Stuff reports:

Auckland mayor Wayne Brown says he has not ruled out stepping down towards the end of his second term if re-elected, allowing Desley Simpson to replace him.

Speaking in an interview with Stuff, the 79-year-old confirmed for the first time that he might hand over the mayoralty before the full three years are up, though he insisted he had not discussed the possibility with his deputy, Simpson, and stressed he still has plenty to do if he secures another term.

“I haven’t ruled that out, but next year’s a really important year for Auckland,” Brown said.

In normal circumstances, if the mayor of Auckland resigns, there needs to be a by-election to find a successor. While that process is underway, the deputy mayor fills in.

Legally, elections must be held within 103 days of the election officer receiving notice of a resignation. So if Brown resigned 102 days before the 2028 election, Simpson could remain as mayor and there wouldn’t need to be a by-election.

This is not correct. By-elections for local authorities do not occur if the resignation is within 12 months of the election. This is in S117(5) of the Local Electoral Act 2001. So if Brown resigned anytime after October 2027, the Auckland Council would appoint one of the 20 Councillors to become Mayor (and could also appoint a new Councillor to replace the Councillor who becomes Mayor).

So the Deputy Mayor would not automatically become Mayor. It would be whichever Councillor could gain a majority of the Council to vote for them.

Robert Bartholomew writes:

For millennia, indigenous cultures have accumulated a vast repository of information that has helped them to adapt and survive. 

Prior to European contact, the Quechua of the Andes used quinine from the bark of the cinchona tree to treat fevers. It later proved to be the first effective treatment for malaria. Salicin from the willow tree was used by tribes in the Americas to treat pain, fever, and inflammation and led to the development of aspirin. The active ingredient in snakeroot,  reserpine, was used for centuries by native peoples in India to treat high blood pressure and was adopted by Western physicians as an early treatment for hypertension. 

From stellar navigation to sophisticated construction techniques, agricultural innovations, and hunting strategies, indigenous knowledge has made significant contributions to human progress. 

Yep. I am often amazed by how good indigenous knowledge is. For example in Peru I was stunned that the Incas made their buildings hundreds of years ago earthquake proof, using ancient knowledge.

While these achievements deserve respect, many practices promoted under the banner of indigenous knowledge lack scientific merit and should be approached with caution. 

In Australia, attempts to incorporate the Aboriginal practice of ‘spiritual healing’ into the health system have been met with alarm as it involves a belief in sorcery and supernatural intrusions rather than biological agents. In the United States, alternative treatments include Native American herbal remedies, spiritual ceremonies, and sweat lodges. 

Not all traditional knowledge is good!

There is a long history of once revered European beliefs that have not passed scientific muster from astrology and alchemy. While once held to be legitimate knowledge, each of these practices eventually collapsed under the weight of scientific scrutiny.    

Bad traditional knowledge is not unique to any culture. European or western culture has had no shortage of these over time. However as scientific understanding advances, they get abandoned.

Nowhere has the trend of embracing indigenous knowledge gained more of a foothold in mainstream institutions than in New Zealand where the government has given it equal status with science in the school qualification system. This elevation has resulted in many grandiose claims about the power of the Māori lunar calendar to influence everything from human health and well-being to horticulture and the weather.

In 2023, Māori politician Hana Maipi-Clarke asserted that the calendar could be used to predict floods. There is no evidence to support this claim. Many factors affect rainfall: air and water temperature, atmospheric pressure, cloud formation, wind, humidity, the jet stream, and the burning of fossil fuels. The moon is not one of them.

Another popular claim is that a full moon can affect plant growth by pulling moisture in the soil upward to nourish seedlings. The moon’s gravitational pull on soil moisture is negligible.  

Just last year the government allocated $400,000 to study if lunar phases affect pregnancy activities despite studies consistently showing no correlation between lunar phases with childbirth and health outcomes. Such projects divert important resources from evidence-based maternal care. The relevant factors in birth outcomes are biological, genetic, and medical, not the waxing and waning of the moon.

Let us not forget the taxpayer money that got spent on researching if playing whale songs to trees will cure them!

Indigenous traditions deserve respect but they must be held to the same rigorous standard as other bodies of knowledge. Some ‘ancient wisdom’ is has proved to be genuinely valuable, while other claims lack scientific grounding or have yet to undergo rigorous testing.

