Kiwiblog

Kate Newton from the Dom Post reports:

The Government is hinting at tougher penalties for fleeing drivers – a day after the seventh fatal police chase since December.

Police Minister Judith Collins will meet Police Commissioner Howard Broad today to discuss police recommendations for vehicle pursuits, after two separate reviews.

The meeting comes after Troy Peter MacKay, 22, died in Christchurch yesterday when his car hit a tree during a pursuit.

Officers had spotted him weaving dangerously through traffic at speed. He died on the way to hospital. Two female passengers had moderate injuries.

He was the seventh person to die in a police pursuit since December.

There is a difficult balancing act in deciding whether to pursue. If you reward people for fleeing the Police by not following them, then you encourage more people to flee, and the victims of their crimes don’t get justice.

If you pursue someone at dangerous speeds, then the chances of innocent victims being caught up in a smash are enhanced.

I would generally support increased penalties for the offence of fleeing in a vehicle from Police. Maybe even automatic jail time, so that there is an incentive not to take off just to avoid a cannabis charge or a dic.

One other solution is to have more use of Police helicopters – but they are damn expensive, and our narrow roads can make it difficult.

The Herald calls for transparency around PEDA:

Devolution of social services to community groups is by no means a bad idea. It holds out at least the possibility of having a more effective impact on social problems than large, impersonal bureaucracies that lack the intimate understanding necessary for success. …

The Budget provided $4.8 million over four years to this end. It was a small amount in comparison to Whanau Ora’s $134 million over the same period and its aims were, in a sense, more ambitious.

Rather than a grass-roots social welfare initiative, it seemed that this was intended to advance the economic and entrepreneurial skills of Pacific Islanders.

I think most would agree that the intent is good.

According to the Budget papers, the money has been allocated to an organisation called the Pacific Economic Development Agency about which very little is known. Peda, as it is called for short, has an impressive-looking website that is long on high-sounding jargon and short on evidence of achievement.

And this is the issue. It appears PEDA has no track record in terms of delivering such programmes. Granting them $4.8m with no track record is a somewhat reckless decision. More sensible would be some modest initial funding to give them a chance to prove themselves, and then if they actually produce results consider increasing funding.

The other issue is how were they selected. They obviously made  a pitch to one or more Ministers. Generally work should be tendered as contestable by an agency – not by Ministers. Now of course many agencies design tenders so only one firm can “win”, so it can be better to be upfront and say these guys have an initiative worth supporting, so we will. But you better make damn sure they are actually capable of delivering, and that there is accountability for any funding.

The Dom Post lashes the so called train “service”:

Commuters who rely on Wellington’s dilapidated rail network to get them to and from school, university, work or other appointments can be forgiven for feeling a dejected sense of deja vu.

This time last year, KiwiRail’s passengers were so irate they sought compensation from the company as trains ran late, heating failed, and peak-hour commuter chaos too often reigned.

The result was a significant slump in passenger numbers, leading to a $2.5 million budget blowout for Greater Wellington regional council, which subsidises the commuter service that is owned and operated by the state-owned enterprise.

Last week, those who have persisted with the ageing carriages plying tracks that crisscross the region were grumbling again.

Several thousand passengers were, on average, 20 minutes late one morning, for example, when, in the latest in a series of hiccups this year, points failed.

Particularly grumpy were pupils who have missed many classes or been late for others. Samuel Marsden Collegiate pupil Georgia Smith estimated she had missed 25 classes this year alone because of late-running trains.

KiwiRail’s reluctant owner – the taxpayer, via the Government – acknowledges they are, hence its $550m overhaul of the capital’s entire network.

That major upgrade includes fixing the blessed points, and building a third line in and out of the central city railyards.

I’d be interested in data on what the true cost of a commute from say the Hutt to Wellington is, and how much the passenger pays, and how much taxpayers and ratepayers pay.

The ODT hails justice over Bloody Sunday:

The road to justice is often long and tortuous, but for the relatives of the dead killed on January 30, 1972, in Northern Ireland’s infamous “Bloody Sunday”, it has been interminable.

Thirty-eight years is more than a life sentence for the guilty; for the innocent it is an eternity.

Now, finally, all these years later comes the Saville Report – presided over by British Supreme Court judge Lord Saville of Newdigate – with its unequivocal exoneration of the victims and inescapable conclusion that the shootings were “unjustified”.

