The Hunua selection occurred when I was overseas. The winner from a large field was Andrew Bayly who has an interesting and varied background. Some extracts:

• managed the listing of approximately 25 companies on the London and New Zealand stock exchanges
• Chair of a number of private companies
•  Fellow of the NZ Chartered Institute of Company Management, Fellow of the UK Chartered Association of Certified Accountants; and Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Management
•  recently returned from Antarctica, where he climbed a number of mountains and dragged a sled for 111 kilometres to the South Pole

Hunua was won in 2011 by Paul Hutchison with a 16,797 majority so again it is highly likely Andrew will be an MP after the election.

Stats NZ reports:

Exports rose $671 million in the March month, to $5.1 billion. Milk powder, butter, and cheese led the rise in exports, up $474 million (45 percent) compared with March 2013.

“This is the first time monthly exports have exceeded $5 billion, and annual exports have exceeded $50 billion,” Mr Attewell said. “Record dairy exports pushed the values past these thresholds.”

Rather bad timing for Labour that one the day they release their policy aimed at fixing the export sector, exports hit an all time high. Some key stats:

• Exports for the year to March 8.5% higher than a year ago
• Exports for the March quarter 17.4% higher than a year ago
• Trade surplus is $805 million compared to a $4.7 billion deficit in 2008/09
• In last year dairy exports up 30.5%, forestry up 23.6%, textiles up 15.0%

David Parker has announced:

Introduce a new tool – a variable savings rate or VSR – allowing the Bank to vary KiwiSaver savings rates (which would be universal under Labour) as an alternative to raising the OCR to take the heat out of the economy. This VSR would mean Kiwis would pay money to their retirement savings instead of higher mortgage payments to overseas banks.

Something that people should be aware of is that only a relatively small proportion of households or earners have a mortgage. While a VSR will impact every single person who earns money, by lowering their take home pay to reduce inflation.

What this means is that the Reserve Bank could lift the employee contribution rate to KiwiSaver from 3% to 4.5% (it will be compulsory). If you’re earning $40,000 a year then your take home pay will drop by $600 a year. The biggest losers in this policy are likely to be low and middle income earners who don’t currently have a mortgage. They will face a reduction in their after tax income.

This doesn’t mean the policy is a bad one, just that it creates both winners and losers – and the losers are low to middle income earners without a mortgage.

Stuff reports:

The BBC’s United Nations correspondent Nick Bryant says head winds face former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd if he wants the top UN job  in 2017.

He says the UN will adhere to ”geopolitical correctness”, meaning it is an Eastern European’s turn. Speculation centres on former Slovenian president Danilo Turk and Slovak diplomat Jan Kubis. Former prime minister Helen Clark is also eyeing the job –  perhaps hoping regional ”turns” are over.

I made this point a few months ago – regional rotation is very very important in UN roles such as the Secretary-General. That’s why I think it is unlikely Helen Clark will be in the running.

I will say this though. Given a choice between Helen Clark and Kevin Rudd – I’d be supporting Helen all the way!

Stuff reports:

The Government has confirmed $100 million in new funding for the defence force in the coming financial year – part of a $535 million package for the next four years.

A $100.9 million investment into operating funding for the 2014-15 financial year, has been confirmed in the coming Budget.

“This significant investment in our defence force, combined with the savings and reinvestment achieved through recent reforms, means the Government is addressing the long term funding gap which we inherited,” Defence Minister Jonathan Coleman said.

The Budget, due to be released May 15, will confirm the defence funding approach agreed by Cabinet in November, last year.

The $100.9 million was the first stage of an allocation of $535.5 million operating funding for the NZDF over the next four years.

Our expenditure on defence, as a proportion of GDP, is relatively low for a developed country. The NZDF do very good work around the world, despite our small size.

The Herald reports:

Labour has extended its deadline for the Tamaki Makaurau seat for the third time as it waits for a TVNZ report into the actions of potential candidate Shane Taurima.

I think this tells us who Head Office wants for the seat, considering they keep extending the deadline so Taurima can stand.

If he does stand he is likely to face a challenge from Maori TV’s Julian Wilcox. Mr Wilcox did not return calls, but sources in Labour expected him to announce he would contest the seat soon.

The head of news for Maori TV vs the head of Maori for TVNZ.

I’m uneasy with active broadcasters going straight into politics, as it does make you question how they have managed the conflict between being in charge of news and current affairs for their broadcasters while also being a member of a political party.