For science to survive the culture wars, scientists must be willing to evaluate indigenous knowledge without dismissing it outright or accepting its veracity uncritically, but duly evaluating it on merit, regardless of cultural significance.

This should be a totally uncontroversial statement. Sadly it is not.

A release:

The Local Government Business Forum has today released a report calling for binding referendums on major council spending projects, giving ratepayers a way of saying yes to projects that they support. 
 
“Council rates increased an average of 12% last year and are estimated to rise another 9% this year. It is little wonder there have been loud calls for the government to step in and cap rates increases,” said the Local Government Business Forum’s secretary, and report author, Nick Clark. 
 
The Forum’s report Local Government Spending Referendums recommends requiring councils to hold binding referendums for significant capital projects exceeding $500 per ratepayer or 5% of annual operating expenditure. 

I absolutely support this. Wellington has around 75,000 ratepayers so this means any project over around $40 million would go to referendum. I can guarantee you many of these daft projects would have been killed off. Ratepayers would never vote for a recycling scheme that reduces greenhouse gas emissions at the cost of $19,000 a tonne (the ETS price is $57) as they pay the bills. But Councillors did.

“International experience shows that rates caps can cause problems, including underinvestment in critical infrastructure,” Clark continued. 
 
“Ratepayers deserve a direct say in major spending decisions on non-essential projects. Our proposal offers a democratic ‘third way’ between uncontrolled local government spending and centralised rate capping,” added Dr Eric Crampton, Local Government Business Forum spokesperson. 

I think you do both. You cap rates generally to inflation, but you hold binding referendum on major projects, which if approved can breach the rates cap.

The Herald reports:

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has written to Labour leader Chris Hipkins urging him to commit his party to supporting offshore exploration for natural gas for at least the next 10 years, in an effort to achieve a “credible, bipartisan approach”.

But Hipkins has called it a “political stunt rather than a genuine attempt at building bipartisan consensus”.

It’s a political necessity. No company will want to invest in gas exploration if they think the next Government may ban it in a few years.

Gas reserves have been depleting quicker than predicted, with Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) data showing that, as of January 1, 2025, reserves had reduced 27% compared to last year. 

A March briefing to ministers said domestic gas supply “is not adequate to meet demand and reserves are falling faster than anticipated”.

The less gas we have, the more coal we need to import.

Stuff reports:

Embattled internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom’s latest attempt to block his extradition to the United States has failed.

Dotcom challenged the legality of the justice minister’s decision to surrender him to the US through a judicial review heard earlier this year.

He also challenged the police commissioner’s decision not to lay charges against him in New Zealand, arguing it was politically motivated.

In a decision out today, the High Court declined Dotcom’s application for review and found neither of these arguments stood up.

This is no surprise. Dotcom’s conspiracy theories involving Joe Biden and Barack Obama are no substitute for facts.

We are getting close to the end. There is no right of appeal for a judicial review. Dotcom will ask the Court of Appeal to allow an appeal, but they could well decline that. Then he will no doubt ask the Supreme Court to review that decision. But both these hearings will be on whether there are grounds for an appeal, not actually a substantive hearing on the decision. So they can be dealt with relatively quickly.

If I had to guess I’d say a Court of Appeal decision in 2026 and a Supreme Court decision the same year. Then I’d expect a couple more goes at getting the Supreme Court to engage, so probably extradition in 2027.

Lloyd Burr writes:

The first question I asked Brooke van Velden after she unveiled her Holidays Act overhaul on Tuesday was: What’s the catch?

Because what the workplace relations and safety minister had just announced seemed too good to be true from a supposed right-wing, business-loving, worker-hating, union-squashing party politician. …

The mountain that is the overhaul of the Holidays Act is a massive one to climb. While she hasn’t conquered it yet, she’s closer to the top than any previous minister.

And she’s done it by not stomping on political opponents, unions or everyday working Kiwis like many would have expected an ACT MP to do.

This is one of the best reforms I have seen. Liam Hehir made the point that leave should be able to be calculated in an excel spreadsheet, and this new system will be able to do that. The old system was so terrible that multi million payroll systems would still get it wrong.

As Lloyd points out Brooke has been exceptionally fair. There has been numerous improvement for employees, and the few areas where some are slightly worse off are justified on the grounds of fairness or simplicity.

