Gavin White at UMR blogs:

We asked New Zealanders which of the following statements came closest to their views on the origin and development of human beings: 

• A) Human beings have developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life, but God guided this process 
• B) Human beings have developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life, but God had no part in this process 
• C) God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last ten thousand years or so

To keep the write-up clear, I’ll refer to Statement A as ‘intelligent design’, Statement B​ as ‘pure evolution’ and Statement C as ‘creationism’.

I like that they didn’t just ask people do they believe in evolution or creationism but actually gave them statements to choose from. A good approach in my opinion, as different people may think creationism means different things.

The numbers show that, amongst New Zealanders:

• 26% believe in ‘intelligent design’
• 45% believe in ‘pure evolution’
• 23% believe in ‘creationism’
• 6% are unsure.

I’m surprised the level for “pure” creationism is so high, ie that one in four said they think humanity is less than 10,000 years old.

As you might expect, the American numbers are quite different:

• 32% of Americans believe in ‘intelligent design’
• 15% believe in ‘pure evolution’
• 46% believe in ‘creationism’
• 7% are unsure.

Only 15% of Americans believe in “pure evolution”. Oh dear. Now that I have a problem with people believing in intelligent design. There can be no proof for or against intelligent design. I can’t be certain there isn’t a creator who has been nudging things along.

However I can be pretty certain that humanity is more than 10,000 years old. Unless God spent a lot of time and effort in laying fake clues for us!

Claire Trevett at NZ Herald reports:

Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples has come out of his corner fighting in the leadership contest with MP Te Ururoa Flavell, saying that although he knows the standoff could damage the party he will not stand aside or give a future date for his retirement, because he believed staying on was critical for the party to survive.

I think Sharples motives are good, and he is right that if he retired as an MP it would be bad for the Maori Party. He will be 73 at the election, and probably wouldn’t mind a quieter life.

But the issue is whether he has to remain as co-leader to still help the Maori Party retain support. I would have thought there is some sort of elegant solution where he becomes the “Kaumata”, is pledged to remain a Minister but you make Flavell co-leader to clearly signal there is a succession plan.

“I believe I’m the best person to lead us into the next election. We’ve had so much disruption with Hone going, and people saying there should only be one Maori party, and now Tariana is leaving.

“So it is important someone who has the connections, who is known throughout the country and has given all my heart and integrity is there to try to rally them back to the party.” He said he was not angry at Mr Flavell for challenging, but wished he had waited a while longer.

However, Dr Sharples is also refusing to commit to standing down at a future date after 2014 even if that would convince Mr Flavell to stay his challenge, saying that might weaken his leadership impact.

If there had been some clear indication of dates, then I imagine Flavell would not have been so public with his desires.

Dr Sharples also said he regretted saying he hoped to lead the party until the day he died – a comment he said was intended to be light-hearted but which drew criticisms, including from NZ First leader Winston Peters, by people comparing it with a dictatorship. He hoped Mr Flavell would stay on if the party elected to stay with Dr Sharples.

“I would love him to stay with me, so we could work together. He’s an awesome worker. But the leadership is a particular kind of thing at this stage, and I think I can reach out to a whole lot of sources that need to come back.

It will be interesting to see if they manage to find a solution to this.

The UNDP has released their 2013 Human Development Index. New Zealand remains in 6th place with an HDI score of 0.919, just ahead of Sweden and Ireland.  Israel is 16th, Finland 21st and UK 26th.

At the bottom end are Congo and Niger.

All things said, no other place I’d rather live in.

The BBC reports:

A school’s decision to ban triangular flapjacks after a pupil was hurt has been labelled “half-baked” by the Health and Safety Executive.

It follows an incident at Castle View School in Canvey Island, Essex, when a boy was hit in the face by a flapjack.

Catering staff at the school have been told only to serve square or rectangular flapjacks.

The school said the “isolated accident” had led to a review of “the texture and shape of the flapjacks” provided.

