Tuesday October 8, 2024 

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NZCPR Newsletter: The Judiciary on Trial

The Marine and Coastal Area (Customary Marine Title) Amendment Bill has now had its first reading in Parliament and has been sent to the Justice Select Committee for deliberation. 

With almost 600 claims on hold while the law is changed – some 200 in front of the High Court with the balance lodged with the Crown for Direct Negotiation – the timeframe for dealing with the Bill is tight. The closing date for submissions is 15 October, and the Bill is expected to be passed by Christmas.

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 8/10/24

Reti is among ministers who are spending our money (but his injection for Palmerston North hospital is well below $3bn)

The Government has been in bad odour, down south, after Health Minister Shane Reti and Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop announced advice is being sought on two options “for delivering the New Dunedin Hospital project within its existing funding appropriation to ensure the people of Dunedin get the modern, fit-for-purpose medical facilities they need”.

Mike's Minute: We will never not be jealous of people with money

I was going to suggest we are petty, but I have been saved by the Brits.

They are having a couple of debates over money.

One is involving a woman called Sue Gray, who has quit, and the other is over the role of Cabinet Secretary, which is the country's top civil servant, a job which is currently vacant given the incumbent stepped down for health reasons.

Clive Bibby: “We don’t know how lucky we are”

Most will remember the very popular theme song sung by that intrepid freedom fighter Fred Dagg as he and his band of “Trev” eco warriors waded through the pristine waters of our rural rivers.

But never a more serious truth was uttered in jest.

Here in our own little bit of paradise, well away from the polluted world (most of which is beyond redemption) we still have the ability to change the way we do things before we become collateral damage of those larger nations whose selfish actions will influence what ultimately happens to us all.

Chris Lynch: Filipino population surges in New Zealand as Tagalog becomes one of fastest-growing languages

New data from Stats NZ released today showed that New Zealand’s Filipino population has grown from 73,000 in 2018 to 108,000, making Tagalog one of the country’s fastest-growing languages.

National Party MP Paulo Garcia, New Zealand’s first MP of Filipino descent said “As a proud Filipino New Zealander, I’m excited to see our community expanding and making significant contributions across the nation. The growth from 72,000 to 100,000 Filipinos is a reflection of the hard work, values, and culture we bring to New Zealand.”

Ele Ludemann: Getting stuff done

The first projects to be fast-tracked has been announced:

The 149 projects released today for inclusion in the Government’s one-stop-shop Fast Track Approvals Bill will help rebuild the economy and fix our housing crisis, improve energy security, and address our infrastructure deficit, Minister for Infrastructure Chris Bishop says.

Brendan O'Niell: The fight for civilisation is only just beginning

The West failed the moral test of 7 October. We must never fail like this again.

So, it is here: the anniversary of fascism’s return. It is one year since Hamas’s pogrom. One year since that army of anti-Semites invaded the Jewish State and visited unspeakable terror on its people. One year since the atavistic hatreds of the last century leapt from the pages of the history books and violently imprinted themselves on our complacent world. One year since the pact humankind made in the aftermath of the last Great War – ‘Never Again’ – was turned to dust in the Negev desert and the kibbutzim of southern Israel.

Breaking Views Update: Week of 6.10.24

Tuesday October 8, 2024 

News:
Government’s Fast-track bill sparks controversy
The Fast-track Approvals Bill marks the fourth attempt by Trans Tasman Resources to mine sand off the Taranaki coast.

The Government announced that 149 out of nearly 400 projects, including TTR’s proposal for a 65.76 square kilometre operation near the Kupe oil rig, are now included in the bill.

Professor Robert MacCulloch: The Sinking of the Manawanui

Why did NZ Navy's Chief, Rear Admiral Golding, Pre-Judge the Court of Inquiry into the Sinking of the Manawanui? It will cost NZ over $1 billion that should have gone into Health-care.

The sinking of the Navy's Manawanui ship is an environmental & economic catastrophe for Samoa & New Zealand. Defense Minister Collins and Rear Admiral Golding told the press they would not comment on the causes of the sinking, saying there would be a Court of Inquiry to find out what happened .. and then immediately proceeded to comment on the possible causes of the sinking and pre-judge that very Court.