Employers will probably end up paying slightly more than they used to, but the vast majority will happily trade that cost off for the simplicity of the new system.

The plan is here. In summary it is:

1. Gaza will be a deradicalised terror-free zone that does not pose a threat to its neighbours.
2. Gaza will be redeveloped for the benefit of the people of Gaza.
3. If both sides agree to this proposal, the war will immediately end. Israeli forces will withdraw to the agreed upon line to prepare for a hostage release.
4. Within 72 hours of Israel publicly accepting this agreement, all hostages, alive and deceased, will be returned.
5. Once all hostages are released, Israel will release 250 life sentence prisoners plus 1,700 Gazans who were detained after October 7th 2023, including all women and children detained in that context. For every Israeli hostage whose remains are released, Israel will release the remains of 15 deceased Gazans.
6. Once all hostages are returned, Hamas members who commit to peaceful co-existence and to decommission their weapons will be given amnesty. Members of Hamas who wish to leave Gaza will be provided safe passage to receiving countries.
7. Upon acceptance of this agreement, full aid will be immediately sent into the Gaza Strip.
8. Entry of distribution and aid in the Gaza Strip will proceed without interference from the two parties through the United Nations and its agencies, and the Red Crescent.
9. Gaza will be governed under the temporary transitional governance of a technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee, responsible for delivering the day-to-day running of public services and municipalities for the people in Gaza. This committee will be made up of qualified Palestinians and international experts, with oversight and supervision by a new international transitional body, the “Board of Peace,” which will be headed and chaired by President Donald J Trump, with other members and heads of State to be announced, including Former Prime Minister Tony Blair.
10. A Trump economic development plan to rebuild and energize Gaza will be created by convening a panel of experts who have helped birth some of the thriving modern miracle cities in the Middle East.
11. A special economic zone will be established with preferred tariff and access rates to be negotiated with participating countries.
12. No one will be forced to leave Gaza, and those who wish to leave will be free to do so and free to return.
13. Hamas and other factions agree to not have any role in the governance of Gaza, directly, indirectly, or in any form. All military, terror, and offensive infrastructure, including tunnels and weapon production facilities, will be destroyed and not rebuilt. New Gaza will be fully committed to building a prosperous economy and to peaceful coexistence with their neighbors.
14. A guarantee will be provided by regional partners to ensure that Hamas, and the factions, comply with their obligations and that New Gaza poses no threat to its neighbors or its people.
15. The United States will work with Arab and international partners to develop a temporary International Stabilization Force (ISF) to immediately deploy in Gaza.
16. Israel will not occupy or annex Gaza. Practically, the [Israeli military] will progressively hand over the Gaza territory it occupies to the ISF according to an agreement they will make with the transitional authority until they are withdrawn completely from Gaza, save for a security perimeter presence that will remain until Gaza is properly secure from any resurgent terror threat.
17. In the event Hamas delays or rejects this proposal, the above, including the scaled-up aid operation, will proceed in the terror-free areas handed over from the [Israeli military] to the ISF.
18. An interfaith dialogue process will be established based on the values of tolerance and peaceful co-existence to try and change mindsets and narratives of Palestinians and Israelis by emphasizing the benefits that can be derived from peace.
19. While Gaza re-development advances and when the PA reform program is faithfully carried out, the conditions may finally be in place for a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood, which we recognize as the aspiration of the Palestinian people.
20. The United States will establish a dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians to agree on a political horizon for peaceful and prosperous co-existence.

The Israeli Prime Minister has accepted this deal in principle, as has their Opposition Leader. If Hamas agrees, then the terrible war may finally end,

The Herald reports:

Iwi flipped Wellington’s Dixon Street flats for just over $3 million, less than three weeks after buying the block from Kāinga Ora for almost a third of the price.

Good on the iwi – they made $2 million. Bad on Kainga Ora for being stupid.

Both sale prices were significantly below the property’s market value of $4m and the RV of $18.9m.

So they sold other for one quarter of the market value. Why?

He told OneRoof that when Kāinga Ora first offered the Dixon Street Flats to iwi under the Right of First Refusal (RFR) process in their Treaty settlement, Taranaki Whānui Limited had initially offered to pay a lot less.

