Nick Hanne: Is the Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill a risk for our democracy?

Our politicians are scared of Big Tech, and so they should be. But at some point they’re going to have to address it in a way that not only keeps the marketplace competitive, but also democratic.

The Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill is set to have its second reading in Parliament next week. What happens next has significant implications for the right of all New Zealanders to "seek, impart and receive information and opinions" as guaranteed under section 14 of the Bill of Rights Act.

Roger Partridge: Attorney-General and Chief Justice reveal contrasting visions of judicial power

Should judges stick to applying the law, or should they reshape it to reflect society’s values? This fundamental tension over judicial power was laid bare at a New Zealand Law Society webinar this month about what it takes to become a High Court judge.

Comments from the country’s two senior legal officers, Attorney-General Judith Collins KC and Chief Justice Dame Helen Winkelmann, revealed fundamentally opposing views on the role of judges. Their competing conceptions go to the heart of our democracy.

JC: Hīkoi No More Than a Hiccup

The politicians, particularly those on the right, with the exception of ACT, need to realise that those who put them in power did so in the belief the necessary courage was there to fix this festering sore. We are now left in doubt and that is not good enough.

Another hīkoi has come and gone. An unknown number of unemployed travelled, mainly in motorised transport (the invention of the despised white man). If their media mates appeared with a camera they would leap out and pretend they had been consistently on the march. But we weren’t fooled, any more than we were fooled by this political stunt pulled by people who had nothing better to with their time. You might recall the old saying ‘the Devil finds work for idle hands’.

David Farrar: The $800,000 lotto draw for researchers

I blogged a few days ago on how the Royal Society on behalf of MBIE (taxpayers) gets paid to hand out 40 fellowships with $800,000 each. They of course do it through identity politics eyes, so their criteria are 20% must go to Māori, 10% to Pacific and 50% to women.

Now you would have thought that even with those criteria, the 10 women, 8 Māori and 4 Pacific researchers selected for these fellowships are the best of the best within their grouping.

But no. The Royal Society selects them through the equivalent of a random lotto draw!!!

Friday November 22, 2024 

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Peter Williams: Te Pati Maori End Game

Could they claim the balance of power?

The country’s youngest MP has revealed the answer to the question many have been asking for some time.

What is the end game for Te Pati Maori?

Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke told us succinctly in her speech at Parliament after the hikoi.

Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 22/11/24

More young offenders will get boot camp, bus drivers will get some protection – and there’s relief for southern farmers

The Government has struck more blows to show it is tough on law and order.

One announcement advised us of a bill introduced to Parliament to deal with young offenders and introduce more boot camps.

David Farrar: Do the KCs believe in democracy

Liam Hehir points out:

Forty-two senior lawyers, known as King’s Counsel, have written to the government with a scathing critique of the Treaty Principles Bill. Their letter raises a number of concerns with which I am in full agreement. However, they also make a statement about Parliament’s law-making authority that contains a fundamental and egregious error.

Barry Soper: The hīkoi was Māori Party's crowning glory

The Māori Party will be well pleased with the hīkoi this week. 

There was the long-planned haka in Parliament’s debating chamber last week, for which they’ll be slapped on their wrists with a wet bus ticket, but the hīkoi was their crowning glory. 

This was all about politics, grievances aside, and they’ve got what they craved, publicity. The march could easily have turned ugly with a good representation of bikies, legally showing their patches for the last time before they’re made illegal on Thursday. 

Olivia Pierson: A Hikoi vs A Country

New Zealand’s history is messy, fascinating, and occasionally absurd. The Maoris weren’t exactly sitting around in a utopia when the Europeans turned up. They were busy having a go at each other in tribal warfare and, yes, usually eating the losers.

The British didn’t arrive with halos over their heads either, but they did bring literacy, a legal system and building standards for a life above the dirt. They also brought an uncanny knack for signing treaties which actually meant something substantial when they were signed. The representatives of Queen Victoria would never have signed a treaty in her name without guaranteeing her full sovereignty over that colony. To say otherwise is part of the 'occasionally absurd’ bit.

Breaking Views Update: Week of 17.11.24

Friday November 22, 2024 

News:
Te Pāti Māori files complaint against Gerry Brownlee as coalition targets haka
Te Pāti Māori has laid an official complaint against the speaker of the house Gerry Brownlee following Tuesday’s Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti, Aotearoa’s biggest protest on parliament grounds.

