Stuff reports:

Justice Minister Andrew Little has revealed some prisoners will be allowed to vote in next year’s general election.

People sentenced to less than three years in prison will have their voting rights restored.

This will return the law to the way it was pre-2010, before the National-led government removed voting rights from all sentenced prisoners.

“We plan to make this change in an Electoral Amendment Bill before the next election, so that people sentenced to less than three years imprisonment can participate in the 2020 election,” Little said.

I disagree with this change. For someone to go to prison, they generally have to either have committed scores of crimes, or a serious offence.

Judges will generally only sentence to prison as a last resort.

Therefore I think being sent to prison is the right threshold at which you lose your rights to vote. It is a more logical threshold than an arbitrary dividing line of less than three years and more than three years.

But I guess the Government needs every vote it can get, so it will rush the change through before 2020.

Supporting this law change will be another nail in the coffin for New Zealand First.

The Sunday Star-Times published a profile of ACT staffer Brooke van Velden.

Brooke was No 3 on the ACT Party List in 2017. If she keeps that placing (and they’d be mad to put her any lower down), then she’ll become an MP in 2020 if ACT get 2.0% or more party vote.

The NZ Health Survey is one of the few that asks people their sexual orientation. This means it is arguably the most authoritative source of demographic data on sexual orientation.

The 2018 results are:

• Men: 97.1% heterosexual, 1.4% homosexual, 1.2% bisexual
• Women: 95.3% heterosexual, 1.0% lesbian, 3.1% bisexual
• 15 – 24 year olds: 90.8% heterosexual, 1.3%, gay/lesbian, 7.3% bisexual

Of course how people identify can change over time. For example in 2016 only 1.8% of women said they were bisexual and three years later is is 3.1%.

Also big differences by age. 7.3% of under 25s say they are bisexual and only 0.3% of over 65s.

MSN reports:

Iran condemned the United States’ support for “rioters” in a statement issued late Sunday, after two days of violent protests in the Islamic republic against a petrol price hike.

The foreign ministry said that it was reacting to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s “expression of support… for a group of rioters in some cities of Iran and condemned such support and interventionist remarks”.

Protests erupted in Iran on Friday, hours after it was announced the price of petrol would rise to 15,000 rials a litre (12 US cents) from 10,000 for the first 60 litres and to 30,000 rials for any extra fuel bought after that each month.

They’re rioting over the cost of petrol increasing to 12 cents a litre!! They should come to NZ where the tax alone is over $1 a litre!

Like many, I am so relieved that the jury didn’t fall for the lies from Grace Millane’s killer. They correctly found him guilty of murder, not manslaughter.

It was awful that we had to hear details of her online dating preferences etc. Bad enough to be killed, but also to have your life laid bare.

There is a world of difference between safe and consensual breath play in sex, and strangling someone until they are firstly unconscious and then dead.

Now the verdict is in, the media can report the background of the murderer. He appears to be a pathological liar to say the least. I think the jury can rest easy that they didn’t fall for his lies.

Without trying to be a psychologist, there is obviously something wrong with the man. His behaviour after he killed Grace was beyond disturbing.

May this verdict bring some closure to Grace’s family and friends. It won’t heal them, but at least the trial is over, and her killed will be sentenced to life imprisonment.

Stuff reports:

Corrections has begun calling prisoners “men in our care” in a move slammed by staff, according to well-placed sources.

Officers are also being asked to address prisoners by their first names instead of their surnames, as was previously standard practice.

The raft of new terms also includes the te reo word paihere for prisoners, which in its noun form translates to “bundle”.

The Government said it wanted to have a zero prison population. It’s now achieved it by relabelling all prisoners as “men/women in our care”

I look forward to further new definitions:

• Police to no longer label people as “suspects” but “friends we want to contact” and offenders as “friends in need”
• NZ Defence Force to now refer to enemy combatants as “estranged allies”

Newshub reports:

Newshub can reveal that the Government not only failed to sell some KiwiBuilds to first home buyers – but it couldn’t even flog them off to Housing New Zealand (HNZ) as they didn’t fit design standards.

