Pizza Hut has introduced a new size system for their pizzas. There are now two options – BIG and LARGE.

Idiots.

Without checking, what size do you think is the more expensive one?

Enjoy this flash mob.

iPredict blogs:

Forecast party vote shares are: National 44.5% (down from 45.0% last week), Labour 35.4% (down from 36.6% last week), Greens 8.2% (down from 8.3% last week), New Zealand First 4.2% (down from 4.5% last week), Maori Party 2.8% (down from 3.1% last week), Act 2.8% (up from 2.4% last week) and UnitedFuture 0.3% (steady).

The probability of Act Leader Rodney Hide winning Epsom for his party continues to rise.  The market now indicates he has a 60% probability of retaining the seat for Act, up from 55% last week and 52% the week before.

Based on this data, the market is now forecasting the following Parliament: National 57 MPs, Labour 45 MPs, Greens 10 MPs, Maori Party 5 MPs and Act 4 MPs.  There would be 121 MPs, requiring a government to have the support of 61 MPs on confidence and supply.

What this shows is that if Rodney holds Epsom, a centre-right Government is forecast.

If Rodney does not win Epsom, then the Maori Party is expected to hold the balance of power.

Food for thought.

NZPA report:

The miners’ union says Pike River Coal is insisting that its lawyers sit in on official police and Department of Labour investigation interviews into the mine tragedy which claimed 29 lives.

The union said that was potentially “contaminating” the process.

However, Pike River said today it was only making employees – many of whom had no prior contact with the police – aware of their legal rights.

The Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union, which represents miners, said today the company’s stance was causing major conflict.

“Management is insisting on the right of company lawyers to sit in on interviews. Their lawyers are sitting in on interviews with the Department of Labour and police,” general secretary Andrew Little said.

However, Pike River Coal chairman John Dow said it was up to individual employees whether lawyers sat in on the interviews.

The company was only trying to ensure its staff got the appropriate advice on their rights, and how the process worked.

“We are trying to find out what happened, our only interest is getting to the bottom of it – what caused the explosion and making sure it won’t happen again.

“We’ve said to our employees that if they are not happy having lawyers in the room, that’s fine.”

So the EPMU is arguing that the employees should have no choice in whether or not a lawyer is present for their interviews.

A Department of Labour (DOL) spokesman said it was the employee’s choice to decide whether company lawyers or other representatives attended on DOL interviews.

“We are informing employees that they have this choice.”

As it should be.

The report by Hugh McPhail on behalf of The Parliamentary Service over travel by Pansy and Sammy Wong is here. It is 46 pages long. McPhail worked in the public service from 1970 to 2008, retiring as a senior manager at SSC.

His primary findings are:

• There is no evidence of systemic abuse of the parliamentary international air travel entitlement by Pansy and Sammy Wong
• There is evidence that the trip from Beijing to Lianyungang, China, in December 2008, involved activity by both Pansy and Sammy Wong that, although unplanned and inadvertent, could be construed as private business purposes, and I therefore recommend that they should each refund the level of rebate attributable to that trip, being $237.06 each
• With regard to all of the other international trips investigated I have no reason to believe that Pansy and Sammy Wong have not acted in compliance with the conditions set out in the Speaker’s Directions regarding private international air travel
• I have no reason to believe that Pansy and Sammy Wong have not acted in compliance with the conditions set out in the Speaker’s Directions regarding domestic air travel
• There is no evidence that the use of the address 735 Chapel Road, Dannemora, Manukau as the registered address for two of Sammy Wong’s companies, has resulted in Pansy Wong’s electorate office, which is located in the building at that address, being used for commercial business purposes.

So it seems quite clear there will not be a by-election.

However I think it is unlikely Pansy will become a Minister again. The public don’t like a rotational policy to the Cabinet. And there are many other backbenches who have not yet had a chance at Cabinet.

The decision for Pansy is whether she wants to stand again for Botany, with no probability of being a Minister again.

Back to the report, a few extracts:

I would note that it is my impression that Sammy Wong’s business activities have been consciously limited, with priority given to his wife’s political career and the need to minimise potential conflicts of interest.

And:

• Sammy Wong’s overall business interests have been consciously limited, and are primarily located in New Zealand, with his Chinese business interests limited to the hovercraft company in Lianyungang
• Sammy Wong has paid for his own travel where it has related to his private business interests
• Pansy Wong has herself no private business interests that are likely to raise issues in relation to the parliamentary rebate.

