Stuff reports:
The Government will create new laws to target flashy gang leaders and violent criminals, in a crackdown on organised crime and firearm ownership.
Police Minister Poto Williams and Justice Minister Kris Faafoi announced the Government’s plan to introduce Firearm Prohibition Orders and bolster police powers to seize the assets of organised criminals, at the Beehive on Tuesday.
Only two years after National proposed much the same. Better late than never.
The Herald reports:
Police suspect social media challenges are driving a spate of Mazda thefts in Taranaki.
A group of 30 teenagers – some as young as 13 – are believed to be responsible for stealing more than 100 cars of this brand since January.
The Mazda theft phenomenon first appeared in Taranaki in November and December, when up to 30 were stolen.
Since the start of the year, a total of 200 vehicles have been taken in the province – 108 of them Mazdas, many of the type usually referred to as “nana cars”. …
Given the age of the offenders, the overarching principle for police was safeguarding their wellbeing, Davie said.
Call me old fashioned but shouldn’t the overarching principle be protecting car owners from having their cars stolen, rather than the wellbeing of the offenders?
Stuff reports:
The leading candidate to replace Cheney is Elise Stefanik, who represents a rural New York district. While Trump was president, Stefanik, a moderate by Republican standards, voted for legislation he supported only 77.7 per cent of the time, according to FiveThirtyEight, a website. She opposed his tax bill, his only major legislative achievement. On policy Cheney was the better ally, backing Trump’s position 92.9 per cent of the time.
Republicans are rallying to Stefanik for one reason: she has been zealous in spreading misinformation about the election and trying to overturn it. Most recently she backed a Republican-ordered audit of the vote in Arizona’s largest county despite several previous audits confirming Joe Biden’s victory. That effort is taking on a whiff of desperation, if not lunacy: auditors are examining paper ballots for any trace of bamboo because of a specious claim that thousands were flown in from Southeast Asia and stuffed into ballot boxes.
Stefanik didn’t even vote for the Trump tax cuts. She is one of the most left leaning members of Congress in the GOP. But that doesn’t matter. All that matters now, it seems, is how willing people are to push the big lie.
Stuff reports:
TVNZ has confirmed it intends to launch a paid, ad-free on-demand television service, possibly as early as later this year.
Broadcasting Minister Kris Faafoi declined to say whether he saw any obstacles.
The state-owned broadcaster has discussed launching a paid subscription service since 2014, but the company went further on Monday in indicating that was a firm plan.
Chief executive Kevin Kenrick made clear in 2018 that a paid service would be in addition to its advertising-funded OnDemand service, rather than a replacement for it.
This is the future, so it is good to see TVNZ go down this route. However you need some really good content to get people to pay.
I currently have three on demand subs and would be highly resistant to paying for a fourth. My three are:
If anything I’d be cutting it back to two, not expanding to four.
To the government: The right person/organisation is out there: Fund him and get out of the way!
Over the last four years I have had the blessing of getting to know Mike King a little and have him speak in our schools. I was also given the job of presenting for the hour leading up to Mike at a major conference. I was so glad I was before him as to speak afterwards would be like lighting a match on the Sydney Harbour Bridge after the NY fireworks.
Mike is brilliant, compassionate, has a huge heart & energy, leads people effectively, makes people laugh and connects as if they are the only person in the room.
In the government’s desire to be the solve-alls, alongside their massive and growing bureaucracies, and control everybody and everything mentality – kids are not getting anywhere near the level of help Mike and his team can offer.
Mike wrote in the NZH today and here are a few points (and please help if you can and/or let the Ministry/Minister of Health and the PM know they need to change).
– Over the past six months, we have seen a steady flow of alarming media stories highlighting the chronic shortfalls in mental health services, including but not limited to underfunded services, excruciating wait times of up to 12 months and burn-out by mental health professionals.
– I am disappointed and embarrassed by the state of mental health support today.
– Despite what the Ministry of Health is telling us, capacity is not the issue – there are plenty of counsellors available. The issue is the Ministry of Health’s reluctance to pay for counsellors.
– In March, Health Minister Andrew Little was reported saying that he knows there is frustration in the sector, but they are moving as fast as they can with the capacity that they’ve got.
– Why is the Ministry of Health is ignoring the “click and collect” resource available through Gumboot Friday-funded free counselling service? This is a service currently funded by public donations that has more than 3800 registered counsellors across the country and has already allocated more than 15,500 hours of free counselling to thousands of young Kiwis under 25.
– The Ministry of Health which, despite lauding the “team of five million” during Covid-19, refuses to fund a service created by the people for our most vulnerable people.
