We are on the road at present were blessed to witness this incredible sunset and lenticular cloud formation over Lake Pukaki last Saturday Night. Mackenzie Country, South Island New Zealand.  Photography By Todd Sisson

Yup – I’m back….

Apologies for the no-shows over the past month or so, the task of building our new website has proven significantly more taxing than expected – it feels as if we carved the thing out of granite (using our foreheads as chisels).

But the good news is that a bigger, better, faster site is now up and live (seemingly, after more budget and deadline blow-outs than a US defence force project).  Feel free to check it out – we even have a working blog (with real posts on it 😉

As to the photo – this is one of dozens of killer  images that Sarah & I are collecting on a very productive one week road trip in Canterbury.  Check out Sarah’s (superior) version of this scene here.

Cheers – Todd

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You may download the large version of today’s image from this link:   Password = wwp

Thanks for your support!

Cheers – Todd [www.sisson.co.nz]  [Blog]

Stuff reports:

The competition is already heating up to replace Chris Laidlaw as host of National Radio’s Sunday morning show. He will present his last show on December 22, it was confirmed yesterday.

Radio New Zealand networks manager John Howson said Laidlaw had signalled before last month’s elections that he would retire if elected to both the Greater Wellington Regional Council and Capital & Coast District Health Board, as he subsequently was.

At least two high-profile journalists with radio experience had expressed interest, he said, and it was hoped that a replacement would be named by the time the show resumed after the summer break, on January 26.

Former TVNZ head of news Bill Ralston said he expected a lot of hands would be high in the air from both inside and outside RNZ. “It’s an opportunity to inject some life into the show . . .”

Laidlaw had been labelled a “leftie”, and his departure was a chance for the network to shift toward the centre of the political spectrum.

Mr Howson said any suggestion that the show was “left-leaning” was only public perception.

Only public perception? You must be kidding!!

Stuff reports:

A Christchurch firm hopes a A$1 million (NZ$1.13m) win with the Australian Tax Office may persuade the New Zealand Government to buy software that monitors public servants’ computer use and encourages them to take breaks.

The Australian Tax Office has installed Wellnomics’ “Risk Management” software on its 25,000 desktop computers in a bid to reduce the health risks related to sedentary office work and computer use, such as “RSI” and heart disease.

The software checks how frequently and intensely staff are using their keyboards and mice, and whether they are taking breaks. It also generates reports indicating which staff might be at risk of overuse.

Such software can be a good thing, but if it is used to make the breaks mandatory, it can cause near-violence in the workplace.

When I worked at Parliament there was software which forced you to stop using your computer for a couple of minutes as a mandatory micro-break.

To say this was unpopular was under-stating the case. When there is a crisis on, and you are rushing to finish something in time for a debate in the House, having your computer insist you take a break could induce monumental levels of rage. Press secretaries came close to throwing their PCs out their 9th floor windows as they cursed and screamed at them.

As I said software which monitors can be useful, as can be software that allows each user to set break reminders. But if it is used to “force” people to take breaks, it can end up causing huge levels of stress – which employers are also meant to mitigate against.

Stuff reports:

China’s leaders pledged to let markets play a “decisive” role in the economy as they unveiled a reform agenda for the next decade today, looking to secure new drivers of future growth.

Ironically this comes two weeks after the Labour Party Annual Conference voted “Co-operation, rather than competition, should be the main governing factor in economic relations”

So the NZ Labour Party is more hostile to markets than the Chinese Communist Party!

News.com.au reports:

Sunday Assembly, Britain’s atheist church, is a gathering for the non-believers and it’s making its way to Australia.

Nearly three dozen gatherings nicknamed “atheist mega-churches” by supporters and detractors have sprung up around the US and Australia – with more to come – after finding success in Great Britain at the beginning of the year.

And the movement, fueled by social media and led by prominent British comedians Sanderson Jones and Pippa Evans, is no joke.

“The Sunday Assembly has been called the atheist church, but we prefer to think of it as all the best bits of church but with no religion and awesome songs,” Jones toldABC.