Words fail me.

A spokesman for the Health and Safety Executive said: “We often come across half-baked decisions taken in the name of health and safety, but this one takes the biscuit.

“The real issue isn’t what shape the flapjacks are, but the fact that pupils are throwing them at each other – and that’s a matter of discipline, and has got nothing to do with health and safety as we know it.

“We’re happy to make clear that flapjacks of all shapes and sizes continue to have our full backing.”

Good that in this case the regulator is the one with common sense, and it is the school that is over-reacting.

I went to the Wellington premiere of Eternity, at The Paramount last night.

Eternity is a New Zealand made film by local filmmaker Alex Galvin. It was filmed in New Zealand and Hong Kong. In fact one scene I recognised as being in Hobson Street opposite my apartment, and Old St Pauls and the Wellington Town Hall are also featured. Oh yes the Parliamentary Library also.

The film starts with a gripping interrogation scene and turns into a murder mystery with a twist. The police detective is in a virtual world which has been infected with a virus and has to solve the mystery before the system reboots and the day starts all over again. 

He has to work out not just who did it, but how it was done – which is much harder. He can access two virtual assistants – Helpdesk and Sherlock – but Sherlock is a once only assistance.

The film is around 90 minutes and it absolutely succeeds in grabbing you, and keeping your attention as you want to discover who dun it (my guess was wrong), why, and how.

The special effects are well done, and I loved the music. Also the personal assistant was hilarious (you’ll work out why).

My one criticism is that I didn’t find the lead character was someone you developed an emotional attachment to. You want your lead character to be someone you are rooting for, or against, and that you feel emotionally charged at what may happen to them. I never quite felt it with Detective Manning. That may be deliberate – that the focus was on solving the mystery, more than whether Manning would be reunited with his family or not.

A great little movie which would have done a modern day Agatha Christie proud.

Kate Chapman at Stuff reports:

A bill to give people Monday off when Anzac and Waitangi Days fall on a weekend is a step closer to being passed.

Labour MP David Clark’s Holidays (Full Recognition of Waitangi Day and Anzac Day) Amendment Bill passed its committee stages on a voice vote in Parliament tonight. …

The bill was expected to have its third and final reading on April 17 but the first holiday to coincide with the weekend won’t be until 2015.

For those wondering about future dates which will be impacted by this bill, I’ve done a table

The change I’d like to see now happen is we swap Queen’s Birthday for a New Zealand Day.

It is rare for a members’ bill to pass against the opposition of a Government, but it is good it can happen.

I note that my support for the bill and calculations on the minimal costs to employers were quoted by Grant Robertson and Iain Lees-Galloway in the debate last night. Not sure quoting me makes National MPs more or less likely to vote for it 🙂

I think consistency in Mondayising is a good thing, and if we have legislation for 11 public holidays a year, then it should be 11. We can debate whether 11 is too few or too many, but I think consistent Mondayisation is entirely sensible.

Would anyone advocate that if Christmas Day and Boxing Day falls on a weekend, there be no long weekend?

When debating public holidays, we should look at them in combination with annual leave. In total Kiwis get 31 days a year off on pay – four weeks annual leave (or they can cash one in) and 11 days public holidays. The difference between the two is people take annual leave at all different times, while public holidays are days when many (but not all) employers are closed.

Some good speeches last night during the committee stages. No amendments got accepted but I would make the point that I had no problem with one of the amendments – it was more than it is un-necessary.

I believe no marriage celebrant should be forced to officiate at a marriage that they don’t wish to. As a matter of law, I don’t think they can be forced under the current Act. Section 29 talks about authorising, but not obliging. This means that for example Catholic priests can refuse to marry a divorced person.

There is also the practical issue that Kiwis are pretty common sense on these things. Why would anyone want to force an unwilling celebrant into marrying them, on what should be their happiest day. You’d be nuts to. So while there are some important principles at stake here, let’s not think that this will ever have practical impact.