Te Ao Māori News reported that the complaint comes as all three parties from the coalition Government have also issued a complaint against Te Pāti Māori co-leaders for doing the haka in parliament last week.

Dr Bryce Edwards: Does the Treaty Hikoi signify the birth of a new Māori nation?

On the first day of the Coalition Government’s parliamentary term in December of 2023 Te Pāti Māori called for a National Māori Action Day, which co-leader Rawiri Waititi described as “a day of activation”. Waititi then led 300 protesters on a hikoi to Parliament where they performed a haka on the forecourt. The small activation foreshadowed something more significant for the quickly evolving Te Pāti Māori.

Graham Adams: Seymour’s opponents need better arguments

Academic and legal elites embarrass themselves in the Treaty debate.

It is always astonishing just how dumb very smart people can be. A week after Donald Trump’s stunning win in the US presidential elections — that many saw as a repudiation of elite metropolitan opinion being imposed on ordinary citizens — a 44-strong phalanx of King’s Counsels thought it would be an excellent idea to denounce David Seymour's Treaty Principles Bill in an open letter to the Prime Minister and his government.

Professor Robert MacCulloch: NZ Descends into a S*!# Show on the World Stage.....

NZ Descends into a S*!# Show on the World Stage. MPs Mock Judges. Legal "Royalty" Mock MPs. Other MPs Mock their own Parliament. We're not a serious nation.

Let there be no doubt. NZ has turned into a world laughing stock. A nation without a clue what it stands for - what is in, or out of, its constitution - if it even has one - whose MPs can't explain & debate issues - is a country that cannot long endure. The question for the PM is not why he didn't address the hīkoi - it is why he didn't join it. After all Luxon's key objective is the same as Te Pāti Māori: Kill the Bill.

Kerre Woodham: Should we be raising the alarm over drug use?

Remember yesterday when we were talking about the declining rates of hazardous drinking among young people? Good news. And then so many of you posting that it's because they're popping pills and taking other drugs. Bad news. It looks like you might be right.

Lindsay Mitchell: Sharp departure in child poverty approach

Released today, the government's new Child and Youth Strategy might, at first glance, look like a rehash of Jacinda Ardern's child poverty reduction plan. However, it contains some major differences.

For one, it will track the number of children in benefit-dependent households. This recognises the obvious pitfall of simply increasing benefit payments to parents, which only draws more onto benefits and makes it harder for them to get off. Hence, under Ardern's plan, we saw a 26% increase in children reliant on benefits between 2017 and 2023.

Thursday November 21, 2024 

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Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 21/11/24

Three minutes after midnight, police make arrest under new gang patch law – but the boot camp news is disappointing

The good news on the law-and-order front today came from an ebullient Police Minister Mark Mitchell. Police had made their first arrests under the new gang patch legislation, with two gang members arrested, says Police Minister Mark Mitchell.

Just before 11 this morning, Police in Wairoa apprehended a gang member for wearing a patch to the supermarket. He had been arrested and would face “enforcement action”.

Mike's Minute: The ComCom Transpower decision is madness

It's ironic that we mention the Commerce Commission yesterday and here we are today, indulging in a bit more of its madness.

Lines charges, the cost of getting power to your house, is going to get more expensive.

Your bill will rise for the next handful of years by up to $85. That’s over $1,000 a year.

Brendan O'Neill: Why they refuse to see Jews as victims

The left’s pitiless cynicism about the pogrom in Amsterdam confirms how morally lost they are.

It was the speed with which the racism fearmongers became racism deniers that was most unnerving. Virtually overnight, as men whose only crime was their Jewishness were still being patched up in Amsterdam hospitals, the preening racism denouncers of what passes for the Euro-left were saying this wasn’t racism. The very people who see racism everywhere could not see it here, in the broken teeth, black eyes and bloodied faces of Israelis who became the prey of a self-described Jew hunt earlier this month in Amsterdam. Confronted with beaten, bruised Jews, they said, for the first time I can remember, ‘Maybe it wasn’t a hate crime. Maybe it was something else.’

Dr Oliver Hartwich: Lessons for Australia in NZ's polarising Treaty debate

For decades, Australian advocates for indigenous reconciliation have pointed to New Zealand’s Treaty of Waitangi as a model. Where Australia lacks a foundational agreement with its First Nations peoples, New Zealand has had one since 1840.

Yet current developments across the Tasman suggest that having a treaty is no guarantee of settling complex questions of indigenous rights. In fact, New Zealand’s experience shows how such documents can become focal points for ongoing – and often polarising – debates about national identity and governance.