Thus, beyond the decades of accrued grief, the pain of false accusation, the chafe of implied terrorism on the part of the victims and their families – which cannot and should not be underestimated – there was the insult of justice denied; and, devastatingly, the unconscionable subversion of all that is right and good about the exercise of power in mature democracies.

What happened on that fatal and fateful day in the Derry winter of 1972 can now be seen for what it was: a blunder by military officers occasioning the needless killing of innocent civilians, followed by years of cynical evasion and cover-up.

Responding to the report on its release last week, British Prime Minister David Cameron told the House of Commons: “I never want to call into question the behaviour of our soldiers and our army, who I believe to be the finest in the world. But the conclusions of this report are absolutely clear. There is no doubt, there is nothing equivocal, there are no ambiguities. What happened on Bloody Sunday was both unjustified and unjustifiable. It was wrong.”

David Cameron handled the issue very well I thought.

An interesting summary of a (55 page) paper by Mai Chen on the Ombudsmen legislation.

It is almost 50 years since New Zealand introduced a constitutional watchdog to provide citizens with redress for grievances against government departments and public organisations, as well as to improve standards of administration in government.

The ombudsman’s role has evolved since that time alongside the expanding influence of government in more and more aspects of our lives, under the Ombudsmen Act, the Official Information Act, the Local Government Official Information and Meeting Act, the Crimes of Torture Act and the Protected Disclosures Act.

Ombudsmen matter because they can deal more effectively and more quickly than courts in some cases, with complaints about behaviour by departments and organisations that appear to be contrary to law, to be based on a mistake of fact, and to be unreasonable, unjust, oppressive, or improperly discriminatory.

They are a very important part of our protections, which we often take for granted.

Some recommendations:

Ensure greater independence through a single fixed term appointment for ombudsmen, change the ability of the prime minister to refer matters (which may be politically controversial) to ombudsmen by requiring a resolution of Parliament (rather than from the prime minister alone), and an ability to keep under review and to report to relevant ministers and to Parliament on any proposed legislation that has implications for coverage by the ombudsmen and official information acts.

I agree on the single fixed term for Ombudsmen, just like the Auditor-General has.

Not sure if there is a problem with the PM being able to refer things by themselves, but agree on the enhanced ability to review and report.

Create a presumption that ombudsmen have jurisdiction over all departments and organisations that exercise public power and use taxpayers’ money, unless bodies are specifically excluded.

Yes.

Provide more powers to the ombudsmen, including binding powers against unreasonable delay by prescribed tribunals.

Sounds good.

Impose greater fines for actions which obstruct the ombudsmen from carrying out their functions and constitutional role.

Would have been useful against the Immigration Service!

It would be good to see the Government look at some changes to strengthen the role of the Ombudsmen.

For those who don’t know, Dunedin will be hosting the NZ International Science Festival from 6 – 11 July:

Tickets are on sale now for the seventh New Zealand International Science Festival and can be purchased online at www.scifest.org.nz or by phoning 0800 SCIFEST.

• Visiting experts attending the festival are Tom McFadden, a ‘science rapper’ and biologist from Stanford (USA); Tim Jarvis AM, a British Antarctic adventurer and environmental scientist; Mr Andrew Greensmith, a University of Otago graduate and specialist plastic surgeon based in Melbourne; NZ chef and author Julie Biuso and Julie Woods, known as ‘that blind woman’, who are teaming up to deliver an extraordinary ‘dining in the dark’ experience.

• This year the festival is taking place in Dunedin over six days from 6 July – 11 July, 2010, and the theme is Everyday Science: Food for Thought.  In addition to the visiting experts, the festival involves many local organisations, volunteers, institutions, external event organisers, and a range of local and national sponsors and funders.
  
• Planned events will explore the following topics: the future of our global water supply and the balance between the economy and our environment; medical advances in paediatric plastic surgery; an ‘on the edge –inspirational women in science breakfast’; why we are what we eat; greenhouse gas – no laughing matter; vitamin D deficiency – is it a concern? The festival will also host the world premiere of the recent University of Otago Medical School documentary, Donated to Science.

• There are over 200 dynamic interactive events to interest all ages and open up the world of science to everyone.  The festival programme includes talks, films, debates and a live cabaret show, Dante’s Laboratory – Science of Sin – not to be missed. The ever-popular University of Otago Expo will take place on Friday 9 and Saturday 10 July.

