For those who are interested I’m doing analysis and commentary for Sky News Australia for our election.
I’ll be interviewed every day during this week, and also be on during election night coverage. They won’t cover our election continuously (they have their own referendum on also) but will be doing crosses to us in New Zealand at least once an hour.
New Zealand is standing out like a sore thumb as the only country not calling out Hamas for their terrorist attack which has seen hundreds of civilians and children killed, kidnapped and wounded.
This tells us a lot about the mentality of the Government. No doubt in a few hours they will realise their mistake and do a further statement but it speaks volumes that their initial response was to not call out Hamas or condemn terrorism but instead make it look like Israel is culpable.
The Jerusalem Post reports:
A barrage of rockets slammed into southern and central Israel Saturday morning, amidst which Ofir Liebstein, Head of the Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council, was killed in an exchange of fire with terrorists. …
“The Hamas [terrorist organization] has made a grave mistake this morning and launched a war against the State of Israel. IDF troops are fighting against the enemy at every location,” said Defense Minister Yoav Gallant following a situation assessment. The State of Israel will win this war.”
The IDF declared that it was “ready for war” after widespread rocket fire was shot into Israeli territory from Gaza, and terrorists infiltrated Israeli territory through various entry points. Dozens of IAF fighter jets have attacked targets of the terrorist organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip in several locations.
Yes NZ won’t designate Hamas as a terrorists organisation!
Stuff reports:
During the 2020 general election, you could barely go anywhere without seeing Jacinda Ardern’s face.
The former prime minister’s stock was at its zenith and Labour rode it to the biggest slice of the popular vote in nearly 70 years, and, the power to govern alone.
But less than three years later, her only foray into Labour’s campaign has been a short Instagram post about voting overseas. She hasn’t appeared at all on the campaign trail.
Hiding Jacinda is a very sensible tactic for Labour.
Those who are not Jacinda fans would be turned off Labour even more if she was prominent campaigning for them. Hipkins is not as polarising as Ardern.
Those who are fans of Jacinda would compare Hipkins to her, and be reminded that he is mainly campaigning on ditching many of her policies.
So it is a lose-lose to use her, so a sensible decision by Labour not to do so.
Stuff reports:
A Mongrel Mob member violently assaulted an intellectually disabled man in an unprovoked attack that saw him beat the man repeatedly and smash a bottle over his head as he tried to get away.
The man hunched over and got onto the ground in the foetal position, trying to protect himself.
The gang member then kicked him in the head, then tried to pull the man’s sweatshirt off him, before delivering three roundhouse punches to the man’s head.
The gang member then raised the glass bottle above his head and smashed it down on the man’s head, causing a 6cm wound that began bleeding profusely.
Several members of the public intervened, trying to distract the gang member, at which point the man tried to get away.
But the gang member caught him again. He kicked him in the head. The man tried to protect himself but the gang member delivered another three roundhouse punches to the man’s head, then kneed him in the head.
Do you think he will get three months home detention or will they throw the book at him and give him six months?
The Herald reports:
Wellington City councillors have met behind closed doors today about the future of the shut-up Reading Cinema building on Courtenay Pl, the Herald understands.
It’s understood a multimillion-dollar deal, involving the council buying the land underneath the Reading Cinema, was under consideration.
It was discussed in a public-excluded part of the meeting. Reasons given for this included allowing the local authority to carry on negotiations, including commercial and industrial negotiations, without prejudice or disadvantage.
It is so easy to spend other people’s money. They have already voted to spend $300 million fixing a second classical music venue and now they are doing secret deals with our money with Reading.
Ratepayers should get angry as they will face a decade of massive rates increases because WCC seems incapable of saying no.
The Waikato Times reports:
Cultural reports, which can cut an offender’s sentence almost in half, rely on information given by the criminal themselves, with no formal obligation on report writers to verify what they are told.
The use of Section 27 cultural reports has leapt dramatically and, according to one High Court judge, they give valuable information to “show how our society has failed children” and how to sentence for better outcomes.
But it comes at a cost of $2.6m and counting in the Waikato, with the reports thrust into the spotlight when ACT leader David Seymour pledged to axe them.
A lawyer can request a cultural report for their client to explain their background. These reports can get an offender a 7% to 45% reduction to their sentence.
It’s almost like the “Get out of jail free” cards in monopoly. This reflects our criminal justice system is now focused on the offenders, not the victims.
Stuff reports:
“White people are stupid” and “can be fooled easily” according to a Green Party candidate who also labelled her opponent, Labour Minister Priyanca Radhakrishnan, “****ing useless” and an “incompetent” minister.
Greens co-leader James Shaw was unaware of his Maungakieie candidate, Sapna Samant’s, tweets when asked about them during an interview on the Tova podcast.
Shortly after the interview, Samant protected her tweets so that only approved followers could access her posts.
Now imagine if an ACT Party candidate had said black people are stupid” and can be “fooled easily” and called a Labour Minister “f***ing useless”. This would again lead every news outlet for days and days. There would also be an online Lynch mob writing into their professional body demanding they be deregistered.