Dr Eric Crampton: Finally proposals to set access charges

Getting from Auckland to Cathedral Cove means a two-and-a-half-hour drive over 178 kilometres, the last third of which is a windy path through the Coromandel.

Inland Revenue sets a $1.04 per kilometre mileage rate for business travel – a figure meant to include wear and tear on your vehicle as well as running costs. Running costs will include the charges the government sets for using the roads, which help to recoup the cost of building and maintaining those roads.

Guest Post: A submission in support of the Treaty Principles Bill

Ann Arnold's submission first published on Waikanae Watch

The original Treaty of Waitangi February 1840 was written in English and translated exactly word for word into Maori (often called the Littlewood version) and was signed at Waitangi. It consisted of 3 Articles. There were no principles in the original document. The only difference between the Maori and English versions were the date and the word Maori, inserted to make sure it was understood Maori were citizens too. The original version brought all peoples of New Zealand under the sovereignty of Queen Victoria and was what Maori and Pakeha wanted, and signed on that auspicious day 6 February 1840.

Ele Ludemann: Public must have trust and confidence in police

Soon to be Police Commissioner, now deputy, Richard Chambers has a welcome perspective on policing by consent:

Simon O'Connor: The path to irrelevance

With so much media reporting at odds with public sentiment or clearly one-sided - be it in New Zealand or as we have seen recently in the United States - the direction of travel is not positive.

There are many lessons to take away from the United States’ elections, but one that has immediate relevance to New Zealand is the yawning gap between the views of mainstream media and the public.

David Farrar: A good top cop

The Prime Minister has appointed Richard Chambers as the new Police Commissioner. This will be a popular move with frontline police, and I daresay the public. He has significant operational experience.

His police career is:

Professor Robert MacCulloch: Dame Whina Cooper's hīkoi was for change.....

Dame Whina Cooper's hīkoi was for change. This week's hīkoi was for keeping the status quo, the opposite of what the NZ Herald claims.

Today the NZ Herald's front page headline blared, "Hīkoi to Parliament: Tens of thousands energized for change after protest against Treaty Principles Bill .. The time for change is here". How Orwellian. This week's march was a march for the status quo. Its a protest against ACT's Treaty Principles Bill, which seeks to define in legislation what are those principles.

Roger Childs: Te Pati Māori fears the Treaty Principles Bill

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. –Article 1, United Nations Declaration of Human Rights

Small but noisy

As the Hikoi grinds its way on to Parliament, the Maori Party claims that it has a key leadership role. But this is a group with a single focus: to speak with a strong, independent and united voice for Maori. They are just a small party with a loud voice having garnered only 3.08% of the popular vote in last year’s election. However, they have six seats in the House of Representatives courtesy of the undemocratic special Maori seats.

Dieuwe de Boer: New Zealand is an Ethno-State

This may seen somewhat strange and provocative, but I believe this is an important point to make out loud and one that should be as easy to say as "water is wet." A nation is a people. "Ethnos" is the Greek word for nation, tribe, and people. A nation-state is an ethno-state. Without the "New Zealand European" as the clear majority ethnic group there would be no New Zealand.

DTNZ: Heavily censored COVID jab “sudden death” study republished

A study examining sudden deaths following COVID-19 vaccination has been published after facing nearly two years of “unprecedented” censorship.

The study, initially submitted to The Lancet and another journal but pulled from publication at the last moment, has now been peer-reviewed and made public.

Capitalist: It Was Asking for Big Trouble

The founder of the British SAS was a Scots aristocrat called David Stirling. After WWII he found peacetime a bit boring – after having personally killed 43 Germans with his bare hands – and so he engaged in various mercenary activities in Africa and the Middle East. One of those mercenary engagements was the war in Yemen in the early 1960s. To cut a long story short, Stirling and his people had the war won but the handwringers in Whitehall in London didn’t like the idea of a private army fighting wars in a sensitive area and told Stirling to pull out, abandon the fighting and return home (or else).

Wednesday November 20, 2024 

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Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 20/11/24

Researchers make the case for a carbon tax while NZ brays about our ETS (and finds $10m for climate change fund)

The University of Auckland has drawn attention to a new study which emphasises the value of a carbon tax to effectively decarbonise the economy.

A carbon tax is the most effective way for New Zealand to cut emissions while supporting a stable economy, according to the study.