Now the Select Committee said that there is a concern that possibly some church ministers could face an issue under the Bill of Rights Act. Bearing in mind the fact no Catholic priest has ever faced action for not marrying a divorcee, I think the possibility was remote. However they said let’s be explicit instead of implicit and give celebrants who represent a religion a clear statement they can not be forced.

One of the amendments yesterday was to extend that explicit exemption to all celebrants, not just religious ones. I didn’t have a huge problem with this. In fact I am a bit nervous about singling out celebrants who represent a religion as more deserving. So that amendment passing wouldn’t have been a major issue for me. But likewise if no celebrant had an explicit exemption, I’d be okay with that also as I believe the current S29 which only authorises but not obliges is enough protection. And finally of course it is all highly unlikely to ever be tested as no one wants an unwilling celebrant at their wedding.

Anyway some extracts from MPs speeches. Moana Mackey:

 And can I just point out an issue of reality, which is that this is unlikely to be a problem. On one of the most important days of your life, I do not think that any couple is going to want to have someone presiding over their ceremony who does not want to be there and who is there only under the threat of legal action. That is why this has never been an issue since 1955. It has not been an issue since the Civil Union Act came in in 2004. I do not believe it is going to be an issue going on into the future.

And on the referendum issue:

Members mentioned Switzerland, where they do these issues by referenda all the time and as a result women did not get the vote until 1971—1971. I want to tell members the reasons that were given at the time were that men and women are fundamentally different. On the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs website they point out, saying … What the department said at the time—one of the reasons given as to why women should not be given the vote—was that “It wouldn’t promote equality because their natural modesty would stop them going out to vote when pregnant, and since rural women have more babies than those in town, this would give an unfair advantage to the latter.”

People can always find a reason to oppose change.

Rajen Prasad:

There is one final element that influenced me, and it was this. This bill takes nothing away from anybody. It actually takes nothing away. Those who argue that it does somehow reduce us as a society, in terms of our spirituality, certainly have a difficulty with me because there is nothing about my relationship, my family, my marriage that is negated or diminished in any way. I know that the institution of marriage has been developed for a long time, and no doubt will continue to develop. It is not set in a form that has always been the same. It has always developed. A bit like our society and our civilisation, this institution will also develop.

Paul Goldsmith:

I have certainly struggled with this bill and given it a great deal of thought because it lies in the territory between two of my core political philosophies. My conservative instincts on one hand lead me to respect traditions and the wisdom of centuries. Marriage has traditionally been conceived as being between a man and a woman, and in the British and Christian traditions for centuries it has been between one single man and one single woman. That has been the case only because it has made perfectly good sense. Institutions and ideas change over time, but the conservative in me makes me hesitate before changing something that has served society well for so long. I certainly understand and respect the strength of feeling of many New Zealanders who feel that we should keep things the way we are. Running parallel to that, however, my guiding political belief is my commitment to freedom for people to live their lives in different ways with respect. Life is interesting, society is dynamic, and culture is diverse when people are free and have the liberty to live in different ways. It was 25-odd years ago when we agreed that the State should not outlaw homosexual acts and very few people disagree with that now. So I can understand why some gay couples would like to have access to the institution of marriage. People often ask “Well, why do they want marriage when they can have civil unions already?”. The answer is, of course, that words are important, which is why people on both sides feel so strongly about it. On balance, I have decided that for me freedom or individual conscience trumps tradition, so I am supporting this bill.

A nice contribution from Goldie, on balancing his beliefs.

My background has been that I was raised in the Christian faith in the Baptist church. Many of my relatives and friends from that background are disappointed that I am voting for this bill, and I understand their disappointment, but I would remind them that the Baptist church was born out of the idea of non-conformity. The early Baptists gathered together because they disagreed with aspects of the established church and suffered terribly for their individual beliefs. That tolerance of religious non-conformity, which English-speaking peoples had arrived at, certainly by the nineteenth century, was fundamental in establishing many of the freedoms and the liberties that we enjoy today.

