The Herald reports:

The government has officially cancelled Auckland’s light rail project, fulfilling a campaign 100-day plan promise to use the funds for different transportation projects.

Transport Minister Simeon Brown said the project would have cost taxpayers $15 billion, with advice showing the cost could increase to $29.2 billion.

“The previous government committed to building light rail to Mt Roskill within four years of being elected,” Brown said.

“After six years and over $228 million spent on the project, not a single metre of track has been delivered and congestion has only worsened in the city.

Arguably this was Labour’s biggest failure, even larger than Kiwibuild. It was Jacinda’s first promise – light rail would be up and going by the end of 2021. Instead they spent $228 million on consultants, which is a staggering amount. If you assume $2,000 a day consultancy rate then they paid for 114,000 days of consultants.

There was a real cost to all this. The western busway was done for $100 million. All that money wasted for nothing.

Future Crunch reports on 66 good news stories that you probably never heard of, as legacy media focuses on doom and gloom. They include:

• A record number of countries eliminated diseases this year
• US reported cancer death rates have fallen by a third in the last three decades
• Two malaria vaccines are about to be released
• Exclusive breastfeeding has increased from 38% to 48% globally in the last decade
• Age-standardised drowning mortality rates falling by 57.4% in the last three decades.
• World’s solar capacity has doubled in the last 18 months, and that solar is now the fastest-growing energy technology in history
• Just two years ago, one in 25 cars sold globally was an electric vehicle. This year it will be one in five, and by 2025, one in two
• Discovery of huge new deposits of lithium in the United States and phosphate in Norway, a plunge in lithium and cobalt prices as new mines and processing plants solved shortages sooner than expected
• India, which has lifted hundreds of millions of people out poverty in the last two decades, and Indonesia, which has reduced its share of people living on less than $3.20 a day from 61% in 2002 to 16% in 2022
• Over the past three decades, global suicide rates have fallen by more than a third
• UNICEF reported that there are 50 million more girls in school today than there were in 2015
• Between 2000 and 2022, 2.1 billion people have gained access to safe drinking water
• India, home to the highest number of teenage brides, reported that the proportion of all girls married before the age of 18 has fallen from 46% to 23% in the last 15 years
• The UN High Seas Treaty is the first international agreement on ocean protection since 1982, providing for the common governance of half the Earth’s surface, and paving the way for conservation on the high seas, with the aim of protecting at least 30% of the planet by 2030. Only about 1% of the high seas is currently protected.
• Brazil’s deforestation rate fell by over 50%, the largest single year decline since records began
• Japanese scientists discovered a plastic-eating bacteria that could help solve global waste

What we can do with science is amazing,

Judith Collins and Winston Peters announced:

Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins KC today expressed New Zealand support for strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen threatening commercial shipping in the Red Sea.

“Today’s strikes support international security and trade, on which New Zealanders rely,” Foreign Minister Winston Peters said. 

“Nearly 15 per cent of global trade flows through the Red Sea and Suez Canal. Supply chain disruptions mean higher costs for New Zealand consumers and delays getting goods to and from markets in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.

“We are a trading nation that relies on international maritime law and the free flow of goods, and Houthi actions strike at the heart of New Zealand’s national security.”  

The Ministers said today’s military strikes followed clear warnings. 

“The Houthi attacks are illegal, unacceptable and profoundly destabilising. We and our partners have made repeated calls for them to stop,” Mr Peters said.

“These warnings have not been heeded. The Houthis have only stepped up their attacks, as we saw on 10 January with the launch of further drones and missiles at commercial shipping vessels. Today’s response is the inevitable consequence of the Houthis’ disregard for international law, peace and stability.”

Ms Collins said the United Nations Security Council had also been clear on this issue, demanding that the Houthis immediately cease their attacks.

“This is a good example of the international community uniting to address a serious threat to international security,” she said. 

So nice to have a Government that is unequivocal on issues like this.

We are now getting a clearer timeline of the shoplifting allegations against Green MP Golriz Ghahraman, and the involvement of the Green Party in (not) investigating serious criminal allegations.

The allegations, if they lead to charges, carry a maximum penalty of seven years jail. A conviction would result in automatic expulsion from Parliament. A conviction could also get Ghahraman disbarred as a lawyer. So these are not trivial issues.

