Former US president Donald Trump has issued a strange threat, saying Republican voters will boycott the nation’s next two election cycles unless his claims about widespread fraud in 2020 are “solved”.
Trump made the declaration in a brief, two-sentence statement after a judge in Georgia dismissed a lawsuit from his supporters, who were seeking to inspect 147,000 mail ballots.
Eleven months on from his defeat to Joe Biden, Trump still insists he actually won.
“If we don’t solve the Presidential Election Fraud of 2020 (which we have thoroughly and conclusively documented), Republicans will not be voting in ’22 or ’24,” he warned yesterday.
It is highly likely the Democrats will lose the House and the Senate in the 2022 midterms. It seems the only thing that could save them is Trump telling Republicans not to vote as the elections are rigged.
Trump’s election rhetoric was widely blamed for the poor turnout among Republican voters for a pair of close Senate elections in January, which resulted in Biden’s Democrats claiming total control of Congress.
Yep, he handed Georgia and the Senate to the Democrats with his claims. So he may save the day for them again.
ARE WE THERE YET ? PRIME MINISTER TIME TO TURN ON THE SAT NAV
The Governments Covid mitigation plan is akin to the old days where Jacinda Adern would be holding up an A-Z roadmap ,looking for street signs and telling Ashley Bloomfield which turn to look out for on the road ahead.
The reality is we were lost ,day one, by starting off on the wrong road to Covid elimination.
This turned out to be a cul-de -sac and we are back where we were nearly two years ago in Lockdown still trying to flatten the curve to prevent our failing Hospitals from becoming overwhelmed by Covid patients.
Millions of dollars has been spent on University academics who have no practical experience in the prevention of infectious diseases and who use theoretical models to predict how many Covid infections will occur is like asking a blind man for directions.
We need to get out the Sat Nav and key in a destination because the Sat Nav has a plan and can provide the safest and quickest route to our final destination.
The key objective for any leader is to look after the health and wellbeing of their people and in this regard our Prime Minister has failed her people.
Implementing one of the most draconian Global lockdown strategies to attempt to reduce Covid numbers and not factoring in the effects of these strategies on the health and wellbeing of New Zealanders is a road to disaster.
None of the Covid modelling strategies or the Governments Covid prevention plans have included long-term strategies to minimize the negative flow on effects that ongoing lockdowns have on the health and wellbeing and ongoing financial security of our people.
By way of example 84,991 Hospital patient procedures have been cancelled since lockdowns began. Tens of thousands of breast and bowel cancer screenings will not take place because the Government has not invested in Hospitals as part of its Covid mitigation strategy. The Government has no plans to address these problems.
Every day NZ police file around 450 domestic violence reports.
Foodbanks abound in our new NZ.
Our domestic violence and mental health agencies are overwhelmed as families are pressed together with increasing financial and emotional pressures and no sign of relief on the road ahead.
New Zealand has one of the lowest Covid Case Related Mortality rates in the world. This has nothing to do with the Governments Covid strategy but is due to being an island nation with a small population, low population density and social and environmental conditions which prevent high viral loads of Covid being transmitted in the community.
We need a holistic long term science based Covid plan that looks after the overall health and wellbeing of our people rather than taking directions from someone with an outdated map and no plan for the journey ahead.
Because otherwise in 2022 we will still be saying ARE WE THERE YET?
“We would put an end to lockdowns, reopen our economy and reconnect to the world when we hit 85-90 per cent vaccination, along with district health board and age-based milestones, or on December 1, whichever comes earlier.
For those who think 1 December is too early, by then Auckland will have spent 106 days or 15 weeks in lockdown.
Jacinda Ardern in 2019 declared that to be the year of delivery, so at the two year mark of her Government I assessed how their delivery had gone. I did the same at the three year mark and am delighted to do so again now they have have four years to deliver on their promises.
In summary their delivery is:
1.2% of the way to their 100,000 affordable homes goal
4.3% of the way to their one billion trees goal
2.4% of the way to their emission free government fleet goal
Homelessness increased 463%
Net greenhouse gas emissions increased 0.99%
Child poverty rate has reduced by 0.4 percentage points
Has not yet started construction of Dunedin Hospital, promised to commence by 2020
Has not yet started construction of Auckland Light Rail, promised to be finished by 2021
Has decreased the proportion of the public sector outside Wellington by 5.6%, despite promising to relocate Government to the regions
The share of renewable electricity has declined from 83.4% to 78.8% despite promising 100% renewable
Said free tertiary frees would boost tertiary enrolments 15%, but they have dropped 3.9%
I will of course do another update in October 2022 and October 2023. We have a bit of left over money from the 2020 advertising, so can look to promote these again.