I’m not saying no one should go from the media into politics. Far from it. Many good MPs have backgrounds in broadcasting such as Lockwood Smith and Maggie Barry. But Maggie Barry didn’t go directly from hosting a news and current affairs show for Radio NZ into being a National candidate – it was over a decade later.

Judith Collins announced:

Justice Minister Judith Collins says the latest Justice sector Better Public Services results for reducing crime and re-offending, are the best quarterly results since the targets were set.

The Better Public Services (BPS) targets set a goal of a 15 per cent reduction in total crime by June 2017, compared to baseline figures from June 2011.

“It’s fantastic news that our latest Justice sector BPS results show the total crime rate has reduced by 14 per cent between June 2011 and December 2013,” says Ms Collins.

“The latest results for this period also show the youth crime rate has dropped by 27 per cent, violent crime is down 10 per cent and overall re-offending is down by 11.7 per cent.
  
“New Zealand now has the lowest crime rate since 1978 but most importantly, the results mean New Zealanders are experiencing around 56,000 fewer crimes a year, leading to fewer victims of crime.

“The BPS youth crime target has now been exceeded for a second time. We have almost met our total crime target and we’re halfway to meeting both the violent crime and re-offending targets – with more than three years to go.

The drop in youth crime and re-offending is especially important. This is one of the more important government goals, and it is good to see the progress being made.

In a speech to a conference over the weekend David Cunliffe spoke of his grandfather’s service in WWI and specifically referred how his grandfather won the a Military Medal for valour.

However Whale has checked the service records (which are online and available to anyone) and there is no record of the MM being awarded to Bob Tuke, Cunliffe’s grandfather. There was one awarded to an Edmund Tuke, who is Bob’s brother.

Unless the service records are faulty, the claim doesn’t appear to be correct. I presume it is relatively easy to verify – one could ask the NZ Defence Force to confirm.

I think it is important to stress that anyone who served honourably in WWI, deserves our thanks, recognition and honour – regardless of which medals they did or did not receive. To me, they are all war heroes.

However if you are making a formal speech, and referring to medals received by your ancestor, then it is a very good idea to make sure your facts are correct. If you are an aspiring Prime Minister, it is even more important.

UPDATE: The Herald reports that the claim is definitely incorrect.

The Washington Times reports:

Iran won seats on five subcommittees of the U.N. Economic and Social Council earlier this week, including one to the Commission on the Status of Women — a body tasked with pressing for women’s rights around the world.

The Government of Iran has an appalling record when it comes to women’s rights. A few of their achievements:

• female government workers forced to observe Islamic dress code
• women barred from becoming judges until recently
• beaches and sports are sex-segregated
• legal age of marriage for girls was reduced to 9 (later raised to 13)
• exposure of any part of the body other than hands and face – is subject to punishment of up to 70 lashes or 60 days imprisonment
•  a law proposed by the last government would ban unmarried women under the age of 40 leave the country without the permission of their fathers or brothers

The Age reports:

Labor has warned a “deficit levy” would define Tony Abbott as a Prime Minister if he pursued the new tax and  says the government was paying the price for the “deceitful, voodoo economics” of its election campaign.

Mr Abbott has not ruled out a short-term tax on high incomes to  reduce Australia’s deficit, as the opposition accused the the Coalition of preparing to break an election promise of no new taxes.

So Australian Labor is saying the Government should not increase taxes on high income earners, while the Coalition is considering doing just that.

On this issue, I am of course with Australian Labor. Labor may have left the Coalition a huge deficit, but they solution is not increasing taxes. It is restraining spending.

Steven Joyce points out:

The Labour Party’s attempts to talk down New Zealand’s economic performance have hit a new low this weekend with David Parker making at least nine factually incorrect statements in one short interview, Associate Finance Minister Steven Joyce says.

In the interview, with TV3’s The Nation programme, Parker made assertions about low export prices, a poor balance of trade, job losses in the export sector, New Zealand’s current account deficit,  high interest rates, a lack of business investment, 40 per cent house price increases, no tax on housing speculators, and low levels of house building.

Mr Joyce says all of Mr Parker’s assertions in relation to these nine things are incorrect.

Is this a record for a single interview?

The nine inaccuracies are:

Schedule of inaccuracies in David Parker interview on The Nation – April 26 2014

1. “Export prices are going down”

Export prices in fact rose 13.8 per cent in the year to December 2013 (Statistics New Zealand).

