RNZ reported:

A group of care and support workers have successfully sued the government in the High Court over the vaccine mandate.

They sought a judicial review after losing thousands of dollars in payments.

The workers, who mostly look after family members they live with, had their payments cut because they were not vaccinated against Covid-19.

Justice Van Bohemen’s judgment said the decision by then Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins to extend the mandate to the family carers was invalid.

The Crown now agrees there was an error in decision making.

The group’s lawyer, Matthew Hague, said as a result of the mandate, care and support workers could not receive financial support to care for family members because of the alleged risk posed by the carer being near the person being cared for.

“However, in this case carers were near their family member anyway, whether or not financial support is provided.”

Some vaccine mandates were justified (ie one for hospital staff working in ICU) and some were not. The mandate for family carers seems especially bad in that it basically punished people for their decisions, while not affecting the risk of Covid-19 transmission. It didn’t stop people caring for vulnerable members of their family – it just meant they were not paid.

The Government should apologise.

Bryce Wilkinson has published a report for the NZ Initiative detailing all the problems at the Reserve Bank. It is a somewhat depressing read as the Reserve Bank used to be one of the most respected central agencies, and it has a vitally important role.

Bryce’s report covers many different issues. I’ll try to summarise the major ones here:

• Ignored warnings in 2021 about looming high inflation
• Outcomes have been inflation 2.5 times higher than the agreed range, volatile house prices and a $9 billion loss on their asset purchase programme
• RBNZ forecasts of inflation were constantly wrong. For example in May 21 they were forecasting 1.5% inflation for June 22, which was 7.3%, and their current GDP forecast was for +0.7% and the actual was -0.6% which is a huge miss.
• A strong personal agenda by the Governor on climate change, diversity and ethnicity
• A huge turnover in leadership roles at the RBNZ
• Only two of the nine governors (average salary $604,000) at the Reserve Bank have an academic qualification in economics
• Only 32 staff at RBNZ are economics staff, less than in 2013, and despite a near doubling of overall staff
• HR staff have gone from 5 to 24 and comms staff from 6 to 24.
• The Governor’s personal office has gone from six to 32 staff
• Overall staff numbers since 2017 at RBNZ have increased 80% while in Australia only up 4%
• Only the Chair of the RBNZ Board has any economic expertise
• At least seven former senior staff (including two Governors) have publicly criticised how the Reserve Bank is operating. Up until five years ago such criticism from former staff was almost unheard of

I remind readers that the Minister recently reappointed the Governor over the objections of the Opposition. So the person to blame is not the Governor, but the Minister.

Stuff reports:

The economy shrank 0.6% in the final three months of last year, Stats NZ has announced.

It also revised down its estimate of growth in the previous September quarter to 1.7%, from its original estimate of 2% growth.

That is a big drop. In nominal terms it means the economy shrunk by $2.5 billion.

Finance Minister Grant Robertson said the drop for the quarter was “a little larger than what was expected”, but added that it came off the back of two very strong quarters.

“When you look at the annual numbers, we are over 2% and that’s better than most of the countries we compare ourselves to, but clearly there has been a slowing in the New Zealand economy,” he said on Thursday afternoon.

Australia’s GDP grew 0.5% this quarter and 2.7% annually.

The Reserve Bank predicted at the time it released its latest monetary policy statement last month that GDP had grown 0.7% in the December quarter 

Wow. They predicted 0.7% growth and we actually had a 0.6% shrinking. That is a huge forecast fail.

Stuff reports:

Attorney General David Parker stepped in to reprimand former police minister Stuart Nash, years ago, after he made public comments about an ongoing police investigation.

In 2020, Nash went on Newstalk ZB and commented about the investigation into the murder of police constable Matthew Hunt.

Nash was the police minister at the time, but he lost that role in November 2020 – after he was warned about his commentary. He lost his job as police minister again on Wednesday, for making more comments about a trial on air.

Asked on Wednesday if he knew of any similar incidents from Nash, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said he received “assurances” from Nash it was a one-off.