The timeline, known so far is:

• Sat 23 Dec. Ghahraman is allegedly observed (and possibly on video) putting $15,000 of items into her bag. She was stopped by staff but refused to open her bag (even though they had the legal right to search it, as the suspected stolen items were over $1,000) and left. Hours later the clothing was reported to have been anonymously returned to the store. Scotties allegedly e-mailed video of the incident to both the Greens and Police.
• Wed 27 Dec. Green co-leaders claim they were only notified that day of the shoplifting allegation. They claim the situation was “not clear” and that as Ghahraman was on an overseas holiday, they decided to do nothing until she returned. It seems incredible that you would be notified that your Justice Spokesperson has been accused of shoplifting, and decide that her holiday takes precedence over determining what happened.
• Fri 5 Jan. Green co-leaders notified that there is video evidence of a second shoplifting incident in late November or early December. They imply at this point they asked Ghahraman to stand down, but didn’t make this public as the alleged victim didn’t want publicity. They seem to think allegations of criminal behaviour against their justice spokesperson is a private matter. Also unanswered is why they didn’t announce the stand down, without naming the alleged victim?
• Wed 10 Jan. Story hits media after ZB Plus publishes story. Only at this stage do Greens say anything publicly.
• Thu 11 Jan. Police (finally) start to investigate complaint.
• Fri 12 Jan. Co-leaders confirm they have known for at least 16 days of the alleged shoplifting by their Justice Spokesperson. Noticeably there has still been no denial of the alleged facts by Ghahraman or the Greens.

There is little doubt that Trump will win the GOP Iowa caucuses. He has been polling at 52% with Haley and DeSantis both on 17%.

What will be of interest is who comes second, and also who does better or worse than expectations.

If Trump gets over 50%, he looks unbeatable. Under 50%, and slightly vulnerable.

Haley is 0.4% behind DeSantis. He has invested heavily on his group game in Iowa, but she has momentum. Either could come second. What they need is to do not just be second, but get at least 20% so they look like they could possibly consolidate the anti-Trump vote to become competitive.

The voting takes place on 15 January, which will be 16 January in NZ.

The NZ Herald reports:

Prominent Green Party MP and human rights lawyer Golriz Ghahraman has stood aside from her portfolios after she was accused of shoplifting at an Auckland store, Newstalk ZB Plus understands.

The Green Party has confirmed it is aware of the allegations Ghahraman faces and that she “will stand aside from all portfolio responsibilities until the matter is resolved”.

According to sources, Ghahraman is understood to have been accused of shoplifting during the festive season from exclusive boutique clothing store Scottie’s Boutique in the electorate of fellow Green MP Chlöe Swarbrick.

The store declined to provide specific details when contacted by ZB Plus but confirmed the alleged incident was being handled by police.

An allegation is not guilt, but if the allegations are correct, this would be career ending.

I hated the end of the school holidays – even when I was a teacher/Principal. I loved it when I actually got back in there but the first day of school … Powderfinger sung it so well:

It’s coming round again
Slowly creeping hand
Of time and its command
Soon enough it comes
And settles in its place
Its shadow in my face
Puts pressure in my day
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQUE_kuyI04&ab_channel=PowderfingerVEVO)

At primary school I pretty much went all of the time – apart from when I could convince my mother that the chunder that looked a lot like fresh yogurt was real and/or that I had not stuck my fingers down my throat. At high school I went for the sport but wagged if there was something better to do – e.g. watching everyday of the 1984 Olympics, playing golf with my uncle. My high school was of very poor quality and without friends and sport I see very few other reasons I would have attended … oh … apart from those things called “qualifications” – which have certainly been helpful and I am thankful for – they have helped me do things like earn and income, buy a home, etc.

For a range of reasons we now have a HUGE attendance problem in NZ – both in reference to our own history and by international standards.

Percentage of NZ Learners Fully Attending

(NB: In Term 3 of 2023 it was 45.9%)

NZ Full Attendance vs other nations.

For most schools Term 1, 2024, starts in 3 weeks.

As a Kiwiblog reader:

• What would you do to turn the situation around?
• When do you think the big new strategy will be released?

Even if you have heard it before – this is possibly the best commentary on education ever:

PS – Asking for real – did John Clarke turn down a knighthood as it is very hard to reconcile Mallard having one and John Clarke not?

Alwyn Poole
Innovative Education Consultants
www.innovativeeducation.co.nz
www.alwynpoole.substack.com
www.linkedin.com/in/alwyn-poole-16b02151/

Stuff reports:

Wellington mayor Tory Whanau is facing criticism for a social media post the NZ Jewish Council says uses code for the “annihilation of Israel”, but has the backing of another Jewish group.