Paul is a writer of history so knows his stuff.

It is highly likely the third reading will be on Wednesday the 17th of April.

Questions for Oral Answer 2pm – 3pm

Questions to Ministers

1. JOHN HAYES to the Minister of Finance: What reports has he recently received on business confidence, investment, and growth?
2. DAVID SHEARER to the Minister for State Owned Enterprises: Is it the Government’s intention to proceed with the asset sales programme?
3. MELISSA LEE to the Minister for Social Development: What difference will the Children’s Action Plan make for vulnerable children?
4. KRIS FAAFOI to the Minister of Police: What specific warnings, if any, has the Government received from Police around service delivery in relation to line-by-line savings within personnel and asset costs?
5. CATHERINE DELAHUNTY to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by his statement that, “In 2010 I spelled out very clearly that we wouldn’t be going into Schedule 4 land …”?
6. CHRIS AUCHINVOLE to the Minister of Internal Affairs: What progress has been made on the review of Fire Service functions and funding?
7. DENIS O’ROURKE to the Minister of Immigration: Does he stand by his statement of 12 March 2013 “… last year we made changes to give priority to migrants who can make a real contribution to New Zealand, which we expect to lead to significant savings for the taxpayer …”?
8. Dr PAUL HUTCHISON to the Minister of Customs: What work is the Government doing to ensure correct revenue is being paid on imports and exports?
9. STEFFAN BROWNING to the Minister for Food Safety: What action, if any, is she taking in response to the recent Canterbury University study that found food safety risks from GE are not being considered adequately by regulatory bodies?
10. CLARE CURRAN to the Minister for Economic Development: Does he stand by his answer to Oral Question No. 7 on Thursday, 21 March 2013?
11. SHANE ARDERN to the Minister for Primary Industries: What changes has he recently announced to shellfish catch limits?
12. GRANT ROBERTSON to the Prime Minister: Was Ian Fletcher the candidate or one of the candidates named in the report to him from the State Services Commissioner following the panel interviews for the position of Director of the GCSB; if not, who suggested that Mr Fletcher be considered for the position of Director of the GCSB?

Today there are 5 questions from National on issues such as business confidence, child action plan, fire service funding,  customs taxes and catch limits for shellfish. In addition, Labour are asking 4 questions today to ministers on issues such as asset sales, police services and GCSB appointments. The Greens are also asking 2 questions in regards to mining/conservation and food safety. Finally, New Zealand First are asking 1 question on immigration.

Pasty question of the day

Today’s pasty question of the day is a tie between questions 6 and 11 which are,

6. CHRIS AUCHINVOLE to the Minister of Internal Affairs: What progress has been made on the review of Fire Service functions and funding?

11. SHANE ARDERN to the Minister for Primary Industries: What changes has he recently announced to shellfish catch limits?

Government orders of the day 3pm – 6pm

1. Student Loan Scheme Amendment Bill (No 2)  3rd reading – Hon Peter Dunne –

This bill was introduced by Peter Dunne in August 2012, in his role as Minister of Revenue. The Bill introduces data-matching with the New Zealand Customs Service to locate borrowers in serious default when they enter or leave New Zealand. It will also change the definition of income, bringing it into line with the definition used for Working For Families tax credits and student allowances, from April 2014.

2. Social Assistance (Living Alone Payments) Amendment Bill – 3rd reading – Hon Paula Bennett

This bill is designed to amend the New Zealand Superannuation and Retirement Income Act 2001 and the War Pensions Act 1954 and the purpose of this bill is to allow for single superannuitants and veteran’s pensioners who are living alone do not have to make a separate application to receive their full entitlements as the current law forces them to do.