Far from a one off.

The latest revelation comes amid growing pressure from the Opposition for Nash to lose all of his other ministerial portfolios: economic development, fisheries and forestry. Both Nash and Hipkins say he will remain a minister, just not of police.

Both ACT and National called for Nash to be sacked as a minister, saying he’d broken rules everyone in Cabinet should be following.

The rules apply to all portfolios.

The Solicitor General, Una Jagose​, wrote to Parker, saying Crown Law had considered prosecuting Nash for contempt of court. But after Parker “reprimanded” Nash for his comments, the Solicitor-General opted not to pursue legal action against the then police minister.

The fact the SG considered prosecution shows how seriously it was taken.

ACT leader David Seymour said Nash appeared “unrepentant for his breach” from 2020, as he made a similar error this week.

“The prime minister cannot have confidence in him after this. He needs to go from all of his portfolios,” Seymour said.

National Party acting leader Nicola Willis pushed Hipkins to sack Nash from Cabinet.

“This revelation proves that yesterday’s outburst was not a one-off. Mr Nash has form: he has shown a pattern of bad judgement and a dismissive attitude to Cabinet rules,” she said.

Again Maurice Williamson was sacked for far less.

Stuff reports:

The boss of the country’s mega polytech has told all staff – including academics – they are “public servants” and must remain politically neutral ahead of this year’s general election.

The apparent muzzling order from Te Pūkenga chief executive Peter Winder has prompted a swift backlash, as academic freedom has protection under law.

In a statement sent to thousands of staff, Winder said: “As a Crown entity, Te Pūkenga and all of our people are public servants.

“That means we have obligations of confidentiality, neutrality and separating our personal views from professional roles.”

This is clearly wrong. Academics are not public servants. They have academic freedom to criticise Governments, parties and policies. This is in the law.

What is concerning is that the person in charge of the entire polytechnic sector doesn’t seem to know or understand this.

Stuff reports:

Two primary-aged boys ransacked a Christchurch property, causing damage and killing the homeowners’ pet fish. The violent act was preventable, reports SINEAD GILL.

The mother of two young high-needs boys who ransacked a Christchurch property and killed the homeowners’ fish says she has since received threats online and may now lose custody of her children.

The woman, who previously had the community’s sympathy, said she was “devastated” to learn of what her sons did.

The boys decapitated the fish. Cruelty to animals is a warning sign of a lack of empathy that can extend to sociopathy. The status quo is very dangerous for the young boys, and in time the wider community. There needs to be an intervention.

Having survived state care herself, she said she was in “a constant state of fear” of her children being taken away by OT, and anyone who experienced state care would understand.

“There is a lot of abuse and stuff in the homes … especially from some caregivers.

“If my kids aren’t with me, who will protect them?” she said. 

As a girl she was removed from her family, having grown up around substance abuse and gangs, but experienced little kindness in state care.

In some cases she was neglected and abused. She became pregnant to an older man before reaching adulthood and, when she gave birth to her eldest, lost custody within hours due to her own substance abuse and mental health problems.

But she recovered. Four more children later, she is now no different from any other single parent who lacks parenting skills but does their best, according to Bagshaw, who has worked with her since she was 11.

Bagshaw said with no experience of routines, boundaries and overall good parenting, she was set up to fail.

“The kids … throw food and don’t do as they’re told. But they are fed, she baths them every day, they’ve always got clean clothes,” she said.

I have sympathy for the mother. She had a terrible time in state care, and of course doesn’t want her kids in state care. But by her advocate’s own admission she is lacking in parenting skills.

Kids are not born as saints. Having become a parent late in life I have been surprised by how much work goes in to set boundaries for your kids, and install good values in them. You do it 10, 20, 30 times a day sometimes. It is hard work and tiring (and very worthwhile as you see them develop).

The mother, by her own admission, is not skilled in parenting. Yet she has had five children. The most well equipped two parent family could struggle with five children, so a sole parent will find it even harder.

I hope that at some stage long-lasting contraception was offered.

