Wheeler (Herald): Brakes on lending aim to cut risks 5:30 AM Thursday Oct 3, 2013 Many New Zealanders consider purchasing a house to be a rock solid investment, and assume that house prices will continue to rise steadily, having never seen a bear market or experienced rapid rises in mortgage rates. Over the past 25 years, however, many wealthy countries have experienced periods of substantial decline in house prices. Falling house prices erode homeowners' equity, while mortgage lenders experience losses on their loan portfolios. The resulting stress in the financial system can have long lasting adverse effects on the economy. For borrowers, it can mean years of spending cut-backs to rebuild savings. The greatest impact is on borrowers, often first-home buyers, who recently entered the market with the least equity. In the United States, real net household wealth for the median household fell 39 per cent from 2007 to 2010, and a quarter of America's mortgage holders owed more on their houses than what their houses were worth. Our concern is that excessive increases in house prices in parts of the country, if unchecked, pose increasing risk for the financial system and the broader economy. High and rising house prices increase the risk and potential impact of a major correction in house prices, and consequential loss to lenders. In a severe downturn, such losses would be expected to significantly reduce banks' willingness to lend. Similar views about the risks from our overvalued housing market are expressed by the IMF, OECD, and the major international credit rating agencies. New Zealand's house prices are expensive, based on international comparisons of house prices relative to rents and to levels of household income. And our household debt levels relative to disposable income - having doubled over the past two decades - are also very high. Could New Zealand experience a sharp fall in house prices? While not anticipated, our economy is not immune to such risks. The world economy still faces major challenges and, if global growth slows markedly, or if China's financial system experiences major difficulties, it would quickly feed into the New Zealand economy and housing market. House prices are rising rapidly in Auckland and Christchurch for two reasons: housing shortages and easy credit. It is critical that issues around land
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availability, zoning restrictions and high building costs are resolved and that the housing targets in the Auckland Accord are achieved. It is also important that credit expansion is restrained to be more in line with housing supply. Restricting lending to borrowers with low deposits can help reduce the upward pressure on house prices, especially as banks have been competing aggressively for borrowers with low deposits - this borrowing is accounting for 30 per cent of new mortgage lending. Some suggest that loan-to-value restrictions should be applied regionally, especially around Auckland, or that we should exempt buyers of lower-priced houses. We considered both options. However, regional restrictions would be hard to administer and would shift housing pressures outside wherever the boundary is drawn. Exempting low-priced housing would be a recipe for rapid increases in the cost of such housing. Broad exemptions for other groups such as first home buyers would substantially undermine the effectiveness of the restrictions in reducing house price inflation. While new for New Zealand, such restrictions have been introduced in 25 countries, and are being deployed in Canada, Israel, Korea, Norway, Singapore, and Sweden. Most countries adopting such restrictions prohibit high loan-to-value lending. We have opted for a more flexible approach, which still allows banks to do some high loan-to-value lending. Nor should such moves be seen as permanent. Restrictions will be removed when there is a better balance in the housing market and less risk that their removal will reignite high house price inflation. While the Reserve Bank's mandate is to promote financial stability, there are clear implications here for housing affordability. Over the next two years interest rates are likely to rise in order to restrain an expected increase in broader inflation pressures. We expect that the official cash rate could increase by 2 per cent from 2014 to the beginning of 2016. This could result in interest rates on first mortgages of 7-8 per cent. If the loan-to-value speed limit is unable to slow house price inflation, larger increases in the official cash rate would be required. We are keen to see house price inflation moderate significantly and, in doing so, reduce the risks to the financial sector and the broader economy. Speed limits on low deposit lending are designed to help achieve this.
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Loan-to-value restrictions are expected to give the Reserve Bank more flexibility as to when and how quickly we have to raise interest rates, but the more fundamental solution to reducing pressure in the housing market lies in addressing the issues around housing supply. Tightening up From October 1, the Reserve Bank has required banks to restrict their new residential mortgage lending at loan-to-value ratios over 80 per cent (deposit of less than 20 per cent) to no more than 10 per cent of the dollar value of their total residential mortgage lending. Graeme Wheeler is the Reserve Bank governor. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11133697
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Karen Rutherford (TV3): Auckland's housing project a needed boost Thursday 03 Oct 2013 6:04p.m. The Government and Auckland Council have unveiled their first major joint housing subdivision to combat the region's housing shortage. Nearly 300 low-income families will be fast-tracked into homes on the Weymouth site, through a variety of options like rent-to-buy. The subdivision will be built on 16 hectares of bare land in south Auckland. By 2017, 12,050 people will call it home. "We are building more than houses," says Auckland Mayor Len Brown. "We are building a community." Mr Brown says the housing project will boast mostly two-bedroom units and larger four and five-bedroom homes, because that's what Auckland needs. The houses will be priced between $325,000 and $475,000 which is "at the affordable end of the range", he says. Beneficiary Priscilla Taipotereu doubts that she attended today's announcement to see if she and her five grandchildren might be eligible. It's unlikely. The entry price of $325,000 she says is still steep and she doubts she'll ever get out of her one-bedroom Housing New Zealand home and enjoy a new life in Weymouth. Auckland needs 39,000 new homes within three years, and with this development flying the flag by cutting red tape and fast-tracking consents, it's hoped the first residents will move in in the middle of next year. http://www.3news.co.nz/Aucklands-housing-project-a-neededboost/tabid/423/articleID/315744/Default.aspx
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David Farrar (Kiwiblog): Reserve Bank decision making October 3rd, 2013 at 2:00 pm
Hamish Rutherford at Stuff reports:

The Treasury lobbied for the governor of the Reserve Bank to be stripped of the right to solely decide on interest rate decisions, saying it created risk of poor judgment. When Alan Bollard confirmed that he would stand down from the role last year, senior Treasury officials wrote to Finance Minister Bill English suggesting decisions on the official cash rate (OCR) should be made by a committee, rather than having the decision rest solely with the governor. Internationally it is usual to have a committee approach, with a range of possible committee structures, senior analyst Renee Philip wrote last year, adding that the role of the Reserve Bank had broadened. The current single-decision-maker approach poses risks, such as a greater risk of poor judgment by a future governor than with a committee.
This is a worthwhile debate to have. As I understand it, the reserve Bank does have a committee that discusses the official cash rate settings, but it is advisory not decision making. One could have it as the official decision maker. It wouldnt change the decisions, but would give some greater certainty. However it might reduce the accountability of the Governor, as he or she is the one who can be sacked if underlying inflation persist outside the agreed target range.
BNZ, Westpac, NZIER, Infometrics and Berl economists appeared to back the idea of a decisionmaking committee. According to the Treasury, BNZ feedback was that a committee internal to [the Reserve Bank] would ensure against risk of a future rogue governor. The Green Party said the advice of the Treasury aligned with its position.
No, it doesnt. The Greens have said they want a committee to decide, but there is a key difference with Treasury advice. Treasury have said (and most international models are like this) that the committee should comprise senior staff of the Reserve Bank ie be an internal committee. The Greens want an external committee where they and/or sectoral interests such as unions, farmers and manufacturers have representatives on the committee. That has considerable danger.
http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2013/10/reserve_bank_decision_making.html
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Ele Ludemann (Homepaddock): LVRs introduced for good reason Thursday, October 3rd, 2013 at 10:00 am
Reserve Bank Governor Graeme Wheeler explains why it wasnecessary to impose lower loan to value ratios on banks: Many New Zealanders consider purchasing a house to be a rock solid investment, and assume that house prices will continue to rise steadily, having never seen a bear market or experienced rapid rises in mortgage rates. Over the past 25 years, however, many wealthy countries have experienced periods of substantial decline in house prices. Falling house prices erode homeowners equity, while mortgage lenders experience losses on their loan portfolios. The resulting stress in the financial system can have long lasting adverse effects on the economy. For borrowers, it can mean years of spending cut-backs to rebuild savings. The greatest impact is on borrowers, often first-home buyers, who recently entered the market with the least equity. In the United States, real net household wealth for the median household fell 39 percent from 2007 to 2010, and a quarter of Americas mortgage holders owed more on their houses than what their houses were worth. Our concern is that excessive increases in house prices in parts of the country, if unchecked, pose increasing risk for the financial system and the broader economy. High and rising house prices increase the risk and potential impact of a major correction in house prices, and consequential loss to lenders. In a severe downturn, such losses would be expected to significantly reduce banks willingness to lend. Similar views about the risks from our overvalued housing market are expressed by the IMF, OECD, and the major international credit rating agencies. New Zealands house prices are expensive, based on international comparisons of house prices relative to rents and to levels of household income. And our household debt levels relative to disposable income having doubled over the past two decades are also very high. Could New Zealand experience a sharp fall in house prices? While not anticipated, our economy is not immune to such risks. The world economy still faces major challenges and, if global growth slows markedly, or if Chinas financial system experiences major difficulties, it would quickly feed into the New Zealand economy and housing market. House prices are rising rapidly in Auckland and Christchurch for two reasons: housing shortages and easy credit. It is critical that issues around land availability, zoning restrictions and high building costs are resolved and that the housing targets in the Auckland Accord are achieved. It is also important that credit expansion is restrained to be more in line with housing supply. Restricting lending to borrowers with low deposits can help reduce the upward pressure on house prices, especially as banks have been competing aggressively for borrowers with low deposits with this borrowing accounting for 30 percent of new mortgage lending. Some suggest that loan-to-value restrictions should be applied regionally, especially around Auckland, or that we should exempt buyers of lower-priced houses. We considered both options. However, regional restrictions would be hard to administer and would shift
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housing pressures outside wherever the boundary is drawn. Exempting low-priced housing would be a recipe for rapid increases in the cost of such housing. Broad exemptions to other groups such as first home buyers would substantially undermine the effectiveness of the restrictions in reducing house price inflation. While new for New Zealand, such restrictions have been introduced in 25 countries, and are currently being deployed in Canada, Israel, Korea, Norway, Singapore, and Sweden. Most countries adopting such restrictions prohibit high loan-to-value lending. We have opted for a more flexible approach, which still allows banks to do some high loan-to-value lending. Nor should such moves be seen as permanent. Restrictions will be removed when there is a better balance in the housing market and less risk that their removal will reignite high house price inflation. While the Reserve Banks mandate is to promote financial stability, there are clear implications here for housing affordability. Over the next two years interest rates are likely to rise in order to restrain an expected increase in broader inflation pressures. We currently expect that the official cash rate could increase by 2 percent from 2014 to the beginning of 2016. This could result in interest rates on first mortgages of 7-8 percent. If the loan-to-value speed limit is unable to slow house price inflation, larger increases in the official cash rate would be required. We are keen to see house price inflation moderate significantly and, in doing so, reduce the risks to the financial sector and the broader economy. Speed limits on low deposit lending are designed to help achieve this. Loan-to-value restrictions are expected to give the Reserve Bank more flexibility as to when and how quickly we have to raise interest rates, but the more fundamental solution to reducing pressure in the housing market lies in addressing the issues around housing supply. We had good equity, well over 50%, in our farm until the ag-sag of the mid 1980s hit. Stock prices and land values plummeted, North Otago was plagued by drought and to compound our problems inflation and interest rates soared. At one stage we were paying more than 25% for seasonal finance and our equity had disappeared. Had the stock firm to which we owed so much had pushed us to sell wed have been left with nothing but debt. Fortunately for us there was safety in numbers and few farm sales were forced. We eventually farmed our way out of our problems and the policies the opposition still describe as failed dealt to inflation and interest rates. The experience taught us some very valuable lessons which those criticising the Reserve Banks policy, dont understand. Labours threat to the Reserve Banks independence and stated intention to exempt first home buyers from loan restrictions show no concern at all for the stability of banks and the danger of borrowing too much. Interest rates are very low now. A small increase would add a significant cost to servicing a big mortgage, unforeseen costs, which always arise, would put further pressure on budgets, make paying off capital more difficult and increase the risk of losing most if not all equity if property prices fall.
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The bank cant do anything about land availability, zoning restrictions and high building costs but it can address easy credit and its doing so to protect the financial system and broader economy.
http://homepaddock.wordpress.com/2013/10/03/lvrs-introduced-for-goodreason/
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The Standard: (Un)affordable rents in Berm City By: KAROL - Date published: 10:04 am, October 3rd, 2013 So getting your grass verge mowed is the biggest issue for some central city council candidates and (presumably) their potential voters? Life must be pretty cosy in those parts of central city Auckland. Out here in the West of Auckland, many people have bigger concerns: like how they can find affordable rental housing in the west , while the cost of renting nearer the centre of the city is way beyond even considering (as for many in the south). NZ Firsts Andrew Williams is right about the insularity of the bermites. However, I wouldnt call it a village mentality, so much as a gated city mentality. Its the mentality of people living in a largely well off, self-centred world, who dont look beyond their own alarmed gates. Its the mentality of people asking what more can their city do for their comfortable quarter acre lives, than what the city can do for those struggling to survive. This morning Monica Tischlers article on Stuff highlights the high incidence of garage living, hidden homelessness in West Auckland. Tucked down a West Auckland driveway in a corrugated iron double garage lives the Crichton family. Samoan lavalavas are attached to the ceiling for insulation and towels hang from makeshift clotheslines over beds and dressing tables. Fonima Crichton has lived in the garage with husband Fossie and four children, including 9-month-old baby Kris, for two years and has been trying for months to find better living conditions for her family. I want to raise my family properly and want my kids to live a good life, she says. It was the pursuit of a good life that saw the family become homeless more than two years ago. [...] The Te Atatu Peninsula family has been on Housing New Zealands waiting list for a new home since January and there are others like them too. Hendersons Housing New Zealand office holds the countrys biggest waiting list of families wanting better living conditions more than earthquake ravaged Christchurch. Living in garages is a health hazard, and one of the things being highlighted in a campaign next week: Next week the Spotlight on Housing campaign organised by the Housing Call To Action group will assist tenants with information about their rights and responsibilities, bill payment information and costs of running different electrical appliances. Homelessness in Paul Bennetts territory of West Auckland is a long running issue:
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This 2011 Western Leader article focuses on people living in the caravan park in Ranui, in the outer reaches of West Auckland. It foregrounds Ivan Eden, who has lived for 3 years at the caravan park, along with 200 other residents. Mr Eden, a 44-year-old sickness beneficiary, says hed much rather be living in a flat but cant afford it. A report on homelessness was presented to the Auckland Councils Social and Community Development Forum this month. It says there is an increasing number of homeless people in west Auckland and a lack of emergency housing. It calls for a region-wide response to the problem. There are 1000 people on Housing New Zealands west Auckland waiting lists[...] This 2010 Western Leader article, highlights the fact that homelessness, as seen in West Auckland, is something experienced by a significant number of women. The issues for, and responses to homeless women differ somewhat from those for men. Although, the problems for men are considered worse than for women and children, the article fails to look in any depth at how well the provisions work for women. Salvation Army spokesman Malvin Reihana [...] says more than 150 women and their
children came to the organisation between October and December seeking food and shelter.
There are a lot of short- term homeless women, he says. [...] He says women needing somewhere to stay have more options than men. There are a lot of social services in west Auckland for women and children, he says. But theres zero help for men and thats why they tend to end up under the bridges. In an article in last weeks NZ herald, Dr Ali Memon is critical of the Labour and National parties for both embracing housing as a home ownership issue, and for ignoring renters. The headline, Pity the poor who are forced to rent, seems to have been written by someone other than Memon. It is a direct contradiction of the content of her article, in which she states that some choose to rent rather than buy. My guess is that the headline was written by a sub-editor with a different agenda. But what is worrying is the degree to which the proposed housing policy initiatives of the two centrist political parties have been captured by the home ownership drive. The role of rental housing in satisfying housing needs of Aucklanders is a blind spot in the gaze of our politicians. The proportion of rental households has significantly increased during the past decade. According to recent surveys, approximately 40 per cent of Auckland households now rent. The proportion was 34 per cent in 2006. Yet, the Auckland housing problem is being redefined by the politicians and the media primarily as a home ownership problem. This is not fair to those who rent. To resolve our current housing problems, and build a more inclusive, livable, wellfunctioning and sustainable society, we need to return to the ideals of the 1930s:
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aiming for more state and council provided, non-profiteering, rental housing, plus other forms of social housing. So far, only the Green and Mana Parties have such forms of housing policies explicitly on their agendas. Green Party Housing Policy, includes, increase acquisition and building of state housing units by at least 3000 units a year for the next 3 years. And John Minto, Mana candidate for Auckland mayor, has council housing on his manifesto: Minto for Mayor would build 20,000 affordable council rental homes to address the sharpest point in the crisis with other plans to promote home ownership opportunities for every New Zealand family. http://thestandard.org.nz/unaffordable-rents-in-berm-city/
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Alan Papprill (The Irascible Curmudgeon): What happens when private interests get in the way of efficiency? 2 OCT 2013 These two pictures say it all. 1) PinoKeyo on why he favours private schools over State schools while pushing through legislation to ensure the profit taking group can get even greater leverage in the dismantling of the State system.
2) What happened to the Government developed kitset home project in the 1920s once private interests realised that the State could do it better.
And now, when faced with a housing crisis, the only solution the PinoKeyo govt can come up with is to sell off Housing New Zealand stock and decry the Labour Party policy of building 10,000 houses a year for the next 10 years as being impractical. http://theirasciblecurmudgeon.blogspot.co.nz/2013/10/what-happens-whenprivate-interests-get.html
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James Henderson (The Standard): National playing catch-up on affordable housing Date published: 8:06 am, October 4th, 2013 Earlier this year, National attacked the Greens Progressive Ownership housing policy, a rent-to-own scheme that effectively gives first homebuyers access to the Crowns low cost of capital (like State Advances used to do). Nat fanboi John Armstrong said It is a dog of a policy. It should be put out of its misery. Now, Nationals nicked it. The problem is, theyre just doing it on a token scale. The Weymouth project announced yesterday will see 282 houses built, with 113,000 for sale at affordable (by Auckland standards, at least) prices. And buyers will be able to pay a basic rent to cover the cost of capital on the houses, the purchase equity over time as they can afford it. Thats the Greens policy, with the only difference being its community groups providing the rent to own scheme (which means its more expensive because of their high cost of borrowing compared to the Crowns). The problem with Weymouth is its tiny. 113 houses to be completed and sold over four years. We need at least a hundred times that amount. Labour plans nearly four hundred times as many over four years. And that can only happen if the Crown leads. At Weymouth, the Crown is putting up less than a third of the build cost. We need more than that. Remember, these projects are cost-neutral to the builder the people living in the houses cover the cost of capital through rents and buy the equity over time. And the net debt effect is neutral because while money needs to be borrowed to fund the builds thats offset by the creation of a financial asset ie the rent-to-own agreements. Theres no excuse for the Government to not do more. Unfortunately, it looks like Nationals objective is just to be seen to be doing something on affordable housing because the issue is hurting them politically; theyre not interested in doing enough to fix the problem. http://thestandard.org.nz/national-playing-catch-up-on-affordable-housing/
NZ Politics Daily: 4 October 2013 Colin James (ODT): Finding the exit when there is no sign 1 October 2013
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In Australia the proportion of first-home buyers taking out mortgages is near a decade low and the proportion of rental investors near a decade high. Sound familiar? Low interest rates in theory stimulate businesses to borrow, invest and make jobs. Money borrowed to buy houses does boost furnishing and appliance sales and some renovation and small business owners borrow against their houses for capital. But most mortgage borrowing doesn't directly do much for productive investment. Central banks have plunged official interest rates to near-zero in northern hemisphere rich countries through the past six years, on top of which they have been printing money like medieval monarchs. There is a lot of it sloshing round the world. But much of the money has gone into houses in those rich countries. Job growth has been weak and real wage rates have stagnated or fallen. So demand for goods and services has not responded as pre-2007 textbooks said it would. And much of the printed money has gone global. To quote Albert Edwards of Societe Generale, a global bank, much of what the Federal Reserve has been flushing into the United States economy has gone into arbitrage, that is, borrowing cheaply and lending a bit less cheaply wherever higher interest rates or easy capital gain can be found. So a lot went into "emerging" economies where interest rates were higher. The likes of India, Indonesia, Brazil, Turkey and South Africa were awash with credit. Share markets boomed. GDP rose. That offset rich economies' weakness. Then on May 22 Ben Bernanke, outgoing Federal Reserve chair, mused aloud that he might start "tapering" off his $US85 billion-a-month purchase of bonds (notably mortgage-backed ones). Interest on United States government debt rose sharply. The financial flows reversed out of the "emerging" economies, stalling their economies and plunging their currencies. The good news is that, as a result, several of those countries' governments now say they need to start structural economic reform. But Bernanke took fright at the potential GDP-growth-constraining effect of rising market interest rates and didn't start the "taper" as expected on September 18. Since then several of his regional chairs have stated widely varying views on when he should start, ranging from soon to not for a long while. The financial markets are in a frenzied limbo. Like George Bush swashbuckling into Afghanistan and Iraq, explorer Bernanke appears to have had no exit strategy when he headed into the
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uncharted territory of quantitative easing (QE), the euphemism for printing money. He did indicate an unemployment figure of 6.5 per cent as the exit signpost but that is a fair way off: the figure is now 7.3 per cent, mainly thanks to 4 million having given up looking for jobs, and is falling at a glacial pace. This is a bother because what Bernanke does and doesn't do has global effects -- and not just in vulnerable "emerging" economies. Some of his money washes up here, swelling competition for houses. The New Zealand dollar is the tenth most traded currency in the world, by far the most per capita. Graeme Wheeler down at the Reserve Bank has set out to restrain banks' enthusiasm for lending on houses by limiting how much of a bank's total mortgage loans can go to people who have less than a 20 per cent deposit. This has the politically discomforting effect for a grumpy Bill English of channelling funds away from the most needy, of putting housing development financing in doubt and possibly generating an unregulated secondary market of the type that flourished when interest rates were tightly regulated 35 years ago. Wheeler has yet to spell out his exit strategy, if he has one. The risk is that, like Bernanke, delay follows delay and/or measure follows measure. The spectre is the cold turkey New Zealand went through in 1984 to escape the dysfunctional shambles in the money markets. A much scarier spectre is that of the post-2007 global financial crisis (GFC). Edwards warned of a risk that "the most wobbly domino falls and topples the whole precarious, rotten, risk-loving edifice". Such talk is no longer marginal. It is part of informed international commentary. Financial Times columnist Gillian Tett drew on recent speeches by Lord Adair Turner, formerly head of Britain's bank regulator, the Financial Services Authority, and Andrew Haldane, financial stability executive director at the Bank of England, to suggest that "the propensity of the over-leveraged system to have booms and busts, amid investor swings, has risen". For several decades rich economies have relied on ever-increasing levels of private debt to get their economic growth. Given that their growth rates have been limpid at best since the GFC, that suggests to Tett and others that the productivity of money has been falling. In any case, debt cannot go on rising forever. The circus will stop. At least houses are safe. Or are they? What's your exit strategy? http://www.colinjames.co.nz/ODT/ODT_2013/ODT_13Oct01.htm
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Electricity TVNZ: Energy Minister burying power price rises Labour 11:19AM Thursday October 03, 2013 Labour has accused the Energy Minister of burying power price increases to avoid bad press. Energy and Resources spokesperson David Shearer says Simon Bridges delayed the release of information showing consumers were paying $50 more for their power in an apparent attempt to keep the public in the dark. Mr Shearer claims the May Quarterly Survey of Domestic Electricity Prices was due to be published in mid-June but was released a month late. "It was released at 1pm on Thursday, July 11, the last day Parliament sat before a two-week recess and too late for the opposition or media to take the Government to task. "The survey showed that in that quarter alone power prices had risen by 2.2 per cent, resulting in the average household bill rising by $50. Mr Bridges told the NZ Herald that he first saw the survey on the weekend of July 6, "and we didn't muck around, we got it out". But Mr Shearer says that documents obtained under the Official Information Act reveal the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment twice attempted to release the survey earlier despite the Minister telling Labour in response to written Parliamentary questions "there was no delay". "The documents also show Mr Bridges requested the July 11 release and signed off on the Ministry's accompanying press release," Mr Shearer said. "No, I didn't get that, " Mr Bridges told the Herald. "I've just been told the first one was sent back, but I didn't see that. It was incomplete." He added that he was "happy to defend our record on power prices against Labour's any day of the week". But Mr Shearer says the government was running scared from releasing the bad news. "Especially given Labour's NZ Power policy will see hundreds of dollars taken off Kiwi families' bills while Mr Bridges continues to defend power prices as competitive and fair despite the massive increases," he said. Mr Shearer described the actions of the Minister as arrogant.
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Mr Bridges said he wants the debate over power to be in the house an appeared to challenge Mr Shearer via twitter this morning. "So Dave, I hope this morning's Herald story means more questions from you in the House on Energy than Moana ever managed @DavidShearerMP". http://tvnz.co.nz/politics-news/energy-minister-burying-power-price-riseslabour-5597842
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TV3: Labour: Govt hid 'bad news' about power prices Thursday 03 Oct 2013 2:15p.m. The Labour Party is claiming Energy Minister Simon Bridges deliberately buried bad news by delaying the release of information showing power price increases. Energy and Resources spokesman David Shearer says the May quarterly survey of domestic electricity prices was meant to be published in mid-June, but was released a month late. "It was released at 1pm on Thursday, July 11 the last day Parliament sat before a two-week recess and too late for the Opposition or media to take the Government to task," he says. The survey shows power prices had risen 2.2 percent, resulting in a $50 average increase for household electricity bills. Documents released under the Official Information Act show the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) tried to release the survey earlier. Speaking in the House on September 3, Mr Bridges denied there was any delay, saying the ministry has no fixed timetable for the release of the survey. An email chain from MBIE in response to a query about the time of the release of the survey says it was expected the May survey would be published in mid-June. A later email on June 14 from MBIE says: "The Minister is overseas next week and this is no (sic) likely to be on his radar until the week after, with a release likely the week after that (first week in July)." The documents also show Mr Bridges requested the July 11 release and signed off on the press release. "Mr Bridges is so arrogant he thinks he can hide bad news sitting on information Kiwis have a right to know," Mr Shearer says. The Government was afraid of releasing the "bad news" given the Labour and Green Party NZ Power scheme which would bring down power bills for Kiwi families, he says. http://www.3news.co.nz/Labour-Govt-hid-bad-news-about-powerprices/tabid/1607/articleID/315714/Default.aspx
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TVNZ: Power companies may sue if Labour-Greens win 4:12PM Thursday October 03, 2013 Electricity companies would be likely to "sue for peace" if a Labour-Green coalition government takes power at the 2014 election, to try to forestall plans to upend existing electricity markets, says Edison International Research in analysis of the Meridian Energy float. Edison also suggests that electricity generators with large natural gas requirements to run some of their power stations would avoid "negotiations to contract further gas due to concern that, if the NZ Power proposal was implemented, they as thermal plant operators would not hold decision rights over when or even if they would be able to generate and dispatch to market." The Opposition's NZ Power proposal would institute a central buyer system, rather than the current wholesale market, to determine the prices paid for electricity generation from each power station, based on its historic cost. Edison research analyst Bruce Mackay told a teleconference that, at this stage, the firm had taken no view on what form such a "suing for peace" might take. "Any proposal to make changes on the scale contemplated has impacts on all the participants" in the electricity market, Mackay said. "I think there's a range of options there. There are incentives for generator-retailers, even Transpower, to try and negotiate or engage to get an outcome that doesn't impact on them as severely as it currently stands." Edison's is the second of two independent research reports commissioned by the stock market operator, NZX, to give retail investors access to alternative sources of advice on the Meridian float, which is open for registrations until October 18. NZX has had no influence over the content of the reports and commissioned them in response to concern there was too little independent advice available before the May float of MightyRiverPower. Since Meridian owns older hydro-electric plant, most research reports suggest the impacts on its profitability would be the most severe from the LabourGreens proposal, although most also expect the proposals to take years to implement because of their complexity and the number of existing contracts that would have to be unwound. The Edison report notes that, since the government would continue to own at least 51 percent of Meridian and MRP, it would suffer financial consequences from lower dividends, as would private investors. "The great imponderable is whether a Labour-Green government would push ahead with this proposal, given the extent of difficulties involved with
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implementation, the likely self-inflicted damage to its own financial position and the disruption to market arrangements" the Edison report says. The firm, which conducts fee-for-service analysis and does not trade shares, says Meridian is a "cash cow" and places a "fair value" on its shares of $1.81, the same mid-point picked by the other firm contracted by NZX to conduct research, Wellington's Woodward Partners. While Edison puts the impact of full implementation of the NZ Power proposal at 70 cents per share, it discounts that back to 15 cents a share on the basis that the risk is "low and that the offer price more than accounts for the current risk adjusted impact to Meridian." The 49 percent stake is being offered to New Zealand resident retail investor at a capped issue price of $1.60, with $1 due up-front and the remainder in May 2015, although if the issue price finally decided comes in lower than $1.60, retail investors will only need to pay the lower price. It suggests the likelihood of the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter closing in the near future is "overblown" and that arrangements in place for the smelter to take less energy from 2017 may work in Meridian's favour. Above all, its valuation rests on the expectation that Meridian will be paying dividends based on operating cash flow, which will be well above reported net earnings, for the foreseeable future since it has a conservatively geared balance and sheet and limited plans for new capital expenditure. For that reason, Edison does not put much store by its valuation on a priceearnings ratio basis for Meridian of $1.36. "Given Meridian's cash-rich investment profile, P/E is our least favoured valuation method. We think the market will trade Meridian primarily on a yield basis, given the attractive yield. http://tvnz.co.nz/business-news/power-companies-may-sue-if-labour-greenswin-5598265
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James Weir (Stuff): Polls add volatility to Meridian's likely price 05:00 04/10/2013 Meridian Energy and other power company shares could get a boost if a National victory in the next election looks more certain, an analyst says. Another analyst warns potential investors in Meridian that power companies face a range of uncertainties and volatile profits, and were not necessarily steady earners. However, a reduction in demand for power from the Tiwai Pt aluminium smelter in Southland could actually see Meridian profits improve because it could get higher prices in the wholesale market than the deeply discounted price it now gets from the smelter. In two of the latest political polls, Labour is closing the gap on National and a Labour/Greens government looks odds on in both. The risk of a future Labour/Greens government imposing new controls on the electricity sector, with a "single buyer" model, would hit Meridian especially hard, but analysts believe there is a relatively low risk of it actually happening. Woodward Partners analyst Nick Lewis said the political polls and Nationals chance of being re-elected next year would have a direct impact on listed power company prices. "Public opinion will drive the stock prices of the listed power companies and Meridian, once it goes public," Lewis said yesterday. If there was a consistent theme of National being re-elected "then I would expect [power company] prices to start to creep up again," he said. But if Labour gained in the polls, prices were likely to fall. There are now five independent analysts' reports on the planned float of Meridian Energy, with valuation estimates ranging from $1.70 (TDB Advisory) to $1.81 from Woodward Partners. The Government's indicative price range is $1.50 to $1.80 a share, with retail mum and dad investors getting a price cap of $1.60 a share. TDB Advisory analyst Daniel Foote gave a midpoint valuation of about $1.70 a share for Meridian, in a range from $1.50 to $1.90. But he stressed that investors should not see Meridian and other power companies as utilities with "stable, predictable earnings". "That is not necessarily the case. They face a great deal of uncertainty around water, fuel prices, electricity market prices, political risks and competitive behaviour," Foote said. That meant volatile earnings.