3. Airports (Cost Recovery for Processing of International Travellers) Bill – Committee Stage – Hon Nathan Guy

This bill was introduced in November 2010 and seeks to enable the Crown to recover the costs of aviation security, biosecurity, and customs traveller processing from the operators of international airports. At the 2nd reading of this bill it passed by voice vote.

Sue Fea at Stuff reports:

New Zealand needs to raise the academic achievement of its Maori and Pacific Island students to match those of Pakeha students, Education Minister Hekia Parata said in Queenstown yesterday.

New Zealand had made significant gains, now ranked seventh internationally in Pisa (Programme for International Student Assessment) reading and literacy proficiency levels.

However, while Pakeha were ranked second in the world, Maori were 34th equal and Pacific students were ranked 44th, Ms Parata said.

As has been said before, our averages are good, but our tail is unacceptably low.

The Government was aiming to get 85 per cent of primary and intermediate school students at, or above, the national standards by 2017.

At the moment 76 per cent of children reached or exceeded the national standard for reading, 72 per cent of learners for mathematics, and 68 per cent for writing.

While some parties think the best way to lift achievement is not to monitor student achievement at all!

Ms Parata said she had told various iwi groups, “good on you, guys” for coming to Wellington to talk about land issues and fisheries, but invited them to come to talk about the education of their children or stay in their area and help support them in the education opportunities available.

“I say the same to Pacific churches and they are all responding.

Maybe we’ll see some Iwi invest in a charter school or two!

Michael Forbes at Stuff reports:

Speed limits should be bumped up to 110kmh on the newest and safest roads, the Automobile Association says – and the Government is not ruling out the idea.

The suggestion comes as the Government announces it will review speed limits up and down the country over the next three years as part of its Safer Journeys action plan.

Associate Transport Minister Michael Woodhouse would not rule out increasing the 100kmh maximum speed limit as part of the review, but he felt such a move was unlikely to happen soon. Police say they are open to discussion.

AA motoring affairs general manager Mike Noon said nudging up the speed limit by 10kmh on some roads could reduce congestion and improve productivity by ensuring the quicker movement of freight.

The type of road best suited to a 110kmh limit would be divided, four-lane motorways that have been built to KiwiRap four-star status, such as the northern gateway toll road north of Auckland.

This seems very sensible to me, and I’m glad the Government is not ruling it out.

I recall the open road limit going from 80 to 100, and that was a good thing.

Since then car technology and safety has improved significantly, as have the quality of some of the new roads. The idea of having it apply only on our best safest motorways also seems sensible. It is obvious to me that there are some roads where it is quite safe to drive at 110 km/hr – there are also some roads where you are a lunatic if you drive at over 70 km/hr even though the legal limit is 110 km/hr.

The speed you drive at should always be dependent on the conditions and may change from minute to minute.

New Zealand has one of the strictest speed regimes. Australia, Canada and France all have motorway limits of 110kmh, while Britain’s is 70mph, or about 113kmh.

Yep, NZ is one of the lowest.

On Germany’s autobahns, there are no speed limits, although drivers are advised to stay under 130kmh.

And Austria!

The Herald reports:

The Earthquake Commission has laid a complaint with Christchurch police that Bryan Staples, the recipient of an accidental email including private customer information, allegedly threatened to use the email to extract preferential payment of invoices. …

Mr Staples – an insurance advocate and former EQC employee – sent an email advising EQC that if the commission paid particular accounts “in full within the required time frame, there will be no media announcement and the matter will die a natural death”.

It will be interesting to see the full e-mail, but on the surface of it, I’d say it is extremely unwise to demand money or you will go to the media.

The Herald reports:

Speaker David Carter has ejected MPs from the House for the first time, kicking out Labour’s Trevor Mallard and Chris Hipkins this afternoon.

Mr Mallard was told to leave the debating chamber after telling Mr Carter to “sit down ’til I’m finished” during question time.

Let there be no mistake. Any MP who ever acts that arrogantly to the Speaker will be kicked out of the House – at a minimum. Actually damn lucky not to be named.

