The Herald reports:

Te Pāti Māori is proposing a new law that would make Waitangi Tribunal recommendations binding on the Crown.

So they want to change the law so that the entire Government is subservient to a body that is appointed by Ministers. The maximum term (except the Chair) is for three years so this would mean the current National/ACT/NZ First Government could appoint this term 19/20 members of the Tribunal, and any decisions they make would be binding on all future Governments!

If this goes ahead, I volunteer to be appointed to the Tribunal. I think charter schools are a taonga protected under the Treaty so if I can get a majority to agree, then it would be illegal for any future Government to scrap charter schools!

Stuff reports:

Imane Khelif of Algeria won her opening Olympic boxing bout when opponent Angela Carini of Italy quit after just 46 seconds.

Khelif was disqualified from the 2023 world championships after failing an unspecified gender eligibility test, and her presence at the Paris Olympics has become a divisive issue.

I feel very sorry for both boxers.

First of all it is important to clarify that Khelif has not transitioned in any way. She was designated female at birth, has been raised as a girl and a woman. One can debate the decision of the IOC, without criticising her – she has done nothing wrong.

It is not clear what the details are of the 2023 gender eligibility test, but one official says she has Y chromosomes and elevated testosterone. It appears likely she may be intersexual which means she has both female and male characteristics, as do around 1 in 2000 people. She may not have even been aware she was intersexual (if she is) until the 2023 test. There’s a lot we don’t know.

So Khelif has done nothing wrong, and just wants to compete. She has never identified as male, and it is unclear if she could even do so, as it is illegal to transition in Algeria. But if Khelif does have Y chromosomes and elevated testosterone, it does provide her with a significant biological advantage over women who do not. And in some sports such as archery that may not raise issues of safety, but in boxing it does. Hard to fault Carini for not carrying on, as she was facing an opponent who might be able to hit her harder than any woman who doesn’t have elevated testosterone and a Y chromosome. Her safety is a real issue.

The blame should probably got towards the IOC for not ensuring their eligibility guidelines were up to date with the latest science, and putting both Khelif and Carina in this situation.

The long-term solution might be to have an open category.

Stuff reports:

ACT MP Karen Chhour has spoken to Stuff’s ThreeNews about how she feels “bullied” at work.

The children’s minister broke down in an interview with Stuff on Wednesday, saying Parliament doesn’t feel like a safe work environment for her.

“Yes, I’m in a position of being a minister but I’m still a person, I’m still a person. And I feel like I’m getting that stripped away from me day by day in this place and I’ve had enough,” she said through tears. …

“Whilst I can’t control what the public is saying about my personal traits about being Maori enough or not being the right kind of traumatised person hearing it from other MPs that shouldn’t be allowed.”

If Chhour was a Minister for the left, she would be hailed as a brave wahine trailblazer who not only survived state care, but has risen to the top of politics despite her start in life. There would be numerous magazine profiles and sympathetic profiles.

But because she is on the right, she is vilified by some opposition MPs as being a bad Maori, a sellout, an example of what is wrong with those who went through state care etc.

I made a short presentation yesterday and said the things you would expect from someone who researches the NZ system intently and has successful designed and provided models/curriculum to counter the mode of the schools that are failing.

Peter Boshier (Ombudsman) made a fair point that, as the Charter Schools will receive most of their funding from the taxpayer then they should be subject to OIA. I have always held the view that even when not legally required the Charter Schools should be fully transparent.

The rest of the anti-presentations were pretty much all appalling parroting of the NZEI and PPTA talking points.

1. The Charter Schools can have “unqualified teachers”. This was stated with bland illustrations like – I would not like to fly in plane with an untrained pilot, I would not like butt implants from a dodgy surgeon, I would not like a beer poured by someone who hasn’t done a block course, etc.

Charter Schools are allowed to employ people with skill sets and experiences not readily available and … don’t tell the unions but so are State schools and there are – at last count – 1,832 of these interlopers on a Limited Authority to Teach in State schools around the nation.