– Last week the Government announced an expansion of Mana Ake, or Stronger for Tomorrow, investing $28 million in an early intervention in-school mental health and well-being programme that addresses mild to moderate mental health needs of Year 1 to 8 children before they become more serious. The programme will be expanded by the beginning of 2022 at a cost of a further $10 million.
– By comparison, if Gumboot Friday was given $28 million that would equate to 300,000 free counselling sessions nationwide, not just in 5 centres.
– Gumboot Friday connects anyone under 25 with a private counsellor in their area with one click of a button – and picks up the bill. The efficient and effective service has been running for the last two years and has achieved some outstanding results.
• Average cost: $124 per session
• Average sessions per client: four
• Average response time: 48 hours
• Average wait time: six days
• In year one 40 per cent of clients were male – the most at-risk group
• And nearly 40 per cent of clients were aged 11 and under.
– As someone who is in the mental health trenches, I am simply staggered that a resource that New Zealanders deem worthy of funding is being ignored by the Ministry of Health. It’s not only reprehensible behaviour from the officials but continues the status quo where New Zealanders facing mental health challenges are left questioning if they’re important enough to get help.
• This year’s Gumboot Friday fundraiser is on May 28. For more information on how you can help go to www.gumbootfriday.com.
Mike King writes:
Is anybody else confused by the shortage of mental health counselling services around the country right now?
Over the past six months, we have seen a steady flow of alarming media stories highlighting the chronic shortfalls in mental health services, including but not limited to underfunded services, excruciating wait times of up to 12 months and burn-out by mental health professionals.
As someone who stood alongside the Prime Minister at a press conference and defended the Government from attacks by the opposition parties, going on record to say that “this Government has done more in six months than the last government did in nine years”, I am disappointed and embarrassed by the state of mental health support today.
He was the poster guy for the Govt on the mental health reforms, sharing the podium with Jacinda. And now he regrets it.
It seems to me that the well-worn catch cry of our Prime Minister to “go hard, go early” – at least in the eyes of the Ministry of Health, applies to everything except the lives of young New Zealanders.
It is as if just announcing reviews isn’t enough.
Very interesting elections outcomes in Scotland, Wales and England.
In Scotland there was little change. SNP gained 1, Greens gained 2, Labour lost 1 and Lib Dems lost 1. The Conservatives stayed on 31, and remain the official opposition.
In London Sadiq Khan was re-elected but his first round margin was only 4% after polls showed him 25% ahead.
In Wales the Conservatives gained six and become the official opposition. For many years there were in third place in Scotland and Wales.
They thrashed Labour in the Hartlepool byelection, a seat safe for Labour for over 60 years.
In English Councils they gained 290 seats and Labour lost 247. This led to them gaining a majority on 11 more Councils.
So overall very good results for Boris Johnson whose chances at the next election are looking good.
The Herald reports:
National leader Judith Collins says she has been leaked documents that recommend the Government undertakes a major shake-up to Department of Conservation (DoC) land.
The document, which National passed on to media this morning, outlines a number of draft recommendations from the Options Development Group – a body tasted with reviewing conservation policies.
The group has recommended that the Conservation Act be reviewed and replaced with a system which better honours Te Tiriti/ the Treaty of Waitangi.
It also asks that the Government reforms all conservation entities, including DoC, to better reflect Te Tiriti partnerships, and that the Crown revokes its ownership of indigenous species.
Collins has specifically questioned one of the draft recommendations: “[To] provide for the delegation, transfer and devolution of functions and powers within the conservation system to tangata whenua”.
What will the compromise be? Only 50% of the conservation estate?
The Ministry of Education has released the latest attendance data. This is the proportion of students who are absent more than 30% (so more than 11 weeks absent):
If kids are not in school then yes they will end up earning less income, being more likely to face the criminal justice system, having worse health outcomes etc. Kids absent more than 30% are not going to leave school with adequate literacy and numeracy.
And don’t try and blame it all on colonisation. That won’t explain the huge difference between Asian and Pacific attendance rates.
Setting up quangos and authorities will do stuff all in terms of closing the gaps. Following up on kids not in school, will.
Newshub reports:
A 25-year-old man has been arrested by police for threatening National MP Simeon Brown.
The alleged offender, who Newshub understands is a gang member, was arrested at a Lower Hutt property on Friday afternoon. …
The man is due to appear in the Hutt Valley District Court on Thursday, 13 May, where he will face a charge of threatening to kill the National MP.
Brown told Newshub he’s grateful to the police.
The Pakuranga MP has been outspoken against gangs. He recently demanded the Mongrel Mob stop selling meth and hand in illegal guns during an appearance at Parliament.
