Kiwiblog

Finally back in the world of computers so have the chance to upload some new photos.

This is a macro shot of an insect synonymous with summer – Maori name is kihikihi IIRC.

Click image for larger, high resolution image

Now, off to find some coffee and unlock the secrets of the universe Hope everyone’s had a good week & anticipating a better weekend.

National has annoucned the five short-listed candidates for Botany. In alphabetical order they are:

• Maggie Barry
• Aaron Bhatnagar
• Darron Gedge
• Jami-lee Ross
• Edward Saafi

I picked four of the five correctly. I thought Denise Krum would make it also. Edward Saafi I had not profiled previously – his local body election profile is here. Dr Saafi has a PhD and MBA, working as a biomedical health research scientist. Seems a very solid candidate. However he appears to have stood for the Destiny Party in 2005 in Mangere, so I think fair to say not my first choice.

Selection is on Thursday 27 January.

That is one of the biggest questions in world politics. Palin has a formidable PR machine around her, but this hasn’t translated into the positive numbers that she might have expected.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brendan-nyhan/sarah-palins-poll-numbers_b_810840.html

One of the more interesting poll graphs out is comparing Palin to Hilary Clinton, and unfortunately for Palin her negatives are way worse than Clinton’s were.

Palin cannot be totally discounted as she will have a well funded campaign with a lot of activists if she runs for the Republican nomination, but these numbers make it very tough for her to credibly suggest she will beat Obama in 2012.

Parliamentary staff have just been e-mailed:

This is to advise that a suspicious package has been identified outside the Executive Wing near Bowen Street.  The Executive Wing and Bowen House are being evacuated and Bowen Street has been closed off by the Police.  Emergency services are responding.

Please follow Police and Parliamentary Service security staff  instructions.

Hopefully it is an innocent package.

UPDATE: It was

Victoria Robinson reports:

Continued name suppression for a 46-year-old celebrity charged with disorderly behaviour has been slammed by the Newspaper Publishers’ Association.

The entertainer, who faces the charge after being arrested in downtown Auckland on December 29, has been accepted into a police diversion scheme.

Judge David Harvey, in Auckland District Court, adjourned the celebrity’s application for non-publication of his name, which media is expected to oppose, until February 9.

It is worth noting that the Judge here has not granted name supression. It has been applied for, and interim supression cotinues until the hearing on Feb 9th. The problem lies with the defendent trying to gain permament name supression, and the inability to schedule a substantive hearing more quickly.

The defendent has either had some shockingly bad advice, or has ignored some good advice/ If he had never sought name supression, the incident (which was minor and he got diversion for) would have been a page five or seven story lasting one news cycle.

But the use of name supression has meant half the country wants to know who the 46 year old is (the other half already know), and you’ve had other 46 year olds deny it is them.

So the end result for the 46 year old is a tonne more bad publicity that if he had never had name supression.

Newspaper Publishers’ Association chief executive Tim Pankhurst said yesterday that media companies should challenge the suppression to protect the principles of open justice.

“The courts in this country are far too ready to offer suppression. A justice system operates the most effectively in full sunlight and any sort of suggestion that people of influence … are protected, undermines the system.”

I agree with Tim Pankhurst that media should challenge this, but note that the Judge has not yet made a decision on suppression. Also worth noting that the Police did not oppose interim name supression. This is part of the problem – we need a culture in the Police where they challenge name suppression in almost all cases.

On two local issue in the last few days concerning Wellington City Council, Mayor Celia has popped up in comments on this blog and others to defend or explain her statements.

Regardless of politics, this is a good thing – to have a Mayor who engages through social media when it is relevant to do so. Not too many capital cities would be able to claim this.

In some regards this is no big surprise. Celia was in fact one of the inaugural Councillors of Internet New Zealand (then ISOCNZ). But good to see being Internet savvy continue in office.

In terms of previous Mayors, I guess one could claim that Andrew Williams used to engage with Whale Oil – but I’m not sure abusive faxes at 4 am fall into the same category as a blog comment

UPDATE: And in today’s Dom Post, an issue on which Celia has my full support:

Mayor Celia Wade-Brown is using her influence to pressure Wellington Airport into axing plans to put up a King-Kong-sized Wellywood sign.