The ANZ NZD Commodity Price Index rose 11.6 per cent in the year to March 2014 and is just 6 per cent below its all-time March 2011 peak.

2.  “We are not covering the cost of our imports (and interest)”

Statistics New Zealand reported a merchandise trade surplus for New Zealand in the year to February 2014 of $649 million (1.3 per cent of exports).

January and February’s merchandise trade surpluses were the highest ever for their respective months.

3.  “We are losing jobs in the export sector”

The number of people employed in the agriculture, forestry, fisheries, mining and manufacturing sectors has increased by 16,100 in the last twelve months. 

Total New Zealand employment increased by 66,000 in the last year or 3.0 per cent in one year. This is the fastest employment growth since December 2006. (Statistics New Zealand Household Labour Force Survey December 2013).

4. “This challenge of getting New Zealand’s current account deficit under control”

New Zealand’s balance of payments deficit is currently 3.4 per cent and has averaged only 3.1 per cent over the last four years.

Under Labour the Balance of Payments peaked at 7.9 per cent in December quarter 2008 and averaged 7 per cent over their last four years.

New Zealand’s Net International Investment Position is currently down to 67 per cent of GDP after peaking at 85.9 per cent in March 2009.

5. “Ridiculously high interest rates”

Interest rates have just edged up above 50-year lows.

Floating mortgage interest rates are currently between 6 and 6.25 per cent. They peaked at 10.9 per cent between May and August 2008.

6. “Exporters…. Aren’t willing to invest in plant”

Investment in plant, machinery and equipment by New Zealand companies was up 7.5 per cent in the December quarter and 3 per cent for the year. Investment in plant, machinery and equipment is now at its highest level ever (Statistics New Zealand – December quarter 2013 GDP release).

Just yesterday, long term New Zealand forestry processor Oji Limited announced a $1 billion investment to purchase Carter Holt Harvey Processing assets.

7. “House prices are up 40 per cent under them”

House prices under this government have increased at around 5.7 per cent per annum, compared to 10.7 per cent per annum under Labour, according to REINZ figures. Total house price increases over the period is 30 per cent, not the 40 per cent Mr Parker claims. That compares with a 96 per cent increase in house prices under Labour.

8.  “You need to tax the speculators. They are not taxing speculators”

Taxpayers who buy and sell houses for income are currently taxed at their personal income tax rate on their capital income.

9.  “They are not building any more houses”

The actual trend for the number of new dwellings, including apartments, is up 95 per cent from the series minimum in March 2011.

The trend is at its highest level since October 2007 (Statistics New Zealand February 2014 Building Consents Release).

Nice to see Ministers do some fisking.

The Daily Mail reports:

Welcome to the Green Republic of Brighton and Hove.

 

Starting with just one councillor in 1996, the Green Party’s rise to power in Brighton has been unprecedented and rapid. In 2010  there was the election of Caroline Lucas as the MP for Brighton Pavilion – the party’s first Westminster seat – and then came the capture of the city council just a year later.

 

A clever mix of protest, pavement politics and promises of change proved popular with residents, many of them families forced from London by soaring house prices, students, or those attracted by the city’s liberal approach to life.

 

In 2011, the Greens ousted the Conservatives to become the largest group on the council with 23 seats. According to their leader Jason Kitcat, this was to be the future of British politics.

So what have the Greens done once they finally gained power? In Tasmania, the result was a Government so bad they got wiped out at the polls, and Labor vowing never to deal with them again. How has it gone in Brighton?

‘Winning was the worst thing possible for them,’ said one opposition councillor privately. ‘You can see they still want to be popular the whole time and dislike responsibility.’

The Green honeymoon was short-lived. Take the surreal story of an elderly elm tree.

First the Greens voted to upgrade a roundabout in the city called Seven Dials, but then found that there were protests to protect the 170-year-old tree beside the site. Eco-warriors camped out in the branches and pinned poems to the trunk. The national media showed an interest. So the Greens switched sides, joined the campaign to spare the 60ft elm from the chop and then spent a small fortune altering their own traffic scheme.

Then there was its manifesto pledge for ‘Meat-free Mondays’, which would have banned bacon rolls and beef pies from council-run staff canteens. It led to complaints from manual workers and the proposal was ditched.

Residents were similarly  surprised at Green plans to introduce livestock to one of the main routes into the city  as part of a ‘speed reduction package’. The scheme was deferred after protests.

If we do manage to end up with a Labour/Green/Winston/Mana/DotCom Government it will be very amusing for political pundits. Less so I suspect for voters!