“Our motto is “live better, help often and wonder more”, and our mission is to help everyone live this one life as fully as possible.

Can’t say I see the point myself, but each to their own.

When a natural disaster strikes another country, the House normally grants leave for (mainly) party leaders to express condolences to the country concerned. Yesterday John Key asked for leave in relation to the typhoon in the Philippines. It was granted and both Key and Cunliffe gave excellent short speeches expressing condolences and solidarity.

Then Russel Norman got up and decided that he knew what had caused the typhoon – greenhouse gas emissions, and subjected to the House to a lengthy diatribe about climate change. He spoke for probably twice as long as the Prime Minister and leader of the Opposition combined, and just used a tragedy for political point scoring. MPs got very very grumpy about this, and the Speaker had to intervene to calm things down.

There is a time and a place to debate climate change. It is not during the condolences to a country struck by a typhoon. Norman showed appalling judgement in politicizing what is by convention a non-political series of speeches. Have a look at the Hansard at the link provided. Key, Cunliffe, Martin and Horan all made short non-political contributions. Then read the lengthy diatribe by Norman.

It takes only one MP in the House to deny leave. If Dr Norman continues to use such occasions to grand-stand on climate change, then there is a significant risk than the next the Prime Minister asks the House for leave to express condolences on a tragedy, an MP will say no.

As for Dr Norman claiming the typhoon was caused by climate change. I quote Brendan O’Neill at the Telegraph:

There are two striking things about this nauseously speedy rush to blame every natural disaster on man’s thoughtlessness or wickedness. The first is how unscientific it is. As some scientists have pointed out, there is no “absolute certainty” that climate change causes things like Haiyan. Indeed, the latest IPCC report says: “Current datasets indicate no significant observed trends in global tropical cyclone frequency over the past century.” The ugly urge to say “that storm was caused by climate change”, even before serious studies have been carried out, even before the bodies have been counted, is fuelled by the weirdly self-flagellating moralism of the Green movement, by Greens’ never-flailing instinct to “prove” that modern life kills, rather than by any cool-headed assessment of the facts.

Very true.

CTU President Helen Kelly said on Q+A:

I’m leaving the country if Judith Collins becomes Prime Minister

That has to be a huge boost to Judith!

The Greens released a “public owners report” into Mighty River Power with a photo of Gareth Hughes in front of what one would assume is an MRP wind turbine.

There’s only one small problem.

I’m told Mighty River Power doesn’t have any wind turbines.

Now if an energy company that didn’t actually have any wind turbines, used a photo of one on their annual report cover, I’m pretty sure the Greens would condemn them for green-washing and false advertising. So will the Greens condemn their own annual report?

The Herald Sun reports:

And the introduction of plain packaging for legal cigarettes has failed, according to a report released this morning.

That report states that ­tobacco consumption in Australia will rise this year for the first time since 2003.

Demand for cheap counterfeit and contraband cigarettes is accelerating, driven by excise increases on legitimate tobacco.

This is the risk of increasing the excise tax.

Don’t get me wrong. If one could wave a magic wand, you’d have a country where tobacco was never made legally available. Could you imagine the US FDA giving approval to a product that kills so many people, if you were applying for permission to introduce it as a new product. They’d never ever approve it.

However we live in a world where tobacco is legally available in pretty much every country on earth.

I’m supportive of measures to reduce the smoking rate, and price is definitely a good lever. However the experience in Australia does show that there may come a level at which rising the price via excise tax will be counter-productive as t will just push people from the regulated legal market to the unregulated illegal market.

The Tobacco Plain Packaging Act, passed in 2011, made Australia the first country to remove all logos, colour and design from cigarette packets.

But a report compiled by the international auditing firm, KPMG, and released exclusively to theHerald Sun, shows that while sales of legal cigarettes and tobacco have slipped slightly in the past 12 months, surging demand for counterfeit and contraband cigarettes and chop chop tobacco has more than made up that shortfall.

This is the big challenge of public policy – unintended consequences.