But airport chief executive Steve Fitzgerald says the project is still alive, with a decision likely in about two months.

The airport was granted resource consent last year by Wellington City Council for a Hollywood-style sign to stand 3.5 metres high and span 28 metres along the airport-owned hillside next to Miramar cutting.

Ms Wade-Brown said she had flexed her new-found mayoral muscles when speaking informally to airport officials.

“I have influence and I hope the Wellywood sign won’t happen.”

If it does, I predict it will last less than a week. The Judean People’s Army will assemble a commando team to destroy it. The idea of a “Wellywood” sign is ghastly. If there has to be something, my preference is a giant weta.

Diane Joyce at Stuff reports:

An outspoken judge has jailed a man for 28 days for swearing at him from the public gallery, saying he’s had enough of criminals and their supporters being rude and arrogant.

Judge Tony Adeane, a district court judge working in Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne, said Gisborne had a “particular problem” with bad behaviour in court, after he jailed the man for abusing him.

Chief District Court Judge Russell Johnson said yesterday that members of the public yelling out to a judge was relatively new.

However, Law Society president Jonathan Temm said such behaviour had become “par for the course” in many courts, although it remained “very uncommon” for someone to be jailed for abusing a judge.

Perhaps it will become less common after this. My first reaction was that 28 days might be a bit over the top, but then I saw the specifics:

Grant, 26, of Gisborne, was in the public gallery to support a friend appearing in court. He was unhappy at the outcome of his friend’s appearance and, just as he was leaving, yelled out to Judge Adeane: “Is that all, c…?”

If you call the Judge a cunt in court, then you absolutely should be jailed for contempt.

TVNZ reports:

He said Labour would talk to the Maori Party if it was “in the interests of New Zealanders to do so”.

Goff would not, however, talk to Hone Harawira, saying there were “lots of things I fundamentally disagree with him on”.

He said Labour would also work with Winston Peters, though New Zealand First is currently out of government.

Personally I would choose Harawira over Peters anyday.

But what is significant is Goff ruling out even having discussions with Harawira.

Because many on the left want him to join forces with Bradford and McCarten and form a hard left party. If Harawira stood for them, they would not need 5% to get elected.

But Goff is apparently saying he would choose opposition, rather than deal with Harawira. Is this really his position?

Business Insider reports:

Peter Thiel, famous for making billions off Facebook, tells us he’s finally found “utopia” – New Zealand.

Thiel has been investing heavily in the country.

He’s already made two noteworthy venture investments there in the space of a few months. In October 2010, he invested $3 million in online accounting firm Xero, which is based (and publicly traded) in New Zealand. Then he invested $4 million in Pacific Fiber, an ambitious company that is building a fiber-optic cable from Australia to New Zealand to the US and is raising $300-400 million more to do so.

I’m a fan (and share holder) of Xero, and a fan of Pacific Fibre. I want them to suceed. But they need to attract capital to do so, and not enough capital exists in NZ.

 

These investments aren’t just one-offs. Thiel has set up a local venture firm called Valar Ventures. Valar Ventures LP was registered in New Zealand in July 2009, more than a year before Thiel’s first known New Zealand investment, and is managed by Valar Capital Management LLC, based in San Francisco, according to official records. Valar Ventures LP’s offices are at prominent New Zealand law firm Bell Gully, which suggests it doesn’t have full time staff yet. Peter Thiel founded two other companies in New Zealand: Second Star Limited, where he is sole shareholder, and Silverarc Advisors. …

Here’s a thought: maybe Peter Thiel wants to turn New Zealand into the next Silicon Valley. Or maybe even the libertarian utopia of his dreams.

Investing in a huge undersea fiber optic cable is typically a safe, low-return investment, which isn’t the kind of investments Thiel goes after. But bringing high speed internet into New Zealand would be a first step to turning the country into a new Silicon Valley.

The name of Thiel’s firm Valar Ventures comes from J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings universe. Thiel is a huge Tolkien fan and the Lord of the Rings movies were filmed in New Zealand. In Tolkien’s legendarium, the Valar are deities who created the world of Middle-Earth (portrayed by New Zealand in the movies) and then descended on it to help nurture its infancy and development.

