Chris Hipkins has three times misled NZers on matters of high intensity. He did it with Charlotte Bellis, he did it with the women who went into Northland and he did it with reports of guns in the Hawke’s Bay.

Now he seems to be at it again. The Herald reports:

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins says he admires the entrepreneurship of the Christchurch company which offered agriculture help to Ukraine but ultimately New Zealand had processes on how aid is delivered.

New documents released to the Herald under the Official Information Act show how a direct request from the Ukrainian Minister of Agriculture and Food, Mykola Solskyi, for high-speed and mobile grain stackers from MHM Automation was declined.

Hipkins told Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking that to his understanding the Kiwi company had approached the Ukrainian Government who then accepted the offer for the grain stackers. The company then approached the New Zealand Government requesting funding.

So Hipkins says the company approached the Ukrainian Government, but the Herald two days ago reported:

New documents released to the Herald under the Official Information Act show how a direct request from the Ukrainian Minister of Agriculture and Food, Mykola Solskyi, for high-speed and mobile grain stackers was declined.

By May 16 last year, when Solskyi approached Christchurch-based MHM Automation, which builds huge, high-tech grain stacking machines that help in the storage and handling of bulk grain and wheat, Russia’s aggression had knocked out 15 million tonnes of the country’s grain storage capacity.

So is the Herald’s reporting correct, or is Hipkins correct?

Newshub reports:

Health Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall says Pharmac chair Steve Maharey has tendered his resignation over political columns he wrote while holding the senior public service role. 

Dr Verrall says she has confidence in Maharey and “I haven’t seen anything that concerns me here” but she is seeking advice from the Public Service Commission.

Maharey is the chair of Pharmac, ACC and Education New Zealand.

It follows the sacking of Te Whatu Ora chair Rob Campbell last week, after he attacked the National Party on social media. 

The Government says the difference in Maharey’s case is that he has accepted an issue with his actions whereas Campbell stood by his comments.

“In terms of with Mr Campbell, he called the Leader of the Opposition stupid and he implied his policies were racist,” said Dr Verrall. “While he apologised to me, he then doubled down on those criticisms in the press. Mr Maharey has reached out and been contrite.”

I’m not sure there is a big difference between the cases.

Campbell said he was willing to agree to a protocol about what he could say in future. Also he apologised directly to Luxon.

Of course Campbell is not a former Labour Cabinet Minister.

If they refuse to accept Maharey’s resignation, after sacking Campbell, they could be open to judicial review?

Stuff reports:

A National Party candidate received a very cold welcome from climate strikers in Wellington, with booing and abuse hurled during the entirety of her speech on her party’s climate policies. …

There was a person with a loudspeaker continually calling out abusive names to Chatterton​, people up the front yelling at her and a loud alarm going off while she spoke. …

Among the demands from climate strikers was the voting age to be lowered to 16

You demand politicians speak to your rally, and when they do so you abuse and yell at them and try to drown them out, and you think this will convince people to lower the voting age so rude abusive children like yourselves can vote.

Stuff reports:

A Kāinga Ora tenant is “appalled” the Government agency is not meeting its target to ensure 15% of its new-build state homes meet full universal design standards.

Information provided under the Official Information Act (OIA) reveal that since implementing its Accessibility Policy in 2020, the Government agency has recorded delivering only 70 new homes that meet full universal design standards between July 2020 and December 2022.

The total number of Kāinga Ora state homes built in the same time frame is 4775, which means only 1.5% of new homes meet the required standards.

So they promised 15% and delivered 1.5%.

If there was a gold medal for under-achievement, this Govt would win it. They don’t miss their targets by 2% or 5% oe even 10% but by 90%. They’re currently sitting at 1.6% of their Kiwibuild target!

The Herald reports:

A desperate plea from the besieged Ukrainian Government to a New Zealand agri-business company for specialist help for the 2023 grain harvest was blocked by Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta, the Herald can reveal.

New documents released to the Herald under the Official Information Act show how a direct request from the Ukrainian Minister of Agriculture and Food, Mykola Solskyi, for high-speed and mobile grain stackers was declined.

Why would we say no to this? Their grain harvest feeds many countries and the damage to it has pushed up world food prices.

But the minister declined the application, saying the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) does not currently have a development co-operation programme for Ukraine and “at this stage the Government’s focus is on humanitarian assistance to meet immediate needs, and responding to Ukraine’s requests for military equipment in defence of its sovereignty and territorial integrity”.

