Mike’s Minute: It’s not crack, but a mature coalition instead

We have our first agree to disagree clause of this new coalition.

First point to make - what a mature look it is.

New Zealand First has invoked the clause, which is probably not the surprise.

Chris Lynch chats to Winston Peters about the Covid-19 inquiry

New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters has blasted ‘legacy’ media for gaslighting the public and burying a significant COVID-19 inquiry update.

Click to view

Cam Slater: Voters Want a Say on Maori Wards

A recent Taxpayers’ Union – Curia poll found the majority of New Zealanders in favour of local voters having the final say on the introduction or disestablishment of Maori Wards through a referendum. The results showed that 58 per cent of respondents believe that local voters should be the decision-makers, while only 23 per cent think it should be left to local mayors and councillors. The remaining 19 per cent were unsure.

David Farrar: The Aotearoa Educators’ Collective

I had never heard of the Aotearoa Educators’ Collective, until they were quoted at length in this Newsroom article, criticising the Government’s curriculum refresh. I looked up their website and found this is their policy platform:

Samira Taghavi: What happens to societies when dissent is crushed?

I have a question for lawyers of my age or older: in your student days, could you have imagined your law school dean writing that an eminent legal commentator, with years of senior court experience, was an “old racist dinosaur” who should “go die quietly in the corner”?

You might, like I, remember your dean and other faculty members as having had great influence in building your talent and exemplifying skill in truly calm and deliberative debate. But about two weeks ago, Khylee Quince, the Dean of AUT Law School, posted on social media the above ‘go die’ condemnation of Gary Judd KC, after publication of Judd KC’s essay in LawNews on May 3, explaining his move to protect law students (as he sees it) from an education infused with extra-legal indoctrination. Whether you agree with Judd KC or not, no lawyer should mistake such insults for actual debate.

Breaking Views Update: Week of 23.6.24

Wednesday June 26, 2024 

News:
Māori wards bill: Parliament Select Committee says law change should go ahead
A parliamentary select committee has recommended the Māori wards bill go ahead amid strong opposition from its Labour members who say it will be intentionally harmful to Māori, breach the Treaty of Waitangi and lead to an system that is “structurally racist”.

The coalition Government’s Māori wards bill would revert the law back to the old rules for establishing the wards and require a binding referendum on wards that were established since 2020 without a referendum.

Heather du Plessis-Allan: I'm weirdly grateful for the Government's cancer drugs stuff-up

I think we can all see the Nats stuffed up the 13 cancer drugs announcement on so many levels.

They should never have promised specific drugs, that's Pharmac's job.

But having promised them for the first year, they shouldn't have then broken that promise by leaving them out of the Budget. 

And then, it's never really a good look if you finally get dragged to delivering on your promise because of public outrage.

John MacDonald: It should be Labour apologising to cancer patients

When I was off sick last week, I was crook enough to need to see a couple of doctors. And I’m very glad Chris Hipkins wasn’t one of them.

Because, if he had been and if he was true to the noises he’s been making about the Government’s big cancer drugs announcement yesterday, then he’d probably spend all his time apologising to me for taking too long to work out what was actually wrong with me.

Which I wouldn’t give two hoots about as long as I knew what it was that was making me crook and how I was going to get better.

JC: We Need to Perform Better

My headline is in essence the rallying cry from Bruce Cotterill in the Weekend Herald. He headed his article “Priorities, People, Priorities”. I have written a number of articles commenting on Bruce’s contributions, because he invariably hits the nail on the head. His subject matter is always timely, honest and couched in commonsense terms. Bruce works as a professional director and adviser to business leaders, and he is also an author.

idbkiwi: Is She Actually up to the Job?

I note several social-media political commenters have expressed concern at the appointment of Ms Pania Gray as one of two investigators into the hot-button issue of the voting and census shenanigans surrounding Manurewa Marae. This disquiet is based on a perceived conflict of professional interest between Ms Gray and a member of the Whanau Ora Commissioning Agency – that agency having very close ties to Manurewa marae. Be that as it may, I have concerns of a different nature: I question if she is up to the task.