Bagshaw said the only difference between these children and other large families with high-needs kids was that these were watched closely by the state.

There is a difference between being a high-need kid and a kid that decapitates goldfish.

Bagshaw said the woman’s home was chaotic but not unsafe. She believed removing her children wouldn’t fix bad behaviour, only traumatise them further at a cost to the taxpayer.

She may be right, but the status quo is failing badly. It can’t continue.

In cases like this where it seems it is more being a poor parent than a bad parent, I wonder if we should have something like state funded nannies who go into a dysfunctional household for 12 months to help the parents out. It would be expensive – probably cost $150,000 a year or more. But if it stops kids turning into goldfish decapitating sociopaths, it might be worth it.

There is a massive difference between being sacked as a Minister and merely having a portfolio taken off you.

Merely losing a portfolio has basically zero impact on a Minister except they may lose one seconded private secretary from their office.

Here’s what they don’t lose:

• They do not have their salary drop by $132,046
• They don’t have their perks drop by $9,000
• They don’t lose their Ministerial house or have their accommodation payment reduced by $16,000 a year
• They don’t lose access to VIP Transport
• They don’t lose their self-drive car or cars
• They don’t lose 90% of their staff
• They don’t have the allowance of up to $395 reduced to $260 a night for accommodation outside Wellington
• They don’t lose the meal payment of up to $80 for the Minister’s partner
• They still attend Cabinet

So losing a portfolio is more like losing a toenail, than something of real consequence.

On the AM Show this morning two unionist teachers – followed by Jan Tinetti made a complete mess of everything by not being honest.

Unionist: “Schools are the heart of the community.”

No they are not! Families are and while teachers hold themselves and their schools to be preeminent they will continue to lose students and have the huge attendance problems. This is part of the reason why we have an attendance crisis, 10,000 students not enrolled anyway and many leaving for homeschooling.

Unionist: “Striking is the only option.”

No it isn’t. Here are some others.
– Do a better job and improve results to bring back the support of families and the community.
– Acknowledge that some teachers are a lot better than others and find pathways out of teaching for those that need a different career.
– Acknowledge that many Primary school teachers are underqualified and offer to ensure that they upskill; especially in Math and Science.
– Reject the “Curriculum Refresh” which is full of ideological nonsense and campaign for a “Curriculum Simplification”.
– Be creative and positive and stop whining about your jobs and acting like the worst treated people in NZ.
– In terms of protest; don’t put kids on the street for the day. Take a leaf out of the book of the Eastern Europeans in the late 1980s. You claim that you work 24/7 – so have a full school day tomorrow. Work as you normally do until evening (there are no empty school car-parks in NZ at 3.30pm each day), then have a staff dinner, candle-light vigil and ask all of your families and community to join you. My guess is that it would be 5 times as powerful.
– Note that great schools like Manukura, Mt Hobson Academy, all of the Private Schools, sections of the Catholic Schools and compassionate State schools who simply feel that their students have missed to much school are fully open tomorrow.

Unionist: “The Ministry needs to decrease class sizes.”

A complete myth. Schools are funded by the number of students and then determine their own class-size through use of their operational funding.

A few years back I visited Harlem Children’s Zone. Their key rule is to never put the children on the street. They run from 7am – 7pm. They have incredible results. To put a child on the street tomorrow in many NZ communities is to put them at risk or require parents to fork out a days baby-sitting or take one of their precious annual leave days – while realising teachers have 12 weeks holiday a year.

Newshub reports:

Police Minister Stuart Nash is under fire for saying he previously rang the Police Commissioner about appealing a court judgement.

But he denies he has interfered in police matters and he says he wasn’t the Police Minister at the time.

“I phoned up the Police Commissioner and said surely you’re going to appeal this,” Nash told Newstalk ZB early on Wednesday morning.

“I don’t know if you remember when we were doing the firearms stuff, I was wandering around telling everyone that if you have an illegal firearm, you can face up to five years in jail. 