This is an appalling example of process over substance. Declining the request because it doesn’t tick the right box, or fit within an existing programme.

A good Government would look at the merits of the issue, the importance of the assistance, and make a decision on a one-off basis.

The Herald reports:

Ministers are finalising a new transport strategy that will, for the first time, make climate change the top priority when it comes to deciding how transport funding gets invested.

The plan, which will go out for consultation this year, will dictate where tens of billions of dollars of transport funding will be spent in the next three years and promises a stark pivot towards public transport and away from emissions-intensive investments, like new highways.

Transport Minister Michael Wood has proposed changes to the way $2b of maintenance money is spent each year, which could mean swapping car parks for new bus lanes and cycleways – paid for with the money used to fix potholes, according to a briefing released to the Heraldunder the Official Information Act.

This is not in fact about climate change. Transport is in the Emissions Trading Scheme and any reductions in transport emissions just means that other sectors of the economy will pay less for their emissions. Under the ETS emissions are capped and declining.

This is about politicians wanting to control us, and remove choice. They want to force people out of cars (even electric cars) and have no empathy for families who need cars to get to work, to get kids to school, to pick up groceries etc.

National has announced its Family Boost policy. Basically it recognises that childcare costs are a form of work expense for many families, and will give you a 25% tax credit towards your early childhood education costs.

This will make a huge difference to an estimated 130,000 families, providing top to $75 a week more in the hand. Over time it will help around 80% of families with children.

We used to have two children under five (now six and three). This was costing us close to $30,000 a year in early childhood education. Now that is an after tax expense, so if you pay the top marginal tax rate then you need to earn $50,000 to produce that $30,000.

The policy is targeted so those with a household income under $140,000 get the most benefit, and those over $180,000 do not benefit at all. So my household won’t personally benefit from this policy, but I still support it 100% because I do believe in targeting assistance.

National will fund this by reducing the spend on public sector consultants by $400 million a year. That won’t be difficult to be honest, because Labour has had so many daft schemes which agencies have had to pay tens of millions to consultants to work on, and then eventually they drop them.

I, for one, would much rather have my taxes go on helping low and middle income families with young children, than paying $250 an hour consultants to design a billion dollar cycle bridge or merge together two state media companies that have nothing in common.

Stuff reports:

Former Wellington City councillor Fleur Fitzsimons has been confirmed as the candidate for the Rongotai electorate.

The Labour Party selected Fitzsimons – who was unopposed – at a meeting on Saturday.

This is about as surprising as winter following autumn.

Fitzsimons is a union lawyer and former student president at Victoria University and the New Zealand University Students Association, and current Public Service Association assistant secretary.

Labour is drastically short of former student presidents and union officials, so great to see them addressing this under-representation.

Steve Stannard writes:

In 2019/20 the fund was reviewed by an “independent expert panel” which proffered a number of recommendations. The minister of the time, Chris Hipkins, then released a Cabinet paper outlining the proposed changes to the next Performance Based Research Fund round based on these recommendations.

Practically, the Hipkins paper called for weighting Maori-related research to a multiple of three. That is, a portfolio describing Maori-related research activity would be three-times as valuable to the university as, for example, an equivalent education portfolio.

Further, a researcher who identifies as Māori will be given a weighting of two-and-a-half times as much as someone who does not. In other words, that Māori academic will bring in more than twice as much money as an equivalent non-Maori academic.

Finally, these weightings are multiple, such that a Māori academic researching things Māori will be “worth” to the institution seven-and-a-half times as much as a Pākehā or Asian academic of the same research level.

This is what Hipkins has implemented. If you have a great great great grandparent who was Maori, then you are worth 2.5 times as much as someone who doesn’t have such a great great great grandparent.

If an ethnicity-based value system like this had been in place 20 years ago I would certainly not have emigrated from Australia to take up an academic role in New Zealand.

Can you imagine explaining to top scientists and academics in other countries that if you come to New Zealand, your race will determine how likely you are to get research funding.

Winston Peters writes:

We left office in October with $14 billion left in the Covid fund. We argued in our letter for prudent stewardship of public money in the event of a future shock.

Minister Robertson agreed and, in his public announcement, said the remaining $14 billion in the fund was being set aside for such a purpose. To quote the Minister, “The fund is not there to be used for any old project in the never-never.” …

If that $14 billion worth of spending had been solely Covid-related then so be it, but the connection between the virus and cameras on fishing boats, prohibitively expensive free school lunches, or a billion-dollar-plus “Jobs for Nature” programme, and ongoing cost of living payments and fuel discounts into the never-never, well, is not obvious.

