Janet Albrechtsen in The Australian writes:

Drumgold should have remembered the words of the ACT Prosecution Policy, which Sofronoff quoted in his report, “that the purpose of a criminal prosecution is not to obtain a conviction; it is to lay before a court what the prosecution considers to be credible evidence relevant to what is alleged to be a crime”. …

But what of accused people who do not have the good fortune to have the talented and honourable Steve Whybrow SC and all Bruce Lehrmann’s team of skilled and dedicated lawyers in their corner? Remember that when Lehrmann initially sought help from ACT Legal Aid, he says he was told by a lawyer there that Legal Aid would not challenge a complainant’s account of the facts as a pack of lies – only that they were mistaken. One can only wonder if there are people sitting in ACT jails because Legal Aid would not defend them properly or because prosecutors withheld critical evidence. …

Finally, we must acknowledge this is not solely an ACT issue. It is quite possible that all across the country zealous prosecutors are hitting targets for conviction rates by withholding evidence or playing other cute games with defence teams. Without an equivalent of a national Sofronoff inquiry, we can only point to anecdotal evidence of such abuses, but there is certainly plenty of that. Since I began reporting on this case, and on the Sofronoff inquiry, I have been deluged by barristers, solicitors, family and friends of alleged perpetrators of sexual offences with increasing numbers of anecdotal cases of apparent unfairness. Some I have investigated appear to have merit – these are for future articles. Some complaints seem baseless. There are enough of the former, however, to lead me to the conclusion that the pendulum of Australian justice may well have swung too far against alleged perpetrators.

While the columnist is Australian, and this occurred in Australia, it is worth reflecting how sure are we in New Zealand that prosecutors are not withholding evidence etc in an attempt to get a conviction?

Certainly an an anecdotal level, there are cases which go to trial, where jurors have said afterwards there was never any possibility of a conviction.

Stuff reports:

National leader Christopher Luxon has revealed the party’s policy to ban cellphones at schools, to help children focus on their lessons. 

“Many schools here and overseas have experienced positive outcomes, including improved achievement, after banning the use of cellphones,” he said.

Luxon teased the policy on Tuesday, when he was at St Joseph’s School Fairfield in Hamilton, but outlined it on Wednesday morning.

Phones would only be permitted for educational purposes or for health reasons, but schools could decide how to enforce the ban. …

It is also a timely announcement. Last month, the UN’s education, science and culture agency, recommended smartphones be banned from schools.

In a report, it linked excessive mobile phone use to worsening educational performance and classroom disruptions, and found high levels of screen time had a negative effect on children’s emotional stability.

Sounds like a good step towards trunk to improve outcomes for kids at school.

I am sometimes accused of only pointing out the problems with education in NZ including schools and teachers.

I have had the very great privilege of working with incredible educators as well as being able to sit at the feet of coaches such as Lydiard, Jack Ralston, John Hart and Sir Graham Henry and being able to pick the brains of Joe Schmidt. Effective teaching and sports coaching have a great many things in common.

There are some features that make a teacher/coach outstanding. Some are difficult to define but none-the-less important.

1. Planning and subject expertise.

Great teachers are well qualified. They know their subject area and if there is a weakness – e.g. a primary teacher with not enough Maths background – they fix that.

They plan from a full course overview and are thorough. They know what they are doing, when they are doing it, why and what success looks like.

2. Expert Classroom Management and Teaching

Great teachers are experts with the personal interactions in their class. Some of the very best teachers I have come across may not be great with adults and formality (I, for one, am not) – but put them in front of a bunch of young people and there is genuine synergy.

A great teacher can laugh at themselves and laugh with kids when they are funny.

They will have clear and defined boundaries but they will be well reasoned and for the learning good of a child.

As tough as it sounds – every child will be favoured as if they are the teacher’s own.

3. They have unlimited energy and never complain about their job or young people.

One of the stupidest things I have had occasion to hear is when you are in a school in the holidays and someone says; “Beautiful place when there are no kids.” Or, sitting in a staffroom, you hear a teacher venting prolifically and negatively about students and/or their families.