Reached about this idea, Thiel said: “New Zealand is already utopia.  But Silicon Valley and New Zealand can learn a lot from each other, and we want to help make that happen.” So Thiel is clearly in it for the long run.

So when Labour and Winston First rail against foreign investment, think about this article and the fact we should be celebrating that someone like Thiel wants to invest in NZ.

One News reports:

A collective from the Maori Party filed an official complaint against fellow Maori Party member Hone Harawira late last night.

Maori Party President, Pem Bird, says he received a complaint yesterday from Waiaraki MP Te Ururoa Flavell, supported by Te Tai Tonga MP Rahui Katene, and Maori Party co-leaders Dr Pita Sharples and Tariana Turia. …

Bird said the party is seeking an early meeting to try and resolve the issues raised by the complaint and an urgent hui will be held on Friday.

“We have invited Hone Harawira, Te Ururoa Flavell on behalf of the complainants, and the Chair of the Te Tai Tokerau Electorate Council to be present at the hui. It will be chaired by the Party’s co Vice President, Ken Mair. The hui will be private and confidential to enhance the chances of successfully resolving the issues in the complaint,” Bird said.

I’m not sure what Harawira’s game plan is. Sometimes it looks like he is trying to take over the Maori Party and mould it in his own image. Sometimes it looks like he is trying to engineer a split.

It is hard to see how he can be a candidate for the Maori Party at the next election, with his recent actions. If there is a schism, he will take a lot of activists with him.

What will be interesting is whether he stands as an Independent, tries to set up his own Maori Party or becomes the Leader of a hard left party which includes Sue Bradford and Matt McCarten. If he does the latter, then they will get representation in Parliament on the basis of Harawira retaining his seat which is likely. Not sure though that Hone would want to be seen to stand for a party which is not a Maori nationalistic party.

Overall this is pretty good news for the left. One danger however is that a Harawiara led hard left party could attract activists and voters from the Greens, and they can’t afford to drop under 5%.

Hat Tip: Whowuddathort

Dave Burgess in the Dom Post reports:

Cars could be banned from Courtenay Place under a proposal from Wellington Mayor Celia Wade-Brown.

The move would affect about 6500 private vehicles that use Courtenay Place on weekdays. It is aimed at creating a more reliable bus service and lifting bus use.

A shop-owner says it is an “absolutely ridiculous” plan that would hit retailers and was for a traffic problem that did not exist.

I have to say that I don’t think there are huge traffic problems on Courtenay Place, and can’t see what the problem is to be solved by this.

My preference is for the vision of Bob Jones – to have Courtenay Place to Lampton Quay turned into a huge mall, with no buses or cars. I’m not sure it is entirely practical, but would love to see it costed.

Removing vehicles from Courtenay Place would build on the successful opening of Manners Mall to buses, which had created a public transport spine through the central city, Ms Wade-Brown said.

The only thing sucessful about it, is that none of the pedesterians hit so far have been killed.

Any proposal will go out for consultation.

Amy Glass at Stuff reports:

Police heading the Pike River operation have agreed to release documents detailing why they decided to abandon their efforts, a lawyer for some of the families says.

Barrister Nicholas Davidson QC said yesterday Police Commissioner Howard Broad had said the information would include reports and the advice police had received from experts and the Mines Rescue Trust.

“For the first time, we will be able to take that material and consult with our experts,” Davidson said.

I am surprised that this is only happening now. In my opinion it would have been far more sensible of the Police to have shared these reports with the families before they made a decision, ask the families for any feedback on the reports and then make a decision. Then at least you would have families being able to understand the rationale for the decision.

Kate Chapman has a summary at Stuff:

Police Commissioner Howard Broad has hit back at a damning report into police culture, saying it looks “like a huge slapping”.

Well that is because it is Howard.

Ms Collins said yesterday that outgoing Commissioner Howard Broad had implemented a lot of changes, but “pockets of resistance” still needed to be tackled.

“Those are areas where the incoming commissioner [Peter Marshall] will be wanting to address.”

Mr Marshall starts in April.

Marshall, having headed up an overseas force for a few years, is in an ideal position to come in and make some changes.