The reports reviews the total subsided international air travel since 2003. For Pansy Wong it is $27,000 against the average for an MP of $60,000. And Sammy Wong’s travel is also below the average for a spouse – $26,000 against the average of $49,000.

With the trip in question that attracted all the attention, the review finds the trip was primarily holiday – in fact to follow on Little Pumpkin and her grandmother and see how they were doing. The travel to Lianyungang was an extra cost of only $263.40 each – which is the amount be be refunded at 90%.

There seems little doubt that there was no systemic rorting – that in fact normally Sammy was quite careful about keeping the business travel separately funded. They did inappropriately mix it on one occasion – and Pansy has paid a big price for that.

In a follow up to the story I blogged about yesterday, Rebecca Stevenson at the Dom Post reports:

The Council of Trade Unions wants an explanation from Unite on why it failed to pay the IRD more than $36,000 in PAYE on behalf of its employees.

Unite, one of New Zealand’s largest unions, owed IRD over $130,000 for the year ended March 2009 (its most recent filing), including more than $57,000 in unpaid GST. For the same financial year its liabilities outweighed its assets by more than $170,000.

It is the unpaid PAYE that will be causing most concern, as this is in fact money owed by the employees to the IRD, and UNITE has appropriated it for its own purposes. It is the sort of stuff that the newspaper boss Maxwell did – but on a much smaller scale.

Unite head Matt McCarten confirmed yesterday that the union owed money to the IRD but said he had made choices to pay for union campaigns rather than clear the debt. “I don’t shy away from these decisions, I make the calls.”

He said Unite paid $8000 in PAYE each month to the IRD but kept incurring late payment penalties. He claimed not to know exactly how much it owed the IRD.

The late penalties do add up – as many businesses know. But if it was a deliberate decision to keep running campaigns, instead of paying off the debt, then few will have sympathy.

He agreed it was not a good look for a workers’ union to fail to pay its employees’ tax.

I don’t think Matt realises how bad a look it is. The next time UNITE or Matt calls for greater government spending, this issue will arise.

CTU president Helen Kelly said Unite did good work in an area that was difficult and expensive to organise. That required it to juggle its finances. “All unions are always short of resources.”

However, when questioned on Unite’s tax failure, she said: “I need an explanation for that”.

I’m not sure I would say all unions are short of resources. The combined wealth of the union movement puts the Business Roundtable, Business NZ, and the Chambers of Commerce to shame. I did a blog post a couple of years back comparing them.

A small but symbolically important decision from the Government:

The Government is to change its position on Myanmar and return to calling it Burma.

The Asian nation was known as Burma until 1989 when the military government changed it to Myanmar.

The Government has accepted a recommendation from Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully to use Burma. Mr McCully said the change signalled that New Zealand refused to recognise the legitimacy of the military regime.

A very good call.

NZPA report:

Two Labour list MPs are among eight nominees to contest Chris Carter’s Te Atatu seat in next year’s general election.

Rajen Prasad and Phil Twyford have put their names up, along with small business owner Nick Bakulich, law student Jim Bradshaw, barrister Michael Kidd, university lecturer Hamish McCracken, community advocate Ann Pala and communications consultant Kate Sutton.

It could well be fourth time lucky for Phil Twyford. He is a member of the anti-Goff faction, so will have the support of the Te Atatu members who were supporters of Chris Carter.

Michael Kidd has no chance, having previously stood for the Destiny Church linked Family Party.

Rajen Prasad hasn’t exactly shone in Parliament, and I think he may b on the wrong side of 60, so would be surprised if he comes through.

I think Kate Sutton will be the one to watch, as the main alternative to Twyford.

Another list MP, Ashraf Choudhary, is one of seven nominees to contest the Manurewa seat for Labour, which will be vacated by George Hawkins who is retiring from Parliament.

The other Manurewa nominees are lawyer Ian Dunwoodie, union organiser Jerome Mika, lawyer Amelia Schaaf, human resources manager Shane Te Pou, company director Raj Thandi and policy advisor Louisa Wall.

I’d be amazed if Ashraf Choudary wins the nomination. It could only happen if Hawkins endorses him. Choudary is almost invisible at Parliament.

Jerome Mika is backed by EPMU and it is rumoured that Hawkins will force a by-election if he wins. Shane Te Pou has been written about extensively on Whale Oil. Louisa Wall as a pretty good MP during her short time in the House, and I was surprised she got such a low list ranking. But I understand she wasn’t great at getting on with others.