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Edison Investment Research rated Meridian a "cash cow" and gave a fair value range of between $1.70 and $1.86 a share, but warned that the "major downside risk" was the Labour/Greens power policy. If that policy was brought in completely that could slash the value of Meridian by up to 70 cents a share. Edison also said the electricity sector could effectively sue for peace in the face of a Labour/Greens government. Edison analyst Bruce McKay said the planned regulation would have a significant impact, so generators, retailers and lines companies would have a big incentive to negotiate an outcome that did not hit them as severely as proposed. http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/9242267/Polls-add-volatility-toMeridians-likely-price
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Tim Hunter (Stuff): Firm demand for Meridian shares 13:23 03/10/2013 Early indicators are pointing to firm demand for Meridian shares, with more than $50 million understood to have been subscribed in the first three days of the general public offer. Added to $565m already committed from clients of broking firms, market sources see retail investors accounting for more than $800m of the $1.25 billion initial instalment. "There's potentially a lot more demand out there," said one. With the Government committed to maximising the public's shareholding, domestic and overseas institutions could find their applications scaled back, leading some to seek to top up their holdings on market. "I think this thing could tighten up and trade possibly 10 cents higher on the first day [of listing]," one broker, who didn't want to be named, said. The public offer of shares in the big electricity company is due to close on Friday, October 18. The price for retail investors has been capped at $1.60, with $1 payable now and a maximum 60c payable on May 15, 2015. The bulk of retail applications is expected to come in during the last week of the offer. Institutional investors will take part in a book build from October 21-23 which will set their final price. The pay-by-instalment structure of the Meridian float follows criticism of the Mighty River Power share offer, which lost money for about 113,000 retail investors when the share price slumped below the $2.50 offer price within two weeks of trading. The Mighty River offer left the company 27 per cent owned by New Zealand retail investors, 9 per cent by New Zealand institutions and about 14 per cent by overseas institutions. The Government retained 51 per cent. http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/9240280/Firm-demand-forMeridian-shares
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Labour Party Newstalk ZB Staff (Newstalk ZB): Cunliffe taking nothing for granted Thursday October 3 2013 14:58 Labour leader David Cunliffe's taking nothing for granted - despite yet another pleasing poll for his party. The Roy Morgan poll out today show Labour at its highest since 2008 - it's up 4.5 per cent since the beginning of September to 37 per cent. National is up one per cent to 42, but a Labour/Greens combination could easily take power. Mr Cunliffe says Labour will continue to campaign against what he calls an out of touch government. "We're going to be doing that from today right through to election day. "And if New Zealanders are responding, then that shows that there is a need and we're representing their views, their hopes, and their dreams. "And we're going to keep doing it." http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/auckland/news/nbpol/947774903-cunliffe-takingnothing-for-granted
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Danyl McLauchlan (Dim-Post): What are they thinking? October 3 2013
Labours Cunliffe bounce appears to be real; this (partly) explains the desperate weirdness of the right-wing blogs over the past few weeks. (We went through a lot of this weirdness when Clark was PM. Did she know her motorcade went over the speed limit? Was her husband arrested overseas?? Did something happen when Winston Peters went to Las Vegas??? Nationals bloggers wrote hundreds of thousands of words about these non-issues and the press gallery spent years chasing various conspiracy theories and rumours, and nothing ever came of any of it. Labour tried to copy Nationals tactics when it beat up a story about John Keys (non) involvement in faked foreign transactions the so-called H-Bomb that blew up in Labours face. It seems significant to me that the smears and conspiracy theories are instantly back in play after five years of dormancy under the Goff and Shearer interregnums.) Anyway, back to the poll: The next government could be a Labour-Green coalition. But it could also easily be a National-New Zealand First coalition. Peters is unpredictable though. I kind of suspect that if Labour and the Greens can govern alone hell go into government with them. Itll let him retire from politics with a knighthood and diplomatic posting to London. In the twenty-two months since the last election roughly 150,000 people have changed their vote from National to Labour. Id be really curious to know why. Asset sales? Power policy? House prices? Something else? If any swing voters are reading this Id like to know why youve switched support.
http://dimpost.wordpress.com/2013/10/03/what-are-they-thinking/
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Scott Yorke (Imperator Fish): Ten questions for David Cunliffe 3 October, 2013
Try as he might, Labours new leader just cant shake off those questions about his background. When one looks at his CV, whats most noticeable is not what it says, but whats missing. Is David Cunliffe being up-front with the people of New Zealand about his past? Or is he in the process of re-inventing himself, hoping that his past deeds remain hidden, and that the public wont learn the shocking truth about the man tipped to be the next PM? Or is this just a beat-up by Cunliffes political enemies? I think we would all like to know the truth. If Cunliffe has nothing to hide, then it will only take him a few minutes to dispel the lingering doubts many of us are harbouring. Im willing to give the guy the benefit of the doubt, and Im certainly no conspiracy theorist. But if Cunliffes hiding nothing, all he needs to do is clarify a few things for us. Here are some questions we would all like answered, David. 1. Which part of Kenya were you born in? 2. Is it true that you turned your back on Emirates Team New Zealand during the Americas Cup? Did you or didnt you download onto your laptop an updated version of Oracles Java software? 3. Why did you not make yourself available to give evidence to the 9/11 Commission? And why does your CV not mention where you were on 11 September 2001? Are you trying to hush something up? 4. How many graves of our war dead have you ever spat on? Please round up to the nearest ten. 5. Before your sex change operation, were you called Suzie? And were you working in the South African hospitality industry in the 1990s? 6. John Key loves his country and is trying to do his best for New Zealand. But you oppose him at every turn. How is that not treason? 7. Shia or Sunni? Which one are you? 8. You claim you were involved in the formation of Fonterra. And yet despite producing records showing your involvement with that project, some people still dont believe you. How can so many bloggers with ulterior motives be wrong? 9. If you had to make a choice, which of Mao, Stalin or Hitler would you choose to be? 10. When did you first realise that you despise our country and all of our sacred values and institutions?
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Come on, David, what are you waiting for? You have nothing to fear if you have nothing to hide.
http://imperatorfish.com/2013/10/03/ten-questions-for-david-cunliffe/
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Jennie Michie (Daily Blog): Rating Labours Coms since Cunliffes win October 4, 2013
Its a long held truism that opposition parties dont win elections, governments lose them. So is it possible that the ascendancy of David Cunliffe could flip that ancient political wisdom on its head? Nationals been in power for five years. In that time almost nothing has dented John Keys popularity. Not asset sales, the GCSB scandal, sacking public servants, corporate cronyism, National Standards, charter schools, tax cuts for the rich, scrapping night classes name your poison. The one thing that has had an impact is David Cunliffe. The four polls to come out since he became leader are (please god) the start of the long awaited Labour recovery. And just to sweeten the treat it appears that Labours rise is mainly at the expense of National and not our allies and friends. David Cunliffe wont get the traditional honeymoon usually granted to new leaders I doubt he was expecting it. He will, however, get considerable leeway from the newly elated Labour members and supporters who finally have a leader who looks and sounds like a leader, with the credibility and experience to beat National and become our next Prime Minister. But its not a cake walk for him expectations are high and he only has 12 months to get it right. He wont get a second chance. What does he need to do to ensure that he can put together a Labour-led government in 2014? Gary Morgan from Roy Morgan says: If Cunliffe can enunciate a consistent concise message of the Labour Party policies and who they will improve the lives of New Zealanders and the country in general over the next 12 months, Cunliffe stands a real chance of being elected as New Zealands next Prime Minister at next years election. So messaging is vital. No rocket science there. Oh hang on it is rocket science or at least something pretty damned difficult if Labours past attempts at messaging are anything to go by. I dont know why but somehow its not in their DNA. Traditional Labour says if weve issued a press release, communication has taken place. Traditional Labour says if we tell people often enough why were right and the other guys are wrong, people will come around to our way of seeing the world. Fortunately Cunliffe is a good communicator and hes putting a skilled team around him who should be able to lift Labours game. As well as the public Labour has two specific audiences that deserves special attention. The first is the wider Labour whanau; the unions, community groups and NGOs, and the arts and other general lefties. Good communication and relationships with these groups will be critical for Cunliffe. Theyre rooting for a Labour win and they can help make it happen by coming out and supporting Labour policies and campaigns but it doesnt happen by itself. Witnessing Labour
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unveil its power policy this year without a friend in sight (Greens notwithstanding) was like being forced to watch the socially gauche kid at the school dance sad and embarrassing. But first Cunliffe must reach out to them; listen and talk with them and then invite them to become part of the project. The inner circle is Labours precious members and supporters (and I mean precious like jewels). Lucky for Cunliffe the leadership election and his win galvanized so many people that Party membership has almost doubled so hes got thousands of newly energized members ready and willing to do the mahi. These are the foot soldiers that can crown him King. He would be wise to keep them seriously engaged on a very personal and respectful level. Here social media is a gift; he can be talking and listening, messaging, writing and responding to blog posts, publishing surveys, asking questionnaires, attending virtual meetings and interviews, raising money, promoting candidates and generally in a way no Labour leader has before using new technology to make people feel like they and their leader are part of a real movement, unified behind a common cause and making history together. But while Cunliffe is, in terms of Party morale, coming off a low base, euphoria is no substitute for real relationships and just like in any real relationships David Cunliffe will have to make some respectful deposits before hes got enough in the bank to make serious withdrawals.
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2013/10/04/rating-labours-coms-since-cunliffes-win/
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Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): The Goal and the Movement: The Debate Between John Moore and Chris Trotter Continues October 4, 2013
IN HIS LATEST BLAST against the evils of social democracy, Unrequited Love: Chris Trotter and the Labour Party, John Moore quotes the words of the radical socialist, Rosa Luxemburg, as if theres nothing more to be said. Apart from the facts. Rosa was as impatient for the socialist revolution to arrive in 1900 as John is 113 years later. She was a young, radical and passionate Marxist agitator and the revisionist writings of Eduard Bernstein infuriated her in much the same way as my own writings appear to infuriate John. But, unlike John, Rosa actually got her revolution. As the German Empire crashed down to defeat in the final months of 1918, the war weary sailors and workers rose up in revolt. The Emperor, William II, abdicated and the social-democrat, Philipp Scheidemann, declared the German republic from a balcony of the parliament building in Berlin. But the revolution did not unfold in the way Rosa hoped it would. A clear majority of German workers rejected Rosas revolutionary programme. Even in the revolutionary councils (an organisational model borrowed from the Bolsheviks in Russia) Rosa and her Spartacist allies found themselves outvoted. The mostly social-democratic trade union delegates voted onto the councils were happy to settle for the radical reform of the German state and economy that had suddenly become politically feasible. Rosa knew that any attempt to over-ride the reformist consensus by force of arms was doomed to failure. Her Spartacist comrade, Karl Liebknecht, however, insisted that the revolutionary workers must carry the revolution forward, by force if necessary. Comrades! We are storming the gates of paradise! Karl told his followers. Though she understood that Karl was leading the revolutionary fraction of the German workingclass to disaster, and that his political extremism would almost certainly cost both of them their lives, Rosa refused to desert the Spartacist cause. On the 15 January 1919, Rosa was abducted by one of the right-wing paramilitary units deployed against the Spartacists by the Social-Democratic government. She was beaten senseless by their rifle butts and then shot in the head. Her body was thrown into Berlins Landwehr Canal. No one can dispute Rosas heroism, but in the final weeks of her life her political judgement deserted her. The forces at the Spartacist leaders disposal were never sufficient to carry through the Bolshevik-style revolution they envisaged. In fact, by 1919 Rosa had begun to doubt whether what the Bolsheviks were engaged in was a revolution at all. Certainly, she deplored Lenins resort to political terror and the ruthless suppression of any left-wing group which challenged the Bolsheviks programme.
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The stumbling block for German revolutionary socialists, as it was for those in Russia, was how keep the revolution going while, at the same time, keeping it democratic. In Germany that could only mean acquiescing to the hegemony of moderate social-democracy. Radical reform was as far as the majority of workers were prepared to go. The Spartacists attempt to impose their version of the revolution upon their social-democratic comrades by force stripped them of all legitimacy. And, when the reformers looked at what was happening to their Russian counterparts under Lenins Bolsheviks, they not surprisingly looked to their own security. To defeat the Spartacist uprising, the social-democrats turned to the right-wing paramilitary freikorps composed largely of demobilised soldiers. They did this partly in self-defence, but mostly because they knew there was no other viable choice. Had they refused to suppress the revolt, the armies of Great Britain, France and the USA, halted on Germanys frontiers by the November 1918 armistice, would have been ordered to intervene. The capitalist powers were not about to sit back and allow Germany to join Bolshevik Russia. To have done so would have meant surrendering the entire European continent to social revolution. Everything they had won after four years of unprecedented slaughter would have been wrenched from their bloody hands at the eleventh hour. That was never going to happen. AND THIS REMAINS JOHNS PROBLEM in 2013, just as it was Rosas in 1918-19: the stubborn exigencies of political reality. Politicians of every kind: from revolutionary socialists to reactionary capitalists; have no option but to act within the constraints of the present moment they inhabit. Read those constraints wrongly, as Karl Liebknecht did in January 1919, and the results can be fatal. John accuses me of seeing in David Cunliffe the best qualities of [the] democratic socialist tradition. What I actually wrote, in the essay he is quoting, was that I support Cunliffe: Not because he is the perfect knight, wholly unblemished by compromise or error; but because, in the course of my daily assessment of who is moving the left forward, and who is holding it back, Cunliffe consistently comes out on the side those who are advancing the cause. Part of advancing the cause of social-democracy in 2013 is learning to address the electorate in such a way that it actually hears what you are trying to say. Load down your speech with wild socialist rhetoric and its content is almost certain to be entirely lost. Your political enemies and the news media will simply draw the publics attention away from the things you are trying to do, and focus it instead on the language you have used to describe the things you are trying to do. Were I in Cunliffes position, socialism would not be a word I would use either. John, however, seems to believe that unless a politician talks like a Marxist academic, he or she must be a traitor. But even Marx did not talk like a Marxist. Anyone familiar with Marxs journalism knows that he, too, was acutely aware of the constraints of the present moment.
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Man makes his own history, writes Marx in the opening paragraphs of The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Napoleon (1852) but he does not make it out of the whole cloth; he does not make it out of conditions chosen by himself, but out of such as he finds close at hand. Nor is Marx as dogmatic as many of his followers. In The Eighteenth Brumaire he paints a picture of bourgeois France in extremis and under enormous pressure from both the Left and the Right. Far from there being structural mechanisms that require the state to act as a capitalist state, Marx depicts the French state bobbing like a rudderless ship upon the powerful and constantly changing currents of interrelated and mutually reinforcing political, economic and social crises. It is precisely the absence of the automatic stabilising mechanisms posited by Marxist academics like Amy Beth Bridges and Clyde W Barrow, that allows Louis Napoleon to seize control of the French state and refashion it to suit not only the French peasantry and Frances capitalists; but also, and to a quite alarming extent himself. Johns great mission, however, is not to rescue Marx from the clutches of academic Marxism, but to rain down upon the labour parties that so woefully failed the successive political tests of the 30 year period spanning 1979-2009 a truly Biblical measure of retribution. This is, of course, a remarkably easy thing to do since the wholesale apostasy indulged in by the social-democratic movement across the world over that period was as spectacular as it was destructive. John would, however, have had a great deal more difficulty in bad-mouthing socialdemocracy if he had chosen the 30 year period spanning 1945-1975. These were the years of the great post-war boom during which bi-partisan support for what were essentially social-democratic policies engendered the longest and most consistent period of general economic uplift in human history. What John does not appear to have grasped is that the 30 year neoliberal counter-revolution that mandated all these betrayals is drawing to an end. Across Europe and North America there is a renewed political focus on the problems of inequality. In Britain, Ed Miliband is accused of wanting to return the country to 1970s socialism. In New Zealand, David Cunliffe and Labours rank-and-file are shaking the Left out of its defeatist slumber. Yes, there is much to be learned from the Winter of Discontent in 2000: but the essence of the historical lesson is that the capitalist ruling class needs to be confronted by a left-wing government committed to more democracy not less, as Slavoj Zizek contends. Zizeks denunciation of capitalist democracy differs not at all from the Leninists historical denunciation of bourgeois and (naturally) social democracy. But simply putting an unpopular word in front of democracy cannot mask the fact that what Far Left writers like John and his comrade, Steve Cowan, are offering is a political project in which democracy plays little or no part at all. Like the Spartacists in Berlin in 1919, John and Steve are completely unmoved by the fact that their version of the revolution is simply not acceptable. Not even to the working-class they claim
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to speak for. They may heap scorn on Eduard Bernsteins revisionism, but they studiously ignore his historical achievements. Because, unlike Rosa and Karl, Eduard was not murdered in the upheavals of 1919. He went on to assist in the formation of the Weimar Republic which, for the next 14 years was universally hailed as the worlds most democratic nation. Its progressive constitution not only extended full political rights to German men and women, but also guaranteed German workers an impressive array of social and economic rights. That Weimar fell to the Nazis in 1933 was in no small measure due to the Communist Party of Germanys the Spartacists successors refusal to join hands with the Social Democratic Party in defence of Weimars achievements. Democracy was a word the Communists despised almost as much as Adolf Hitler himself. In the end, John, unlike Eduard (and I hope, myself) does not travel at all. He remains transfixed: rooted to his first and, indeed, his only aim Revolution. How we are to reach this shining historical moment, and what we are supposed to do once we arrive, John does not explain. For him the socialist goal is everything; the movement towards it nothing. But to fetishize revolution in this way is to remove it from the historical process altogether. By refusing to acknowledge that the only revolution worth having is the revolution that is constructed collectively and democratically, John has consigned his cherished goal to a region beyond the reach of human endeavour. Like Christs Kingdom, Johns Revolution is not of this world.
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2013/10/04/the-goal-and-the-movement-the-debatebetween-john-moore-and-chris-trotter-continues/
NZ Politics Daily: 4 October 2013 Giovanni Tiso (Bat bean beam): The struggle for democracy
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2013
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Short of social structures collapsing completely, you dont stop teaching children just because theres a war. My fathers time at primary school, for instance, coincided almost to the day with the Italian involvement in the Second World War, and continued when he had to leave Milan during the bombings. He would have been taught notions not vastly dissimilar to these. I wonder how the lessons changed in 1943, when we switched sides. In April of 1944, Cadbury Brothers Limited of Bourneville produced, and the University of London Press distributed, a book for use in British schools. This one.
The struggle for democracy is not a topic that my parents would have had the opportunity to learn about, but this small book is not just a document of the ideological conflict in Europe at the time. Set against the current discourse around inequality, it also provides a historical link to some key contemporary ideas and rhetorical strategies
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The most striking and appealing aspect of the book is what the author one W.E. Brown calls 'its visual method'. Id argue that the main instrument of persuasion of todays anti-inequality campaigners is a similarly didactic graphical presentation of statistics. While he may not be the originator of this style, I associate this approach particularly with Robert Reich, notably in his video The truth about the economy(with a strong local echo in this presentation featuring David Cunliffe).
The Struggle for Democracy was written on the eve of what Reich calls The Great Prosperity, albeit in a different country the author laments in fact how every country in the world wants to buy from America, portending to economic troubles down the line. Thats the other element of historical interest: the snapshot of social democracy as an idea at the moment of its greatest promise, yet tinged with scepticism concerning how far this idea could go in perfecting society and curing it of its ills. But first theres the myth of origin. In spite of the books title, it seems that it took very little struggle to achieve democracy in Britain. Only two specific incidents of repression are mentioned: the Peterloo Massacre of 1819, and the transportation to Australia of the Tolpuddle martyrs, six Dorset farm Labourers guilty of joining the Friendly Society of Agricultural Labourers in 1834.
Elsewhere, police intervention is implicitly presented as the natural State response to sedition. We learn for instance that all but the sober working-men leaders of the Chartist movement followed an excitable Irishman named Feargus OConnor, who encouraged them to strike and riot (leading to hundreds of arrests), and that the most violent supporters of [the womens Suffrage] movement, the Sufragettes had many bitter encounters with the law. But it was jobs for women in the Great War that made their demand for the vote irresistible, and so too every piece of social reform from the extensions of the franchise to the introduction of social services is attributed Compiled by Bryce Edwards; Sponsored by Ideas Shop
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to enlightened politicians or wealthy reformers: Robert Owen, Jeremy Bentham, Lord Shaftesbury, Lord Beveridge. The British working class was never an agent of its own destiny. The struggle for democracy is therefore primarily a struggle of reason, and for reason, and the British model of social democracy itself is presented as a technology for improving society as much as a system of government inspired by a set of humanistic principles. Practical idealists improve housing, but better planning of housing must follow, proclaims the author, pitting the urban squalor of Dickens Hard Timesagainst a modern planned garden city.
It is the rational reorganization of municipal councils that allows the citizens representatives to manage and improve the nation's cities.
But nowhere is democratic progress more measurable than in the area of social services. In this table, included in the 1950 revised edition of the book, every bit of social spending is carefully laid out. Each symbol represents 10 million pounds sterling of expenditure in education, health, housing and so forth, and a transparent, proportionally large benefit to the collective. This is the high point. When this table was drawn, the New Zealand Labour Social Security Minister had not long since declared to an audience including WB Sutch that everything was done, meaning that all the social progress that it might be possible to wish for or imagine had been achieved. It was, if not the end of history, perhaps the end of politics certainly of emancipatory politics. The Struggle for Democracy devotes to this high point its boldest page. According to its design, the aim of the welfare state is defeat the five chief enemies of society as identified by William Beveridge Idleness, Want, Disease, Ignorance and Squalor via the application of (respectively) full employment, social insurance, health services, education acts and town planning.
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But then, in perplexing fashion, a page directly follows, not glossing but in fact questioning this design. The heading is The problems of the welfare state. Of these, some are economic and not entirely unreasonable balance of payment issues and dependence on the Marshall plan; reduced competition among businesses; inflation resulting from excessive bargaining power of a fully employed workforce whereas one, with which we are all too familiar, is moral: do we think carefully enough before helping ourselves to the benefits provided by the State? Do others? Will a society that has reached true social security still be motivated to work hard?
Of social democracy, nowadays, there remains but a husk. Robert Reich will continue to measure the staggering growth in wealth inequality in the United States between 1980 and today as if 1980 were a time to be nostalgic for; a time of social justice. Whereas in New Zealand, the Labour Party will continue to preach full employment as a workable solution in a post-Keynesian world, and leave unanswered the question of what to do with the people who wont be able to work all those ghost jobs. Theyll likely remain a moral problem, and continue to be punished so that everyone else may be motivated to work hard. As for those who might aspire to a more radical kind of justice, socialism is not a word I would use, and the revolution is the accumulation of the progressive choices that left-wing people of goodwill make every minute of every day. These are the carefully patrolled limits of our politics. The strange struggle without strife of this little book captures well our singular paradox: of living the day after the best of all possible worlds, wishing to recapture that which we never really had; or that, even if we thought had it, we always knew it wouldnt last. http://bat-bean-beam.blogspot.co.nz/2013/09/the-struggle-for-democracy.html
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Ruataniwha Dam Matt Chatterton (Newstalk ZB): Cunliffe denied access to Ruataniwha Dam land Thursday October 3 2013 13:30 The Labour leader's plans to visit the site of the controversial Ruataniwha Dam has been dashed. David Cunliffe is in Hawkes Bay today visiting a number of groups involved in the proposed project. The owners of the land where the Ruataniwha Dam is proposed to go in central Hawkes Bay have denied access to Mr Cunliffe due to the calving season. Instead the opposition leader is visiting the Tukituki River near Hastings. This isn't the first time someone has been denied access. Environmental groups have been asking for accesses for weeks so they can conduct investigations for a board of inquiry. http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/auckland/news/nbpol/1332714942-cunliffedenied-access-to-ruataniwha-dam-land
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Cameron Slater (Whaleoil): Stinking up the joint over Ruataniwha October 3, 2013
Andrea Vance writes about the dodgy behaviour of Nick Smith over the Ruataniwha dam. You could get tied in knots trying to explain the Ruataniwha Dam mini-scandal enveloping Conservation Minister Nick Smith. Smith certainly has, and it has left a pong as pungent as a river polluted with cow excrement. What it boils down to is the perception of political influence. The Department of Conservation prepared a submission to an Environmental Protection Agency Board of Inquiry examining the proposed irrigation dam. They concluded it was risky, untested inappropriate and could pollute the Tukituki and Waipawa Rivers. Two days after Smith was told about the proposal it was withdrawn and replaced with a diluted, two-paragraph submission. Smith has repeatedly insisted he learned about the existence of the report only last week, from a radio bulletin. Documents later surfaced to show he had been briefed and had expressed concerns. Smiths explanation for this inconsistency is that he saw only the final copy, not the original 32-page draft. He was, to use his own words, dancing on the head of a pin. The problem with his account is that it is evident he was told enough about the tenor of the report to express concerns and ask to see it. This issue will eventually finish Nick Smiths political career. Though he is fighting a rear guard action tooth and nail. Smith has strenuously denied he leaned on DOC. However, the perception that is left is that his officials were so worried about his reaction, that they scrapped the whole thing and went with a safer option. It speaks to an apparent trend of ministers taking care not to record anything but verbally putting pressure on their departments or ministries. Smith has also made some interesting comments about what he believes DOCs role is. He revealed in Parliament he had a conversation with the departments director- general when he first took up the portfolio this year and indicated it should exercise caution when making submissions to boards of inquiry. He also made it clear that he believes water quality is not within DOCs scope, which should be the protection of species. If they could, Im sure the fish of the Tukituki would disagree. Nick smith just cant help himself. He is a meddleralways was and always will be. The Sunday Star-Times also revealed last year that Smith overrode the advice of environment ministry officials and awarded a $185,000 grant to a project, $87,000 of which was swallowed up in consultancy fees for a company run by his friend. Three years ago he
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fired a board of elected councillors at Environment Canterbury, over water- management issues. It all points to a disturbing track record of Smith overstepping the boundaries of public service neutrality. However, unlike the ACC conflict of interest, this episode is unlikely to spell the end of Smiths ministerial career. The matter is too complicated and bureaucratic to have much resonance outside of the public service. Letting him go would be an admission Prime Minister John Key made a mistake in restoring him to Cabinet, so his position would need to be untenable. Andrea Vance is dead right there, though Smith should be sacked. The only reason he survives is because of Bill English. John Key made an error in re-instating him, it may will be the error that also costs him his job if he sticks by Nick Smith. The problem with hugging corpses is eventually you end up smelling like them.
http://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2013/10/stinking-joint-ruataniwha/
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NZ-Australian relations Alexia Russell and Corazon Miller (Newstalk ZB): Key says Kiwis moving to Australia need to be forewarned Thursday October 3 2013 9:16 Don't expect any concessions from Tony Abbott over the rights of New Zealanders living in Australia. He's dismissed any discussion on the issue, abruptly changing the subject when cornered by reporters after his meeting with John Key in Canberra. And our Prime Minister admits there's really not a lot we can do about it. "What I said to Tony is look I think we should work on some of these issues if we can. In the end they're a decision for Australia." John Key's advice - make sure you know what you're not entitled to before moving to Australia. "I don't anticipate they're going to change in a hurry. There's a reasonable cost to the Australian Government if they make the changes and at the moment they're very focused on getting back to surplus. So look, we'll to continue to push the case but I don't think we'll make tremendous progress in a hurry." It's estimated there are about half a million New Zealanders living in Australia - of those about 200 thousand are unlikely to be eligible to become permanent residents or citizens. And he says we're still benefiting from a free work market and other access advantages. Tony Abbott says his wife may have been born in Wainuiomata but he's happy with the status of New Zealanders in Australia. "I'm very conscious of the great debt that I personally owe to New Zealand, I'm very conscious of that. On the other hand, Margie says that she owes something to Australia given that Australia has been a good home for her over the last 25-30 years now." Mr Abbott says he's happy about Kiwis paying taxes in Australia but refused to answer a question as to why they aren't entitled to taxpayer benefits. Foreign Ministers meet Australia and New Zealand are in agreement on issues abroad, despite some underlying tension on the home front.
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While the issue of Kiwi rights in Australia appears to be a sensitive subject, the two nations' ministers of foreign affairs highlight on the whole that the Australasian relationship remains solid. Julie Bishop says as one example, we see eye to eye when it comes to Syria. "We were both very pleased to find that the UN Security Council was able to pass a unanimous resolution on the issue of the chemical weapons stockpiles in Syria. Both ministers maintained a positive spin on political affairs; glossing over the one issue of contention - kiwi rights across the ditch. Julie Bishop argues while tax-paying kiwis do not have full access to aussie benefits - they still have it good. "From Australia's perspective New Zealanders are free to travel and live and work and study in Australia and they have a level of access that is afforded to no other country." Ms Bishop claims budget restrictions are the reason behind some benefits remaining inaccessible to New Zealanders. http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/auckland/news/nbpol/1217745464-key-sayskiwis-moving-to-australia-need-to-be-forewarned
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Dan Satherley (Newstalk ZB): Kiwi rights deal saves NZ money expert Thursday 03 Oct 2013 8:38a.m. It's unlikely Australia will grant New Zealanders who live in the country the same rights as Australians due to the cost, says an international relations expert. New Zealanders are allowed to live in Australia indefinitely, but they're not entitled to draw on most social support services. The reverse is not true for Australians living here. Appearing on Firstline this morning, Auckland University's Professor Stephen Hoadley said the alternative was New Zealand having to pay Australia to cover the 650,000 Kiwis living there. "There are more New Zealanders in Australia than the other way around, and the Australian government was going to claim against the New Zealand government for the difference of welfare payments," says Prof Hoadley. "Helen Clark actually saved $50 million a year by making this deal." Prime Minister John Key brought up the situation in his meeting with his Australian counterpart Tony Abbott yesterday, but is realistic about the chances of reversing the deal. "You have got to remember Tony Abbott was part of the government that brought in those changes agreed with the previous Helen Clark government, and the probability of turning that around quickly is unlikely," he said yesterday. Prof Hoadley says the issue is contentious, but ultimately affects very few people. "Most New Zealanders are employed, they don't claim for welfare, they don't need it; we're talking about a pretty small number in the hundreds, maybe a thousand, so John Key is quite right. It's their choice to live there, and they understand the arrangement, and the consequences flow from that." Mr Key was the first world leader to meet Mr Abbott at home, the Australian Prime Minister having already met Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Jakarta. Prof Hoadley says this shows that although New Zealanders and Australians are family, Australia's proximity to Asia and its status as a destination for asylum seekers travelling by boat means its "strategic orientation is very different". "The Indonesian government is the key to stemming asylum seekers because they all transit through Indonesia," he says. "It's Indonesian boats that bring them to Australia." Mr Key's visit to Australia was a short one, flying home straight after dinner. http://www.3news.co.nz/Kiwi-rights-deal-saves-NZ-money--expert/tabid/1607/articleID/315614/Default.aspx
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Greg Ansley (Herald): Abbott firm on Kiwi expats 5:35 AM Thursday Oct 3, 2013 New Zealanders might be family to Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, and he might admire their "have-a-go" nature, but his Government is unlikely to remove discrimination against expatriate Kiwis. The treatment of New Zealanders who arrived after February 2001 - excluding them from most government support and welfare programmes - was raised during what were described as wide-ranging talks with Prime Minister John Key on his whistlestop visit to Canberra yesterday. Mr Abbott gave little prospect of any change of heart, with scant prospect of pressure from Mr Key apart from advocacy on unspecified "genuine issues". Mr Abbott also indicated Australia had no plans to resettle asylum seekers granted refugee status in New Zealand under the agreement reached in February allocating 150 places in Wellington's United Nations refugee quota. Yesterday's talks were brief, although the two leaders met later for dinner, and will meet again at the Apec summit in Bali. Their annual talks will be held in Australia next February. Mr Abbott also said he hoped to take up an invitation from Mr Key to visit New Zealand some time next year. "New Zealand is family in a way that no other country on Earth is," he said. "Just because we are family doesn't mean that we should take each other for granted." But Mr Abbott was unbending on the present policies on expat Kiwis. "New Zealanders have better access to Australia than citizens of any other country, and that's right and proper," he said. "I want everyone who comes to this country to work and pay taxes from day one and I'm delighted that this is exactly what Kiwis have done. "So I'm happy to keep talking to Prime Minister Key and obviously to have questions from New Zealanders on this question but I'm very happy with the situation as it is right now." Mr Key said his Government considered a free Australasian labour market "sacrosanct", giving New Zealanders and Australians the option of working in each other's country. He said the 2001 measures had been agreed to by Helen Clark's former Labour Government and that the situation facing expats was "very firmly in Australia's court".
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"While we will continue to advocate for New Zealanders ... we totally respect the sovereign right of Australia to make decisions on how they treat people who come and work in Australia." On asylum seekers, he said that if it became necessary Australia would call on the deal reached with New Zealand, but that to stop the boats it needed to be made crystal clear that if people arrived by sea they would not go to New Zealand. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11133 914
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Greg Ansley (Herald): Key under fire over expat welfare 5:30 AM Friday Oct 4, 2013 Prime Minister John Key has come under heavy fire for his acceptance of Australia's right to discriminate against New Zealanders living in Australia. Mr Key said after meeting Australian counterpart Tony Abbott in Canberra on Wednesday that he acknowledged a deal between the previous governments of John Howard and Helen Clark that in February 2001 led to the exclusion of expats from most government support and welfare programmes. He said he "totally respected" Australia's sovereign right to make decisions about its treatment of people who came to live and work in Australia. But his acceptance of Australia's position has further inflamed New Zealand advocates mounting a growing crusade against the rules that require Kiwis to pay full taxes without receiving the benefits. Critics reject claims the rules were part of a social security agreement. Australia imposed the rules unilaterally after the two governments failed to reach a deal on harmonisation of immigration policies and recompense for welfare payments to the citizens of each other's country. The advocacy group OzKiwi yesterday lambasted Mr Key. It said Australia had forfeited its sovereignty regarding human rights abuses against children, the disabled, and people of a particular nationality. by signing the same international human rights treaties as New Zealand. "As the Prime Minister of New Zealand, are you saying that Australia is free to completely ignore its international human rights obligations concerning the treatment of New Zealanders permanently residing in its territory?" OzKiwi said in a statement. "If the previous New Zealand Government really did agree to human rights violations against its own citizens, then why can't you simply terminate the agreement? "If you are perpetuating such a purported discriminatory agreement then why aren't you yourself in breach of the racial discrimination provisions of the New Zealand Human Rights Act?" Labour's Foreign Affairs spokesman, David Shearer, said Mr Kay had an obligation to stand up for the rights of New Zealanders no matter where they lived. "Under this Government the rights of Kiwis working abroad have gone backwards," he said.