“Exist, resist, return”, Whanau’s Instragram post on Monday said above a picture of what appears to be a Hamas fighter with a gun slung over their back. The words “free Palestine” are below.

Whanau has long been a supporter of the Palestinian cause. However, her post has come in the wake of a deadly Hamas attack on Israel – and Israel’s widely-criticised counter-attack, which has led to a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

NZ Jewish Council president Juliet Moses said it was “shocking” the capital city’s mayor would post the message at a time when New Zealand Jewish schools and day cares were having to increase security due to a rise in anti-Semitic threats and rhetoric.

1,100 Jews were slaughtered, raped and executed by Hamas attackers. Their bodes were defiled. And Wellington’s Mayor thinks it appropriate to post something glorifying armed “resistance”.

Stuff reports:

One of New Zealand’s longest serving judges has died, just two year after leaving the bench.

Judge Tony Adeane, 72, passed away in Napier on Saturday after a period of illness.

Adeane became a District Court judge in 1993 and presided over more than 630 jury trials and countless other hearings, mostly in Hawke’s Bay, before reaching the compulsory retirement age of 70 in 2020. 

He was known locally for his firm but fair manner. He had a dry-wit that could bring a full courtroom to laughter, and a gravitas that could bring it to reverential silence.

A busy list day would see Adeane deal with more than 140 people, many of whom he’d come to know through a decade or more of court appearances. Respect was often, but not always, mutual, and he had little patience if he thought he was being given the runaround by defendants, lawyers, police, or anyone else.

A very good judge, and not one to be trifled with. He jailed one person for 28 days for calling him the c word.

A guest post by Owen Jennings:

Climate change is big business in New Zealand.  Government and local authorities now have a small army of people employed in the climate change industry paid by our taxes and rates.  An even bigger army work as consultants where the pay is better.  Its an industry with massive ‘oil tanker’ impetus.

Most of their work is predicated on the claim that things are getting worse.  Higher temperatures are driving the climate into chaos.  Weather events have already become more extreme and will get a heap worse.

But is this assumption true?  Do the facts support the chaos, ‘everything-is-getting-worse’ claim?

Is New Zealand experiencing deteriorating weather as a result of rising temperatures?  There are countless MSM articles, scientific papers, regular statements by people who ought to know supporting the proposition and the country is investing millions in mitigation and defensive projects.

Unsurprisingly, not everyone buys into the popular line.  A helpful contact of mine found a very thorough study that mysteriously received no coverage here but disputes the claim of everything-has-already-got-worse angle.  You can read it at https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17477891.2021.1905595

It is an intensive study of insurance losses from 1968 to 2019, normalised to ensure we are looking at data that is adjusted for the passage of time.  ‘Normalisation is a standard device employed in such studies.  Here is their conclusion……..

“A key result emerging from our study is that normalised seasonal losses due to extreme weather show no statistically significant trend over time. In other words, once we control the loss data for factors that we know to have changed, we see no residual trend that needs explaining by anthropogenic climate change, or any other cause for that matter”.

This conclusion accords with world-wide work done by Dr Roger Pielke.  He points out that a study carried out by Munich Re, a large re-insurance company based in Germany and published by The Lancet showed as the world has become wealthier, the fraction of that wealth that is destroyed by extreme weather has gone down. This trend holds for rich and poor nations, and remarkably across all types of weather phenomena. It also helps us to understand why the focus on extreme weather among climate advocates is badly misguided.

Pielke keeps detailed information on all of the main weather events – cyclones, hurricanes, floods, droughts, wild fires, etc and he shows no negative trends.  In fact, many show a positive trend. In a recent published paper he concluded, “since 1990 both overall and weather/climate losses have decreased as proportion of global GDP”.

The findings of the IPCC and the World Met Office are in general agreement with no obvious changes in weather patterns except for relatively minor changes in rainfall and drought conditions in limited areas.  That does not prevent them from continuing, year after year running predictions of calamitous changes about to descend upon us.

The insurance industry findings are compelling.  Any chance they could justify bolstering premiums would be taken by both hands.  They simply cannot find any trends on which to hang their collective hats.

So, why are we bombarded daily with stories of on-going calamity?  Its easy.  Follow the money.  Too many jobs, too many research grants, too many scary, sensational stories that sell advertising are dependent on keeping the catastrophic theme alive and well.