Sir Bob Jones: Setting the record straight

In an editorial on Armistice day, the New Zealand Herald wrote the following nonsense.

“When it was announced at 3pm on August 5th, 1914, that the fledging nation of New Zealand was going to war on the other side of the world, patriotic young men cheered and rushed to sign up and do their duty”.

That passage is hogwash and reflects the sad decline in print media standards. A mere three decades back when our newspapers had informed back-room staff, it could never have been published.

Here are the facts.

David Farrar: The $1.3 million Christmas tree

Radio NZ reports:

A million-dollar Christmas tree is going up in downtown Auckland, leaving some baulking at the council’s spending while its residents struggle through a cost-of-living crisis.

Auckland Council hasn’t revealed the price of the 18m steel tree, set to stand in Te Komititanga Square (formerly Elizabeth Square) on lower Queen Street. However, the Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance says it costs up to $1.3 million.

Professor Robert MacCulloch: Finance Minister Nicola Willis - A First Year Economic Report Card

National was elected on the promise of fixing the economy. Not talking about it; but to deliver the goods. Not to do a public relations and marketing job, since we tired of the spin doctors & comms teams under the previous Labour government. National was elected to deliver tangible improvements in our daily lives. How is Finance Minister Willis doing? She has not yet proved herself. She has little over one more year to do so. How come?

Professor Robert MacCulloch: The BBC reports fake news about NZ's Treaty debate....

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reports fake news nonsense about NZ's Treaty Debate.

You'd think the state-owned broadcaster in Britain, the BBC, could do a little bit of correct reporting on NZ. Instead, its front page news on the Wellington protests summarize what's happening as follows: "The 1840 Treaty of Waitangi is seen as fundamental to the country’s race relations. But .. there’s a concern that the rights won by the Māori community are being eroded. The bill that has been introduced by the Act political party argues that NZ should legally define the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi".

Mike's Minute: What are the ComCom doing at the moment?

I think at times the Commerce Commission has an easy job in the sense it starts out life, in appearance anyway, as being on “our side. "Our” side being the people's side.

We need a hero, a protector to keep the big bad boys away from our lives and wallets.

Lately though, they look like they might have a large legal budget that someone has told them to spend or else they will lose it.

Gerry Eckhoff: In response to Anne Stevens - KC

Members of the public who have a long standing interest in civic affairs will be astonished and somewhat bewildered to be described as being exploited by the Treaty Principles Bill. Adding insult to this injury, Dunedin lawyer Anne Stevens (Kings Council) also described the public - in the same breath – as having their ignorance and prejudice exploited when it comes to matters pertaining to the Treaty of Waitangi. Really? Whatever Ms Stevens personal view of this bill is, her role as a KC is surely compromised by her pre-emptive strike against the Bill and her use of a totally emotive and inaccurate descriptive term of the Bill as “evil.”

David Farrar: Royal Society tells Asian and European male researchers to stuff off

Taxpayers are funding 20 Future Leader Fellowships. Each one is worth over $800,000 so we are talking over $16 million from taxpayers.

MBIE has delegated decisions on who gets them to the Royal Society of NZ. And their criteria are:

Dr Bryce Edwards: Democracy Briefing - NZ's populist moment

Will David Seymour’s Treaty Principles Bill become New Zealand’s version of Brexit and Donald Trump? Currently, there’s a strong coalition against Seymour’s Bill, especially amongst MPs and elites, which means the legislation will soon die. Yet, a populist mood might still carry the ethos of Seymour’s reforms to a more significant effect at the next election. Some form of a “Trexit” could eventually result.

Dr Michael John Schmidt: Māori privilege and media paradox.

It’s ironic that TV1, RNZ, and similar media outlets so strongly support the current hīkoi process opposing David Seymour’s call for a discussion of the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi – so much for the impartial and investigative press. These mainstream media organisations face severe economic challenges: TV1 lost $85 million in 2023, and RNZ lost $1.4 million.(1, 2) Meanwhile, the Māori groups they champion are thriving, despite these groups portraying themselves as marginalised, disadvantaged and at risk of ‘losing rights’.

JC: Left Wing Media – We’ve Had Enough

If the American election showed one thing it is this – globally the left mainstream media have made themselves irrelevant. We know it. Elon Musk knows it. Bobby Kennedy knows it. Tulsi Gabbard knows it. Donald Trump knows it. The millions in the MAGA movement know it. It is apparent from the election result that the majority of Americans know it too.

