One of my favourite podcasts at the moment is British Scandal. I got into them with their series on the Traitor King, Edward VIII, and have now listened to a dozen or so of their series.

What I have found interesting is how they have changed my views of some of the people involved.

I always thought poorly of Edward VIII, but the podcast really brought to life how he would have been a terrible King regardless of Wallis Simpson, and how he actively courted Nazis and would have been happy to be their puppet king. I came out it feeling more sorry for Wallis Simpson.

With John and Yoko, I had always (like many) blamed Yoko for the breakup of the Beatles. But after listening to the podcast, I came away concluding that Lennon was in a fact a pretty terrible person (very talented though) who treated almost everyone in his life badly (wives, children, bandmates) and developed respect for Ono’s creative skills and how she let Lennon take all the credit for Imagine etc.

The latest series is on Jeremy Thorpe, the former Liberal Party leader who hired someone to kill his former gay lover. To my surprise I ended up slightly sympathetic to Thorpe and almost despising Norman Scott. Don’t get me wrong Thorpe should have been found guilty and gone to jail for attempted murder. The Judge’s summing up in his trial was appalling case of the establishment looking after their own. But Norman Scott spent around 15 years blackmailing and trying to destroy Scott, all supposedly because Thorpe didn’t help Scott get a National Insurance card. He wrote long letters to Thorpe’s mother, his wives, the Police etc detailing this brief relationship (when Thorpe was single). While what Thorpe did was so wrong, I can understand how he may have felt that there was no other way to get Scott to stop.

So this is why I am enjoying the series, it has me re-evaluating my views on various famous figures.

Below is the second report looking at the NZ School system as we move towards an election. They are longer than the usual Kiwiblog read but it has been a significant piece of work with great contributions from both the public and leaders in the field. To read it is best to download or – they both print well if you are inclined to read better that way.

If we want a great country, economy, future we need MASSIVE change in education NOW.

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 am on the Education Panel for the NZ Economics Forum for Thursday and Friday of this week. The reports will be available there and I will be referring to aspects of them.

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

Very happy to talk and/or 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.”

Happy to talk or answer questions: [email protected]

Below is the first of two reports looking at the NZ School system as we move towards an election. They are longer than the usual Kiwiblog read but it has been a significant piece of work with great contributions from both the public and leaders in the field. Either download to read – or they both print well if you are inclined to read better that way.

If we want a great country, economy, future we need MASSIVE change in education NOW.

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).

I am on the Education Panel for the NZ Economics Forum for Thursday and Friday of this week. The reports will be available there and I will be referring to aspects of them.

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

Very happy to talk and/or 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.”

Happy to talk or answer questions: [email protected]

The Herald reports:

Some residents are prepared to arm themselves to defend their property during a post-Cyclone Gabrielle crime spree, a public meeting heard on Tuesday night.

Police Minister Stuart Nash, who is also the Napier MP, Napier Mayor Kirsten Wise, Hastings Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst and Police Superintendent Jeanette Park were among 200 people at the public meeting held at Crab Farm Winery, in Bay View, Napier.

Organisers of the meeting made it clear they did not want the meeting politicised. They said the intent of the meeting was to share truthful stories and feelings relating to safety issues within the community.

“Our community needs to get factual because there’s been lots of rumours. I’m sick of people saying that it’s not really that bad when we know it is,” said organiser and Bay View resident Louise Parsons. “You’ve got people wanting to bear arms, it’s not about bearing arms – it’s just about wanting to be safe.”

Some residents also spoke about organising rostered shifts to patrol their communities. Others spoke of how they feared for their family’s safety and had considered moving.

“I feel less safe in Napier than I did in London,” said a recent expat who had moved to Hawke’s Bay with his family. …

Locals commended the first responders on the ground, saying that the local police force were “heroes”, but criticised the role of the Government response as they felt like it was “working over them and not with them”.

Locals were experiencing crime and looting, and the Government and Police were saying it was disinformation. No wonder they are hacked off.

Radio NZ reports:

Health New Zealand’s board chairperson Rob Campbell has been sacked over a political attack he made about the National Party’s Three Waters policy.