I’m going to down in Dunedin for four days of the festival, and blogging about it. I wish I could spare the time for the entire week, as there look to be so many great things to go to. Some of the ones I plan to attend are:

• When Yes Means No! How females control male reproductive success
• Cadbury World Sensory Tour
• The Science of Wine Making
• On The Wild Side – Cruise with Monarch
• Science as Art Photo Exhibition
• Ancient Aztec Hot Chocolate Ceremony
• The End of the Line – Sustainable Fishing Documentary
• Dante’s Laboratory; The Science of Sin
• On The Edge – Inspirational Women in Science
• Exploring the South Pole
• Café Sci – Walking the Tightrope; Balancing Our Economy and the Environment
• Dining In the Dark Experience

Being in Dunedin is fun enough by itself. With all this stuff to go to, it will be even better.

The Herald reports:

Prime Minister John Key telephoned the most senior minister in the visiting Chinese delegation to apologise for the scuffle during the arrival of Vice-President Xi Jingping at Parliament.

I can understand why the PM felt it was necessary – because the screaming yelling protester was not just a member of the public, but a leader of a parliamentary party.

But having said that, I don’t think it was appropriate for the PM to apologise. He is not responsible for Norman, and by doing so may confuse the difference between the Government and the Parliament.

Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully has also called for a full report on the incident from his ministry and he would like to see a protocol developed between the Speaker and protesting MPs for future visits.

This I think is a very good idea. The right to protest must be protected, but this doesn’t mean you allow protesters to get within a couple of metres of visiting VIPs – even if an MP.

If Norman had not been advancing on the Vice-President, this incident probably would not have happened. As a contrast Chris Trotter remembers Rod Donald:

My abiding memory of this remarkable man – my friend – Rod Donald, will be of him standing alone at the foot of the parliamentary steps, his face a mixture of sadness and defiance, holding up the forbidden Tibetan flag. It was a noble protest – and all the more effective for being conducted not by some raggle-taggle band of New Age anarchists, but by a senior Member of Parliament and party leader, dressed proudly and patriotically in his best, New Zealand-made, suit.

No advancing on the Vice-President, no shouting, no scruffling. That is the way to do it if you want to be an MP making a protest.

I am no fan of China’s repression. I think there should be protests when their VIPs visit. If the Greens had organised a Free Tibet protest outside Parliament, I might have even gone along to it.

Now having said that, it is clear that engagement with China is the only sane course of action. Refusing to trade or talk to them would be stupid. The trick is getting the balance of engagement and protest right.  And broadly you expect the Government to engage and civil society to protest. There is a time when Governments also protest – but that tends to be in response to specific events.

UPDATE: Colin Espiner blogs:

I know it’s fashionable to hate the Chinese, and everyone wants a free Tibet.

So much so you’d think they were handing them out in Weetbix packets.

But while I’ll probably get into trouble with the Left for saying this, I’m sorry, but Green Party co-leader Russel Norman was an embarrassment to himself, Parliament, and New Zealand with his protest against the Chinese vice-president’s visit last week. …

When I heard that Norman’s flag had been “trampled” I thought that was a bit on the nose, too, so I took a look at the video.

Strange how none of the many cameras there – both still and TV – managed to capture the so-called attack, or the flag trampling.

What they did capture, though, was an MP behaving in a way that no self-respecting member of Parliament with any dignity should behave.

Don’t get me wrong. I fully support Russel Norman’s right to have his say. This is a free country, unlike China.

But sometimes, I think the RIGHT to free speech and EXERCISING it are confused.

For example, I can walk down the street and tell someone I don’t know that they’re fat. I have that right. But to do so would be impolite and irresponsible.

One of the deals of having freedom is the responsibility that comes with it over how you use it.

A point well made.

If Russel Norman was a private citizen he’d be banned from the steps of Parliament as a protester. He’d be behind the gates further down, where he could yell and scream to his heart’s content.

But he’s not a private citizen. He’s a member of Parliament. An employee and a representative of the people.

That meant Norman got to go right up to the Chinese VP, yell in his face, and wave a flag at him.

Unless the video I saw has been doctored, I saw Norman lunging at the VP and then yelling “give me my flag back” after one of his security guards grabbed it.

Colin makes the same point I have made – it was a long way removed from what Rod Donald did.

The 1-1 draw against Italy is arguably the greatest achievement to date of a NZ soccer team. This is like Japan drawing with the All Blacks in rugby.

We started the tournament as the bottom ranked team (in terms of odds at Ladbrookes), and so having two points of two games is magnificent.

The Herald puts it into context – we have 25 professional footballers compared to 3,541 for Italy.

If somehow we can make the next round, I reckon there will be a de facto public holiday to celebrate!