David Lillis: The Tertiary Education Union and Political Activism

About the Tertiary Education Union

According to its own website, the Tertiary Education Union (TEU) was established in 2009 through amalgamation of the Association of University Staff (AUS) and the Association of Staff in Tertiary Education (ASTE). The TEU is a registered trade union, in accordance with the Employment Relations Act 2000. Its national office is located in Wellington and its other offices are based in Auckland, Hamilton, Palmerston North, Christchurch and Dunedin. These offices are intended to provide assistance and advice to members (TEU, 2024).

David Farrar: A Jacinda documentary that gets it wrong before they start!

Yahoo News reports:

Madison Wells will produce a documentary focusing on the public and private life of Jacinda Ardern, the trailblazing Prime Minister of New Zealand who helped introduce strict gun laws following the 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings. She also led her country through the Covid pandemic and grappled with issues such as child poverty and climate change.

NZCPR Newsletter: Time for a Reality Check

In the recent European Parliamentary elections, where 27 European Union member countries voted for 720 MPs, there was a significant shift in voter support away from the left –  including from parties prioritising climate change.

Professor Robert MacCulloch: Who does NZ call when its Ferries, Planes and Electricity Supplies are Broken?

Who does NZ call when its Ferries, Planes and Electricity Supplies are Broken? Lawyers and Accountants (!?)

The Board Chair of Kiwi Rail, David McLean, is a lawyer. He did a Bachelor of Law degree at Victoria University. The CEO of Kiwi Rail, Peter Reidy, has a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Accounting from Auckland University, where I work. Both were asked about what caused the Inter Island Ferry to crash. I assure you - nothing about how trains or ferries work is covered in law or commerce degrees.

Kerre Woodham: The Pharmac funding boost was the best solution

They promised they would. They said it would happen. I have to say it happened far sooner than I expected. Yesterday's post-Cabinet press conference saw Christopher Luxon, Shane Reti et al. announcing up to 26 new cancer treatments, alongside 28 other medicines to be funded as part of the government's $604 million health budget to honour National’s pre-election promise. The promise was made good on with knobs on. Some of the drugs will be available from October/November of this year. Others will be phased in as of next year and it is fantastic news.

Tuesday June 25, 2024 

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Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 25/6/24

Now that astrology is being saluted – would the cancer-drugs fuss have been foreseen if govt read the stars before Budget Day?

The news media made much of the ministerial statement which was announced just after Point of Order monitored the Beehive website yesterday.

The press statement from Health Minister Dr Shane Reti and Associate Health Minister David Seymour was somewhat imprecise in announcing the government’s deliverance of “up to 26 cancer treatments” as part of an overall package of “up to 54 more new medicines”.

Chris Lynch: Revised Three Strikes Law to include strangulation and suffocation offences

The Government has introduced a Bill to restore the Three Strikes sentencing law, with tougher sentences.

Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee said “New Zealanders are rightly concerned about violent crime. We are delivering on our commitment to introduce a revised Three Strikes law as one of our key law and order priorities.

Derek Mackie: Hey Dolly! Parton with Jacinda was the best thing we did

The Dolly Parton classic, Jolene, is the perfect refrain to highlight the character flaws of a real-life woman we all know; who, on the surface, is charismatic and appealing but in reality is two-faced, divisive and, despite the way she shamelessly markets herself, highly selective in showing genuine empathy for others. 

 I’m sure you’ve guessed who I mean; the darling of the progressive Left who has hoodwinked a cheerleading Western media and gullible political and academic establishment that has largely fallen in love with her. 

 Only those who endured five years of her terrible governance know what she’s truly like. 

So, let’s tell it like it really is. 

Hit it! 

Gary Judd KC: The rule of law is not a political tool

The New Zealand Law Society is conducting a survey on the rule of law. See Rule of law survey – add to the discussion, fifth item. In question 5 of the survey, one is asked to describe, with a limit of 2000 characters, what one considers to be the elements of the rule of law. Then, in question 6, which you cannot go to unless and until you have answered question 5, the Society provides its version of the rule of law. Fortunately, I made a copy of the Society’s version, because I find I cannot go back into the survey as I have already completed it. This is how I answered question 5.

Mike's Minute: Ferries, plane and towers - We should learn from this

So it seems we have ended up with three stories.

But all three stories have the same outworkings - we look like a basket case of a country, but we got there three different ways.

Peter Williams: A Rates Tale

Why is a Council flush with funds putting up rates so much?