2. Charter Schools are not accountable. State schools are visited by the Education review Office approx. every three years. They hate incisive data about them being researched and published (I know as I do the researching and publishing). They are not required to set achievement goals. They refuse to have their attendance data published by school name.

Charter Schools will publish attendance by school, have academic and other goals set and report quarterly to the Minister and publicly.

3. Charter Schools are not needed as we already have a range of choices in New Zealand and/or these schools could always begin as Designated Character Schools. That the unions expose this is not only and attempt to delude the public but it anathema to their stated aim of standing with the poor and down trodden or with Maori and Pasifika.

Choice in New Zealand schooling is, currently, the realm of the wealthy. The top 30 schools in NZ for leavers qualifications are made up of: 22 Private Schools, 1 Designated Character School, 6 Integrated Schools, 1 State School. 22 of these schools are in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch or Dunedin. In the bottom 30 schools: Ten of these are geographically isolated and are schools that struggle to fully resource with well qualified staff. Others are schools in small provincial towns or schools in the poorer parts of cities. In many of these areas there is simply no other choice for those that stay and try and make their way there. Wealthy families in rural areas often send their children to boarding school or drive incredible distances twice a day.

4. That $153m (over 4 years) being spent on Charters would solve all problems in State Schools by providing 0.3 of a teacher aid per school.

Not much I can even say here as this assertion is so very stupid – and also the worst kind of false dichotomy. Why has no one tried to say that the $70 million spent on maintenance in two years on the PMs plane could get schools closer to having a whole teacher aid each?

5. Apparently profit is appalling.

This of course ignores architects, builders, product providers, micro-soft, etc ad nauseum who make oodles of money from education. It should also be noted – the funding for Charter Schooling is equal to comparable State schools and any providers who think that can make substantial profits can also squeeze blood from a stone.

6. There is no evidence of success.

This is actually humorous. Especially as – in NZ – we have MASSIVE evidence of State School failure.

There are many thousand examples of successful Charter Schools worldwide and the hordes of people trying to get their children into them in many cities get ignored by the unions as parents simply do not know best according to any unionist. To a unionist the State always knows best – except during pay negotiations.

In terms of two schools established last time based on my model – here is what an independent review stated:

[B]oth schools, the management and staff are actively involved in continuous development, and the delivery, of a unique programme of teaching and learning which is based on a comprehensive ‘local’ curriculum that is aligned with the New Zealand Curriculum, and which provides for the personalised needs of priority learners ‘many of whom have been failed by the current education system.

The one aspect the unions have stopped lying about is one they spouted in the last rounds – “that NZ has a world class education system.”

Time for change for the students who are stuck in failing schools or not even enrolled (10,000) – let alone attending. The charter schools will show how to do it.

Update: Paul Steven – Rangitoto College Art Teacher and PPTA Exec – just went full retard (see Tropic Thunder) and called Charter Schools apocalyptic. He clearly thinks that NZ having Charter Schools will cause the end of the world and Jesus to return.

Alwyn Poole
[email protected]
Innovative Education Consultants Ltd
Education 710+ Ltd
alwynpoole.substack.com
www.linkedin.com/in/alwyn-poole-16b02151/

The Spinoff reports on Thorndon Quay:

But instead of making minor pedestrian improvements, the proposed design goes way overboard. Five raised pedestrian crossings with traffic lights, plus a sixth non-raised crossing with traffic lights. It’s a big-budget, gold standard approach, but it goes against the primary aim of the project. Raised crossings and excessive traffic lights will make bus and bike access worse, not better. 

Metlink group manager Samantha Gain is wary of criticising the project, but gave this carefully worded statement: “Metlink prefers the installation of traffic control devices, like speed bumps and raised crossings, to be minimised on high frequency bus routes. They can accentuate wear and tear on our buses and reduce ride quality for our passengers.”

So they are doing a gold plated option that will make it worse for cyclists, buses and cars.

As a general principle, pedestrians should always come first when designing streets. But in this case, Thorndon Quay serves primarily as an arterial route, not as a pedestrian destination. It’s an industrial area, backing onto a railway yard, shadowed by a motorway overpass. It’s never going to be a cutesy neighbourhood shopping centre. 