It turned into the biggest slush fund in the modern era.

The Spinoff reports:

A pair of sitting Labour MPs who share an office on Ponsonby Rd and are both former employment lawyers will go head to head for the party candidacy in the inner Auckland electorate of Mt Albert, a longstanding Labour safe seat. Both Camilla Belich and Helen White entered parliament in the red tide of 2020 as Labour romped to a historic MMP majority in what then leader Jacinda Ardern called “the red wave”. 

Neither was successful in their electorate runs, with Helen White pipped by the Greens’ Chlöe Swarbrick in Auckland Central and Camilla Belich finishing with about half the votes of Act leader David Seymour in Epsom, but ahead of the National candidate, Paul Goldsmith. Both White and Belich assumed list seats, however, after being ranked, respectively, 48th and 30th.

Belich will win, for two reasons.

The first is that she is seen as a future senior Cabinet Minister, while White is seen as the person who failed to win Auckland Central.

The second is that Labour’s selections are not decided by rank and file members, but by unions and head office and Belich will have all the Head Office votes.

Earlier this week I did a horrible job of loading onto Kiwiblog two reports on the NZ Education system I had completed with some fantastic contributors.

I have had a good number of emails from KBers requesting the reports. Very happy to do that through [email protected]

I will also have them loaded on www.innovativeeducation.co.nz later today.

The first report:” The Appalling Condition of our State Education System … and … How to be World Leading in Just 19 Years” is multi-faceted and has significant contributions by leading experts in the field of Education.

The report ends with 13 recommendations to turn around our antiquated and failing system.

To me the key recommendation is to create a state of the art, information and communications based Crown Entity for Parenting – to assist from pregnancy through to early adulthood. This has some very good supporters including Neuro-Science Educator Nathan Wallis (who is well worth getting to comment).

The second report is an example of the data sets I am making available so that parents, taxpayers and all interested in schooling can see just how things stand. This particular set looks at the UE statistics for the LEAVERS of every High-School.

Other relevant data sets by school I have are:

– L1 for Leavers

– L2 for Leavers.

– L3 for Leavers.

– Retention Until 17 years old.

– Progress to Degree Level Study.

They are all matched to the EQI system that replaced the decile system leading into this year.

I was on the Education Panel for the NZ Economics Forum on Thursday and the reports were very well received.

This is a link to the forum: https://events.waikato.ac.nz/events/new-zealand-economics-forum-2023

Two immediate media items were:

• www.theplatform.kiwi/podcasts/episode/alwyn-poole-on-the-state-of-education-in-new-zealand
• www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/131382564/nz-education-sector-problems-very-solvable-consultant-says

Very happy to answer questions. Education should be a huge issue this election – as I quote Cameron Bagrie: 

“I challenge anyone to pick a better indicator today where the economy is going to be in thirty years than the education outcomes of the past and next decade. Education today defines the economy in thirty years. The school kids of today are the business owners and leaders of tomorrow. We are in trouble if you look at attendance and achievement.”

As I said above – if you are interested in the reports – ask and you shall receive: [email protected]

Newshub reports:

Senior Government minister Michael Wood, appearing alongside Collins, said Cabinet was considering the voting age “in the next little while”.

“We’ll be working through that,” he said. “We’ve always had the view that if the voting age was to be lowered, it would be really significant and there would probably need to be a process of the New Zealand public having their say on that.”

The Government announced in November it would draft legislation on the matter to allow all of Parliament to consider it. 

“There’s been a legal process that means we do need to respond,” Wood said.

“I think for any big change to your voting system you generally need to talk to the people.”

If the matter did go to a referendum, however, Wood said it would be “very tough” to hold it at this year’s general election, “given the timeframes”.

A referendum on the voting age at the election is a great idea. It will massively boost turnout the 80% of the adult population who don’t think we should give children the vote.

I think the voting age should be set to be the same as the drinking age.

Newshub reports:

Officials have had to backtrack on a key roadside drug-testing strategy, as the technology required doesn’t exist. 

It’s part of the Government’s ‘Road to Zero’ campaign and was supposed to be enforced by Police from next Saturday. 

Saliva tests were a key strategy of the Government to get drugged drivers off our roads. 

However, officials have now had to make a major U-turn. 

“This is really disappointing, we thought this was going to be game-changing legislation,” Police Association President Chris Cahill told Newshub.

