Politik reports:

Parliament yesterday ended its Select Committee hearings on Winston Peters’ racing reform legislation with more protests about the legislation’s proposal to close the Dargaville Racing Club. Peters grew up near Dargaville and went to school there and recently boasted of his connections to the area during a Provincial Growth Fund announcement in the town. He advised his audience that they should ensure the voice of Northland, “and, dare I say it, the provinces is heard every time critical decisions are made.”

Unfortunately, the Mayor of Kaipara District Council, Jason Smith, told the Select Committee that was precisely what had not happened over the proposal to close the race-course. No one locally had been consulted about the proposal to close the course, sell the land and give the profits to the racing industry.  The matter is particularly awkward for NZ First because Dargaville is a stronghold for their vote in the Northland electorate; a must-win for Shane Jones to give the party a good chance of getting back to Parliament.

But as RadioNZ has recently revealed, the NZ First Foundation is also the recipient of substantial donations from a number of prominent figures in the horse racing industry. The industry generally supports the reform proposals. Nevertheless, the outcry from Dargaville is strong. In an open letter to Peters, the chair of the Dargaville Racing Club, Tim Antonio said “no club, and no person, in any industry, in any town or city should live in fear of the seizure of their assets by the state. “It’s not the Kiwi way. “Maybe in Mugabe’s Zimbabwe; maybe in Pol Pot’s Cambodia but not in New Zealand, under a democratically elected government.”

Yep Peters and the Government have proposed that the state seize the asset of local racing clubs. This is good for his wealthy racing elite donors but basically theft from local provincial clubs.

A very detailed profile of Joe Biden from 2013 is worth a read for those who like to get beyond the soundbites.

The Listener editorial:

Last weekend, when he said Indian students had “ruined” many of our education institutions, he barely even bothered with nuance.

This was racism, plain as day. He has not resiled from it – saying only that if others think he’s been racist, he will live with it.

The only person who seems to think it wasn’t racist is the PM.

She needs to do a lot more than that. Jones was banging the bigots’ drum – and serving notice that he intends to continue doing it.

When it comes to NZ First, Ardern is showing the lack of authority more readily associated with a relieving teacher unable to deal with the boys in the back row who will go on disrupting the class until the end of term because they know she cannot control them.

She needs to censure Jones publicly and strongly. It hardly matters whether he believes what he is saying or is just practising his lines for NZ First’s tactics in the coming election campaign. The party is free to talk about a population policy and immigration, but singling out a particular ethnicity crosses a bright line that is unacceptable to the public and is embarrassing for the Government.

This is the key. It is not racist to say we should have less immigration. It is not racist to say we should have a population policy. It is racist to scapegoat Indians.

She should demand that Jones apologise. Peters’ behaviour is damaging enough, but Jones’ utterances are a stain on New Zealand’s tolerance and inclusion. If he must indulge himself, he should do so from the backbenches until voters decide his fate.

I predict this will not happen.

Newshub reports:

Sir Michael Cullen has resigned from his role as Chair of the Bay of Plenty Health Board and as a member of the Lakes District Health Boards due to stage four lung cancer.

He said the news was “totally unexpected”.

“What was initially a CT scan of my heart has resulted in a clear diagnosis of Stage IV small cell lung cancer with multiple secondaries in my liver.

“Chemotherapy is likely to extend my lifespan somewhat, but it is clear to me I will not be in a fit state to carry on all that I have been doing in recent months.”

Shit that is devastating news.

Cullen was one of the giants of NZ politics as Finance Minister for nine years and Deputy PM also. He was arguably the most capable Minister in the Clark Government.

It was when Cullen was Finance Minister that I was allowed into the Budget lockups, and always enjoyed being able to question him on the Budget in front of all the other media.

Cullen post politics has been incredibly active. National gave him some SOE appointments and some Treaty claims to sort out and the current Government had him on two DHBs and EQC plus of course the Tax Working Group. He may have been 75 but he seemed pretty indestructible and I was assuming he’d be active for many more years.

All cancers are nasty but lung cancer especially so. An awful thing to have.

I wish him well with the chemotherapy.

Radio NZ reports:

Former Labour minister and Auckland mayoral candidate John Tamihere is set to run for the Māori Party in the Tāmaki Makaurau seat.