Colin Powell has died aged 84. He is one of those rare people who could have been President, but never ran for the office.
He grew up in the South Bronx as the son of immigrants from Jamaica. In 1958 he joined the Army, training in Georgia, where many establishments refused to serve him because he was black. His ranks were:
1958 – 2nd lieutenant
1959 – 1st lieutenant
1962 – Captain
1966 – Major
1970 – Lieutenant Colonel
1976 – Colonel
1979 – Brigadier General
1983 – Major General
1986 – Lieutenant General
1989 – General
He served and was wounded in Vietnam. He later served as National Security Advisor to Ronald Reagan where he helped negotiate arms treaties with the USSR. He was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to George HW Bush and Secretary of State to George W Bush. He became famous as Chairman during the first Gulf War,.
Polls showed that if had stood in 1996 against Bill Clinton, he would have won by a landslide 12%. Later as Secretary of State he had an almost unprecedented 88% approval rating.
Colin Powell was a stellar example of the American Dream – the son of immigrants who ended up with some of the highest offices in the land.
The 94 new cases announced today is shocking, but what is more important is the seven day average because that takes account of different testing levels done at weekends etc.
The seven day average is now at 65. A week ago it was 40. A fortnight ago it was 28 and a month ago it was 19.
National has worked constructively with the Government in support of a new Bill to amend the Resource Management Act to make it easier for New Zealanders to build more houses, says Leader of the Opposition Judith Collins.
“New Zealand is facing a housing emergency with a severe shortage of homes and runaway house price inflation driving increasing inequality and locking too many out of home ownership.
“In January, I wrote to the Prime Minister proposing that National and Labour work on a bipartisan and urgent solution to the housing crisis.
“As I said then, our resource consent process makes it too difficult to build more housing in New Zealand. I suggested a special Select Committee be established to develop emergency legislation to open up housing supply, in advance of longer-term reform of the RMA.
“In April, I presented a draft Bill that would have required local authorities to zone more space for new housing, drastically cutting consent requirements for those wishing to build new dwellings whether through intensification or greenfields development. My Bill was based on proven measures National took in Canterbury following the earthquakes which led to a surge in house-building.
“In June, Ministers Megan Woods and David Parker wrote to National confirming they saw merit in my proposal to increase the supply of residential housing. They welcomed National’s contribution to further development of policy to allow a serious uplift in new housing in urban areas.
“National has appreciated the opportunity to contribute constructively to this development process.
“While Parliament is an adversarial place by nature, it is important that politics can be put aside in emergency situations – be it responding to terror attacks, getting the message out on vaccinations, or addressing our housing emergency.
“National sees the Resource Management (Enabling Housing Supply and Other Matters) Amendment Bill as a step forward. The changes it contains will allow New Zealanders to do more on their land without needing a resource consent, reducing the time, cost and complexity that too often greets those who want to build new dwellings.
“I see these measures as being consistent with National’s commitment to cutting red-tape, freeing-up options for where new dwellings can be built, enhancing the rights of property owners and effectively creating a ‘right to build’ in existing urban areas.
“It is important to note that nothing in the Bill forces people to build more density. This is simply about removing barriers that can get in the way of sensible development.
“I am pleased that in addition to measures supporting intensification the Bill will also allow local authorities to fast-track private-plan changes for new greenfields development.
“National believes Kiwis need a variety of choices when it comes to buying or building a home, whether it be a classic house and garden, a modern townhouse, or a granny-flat out the back of an existing dwelling. Choice is important.
“Today is truly a historic moment for New Zealand: a time when our two major political parties stepped up together to give Kiwis the Right to Build. It is a positive reflection on our democracy and our system of government that, when the time requires, National and Labour can work together to tackle the big issues facing New Zealand.”
“National welcomes a Select Committee process for this Bill, and looks forward to continuing to play our part in making this as a robust and helpful a piece of legislation as possible.”
This is exceptionally pleasing – both for the substance of the bill, and to have National and Labour work together on this.
We do have a housing crisis, and the changes announced will increase the supply of houses – and this is critical to reining in house prices.
It isn’t a silver bullet by itself, but a very important step.
Credit to Nicola Willis, Judith Collins, Megan Woods and David Parker for their work together on this issue.
Seven Auckland-based crew were flown to Wellington to film Saturday’s vaxathon.
The staff belonged to Pango productions and NEP. All tested negative before flying to Wellington.