Dr Guy Hatchard: Misdirection Steps Up a Notch Among Government Agencies Worldwide

Last week we covered alarming official figures for chest pain among the under forties in New Zealand released under OIA. A ten fold increase which began before New Zealand had COVID-19 but after the mRNA vaccine rollout began.

The story was picked up by the Australian media who pressed their state health authorities for data, and bingo the same alarming trend was uncovered in NSW and Queensland. Under pressure in a live interview with 2GB Sydney, NSW Health Minister Ryan Park said he had consulted at length with NSW Chief Health Officer Dr. Kerry Chant and as a result admitted to the interviewer “without a doubt some people presented to our ED’s with chest pain after the vaccination”. The Minister then tried to blame COVID-19 infection as the greater threat, but had to backtrack when the interviewer pointed out the chest pain trend in Australia also began before COVID-19 took hold as it did here in New Zealand.

Kerre Woodham: If we want progess, we need to make it easier to get things built

We’ve got roads, we’ve got mines, we’ve got housing developments, we’ve got 22 renewable energy projects, we’ve got aquaculture farms, we’ve got a roof for Eden Park, you name it, it’s there and it's happening in a town near you, because projects are spread right across the country. And these are the first 149 projects selected by the government to be included in its Fast-track Approvals legislation.

Monday October 7, 2024 

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Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 7/10/24

Fast-track project list leaves us with a puzzle – just one more would have given us a round 150

An announcement from Chris Bishop and Shane Jones, along with the public reactions to it, have given the news media plenty to write and talk about over the past 24 hours or so.

The announcement was the 149 projects that will be included in the Government’s one-stop-shop Fast Track Approvals Bill.

Mike's Minute: More of us are a part of the housing dream

Possibly my favourite stat from the Census was that home ownership is up.

Who would have thought?

Ewen McQueen: Kāwanatanga katoa was the fundamental question at Waitangi

A guest post on Kiwiblog by Ewen McQueen, that the Herald refused to run:

Matthew Hooton wrote in the NZ Herald last week that “There’s no doubt that both Māori and Pākehā in 1840 understood tino rangatiratanga to be a bigger deal than kāwanatanga”.1 However whilst this is undoubtedly the modernist position on how we should interpret the Treaty, the historical evidence suggests something very different.

Dr Michael John Schmidt: From the River to the Sword

* To be “put to the sword” means killed or massacred: ‘ended’1.

* It can also be about how a religion can spread and dominate2.

Let us start, a long time ago and in a place called Libya.

Professor Robert MacCulloch: Lester Levy

Is Health NZ's Chair, Lester Levy, tied to the biggest cost blow outs incurred in this nation's history?

Many years ago I received a mail from the current Chair of Health NZ, Lester Levy, who is now charged with slashing costs across our health system. He was doing part-time teaching at Auckland University as an "adjunct" & asked me to speak at a Tonkin+Taylor conference. They're an engineering consultancy firm specializing in infrastructure. I was surprised to discover Mr Levy was Chairman of Tonkin+Taylor, since to my knowledge he'd not studied engineering. Of course, not being an expert in the core activity of the business is no barrier to corporate success in NZ (Tonkin+Taylor's new Chair is an accountant). Some years later, Mr Levy turned up as full Professor at Auckland University of Technology, which is now in financial difficulty.

Ewen McQueen: The Chieftainship Rests With One – The Governor

Ewen provides further confirmation that the chiefs fully understood they were ceding full sovereignty.

After Hone Heke felled the flagstaff in 1844, a group of Chiefs meet with Governor Fitzroy at Waimate North to discuss the situation.

The transcript of the meeting gives a fascinating insight into how they understood the Treaty - WATCH THE VIDEO below).....

Click to view (then scroll down)

Damien Grant: Why a capital gains tax may not be such a great idea

Like building a waterfront stadium, hosting another Commonwealth Games, or installing Winston Peters as Deputy Prime Minister, this country has a passion for foolish ideas; and eventually we get around to doing them.

One idea that continues to keep returning, like tinea, is a capital gains tax. We had a Working Group of the great and the good that advocated introducing one. Labour occasionally favours one when they are in opposition. Last week the chief of the ANZ bank, Antonia Watson, bravely deflected from the more than two billion profit by advocating for a tax on capital gains.