David Farrar: Stats NZ needs to be more accurate

Radio NZ reports:

Stats NZ is reviewing its systems after data incorrectly overstated Wellington’s job losses.

As more Health New Zealand cuts were revealed, business employment data painted a very bleak picture of the capital.

John McLean: Dame Patsy, forever on commission

Reddy, Set, Go. Please, please...just GO

In May 2024, Dame Patricia Lee Reddy turned 70 years of age. That’s the biblical threescore years and ten. Psalm 90/10 in the King James Version of the Bible goes like this:

The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away

DTNZ: UK online censorship laws come into force

Britain could soon fine social media giants up to 10% of their annual earnings for failing to remove illegal content.

Britain’s newest online censorship law came into force on Monday (UK time), as the country’s telecoms regulator published a list of content that social media platforms must remove to avoid multi-million-pound fines.

Dr Oliver Hartwich: A year of hard truths

If one word could sum up 2024, “sobering” might be it. This week’s final economic data for the year – from Treasury’s half-year update to yesterday’s GDP numbers – reads like the opposite of a Christmas wish list.

New Zealanders would be forgiven for feeling worn out. Another severe recession, worsening government books and a current account gap stuck above 6% of GDP – 2024 concludes on some harsh facts.

Alwyn Poole: On the A&E at North Shore Hospital

Periodically I do something stupid in some way to do with activity. A few bike crashes, stopping myself with my face when running down a forest track, ripping my knee open in an off-road duathon, a bee sting to find I had an allergy …

You get to test out the A&E Departments around the country.

David Farrar: Labour hoping for fool me twice

The Herald reported:

If elected, Labour will build the new Dunedin Hospital to the level that was promised at the 2023 election before the coalition Government said it would downsize the build, blaming cost.

Chris Trotter: By Any Other Name.

THE GREENS remain a persistent political puzzle. In spite of espousing ideas and promoting policies that would keep any other party well below the five percent MMP threshold, recent polling places the party between 12 and 14 percent. If replicated in a real election, that level of support would earn the Greens 16-18 seats, making them an indispensable player in any putative government of the Left.

Saturday December 21, 2024 

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David Farrar: Waipareira to be deregistered as a charity

Matt Nippert reports:

Charity regulators have moved to deregister high-profile social services provider Waipareira, concluding a long-running investigation into its funding of chief executive John Tamihere’s political campaigns.

The decision follows a four-year investigation by Charities Services into Waipareira that has seen settlements reached and breached, accusations of racism, and Charities Services staff complain about bullying behaviour from Waipareira’s lawyers.

Universities must be neutral

Academic freedom is a hot topic at the moment. The coalition agreement required universities to have academic freedom policies to receive government funding. Most universities have now produced draft policies.

Academic freedom is key to the university’s mission. It allows students and academics to explore ideas in the classroom and to produce innovative research. It is also explicitly protected in the Education and Training Act.

John MacNabb: China Cancels Christmas in Hong Kong – Leaving Churches Fearing for Their Future

I thought it was just me, but it transpires there are fewer Christmas decorations in Hong Kong this year than in previous years. A colleague confirmed, under orders from China, Hong Kong had been instructed to tone down the outward manifestations of the Christmas festivities this year.

Ross Meurant: Message to Santa - All I want for Christmas is …Happiness.

In this Odessey we call life; what path; which road do we take?

Success is not final; failure is not fatal: it’s the courage to continue that counts,’ extolled Sir Winston Churchill.

Euripides said: ‘I would rather die on my feet than live on my knees.’

My family coat of arms embraces the Machiavelli dictum: “Virtu et Fortuna”.

Yet, for they who strive, be it from helot to bourgeois, or those born to the Manor (where bequeathments from they who before them strived, are often squandered), debt is a companion for life – an albatross around one’s neck.

Breaking Views Update: Week of 15.12.24

Saturday December 21, 2024 

News:
Move to deregister Waipareira over donations
Charity regulators have moved to deregister high-profile social services provider Waipareira, concluding a long-running investigation into its funding of chief executive John Tamihere’s political campaigns.

Heather du Plessis-Allan: Luxon has made the right call re Waitangi

Christopher Luxon’s made the right call not going to Waitangi next year. 

He's probably going to cop it from the press gallery for being a wuss but most of us have been around long enough to see the logic in this. 

We know by now that Waitangi is volatile and unpredictable at the best of times. You can cop a dildo in the face for doing nothing. 

Andrew Lowenthal: Free Speech Wins the Culture War

"Gradually, then suddenly,” Hemingway’s bankruptcy quote can just as easily be applied to politics. If you had told me six months ago that a motley crew of free speech advocates would deal a thumping blow to the censorship leviathan I would have been deeply sceptical.

I had thought the Twitter Files would be the blow, but it turns out that was just a softening-up affair. The Twitter Files certainly moved the needle in the culture at large, but the institutions mostly continued their stiff resistance to accountability and change.

David Farrar: The hypocrisy

Radio NZ reported:

The government wants to divide New Zealand along ethnic and economic lines, Chris Hipkins says, and he wants to be the leader who brings it together.

Is he serious? He led a Government that tried to see everything in ethnic terms, and caused the huge division we still have today.

Joanne Nova: For years the CCP has been sending millions to US universities and NGOs to promote Green Energy

If you have the feeling that our universities are working for the enemy, you might be right

China is a developing nation, too poor to cut carbon emissions themselves, but somehow they can find the money to help the richest nation in the world reduce their fossil fuel use.

John MacDonald: Free speech rules shouldn't stop at universities

Here’s how I would sum up the Government’s changes to the free speech rules for universities.

It wants more Posie Parkers and less posey political statements.

Which I’ve got no problem with - but I don’t think it should stop at universities. I think the Government also needs to look at other public entities, such as local councils, which actually seem to be making more posey political statements than universities.

Dr Oliver Hartwich: NZ’s ferry farce is proof politicians are out of depth in business

Here is a simple business scenario: You operate ferries across Cook Strait, between New Zealand’s North and South Islands. Your vessels are ageing and need replacement. What do you do?

For a private operator like Bluebridge, owned by Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners, the answer is straightforward: make decisions based on business fundamentals. The company runs a profitable service, commanding 56 percent of the vehicle freight market. It secured that market share through sound commercial judgment.

Friday December 20, 2024 

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