Ian Dunwoodie may be the candidate backed by Hawkins, as he used to work for him. He has also worked for the ATA, is a lawyer and even an EPMU member so could be the candidate acceptable to all factions.

Don’t know much about Amelia Schaaf – she is a barrister.

Raj Thandi is the General Secretary of the New Zealand Indian Central Association. He is an unsuccessful candidate for the Papakura Local Board.

So at this stage I’m picking it as Mika vs Dunwoodie.

This is a useful feature. The Coastal Coalition has a Q+A  on the Marine and Coastal Area Bill, and Chris Finlayson has responded to it with answers of his own.

For those who want to learn more about the issue, worth a read.

My (new) Sony Vaio won’t boot up. Windows 7 has some sort of fatal error.

It has resisted:

• System Repair
• System Recovery
• Safe Mode boot up
• Use last known good configuration
• Booting off Win 7 CD and repairing

Is there anyone in Wellington who can fix problems like this, who might be available tomorrow morning (or tonight) to try anything else that may work. Happy to pay normal commercial rates.

No idea what caused it. Was working fine during the day. I did have someone charge their iphone from my USB port which meant they got connected,but I can’t see how that would do it.

Let me know (e-mail is [email protected] or text 021 940 045) if you are available early tomorrow. I have a shit load of work to do and really need to have things working by end of Friday at the latest.

UPDATE: Pleased to report that the laptop has been fixed overnight by a reader, whom I have promised my first born child to.

I think this may have been the problem – bloody AVG.

Thanks to the media for tweeting the speech – was nice to be able to follow it despite no TV access.

The full speech is here. I found it very moving, as I did the other speeches also. A couple of extracts that stick with me:

But, as the hours passed, we had to start thinking the unthinkable. These 29 strong, fit, men, who were all sons, and who were also fathers, husbands, and brothers, were not going to walk out of that mine.

And so we prayed that when death came to them, as it will come to all of us, they did not suffer.

And:

And I’d like to say something personal to the families of the lost miners, and in particular to those mothers of children who have so cruelly lost their fathers.

Amongst all your other emotions and pain there may be fear for your children growing up without the father who loved them.

Because I was such a child, I know that the absence of a parent is a heaviness you learn to carry in your own way.

It is a terrible thing to happen. But it doesn’t mean your children will not go on to live happy, worthwhile and fulfilling lives and, in time, experience joyfulness and love in new families, yet to be created.

Finally:

In the streets of Greymouth, and all along the Coast, the intensity of this loss has weighed heavily on every heart.

But the human spirit is resilient, and people are by nature, hopeful.

I hope the knowledge of the nation’s support helps you through.

Your men were our men. And even if many of us know them only as names, and faces and stories, their deaths touched our lives, and we will remember them.

May they rest in peace.

And may us never forget them.

AAP report:

The Queensland opposition leader says it’s entirely appropriate that candidates hoping to run for his party take intelligence tests.

Would-be Liberal National Party candidates are being given New Age intelligence tests to gauge if they are smart enough to be politicians.

The psychometric tests specifically measure aptitude, rather than concentrating on personality traits.

Psychometric tests are also used by big businesses and measure a person’s ability to think quickly and employ their knowledge from past experiences.

Opposition Leader John-Paul Langbroek said the tests would mean better leaders for the state.

“I make absolutely no apologies for trying to get the best possible LNP candidates for the next state election,” Langbroek said in a statement.

“The aptitude tests are the same type of testing that many companies use when hiring their executives and it’s entirely appropriate that we do everything we can to give the people of Queensland the best possible representatives.”

I think this is a great idea. Parties need to be more professional with candidate selection.

As well as IQ and psychometric testing, I’d also make it compulsory for would be candidates to take the political compass test, to ensure they are in the right party!

Daniel on Twitter pointed me to the audited accounts for the UNITE union, which are filed with the Registrar of Incorporated Societies.

The accounts to 31 March 2009 reveal the following:

• Their liabilities exceed their assets by around $172,000
• Their bank account is over-drawn to $63,000
• They owe the IRD around $130,000
• They have an agreement with IRD to pay the debt off at $8,000 per month
• They have a $30,000 loan from the National Distribution Trust, which presumably is associated with the ND Union.

This is a very bad look for a trade union, as some of their unpaid tax is PAYE. That means that have been taking the tax off their staff, and rather than pay it to the IRD, have kept onto it.

Employers who do that are labelled thieves and bad employers. It is seen as worse as not paying income tax because it is not tax on your own income, it is tax on behalf of your employees and you are acting in a role as trustee to deduct and pass on.