Three years ago, then prime minister Kevin Rudd announced a 25 per cent increase in tax on cigarettes along with the plain packaging plan, the government convinced the changes would slash tobacco consumption by 6 per cent.

But – based on the survey – smokers have been driven to purchase illicit tobacco products, none of which displays the mandatory health warnings.

If people want to smoke, they will find ways to do so.

But KPMG estimates that 1433 tonnes of illegal tobacco has entered Australia in the last 12 months, an increase of 154 per cent.

It calculates that illicit tobacco is 13.3 per cent of total Australian sales and getting towards a market share enjoyed here by the world’s biggest manufacturer, Imperial Tobacco.

That’s a huge proportion.

Duncan Garner writes:

National is celebrating five years in Government and John Key can be pretty pleased with his efforts.

Five years on and, if you look at the rolling poll of polls, National sits at around 48% and Labour 33%. Though that masks how close any MMP election would be; add the Greens to Labour and it’s much, much closer.

A single percentage point will probably decide the next election. The Prime Minister is well aware of that. He can count. It’s why Key is now openly talking about Colin Craig and the Conservatives as a potential coalition partner.

Key prefers Craig to Winston Peters. I’m not surprised. I think National will offer Craig some electoral deal to get him over the line. National will help the Conservatives win a seat so its 2-3% vote is not wasted. Craig could bring with him 3-5 MPs, which could be the difference.

Is it impossible the conservatives make 5%? They got 2.8% last time with relatively little publicity (but lots of advertising). If it looks like they will make it over the line, they may pick up some support from those who were worried a vote for them would be wasted.

John Key has ruled out Winston Peters in the past – my feeling is he will probably do something similar again, early next year, but the decision is yet to be made. Key will, in my view, lay out who his preferred coalition partners are – he will list Peters and New Zealand First last – he may go the next step and tell Kiwis he won’t work with him. On principle – if Key is highly principled on Peters – he will stick to his previous stance and rule him out.

It will be interesting to see what he does.

Key was far from radical. He is a centrist that loves capitalism, but not pure capitalism. He understands when it doesn’t work and when it’s hurting people. He understands business and banking, and he is close to the country’s top business leaders and bank CEOs. They wish he was more right wing and aggressive on the business front. That he’s not shows he knows where the votes are.

But Key’s trick is this: He knows he must remain firmly in the centre of NZ life and politics to remain in office. He has done that pretty well, in my view. His opponents have consistently under-estimated him. He is much smarter than they give him credit for and he can come across as very ordinary at times.

The list of those who have under-estimated him is a very long one.

The good news is it looks like the economy is bouncing. This is the good part of the story that even Key’s opponents acknowledge, but usually in private.

Growth is expected to be 3.5 percent for the next two years. Some economists put it at four percent. Much of that is expected to come from Christchurch. Let’s hope it gets going sooner rather than later.

Unemployment is down to 6.2 percent. That is actually OK given the world’s collapse. Italy and Greece are on their knees and broke. Spain is the same. Australia and the US have nudged 10 percent unemployment.

Australia’s economic writers wax lyrical about the New Zealand economy and the management of it by Key and Bill English. In fact, more Kiwis are now heading home to NZ than leaving for Australia. The brain-drain trend has reversed.

And Duncan’s overall score:

So Key has had his challenges. Some of them have been monumental. He has, largely, negotiated them very well. He has made mistakes. He, at times, gets it wrong.

But he’s still high in the polls. Kiwis have largely trusted him to negotiate these tricky economic times.

I give him a 7.5 out of 10.

Your choice is between John Key and Bill English with a few rag-tag minor right wing parties – or David Cunliffe and Russel Norman – with perhaps Winston Peters in tow.

Who do you trust?

A good question.

Questions for Oral Answer.

Questions to Ministers 2.00PM – 3.00PM.