As Joel said, it is a major arterial route. This is an idiotic plan.

Simeon Brown announced:

The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.

• A fleet of 18 4-car units, totalling 72 cars.
• Doubling of peak services on both lines and additional off-peak services.
• 15-minute travel time savings for Kiwis commuting between Wellington and Masterton.
• Increased speeds on the Wairarapa line from 90 kilometres per hour to 110 kilometres per hour.

That’s a good investment, and the doubling of peak services with faster speeds will be great for Wairarapa commuters.

Lots of the normal people on the left are complaining that the Government has adjusted the tax brackets to partially compensate for 14 years of inflation. The good news for them is they can donate them back to the Government. Just do a bank transfer to 03-0049-0000327-25 which is a Treasury bank account for receiving donations.

I wonder how many will do so?

Media have reported that one of the people being vetted as a possible VP candidate for Kamala Harris is retired Admiral William McRaven.

Candidates not widely known to the public need to be able to have who they are summed up in a pithy sentence such as John Key being “Raised in state house by solo mum and became rich”.

For McRaven it is “Organised and oversaw the mission that killed Osama Bin Laden”.

He would add serious credibility and gravitas to the ticket in terms of foreign affairs and security. He also would be an excellent contrast to the isolationist politics for Trump and Vance.

His service includes:

• Naval Special Warfare Unit One 
• assault team leader for Seal Team Six
• platoon commander at Underwater Demolition Team 21/SEAL Team Four
• squadron commander at Naval Special Warfare Development Group
• executive officer of SEAL Team ONE
• task unit commander for Gulf War
• commanding officer Seal Team Three
• commanding officer of Naval Special Force Group ONE
• deputy commander of Task Force 714 in Iraq against Al Qaeda
• Commander of United States Special Operations Command
• Organised and oversaw Operation Neptune Spear

He is no armchair warrior!

However more likely she will go with a Governor.

Stuff reports:

Former prime minister Helen Clark has criticised remarks made by NZ First leader Winston Peters in the House on Tuesday.

Peters was rebutting Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer about “ongoing colonisation” when he said it was “a retard comment”. …

Clark reposted a clip of the comment on social media, saying it was “Distressing to see this kind of language/attitude in NZ Parliament”.

Why is this a news story? Helen Clark tweets many times a day on various issues. She has not been Prime Minister for 16 years.

As to the substantive issue, I’m not clear whether Peters is being criticised for being inaccurate with his description, or for being insensitive with its use!

The Herald reports:

The first liquidator’s report on former Green MP Darleen Tana’s husband Christian Hoff-Nielsen’s bike business shows the company owed Inland Revenue and other creditors more than $400,000 at the time of its liquidation.

E Cycles NZ Limited, trading as Bikes and Beyond, went into liquidation on July 16. Hoff-Nielsen is the director and sole shareholder of the business, according to the Companies Register records.

This is no surprise. It seemed obvious from reports that the business struggled for many years. This in itself should not be held against the owner and directors. Many many small businesses struggle with cashflow and profitability. They have very few reserves and owners sometimes end up paying themselves salaries less than their staff.

However most owners do not underpay their staff and/or keep trading when the business isn’t solvent.

Sadly a growing number of Israelis now also oppose a two state solution.

The problem is there is no real alternative.

This is a pretty effective ad to try and define your opponent. Harris, despite being VP, is not that well known in terms of issues. Of course all candidates say things in primaries that they then walk back, but with her becoming the candidate at such a late stage, there is a greater opportunity to define her.

The Post reports:

Many Wellington City home owners have received a nasty surprise after new rates costs came out with increases higher than the already-eye-watering planned increases.

My rates have gone up over $900 a year, or just over 20%. This is not due to more investment in water infrastructure. This is due to the Council spending over $300 million on renovating their own town hall, their massively expensive and unpopular golden mile project, the white elephant convention centre, the costly cycleways, $240 million to redevelop Civic Square, $400 million on a sludge transfer system etc etc.