The left-wing media in America have preferred to make themselves look idiots rather than broadcast the undeniable truth. This is because it didn’t suit their narrative. Their narrative, rather than the truth, is their obsession. In the election they obsessed over issues that were at odds with public thinking.

Kerre Woodham: How would you rank the Police Minister?

The hīkoi we were discussing last week has gone down the country through the weekend, rolls into Wellington City, and should arrive at Parliament around midday. Police say they don't expect any problems, certainly nothing like the descent into chaos we saw at the end of the last demonstration at Parliament. We'll see.

Tuesday November 19, 2024 

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Point of Order: Buzz from the Beehive - 19/11/24

As hikoi headed for Parliament, Seymour was busy with regulatory chores – and with seeking support for Treaty Principles Bill

When Point of Order checked the Stuff website around 11.15am for a hikoi progress report, we learned that Courtenay Place was “jam-packed with chanting kaihīkoi”.

We were puzzled and consulted the online version of Te Aka Māori-English, English-Māori Dictionary and Index. We drew a blank (see screenshot below):

Mike's Minute: What will the protest actually achieve?

The good news about the arrival of the protest is that after today, it's over.

This has been one of the more misrepresented activities in recent years.

It's hard to know what it is actually about, or whether those taking part even know what it's about.

Greg Treadwell: 14 community newspapers due to close....

With 14 community newspapers due to close, too many parts of NZ are becoming ‘news deserts’

When media company NZME proposed the closure of 14 community newspapers last week, the so-called “news desert” encroached a little further into the local information landscape.

Dave Patterson: Biden Relents, Authorizing Ukraine’s Use of Long-Range Missiles

After more than two years of persistent pleading to permit Ukraine to use long-range missiles provided by the West to strike targets deep inside Russia, the West agrees. As with nearly all of the weapon systems the US and NATO allies eventually supplied to Ukraine, the Biden administration dragged its feet in giving the Ukrainian military long-range precision tactical missiles for fear the weapons would escalate the conflict.

Biden Backs Off Restricting Use of Long-Range Missiles

Sir Bob Jones: The Maori failure march

Lying mid-point between a 1600 kilometers long nation, Wellington is the obvious location for New Zealand’s capital.

Numerous economic benefits accrue from that status, notably having the highest average incomes. But it’s not all roses.

Ele Ludemann: Fuss creating fuss

The fuss over the Treaty Principles Bill is creating a lot more fuss than it ought to.

If opponents ignored it, it would be getting a fraction of the publicity it is but the Māori and Green Parties and at least some in Labour see it as an opportunity to attract supporters.

If they ignored it, it would go to select committee, and quietly die when National and New Zealand First don’t support it at the second reading.

Caleb Anderson: The Cost of Appeasement

The word appeasement has come to be associated in the minds of most people with the extraordinary efforts of Neville Chamberlain to avoid a second world war in Europe.  Quite evidently his efforts at appeasement did not work ... but simply provided Hitler with the time to prepare for what was inevitable in the minds of others.

David Farrar: Milei winning battle against inflation

President Milei of Argentina took office just 10 months ago when monthly (not annual) inflation was at a massive 25.5%. This means that every week your groceries cost 6% more than the week before. Within that one month they cost a quarter more.

Monthly inflation has now dropped to 2.7%. Still too high by our standards, but almost a miracle for Argentina.

Chris Lynch: Social media post featuring presenter removed after failing to meet RNZ editorial standards

A social media post of RNZ host Mihingarangi Forbes at a hīkoi has been removed after it failed to meet editorial standards.

ACT Public Service spokesman Todd Stephenson criticised Forbes, co-host of Saturday Mornings and host of the RNZ podcast Mata, for posing for a photo with a protest leader, and using social media to promote the protest.

Mihingarangi Forbes is a co-host of RNZ’s Saturday Mornings and hosts the RNZ podcast Mata.

Bob Edlin: Hikoi organiser rebuffs Seymour....

Hikoi organiser rebuffs Seymour while a bloke named Jones (no, not Shane) says he understands the Māori Party’s frustration

Associate Justice Minister David Seymour “refused” Morning Report’s invitation to be interviewed on RNZ’s Morning Report, the day after the Treaty Principles Bill he is promoting had passed its first reading in Parliament after “a fiery debate and vote”.

No matter. There were plenty of other people all too eager to talk about the bill, the acrimonious debate and the disruptive haka, and the Morning Report team opted to interview a bloke called Jones.