1. MAGGIE BARRY to the Minister of Finance: What do official statistics show about progress in the Government’s goal of supporting new jobs and higher incomes for New Zealanders?
2. Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by his statement yesterday that the compensation awarded to the Pike River families “should be serviced by the company, not by the Crown”?
3. KATRINA SHANKS to the Minister of Justice: What steps is the Government taking to support victims of sexual violence?
4. Hon DAVID PARKER to the Minister of Finance: Will the Government tax realised capital gains on investment property; if not, why not?
5. JAN LOGIE to the Prime Minister: Will he oppose Sri Lanka chairing the Commonwealth following the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Sri Lanka, as called for by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative?
6. NICKY WAGNER to the Minister of Conservation: What steps is the Government taking to improve the conservation of New Zealand’s 113 species of shark?
7. ANDREW LITTLE to the Minister of Justice: Does she stand by all her answers to Oral Question No. 9 on Tuesday and Oral Question No. 8 on Wednesday last week?
8. RICHARD PROSSER to the Minister for Primary Industries: What concerns, if any, does he have regarding government policy for the dairy industry in New Zealand?
9. Dr PAUL HUTCHISON to the Associate Minister of Health: What actions has the Government taken to ensure compliance with the Psychoactive Substances Act 2013?
10. EUGENIE SAGE to the Minister for the Environment: Will her proposed changes to the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management ensure our rivers and lakes are safe for swimming?
11. SUE MORONEY to the Minister for Social Development: Does she agree with the statement made by her spokeswoman with regard to Work and Income requirements for the disability allowance that “There’s no reason anyone would be repeatedly asked to prove a congenital condition and we have no information about any cases where that has happened”?
12. MARK MITCHELL to the Minister of Commerce: What progress has the Government made on the introduction of new KiwiSaver periodic disclosure rules?

Today Labour are asking about Pike River compensation, Capital Gains Tax, the Roastbusters, and the disability allowance. The Greens are asking about whether CHOGM should be held in Sri Lanka and management of Freshwater. New Zealand First is asking about the dairy industry.

Government MPs are today asking five patsies. These are about the economy, supporting victims of sexual violence, conservation of shark species, compliance with the Psyschoactive Substances Act 2013 and the new periodic Kiwisaver disclosure regime.

Patsy of the day goes to Nicky Wagner for Question 6:  What steps is the Government taking to improve the conservation of New Zealand’s 113 species of shark?

Government Bills 3.00PM-6.00PM and 7.30PM-10.00PM.

1. New Zealand International Convention Centre Bill – Third Reading

2. Members of Parliament (Remuneration and Services) Bill – Committee Stage

3. Health and Safety (Pike River Implementation) Bill – Committee Stage

4. Social Housing Reform (Housing Restructuring and Tenancy Matters Amendment) Bill – Committee Stage

5. Insolvency Practitioners Bill – Committee Stage

The  New Zealand International Convention Centre Bill is being guided through the house by the Minister for Economic Development, Steven Joyce.The purpose of the Bill is to give effect to an agreement between SkyCity Entertainment Group Limited and the Crown called the New Zealand International Convention Centre Project and Licensing Agreement.

The Members of Parliament (Remuneration and Services) Bill is being guided through the house by the Prime Minister, John Key. This bill seeks to establish a new framework for setting entitlements for members of Parliament and the Executive.

The  Health and Safety (Pike River Implementation) Bill is being guided through the house by the Minister of Labour, Simon Bridges. This bill proposes legislative changes to implement the recommendations of the Royal Commission on the Pike River Coal Mine Tragedy.

The Social Housing Reform (Housing Restructuring and Tenancy Matters Amendment) Bill is being guided through the house by the Minister of Housing, Nick Smith. This bill provides a framework for the future provision of social housing.

The Insolvency Practitioners Bill is being guided through the house by the Minister of Commerce, Craig Foss. This bill creates powers to restrict or prohibit individuals from providing insolvency services, and strengthens measures to automatically disqualify insolvency practitioners.

Quickflix have announced:

Quickflix today announces that it has entered an agreement with Hybrid Television Services Pty Ltd (Hybrid) for the streaming download of Quickflix subscription and pay-per-view movies and TV shows to owners of TiVo media devices in Australia and New Zealand.