Campbell took to LinkedIn at the weekend to criticise National’s Three Waters policy as a thin disguise for dog-whistling on co-governance.

The comments drew swift criticism from both sides of the political aisles – National saying they were “appalling” while Prime Minister Chris Hipkins described them as “inappropriate”.

Directors of Crown Entities are supposed to act in a politically impartial manner under the Public Service Commission’s code of conduct.

Campbell is accountable to Health Minister Ayesha Verrall in his Te Whatu Ora role – this afternoon Verrall confirmed she had sacked him.

“I have raised with Mr Campbell serious concerns about the political nature of his recent social media comments,” she said.

“I no longer have confidence that Mr Campbell is able to exercise the political neutrality necessary for his role at Te Whatu Ora.”

This is the right call, and respect for Chris Hipkins who would have made the ultimate decision. I may be wrong, but I suspect his predecessor would not have sacked Campbell and would have tried to claim he spoke wearing a different hat.

If what Campbell said, had been said by someone who was merely a board member of relatively minor quango or entity (say Standards NZ) then there could be a path through it without sacking. But Campbell is the Chair of the national health agency, responsible for providing almost every public health service in NZ. It would spend close to $30 billion and his level of seniority would be akin to an agency chief executive almost.

Campbell would not rule out taking legal action over the matter saying it was one possible line of action.

Ha good luck with that.

Now the focus will go on his other role as Chair of the Environmental Protection Agency. If his comments disqualify him as Chair of Health NZ, then surely David Parker must also remove him as EPA Chair.

It is a pity as Campbell has significant business and commercial skills. But he seems to be totally lacking understanding of the public sector code of conduct, and still maintains he has done nothing wrong.

There is a difference between constructively disagreeing on a proposed policy and effectively calling the Leader of the Opposition a racist. If he had merely critiqued National’s policy, and left put the insults, he again might have survived.

Radio NZ reports:

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has declined to express confidence in the chair of Te Whatu Ora/Health NZ Rob Campbell after he made “inappropriate” political comments online.

In a LinkedIn post over the week, Campbell – who also chairs the Environmental Protection Authority – lambasted the National Party’s Three Waters policy as a thinly disguised “dog whistle on co-governance”.

He went on to target National’s leader, writing: “Christopher Luxon might be able to rescue his party from stupidity on climate change but rescuing this from a well he has dug himself might be harder.”

Under the Public Service Commission’s code of conduct, directors of crown entities must act in a politically impartial manner.

Speaking at a media conference on Monday afternoon, Hipkins told reporters Campbell’s comments were “inappropriate” and “fell well outside” the code of conduct.

“Some of the public commentary that he has made steps well outside of the politically neutral stance that we would expect,” Hipkins said.

“Ministers responsible will be raising [that] with him.”

Asked directly whether he had confidence in Campbell, Hipkins said: “There’s a process [to work through]”.

Campbell seems to think he is special, and the rules don’t apply to him. It’s not only the original attack on Luxon (where he implied the Leader of the Opposition is racist) but he then defended his comments 100% and said he stood by them and had done nothing wrong.

And this is not the holder of some minor office, but the person basically in charge of the entire health system.

The Herald reports:

Former Whanganui MP Chester Borrows has died after he was diagnosed with cancer last year.

Borrows campaigned in two elections before winning the Whanganui seat, which includes South Taranaki, from Labour’s Jill Pettit in 2005.

He held the seat for four terms and was Minister for Courts and Deputy Speaker of the House in the Key Government before retiring in 2017. …

Key said today that he was sad to hear the news.

”Chester was a unique politician – Conviction to the core. He voiced his opinion and supported causes because he knew it was right even if not always popular with his caucus or the party faithful.

“He had the ability to have enduring relations with both sides of the House and will be someone that will be deeply mourned by all political parties.”

His former colleague Paula Bennett said Borrows was a good friend to many politicians.

“Chester was a family man through and through but also a really good friend to so many of us that were in Parliament with him.

“He loved most of all to fight for the marginalised and unfairness. He was good on the karaoke and a genuine good bloke.