The 2010 accounts have not been filed. Hopefully they have paid back the IRD.

I like Matt McCarten – he is a genuine advocate for his beliefs. But to advocate that the state should be spending far more money, and have your own union not paying their taxes, exposes you to charges of hypocrisy.

Okay imagine you are NZUSA. Your source of income is about to be cut off. Your best hope of surivival is to appeal to National MPs not to continue their support for the VSM bill.

So after hours of brain-storming, what do you come up with as the best way to convince National they are wrong.

You get the Maritime Union to put out a press release stating their support for compulsory membership, and demand National drop the bill.

Yes that should do it.

I can’t think of anything more likely to convince any doubting MPs in National they should support the bill, than having the Maritime Union speak out on the virtues of compulsory membership.

It’s like getting Graeme Burton to come out against the three strikes law. Fail.

I was curious about the 485 people who tried to vote in Mana who were listed as not enrolled. I inquired whether these were people not enrolled at all, or just not enrolled in Mana.

The answer is that only 40% were not enrolled at all, 38% were enrolled on the Maori roll and 22% were enrolled in another general electorate.

So 60% of those who tried to vote would have been able to cast a party vote, if it had been a general election.

Yes – aced it. No guesses, 10/10 and a record 23 seconds. Quiz is here.

The NZEI and Ministry of Education have announced they have reached agreement on their collective agreement.

The settlement, between their union NZEI TE Riu Roa and the Ministry of Education, will give them a 2.75% pay rise from December 1st, along with a $300 lump sum payment. The collective agreements for both teachers and principals will expire in August 2012.

Well done to both parties on getting an agreement, and not going into 2011 with ongoing industrial action which tends to be a lose/lose – teachers lose wages and kids lose teaching time.

It will be interesting to see if the PPTA still refuses to budge with its claim.

I am in one of those medieval torture devices all day today. The modern name for them is a group strategic planning day.

This means I will not be answering the phone or e-mails much today. Or blogging much.

We get paroled around 9 pm.

Without being overly conspirational, I wonder if he will be still alive in 12 months time? Pissing off almost every country on Earth isn’t the best of ideas possibly.

AP reports:

Contracts with “temporary wives” are a legal way for Iranian men to have mistresses outside marriage, with the agreements lasting several hours to a few years.

Hmmn, maybe there is something to this sharia law after all 🙂

Does this mean the mother-in-laws are just temporary also?

Watch this video of a cat taking on an alligator.

Hat Tip: Andrei at NZ Conservative

Oh this really is getting sad. NZUSA have spent some of their compulsory given fees on a poll, which they claim has 77% of NZers opposed to Heather Roy’s VSM bill.

NZUSA claim:

Public poll reveals overwhelming majority opposed to Act Party bill

It of course reveals no such thing

The New Zealand public has again overwhelmingly declared that students themselves should determine the method of students’ association membership, a week out from the committee stage of a Bill that attempts to remove this choice.

“Students are best placed to make their own decisions about the membership of their local students’ associations, and this public poll shows there is no appetite for Government involvement in such processes,” says NZUSA co-President David Do.

Mr Do is of course also the former Chair of the Princes St Labour Branch.

But turning to what he says, here is the hypocrisy. It is purely due to Government involvement that student associations are currently compulsory.

Without an Act of Parliament allowing them to be compulsory, student associations would have no more ability to be compulsory, that Neighbourhood Watch. Their compulsion comes from the Government.

An independent public opinion poll revealed 77% of respondents felt that students should decide the structure of membership of their associations, compared with just 17% that believed it was the Government’s decision, and 6% who were unsure.

George Orwell’s 1984 characters would be proud. Instead of asking the public whether student associations should have compulsory membership, or even asking whether students at a particular instistution should have the power to make their association compulsory, they asked a meaningless question about “decide the structure of membership”.

For NZUSA to claim this as demonstrating that there is an overwhelming majority opposed to Heather Roy’s bill, is desperate and ridiculous. Their remaining credibility is draining away even faster than student associations are withdrawing their memberships of NZUSA.

I am a 100% supporter of VSM. However if I was polled and asked “Do you think students should determine the structure of membership of their association” I would answer “yes”. In fact I am amazed that NZUSA did not get 100% of people answering yes.

Likewise if you asked who should determine the structure of membership of Federated Farmers – farmers or the Govt, I would answer farmers. If you asked me should a majority of farmers be able to make Federated Farmers compulsory, I would answer no.

The last vestige of compulsory unionism will die early in 2011. It is long overdue.