Hybrid is the operator and licensee of TiVo in Australia and New Zealand.
The TiVo media device is one of the world’s best known digital video recorders with a revolutionary easy-to-use-interface and highly-engaged customer base. Quickflix’s streaming download to the TiVo media device will replace the existing CASPA video on demand service in December. TiVo customers will be able to access the Quickflix digital service through their TiVo media device as well as other registered devices including a wide range of smart TVs, game consoles, tablets and smartphones.

I’ve yet to try Quickflix, but am tempted to do so. How have others found it?

John Key has announced:

Prime Minister John Key today announced the appointment of Rebecca Kitteridge to the position of Director of Security, New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS).

Ms Kitteridge will replace Dr Warren Tucker, who is retiring next year.

“Ms Kitteridge is a highly respected and professional public servant with experience in senior roles,” Mr Key says.

“She is currently Secretary of the Cabinet and Clerk of the Executive Council at the Department of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet (DPMC), and has served under four Prime Ministers and four Governors-General while at DPMC.

“Ms Kitteridge was also seconded to conduct a high profile compliance review of the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) late last year.

This is an excellent appointment.

With the increasing focus on the intelligence agencies, public confidence is critical. Kitteridge’s background as a totally impartial Cabinet Secretary, but also as someone who is meticulous about following the law, due process, good procedure etc is just what the SIS needs.

The PM is obviously very determined that there be no more stuff ups of the Kim Dotcom variety.

Both the SIS and GCSB have tended to be headed up by those from a military or foreign affairs background. Now both are headed up by long-term career civil servants.

Also Kitteridge is the first woman to head up the SIS, and I suspect will be the youngest Director also by a considerable margin.

Slightly ironically, Kitteridge is going from one job where she can not talk publicly about most of her day to day work, to perhaps the one job where you can talk even less about what your day in the office was like. At least she’ll be used to it!

The Taxpayers Unions blogs:

It appears that the councils of two of our largest cities do not take freedom of information laws seriously. As a constitutional lawyer and advocate for government transparency, I am deeply saddened.

Cost of Wellington City Council’s website – $317,726 or $1.7million? Depends who’s asking…

Last week the Taxpayers’ Union criticised Marlborough City Council for spending $410,000 on web design and development. We made a feature of it on our website and our analysis was even covered in the local paper. We thought the amount was outrageous – ‘$100,000 more than Wellington City’s award winning website’.

We were wrong. Though the Wellington City Council told us it had spent $317,726, it had told someone else it had spent $1.7million on the same wellington.govt.nz site. Though we’ve written (and spoken) to the Council’s CEO, the inconsistency has not been explained. We’ve posted the two information request responses, as well as the ‘please explain’ letterhere.

When a Council provides too massively different figures for the cost of their website, that’s a very bad look. Far too many Councils seem to have an attitude that LGOIMA requests are a matter of voluntary compliance, not law.

But Auckland Council seems to be playing games also, denying a trip even occurred:

We asked Auckland Council about a mayoral trip to China – officials suggested the trip never happened

Over some months, a number of Taxpayers’ Union volunteers have made official information requests relating to items of sensitive expenditure such as credit cards and international travel.

We had a tip that related to inappropriate credit card expenditure by the interpreter who accompanied Auckland’s Mayor on a trip to China in January or February 2013. We made an official information request to Auckland Council to identify the Council official so we could review the expenses.

Because we did not know the precise dates of the January/February 2013 trip, but understood that it was the Mayor’s most recent trip to China, we couched the request in those terms.

The Council’s response and the attachment is here and here. They refers to the identity of an interpreter who travelled with the Mayor on a trade delegation to China in April 2012. No mention is made of the early 2013 trip.

On Friday afternoon, the Taxpayers’ Union spoke to an official at the Auckland Council who confirmed that the Council misled us.

Again, it just isn’t good enough.