Testing kits were due to roll out next Saturday so Police could enforce the Government’s drug driving amendment act. 

So only one week before they were due to roll out the testing kits, does the Government admit it has no testing kits!

But in a statement provided to Newshub, Associate Transport Minister Kiri Allan said Police advised they were unable to find the technology capable of providing saliva roadside testing.

“The tech doesn’t exist in the world, and Police did advise the select committee of this from the start, so it’s not Police’s fault,”  Police Association President Chris Cahill said.

While National Party Transport Spokesperson Simeon Brown said it was a failure by the Government. 

“This is an absolute failure, it passed legislation, and the Government gave officials a whole year to get this sorted,” Brown said.

You pass a law without checking in advance that the technology the law enables even exists!

I have blogged a couple of times on how Labour has managed the almost impossible and come up with a replacement for the RMA which is even worse than the RMA. And this is not just my view.

At a recent business meeting, I asked David Seymour what score would he give to Labour’s RMA replacement laws, if we generously scored the RMA a 3/10. This was after around 45 minutes of discussion on all the problems with the current law.

David responded immediately with a -1/10, yes minus one, and said that he never ever thought he would say this but if Labour passed their RMA replacement laws this year, then on Day 1 of a National/ACT Government, their first move should be to reinstate the RMA until a better replacement can be found (such as ACT’s policy)

Chris Bishop has pointed out:

The Government’s RMA reforms are so bad they are putting at risk the ability for New Zealand to meet its climate change ambitions, National’s RMA Reform and Urban Development spokesperson Chris Bishop says.

“Contact Energy yesterday told the Environment Committee that the RMA reforms were the ‘single biggest threat’ to new renewables and that without ‘urgent change’ New Zealand could ‘kiss goodbye’ decarbonisation of the energy sector.

And further:

Contact’s submission follows a negative submission by the Wind Energy Association two weeks ago, which said that new wind farms would be harder to consent under the reforms rather than easier, and the Electricity Sector Environment Group which said the proposed new laws were currently ‘unworkable’.

Labour’s RMA replacement laws would achieve the difficult twin feat of being terrible for the economy and terrible for the environment.

Imagine a NZ artist created this poem:

These days
we’re driving round
in SUVs
looking for ya
or brown men like you
who might be thieves

Lani, Danielle
and a car full of white girls
we find you
on the corner
of the Justice Precinct.
You’ve got another woman
in a headlock
and I’ve got my father’s
pig-hunting knife
in my fist

If an artist published the poem above about white girls looking to kill brown men, then they would be subject to 5,000+ complaints to the Police and the Human Rights Commission and be unpublishable.

But when you swap it around so it is brown girls looking to kill white men, then you get $100,000 of taxpayer money for your hate speech.

I have no issue with the artist writing whatever makes her happy. But I object to being forced to fund it as a taxpayer.

Ipsos has released their latest research on the most important issues for New Zealanders. The top issues are:

1. Inflation 65% (+12% from a year ago)
2. Housing 33% (-17%)
3. Crime 33% (+14%)
4. Health 27% (nc)
5. Climate Change 27% (+11%)

In terms of who is best on each issue, it is:

1. Inflation: National +3% (over Labour)
2. Housing: Labour +1%
3. Crime: National +5%
4. Health: Labour +11%
5. Climate Change: Greens +15% (over Labour)

So National has slight leads on inflation and crime, Labour a larger lead on health, housing almost tied and Greens ahead on Climate Change. Looks to be a competitive environment.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has failed to even make a run-off election, getting just 17% of the vote. In 2019 she won with 74% of the vote.

She is the only Chicago mayor in 40 years to lose a re-election, and there is little doubt it was because she is so wet and soft on crime. 

Violent offending in Chicago has doubled since 2021. Throughout her term, she has been criticized for her soft-on-crime approach, which has led to massive increases in violence in the city, which is up 52 percent from last year and more than 100 percent from 2021.

Chicago has half the population of NZ, and in 2021 had over 800 homicides. Over 4,000 people were shot.

WCC released:

Wellington City Council has approved its draft budget for 2023/24, which includes a proposed 12.3% rates rise.
This works out to an average of $8 per household per week and would apply from 1 July 2023.

$400 more a year in rates is a lot of money. I doubt any Wellington families have had their household income increase by 12%.

I reckon a good policy for Central Government would be requiring any rates increase above inflation to go out to local referendum.