If you do not love working with young people – and all that it involves – do something else. If it is just an income – then earn it another way.

Good teachers NEVER complain about their career. They see obstacles and work to overcome them but it is always with the good of the students in mind. Nothing should happen in a school that is not for the good of the students.

Good teachers also rarely count the hours or delineate between their private and professional time. You are a teacher 24/7 when needed. I have had the tragic experiences of three young people die while being a part of schools I was in. There have also been tragedies when family members have died or someone’s world gets turned upside down for other reasons. Your time and care needs to be freely available.

4. Great Teachers have qualities that appear intangible – but can be – and have been – developed.

A great teacher makes you feel like you matter and that your efforts and achievements matter. You don’t want to let them down, but you also know that when you get things wrong they will give you another chance and back you up to achieve next time. Great teachers allow Mulligans.

Great teachers look for role models. They read widely about best practice. They deliberately care and communicate. They know that they are only as good as their last class and want to be better tomorrow.

Great teachers are deliberate about the details and provide feedback that always helps a child to understand what the next best step is.

I probably cannot sum it up better than this short interaction with a teacher involved in Mt Hobson Academy Connected (which I helped establish but have no vested interest in now). Her name is Jennifer Cummins. She teaches Science and is superb.

Jennifer: “Had a 12 hr day, with a 4 hr parent teacher interviews. Amazing and so grateful to be in partnership with parents and their children.”

AP: “That is because you are one of the very best and it is such a privilege for those children and their families to work with you.”

Jennifer: “Thank you Alwyn, I could almost believe it, but can only aspire to be the best.”

Maybe a good way here would be to name some of those great people that have influenced you. I certainly consider Peter Reid of Wanganui Boys College in the 1980s as someone who transformed my life and for whom I will be for ever grateful.

Alwyn Poole ([email protected])
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/

The Herald reports:

ANZ economists have warned that inflation is not yet beaten and restated their case for one more Official Cash Rate (OCR) rise in their latest quarterly outlook.

They also warn that New Zealand is still on track for a more serious recession in early 2024 as monetary policy starts to do its job and slow the economy.

In a report, headlined Waiting on the last domino, ANZ chief economist Sharon Zollner argues the Reserve Bank (RBNZ) will need to lift the OCR to 5.75 per cent at its November review.

That’s depressing. ANZ is forecasting we will have a second deeper recession in 2024, and interest rates will be increased after the election.

The Herald reports:

An Act Party MP has admitted being shot when he was a 17-year-old after a drug deal involving his friend but denies being involved.

Simon Court said he suffered serious injuries and the shooter was arrested and charged.

He told Newstalk ZB he was on a camping trip “up north” and one of the guys he was with wanted to buy some “weed.”

The were told to go to a property and when they arrived his friend talked about buying some marijuana, Court said.

“I felt very uncomfortable with those people there and, ah I left.

“At some point later in the evening some people turned up at our campsite and put a shotgun in my face. My friend was with me at the time, he’d come back [from doing the drug deal].

“They demanded the key to our car and the weed. I didn’t know anything about it, I didn’t know where the keys were or where the weed was, it wasn’t my weed.”

Court said they had a “bit of a discussion with the people and they shot me.”

“They couldn’t find the keys or anything they were looking for and they left me seriously injured,” Court said.

As a 17-year-old he said he was like a lot of teenagers and didn’t always make good decisions.

What a huge yawn. So when Court was 17, his friend purchased some cannabis. Court, who did nothing wrong, was shot. He was the victim.

Lloyd Burr writes:

They look good on paper: Nine new solar farms and three new wind farms that would produce a combined peak output of 1566 megawatts – more than three-and-a-half Clyde Dams. 

The solar farms would comprise 1.9 million panels and would create 2300 jobs in their construction. 

The wind farms would see 840 construction jobs to install 82 turbines which would cut 150 million kg of carbon emissions. 

But there’s a problem: they might not actually go ahead. 

