tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34287537561919131442012-02-01T00:30:30.732+13:00Muriel Newmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07397599398767130816noreply@blogger.comBlogger4361100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-59046284104418978312012-01-31T16:09:00.007+13:002012-01-31T20:01:39.298+13:00

Tariana Turia and Pita Sharples say they are unhappy a treaty clause may not be applied to asset sales that are up for partial sale. They are threatening to withdraw Maori Party support for the National Party led government. Mana Party leader Hone Harawira claims that the Treaty of Waitangi could halt the sales process. He said that "Section 9 of the State Owned Enterprises Act says that the

Mike Butlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01740045757855304701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-14262020016121469732012-01-29T16:00:00.006+13:002012-01-30T16:56:35.142+13:00

Maori are debating whether to revive the practice of preserving human heads, the New Zealand Herald reported. Waikato University professor Pou Temara, who is the chairman of Karanga Aotearoa, Te Papa Museum's repatriation programme, which received 20 toi moko, or preserved tattooed heads, from French institutions said artists have replicated the old methods by experimenting on piglets. Professor

Mike Butlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01740045757855304701noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-9869683314024136842012-01-29T14:45:00.003+13:002012-01-29T15:24:26.530+13:00

Far North tribe Te Aupouri on Saturday agreed to end their complaints in return for at least $23.7-million. The mainstream media has provided varying degrees of detail in their reports, but none have detailed the complaints, also referred to as “historical grievance”. The historical grievances “include claims about the Crown’s handling of pre-Treaty land transactions, surplus lands, pre-1865

Mike Butlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01740045757855304701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-90057439202162480372012-01-29T12:34:00.009+13:002012-01-29T13:51:50.859+13:00

Maori health researcher Dr Fiona Cram blames poverty and racial discrimination for Maori child abuse, according to one of two Families Commission reports that show that 52 per cent of all New Zealand children who have been taken into state care from abusive or neglectful parents are Maori. Dr Cram said: "Around the world, indigenous children are over-represented in child welfare systems for many

Mike Butlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01740045757855304701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-41425103613822011342012-01-28T09:22:00.001+13:002012-01-28T09:23:39.952+13:00

I have read claims that US capacity for generating entrepreneurship and innovation will be a pathway out of the current crisis and will lead to recovery and reassertion of US’s former economic ascendency. I disagree with that proposition.  If there is recovery it will be temporary and its situation will settle at a lower level of economic activity. The US is in dangerous state (most of the world

Muriel Newmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07397599398767130816noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-55021657240628491232012-01-28T08:03:00.015+13:002012-01-31T06:35:17.852+13:00

How many more children need to have their faces torn apart or their throats ripped out before regulators and dog owners get real about their responsibilities? It’s not an easy issue to deal with and there is no perfect answer. Most dogs don’t maul people and most people have a mild-mannered dog as a companion not an aggressive breed for protection or status. It’s time for people to get off the

Frank Newmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00081309981968393600noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-76118577399040117002012-01-27T14:30:00.001+13:002012-01-28T06:40:15.102+13:00

Let's face it, getting your Council Rates bill in the mail isn't exactly an exciting experience - rather depressing in fact, especially when they tend to increase year after year. USA President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, once said, “Taxes, are the dues that we pay for the privileges of membership in an organized society.” Well that may indeed be the case but Council Rates certainly aren't cheap when

Steve Baronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18231150911705855174noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-22330635255951282402012-01-26T11:38:00.005+13:002012-01-26T11:58:34.200+13:00

Some clear signals about interest rates are now emerging, making the decision a little easier for those wondering whether to “fix” their floating rate mortgage. At present about 60% of all mortgages are on variable rate which, according to the ANZ, rises to 84% when fixed rate mortgages maturing within the next year are added. This they say is the highest proportion of short-term mortgages since

Frank Newmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00081309981968393600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-86839726347468816932012-01-24T14:26:00.001+13:002012-01-24T14:26:00.556+13:00

New Zealand is a progressive nation when it comes to democracy and politics. Our political system has changed and developed over the last millennium and is nothing like it was back in 1853 when we had our first general election. Now that we have come to a final decision regarding our electoral system, perhaps now is the time to consider a longer election term? Yes, a scary thought for some as

Steve Baronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18231150911705855174noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-11837488989947894512012-01-20T22:41:00.000+13:002012-01-20T22:41:53.032+13:00

Okay, forget, for a moment the monumental folly of the European common currency, which wasn’t really the Germans’ fault. It was pressed on them by Mitterand as the price for French agreement to reunification. Consider, instead, German social policy. We might all learn something from the way the Germans tackle problems that the Brits (and to some extent the Aussies) struggle with.  Consider, for

Muriel Newmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07397599398767130816noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-74089232434158493842012-01-20T22:10:00.000+13:002012-01-20T22:10:16.136+13:00

The persistently fragile economic situation confronting the United States, Europe, and now perhaps Asia presents a grave challenge on how to best reverse the current trend of stagnation through the introduction of sound regulatory and business policies. In dealing with this issue, it is imperative to recognize that the proper response to short-term boom or bust cycles depends on developing

Muriel Newmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07397599398767130816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-42190509798420290322012-01-19T12:44:00.004+13:002012-01-19T20:10:39.331+13:00

NZ on Air obviously has regretted paying Bryan Bruce $105,400 to create his propaganda piece “Inside Child Poverty”, that screened on TV3 a few days before the November election. Pity they did not think it through before they gave him the money. Since I have spent 21 years of managing rental properties, including former Housing NZ flats with concrete block firewalls like those shown in the Bruce

Mike Butlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01740045757855304701noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-54771233401296599092012-01-17T21:30:00.004+13:002012-01-18T11:05:32.799+13:00