Wow, are things getting silly.

Andrea Vance at Stuff reports:

Prime Minister John Key has outlined the nature of his friendship with chief foreign spy Ian Fletcher under questioning about the illegal surveillance on Kim Dotcom.

Their acquaintance dates back to their childhood, when their mothers were “best friends”, Key said. He also went to school with Fletcher’s brother.

Their mothers were friends. Shock horror.

I hope no one is suggesting that Ian Fletcher should not have got his job, because his mum was friends with the PM’s mum before she died.

Oh wait, they are.

Patrick Gower blogs:

This is the real significant of the error in not disclosing the foreign bank account for four years. It negates the ability of the Labour Party Leader to attack the Government over lesser errors.

And highlighting Government errors is a major part of what being in Opposition is about.

Part of the problem for Shearer is that there has been no real explanation of the error. If the explanation was he was aware of the bank account but didn’t realise he had to disclose it – then that would be understandable.

But it seems to be merely that he forgot he had the bank account, despite including it in his tax returns every year.

Judith Collins has announced:

The Conviction and Sentencing Statistics, published on the Statistics New Zealand website, show 98,783 people appeared in court in 2012, down 7 per cent from 2011 and 22 per cent from 2009.

That is good. Of course it is probably due to a mixture of reduced offending, and giving out more cautions for minor offences.

The number of people charged with a violent offence has dropped 17 per cent over the last four years, after steadily increasing between 2004 and 2009.

I always tend to focus on the violent crime stats as they are the ones most likely to be reported. Other areas of crime such as drugs or traffic are somewhat dependent on how proactive the Police are. That drop in violent crime does reverse the trend increase.

74 per cent of the people charged in court are convicted, and 10 per cent of those are sent to prison. For every 10,000 people in New Zealand, 22 were sentenced to prison in 2012 compared with 25 in 2011.

Interesting stats on the 74% conviction rate. I wonder what it is for those who plead not guilty?

Along with the general reduction in youth convictions, the number of children and young people convicted in an adult court for serious offences has dropped from 500 to 199 in the last five years. Children and young people now make up less than 3 per cent of the total people charged in court in New Zealand.

“Fewer children and young people coming before our courts is an encouraging sign. We know that a key to reducing crime is to stop young people entering the court and justice system in the first place,” Ms Collins says.

That is also very welcome. Of interest will be how many offences are being committed by young people also.

Daniel Altman at Foreign Policy writes:

In 1999, the traditionally hard currencies of Europe’s north merged with the softer currencies of the south to form a new money that was somehow supposed to be stronger than any of the ones it replaced. Under the stewardship of the European Central Bank (ECB) in Frankfurt, the euro was meant to — and did — become a reserve currency to rival the dollar. Though the supposedly prudent northern countries didn’t always keep their budget deficits under control, they still managed to survive the worst of the global economic downturn. By contrast, the profligacy of the south, together with its flawed banking systems, has created a hotbed of crises that stretch 2,300 miles from Lisbon to Nicosia.

These crises would have been a lot shorter if the countries involved — Greece, Portugal, Spain, now Cyprus, soon Slovenia, and perhaps Italy for a second time — had possessed their own currencies. But all of them use the euro, so their monetary policy is set in Frankfurt at the ECB. Instead of devaluing their currencies in order to spur exports and ease the repayment of debts, all of these countries have had to undergo some combination of fiscal austerity, deflation, and, most notably in Cyprus’s case, loss of assets.

The lesson is you can’t have monetary union without fiscal union. Monetary policy and fiscal policy need to work together.

The interesting thing is the impact on political stability as well. They have a table showing how Parliaments in southern Europe have become more fragmented and extreme, which threatens Europe as a whole to a degree. They use the  Herfindahl Index to calculate the fragmentation.

The NZ Parliament Herfindahl Index is currently 0.34.