“He married my husband and I on the beach in Piha and always stayed in touch and cared about us and our family.”

I’m incredibly saddened by this. 65 is far too young.

I regarded Chester as a mate. I have known him for 25 years. He stood for Parliament three times before being elected on his third go, – which used to be the norm. Too many MPs today expect tp win their seat straight off. Chester lost by 3,000 in 1999, closed it to 2,000 in 2002 despite it being a terrible year for National. He then won it by 2,000 in 2005 and his majority then went to 6,000 or so.

Chester was one of the most decent human beings I knew. That’s not just my opinion, but almost everyone who knew him.

I recall attending a Regional party meeting in the early 2000s with him and Chester arrived late. He apologised and explained he’d come across a car crash, and had helped get people to safety etc. As a young party apparatchik, I got excited by this and said that this will be a great media story – “Candidate helps saves lives of crash victims”. Chester replied that he didn’t even think of mentioning it to the media, and didn’t. In fact he said that his priority was calling 111, to which I retorted “Of course, but you could have called the Whanganui Chronicle second” 🙂

There are not many people I’ll spend six hours in a car driving to and from Whanganui for, but Chester was one of them. He asked me to speak at a party function there a few years ago, and I was happy to oblige.

He will be greatly missed by family, friends, many many colleagues and former constituents.

National over the weekend released their Three Waters policy. It is very similar to the policy endorsed by the Mayors of Christchurch and Auckland, 31 local Councils, the Taxpayers Union etc. It is not the status quo, as this graphic below shows.

It keeps the good stuff from the Government’s reforms (water quality regulators) but dumps the undemocratic stuff. It is highly likely to see Councils forming water companies that span more than one Council, but the Councils will decide amongst themselves what they should be, rather than have just four companies based on historic boundaries.

A key element of the policy is that revenue from water charges must be ring fenced to fund water infrastructure. This will allow proper funding of infrastructure.

What I want deal with is the propaganda claim that rejecting the Government’s model will cost every ratepayer $7,000 more. It is a farcical claim, for two major reasons.

The first is that it is based on a 30 year projection of costs of future infrastructure. No 30 year projection of costs is every robust enough to survive reality. It is slightly better than throwing darts at a dartboard, but even five year infrastructure projects often have cost variations of 50% to 100%. For the Government to say they know exactly what it will cost under their plan, and under another plan for 30 years is just trying to scare people.

The second and more salient point is that almost inevitably the Government’s model will see households pay far far more, because the decision makers are isolated from those who have to pay the bills. Labour’s model will have the companies not fully accountable to either Parliament, central Government or local Councils. Now consider decision making under this model.

Future infrastructure costs will be the result of hundreds of decisions by these water companies – what types of pipes to build, and where. How to treat the sewerage, and where to have outlets etc.

Now consider a scenario where a decision has to be made on a new sewerage plant. Let’s say Option 1 will filter out 99.9% of bacteria and have it pump out to sea 250 metres out, and Option 2 will filter out 99.95% of bacteria and have it pump out 750 metres. Option 1 costs say $200 million or $2,000 a household and Option 2 costs $900 million or $9,000 a household.

Now if a water company is under the control of Councils who are accountable to ratepayers, they will probably say the quadrupling of cost will not match the marginal increase in benefits of Option 2, and go for Option 1.

But under Labour’s model, it is almost inevitable that every single time the water company will choose the most expensive gold plated option, because they can’t be sacked for imposing huge costs of ratepayers.

Democratic accountability is why we now have elected Government, not Kings.

Jimmy Carter is 98, and in hospice care meaning he will die quite soon. Almost every decent person can only admire the work he has done as a former President, and his work ethic where he was still active into his late 90s.

He was not a successful President. I was just starting to follow US politics in 1980 when Reagan got elected and thought the US chose well. Most historians rank Carter in the third quartile, so a poor President, but not one of the truly terrible ones.

But as a former President, he has worked tirelessly for good causes. Not holding international talkfests, but actually getting out there and making a difference.