If a business turned over nearly 87 million dollars in annual revenue, returned a 21 million dollar end of year surplus, owned assets worth more than a billion, had just 25 million dollars of debt and 17 million in cash at the June 30 balance date, you’d think the operation was in fine fettle.

Looking to the future you’d hope that revenue and profit would continue to increase and that if major investment was needed for future growth, there was plenty of headroom to increase debt.

Except that this is not any normal business we’re talking about.

Cam Slater: More Murk on Te Pati Maori

I didn’t think it was possible to find more murk on Te Pati Maori, but it turns out that it is possible to pile the dung heap even higher. Andrea Vance has discovered a video where key members of Te Pati Maori are caught discussing collecting peoples voting forms and “ticking the box for them” on a Facebook live in October 2022 – when three people from the Marae, Tash Kemp, Rangi McLean and Hilda Peters, were standing as candidates for a local board on the Manurewa-Papakura Action Team ticket.

David Farrar: The case for and against letting Golriz off

The Herald reports:

Former Green Party MP Golriz Ghahraman will find out her punishment on Thursday for shoplifting more than $9000 in clothing. …

Professor Robert MacCulloch: Seymour should never have politicized Pharmac....

Seymour should never have politicized Pharmac by making National's Biggest Fundraiser, Paula Bennett, its Chair.

I thought the ACT Party was meant to stand for meritocracy, something that has been missing in this country the past six years. I though ACT was meant to stand for the ideal of an independent Central Bank, run by monetary policy technocrats whose sole focus is to achieve price stability, which is a job that requires technocratic, not political, skills.

Jordan Williams: More ridiculous wastage of taxpayer money

Last week I wrote about some of the ridiculous wastage of taxpayer money by the Health Research Council. We received an absolute barrage of emails in response – with 99% having the same reaction as us: things need to change in Wellington.

I promised you there'd be more to come, and today we're turning our attention to another of the great research quangos that our research team has been looking into: the Marsden Fund, which is managed by the Royal Society of New Zealand.

What's the Royal Society and its Marsden Fund all about?

Heather du Plessis-Allan: Nicola Willis is having a ferry problem

Be under no illusion about it - when that ferry ran onto the sand on Friday night, that became a massive problem for the person who is probably National’s biggest asset, Nicola Willis.

Because she cancelled the ferries, this is going to be on her.

Now I'm not arguing about cancelling those big ferries, I actually think she made the right call. The thinking behind buying them seems to me like a stupid idea.

Clive Bibby: Equality of opportunity

Equality of opportunity is more important than a gerrymandered access to a seat at the Council table.  

Much of the public row being fought in local communities about indigenous rights to representation at the Council table is an irritant that will probably be a short term distraction that will end as quickly as it started even in provinces where those claiming Maori ancestry have a numerical advantage on both rolls.

Once the law governing local body elections is redrafted allowing things to return to the way they were before 2021, a full electoral vote will be required before a Council can introduce Maori Wards although those that are already in place will have a stay of execution until the 2028 local body elections.

So a little crystal ball gazing - what could happen next.

Rob Stock: How coalition Government is resetting Crown entities to end Labour’s social agenda

Former finance minister Grant Robertson’s Enduring Letter of Expectations embedding the former Government’s vision of Māori-Crown relations in the operations of the Government’s myriad commercial entities endures no longer.

In the 2019 letter, Robertson set out how Crown entities ranging from the NZ Lotteries Commission to Air New Zealand to the Commerce Commission should operate to help the Government reshape the country.

Kerre Woodham: Our infrastructure problems weren't going to magically stop with a change of government

The ferry running aground. I suppose given the myriad issues that were going on with the Cook Strait ferries over the past few years, they were not going to go away.

They weren't going to magically stop with a change of government.

Stuff helpfully put together, it was in the Sunday Star Times, a brief history of the recent issues besetting the Cook Strait ferries. 1998, the Aratere was built in Spain. It cost $106 million at the time, which would have been a bargain if it had worked. But within a year of its delivery, the crew dubbed it El Lemon.

Kevin: The Rainbow Mafia

About as subtle as tits on a bull

You’ve probably seen a rainbow-coloured tick symbol on big company websites.

You might be thinking that it’s just the big companies doing work, and that’s partially true.

But if you go to the Rainbow Tick website you’ll see this.

Kineta Knight: Chatham Islands ‘run out of fuel’

Chatham Islands’ residents have no access to either petrol or diesel, with plans to bring a barge with fuel falling through, according to locals.