Anne Tolley has released what is effectively a league table of our 17 prisons. It’s great to have such transparency on how our prisons are doing on various criteria.

All 17 prisons are now measured on their performance against each other in a range of areas including security, assaults, drug tests and rehabilitation programmes. They are then categorised in four performance grades, with the resulting tables released quarterly.

The information is used by Corrections and prison managers to identify and share successful practices, and focus on areas which need improvement.

The table has six prisons in the “exceeding” category, eight in “effective” and three “needs improvement”.

Mount Eden is the privately run prison. In the first half of 2012 it was in the “needs improvement” category, then in Q3 went to “effective” and in Q4 is “exceeding”.  It is the most improved prison.

Of course Labour and Greens are vowing to close it down.

Abby Gillies at NZ Herald reports:

Prostitutes as young as 13 are earning up to $600 a night in South Auckland, says an MP who will be at a meeting called by community leaders to discuss an “outbreak” of underage street workers in the area.

Community and government representatives, including NZ First MP Asenati Lole-Taylor and party leader Winston Peters, will attend the open meeting hosted by Otara-Papatoetoe Local Board next Saturday.

The increasing number of underage prostitutes on the streets in Otara from Thursday to Saturday nights has shocked residents in the area.

Tina Herewini, a warden who patrols Otara’s town centre and parks, said there could be as many as 20 to 30 young girls lingering at the corner of Bairds Rd and Kew Lane.

Before one talks of further law changes, how about enforcing the current law.

Shouldn’t the Police be sending in a team to remove any under-age prostitutes and refer them to CYFS?

Prostitution is only legal when the prostitute is aged 18 or older. I’m not sure the law is the problem here – it is enforcing it.

Jo Moir at Stuff reports:

A 10-year-old Porirua boy has torn down his rugby posters and binned his All Blacks duvet cover after his local rugby club made him feel “sad and fat”.

Joshua Moe has been told he has to play in the under-13s this season because – at 71 kilograms – he is too heavy to play in his own age group. But Joshua fears he will get hurt playing with boys who are older than him.

It’s great Joshua wants to play rugby, and I can understand his fear of getting hurt playing with older kids. However there is also a risk of kids his own age getting hurt when there is such a size and weight disparity.

The average weight for a 10 year old boy appears to be 32 kgs, so at 71 kgs Joshua is double their weight. The chance of them being damaged is significantly higher I would say than Joshua being damaged by 13 year olds who will still be smaller than him.

Last year Joshua received special permission to play in the Northern United under-11s team – a grade lower than the rules allowed for someone of his weight.

But at last week’s weigh-in for the new season, the club told him he had to move up to the under-13s. His mother, Vanessa Moe, queried the ruling, but was told he could either play in the under-13s or not at all.

She has now complained to the club, as well as to the New Zealand Rugby Union and the Human Rights Commission.

Oh Good God, this has nothing to do with the Human Rights Commission. Having weight restrictions for sports is hardly new. Boxing has it also.

“This has gone beyond rugby itself, and is now about a club making my son feel like crap and not wanting to play at all,” she said.

Joshua is looking to turn his back on rugby and plans to do swimming this year and have a go at rugby league next year.

“I want the rugby people to apologise and make the rules so it’s about age, not my size,” he said. “My friends all treat me the same, but the rugby club made me feel sad and fat.”

It’s awful Joshua feels like crap, and it is possible that the club officials handled it very badly. And some flexibility could well be desirable.

However at the end of the day a rule based on size/weight is not discriminatory – it is sensible and quite standard in many contact sports.

Autumnal sunrise over McArthur Ridge pinot noir vineyard. Clyde, Central Otago. New Zealand landscape photography by Todd Sisson.

I fear that we may not be seeing too much of this juicy colour in 2013 – most of the trees seem to be kicking it in early after a summer of interminable thirst.  Speaking of slaking one’s thirst – I understand that the pinot noir from this vineyard is pretty good value (according to someone who knows about these things).