Are there no film crews in Wellington. Wellington is the film capital of New Zealand. Why on earth was it necessary to use an Auckland based company to film in Wellington?
When Health Minister Andrew Little claimed ICU beds had increased by more than 100 in the 15 months since Covid, Wellington ICU specialist Paul Young did a very unusual thing. He went on the public record to call BS on the minister’s numbers.
“I challenge you to visit any ICU in the country and find one clinician (just one) who can show their newly staffed beds,” Young tweeted.
You can either believe the minister or you can believe the people who are working at the coalface. I know who I believe.
Presumably Andrew Little meant that they had purchased 100 additional mattresses!
The truth is, it has been almost impossible to penetrate the spin surrounding ICU capacity for months now. I first started asking in the middle of winter when an RSV outbreak put hospitals under severe strain.
I was following up on an April 2020 press release on the Ministry of Health website that said ICU capacity was supposed to have been “urgently tripled” to 550 by July that year.
Yet in July 2021 when I first approached the MOH for an update on progress towards those 550 beds, they queried it as a number that they didn’t recognise as coming from the ministry.
So the Government promised to triple capacity to 550, then denied it had promised it!
They added that there were currently 284 ICU beds. That seemed to suggest a drop of around 60 beds on the previous year.
But that figure of 284 is different again from the one that Little quoted on Radio New Zealand last week of 340.
Yet according to an audit by the Australia New Zealand Intensive Care Society released just last week, none of those numbers are correct – the actual figure is just over 172 fully staffed adult ICU beds, and 14 fully staffed paediatric beds, a total of 186.
Inflation is great for the Government and awful for families. High inflation pushes people into higher tax brackets so every household will end up paying more in terms of their average income tax rate and more in terms of GST. So the Government gets more money, but households are left with less real after tax income.
The consumers price index rose 2.2 percent in the September 2021 quarter, the biggest quarterly movement since a 2.3 percent rise in the December 2010 quarter, Stats NZ said today.
Excluding quarters impacted by increases to GST rates, the September quarter movement was the highest since the June 1987 quarter, which saw a 3.3 percent rise.
Annual inflation was 4.9 percent in the September 2021 quarter when compared with the September 2020 quarter. This was the biggest annual movement since inflation reached 5.3 percent between the June 2010 and June 2011 quarters.
Excluding periods impacted by changes to GST rates, the September 2021 annual inflation was the highest since it reached 5.1 percent in the September 2008 year.
So excluding periods when GST changed (which saw compensating tax cuts) the annual inflation is at a 13 year high and quarterly inflation is at an 24 year high.
This is not surprising with all the extra money the Government has printed and borrowed.
Venezuela on Friday launched its second monetary overhaul in three years by cutting six zeros from the bolivar currency in response to hyperinflation, simplifying accounting but doing little to ease the South American nation’s economic crisis.
Good to see socialism continuing to do so well there.
This month across the world but particularly here in New Zealand, a great calamity struck millions of netizens with the fall of Facebook’s platforms due to internal network issues. Gone was the Facebook App, gone was Messenger, MessengerLite Instagram and WhatsApp. Even Pokémon Go was affected by the sudden and dramatic disruption on the way so many of us now engage online.
It was a shock to the systems of many and shock is the right word, because, Facebook has now become one of the primary tools for communications and information dissemination within global culture. Facebook and its platforms have, whether they intended or not, become an archive of human history and endeavour as digital photo albums and Facebook posts replace hard bound leather bundles, diaries and scrapbooks of our parents’ generation or the oral histories of our ancestors
The effect of the Facebook outage is still unknown at the time I write this but it is amazing to think of how much of our lives could be lost if Facebook were to permanently disappear overnight. How many late night messages between friends and loved ones could vanish into the ether of the digital abyss? We simply have no clue as to the societal damage but I imagine it would be likened to a mesh of the Fires of the Alexandria Library mixed with the personal feeling of a cherished family home burning down. How many of you have backed up your Facebook data and how many of you will be doing so the moment the platform is restored?
Today’s event, I hope, is a wakeup call to those who have their lives tied to one digital platform, to those that may have forgotten the subtle art of writing a letter or reading a long-form article in one of the great literary journals from Time to North & South. It is a (hopefully) temporary chance to reconnect ourselves with the other options for content dissemination and for the direct inter-personnel connection with others. The latter of course, being a barely permitted thing in the Auckland and Waikato regions for the time being but for the rest of New Zealand, the question remains as to how many of you last saw your best friend from High School or your flatmate from your University days. I bet it was on Facebook and you gave it a like even though they may live only a few kilometres away.