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"Why is it fair for New Zealanders to pay taxes in Australia, some for more than a decade, but not receive the benefits that those taxes pay for? "Mr Key was full of bombast before his flying visit to meet with Tony Abbott. "He's returned home with his tail between his legs." Professor Grant Duncan, of Massey University's School of People, Environment and Planning, wrote in the Australian academic website The Conversation that expat Kiwis faced social exclusion. "On the ancient principle of 'no taxation without representation' it is unfair that - as taxpayers in Australia - they have no right to vote on the government they pay for, and no political clout to influence Australian social policy," he wrote. A spokeswoman for the Prime Minister said Mr Key stood by his comments and that the Government would continue to raise the issue when it met with its Australian counterparts. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11134459
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Peter ONeill (Timaru Herald): Editorial: Howdy bro, or is that cuz? 05:00 04/10/2013 Conversation overheard between John Key and Tony Abbott, heads of their respective tribes, on an airport tarmac somewhere in Australia. JK: Hey cobber, how'ra going? TA: Yea good mate, you? JK: Yea, nah, good. TA: Thanks for popping over. You're the first you know. JK: Yea, thought I should get in quick, cause we're family, right? TA: Yea, nah, of course. Always have been. JK: Good to hear that, because I wanted to chat about a couple of things. TA: What's that then mate? JK: These boat people from Indonesia, we're still happy to take 150 or so you know. Because we're family and all that. TA: Thanks but no thanks. Just sends the wrong message, like they think they can just keep coming. And we still get lumped with them. My tribe wouldn't like that. JK: Oh. Thought that might have helped but I see what you mean. You might not like this then. TA: What's that? JK: Well, my tribe doesn't reckon it's fair that they come over here but can't sign up for benefits and citizenship and stuff, but your tribe can come over to our place and we let them. Julia and I nearly had it sorted, but what do you reckon? TA: Well it's like this mate, and to be honest what I say to you might be a bit different to what I say to that press mob out there. I've just been elected right
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and the last thing I want to do right now is to look a little weak, like I'm giving stuff away. JK: Yea ... TA: And, like, there are about 650,000 of you guys over here and only 65,000 of us over there. JK: True but the impact's pretty similar, percentage wise and all that. And most of my guys over here pay taxes and everything. And since you guys changed the rules a dozen years back, about 175,000 of them don't know whether they are Arthur or Martha. TA: Yea mate but I quite like the rules as they are. You blokes don't have to come over here you know. Just get things right back home and they'll stop coming. Problem solved. JK: Fair suck of the sav mate, that's a bit tough. Wish I hadn't come. What are we going to tell the media? TA: How about that we're family? http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/opinion/9242538/Editorial-Howdy-bro-oris-that-cuz
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Dominion Post: Editorial: Unloved Kiwis should come back 05:00 04/10/2013 In an uncertain world here are a couple of political certainties: John Key's flying visit to Australia to meet new Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott will not be the last time a New Zealand prime minister asks his Australian counterpart to revisit the rules that deny many New Zealanders living in Australia access to unemployment and sickness benefits. Mr Abbott will not be the last Australian prime minister to turn down the request. This is a political two-step that is set to continue indefinitely. The New Zealand public expects its prime ministers to make representations on behalf of sons, daughters, cousins, nieces, nephews and grandchildren who have shifted across the Tasman. The Australian public expects its prime ministers to protect the Australian purse against the depredations of Kiwi "dole bludgers". The fact that New Zealanders are among the hardest-working, highest-skilled contributors to the Australian economy is beside the point. The myth of the "Kiwi dole bludger" persists. Even an Australian prime minister who is married to a New Zealander can see no advantage in relaxing the rules. The arrangement is unfair, but it is the price Kiwis shifting to Australia must pay for Helen Clark's government paying insufficient heed a decade or so ago to Australian concerns about would-be migrants using New Zealand citizenship as a way to gain backdoor entry to Australia. When her immigration minister Lianne Dalziel proceeded with an overstayer amnesty, against the entreaties of Australia, that would have smoothed the path to Australian residency for the overstayers, the Australians insisted on renegotiating the trans-Tasman welfare agreement. The outcome suits Australia perfectly. It has unfettered access to New Zealand brains and brawn, but when the economy slows or individuals suffer misfortune, it bears no responsibility for looking after them. It is patently unfair that Kiwis who work in Australia and help, through their taxes, to fund benefits for unemployed and unwell Australians should be denied the same assistance when they fall on hard times. However, New Zealand cannot afford to expend too much political capital attempting to secure greater entitlements for citizens who have chosen to live and work in another country. In politics you get nothing for nothing. If a government ever was to persuade Australia to be more generous it would be because it had traded away something else of benefit to New Zealanders still living in this country.
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Mr Key was right to raise the concerns of New Zealanders living in Australia, but he owes his best efforts to those who have chosen to make their lives here, not on the other side of the Tasman. Those who are particularly aggrieved at being treated as second class citizens in Australia have another option. They can bring their skills, their capital and their muscle back to a country where they will be welcome and treated the same as everyone else. http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/comment/editorials/9241297/EditorialUnloved-Kiwis-should-come-back
NZ Politics Daily: 4 October 2013 Kim Dotcom
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Sam Thompson (Newstalk ZB): Dotcom confirms political party aspirations Thursday October 3 2013 9:50 Kim Dotcom is starting a political party. He's made his political aspirations public at the launch of a partnership with internet provider Orcon in Auckland this morning. Kim Dotcom says since he's not a New Zealand citizen he can't stand for Parliament. The next best thing? Start a political party. His goal is to change the law for cheaper, unlimited access to internet. He says he's already working on what he calls an 'Internet Bill of Rights'. As for the name of his political party, for now he's keeping it under wraps. Mr Dotcom wants to crack down on the monopoly of cable operators Southern Cross and enforce lower internet pricing similar to Europe and the United States. But he won't be standing for parliament himself. "I can't personally because I am not a New Zealand citizen but I can organise the movement. I can have the Party and I have people that will then be candidates to promote those programmes." http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/auckland/news/nbpol/2012864890-dotcomconfirms-political-party-aspirations
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TVNZ: Kim Dotcom speaks about political party plans 12:39PM Thursday October 03, 2013 Flamboyant internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom has confirmed that he is planning to start a political party. Speaking at the launch of Orcon's new broadband campaign today, Mr Dotcom said he shares the Internet provider's "passion" for making broadband more affordable. "I'm very passionate about changing what's wrong in New Zealand and what's currently causing New Zealand to be so far behind and actually be third world when it comes to internet connectivity," Mr Dotcom said. He also said he would like to see data caps done away with. Quoting an OECD report, Orcon says that data caps are not in line with other parts of the world, with the United Kingdom, Europe and America having access to developed internet services. New Zealand is at the bottom of the pile, lagging behind alongside Australia and Iceland, Orcon said. Accordingly, Mr Dotcom told reporters that he is planning on starting a political party with the goal of achieving cheaper access to the internet for all. "I think what happened recently with the GCSB and privacy intrusions are something I am passionate about, I want to change that and I want to have laws in place to protect our basic human right to privacy and internet freedom. "The political plans are primarily around this digital future for New Zealand.... I think it [the internet] is going to be the biggest driver for jobs in New Zealand." He said he has already created a "digital bill of rights". However, as he is not a New Zealand citizen he is unable to stand for Parliament. "But I can organise the movement, I can have the party, and have people that will then be candidates to promote those programmes," he said. Last month, Mr Dotcom resigned as a director of his Mega data storage empire to focus on his efforts on fighting extradition to the United States and other projects. Mr Dotcom staged a full-scale global media launch for Mega earlier this year to replace Megaupload, his previous venture which was shut down in a USled operation that alleged the firm and its owners had committed mass copyright infringement.
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Mr Dotcom and his co-accused have taken their case to the Supreme Court, seeking access to evidence in the US Federal government's case to extradite them, and are awaiting a decision. Mr Dotcom's high profile arrest in January last year led to an overhaul of New Zealand's external spy agency, the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB), after the intelligence unit unlawfully intercepted his communications. At the time of the surveillance, the GCSB was not allowed to spy on New Zealand residents and Dotcom had been granted residency. The Government has since tweaked the law governing the spy agency, allowing it to act on behalf of the domestic spy agency, the Security Intelligence Service, the police or the Defence Force. http://tvnz.co.nz/politics-news/kim-dotcom-speaks-political-party-plans5598014
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Patrice Dougan (Herald): Dotcom backs Orcon's cheaper broadband bid 10:44 AM Thursday Oct 3, 2013 Internet millionaire Kim Dotcom has put his backing behind Orcon in a bid to bring cheaper broadband to New Zealand. The Mega founder said he shared the internet provider's "passion'' to bring affordable, unlimited broadband to customers, and take them out of the "Third world''. Mr Dotcom said bandwidth in New Zealand was 40 times more expensive than in Europe. That was not only costing ordinary customers more, but hurting the economy by restricting what companies can do and acting as a deterrent to international business. Mr Dotcom and Orcon today launched a campaign to push competitors to introduce lower prices and drop data caps. It will include a "cheeky'' television advert in a poverty campaign style, asking people to sign up to "fight the plight of third world internet in New Zealand''. Mr Dotcom is the face of the ad, which will be aired for the first time on Sunday and will be run alongside social media and digital campaigns. The internet entrepreneur made the announcement alongside Orcon CEO Greg McAlister in central Auckland this morning. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11133975
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Briar Marbeck (TV3): Dotcom wants 'digital future' for NZ Thursday 03 Oct 2013 10:36a.m. Internet tycoon Kim Dotcom says he wants to get into politics to give New Zealand a brighter "digital future". Dotcom launched a campaign with Orcon this morning that aims to rid New Zealand of data caps, in a bid to bring the country "first-world internet". He also revealed he plans to get involved with politics because he wants New Zealand to have a digital future where Kiwis can compete with international broadband. Currently Kiwis and New Zealand broadband companies pay significantly more than other Western countries for internet something Dotcom calls "third-world broadband". Dotcom believes New Zealand's high pricing acts as a deterrent for international companies to bring their business here. "There's no business for any international company to come here," says Dotcom. The internet mogul says bandwidth in New Zealand is 40 times more expensive than Europe. "Kim has challenged us to make New Zealand broadband even faster and even cheaper, and it's a challenge we have accepted," says Orcon's chief executive Greg McAlister. "We are on a mission to ensure New Zealand's internet matches the rest of the first world." Dotcom is one of Orcon's largest customers. Dotcom is not a New Zealand citizen and therefore is not able to lead his own political party. However, he says he will have a team of people acting on his behalf. The name of Dotcom's political party is "still a secret", but he did reveal he has written a "digital bill of rights" for Kiwis. He also says he will start funding talks in the coming weeks with Team New Zealand for the next America's Cup of course once "everything dies down" because "they must still be quite depressed". http://www.3news.co.nz/Dotcom-wants-digital-future-forNZ/tabid/412/articleID/315650/Default.aspx
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Amanda Sachtleben (Idealog): Dotcom plays poster boy as Orcon fights data caps 2 October 2013
A new Orcon campaign gives the ISP a chance to get new customers andfrontman Kim Dotcom a chance to push his political barrow.
Orcon is using what it calls a "fun, cheeky" video featuring Dotcom, and social media activity, to push its $99 uncapped internet plan on fibre or ADSL. The plan's been in the market for a year but CEO Greg McAlister says since the company came under new management (it was bought by a group of Kiwi businesspeople in April) it's increased the capacity from 8GB to 23GB. The campaign plays on painting a picture of Kiwis, even in affluent suburbs, as poor because they have "third world internet" due to data caps. "Every day, thousands of Kiwis are living below the global broadband line," Dotcom says in the video. "When we look at other countries and our peer group in the OECD, most countries do not have caps on their internet usage," says McAlister. "We chose Kim because there's no bigger expert on the internet in New Zealand today." Dotcom is an Orcon customer and says he laid his own fibre from his mansion to the Albany exchange, using 100 megabits of capacity on his cable. He says his cloud storage service Mega is the largest outbound internet traffic company in New Zealand and says lower bandwidth prices are needed to attract to New Zealand companies that use large amounts of data. "Big data companies can come to New Zealand and serve customers once these bandwidth issues are solved. We want those customers to come to New Zealand and push bandwidth to the rest of the world. He says the prices ISPs like Orcon pay to use capacity on the Southern Cross cable compared with those Mega pays in Europe holds New Zealand's economy back. "It holds the IT economy back because it depends on DSL customers to make a profit. There's no business case for big data companies to come to New Zealand with these bandwidth prices. "I'm for cutting down on this monopoly we currently have in New Zealand with super expensive internet pricing. There's one conglomerate - the Southern Cross Cable operators - that are overcharging New Zealanders for the bandwidth." Orcon says the unlimited plan is its most popular. McAlister says it has about five percent market share and wants to grow that to ten percent. Both Orcon and Mega have signed as foundation tenants on the Hawaiiki Cable.
http://www.idealog.co.nz/blog/2013/10/dotcom-plays-poster-boy-orcon-fightsdata-caps
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Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Dotcom 'bullies' claim doubted 05:00 04/10/2013 Kim Dotcom will appear in television advertisements to promote internet provider Orcon, but experts say his message that broadband data caps are the product of "bullies" should be taken with a pinch of salt. Orcon has paid Dotcom a US$35,000 "talent fee" to appear in the advertisements promoting its $99 "unlimited" broadband plans. Chief executive Greg McAlister said Dotcom was donating the fee to Auckland's Starship Trust. The advertisements will air on television from Sunday and can be viewed on YouTube. They promote the concept of uncapped data plans. Dotcom said he was "glad to be part of a campaign which encourages Kiwis to escape Third World internet data caps". In the advertisements he describes companies that restrict data as "bullies". IDC Research analyst Glen Saunders said there were solid reasons for data caps. If all internet providers removed them completely and sold all broadband connections for a flat fee, the likely result would be that people would see a degradation in internet performance and slower speeds, he said. That had been the experience in the United States, where uncapped mobile and fixed-line broadband plans had come at an increasing cost to quality-ofservice. About three-quarters of Orcon's broadband customers remain on plans for which data caps apply. But McAlister said 60 per cent of its new customers were signing up to its uncapped plans. A "fair use" clause applies, but a spokesman said Orcon had not had to enforce that with any customers to date. Telecommunications Users Association chief executive Paul Brislen said he thought it would be best if internet providers charged for data used, but scrapped fixed traffic caps, which required that people forecast in advance how much broadband they expected to use each month. That change would make internet pricing work more like the electricity pricing, he said.
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As revenues from voice calls and text messaging "dried up", the industry was moving towards a world in which the only thing it could charge for was data, he said. Dotcom's appearance for Orcon is the more remarkable given the internet provider was owned by the Crown until March, when it was sold off by stateowned enterprise Kordia. The Crown is co-operating with United States authorities to extradite Dotcom on copyright and "racketeering" charges. "We chose him to join us on the campaign because he is passionate about better internet for New Zealanders, is an expert when it comes to the internet, and is a customer of Orcon," McAlister said. http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/9242257/Dotcom-bullies-claimdoubted
NZ Politics Daily: 4 October 2013 Tertiary education Radio NZ: Staff and students oppose representation plan
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Tertiary students and staff say they will fight government plans to cut their statutory right to a place on the governing councils of universities and wananga. Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce has proposed cutting council membership from a maximum of 20 people to between eight and 12. Mr Joyce says the councils need to be smaller so they can make decisions faster. He says the institutions themselves should decide if students and staff should be represented. However, student leaders say that is not good enough. They say their place at the table, and that of staff, should be guaranteed. Victoria University of Wellington Students' Association president Rory McCourt says the Government is showing it does not value students. The Tertiary Education Union says the proposal treats universities and wananga as if they are businesses, and their wider role in society will be lost if councils are cut back. However, Canterbury University is already seeking a smaller council, saying it wants to improve its decision-making by going from 20 members to 12, including staff and student representatives. http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/223586/staff-and-students-opposerepresentation-plan
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Teuila Fuatai (Herald): NZ universities: how ours rate 9:42 AM Thursday Oct 3, 2013 New Zealand's sole representative on an international list of the top 200 universities has slipped, rankings show. The University of Auckland slipped three places to 164 in Times Higher Education World University rankings, the full results of which are not released until this morning. But the drop was not a major concern for the tertiary institution. University deputy vice-chancellor Professor John Morrow said a difference of three places was not of any "real significance". "The more important thing is the trend over time in these rankings, and the tendency there is for all New Zealand universities to increase their scores [but] to decline in the rankings, which means we're doing better, but other people are doing better than us," he said. Funding and resources in universities had to be addressed, Professor Morrow said. "A number of measures in these rankings are directly related to resources. The worry for us and the worry for New Zealand is that the resource base for universities has been declining over the last 15 years or so and declining in particular relative to resources available to universities in other systems." To be competitive and attract overseas students, New Zealand universities needed to be well-resourced, he said. The University of Otago remained in the ranking group of 226-250. Victoria University in Wellington dropped a ranking band, moving from the 251-275 group in 2012/2013 to 276-300. Canterbury and Waikato universities stayed put, between 301 and 350. The list, which is issued each year, uses 13 performance indicators to test a university's strength against its core missions. Several Australian institutions also slipped places. Australia's top performer, Melbourne University, was knocked out of the top 30, dropping six places to number 34.
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Adelaide University fell from the top 200, leaving only seven Australian institutions in the group. Of these, four - including Melbourne University dropped places. Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Steven Joyce said the new rankings reflected the "increased competitiveness of the international university market". "The Government has increased its investment in universities by 16.5 per cent over the last four years, despite tough financial times. The annual income of New Zealand universities is nearly $500 million a year higher in 2012 than it was in 2008." http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11133829
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The Standard: Large representative bodies slow, unwieldy By: BUNJI - Date published: 8:26 am, October 4th, 2013 That would be Steven Joyce describing university councils, but he could be describing any democratic governance including parliament. Dictatorship is so much more efficient. Thats why we praise the likes of Bainimarama. The getting rid of large unwieldy representative bodies is such a good aim. Makes things faster. Even better to appoint, rather than elect the small ruling elite. Democracy can be so messy, people might not vote for the right thing (see ECAN). So universities, those independent institutions, with academics free to critique and keep in check intellectually such people as the government Will have the government limit their governance and appoint up to half their ruling councils. Staff and students will not have guaranteed (elected) representation on institutions in which they are the vital part. Does that sound like an attempt to neutralise any opposition to you? Of course they scarcely need to they have academics by the funding. Ever tighter funding, with academics spending more and more time helping more and more students achieve the grades to keep funding, never mind the research and they wonder why our university rankings are dropping. Weve talked on this site about Nationals contempt for democracy before, but here it is explicitly stated again, this time by Joyce. Getting reasonable representation by having a decent size body with elected interest groups is slow and unwieldy. Yes small appointed groups will make faster decisions. But they may well not make better ones, or fairer ones. Democracy is an important check and balance on power as are independent academics. This move by Joyce is an attack on 2 important conventions. http://thestandard.org.nz/large-representative-bodies-slow-unwieldy/
NZ Politics Daily: 4 October 2013 Warm Up programme Stacey Kirk (Stuff): Home insulation scheme success 11:08 03/10/2013
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A Government initiative to insulate houses has exceeded its target by more than 46,000 homes. A total of 235,000 homes have been insulated under the Government's insulation programme since it began in 2009. The $347 million home insulation scheme hoped to see $188,500 homes insulated by this year. Energy and Resources Minister Simon Bridges said it was a "resounding success". "Warm Up New Zealand: Heat Smart is now drawing to its planned completion following the launch recently of the targeted Warm Up New Zealand: Healthy Homes programme announced in this year's Budget. "This new programme offers free ceiling and underfloor insulation for lowincome households, particularly families with children and high health needs. It's expected to insulate around 46,000 additional houses over the next three years," Bridges said. But the Green Party said though the programme had been a success, much more work was needed. "Approximately half a million Kiwi homes remain under-insulated with private low-income rentals being a particular problem," said Greens co-leader Metiria Turei. "MBIE estimates that the programme results in $5 of benefits for every dollar spent, primarily in improved health." Turei said the new programme was "too small and too narrowly targeted". "We are pleased that our pressure resulted in the Government committing new funding to home insulation after the end of Heat Smart. However, Healthy Homes doesn't have enough money to do the job and the targeting will mean that many families, particularly those in low-income rentals, continue to miss out. "National's scaled-back funding will mean more Kiwis living in unhealthy homes for longer and result in job losses in the home insulation sector." http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9239685/Home-insulation-schemesuccess
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Newswire: Home insulation scheme tops 235,000 homes Thursday 03 Oct 2013 10:47a.m. The government's home insulation scheme has exceeded its target, with 235,000 homes insulated - 46,500 more than planned. The $347 million Warm Up New Zealand: Heat Smart scheme, which launched in 2009 with a goal of insulating 188,500 homes, finished on Thursday. The scheme - part of a government deal with the Greens - gave up to $1300 in funding, or 33 per cent of the total cost, of ceiling and underfloor insulation to home owners whose houses were built before 2000. The scheme is being replaced by Warm Up New Zealand: Health Homes, which has allocated $100m over three years to insulate 46,000 houses in communities with the most need. Green Party co-leader Metiria Turei says the original scheme was a huge success, and the government needs to commit more funding to its replacement. "Healthy Homes doesn't have enough money to do the job and the targeting will mean that many families, particularly those in low-income rentals, continue to miss out," she says. About 500,000 homes have inadequate ceiling or underfloor insulation, with private low-income rentals the worst off. The government is also trialling a warrant of fitness scheme for Housing NZ and social housing rentals, which the Greens want extended to all rentals. http://www.3news.co.nz/Home-insulation-scheme-tops-235000homes/tabid/421/articleID/315653/Default.aspx
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Migrant workers bill Newswire: Tough sentences for exploiting migrants Thursday 03 Oct 2013 3:50p.m. Employers who exploit migrant workers will face up to seven years in jail and could be deported under a bill the Government has introduced to parliament. Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse says the problem is serious. "We are only too aware that some employers exploit their migrant workers by paying them less than the minimum wage or making them work excessive hours," he said on Thursday. "Sadly, in many cases the employer is an immigrant themselves and is taking advantage of vulnerable people from their own community." There have been recent highly publicised cases of hospitality trade employers, mostly Asians, forcing migrants to work under appalling conditions for less than the minimum wage. Mr Woodhouse says it's illegal and he's determined to stop it. Under his Immigration Amendment Bill employers will face a jail sentence of up to seven years, a fine of up to $100,000, or both. Those who hold residence permits will be liable for deportation if they've committed offences within 10 years of gaining residence. The bill also extends the powers of immigration officers so they can search an employer's premises and talk to the people present. "The fundamental and overriding principle is that migrant workers have the same employment rights and protections as all other workers in New Zealand," Mr Woodhouse said. The bill is likely to have its first reading later this month. http://www.3news.co.nz/Tough-sentences-for-exploitingmigrants/tabid/421/articleID/315725/Default.aspx
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Peter Wilson (Newswire): CTU backs migrant worker bill Friday 04 Oct 2013 6:53a.m. The Council of Trade Unions rarely supports government legislation but it's backing a bill that cracks down on employers who exploit migrant workers. CTU secretary Peter Conway says there have been shocking cases of underpayment, confiscation of passports, abuse and unfair treatment. Employers will face up to seven years' jail and could be deported under the bill introduced to parliament on Thursday by Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse, who says the problem is serious. "We are only too aware that some employers exploit their migrant workers by paying them less than the minimum wage or making them work excessive hours," he said on Thursday. "Sadly, in many cases the employer is an immigrant themselves and is taking advantage of vulnerable people from their own community." There have been recent highly publicised cases of hospitality trade employers, mostly Asians, forcing migrants to work under appalling conditions for less than the minimum wage. Under the Immigration Amendment Bill employers will face a jail sentence of up to seven years, a fine of up to $100,000, or both. Those who hold residence permits will be liable for deportation if they've committed offences within 10 years of gaining residence. Mr Conway says the CTU will support the bill as it goes through parliament, although there's widespread exploitation of workers throughout New Zealand. "For instance, those sacked under a 90-day trial who have no right of appeal against unfair dismissal." The bill also extends the powers of immigration officers so they can search an employer's premises and talk to the people present. It's likely to have its first reading later this month. http://www.3news.co.nz/CTU-backs-migrant-workerbill/tabid/423/articleID/315775/Default.aspx
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Economy Maria Slade (Stuff): Taxpayer value from hobbits and widgets 05:00 04/10/2013 Don't get my friend started on hobbits. Just mentioning Peter Jackson's lucrative little mates can get her going from zero to 100km an hour in about three seconds flat. She has a big problem with the government support which helped recreate New Zealand as Middle Earth. Unsurprisingly, she is also far from thrilled about the $36-million taxpayer investment in Emirates Team New Zealand's America's Cup challenge. Rich boys' toys, money better spent on housing and healthcare, harrumph, etcetera. I'm not much of a sports fan either, but this event captured my imagination. Watching those futuristic machines speeding up and down San Francisco Bay was quite a spectacle, and I will admit to playing my part in the near-halting of the nation's productivity between 8.15 and 9.45 each race morning. It's also caused me to reflect on the wider impacts of competing in this expensive regatta. On Wednesday, Prime Minister John Key said it was "inevitable" the Government would stump up with more cash if Team New Zealand decided to mount another challenge. Among those with a hobbit aversion this will be seen as chucking taxpayer money into the bottomless pit of elite sport, but in reality winning has very little to do with it. New Zealand won in San Francisco despite coming second on the water. For this country there could have been no better place to hold the event, certainly in the US anyway. It's a perfect fit for our tech startups, most of whom must anchor themselves in the San Francisco ICT industry if they want to get anywhere. It's an ideal market for our food and wine. The event has been a big boost to New Zealand seafood exports into the area - it was a prime opportunity to show San Franciscans that fish and shellfish caught in our waters can be on their tables within 36 hours, often fresher than can be obtained locally. Then there are the invaluable connections forged with over 1000 corporate guests taken out to watch the America's Cup racing. The raised tourism profile practically goes without saying.
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But this is small beer compared with the potential for creating a hi-tech hub around the Kiwi innovation behind these spaceship-like sail boats. If New Zealand wants to make the most of the money already invested in the America's Cup, it needs to come up with a strategy for growing a world-class industry centred around these technologies with applications far beyond boat building. As has been said more than once in recent weeks, Callaghan Innovation - the government body set up to accelerate commercialisation of Kiwi intellectual property - should be all over this. Speaking on arrival from San Francisco this week, Team New Zealand managing director Grant Dalton said if this country is to have another crack at claiming the Auld Mug nationality rules must be reinstated in the competition. This is something the Government should weigh up very, very carefully as it considers how it may contribute to another campaign. Dalton argues that without country of origin rules on key aspects such as where yachts can be built, the regatta becomes a billionaire's plaything. The flipside to that is such regulation would also restrict the free-flow of technologies and the research and investment that allows them to be developed. Innovation is a global game. To create a true centre of excellence around Kiwi America's Cup know-how the Government may want to make the borderless movement of research, funding and commercialisation a prerequisite to its involvement. Whether it's hobbits or widgets, the real answer to whether the taxpayer gets value for money out of such investments lies in how well they're leveraged. http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/opinion-analysis/9240842/Taxpayer-valuefrom-hobbits-and-widgets
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Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Wait on broadband price ruling 'sign of progress' 05:00 04/10/2013 An internet pricing group has welcomed a Government decision to wait for a Commerce Commission ruling before deciding whether to legislate the price of copper broadband services. The Coalition for Fair Internet Pricing says a statement by Prime Minister John Key that the Government would wait for the commission's ruling this month before deciding its next move was an "early sign of progress". Coalition spokeswoman Sue Chetwin, who is also chief executive of Consumer NZ, said the group was pleased Key had "desisted from claiming copper network monopolist Chorus could go broke'," without legislation. The coalition is behind the "Axe the Tax" campaign, which would prefer that price-setting was left to the Commerce Commission. It said the commission would need to be able to demonstrate its final ruling had been arrived at "correctly and free of political interference". Chetwin called on the Government to withdraw its discussion document, which canvassed the options for legislation, and "discontinue its parallel ministerial consultation process on copper pricing". Communications Minister Amy Adams issued a discussion paper in August proposing the wholesale price of a copper phone line and broadband connection be fixed at between $37.50 and $42.50 a month. But IDC Research analyst Glen Saunders said his "gut feeling" was the Government would intervene only if the commission's final determination left a big difference between the wholesale price of copper broadband and entrylevel ultrafast broadband pricing. The Commerce Commission issued a draft ruling in December that would have set the combined wholesale price of a copper line and broadband connection at $32.45, down from $44.98. Key and Adams expressed concerns that pricing could undermine Chorus' ability to fulfil its contract to build its share of the ultrafast broadband (UFB) network and could dissuade consumers from switching from copper to UFB. But four days after Adams issued her discussion paper in August, the commission signalled it would not impose such a deep price cut. The commission has already ruled Chorus should be allowed to charge $23.52 a month for a copper phone line. Its draft determination was that broadband connections should wholesale for $8.93, but if it finalises the price
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at anything above $13.97, that would bring the combined price into the band considered by the Government in its discussion paper. Chorus would have the right to seek a higher wholesale price if the Government shelved its proposed legislation. The company has already issued a challenge, asking for the commission to do a "full price principle" review. http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/9242256/Wait-on-broadband-priceruling-sign-of-progress
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Bernard Orsman (Herald): $800,000 salaries for top city staff the market rate, says mayor 5:30 AM Friday Oct 4, 2013 Auckland Mayor Len Brown last night defended salaries of nearly $800,000 a year for two senior council executives, telling a public meeting, "You have got to meet the market." The just-published 2013 annual report shows council chief executive Doug McKay's salary increased by $15,656 to $782,887 and Watercare CEO Mark Ford's salary rose $70,000 to between $780,000 and $790,000. In the same year, the number of council staff earning more than $100,000 rose to 1500, and 113 staff earned more than $200,000. At a debate at the Somervell Presbyterian Church in Remuera, four mayoral candidates were asked how they felt about the big salaries. Mayor Brown said the council was one of the largest corporations in the country, it was a massive job for people like Mr McKay, and their salaries were necessary to meet the market. Uesifili UNasa, head of the council's Pacific Peoples Advisory Panel and chaplain at Auckland University, was appalled at the number of council staff earning more than $100,000 when council cleaners were struggling on low wages and working two and three jobs to afford schooling, clothes and other basics to participate in the city. Mr Brown's main right-wing rival, John Palino, said he had a problem with salaries of between $700,000 and $800,000, but could not put a figure on what he believed was reasonable. John Minto, the Mana Party candidate, said he would limit the chief executive's salary to the generous level of five times the living wage, or $191,000, and the mayor's to four times the living wage, or $153,000. If Mr Brown is re-elected, his salary will increase from $247,300 to $251,010 on October 13, the day after the local body elections. Mr Brown was questioned on financial matters, including the rise in debt from $3.9 billion to $6.7 billion over his first three budgets. He maintained it was within a low debt-to-equity ratio of about 12-13 per cent, a high AA credit rating from Standard & Poor's and a case of utilising a strong balance sheet to build appropriate infrastructure. Mr Palino said the council had little to show for new infrastructure and drew the loudest applause by saying he would not spend ratepayers' money on a $30 million white-water rafting project in Manukau.