Kudos to Stuff for reporting this but so far Google News doesn’t show any other news outlet covering this.
The NY Post reports:
Former MLB pitcher Trevor Bauer and Lindsey Hill settled their lawsuits Monday without any money getting exchanged between the two sides, according to a video Bauer posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, and an interview Hill did with The Washington Post. …
In his nearly four-minute video, Bauer revealed alleged messages and an alleged video from the morning after one of his sexual encounters with Hill, which came to light in September 2022 and depicts Hill laying in bed next to a sleeping Bauer and appearing to smirk without any of the alleged injuries.
One message that Bauer included in the video — claiming that Hill tried to frame him for money — alleged that Hill texted an unknown person his “Net worth is 51 mil,” to which the person allegedly replied, “b–ch, you better secure the bag.”
Hill turned up to the police station with serious bruising to her face. The time stamped video makes it clear this did not happen during sex, as she claimed. Bauer got kicked off his team and suspended for 324 games due to these claims.
Audrey Young writes:
Despite attempts by Labour to downplay ill-discipline by MPs about a wealth tax, there is only one clear answer that Labour candidates should be giving on the hustings to questions about it. It’s campaigning 101 and it goes like this:
“If Labour is elected to again lead the next Government, it will be on the promise not to introduce a wealth tax or a capital gains tax in the next term. It was a decision endorsed by the caucus and Labour’s New Zealand Council and we will keep our promise.”
And when they are asked whether they personally support a wealth tax or a capital gains tax, they should be saying:
“My opinion does not matter other than my support for the party’s position. What matters is what Labour is promising and our promise to Kiwis is no wealth tax or CGT for the next three years and we will keep our promise.”
They should not be saying “Yes, I personally support a wealth tax but I support our leader 100 per cent.”
Anyone who says “yes, but…” either does not understand how to campaign or is happy to sabotage their party’s campaign.
Labour are looking to lose 30 MPs or so. It is not surprising that some of them are sabotaging the campaign by trying to shore up support with local progressives by declaring that they personally would love to hike taxes.
Chris Bishop, National’s campaign manager, is on the lookout for any breaches of the party line by Labour candidates. Previously, all National had to go on was conjecture over the fact that the Green Party and Te Pati Maori support a wealth tax.
With new material being fed back to him about loose comments by MPs such as Ibrahim Omer in Wellington Central, Ingrid Leary in Taieri, Tracey McLellan in Banks Peninsular, and Glen Bennett in New Plymouth, Bishop has seized upon the issue.
If Labour gets to form Government, there will be many Labour MPs keen to support an asset tax.
1 News reports:
Today, Carmel Sepuloni attended a number of events across Wellington while campaigning for Labour, and she travelled to and between them in her chauffeur-driven ministerial limousine — a high-end Audi.
Crown limos are normally used by ministers when they’re conducting ministerial business, although exceptions are made for the PM and Leader of the Opposition during the election campaign.
Amazed at this. Its not as if there is any shortage of local Labour MPs who could have driven her around in their own car rather than using VIP Transport.
The National Party have just released a policy that, should they become the government, all children will be taught to read under a Structured Literacy programme and have to set aside what is now called Balanced Literacy. Without going into detail many people familiar with theories of learning to read will be able to associate Structured Literacy with “phonics” and Balanced Literacy with whole word recognition. There is more detail to it than that but it is adequate for the points I want to make.
Recent research does favour Structured Literacy as a learning methodology in schools. One of the challenges to its more widespread adoption is that New Zealand has heavily invested in Balanced Literacy and Reading Recovery through the significant influence of the late Dame Marie Clay who was, no doubt, an incredible New Zealander with international influence.
In terms of the policy, then, I largely agree with National designating Structured Literacy as the primary method for teaching reading. There are a couple of caveats on that. Firstly, some children come to school and are already well on the pathway to be good readers and the last thing many of them would enjoy is having to sound out basic words they already have mastered. Give them an opportunity to show their proficiency and them just let them read. Secondly, the quality of professional development around this must be brilliant and the day-to-day must not be dour. To generate life-long readers you don’t only require functionality – there must also be inspiration. They must not only learn to read but love reading and adore story. Functional success only goes part of the way…..
It will also be the case that this policy will only have a very marginal effect if families are not seen as paramount and carried with it – that is the deeper magic. In an inspirational book called The Smartest Kids in the World (Amanda Ripley) New Zealand was only noted once. That was as the country in the world where parents reading to their children makes the greatest difference.
The imperative partner policy for Structured Literacy is a Crown Entity for Parenting that has at its hub that parents are recognised and enhanced and the first and most important teachers of their children. A parent reading to their children every night in a skilled and passionate way will make more difference than the right method in school in nearly every situation. Having parents who are readers themselves, who speak many and positive words, and who are knowledgably and passionately aspirational for their children will make the world of difference. For many parents these are skills and habits that they have to have, and take, opportunities to learn themselves so they can pass them on.