The digital revolution has shaped our lives so much for the better. It has allowed us all to keep in touch in seconds not in the months of the mail steamers of previous generations. Rather than families holding live Wakes for those emigrating overseas in the knowledge it was a near universal truth their brothers, daughters or cousins would never be seen again. Today, we can pop them a quick note on Facebook.
Well, not today.
For now we may have to think of another way to make them know we are thinking about them dearly instead. Stay positive and, just maybe, use today to make plans for that Level 3 picnic tomorrow.
NB: Melissa wrote this on the day of the outage. I’ve only got around to publishing it today as have been snowed under.
Jacinda Ardern has cancelled her wedding venue and the angry owner says the Prime Minister won’t pay a $5000 fee.
Unless the fee was documented and agreed to at the time of booking, there is no obligation to pay it.
Pierson said the couple had requested their friend, celebrity chef Peter Gordon, do the catering.
“Jacinda told me, ‘Peter Gordon has always said he wanted to be involved in my wedding’ to which I said, ‘I’ll have a free cooking lesson any day,’ thinking it would be a collaborative effort and we would be working together.
“My food is nothing like what Peter Gordon would do. I’m sure Clarke wouldn’t be bragging ‘Robin Pierson did our wedding’. I don’t think that cuts the mustard,” Pierson said.
I would have thought the sensible thing to do is explicitly ask if Peter Gordon would just be providing the menu and overseeing the kitchen, or doing all the catering himself. If someone told me they wanted to use my venue but say have Rith Pretty do the catering, I’d assume that would mean she is providing all the food, staff etc.
Pierson said Barbara Ward, Ardern’s electorate secretary, visited the Bushmere Arms to assist the couple with their wedding plans in early May.
Presumably this was on her own time, and not as part of her job.
“A week later I got sent a proposed menu from Peter Gordon’s ‘man’, which had been worked out with the bride and groom. It was then I suddenly realised I wasn’t involved in the catering at all and that Peter Gordon had clearly been contracted to do the food.
“The day they were here they should have been upfront and said, ‘I’m contracted to do the food now,’ but I don’t think he wanted to share the limelight with anybody.
Pierson was asked by Gordon to provide lettuce leaves from his garden, plums, homemade shortbread, and some mini pizzas for late-night snacks.
“It was insulting and I told them that too. In a cover letter with the menu, they thanked me for my hospitality. They were working on pricing for the event for the staff labour and the venue only.
“Peter Gordon was invoicing them separately for the food he was creating. I emailed back to say how insulted I was and told them the venue would cost $28,000.
So he got the pip and the demanded an outrageous amount for venue hire.
“Barbara sent me an email saying she was sorry I was insulted and that everything had gone ‘pear-shaped’. She then asked for a price and menu for Peter Gordon as a guest only. I emailed an outline and said the cost would be $100 to $110 per person, depending on the final menu,” Pierson said.
So he said the venue would be $28,000 by itself but if he did the catering the entire cost would drop to around $15,000. I’m sorry, but seems unprofessional to me.
Pierson said he was now in dispute over a $5000 cancellation fee.
He claimed he had been accommodating with the wedding date being changed several times because of Covid–19 and the couple’s hectic schedule.
“They have offered me $1200 and I’ve yet to get back to them. They say my fee is ‘unfounded’ but It’s not up to them to tell me what my cancellation fee is,” Pierson said.
Actually it is. You can’t unilaterally decide what a cancellation fee is. It needs to be stated in writing and agreed to by the party making the booking.
Midwives who would rather quit their jobs than get vaccinated against COVID-19 are urging the Government to rethink its vaccine mandate for the health workforce.
But COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins isn’t budging, saying it’s essential that people who work with children are vaccinated in order to keep them safe.
Ten of Taranaki District Health Board’s 63 registered midwives have said they won’t be getting vaccinated against the deadly disease, effectively ending their careers.
This may in fact increase the safety of maternity services in Taranaki.
Don’t get me wrong. The vast majority (over 95%) of midwives are great and do a superb job. But there is a small fraction who regard medical intervention as “unnatural” and don’t call for assistance in time when a birth becomes complicated, and this often has tragic results. I suspect there is a big crossover between that small fraction and the small fraction who refuse to be vaccinated.
Winston appears to be back where he started – as I recall 1989: fighting defamation but this time it’s a chap who runs a different sort of business to that in which Selwyn Cushing was involved. (1)
And then there was the incident involving Siminovich Fisheries – early Twenty First century.
At a point in time after my nine years in parliament, when I was a shareholding director of a Vela Group company and Winston Peters said utterances deemed to have been defamatory by Peter Simunovich and Vaughan Wilkinson, (2) I was “called back” from Australia by Philip Vela to; “sort the problem”.