“This bloke didn’t have a license, had illegal firearms, illegal ammunition and had guns without a licence, and got home detention. I think that was a terrible decision by the judge. Judges need to read the room on this.”

Speaking to media later, Nash said he hadn’t been interfering and stands by it being a “bad decision”. 

This is shocking judgment. He is a Minister of the Crown. His access to the Police Commissioner is because he is a former Minister of Police, and he pressured the Commissioner over what is basically a prosecution decision – whether to appeal.

No politician should be ringing up the Police Commissioner or the Solictor-General and advocating that they do or do not prosecute or appeal in a particular case.

The ACT leader made the comparison to former National minister Maurice Williamson, who resigned his ministerial post in 2014 after contacting police about an investigation into a businessman.

Then-Prime Minister Sir John Key said Williamson assured him he didn’t intend to influence the police investigation, but Williamson’s decision to discuss the investigation with police “was a significant error of judgement”. 

“The independence of Police investigations is a fundamental part of our country’s legal framework,” Sir John said at the time. “Mr Williamson’s actions have been very unwise as they have the potential to bring that independence into question.”

Maurice was sacked merely for talking to Police about a case. Here you have the former (and future) Police Minister ringing up the Commissioner and directly advocating for a particular prosecution outcome.

UPDATE: Nash has resigned as Police Minister but remains a Minister in other portfolios, so a lesser consequence than for Williamson.

You can see that the median rent in New Zealand was basically stable in 2016 and 2017 at around NZ$400 a week. Since the change of Government (and numerous policies imposing extra costs on landlords) the median rent has increased to $575 a week in just over five years. That is more than $9,000 a year in increased rent. The median rent has risen almost 60% in five years.

A guest post by Owen Jennings:

Yesterday we read a passionate post you wrote, as a teacher, to help us better understand your situation and why you are choosing to strike.

Take two people:

One is a primary school teacher.  She leaves for school every weekday before 7.00am.  She walks the 10 mins to school.  She has a bag full of work she has prepared the night before, interesting, even exciting, small projects for her kids.  She is diligent, committed and takes delight in her kids’ progress. They adore her.  She returns home around 4.30pm and begins preparing the next day’s lessons.

She helps the school with sport on the weekend or is often back at the school doing other preparatory lessons.  She goes to holiday training courses but appreciates her long holidays.

The second one is also a primary teacher.  He gets to school a few minutes before 9.00am.  His class must be bedlam because he is always complaining.  He is home before 4.00pm and goes to the gym and manages a social life.  No weekend or holiday work.  

My question is this, Guest Poster.

He has been teaching for two years longer than teacher one.  He takes home more pay that she does.  Why should he?   Give me one coherent, logical answer that has an ounce of integrity, why he gets more pay than teacher one? 

How do I know all this?  They are both close family members.  That’s why.

When you and your fellow teachers accept performance pay, we will get behind your push for better pay.  Of course, teachers should be paid better.  They should be highly respected members of our community.  They could be but not while you demand equal pay for lazy, poor performers who barely do 30 hours a week and achieve little in the classroom, wrecking young lives.  

Forget sheltering them and all that collegial crap.  Don’t tell me we can’t figure out a basis for performance – businesses are doing it every day of the year. People on different levels of pay work together, happily.

Start figuring out that your union is not interested in you or your kids.  Dig a bit deeper.  Your union is a major reason for your unhappiness.  If they had an ounce of genuine commitment to the wellbeing of kids, I would pretty quickly have one family member without a job.

So, no sympathy on that score.  None.

Where I do commiserate with you is having to teach the kids of this current generation.  Poor, or no parenting, fatherless kids, drugs, drink, low pay has created an unattractive lot of kids.  No space to offer solutions here, except one.  Divide all the education vote (including the useless Wellington bureaucrats’ pay) by the number of kids needing schooling and have the money go with the child.  

