Breaking Views Update: Week of 13.10.19

Tuesday October 15, 2019

News:
Maori get seat at trade table 
The chair of a new body to give Māori input into trade negotiations says it’s vital Māori are at the table given the structure of the Māori economy.

Chris Karamea Insley says Te Taumata, which was appointed by a recent national hui in Rotorua, will work alongside officials from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Trade on current and future international trade talks.

Bruce Moon: Looking at Land

Among the subjects on which the history-twisting power-seekers who infest New Zealand today would whip up the emotions of their supporters the major one would certainly be land. The most recent example is of course that of Ihumatao. There we have the self-appointed protest leader, Pania Newton reported as saying: “we are challenging the notion that the government can simply wash its hands of the confiscation of lands that happened in the 1860s, and the devastating effects of this.”[i]  

Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson chimes in, claiming that the dispute represents a: “continuation of colonisation”.[ii]  The protesters’ ‘facebook” page claims that: “we protect this waahi tapu at Ihumaatao”,[iii]  By contrast, tribal leaders  “point out that claims that the land is on ancient burial grounds and is wahi tapu, are deliberately misleading [and that] the land to be built on was used for growing wheat”![iv]

Lindsay Mitchell: The road to hell is paved with good intentions

The road to hell is paved with good intentions

The Child Poverty Action Group has a list of goals it believes will improve outcomes for New Zealand children.

They are:

• Substantially improve core benefits;
• Remove harsh sanctions that impact on children;
• Ensure that all benefits and all part of Working for Families (WFF) are indexed annually to prices and wages;
• Remove the hours of paid work criteria from the WFF In-Work Tax Credit and extend it to all low-income families;
• Treat adults in the benefit system as individuals without penalising them for being in a partnership;
• Focus on what will give children better outcomes and less on moving their carers into paid work; and
• Ensure that applicants receive all the assistance to which they are entitled.

Gerry Eckhoff: Submission on Freshwater

NZ is the only 1st world country that relies on our primary industries for this designation. In order to achieve the “omelette” for health, education, welfare, indeed all of the social needs of our country, there needs to be an industrial base that can provide for these essential needs. In NZ , that requires use of our natural capital – especially land and water. 

I note the Ministry for the Environment have called 16 public meetings and a similar number with iwi. As for the directly impacted - rural NZ – there are 5 meetings. Just 5. That sets the tone for the outcomes of this so-called consultation. 

NZCPR Weekly: Fake History

Dear NZCPR Reader,   

This week we examine concerns that the Government’s proposed compulsory New Zealand history curriculum could be used to indoctrinate children, our NZCPR Guest Commentator Chris Trotter outlines the sinister agenda of Maori nationalists seeking control of New Zealand, and our poll asks whether you share concerns that the new curriculum will be used to teach fake history.

*To read the newsletter click HERE.
*To register for the NZCPR Weekly mailing list, click HERE. 

Breaking Views Update: Week of 6.10.19

Saturday October 12, 2019

News:
Iwi shock at uni job cut plans
Plans to cut academic jobs from the Department of Marine Science are "disconcerting" and a shock to iwi members who regularly collaborate with scientists, a Puketeraki marae elder says.

Emeritus Prof Khyla Russell, of Karitane, sits on the Ngai Tahu Research Consultation Committee and is on the runanga for the coastal East Otago Taiapure fishery, established by the local hapu.

GWPF Newsletter - Climate Rebellion: Ten Countries Block EU Climate Target Change

German Government Waters Down Climate Bill 

In this newsletter:

1) Climate Rebellion: Ten Countries Block EU Climate Target Change
EurActiv, 7 October 2019
 
2) German Government Waters Down Climate Bill
Deutsche Welle, 7 October 2019

Barend Vlaardingerbroek: Vaccination and parental rights – choosing the lesser evil

When I have a major decision to make about my life, I cast a horoscope.

I am perfectly within my rights to do this whatever the nature of the decision, including whether to submit myself for medical treatment. Unless I can be shown to lack mental competence, I can refuse even life-saving treatment, and the medics would have to go along with it – I don’t actually have to give reasons at all.

And of course I can use the same approach to decision-making when it comes to my kids. After all, they are an extension of me. It’s my parental right, right?

Um, no, not quite.

Stephen Franks: UK Supreme Court prorogue decision

I was surprised, like most lawyers I suspect, that the UK Supreme Court decision was unanimous.  A few recent days in London soaking up the fevered writings of UK journalists left no doubt that judges steeped in London establishment sentiment would be tempted to consider it God’s work to throw a spanner in Boris Johnson’s spokes if they could.

But I assumed that at least some would affirm the approach of the High Court below, with the traditional caution about entanglement in matters that should be resolved politically. For centuries such judicial restraint that has helped keep UK courts and judges somewhat insulated from waves of popular dissatisfaction with politics and politicians.