So the only impact has been taxpayers have paid money to property developers for houses no one wants.

There are currently 75 unsold KiwiBuild homes. Fifteen have been on the market for longer than six months. 

So around 1/4 of their houses are unsold. remarkable incompetence.

The Herald reports:

Former Prime Minister Helen Clark is rejecting any suggestion that she or her Government were tainted by the New Zealand First donations scandal in 2008, when Labour lost the election.

“I do not believe that the events concerning NZ First were of any particular significance in the 2008 election result and do not accept any inference that the actions of others impacted on my reputation,” she told the Herald.

It is essential that Jacinda follow Helen’s advice, and do nothing and let this issue drag on for months and months.

Grant Jacobs at Sci Blogs writes:

Recently more than 150 post-graduate students and young scientists presented an open letter to the Green Party via The Spinoff, encouraging them to reconsider their position on genetic modification. Their target is tackling climate change issues.^[1]

Can any party continue to be dismissive about genetic modification (GM) contributing to better agriculture?

We all want safe food, and the environment and climate change are important issues to tackle. New varieties can contribute, including those developed using GM.

All political parties have quietly let the GM legislation slide, not just the Green Party. It is unimpressive no party has moved the temporary legislation on. (Such outstanding timidity! Such an excellence of hand-sitting!^[2])

It’s an issue politicians avoid, I believe, because the core of opposition to GMOs is about some people’s beliefs, not science, and politicians are reluctant to deal with beliefs.

Jacobs is right that no party has pledged to update the law. They should. We need to use science, not be scared of it.

In response to the ESCA’s letter, the Green Party science and technology spokesperson opted to tread water. The party offers that they (paraphrasing) “follow the science”, but in my experience—across many different issues—is they only seem to “follow” chosen subsets of science that fit an ideology appealing to their members. That’s not how following science works.

Exactly.

To a biologist, the worry-warting about GMOs is often badly misplaced. It’s forgivable and understandable that people worry about things they don’t understand and projects ideals on them, but that doesn’t make it right. In this opposition to GMOs is like opposition to vaccines, 1080, water fluoridation and more.

Today we have a large problem to solve: to keep our way of life on this planet. (The planet will live on, but how we live on it is another matter.) Pre-emptively throwing away useful options is a lousy idea.

You can’t claim climate change is an existential threat and an emergency and then claim we don’t want to use science to mitigate it.

Prince Andrew is the Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal New Zealand Army Logistic Regiment.

Might be time for someone else to take on that role.

National announced:

Local party members have selected Tim Costley as National’s candidate in Ōtaki for the 2020 General Election.

Mr Costley is replacing retiring MP Nathan Guy, who is standing down after five terms.

His background:

Timothy (Tim) Costley is currently the Wing Commander overseeing operational airworthiness at Ohakea.

He has a Master’s degree in International Defence and Security, a Bachelor’s Degree in mathematical Physics and a Diploma in Business.

Tim joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force as a pilot in 2001. He flew Iroquois and NH90 helicopters, including operational service flying in the Solomon Islands and East Timor. Tim also completed a tour of duty in Afghanistan and numerous rescue missions in New Zealand and humanitarian missions in Fiji and Papua New Guinea.

Tim has held a variety of leadership roles within the RNZAF, including Second-in-Command of pilot training and Command of the NH90 helicopters both in New Zealand and overseas.

In 2014 Tim was seconded to HRH the Duke of Cambridge as an Equerry – an officer of the British royal household who assists members of the royal family.

Tim is the founder of The Missing Wingman Trust, the first charity of its kind in New Zealand. The Missing Wingman Trust supports Air Force families when someone is killed, wounded, injured or becomes ill, whether in New Zealand or overseas. Tim serves on the trust board, and also chairs the local school Board of Trustees.

Tim is married to Emma and they have three school-aged daughters. If Tim ever has free time, he enjoys long-distance running and music.