Schools would have to go out and get kids to come to their school to earn an income.  It would turn the incentives on their head and improve the situation for you, as a teacher immediately and permanently.  Schools would start working with parents because their life would depend on it.  It would fix a heap of truancy and classroom behaviours, get kids to school fed and ready to learn and help deal with the growing psychological and medical issues haunting educators.

Owen Jennings

P.S.  Taking time to learn Te Reo yourself and to instil it into your class at the expense of reading, maths and critical thinking is only making things worse.  It’s a dead language that has limited value in life.  Swallow your virtue signalling and stick to basics.

Yesterday there was news of huge global and regional significance. It should be the lead story in NZ media, but it has been barely reported on. The Washington Post reports:

President Biden appeared at a naval shipyard here on Monday afternoon with his British and Australian counterparts to announce a major new plan to supply Australia with nuclear-powered submarines in what amounts to a direct counter to China’s growing influence in the region.

Standing with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Biden unveiled details of the arrangement at a time of rising tensions with China and amid a global realignment that is triggering dramatic increases in military spending in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. …

The agreement is a substantial one, as Australia over the next several decades will be spending more than $100 billion to buy the submarines and build up its own industrial capacity, as well as shore up America’s and Britain’s shipbuilding capability, officials said. …

The arrangement, which comes as part of the AUKUS security pact — short for Australia-U.K.-U.S. — is the culmination of 1½ years of negotiations. The United States will initially sell Australia three Virginia-class attack submarines, with an option to buy two more, at a cost of about $3 billion each. The aim is for the first submarine to be delivered by 2032.

After that, Australia will buy a British-designed nuclear-powered sub, to be called the SSN-AUKUS, that will include substantial U.S. technology. It will be built in the U.K., with Australia eventually developing the capacity to build its own version in the 2040s.

Albanese, the Australian prime minister, said the deal “represents the biggest single investment in Australia’s defense capability in all of our history.” Sunak called it “the most significant multilateral defense partnership in generations.”

“It demonstrates the ultimate commitment to allies — taking the crown jewels of America’s technology and sharing them with Australia,” Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, told reporters.

The only other country with whom the United States has shared the submarines is the United Kingdom, and that occurred some 65 years ago.

This is almost as big a deal as Finland and Sweden joining NATO. It is a huge commitment, and a realisation that China could well go the way of Russia unless there is significance regional deterrance.

Whatever defence and foreign policy NZ had two years ago is now outdated. The Ardern Government has actually done a good job at starting to reorient our foreign policy around the new reality, but we need to follow this up with a credible investment in defence.

In 1980 we spent 3% of GDP on defence. We now spend 1.4%. That may have been fine in the 1990s and even early 2000s when Russia and China were relatively benign, but it is manifestly inadequate today. Australia is spending 2.0% and increasing that. We should look at moving to at least 2.0%.

A guest post from a reader who is a teacher:

I’m sorry we are going to strike on Thursday.  I’m sorry for the inconvenience it brings you and your whānau.  We realise it’s not ideal, with an already disruptive last few years.  We know your tamariki have already had their education ‘covided’ and ‘cycloned’ and consequently have had many absences from school.  Their education matters to us – that’s why we are striking.

We are striking for better conditions.  

We are striking to try and address class sizes.  If we have less kids in our class, we can meet their needs better.  That’s a no-brainer.  It also helps to address our workload.  33 kids in your class = 33 reports.  33 comments in Writing.  33 comments in Maths.  33 general comments.  Plus more.

Our workload is broken.  Most teachers I know work 50 hours a week.  Our school brain never turns off.  A number of teachers in my school work 4 days a week to keep up with our workload and have a work-life balance.  We are lucky to have a principal who supports that.  And just because we don’t get paid that day, you better believe we are still working!  Since I had my daughter I only worked part-time (3 days a week initially, then 4 days).  I would always do some mahi on my ‘day off’.  This year she started school (exciting!), so I figured if I need to bring her to school and I do work anyway, I may as well get paid for it.  I realised I was squishing 5 days of work into 4.  I also made a decision not to have my own class while she was young because I didn’t want to be at work until 5pm each day and working evenings.  Before I had my daughter I worked 7am – 5pm, but that’s a luxury of time I don’t have since having her.  