Breaking Views Update: Week of 29.09.19

Saturday October 5, 2019

News:
Pacific and Māori voyaging heritage celebrated for Tuia 250
New Zealand’s Pacific and Māori voyaging heritage is acknowledged and celebrated today as waka of the Tuia 250 voyage flotilla arrive in Tūranga / Gisborne.

“Today we celebrate Tangata Whenua, the first people of Aotearoa, and the triumphs of the voyaging tradition that brought our ancestors here from Polynesia 1000 years ago,” Minister for Māori Crown Relations: Te Arawhiti Kelvin Davis said.

Karl du Fresne: The rise of militant veganism

My wife and I don’t always agree about things; just choosing a paint colour for the bathroom can take months. But we celebrated a moment of instant accord over breakfast recently.

In front of us was a newspaper account of the black-clad vegan protesters who formed a line in front of the meat shelves in an Auckland supermarket. Shoppers who were prevented from buying meat reportedly lost their patience, lashing out at the protesters.

Bob Edlin: Children's Commissioner Supports Lower Voting Age

Andrew Becroft reckons we are too young and impulsive at age 17 to be treated as adults in court – but we are fit to vote at age 16

The recently launched ‘Make It 16’ campaign – aimed at lowering the voting age in New Zealand to 16 – has support from Children’s Commissioner Judge Andrew Becroft.

Becroft said lowering the voting age would enhance turnout, ingrain the habit of voting and uphold young people’s rights.

NZCPR Weekly: State Control

Dear NZCPR Reader,   

This week we outline how the Labour-led Government is taking New Zealand down the path to socialism and we look into their latest attack on firearm owners, our NZCPR Guest Commentator Dr Bronwyn Howell explains how Jacinda Ardern’s Christchurch Call is leading to social engineering by internet platforms, and our poll asks whether you think State control in New Zealand is excessive.

*To read the newsletter click HERE.
*To register for the NZCPR Weekly mailing list, click HERE.  

GWPF Newsletter - 2019: Arctic Ice Demise Deferred Again

Anti-Climate Policy Revolt Rocks Europe As Dutch Farmers Rise Up

In this newsletter:

1) Arctic Ice Demise Deferred Again
Ron Cluz, Science Matters, 2 October 2019
 
2) ‘There Is No Climate Emergency,’ Hundreds Of Scientists & Engineers Tell U.N.
Valerie Richardson- The Washington Times, 29 September 2019

Bruce Moon: Death Ship Comment and Response

Stuff article: Waikato academic calls Endeavour a “death ship”

A Waikato University academic has labelled Captain James Cook's HMB Endeavour a "death ship".

Dr Arama Rata, a senior research fellow, said the arrival of the replica Endeavour represents a re-enactment of the invasion of Māori land.

Martin Durkin: The Great Global Warming Swindle

Originally broadcasted March 8, 2007 on British Channel 4. A documentary, by British television producer Martin Durkin, which argues against the virtually unchallenged consensus that global warming is man-made. A statement from the makers of this film asserts that the scientific theory of anthropogenic global warming could very well be "the biggest scam of modern times." A must see for truth-seekers everywhere...

Andrew Bolt: 11 Cool Facts on Warming to Calm Down Your Sobbing Child

I promised you a list — easy to print out — of scientific facts that should stop children from being terrified that global warming will kill them. It's time to fight this hysteria, especially after Greta Thunberg's breakdown at the United Nations. Here's the list. Distribute widely.

NO, GLOBAL WARMING WON’T KILL YOU

Are you terrified by claims that global warming is an “existential threat”? That there will be a “great winnowing” and “mass deaths”? That we face “the collapse of our civilisations”?

Karl du Fresne: Peak craziness reconsidered

I wrote a column a few weeks ago suggesting we had reached peak craziness. Alas, I was wrong.

Exhibit A: One morning last week I heard the actress Robyn Malcolm assert on Morning Report that the role of Gandalf in the proposed Amazon TV production of The Lord of the Rings should be played by a woman. And not just any type of woman, but specifically by a kuia (or as she put it tautologically, “an old Maori kuia”).

Henry Armstrong: The Tyranny of the Minorities

In 1835, Alexis De Tocqueville published his seminal treatment on “Democracy in America” - a must read for every university student studying political science in our universities. His main theme was the despotic tendency of majoritarian democracy (you know, majority rule) epitomised by our long gone first past the post (FPP) system of democratic representation. The old FPP system arguably served New Zealand well, with its guaranteed Maori seats and, yes, occasionally, a minority party edging its way into parliament - remember Social Credit?

A significant example where FPP accommodates minority parties is of course the UK where the UDP, Scottish Nationalists and Lib-Dems all have representation.

Donald Foster: The Enigma of Negative Interest Rates

The background:

As the contagion of the 2008 global financial crash (GFC) spread, central banks fought to restore confidence in global financial systems and re-generate economic growth. The main levers used were to lower interest rates and expand debt (quantitative easing/money printing) in the hope that it would be used productively to generate growth, stimulate inflation and with it the incentive for consumers to spend.