One of the defences we hear in defence of excessive overseas travel, is that the PM or Cabinet approved it, so it can’t be criticised as the fault of the Minister doing the travelling. I want to put that myth to bed.

The role of Cabinet or the PM in approving, is to check a ministerial trip is within the rules. That you are actually going to be doing some portfolio work on the trip. I think you will find that almost every Ministerial trip submitted for approval gets approved – because Ministers are expected to be big boys and girls who can use their own judgement about value for money.

What Cabinet and the PM don’t spend a lot of time on, is looking at all of a Minister’s travel over the last year and working out whether the travel is becoming excessive. They are too busy running their own departments to be acting as nurse maids for other Ministers. It is the Minister who is doing the travelling who should be asking themselves the question about whether their travelling is becoming excessive.

The reality is that almost any Minister could find enough reasons to do more than half a dozen trips a year. There are numerous conferences in portfolio areas that can be worth attending, and bilateral meetings with counterparts overseas can be one of the best sources of new policy ideas etc.

On an individual trip basis, a Minister can justify each and every trip as being of value.

But a Minister also needs to use their judgement about whether the total quantum of their overseas travel, and associated costs, is reasonable. Sure each individual trip may be worthwhile, but is eight trips in a year reasonable?

Most Ministers can work this out easily. They don’t apply to go overseas at every opportunity, They may do one major trip of bilateral meetings a year, and say a conference attendance.

So I don’t put much stock on the defence that the PM or Cabinet approved it. Of course they did. But no one forces a Minister to apply for said travel.

This release from InternetNZ hasn’t had a lot of publicity:

InternetNZ (Internet New Zealand Inc), through subsidiary company the Domain Name Commission Ltd, advises .nz domain name holders that they are able to apply for macron versions of their domain names in a ‘sunrise’ application period that runs until 6 July 2010.

The addition of macrons to the .nz domain name space means that names can be registered using the characters ā, ē, ī, ō and ū, enabling, for instance, Te Reo Māori words to be correctly represented online.

Domain Name Commissioner Debbie Monahan says “The sunrise period gives existing name holders the exclusive right to apply to register macron versions of their names”.

“Name holders should take full advantage of the sunrise period before general registrations allowing the use of macrons start during Māori Language Week on 26 July 2010.”

At present Ngai Tahu is at http://www.ngaitahu.iwi.nz/.

Now that macrons are technically able to be used in the .nz domain, they could have their URL as http://www.ngāitahu.iwi.nz/

This is part of a global move towards allowing domain names that have non-Latin characters. The technology to do so is quite simple. The challenge has been working out the policies.

I’ve blogged tonight’s TV3 poll at curiablog. As one can see below, the gap has narrowed in one key race:

Yep Clark has closed the gap again on Goff. 18 months after she left office, and she is only 0.2% behind Goff. And helpfully still giving lots of advice to his Caucus.

This is in fact the bigger problem for Labour. Preferred PM isn’t that important an indicator as the incumbent PM will almost always lead that poll – except during election campaigns.

But this is the approval rating  of those who say Goff is doing a good less those saying he is doing a poor job.

He started off with some good will, but blew that with the half truths over the Neelam Choudary allegations. That damaged him quite badly, as you can see above.

One just can not get elected Prime Minister with those numbers. By contrast John Key has a net approval rating of +53%. If you break the numbers down you’ll find many Labour voters saying Key is doing a better job than Goff is.

And while Chris Carter continues to make a mockery of his leadership, things won’t approve for Goff.

It’s not quite as bad as the 1948 Dewey beats Truman headline, but ESPN should have waited for the final whistle!

Superb as usual:

Foreign Minister Murray McCully has been severely reprimanded by Chinese Ambassador Zhang Limin for exercising poor judgement when using his Ministerial credit card, the Chinese Embassy announced today.

Previously Prime Minister John Key has defended McCully’s $2000 laundry bill and high alcohol expenditure but the Chinese Ambassador has overruled Key’s position, calling McCully’s spending ‘unseemly and non-magnificent’, and issuing a formal reprimand of the Foreign Minister.

‘We feel the Minister’s level of decadence is inappropriate and counter-revolutionary,’ the Ambassador announced. ‘This behaviour is not acceptable from Party functionaries and will not be tolerated.’