I refuse to work evenings and on the weekend.  Sorry, that’s not true.  My work brain turns on and I just need to prep this or respond to that email.  When I taught overseas, it helped me break the cycle of working evenings and weekends.  That was our time.  It was refreshing!  The holidays were actually the holidays.  I brought that ethos back with me when I returned to Aotearoa.  But working the weekends has crept back in, in a bid to keep up.  Most teachers I know work evenings, weekends and/or early mornings – either some or a combination of that.  A friend of mine has made a conscious effort not to open up her laptop before 7am (she gets to work around 7am).  Another friend of mine died from a heart issue probably brought about by stress.  She worked, doing what she loved, from 8-5pm and after her beloved kids went to bed, often to 11pm.  It was unsustainable for her.  Now, I’m not sure the government can do anything about working hours, but I think the public needs to know that we don’t just work 9-3pm.

We are striking for more provision and support for teaching children with special needs.  We are stretched and at breaking point.  If you had a learning assistant to support you with Takiwātanga all day (like we once did) then that makes the job doable.  It’s not unusual to have 3-4 neurologically diverse children in one classroom.  How are we supposed to educate everybody in the class when these tamariki require extra thought, extra planning and extra time?  I’m not moaning about teaching children with special needs, they bring diversity and empathy into the class mix.  My point is that we need the support to do this well, or else something has to give.  

Money is a contentious issue.  We are well aware of the demands the government has at the moment with Cyclone Relief.  I would be happy with a payrise that was aligned with inflation.  Surely, that is not too much to ask?  Also, on a side-note, did you know that teachers only get paid for a 5 hour day?  When we work 8-10 hours a day?  That makes no sense to me.

I am aware that striking is an industrial action, when we are striving to be recognised as a profession.  We are professionals.  But what are the alternatives to striking?  When I taught in Vietnam, I was delighted to be recognised for what I do when we celebrated ‘Teachers Day’.  It was lovely and so nice to be validated and recognised as an educator.  People would go and visit their previous teachers – ones who had made a difference in their lives.  We were valued and it felt good.  Really good.  Overseas, teachers get paid more.  It is a lucrative market.  I am tempted to go back overseas to teach as it’s such a good lifestyle.  But my heart is in Aotearoa.  I want to make a difference in the lives of our children.  And I should not be penalised for that.

Right, that’s my rant out.  I hope it provides you with a better understanding of this inconvenient event on Thursday.  I know I am not alone in what I have described here.  So start the korero at your school.  How can we make our conditions better?  What do we have the power to change?

And just FYI, I am writing this at 6am on a Saturday, because my work brain has started up (thinking about how I’m going to get two of our akonga to camp) and when else would I find the time?

From a Teacher. A passionate one.

Stuff reports:

Pensioners and those eligible for state benefits will get a boost to their weekly incomes in April when the Government increases main benefits by 7.22% in line with the increased cost of living. …

Benefits are adjusted every year. Last year, main benefits were linked to the average wage when wages were rising faster than inflation. Hipkins said it was a practical solution to ensure those being supported by the Government didn’t fall behind.

“However with global cost of living pressures, Cabinet has this year agreed to provide additional support to this group by increasing main benefits by 7.22% in line with inflation.”

Under National, benefits were linked to the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures the changing price of goods and services, and is a measure of inflation.

The CPI rose by 7.22% in the year to December while the net average wage, against which main benefits are indexed, rose by 6.24%.

So if Labour hadn’t change the law, then they wouldn’t need to be fixing it now.

People on benefits should have their benefits adjusted to keep pace with inflation.

Sadly those who are missing out are those on wages. Benefits get index to inflation, but not tax brackets. Here’s an example of how it works.

Say in 2010 you were earning $48,000 a year. Your tax on that is $7,420 leaving you $40,580 a year to live on. Your overall tax rate is 15.5%.