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Herald: Editorial: Solid Energy shows pitfalls of public ownership 5:30 AM Friday Oct 4, 2013 The Green Party has called the Government's bail-out of Solid Energy "privatisation by stealth". Would that it were so. The state coal company will cost the taxpayer $155 million under the terms of the bail-out. It would have been more if the banks holding most of the company's $380 million debt had not agreed to exchange just $75 million of it for shares in the company. Those non-voting redeemable preference shares can be traded under certain conditions, most of which the Treasury has veiled as commercially sensitive. But one of them is that the Government would have to be consulted. The question is probably academic in any case. The shares are unlikely to have much exchange value until the company gets back on its feet, and then the company has the option to buy them back if it wishes. In the meantime, the shares give the four big banks priority over the Government's ordinary shareholding for a claim on assets if Solid Energy is liquidated. Until this announcement, its position was precarious. It had made some daring investments designed to broaden its business and was unable to sustain them when international coal prices went into decline two years ago. After the Government stepped in to save it from collapse last year, ministers said taxpayers would not be exposed to ongoing losses if the company's core business was not considered viable. The injection this week of $25 million cash, $100 million in loan facilities and $30 million on standby may be taken to mean the Government believes the coal operation can return to profit. But State-owned Enterprise Minister Tony Ryall is saying little to suggest there is any prospect of Solid Energy going back on to the partial privatisation programme with the power generators and Air New Zealand. More is the pity. The rise and fall of Solid Energy is a textbook example of the pitfalls of public ownership. Labour's state-owned enterprise spokesman, Clayton Cosgrove, never tires of the phrase "asleep at the wheel" when blaming ministers for the company's ambitious investments. But Treasury records show that in 2010, when coal was still booming on China's continuing steel production and the board of Solid Energy was making big plans to diversify, the Government was cautious. The company was convinced the world was about to enter a transition from fossil fuels to renewable technologies and "super profits" would accrue to those who first tapped New Zealand's other resources. Solid Energy was seeking cumulative investment of $27 billion to go into oil and gas exploration, methane hydrates, lignite conversion, iron sands mining and steel mills.
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As a state company, Solid Energy felt it should have preferential access to those minerals. The Treasury disagreed. It believed the company's profit projections were "off the bullish end of the chart" but felt the risk was acceptable if private investors took it on and the company faced competition for access to the resources. That would have meant privatisation on a larger scale than the Government was contemplating with its mixed ownership model favouring "mum and pop" shareholders. It encouraged Solid Energy to expand no further than lignite conversion and "unconventional" gas extraction (fracking), offering no additional capital. How we might now wish the company had been allowed to raise private capital instead of the debt that weighed on it when coal prices slumped. Now, public capital is being added for no extra purpose except to maintain the coal mines. If world prices pick up and the company can entertain wider ambitions again, it should be sold to the biggest bid. There is no reason for coal to be a state concern and every good reason to relieve the taxpayer of further risk. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11134 337
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Adam Bennett (Herald): Labour looks to forestry to create Northland jobs 5:30 AM Friday Oct 4, 2013 A Labour Government would "upgrade" a long running forestry joint venture between the Crown and Northland Maori land owners to give young Maori badly needed jobs replanting recently logged forests economic development spokesman Shane Jones says. Mr Jones said thousands of hectares of forests on Maori land are currently being logged in Northland but many of the overseas owners are choosing not replant them. Given the profits they had extracted from the land it was disappointing the owners were not replanting. "Maori landowners are going end up getting this land back that's going to turn to blackberry, ragwort, tobacco weed and electric puha." "There's enormous numbers of idle Maori hands up there and basically what I've been saying to them is we're gong to get people replanting trees on that land." The situation was "a classic example of where the Government could be doing more and we will be doing more by utilising the Taitokerau Forestry initiative run by Treasury and Maori land owners. The Taitokerau Forestry joint venture was established in the 1980s but has had mixed support from subsequent Governments. "For reasons I don't understand Treasury isn't interested in it," Mr Jones said. "What it will require is an upgrade." "I just think it's a great economic development story planting trees and it will certainly get access to those neglected areas where young people need to be made to work." Mr Jones said a new Taitokerau Forestry planting programme would employ scores of young Maori, "and allow them get off drugs because in order to develop a career in silviculture and logging industry you've got to be drug free". "It will install a work ethic in some of these neglected communities where work as become as rare as kokako in the North." Taitokerau Forests Ltd
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Established in 1986 to develop pine plantations in Northland, with the Government agreeing to fund $2 million a year for 20 years In 1992 the National Government tried to get out of the deal and in the end renegotiated a commercial loan agreement in 1996. In 2004 the company was given a further $3.6 million after the banks refused to give it credit. At that point it owed the Crown $50 million http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11134 451
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Waikato Times: Editorial: Welfare fraud vs tax fraud 05:00 04/10/2013 The Government and its enforcement agencies take a dim view of felons who rip off the taxpayer. But a few recent court cases suggest the disapproval is much greater for welfare cheats than tax dodgers. Associate Social Development Minister Chester Borrows early this year said the vast majority of beneficiaries are honest and do the right thing. But a small minority cheat the system and welfare fraud is a crime committed by criminals for their own benefit at taxpayer expense, "and we treat it as such without excuse". Mr Borrows proceeded to announce new measures to prevent, detect and catch the fraudsters. A few weeks later, as Minister of Revenue, Peter Dunne published data from his department in an attempt to end "the bizarre fiction from Labour" that the Government was tough on welfare fraud, but soft on tax evasion. The figures showed Inland Revenue closed 513 cases for $82.6 million in evaded taxes in the year to June 2012, and in the 12 months before that, 657 cases were resolved for $115.4m in undeclared taxes - a total of $198m. If the Government was being soft on tax evaders, "I will eat my hat," he said. Blogger Malcolm Harbrow this week has noted the prison terms imposed on a Rotorua mother of four who netted $51,000 through benefit fraud (a year), a Napier woman found guilty of $167,000 of benefit fraud (two years and one month) and a Warea mother of two who wrongly took more than $80,000 in domestic purposes payments (one year). "Benefit fraud is a national problem and a national disgrace," the judge in the latter case said. In contrast, a former property developer and "serial tax cheat" who evaded paying $979,000 over more than 15 years was sentenced in Wellington to a year's home detention, 275 hours of community work and ordered to pay $25,000. Mr Dunne said New Zealanders want fairness. They want beneficiaries to receive what they need when they need it, and they want people to pay their fair share of tax. "This Government is clearly making that happen on both fronts," he said. Perhaps this is so when it comes to detecting fraud. But the cases cited here suggest the outcomes are not so fair when the cheats are brought to book. http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/opinion/editorials/9242658/EditorialWelfare-fraud-vs-tax-fraud
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Phil Twyford (Red Alert): The government of social problems October 3rd, 2013 In a recent debate in the House on the Governments Vulnerable Children Bill, which Labour supports, National Party members including Judith Collins made a great show of saying that poverty was no excuse for child abuse. Now no one in the House was saying that poverty was an excuse for child abuse, but I thought it was interesting that such a big issue was made of this. What the Justice Minister was railing against was the suggestion from Labour members that there is a strong association between poverty and many social problems. It is this unwillingness to accept the links between poverty and inequality on the one hand, and the vast array of social problems on the other, that is a real obstacle to social progress in New Zealand today. I believe the case is pretty clear. If we look at the data it shows that so many of the social problems that preoccupy us today are linked to poverty. Public health researchers talk about the social determinants of health. Ill health, reduced life expectancy, cardio-vascular risk, diabetes, obesity are all experienced disproportionately by the poorest members of our society. Visit any district court and youll see that both the perpetrators and the victims of crime are drawn mostly from the most disadvantaged members of our society. This is not to say that the residents of the leafy suburbs dont commit crimes, but the statistics are clear. The authors of The Spirit Level, argued that countries with a big gap between rich and poor have higher crime rates, more mental illness, lower life expectancy, lower levels of trust. You name it, almost every one of the social problems we read about in the paper every day, are worse the more unequal your society is. They argued that the more a society is divided into haves and have-nots the less it is inclined collectively to look after everyone and make sure no one is left behind. Also that inequality between rich and poor, the powerful and the powerless creates a psychological stress that takes its toll on us and that lies at the heart of much violence, and risk-taking behaviour. Is it any wonder then that as we have become a much more unequal society over the last 30 years, we have also excelled, a kind of gold medallist among nations when it comes to violence against children, rates of mental illness, obesity, teenage pregnancy? It is worth reflecting on a bit of history. Through the middle years of the 20th century, from the Great Depression to the 1970s, politics and government was shaped by the mission to eliminate the poverty and insecurity that were seen as a breeding ground for all the social ills. The job of government was to create economic security and opportunity. Government policy here and around the western world focused on full employment, and home ownership, and reducing inequalities through progressive taxation, and strong public education and health systems. Over the last 30 years we have dismantled much of that architecture. As a result we have become a very unequal society. Half our schools have kids so hungry they cannot learn properly. Diseases of poverty, wiped out by welfare states last century, have returned. The job of government today seems to be grappling with a long list of social problems: violent crime, alcoholism, smoking, obesity, diabetes, youth suicide,
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an epidemic of depression, teen pregnancy. We have come full circle. It is like we have un-learned the lessons of the twentieth century. We now have levels of inequality on a par with those of the 1920s and 1930s. Is it any wonder that the social ills have followed? I am not suggesting the 1950s was some kind of golden age. Nor that every social problem can be reduced to an economic cause. Nor heaven forbid that poverty is any kind of excuse for violent or anti-social behaviour. But we must recognise that poverty and inequality create an environment that is bad for us as human beings. They bring out the worst in us, they makes us unhealthy, fearful, angry and much less able to overcome the stresses and tensions that fuel violence. If we dont recognise that, then we will never be able to really build the foundations for a happier, more prosperous and healthier society. Social policy will continue to become as it has done under Minister Paula Bennett ever more punitive, with an army of social workers and police and public servants case managing the lives of thousands of citizens branded as dysfunctional. This is why I believe politics in 2013 must re-focus on economic security and providing the opportunity for people to get ahead and live good decent lives. We must have smart thoughtful social policy aiming at giving people a hand up, helping people through the difficult times in life. But above all government should return to what was its traditional Kiwi job description: building a society where every child has the best start in life no matter what side of town they live on, or what their parents do for a living. Delivering well-paid secure jobs. Affordable and healthy housing. Good schools. And a commitment to both lifting people out of poverty, and reducing the gap between rich and poor. These are the things the Government can and should do. Weve done it before in this country and we can do it again. http://blog.labour.org.nz/2013/10/03/the-government-of-social-problems/
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Eloise Gibson (Stuff): KiwiSaver advice maintained 19:08 03/10/2013 The rule-making body for financial advisers has dropped a proposal to lower the bar for people giving out KiwiSaver advice after a flood of worried feedback. The Code Committee for Financial Advisers had mooted a special KiwiSaver training track in an effort to encourage more professionals to help people pick the best KiwiSaver fund. A tweak to the 2010 code would have allowed authorised advisers to dispense KiwiSaver advice without necessarily sitting full investment planning qualifications. But a new draft version of the Code of Professional Conduct for Authorised Financial Advisers, released today, scrapped the carveout in favour of a much more limited exemption for withdrawing KiwiSaver money to buy a first home. Chairman David Ireland said submissions went both ways, but the weight of feedback convinced the committee the plan was too risky. KiwiSaver products might grow more complex and people's balances would certainly rise. Future KiwiSavers would need full investment planning advice when they reached retirement with increasingly big nest eggs, he said. Opponents to the plan had argued "we shouldn't treat it [KiwiSaver] as a product requiring limited investment knowledge". "While it was good to increase the accessibility of advice, for many people this will be their only or most significant investment, and balances could be quite significant, so it is even more important." Ireland acknowledged it was unclear whether mortgage brokers and other lower-tier advisers would bother getting special authorisation just so they could advise on first-home withdrawals. Plans to boost professional development hours and make it crystal clear that the clients' interests must come first remain in the draft. Advisers have also been given a get-out-of-jail clause exempting them from having to fully analyse investments if a client specifically asks them to carry out a finite transaction, for example buying shares in a particular company. Financial advisers will have to better disclose their conflicts of interest under proposed changes.
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However, there are no plans to follow Australia and ban them from working on commission. The committee has said banning commissions is outside its powers and Commerce Minister Craig Foss has said the impact of commissions will not be considered until the law is reviewed in 2016. Other proposed changes to the code require advisers to identify and clearly communicate any conflicts of interests, including commissions. The penalty for breaching the financial adviser's code of conduct is a fine of up to $10,000 and deregistration. The committee and regulator, the Financial Markets Authority, hoped to boost the number of professionals advising people on KiwiSaver after new rules restricting financial advice and KiwiSaver sales limited the ability of lowerqualified people to talk to investors about the scheme. Under the Financial Advisers Act, only authorised financial advisers and staff advisers working for qualified financial entities (including banks) can provide fully personalised financial advice on investment products such as KiwiSaver, and they must use due skill, care and diligence. Other parts of the new rules would tighten qualification requirements for advisers offering discretionary investment management services, a service which allows them to buy and sell investments without going back to the client each time. It was the structure employed by alleged Ponzi operator David Ross. Final comments are due by October 24, then the final version of the code must be approved by the Financial Markets Authority and, later, the commerce minister. It is expected to take effect in early-to mid-2014. http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/9241588/KiwiSaver-advice-maintained
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David Chaplin (Herald): Inside Money: ACC has NZ covered, may have to go offshore 9:30 AM Thursday Oct 3, 2013 The almost $5 billion surplus generated by the Accident Compensation Commission (ACC) in the last financial year has caught the country by surprise. As there's no such thing as good news, the ACC's turnaround has been labeled as "obscene" by some claimants on the receiving end of the group's "improved rehabilitation services". I had the same reaction when my opening my ACC levy invoice this morning, prompting an internally-voiced obscenity. True, my ACC impost has been cut back over the last couple of years but it still seems absurd relative to the risks incurred by sitting in a swivel chair. The explanatory documentation, however, makes clear that most of my ACC levy - over 70 per cent - has been designed to provide "cover for non work injuries". I need to get out more. But while not much has changed for me risk-wise since I last complained about the levy in 2009, ACC itself has been through some miraculous transformations. In fact, the 2009 result is almost an exact inverse image of the latest ACC figures with a loss reported then of about $4.5 billion. This year's result, representing a close to $10 billion reversal of misfortune in just four years, suggests there's some latitude in interpreting short-term figures for such a long-term enterprise as ACC. Much of the current ACC buoyancy is due to improved investment conditions and revised interest rate assumptions. Interestingly, the ACC investment strategy is weighted toward "long duration" New Zealand bonds, which, tend to lose value when interest rates rise, as has been the case this year. The investment section of the ACC annual report explains why interest rate moves cut both ways as far as claims liability modeling goes: "The rise in New Zealand bond yields adversely affected our investment income this year, but it brings some relief in terms of the returns that we can anticipate from bonds in the future," the ACC report says. "In ACC's financial
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statements, this is reflected in a higher discount rate used to value ACC's claims liabilities, which in turn has a downward influence on the overall value of our claims liability." Despite earning a respectable 9.89 per cent over the last financial year (surprising the ACC "in a year when long-term bond yields rose by 0.7 per cent"), the report does acknowledge that could look anaemic compared to other investment entities. "Our return for the 2012/13 year probably lagged the returns achieved by some other funds that have a greater amount invested in equity markets and don't have the large investment in long-duration bonds that ACC holds to help match its liabilities," the report says. That said, ACC invests about 40 per cent of its fund in equities, of which it manages most of the Australasian shares and some global stocks in-house. And while across its entire portfolio the ACC fund is New Zealand-heavy (it owns about 3.5 per cent of NZX shares, for example), the sheer flood of money coming its way over the next few years could force it more offshore. "As ACC's total investment funds continue to grow over time, it will not be possible to maintain the same percentage allocation to New Zealand investment markets without holding a bigger and bigger slice of those markets," the report says. "This could make it increasingly difficult for ACC to outperform the market as a whole. This is a key consideration when deciding how our allocation to investment markets should evolve over time." http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11133 670
NZ Politics Daily: 4 October 2013 Other
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Toby Manhire (Herald): Key needs a new partner 5:30 AM Friday Oct 4, 2013 Wanted: allies for New Zealand's most popular political party. Neoliberal, neoconservative, Neolithic - anything considered. Benefits include a chauffeur-driven BMW and tea. The willing applicants for the role of National Party crutch are not much to look at. The serried leaders of the Act Party, United Future, the Maori Party, the Conservatives and NZ First could come from the pages of a rejected sitcom treatment. If Paula Bennett were to size up the contenders, she'd probably demand they take drug tests. There's nothing funny, of course, for John Key as he surveys the dance card. Recent polls vindicate Labour's choice of David Cunliffe as leader and mock those who counselled against the expanded leadership contest. They also underline National's status as the most supported party. But the big problem, which is bound to play out in the next 12 months, is that it is almost certainly not going to be popular enough to govern alone. As the Prime Minister might put it: Bugger. Consider the curricula vitae of the possibles: Act: It should be an ideological thoroughbred. Scourge of the oversized state, megaphone for market forces and individual liberty. Instead, the Association for Consumers and Taxpayers is a limping procession of hand-me-downs and ghosts. John Banks, the party's single MP, won his seat thanks to a very public (but private, obviously) tableau at an Auckland cafe. He hung on to his ministerial roles when Key continued the pantomime in Parliament by refusing to read a short police report on donations from Kim Dotcom. With Banks' party hovering below 1 per cent in polls, it's highly unlikely another awkward cafe set-piece would bring in so much as a single MP on his coat-tails, if he were to make it at all. United Future: The indignity of Peter Dunne's I-didn't-leak-but-I-thought-aboutit-okay-I-resign business over the Kitteridge report into the GCSB was amplified by United Future briefly losing its registered-party status. Despite all of that, the bow-tied crusader clearly feels hard done by. In a blog post last week, he sniffed that "failure by National to nurture its government partners" could prove costly. Little wonder if the man from Ohariu was feeling freshly bruised: the HeraldDigiPoll gave his party 0.0 per cent. Tea? Willing buyer, willing sipper, and all that, and yet, much like Banks, the issue is not how many MPs Dunne could bring in under the coat-tail rule,
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which exempts parties winning a constituency from the 5 per cent threshold, but whether he can get elected at all. The Maori Party: Pressure from Mana and a revitalised Labour Party tilt at the Maori seats are bad enough. Worse are the internal divisions and leadership upheaval. Party leaders have reasonably enough argued in the past that they are better inside the tent influencing policy, but with their very survival at stake, sitting on the crossbenches for a term looks likely. The Conservative Party: A socially conservative partner fits the bill. But the impression of Colin Craig remains as a bit of a humourless plonker - the "John Key is too gay" flyer, the libel threat against a satirical website and so on. In the absence of a vastly improved performance from Craig and a good social issue to trumpet old-fashioned values, it's difficult to see them increasing the 1 to 2 per cent they're polling. A constituency for Craig is an outside shot. Still, desperate times. Put the kettle on. Who else? The Pakeha Party? Nope. Kim Dotcom's Mega Party? Doubt it, though it'll probably beat United Future. Maggie Barry's splinter group, the Berm Liberation Front? One day, God willing. No, like a terrifying labyrinthine nightmare, all roads sometimes seem to arrive at Winston Peters and NZ First. Floating around 5 per cent in polls, they'll probably be back. Before the 2008 election, Key ruled out a deal with the serially sacked Peters. "It's not a matter of political convenience ... It's a matter of political principle." Three years later, he was unbending. Peters was "rearward-looking", said Key. "I'm about tomorrow. I'm not about yesterday." But there's tomorrow, and then there's tomorrow. The brighter futurist can't now rule out Winston, because he has so little else to cling to. The problem for Key is compounded by the increasingly cemented LabourGreen pairing. Before the last election, the Greens were determined to keep the door open to a possible deal with National. No chance of that now. The synchronised Labour-Green energy policy is the most public expression of the inevitability of what Key inventively decried as a "devil-beast" combo. Anyone who has been paying even the slightest attention will understand that voting either Labour or Green is voting for a coalition between the two. The argument that such a government, combining the second and third most popular parties, would be somehow illegitimate - the "coalition of the losers" stuff - just looks silly. And so the National Party soars above opponents yet sinks deep in the coalition blues. Darjeeling for anyone who wants it. And for NZ First, something stronger. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11134 439
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John Drinnan (Herald): RNZ to spread its wings 9:30 AM Friday Oct 4, 2013 Radio New Zealand's new boss will boost staff numbers in Auckland and Christchurch. Paul Thompson wants to reduce the common perception that RNZ takes a Wellington-eye view of New Zealand. That perception was inevitable, he said, given that 80 per cent of staff were at its headquarters on The Terrace. He wants to see RNZ "spread its wings". When people left, RNZ aimed to appoint replacements in Auckland and Christchurch. Thompson replaced Peter Cavanagh, who was chief executive for 10 years. Cavanagh was dour and kept his hands off day-to-day operations, but some believed that was a bad thing, leaving the organisation to atrophy and retreat into separate silos. RNZ board sources said Thompson was hired to move a logjam of change that had been resisted by RNZ, but there is no sign yet of him advancing a view on controversial issues such as alternative sources of funding. RNZ sources say Thompson has been on the ground, talking to staff. He spent a morning recently with the Morning Report team and is tipped to bring a new touch to news and sports coverage on RNZ National. Please explain Like all media - and despite not having to worry about commercial revenue RNZ aims to serve its established audience. In RNZ's case that audience is relatively old, and often resistant to change. Some believe that older listeners grow into their media - tuning in to Radio NZ when they hit their 40s. But others, such as Thompson, see that view as too optimistic amid the current media revolution. Media also have to ensure that their audience is renewed and replenished. RNZ says this is where the new digital RNZ Youth Radio network comes in. Launching on November 1, the new digital arm is a pet project of chairman Richard Griffin. Thompson acknowledges that by aiming at different audiences, RNZ risks spreading resources too thinly. But after 10 years of inaction, he is aware he is an agent of change. Among staff there is some reticence about Thompson's having being picked by Griffin, who had a bad rapport with Cavanagh and who is seen as having ties to a National Government that dismisses Radio NZ as irrelevant. While openly supportive of the network, Griffin has his critics at RNZ.
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At Cavanagh's farewell - before Thompson's arrival - the board's oversight prompted a spirited rebuke from RNZ political editor and EPMU union stalwart Brent Edwards, leading to a "please explain" letter from the normally sanguine Griffin. It appears the temporary management never sent a reply. Print future Fairfax New Zealand staff are braced for more change amid ongoing upheavals across the Tasman. Fairfax in Australia is closing two glossy business magazines with the loss of 45 jobs. There was recently a round of layoffs at Fairfax NZ newspapers including the Taranaki Daily News in New Plymouth and the Waikato Times, the latter leaving its printing plant at Te Rapa and moving to the city. Like APN News and Media - publisher of the Herald - Fairfax NZ is aiming to set up a paywall in a bid to earn more from its online content. Both have had changes in directorship and ownership - Fairfax with the increased stake by billionaire Gina Rinehart and APN with the overhaul of the board and the departure of chief executive Brett Chenoweth. Tong time Changes in Australia have been initiated by Fairfax managing director of Australian publishing Allen Williams, who ran the New Zealand operation until May this year. Last week he was replaced by Simon Tong, formerly with Paymark. It is the latest instalment in a rolling restructuring of the company that owns half the country's newspapers, as well as high profile magazines. Williams left to take a new role in the Australian publishing arm. Fairfax has also appointed former Murdoch executive Campbell Mitchell to take over as head of marketing and communications, belatedly replacing the role of Sandra King, who took extended leave in October last year. King describes her departure as part of restructuring at Fairfax. Staff say there have been other changes to senior management that unsettled Fairfax staff. One is the departure of Dave King - head of editorial services who is taking a role as PR for Christchurch City. A former editor of the Timaru Herald, his role - setting up combined editorial services - is seen as a growth area at Fairfax, which has shifted a significant portion of its subediting for Australian newspapers to lower cost subbing hubs here. Radio waves
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Rumours persist that the old-for-their-demographic ZM/FM husband and wife breakfast team of Grant Kereama and Pauline Gillespie are moving on. The couple are tipped to be going to Classic Hits or Gillespie to Newstalk ZB. The Radio Network content boss Dean Buchanan said they would remain at TRN but refused other comment. In my opinion, ZM/FM is the most likely home for The Edge's Fletch & Vaughn when they come out of their contract with MediaWorks in April. Some speculated that they might move to Hauraki when Martin Devlin leaves for Radio Sport in January, but you wonder if Matt Heath will be brought forward from drivetime to join Laura McGoldrick at breakfast. As for Marc Ellis' departure from MediaWorks-owned MoreFM, few would have found it a big shock. Ellis has not sounded as if he has been loving it, and it's not the sort of job you can do half-heartedly. Ratings today MediaWorks' RadioLive will be hoping for good news when the latest Auckland radio ratings are released this afternoon. In the last survey six months ago, the talk station lost about 40 per cent of its audience and its share of the Auckland market fell from 3.8 per cent to 2.2 per cent, just above the margin of error. At the time, MediaWorks said it had rejigged its line-up, with Sean Plunket replacing Michael Laws, and Duncan Garner filling in the drivetime vacancy. To me the RadioLive slump is due to missed opportunities. It remains committed to Marcus Lush in the morning. While he is an excellent broadcaster, it seems apparent from ratings that he does not speak to the mainstream breakfast audience. The opportunity to take on NewstalkZB was missed years ago when Mike Hosking replaced Paul Holmes. And latterly RadioLive has focused on being an alternative station, when it could have made headway against the National Radio's dire line-up of Geoff Robinson and Simon Mercep. Admittedly, RadioLive has made good changes. For listeners, the gear change from Lush to Plunket is easier than it was from Lush to Laws. But Plunket has not been heavily promoted on mainstream or social media. Will new owners at MediaWorks be looking for more fundamental changes at RadioLive? http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11134 396
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Dita De Boni (Herald): Time to look beyond the big smoke 9:30 AM Friday Oct 4, 2013 I know the Minister of Regional Development-in-waiting, David Cunliffe, is heinously busy getting his party in order. But I would encourage Mr Cunliffe - who I hope has a few good, big ideas up his sleeve for our neglected provinces - to take an afternoon trip to Hamilton Zoo. Anecdotes don't make data, and I wouldn't want to suggest that such a trip would give him enough background to write a comprehensive policy paper on regional tourism. But it might give him an insight into how regions in the top half of the North Island might be able to take a bigger slice of the domestic tourism budget from Auckland, if the infrastructure was in place. I speak only from my own experience. I am a member of that rather large category of families who have youngish children, and who are, four times a year, put in the invidious position of having to entertain their loin fruit for at least part of the school holidays. The well-heeled or provident shell out for a trip to Fiji - buying the kids' entertainment as much as the locale. The rest of us? We cram into MOTAT, the zoo, the museum, the playlands, the parks and the shows back home, cursing every brat we stumble upon while hoping our own don't disgrace the family name too much in the process. Getting out of Auckland for day trips is possible, but not everyone wants to hike and bike. Sometimes we want to mix it up with a few cultural experiences that aren't based in the big city. And this is where it can get a little trickier. For a change, early these holidays, we thought we'd give Hamilton Zoo a go. Now, Auckland Zoo is a wonderful destination, but it is hard to overcome the memory of multiple trips when parents were left viewing the animals while children whined for morning tea or claimed they couldn't walk another step (but managed to run for an icecream). Hamilton Zoo is something new. It is 1 hours away, unfortunately, but that could be remedied with a proper commuter train service between the two cities. There are buses, but they're hard to ride for long distances with young kids. With more commuter trains might come more families and more family attractions (to add to the considerable number already available in the Waikato). The zoo is reasonably priced, small enough to traverse comfortably, it focuses on "big ticket" animals - chimpanzees, tigers, spider monkeys and rhinos leaving the African crested porcupines and masked lapwings to bigger zoos. Trip done, park played on, it was time for the homeward trip. With a bit more thought about how to get people there and what they might do once they
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arrive (and where they might stay, if you can convince them to come for the night), there are so many regional towns and cities that could compete more effectively for the domestic tourism dollar - especially from families of small children, who often don't have the budget or the masochistic urge to go further afield. And if David Cunliffe can make sure his plans include a way of avoiding the Auckland motorway on the way home, where the obligatory Saturday afternoon traffic accident brings everything to a grinding halt, he'll really be earning his pay. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11134 265
NZ Politics Daily: 4 October 2013 Hannah Lee (Stuff): Drawing on future cartoonists Last updated 15:15 03/10/2013
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If a picture is worth a thousand words, a satirical cartoon might be worth ten thousand. Melinda Johnston is trying to find out what the next generation of cartoonists might have to say. She has been with the Alexander Turnbull Library since February and is helping to archive current cartoons, so their meaning can be preserved. "It's definitely a unique opportunity. This role doesn't really exist anywhere else," she said. "Cartoonists are getting older and we want to see what the future generation has to say. "A cartoonist's work is always topical; it's about tomorrow's news stories." Looking to the future, the Alexander Turnbull Library has put together its Next in Line exhibition, which opened this week. It features works from the entrants in the inaugural New Zealand Cartoon Archive and New Zealand Listener Young Cartoonist Award. "There were entries from Invercargill to Auckland," Ms Johnston said. "I was incredibly surprised at the level of skill that came through. Some of the works are really amazing." The exhibition is presented in a new way, with the public able to pick up the works and turn them over to see the meaning behind them. "We're asking the audience to have a go at interpreting the cartoons themselves. It's part of the fun," she said. The exhibition also includes sketches and a video of the process the cartoonists take to produce their drawings. Ms Johnston said the library wanted to showcase the techniques and images. "The works are now a mash-up of traditional and contemporary techniques. They've become digital items that can be manipulated." In addition to the exhibition, the winner of the Young Cartoonist Award, Cory Mathis, will run free drawing workshops for 5 to 12-year-olds. "We will be putting up a new cartoon for each week of the exhibition, including some from the workshop," Ms Johnston said.
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"The nature of cartoons is ephemeral so [the exhibition] goes along with that." The Alexander Turnbull Library is also running a Cartoon Colloquium forum as part of the exhibition, looking at the influence and participation of female cartoonists. http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/local-papers/thewellingtonian/9238288/Drawing-on-future-cartoonists
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Morgan Godfery (Maui St): Is it past time to abolish the Maori Council?
The Maori Community Development Act 1962 is up for review. Although Mana points out that the timing is suspicious, the Act remains more or less the same 51 years later. The review is seeking feedback on the future of the Maori Council and options for improving the Maori Wardens and Community Officers. Im stuck on it. Maori society is becoming increasingly iwi-centric. Power is shifting from pan-Maori organisations to iwi. Movements and organisations like the Kingitanga, the Maori Womens Welfare League and the Maori Council cant compete culturally, economically or politically. Iwi are pushing the Maori Council out. But heres the qualification: urban Maori. Theyre the forgotten tribe. Iwi arent a catch-all. Pan-Maori organisations think of service providers like the Waipereira Trust, the Church and the Welfare League catch urban Maori. The Maori Council does too. If the Council is abolished urban Maori are deprived of one the few advocates that they have. That's a reason to keep the Maori Council. But it must be reformed. Its a labyrinth: there are Maori Committees, Maori Executive Committees, District Maori Councils and the New Zealand Maori Council. The structure needs to be simplified. Abolishing the regional bodies and maintaining the national body could be an option. The regional bodies are cumbersome. The national body could draw its membership from regional groups - like iwi runanga and urban authorities like the Manukau Urban Maori Authority - rather than regional council's and committees. There's a perception (and maybe a reality) that the Council isn't accountable. Layers of bureaucracy contributes to that perception. It's 2013 too. The Act's focus on social and economic wellbeing is underinclusive. The Council's focus should be expanded to include the environment and conservation. People, markets and the environment is preferable to people and markets only. In their own words: The New Zealand Maori Council has achieved a number of gains for Maori including the adoption of the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi in the State Owned Enterprises Act 1986, the reform of Maori land resulting in Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993, the 1989 Maori Fisheries Act and the 1992 Sealords Act. The review of the Maori Community Development Act 1962 should be seen as another opportunity for Maori. Reasonable people can and will disagree with that. The Maori Council didn't work in isolation. But we might be a decade behind but for the Maori Council's work. Still, that's no reason to oppose reform. The Maori Council needs it and now. It's 2013. If they stay the same, they'll be left behind.
http://mauistreet.blogspot.co.nz/2013/10/is-it-past-time-to-abolish-maoricouncil.html
NZ Politics Daily: 4 October 2013 Tahu Potiki (Stuff): Ngai Tahu report makes good reading Last updated 08:41 04/10/2013
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OPINION: This week Ngai Tahu Holdings Corporation and Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu announced the annual result for last financial year and things are looking pretty rosy for the iwi. Considering where the tribe has come from and what it has been through, the annual report makes for pretty good reading. The shareholder equity has increased to $740 million and the book value of the assets is now at $1 billion. Surplus for the year is $50m and the holdings company has distributed $28m to Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu to fund their programmes for the year. Ngai Tahu's long term planning their projected returns will mean that, on the graph, the annual surplus is intended to rise much more steeply than the distribution amount, meaning that the shareholder equity will also continue to rise steadily. It has grown 300 per cent in the last 15 years and if it maintains a similar growth trajectory for the next 15 years then it is quite possible, albeit optimistic, that the tribe's assets could be worth $4b by 2030. What this means is that certain parts of Ngai Tahu are developing greater financial independence. The runanga are drawing down larger amounts of funding to resource their own affairs and to manage their local Treaty-based relationships. Distributions to the iwi savings scheme can continue to grow and other policies that give effect to the tribal vision can be developed and implemented. One significant indicator of the iwi's new-found independence is the level of funding that Ngai Tahu has now made available for marae capital development. The first significant recipients of this newly- established policy have been my own people here at Otakou on the Otago Peninsula. The story of our marae is interesting and the first developments on this particular site were paid for by the church. The land was gifted by a local chief but the manse and church were built as a result of fundraising by the missionary. The next development, a modern wharenui built in the 1870s, was funded primarily by the locals.
