Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 31/10/24

Sorry, Dr Brash – not this time, but there are sure to be other opportunities for you to land a government appointment

The Government played it safe in deciding who should sit on the Te Māori Manaaki Taonga Trust Board. There was nothing quite like the naming of former ACT leader and Labour government minister Richard Prebble to sit on the Waitangi Tribunal – such as a job for Don Brash, perhaps.

Prebble’s appointment was announced by Minister of Māori Development Tama Potaka, who said it would uphold the work done between the Crown and Māori.

Simon O'Connor: Entitlement

Those on the 'woke left' are only tolerant of those they agree with while routinely expressing entitlement to positions of power and influence.

Another week, another set of examples of ‘woke left’ entitlement.

What I mean by this entitlement, is an increasingly explicit belief that only they (the woke left) have the right to speak freely, to exercise influence, to have power, and represent the community.

David Farrar: Israel declares UNRWA to be a terrorist entity

The ABC reports:

Israel’s parliament has passed legislation targeting the main UN agency providing aid to people in Gaza.

The new laws designate the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) a terrorist organisation, cutting diplomatic ties with the agency and barring it from operating on Israeli soil.

Alwyn Poole: Just providing more funding to schools will not solve the attendance crisis.

The Education Review Office have published a report correctly calling school attendance in New Zealand a crisis and stating:

“Tens of thousands of “chronically absent” students are missing weeks of school – and the Education Review Office (ERO) says it has reached crisis point.

Mike's Minute: Our Covid review will mirror Australia's

If this Government wants a money saving idea then they should cancel the two Covid inquires and simply adopt Australia's.

Australia's review released this week is damning, as indeed will ours be.

Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Will Young Labour ever learn?

Turns out the people who want to shut other people up just do not learn from history, do they?

I consider myself to be reasonably well informed, because I have to be for my job. I read the newspapers every day, I listen to the radio, I have a pretty good idea of what’s going on  - and yet even I had completely forgotten Candace Owens was coming to New Zealand.

Barry Soper: Harris is reading from a familiar political playbook

As political promises go, they should be familiar to all of us- lifting children out of poverty, removing red tape and building much needed houses more quickly, and giving women the right to decide their fertility.

Kamala Harris told her audience she remembered sitting at her mother's yellow formica table as she struggled to put food on it and juggled household bills.

DTNZ: Free Speech Union calls on Immigration NZ to allow Candace Owens’ visit

The Free Speech Union (FSU) has urged Immigration New Zealand not to follow Australia’s decision to deny entry to American commentator Candace Owens.

FSU Council Member Dane Giraud criticised Australia’s move, labelling it a “foolish choice” likely to increase attention on Owens and her controversial views.

David Farrar: Collins on why hate speech should be condemned not criminalised

An excellent address by Attorney-General Judith Collins to the University of Western Sydney (which has also made her an Adjunct Professor of Law).

Dave Patterson: G-7 Gives $50 Billion to Ukraine but Still No Winning Strategy

Is more money just prolonging the agony?

Last week, the seven most prosperous nations in the world, called the G-7, met in Rome, Italy. It decided to provide $50 billion in new bilateral loans to Ukraine, this time serviced by earnings from Russian assets currently frozen in Western banks and other investment institutions. The allocation breaks down into $20 billion from the United States and $20 billion from the European Union (including France, Germany, and Italy), with the remaining $10 billion provided by Canada, Japan, and the United Kingdom.

Dr Michael John Schmidt: Stochastic terrorism.

The power of words and their unintended and intended consequences is fascinating. We have this quote:

Thomas Cromwell: “What then, do we do with this man? He stands between the King and his desire. Who will rid me of him?”

This reflects Cromwell’s frustration with Sir Thomas More and his difficulty in achieving the king’s wishes. In Robert Bolt’s play, A Man for All Seasons, this moment comes alive, showing the dangerous mix of power and intent.(1) The king’s intention to secede from the Catholic Church pressured his officials to remove More as an obstacle to his plans and whether he says it outright or just hints at it, has a huge impact. The result was the orchestration by Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII’s senior minister, of Sir Thomas More’s arrest, trial for treason and execution.(2) The play reminds us of how the desires and words of those in power can translate into real-world actions with devastating effects.

Kerre Woodham: Would self-certification build a better quality of workman?