Let’s say since then your income has risen in line with inflation to $63,721. In real terms you are on the exact same income as in 2010. But inflation has pushed your tax up to $12,136, being 19.0% of your income. Your after tax income, in real terms, has dropped from $40,580 to $38,858 so you now have $1,722 less spending power than you did.

If Labour was serious about helping all New Zealanders, they would commit to adjusting income tax threshold for inflation. It is unfair that the higher inflation is, the more revenue the Government gets, and the less disposable income wage earners get.

Stuff reports:

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins is jettisoning a swathe of Government projects and bills which were once heralded as important Labour policies, many relating to the environment and transport.

During his post-Cabinet news conference on Monday, Hipkins announced a large list of policies the Government once said would be hugely important for New Zealand to reach its climate targets and to reduce waste.

Hipkins denied the cuts would significantly increase emissions.

“The climate policies that we’re talking about today, would’ve made a very small contribution to our overall emissions reductions targets,” he said.

The policies were bad policies. They were hugely costly and would have basically zero impact on on greenhouse gas emissions. So it is good they have been scrapped.

But they have always been bad policies. Labour are now scrapping them because they are bad policies, but because they are unpopular ones that impose costs on Kiwis. The only reason they are backing down is because this is a bad time for them to increase costs on Kiwis. But beyond doubt they will try again, if they get the chance.

The latest Stats NZ data is very grim, with food inflation hitting 12% over the last 12 months.

Since Labour was re-elected, the total increase in food prices has been:

• Fruit and Vegetables 40.3%
• Meat etc 15.3%
• Grocery food 18.8%
• Total food 19.1%

This is the highest level of food inflation NZ has ever had, since the Food Price Index started in 2000.

The 40% increase in fruit and vegetables over barely two years is massive. As a comparison fruit and vegetables prices only increased 18.9% over the nine years of the Key/English Government.

As schools are closing on Thursday due to the teachers’ strike, I thought it would be interesting to look at how teachers are paid in New Zealand compared to the rest of the developed world (OECD).

As one can see a NZ primary teachers with 15 years experience are paid 11th highest in the OECD, so in the top third.

A more detailed OECD report also shows teacher salaries on other scales. Using PPP adjusted US$ we have:

• Primary starting $34,488 NZ vs $36,099 OECD
• Primary 10 years $52,699 vs $46,286
• Primary 15 years $52,699 vs $49,245
• Primary top $52,699 vs $59,911

So NZ primary teachers are paid above the OECD average in PPP terms at 10 and 15 years experience, but are paid less at the top of the scale. To me, that would suggest we should be having higher salaries at the top of the scale – but of course that should not just be for time in job, but their ability to connect and teach. Our best teachers should be getting paid more.

If you compare average teacher salaries to the average salary for tertiary graduates, NZ teachers are at 92% of the average salary for primary and lower secondary and 100% for upper secondary. The OECD average is 86% for primary and 96% for upper secondary so again NZ teachers are above the OECD average in terms of their wages compared to the rest of the country.

So again I don’t think the issue is the overall salary levels, it is the scale. I think you can make a case for the starting salary being higher, and the top of the scale being higher, so it doesn’t max out after ten years.

The best teachers are easily worth over $100,000 for what they can achieve teaching kids.

One News reports:

Helen White has been selected as the Labour candidate for Mt Albert, beating out her caucus colleague Camilla Belich.

Belich was considered the favourite of the Labour establishment, walking into the selection meeting with former Prime Minister and the outgoing MP for Mt Albert Jacinda Ardern.

This is a huge upset. Belich had the support of Chris Hipkins, Labour Head Office, Jacinda Ardern and Helen Clark. Belich is widely regarded as a future front bencher, while White is not.

This will make list ranking harder for Labour. They already are looking to lose between 15 to 20 MPs and having less regarded MPs in safe seats mean they have fewer spots available for MPs like Belich who they want to keep.

The outcome in Christchurch East also contributes to this with List MP Dan Rosewarne using the selection to a local community board member. This means again more List MPs competing for fewer spots.