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There was a list of contributors published in the paper declaring who had made cash donations, who had sponsored certain parts of the build, and where the food and supplies had come from. The house was a modest weatherboard-type community hall. It carried a lofty name and was meant to be a reminder to a new generation of the work the ancestors had completed in pursuit of the Ngai Tahu claim. This house lasted 70 years before it was pulled down and a new one was planned. Times had changed significantly by the time the 1940s came around and the people were much more dependent on outside funds. The Maori Purposes Fund was available for marae developments but the policy was quite rigid. They would only fund carved houses, so the Otakou people had to build a concrete moulded house with carvings from another area as the far south did not have a carved house culture. Their new house did receive funding from the Government and the church but it was an art deco anomaly on the southern landscape, even though it remains remarkably picturesque nestled in its little forested glen. But recently we have outgrown the old kitchen and dining facilities so we have had to rebuild them. We received some funding support from Te Puni Kokiri and Internal Affairs but over 75 per cent of the $3 million project was funded from our own investments and Marae Development Fund from Ngai Tahu. This rebuild was something we were much more in control of and now we have a state-of-the-art marae designed on our terms. What do I mean by that? We are wirelessed up and have wide screen TVs on the wall. We have a $30,000 oven in the new kitchen as well as a bunch of other flash catering equipment that means you need training to get in to the place. We can feed over a hundred people at a time from a dining room that has five- metre high glass windows that overlook the Otago Harbour. It has allowed us to reconfigure our water harvesting and waste systems and redo all of our ablution facilities. We have got separate sleeping facilities for the cooks and the new extension is actually three stories high. This new facility will hopefully last a couple of generations just like the previous developments have. At one level it is indistinguishable from other marae developments elsewhere in the country but at another level it is an important moment. This is a selffunded post settlement house. Something Sir Tipene O'Regan was renowned for repeating in his speeches to tribal members during the pre-settlement period was this: "Tino
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rangatiratanga means nothing if you don't own it." As much as many out there look upon money as a grubby, distasteful subject Sir Tipene's words have proven quite true. http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/opinion/columnists/tahu-potiki/9242905/NgaiTahu-report-makes-good-reading
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Mai Chen (Herald): US breakdown gives us a reminder 5:30 AM Friday Oct 4, 2013 If New Zealand's government was shut down, as has happened to the United States federal government because of the decision by Democrats in the Senate to reject budget demands by House Republicans, what impact would that have on our lives? I know some would say good riddance, but the US situation shows that in modern western democracies we have come to rely heavily on the government and the services it provides. The impact of the US Government shutdown has been widespread. "Essential services", such as social security and Medicare payments, will continue and President Barack Obama signed emergency legislation on Monday night to keep paying military staff, but hundreds of thousands of workers in "nonessential" services, from Pentagon employees to rangers in national parks, will be told to take an unpaid holiday. A total of 12,700 staff from the Department of Energy are expected to be sent home (with only 1113 remaining to oversee the United States' nuclear arsenal), and the Department of Health and Human services is expected to send home more than half of its workers. Sending this many home will have a significant economic effect. President Obama is accusing the Republicans of wrecking the economy, and is holding crisis talks to reassure Wall St leaders. The investment bank Goldman Sachs estimates that a three-week shutdown could shave as much as 0.9 per cent from US GDP in this quarter alone. The government comprises 30 per cent to 40 per cent of New Zealand's economy and there would be a problem for any services or activities not already funded by an appropriation. The Constitution Act says the government can spend money only with statutory authority. To do this, governments have to pass imprest and supply bills, but they can do so only if they have a majority in Parliament and the House has to meet to pass the bill. If there was no majority, the Opposition would instantly call for a vote of no confidence in the Government, which it would win. The Public Finance Act does allow the Minister of Finance to incur expenses or capital expenditure without a parliamentary appropriation, but only in a state of emergency or civil defence emergency, or if a situation occurs that affects the nation's public health and safety. Cost overruns on expenditure already appropriated is limited to no more than $10,000 or 2 per cent of the amount agreed to, and even that requires subsequent confirmation by Parliament.
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The list of what could be affected in New Zealand could be long - healthcare, education, social security payments such as unemployment and domestic purposes benefits and superannuation payments, the courts, the police, the armed forces and public transport. But unlike the US, New Zealand's leader - the Prime Minister - is part of the House of Representatives, and we do not have a warring House and Senate as the Americans do. Importantly, in New Zealand parties that make up the Government promise to use their votes to guarantee supply. This means it is very unlikely that a Government would not be able to pass a budget. If it could not, there would be a new election as it would have lost the support of a majority in Parliament, and the people would get a chance to elect different parties. There have been fall-outs in New Zealand. During the first MMP government, the relationship between the National Party and New Zealand First broke down, and Prime Minister Jenny Shipley sacked Winston Peters as her Deputy Prime Minister. It was only by convincing rogue NZ First MPs to support National on confidence and supply that an early election was averted. In the US, it's the first shutdown since 1995-1996, when Bill Clinton and the House of Representatives (and its speaker, Newt Gingrich) also failed to agree on a budget to fund federal services. That row lasted 28 days. The US Government has partially shut down on 17 occasions. Democrats and Republicans are again staring each other down and unless a new deal can be struck, the Government won't be able to keep paying its bills. If the NZ Government was ever in a similar situation, Kiwis would be reminded about the relevance of the government to everyday life. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11134 364
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Chris Trotter (Stuff): Monarchy gives somewhere safe to hide Last updated 08:02 04/10/2013 OPINION: It was a scene that would have done Samuel Beckett proud. An old woman sits primly in an armchair, warmed by an electric fire. The fussily furnished room is festooned with family photographs and ceramic knick-knacks. The atmosphere of the scene is stuffy and oppressive. There's an overwhelming sense of fragility; of life in suspension; of history sucking up every available atom of breathable air. Seated opposite the old woman is a middle-aged man with an over- eager smile. He is dressed like a prosperous provincial accountant, and it is clear that just being in the room with the old woman represents the fulfilment of a boyhood dream. They are talking to one another - although it is difficult to say what about. The old woman's conversation is polite but inconsequential. She speaks as if she's reading the lines of a play once popular, but now only ever performed to modest and ageing audiences. Undaunted, the middle-aged man listens intently, his attention not at all diminished by the old woman's sing-song delivery. Clearly, some weird alchemical miracle is taking place. In the middle-aged man's brain the old woman's leaden commonplaces are being transmuted into the purest rhetorical gold. Beyond this and all the other rooms in the castle, the world goes on its merry way. Fallen empires refuse to rise. Children are blown to pieces by suicide bombers. Billions are wagered on stock markets and trillions consigned to tropical tax havens. Ice melts in the Arctic. Deserts advance. Lovers embrace. But in this stuffy drawing room nothing changes. The old woman sits and talks inconsequentially to "galloping colonial clots" who hang upon her every word, believing, in spite of everything that they have seen and done and made of themselves, that the bizarre tableau of which they are a part is more than it seems. That it matters. Another notable scene occurs in Ettore Scola's 1982 movie That Night In Varennes. The plot revolves around a group of travellers who get caught up in King Louis XVI's abortive attempt to escape the revolution in Paris. As the revolutionary government's officials dither, a debate ensues concerning the nature of monarchy among those now stranded at the local
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inn. Some of the travellers, in true Enlightenment fashion, dismiss monarchy as irrational. Others remain convinced of its quasi- religious power. Its magic. As if to prove both sides correct, the king's servants roll into the room a tailor's dummy adorned with the royal regalia of France. In a wonderful cinematic moment, the waiting peasants bare their heads and fall to their knees. Even the sceptical intellectuals find it difficult to resist the urge to doff their hats and bow low. Monarchy wields only as much power as people are willing to give it. Our ancestors long ago stripped the British monarchy of all but a recondite residue of its former political authority. What is it, then, about Queen Elizabeth and her peculiar family that continues to enthral a clear majority not only of her British subjects, but of New Zealanders as well? What is it that could possibly make our ruthless, currency-trader prime minister sit like an excited schoolboy on the edge of his seat in a stuffy Balmoral drawing-room? The Frankfurt School's Erich Fromm (1900-1980) would tell us that New Zealanders' ongoing love affair with the British royal family, and the monarchical institutions they inhabit, stems from our abiding fear of and desire to "escape from freedom". To be truly human, Fromm argued, men and women must free themselves from all that obscures the realities of existence. Our unique capacity to reason and to love makes each human life a challenging and painful experience; it can also make life glorious and transcendent. For too many of us, however, the dangers and uncertainties of freedom keep us in a childlike state of fear and neediness. Thinking for ourselves is difficult and risky; better by far to adhere to the collective wisdom. Ruling ourselves is also difficult and risky; better by far to be guided by the myths and traditions of the past. Living in a republic there is nothing and no-one to look "up" to: we can only look "around" - to ourselves. But, in a monarchy, there is always somewhere safe to hide. Even behind a prim old woman, in a stuffy drawing-room, in Scotland. http://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/news/9243350/Monarchy-givessomewhere-safe-to-hide
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David Farrar (Listener): Book Review: On Offence: The Politics of Indignation, by Richard King 3rd October, 2013 Peoples readiness to take offence is part of a growing culture of intolerance. Richard Kings On Offence: The Politics of Indignation is very timely. King argues that all around the world more and more people are claiming it is their right to not have others offend them, and governments and other institutions are bowing to their demands. As I read his book, I reflected on a local example in which an activist was sacked from David Cunliffes campaign team because some people were offended she had said it would be naive to imagine there would be no resistance to a gay prime minister. The truth was no defence, and she was sacked to appease those who were offended. The book starts with the controversy over Terry Jones, who in 2010 announced his intention to burn the Koran on the ninth anniversary of the World Trade Center attack. This resulted in the previously unknown US pastor making global headlines as everyone from President Barack Obama down pleaded with him not to commit such an offensive act, implying he would be responsible for hundreds of deaths if he proceeded. They neglected to consider there is no such thing as a right to not have others offend you, and certainly no right to kill people because you are offended. King argues that the principle of free speech is meaningless unless it includes the freedom to offend and that the modern fetish for sensitivity is corrosive of genuine civility. Well-documented and researched, his book doesnt just report on the high-profile cases of manufactured offence, but dissects the changes in society that have led to this. It condemns sensitive souls on the left and right of politics, lambasting both political correctness and religious conservatism. Governments and the media are jointly judged as spineless for their failure to defend freedom of speech in the case of the Danish cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad. King slates political correctness as moving beyond political liberalism when those fighting against intolerance and bigotry do not seek freedom from others views but the freedom to impose their own on others. He also takes aim at what he calls patriotic correctness, where political opponents are browbeaten for undermining national pride. Finally, King focuses on internet rage, a topic this reviewer has some familiarity with. How often do we hear news stories that include the statement, Such and suchs comments caused outrage on Twitter? Twitter has allowed offended tweeters to become newsworthy. Those of us on Twitter know someone is always outraged about something, and some people are in a state of near-perpetual outrage. Kings book is an excellent insight into the growing culture of intolerance. He does not defend those who give offence. He says they are often zealots, bigots and badmouths who should be condemned as fools. But he implies the larger fools are those who dont condemn the threats (or actions) of violence from those offended, and those who demand censorship to prevent offensive views.
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On Offence should be required reading for all journalists, members of Parliament and anyone who gets offended on a regular basis. ON OFFENCE: THE POLITICS OF INDIGNATION, by Richard King (Scribe, $35). David Farrar commentates on politics and other matters at Kiwiblog. http://www.listener.co.nz/culture/books/book-review-on-offence-the-politics-ofindignation-by-richard-king/
NZ Politics Daily: 4 October 2013 Jane Clifton (Listener): degenerative disorder 3rd October, 2013
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As it ties itself in knots, the Government risks doing itself a mischief. Life isnt meant to be fair, but sometimes it feels as though someone how to put this politely? has catheterised us in order to perform a gratuitous extraction. Its bad enough that America is closed for business because a minority conservative rump is able to stop the President from presiding. But New Zealand almost deserves to be closed, the way things are going here: The Government is practically giving away old state houses, but only in areas where no one wants to live. New measures to bring house prices down have affected only those who cant afford to buy houses anyway. Solid Energy is getting a tax-funded bailout as its reward for turning our bestperforming energy company into a sump hole. And Accident Compensation, just a couple of years ago in such dire shape that its then chairman was threatening us with massive premium hikes, is now in a position to wipe a big chunk off the national deficit. Thats instead of using the money to treat and rehabilitate people with injuries, and instead of refunding the obviously overblown premiums it has been collecting. Where the heck is an actuary when you need one? As Business Innovation Minister Steven Joyce might put it, the optics of the narrative arent looking that good for the Government going forward. As Labour leader David Cunliffe might put it, I am the kumara you want to be munching on. The housing and ACC debacles are an absolute gift for Labour as it tries to re-establish its relevance under its new regime. Voters will probably soon forget that Labour was among the first to suggest deposit lending ratios, and that the first bilked young would-be home-buyer Cunliffe met for the TV cameras was in fact an investment buyer who was going to rent out the halfmillion property he no longer had enough deposit for. These things happen. The important thing is that, despite the Governments best efforts, all its housing monster-taming is now popularly seen as affecting young first-homebuyers. KiwiSaver, Welcome Home and a 20% discount on an old state house in Otorohanga just wont cut it. BIGGER-PICTURE TURMOIL The Governments protestations that the deposit limit was the Reserve Banks independent decision, and that it could not intervene to exempt first-home buyers, are disingenuous. It could direct the bank, and although such interference is generally frowned upon, in this case the Opposition could hardly have objected. Anyway, all this may disappear in a bigger-picture turmoil if the US healthcare stand-off continues much longer. So far, world markets seem to have preloaded the apprehension a temporarily stagnating US economy might cause. But should this conservative showboating graduate to a siege, were all in unknown territory again. Economists are already predicting a recession. That could have the incidental effect of putting all our houses on a par with a two-bedroom box in Otorohanga. Its an ill wind
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Its tempting to look on ACCs massive surplus as a sort of recession emergency kit. But the minister and the corporations chiefs have some explaining to do. Its obvious that investments and interest-rate fortunes had a lot to do with the corporations galloping good fortune. But its assertion that improvements in its rehabilitation services managed to return many more clients to fitness more quickly than before are impossible to take at face value, given the form the corporation has in rejecting legitimate claimants. It is still in the business of jilting people who suffer accidents, if the injury is to a part of the body that already had a degenerative condition. As all joints and spines suffer wear and tear even if you follow the directions on the packet scrupulously, this practice is pure reductio ad absurdum. ACC was conceived to cover accidents. Accidents that happen to an already creaky knee are still accidents. And at the onset of middle age, there is practically no such thing as a non-creaky knee. Worse still, people have been turned down when the pre-existing creakiness was caused by a previous accident even when ACC had covered that first trauma. Somehow, an old accident site becomes degenerative, so two traumas cancel each other out. Lewis Carroll would have made a superb claims officer at ACC. You might say we are all the fiscal beneficiaries in the end, but what the corporation is doing is almost certainly false economy. If accident victims are left incapacitated because they cant afford surgery, or are insufficiently rehabilitated, the whole economy suffers in a different way: lack of productivity, higher beneficiary numbers and general misery. There is also a wider issue of lack of trust. The ACCs catastrophising of its financial position is still fresh in peoples memories. Now suddenly everythings okay? Judith Collins: ruthless demands for kindness. Photo/Mark Mitchell/NZH After the dreaded Bronwyn Pullar case highlighted a woeful privacy record, and an avalanche of evidence that the corporation had been specialistshopping to get diagnoses to order, ACC Minister Judith Collins did a ruthless job of publicly demanding a kinder, gentler, more client-focused culture. As this involved a high-level body-count, it was rather like the old Monty Python punishment: You will be hung by the neck until you cheer up! SUSPICION LINGERS Quite what Collins has achieved here, then, is open to question. The corporations bosses looked as pleased as Punch with themselves as they announced their stunning result, but voters will be spectacularly unimpressed. ACCs public standing will be lower than ever. The suspicion lingers that the past underfunding crisis was manufactured by the Government, either to stave off pressure for levy restraint or for the old political trick of producing a striking improvement later so as to look good. The situation also raises questions of Cabinet or departmental infighting. The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) recommended greater and earlier levy cuts than ACC has agreed to. Surely the wishes of Joyces super-ministry, which is charged with scaring up economic growth and carving out a better environment for business, should have prevailed?
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Coincidentally, another Collins department, Justice, appears to have bucked MBIEs ordination of a whole-of-government approach to purchasing and contracting. Whatever is roiling away in the background here, at least we know where we stand with Solid Energy (or Ephemeral Inertia, as we should perhaps now call it): deep in an unmined lignite pit on a geological faultline, ripping up $100 notes for the foreseeable future. Once again, the Government has been given the Hobsons choice of either letting a company collapse or giving it money to save jobs. The rule for dispensing corporate welfare is, if a collapse would affect the Governments balance sheet, then it qualifies for a benefit. This time at least it has managed to convince the companys bank creditors to share in the bath were all taking, by overlooking millions in debt in exchange for shares in the company, which might or might not prove indefinitely worthless. Funny to think that just a couple of years ago this was poised to be the company that quantum-leaped New Zealand into regional domination of the energy sector. Now its various bits wouldnt trigger the reserve flag on Trade Me. Then again, if ACC can make such an Oracle-like comeback from the pit of annihilation, maybe in just a couple of years unmined lignite will somehow be as beneficial for the economy as unfixed ligaments are held to be now? http://www.listener.co.nz/current-affairs/politics/jane-clifton-degenerativedisorder/
NZ Politics Daily: 4 October 2013 Gordon Campbell (Werewolf): TPP: The Parley in Bali
The TPP trade deal is in deep trouble
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ecessity is supposedly the mother of invention. The political leaders who are
gathering in Bali for the APEC meeting are certainly in need of miracles. Believe the hype, and the Trans Pacific Partnership they will be discussing in Bali is almost a done deal. Allegedly, were in the end zone now, and all it will take to conclude the TPP is for a few brave politicians to give it one last series of shoves over the finishing line. Thats really not the case. The more accurate point of view is that the negotiators and trade ministers from the 12 participant countries in the TPP have been in panic mode for the last couple of months and have been meeting virtually around the clock to cobble together a credible case in Bali that the end is in sight in the hope this might become something of a self-fulfilling prophecy. To get some sense of the procedural panic in the wake of their September 18-21 meeting in Washington, the chief negotiators scheduled an extra meeting that has been shoe-horned into the Bali proceedings ahead of the ministerial meetings, which are themselves scheduled just ahead of the political leaders meeting at Bali on the TPP that is supposed to assure us punters that hey, all is well. Is this frenetic activity a sign that the deal is almost done or a mark of desperation about the lack of progress on the intractable items that are still dogging almost every aspect of the deal ? More than ever before, the claims by Prime Minister John Key that New Zealand stands to add $2 billion to $4 billion to its GDP from this deal look like pipe dreams. Not only is the TPP well behind schedule see below but the logjams in key sectors are of such magnitude that (just like the Doha Round of WTO talks it was supposed to supercede) the TPP may never be completed. In a mark of desperation, there has been talk in the Japanese media that the TPP is ready to ascend to the political level in search of a resolution. The trouble with leaving it to political leaders and trade ministers to do the horse-trading ( and then have them send smoke signals back to the negotiating teams) is that the TPP process has been so secretive, the politicians involved cannot claim a mandate to tether their countries to binding deals done on the hoof, and done mainly to sustain a mirage of momentum. Can a New Zealand Prime Minister or Trade Minister for instance, allow this country to trade away its current positions on parallel importing or the patent terms of the pharmaceuticals purchased by Pharmac in return forsay, a pie in the sky promise of greater access to dairy markets phased in over a 20 year period ? No wonder Labour
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leader David Cunliffe has said that hed have to see the fine print before lending bipartisan support to what John Key might signal to his negotiators in the wake of a late night horse-trading session with his counterparts in Bali. To give Key carte blanche would exceed what other countries Canada and the US are prepared to do. They insist on seeing the fine print, and parliaments elsewhere ( not to mention the US Congress) demand the right to a clause by clause examination and amendment process prior to a ratification vote. As veteran trade commentator and former Canadian trade negotiator Peter Clark [pictured left] told Werewolf in an exclusive interview from his offices in Ottawa, trade pacts such as the TPP have no status in Canada until they are ratified by Parliament. Thats not how we do it here. In New Zealand, as Auckland University constitutional law expert Bill Hodge told Werewolf last year, treaties such as the TPP take effect here via an executive order in council, and not by a parliamentary vote : Treaty making is a heritage, believe it or not, of the royal prerogative, says Auckland University constitutional law expert law professor Bill Hodge. Indeed in the American Constitution it is expressly given to the President to sign treaties and declare war, but there is a check and balance and they have to be ratified [by Congress]. Thats not the case here. It is a direct lineage of unfettered, totally discretionary royal prerogative to exercise treaty making power overseas, because thats something the executive does, historically. Ultimately that ability is based on holding a majority in Parliament. Parliaments main role will be to subsequently bring laws into alignment with such treaties whose provisions, Hodge adds, are increasingly being recognised by the courts as forming a part of the notional, common law, even without those provisions being explicitly embedded in domestic law. The level of degree of secrecy surrounding the TPP text and negotiations would.render any informed debate on the TPP in Parliament impossible. Why is this issue of when and how the TPP will come into effect so important ? Because of the politics of ratification. The public should be justifiably outraged that the Opposition and future governments will be bound by terms that they had no chance to scutinise meaningfully before the deal was done. This shadow of when the deal gets ratified (and how valid its political mandate may be ) is hanging over the entire TPP process. New Zealand is not the only country that is baulking at buying a pig in a poke. Chile for instance, has an election on November 17, and an opposition led by former President Michelle Bachelet who is far less keen on the TPP than the current government, is expected to win. Chile, one can safely bet, will not be agreeing to this deal before years end, or to ratifying it without considering it afresh.
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hats not all. In a September 19 article TPP Countries Still Fighting Over Legal
Issues Ahead Of Year-End Target the authoritative Inside US Trade site underlined the point that no consensus exists between the participants on (a) how a final deal on the TPP would relate to existing bilateral trade pacts. At present, there is only a illdefined indication that the stronger pact should prevail and (b) how and when the TPP would come into force. Incredibly, even ratification by the sovereign parliaments of TPP member countries may not suffice for the US. Quote, from Inside US Trade : On the issue of entry into force the main debate is over whether the agreement will enter into force for a country upon its ratification by the deal, or only after it has submitted a letter [to the US Congress] affirming it has completed the necessary implementation steps. Such letters would then be considered by Congress, and certified that due compliance has, in fact, occurred. Chile for one, is refusing to abuse its sovereignty by submitting to such humiliating certification yet until such a process occurs,Inside US Trade notes, Congress seems unwilling to ratify the deal. Unlike minor players like New Zealand which has checks and balances before committing to international treaties, Congress has not yet given President Barack Obama the Trade Promotion Authority that he still requires in order to negotiate a binding TPP deal. Much less has it given Obama its automatic approval for whatever commitments he can induce other countries to make. Quite the contrary. Congress is currently of a mood to re-litigate any TPP deal clause by clause, or to vote it down outright. In Bali, the leaders will be celebrating an incomplete deal, where the legal status of many of the commitments that are being talked about is still entirely up in the air.
hat is only one small fly in the TPP ointment at present. There are many others.
What do we know about the current state of play on this deal? With something as secretive as the TPP, someone was always likely to blow its cover. That helpful someone has turned out to be Alvaro Jana, the director of international economic relations in Chiles foreign ministry. On August 30, Janas interview with the Pulso business magazine in Santiago revealed just how little of substance has actually been resolved. About a quarter of the chapters, Jana said, are closed. Theres a Google translation of Janas interview here.
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Six out of 26 chapters were completed by Janas reckoning, as at the end of August. (Other observers count 29 chapters, but never mind.) The completed chapters cited by Jana are the easy ones : regulatory coherence, competitiveness, development, temporary entry of business persons, cooperation, and small- and medium-sized enterprises. Two others, he says the chapter on the administration of the agreement, and telecommunications are practically closed. Seven more are parked which means that they have been set aside until the deadlocked issues can be resolved in the wake of horse-trading between the political leaders and trade ministers of the countries involved. Even then, scepticism is merited when it comes to these almost completed chapters (where the technical details necessary for conclusion have allegedly been done and dusted) and needful of only a political decision. Evidence from Japan ( see Inside US Trade, August 29) indicates that in the environment chapter alone there are some 300 brackets [signifying areas of disagreement] that remain, and a chapter on state-owned enterprises shows that countries have failed to agree to a definition. So after three years, the TPP countries cant yet agree on how to define the nature and scope of the SOEs whose future they are trying to negotiate. Not even the last gasp flurries of activity that have occurred over the past fortnight have changed that picture dramatically. A September 27 article headlined TPP Work On Key Issues Remains Slow, Resolution By APEC Doubtful speaks for itself. It talks about slow progress at the September 18-21 meeting of chief negotiators in Washington and raised serious questions about the APEC timetable being met. Moreover : The chief negotiators meeting last week did not focus on intellectual property rights (IPR), environmental commitments and rules for state-owned enterprises (SOEs), which officials have previously referred to as the most difficult outstanding areas in the talks along with market access. Do experienced trade analysts such as Peter Clark believe that the TPP truly is in the end zone or does he regard the recent rush of activity as more a sign of desperation ? Clark : I would say it is a sign that it is having difficulty reaching the over optimistic goals announced at the APEC gathering last year. They dont seem to be any closer. They have all sorts of problems with Malaysia. If you look at Alvaro Janas speech, it sets out where the difficulties are. Essentially what has been agreed are half a dozen sectors. They are not the difficult ones. When you talk about things being 80% finished, most trade agreements are 80% boiler plate which are easy to agree. Theyre carried over from agreement to agreement. So you have 20 % that is controversial, that they cant move on. And Id only give the example of Canada negotiating with the European Union
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on a comprehensive free trade agreement. Weve been at that [end zone] stage for two years. As a former negotiator, I chuckle when I see the end game references. Every year as they go into the APEC summit, they develop a new definition of victory. Im anxious to see how they define victory this year.
n yet another sign of stalemate, the US has yet to table its current position on the IP
chapter to do with pharmaceutical patents. The Americans have been vacillating on this issue throughout 2013. After other countries (including New Zealand) had rejected its original hardline position in 2012, the US made conciliatory sounds this year at least until recently, when Big Pharma made it clear it wants the US to stick to the hardline positions set out in the Korea/US bilateral FTA. As yet, the US hasnt even tabled a position paper. The negotiators were due to discuss the IP pharma patent issues in Mexico City in late September/early October, but heres most recent indication ( from the September 27 Inside US Trade article mentioned above) of how thoroughly things are bogged down : Public health group Doctors Without Borders claimed in a Sept. 26 press release that the U.S. was submitting a new pharmaceutical IP proposal in Mexico that would offer certain temporary exemptions for four developing countries and provide 12 years of data protection for biologic drugs. But a spokeswoman for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said in response that the U.S. is not submitting a pharmaceutical IP proposal at the Mexico meeting, which lasts through Oct. 2. This week, U.S. negotiators are continuing to discuss our existing laws and how we might move together with our TPP partners to ensure both pharmaceutical innovation and access to the resulting medicines, the spokeswoman said. Late in 2012, Trade Minister Tim Groser had inexplicably declared himself willing to make concessions around transparency in Pharmacs dealings, and those unilateral undertakings could still be dangerous for Pharmac in future,as this article last year in Werewolf spelled out. For now though, Groser has been pledging not to endorse any TPP deal that would do harm to Pharmac in its bargaining position vis a vis Big Pharma. He may have his work cut out. Heres how the Washington Trade Daily reported this issue on 23 September : The United States and Japan are considering making a joint proposal concerning TransPacific Partnership rules on drug patents, making it possible for generic drugs to be sold sooner in developing countries, sources close to the matter said Saturday, Kyodo news service reported..According to the sources, the joint proposal will call on developed
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nations like the United States, Japan and Australia [and New Zealand] to extend the period of patent protection for medicinal drugs while allowing shorter periods in developing countries like Malaysia and Vietnam. [Which certainly sounds like the proposal cited above by Doctors Without Borders.] Washington has been insisting on the patent extension in TPP talks on intellectual property to protect the interest of U.S. drug makers. But emerging economies like Malaysia have voiced concern, contending extended patent protection would delay the availability of less expensive generic drugs. The United States and Japan are apparently opting for easier rules for developing countries, judging that promotion of generic drugs would ultimately benefit the drug industry as a whole..The United States and Japan seek to discuss the proposal at a TPP ministerial meeting in Bali, Indonesia according to the sources. This proposed trade-off on pharmaceutical patents between the developed and developing world has also been reported in the Japanese press here. If accepted within the TPP, it would mean that Canadians and New Zealanders would get to pay more for medicines for longer, and have slower access to generics all in order to subsidise easier access to cheap generics for countries such as Malaysia and Vietnam. (Big Pharma would reap the same profits, whatever. ) This trend for Japan and the US to work out deals between themselves is something discussed further, below. In sum and however rosily this fragmented and hotly contested landscape is portrayed this is not a deal that is headed for closure anytime soon no matter how much at Bali, the TPP spinmeisters try to claim that so much has been achieved, and that a deal is glimmering just beyond the horizon. This pressure to foster a sense of momentum and imminent closure probably means that, in Bali, the TPP leaders will announce an agreement in principle, or that a certain portion of the deal has been completed. That is what the 2013 definition of victory will sound like. Theres good reason to believe otherwise when only between a quarter and a half of the deal has been resolved at best, and when significant disagreements exist in all of the difficult TPP chapters.
hy the need to portray the rate of progress in such a misleading fashion?