“The opening offers they made on the property were low. We negotiated with them to bring the price up. While the $1.04m price we settled on was nearly $3m lower than the market valuation we had obtained, there was no guarantee we would get a higher price if we put the property on the open market, given its challenges and the scale of investment needed.”

Of course there is no guarantee. But you don’t need to be Einstein to work out that if the market value is $4 million, there would be no shortage of companies willing to pay much more than $1 million for it.

A right of first refusal is not a commitment to sell at any price regardless.

Chris Penk released:

The earthquake-prone building system will be refocused to reduce repair costs and reinvigorate communities, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. …

“Today, I am announcing a change to a fairer, risk-based system that will bring enormous relief by lowering costs for building owners, while keeping Kiwis safe.

“The Government is removing the New Building Standard (NBS) ratings currently used by engineers to determine whether a property is earthquake-prone.

“The NBS rates how an existing building is expected to perform in an earthquake compared to a new building and has proven too broad and inconsistent.

“A building’s overall risk status is determined by its weakest part, meaning even a small defect can result in an entire building being classified as earthquake-prone.

“The new earthquake-prone building (EPB) system will capture only buildings that pose a genuine risk to human life in medium and high seismic zones.

“This category includes concrete buildings three storeys or higher, and those constructed with unreinforced masonry.

“Auckland, Northland and the Chatham Islands will be removed from the regime entirely to reflect the low seismic risk in those areas.

This is massively good. I read somewhere that the costs of the current regulations exceed the benefits by a ration of 10:1. Martin Lally has calculated that the current regime values each life saved at $70 million, compared to the $12.5 million NZTA uses and $1.3 million Treasury uses.

Stuff reports:

Mayor Tory Whanau said the news was a “huge win” for Wellington.

“Many apartment and business owners simply cannot afford to upgrade their buildings to the current standards; you can see that reality in the empty buildings around town,“ Whanau said.

This is indeed huge for Wellington, but not just Wellington.

Luke Malpass writes:

The Government’s move to change standards around earthquake risk is both unexpectedly bold and long overdue.

It has gone further than most people expected — or wanted, depending on their interests. The previous Government, distracted by Covid and other crises, effectively parked the issue in the “too-hard” basket.

Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk has now scrapped the one-size-fits-all regime created in the legislative aftermath of the Christchurch earthquakes. Instead, he has targeted the rules more precisely, focusing on the parts of buildings most likely to pose a risk to life. …

The savings are enormous. As The Post exclusively reported this morning, more than $8 billion in remediation costs will be avoided — over half of that from Auckland’s removal alone.

Not many policy changes result is $8 billion of savings for property owners.

By the next election, these reforms — expected to be law by mid-next year — will stand among the Government’s most consequential achievements of the term.

They will, and surely at the next reshuffle Chris Penk must be moved into Cabinet. He is performing a reform agenda with skill that is the equal of most Cabinet front benchers.

Samira Taghavi writes on why some lawyers are quitting the criminal bar:

After seeing my friend’s LinkedIn post, I rang her. We spoke, we compared notes and we asked the question I always hate: are women less kind than men to other women in the law?

I want the answer to be no. Often it is. But not always – and the “not always” is costing us big time.

It is costing us juniors who are leaving criminal law because they do not want a life built around fear, humiliation and impossible choices. I myself have already lost a junior I will dearly miss. That is a loss for her, for her future clients and for the system.

This is not a “men versus women “issue. Most judges – women and men – are measured, decent and fair. This is about power and culture. As the old line goes, if you want to know someone, give them power. If what follows that gift is interruption, point-scoring or process bent to convenience, that is not firmness: it is misuse.

It is an interesting insight, and one I have experienced also. Now please note the plural of ancedote is anecdotes, not data.

I haven’t had a boss for over 20 years, but before that I had a few. In my experience female bosses were both the best and the worst that I had. The male bosses tended to be more around the median. The bad female bosses seemed to be insecure and thought they had to constantly prove they were the boss by imposing stupid rules etc. The great female bosses were supportive, flexible, clear etc.

She first asked orally and was told to file a formal application closer to sentencing. She did exactly that – using the same standard form that had been accepted elsewhere for months – and a retired female judge (sitting) declined it. With VMR refused and every avenue closed off, she ultimately instructed an agent. Not because she lacked commitment, but because in that moment – with a newborn recently out of NICU – she did not have the reserves to keep fighting a refusal that should never have been necessary.