McCully has accepted the censure and thanked the Ambassador for his criticism. ‘Only through the wisdom of his Excellency can I reform my thoughts and become a better servant,’ McCully told reporters, speaking from a pool of mud outside his home where he has kneeled prostrate since receiving the rebuke yesterday. ‘I am chastened but also joyful and eternally grateful.’ …

… ‘We thank McCully for his good and faithful assistance in enlightening Dr Norman’s speech,’ the Ambassador said in his statement. ‘With great perseverance and skillful self-discipline the Snail will once again enjoy the favor of the Dragon.’

To ensure widespread coverage of the censure Chinese Embassy officials decreed that publication of the statement was mandatory for all media outlets. The Dim-Post is joyful to be of service in this matter.

I trust all blogs will comply with the mandatory reporting.

TV3 reports:

South Auckland has been described as the criminal hell hole of New Zealand.

3 News can now reveal some of the most serious offences, such as murder, are at record levels.

But tonight, it’s a good record.

In the last two years, there were nearly 50 homicides in Counties-Manukau; so far this year, there’s only been one.

The region now has an extra 245 staff, meaning numerous police, many armed, are on the scene within minutes.

So homicides have gone from one a fortnight to one in six months.

Must be a coincidence with the extra police resources, right?

After his display of head slapping, Len Brown should perhaps be known as Loosehead Len – and this is one of the kinder things being said. I’ll start with Kerre Woodham:

Just when I didn’t think things could get any worse for Len Brown, he goes and does it again.

And before his fans leap up and down and say I’m part of some spooky right-wing conspiracy, I’m not.

He had my vote before the events of the last couple of weeks. Not for any particularly compelling reason. I just thought that if we had a centre-right government, it balanced things up a bit to have a centre-left mayor. …

Then came the claims of persecution and the protestations of being victimised. That was unattractive, but what really turned me off was the performance Brown gave to the Manukau City Council on Tuesday night.

When I say performance, I don’t for a minute think he was acting. Far from it. I think he believed every word when he cried out passionately that he’d risen from his hospital bed after a near-fatal heart attack for the love of the people.

That when he walked in the door, looking like a bloody skeleton, it was because he cared, not because he could put a few more cups of coffee on the mayoral credit card. I’m sure that’s true.

But emotional blackmail is hardly a rational response to requests for financial accountability. Nor is beating yourself about the head and face.

That was weird. In his soliloquy, Brown repeatedly hit himself in the face and chest, saying if people had a problem, they should come and see him.

That was enough for me.

You need somebody a little less … overwrought … as mayor of New Zealand’s first super city.

And that is from a Grey Lynn liberal who was planning to vote for Len Brown.

Next Matt McCarten. Matt is as left as you can get:

This brings me to the parallel universe of local government politics in which Labour Party-backed mayoral hopeful Len Brown has credit card problems of his own.

His use was careless at best and, as many Aucklanders don’t know much about him, his misuse will worry them. But it was his response, like Carter’s, which is more revealing.

The cutting up of his credit card on television was a cheap stunt. Was he saying he can’t be trusted with a credit card to do his job?

Well perhaps he was, as he seemed incapable of keeping proper receipts and he outright refuses to comply with his Council’s own policy to identify who was at a dinner.

His explanation on why he used his card to buy personal items was because his wife had their joint card raises more concerns. Everyone knows couples can get a card each on joint accounts.

And as they are signature cards, you can’t borrow each other’s card. That one had porkie all over it.

It’s good he apologised but his emotional presentation to his council was disturbing. His opponents can’t believe their luck and are predictably using it as evidence Brown is unstable and loose with ratepayers’ money.

But Len explained away his actions as being the Maori way to do things. Fortunately the SST has talked to some actual Maori on this claim:

But broadcaster Willie Jackson rejected that. “The spin about it being a Maori gesture is rubbish. I’ve never heard anything like it.”

Jackson said Brown’s team had made a poor decision in claiming a cultural element to the antics.

“I don’t know what the hell they were talking about, having been a Maori every day of my life,” Jackson said. “Len needs to harden up or he’s going to gift this campaign to John Banks.

“This campaign was his to lose and he’s doing a good job of that.”

Willie is also of the left. This is hardly the vast right wing conspiracy. Willie was also backing Brown over the credit card before his display at Council.

Once Were Warriors star Temuera Morrison said what Brown did was “more like caveman stuff”.

He said haka participants slapped their chests and thighs “to get unison with everyone and feel the rhythm”. The gesture to invite people to “come and get me” usually involved poking out the tongue.

“I don’t know what this guy was doing,” Morrison said. “This guy is on another planet.”

Ouch.