It’s understood Tamihere’s endorsement meeting with the Māori Party is tomorrow and an announcement will be made on Sunday.

Peeni Henare has a fairly good majority of 3,809. But with both Davidson and Tamihere campaigning hard for the seat, could get interesting.

The Herald reports:

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has delivered her strongest rebuking of NZ First MP and Minister Shane Jones yet, suggesting that if he was a Labour MP, he would face demotion.

She also urged voters to condemn Jones’ comments – which have been labelled “racist” and “irresponsible” by the Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon – and to “act on their values when it comes to election time”.

So the PM is saying she won’t take any action against one of her Cabinet Ministers but she wants voters to. Wow.

Speaking to the Indian Weekender, Ardern said she “vehemently” disagreed with Jones’ comments.

But asked if the comments were racist, Ardern again would not explicitly say they were.

What she had already said publicly was the “strongest condemnation I could possibly give [Jones’] comments”.

Oh get real. Saying you disagree with them is not the strongest condemnation you could possibly give. It is close to the weakest you could give.

She again cited the fact that Jones being in a different party to Labour as the reason why she has not gone further in her reprimand.

“If I had a member within my own party making statements like that, I would have a very obvious ability and course of action that I could take,” she said.

“I could demote, I could reprimand; [there is] a range of things that I could do.”

But all those things were off the table because – although Jones is one of her ministers – he is in a different political party.

This is again factually incorrect. She could do any number of things such as:

• Remove him from the Executive
• Move him from inside Cabinet to Minister outside Cabinet
• Take an Associate portfolio off him (the Coalition agreement allows this)
• Declare his remarks incompatible with remaining a Minister and give him a final warning

All of this can be done without breaching the Coalition Agreement as the Coalition Agreement only states there will be four Ministers, not that Shane Jones must be one of them.

“My message to voters is this: In election year, the power now sits with you. You determine who is able to form Governments and you have it within your power to decide what you make of those remarks, as well,” she said.

“What is within other’s powers is to join in the condemnation of statements, like those we have seen made by Shane Jones.

“I asked of voters to act on their values when it comes to election time.”

And my values are I’m happy to have a racist Cabinet Minister in my Government.

Sad to hear of the sudden death of Jeanette Fitzsimons at age 75.

I last saw her at a select committee meeting when we were both submitting against the waka jumping bill.

She was one of the most principled and nicest MPs I’ve known.

She is the only Green Party MP to have won an electorate seat – Coromandel in 1999.

Condolences to her family and friends.

Liam Hehir writes:

Accordingly, some prime ministers have held enough power to operate like dictators (Muldoon). Others have operated more like the chairman of the board (John Key). And, from time to time, you get a prime minister with very little authority at all. Like, perhaps, Jacinda Ardern. 

Consider the manner in which Winston Peters and Shane Jones continue to demonstrate that they are not really accountable to the person in whose cabinet they serve.  

After some outrage a while ago – I forget which one exactly – the prime minister made a big show of asking Jones to take a copy of the cabinet manual with him to read while he was on holiday in Thailand. A seemingly not chastened Jones hit back at his critics. Then he went on holiday and got himself shooting one of the assault weapons that were being banned following the March 15 terror attacks. 

Jones has recently made comments about the volume of Indians enrolled in tertiary study here has “ruined” those institutions. The prime minister has tepidly made clear her disagreement with that reprehensible statement but has refused to call them racist. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Jones has since demonstrated very regard for his prime minister’s admonition. 

In terms of disciplining Jones, Ardern seems to be maintaining that her hands are tied because he is not a member of the Labour Party. But the arrangements between Labour and NZ First are a matter for them. It is not clear why, in terms of her public accountability, the public should be happy with Ardern’s cries of powerlessness.  

The Cabinet Manual, a fairly authoritative summary of the constitutional customs and traditions that underpin our political system, is clear on this point. It notes that the appointment and dismissal of government ministers is a power that belongs to the prime minister alone, for example. It also states that “[u]ltimately, Ministers are accountable to the Prime Minister for their behaviour.” 

As I said earlier, the powers of the office of prime minister ebb and flow over the years. It could be that we are now entering into an era nearer the ebb. One of Jacinda Ardern’s contributions to our constitutional evolution could well be the addition of the following qualifier to the above Cabinet Manual statement: “except when a Minister belongs to a different party, in which case he or she is accountable to no-one.” 