A separate matter shows the same pattern from another angle. My friend sought an adjournment of a trial date because of her post-birth circumstances. A female Crown prosecutor opposed the application; the adjournment was declined. Only later – when the matter came before a male judge – was the adjournment finally granted, with understanding and sympathy. The contrast speaks for itself.

From both the court and the Crown, too many emails read as if a newborn’s survival and a mother’s recovery were mere diary entries. What should have been hours spent cuddling a fragile baby became hours drafting memoranda, chasing consents and explaining ­– yet again – why counsel of choice and continuity matter in a criminal case.

I suggest those judges and prosecutors take two messages on board: continuity of counsel is not a luxury item and motherhood is not a scheduling inconvenience.

Both messages seem very reasonable.

The NZ Initiative has a research note out on how fiscal policy needs to work with monetary policy. They comment:

This analysis does not dispute that the RBNZ’s high interest rates were the proximate cause of the downturn. However, it argues the Bank had little choice. It was confronted with the insidious threat of inflation expectations breaking free from their anchor, a development that would risk a return to the deficit-spending stagflation of the 1970s and early 1980s. After all, following December 2023 changes, the Monetary Policy Committee’s single operational objective is price stability – 1-3 percent, with a focus on the 2 percent midpoint.

More critically, this note contends that the government’s own fiscal choices – particularly its decision to implement tax cuts without more than offsetting spending reductions while the RBNZ was still fighting inflation – created a policy misalignment. The fiscal policy stance remained stimulatory, begging the question of the political will to sustain a tighter monetary policy. It is a story of two ships passing in the night: monetary policy to raise interest rates to cool an overheated economy while fiscal policy was still pouring fuel on the fire by heavy borrowing. 

I think the tax cuts were the right thing to do – both economically and politically. Families needed tax relief. But I agree with the Initiative that they should have been offset with greater spending reductions.

The left lie and claim this is an austerity government. It is simply and completely wrong. The Government is spending more than Grant Robertson was promising to spend in his last budget.

Cutting spending is politically difficult with such a hostile media. The very modest reduction in public service staff levels was greeted with 100s of negative stories. The misinformation was so great that most of the public think the government cut 15,000 jobs rather than around 1,500.

But by failing to do greater spending cuts in late 2023, early 2024, this has contributed to interest rates not falling as quickly as they might have otherwise.

Stuff reports:

ABC will reinstate Jimmy Kimmel’s late night show in the wake of criticism over his comments about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, officials with the network said on Monday.

“We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday,” said a statement from the network.

ABC suspended Kimmel indefinitely after comments he made about Kirk, who was killed September 10, in a monologue.

Kimmel said “many in MAGA land are working very hard to capitalize on the murder of Charlie Kirk” and that “the MAGA gang” was “desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them.”

What Kimmel said was wrong and highly offensive. There is zero evidence that the assassin was MAGA. It is a bizarre misinformation campaign that he repeated on a major broadcast channel.

So yes he should suffer consequences for such appalling judgment. But I don’t think those consequences should be his show is cancelled for ever. You shouldn’t lose your career for a mistake. A short suspension seems appropriate.

The Herald reports:

The Green Party’s chief of staff, Eliza Prestidge-Oldfield, has resigned in the latest shake-up for the party in what has been a term of turmoil.

In a statement, Greens co-leader Marama Davidson said Prestidge-Oldfield had “decided to step away from the chief of staff position to focus on her health, wellbeing and her whānau”.

Always a good thing to focus on whanau and health.

Anyway I have a solution for the Greens. They need a new Chief of Staff. Who could be better than someone who has already done the job, has also accomplished great things in (local) government, and has a track record of driving a unified team.

The perfect job for Tory Whanau!

The Herald reports:

He laments the poor relationship the CTU has with the current National-led Government compared to the John Key-led National Government.

The CTU used to meet regularly with Key, Finance Minister Bill English and Workplace Minister Michael Woodhouse. …

“We never meet with the Prime Minister. We’ve asked to. We’ve never met with the Minister of Finance. We’ve asked to.”

There is a reason for that – and it is all their own fault.