Auckland University Maori studies expert Dr Ranginui Walker was also unconvinced. “In the old days widows used to cut their breasts and chests when their husbands died or when warriors were slain.

“But I’ve never heard of men doing any such thing.”

Well we can at least be relieved Loosehead Len didn’t start cutting himself on live television.

Haven’t been to Cafe Istanbul for a while, but along with around 30 others went there last night for Nicola W’s 18th birthday party.I know Nicola through the Keep it 18 campaign. Now she is 18, I think we should change the campaign to Make it 19

Incidentally Nicola’s blog, Ministry of Aesthetic Development, focusing on MP’s dress sense is often amusing, and a good read.

With that large a crowd, the service was a bit disorganised at times – they actually ran out of forks. But the staff were always friendly and helpful, and the wait for the food was not overly lengthy.

One could almost get full on the bread and dips alone. I don’t think anyone went away hungry – it was a good feed, for a decent price.

Was amused to get a text from the VUWSA President saying that the VUWSA credit card would be paying for the dinner. I responded that if cover the massages also, I’ll become anti-VSM!

The belly dancer came over several times, and cajoled a few people into dancing with her. The photos I have of Sonny Thomas dancing with her I am saving publication of, for when he stands for Parliament

A mutual friend has highlighted to me this blog post by Lee. It’s sad, moving yet warm:

Dear God

I am writing to confirm that I would like to accept the position of your Executive Assistant starting within the next couple of months. Before I commence this role, I’d like to take this opportunity to put a few things on the table for us to discuss, and for you to understand (and get sorted) prior to my imminent arrival.

Firstly, while I’m stoked to be offered this role so early in my mortal career, I have to say that it’s a tad earlier than planned – and I hope that my professional development gives me the necessary skills to take over from the angel you currently have in the position. I’ll be honest – I’m a little nervous. The office that I have down here is pretty cool, and while I know that the environment you’ll be offering must be up there with the best, I really have made myself a nice little niche down here. Don’t get me wrong – I know that it’s a big deal to be making my way up the ‘Corporate Ladder’ to you so soon, and I’m sure you’re itching to get me settled in and started……I just really wanted you to know that I’ve had such a great time here it really is going to be a bit hard to leave.

When I arrive with you I’ll be interested in getting involved in Workplace Safety and Wellbeing (my current focus and passion) and flexible working hours are also a big thing here on Earth – so we can make sure you have Best Practice when I arrive. Leave it with me – I’ll get it sorted. I would also like to take an active role in any Social Committees that you have. You may know that I’m super organised, and love getting things whipped into shape – so consider me your ‘go-to-girl’ for these things. I’m picking you already know this about me, hence the call-up to come and be your ‘gate keeper’ (pun intended – get it??!!!!!).

You’ll also have to get used to my unique sense of humour. I sing off key, but really don’t care (the theme to ‘The Love Boat’ being a favourite). Do you have ‘Sing Star’? I’m also a demon on the Wii (tennis) so get your tennis whites out. It’s all on like Donkey Kong! I’ll let you win the first couple….but then I won’t be taking any prisoners. I like my tea strong, and prefer cheese scones (heated with butter please) to fruit ones. Shoes and handbags are my guilty pleasures – so I hope the salary package you’re offering can accommodate my tastes for all things fine and Italian. Long lunch hours are a must, and access to FaceBook would be nice if you can swing it? Do you have a profile page? Again, we can discuss – although I can appreciate the photo might be a bit tricky.

I’m picking there may a delay in filling my position here on Earth, and trust that your ultimate plan has this covered suitably. We can discuss this in more length over a glass of bubbles one day, because this really is a very big deal to me. Indulge me with the bigger picture please. I’ll shout the bubbles.

One final thing. Upon arriving with you, I really would like to spend some time with my Dad, my daughter Samantha, and my Nana. It’s been a while since I’ve seen my Dad and my Nana, and as you know I never really got to meet my little girl – so I’m hoping you’re okay if I hang out with them for a while before I come and assume my new role with you.

So that’s it really. I’m picking the time frame can’t be negotiated? A wee bit more time would be nice…..but I trust you. Please remember this come Annual Performance Review time.

Take care, and talk soon
Lee

I don’t know Lee, but through her blog feel like I do. Hopefully the time-frame for the job does turn out to be negotiable.

The HoS editorial:

One of the more bracing ironies of political life in 2010 is that a National Government has developed a relationship with Maori that its Labour predecessor never managed in nine years.

The last administration was hampered by Helen Clark’s tin ear for Maori issues.