They haven’t been consented. They haven’t been approved. Some of them we already knew about.

The Government is announcing a massive ‘if’. Their press releases used phrases like “if approved”, “could generate” and “could create”. 

There’s every chance the expert consenting panels may decline them, in which case the Government has just announced a whole lot of nothing. 

Ironically the biggest opponents of renewable energy projects tend to be local environmental activists and NIMBYs.

Stuff reports:

Damien O’Connor, a senior minister at the centre of the climate change issue, started the week with a blunt assessment of the tax-climate issue. He told the red meat sector: “We probably don’t have enough tax in this country.”

In the 2017 Budget, tax was forecast to be $74.6 billion or 27.7% of GDP.

In the 2023 Budget, tax was forecast to be $123.2 billion or 29.7% of GDP.

Under Labour, the tax take has gone up by around $50 billion. The problem is that the Government has got terrible results for what they spend.

Ranapera Taumata murdered his girlfriend. The minimum sentence is life with a non-parole period of 10 years.

Taumata has previous convictions for family violence (x5), as well as robbery, aggravated robbery, and assault with a weapon.

He pleaded not guilty, and his victim had more than 50 cuts, bruises, abrasions and fractures on her 55kg body.

Yet he still only got a 10 year six month non parole period.

Gareth Kiernan of Infometrics writes:

Has the Reserve Bank done enough in its battle to bring inflation back under control? Data over the last month has been inconclusive about whether demand is softening sufficiently to limit the ability to raise prices at pace. …

We have long been an advocate of targeting non-tradable, or domestically based, inflation, given it is the subset of prices that the Reserve Bank can actually influence.

Unlike headline inflation, non-tradable inflation has barely retreated from its peak, and at 6.6%pa, it remained uncomfortably strong in the June quarter.

So what if inflation persists?

The real risk lies in the possibility of a November 2023 interest rate rise being followed up with another two or three increases in the first half of 2024.

That would push floating mortgage rates to over 9%, maybe even approaching 10%.

The Herald reports:

The Government’s pick for an alternative Waitematā Harbour crossing will include two three-lane tunnels for vehicles and a 21km light rail tunnel between Albany and the CBD – a plan that will take decades to finish and cost tens of billions of dollars.

Well Kiwibuild won’t be finished until the year 2308, so mere decades to finish would be comparatively speedy.

Look the actual details announced are laudable and sane (a rarity with their transport announcements). They have shown no ability to actually deliver, but we should welcome the plan as something everyone bar the Greens should support. In essence it is:

• Ten lanes of traffic for cars and trucks – six in tunnels and four by bridges
• Two lanes on bridge for buses
• Two lanes of bridge for cyclists and pedestrians
• Two lanes in tunnel for light rail

If only they could show the same sanity in Wellington.

Many readers will have noticed Kiwiblog was quite slow over the weekend.

There were some changes to the database parameters that caused some complications. Because Kiwiblog has 20 years of archives, any change can slow things down while it sorts itself out.

Hopefully everything is working well for people now.

HDPA writes:

There’s a thing you learn in the sleep-deprived craze after having a baby: do not for the love of God ever give parents unsolicited advice on how to parent. …

There are a lot of new parents in Labour. Tāmati Coffey had his second six months ago. So it’s surprising none of them passed on the golden rule and stopped Labour making a prat of itself over paid parental leave.

It has gone down very badly with even Labour luvvies that the party voted against Nicola Willis’ parental leave bill.

On Wednesday, every party bar Labour supported her bill to allow parents to take paid parental leave at the same time. That’s not possible at the moment. The primary parent gets 26 weeks. They can share some of that with the other parent if they want. But they can only share it once. And they can’t both take it at the same time. It has to be one parent, then the other parent.

For most parents that works fine. But not for all parents. Some babies come very early. Some are twins or triplets. Some mums get bad postnatal depression. In all of those cases, it could be very helpful to the mum if the other parent is at home helping her for the first three months.

But Labour decided it knows best and voted it down.

Stuff reports:

The Government is refusing to make public a suite of taxpayer-funded privileges for the country’s judges.