News that prisoners freed on temporary release from the Hawke’s Bay Prison near Hastings have been caught illegally taking seafood from a marine reserve while taking part in a rehabilitation programme is a reminder of sorry relationship between people and paua in the bay.Spokespeople from the prison and the hapless social service provider were in the hot seat on One News claiming that they went

Mike Butlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01740045757855304701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-65940467071655350122012-01-17T14:26:00.000+13:002012-01-17T21:57:59.851+13:00

A subject that few people have an interest or understanding in, is economics—even though government economic policy can have an immense effect on our everyday lives, in more ways than we realise. But it is something each of us needs to give more thought to and become more informed upon rather than just trusting elected representatives and those with expertise in these areas. Does it ever seem

Steve Baronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18231150911705855174noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-80370059812627410352012-01-17T14:20:00.000+13:002012-01-17T21:56:59.922+13:00

The Code of Conduct for the International Federation of Journalists states: “Respect for the truth and the right of the public to truth is the first duty of the journalist.” With the exposure of the deceitful tactics used by Rupert Murdoch's News of the World publication, the media is now cast in a shadow of distrust and disrepute. This is a real concern as the media is often considered the

Steve Baronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18231150911705855174noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-26309200033252222092012-01-15T07:09:00.010+13:002012-01-15T23:04:47.485+13:00

2011 was hardly a vintage year for investors. The success stories in the property market were largely about long-term investors picking up bargains due to the misfortune of others, while the sharemarket hardly gets a mention in investment success stories at all – and for good reason – even the experts find it difficult picking winners. Each year brokers are asked by the NZ Herald to pick what

Frank Newmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00081309981968393600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-45096585221646960462012-01-11T15:45:00.002+13:002012-01-11T22:33:13.614+13:00

On the Labour Party blog, Red Alert, Trevor Mallard recently drew attention to a developing debate among British Labour MPs about a new vision being required for the welfare system. British shadow minister for Work and Pensions, Liam Byrne believes that the architect of Britain's social security system, William Beveridge had neither anticipated nor sought the results

Lindsay Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04437693272797130833noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-36121811953632419782012-01-09T08:29:00.005+13:002012-01-09T09:23:14.376+13:00

I’ve written about the Iranian nuclear weapon programme before. (In these columns, 6 and 19 September 2009, 6 April 2010, and 1 September 2010.). In some ways the situation has not changed from the first of these. Iran still does not appear to have deployable nuclear capability. On the other hand, its programme is continuing, despite escalating sanctions and the political difficulties those are

Ron Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15917031566490446937noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-72399372270753083252012-01-03T10:07:00.003+13:002012-01-03T23:28:42.156+13:00

The term “big kahuna” could refer to the Hawaiian surfing god, or could mean “important person” but for economist Gareth Morgan it is part of the title of his new book “The Big Kahuna – Tax and Welfare”. The basic idea is a variation on one that surfaced in New Zealand in 1987 when then Finance Minister Roger Douglas introduced a policy of a 23 percent flat rate of income tax and a new form of

Mike Butlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01740045757855304701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-49783948184743221542012-01-01T08:24:00.000+13:002012-01-01T08:24:38.239+13:00

In R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the District Court for the District of Columbia has blocked for the time being the FDA’s strenuous campaign to issue stringent health warnings on cigarette packaging and advertisements. The 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act gives the FDA the power to “issue regulations that require color graphics

Muriel Newmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07397599398767130816noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-30192717893407864322012-01-01T07:49:00.000+13:002012-01-01T07:49:19.787+13:00

Auckland University academic Peter O’Connor at least got the first line right in his overwrought article attacking the proposed charter schools trial. “There is a fight brewing in schools,” he wrote. Yes, there is a fight brewing. But we should be clear about who’s forming the battle lines, and why. It’s the teachers who are gearing up for a stoush, and the reason is that they see a

Muriel Newmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07397599398767130816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-85885316933021366942011-12-29T11:15:00.003+13:002011-12-29T22:43:44.097+13:00

Matthew Wright’s new book “Guns and Utu”, steps back into 1818-1842 New Zealand, when tribal wars surged across the land, when war parties rushed out to kill, eat, and drink the blood of, their rivals, their anger driven by historic grievances for which they demanded settlement. Anger, grievances, settlements; so what has changed? Here we are 200 years later, when tribes fight in courtrooms,

Mike Butlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01740045757855304701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-77928302326249542702011-12-28T15:59:00.002+13:002011-12-29T09:00:49.857+13:00

How South Canterbury Finance was taken down, how finance companies failed, the new round of privatisation, the Air NZ bailout and train set repurchase, KiwiSaver fee rip-offs, and Chinese attempts to buy NZ dairy farms, all feature in an 80-page new section of a revised version of investigative journalist Ian Wishart’s 2001 book “Daylight Robbery”. A legal notice is posted on the copyright-ISBN

Mike Butlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01740045757855304701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-25387386413113341262011-12-21T21:25:00.001+13:002011-12-22T22:49:48.640+13:00

It was an interesting election night to say the least. The Labour vote collapsed, which will be heart-breaking for many Labour supporters, even though Phil Goff put in a better than expected campaign performance. There was an exceptional result for the Greens with a minor party getting over 10% of the party vote for the first time ever under MMP. The Lazarus like return of Winston Peters probably

Steve Baronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18231150911705855174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-47007505923390704092011-12-21T21:01:00.002+13:002011-12-22T22:51:27.306+13:00

I think I'm becoming a grumpy middle age man—I see very little value for money with what most businesses charge for their product or service and I'm feeling ripped off. The service of most businesses here in New Zealand also leaves a lot to be desired and I swear I'm never going to deal with another large corporation ever again. I'm convinced these businesses must spend at least half their time