The governing party is fatally split with, inevitably, divisions erupting into the open. Unlike other political parties, Greens do not ‘whip’ members into line to get policies passed, and meetings can descend into rows more suited to the Punch and Judy shows down on the beach.

A slim majority of moderates under amiable council leader Mr Kitcat have fought ceaseless challenges from a cabal of hard-Left councillors led by his deputy Phelim Mac Cafferty, a prominent gay activist.

The different factions are known  as ‘mangos’ (green on the outside yet yellow, like Lib Dems, in the middle) and ‘watermelons’ (green on the outside but red in the middle). The groups sit apart in the chamber during council meetings.

So serious are their differences that outside mediators were reportedly called in to reconcile the two sides. Mr Kitcat narrowly survived the latest attempt to depose him only last month – thanks to the support of his Polish-born wife Ania, a fellow moderate on the council.

And as an example:

When refuse workers went on strike against efforts to stop long-standing Spanish practices in working hours and to harmonise pay with female council staff, they were supported by the watermelons – Mr Mac Cafferty and eight colleagues.

According to one councillor, some  of these staff earned more than £50,000 a year by manipulating allowances and overtime payments. ‘They must be the highest paid bin drivers in the country,’ he said.

The strike last June led to the strange sight of the council leader telling binmen to get back to work, while his deputy joined the picket line as rubbish piled up in the streets.

That’s almost as bad as having a country’s foreign minister campaign against the Government’s trade agreement with China!

A 74-page report on ‘Trans Equalities Strategy’ to eliminate discrimination and avoid discomforting transsexuals asked for gender- neutral toilets and transgender-only sports sessions. Doctors were also urged to stop identifying patients according to gender on forms at GPs’ surgeries.

Residents are being offered the category ‘Mx’ (for Mixter) alongside Mr, Ms and Mrs on council forms. This prevents ‘an unnecessary sense of exclusion and frustration to be forced to accept a title  that doesn’t reflect someone’s gender expression.’

Focusing on the big issues.

They might heed the words of one Brighton shopper I met.

‘They seemed to have so many fresh ideas,’ she told me. ‘Now we just roll our eyes at any mention of the Greens – they’ve turned out even worse than the others.’

Now I’m not saying the NZ Greens will end up the same way, but it is fair to point out that the Greens have never had to actually govern – and governing involves compromise. The Alliance fall apart in Government because they could not reconcile the wishes of their activists with the reality of being in Government. Some Green parties have managed to successfully work in Government – such as in Germany. But others have failed – such as in Tasmania and Brighton.

National has announced:

Todd Barclay has been selected as the National Party candidate for Clutha-Southland at the September 20 General Election.

 Regional Chair Ele Ludemann congratulated Mr Barclay on his selection.

“Todd is an outstanding choice for Clutha-Southland,” said Mrs Ludemann. …

Todd Barclay was raised in Dipton and Gore, and at just 24 years old has established a strong mix of public and private sector experience in the public relations industry.

Working in Wellington and then Auckland, Todd worked for Bill English and cabinet ministers Hekia Parata and Gerry Brownlee. He left Parliament to work for one of New Zealand’s leading public relations consultancies, before taking on a role as Corporate Affairs Manager for Philip Morris.

Todd went to Gore High School, and studied at Victoria University of Wellington. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Commercial Law.

It was a strongly contested field, and says much about Todd that he managed to win the selection despite his relative youth. Todd was also a very young basketball referee in 2008.

Clutha-Southland was won by Bill English in 2011 with a majority of 16,188, so it is fair to say that Todd is likely to be an MP after the election.

This leaves Bay of Plenty as the sole remaining contested selection for a National held seat.

Guardian Of The Coast, Nugget Point, New Zealand

I love photographing lighthouses and this one found on the Catlins coast at Nugget Point is one of my favourites.

I will always remember climbing out to this vantage point in the hours before dawn and watching the stunning light show play out in front of me. A long exposure allowed me to capture the endless movement of the waves as they swirl around the rocky outcrop.

Click on the image for a larger view of this photograph.

Cheers

Richard [richardhume.com]

YouTube: Timeless – A Panoramic Journey

The Herald reports:

The Government will ban all synthetic drugs within two weeks until they can be proven to be low-risk, Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne has revealed.

The move comes as Labour plans to announce its own policy on psychoactive substances tomorrow, and follows increasing protest from local communities against legal highs.