Good to see the Police take action. No MP should have to face threats against their life because what they say isn’t to the liking of gang members.
RNZ reports:
The government can’t – or won’t – say if crime is increasing in and around emergency housing, because the police are not collecting that information.
Neither the police nor the Social Development Ministry (MSD) is actively monitoring incidents of crime, violence or family harm in this type of housing, but do encourage people to come forward if they feel at risk.
RNZ has been told numerous stories of people being victimised while living in motels, in what can be intimidating and violent environments – with the police often having to turn up.
More than $900,000 is being spent each day on emergency housing; there are no contracts with providers, and no expectations of a service beyond a typical guest.
Moreover, the numbers are exploding and they include children – about 4,000 at last count.
Housing and social advocates say it is dangerous and totally unacceptable especially for already vulnerable children and women, in some cases escaping abusive relationships.
Some accommodation has been described by one government minister as “inhumane”, not “fully safe for everybody” and some made to feel “barely human, seen primarily as a way for commercial motels to make quick money”.
MSD, which hands out the grants, says it responds when concerns are raised, but does not “centrally record” incidents of family harm, criminal activity or social disorder.
Police “recognise community concerns about a perceived increase of crime” but do not “collect data specifically in relation to emergency housing”.
A perceived increase in crime?
Serious assaults have doubled from 2017 to 2020. That’s not perceived.
Total acts intended to cause injury were 4,100 a month in 2018 and so far in 2021 is averaging 5,600 a month.
Newshub reports:
Newshub can reveal a major Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) announcement made just days out from the election has massively failed to deliver on jobs.
Almost $100 million was earmarked to upgrade marae across the country. It was meant to create more than 3000 jobs, but with half the money already spent, it’s managed just 5 percent of that: 158 full-time jobs.
So $100 million has created 158 jobs, Once again the Government misses a target not by 5% or 10% but by 95%.
I guess it looks successful compared to their 0% for Auckland Light Rail, 1% for government electric vehicles and 1% for Kiwibuild.
A roundup of media takes on the Speaker.
He was told time and time again he’d ruined this man’s life, destroying his career and making him fight a case Mallard knew from the beginning he himself could never win.
The only concession he made was the man’s life was ruined alright, but only when he committed a serious sexual assault against his accuser. Mallard’s pathetic and unbelievable excuse for wrongly calling him of being a rapist was that he didn’t understand the definition of the word.
His outburst this week calls into question whether he understands what a serious sexual assault is. The parliamentary worker was accused of hugging his colleague from behind, a complaint laid years after it allegedly happened. A secret inquiry was held, involving parliamentary lawyers among others, who found the accusation was without substance.
After a select committee appearance late last year where Trevor Mallard was interrogated at length by National MPs Chris Bishop and Michael Woodhouse, it became clear to senior ministers and the Prime Minister’s office that the Speaker couldn’t keep his temper in check. …
Mallard’s behaviour at the select committee had already raised a red flag with senior members of the Government, prompting them to sit down with him ahead of Tuesday night’s debate.
It’s understood he was counselled to take a more moderate stance and only talk to points that had already been canvassed in public.
Lines of attack were rehearsed to ensure Mallard was on script.
But within minutes, Mallard had thrown that advice out the window, as he used the protection of parliamentary privilege to launch into a claim of an (alleged) sexual assault, and to purposely antagonise Bishop.
That hatred was centre-stage as Mallard and Bishop went at it at each other on Tuesday night. Mallard, who has mostly kept from outwardly attacking his attackers in recent months, used the absolute legal protection of parliamentary privilege to say that he believed that this man sexually assaulted a colleague and has no place working in Parliament. He took the case for a defence that he has long wanted to make far further and with far more political venom than was needed – it’s easy to understand why Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern found the need to reprimand him today. His hate for Bishop dripped off every comment he made; as did Bishop’s hate for Mallard.
The role of Speaker of the House requires a level head and sense of authority. A bit of mana, it commands respect.
And that’s why I’m finding the hot-headed unprofessional behaviour of Trevor Mallard increasingly frustrating.
In fact, it’s beyond frustrating; it’s actually just downright rude.
He is a law unto himself and is abusing his power.
His outbursts and the tone he is setting inside Parliament are beyond the pale. Even the PM has said so. Which, by the way, is a first, a sitting PM criticising a sitting Speaker has never happened before, that’s how serious this is.
But her expressing concern is not enough, he needs to go. And can she have it both ways? Express concern over him, but then still give him her confidence. Which is it?
The key duties of a Speaker are to maintain the dignity and order of Parliament, and to exercise impartiality.