Steve Baronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18231150911705855174noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-89899105530852903772011-12-21T20:25:00.004+13:002011-12-22T22:48:59.169+13:00

This Christmas must surely be one of the most financially depressing for many families around the world ,since the Great Depression. As the global financial crisis (GFC) continues to unravel in Europe and the USA, it's tentacles have certainly reached here in the South Pacific. Huge amounts of money have been lost in finance company failures, business failures and the sharemarket. This has led to

Steve Baronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18231150911705855174noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-40298559286056808752011-12-19T00:21:00.001+13:002011-12-19T00:22:14.977+13:00

Cast your mind back to the 1990s. The Berlin Wall had collapsed, and with it the entire rotten edifice of Soviet communism. Democracy and free enterprise were taking root in countries previously kept under repressive state control. Internationally there was a marked swing from left to right. Thatcherism in Britain and Reaganism in the United States had radically changing the political

Muriel Newmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07397599398767130816noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-50809405303563537772011-12-17T23:43:00.005+13:002011-12-18T21:01:14.722+13:00

“Hands off Our Land!” screams the Daily Telegraph, like some shotgun-toting red-faced farmer.  The newspaper, on behalf of the reactionary toffs who form the least pleasant section of its readership, has launched a campaign directed against ‘urban sprawl’ (ie. the rest of us). On a good day, the Telegraph serves up enlightened articles by progressive liberals like Janet Daley and Simon Heffer

Muriel Newmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07397599398767130816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-14729232792695462412011-12-17T23:33:00.002+13:002011-12-18T21:02:06.746+13:00

There is a general consensus that New Zealand must develop more innovative and internationally oriented businesses. Innovation is a prime driver of economic development and can also support higher wages. Yet the election campaign has further locked in place a set of beliefs that deprive innovative companies of the capital they need to fund their forays into international markets. The campaign

Muriel Newmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07397599398767130816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-85941805385328260722011-12-17T23:20:00.008+13:002011-12-18T21:06:46.667+13:00

Anchoring the CBD, or Sinking it? A cornerstone of the Draft Auckland Plan is implementing an underground inner city rail link.  At an estimated $2.3bn this is the single most expensive new commitment in the plan, and accounts for around 15% of capital spending identified. This seems a big price to pay to transform what is already a perfectly functional CBD with adequate and improving public

Muriel Newmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07397599398767130816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-63317402637829235692011-12-09T22:01:00.006+13:002011-12-18T21:09:31.315+13:00

'The scientific reality is that on virtually every claim - from A-Z - the claims of the promoters of man-made climate fears are failing. The A-Z report includes key facts, peer-reviewed studies and the latest data and developments with links for further reading, on an exhaustive range of man-made global warming claims'.  Below is the Introduction to the report.  Full report is available here.

Muriel Newmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07397599398767130816noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-43170005856286300882011-12-09T20:40:00.005+13:002011-12-18T21:10:44.701+13:00

The partner of a man responsible for organising vandalism of National Party hoardings during the election campaign has been cleared to return to work for the Green Party, according to blogger Whale Oil. Anne Heins, executive assistant to Greens co-leader Russel Norman, was last month stood down from her job after it was revealed her partner, Jolyon White, had led a campaign to attach stickers

Mike Butlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01740045757855304701noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-42641194390865538092011-12-09T11:17:00.003+13:002011-12-11T12:48:01.973+13:00

John Robinson’s book “The Corruption of New Zealand Democracy” has been acclaimed as the “smoking musket” that shows how government agencies create information to con the public into believing its “treaty guilt trip”. His 120-page treaty overview was sparked when the Crown Forestry Rental Trust, in 2000, told him to rewrite demographic research that undermined treaty orthodoxy or not get

Mike Butlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01740045757855304701noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-75078057094782159062011-12-04T22:11:00.003+13:002011-12-05T00:53:26.694+13:00

Three stories drew my attention today. Child death and child neglect and child neglect. For ten years I have racked my brain over what can be done to either improve the lot of children who are born into circumstances of material and spiritual impoverishment, or reduce the likelihood of it happening in the first place. Initially I looked at the problem theoretically and philosophically, then I

Lindsay Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04437693272797130833noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-35920854184554443392011-12-03T19:42:00.001+13:002011-12-03T19:51:01.905+13:00

Many of the proponents of man-made global warming are now claiming that climate change is worse than they predicted. According to an Oct. 18, 2011, Daily Climate article, global warming activists claim that the "evidence builds that scientists underplay climate impacts," and "if anything, global climate disruption is likely to be significantly worse than has been suggested. But a forthcoming

Muriel Newmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07397599398767130816noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-33524617430586556982011-12-02T22:50:00.001+13:002011-12-02T22:51:16.145+13:00

If there was one word to sum up the whole body of economic theory, it would have to be ‘incentives.’ People act on incentives. As William Stanley Jevons (1835–82), one of the founding fathers of neoclassical economics, put it, the whole economy is ‘a calculus of pleasure and pain.’ Greece is playing out a most macabre application of incentives. Greece may be the madhouse of the world economy,

Muriel Newmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07397599398767130816noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-28966020912685510852011-12-02T22:42:00.003+13:002011-12-03T07:31:27.330+13:00

Governments all over world are trying to deal with their financial debt problems but appear not to acknowledge the cause - as they battle to control the effects. Massive Government, national and international bank debt is the problem so why is the answer - according to the very people that got us into this mess – even more debt. Banks should be allow to fail but in doing so will bring down

Muriel Newmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07397599398767130816noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-46757694632837966572011-11-30T06:29:00.003+13:002011-12-02T22:45:10.412+13:00