Another problem area was rostering, with a graph of staff on duty in 2007 showing heavy staffing early in the week and fewer over the weekend when crime and demand were at their highest.

“It is appalling to think that, back in 2007 … there were more police officers on duty on a Monday night than … on a Saturday night,” Ms Collins said.

Hopefully that has changed or is about to.

Among the report’s findings were:

No action over poor-performing senior staff at police headquarters.

Police files revealed “highly inappropriate behaviour” by staff which was worthy of dismissal but received only a warning.

Rosters based on staff needs, not risk and demand.

Many staff felt the wrong people were sometimes given senior roles.

Wide inconsistency in the abilities of area commanders.

Little confidence in the detection of any concerning staff behaviour.

The commission of inquiry lacked impact as a driver of change.

Police need to implement “basic management concepts”.

That a pretty damning list. The inconsistency in the ability of area commanders has been there for a long time – you have a few good ones, but also a few who really are not up to it.

Three tributes to Denis Dutton worth highlighting. The first below is from James Allan in The Spectator Australia.

Dutton

Also Eric Crampton in The Press bids farewell:

Denis loved sharing his victories. One of the earlier emails I received from Denis was simply a link to a story in Canada’s National Post, talking of the wonders of ALD and of its author, improbably situated in Christchurch. I teased Denis that I hadn’t thought him a fan of hagiography. He replied in classic form: “I despise hagiography, except when I’m the hag.”

Heh, Denis would like all these tributes then.

Denis was a liberal and a humanist who saw how much progress we’ve made and who railed against those who would thwart it through pseudo-science and superstition. He loved beauty and, in explaining it to us, helped us better to appreciate it. Thank you, Denis.

The Press also has this piece from Robin Maconie farewelling Denis.

The NZ Herald editorial:

He first made this proposal during the election campaign when it was suggested that voters in the rest of Auckland might resent paying for the former Manukau City Council’s free pools. Mr Brown’s answer was that he would extend the policy to the whole of Auckland. This week he repeated that intention as one of his “100 projects in 100 days”.

Free swimming pools would be a complete waste of money for most of Auckland. This blessed city has a vast free swimming pool all around it. Two harbours and the Hauraki Gulf provide warm, calm, sheltered bays in abundance.

Nobody in Auckland lives much more than a 15-minutes drive from a beach, and most live within easy reach of many.

Unlike Wellington, where there are basically no beaches where the water is warm enough for swimming.

Better still, the issue could be left to local boards. Those new elected bodies are waiting for the Auckland Council to define their role. This time last year Mr Brown’s website offered them responsibilities that included liquor licensing, local street management, libraries, swimming pools, public toilets, camping grounds and beach control.

If they are bulk-funded from council revenue for services such as those, the boards would asses the importance of a free pool to their communities against the need for other amenities. No public body is better placed to make that assessment. Voters can punish boards that misread their priorities.

Leaving it to the local boards is a good idea.

But Mr Brown is not talking of delegating the decision. He says his next step towards free pools for all is to commission a report on the cost, equity and fairness of the proposal. He says he picked up an “overwhelming sentiment” in the election that free pools would be welcome across Auckland.

Doubtless he did. Nobody rejects a free offer in election campaigns. He could as easily have offered free gymnasiums, free golf courses or free dance classes in the name of health and opportunity.

Please, don’t give him ideas.

Claire Trevett at NZ Herald reports:

Parliament’s Speaker has moved to officially abolish politicians’ international travel perks, and will vet any travel applications by MPs to ensure they do not abuse the new system.

His new set of “directions” – the rules governing MPs’ spending and entitlements – has abolished use of the perk for private travel, from January 1. And it can no longer be used for spouses in any circumstances.

That is good, and well overdue.

MPs can still claim a rebate if their trip is primarily for parliamentary purposes – a broad-ranging definition which includes “research” and international conferences.

This is well intentioned, but is open to exploitation. If an MP wishes to go over to the UK and attend the Labour or Conservative Party conference, then they will be able to. Catch up with a couple of mates who happen to be MPs there and you have your research component.

But the vetting will ensure no one can set up a work-related meeting on holiday as justification for a rebate.