Of course, the frosty relationship might have something to do with the position the CTU took at the last election.

It didn’t exactly tell its members to vote for Labour, the Greens or Te Pāti Māori, but it campaigned against National in a very public way.

It placed a sinister-looking front-page attack ad in the New Zealand Herald, and on billboards targeting leader Christopher Luxon.

They ran a personal smear campaign against Luxon, and then cry that he won’;’t meet with them. Why would he?

There is a difference between advocating on policies, and personally denigrating a party leader.

Take Business NZ. Of course they much prefer the policies of a National-Led Government to a Labour-led one. And they will campaign assertively on issues that affect them such as Fair Pay Agreements and Capital Gains Tax.

But never do you see Business NZ run campaigns such as the CTU did. In fact Business NZ generally spends almost nothing during an election campaign, while the CTU goes all in.

This is why Business NZ does not get shut out. When the CTU runs a smear campaign against the opposition leader, of course it will affect your relationship in government.

Stuff reports:

Senior ministers are emphatically rejecting claims from Māori, including actress Keisha Castle-Hughes, that Māori should be eligible for citizenship to Aotearoa New Zealand.

The Waitangi Tribunal held an urgent hearing into the issue of citizenship, with many overseas-born Māori saying it is unfair and unconstitutional that Māori are being denied citizenship to the country they whakapapa to.

I will be amazed if the Waitangi Tribunal doesn’t agree with the claimants, as they have long since left behind any pretence of not being an activist body. But they will be terribly wrong.

What Castle-Hughes and others are arguing for is literally two standards of citizenship – a superior one for those with a Maori ancestor and an inferior one for everyone else.

There is a case to be made that citizenship eligibility should be extended to having a NZ citizen as a grandparent, not just a parent. But that must apply for everyone.

But there is a larger issue – people eligible for NZ citizenship do not take it up. If Castle-Hughes had bothered to become a NZ citizen in the last 30 years, she would not have a problem now.

But to be fair to her, there is little reason to do so. NZ is almost unique in that we give permanent residents almost all the rights of citizens. This means many people living here never apply to become NZ citizens. I want them to do so. I think citizenship is vitally important to a country, and promotes unity. As many of our residents as possible should be citizens.

One change I advocate is that we should restrict voting in elections to NZ citizens (grandfathering in all current residents who are not citizens). This is common to almost all other developed countries. We should proactively promote citizenship through publicity campaigns.

The Herald reports:

A TVNZ-commissioned review of TVNZ’s news coverage has identified only “minor” issues – and “no evidence of systemic bias or lack of impartiality in 1News’reporting”, according to a TVNZ summary of the report.

I laughed when I read this, as it was a couple of hours after watching 1 News where they had a vox pop with a 10 year old girl criticising the Government for not yet recognising a Palestinian State.

The New Zealand Government has shown it has a truly independent foreign policy by not following traditional allies Australia, Canada and the UK in recognising a Palestinian State at this time.

This is, in my opinion, the correct decision. For a state to be recognised you need to be able to identify who the Government is, and what the territory is. Neither of these apply at the moment.

Winston Peters said:

“With a war raging, Hamas remaining the de facto government of Gaza, and no clarity on next steps, too many questions remain about the future State of Palestine for it to be prudent for New Zealand to announce recognition at this time,” Mr Peters says. 

“We are also concerned that a focus on recognition, in the current circumstances, could complicate efforts to secure a ceasefire by pushing Israel and Hamas into even more intransigent positions.”

New Zealand continues to call out all actions being taken by both Israel and Hamas which prolong the conflict, prevent a political solution, and seek to extinguish the viability of a Palestinian state, Mr Peters says.

“New Zealand has long been a staunch advocate of the two-state solution and a defender of Palestinians’ right to self-determination,” Mr Peters says. 

“What is needed now more than ever is dialogue, diplomacy and leadership – not further conflict and extremism. 

“New Zealanders are shocked by the harrowing images of famine in Gaza, revolted by the grossly disproportionate military action from the Israeli Government and disturbed by Israeli rhetoric and actions aimed at dismantling future prospects for a Palestinian state. 