One of the enduring faiths of modern progressive thought is that omniscient policy makers can cancel out the errors of one form of economic intervention by implementing a second. That lesson was brought home to me when I was a third year student at Yale Law School, whenever discussion turned to the perennial debate over the minimum wage. The charge against the minimum wage was that it had to

Muriel Newmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07397599398767130816noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-18462142284641673322011-11-26T13:05:00.002+13:002011-11-26T14:30:08.780+13:00

Media stories during the last week, about proposed Auckland University research into the place of pornography in society, raise much wider issues than the deliberate deception involved in the Marsden Fund reporting of this issue. Apart from the obvious questions about the importance of this particular investigation and others in the recently issued Marsden list, there is a general question about

Ron Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15917031566490446937noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-16517509969254913282011-11-23T21:57:00.004+13:002011-11-24T17:53:06.161+13:00

I am reluctant to accuse media organisations of political bias. I have seen those allegations hurled about far too often and far too loosely, invariably by politically aligned people frustrated that their side wasn’t the only one getting newspaper space or air time. But in the past couple of weeks I have begun to wonder seriously whether TV3 is running some sort of political agenda. My

Muriel Newmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07397599398767130816noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-85187498131106545762011-11-22T22:18:00.011+13:002011-11-24T17:54:02.675+13:00

I am watching the Bryan Bruce documentary about child poverty and am completely exasperated. So much is left unsaid. He blames Rogernomics for everything that is wrong with children's health. His slant is thoroughly political despite contrary pleading that child welfare is an ethical and moral problem. New Zealand apparently used to be a socialist Utopia. That is stated baldly. Bryan Bruce, who

Lindsay Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04437693272797130833noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-81489470964369981932011-11-21T19:48:00.002+13:002011-11-22T22:47:28.338+13:00

Even though direct democracy has been successfully used in Switzerland for over 140 years, it still has its critics. Many see it as a threat to representative democracy and something to be avoided at any cost. There have often been calls for the Citizens Initiated Referenda Act 1993 to be repealed. Former Prime Minister and law professor, Sir Geoffrey Palmer, when discussing the CIR Act in his

Steve Baronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18231150911705855174noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-81664584073371157282011-11-21T18:41:00.003+13:002011-11-22T22:52:51.155+13:00

What do you think of when I say the word 'democracy' and what do you even expect from your political system? It's an important subject, especially when New Zealand is about to go to the polls, yet something most people often take for granted, especially given that over 20% of New Zealanders don't even bother to vote each election—and that number is growing. Just recently I have been forced to

Steve Baronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18231150911705855174noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-78014051675524140462011-11-18T13:25:00.002+13:002011-11-18T13:27:18.448+13:00

I am frequently reminded of Richard Prebble's commentary on the wonderful TV Show “Yes Minister” (still running on SKY). He said “The public thinks that “Yes Minister” is a comedy, the civil service knows that it's a documentary, and the Cabinet Ministers know that it’s a tragedy.” I last quoted Prebble’s comment in an essay “Can a New Government Actually Change Anything?” written just before

Muriel Newmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07397599398767130816noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-4111941357225965512011-11-17T14:39:00.004+13:002011-11-18T07:41:06.594+13:00

It is widely understood that, as a general principle, ‘eaves-dropping’ on the activities or conversations of others without their knowledge or permission, is an invasion of privacy and is to be deplored. This is reflected in our law. On the other hand, it is accepted that covertly observing the activities of drug-dealers, or terrorists, or listening-in to their conversations may be justified.

Ron Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15917031566490446937noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-12570619796290682472011-11-16T14:03:00.005+13:002011-11-16T21:47:21.753+13:00

How squeaky clean is Green Party co-leader Russel Norman over the billboard stickering, and where are the reporters asking all the questions to find out how it all happened? Compare the media reaction to the "Green delusion" pamphlets in 2005 with the current billboard stickering. In 2005, which anti-Green pamphlets were connected to the Exclusive Brethren, and then to National Party leader Don

Mike Butlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01740045757855304701noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-11459766530428588112011-11-15T13:47:00.004+13:002011-11-15T22:43:08.692+13:00

In an effort to differentiate themselves from National, Labour is promising to extend the In Work Tax Credit (IWTC) to beneficiary parents and scrap any work-testing of the domestic purposes benefit (DPB). The first can only be a cynical vote catcher because the IWTC was a Labour creation after all. Or are we to accept that it was a good idea in government but not in opposition? Promoting

Lindsay Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04437693272797130833noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-65211176165716532802011-11-12T23:06:00.004+13:002011-11-12T23:10:48.275+13:00

Who poses the greater threat to freedom?   Colonel Gaddafi?  The Taliban?  Or let’s look closer to home, at a sinister group with far, far greater influence on the future of Western civilization. The Green zealots, with their bicycles and wispy dresses and organic fruit juice, should have us quaking in our boots.  With terrifying single-mindedness, the Green movement is waging war against freedom

Muriel Newmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07397599398767130816noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-21174122779780001372011-11-12T17:11:00.004+13:002011-11-12T22:35:23.435+13:00

Whilst we listen to Messrs Key and Goff and, occasionally, Mr Peters and Mr Brash (and duets from the Greens and Maori), there is also to be heard the distant sound of chickens coming home to roost in Greece and Italy (and, potentially, in sundry other places). Although all the New Zealand parties are, to a greater or lesser extent, in denial about present public expenditure trends, it may well

Ron Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15917031566490446937noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-4921149770712867652011-11-10T13:49:00.009+13:002011-11-11T09:00:35.796+13:00

Property investors are between a rock and a hard place in the coming election with the Labour Party, Greens, and Hone Harawira calling for a range of measures against rental property and the National Party silent about further moves after a number of dramatic changes imposed without warning. Those who expected change under a National-led government did not expect more tax and more compliance