A Chatham Island resident told chrislynchmedia.com that council-owned pumps ran out of petrol in May, along with diesel at the pump two days ago.

Professor Robert MacCulloch: Shouldn't Charities Hold Diversified Investments....

Shouldn't Charities Hold Diversified Investments, so they don't risk being decimated, like the Tindall Foundation?

In 2022, the Tindall Foundation, which owns around 21% of the Warehouse, a publicly listed company, had nearly all its capital invested in that one company, amounting to a total value of around $344 million (see the Foundation's accounts below). Its total assets were listed at around $401 million. In other words, 86% of the entire portfolio was held in a single stock.

Monday June 24, 2024 

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Chris Lynch: Government unveils $604 million boost for up to 26 new cancer treatments

The Government has announced its delivering up to 26 cancer treatments as part of an overall package of up to 54 more new medicines.

Health Minister Dr Shane Reti and Associate Health Minister David Seymour made the announcement this afternoon.

The Government faced strong criticism after funding for the new drugs was absent in the Budget.

David Farrar: How to reduce fetal alcohol spectrum disorder

1 News reports:

An alcohol harm prevention expert is calling for change after a damning report estimated the cost of alcohol harm to be at $9.1 billion dollars.

The report was commissioned by the Ministry of Health in an attempt to estimate the cost of alcohol harm in New Zealand.

 

It found the cost of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder at $4.8 billion, $4 billion in loss of productivity, and $2.1 billion in the societal cost of road crashes.

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 24/6/24

Ministers avoid mention of “boot camps” but media let us know their introduction is the aim of law and order announcement

Law and order has been to the fore of the latest bunch of ministerial announcements.

Police Minister Mark Mitchell and Associate Police Minister Casey Costello have welcomed the deployment of more police on the beat in Auckland’s central business district.

David Farrar: Educating Duncan

Ben Thomas writes:

Seymour told the committee he used a working definition of regulation as “rules which restrict the use of private property”, causing Labour MP Duncan Webb to demand how rules like, say, clean air quality which did not relate to private property or money fit in.

Mike's Minute: Our infrastructure is an embarrassment to the country

Here is the real problem with a ferry running aground.

It comes in the same week the plane didn’t work and the same week a transmission tower fell over.

It's pathetic. This country is on its knees and it's embarrassing.

Suze: This Shows Some Disturbing Ignorance

Like oil and water, religion and politics do not coalesce nicely

It used to be a prerequisite of good behaviour not to discuss religion and politics in polite company, certainly not in the same sentence, so imagine my surprise when I received an email from a church leader titled “March and Protest”.

Professing to join 40,000 other like-minded nature lovers marching down Queen Street, this man of the cloth spoke about the high value of our conservation estate and our access to the great outdoors, naturally the work of the Creator.

Cam Slater: Oh Boy, Things Are Getting Whiffy

The scandal enveloping Te Pati Maori and Manurewa Marae keeps getting murkier and there is now the rancid smell of political corruption emanating for their body politic.

A branded van, used by Te Pati Maori candidate Takutai Kemp last year, has raised fresh questions amid concerns over allegations relating to Manurewa Marae.

Professor Robert MacCulloch: UK Labour Will Win & NZ Labour will copy its ideas.....

UK Labour Will Win & NZ Labour will copy its ideas about raising funds to rebuild public services in NZ Election 2026, which will include wealth taxes.

The front page news in the UK is that, "The Labour party has been drawing up options for how it could raise money through extra wealth taxes to help rebuild Britain’s public services if it wins the general election" (according to sources who have spoken to the Guardian).
On that note, a high ranking former NZ Labour cabinet minister (and current MP) is spending part of June in Europe, including France - visiting economist Thomas Piketty there, who is the global wealth tax master-mind. This MP will also, no doubt, be comparing notes with the UK Labour Party.

Damien Grant: Free speech is about protecting ideas and values

Why did Caroline marry you? It’s the one question left unanswered after I’d finished Toby Young’s delightful 2001 book; How to Lose Friends and Alienate People. So I asked him.

He seemed unsure, recalling how he’d pursued Miss Brody with relentless and often obsessive determination, which I already knew because, well, it’s in the book. Given the publication was about what a drunken fool he’d been, what prompted the young lady to relent?