I support a two state solution, and I do despair at elements in the current Israeli Government that do not. The talk of separating East Jerusalem from the rest the West Bank through settlements is deeply deeply bad. In fact I don’t support any settlements constructed in the disputed territories. I also agree that the Israeli military action is now disproportionate. It wasn’t initially. It wasn’t even for the first year or so. But it is now. I note 62% of Israeli Jews support a deal where in exchange for the remaining hostages, the IDF withdraws totally from Gaza. Also 53% of Israeli Jews are against Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip. I am not Israeli but my views are in the majority there – I want the war to end in exchange for the hostages being released, and for there to be no permanent occupation of Gaza.

Penny Tucker is retiring off the Orakei Local Board. Instead of a valedictory she has written a letter to her children. I think it is a great summing up of why people should get involved with their local council, or board, so am republishing it here. Hope you don’t mind Penny!

Dear Lucy, Zara and Violet.

Your Great Grandmother on my side loved Auckland. She wasn’t popular at the best of times and her her civic endeavours hardly endeared her to officialdom. She petitioned hard to double the size of the harbour bridge when it was initially conceived and was told by the blokes in charge to back off. She thought that a lack of cohesive planning in the city’s development would lead to aesthetic and social disconnects. My generation, she said, would be left to pick up the pieces.

As President of the Auckland Historic Places Trust, she fought to keep the trams and the proximate land they used. She thought both would be valuable assets in due course. So passionate about history was your Great Grandmother that when she and some mates founded MOTAT, they nicked whole cottages to put in it. She was not someone you could invite for tea without having a sound house and contents insurance policy.

If she’d had a personal motto, it would have been ‘don’t be a bystander.’ Stand by she did not.

I know you thought my standing for the Local Board was a rather incongruous decision. How wrong you were. Look at what you’ve gained. How many young adults, confined in a car with their mama, get to hear valuable insights into cliffs, berms, bus stops, bike lanes, cats, parks, rubbish, rubbishy developments, poorly sequenced lights, inadequate signage, crossings, people cross about crossings, crime, swans, asbestos, drains, dogs, playgrounds and inconceivably bad traffic management.

Those minutes stuck in traffic fly by, just like cars on Kepa Rd used to before we buggered it up.

Being a bystander never fixed anything.

It is often quite little things that impact quality of life in our neighbourhoods. It’s a stand of trees which grow into a point of pause on a daily walk. It’s watching a kid read the wind and go about in a sailboat at the Landing for the first time. It’s a bench near a beach where familiar faces and some passing new ones register the beauty of sitting by the tide. It’s hearing the rubbish truck and knowing that the red bin real estate is about to be freed up for another week. It’s a park where kids squeal with pleasure and even adults not connected to them look up from their phones for a second.

It’s knowing that someone is worried about water getting to where it should be. And is dealing with water where it should not be. It’s getting kids safely to school via walking or actual buses. It’s a waka with mana and memories carved into it back home in its own sheltered place on the edge of the sea. It’s the hope that someone will advocate for your house and your rights. Because what you see out of your window may be right there or far away but it is an achingly important component of how you view the world around you.

It’s a library full of mystery and activity for all ages. Sports fields where dirt and dings are badges of honour. It’s investing our resources back into our community and swatting away other Boards swooping in to thieve them in the manner of aggravating seagulls in Mission Bay. It’s a broken street light being fixed to cast a pool of comforting clarity in a palette of shadows.

Actually, it’s just life

What’s my hope for the Board? As with most families, our Board is idiosyncratic. A product of our democracy and the offices and institutions that support it. Sadly, there’s a distinct shortage of Ancient Greeks on social media platforms to whom we can address complaints. Thus, we have to muddle on. I hope our Board will continue to be an environment where perspectives, not the people airing them, are criticised. Where our critics feel they are treated with as much legitimacy as our collaborators. I hope people are treated with empathy and respect.

So that’s really it, daughters of mine. As always, I have been extremely grateful for your help. Not many kids have been dispatched to check forged dog signs in parks, put hundreds of poppies into an ANZAC Day crosses, take photos, deliver things here there and everywhere and to form a generational bridge at quiz nights. You are part of the team and I am proud of you.

I am often struck by how blessed I am to have a husband as long suffering as the one I managed to corral and I pass no judgement on him for going all the way to Saudi Arabia to avoid this presentation.

Also, if Auckland is about to be made more vibrant by the CRL, I am made more joyful by my KRL – that’s Kirstine, Rebecca and Lisa, my hoodies.