The other issue I have noticed with some Councils is that they have a policy where they will charge for any LGOIMA request that takes more than 30 minutes to respond to, regardless of how reasonable it is. Charging should be for requests which are hugely excessive, not for any time over half an hour.

Stuff reports:

Mana leader Hone Harawira is under pressure to hold his Tai Tai Tokerau seat with a new poll showing him running a close second to a yet-to-be-selected Labour candidate.

The Te Karere-Digipoll asked voters when they choose their local MP which party would the candidate likely come from.

Labour had the edge with 32 per cent over Mana with 28 per cent.

A Maori party candidate would get 14 per cent, the survey found.

Harawira held the seat in 2011 with a 1165 majority over Labour’s Kelvin Davis.

Labour have said they want to win all seven Maori seats. Flavell looks very safe in Waiariki. I thought Harawira would be streaks ahead in Te Tai Tokerau, but it seems not.

There was strong backing for Harawira’s performance as the local MP with 14 per cent rating it “fantastic”, 39 per cent above average and 31 per cent average.

Only 12 per cent rated it either below average or poor. 

That suggests the locals like him as their local MP. The question is will they vote to keep him.

The Open Data Institute has ranked NZ 4th best in the world for open data in its 2013 report. The top countries are:

1. UK
2. US
3. Sweden
4. NZ
5. Denmark/Norway

NZ scored 82/100 for readiness, 65 for implementation and 90 for impact. The comments on NZ are:

The OGD initiative in New Zealand is part of a wider Open and Transparent Government Agenda, initially driven by the ‘Open Government Information and Data Re-use Working Group’ established in 2009, and later by the 2011 ‘Declaration on Open and Transparent Government’ approved by the Cabinet in August 2011. This declaration mandates public service departments, notably with the explicit inclusion of the New Zealand Intelligence Service, to “commit to releasing high value public data actively for re-use…in accordance with the NZGOAL Review and Release process”. NZGOAL is the New Zealand Government Open Access and Licensing Framework, based on the Creative Commons framework.

The New Zealand Government has put considerable effort into monitoring progress towards open government and open data, with Agencies asked to regularly report to Ministers on their progress, case studies collated on re-uses of open data, and an annual reporting process on adoption of the Declaration on Open and Transparent Government. New Zealand was one of the few countries in the Barometer where a significant emphasis on environmental impacts of open data could be observed, with a wide range of environmental datasets made available and seeing re-use, particularly in supporting coordination around extreme weather and geological events.

Bill English has commented:

“This is a real coup for New Zealand.  The Barometer is the first survey of global trends which ranks 77 countries on how they release their public data and the benefits those initiatives have for citizens and the economy,” says Mr English. 

“This is proof we are lifting the performance of the public sector through transparency and shared information. New Zealand was commended for its Declaration on Open and Transparent Government, its release of open data, in particular, maps, land ownership and census data and for regular reporting to Ministers.”

“The open government data work aligns with the Government’s better public service targets that New Zealand businesses have a one-stop online shop for all government support and can complete their transactions with the Government easily in a digital environment,” says Mr Tremain.

Bill deserves much credit for this. He has pushed open data from the very top, backed up with a lot of enthusiasm from many in the public service, and the wider community.

Vernon Small at Stuff reports:

The seafood industry is calling for a curb on councils’ powers to control fishing in the name of marine biodiversity protection, saying they are threatening their business and growth prospects.

The issue has surfaced after the Marlborough District Council followed up a 2011 study into ecologically significant marine sites in its region with moves to require consents to dredge or bottom-trawl in some areas.

The industry fears it will set a precedent other councils will follow, giving them the power to limit fishing using the Resource Management Act (RMA).

Labour economic development spokesman Shane Jones is backing the industry and calling for the law to be clarified to stop councils using a “side wind” to achieve a ban on commercial fishing.

I don’t disagree with Jones, but is he speaking for Labour on this issue? Does Labour support a law change to remove this power from local Councils? Or is this another case of “Yeah, Nah” where one MP says one thing, and another says something different?