I did. I obtained a written apology from Winston and gave that to Simunovich CEO Vaughan Wilkinson who then ran the apology on TVNZ.
That the apology was made known appeared to really upset Winston and it set a barrier between Winston and Simu. I was in the middle.
This was a barrier which “others” presumably did not take into account, when the false allegations of corrupt practice were made in what became known as, the Scampi Affair.
This time however, Winston was on the other side, claiming defamation of his character. Ironically, he was on the same side as Simunovich – but not as a joint plaintiff.
The culmination of this saga for Simunovich, resulted in NZ Heald capitulating and TVNZ failing to sustain its false allegation, resulting substantial damages. (3)
Today, it seems as if Winston has another issue with alleged defamation – this time potentially as a defendant against claims being made by Mongrel mob Leader, Mr Tam. (5)
As I have a “rapport” with a gang leader – Head Hunters – (4), perhaps I might be “called back to sort the problem?”
Always willing to help.
PS “Rapport” defined in the circumstances of the video means:
“I was accepted as a guest speaker to address the issue: “Rule of police” v “Rule of law.”
It should not be misconstrued in any shape or form to imply that I am involved with” gangs” (although some would say Red Squad was a “gang”) or that I have sympathy – although I do have an in depth understanding of how gangs evolve and perpetuate – as a result of twenty-one years front line exposure as a cop and from academic studies.
Ross Meurant, graduate in politics both at university and as a Member of Parliament; formerly police inspector in charge of Auckland spies; currently Honorary Consul for an African state’ Trustee and CEO of Russian owned commercial assets in New Zealand and has international business interests.
Holmes and I were sitting enjoying a quiet pipe at 221B Baker Street on a cold winter afternoon when we heard a knock on the front door. A muted conversation could be heard, followed by Mrs Hudson presenting herself at our sitting room door and informing Mr Holmes that a Dr Dusty Rose-Paddock wished to have an urgent interview with him at the earliest possible moment.
“Well,” said Holmes, “There is nothing pressing engaging us at the moment so please, Mrs Hudson, show him up”. A well-dressed gentleman was shown in and Holmes introduced us. “Now, Dr Rose-Paddock” said Holmes, “Please inform us of this urgent matter upon which you wish to consult us”.
“Well, Mr Holmes, I am most grateful for you agreeing to see me. I wonder if you could assist me in solving a most pressing problem? I am a medical man. My interest is infectious diseases. I occupy an important position in a large government department. What I have to say to you is top secret and must remain strictly confidential. It is no exaggeration to say that the very survival of the state as we know it is at stake”.
“Rest assured’’ said Holmes, “Anything you say to us we will go no further”.
Dr Rose-Paddock took a deep breath and said, “It is like this. There has been an outbreak of an infectious disease in government departments and amongst the government executive. As best we can tell the disease has been caused by a small microbe, just recently identified as Bacillus incompetens. It causes a disease called incompetitis. There is as yet no effective treatment”.
Watson,” Holmes interjected, “Have you heard of this microbe and its’ disease?”
“No,” I replied, “It must be something new”.
“Indeed it is” continued Dr Rose-Paddock. “The origin of the disease remains open to question but it may have originated in the miasma which frequently hangs in the air in government committee rooms. The symptoms occur after an incubation period of some 5 days or so and is manifest by an increasing level of bureaucratic incompetence, combined with a compulsive desire to make public announcements to the media and a refusal to accept any reasonable advice. The condition may progress to death. It is clear from the cases so far that the risk of severe disease and fatality is directly related to the level of incompetence of the individual prior to infection. Highly incompetent individuals are highly likely to develop severe symptoms and die. Very competent individuals at the most develop a mild illness lasting a few days and recover fully. I speak confidentially, Mr Holmes and Dr Watson, but most government employees at a high level are incompetent to a greater rather than a lesser degree. Regrettably, this applies to Ministers and, unfortunately, our Prime Minister. In an effort to control the disease we have quarantined nearly all of the government executive and the Prime Minister has been confined to the Beehive for the last week. We had hoped that case numbers would drop and indeed amongst the cohort considered most likely to develop the disease these numbers have tended to reduce. Our problem is that we now have mystery cases. These are cases that appear to have had no contact with any of the infected members of the executive or government. Worryingly various journalists and television commentators have developed the disease. The mode of transmission from the government executive and government bureaucracy to members of the media remains a complete mystery. It is absolutely vital, Mr Holmes, that we find the mode of transmission and stop it. Therefore, I have been asked to approach you to see if you would investigate and assist us.”