The Pacifica Greens leadership have written an open letter. Extracts include:

For us, the treatment of Darleen has been deeply re-triggering, evoking once more our feelings of sheer helplessness, deep disappointment, and shame for the Party as we observed Professor Elizabeth Kerekere being subjected to a process that was reported as being mana-enhancing – yet was anything but.

In that case, the Co-Leaders manipulated the racist “angry brown woman hurting the fragile white woman” trope for the frenzied media coverage when in real time Elizabeth was routinely attacked and undermined by senior staff and some MPs during her term.

I think they are implying Chloe is the fragile white woman!

I spent a day with Elizabeth once she moved into her new Independent MP’s office and the immense relief from having to cope with the supposedly non-violent Green Party Caucus and Parliamentary Staff was palpable.

Seems such a happy place!

The Greens’ principle of Non-Violence in the Green Party Charter has been again and again contravened by women Green MPs who routinely heckle and yell in the House, who intimidate other MPs and who bullied two wāhine Māori MPs. Contrasting the treatment of Elizabeth and then Darleen with that of two other women MPs this year leads us to ask, “Will wahine Māori MPs who are perceived as a threat to the Co-Leaders’ comfort levels and ambitions always be an endangered species in the Green Party?”

A Green MP was filmed in Parliament being verbally abusive to and physically aggressive with another MP. How was that behaviour not a serious breach of our Charter? Why is that MP still in office?

They do have a point here.

We are culturally unsafe when the Co-Leaders, Pākehā or other Tauiwi MPs continually disregard and flout the principle of Non-Violence with no repercussions.

Ouch.

Radio NZ report:

The government has agreed to set aside $216 million it may need to pay for tax cuts for heated tobacco products (HTPs).

When I first heard this figure it seemed illogical as HTPs are such a minuscule part of the market.

She also said she did not expect the cost to the government to be “anywhere close to what was modelled”, as the tax collected on HTPs was only $3.62 million in 2022 and $5.97 million in 2023.

So the actual value of the tax change is $3 million, not $216 million. Yet the average reader or listener would think it is $216 million. How is that figure achieved?

Well prepare for nonsensical advice from officials.

But Health Ministry officials warned the minister against liberalising the regulation of HTPs, prior to the excise tax cut.

“There is no evidence to support their use as a quit smoking tool,” officials wrote to Costello. 

So they said that this won’t drive smokers from normal cigarettes to heated tobacco (which is less harmful).

The Cabinet paper said Health Ministry modelling suggested 7200 smokers could switch to HTPs over the next two years if encouraged by a cheaper price.

But here they say actually 7,200 smokers would switch to the less harmful HTPs.

So the $216 million figure is based on the scenario that the lower excise tax will actually lead to smokers switching to HTPs. So there would only be a loss of revenue if smokers switch to less harmful HTPs – which is the exact purpose of the trial!

So the official Ministry advice is that for policy purposes no smokers will switch to HTPs, but for fiscal purposes 7,200 smokers will switch to HTPs!

NZ on Air commissioned some interesting and useful research on what type of entertainment Maori like to access, how, where etc. Having understanding of what a large segment of the population wants should be helpful in making funding decisions. Some interesting findings:”

• 87% of Maori watch online video, 45% TV and 41% radio. Only 15% read newspapers
• The most time is spent online gaming and streaming music
• Of those who watch TV (around half), 58% watch TV1, 38% TV3 and 17% Whakaata Maori
• Of those who watch streaming video, 79% are onNetflix, 29% Disney and 15% Amazon Prime
• 22% of those who listen to radio listen to Mai FM, 12% National Radio and 11% NewstalkZB
• The main reasons Maori watch video/TV is relaxing 52%, passing time 28%, background 22%. Reflecting Maori culture was 10th at 9% and last at 5% was because of use of te reo
• Only 4% of Maori found shows fully in te reo appealing

JI reports:

The Washington Post, which has been widely criticized for its coverage of the Israel-Hamas war, is under scrutiny again this week for publishing a news story on Thursday that appeared to criticize the parents of Israeli American hostage Omer Neutra for not discussing the suffering in Gaza, despite interviewing the mother and father and including comments in the story from them that the situation in Gaza is “horrible.”