Mike Butlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01740045757855304701noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-42512299372217669372011-11-09T20:18:00.001+13:002011-11-09T22:25:57.424+13:00

On top of voting for your local Member of Parliament (MP) and casting your Party vote this election, you also get to cast two other votes in the Electoral Referendum. It's not a difficult decision and you don't need to have the wisdom of Solomon, or be a Political Scientist to make a sensible decision but it does require a bit of time and effort to understand the various options. In this article

Steve Baronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18231150911705855174noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-70021836893734478582011-11-07T10:41:00.001+13:002011-11-07T17:49:56.653+13:00

Direct democracy in New Zealand continues to be a work in progress. In 1893 New Zealand debated having a constitutional framework similar to Switzerland. Although never enacted, a Referendum Bill was introduced to parliament. However, the Bill only provided for non-binding, government-controlled referendums—in other words, plebiscites. This Bill was also re-introduced again in 1918 but failed. A

Steve Baronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18231150911705855174noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-18004627235587238842011-11-06T16:44:00.002+13:002011-11-06T16:45:44.944+13:00

The debate over the use of fresh water, as is a tradition in this country, is controlled by those who generally speaking have never left their desk but read copious quantities of reports by others whose hands on knowledge of this subject is determined by their proximately to the office water cooler. A case in point was a recent article by Rod Oram in the Sunday Star Times. Orams article

Muriel Newmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07397599398767130816noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-28809728249886039792011-11-06T16:20:00.002+13:002011-11-06T16:36:43.237+13:00

This sort of accusation summed up the initial general election debates between our leading political Pinocchios, prime minister John Key and opposition leader Phil Goff. Mr Key had indeed been caught out in telling “porKeys” when earlier on he had tried to use the Standard & Poor’s downgrade of New Zealand’s long term sovereign debt to suggest in Parliament that the election of a Labour-led

Muriel Newmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07397599398767130816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-37154121103636340512011-11-06T16:02:00.001+13:002011-11-06T16:03:23.040+13:00

The rushed Crown Retail Deposit Scheme introduced by the previous government at the onset of the 2008 general election campaign has cost taxpayers about $2 billion to date of which about $0.9 billion may yet be recovered according to a report this month by the Controller and Auditor General. Since the fee income for the Crown to 30 June 2010 was only $237 million, it looks like taxpayers have

Muriel Newmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07397599398767130816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-66690679138949969732011-11-03T11:49:00.003+13:002011-11-03T21:39:28.494+13:00

The current New Zealand election campaign is increasingly looking like a showdown between what are colloquially referred to as “rich pricks” and “bludgers”. The term “rich prick” was widely circulated when former deputy prime minister Michael Cullen used the term in a heated debate in Parliament in December of 2007, in reference to National Party leader John Key. Cullen later claimed that he did

Mike Butlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01740045757855304701noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-31876607807111361912011-10-30T22:56:00.001+13:002011-10-30T22:57:43.821+13:00

This Halloween, the United Nations declared over the summer, a baby will be born somewhere on Earth who will tip the world's population over seven billion for the first time. Truly do international bureaucrats have the power of prophecy! The precision is bunk, of course, or rather a public-relations gimmick. According to demographers, nobody knows the exact population of the world to within 100

Muriel Newmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07397599398767130816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-8709951487950162752011-10-29T21:14:00.001+13:002011-10-29T21:15:50.267+13:00

Earlier this month, I attended a Chinese-American Conference in Beijing on property rights co-sponsored by the William and Mary Law School and the Tsinghua University Law School. One purpose of the conference was to award in absentia the Brigham-Kanner Prize to retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor for her contributions to understanding the law of property. The intensive two-day discussions on

Muriel Newmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07397599398767130816noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-77092462962173446462011-10-29T20:55:00.001+13:002011-10-29T20:58:22.263+13:00

The fault in the Maui Gas Line is the best news we have had this year. I am confident that most people in New Zealand had no idea how dependent we all are on natural gas as a fuel and energy source and how much benefit the Maui Gas Field provides. The only long term answer to this problem, caused by a leak in a single pipeline, is to have several gas wells distributed around the country (some of

Muriel Newmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07397599398767130816noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-91230257588262694062011-10-25T10:30:00.008+13:002011-10-25T10:52:49.270+13:00

Direct democracy is a concept that a growing number of citizens and states around the world are exploring and embracing. There are 190 million people in Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein and 24 States in the USA who now embrace the referendum system. 70% of the US population now live in a state that gives them the right to vote on initiatives and referendums.  To many people, direct democracy

Steve Baronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18231150911705855174noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-74562595400623237592011-10-23T22:38:00.005+13:002011-10-23T23:28:05.410+13:00

The Draft Auckland Plan is a daunting document – both in ambition and in presentation.  It covers a range of fields.  In what started out as a spatial planning exercise, Auckland Council boldly sets thirty year priorities for central government in areas like transport, health, and education; spells out what industry might do and how it might perform;  and promulgates its own long-term agenda in

Muriel Newmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07397599398767130816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-30211343912546719172011-10-23T22:27:00.001+13:002011-10-23T22:28:11.768+13:00

New Zealanders don't get to vote very often about parliamentary matters.  On 26 November we get to vote in the general election and on the future of MMP.  We can be thankful that we live in a country with such firmly rooted democratic freedoms. Yet some countries, such as Switzerland and the United States, provide greater opportunities for voters to participate directly in democracy than

Muriel Newmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07397599398767130816noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-70980539062101722972011-10-20T08:13:00.004+13:002011-10-20T13:41:25.798+13:00

The NZ Council of Christian Social Services publishes a quarterly Vulnerability Report. The most recent issue contained the following graph which shows the correlation between children being poor and risk of maltreatment or neglect. Children in the poorest decile (10 in the case because it uses the Health scale - not Education) are ten times more likely than the children in wealthiest to be