In dismissing marchers in the Foreshore and Seabed hikoi as “haters and wreckers”, she destroyed a relationship that had delivered Labour most Maori votes for almost all of the previous 70 years. That led directly to the formation of the Maori Party.

And also called the Maori Party the last cab off the rank – preferred Winston instead.

And John Armstrong writes in the Weekend Herald:

But the contrast between Labour’s turmoil after Goff’s demotion of Carter and subsequent decision to send the MP home on stress leave and National’s success in healing what the Prime Minister calls a “weeping sore” was testimony to the vast gulf in performance between the two parties and a brutal indication of the size of the mountain Labour has to climb between now and next year’s election.

While Goff was nailing Carter to the cross, John Key was nailing down a deal with the Maori Party which is a huge stride toward National retaining the Government benches after the 2011 election. …

The other question is whether Labour will carry on being so hostile to the Maori Party now that Shane Jones, one of the leading protagonists, has been sidelined.

That strategy has proved to be largely counter-productive – succeeding only in driving the Maori Party closer to National.

As this week’s deal shows, Key has no compunction about making compromises to keep it there.

While I have always thought the chances of Phil Goff becoming Prime Minister was remote, I think this last week may go down in history as the week when they became non-existent.

Without the Maori Party, Labour and the Greens need to win 62 seats to be able to govern, and on current polls they look to be a dozen seats short of that.

Sunday News reports:

THE sole survivor of the RSA massacre has been dealt a killer blow.

Susan Couch, beaten nearly to death by triple-murderer William Bell, faces being left homeless with her young son.

On an invalids benefit after suffering brain damage and paralysis in the attack, Couch has only been able to afford a decent house for her and 11-year-old Jackson to live in for the past five years because the samaritan landlady reduced her rent.

But the house is being sold in three weeks.

Couch, 45 – who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder – is also unwilling to accept an alternative of a Housing New Zealand [HNZ] property, because of the environment she may find herself in and a lack of facilities she requires because of her disabilities.

Hopefully a suitable Housing NZ property can be found.

Two other men have kept her going – her lawyer Brian Henry and Sensible Sentencing Trust spokesman Garth McVicar.

Henry is acting on Couch’s behalf for no cost. His PA is also actively involved in the search for a new house for her.

McVicar has also been a staunch and long-time advocate for her.

“If it wasn’t for Brian Henry and Garth McVicar I would be rotting on a benefit somewhere. No one would care about my case as no one would know,” Couch said.

Well done to both Mr Henry and Mr McVicar. It is good to see them supporting Susan Couch.

But it brings me back memories of the Susan Couch Trust:

New Zealand First made a donation of $78,000 this year to the Susan Couch and Crime Victims Charitable Trust, Rt Hon Winston Peters announced this evening. …

“We were pleased to donate the money to a trust that could assist her and we deeply regret that we have been forced to reveal this publicly but our hands have been forced by harassment by the Dominion Post newspaper.

I think it is a legitimate question for media to ask – has the Susan Couch Trust used the $78,000 to help Susan Couch with her accommodation costs?

Phil Goff sent Chris Carter home, hoping he would come back to Parliament contrite for his spending. But as the SST reports, he is anything but:

Goff said Carter, MP for Te Atatu, had failed to express contrition and forced him to apologise unreservedly. …

Carter said: “We could argue the rights and wrongs of whether I’ve done anything wrong. The only personal items were two bunches of flowers that a staff member sent on their card, and all ministerial travel was signed off.”

Once again, he is arguing he did nothing wrong. Also overlooks the flowers were to his own partner.

He said the apology was given “because you have to think about what is good for the Labour Party”.

In other words, he didn’t mean it. He did it to help Labour, not because he accepts any errors of judgement.

Carter was embarrassed again last week when it was revealed he promised exclusive interviews to both TV3 and TV One. “I guess I just wanted to be nice. It’s called PR, that’s what politicians do.”

No, there is another word for that, one you can’t use in the House.

So last week Carter was at least pretending to be contrite. Now he has emerged to talk to the media and once again declare he has done nothing wrong and only apologised to help Labour. So who is advising him?

Chris Carter last night broke his silence, saying he was returning to parliament, having taken advice from the party’s former head, Helen Clark.

This really makes Goff look a man not in charge of his own party.

Matt McCarten writes in the HoS:

But Carter’s meltdown this week surely finishes him. It’s not the card misuse that will kill him, it’s his clear inability to admit he’s done anything wrong.