“Maybe” he finally concluded “Stalking works?” More on that in a moment, but…Toby who?

John McLean: Masks unmasked

Face masks are becoming a “thing”, and something must be done

I attended the “Unsilenced” Summit on 18 May 2024. Inflection Point New Zealand held the Summit at Wellington’s fancy new Tākina conference centre. I’m not quite sure why I decided to attend, but am delighted I did. The People Watching was particularly fun (and, BTW, the Summit wasn’t anti-trans people).

Dr Michael Johnston: Will artificial intelligence enhance or undermine human intelligence?

It is about 18 months since the release of Chat-GPT, the first widely available ‘large-language’ artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot. Even in that time, the capabilities of AI have massively improved. There is every reason to expect the improvement to continue, in unpredictable ways.

Sunday June 23, 2024 

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Helen Mandeno: A Real Climate Catastrophe

Mahala squats in a smoke-filled hut cooking her mielie meal for her three children.  Coughing racks her frail body.  No school today for the kids – dysentery again.  Somehow Mahala must find the strength to walk the long journey for more animal manure to keep her fire going and to fill her one water pot.  She has no life expectancy.  She has no ‘life’.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, Evie finishes writing her sign.  It states “climate emergency – catastrophe for my generation”.  She decides to change again – “I don’t want to look over-dressed”.  Her Mum has promised to drop her off at the park in her SUV as she goes to yoga.   Evie has a party tonight to celebrate a friend’s 18^th birthday.  The party is on her dad’s super yacht.

The difference is stark.  Evie’s world had unfettered access to coal, oil and gas.  Mahala’s world has been denied the use of their considerable natural resource.

David Farrar: Not a badge of honour

The Herald reports:

Campbell says he’s not bothered by what the business community thinks of his left-leaning views.

“I don’t mind being called a Marxist. I regard that as a badge of honour,” he says.

Professor Robert MacCulloch: The effects of Covid lockdown

Ardern laughs off as ridiculous the awful effect on school children of being online, on screens, during her Covid lockdowns. New research from the London School of Economics proves her wrong.

John McLean: Treason, Sedition........Hate Speech

What are these Legal Leviathans, exactly?

In the turbulent seas battering New Zealand, no Leviathan serpents are more ideologically laden and hard to harpoon than “Treason”, “Sedition” and “Hate Speech”. These salty barbs are being bandied around with increasingly gay abandon.

Let’s rise from the inky depths of our ignorance, snatch Poseidon’s trident, skewer the meanings of this trio of terms and breach the surface out into Enlightenment.

Dr Matthew Birchall: Why we need a User-Pays model to fund transport infrastructure

How New Zealand funds and finances infrastructure is a billion-dollar question. In Budget 2024, the Government forecasts that more than $68 billion will be spent on infrastructure over the next five years – a significant capital investment in roads, rail and other projects. Given the sums involved, it matters how this money is spent.

Unfortunately, the recent past paints a grim picture of New Zealand’s ability to invest wisely in infrastructure. The New Zealand Infrastructure Commission notes that despite spending around 5.5 percent of GDP on public infrastructure—higher than Australia and the OECD median—New Zealand ranks near the bottom 10 percent of high-income countries for infrastructure efficiency.

Professor Robert MacCulluch: Has the New Zealand Parliament and our MPs become Irrelevant to our Future?

Here are six reasons why our present National-ACT-NZ First government, although voted in by a majority of the Kiwis, has become irrelevant to the plans of the left:

Dr Oliver Hartwich: The flightless fiasco

When it comes to international diplomacy, few nations can match New Zealand’s knack for unintentional hilarity.

This week, we have once again found ourselves in the global spotlight, thanks to a series of aviation mishaps.

The latest chapter involved our Prime Minister. Christopher Luxon is a man keen on making global connections, but his travel plans keep getting disrupted by faulty aircraft.

Saturday June 22, 2024 

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Dr Michael Johnston: Knowledge is the foundation of critical thinking

New technology typically inspires both utopian dreams and dystopian fears. AI is a salient example of this optimism-pessimism dichotomy.

This week, the New Zealand Initiative released a new report, exploring the implications of AI for education. Welcome to the Machine analyses the risks utopian thinking about AI poses to education. But the report does not take a dystopian view. It also explores promising potential for teachers to use AI productively.