His Carter Centre has helped eradicate diseases and provided election observers for many decades. He has been a major figure in Habitat for Humanity which has built 35 million houses. Carter himself has led work projects constricting over 4,000 houses – and doing this well into his 90s.

He is a man of deep faith who has been teaching Sunday School at his local church since the 1980s. He even carried on teaching while battling cancer.

He is a great example of someone you can profoundly disagree with politically, but still respect immensely.

One News reports:

Tairāwhiti Area Commander Sam Aberahama firmly pushed back on claims that crime was spiking in the area. …

He said the police “social media team are actively working to have disinformation removed”.

Disinformation is false information deliberately spread to deceive people, while the term “misinformation” is used to describe false information that is spread regardless of a specific intent to mislead.

When asked who was spreading the disinformation, Aberahama said it was possible that the false information was being spread by out-of-towners.

This is not good. The Police Commander is accusing people of spreading disinformation, which is information they actually know to be untrue. This is the sort of thing that Russia is normally blamed for. Are they saying Russia is behind these disinformation claims of crime and looting?

It was in response to Government Minister Michael Wood, who said a “culture of hysteria” was building while police responded to the cyclone.

So claims of looting are disinformation and hysteria, spread by out-of-towners.

Meanwhile the Herald reports:

As “lowlifes” continue to take advantage of those impacted by the deadly devastation of Cyclone Gabrielle – including looting shops and evacuated homes – Wairoa mayor Craig Little has called on the culprits to be “jailed for life”. …

He said he was aware of several reports of incidents in his district, including break-ins.

“It is just lowlife stuff; how could you do that to people who have lost everything?” Little told the Herald.

“They are just lowlifes that we don’t want [here], go somewhere else. It is just disgusting; it is just shocking.

“Don’t downplay it. If it is happening, get those guys locked up and put away forever. You never should ever get an advantage out of people’s downfall.”

I guess a local Mayor is also an out-of-towner spreading disinformation and hysteria.

This chart shows how much various countries have donated to Ukraine to help them survive and resist the Russian invasion. We are at the 2nd bottom.

Even if you adjust for population size, the amount of aid in millions of euros per million population is:

• Canada 108.7
• Australia 16.6
• Japan 8.3
• NZ 3.9

That is just comparing to countries not in Europe. Ireland, Norway, Finland and Denmark are all around our population and have respectively given between 17 to 60 times as much aid to Ukraine.

Surely we can at least match Australia per capita?

Prince Harry has been pretty hated in the UK for a couple of years now, but his recent book has achieved the near impossible – he is now more disliked in the US than Prince Andrew!

Newsweek has the latest data.

• Princess Kate +32% (+6% from Jan)
• Prince William +28% (+7%)
• King Charles +11% (+3%)
• Queen Camilla 0% (+2%)
• Prince Andrew -2% (+2%)
• Prince Harry -10% (-7%)
• Meghan Markle -17% (-4%)

So he published a book attacking all his family, and in the US they have all got more popular, and he has got less popular, even falling below his uncle who was accused of statutory rape.

Can’t wait for his next book!

The Herald reports:

A man with a history of violence told his ex-partner who was pregnant with their child he was going to cut the baby out of her and stomp on her stomach.

He also threatened to cut up his ex-partner’s grandmother with a machete. …

The court heard this is Stott’s sixth conviction for breaching a protection order and he has previous convictions for family violence, including male assaults female and threatening to kill.

Judge O’Driscoll said this was serious offending aggravated by his past history of violence against family members.

“You inflicted violence on a vulnerable pregnant woman … It’s clear the victims were scared and terrified as a result of your actions,” he told Stott. …

He gave Stott discounts for guilty pleas and participation in a restorative justice meeting with one of the victims, arriving at a sentence of one year and 11 months imprisonment.

I hope I am wrong, but it seems sadly inevitable this guy is going to end up killing a women, or at least trying to. But he will be out unless than two years.