Domestic politics in the US are partly to blame. US President Barack Obama, without consulting his allies, had announced that a deal would be concluded in principle ( whatever that means) at the Bali conference. Obama has Congressional mid-term elections looming next year. To have a chance of steering the deal through Congress in 2014, Obama needs to have a draft deal agreed by years end, 2013. ( Keep in mind that
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he still incredibly lacks that Trade Promotion Authority to conclude the TPP deal, which crucially, would give him the power to force the finished deal to a straight up and down vote in Congress, without his opponents being able to pick the deal apart, clause by clause. ) A hard road awaits him. As Clark says, even Obamas own Democrats are not particularly keen on free trade. Nor, since they got shafted by Bill Clinton over NAFTA, are the US trade unions. For new trade agreements, Obama has to rely on the Republicans and a few of his own people to try and get this thing through. Its not easy. The Republicans dont want to give him a legacy. They dont want to give him any wins. They dont want to give him any power. In my experience [ when it comes to ratifying trade deals] Congress always extracts a price. It is this political time-clock in the US that is dictating the panic sorry, the momentum in Bali. Probably, to no avail. I dont see this [deal] closing in time to avoid the [US] elections, Clark says. The focus on the midterms will have already begun in the second quarter of 2014. Beyond that : They wont have anyone in Congress to focus on it in the second half of next year. 2015 looks to Clark like being a more realistic finish date for the TPP , if it is ever to be finished at all. Uh oh, the currency manipulation problem. Amidst the momentum that the Americans are said to be putting behind the TPP, one issue has emerged in recent months that at best, will sour the mood of a Congress towards a TPP deal on which it is already disinclined to cut Obama any favours. At worst, this new issue may kill the TPP altogether. In recent months, a letter to the Obama administration has been circulating in the Senate, a letter that demands that the US should include disciplines within the TPP enforceable by investor-state dispute mechanisms that would prevent member countries from manipulating their currencies to boost their exports. The immediate target of this gambit is Japan, which the Big Three of the US auto industry accuse of fiddling with their currency in order to make Japanese car imports more attractive to US motorists. If made part of the TPP, such measures would mean that New Zealand could be sued if the Reserve Bank acceded to calls by the Greens for the RB to manage a decline in the currency to assist our exports. If such measures had already been in place, they would have outlawed the currency moves that Malaysia successfully made to negate the worst effects of the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s. So far the Senate letter has attracted 60 signatories, with more than half of them from the highly influential banking, finance and foreign relations Senate committees. Even so, Werewolf suggested to Clark, cant this issue be resolved bilaterally between the US and Japan, and kept out of the TPP arena entirely especially since the TPP negotiators
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have already drawn their wagons in a circle and refused to put currency manipulation up for discussion ? Good luck with that. If we were just dealing with Japan, Clark replied, I think it could probably be addressed bilaterally with Japan but the pressure thats coming from Congress is for a broader clause, looking forward to a time when China might be included in the agreement..If it were already there, [China] would have to cope with it. The automotive industry is pushing for Japan, but to the minds of many, China is the big target. And if the TPP negotiators do push back and and fence off the issue of currency manipulation, wouldnt this be likely to sour the mood of Congress if and when it gets to approve the TPP next year, should the final deal lack such a provision ? Oh thats right, Clark says. If the deal doesnt have it, it will make it even more difficult to get a divided Congress to approve the deal. Given these headaches, no wonder the TPPs boosters are willing to take whatever comfort they can find. That explains why progress on the pact is being shouted to the skies since (a) this serves the tactical purpose of isolating those countries whose stubborn resistance is spoiling the TPP party and (b) if you announce a deal is almost settled and needful of only a shove across the line by far-sighted political leaders, then a self-fulfilling prophecy hopefully kicks in. It also creates a political climate that makes the political concessions and cave-ins look less like the carnage that will be needed in reality, to achieve any substantive TPP by years end.
espite the insistence by Key and NZ Trade Minister Tim Groser that the TPP will be
a comprehensive deal with a single schedule in which all provisions will apply equally to all participating countries, it has been clear for some time that the US and Japan a late entrant to the TPP have been pursuing separate bilateral deals on the sidelines that give more favourable terms to each other than to the rest of the TPP participants. Heres recent evidence, from an 18 September story in the Japan Times. Indeed, such bilateralism is the inevitable outcome of the hub and spoke way in which the US has pursued its talks with all the participating countries. The US uses these talks to discern the wish-lists and the no go areas, and then tailors its tactics with and against each country accordingly. Japan has five agricultural areas rice, wheat, beef and pork, dairy products and sweetening resources such as sugarcane and beets that are subject to protective tariffs and on which it has shown no sign of willingness to budge. As such, its hard to see that the claim to a comprehensivesingle schedule TPP ( all for
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one , one for all !) will be anything more than semantic given that for countries such as New Zealand, many of the gains from the TPP (to our dairy industry for instance) appear likely to be postponed for decades into the never never, in return for our immediate concessions on other fronts. Right now, the US and Japan appear to be doing bilateral deals on tariff reduction that are more generous than those available to other countries. and Australia and its sugar industry will almost certainly seek to do likewise once the Abbott government is bedded in. Is that move to bilateralism, Werewolf asked Clark, now a solid trend within the TPP ? Apparently so. Its the way the US operates. The Japanese asked me what my reaction was to the US wanting to negotiate bilaterally with Japan. Well, Canada is negotiating bilaterally with Japan as well. So at one level I wasnt surprised at all. There are countries that are prepared to give more to the United States than they are prepared to give to others. There are issues that the US may be prepared to give to some countries, but not to others. Thats going to shape the TPP negotiations. This is not a WTO type of negotiation. This is an old style, 1960s. 1950s, GATT negotiation. It is a series of bilaterals with the US at the hub. They dont necessarily want to share. O-kay. So when people like Tim Groser insist that the TPP has to be a no exceptions ( all for one, one for all !) deal, hes really just being King Canute and uttering empty rhetoric in the face of an unpleasant reality ? Clark : I dont want to be negative about Minister Groser. I think that somebody has to push for it, otherwise the benefits from the TPP for anyone other than the United States are going to be minimal, and those other countries will be marginalised. It may seem like a futile effort and it may well be one. But somebody has to push for it. Right. But surely, isnt the main reason Groser is having to stress it is because some other countries dont appear to be playing from the same rule book ? Well no, theyre not, Clark concludes. Thats become quite clear.
ne advantage of having big countries Canada, Japan join the TPP process
midstream is that their media dont accept the blanket of secrecy that dutiful small players such as New Zealand have been keen to observe even if that secrecy is largely to our own detriment. Again, the Japanese media have shed light on the battle plan that has emerged from the dizzying round of intersessional meetings of the TPP negotiators that have been taking place, pre-Bali. Heres a report from Japans Jiji Press, dated 23 September, on what to expect:
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The top negotiators have decided to divide talks at the next TPP ministerial meeting, to be held on the Indonesian island of Bali, into two areastalks on intractable issues and those that can be resolved through political efforts. The difficult areas include issues disputed between the United States and emerging countries, such as intellectual property, the environment and policy on state-owned enterprises. On the less contentious issues, member states will continue unofficial discussions until early October so that common ground can be found at the ministerial meeting. Alongside the current meeting, Japan has been holding bilateral negotiations with the United States and other countries on the elimination and reduction of tariffs. However, Japan plans to make no suggestion for now on the treatment of five key agricultural categories, such as rice, putting off negotiations on these items until at least October. And to repeat : in those bilateral talks with the US, Japan has been offering the US a better deal. The plan to split the talks along the lines mentioned by Jiji tough issues over here, completed or nearly completed chapters over there would be fine and dandy if the former didnt occupy so much of the territory. In Clarks view, is there deadlock on only a few residual issues, or do they exist in many of the chapters? They exist in everything thats not closed. They even still have problems as to which agreement is going to apply. Is the TPP going to take precedence over all the other bilaterals? Which the Vienna Convention says it should. Or will it not ? That point of priority status hasnt yet been resolved by the negotiators, as Inside US Trade pointed out in its September reports on the legal status of the deal. So will there be a hodge-podge of exclusions ? Groser would certainly hope not. In context, all this makes the little victories that New Zealand has been crowing about this year such as this endorsement of the TPP process from major US agricultural lobbies look like very small beer indeed, especially when at the same time, more US farm subsidies are cheerfully being piled onto the gravy train. The letter of endorsement has been touted by Groser as a big switcharound in the US position compared to the opposition that the same industry lobbies were voicing back in 2010, but Clark is underwhelmed by the news. Is it the dairy interests or the dairy farmers ? Theyre two different groups. The dairy processors are always looking for open markets. The dairy farmers? Generally not. Except for New Zealand dairy farmers. Politically speaking, the US farmer lobbies may well carry more weight. Especially since the newfound interest in the TPP by the US industry lobbies has been driven by Japan joining the deal , raising the prospect of cracking open the Japanese agricultural markets which is a pipe dream that Prime Minister Shenzo Abe may well be not only unwilling, but unable, to deliver on.
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Finally and karmically the end zone rhetoric has come back to bite the Americans. It seems to have woken up the US business lobbies to the need to stiffen the backs of their negotiators to ensure that the interests of the lobbies driving the TPP are met in full at the very time when the negotiators have been trying to tread lightly and reassure countries such as Malaysia that the US has been listening to their concerns, and taking them on board. This collision of hardline US agendas and softline US tactics has been played out most dramatically in the dispute over the regulation of tobacco ( see the separate story in this issue of Werewolf.) The same lobby-driven hardening of the US position is evident in the IP issues over pharmaceuticals, in the contentious discussions on state owned enterprises and generally, across the whole spectrum of the negotiations. Clark agrees. [US Trade Representative] Mike Froman has been telling US stakeholders that they are going to have to put a serious amount of water in their wine, when it comes to their demands. I havent seen any indication that anybody has agreed with him on that. Business associations are pushing them, to try and get the deal done, so that they can get some of the things they want. The optimistic TPP spin is regarded as such. A happy face has become de rigeur. People I talk to in the US are smiling, Clark concludes, and giving lip service to the talk that its done, or that it has nearly been done. But the reality is that its in trouble.
http://werewolf.co.nz/2013/10/tpp-the-parley-in-bali/
NZ Politics Daily: 4 October 2013 Gordon Campbell (Werewolf): TPP: No Ifs, No Butts
The TPP trade deal needs to take a stand against Big Tobacco by Gordon Campbell
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obacco is not like other products. Famously, It is the only legal substance that when
used as directed, will kill you. And according to World Health Organisation estimates, tobacco use kills more people annually than HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis combined and is projected t5o kill one billion people this century, most of them in poor countries. Reportedly, there are now 1.2 billion smokers globally, about one-third of the worlds adult population. Nearly 40 percent of the worlds children seven hundred million breathe secondhand tobacco smoke at home. Little wonder then, that tobacco regulation has become a burning issue of conflict within the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade talks. Some countries wish to retain the right to regulate tobacco marketing for health reasons. The US however, after vacillating on this issue, is now toughening its stance within the TPP talks against making a meaningful exemption for tobacco. In passing, the tobacco issue has shown just how susceptible President Barack Obama is to pressure from major business lobbies. The simple political reality is that tobacco is grown in states that the White House feels it cannot afford to ignore as it goes into mid-term Congressional elections next year. As ever, the TPP is hostage to domestic US politics. What is at stake for the rest of the world is the right to regulate against a dangerous product, in order to protect the health of their citizens. Those regulations may involve inhibitions on advertising and on cigarette labelling. Malaysia has sought an exemption for tobacco, for health reasons. It has good reason to be concerned about the power of tobacco marketing and it needs to clarify its legal position. Otherwise, it will be liable to being sued in so called investor-state disputes before international trade law tribunals. The health issues involved are genuine. As this US Government Accountability Office report on US international tobacco policy discovered, smoking among teens rose 11 percent and quintupled among girls in the first year after multinational tobacco companies entered South Korea in 1989. In addition, the legality of the plain packaging policies enacted by the Australian government are currently under legal challenge from tobacco multinationals, and several other countries such as Canada and New Zealand are watching the outcome of this litigation before daring to follow the Australian example. How the TPP decides this issue therefore, will be crucial to progress on what is arguably, one of the most important health challenges of the 21st century.
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s this thoughtful report by the Council on Foreign Relations says, a tension between
trade and health goals has existedin US policy on tobacco issues for many years: In 1997, Congress conditioned the appropriations of several U.S. government agencies on those funds not being used to promote tobacco internationally. An uneasy compromise over tobacco and trade emerged. U.S. trade officials refrained from tobaccospecific initiatives and, despite occasional, significant congressional pressure, declined to bring trade cases against other countries tobacco control measures. Meanwhile, nearly every U.S. trade and investment agreement negotiated over the past decade has reduced tobacco tariffs and continued to protect tobacco investments like those of any other U.S. industry. That last sentence is what the current battle over tobacco within the TPP is about. Malaysia wants a strong regulatory exemption included within the TPP, based on health grounds. Initially, the US had no problem with that. As theWashington Post recently editorialised, the Obama administration was initially in favour of a TPP provision exempting individual nations tobacco regulations such as those banning advertising or requiring warning labels from legal attack as non-tariff barriers to the free flow of goods. The idea was that, when it comes to controlling a uniquely dangerous product, there is no such thing as protectionism. Tobacco is unique. Unfortunately, the White House then came under pressure from Big Tobacco, and Obama folded. New York mayor Michael Bloomberg recently went after Obama for doing so, in a scorching op ed piece ( Why Is Obama Caving on Tobacco?) in the New York Times. As the Washington Post put it : Alas, the United States softened its position at a public meeting of TPP negotiators last month. The new [US] proposal simply specifies that tobacco is included in an existing exemption for policies necessary to protect human life or health, and requires governments to consult before challenging each others tobacco rules.While better than the status quo, in that it might constrain governments from going to bat for domestic tobacco producers, this suggestion would leave tobacco companies free to mount legal challenges to various nations policies. The office of U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman explained the new stance reflected consultations with Congress and with a wide range of American stakeholders a polite reference to pushback from farm-state legislators, farm lobbies and other interest groups that feared a tobacco exception would expand to a health-related excuse for protectionism against many other products.
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The Council on Foreign Relations report explains the compromise that Obama is now peddling, in greater detail : The revised proposal cites tobacco within the standard public health and safety exception that appears in U.S. trade agreements, but it no longer includes other tobacco-specific protections. The U.S. proposal still includes the language used in other recent U.S. trade deals that enables companies to legally challenge public health, safety, or environmental regulations, but it also includes standards that reduce the likelihood of those challenges prevailing. The compromise satisfied no one.
oes the US and its tobacco industry have reason to fear that Asian countries
and Australia (and other countries like New Zealand that are currently sitting on the fence) might discriminate against the lethal products of Philip Morris and its peers, on bogus health-related grounds? No it doesnt. A strong TPP exemption can easily be framed in ways that would still prevent anyone including the Malaysians from discriminating against US multinationals in favour of local cigarette manufacturers. Nor could a health exemption for tobacco be transported to other products. Tobacco poses a unique threat, as the Council on Foreign Relations points out, and strong grounds already exist within US law for Obama to allow American TPP negotiators to step aside, and abide by the Malaysian exemption : In 2001, tobacco.became the only legal consumer product with a binding U.S. executive order (PDF), signed by President Bill Clinton and still in force, requiring all U.S. executive branch agencies not to promote its sale or export. That order also does not permit the use of U.S. trade initiatives to restrict governments tobacco marketing and advertising regulations, unless those regulations discriminate against U.S. tobacco products in favor of that countrys domestic tobacco products. In sum, the White House would be on strong footing in treating tobacco differently from other products in the TPP talks. This combination of an enormous public health threat, a widely subscribed treaty binding all other TPP member countries, and an executive order mandating the U.S. trade policy on the matter is highly unlikely to reoccur for any other consumer or agricultural good. The U.S. Trade Representative should reassure the business community by formally indicating that its proposal supporting tobacco control in the TPP talks is mandated by this unique constellation of factors and cannot serve as precedent under other circumstances. Fine. So in sum : a unique threat, an exemption that cannot be carried over elsewhere, and that cannot be used to favour local makers of the same deadly products. The CFR
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paper sets out how the TPP should proceed, but note its third provision : that any TPP exemption clause should not inhibit the current litigation being taken by the topbacco multinationals against Australia for its plain packaging regulations. Heres the CFR summary of how the US and the TPP should now proceed within the TPP : 1 ..the [Obama] administration should exempt tobacco control measures from legal challenge under the TPP in three ways: 2 This exception must explicitly encompass the full range of tobacco control measures addressed under the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and permitted under U.S. laws. 3 This exception should be limited to nondiscriminatory tobacco control measures. An exemption from legal challenge cannot serve as a pretext for TPP countries to favor domestic cigarette producers. This condition is consistent with overall U.S. trade policy and the terms of the 2001 U.S. executive order on tobacco and trade. 4 This exception must not include the cross-reference that exists in most U.S. trade agreements to the health exceptions in World Trade Organization agreements. Such references might inappropriately interfere with tobacco litigation already filed under those other agreements against Australia and other TPP countries. On that last point, the Council on Foreign Relations position is open to serious challenge. Arguably, the cross -reference to WTO health exceptions should and must be included. Otherwise, any TPP -led stand against the harms done by tobacco would be likely to fall at the first fence the plain packaging regulations. Cross referencing to WTO exceptions would help to undermine the case being pursued by the tobacco multinationals against Australia, and it would encourage New Zealand and Canada to climb down from the fence and enact similar legislation. Perhaps it is time that Prime Minister John Key and Health Minister Tony Ryall came clean on what New Zealands stance on this issue is within the TPP, in detail do we support Malaysia in its bid for a strong exemption on tobacco, or do we support the compromise proposal that has been mooted by the White House at the behest of Big Tobacco ? Helen Clark was always very clear about where she stood on tobacco-related issues. As the TPP deals with tobacco, the Key government should be brave enough to show similar levels of transparency.
http://werewolf.co.nz/2013/10/tpp-no-ifs-no-butts/
NZ Politics Daily: 4 October 2013 Murdoch Stephens (Werewolf): Doing Less, For Fewer
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Nationals policies on refugees are an exercise in cost-cutting and officialese
ecent releases under the Official Information Act (OIA) highlight the New Zealand
governments attempts to turn the refugee resettlement allocation away from being a tool to give shelter to those in most need. Instead, the allocations have reduced refugee intakes from Africa and the Middle East apparently in order to save money- using a curious double-talk of opportunity and inclusion. The plight of refugees is an international responsibility that tends to fall most heavily upon poor countries that can ill afford the intake pouring across their borders. Even when compared to other developed countries, New Zealand continues to drag its feet in meeting its share. The shuffling of the numbers occurs against this backdrop where New Zealand ranks 97th in the world per capita for its intake of refugees. Even so, the OIA evidence cited below shows that we are trying to cut costs even further. Lets take a look at three important questions. (i) Why do New Zealand politicians think our current contributions are sufficient? When New Zealand decided to take 150 transferee refugees from Australias detention centre in Nauru, Manus Island or PNG, there was also a discussion as to whether (a) the quota should decrease to 600 (b) the quota should be kept at 750, and with the Australian detention centre intake in addition, or (c) the quota should increase to 850. Those preparing the documentation seemed to be setting the Minister up for keeping the quota at 750, with the 150 Australian asylum seekers to be in addition. The increase to 850 was proposed but not recommended, while the costs and risks for the reduction to 600 places were completely redacted under section 9(2)(g)(i) of the Official Information Act[i] apart from the statement that it would be cost neutral[ii]. An Aide Memoir for Minister of Immigration Michael Woodhouses late February meeting with Murray McCully states that the Prime Minister has indicated in public a preference for keeping the quota at 750. There was no further discussion on the matter. Our UNHCR referred quota was therefore reduced to 600.
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But how did Key decide that a quota of 600 plus 150 transferees was the right number for New Zealand? [Editor's Note : the Abbott government has just scrapped the plan to transfer 150 detainees to New Zealand.] The best way to decide how many refugees to take is to look at what other countries do. An initial problem is presented: the majority of the worlds refugees are not resettled through a UNHCR quota system, but are accepted once they have presented themselves as onshore asylum seekers. Australasian and North American countries that were geographically removed from the borders that asylum seekers could cross to claim asylum ended up taking much less than their fair share of refugees. To make up for this the UNHCR created the quota system. There are nine countries that take the bulk of resettled refugees, of which New Zealand is one. In contrast there are more than one hundred and fifty who host refugee populations. The number of asylum seekers accepted in New Zealand reached a peak of 650 in 2001-2002. This has dropped to less than a hundred a year recently[iii]. A countrys total refugee intake is made up of quota and asylum refugees. When Michael Woodhouse, the Minister of Immigration says New Zealand is a world leader in taking refugees he focuses only on the quota. Compare New Zealand to the United Kingdom: per capita we took 14 times as many via the quota system as the United Kingdom in 2011[iv]. When you add the asylum seekers accepted you see that in total the United Kingdom actually takes 66% more refugees than New Zealand. Woodhouse, six months into his new position, has slowly learnt to moderate his claims. In April he claimed that New Zealand had one of the highest refugee intakes in the world[v]. By July 1 he had learnt that this was not true. So what did he do? Instead of acknowledging that New Zealand is 97th in the world for refugees per capita[vi] (110th in the world for refugees per capita adjusted for GDP) he offered the following The 750 annual Quota, places New Zealand sixth equal in the world for accepting refugees referred by the UNHCR[vii]. New Zealand has not changed our quota since 1997, when National reduced it from 800 to 750 per annum. Meanwhile, since the quota was introduced our population has added more than a million new people. To keep up with population inflation we would need a quota of 1000. In the context of the much larger numbers of asylum seekers accepted elsewhere, it is clear that New Zealand is not doing its bit.

(ii) Who should be the priority refugees?
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In 2013 the New Zealand government created a new sub-category for refugees who require emergency resettlement from large-scale refugee crisis situations[viii]. These 50 places would be a part of the existing quota and those regional allocations. For example, if these 50 crisis refugees came from a refugee camp in Lebanon, then the quota of 82 people from the Middle East would be reduced to an additional 32. But what is a refugee if they are not a priority, not in a crisis, not in an emergency? William Maley, an Australian expert in refugee issues and Afghanistan, with reference to Australias intake, says that while few would begrudge Bhutanese refugees the opportunity to enjoy a better life in Australia, no one could seriously describe them as the neediest refugees in the world[ix]. He links the preference for refugees from Asia to a US focus on resettling refugees away from Middle Eastern sources. New Zealand extends this preference to include refugees from the whole of the Asia-Pacific region to the detriment of those from Africa. The governments August 2010 refugee allocation policies have already undermined the notion that refugees should be taken based on need. In fact, the opposite is now the case. We aim to take those who are will have the least cost of integrating them into New Zealand society. The establishment of a category of 50 emergency refugees simply underlines the fact that the other 700 refugees are taken out of consideration for factors other than the immediacy of need. These factors are clear: ease of settlement, and back scratching deals with the Australian government. (iii) Should New Zealand accept refugees from Africa? The 2010 Cabinet decision to include opportunities for Middle Eastern and African family reunification sounds like an expansion of options for refugees from this area. It is, in fact, the opposite. This inclusion is an amazingly audacious case of double-speak for it actually represents exclusion. In short, there were to be no new refugees sourced from this Africa and the Middle East unless they already had family residing in New Zealand.[x] The statistics for refugee intakes from 2002 to present speak to this decrease. From 2002-2003 to 2009-2010, New Zealand took, on average, 179 African refugees every year. In 2010-2011 we took 40; in 2011-2012 we took 37, despite committing to 115 per year. When this shortcoming was presented to the Minister for Immigration he was given two options: make up the quota with African refugees from large-scale emergency
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situations or reallocate the African quota to Asia-Pacific refugees. Defying the governments stated commitment to a regionally balanced quota, the later option was chosen. What was the governments motive in only allowing family reunification as a basis for African refugees? Clearly there was no capacity for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) to find family reunification cases for African families already in New Zealand. And if only a third of places could be filled by family members in the first year after this policy came into place, then how could the government expect to fill the whole quota in subsequent years when no new African refugees were being allowed into New Zealand? In practical terms, the allocation would put an end to African refugees from being resettled in New Zealand. Why would the government do this? Lets consider the broader strategies of the Ministry of Foreign Affaris and Trade. When NZAid was pulled into Murray McCullys portfolio in 2009 aid was no longer to be distributed to alleviate needs identified at the grassroots, but to abet an economic development strategy aligned with New Zealands own political objectives[xi]. In that sense, refugees were not to be accepted based on their needs, but on ours. And what are our needs in this area? Seamless integration via an abandonment of religious and language connections to the refugees home countries and, overall, reduced costs to government. Compare the National governments approach against that of the UNHCR which advocates for a balanced regional quota based on priority protection needs. Two changes have occurred to this policy in 2013. Firstly, after acknowledgement that New Zealand was not meeting its needs to take a regionally balanced quota, it was proposed that non-family reunification cases will once again be taken from Africa and the Middle East. This is an important reversal that means there is no longer an excuse for excluding Africans from the quota. Secondly, with the official acceptance of 150 transferee refugees from asylum seekers detained by the Australian government, the UNHCR resettlement quota will be reduced from 750 to 600 in the 2014-15 period. As these people are coming from the Asia-Pacific region, there was some internal debate about whether the 150 should be a part of those sourced from Asia-Pacific. They were not counted as such, meaning that 60% of those quota plus transferee refugees will come from Asia-Pacific. This means that the proportion from not only Africa, but also the Americas and the Middle East, drops. In real terms that is a drop from 117 people to 83 per annum.
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Weighing up these two changes it is still a gain for the African refugee population when compared to the August 2010 changes. However, in comparison to pre-2010 refugee numbers, the number of African refugees has more than halved from 179 per year in the 2002-2003 to 2009-2010 period to an aim of 83 per annum once these changes are introduced in the coming year.
A concluding question: will Labour be any better? There would seem to be no point in talking with a National led government on these matters. They have proven that they believe in nothing save cost cutting. That makes them nihilists, not conservatives. The Minister for Immigration, Michael Woodhouse, (who I had formerly thought to be a family values candidate) offered this revealing quote from Friedrich Nietzsche on his Facebook page on September 10th of this year: There are no facts, only interpretations.[xii] Try telling that to the one and a half million Syrians who fled their civil war to neighbouring countries. The focus needs to turn to Labour and the Greens. While I have received positive words in private from numerous Labour and Green MPs, only the Greens have a policy to increase the quota to 1000 and to increase funding to match. The Labour policy at the last election was to review their policy. With David Parker tightly controlling the purse strings heading into 2014, is it likely they will commit to an increased quota? If the Helen Clark led government is anything to go by Labour will commit more money to NGOs in the sector while offering a more balanced regional allocation that should better reflect priority needs. Across Clarks nine years in power the general population increased by 11%; yet our refugee quota remained stagnant. Labour must ask if they wish to govern a country that is 97th in the world in terms of refugees per head of population. They must understand that though we may have the 8th highest resettlement intake, most countries dont resettle refugees they accept asylum seekers. When total refugees are considered accepted asylum seekers and resettled refugees New Zealand is 97th in the world per capita[xiii]. The simple option for a Labour/Green government would be to increase the resettlement quota to 1000 to match population growth since the introduction of the quota in 1987. In terms of unemployment rates and GDP growth were second best in the OECD. References to the global financial crisis and austerity should be muted. The move to 1000 places is easily justifiable by population inflation and requires little political spine. Doubling the quota, however, would really help to make up for the lack of
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asylum seekers who make it to the country. This wouldnt turn us into Sweden, whod still accept more than ten times as many refugees per capita, but we might be able to say that were doing our bit. Murdoch Stephens co-ordinates the Doing Our Bit (www.doingourbit.co.nz) campaign to double New Zealands refugee quota and funding.
Footnotes: [i] This redaction is subject to an Ombudsman inquiry as of September 28, 2013. [ii] The NZ Herald editorial of 14 February 2013 stated that the deal would actually save money as the places were traded for concessions to get Australian officials to chase New Zealand student loans. The same editorial went on to say, The pity is that these people will not be added to our annual quota of 750 refugees accepted through the UN resettlement programme but will displace 150 of those people. We could, and should, do far better than reducing our programme quota to 600 a year. A total of 750 refugees is paltry in a population of 4.4 million. We could surely do better. [iii] The reasons for this drop are generally put down to stricter criteria and forward processing of people wihsing to come into New Zealand from countries that refugees tend to come from. [iv] New Zealand quota: 457; United Kingdom: 430. Both had targets of 750. The UK had 25,000 asylum seeker applications; New Zealand had 305. More details and comparisons can be found at the Doing Our Bit website: http://www.doingourbit.co.nz/p/the-issue.html [v] http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1304/S00226/minister-rejects-criticism-over-nz-refugee-record.htm [vi] UNHCR Yearbook Statistical Annex for 2011 http://www.unhcr.org/51628f589.html [vii] http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1307/S00020/govt-confirms-commitment-to-refugee-quota.htm [viii] p.6 MBIE Cabinet Paper 29 May 2013 Tracker No. 13/01727. Online at https://fyi.org.nz/request/921advice-to-minister-of-immigration-on-refugee-resettlement-quota#incoming-4666 [ix] http://www.canberratimes.com.au/comment/die-somewhere-else-20130726-2qq3s.html [x] Here I am focussing on African refugees in this figure as the percentage is based on the regions in which refugees are sourced, not their nationality. As such, many Afghani refugees arrive under the Asia-Pacific category. [xi] http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/politics/2379335/McCully-in-war-of-words-over-NZ-aid-plan [xii] https://www.facebook.com/michael.woodhousemp/posts/10201972912987210 for commentary on the appropriation of uncertainty from critical theory to conservative politics see the opening of Bruno LaTours Why Has Critique Run out of Steam? From Matters of Fact to Matters of Concern http://www.brunolatour.fr/sites/default/files/89-CRITICAL-INQUIRY-GB.pdf [xiii] This is the 2011 statistic. It will climb in the 2012 listing as we skipped a round of 150 refugees in the 2011 figures due to the Christchurch earthquake.
http://werewolf.co.nz/2013/10/doing-less-for-fewer/
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Gordon Campbell (Werewolf): The Politics of Low Expectations

The economys role in Election 2014 an interview with business analyst Rod Oram
rust, credibility and economic nous. The economy will be central to next years
election campaign. Like our Americas Cup campaign, will the governments record of economic management be smiled on by the electorate, as a good enough effort against the odds ? At his September 16 press conference, Prime Minister John Key made it clear that he intends to run next year on an economic record whereby New Zealand has emerged from the Global Financial Crisisand the Christchurch earthquakes and the Pike River disaster with growth rates better than most other countries in the OECD, and with a surplus in sight. Business commentator Rod Oram is noticeably underwhelmed by this argument, and especially by the governments invocation of the Christchurch earthquakes. As he told Werewolf, The government may be cock a hoop that our growth is better than most OPECD countries. Its double that of most OECD countries. But if there hadnt been an earthquakes in Christchurch the growth would be half that rate, and wed be looking awfully average, and very much like those other OECD countries. Oddly enough, the earthquakes turn up on both sides of the governments political ledger. When it suits, the earthquakes are depicted as the governments burden. Yet the re-build also regularly gets cited as one of the few bright spots in the domestic economy, to a degree that makes one wonder how the government would have fared without it. As Werewolf suggested to Oram, the earthquakes work hard for this government, dont they ? Yes, they do. And you have to net the earthquakes out of that growth picture. But secondly, you also have to be really critical of the government about the complete lack of vision for re-building Christchurch. Gerry Brownlee, in his foreword to the document laying out the central city development talks about how the government was rising to the challenge of building a 21st century city. Now that, Oram says, is complete nonsense. How so ? Other people around the world are building zero-energy homes in far harsher climates than we have. Whats going on in Christchurch is re-building to New Zealands very poor building standards and energy efficiency standards. That is very much the sort of leadership the government is not offering. So weve got this $40 billion investment in Christchurch and it is sub-optimal vision and technology with no new economic model to underpin the city. All that the Canterbury Development Corporation has done is revisit its pre-earthquake economic strategy it says that that it has looked at them through the
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earthquake lens but I dont see much change. I dont see how on earth the Christchurch economy is suddenly, somehow, going to be more vibrant than it was preearthquake. The earthquakes, he concludes, could be a fine economic stimulus the equivalent of what governments elsewhere have used to kickstart their recovery from the GFC, and to innovate. If we were using that $40 billion of capital thats going into Christchurch to build a true 21st century city, and a true 21st century economy in that regionthen, that would be great. But the government isnt doing that. This money is being very seriously squandered.
ncremental change, if there needs to be change at all. Challenges treated as risks,
rather than opportunities. So goes Christchurch, and so goes the rest of the country. In fact, the current good news of economic growth may not even be enough to carry the government through until Election Day, 2014. Like the Reserve Bank, Oram expects the growth figures to begin to taper off again in the second half of 2014. The RB expects growth to peak at 2.7 per cent in the year ending next March, then fall to 2 per cent in 2015 and 1.1 per cent in 2016. Beyond the short-term political factors, the lack of a wider policy vision and sense of direction that is refelcted in those dismal figures raise more enduring concerns for him. For one thing, he begins, the rate of economic growth is simply not fast enough to turn around the very weak trade balance or the very large current account deficit. Its nowhere near fast enough to deliver the goal of lifting exports to [the declared target] of 40 % of GDP by 2025. It is indeed faster growth than most other developed countries, but most other developed countries are coming from a worse shock to their economy than we had. And because those other economies have had to wrestle with a much bigger impact from the GFC, I would argue they are going to come out of this period more changed and more competitive than we will. Then, if you look out further, you wont find anyone in the dairy industry who believes [in another declared target] that New Zealand can double its dairy exports by 2025. Because they just cant do the volume. Oram cited his concerns about the immediate prospects for the New Zealand economy and his misgivings about aspects of the governments Business Growth Agenda in a recent column in the Sunday Star -Times. In that column, his reading of Treasurys medium term outlook was considerably less than stellar : GDP estimates were cut by about 0.5 percentage points a year for the four years to 2017; and government revenues will be almost $8 billion lower over four years. Our dollar
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will remain high and our exports lacklustre so our current account deficit will increase from 4.5 per cent of GDP in the March 2012 year to 6.5 per cent in 2017; and New Zealands net international investment position (ie, what we owe the rest of the world) worsens from 71.9 per cent of GDP to 83.6 per cent. We will remain one of the most indebted of developed countries. This is our slowest recovery from a recession in more than 50 years. We share some common causes with other low growth countries: we are burdened by high debt, although ours belongs to households not the Government; cuts in government spending have reduced demand; and the Government tinkers with the economy rather than reforms it. While finding merit in some elements of the BGI and in government policy, their scope strikes him as essentially limited. As his SST column indicated they were simply not bold enough to shift the economy to a higher growth track. Yet that analysis, Werewolf indicated, sounded like a prescription for more of the same policies, more intensely pursued which is much the same argument that the likes of Rodney Hide used to run. No, Im not doing a Rodney Hide there. I think exports being pushed as a percentage of GDP is an extremely good idea, but the governments Business Growth Agenda wont deliver that. There are useful things in the BGI. NZ Trade and Enterprise is more focussed than its ever been before. But it has no sustainability function in there. No sense of the related environmental issues can be found in NZ T& Es strategy, he continues Even though of all the developed countries we are the most dependent on our natural environment for earning our living. Similarly, it shut down its clean technology function. Similarly it shut down efforts to attract foreign direct investment. Fundamentally, the government doesnt understand the limits and the restrictions on the sectors that it is pushing now. And it doesnt get whats happening in terms of the global economy, in terms of where the great opportunities lie. And so it remains very much geared around making incremental changes to what were already doing. That, he says, is the fundamental problem he has with the current government. It is a profoundly conservative government. It is not in the least bit progressive. Luckily for the Key government though, it is blessed with a profoundly conservative business sector and electorate as well. Both of which appear to cling as to a security blanket to the centre rights alleged capacity to manage the economy ? Absolutely. Those conservative inclinations (ie the politics of low expectations) are the bedrock on which the campaign battles on the economy are likely to be pitched next year. Even if the majority of voters dont feel particularly prosperous or very secure in their jobs or in many cases, feel unable to find a job at all the government will be mounting a case that
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they should be feeling relieved about this situation, all things considered. At the same time, much effort will be put into trying to scare the business sector and wider community about what risks might ensue, if voters ever chose to loosen their grip on the governments steadying hand. *** [Cunliffe] has got to take on the government on its strength, which is the economy. And if [Labour] dont do that, they will not win political scientist Jon Johansen, RNZ Sunday, September 30
hen academics can say baldly that the economy is Nationals strength not its
perceived strength , but its strength then the scale of the problem facing the Opposition is pretty obvious. Mediocrity and the low demands that it breeds has taken on a reassuring familiarity. New Zealand is not alone is treating the centre-right as the fount of economic credibility. The belief that the centre-right is a better manager of the economy is one of the most durable myths of modern politics, all available evidence to the contrary. The zeal for de-regulation that triggered the Global Financial Crisis for example, has been matched only by the failure of the politics of austerity that have succeeded it. Even so, there seems to have been no political fallout for the centre rights palpable failures abroad or for the under performance of the New Zealand economy under its stewardship here at home. The policies of more austerity, more demand suppression, and reductions in labour costs still tend to be treated as default settings, and as the only credible economic path. It is what the Australian economist John Quiggin likes to call zombie economics whereby the dead policies of neo-liberalism continue to walk the earth. When it comes to the management of the economy the myth of competency endures , Werewolf suggested to Oram whether it be in Australia under John Howard and Tony Abbott, in the US under the Republicans, in Britain under David Cameron and here under John Key. In his view, does the record of economic performance support the perception ? The research on this point, Oram replies is not something that he has at hand. But if you look at the UK and the United States, the same in Canada, in Australia and New Zealand as well..the recent great growth periods have generally been under the centre left governments of the time. Thats not just a recent phenomenon. I was much more familiar with that as a phenomenon in the UK. Centre right politicians of course, try to turn that around the other way, and they will say that centre left governments just benefitted from the booms that were going on, and then they got to go in and clean up the mess. But I think that is a bit disingenuous.