I suppose I should have, but I had no idea that it takes, on average, 569 days for a home to be built and consented right now. Nearly two years for a home to be built and consented! A decent building company could throw up a house in three months, couldn't they? But no, because of the consenting process, 569 days in this country for a home to be built and consented. No wonder we have a shortage of homes and no wonder they're so expensive.

Wednesday October 30, 2024 

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Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 30/10/24

Podiatrists to get a firmer toehold on healing patients while builders will check the quality of their own handiwork

The Government’s deregulatory impulse is evident in the latest posts on the government’s official website.

David Farrar: Why won’t Te Pati Maori comply with the law?

The Electoral Commission announced:

A referral has been made to Police on 4 October 2024 relating to Te Pāti Māori’s failure to file annual financial statements with the Electoral Commission. The financial statements and accompanying audit report were due on 30 June 2024 under sections 210G and 210H of the Electoral Act.

Mike's Minute: Should newspapers be endorsing candidates?

It's kind of odd that it took Jeff Bezos to explain what I would have thought was the bleeding obvious.

There is a 'to do' in the US election among the elites over a couple of newspapers not endorsing a candidate.

This is an American thing – we don’t do it here and we are wise not to.

Professor Robert MacCulloch: The NZ Herald & Radio NZ Misled the Nation.....

The NZ Herald & Radio NZ Misled the Nation by asserting "65% of Kiwis Support Capital Gains Tax". The survey they used shows around 90% oppose it.

The Herald & Radio NZ owe the nation an apology. Their reporting has hit new lows. No wonder people don't trust the Main Stream Media. Yesterday they reported on their front pages, "Labour closing in on National in latest Ipsos issues poll, with 65% support for capital gains tax". At best its a misleading headline; at worst its a blatant untruth.

Ele Ludemann: Relaxing building regs

Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk has announced a proposal for a relaxation of building consent regulations:

“If we want to grow the economy, lift incomes, create jobs and build more affordable, quality homes we need a construction sector that is firing on all cylinders,” Mr Penk says.

Professor Robert MacCulloch: NZ's Economy wrecked by Ordering Vaccines Late.....

The Australians Make it Official - Labour Leader Hipkins, aided by his henchmen in the MainStreamMedia, Wrecked NZ's Economy by Ordering Vaccines Late & Destroyed Trust in our Government

Days after this Blog released its Two Minute Covid Inquiry, which argued Labour Leader & former Covid-19 Minister, Chris Hipkins, together with former PM Ardern, and Health Chief, Ashley Bloomfield, ordered the Covid vaccine late, which crushed the NZ economy and smashed trust in government as it forced them into an over-reliance on lock-downs in 2021, the Australian Covid Inquiry has released near identical findings, almost word-for-word:

Professor Robert MacCulloch: Maybe NZ's Minister of Justice is Right......

Maybe NZ's Minister of Justice is Right. When Parliament Can't Make Laws, the people have no choice but to take the Law into their Own Hands.

Not so long ago, the Labour Party's Deputy PM Sir Michael Cullen stated in no uncertain terms in Parliament that sovereignty was ceded in the Treaty of Waitangi. According to his Labour Party, "The power of the NZ Parliament to change the law is central to the exercise of sovereignty and therefore the contemporary exercise of Article One of the Treaty". That was in 2004. He did so in the context of the Foreshore & Seabed Act. Now current Labour Leader Chris Hipkins has formally contradicted him and stated the opposite in Parliament, saying “Māori didn’t cede sovereignty in signing the Treaty”.

JC: The Left Need to up Their Game

If this triumvirate of species wants to have any hope of winning the next election they will have to change their specious tactics.

The leftist parties in parliament are exhibiting all the reasons why we voted them out and should not vote them back in. They either can’t recognise or don’t understand that the coalition Government is doing what we voted it in to do. A failure to comprehend this is tantamount to giving the electorate the middle finger and that is the reason they find themselves languishing in the polls.

Peter Williams: It'll be Trump

Harris has serious limitations

The description of Democratic presidential candidate Karmala Harris by American-Australian actor/director Mel Gibson that she “has the intelligence of a fence post” is, while founded in some truth, still rather unkind.

Ms Harris is after all a person who has completed a legal education, albeit not from a highly regarded institution, and held various positions in public law offices until she entered politics as the San Francisco District Attorney in 2003.