Go to the private sector experts too. Dame Wendy Pye of Sunshine Books is renowned the world over for the quality of the readers her and her team produce and yet, often treated like a pariah by our Ministry of Education. Every school and every home should have her books for young readers.
Add to that; having the right teaching method in school will make very little difference to the 10,000 not enrolled anywhere or the, approximately, 50% of students not fully attending.
Over the last six years Labour, and the two Minister’s of Education have a very poor record. Whoever is in leadership at the end of October needs an expert and comprehensive plan to radically improve our education system. However, there will be no solver bullets at all unless you carry the families along with those changes. Banning smart phones and changing aspects of reading instruction are starters. What is the comprehensive plan that takes in the whole child and brings remarkable change to provide the education that children growing up in a small, wealthy and beautiful county deserve?
Maybe the best book I have ever read:
Alwyn Poole
Innovative Education Consultants
Cambridge Festival of Sport
www.innovativeeducation.co.nz
www.cambridgefestivalofsport.co.nz
www.alwynpoole.substack.com
www.linkedin.com/in/alwyn-poole-16b02151/
Radio NZ reports:
The costs of strengthening and redeveloping Wellington Town hall could nearly double as Wellington City Council announced a massive budget blow-out on the project.
The council said the $182 million project could cost an additional $70m-$147m to complete.
Mayor Tory Whanau said news of the blow-out was “extremely tough to hear, but not unexpected”.
“We are dealing with challenging economic conditions – but we are more than half-way through the project, which was started by a previous council. There’s no way we can turn back. We must see it through to completion.
“However, I join Wellingtonians at being frustrated and annoyed at the news of another cost increase.”
Oh what nonsense. The value was even marginal at $32 million and now at over $300 million it will be the most expensive white elephant in New Zealand.
We already have a perfectly good music venue in the Michael Fowler Centre. It is callous disregard for struggling families that the WCC proceeds with a second venue which will cost the average household close to $4,000.
Stuff reports:
A motorist who took a samurai sword to a dog-walker in an Auckland road rage incident has been sentenced to home detention.
A man was left with chunks of flesh and bone carved out of him after a brutal attack where a driver got out of his car and attacked him with a sword, leaving the pedestrian bleeding in a ditch.
The victim, who was out walking his dog, survived the attack thanks to his son, who found him and gave first aid by the Karaka roadside.
He almost killed someone in a brutal sword attack and he got home detention. Unbelievable.
But the seriousness of the injuries sustained by the victim have left the tradie with likely lifelong injuries and unable to work.
Much to the dismay of the victim’s family, Judge Mina Wharepouri on Tuesday sentenced Darryn Clarke to 10 months home detention, 100 hours community work and to pay $5,000 after pleading guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent to injure.
Barely a slap on the hand for a crime which has a maximum sentence of 10 years. The victim’s life has been effectively destroyed.
ACT released:
“Rawiri Waititi says that he isn’t a fan of democracy, calling it the tyranny of the majority, but also championing a system where the majority can banish your whole family. It goes to show for all his theatrics, Waititi doesn’t get democracy or human rights,” says ACT Leader David Seymour.
“When asked by Newshub what he would do if he could change Parliament, Waititi said “I’m not a fan of democracy, because democracy is a tyranny of the majority. I think Māori had a form of democracy where the collective made a decision…. If you didn’t uphold what the community wanted you were gone, not just you, your whole whanau was gone. You’re out.”
“This is a chilling statement from an elected Member of Parliament, who is again running in a democratic general election.
If Labour get re-elected, they will be dependent on the Māori Party and Greens to govern.
It is amazing to have a parliamentary party leader say they are not a fan of democracy. Even more amazing is that this is not the lead item on every news site. It would be if a leader of a centre-right party had said it.
Stuff reports:
Cabinet has signed off on an additional support package of more than $7 million for the troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts.
RAL went into voluntary administration last year, $45m in debt due to a bad ski season and the Covid-19 lockdowns.
Regional Development Minister Kieran McAnulty said Cabinet decided on Monday that $7.35m will be provided to RAL to allow the continued operation of its ski field operations until March 2024.
Earlier this year, the government promised up to $5m to the liquidators of Ruapehu Alpine Lifts to ensure the 2023 ski season could go ahead.
When will it stop?
Chris Bishop has released details of threats against National candidates and volunteers, including:
It is very depressing that such incidents are happening, and there seem to be no consequences for those responsible.
NZIER reports:
Regarding where the OCR should be in a year’s time, the Shadow Board’s core view ranged from 4.50 percent to 5.75 percent and centred on an OCR of 5.50 percent – a shift from 5.25 percent in the August NZIER Shadow Board. There was an increased view amongst members that another increase in the OCR may be required, given the stickiness of inflation and high inflation expectations.
So the NZIER Shadow Board consensus is that interest rates are no longer forecast to stabilise and drop, but will increase even further. Floating mortgage rates are already over 8% – will they hit 9%?