Matthew Doocey, National’s Christchurch East candidate, responds to David Cunliffe’s suggestion he won’t stay in Christchurch. An unwise accusation to make when your own candidate has been in Christchurch for less than six months!

Stuff reports:

Banning the use of quad bikes in farming has been raised as a prospect by a coroner in his written findings into five deaths related to their use.

Coroner Brandt Shortland stopped short of including a ban among his recommendations, saying the quad bike was entrenched as a vital farm tool.

Any speculating on such stuff is pretty silly.

Mendoza died after spending at least two days trapped beneath his quad bike when it overturned during weed spraying in September 2010.

He had been smoking cannabis between 30 minutes to five hours before his death.

McInnes was spraying a hilly slope for weeds when his quad bike rolled and crushed him to death in September 2010.

Ferguson died when trapped between her quad bike and an electric fence after trying to tow a trailer of silage up a hill in August 2010.

Cornelius was weed spraying when he was found dead, pinned under his quad bike in September 2011.

He had cannabis in his system consistent with smoking a single cannabis cigarette within three hours of his death.

Van Der Pasch died of a terminal head injury when his quad bike rolled onto his head in September 2011.

So two of the five deaths involved a driving who was stoned while driving the quad bike. I think the lesson is that quad bikes are not dangerous – drivers are.

The Herald reports:

Willie Jackson and John Tamihere will be off air after today.

The RadioLive hosts have announced on air that today’s will be their last show for the year.

On the show, Mr Tamihere said they would be taking the next few weeks to review what happened last week with management and agree what action needs to be taken.

“We do not condone rape in any way and did not intend to blame the victims.

“Rape is a terrible crime and the victims who come forward deserve support and respect.”

The pair said they “deeply regret” the comments they made last week in an interview with Amy, the 18-year-old friend of a Roast Busters victim.

They also said they regret the impact their actions had on their wives, children, grandchildren and communities.

If they had said that in the original apology, then they’d still be in air. As Alan Martin says, it’s the putting right that counts.

It will be interesting to see who fills in for them for the next two months.

The Young Nats have announced:

Young Nats first in NZ with Smartphone App

 

The Young Nats are the first youth wing in New Zealand to launch a smartphone App for iPhone and Android. 

“We are changing how New Zealanders can connect with politics,” says Young Nats President, Sean Topham.

“Roughly one in every two New Zealanders own a smartphone, and that number is on the rise. It’s the Young Nats who are stepping up and leading the way when it comes to connecting young Kiwis with National,” says Topham.

“Members and supporters up and down the country now have another way of connecting with the latest news and events, as well as taking on an active a role to sign up their friends so that we can build the best grassroots campaign heading into next year’s election,”

The Young Nats worked with the team at Marker Studio to develop the App.

“We’re pretty sure that no political party in New Zealand has done this yet, and for us it’s just the start,” says Topham.

 Download the Young Nats App here:

iOS (iPhone/iPad/iPod): http://nzyn.at/17nDtEb

Android: http://nzyn.at/HJmXm8

Good on the Young Nats for this initiative. Almost everyone under 30 has a smartphone, and an app can be a great way to stay in touch with supporters.

Have just published the latest polling newsletter. The summary is:

There were three polls in August, four in September and four in October

The average of the public polls has National 13% ahead of Labour in August, 8% in September and 10% in October. The current seat projection is centre-right 59 seats, centre-left 61.

Tony Abbott starts his term with modestly positive approval ratings in Australia.

In the United States President Obama’s approval rating is at an all-time low, and only 21% say the US is heading in the right direction. However Republicans also down in the polls.

In the UK Labour’ leads the Conservatives by 7%.

In Canada an ongoing scandal in the Senate sees the Conservatives a just 29%.

The normal two tables are provided comparing the country direction sentiment and head of government approval sentiment for the five countries. The mood has improved in Australia but plummeted in the US.

This newsletter is only available by e-mail.  If you would like to receive future issues, please go to http://listserver.actrix.co.nz/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/polling-newsletter to subscribe yourself.