Kerre Woodham: Another weekend, another boy racer gathering

Almost four months to the day, on the 30th of June, headlines were trumpeting a police crackdown on boy racers. In Wellington, police issued 138 infringement notices, 19 vehicles were taken off the streets, five vehicles were seized by bailiffs because of unpaid fines, three were impounded, 11 were either pink or green stickered due to compliance issues, 420 people were breathalysed, one person was arrested, and a stolen Subaru was seized. From one boy racer gathering in Wellington.

Tuesday October 29, 2024 

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Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 29/10/24

Freedom of speech – Judith Collins sounds a caution against criminalising what people say

Judith Collins has gone out to bat for our right to freedom of speech.

She cautioned against criminalising speech that forms part of public discourse.

Speech that was offsensive or insulting should be condemned, but “without always needing to resort to measures that create a chilling effect on freedom of expression.”

Mike's Minute: When did public service become about freebies?

Fresh off the back of new Labour Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer accepting free suits and glasses (is it just me or is accepting free glasses even weirder than accepting free suits?), the Deputy Leader of the British Labour Party accepted a free apartment in New York.

I can understand that a little bit more readily. You're in New York, a donor says, "I've got a place, stay there", you needed a place to stay anyway, so it kind of makes sense.

Whereas most people who need reading glasses buy them for themselves.

David Lillis: Respectful Relations between Science and Traditional Knowledge

The following article was submitted to ACCESS: Contemporary Issues in Education (https://pesaagora.com/access-journal/) but was rejected. In declining to publish, the reviewers’ comments were very curious indeed! Readers of Breaking Views might be interested in reading it.  

Science and Traditional Knowledge 

A recent article makes a call for improved debate on science and Māori knowledge (Stewart et al., 2024). The authors suggest that respectful dialogue and greater understandings of the history and philosophy of both science and Māori education are necessary in order to prevent the invalid denigration of Māori knowledge. We agree with the stated need for respectful relations but, in addition, we believe that New Zealand needs a clear consensus on the relative positions of modern science and traditional knowledge within our wider innovation system. However, we will not reach such an agreement as long as traditional knowledge is being pushed politically within education and science.

Ian Bradford: Climate Skeptics and Global Temperatures

Weak scepticism about the climate is the world’s greatest unrecognised crisis. 

If you think up a list of the world’s biggest problems what is the one which gets the least attention?  It may well be weak scepticism.  It’s a planet wide plague that slows human progress.  Weak scepticism goes unnoticed because it is so pervasive and has been a normal part of the landscape for so long. One example that frustrates science literates, is that almost half of American adults believe the Earth is less than 10,000 years old. Every day unknown numbers of people suffer because they trust medical quackery over evidence based medicine. Democracies often produce incompetent leaders because too many people are in the habit of accepting and believing before they think and vote. Every moment, somewhere, children are taught speculative nonsense packaged as confirmed facts. But the root problem for all of this –scarcity of skeptical thinking – is rarely acknowledged, much less addressed in any meaningful way. Few parents encourage their children to be skeptical thinkers.  Most teachers don’t teach it and politicians never talk about it. This is the world’s great unrecognised crisis.

Ross Meurant: End of the Rainbow

As a kid I was told, that at the end of the rainbow, there was a pot of gold.

In 1980 Rt Hon Rob Muldoon (as he was then) responding to Bob Jones (as he was then), demonstrated astonishing prescience, when he said that by 2030 the population of NZ (which at the time was 3 million) would be 2 million. (1)

He went on to describe “a future world in which national barriers were virtually non-existent, in which trade and people flowed freely” and the huge cities which at the time were generally regarded as “dangerous and unpleasant, would instead become meccas of excitement”, whereas NZ would become, “a quiet retreat, its youth and its vitally creative people constantly moving abroad, particularly to Australia”.

John Porter: Equity is a Stalking Horse

In 1975, the expression Global Warming first appeared in the title of an influential scientific paper. “Are We on the Brink of a Pronounced Global Warming?” The IPCC regularly used the terminology Global Warming to describe changes in the average temperatures on Earth. But they found that term became too alienating, divisive and had become very politicised and was easily countered with fact based scientific evidence.

Hence, we witnessed the change in terminology to Climate Change. A much more dispassionate, equable and all-embracing, acceptable term. 

NZCPR Newsletter: The Battle for Democracy

In November 2000, former Prime Minister David Lange stated: 

“Democratic government can accommodate Maori political aspiration in many ways… What it cannot do is acknowledge the existence of a separate sovereignty. As soon as it does that, it isn’t a democracy. We can have a democratic form of government or we can have indigenous sovereignty. They can’t coexist and we can’t have them both.”