Mr Dunne told the Herald this afternoon: “Last Tuesday, Cabinet agreed on a proposal from me to introduce legislation under urgency when Parliament resumes to remove the remaining 41 products from the shelves until such time as their low-level of risk can be proven.”

He said he would have made the announcement earlier but he did not want to encourage stock-piling of the drugs.

The emergency legislation will be introduced when Parliament resumed on May 6, and will be passed under urgency.

“I’m expecting it to be passed that particular week and to take effect pretty much immediately afterwards,” Mr Dunne said.

This meant there would be no psychoactive substances for sale in New Zealand for “some considerable amount of time”.

There are currently 150 outlets selling legal highs nationwide.

The Psychoactive Substances Act required synthetic drug manufacturers to prove their drugs were low-risk before they could be sold.

But a Ministry of Health testing regime and several other regulations were not yet in place.

In the interim, drugs which had temporary approval from an expert committee were permitted to be sold.

Forty-one products are on shelves at present, compared to around 300 before the bill was passed.

“I think that the reason we didn’t include those 41 products initially was that they hadn’t been identified as problematic,” Mr Dunne said.

There’s a degree of moral panic in all this. The number of outlets selling legal highs has gone from 3,000 to 150 and the number of products from 300 to 41. A total ban will not be effective in the medium term.

I’m glad the new regime isn’t being through out – it’s a regime that 120 out of 121 MPs voted for – no matter how much some now pretend they didn’t.

The issue seems to be around the temporary licenses and products remaining available on the temporary licenses for longer than expected as the full testing regime is not yet operational.

So the Government’s move is not entirely unreasonable – but it may become the thin end of the wedge towards total prohibition – which is a policy doomed to failure. I hope not.

Labour have announced they will extend the Veterans’ Pension to all veterans, rather than just those who were injured or impaired. They have an entire page devoted to their policy, and like me, you probably concluded that this means retired veterans will get a higher pension than they currently do.

But no, it is Labour being tricky again. You see the level of NZ Superannuation and the level of the Veteran’s Pension is identical. There are some differences around abatements if in long-term hospital care, but the level of the core benefit is the same.

@mizjwilliams absolutely. My point is mostly about releasing a policy and avoiding mentioning a detail like weekly pay, which Labour knows.

— Graeme Edgeler (@GraemeEdgeler) April 26, 2014

I was alerted to this by Graeme Edgeler on Twitter. He makes the point that Labour deliberately chose to not include in its materials the fact that the level of the pension is the same. Once again, they’re being tricky. There are benefits to being able to get the Veteran’s Pension – but Labour have tried to con people into thinking they include a higher level of benefit.

Edgeler makes the point that sure you might not expect the advertising to mention this salient detail – but you would expect it to be mentioned in the full policy.

Yesterday Stuff had a story about a family being forced to live in a tent in Christchurch.

It’s a great example of why so many people no longer trust the media.

Whale Oil points out the facts that the Stuff story did not include.

• They had failed to pay rent on a previous property of $2,200. Not paying rent of course makes it hard to gain a rental property.
• They damaged their last property so badly the cleaning and repair costs were in excess of $1,500

Also buried in the story is the detail that they had turned down an offer to stay at someone’s house – preferring to be “independent” and live in a tent.

Another aspect that does not add up in the story is the assertion that one partner works full-time and the other is on a benefit. As far as I know you can’t be on a benefit if your partner is in full-time work. You can receive WFF and welfare assistance – but not be receiving a main benefit.

I have no doubt there are many families in Christchurch who are really struggling with accommodation. But media should report all the relevant facts – not just run a story probably handed to them by a local MP – without doing any research on it.

3 News reports:

Shane Jones has taken another shot at the Greens, labelling them anti-industry. And when asked whether a Labour-Greens government would be preferable to a National government, he avoided the question.

Mr Jones will leave his job as a Labour MP in a month and it seems until then he will take every opportunity to attack Labour’s closest ally, the Greens.

“I just felt the Kaupapa the Greens were bringing forward, I always felt it was too anti-industry,” he says. “I’m just not going to fight that fight anymore. If that’s the way they want to run the country then I’ve had enough of it.”

Steven Joyce has pointed out they’re against the dairy industry, farming, oil and gas exploration, aquaculture, free trade agreements and international investment!

Mr Jones says he still supports Labour, but when asked twice whether he would prefer Labour-Greens government over third-term National government, he did not give a clear answer. 

I think the lack of answer speaks volumes.

Shane Jones knows deep down that a Government with Russel Norman as Minister of Finance or Economic Development will actually be against economic development.