Have a great Easter break – see you on the other side…

Free Wallpaper Download

You may download the large version of today’s image from this link:  Please note the new, shorter, Password = wwp

This image is up as a canvas print here and available for licencing here.

See you next week – and thanks for all the great comments last week!

Cheers – Todd [www.sisson.co.nz] 

David Cunliffe blogs at Red Alert:

Next week thousands upon thousands of New Zealanders will wake up to a cut in their take-home pay because of policy decisions by the National/United Future government.

From 1 April 2013 the minimum KiwiSaver contribution is increasing from 2% to 3%, while the Student Loan compulsory repayment jumps a whopping 20% to 12 cents in every dollar earned over the repayment threshold.

Just a second. A Labour MP is complaining that KiwiSaver contributions are going from 2% to 3%?

Under Labour the minimum contributions were 4%, and they complained bitterly when national reduced it to 2%.

Now Labour stands for a gradual move to universal, employment-based KiwiSaver contributions over time, because that will grow the economy and secure savers in retirement.

And while KiwiSaver is currently voluntary, meaning those who can’t afford a drop in the take home pay don’t have to join, Labour propose to make it compulsory to force every worked to take a drop in their take home pay (to use DC’s rhetoric).

There are valid arguments for and against compulsory KiwiSaver, but it is a bit rich to criticise a KiwiSaver contribution increase as being a cut to take home pay, when your policy is to make it compulsory!

But with unemployment today at record levels, and with so many families only just getting by, it’s crucial that changes which hit people in the pocket are well-signalled and well-understood before they take effect.

Umm, the policy was announced well over 12 months ago. And if you are unemployed you are not contributing a portion of your salary to KiwiSaver.

Unless Labour is proposing that KiwiSaver not just be made compulsory for employees, but also for beneficiaries?

The Green Party already have the most prescriptive set of rules for their list ranking. It runs to 44 pages!

As you all know their rules already require one of their co-leaders to have a penis, and one not to have a penis.

With list ranking they already have quotas for everything – at least 40% must be female, at least 10% must be Maori, at least 20% from the Mainland and at least 10% must be under 35.

However this quota purity does not go enough for some Green Party members. Whale has leaked e-mails with a remit calling for:

The Party List at each election shall comprise all odd ranked places filled by one gender, and even numbered places filled by the other gender.

The gender filling odd numbered places at any one election shall fill even numbered places at the following election.  The gender filling odd numbered places at the first election after this remit is adopted shall be determined by a coin toss.”  

Total gender equality. And you work out who is ranked number one by a coin toss so the patriarchy can’t keep oppressing. Just delightful. It seems the motivation is that some activists are upset that Russel Norman keeps getting ranked No 1 and Metiria Turei No 2, despite being nominally equal co-leaders.

Now with the Green Party love for quotas, I’ve decided to help them out. I’ve calculated in Excel the idea demographic composition for each list position for them.

So their No 1 list place must be a straight female European with black hair. No 2 must be a straight male European with brown hair.

No 4 has to be a straight male Maori with black hair. No 5 a gay female European with black hair.

At No 15, you have a bisexual European female with brown hair. And you even have a ginga quota with No 12 being a straight male European with red hair.

This tables makes it very easy for the Greens with all their quotas. They don’t have to worry about competence, experience, skills. Or they need to do is recruit someone for each list place that meets their demographic quotas. People could apply for a specific list place, such as “I’m a straight blonde female European and would like to be considered for List spot No 9”.

Now you could argue having hair colour as a demographic quota is over the top, but look at the discrimination gingas suffer and the jokes blondes suffer from. Also you could complain people can change their hair colour. Now you could insist on a do the drapes match the curtains test, but in the end it is a human right to be whatever hair colour you feel you are. So if people wish to change hair colour to get a higher list ranking, who are we to doubt the validity of their personal choices?

Now I have not added in the age quota and regional quota their rules also insist on. I may do that in a further version.