He specifically warned about the Treaty of Waitangi: 

“The treaty is a wonderful stick for activists to beat the rest of us with.” He described it as “a source of alternative authority - the basis of a self-perpetuating industry in academic and legal circles” and he made the point that “many on the left of politics who sympathise with Maori aspiration have identified with the cause of the treaty, either not knowing or not caring that its implications are profoundly undemocratic.”

DTNZ: Consumer NZ criticises soaring insurance premiums and lack of competition

Consumer NZ expert Rebecca Styles has highlighted the steep rise in insurance premiums, particularly house insurance, which has increased by 97% over the past decade and by more than 30% this year alone.

Speaking to state media, Styles attributed the surge to a lack of competition in the New Zealand market, where multiple brands are often linked to the same parent companies.

Victoria University stands up for academic freedom - with a few caveats

Only a few days after the University of Auckland’s so-called academic freedom policy was rejected by the university’s Senate, Victoria University of Wellington’s own academic freedom policy has come to light.

Victoria’s policy is likely a response to the government’s stated intention to make such policies a condition for government funding.

Bruce Cotterill: How the America’s Cup can still be New Zealand’s Cup

Another instalment of yachting’s America’s Cup is now behind us. And another victory for Team New Zealand is in the bag. For the record, Team NZ won the best of 13 finals series by 7-2. You’d probably call it a convincing result.

It’s the third time in a row Team NZ has been successful. The New York Yacht Club held the world’s oldest sporting trophy for 132 years. They successfully defended it 24 times in that period before losing ultimately to Australia II in 1983.

Kevin: And Yet Another Bus Attack

This in principle is what New York City did back in the ’90s. They implemented a “broken windows” policy

Emergency services rushed to Church St in Onehunga on Wednesday at about 2.30pm, following reports of a person being stabbed.

[…] Maungakiekie-Tāmaki ward councillor Josephine Bartley said she had seen that residents were expressing concerns for their safety on social media, and it was valid for them to be worried.

David Farrar: The non-disclosure to the Minister

Radio NZ reports:

The Ministry of Health has not won itself many friends this week with its failure to inform minister Casey Costello that one of its staffers is related to her arch-rival in Parliament.

Costello has every right to feel aggrieved.

For months, she has been working with health officials on tobacco reform policy, all the while, unbeknownst to her, one of them was the sister-in-law of Labour’s Ayesha Verrall.

Monday October 28, 2024 

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Sir Bob Jones: Language abuse

I bought my first industrial building way back in 1963 and since then estimate I’ve owned about a thousand or so across New Zealand, but mainly in Australia.

Back in the early 1960s the Aussies used to dismissively refer to them as sheds but soon abandoned that as the market grew and as here, described them as warehouses or factories, depending on their use.

Damien Grant: The circus that is American politics

I enjoy the circus that is American politics but have a similar emotional reaction to the America’s Cup and the eternal Star Wars franchises.

They are all interesting spectacles but I am not invested in the end result because I do not believe it matters.

David Farrar: Can someone explain the difference to Willie between a judge and a prosecutor.

Willie Jackson writes:

The backlash generated by ACT, National, NZ First, Hobson’s Pledge and other right-wing bad faith actors towards Solicitor-General Una Jagose’s prosecution guidelines, has been nothing short of a race-based moral panic to fan the flames of racism rather than challenge them.

Dave Patterson: As Promised - Israel Strikes Iran

It wasn’t a question of if, but always a matter of when Israel would strike back at Iran.

Early Saturday morning, Israel carried out air strikes on Iran – as promised. In what has been reported to be the largest air attack on Iran in history, Israel hit military targets in response to the nation’s 180-ballistic missile attack on October 1. Israel has been under constant siege from Iran’s proxies since the heinous Hamas terrorist raid one year ago, during which 1,200 innocent Israeli civilians were murdered.

DTNZ: Norway to raise social media age limit to 15

Norway plans to increase the minimum age for social media use from 13 to 15 and enforce stricter regulations to protect children from harmful online content and data collection practices.

Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said the policy aims to safeguard minors from the “power of algorithms” and the pervasive influence of tech giants.