Last night, the Speaker himself was breaching all three. Consider Parliament brought into disrepute.
It is against the rules to even insinuate a Speaker is not impartial – but that rule comes with a responsibility on the Speaker to at least try to achieve impartiality.
Where a Speaker is openly hostile to Opposition MPs, that is a hard rule to adhere to. …
If Mallard’s resignation is due, after last night it is not for the reasons National has set out. It is not because of the defamation settlement or the length of time it took for him to admit he was wrong, or because he wrongly accused a man of rape.
It is partly because he used Parliamentary privilege to make further claims about a man who has little recourse to challenge those claims publicly.
It should be because last night he abandoned any pretence of impartiality and the dignity of his role.
d
Tim Murphy tweeted this extract from the AUT report.
It shows The Spinoff as the lest trusted media outlet and Radio NZ as the most.
Of interest is all outlets have had a decline in the last 12 months. General trust in news dropped from 53% to 48%.
Hartlepool has been held by Labour since the 1960s. It is in the former Labour heartland of the North of England. It has been speculated that the COnservatives might pick it up in the by-election, but they did more than that,. They crushed Labour.
They got 52% of the vote to 29% for Labour in a seat not held by them for over 60 years.
In the wider elections, the results to date for England Councils are Conservatives gain 54 seats, Labour loses 56 (gaining control of 4 Councils).
RNZ reports:
Yesterday, RNZ revealed that Pharmac is likely to end the blanket provision of child cancer drugs.
Pharmac said it had long viewed the special exemption for child cancer drugs as “inconsistent” but it was jolted into finally addressing the issue in response to a discrimination claim taken under the Human Rights Act.
In the claim, the regulator was questioned over why it was funding all child cancer drugs but would not fund Spinraza for about 35 children with spinal muscular atrophy, a deadly genetic condition.
It said no final decisions had been made but the most likely outcome of its review would be to bring child cancer drugs into the normal Pharmac process. …
Children’s Commissioner Judge Andrew Becroft called Pharmac’s chief executive yesterday to express his concern.
“I don’t want a situation to descend into playing one illness off against the other. And children, with their illnesses, being bargaining chips when they’re facing life-threatening conditions,” he told RNZ.
“All children in New Zealand, surely, can have access to lifesaving treatment. That must be the starting point.”
However, Little told Morning Report that was a “really unfortunate characterisation” by the commissioner.
“I would’ve expected better frankly from him. If he knows an organisation is under investigation by the Human Rights Commission for not acting consistently with the Human Rights Act and if there is then a finding that they are not, then they have an obligation to be compliant with the Human Rights Act, and it is not for the Children’s Commission to lob in his own grenade to sort of somehow say it should be different. “
So Little is attacking the Children’s Commissioner because he doesn’t want there to be any doubt over the funding of cancer drugs for children.
If there is an inconsistency with the Human Rights Act, then Little can legislate for that. Hell if they can ram through abolishing referenda on Maori wards in a few days, they should be able to legislate in favour of guaranteed funding of drugs for children with cancer.
In Jan 2021, Stuff reported:
Alby Barr, Northland chairman of the Rail and Maritime Transport Union, said the upgrade has been a long time coming and there is a lot of interest in using rail from Northland businesses. …
Just two trains a day use the North Auckland Line but Barr said the trains can be 2km long.
When I read this article, I thought the assertion the trains were sometimes 2 km long was unlikely. So I asked Kiwirail. They took a while to answer, but they now have. My thanks to them.
The longest train in 2019 was 1070 metres. There are no 2 km long trains. In fact only three out of 494 trains exceeded 800 metres. The average was 409 metres.
I’m not against the North Auckland line upgrade. I just think the facts are important.
The Taxpayers’ Union has unearthed a great story of taxpayer money being wasted. This is the story of Michelangelo the turtle. The summary:
The sheer extravagance of sending eight board members and staff from Te Papa to return a turtle is galling. And then to hire a helicopter to fly it to an island.
Stuff reports:
William Emery drove his car at the partner he’d just argued with, pinning her to a wire fence four times.
He revved the engine to frighten her, saying “get in the vehicle, or I will run you over”.
His partner suffered broken fingernails, a court decision says, and the pair are no longer together.
On the day of the offending, 18 September 2020, he pushed her out of the vehicle before driving away, but turned back and “pushed her into the fence with the car four times”.
William Steven Emery pleaded guilty to assault with a weapon and, in February 2021, was sentenced to nine months in prison.
Home detention was ruled out because Emery, a wheelchair user, has one leg amputated above the knee, which made fitting an electronic bracelet for home detention impractical.
What about his other ankle?