Also in an HoS profile:

Pumipi says he should have gone with National. Jones is more oblique: “I will never admit to having joined the wrong party. But I admit to the fact that I have sounded consistently like a guy who doesn’t belong to the modern Labour Party.”

Jones’ political career is not over. Certainly, he is done with Labour. “I’m not naturally left-leaning,” he admits. He does not believe it can win this year’s election if Cunliffe continues with the current strategy, cosying up to the Greens.

Yet on Tuesday Labour will announce they have effectively adopted the Greens’ monetary policy, after fighting against it for 25 years.

3 News reports:

Congratulations to Alastair. Wairarapa was won by John Hayes in 2011 by 7,135 votes. It has been held by Labour in the past, so I am sure will be vigorously contested by Alastair and the Labour candidate, Kieran McAnulty.

National has so far selected new candidates in the National held seats of Hunua, Invercargill, Kaikoura, Napier, Taranaki-King Country, Waimakariri, Wairarapa and Whangarei.

Selections are still to be made for they very safe seats of Bay of Plenty and Clutha-Southland.

Headed out early to Bhaktapur on the final full day in Kathmandu. Bhaktapur is a historic city that was capital of Nepal until the 1400s. It’s only 20 kms from Kathmandu and is a must visit. One thing that makes it very nice is that most parts of it are closed to traffic.

By comparison, going through Thamel in a taxi is incredibly scary. You’re driving down narrow streets dodging pedestrians and cyclists every few seconds.

Just after the main entrance is this museum.

Durbar Square – one of four major squares in Bhaktapur.

One of many temples.

Wonderful old sculptures.

I love the elephants.

Now that is how I’d like to travel about!

A pottery maker near Pottery Square.

Wares being made for later sale.

This poor goat has lost his horns.

Some great artwork, even if not quite right for my apartment.

A typical street in Bhaktapur.

The sun was too much for these dogs.

The snake has gone fishing.

On the way back to Kathmandu, we passed this motorcycle with a very young kid sitting happily at the front of the bike.

Back in Kathmandu, a typical street in Thamel. What you don’t see in this photo is the cars swerving up and down them.

For our final evening we went to the Babarmahal Revisited complex in Kathmandu. It’s a former palace that is now a small shopping centre with some very high quality restaurants. Made a change from Dal Bhat (which actually was pretty good).

Then the next morning it was a quick trip to the bakery for a final breakfast. Thee coffee is what they call a Latte!

Then we flew out of Nepal on Friday. Once again Malaysia Airlines were incapable of having my bags travel with me, so the 36 hour stop over in Kuala Lumpar turned into a quick shopping expedition for emergency clothes for all of us. We were told 25 bags were not flown due to over-loading, but I’m sceptical as the planes should be able to carry a full load of passengers and gear.

We made the Pavilion shopping plaza with just 30 minutes to spare before it closed, so was a very hasty shop.

Saturday saw a bit more shopping, and just enjoying the hotel (Hotel Istana) swimming pool. Then out to the night markets tonight and two flights back to Wellington to arrive Monday.

Loved pretty much every moment of Nepal, and already planning my next trip there in a couple of years. So many mountains to see – or climb!

The Herald reports:

Two teenage boys have been assaulted in Whangarei in separate, violent, evening attacks, with one stopped by a GP and political aspirant while the other involved an attacker intoxicated on legal highs who also assaulted police.

Whangarei GP Shane Reti wants the community to unite to stop violence in the city after he helped stop a violent assault on a boy in the CBD while filming a video on Wednesday night about today’s Anzac Day commemorations. ….

Dr Reti, who is the National Party candidate for Whangarei in September’s general election, said he was disappointed by the level of violence he witnessed just after 9pm on Wednesday that involved two young men “kicking the heck out of” a boy on the ground in Rathbone St.

He captured part of the assault on video when he left his camera running after filming a video for his Facebook page at the Field of Remembrance in Laurie Hall Park. 

While driving out of Laurie Hall Lane on to Bank St, he noticed a car stopped in the middle of the road and heard a commotion before realising what was going on – a boy aged 15 or 16 was curled up in the foetal position while two young men took turns kicking him. Dr Reti got out of his car and approached the attackers who stopped the assault.

“The young man was bruised and dazed but conscious and I applied the required medical cares until the police arrived,” he said.

Kicking someone lying on the ground is particularly cowardly and brutal. Hopefully the Police catch the assailants.