Sounds like a very sold record of achievement. He should make a very good MP.

There are so many entities involved in NZ First or associated with them, that I thought it would be useful to list them.

• New Zealand First Political Party: A political party registered under the Electoral Act 1993. Leader: Winston Peters, President: Vacant, Secretary: Liz Witehira (acting). Reveals donations and campaign spending as mandated by Electoral Act.
• New Zealand First Incorporated: An incorporated society registered under the Incorporated Societies Act 1908. Annual accounts claim zero income and expenditure.
• New Zealand First Foundation: Appears to be atrust. Trustees appear to be Brian Henry (NZ First lawyer) and Doug Woolerton (lobbyist and former MP). Appears to have collected $500,000 of donations and lent money to NZ First and/or have paid bills on behalf of NZ First and/or their MPs
• QComms Limited: A company established in 2002. Sole shareholder and director is Brian Henry. Up until 2018 was called Henry Merchants International Ltd. In 2018 charged NZ First Foundation $93,000
• Thorn Services Limited: A purported company (can’t find on Companies Register) that invoices NZ First Foundation for wages connected to work for Qcomms. Stuff reports contractors include a former NZ First board member and Brian Henry’s daughter
• N.Z. Future Forest Products Limited. A company not formally associated with NZ First but has applied for government funding relating to forestry. Directors include Brian Henry, his son and Winston Peters’ partner
• Kinleith Continuation LP. Owns NZFFP Ltd. Public partner is Brian Henry’s son, private partner is unknown, but assumed to be a foreign investor

For the avoidance of doubt, the above is just a description of the various entities in the news. It is not suggesting there has been any illegal behaviour by the various officers.

What I will say though is it all seems very complex and designed to minimise transparency.

The Representation Commission announced:

The Representation Commission is proposing changes to half of New Zealand’s electorates and establishing a new electorate in south Auckland.

The Commission has released its report today on the proposed boundaries and names of electorates for the next two general elections. The public will now be able to have their say before the boundaries are finalised in April 2020.

“Where possible the current boundaries have been retained to minimise the number of people affected by electorate boundary and name changes. Of the 71 existing electorates, 36 are unchanged. The adjustments in other electorates reflect changes in population since 2014 when the boundaries were last reviewed,” says Representation Commission chair Judge Craig Thompson.

It looks like the Representation Commission has gone for minimal change, which is good. They have only made changes to seats where the population is over the 5% tolerance, which makes change mandatory. In previous boundary setting exercises they have sometimes also made changes to seats below the 5% tolerance as population projections are that they will get too large or small in future.

But as the census stuff up has delayed the results and hence the new boundaries, it is very good that they have been conservative with their changes because final boundaries will only be set in April 2020, possibly less than six months before the election. It will be confusing for those in affected areas to learn at such a late stage they are in a different seat to previously.

Here’s some of the more significant changes:

• A new seat of Flat Bush, drawing area from Hunua, Manurewa and Papakura. On paper a National seat as the blue Hunua and Papakura areas outweigh the red from Manurewa.
• The Waitakere Ranges going from Helensville to New Lynn makes New Lynn a National seat on paper. If the boundaries are confirmed, it will be a key seat.
• Banks Peninsula moving into Port Hills, and being renamed Banks Peninsula also on paper moves the seat from Labour to National. With Ruth Dyson retiring, this seat will be a potential pick up for National.
• The changes to Maungakiekie should make the seat safer for National and Denise Lee
• The changes to Wigram make it a marginal seat
• Dunedin South picks up some blue area from South Otago. Combione that with the retirement of Clare Curran, and again a potential pick up for National.

So overall National should be pretty happy with these proposed boundaries. On paper they win the new seat, and flip two Labour held seats plus two other Labour held seats become marginal and their marginal seat of Maungakiekie becomes safer.

The Herald reports:

The man accused of the March 15 terror attack was supplied 2300 rounds of ammunition by using a police mail order form that also revealed to police he had an AR-15, a parliamentary select committee has been told.