Roger Partridge: Tools to rein in judicial overreach

My recent column, “Parliament should rein in our runaway Supreme Court,” sounded the alarm on a troubling trend. Our highest court is overstepping its bounds, reshaping laws in ways that challenge Parliament’s authority. This judicial overreach undermines our democracy. It also means individuals and businesses can no longer trust clear statutory wording or established common law principles to guide their actions.

David Bell: Vaccines and the Length of Our Lives

The commercial imperative to extract money from human bodies is playing havoc with medical education, and the body of knowledge through which the medical professions operate. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the field of vaccines, and their place in determining the length of our lives.

 
The History of Living Longer

Michael Reddell: Pretty (il)legal

The title of this post was, of course, a reference to the efforts of former Minister of Finance and National campaign manager Steven Joyce to defend the use by National of music inspired by or copied from some overseas band’s work. It was, he claimed, “pretty legal”. The courts disagreed.

Sunday October 27, 2024 

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David Farrar: Labour stopped 480 houses, and four years later we have nothing

The Herald reports:

The Māori Development Minister has cautioned the group tasked with deciding the future of Ihumātao – which has so far cost the Crown $500,000 – that they could be shown the door, if they fail to find a solution.

It has been almost four years since former Prime Minister Dame Jacinda Ardern oversaw the purchase of the highly-disputed Auckland land from Fletcher Building for $29.9 million.

Professor Robert MacCulloch: NZ Election 2026 will be fought UK-style....

Labour's Colonial Plans for NZ Election 2026 Revealed: it will be fought UK-style over the level & types of taxes to "rebuild public services".

We like to do self-congratulatory back patting from time to time at this Blog. Why? Since we believe we get most of our economic predictions in NZ correct. The reason is that we chase facts, have good sources, and solid bases for making predictions, rather than an agenda of trying to brain-wash readers into our preferred way of thinking, like most journalists in our Main Stream Media.

Centrist: More media jobs lost across major outlets

Job cuts are sweeping through the media sector, affecting nearly every major outlet as advertising revenue dries up. Changes include eliminating roles, reduced programming, and cancelled news shows. Newsroom co-founder Mark Jennings noted that “for those companies that are entirely dependent on advertising, it’s been grim.” He warns that constant cost-cutting is the industry’s only survival route, but dwindling audiences threaten its stability.

David Farrar: It is a great thing the Human Rights Commissioners were not the ones officials wanted

The Spinoff reported:

On a quiet Friday afternoon in August, justice minister Paul Goldsmith announced the appointment of three leadership roles at the Human Rights Commission: Stephen Rainbow as chief human rights commissioner, Gail Pacheco as equal employment opportunities commissioner and Melissa Derby as race relations commissioner. The three are scheduled to take up their new roles next month.

Professor Robert MacCulloch: Private Charities, Tutors & Mathematics Challenges are Beating the State on Maths Education.....

Back to Basics: Private Charities, Tutors & Mathematics Challenges are Beating the State on Maths Education.

Those of us in the trade have long known that the quality of maths education in NZ was in decline, before it became news headlines and a political issue. So years ago, a Charity I help run started awarding prizes for Maths teachers. Good Maths teachers have a big range of employment opportunities outside teaching - making the salaries they receive in schools often unattractive. The least we could do was offer them Best Maths Teacher Prizes. In 2017 we gave our inaugural Kalman Teacher Excellence Prize to Subash Chandar at Ormiston Junior College in South East Auckland. Today he features on the front page the NZ Herald:

Dr Don Brash: Prebble puts the cat among the pigeons!!

As you probably know Hobson's Pledge has been running a petition to End the Waitangi Tribunal. That campaign continues, but in the meantime we heard some news that brought a smile to our faces... the Government has appointed former Labour Minister and ACT leader Richard Prebble to the Waitangi Tribunal!

The outrage machine has kicked into action with Willie Jackson even saying:

Ele Ludemann: Don’t believe doomsayers

It would be easy to believe that the world is going backwards.

In some ways it is.

Feelings are more important than facts for adherents to science only when it suits.

But in one important measure – GDP per head, life is improving for rich and poor.

David Farrar: Just use the language everyone in a conversation understands

Radio NZ reports:

Waikato public hospital has told nurses not to speak to patients in any language other than English.

A memo sent to all nursing staff last Friday, obtained by RNZ, said concerns had been raised about other languages being used, and that exclusive use of English in all clinical settings was safer for treating people.