Are we a gullible lot or what?

Stuff reports:

A statement Wednesday signed by the United States, Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore and the United Kingdom gave the Houthis what a senior Biden administration official described as a final warning.

“Let our message now be clear: we call for the immediate end of these illegal attacks and release of unlawfully detained vessels and crews,” the countries said in the statement.

“The Houthis will bear the responsibility of the consequences should they continue to threaten lives, the global economy, and free flow of commerce in the region’s critical waterways.”

The US has intercepted 61 missiles. Without their actions, that waterway would be unusable.

Radio NZ further report:

Minister of Defence Judith Collins says it was important to join in condemning attacks on commercial shipping vessels in the Red Sea because New Zealand is so dependent on supply lines.

This week, New Zealand and 11 other countries issued a final warningto the Iran-backed Houthis, who have carried out more than 20 attacks on boats in the key trade route, that they would face consequences if they did not cease hostilities.

Yemen’s Houthis have been targeting vessels in the Red Sea since November to show their support for Hamas amid the war with Israel.

Collins would not be drawn on what those consequences could be, but she said New Zealand must stand with its allies who believed in free access to these shipping lanes.

We are more dependent than almost any other country on shipping supply lines. Nice to see the Government backing the US in this area.

Three authors write on Newsroom:

Considering international events such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the violence in Gaza, it could be argued that now is not the moment to be proposing disarmament and the abolition of the military. Isn’t a strong and professional military necessary for guaranteeing protection and national security? Don’t we require military force to deal with the threats posed by hostile states or groups, terrorism, weapons proliferation, great power rivalry, organised crime, violent extremism, climate crisis and all the other sources of instability today? Shouldn’t we be spending more on the military at this time, not less?

This is certainly the common-sense view. However, as we argue in our new book, Abolishing the Military, an honest and scrupulous analysis of the evidence and arguments shows that the widely held idea that we require a military to ensure national defence and security is questionable, and a comforting but misleading story from a bygone era.

The common-sense view could also be called the not crazy view. Having liberal democratic countries unilaterally disarm benefits authoritarian expansionist regimes.

In the first place, it has to be acknowledged that the use of military force has an abysmal record as a tool of foreign policy. There are few if any cases from history where the employment of military power resulted in peace, security, stability, democracy or improved human rights. In most cases, it leads to further violence and instability, and mass suffering for civilians. Russia, Ukraine, Israel and Hamas are all discovering this today, while the United States found it out in Afghanistan a couple of years ago.

If Ukraine did not have military power, it would no longer exist as a country. Is Israel did not have military power, there would be no Jews alive in the Middle East. If the Uk didn’t have military power, the Falklands would have been conquered by force. One could also talk about Grenada, protecting the Kurds, defeating ISIS, keeping South Korea free, keeping Taiwan free etc etc.

A direct alternative to the military is civilian-based defence (CBD), sometimes called social defence. Organised to respond to both foreign invasions or internal usurpations, it involves citizen-based protest and persuasion, non-cooperation, direct intervention and other forms of nonviolent defiance by the population and social institutions.

If a hostile foreign power invaded Aotearoa, for example, roads, airport runways and ports could be blocked by vehicles and ships. People could change road signs to confuse the invaders, something that Czechoslovakians did following the Prague Spring in 1968 to resist the Soviet invasion.

LOL. Their alternative to having a defence force is to have confusing road signs. Maybe they should all be in Te Reo, in case we get invaded by a country that doesn’t;t know how to use Google Maps or Google Translate!

Local power generators and community food gardens could make the population less vulnerable to coercive control.

I want some of those mushrooms, the authors are on.

There are also enough examples of such thinking in other countries – Iceland, Costa Rica, Lithuania and others – to know that it is more than wishful thinking.

Lithuania spends 2.8% of its GDP on defence – almost double NZ. They have conscription, and are members of NATO. They have 37,000 active soldiers compared to under 9,000 for NZ, despite having half our population. So I’m all for them as a model to follow!

Stuff reports:

The construction of a toilet block in south Auckland set the council back more than $3.7 million.

The development of toilets and changing rooms at Ōpaheke reserve in south Auckland was the most expensive, at $3.7 million for the 380sqm block.

So ratepayers forked over around $10,000 per square metre for a toilet block and changing rooms. Now standard builds for habitation are around $3,500 per sq metre. At $7,000 per square metre you get your architecturally designed dream home. Yet this toilet block and changing rooms comes in well above that!