As we see above.

His tiresome claim that he was being targeted because he was gay was absurd when of the four Labour MPs Phil Goff promoted, three were gay.

They were promoted on merit – their sexuality had nothing to do with it.

Yep.

Carter’s actions this week was politically unforgivable. Goff had his perfect story.

The errant credit card behaviour was under Helen Clark’s watch, not his. It was a golden opportunity for Goff to act tough; discipline the three transgressors and stamp his authority on his caucus. …

But Carter’s actions completely destroyed Goff’s strategy. Understandably Goff hit the roof and banished Carter to home detention to reflect on his indulgence. But the damage was done.

Instead of Goff looking like a leader in charge and his party being able to move on from the scandal we have a party still being rocked by their own indiscipline.

Will Goff now demote Carter to the backbenches? Surely after the SST story, he has no choice? Or is Clark still protecting Carter from afar?

There was a NSW state by-election in Penrith yesterday. This is one of the safest seats for Labor, in west Sydney.

In 2007 Labor’s primary vote was 49% and two party-preferred was 59%.

In the by-election Labor’s primary vote was 24% and two party-preferred 34%.

The next state election is March 2011, and federal election later this year.

Disgruntled Labor voters cited both state and federal issues as factors in their vote swing. There was also the local issue that the former MP resigned in disgrace for lying.

At a federal level the Labor MPs are getting very nervous and waiting for a Newspoll out later today, before deciding whether to try and roll Rudd.

A story today reports that the Greens Senate Leader, Bob Brown, has not been able to secure a meeting with Rudd for 15 months, unlike John Howard who often negotiated with minor parties to get bills passed in the Senate.

Guyon Espiner interviews Sir Geoffrey Palmer at the International Whaling Commission conference in Agadir. It’s crunch time for the IWC as negotiations go long into the night – can they do a deal to allow limited commercial whaling? Will that save more whales? Or will it open the door and betray years of conservation efforts?

Guyon also talks to Treaty Negotiations Minister Chris Finlayson. Is the foreshore and seabed deal done this week an end to the controversy or just the end of the beginning? How will the new law work and how will it affect us all?

Paul Holmes interviews newly promoted MPs Grant Roberston and Charles Chauvel.  Can they help the party re-connect with voters? Has Labour put the spending scandal behind it with its new blood?

Dr Therese Arseneau is joined by Tainui Chair and former MP Tuku Morgan and Unite General Secretary and columnist Matt McCarten on the panel.

Tourism Dunedin informs me:

Nude Blacks provide perfect pre rugby entertainment in Dunedin

19 June 2010

Dunedin’s Nude Rugby International took place this afternoon between the Nude Blacks and the Welsh Leeks in the lead up to the last All Black test match at Carisbrook.

Fourteen naked players competed in front of a curious crowd of 300 at Logan Park, in the shadows of the under construction fixed roofed stadium Forsyth Barr Stadium at University Plaza.

Event organiser Ralph Davies from Head first Travel said “Unfortunately, the weather was fine for the game.”

“We prefer Antarctic southerlies and about three degrees just to challenge the players a bit,” he said.

The match between ‘The Nude Blacks’ and an international team was refereed by Former All Blacks Richard Loe and John Timu Past referees have included ex All Black Josh Kronfeld and a blind referee.

As with most years there was the obligatory fully clothed streaker who was escorted from the field by a nude policewoman.

Only in Dunedin!

The Herald reports:

Dr Norman’s protest was in contrast to that of the late former co-leader of the Greens, Rod Donald, in 2005 against Wu Bangguo, chairman of the National People’s Congress.

Mr Donald’s was a silent protest and he sought advice from the Speaker at the time about where to stand – some distance from his target.

New Zealand security and police stood with Mr Donald and refused to let Chinese security stand in front of him and the Tibetan flag he was holding.

Dr Norman was jostled as he held the flag aloft and moved chanting towards Mr Xi, arriving at Parliament’s Beehive entrance.

He was a metre or two from him.

One of at least two dozen officials travelling with Mr Xi covered the flag with his umbrella.

Seconds later someone grabbed the flag from him and dropped it.

Dr Norman stopped chanting “Freedom for the people of Tibet!” and started yelling “Give me my flag back” and “Don’t bring your undemocratic practices to our country”.

I think Rod Donald showed how to do a protest with dignity.

The Chinese officials should still have not touched Norman’s flag or person, but you do wonder if Norman was trying to get them to do exactly that by advancing on the Vice-President.