The information was part of a submission from licensed firearms dealer Paul McNeill to the finance and expenditure committee, which is considering the Government’s second tranche of gun law reform.

McNeill, who is also director of the Aoraki Ammunition Company, appeared before the committee on Friday via video link, but his submission was quickly taken offline in case it might affect the accused’s right to a fair trial.

He told the committee he received a police mail order form from the Dunedin arms officer in December 2017 to supply the accused with 2300 rounds of ammunition.

“At the time, Brenton Tarrant was issued with a 10 year [firearms] licence, expired 8 September 2027, indicating he was issued a licence in September of 2017, which from my information was only a matter of five or six weeks after he arrived in the country,” McNeill told the committee.

“This time, he has no family, no partner, no job, no footprint in the community, yet he was vetted as being fit and proper and obviously given a full licence which allowed him to arm himself.”

McNeill said the mail order form also said the accused was in possession of a Norinco semi-automatic rifle as well as an AR-15 – the type of military-style semi-automatic firearm the Government made illegal in the aftermath of the March 15 attacks.

“So the police were aware he had these firearms,” McNeill said in video footage that was removed from the Parliamentary website, but was later posted on social media.

The Royal Commission must include in its report the way Police have been vetting gun owners. I’ve heard from lots of owners that they feel the vetting has been too lax and the problem wasn’t so much the law, but the Police.

As it happens I think the first tranche of law changes were worthwhile, but we still need to be assured that the Police are up to the job of vetting.

Danyl McL writes:

Stuff doesn’t name the donors in the document – one source has told me that both Winston Peters and the donors could be horribly embarrassed if identities were made public. But Stuff says the foundation received 26 donations of $325,900 in just a five month period, adding: “Donors to the foundation include food manufacturers, racing interests, forestry owners and wealthy property developers.”

Winston Peters is the minister of racing. Shane Jones is the minister of forestry. If the food manufacturers are exporters then they might be impacted by Peters’ decisions as minister of foreign affairs. New Zealand First has publicly, repeatedly, announced that they were responsible for killing the Ardern government’s proposed capital gains tax. The public has a right to know that they were being funded by property developers.

This is why disclosure is important.

When Winston Peters was minister of foreign affairs and racing under the previous Labour government it was revealed that he’d taken donations from Sir Bob Jones, Sir Owen Glenn and the Velas, a wealthy family prominent in the racing industry. The donations were made through an organisation called the Spencer Trust, which was run by Peters’ brother. An investigation by Parliament’s Privileges Committee found that Winston Peters had attempted to conceal the donations and then lied about it, and the committee voted to censure him. The scandal dominated the 2008 election. John Key ruled out working with Winston Peters. Helen Clark didn’t. Labour lost, and New Zealand First was voted out of parliament.

Will history repeat itself?

New Zealand First’s coalition partners have dreaded this moment for two years. The prime minister’s instinct will be to distance herself from the scandal and hope that it goes away. “We assume that the law has been followed.” “It’s a matter for the Electoral Commission.” “I am not responsible for the New Zealand First Party.” And so on. But the matter of whether or not she presides over a government linked to allegations of “corrupt or illegal practices” is not a matter for another party or office. The integrity of the government is the prime minister’s responsibility.

Why is there no sanctuary in the Kermadecs? Is this because of donations to NZ First from the fishing industry?

One of the things that led to the end of the Clark government was the endless drip feed. The allegations of secrecy and deceit swirling around NZ First just kept coming. And now this government is trapped in the same political hostage situation, with the same politician, facing accusations of engaging in the exact same practices. An early election might be worth the risk if the alternative is a year of ongoing leaks and allegations resulting in a contest that makes Simon Bridges prime minister.

I hope and trust Labour will ignore Danyl and let this drag on for many more months.

The wowsers would have you think youth drinking is out of control and getting worse. But the Government’s own health survey shows the opposite.

On all three measures of youth heavy or hazardous drinking, the trend is down over the last four years.