The article, written by national correspondent Joanna Slater, details Ronen and Orna Neutra’s visit to Milwaukee to speak at the Republican National Convention on behalf of their son, who has been held hostage by Hamas since Oct. 7. The piece carries a sub-headline inaccurately describing Omer as “missing,” rather than being held in Gaza, before delving into his parents’ advocacy, which the story criticizes for a lack of focus on Palestinian suffering. 

“When the Neutras speak publicly, they don’t talk about the ferocity of Israel’s counterattack, which has killed more than 38,000 Palestinians and left nearly 90,000 injured, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Swaths of the territory have been pulverized and international experts have warned of looming famine,” the story reads, citing death toll figures from the GHM without including in the article or an editor’s note that the organization is a Hamas-run entity.

“What’s happening in Gaza is ‘horrible,’ Orna said, but Hamas could end it by releasing the hostages. Ronen echoed that sentiment: Hamas is ‘not only holding hostage our son, they’re also holding hostage the people of Gaza,’” it immediately continues, appearing to disprove the previous paragraph’s assertion that they don’t “they don’t talk about the ferocity of Israel’s counterattack.”

Bashing the parents of a hostage because they were not perceived to condemn the country trying to rescue their son is so tone deaf.

1 News reports:

KiwiRail asked DNV to determine if the ships could operate for another five years, because that is enough time for “alternative solutions” and is realistic for the life expectancy of the ageing fleet. 

KiwiRail today released a summary of the DNV report – but not the full document – to 1News and other media following requests under the Official Information Act.

Roy said DNV submitted their report earlier this month and had found the ferries were in a better state than previously thought.

That meant the ferries could run reliably beyond 2026 with additional maintenance, according to the report.

“It found the three vessels have been well maintained. While the ferries are ageing, it has concluded it is possible to keep the three vessels running at least until 2029,“ Roy said.

The report found the hulls of the three vessels to be a particularly good condition for their age and Interislander said this was due to them not sailing in very heavy seas. …

DNV assessed the hull condition of the fleet as “good” and found the vessels had a low hull fatigue age, given all of them were built in the 1990s.

The ships’ actual ages in 2029 will range from 31 to 34 years old, but the projected hull ages will be 6.9 to 11.1 years old.

All the hysterical idiots who claimed we had no choice but to spend $3 billion+ on Labour’s mega ferries as the old ones were about to stop working should be very embarrassed.

The current ones are fine for at least the next five years with regular maintenance, calling the Government and Kiwirail to decide on replacements that won’t require billions in new port infrastructure.

Radio NZ reports:

In 2021 the government set targets of reducing the number of children experiencing material hardship from 13.3 down to 9 percent by 2023/24. The government’s new target for 2026/27 is 11 percent.

Yes Labour,. set a target, but were they on track to meet it?

Let’s look at the various targets announced over time for proportion of children in material hardship:

• May 19: 10.3% by 20/21 and 6.0% by 27/28
• Jun 21: 9.0% by 23/24
• Jun 24: 11.0% by 26/27

But how did they actually do?

First thing to note is by far the largest drop occurred from 2012/13 to 2015/16 – a massive 6% in three years.

The rate was 13.3% when Labour in 2019 set a three year target of 10.3%. They got 11.0%, so got around 3/4 of the way to their goal.

In 2021 the rate was 11.5% and they set a goal for 2024 of 9% or a 2.5% reduction. They delivered a 1% increase by 2023 so you see why the target is now unachievable. This is what happens when inflation gets out of control.

Labour’s 10 years target was from 13.3% to 6% so a 0.73% reduction a year. After five years they delivered a 0.16% a year reduction or 0.8% after five years instead of the targeted 3.7%.

So National inherited a material hardship rate of 12.5% for 22/23 and likely even higher for 23/24, so a target of 11.0% by 26/27 is still a significant challenge which will require a reduction of 0.5% a year, which is six times more than what Labour achieved.

As I blogged previously the problem is a botched centralisation project. Money should be spent on health services, not extra bureaucracy.