Lindsay Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04437693272797130833noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-55870180075381709222011-10-19T11:13:00.004+13:002011-10-19T23:04:05.165+13:00

A hundred years ago, the government department responsible for the use of armed force, was called the ‘War Ministry’. Now it is called the ‘Ministry of Defence’ and we like it to engage in ‘peace-keeping’ and not ‘war’. Most citizens are not in, in a strict-sense, ‘pacifist’ (they do not repudiate the use of violent means in all circumstances) but they regret the all too evident human

Ron Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15917031566490446937noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-77855282975161815342011-10-17T22:09:00.001+13:002011-10-17T22:10:02.284+13:00

First published in the Nelson Mail,  October 12... I am in two minds, almost literally, about the Rugby World Cup, and I suspect I’m not the only one. On the one hand, you can look at the event as purely a sporting contest in which teams from around the world compete, in theory, to find out who’s best. (I say “in theory” because the RWC really only determines which team performs best “on the day”

Muriel Newmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07397599398767130816noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-56438004154374422742011-10-14T14:18:00.011+13:002011-10-15T07:20:52.379+13:00

The Nelson Mail reports on a meeting held by Don Brash: "If National needs a scapegoat, if you like, we could be that scapegoat," he said. The main priorities were to cut government spending, reform the Resource Management Act, restore a youth minimum wage and raise the age of eligibility for superannuation. No problem with those but it's so disappointing to again see ACT failing to

Lindsay Mitchellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04437693272797130833noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-37314047171788205822011-10-11T15:05:00.005+13:002011-10-11T23:03:34.475+13:00

It was entirely predictable that news of the death on active service in Afghanistan of L/Cpl Leon Smith of the NZ SAS detachment would be greeted by an almost unanimous media chorus of questions about bringing the troops home. It was predictable because that was what had happened on the previous occasion (the death of Cpl Grant in late August), and, with variations, on occasions before that.

Ron Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15917031566490446937noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-31085738275656874652011-10-10T08:57:00.004+13:002011-10-10T21:58:11.540+13:00

The world is changing — political power is changing. Sovereign governments around the world are persistently signing their countries up to international agreements, laws and conventions, usually with the intention to strengthen human rights, improve free trade due to the increase in global trade, quell armed conflict and to address environmental concerns. The question for New Zealanders to

Steve Baronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18231150911705855174noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-32612222521971122222011-10-09T23:53:00.002+13:002011-10-09T23:53:24.497+13:00

Work-for-the-dole or ‘workfare’ schemes frequently appear on the menu of measures considered by welfare reformers. Indeed the Welfare Working Group proposed one in its final report, currently being considered by the government as part of its election manifesto. Do such schemes work, and what are they intended to achieve? Work-for-the-dole usually entails continuation of a benefit payment in

Muriel Newmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07397599398767130816noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-28145583035324756382011-10-09T23:45:00.002+13:002011-10-09T23:49:08.775+13:00

In his seminal work of 1996 “The Mythical Conception of Rail Transit in Los Angeles”, Jonathan Richmond explained that the powerful myths and symbols surrounding rail allow convictions to displace rational analysis. Once rail is adopted as a solution to urban problems any proposal that appears to promote the viability of rail will also be adopted. Unfortunately, these downstream policies are

Muriel Newmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07397599398767130816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-86309653397440460582011-10-08T08:59:00.007+13:002011-10-08T14:15:09.285+13:00

A settlement signed last week involving Gisborne tribe Rongowhakaata harks back to a tangled history of two fanatical religious cults, warfare, murder, and perpetual land wrangles. The government and Rongowhakaata tribe members signed the deal on September 30, 2011, at Whakato Marae, Manutuke, Gisborne, which includes financial redress of $22.24-million plus interest since 2008, and the transfer

Mike Butlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01740045757855304701noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-83757066302418692682011-10-04T15:15:00.009+13:002011-10-04T18:57:07.507+13:00

Tuhoe's lead negotiator is talking up his tribe's chances of a settlement including self-government of Te Urewera National Park and Lake Waikaremoana as early as next year, according to a report in the New Zealand Herald last Saturday, October 1, 2011.Tuhoe, with 19 other tribes, are in the negotiations stage of their bid to win a treaty settlement. According to an explanation on the Office of

Mike Butlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01740045757855304701noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-61310858267300484712011-10-01T00:03:00.003+13:002011-10-03T00:39:53.186+13:00

The dim news about the current economic situation has prompted the Obama administration to put forward its latest, desperate effort to reverse the tide by urging passage of The American Jobs Act (AJA), a turgid 155-page bill. The AJA’s only certain effect is to make everything worse than it already is by asking Congress to tighten the stranglehold that government regulation has already placed on

Muriel Newmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07397599398767130816noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-4481482264056082862011-09-28T10:44:00.004+13:002011-09-28T23:14:46.951+13:00

A $23-million agreement signed last week revives memories of the 1866 Battle of Omarunui, near Napier, and subsequent confiscation of land belonging to Hauhau fighters involved in the battle. This battle is recalled in my recently published book on my great grandfather entitled The First Colonist: Samuel Deighton 1821-1900. Although the agreement does not mention that battle, Maungaharuru

Mike Butlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01740045757855304701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-37076710361231713272011-09-26T15:44:00.002+13:002011-09-27T11:34:43.104+13:00

When the National Party came to power in 1949 it implemented an election policy to have the Upper House of parliament removed and in 1951 it ceased to exist—New Zealand became a unicameral parliament. This came about because during the first Labour government of 1935-1949, the Upper House had become markedly supportive of Labour and therefore seemed superfluous. There was little opposition to