Holmes refilled his pipe, “Well, Dr Rose-Paddock, the case certainly has aspects of interest and I shall investigate forthwith, assisted by my colleague Dr Watson.”
Dr Rose-Paddock’s relief was palpable and he explained that pressure of work made it necessary for him to excuse himself immediately.
After he left Holmes looked at me and said, “Watson, what did you observe?” I replied that Dr Rose-Paddock seemed a perfectly decent sort of chap and obviously very worried.
“Yes,” said Holmes, “But did you not notice the Saville Row suit, the handmade silk shirt, the gold Rolex and the Lobb shoes? Dr Rose-Paddock is a man of considerable means, highly unusual for a civil servant, even one occupying a senior position.”
When I started writing this, it didn’t have my name on it. Why? To protect my career, to protect my family, to try and protect myself from the online harassment, bullying, smears, and lies currently being spread by supporters of sex self-ID in New Zealand. Specifically, some Green and Labour MPs and the gender ideology activists that support them.
But that’s changed because I will no longer hide while Beth Johnson, Daphna Whitmore, Ro Edge, and other courageous women from Speak Up For Women (SUFW) and Save Women’s Sports Australasia continue be the targets of sexist and misogynistic attacks, mistruths, and defamatory comments, which they have endured for three years. Why? Because they think that sometimes biological sex matters in life and in law and that women and girls’ sex-based spaces, facilities, services, sports, and opportunities should be protected.
It sounds like the dullest of dull pieces of government business. It is anything but. This SOP will remove the current Family Court process for changing sex on a person’s birth certificate and instead allow any person to be able to change their sex by self-declaration, without any verification of their authenticity or legitimacy.
In 2019, the Select Committee tried to slip in sex self-ID after public consultation on the Bill had closed. That was stopped by Hon Tracey Martin after she received Crown Law advice that raised a number of policy and legal issues. This time, in their attempt to get sex self-ID through with the least possible attention, the Select Committee opened and closed consultation in less than three weeks (NZ standard 4-6 weeks, in the UK the consultation period on the equivalent legislation was four months). The entire public consultation period was while the country was in a COVID-19 lockdown.
Despite this over 6,600 submissions were received and initial analysis is that approximately 70% of submitters are opposed to the sex self-ID proposals in the SOP.
Regardless of your views on sex self-ID, Labour and Green MPs are harming democracy
Select Committees are supposed to be a place where MPs across Parliament listen to members of the public and genuinely seek to make laws better, or at least understand peoples’ views on proposed legislation. It is often the only opportunity the public have to be included in the law making process. Information about appearing before a Select Committee on Parliament’s website states, “Making an oral submission to a Select Committee at Parliament doesn’t need to be an intimidating experience, even if it’s your first time,” “Don’t feel nervous” and “Everyone here is really interested in what you have to say.”
During her submission Deborah Russell and Rachel Boyack can be seen openly smirking and laughing. When it came to questions, Ms. Johnson wasn’t asked a single question about the content of SUFW’s submission or the concerns it raised. Instead Deborah Russell, Elizabeth Kerekere, and Rachel Boyack challenged SUFWs right to submit, asserted her submission was “transphobic”, and grilled Ms. Johnson about whether she knew about the Women’s Refuge transgender policy for reasons that remain unclear.
This wasn’t a one-off. As people spoke to their submissions that entire day Deborah Russell, Elizabeth Kerekere, Rachel Boyack, and Louisa Wall gushed over and praised submitters who support of sex self-identification and lectured, patronized, belittled, and sneered at those who oppose it. And then came this Facebook post…
Let’s unpack what Dr Kerekere says here:
She infers that anyone opposing either the Conversion Therapy or BDMRR sex-self ID SOP wants people in the rainbow community to be hurt;
She states that groups opposing sex self-ID are “anti-trans hate groups”;
She then posts a link to an article about SUFW’s oral submission and a screenshot that clearly shows the name and photo of Beth Johnson, a private citizen, making her a target of harassment and abuse; and
Says anyone who opposes sex self-ID are “haters” and “transphobic” who deny the humanity of trans people.
As per usual, Dr Kerekere talks about “misinformation and debunked research” but she has never, not once, provided a detailed rebuttal to support her claims. Instead she retreats back to simply representing any concerns that she doesn’t like as “transphobic” in an attempt to shut down discussion and debate, and intimidate others from engaging in democracy.