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espite Keys claims to the contrary at his September 16 press conference, precious
little of New Zealands recent record of mediocrity can be blamed on the GFC and on difficult global conditions. Far from being a problem, economic growth and demand from China and Australia was pretty robust during and after the GFC. If anything, the Keynesian stimulus policies pursued in those countries and in the US kept this country ticking over throughout a period when most of New Zealands economic problems were entirely self-inflicted, via government policies of austerity that did little but dampen demand. (Commodity prices too, have been at, or near, record highs throughout the period in question.) In that respect, the political question should not be how well the Key government has steered the ship safely to port through economic hard times but how it managed to make such heavy weather of the reasonably favourable conditions among our main trading partners. Despite the promise by Finance Minister Bill English to re-balance the New Zealand economy from its dependence on relatively low value agriculture commodities, that dependency has if anything increased on his watch, and with deliberate policy encouragement. Regardless.the devising of a credible policy alternative current economic settings will be a challenge for the new Labour leadership if only because in New Zealand, no credible options are believed to exist. Over the past 30 years, the sense that There Is No Alternative has become as ingrained in the national psyche as egalitarianism ever was in the past. Oram, who describes himself as a fiscal conservative excessive personal and national debt bothers him a great deal also believes himself to be progressive on those aspects of policy that any genuinely progressive economic strategy will need to encompass. I have a progressive view of the world when it comes down to economic values, performance, technology, the way we farm they all have to change if the world is to become a more enduring place. Trying to give the New Zealand iteration of that really comes down to just identifying where our strengths lie, and where the opportunities lie in those areas. It doesnt faze him that this might attract the negative stereotype of being a bloke engaged in picking winners. Any business that is going to stand any chance of survival is trying to pick trends. Im talking about picking trends, more than picking winners. Look, he says by way of example, when he was was born in 1950, the population of the world was 2.4 billion which is merely the sum total of the people in China and India in the world of today. Other countries, in his experience, are already hard at work preparing for a world of 2050 where the global population will be 9 billion people.
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Not here, though. Major companies overseas are planning for those realities now, because in planning terms 2050 is just around the corner. Intense analysis and scrutiny of what that world will require is going on in the rest of the world. Yet it is virtually absent in New Zealand. This government is particularly shocking in that respect. Gerry Brownlee thought electric cars were a complete joke until he had a ride in a Tesla. Now he thinks theyre wonderful. Seriously, thats the level of curiosity that this government displays towards these issues.
http://werewolf.co.nz/2013/10/the-politics-of-low-expectations/
NZ Politics Daily: 4 October 2013 The Listener: Editorial: win or lose, Cup pays off 3rd October, 2013
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Money could not buy the global exposure for our technological sophistication and stickability that the regatta delivered. The cup has developed into a dazzling fusion of sporting talent and technological inventiveness. As the Government considers whether to put money into the next Americas Cup challenge, some are greeting Team New Zealands loss in San Francisco with glee. Its an elitist sport, a rich mans sport, they say. It is not an activity on which we should be spending public money. Let this be an end to it, and good riddance. Entitled as such folk are to their view, it doesnt stand up to much scrutiny. Sailing is not an elitist pastime in New Zealand. Pretty much anyone who wants to can learn to sail, and for very little money. Yachting clubs are always looking for people to join crews. Not everyone can afford a yacht, but a basic one costs less than most of us spend on a car, and less than some spend on a bicycle. Todays elite sailors and designers come in the main from a strong workingclass tradition of mullet-boat, Optimist and P-class sailing. Many are now rich, but few started that way, and they certainly didnt get to be involved because they were rich. They began, as all successful people do, by following a passion, working hard and developing their talent and skills. At the Americas Cup level, of course, the sport is expensive. Its elitist, too, but so are most sports at the top; elitism is another way of saying only the best get to compete at that level. Rich comes with the territory but its no less true of golf, another sport extremely accessible to New Zealanders. Any Kiwi can afford a hackers round at the local course, as our champion Michael Campbell did at Titahi Bay, but at the competitive apex of golf the sums of money routinely parlayed dwarf that for this boat race, without exciting anything like the derision. Just as perversely, stock-car racing, equestrian sports and dog- and cat-show participation are prohibitively expensive even at entry level, yet they are not scorned as exclusionary. Some anti-Cup prejudice may stem from the fact that one of its pioneers here was that 1980s gargoyle figure, merchant banker Michael (now Sir Michael) Fay. But theres also a vein of reverse snobbery, such as when some huffily compared the more muted national excitement over Eleanor Cattons shortlisting for the Man Booker Prize with the yachting frenzy. Here, apparently, is elitism in a more acceptable form. Only the elite among novelists get to the top of that particular tree. And if were ruthlessly honest, only an elite among readers actually read these works of literature. In contrast, the Americas Cup enjoys mass-market appeal in this country. The contest has often deserved the criticism that it is fought too much in the courts and not enough on the water. But this regatta did much to restore its reputation. The cup has developed into a dazzling fusion of sporting talent and technological inventiveness. Sailors and designers alike must assess and understand minute wind and current shifts, the finer points of engineering and the very laws of physics.
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Its true the Cup has become the hobby of a few billionaires. But this only further underlines the remarkable nature of New Zealands success. Oracles chief executive Larry Ellison, one of the worlds richest people, rewrote the rules to suit his team, yet Emirates Team New Zealand, with far fewer resources, ran him close. And his was, in all but name, a New Zealand boat: its cutting-edge technology was the work of New Zealanders, and a good proportion of the Oracle team was Kiwi as well. The showcase for New Zealands technological prowess and for what the UKs Sunday Times called our smart planning and ingenuity is priceless. Even for many times our $36 million tax-funded investment, we could not have bought anything like the global exposure and reputational benefit of this regatta. That we lost should in no way affect the Governments thinking on whether to put bedrock funding into the next challenge. Win or lose, we get more back in tax from the activity generated onshore by a Cup challenge than we put in. But even if it were not fiscally neutral, for a small struggling nation, distant from trading partners and with too few eggs in too few baskets, our Americas Cup participation is a fantastic opportunity to advertise our technological sophistication. The excellence in sport, design and sheer stickability that Team New Zealand displays to the world makes further investment an absolute no-brainer. http://www.listener.co.nz/commentary/editorial/editorial-win-or-lose-cup-paysoff/
NZ Politics Daily: 4 October 2013 Susan Wood (Newstalk ZB): Labour stunt misses the mark October 02, 2013
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Political stunts are fraught with danger. The dead snapper former Labour leader David Shearer held up in Parliament didnt do his career any good. And this weeks choice of an aspiring home buyer to represent young Aucklanders struggling to get into the Auckland property market seriously missed the mark. It was part of Labours attack on new mortgage lending restrictions that came into force yesterday. Labour leader David Cunliffe met with the 23-year-old, Kanik Mongia, in central Auckland in front of media. The IT consultant has been looking for properties in the $400,000 to $500,000 price range in South Auckland or Mt Wellington for the past four or five months. He has saved enough for a 10 per cent deposit, so that is $40,000 or $50,000 in the bank. What was so unusual about Labour championing this young mans plight is that he doesnt seem to have a plight. These were his words about buying a property: If its good enough I could live in it, otherwise it could be an investment property. Excuse me, an investment property? This is not a young man struggling to get a home to live in. He obviously has a roof over his head if he is talking about buying an investment property. He has saved 10 per cent already, he has a job as an IT consultant and one assumes with a little more time will be able to save some more for a deposit. And he is just 23. So good luck to him. I have no doubt he will work hard and get himself an Auckland property or two, with time. And I am quite confident that when Labour gets into power, it will have no qualms charging Kanik a capital gains tax on any rental properties he happens to own and sell. After all, thats what they have promised to do. http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/auckland/shows/breakfast/highlights/mhbsusans-editorial-2oct2013
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Barry Soper (Newstalk ZB): It's the will of the people... Kinda September 30, 2013 6:00 AM The will of the people will today force an unwilling Government to announce a referendum that it's going to take no notice of. Like all citizens' initiated referenda that have been held over the years, the answer's going to be obvious and the Government action's going to be the same, obvious - none. Do you want our assets partially privatised, we'll be asked, at the same time as they turn out to vote in the Christchurch East by election, probably in late November. The exercise will be a postal one, meaning it'll cost around nine million bucks, or a quarter of what we stumped up for the Americas Cup challenge. The outcome for the aspirants will be the same, they'll lose but in terms of the joy of participating, one will far outshine the other, and there are no prizes for guessing which one that will be! By the time the referendum results are in most of the big ticket state owned companies will be floating, although not quite as fast as the Oracle. And that's what Martin Luther Cunliffe wants to be seen as, chipping away at the Tories' lead in the opinion polls. Today he's planning to again live the dream for what this country once represented, the half gallon, quarter acre, Pavlova paradise where home ownership was a rite of passage. By decree from the Reserve Bank, the trading banks will from tomorrow expect a deposit of no less than 20 percent of a home's value. They're called LVRs, which sound more like a military transporter rather than a loan to value ratio for mortgages. If he can achieve his Prime Ministerial dream next year, Cunliffe will exempt first home buyers from the LVRs, meaning they'll have to cough up less money to get a mortgage. Today he'll go further with a plan to help the hard up get a hand out for a home. Let the battle for bricks, mortar and the ballot boxes begin! http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/auckland/opinion/political-report-30sept-2013
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Adam Bennett (Herald): Fears for future of Maori Council 5:03 PM Friday Sep 27, 2013 The Maori Council has lodged a Waitangi Tribunal claim over Government consultation about its future which some Maori fear could spell the end of the organisation. The council, which lost its Supreme Court challenge over Maori water rights and asset sales earlier this year, says the Crown's consultation which was begun earlier this month is a Government led process for reform. However the council and other Maori organisations also being reviewed including the Maori Wardens were of "such significance as to call for direct Crown and Maori negotiations". It says the consultation, announced in August by Maori Affairs Minister Pita Sharples, "is claimed to be inconsistent with the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi". Maori Council lawyer Donna Hall said the process was all Crown tikanga, "there's no council presence in there anywhere". The consultation process was set up by Te Puni Kokiri. "The council was not consulted about this round and this is the council's response to what is occurring." The claim was lodged this afternoon. Ms Hall acknowledged that nowhere in the consultation documents was there any suggestion it was the Crown's intention to remove, abolish or diminish the council, 'but it's just what every Maori in the room thinks and that's what they've been saying everywhere". Dr Sharples earlier this month offered a reassurance "there is no agenda to get rid of the New Zealand Maori Council". The consultation was about seeking community input on the Maori Community Development Act 1962 which established the council as an entity supported by Maori Committees, Maori Wardens and Community Officers. "The Act is out of date. For example, it currently empowers Maori Wardens to evict Maori patrons from public bars, which is not appropriate today," Dr Sharples said. There were only two options being considered for the council, one was to "refocus" the organisation, the second was "no change" to its current role. "Neither of those options are about getting rid of them."
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While it has won some historic legal victories for Maori, the council has struggled for to maintain relevancy in recent years and Ms Hall acknowledged it was currently struggling with a lack of resources. The claim this afternoon also questions the timing of the consultation giving it is taking place during the second phase of the tribunal's consideration of the council's water claim. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11131 143
NZ Politics Daily: 4 October 2013 The Standard: Kris Faafoi on Broadcasting

WrittenBy: KAROL - Date published:10:38 am, September 30th, 2013
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On The Nation this weekend, Kris Faafoi laid out the bare bones of Labours policy on public broadcasting. He signaled the strengthening of public broadcasting across a range of platforms, recognising the crucial role of digital technologies in the 21st century. He also praised the existence of some quality public broadcasting on commercial channels, while also stating that Labour wanted to balance that with revamped public broadcasting. When Cunliffe announced that Kris Faafoi would be Labours spokesperson for broadcasting, some, like Chris Trotter, were critical about putting someone so inexperienced into such an important role for left party. Reconciling the powers-that-be to a Labour-led government determined to honour the revolution from below that brought it to power is not going to be easy. And it is in the allocation of the broadcasting portfolio absolutely crucial to keeping at least one reliable channel of communication open to the ordinary Kiwis that Cunliffe may have made a serious mistake. For all her faults (and they are many) Clare Curran understands the need to put the public back into public broadcasting. In spite of his former occupation, there is scant evidence that Kris Faafoi understands that need as deeply as his predecessor. I actually thought at the time, that a really good public broadcasting policy for the 21st century needed to be strongly aligned to policies on digital technologies and the Internet. And Cunliffe had taken the ICT spokesperson role, with Clare Curran in support. And Faafoi does have a background in Broadcasting. He was Goffs press secretary, worked as a journalist, including for TVNZ, and studied at the NZ Broadcasting School. Faafois appearance on The Nations panel is available here, with the following summary of Faafois statements. Labour has dumped the TVNZ Charter it introduced last time it was in government. The partys new Broadcasting Spokesman, Kris Faafoi, speaking on TV3s The Nation, said the charter was no longer Labour policy. Instead he said the party wanted to talk to people in the industry about public broadcasting and how it might be delivered. He also indicated that he would look at the dominant role played by Sky in digital broadcasting saying Labour was in favour of competition. He is joined on our media panel by Listener Columnist Bill Ralston and NZ on Screen Content Director, Irene Gardiner. Faafoi stated that Labour will be putting broadcasting policy out before the election, but gave some broad brush indications of the direction it would take. He stressed that commercial broadcasters do public broadcasting well sometimes, and that he supported the continuance of NZOnAir funding to commercial broadcasters in order to tell NZ stories in a range of ways.
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While Sky is pretty dominant on TV, Faafoi pointed out that their weakness is their limited use of the Internet as a platform. He explained the need to provide a strengthened Free-to-Air choice for Kiwis: I want to make sure people have choice. That they dont have the dominance there where you have to have Sky to have any decent television or cov, or content coming into your home. So I think its important that there is an alternative platform like Freeview out there. And obviously people dont have to pay um you know, a Sky um subscription to make sure you know theyre getting decent TV in their homes. Here Faafoi is pointing towards that choice not just being between pay and free-to-air TV, but also being in the form of free content online. Faafoi supports the notion of a new Free-to-Air channel like TVNZ7, without committing to Labour providing the funding for such a channel . He stated that we should have kept TVNZ 7, while also arguing for a place for programmes like The X Factor. Faafoi confirmed there is a place for NZ OnAir funding to enable important quality NZ storytelling via commercial broadcasting. He said that its about getting NZ stories out there, in a context where commercial broadcasters also have challenges in the current context of digital technologies, Not necessarily on air but also into homes and on tablets and all those kinds of things, so, its a very interesting time and its not just broadcasting. Its about how we get the content out there. And I think its very important that we tell New Zealand stories. When asked about TVNZ7, Faafoi said, We dont have a pure television broadcaster at the moment that deals with public broadcasting, state broadcasting. And deals with that content. We lost it when TVNZ 7 came along. And I think we need an outlet. Because while were very well served by Radio New Zealand, we dont have anything that specific purpose like that on television. Faafoi also floated the idea of a new youth-oriented public service radio station, and catering do more diverse demographics, such as Pasifika. He stated theres a need to be more creative in the face of funding limitations. However, digital technologies make it easier set up a new channels. So, for the moment, I am pleased with what Faafoi has stated in a very clear way. He is making all the right noises, and I will be watching closely to see the extent to which these ideas are translated into detailed policy. [Update: boycotting RNZ - you know why] - a state broadcaster need to be as fair and balanced as possible, and to be seen to be fair and balanced. Banning a leftie (Bradbury) and not a rightie (Hooton) when Hootons offence required apologies, and Bradburys didnt, is not even close to balance and fairness. http://thestandard.org.nz/kris-faafoi-on-broadcasting/
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Colin James (ODT): How are the polar bears? Is NZ bothering? 24 September 2013 Is our air and water getting warmer? If so, do we humans want to do something about it? If so, do we here want to be up with the leaders and innovators? John Key's answer at the recent Pacific Islands Forum was, in effect, yes, yes and yes. He signed up to a declaration of a "need for urgent action at all levels" and "a responsibility for all to act to urgently reduce and phase down greenhouse gas (GHG) pollution". "We commit to be Climate Leaders" (in capitals). "To lead is to act." Low-lying small island states of the Pacific sort are vociferous in the United Nations (UN) climate change talks. They fear gradual inundation when the sea rises as it warms and as land ice melts into it. How serious was Key? Ministers talk up action: the global research alliance initiative on animal methane, support for geothermal potential, suggesting to China it could source energy here, renewable energy aid to Pacific states, backing for biofuels research, leading the push against fossil fuel subsidies (which far outweigh fossil fuel taxes worldwide) and a high-profile role in recent UN climate summits. They point to the only emissions trading scheme (ETS) covering all six GHGs. Ministers also say the ETS enables GHG reductions at "least cost". Climate measures must not hold back the drive to double agricultural exports. So the government has been light on "complementary measures", such as energy efficiency (not steering away from fossil fuels), biofuels targets, wind and solar electricity promotion and innovative transport and city planning which can as a side-effect reduce carbon emissions (and, in some cases, have economic side-benefits). It has left local councils to deal with sea level rise. It has tabled in the UN talks a cautious initial commitment to cut net emissions by 5 per cent of 1990 levels by 2020, a smidgeon below the 2008-12 commitment of a zero cut under the Kyoto Protocol. (Though as other countries act and apply peer pressure in the talks, the target is likely to get a bit more ambitious.) The government has also ensured a low carbon price in the ETS by not restricting access to "hot air" reduction units from Russia and like states, as other ETSs do. Industry can go on emitting at very little cost, as figures issued last week by the Ministry for the Environment (MfE) showed.
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MfE's figures also showed a net reduction in carbon-absorbing plantation forest. The carbon price is too low for investors. All this fits Key's pre-forum line that New Zealand should be in the pack, not out in front. Though per capita we are among the world's highest GHG emitters, if we cut to zero the global effect would be microscopic. So is Key a "climate leader"? Tony de Brum, a minister in the forum's host government, the Marshall Islands, was doubtful after some of his post-forum comments. On Friday the first of the new round of reports by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) scientists will be issued. New Zealand scientists have been prominently involved. Sceptics and deniers got in first. A spate of news reports last week off leaks of a draft had headlines such as "IPCC models getting mushy" and "We got it wrong on warming, says IPCC". So, relax. The polar bears will be fine. The leak-based reports draw on the near-stall in measured warming over the past 15 years, which sceptics say falsifies the IPCC's earlier models. (It last reported in 2007.) The other side, the prophets of apocalypse, will likely say the IPCC is conservative and ignores some recent science. Actually, science is never absolute and climate science is still evolving so there will be continuing adjustments, up and down, to measurements and projections. All scientists can do, as controversial environmental statistician Bjorn Lomborg wrote last week, is give the best information available at any time -which he quoted an IPCC draft as saying is a 95 per cent certainty that humans have generated half the warming since 1950, that warming is continuing (even if in one of its periodic rests, for which there is a range of hypotheses) and that by 2100 the air will have warmed 1-3.7 degrees and the sea will have risen 40-60 centimetres. Warming over 2 degrees could trigger significant weather pattern changes. Lomborg thinks green-energy technology will go a long way to mitigating this in time. Eric Martinot, a global renewable energy expert, says investment is now expanding very fast for intrinsic reasons, independently of carbon pricing. Lomborg is a sceptic of strong climate change action but nevertheless says: "Global warming is real". The vast majority of climate-specialist scientists agree. So will the polar bears be fine?
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For a government, it comes down to risk management. Has Key gauged the risks right -- not just environmental and economic risks, but political risk, globally as well as at home? New Zealand's bargaining chip in world affairs is good global citizenship: being a leader when it counts and meaning what you say. http://www.colinjames.co.nz/ODT/ODT_2013/ODT_13Sep24.htm
NZ Politics Daily: 4 October 2013 Michael Field (Stuff): Helen Clark conquers fear - almost Last updated 09:09 02/10/2013
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UN Development Programme head Helen Clark reckons being resilient and self-reliant from a young age has led to her international success. "I think I've conquered fear," the former New Zealand prime minister told CNN. "Except I'm not going into a parachute jump. I don't want to go into a bungee jump - wonderful revenue earner for New Zealand tourism that it is. And I don't want to do a deep sea dive," she said. "So there's three things off my list but I'll try almost anything else." Clark was appearing on CNN's Leading Women programme which described her as New Zealand's first female prime minister - overlooking Jenny Shipley. Clark spoke of an incident in 2005 when she was flying on a plane when its door flew open. She called it a "bit annoying." Clark joined the United Nations in 2009. "I could not have credibly done this job if I had not had the experience of leading a small country," she said of New Zealand. "There's no greater accountability than having to face your own electors every three years. So I like to think this has been a preparation for this position now." She attributed her success to coming from a line of resilient people. Growing up on a farm in New Zealand, Clark learned to be self-reliant from a young age. "We slaughtered our own meat, we grew our own vegetables. I think I come from generations of extremely resilient people who tend to survive through thick and thin," she said. To illustrate her point, Clark told of meeting another head of state on the steps of New Zealand parliament: "I had the keys in my hand and I said 'come along with me.' I unlocked the door to the private lift and took him up. He was astonished. Where was the army of functionaries who were opening the door pressing the lift button?" Clark believes development will come from empowerment of women.
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"If you can't inherit the family property, if you can't borrow money, if you can't hold title to land or a rental title because you're a woman - this isn't fair," she said. "Often times attitudes towards women can be the tremendous unseen barriers - people don't see a woman doing certain jobs. I've had a lot of experience of crashing my head through glass ceilings so I know it can be done, but it's not something you do by yourself. You have to build support networks." Leading the UNDP came with having to working on the other side of the world from her husband, Peter Davis, in New Zealand. "I don't necessarily want to be remembered as the most popular girl on the block," she said. "I want to be remembered as the girl who made a difference." http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/women-of-influence/9234175/Helen-Clarkconquers-fear-almost
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Greg Presland (The Standard): Crony Capitalism and Chorus

WrittenBy: MICKYSAVAGE - Date published:9:37 am, October 2nd, 2013
The Axe the Copper Tax campaign grinds on ominously for the Government. What is especially ominous is that on the pages of the New Zealand Herald and the National Business Review and amongst the ranks of some of the Governments most loyal supporters there is informed comment that threatens to embarrass the Government deeply. As Chris Barton has pointed out in an excellent article in the Herald the Axe the Copper Tax campaign has drawn an interesting dividing line. On the side of the angels are normally staunch right wingers such as Matthew Hooton andDavid Farrar ready to take the fight to John Key and National. Perhaps Hooton should comment on the honesty of some of Keys comments on the issue. Because there are something distinctly disturbing comments that he has made about the issue. For instance Key previously said two things the veracity of which has been challenged. Firstly he said that there is a chance Chorus will go broke if the Commerce Commission decision about the cost of copper is allowed to stand and secondly he said that the Commerce Commission misunderstood the law. These comments have already been discussed but as time goes by and more detail becomes apparent you have to wonder why Hooton has not been stirred into a lather and questioned the accuracy of what the Prime Minister has said. Key was reported as saying to TVNZ last month [b]asically if the Commerce Commission ruling stands theres a chance Chorus will go broke, in which case the Ultra Fast Broadband (UFB) wont be rolled out. Barton is right to point out that if this was a risk there should have been a notification by Chorus to the Stock Exchange and no such notification has occurred. And when David Farrar doubts that this will happen this you think that it should be checked out a bit more carefully. Farrar has blogged: But the reality is that Chorus would not go bust under the draft determination. They do not say they will. The market analysts do not say they will. Yes the draft determination will adversely impact their profitability and dividends, and that is bad for Chorus shareholders like myself. But that is one of the risks of investing in regulated monopolies. Even Ross Patterson, former Telecommunications commissioner and current adviser to Chorus has said about the claim [i]t doesnt tally with Chorus and Chorus has never said that. The claim presumes that Choruss problems relate only to the Commerce Commission draft determination. This totally ignores that Chorus has admitted that it underestimated the costs of the UFB roll out by $300 million. Deutsche bank thought it was more like $500 million. Either figure suggests that Choruss under estimate of the roll out cost is more of a threat to the companys finances than the Commerce Commission decision. Patterson also cast doubt on Keys other statement that the Commerce Commission was interpreting the law incorrectly and that the Government was going away to have a look at that. Key should discuss this with Amy Adams. Because in her speech introducing the Telecommunications Act discussion document she said: Let me make it quite clear that this process is not about whether the Commerce Commission was right or wrong in its determinations [t]he Commission quite
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rightly followed the prescribed process mandated under the Act and came up with the positions they did. Key did not resile from his position when questioned on this issue in Parliament. The latest area of possible inaccuracy is Keys response to the Covec Report which he described as being fundamentally flawed. Vodafone has had Covecs findings reviewed with another firm of consultants, Network Strategies. Its conclusion is that the Covec Report was flawed in that while the approach it adopted was sound, it had underestimatedthe potential benefits for Chorus. The $600 million estimate of benefit for Chorus was considered to be conservative. The critics of the Copper Tax are not hairy armed trade unionists demanding the end of the capitalist system. They are large Telcos, prominent members of the National Party, and hardened pro free market IT veterans who understand the IT system and just want something that is as cheap as possible and as fast as possible. They support free markets and a level playing field. Key should be very afraid. He is risking his reputation on increasing costs to ordinary Kiwis so that a large corporate can profit. A more classic example of crony capitalism would be hard to imagine. http://thestandard.org.nz/crony-capitalism-and-chorus/
NZ Politics Daily: 4 October 2013 Stuff: Today in politics: Friday, October 4 05:00 04/10/2013 Bigger safety net for migrant workers
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A law to crack down on rogue employers who exploit migrant workers has been introduced. Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse said the Immigration Amendment Bill would see such employers face a jail sentence of up to seven years, a maximum fine of $100,000, or both. Immigration officers could also be granted the right to search an employer's premises and talk to people present to identify offending employers. Key too soft on rights of Kiwis in Oz - Shearer Labour foreign affairs spokesman David Shearer says John Key should have been tougher with Australian PM Tony Abbott over the rights of Kiwis living there. New Zealanders living in Australia are levied half a per cent of their income to pay for the national disability scheme but do not receive anything from it. "Mr Abbott may have the right to make that decision, but it doesn't mean we need to respect it - or even accept it," Mr Shearer said. New judges to join Family Court Attorney-General Chris Finlayson has appointed two new judges. Whangarei lawyer Christina Cook will serve as a Family Court judge in Invercargill. Her legal career began in 1990 and she is a Family Court, ACC and employment litigation specialist. Blenheim lawyer Murray Hunt was also appointed a Family Court judge to serve in Whangarei. Mr Hunt was admitted to the bar in 1984. Both will be sworn in later this month. Simon Bridges big on small packages Short on stature but not on a sense of humour, National's Simon Bridges has had a swipe at a jibe about his height. Earlier this week the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union called on the vertically challenged MP to "stand tall" over mine inspectors, prompting this column to question whether it was taking the mickey. Mr Bridges responded on Twitter: "dompost What's with the none-too-high call?? We all know good things come in small packages." http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/9242382/Today-in-politics-FridayOctober-4
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Isaac Davison (Herald): GM soybean needs animal testing, says lobby group 5:30 AM Friday Oct 4, 2013 The Government is facing another animal welfare challenge - because it will not rely on animal testing to approve a new GM product that has upset an environmental lobby group. Food Safety Minister Nikki Kaye approved a genetically modified soybean in May after 18 months of testing by government agencies. The herbicideresistant soy can now be imported for consumption but it cannot be used in the cultivation or production of GM foods. GE Free New Zealand claims the soybean is an untested, potentially harmful product. President Claire Bleakley said the minister failed to protect public health because the product had not been rigorously tested for its effects on humans. Her organisation also argued that the herbicides the product was designed to withstand were potentially toxic and linked to liver and kidney failure. "Food is essential for life and it is the minister's duty to protect public health. When you have ... toxic chemicals that have never been tested for human safety you cannot guarantee that they are protecting public health," she said. GE Free NZ's complaint was heard last week by Parliament's regulations review committee. Ms Kaye said she was confident in the approval process. She noted that 57 GM varieties were already imported to New Zealand and Australia, which shared standards for food labelling and composition. GE Free NZ said previous GM applications had used animal testing to show the product would be safe for human consumption. In this instance, Ms Bleakley claimed that the testing agency, Environmental Science and Research, had relied on data provided by the applicant and not on animal tests. "We believe that we should be feeding them to animals, specifically small rodents, on a long-term feeding study." In its submission, GE Free NZ cited a Brazilian study in which transgenic soybeans had provoked an allergic reaction in some subjects. The minister said New Zealand was able to opt out of approving a product if it had serious safety concerns.