The judiciary has one of the most generous pensions in the public service, with their salaries padded by nearly 40%.

But they’re also entitled to things like chauffeurs, housing allowances, and even subsidised school uniforms.

The benefits are all laid out in what’s colloquially known as ‘the red book’ of judicial entitlements. The Sunday Star-Times asked for a copy – but the request was denied, with no explanation.

Sources have told the Star-Times that the secret perks include generous sabbaticals, and allowances for school uniforms if judges are required to move.

Many Judges take a massive pay cut when they go from being a KC to being a judge. I have no problems with perks, and as judges do get posted around the country, an allowance for new school uniforms for kids could well be justified.

But the public fund the perks, so the public should be able to know what they are. Secrecy is a bad idea.

Shane Reti released:

An independent report into the Māori Health Authority clearly shows the failures of more bureaucracy, National’s Health spokesperson Dr Shane Reti says. …

“Since the creation of the Māori Health Authority over a year ago, the report found no overarching plan for activities, timeframes, resources, accountability or performance.

So no plan for activities, timeframes, resources, accountabilities or performance. Doesn’t leave much does it!

The full report is here. It is damning.

The Herald reports:

Voters won’t be getting any updated information about health system waiting lists before the election – leaving Minister of Health Ayesha Verrall “disappointed”.

We used to get data reliably and regularly. Labour’s health reforms have resulted in a centralisation of data, which means it now spends months in a black hole in Wellington rather than be released on time.

Tova O’Brien writes:

Labour telling parents breast is best – and what’s best in general for their newborns – is a risky move to cover up what is essentially a political play. 

It breathes new life into the old ‘nanny state’ epithet Labour’s fought hard to shake and this time it’s more literal – and sensitive – than light bulbs and shower heads ever were. 

Despite parliament-wide support, Labour voted against National’s proposed changes to paid parental leave this week. It would have given parents and carers the flexibility to split the paid 26 weeks, allowing them to take leave at the same time or overlap. As it stands, they can’t take the leave together.

Yep, Labour voted to not let parents work out how to manage their own paid parental leave. Their view is parents can’t be trusted to work out what is best for them.

Former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern came back to work six weeks after having her daughter Neve. It would have been unconscionable for her cabinet colleagues – Hipkins and Sepuloni – to tell her she needed to stay at home longer to breastfeed.

Yet that is the message they are sending every other parent in NZ.

Stuff has an article on all the new taxes various parties want. They include:

• Asset Tax – Greens and Maori Party
• Undeveloped land tax – Maori Party
• Empty house tax – Maori Party
• Land tax – TOP
• Trust tax – Greens

A summary could be that anything that doesn’t move, they want to tax!

Stuff reports:

The Government plans to rebuild the country’s struggling Defence Force into a combat-capable military, better equipped to project itself into the Pacific and “act earlier to prevent threats”.

Defence Minister Andrew Little released the first in a series of defence policy documents on Friday morning, alongside the first national security strategy, outlining at a high-level how the Government will respond to deteriorating security within New Zealand, in the Pacific, and further abroad.

The defence policy documents made the case for the Defence Force – which has suffered extraordinary attrition and struggled to maintain ageing assets in recent years – needing to prioritise its combat readiness and ability to deter threats, though its response to humanitarian crises and disasters would continue to be “key”.

“Where possible, defence will seek to act to constrain hostile actions, will be prepared to employ military force, and engage in combat if required,” the strategy document read.

This is a welcome and good direction. The focus on combat as well as disaster relief and peace keeping is necessary.

He told the audience of MPs, officials diplomats and academics that “we do not live in a benign strategic environment”, and New Zealand was not protected by its remoteness.

He would have chosen that quote carefully. It is a direct repudiation of the view expressed by Helen Clark when she abolished the air force combat wing that we live in a benign strategic environment.

To be fair to Clark, the world has changed significantly since then.

I have many disagreements with the Government on policy, but in both foreign affairs and defence they have been doing a repositioning I heartily support.