The Speaker is in charge of vetting those trips, for which MPs must pay part of the costs themselves.

This is better than no vetting, but an inferior solution to what I prefer – that the costs of any international travel be funded out of a parliamentary party’s bulk fund. This would provide a real incentive for MPs to only travel when there is real value in doing so – because there are other things you can spend the bulk fund on – more staff, external research, advertising etc.

The international travel subsidy will continue to be ring-fenced. This provides an incentive for MPs to try and maximise its use.

Claire Trevett at NZ Herald reports:

Labour is promising to extend paid parental leave and make Working for Families more generous for parents of under-2s under its new social welfare policy.

Labour’s social development spokeswoman Annette King has given further details about the party’s new social policies, the full details of which will be made public within two months.

The plans include increasing paid parental leave from the current 14 weeks and allowing more parents to be eligible for it to make it more comparable to Australia’s new scheme, which allows for 18 weeks on the minimum wage.

If one was running a huge surplus, I think one could have a debate about whether to increase spending in certain areas.

But when the Government is already borrowing $300 million a week, you’d think even Labour would realise that borrowing even more money to hand out as welfare is reckless.

Working for Families would be more generous for parents of children under 2 – allowing more freedom for a parent to remain at home with young children. Changes to the domestic purposes benefit were also planned.

She said National’s black and white rule requiring single parents to find work when their youngest child was 6 years old was unfair.

So really Labour is saying that they wish to pay people more money not to work, and water down any requirements for those on welfare to work.

The Age reports:

A bizarre decision to ride an inflatable doll down a flood-swollen Yarra River blew up in a woman’s face yesterday when she lost her latex playmate in a rough patch.

The incident prompted a warning from police that blow-up sex toys are “not recognised flotation devices”.

Police and a State Emergency Services crew were called to the rescue when the woman and a man, both 19, struck trouble at Warrandyte North about 4.30pm yesterday.

They were floating down the river on two inflatable dolls and had just passed the Pound Bend Tunnel when the woman lost her toy in turbulent water.

Now that would make a great You Tube video.

I know of the odd flat which has a sex doll (invariably students), but having two sex dolls is rare – perhaps they went out and purchased them just for the floods?

Giles Brown at The Press reports:

A young mother was caught in Christchurch driving with nearly twice the drink-drive limit, sipping from a cup of rum and with two children in the car, police say.

Southern Canterbury area commander, Inspector Malcolm Johnston, said it was one of the worst cases of drink-driving he had seen in 30 years.

He said the 21-year-old woman was caught in Riccarton Rd about 8.15pm on Saturday after police spotted her driving erratically. Her 25-year-old partner was in the front passenger seat with an unrestrained two-year-old boy on his lap, Johnston said, and a baby boy was in a restraining seat in the back.

Johnston said that while the mother was being spoken to by police she was drinking rum from a cup.

I’m not sure what is worse – the drink driving with kids in the car, the holding of the boy on a lap, which is guaranteed to kill him in a crash, or carrying on drinking while the Police are talking to you.

Regardless, the combination of such moronic behaviour has me conclude that there is no way they can be safe parents.

Rebecca Todd in The Press reports:

Families of suicide victims are angry their voices were not included in a ministerial review of media reporting on suicide, a spokeswoman says. …

Maria Bradshaw, co-founder of family support group CASPER, said the committee’s review was missing the voices of the victims of suicide and families were “tired of Government inaction on the issue”. Families were restricted by the Coroners Act as they could not say publicly how their loved one died, for instance in funeral notices, until the coroner had made a ruling.

Bradshaw had a court order imposed to stop her discussing her son’s suicide publicly before the coroner had ruled on his death.

“That’s no way to treat a victim group. It just increases the isolation and stigma,” she said.

And is ineffective.

Newspaper Publishers’ Association chief executive Tim Pankhurst said the explosion in social networking made the Coroners Act largely irrelevant.

“If a teenager is killed, then hundreds of people are going to be Facebooking or tweeting about that within a couple of hours. Those kids aren’t reading newspapers or looking at news websites,” he said.

Exactly. Often it is the deceased’s own Facebook page where the news is broken, and people console.

Yes that is an elephant up there. Photo from BBC.