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"The recommendation I had from [the Ministry for Primary Industries] was not to review approval of this genetically modified food. "This soybean has been assessed and presents no threat or risk to human health. I accepted that recommendation," Ms Kaye said. The committee will consider the complaint by GE Free NZ. It can recommend to the House that a regulation be disallowed. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11134433
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Adam Bennett (Herald): SIS seeks new deputy 5:30 AM Friday Oct 4, 2013 Domestic spying agency the Security Intelligence Service is looking for a new deputy chief executive who will advise Prime Minister John Key on internal and foreign threats. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet advertised this week to fill the newly created position. The job description says the new deputy chief executive will be "responsible for the oversight of the performance of the New Zealand Intelligence Community" including both the SIS and foreign intelligence service the Government Communications and Security Bureau. Top of the list for key relationships for the successful candidate is that with Mr Key, "the role will have direct access". While the SIS is New Zealand's domestic spying agency the successful candidate will provide leadership and coordination of both the domestic and external security sector. Another important aspect of the job is representing "the national security and intelligence community in liaising with counterparts in foreign jurisdictions and utilise those relationships to identify and mitigate risks to New Zealand". The deputy chief executive will also "coordinate and lead government response to specific national security events". The job is the first top tier intelligence role to be filled since Mr Key rejected a short list of candidates for the job of new GCSB boss in late 2011 and phoned his old school friend Ian Fletcher inviting him to apply. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11134454
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Lincoln Tan (Herald): NZ passport opens world's doors 5:30 AM Friday Oct 4, 2013 Kiwis have access to among the widest range of visa-free destinations around the world, just behind the United Kingdom and citizens of European Union nations. According to the annual 2013 Henley & Partners Visa Restrictions Index, the New Zealand passport opens doors to 168 countries, five fewer than Britain, Finland and Sweden, which topped the list. New Zealand is ranked joint fifth with Austria and Switzerland in the report that ranked countries according to the number of nations their citizens can access with just a passport. Nine of the 10 top countries that have visa-free access to more than 170 countries are EU members, including Italy, Denmark and Germany, with only the United States being a non-member nation. Passport holders from Arab and Muslim states such as Afghanistan and Pakistan enjoy the least freedom of international travel, with Afghans having visa-free access to 28 countries. Although some Arab Gulf states have freedom of travel among Arab nations, their access is comparatively restricted. China, the world's most populous nation with 1.3 billion people, rates at just 44 on the list, behind Vietnam, East Timor and Cambodia. India, with 1.2 billion, rates at 52, fewer than Burkina Faso and Indonesia, the fourth most-populous country. The report's compilers say there is a strong correlation between average wealth of a nation and its citizens' freedom to travel. "Visa requirements are also an expression of the relationships between individual nations and generally reflect the relations and status of a country within the community of nations," the report said. Immigration New Zealand area manager Michael Carley says New Zealand has special visa waiver agreements with more than 50 countries "to encourage tourism and recognise long-standing relationships". "People from visa waiver countries do not need a visitor visa to enter New Zealand for a period of less than three months, or six months if from the UK," he said.
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Thai immigrant Jackie Neeramphorn, a permanent resident who is applying for New Zealand citizenship, said she "cannot wait" to "enjoy the freedom" that comes with holding a New Zealand passport. With her Thai passport, Ms Neeramphorn is able to get visa-free access to 64 nations, or 104 fewer countries than a Kiwi can. House of Travel retail manager Brent Thomas said he did not believe Kiwi travellers chose their travel destinations based on whether they required a visa, but believed visa-free agreements benefit the in-bound tourist market. "If we have a lower barrier of entry for people to come and visit us, absolutely it would be hugely advantageous from an in-bound tourism point of view," Mr Thomas said. Last year, 1.25 million of the total 2.65 million visitors came from countries with visa-free arrangements, with the UK (1.06 million), USA (882,000) and Japan (375,583) topping the list, excluding Australia. Visa-free travel access 173 - Finland, Sweden, United Kingdom 172 - Denmark, Germany, Luxembourg, USA 171 - Belgium, Italy, Netherlands 170 - Canada, France, Ireland, Japan, Norway, Portugal, Spain 168 - New Zealand, Austria, Switzerland 32 - Pakistan, Somalia 31 - Iraq 28 - Afghanistan (source: 2013 Henley & Partners Visa Restriction Index) http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11134400
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Herald: Kiwi buys Mediterranean island - for a bargain 10:03 AM Thursday Oct 3, 2013 A New Zealand businessman has forked out nearly $5 million for a pristine island in the Mediterranean. The businessman bought Budelli Island, considered to be one of the most beautiful islands in the Mediterranean, at auction for 2.94m euro (NZ$4.8m), after the previous owner went bankrupt, The Local website reported. Budelli is part of the La Maddalena island group which lies between Sardinia and Corsica. The New Zealander, who owns a business in Switzerland, has not been named by the Italian media but his lawyer, GiMura, described him as a "true environmentalist" who has been "in love with the Maddelena archipelago for decades", the Unione Sarda website said. The buyer has been named in an Italian website as Michael Harte, the chief information officer for Australia's Commonwealth Bank, Radio New Zealand reported. Mura told Unione Sarda his client had lived in several parts of the world and was involved in significant marine and land conservation projects. Mura said the entrepreneur bought the island, which is home to 'Pink' beach, a national park, with the aim of protecting the ecosystem. However, the island paradise might not stay in New Zealand hands for long as the Ministry of Environment and the Park Authority has the right to enforce the "right of pre-emption", which allows them to buy the property for the same price paid at auction, within 90 days. Budelli is an unspoilt island of 1.6 square kilometres where construction is banned and access is only permitted alongside a member of staff from the park's authority. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11134044
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Rosemary McLeod (Stuff): Courts still gentle with women 08:15 03/10/2013 Among the interesting beliefs of the recent past was that a woman's role was to be moral guardian of her family - and probably the whole world as well, because we were so nice. Decency was embedded in our DNA, the fairy story said. It made us fall in love with vacuum cleaners and polishing products, and coo at any baby in striking distance. Knit, knit, knit we went, scrub, scrub, scrub. And on Sundays we toddled off to church, angelic offspring and cutely reluctant husband in tow, to get a pat on the head from a man in a frock. What lovely times they would have been, had this been reality. But in real life we are equal to men in every way, including nastiness. The court system is still inclined to be gentle with us, though, as if our greed and dishonesty is accident rather than choice. It's as if that pat on the head for the little woman is so embedded in men's DNA that they can't take us seriously even when we do serious wrong. And for that matter, women in the legal system are sometimes liable to take the same approach. I am unimpressed with the leniency shown to a gambling-addicted Women's Refuge manager in Auckland who cheated the charity out of $100,000. Not only is she avoiding jail, she also doesn't have to pay the money back. The woman, known as Kathy Apiata, is now on a sickness benefit, and it would therefore take her 50 years to repay the money, her lawyer said. Judge Heather Simpson said in that case she'll only have to repay $15,000 over eight years. I'm a great supporter of the Women's Refuge movement, but in this case I found chief executive Heather Henare's indulgence almost as unforgiveable as Apiata's rampant dishonesty. Rather than a tough penalty, Ms Henare said at sentencing, what the charity wanted "is for Kathy to get the help she needs so she's no longer a risk to the community". What help would that be, exactly, that would have a person develop a code of personal morality and shame? Being comforted by a middle-class counsellor once a week, perhaps, or being struck by a thunderbolt? This was brisk offending, begun in 2010 when Apiata was entrusted with all the Henderson refuge's online banking passwords just months after being hired. She saw the thefts, running at about $1000 a week by my reckoning, as "personal loans", and it appears she was losing that much a week, as there was no mention in the court report of new cars or designer kitchens. This unpleasantness isn't just about how Ms Henare feels. It's how taxpayers have a right to feel when we paid for Apiata's gambling spree out of our own
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pockets. It came from Social Development Ministry funds and emergency community grants, nearly all of which was used cold-heartedly for gambling rather than going to the women and children in desperate need that it was intended for. It takes a special kind of person to know so intimately about the suffering of families, but pocket help for them anyway, and this is not what I'd call a sickness in need of a benefit - which amounts to more money out of my pocket, and yours. As for those lenient sentences, a Dunedin receptionist is to spend at least two years in jail for stealing $380,000 from her employer and then forging the signatures of two senior lawyers while on remand. The fraud nearly destroyed the family business she worked for, and spanned six years. Last week, too, a woman who stole $450,000 from a prominent Auckland couple was jailed for three years and four months. This recidivist fraudster had no problem getting work. At sentencing she said she hoped her victims could eventually "put this behind them", an unconvincing attempt at empathy that would have just added insult to injury. This is not about getting help, as Henare suggested. It's about helping yourself, in more ways than one. http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/opinion/columnists/rosemarymcleod/9237639/Courts-still-gentle-with-women
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Cecile Meier (Stuff): Government 'keen to back' new TNZ challenge 17:45 03/10/2013 The Government signalled today that it is prepared to back another challenge for the Auld Mug. Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce praised the efforts of Team New Zealand at a software summit in Canterbury today. New Zealand's involvement in the America's Cup had lifted the country's profile hugely, he said. "We're pretty keen to back the yachties if they're keen to have another go." The technological edge had driven the outcome, Joyce said. "[The team] had undoubtedly a technological edge in the first week and a half, and the other guys caught up and achieved the technological edge in the last week and a bit, and literally that was the game, set and match." This kind of event was an opportunity to associate New Zealand's brand with hi-tech, design, cleverness, and the ability to work as a team. "The team did a fantastic job," he said. International venture capitalists were particularly interested in investing in New Zealand companies as a result of the skills displayed during the challenge. "It's a great time to be in business in New Zealand." Joyce joked about Kim Dotcom's offer to sponsor Team New Zealand. The internet mogul announced last week on Twitter that he would become a Team New Zealand sponsor and bring back the Auld Mug. Joyce said he welcomed Dotcom's offer to fund the next challenge. "If he could just pop up to San Francisco and perhaps lay the challenge on the table, that would save us all a lot of hassle - in so many different ways." The United States is trying to extradite Dotcom to try him on breach of copyright charges. He denies any wrongdoing. http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/americas-cup/9241156/Government-keen-toback-new-TNZ-challenge
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Hamish Clark (TV3): Govt 'landgrab' slammed by Chch residents Thursday 03 Oct 2013 6:09p.m. The Government's seizure of commercial land for the Christchurch rebuild has been labeled as "disappointing" and "totally unnecessary". Owners of nine properties will be forced to hand over their land, after they failed to reach a deal with the Government. The buildings will be cleared to make way for a giant green park, but the Government has apparently lost patience with the holdouts. "It is not drastic," says Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee. "We published the plan well over 12 months ago and it has been extremely wellreceived by people." Barry Hadlee is one of several property owners who have been ordered to hand over their land on Oxford Tce to the Government. "It was totally unnecessary as far as we're concerned," he says. Mr Hadlee's Archerfield Holdings owns the Charles Luney building an office block deemed repairable. "The discussions were amicable, we were a willing seller and I find it disappointing that we are on the bad-boys list," he says. In total, nine properties are on Mr Brownlee's list all in the northern part of the Eastern Frame, the first anchor project as part of Christchurch's rebuild. The Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority wants the land for the frame for a park which stretches two blocks down the river, through Latimer Square and up past the Cardboard Cathedral over 1km. Now, Mr Brownlee has exercised special powers to seize the land needed. Michael Wolf of Lane Neave Lawyers says "it has always been foreshadowed that if an agreement could not be struck privately, then the Crown would compulsorily acquire". Despite this, Mr Hadlee expects to reach a deal next week. "The valuations are not far apart and I would expect in the next few days, by the end of next week, the deal will be done," he says. Any landowners unhappy with the acquisition can appeal to the minister for compensation, or take their case to the High Court. http://www.3news.co.nz/Govt-landgrab-slammed-by-Chchresidents/tabid/423/articleID/315739/Default.aspx
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Radio NZ: Chairman suggests Maori board method be adopted nationwide 7:28 pm on 3 October 2013 Chairman of the Independent Maori Statutory Board in Auckland suggests other places could adopt a similar method for better Maori representation in local bodies. The board was established in 2010 to provide advice to the Auckland Council on issues that affect tangata whenua, instead of creating Maori seats. Its members consult directly with Maori groups and sit and vote in council committees. Board chairman David Taipari says the nature of Maori is such that they would rather be seen contributing from their tribal base or Maori organisation, than as individuals in a council. He says the board enables that to happen and is a very successful model that is worthy of adoption around the country. http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/223650/chairman-suggestsmaori-board-method-be-adopted-nationwide
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The Standard: An expensive shit sandwich 1:02 pm, October 3rd, 2013 Theres a way of giving people bad news called in PR circles a shit sandwich basically you give people something happy and fluffy, then the bad news, then something happy and fluffy so you can brush on past it. And weve been paying for some expensive ones through the Ministry of Primary Industries. The new ministry formed just last year comes with a communications (ie PR) team of at least 18 so its not like they cant sugar-coat news to the public as it is. But beyond that theyve been forced to reveal spending more than $250,000 on 3 PR companies. More than $33,000 on the botulism scare, $30,000 on Aquaculture, $13,000 on didymo, $18,000 on the Primary Growth Partnership Its probably more initially they revealed nothing in response to the OIA until they were pushed further. On top of this, the ministry paid thousands for associated costs such as photocopying, mileage, internet, media monitoring and taxis to the contractors. There were also more than 3400 emails, excluding those sent during the botulism scare, sent between MPI and communications professionals which MPI said would cost $11,278 to review and print and refused to do so. MPI was previously accused of squandering taxpayers cash when it was revealed it would spend $900,000 on rebranding following the merger of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry with the Fisheries Ministry and the Food Safety Authority. Yup, they need to spend so much on PR to tell you your news about what your Ministry is doing. You get to pay to have your info dressed up and sugar-coated, and turned into happy little shit-sandwiches, so you wont notice them giving you bad news unless you take a big bite. And you get to pay up to $175/hour for it, because National have cut back too much on civil servants. Lovely, eh? http://thestandard.org.nz/an-expensive-shit-sandwich/
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David Farrar (Kiwiblog): An editorial on Masseys EXMSS October 3rd, 2013 at 1:00 pm The Manawatu Standard editorial: There are some serious problems at Massey Universitys Extramural Students Society, and they wdill not be resolved by the president sticking her head in the sand and hoping they will go away. I dont think she wants them resolved. She wants to continue in her job regardless. In April, Ms Chapman dismissed the vice-president; in May she dissolved the societys executive; and the following month she appointed three new members to the executive to pass budgets. That same executive then agreed to a proposal from Ms Chapman to increase her $20,000 annual salary, allegedly to $50,000, for her part-time position. $50,000 for a part-time job! The reality she faces, however, is that a significant number of the members she represents have serious concerns about how she has discharged her duties and it is incumbent upon her to address those concerns. Instead, she has rebuffed calls for a special general meeting of the society to discuss the issues and has refused to respond to news media inquiries. If Ms Chapman is as assured as she appears that all her actions are constitutional and in the best interests of her members, one would have thought she would be eager to dispel the aspersions that have been cast on her leadership. While Massey University has understandably steered clear of what is effectively an internal students society matter, the time has come for the university to bring some pressure to bear, officially or otherwise. The very public spat between Ms Chapman and her members reflects poorly on Massey and does nothing to encourage people to enroll in its extramural courses. The university provides funding to the society through a service agreement, so it has some leverage that could be used to help resolve this unfortunate episode. The university are the body that forces all Massey extra-mural students to fund EXMSS. They are culpable for what is happening. Vice-Chancellor Steve Maharey should intervene and tell EXMSS there will be no more money unless they have proper accountability. http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2013/10/an_editorial_on_masseys_exmss.html
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Nelson Mail: Editorial: Positive trends in latest crime figures 13:00 03/10/2013 Statistics can be pulled many ways, but the trends emerging from the latest crime figures are encouraging. Nationally, criminal offences dropped 7.4 per cent in the year to June, the fourth successive year they have fallen. In the Tasman police district, which includes Nelson Bays, Marlborough and the West Coast, there is a similar trend, with total crime steadily trending down since 2008-09. In the year just ended there were 2000 fewer offences than the previous year, taking the total to its lowest level (14,766) since 1995-96. When you factor in population growth the picture is even healthier. The new figures also show big drops in serious assaults, public place assaults, and vehicle thefts. Total burglaries fell, but those from homes recorded a small increase. Sexual assaults and related offences were also down. One of the few categories on the rise were assaults in private dwellings (973 compared to 942), continuing a steady upward trend over the past decade. Nationally, dwelling assaults rose by 1 per cent to 25,167 in the past year. With the absence of a family violence category from police statistics since 2011, dwelling assaults is one indicator of the extent of the problem. Part of the explanation is the increased police focus on domestic violence, resulting in greater awareness and more cases reported. That has been a recurring refrain in recent years, and you would hope there is a point reached soon where these offences also begin to fall. That, of course, will depend on far more than policing, and Government policy. Influences on family violence include socio-economic conditions, education, and entrenched male aggression that sometimes hide behind culture. Solutions are not simple, but public campaigns and police enforcement are tools that can help to change community attitudes as road safety initiatives have shown. Explaining the positive trends in other areas, Tasman district police commander Superintendent Richard Chambers says initiatives to free up frontline staff are paying off.
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Mobile technology, a reduction in paperwork, and a leadership focus on more time in the community had contributed to the falling crime rate. The more visible presence has been shown to good effect in the intensive focus on the previously troubled Bridge St bar precinct in central Nelson over the past 18 months. The latest figures show a 5.6 per cent drop in public order offences, such as disorderly behaviour, in Nelson Bays. The challenge now for police, and the wider community, is to keep making inroads into criminal offending. http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/opinion/editorial/9239702/Editorial-Positivetrends-in-latest-crime-figures
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Gareth Hughes (Frogblog): It is time to change Parliaments prayer October 3, 2013

On Q&A last Sunday, Speaker David Carter raised the issue of Parliaments opening prayer. Its an issue thats been debated for years how relevant and inclusive is having a Christian prayer at the opening of Parliament for New Zealand today? When asked about whether the Prayer was redundant and outdated, Carter replied, You could run that argument that maybe its time to have a look at it but unless there was a movement from Parliament themselves, from the Members of Parliament asking me to have a look at it, I would not attempt to change a tradition without good reason.
Here is the prayer recited every day by the Speaker:
Almighty God, humbly acknowledging our need for Thy guidance in all things, and laying aside all private and personal interests, we beseech Thee to grant that we may conduct the affairs of this House and of our country to the glory of Thy holy name, the maintenance of true religion and justice, the honour of the Queen, and the public welfare, peace, and tranquillity of New Zealand, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Speaking in my personal capacity, I think its time to have a discussion around it. Like many Kiwis and MPs I am not a Christian and I dont think the prayer reflects the rich and varied religious and spiritual life in New Zealand in 2013. To me, its an issue of having Parliament the representatives of the people of New Zealand actually reflect the people of New Zealand rather than only one religious group. We should have an inclusive ceremonial opening that all kiwis can feel comfortable with, whatever their faith.
Not all Parliaments around the world have a prayer, though most inherited the practice from growing out of Britains Westminster model. South Africas National Assembly and parts of Canada have a moment of silence for personal reflection for MPs. In Scotland, they rotate speakers of different affiliations to reflect the make-up of the census. One week they might have a Christian speaker, and another a speaker with no religious affiliations.
On Q&A, Carter said that if the issue were raised, he would probably survey MPs like the Standing Orders Committee did in 2002. Hed then use the results of that survey to guide his decision on whether or not to reform the prayer.
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Thats a good start but we should be going further and asking the public about it too Its important that New Zealanders are able to have a say on the way our Parliament starts each Parliamentary day. It is symbolic for the country, and everybody should be able to contribute to shaping that symbolism. Its time to have a discussion about how we want our Parliamentary day to start whether we want to reword the Prayer, ensure it reflects the many cultures and faiths in New Zealand have a moment of quiet reflection, or something else. For example, Te Reo is only used once a year, yet could easily have a place in every opening ceremony.
When the Standing Orders are reviewed every year, the Green Party always calls for the Prayer to be broadened to reflect the multi-cultural society New Zealand has become. During the 2011 Standing Orders review, we submitted the following:
Recommendation 3 [The Prayer]
The Speaker shall convene an advisory panel of recognised authorities to advise him on ways in which the Prayer can be broadened, in conformity with Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to reflect the multi-cultural society which New Zealand has become.
Well be submitting again this year too and Ill continue to campaign for a modern, inclusive, and relevant start to the Parliamentary day.
http://blog.greens.org.nz/2013/10/03/it-is-time-to-change-parliaments-prayer/
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No Right Turn: Climate change: Time to act Posted by Idiot/Savant at 10/03/2013 02:17:00 PM
Over the weekend the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released the first part of its Fifth Assessment Report. The short version: unless we do something, we're pretty much fucked, with two degrees of warming by midcentury, and four or five by 2100. Which means drought, famine, war, extinction, and the spread of tropical disease. Locally, it means more extreme weather events, more drought, and bankrupt farmers (and its worth noting that that drought report is based on AR4 models; reality is looking much worse than that). So what's the government's policy response to this crisis? Nothing. Climate Change Minister Tim Groser has said that they're not going to do anything, and will continue the heedless charge to exploit fossil fuels - the cause of the problem. Today in the Herald, that drew a deserved response from Brian Fallow: The Government's refusal to do much of anything to curb New Zealand's emissions is as economically myopic as it is morally contemptible. If man's activities are what is warming the planet - and according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change there is very little "if" about it - the good news is that we can do something about it. The bad news is that so far what we are doing about it is five-eighths of not very much at all. The government has said that we'll do our "fair share". Well, our fair share is a fuck of a lot more than what we're doing at the moment, which is nothing. Our ETS doesn't work, because National deliberately broke it. Our forest owners cut down their trees because they can pay for it with mickey mouse "credits" from overseas. Foreign businesses have set up great polluting factories here because the ETS astonishingly pays them to do it. And meanwhile farmers, our biggest source of pollution, get a free ride. We had an opportunity with the ETS to set our emissions on a downward path towards decarbonisation, and National squandered so that their crony vested interests could keep on profiting. But it has to be done, which means that the necessary corrective action - five years of lost ground to make up - will be even more unpleasant And we need to do it. This isn't just about an abstract "saving the planet" (and in particular the tens of millions of lives of those who will perish because of climate change); its about saving us. The storms and droughts we've seen this year have been ruinous. And they're just a taste of our future. Unless we do something. Unless we act.
http://norightturn.blogspot.co.nz/2013/10/climate-change-time-to-act.html
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Vernon Small (Stuff): Forums see PM heading back overseas 10:00 03/10/2013 On Sunday, at the end of his most recent four day stopover in New Zealand, Prime Minister John Key heads off for another week of international meetings. This time it is the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) economic forum in Bali followed by the East Asia Summit (EAS) in mega-rich, but ultra dry (from an alcohol perspective) Brunei Darussalam. It is the latest in a series of international trips for Key that started with the Pacific Islands Forum and took him to Paris, to the Queen's Balmoral estate, the United Nations and for a symbolic hop across the Tasman to meet his newly minted counterpart Tony Abbott. At the end of all that he might need a stiff drink. So it comes as no surprise, perhaps, that behind the scenes some Apec and EAS conference goers are scoping the ins and outs of importing a few bevvies into Muslim Brunei. Seems it can be imported in a strict ''bring your own'' sense. If you are a non-Muslim, over 17, and drink it in the privacy of your own room a dozen cans of beer or a couple of bottles of liquor (total no more than two litres) can be taken in provided you fill out the Royal Customs Liquor Form. You also can't bring it in for two days in a row, presumably to curb pre- and post- midnight cross border raids into Malaysia to stock up. Oh, and you have to drink it yourself not provide it to others. Literally a case of bring - and drink - your own. It's not the sort of trade that will dominate the Apec summit on the resortheavy island of Bali, which will provide a stark stark contrast to the ascetic isolation of last year's affair in Vladivostok. The usual high profile bilaterals will likely dominate media coverage. Indonesian media are reporting he had lodged a request for a meeting with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono but so far there has been no response from the host government. His office confirmed several requests for meetings had been made and there would likely be movement on those before Sunday, although as of yesterday Key's dance card was looking decidedly bare.
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United States President Barack Obama's presence at Apec is expected, but not beyond doubt given the budget stand-off that has closed down some US government services. A pull aside, ''an encounter", a brush past or a brief chat - or whatever the latest diplomatic language defines - is probably the most Key can expect. Although it will be well shy of a formal one on one sit-down they will rub shoulders at the leaders' retreat and the TPP meeting. Key would not turn his back on a photo-op ''grip and grin'' to top off a month of international schmoozing. Media moments aside, from the New Zealand delegation's point of view progress in the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade talks, on the sidelines of the main event in Bali, is the most important show in town. President Obama has set a target for a deal this year, but there are few commentators who expect that to be achieved now that the problematic Japanese are on board and China is expressing an interest. For Key good progress will be measured by the ''momentum'' achieved. The two big sticking points for the US, Japan and New Zealand among others - agriculture and intellectual property - were the big areas where ''more work needs to be done''. If Japan does climb on board it is likely to have some very long and specific ''transition'' arrangements that in the medium term will look for all the world like a series of de facto bilateral trade deals. On a crucial diary deal, as part of the TPP, Key said talks were still at a ''high level'' suggesting they were a country mile from the nitty gritty. Ditto for Australia and its key sugar exports. As Key characterises it, TPP negotiations are ''a long way down the track but not at the finishing line''. He expects the Bali meeting to have ''a positive feel about it'' and he harbours hopes that it can be in place by the end of 2014. International commentators are more sceptical, and as TPP opponent Professor Jane Kelsey puts it, missed deadlines risk becoming a habit. A deal ''next year'' been spruiked for three years now and unless Obama gets ''fasttrack'' approval from Congress to strike trade deals further delays are inevitable. Many see the whole TPP process as less about US ambitions on trade and more about their political positioning in the Pacific against rival China. Any concrete sign of progress, though, would be something for Key to toast even behind closed doors in a Brunei hotel room with duty free plonk.
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http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/9239242/Forums-see-PM-heading-backoverseas
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Ele Ludemann (Homepaddock): Knowing when to go Thursday, October 3rd, 2013 at 9:00 am
National list MP Chris Auckinvole has said he wont be standing at next years election. . . . Auchinvole said yesterday he intended to resign. One could say leaning towards retirement. You never have enough, but I am 68 now, Id be 70 shortly after the next election. It is my intention to retire from party politics. He said he had a number of really good opportunities in the commercial world to pursue. The Scottish-born MP entered Parliament, as a list MP, in 2005 along with half the caucus. In 2008 he won the West Coast-Tasman seat from Labour MP Damien OConnor, who regained it in 2011. . . Ive enjoyed the interaction Ive had with Chris who did a lot of work behind the scenes to help the families of the Pyke River mine victims. Hes the second National MP to announce his retirement from parliament this week. Napier MP, and Minister, Chris Tremain wont be seeking re-election either. . . . Prime Minister John Key indicated he anticipated one or two more would follow suit, but declined to say who. . . One of the few silver linings to the dark cloud of Nationals 2002 election defeat was that it cleared out a lot of longer serving MPs. That allowed a big influx of fresh blood in 2005 and there was a good intake of new MPs in 2008 too. National had a couple of mid-term resignations which brought two fresh faces into the house before 2011, eight new MPs at the election and two more new ones since then. This has given National the mix of experience and freshness which a caucus, and government, need. Good MPs know when to go and its better to go on their own terms than lose a selection challenge although challenges have brought in some excellent MPs including John Key, Bill English and Judith Collins. A few more announcements of end-of-term retirements, in plenty of time for the party and prospective candidates to prepare for selection would be healthy. It would also reinforce the difference between National and Labour which hasnt had nearly as much fresh talent and is still saddled with too many MPs who havent accepted theyre near or past their best-by dates. This could be a positive reflection on the potential employability of former National MPs in contrast to those in Labour who might not be as attractive to would-be employers. But being unemployable outside parliament is not a good reason for clinging on to a seat.
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http://homepaddock.wordpress.com/2013/10/03/knowing-when-to-go-2/
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Karl du Fresne (Stuff): Suspicions of rorting raised 05:00 04/10/2013 The recent conviction of a Hawke's Bay kaitiaki, or "guardian" of customary fisheries, makes a mockery of the word. Napier District Court heard that authorisations issued by Rangi Spooner under customary fishing regulations covered multiple dates instead of the allowed 48-hour period. A man named Jason Brown obtained 11 such authorisations and was later convicted of illegally selling crayfish for $10 each. A separate hearing was told that Brown caught 1730 crays, supposedly for events at his house. That's a helluva lot of crayfish. Spooner was convicted of failing to meet fisheries officer Kelly Pouwhare despite repeated requests arising from concern about the permits he had issued. Under the regulations, kaitiaki who are appointed by their iwi can authorise Maori to exceed normal catch limits and to take undersized fish, but not for commercial gain or trade. The authorisations are issued so that Maori can provide for whanau or guests for example, at a tangi or wedding. It's a recognition of their traditional rights as tangata whenua. But the system depends on trust, and Spooner's conviction is bound to reinforce suspicions that it's wide open to abuse. There is a delicate issue here. Given the importance among Maori of obligations to whanau, hapu and iwi, it's easy to imagine people in positions of trust, such as kaitiaki, being put under pressure to rort the system. In this case, fisheries officers were on to it. But you have to wonder whether other abuses go undetected and if so, how many. Can we be confident that the authorities are always rigorous in ensuring the regulations are respected? Probably not, because bureaucrats and their political masters fret about being labelled culturally insensitive or even worse, racist. Far safer to leave Maori to police themselves and hope for the best. But like the rest of us, Maori have an interest in ensuring the protection of vulnerable fish species. If they are genuinely committed to conservation, the onus is on iwi and hapu themselves to expose and condemn anyone who lets the side down by playing fast and loose with the rules. ----------
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My wife and I have been enjoying an outstanding British drama series called Broadchurch, which Television New Zealand plans to screen next year (most likely, as a cynical friend commented, at 11.30pm or thereabouts). The series, which revolves around the trauma and upheaval caused by the murder of a schoolboy in a quiet English seaside town, reaffirmed my faith in British television drama. Almost everything about it writing, acting, editing, camerawork, music is nigh flawless. It's a reminder that the British seem to have a bottomless reservoir of acting talent to draw from. The only familiar face, from a large cast, is that of David Tennant, a former Doctor Who, who plays the tormented Scottish detective investigating the case. But Broadchurch has a drawback, and it's one that's increasingly common. The dialogue is so mumbled and muffled in places that we found ourselves frequently rewinding the DVD to hear critical snatches of conversation again. Perhaps my hearing isn't what it used to be, but I have no difficulty following what's going on in most programmes. It's only in movies and TV dramas (and more noticeably in American than British examples) that the dialogue is muddy. Presumably directors demand this from their actors on the misguided premise that it sounds more authentic. Unfortunately the problem is compounded by modern flat-screen TVs that sacrifice decent speakers for elegant looks. In the absence of subtitles, the only option is to fork out for auxiliary speakers in the hope of clearer audio. That's progress for you. ---------New Labour Leader David Cunliffe is getting good notices, even from those at the opposite end of the political spectrum, such as former ACT leader Rodney Hide. But I'm withholding judgment. I decided I disliked Mr Cunliffe when, as health minister in the Clark government, he sacked the democratically elected Hawke's Bay District Health Board, describing them as "a nasty little nest of self-perpetuating provincial elites". He struck me then as a politician who liked to throw his weight around just because he could. Nothing since then has changed my view of him. In fact, my opinion was reinforced by an interview with Guyon Espiner in The Listener which exposed Mr Cunliffe as precious, controlling and acutely concerned in fact almost neurotic about his public image.
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His pronouncements before and since his election as leader suggest he's a politician who will say whatever he thinks will ingratiate him with voters. In this respect he is disconcertingly similar to former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd. There's a Uriah Heep-ish quality to Mr Cunliffe: rampant ambition overlaid by a phoney air of humility. Those quibbles aside, I'm sure he's a top bloke. http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/comment/columnists/karl-dufresne/9241296/Suspicions-of-rorting-raised
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David Farrar (Kiwiblog): The parliamentary prayer October 4th, 2013 at 7:00 am
Gareth Hughes blogs on the parliamentary prayer, which is:

Almighty God, humbly acknowledging our need for Thy guidance in all things, and laying aside all private and personal interests, we beseech Thee to grant that we may conduct the affairs of this House and of our country to the glory of Thy holy name, the maintenance of true religion and justice, the honour of the Queen, and the public welfare, peace, and tranquillity of New Zealand, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Gareth says:
Speaking in my personal capacity, I think its time to have a discussion around it. Like many Kiwis and MPs I am not a Christian and I dont think the prayer reflects the rich and varied religious and spiritual life in New Zealand in 2013. To me, its an issue of having Parliament the representatives of the people of New Zealand actually reflect the people of New Zealand rather than only one religious group. We should have an inclusive ceremonial opening that all kiwis can feel comfortable with, whatever their faith. Not all Parliaments around the world have a prayer, though most inherited the practice from growing out of Britains Westminster model. South Africas National Assembly and parts of Canada have a moment of silence for personal reflection for MPs. In Scotland, they rotate speakers of different affiliations to reflect the make-up of the census. One week they might have a Christian speaker, and another a speaker with no religious affiliations.
There are three major options as I see it:

1. 2. 3. The status quo of a Christian prayer Change the prayer so it isnt exclusively Christian, but a general spiritual prayer Have no prayer at all
My preference is 2. I could make a case for 3, but people dont have to take part in a prayer if they dont want to. However having a prayer which is exclusive to one religion is not a good thing, and is a bad precedent.
http://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2013/10/the_parliamentary_prayer.html

NZ Politics Daily - 4 October 2013

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NZ Politics Daily - 4 October 2013

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NZ Politics Daily: 4 October 2013