Not only is the use of her platform as an MP to bully members of the public breath taking but so is the cognitive dissonance given that in her own thesis she states on page 82 that: “There is not yet evidence that Maori had diverse gender identities or that takatapui played specific roles in pre-colonial times”. This post was followed up by Deborah Russell who, on Twitter a few days later, shared her view that people submitting to the Select Committee (presumably those saying things she didn’t like) should just f*ck off.
Dr Russell later tried to back pedal claiming that the tweet had been in reference to a specific submitter commenting on her turning off her camera one minute into their submission so she could stretch her back. But that clearly isn’t the case.
Politicians are quick to lament peoples’ lack of participation in democracy, be it voting in elections, being involved in political parties, or being part of the law-making process. Well why would they bother when some MPs hold people with views they don’t like with such public contempt? I know at least two women who submitted on this SOP who intended to submit in person that have now withdrawn because they do not feel up to facing the malice, condescension, and hostility that they know they will likely receive from these Labour and Green MPs. Another has asked her husband to do her submission on her behalf as she believes he will be treated better as a man than she will be. Sadly, she is correct. Every person that I have watched MPs treat with hostility and contempt has been female.
It should not take bravery to participate in democracy. It should not take great courage to spend five minutes in front of a Select Committee and talk about a proposed law. And no citizen should ever have to fear an MP using their social media platform to name, attack, and bully them because they express an opposing view.
The facts the Labour and the Green MPs don’t want people to know
There is already a process through the Family Court for people to change the sex on their birth certificate. This process balances the interests of people who have taken significant steps to live life as the opposite sex with safeguarding by requiring evidence from an independent third party.
Currently a person who wishes to change the sex on their birth certificate is not required to pay any fee, has access to a dedicated email address for support, does not need a lawyer, and does not need to appear in court. The one thing that is asked of them is evidence that they have taken medical and other steps (not necessarily surgery) to live as the opposite sex and intend to continue to do so.
I, and everyone else I know who opposes sex self-ID, support this process. What we do not support is any person, for any reason, being able to change their birth certificate to state they were born the opposite sex based on nothing more than their own self-declaration.
If you want to understand what the concerns with this SOP are, please read on. These are excerpts taken from my written submission. These are the people and the extreme ideology that Elizabeth Kerekere and her MP “allies” think deserve more priority and protection than women and girls.
SOP 59 will protect criminal offenders and distort public discourse and records
[Note: in the below I use sex-based pronouns for male sexual offenders – as they are male crimes]
In one of the most heinous crimes of recent times in New Zealand, Shane (Ashley) Winter kidnapped, tortured and murdered Dimetrius Pairama. Her torture included being stripped naked and having her genitals burned by a makeshift blow torch. The media repeatedly and consistently referred to Winter as a “woman” and “she” or “her” intentionally misleading the public to believe that this barbaric and horrific crime was committed by a woman and a man. In fact it was committed by two males, with Winter being the ringleader.
And Winter is not the only male offender in New Zealand to claim that he “identifies” as a woman. There are also (among others), most consistently referred to in media reports as women and/or she/her:
Alex Aleti Seu, who identifies as a woman, was convicted in 2017 of indecent assault and sexual violation. Seu used his “female” penis to sexually violate his victim to the point that he inflicted severe rectal injuries. Seu has had parole denied multiple times due to his very high risk of reoffending and sexual deviant lifestyle and sexual compulsivity;
Pierre John Parsons rendered a 12-year-old girl unconscious, stole her clothes for his own cross-dressing purposes, then raped her. He was recently caught with child sexual abuse material and blames his “gender issues” for much of his offending; and
Shelley Lee Williams has over 60 convictions. In 2019 Williams was granted parole “given the difficulties of the prison setting for her” as a result of identifying as transgender. Williams time on parole was short lived when after two months he went on a crime spree that included sexually assaulting a police officer.
Under this SOP, every single rapist (or any other male offender for that matter) in New Zealand would be entitled to change his sex to “female” on his birth certificate and be recognized as such. This would not be a change with no ramifications. Instead, it would result in Corrections being required to house them in a female prison as per their policy that states“If staff have a copy of the birth certificate that specifies the prisoner’s sex, the prisoner must be placed in a prison that manages prisoners of the sex specified on the birth certificate” [emphasis Corrections].
This legislation gives predatory males access to some of the most vulnerable women in New Zealand, as well as reduced security as there are no maximum security female prisons in New Zealand. This is because there are very few female prisoners who have been convicted of violent crimes. Instead, the overwhelming majority are known to have suffered from severe and significant male violence in their lives.