Radio NZ report:

Sources have told RNZ the Crown is considering loaning money to the council so it can purchase the land from Fletcher Residential, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fletcher Building.

Fletcher is seeking $40 million for the property – more than double the $19m it paid in 2014.

RNZ understands the government is keen to get the controversial land dispute wrapped up by the new year to avoid it overshadowing the annual pilgrimage to Rātana and Waitangi.

If the Crown is lending the money, then effectively it is the Crown paying, ie taxpayers.

And the result would seem to be that the 480 homes planned for there won’t be built which means the Government will have stopped twice as many homes with this decision that it has managed to build with Kiwibuild. They’ll be at a net -210 or so.

The Herald reports:

Barely half of New Zealand adults know that it takes 365 days for the Earth to go around the sun.

Fewer than half can name the seven continents, or work out how far a car travels at a constant speed in a given time.

Only 32 per cent know that the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840.

The results, from a poll of 1000 New Zealanders aged 18 and over for the NZ Initiative, has exposed what the business think tank calls “serious gaps in public knowledge”.

It blames New Zealand’s flexible curriculum which allows each school to design its own local curriculum, and calls for a more structured education system to ensure that all New Zealanders acquire “a core of knowledge”.

The NZ Initiative report is here. Curia did the polling for it and I was stunned at how many people didn’t know such basic facts.

You can test yourself on the Herald website.

A summary of results is below.

I got too busy to do a submission to the main review of Standing Orders. But I see the Greens did one, so I’ll comment on some of their proposals:

• Reform of question time: Support having a PM’s question time and also more issue of the day debates. Also support more questions to be allocated to the Opposition
• Support having Chairs of Select Committees determined proportional to party size in the House.
• Support having a threshold for petitions to automatically require a Government response
• Do not support secret election of Speaker. Democracy must be open.
• Do not support automatic introduction of members’ bills just because they have majority support as would flood members’ days. However could support if threshold was say a 2/3 supermajority
• Do not support Parliament having to ratify treaties in advance. Is impractical and mean we would rarely negotiate a treaty
• No problems with location of MPs trusts being disclosed
• Agree being present at a Cabinet Committee should count as present in Parliament
• Totally against proposal to ban lobbyists from having parliamentary swipe cards. We should make MPs and Parliament more accessible, not less. My view is that anyone who is not a security risk and has a legitimate reason to regularly visit MPs should be able to get a swipe card.
• Quite like the suggestion to replace the bells summoning Parliament with bird calls.

Let’s have a careful look at N.Z. Future Forest Products Limited. It was established on 27 March 2019.

It is a company 100% owned by Kinleith Continuation LP. That is a limited partnership where all we know is the public partner is David Henry, son of NZ First lawyer Brian Henry. It is normal for an LP to be set up to hide detail of foreign investors.

The address of both NZFFP and Kinleith is a flat owned by Brian Henry.

It has four directors. The three initial directors are Brian Henry, David Henry and Michael Rann (based in UK). A 4th director appointed on 27 August 2019 is Jan Trotman, partner of Winston Peters.

Within days of being formed it applied for $15 million from the provincial slush fund for a feasibility study for a new engineered timber operation in Gisborne. Yes $15 million for a study! Luckily Labour Ministers turned it down a few days ago.

They also applied for $95 million from the Billion trees fund to buy farmland to convert to commercial forestry.

Yes a possibly foreign owned company run by NZ First people tried to get over $100 million out of taxpayers so it could buy up NZ owned farmland and convert it to forestry land.

No wonder Winston called a journalist a psycho for daring to ask him questions about it. Because there is clearly nothing at all to see here.

It isn’t just about the unsuccessful attempt to get $110 million from taxpayers. NZ First has been responsible for policy changes exempting forestry companies from overseas investment restrictions on land. So even without the grant applications, we have the potential for people intimately involved with NZ First to benefit from NZ First policy.

And we don’t know who the actual owners are. They have a corporate structure which hides the foreign investors.