The Race Relations Commissioner and James Shaw have both said that Jones is being racist. But Jacinda Ardern’s view is that it is fine for one of her Cabinet Ministers to be racist so long as they are not in her party.

Newshub are doing a series of back stories on MPs. This week is on Nikki Kaye, and I think does a good job of getting to the person beyond the politics.

Chris Bishop writes:

For most of my life, Lower Hutt’s population has been pretty stable. When I was growing up in the Hutt in the 1990s, the city’s population was around 95,000 people. By 2013, it was still just 98,000 people.

But Lower Hutt’s been on a growth tear recently, and the latest statistics show we’ve hit just under 109,000 people – over 10 per cent growth in the city in just a few years.

Definitely has become a desirable place for many to live.

A growing city is a good thing; but only if infrastructure and housing supply keeps pace – and it hasn’t. Hutt commuters heading into town on State Highway 2 know that congestion is getting worse, and Petone residents like me are increasingly fed up with an Esplanade that slows to a crawl not just at peak times, like five years ago, but throughout most of the day. 

Incredibly painful.

First, let’s open up the north of Wainuiomata for housing, and build a second road into the area via Naenae. I’ve been saying this for a couple of years, but it’s now time for serious action.

About 2500 to 3000 houses could be built in north Wainuiomata, which would make a big contribution to addressing our housing shortage. A new road through to Naenae would be needed to connect the new suburb to the Hutt, and this would greatly improve Wainuiomata’s resilience.

Second, let’s get on with the Cross Valley Link and the Petone to Grenada Link Road. The Cross Valley Link has been talked about since at least the 1960s, and should have been built years ago. It will take pressure off the congested Esplanade, and make it easier for those living in the east to get across the city.

It needs to be built at the same time as Petone to Grenada, which will open up more land for housing, improve our resilience, and ease congestion from Petone to Ngāūranga. Petone to Grenada is expensive, but nobody really doubts we need it. Let’s get on with it.

Third, while we’re doing the new Melling interchange, let’s extend the Melling train line up to Kelson and Belmont. The line used to run there, and it can do so again. Both suburbs are growing (as are Avalon and Naenae across the river), and it will mean people don’t have to travel to Melling to jump on the train.

Great to see a local MP putting forward proactive ideas for growth in his electorate. They all sounds good to me, especially the 2nd link into Wainuiomata which could transform it.

Stuff reports:

Twenty-one mining applications have been approved on conservation land since Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s speech promising there would be no more. 

The delay in legislation to back up the commitment has meant that for the past two years it’s been business as usual, and mining applications have continued to be processed. As one conservationist puts it: “Rome continues to burn” while the promise has floundered.

Between November 2017 and the end of January 21, mining applications have been approved.

Just another in the long line of failed promises.

Personally it was a stupid promise, as not all conservation land has the same value, and treating scrubby stewardship land the same as Fiordland National Park is incredibly stupid.

But what it does show is yet again we have a Government great at announcements and incredibly bad at achievements.

Stuff reports:

The impact of Coronavirus on the economy is likely to last longer than previously expected, Finance Minister Grant Robertson warns.

The Government had been planning for three economic scenarios and was now moving into the second phase, where the impacts of Covid-19 will be felt for a year, Robertson said.

The impact on New Zealand could be very significant, in three potential ways:

1. The economic impact – tourism and trading industries especially hit due to the global impact
2. The personal impact – people getting sick, the anxiety, taking time off work, self quarantines and possible deaths
3. The health system impact – if significant numbers get infected, the health system will face huge pressures

Some facts on Coronavirus:

• Current fatality rate is 3.4% according to WHO
• Fatality rate for 50 to 59 year olds is 1.3% and for over 80s 14.8%
• Median time of death after symptoms emerge is 14 days
• 93,200 infected in 81 countries
• 3,200 deaths

The top 10 territories infected are:

1. China 80,270
2. South Korea 5,328
3. Italy 2,502
4. Iran 2.336
5. Japan 298
6. France 212
7. Germany 203
8. Spain 165
9. US 128
10. Singapore 110

Stuff reports:

A proposed law change prohibiting ads for vaping products and e-cigarettes is “inconsistent” with the right to freedom of expression, the Attorney-General states. 

The Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Vaping) Bill was introduced to Parliament last week, including a complete ban on the sale of vaping and smokeless tobacco products to anyone under 18. 

Under the bill, the advertising of vaping products and smokeless tobacco was also banned, e-liquid flavours would be restricted and vapers can no longer light up in smoke-free areas. 

But a report released by Attorney-General David Parker stated parts of the bill banning the advertising or promotion of vaping products were “inconsistent with the right to freedom of expression” under the Bill of Rights Act. …

Parker’s report said the bill limited freedom of expression in a number of ways, including prohibiting advertising regulated products, restricting trademarks and company names, and requiring standardised packaging. 

He had to determine whether the objective of the bill – to protect the health of the public – was justified enough to overrule freedom of expression. 

In his view, while some restrictions on advertising were “likely justifiable”, a “blanket prohibition” was not a “proportionate response, given the lack of evidence for [vaping] being harmful”, he stated. 

“On the contrary, vaping is significantly safer than smoking,” he said in the report. 

Hopefully Parliament may take notice.

Cat MacLennan writes:

It is time for Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to rule out working with New Zealand First after the 2020 election. …

New Zealand First has traded on racism and the demonising of immigrants since it was first set up in 1993. Each election cycle, anti-immigrant rhetoric is ramped up with the goal of appealing to voters.

New Zealand is only days away from remembering the 15 March 2019 Christchurch mosque attacks. There could be no more horrifying lesson about the dangers of racism. Public vilification of specific ethnic groups not only entrenches prejudice, it gives comfort and support to those with extreme, anti-immigrant views.

When this rhetoric comes from politicians – and, even worse, from Cabinet ministers – the impact is magnified because of their powerful positions and the media coverage they draw.

Despite this, New Zealand First MP and Minister Shane Jones on Saturday stated that Indian students were ruining New Zealand’s education system. When challenged about his remarks, he doubled down and his leader, Peters, rejected the (correct) claim that the remarks were racist.

This is not what the country needs from our politicians. New Zealand should be working to make immigrants safer, not condoning them being abused by those at the highest level of our society.

David Lange would have sacked a Cabinet Minister for such racism.

Jim Bolger would have sacked a Cabinet Minister for such racism.

Jenny Shipley would have sacked a Cabinet Minister for such racism.

Helen Clark would have sacked a Cabinet Minister for such racism.

John Key would have sacked a Cabinet Minister for such racism.

Bill English would have sacked a Cabinet Minister for such racism.

The 2nd reading of the Abortion Legislation Bill passed 81 – 39. The votes by party were:

• National 25 – 30
• Labour 37 – 9
• NZ First 9 – 0
• Greens 8 – 0
• ACT 1 – 0
• Ross 1 – 0

NZ First will seek a referendum at committee stage but not get it. That means at third reading they will either party vote against or vote by conscience.

Some of the amendments at committee stage will be:

• Darrock Ball – require a referendum
• David Seymour – delete ban on protests outside abortion clinics
• Jan Logie – change eligibility from women to “pregnant people” to cater for pregnant men!

The exit poll for Virginia has Biden more than 20% ahead of Sanders. If the same in other states, Biden should have a good day. California and Texas are most important.

The demographic breakdowns are interesting in comparing.

• Men: Biden +11%
• Women: Biden +31%
• Whites: Biden +17%
• Blacks: Biden +45%
• 18 – 29: Sanders+37%
• 30 – 44: Sanders +3%
• 45 – 64: Biden 30%
• 65+: Biden +63%
• No college degree: Biden +23%

Also of interest is net favourabilities:

• Biden +35%
• Warren +10%
• Sanders +3%
• Buttigieg +0%
• Klobuchar -2%
• Bloomberg -17%

Looking like Bloomberg will have a bad Super Tuesday. If he packs it up after this, then it is Biden vs Sanders and Warren which again helps Biden.

Newstalk ZB reports:

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in an interview Sunday did not reveal any details of a potential historic meeting between President Donald Trump and leaders of the Taliban.

Trump said during a news conference a day earlier that he would meet with leaders from the militant group “in the not too distant future” following the signing earlier Saturday of a historic agreement between the US and the Taliban which sets into motion the potential of a full withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan and could pave the way to ending America’s longest-fought war.

The deal is the least bad option, from what I can see. After 18 years, it is hard to see what more one could do to stabilise the country with troops. So a deal with the Taliban is a necessary evil.