Steve Baronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18231150911705855174noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-437842890286867662011-09-24T21:16:00.004+12:002011-09-24T21:19:49.107+12:00

In an Aboriginal settlement of a hundred or so souls, people gathered under trees to escape the heat of the day. Some whiled away the time playing cards, others just sat there doing nothing. Though it was a school day, groups of children roamed the streets, milling with the stray dogs and rubbish. The air of despondency and despair was palpable. Driving through these communities, I wondered why

Muriel Newmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07397599398767130816noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-26553436521304394252011-09-24T20:57:00.001+12:002011-09-24T20:58:17.218+12:00

In the run up to the election, groups wanting the government to solve child poverty have been very active. A mix of academics, political activists, religious lobby groups etc. say that 200,000 New Zealand children are living in poverty thereby significantly increasing their risks of poor health, educational and social outcomes. But who are these children? The Child Poverty Action Group (

Muriel Newmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07397599398767130816noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-44109626067151202002011-09-23T23:47:00.002+12:002011-09-23T23:49:17.708+12:00

At any point in time a household has a collection of assets that it owns – a house, a car, an interest in Kiwisaver, or maybe a some shares or a rental property.  Few people think of their portfolios as fixed forever. Central government has a range of assets which is much more arbitrary.  Leaving aside those that it would not contemplate selling, like roads, the government has a jumbled

Muriel Newmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07397599398767130816noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-61902759213718811742011-09-18T14:07:00.004+12:002011-09-18T16:36:04.787+12:00

A government report always gets what it sets out to get by carefully phrased terms of reference and hand-picked review panel members. The Doing New Zealand’s Fair Share. Emissions Trading Scheme Review 2011: Final Report, (1) released on Thursday, carefully avoids embarrassing fundamental questions, and delivers a message intended to placate traditional National Party supporters in the run-up to

Mike Butlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01740045757855304701noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-24467988372805699152011-09-17T21:13:00.001+12:002011-09-17T21:16:05.340+12:00

Local government issues seldom stir the passions of the public, or the media, or anyone else –except maybe the politicians and officials directly involved. Rubbish collections and footpath maintenance rarely generate widespread passions beyond their immediate locality. Sports stadia are an exception to the general rule, as we have seen in Dunedin, and the choice of the Auckland venue for the

Muriel Newmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07397599398767130816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-27790901089355698172011-09-16T19:52:00.001+12:002011-09-16T19:53:19.275+12:00

Reflecting recently on his experience as a philanthropist, Microsoft founder Bill Gates spoke about the relative failure of his efforts to promote so-called renewable sources of energy. He told Wired magazine that it was ‘cute’ and ‘kind of cool’ to have solar panels on your roof, but that the economics were ‘so, so far from making sense’. And yet, he acknowledged, that’s where the

Muriel Newmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07397599398767130816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-79822132067136517132011-09-16T14:28:00.006+12:002011-09-16T19:44:14.607+12:00

The World Extra section of a recent edition of the Waikato Times (September 3) leads with an article taken from The Times of London concerning the situation of academic staff at some American universities (religious foundations) who have lost their jobs because they have challenged the literal truth of certain articles of faith. Specifically, some faculty staff were having difficulty in

Ron Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15917031566490446937noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-29741454444328737712011-09-12T17:03:00.002+12:002011-09-13T00:17:31.834+12:00

Free votes (conscience votes) in parliament are not something the average voter ever gives much thought to—yet they often have a dramatic effect on our everyday lives. Many a controversial topic has been decided in parliament via a free vote. Some of these issues have included; homosexuality law reform, prostitution, gambling, abortion, euthanasia, the regulation of social issues such as

Steve Baronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18231150911705855174noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-34513838601178606762011-09-10T01:05:00.000+12:002011-09-10T01:05:18.856+12:00

Privatisation in New Zealand is a political swear-word. Its very mention is meant to invoke some scary image of marauding foreign merchant bankers, here to rip off hard working New Zealanders. It is therefore surprising and a bit gutsy for the Key government to go to the election on 26 November with a promise of partial privatisations of five state owned companies. This has unleashed the

Muriel Newmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07397599398767130816noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-71913264404612169742011-09-10T00:28:00.001+12:002011-09-10T00:29:26.644+12:00

The student loans scheme was introduced in 1992. It provided loans to tertiary students for tuition fees, and course-related and living costs. The loans were repayable (at the rate of 10 cents in the dollar) only when the borrower's income exceeded a threshold. The scheme has become hugely politicised and concessional since then. During the 1999 election campaign the Labour Party promised to

Muriel Newmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07397599398767130816noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-81340495379130018982011-09-05T09:25:00.004+12:002011-09-06T11:26:03.589+12:00

An experiment at CERN, Europe's high-energy physics laboratory near Geneva, Switzerland, is finding tentative evidence that “cosmic rays” from deep space might be creating clouds in Earth's atmosphere and changing the climate. Climate change sceptics have seized upon this as proof that cosmic rays and the sun — not manmade carbon emissions — are the major factors influencing global climate. But

Mike Butlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01740045757855304701noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-48781954568798522432011-09-04T20:52:00.002+12:002011-09-04T21:49:41.302+12:00

What lessons can be learned from Housing New Zealand’s bungled attempt to evict three women from their Lower Hutt houses? Despite five courts ruling in Housing New Zealand’s favour in a battle that spanned more than two years and cost         $1,007, 670, the government landlord has had a change of heart and decided to let the women stay. Five tenants, including Robyn Winther, Huia Tamaka, and

Mike Butlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01740045757855304701noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-80613654543898795342011-09-02T22:00:00.003+12:002011-09-02T22:31:55.960+12:00