I never cease to be impressed by the passion, smarts and sheer energy our Councillor and Deputy Mayor brings to a tricky role. I know never to blow off a call from Desley because, like a draught in an old kauri villa, thinking you can ignore it isn’t even close to a management strategy. I am deeply appreciative of the staff and the teams at Council we work with and I hope I have not been too much of a pain. Actually, I probably have been. Sorry AT.

Last but most important, how good are our Orakei Local Board constituents? Those who participate, contribute ideas, support our projects, inspire and own initiatives, provide feedback (couple of honourable exceptions there) and make our communities the best in Auckland. We have the best iwi by far in the form of Ngāti Whatua Orakei. Their leadership from the prow or tauihu perched on a high point on our coastline is, in my view, a beacon of leadership in our city. We are so, so strong when we work together.

Bottom line. Don’t ever be a passenger in civic life if you actually expect to end up in a place you want to be. And don’t forget to tag off.

Ut Serviamus.

Karin Horen is standing for the Takapuna Local Board. As you can see she was on the “A fresh approach” ticket.

But they have dropped her suddenly.

Why?

Because Karin is Jewish. She was born in Israel and like all Israeli citizens served in her youth in the IDF, over 30 years ago. She has lived in New Zealand since 2009 and is incredibly active in the community. She is a breast cancer survivor, having had it twice. She has kids who have Maori, English and Jewish heritage. She has set up charities. She is an author. She teaches resilience.

But she has been dumped from her ticket. Because she is Jewish. Because like 95% of Jews she is a Zionist (that simply means she supports the existence of Israel as a Jewish state).

A member of her local body team explains why they dumped her:

This afternoon I had a meeting with a senior advisor at the Auckland Council. The security team at the council have significant safety concerns for myself, as well as you and other candidates due to the ‘free Palestine’ groups. These groups are internationally funded and have radical members due to the high emotive topic and have lost their rationality. They are focused on targeting their actions on specific people and events, and are highly unpredictable. They have monitored a lot of ‘chatter’ on their networks about you and upcoming events. I have also had a call with Mel, who has had a similar conversation with Auckland Council security.

They have recommended that I be extra vigilant when walking around the streets. They have asked to pass this on to you, too to be extra vigilant and to keep yourself safe. This news today has been very upsetting to our family members. 

They are particularly concerned with your attendance at the two upcoming meet the candidates events – The Rose Centre on Sunday and Milford on Tuesday. Additional security measures will need to be put in place if you attend. They asked if you can please advise the venues ASAP if you are attending. Our advice continues to be that you don’t attend. 

These heightened safety concerns are on top of recent vandalism of our signs outside a members business and a huge amount of negative emails and messages, and damage to personal and political relationships over the last few weeks.

Due to these reasons, and the need to keep myself, my family and others safe from these groups, unfortunately, the A Fresh Approach Team will no longer be able to be associated with yourself running for local board. I also request that you remove all ‘A Fresh Approach’ branding from your social media/advertising immediately.

We have met with Kimberly and Lewis about this change and we will also meet with Scott and Karleen when possible as they are overseas.

This is our worst-case scenario, but unfortunately, today’s information has dramatically changed the way forward. This is now more than the election; our safety has been compromised. 

I also want to acknowledge how upsetting this is. It’s upsetting for all of us, but I can only imagine how it must feel for you. At the end of the day, this is low-level politics and a lowly paid role, and the safety of ourselves and our families is the most important thing.

We recommend you develop a plan to ensure yourself and your family are safe and have a plan to engage with Police if anything occurs. 

Is this the New Zealand we want? Is this what it has come to? That a Jewish New Zealander faces so many threats that her own ticket dump her for their own safety?

I’m disgusted – with those making the threats, and with her team dumping her in the face of them. Think what a message this sends to Jewish New Zealanders – you are not safe, you are not welcome.

The war in Gaza is terrible. Reasonable people can disagree on how to end it. It has nothing to do with the Takapuna Local Board.

Would we run an intimidation campaign against a Chinese New Zealander because we dislike what the Chinese Government has done to the Uyghurs? Would we run an intimidation campaign against a Muslim New Zealander from Turkey because we dislike what Turkey has done to the Kurds? No.

This is simply shameful.