Of course if Obama had struck such a deal, many in the GOP would condemn him as a traitor and surrendering to the enemy.

I’m not optimistic the Taliban will stick to their end of the deal, and what will be interesting is how the US then responds.

But if the US and NATO can withdraw their troops, and Afghanistan doesn’t become a worst place to live for the locals, then that’s a good outcome.

Stuff reports:

First year free study may be a popular policy, but hundreds of students made false declarations to get their university fees covered in the 2018 and 2019 academic years – and some haven’t paid the money back.

In response to written parliamentary questions obtained by Stuff, Education Minister Chris Hipkins has confirmed that at least 473 applicants for Fees Free made false declarations in order to receive get the grant in the first two years of the government’s Fees Free programme.

Hipkins said he was advised by the Tertiary Education Commission of the 342 false declarations in 2018 and 131 in 2019.

Yet charges have only been laid against three individuals for the 2019 year.

Why isn’t everyone who makes a false declaration charged?

Newshub reports:

RNZ reported earlier on Tuesday that despite Ardern saying his language was “loose” and “wrong”, Jones was unrepentant and didn’t believe most people would consider the comments racist.

“I challenge anyone in New Zealand to disagree with me in terms of the sad regularity with which we are seeing egregious cases of abuse, in the media, coming from the Indian migrant community upon their own. In fact, they’re appearing in courts with more regularity than the Mongrel Mob.

So Jones says some racist stuff which Ardern refuses to take action against, apart from she’ll ask him to reconsider his words.

His response is basically a two fingered salute as he doubles down and says even more racist stuff.

He is clearly implying that Indians in New Zealand are not very law abiding, comparing them to the Mongrel Mob.

In fact crime stats for 2019 show that overall Indians appear in court, as a proportion of their total population far less than most ethnic groups. The proportions are:

• Maori 5.4%
• Pasifika 2.1%
• European 1.0%
• Indian 0.8%
• Asian 0.2%

So 992 out of 1,000 Indians have not appeared in court yet Jones compares them to the Mongrel Mob.

But of course once again Jacinda will do nothing except wring her hands. God forbid she actually act like she is the Prime Minister and say something along the lines of:

“There is no room in my Cabinet for a Minister who denigrates entire ethnic communities to score political points. I have informed Minister Jones that if he makes such a comment again, I will immediately dismiss him as a Minister”

Paul Glass writes in the Herald:

I’m deeply concerned about two ongoing issues relating to potential corruption in New Zealand with respect to the current Labour-led Government. Both involve NZ First. …

But in an unhealthy quest for power, Labour outbid National by offering NZ First a disproportionate (NZ First only received 7.2 per cent of the votes) say in the running of NZ, offered NZ First leader Winston Peters the “baubles of office” as Foreign Minister among other roles, and agreed to establish an unprecedented $3 billion slush fund (the Provincial Growth Fund).

It is this fund that has all the hallmarks of banana republic politics. Its $3b, or $1b per annum, is an extraordinary sum of money and could fund many worthy projects. To put it into context we could double Pharmac’s budget each year, build 150 new schools, provide breakfasts for kids at lower decile schools, eradicate all pests, fund 120,000 hip operations or provide almost free public transport to all New Zealanders; all actions that might make a meaningful difference to NZ, unlike the fund.

A good focus on the opportunity cost of the Fund. Much of the fund is being spent on trying to win Shane Jones an electorate seat. Think what a doubling of Pharmac’s budget would mean for hundreds and thousands of New Zealanders.

The second, and potentially related issue, is the revelation that the funding arm of NZ First, the NZ First Foundation, appears to be in breach of at least the spirit, if not the actual letter of the law, with respect to receiving political donations. This matter has now been referred by the police to the Serious Fraud Office for investigation.

The Electoral Commission has said they believe it has breached the letter of the law.

The fact that to date Ardern has refused to ask her coalition partner even the most basic questions, or investigate the matter in any way, is deeply concerning and would be unacceptable in any other walk of life. Whether through political naivety or an unhealthy hunger for power, Labour is setting a very poor example for all other NZ entities.

See no evil, hear no evil.

Before I get accused of bias myself, I should point out that I voted for Labour in the last election so have no political axe to grind in this case.

Corruption is bad, no matter who does it.