The housing shortfall in the Auckland Council area – which generates an employment shortfall in the area – is now a crisis. Given the impact on the whole economy, and on accommodation costs in particular, one would think that this would be the top priority for the whole of Council, its Local Boards and its staff. You would be wrong. Council does not seem to be concerned and is instead busy on

Muriel Newmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07397599398767130816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-83025914885776310842011-09-02T21:16:00.001+12:002011-09-02T21:20:25.753+12:00

I was struck by a recent ‘economic state of the nation’ article by award-winning business journalist, Jenni McManus. The article was a kind of valedictory for McManus, one of this country’s finest journalists, who recently left the media for the corporate world. Her article reported on a survey she had done of the off-the-record views of 40 business people and industry sector leaders on the

Muriel Newmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07397599398767130816noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-32034945634518110962011-08-31T12:58:00.004+12:002011-09-01T20:09:43.302+12:00

There is a renewed campaign for more financial support for Radio New Zealand on the basis of a supposed public service it performs. In part, at least, this latter claim is based on a fundamental obligation to deal fairly with different interests in society, and, particularly with political interests as we run up to a general election. The reality is rather different. National Radio offerings

Ron Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15917031566490446937noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-15794131908863804832011-08-30T20:28:00.002+12:002011-08-30T20:31:51.471+12:00

Sometimes it takes severe external shocks to free us of the constraints that limit our ability to take advantage of our opportunities. Could the financial shocks now being played out in Europe and the US actually help unshackle our thinking so we can truly “seize the time”? Some of us are optimistic about our prospects because of the World Cup and the Rebuilding of Christchurch. My instinct

Muriel Newmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07397599398767130816noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-49609012190155924752011-08-28T10:05:00.001+12:002011-08-28T10:06:24.333+12:00

Recently John Key announced plans to introduce a form of what’s known in the world of welfare as income management.  The hands-on approach, targeting ‘disengaged’ 16 and 17 year-olds and teen sole parents, would put oversight of their benefits into the hands of private sector social service organisations. A ‘competent adult’ would provide intensive mentoring in life skills such as budgeting

Muriel Newmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07397599398767130816noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-61700547809280754812011-08-26T11:24:00.005+12:002011-08-27T08:03:05.751+12:00

In 1840 the British government signed the Treaty of Waitangi with indigenous Maori tribes which gave Britain sovereignty over New Zealand. In 1852 the New Zealand Constitution Act was passed to implement the British Westminster style of government, which is based on the doctrine of Parliamentary Sovereignty. British constitutional theorist, Prof. Alfred Dicey said that Parliamentary Sovereignty

Steve Baronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18231150911705855174noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-65966959439891698812011-08-25T11:13:00.005+12:002011-08-25T23:19:48.934+12:00

The earthquake and subsequent tsunami that struck Japan on 11 March of this year, caused enormous damage over a wide area of the east coast of Honshu. It also inflicted major damage on key nuclear assets, near the provincial city of Fukushima. Specifically, the coastal site of Fukushima-Daiichi, which housed six reactors, was so badly affected as to raise questions, not only about the future of

Ron Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15917031566490446937noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-86011155842041869222011-08-24T15:51:00.001+12:002011-08-25T09:03:20.409+12:00

We are seeing riots around the world, many of which appear to be fueled by delinquent youth looking for an opportunity to express their anger with society. Many of which have a burning desire to take what is not theirs and what they have not earned. Unemployment rates amongst these youth have risen dramatically through the continuing economic down-turn. Unemployed teenagers walk down the streets

Steve Baronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18231150911705855174noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-11788294070946279582011-08-20T09:31:00.000+12:002011-08-20T09:31:57.233+12:00

IT’S NEARLY nine months since Simon Mercep took over from Sean Plunket on Radio New Zealand’s Morning Report, plenty of time to allow a measured assessment. And I have to agree with Listener columnist Joanne Black that the pleasant, mild-mannered Mercep is too similar to his co-host, Geoff Robinson. Like many Morning Report listeners, I was surprised that Radio New Zealand didn’t replace Plunket

Muriel Newmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07397599398767130816noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-24608990038918601942011-08-19T22:11:00.006+12:002011-08-19T22:26:32.707+12:00

A group of Maori organizations and Iwi leaders are sending some clear signals to other Maori, and to Government in particular, that they are standing at a crossroads. One road will take Maori into a future in which they participate in the modern world, and contribute to economic growth and development, driven by technology development and employing people on high wages. They may also benefit

Muriel Newmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07397599398767130816noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-39296455866506203172011-08-18T13:45:00.006+12:002011-08-18T14:12:36.516+12:00

There are a couple of observations to chat about. The first is the commentary surrounding the publication of the annual Rich List, the second about why property will remain the preferred investment for a very long time. The Rich List invariably attracts a polarised debate; those celebrating the virtues of enterprise on the one hand and on the other, those promoting the plight of the poor by

Frank Newmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00081309981968393600noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-58102394381939397732011-08-15T13:38:00.003+12:002011-08-15T16:57:33.320+12:00

The leader of the National Party, which claims to believe in personal responsibility, and individual freedom, wants to change the privacy laws to track down the 11,900 teens aged 16 and 17 who are not in education, training, or work, and who do not receive a benefit, and put them on a training scheme. Has anyone else spotted the irony? Prime Minister John Key also told the National Party’s

Mike Butlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01740045757855304701noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3428753756191913144.post-14813780853087453042011-08-15T10:19:00.001+12:002011-08-15T16:58:29.066+12:00

I can assure NZCPR readers that MMP, FPP, PV, SM and STV are not sexually transmitted diseases—but depending on which of these options New Zealanders choose in the electoral referendum at the next election, it will make an enormous difference to the eventual make-up of future governments and parliament. When thinking about a voting system New Zealander's need to ask what it is they want from

Steve Baronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18231150911705855174noreply@blogger.com2