Protection orders need to have teeth. They are almost entirely ineffective. How about a three strikes type regime for breaching protection orders. Something like:

Strike 1 – Automatic arrest and 48 hours in jail before appearing before a Judge
Strike 2 – Automatic electronic monitoring for 12 months, so that Police get notified if he enters a house he is banned from entering
Strike 3 – Automatic prison sentence

The Guardian reports:

Upwards of 100,000 people gathered outside the Knesset in Jerusalem on Monday in protest against an initial plenum vote on bills that would give politicians control over appointments to Israel’s supreme court, and limit its ability to overturn laws. Protesters blocked major roads across the country, and prevented some politicians from leaving their homes. …

Also among the proposals is a bill that would allow a simple parliamentary majority to override almost all supreme court rulings – a move that would give politicians unprecedented power in a country with no formal constitution or second legislative chamber that can perform other democratic checks and balances. The changes would probably help Netanyahu avoid prosecution in his ongoing corruption trial, in which he denies all charges.

The situation described above is meant to sound terrible, but it is in fact the situation in New Zealand. It is called parliamentary sovereignty.

I’m not against having judicial sovereignty (like in the US) so long as it comes from a written constitution which the people can change. But the worst of all worlds is where the judiciary simply decides they are in charge, and neither the people nor Parliament can over-ride them.

The Spinoff reports:

Hence former Labour campaign manager Shane Te Pou, ex-Green MP Nandor Tanzcos, ex-Auckland Pride director Max Tweedie, and current Labour MPs Deborah Russell and Anna Lorck all being among those who admired the [Hooton] speech. 

One more was Richard Hills. The Auckland Councillor shared it with his followers along with a fairly anodyne comment: “I’ve got to know @MatthewHootonNz over the past few months. He was very nice to me and has a great sense of humour. A good speech and one I would think would have a positive impact on many of the young men he was speaking to.” …

The response to Hills’ tweet was so vitriolic that he appears to have locked his account in response (he has not responded to a request for comment by The Spinoff’s deadline). “Good bloke-ism”, “The whole speech was smug”, “absolutely abhorrent”, “a state school should not be offering a free speaking spot to a person like Hooton” typified the responses to Hills’ tweet. It escalated from there, and by the day’s end, “Matthew Hooton” was no longer trending – but “Richard Hills” was.

Twitter is a cesspit of mainly left leaning haters. Richard Hills merely complemented Hooton’s speech, and the mob turned on him, forcing him to lock his account.

This idea of hating everyone on the other side of you politically seems to be imported from the US. This is ironic as those who piled into Hills probably hate the US, yet they seem to copy the worst political behaviour from the US.

Stuff reports:

An Anglican priest has resigned from his position after having an affair with a woman he officiated a marriage for a few months earlier.

Reverend Pitotori (Peter) Naera, from the Far North, told an Anglican Church tribunal he “didn’t know it was against the rules”.

A tribunal decision from October 2022, stated Naera indicated he wouldn’t be willing to undertake counselling or training on issues relating to the affair, as he intended to resign.

The tribunal noted the affair was not a “one-off” incident and the woman he was having an affair with had been married to her husband less than six months.

I only did Sunday School to my teens and even I know that Anglican priests are not meant to have sex outside marriage, let alone bonk the parishoner you married a few months ago.

The notion that an Archdeacon had no idea this was against the rules is hilarious.

The Herald reports:

Glyn David Ackroyd appeared before Judge Dugald Matheson in the Whanganui District Court on February 14 charged with driving while disqualified.

Ackroyd, who first appeared in court on the charge in December 2022, pleaded guilty to the offending and was subsequently convicted and discharged by Matheson.

This seems to add to the idea of impunity for offenders.

Ackroyd was disqualified from driving for 13 months after he not only sped through an intersection and slammed into a car, seriously injuring two men, but fled the scene, left behind an injured passenger, tried to blame them for the crash, and didn’t check on the victims in the car he hit. One of the victims has spinal fractures and a broken jaw.

Two months after he gets disqualified from driving, he is caught driving again, and the Judge gives him a free pass by way of a discharge.

Think how the victims feel.

The latest net favourability ratings in a US poll:

• Ron DeSantis +2%
• Nikki Haley -2%
• Joe Biden -16%
• Mike Pence -19%
• Donald Trump -20%

DeSantis/Haley 2024 sounds good to me!