Under current policy it would also result in any future crimes they commit being recorded as being committed by a woman, significantly distorting sex-based crime statistics. For example, as of December 2020 there were zero (0) females in prison for rape.
For every male who is enabled by this SOP to state he is female and is subsequently convicted of rape or other sexual crimes or homicides, there will be an exponential increase in the number of “female” rapists, sexual offenders, and/or murderers in New Zealand.
The public have a right to know the truth about crime, and accurate sentencing and reporting is necessary for a cohesive and functioning democracy.
International evidence already demonstrates the dangers of allowing self-ID
In the UK since the introduction of self-ID the prevalence of sexual abuse by “female” offenders has increased by 84%. The media reported the increase, but consistently failed to mention that these statistics, by virtue of self-ID, were now distorted by the inclusion of male sex offenders who “identify” as female.
Additionally, as in New Zealand, the UK media consistently now report violent sexual crimes perpetrated by men as being committed by women. As Nicole Williams of Fair Play for Women states, Obscuring male-pattern crime only benefits one group; and it’s never the victims… Why bother to collect data that can’t be used for its intended purpose or claims to be something it isn’t? Bad data is worse than having no data at all. Statistics should inform not confuse.’
Other impacts of sex self-ID internationally are also consistently undermining the rights of women and girls to sex-segregated spaces and services. For example:
In September, Sophie Grace Chappell, a transgender activist campaigning for self ID law in the UK stated, in response to a question about the risk of women being murdered if males were allowed to self-ID into their spaces: “It wouldn’t matter if there was a slight spike because these things can be fixed.” Let me repeat that. According to one of the UK’s leading proponents for sex self-ID it wouldn’t matter if there was a slight spike in women being murdered as a result of legislating to allow males into their spaces because murdered women can somehow be fixed;
In August 2021, the Telegraph reported that it had analysed policies from over 20 NHS Trusts, and found that they have issued guidance specifying that patients can choose the ward, toilets, and shower that align with their “gender identity”. Those who complain have been labelled “transphobic.” One hospital group withdrew medical treatment from female patients who did not accept males being placed on women-only wards. A mental health trust has suggested that women who object should be put in seclusion and long-term segregation. Guidance also states that male sex offenders are to be placed on women-only wards if they choose and that, “risk should be managed”. Nurses who object have reportedly lost their jobs and staff are now too scared to raise safeguarding issues;
In 2021 California passed a law requiring that prison inmates be housed in the prison of the sex of their “choice” regardless of their crimes, including the rape and murder of women. Female inmates have been reported as being “terrified” and reported sleeping in shifts to try and protect themselves from male violent sexual offenders. Following the reported pregnancy of one inmate, prisons have now started distributing condoms as a response to the inevitable result of placing male rapists into female prisons;
In the UK women’s refuges have lost funding from councils for declining to allow male-bodied people who self-identify as women into their spaces in order to preserve the emotional and physical safety of women and children who have suffered male violence.
And those are just a few of the many occurrences that proves how enshrining sex self-ID in policy, practice, and law prioritises male privilege and entitlement over female safety, dignity, fairness, privacy, and lived reality.
It is not “hateful” or “transphobic” to be concerned about the real-world impacts of legislating gender ideology into New Zealand law. It is not hateful to say that women and girls (females) are entitled to services, spaces, and facilities that exclude males (and the reverse), no matter how they identify. And no MP should ever use their position or platform to intimidate, belittle, or besmirch people trying to engage in our democratic process in good faith.
Stuff has an article (first in a series) on the issue of whether or not child support payments from fathers should be used to offset the cost of the DPB paid to their mothers. There are pros and cons to both the status quo, and the mooted change.
But you would not get to understand any of those pros and cons from the article. Every single person quoted in it is in favour of changing the law. There are eight people quoted in the article and all eight support a change. There was presumably no attempt made to get comment from someone who supports the status quo.
Ideology is different. The imperative is not what works but what is philosophically anointed. The Health and Disability System Review does not advocate abolishing the DHBs. It proposes collapsing some into larger ones, and giving them more central direction about what they should be achieving. Which is actually all the postcode argument calls for: a tilt towards more centrally directed co-ordination, not a new monolith.
The review was a substantial sounding of opinion and experience, and contained numerous interesting initiatives, many centred around local solutions for local needs. It did not recommend the Government’s creed of central control.
It is far from obvious that monoliths deliver the best public services, and no rationale for having one arises from the process to date. If there is any rationale beyond socialistic worship of state health hegemony, the Government would do well to identify it.
Labour certainly loves centralisation – polytechs, water, hospitals, national awards etc. The one thing in common is greater power to the centre.
