The Herald reports:

Kiwis’ DIY resourcefulness is under threat from the Auckland Council, which is demanding the removal of children’s swings on street trees, in the name of safety and tree health.

Parents in Calgary St, Sandringham, are shocked to have been slapped with notices ordering them to dismantle swings – loved by children – outside their homes.

Bad enough that this is happening, but even worse ratepayers are forced to fund it.

I reckon parents should just refuse and tell the Council to take them to court. I’d be happy to contribute towards crowd funding legal costs.

In 2013 Gareth Morgan was quoted as saying:

What they found surprised them – a people who were poor, yes, but wonderfully engaged, well-dressed, fully employed and well informed. In Gareth’s view, what North Korea has achieved economically despite its lack of access to international money has been magnificent.

The Herald has some more details of these wonderfully engaged fully employed North Koreans enjoying the magnificent North Korean economy:

Last December, shocking footage emerged which revealed children as young as five doing hard labour.

The footage, released by UK newspaper The Mirror, showed young children working as a chain gang in a rail yard under the harsh sun.

Using hammers and axes, the youngsters can be seen hauling large sacks of heavy rocks as their teachers and other adults bark orders at them.

Just last month, it also emerged that North Korea’s Masikryong Ski Resort, popular with the country’s elite, has thousands of men, women and children working on the site often under horrendous conditions.

Using pickaxes, sticks and wooden shovels, workers are engaged in backbreaking work clearing the snow, NBC revealed.

The broadcaster also found some of the children appeared to be only 11 or 12 while many others looked to be teenagers.

Truly magnificent.

Andrea Vance writes:

Stuff reports:

Former solicitor-general Michael Heron QC will lead an investigation into allegations against former Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (Cera) staffers.

The three men – Greater Christchurch Investment Strategy manager Murray Cleverley and investment facilitators Gerard Gallagher and Simon Nikoloff – allegedly used their public body roles to advance private business interests, a Stuff investigation revealed.

The men, who were employed by Cera to bring investment to post-quake Christchurch, had their own company that offered investors property proposals in the hope of earning large finder’s fees.

Good to see such a senior lawyer appointed to investigate. It is reassuring the SSC is taking this very seriously.

Simon Wilson writes:

The prime minister spent his first Waitangi Day in office not at the treaty grounds, but at Bastion Point, where Simon Wilson watched him give two of the most surprising Waitangi speeches in living memory.

Did you know Bill English used Waitangi Day to praise the great protest struggle of Bastion Point?

He made two speeches on the marae at Bastion Point that day, both of them in front of TV cameras and other media. Almost none of what he said got reported. Instead, there was a frenzy of excitement over his utterly inconsequential phone call with Donald Trump. But what the prime minister said on the marae at Bastion Point was extraordinary.

So what did he say?

He told them the modern history of Ngāti Whātua was a story of great success. And he wanted them to know he did not view the protest as an aberration in that story, but as a vital part of it. Later, over breakfast in the wharekai, he built on his theme.

There was a large audience – Ngāti Whātua, politicians, community representatives and media – and he said we are all engaged in a “great enterprise” of building a country based on “fairness, tolerance and respect”. Then he said, “We’ve all got better at it because of our struggles over the treaty.” …

Bill English acknowledged the “massive achievements of Ngāti Whātua in such a short space of time” and said he wanted to “celebrate a group of people with the leadership and courage to make… decisions”.

He said he knew what it cost the kaumātua who negotiated treaty settlements. At another iwi, one leader had told him he’d been unable to sleep the night before they signed. “He said he struggled with the burden of knowing he must say to his ancestors, ‘That’s enough.’ And he struggled with the responsibility of saying the same to his descendants.”

There are so many ways in which treaty settlements are different for Māori and Pākehā, and that’s one of them: Pākehā don’t think like that.

Deciding to settle wouldn’t be an easy decision I’m sure, as you would feel the weight of expectations from your Iwi past present and future.

“In the regions,” he said, “and I include Auckland in that, I would say that almost without exception the organisations that are most committed to development are the local iwi.”

That’s another remarkable thing for him to say. Iwi are economic powerhouses in the regions and major agents of social cohesion. Despite what Don Brash and his band of Hobson’s Pledge ostriches might want us to think, they’re not stripping the country of its assets and infrastructure – they’re building them.

Ngai Tahu has said there are a number of SOEs they would like to invest in – the benefit being they are an investor that will never leave New Zealand and be here permanently.

First, have we ever before had a National Party prime minister who speaks so unequivocally in support of Māori agency – and of Māori activism that lays the foundation for Māori agency?

Second, if the Bastion Point protest was historically invaluable, what does that say for other protest movements today – inside Māoridom and more widely?

Third, if English will say these things on the marae, will he say them in Parliament, and in the regions, to business groups and to his own party – will he say them to audiences who are not already primed to agree? He’s a diffident leader, a quiet explainer more than an engaging winner of hearts and minds, and he’s as liable as most politicians to duck the difficult issues when it’s hard to stand up for them.

Mind you, he probably thought he was saying all this to a wider audience because he probably assumed his Waitangi Day speeches would be reported. Especially as he made it clear he knew Ngāti Whātua’s achievements were founded on that great protest occupation. Audrey Young in the Herald covered some of it; almost no other media mentioned anything. It’s not English’s fault if he gets ignored when he speaks up.

This is why it is good we have sites like The Spinoff.

Stuff reports:

President Donald Trump on Saturday morning (Sunday NZ Time) ripped into a federal judge’s decision to temporarily block enforcement of his controversial travel ban. …

In another Twitter message, Trump added: “The opinion of this so-called judge, which essentially takes law-enforcement away from our country, is ridiculous and will be overturned!”

This is again Trump showing his authoritarian instincts rather than democratic ones. He is the President, not a sole ruler.

It is quite normal for a President to say they disagree with a ruling and will appeal it. But they normally go out of their way to say they respect the role of the courts. Instead Trump personally attacks the Judge. This is not good, to say the least.

Amy Adams announced:

The Government will introduce a new scheme to address historical convictions for homosexual offences, Justice Minister Amy Adams has announced.

“While the Homosexual Law Reform Act 1986 decriminalised consensual sex between men aged 16 and over, convictions for those offences remain on record and can appear in criminal history checks,” Ms Adams says.

“Although we can never fully undo the impact on the lives of those affected, this new scheme will provide a pathway for their convictions to be expunged. It means people will be treated as if they had never been convicted, and removes the ongoing stigma and prejudice that can arise from convictions for homosexual offences.

“I acknowledge the pain that these New Zealanders have lived with and hope that this will go some way toward addressing that.”

People with convictions for specific offences relating to consensual sexual activity between men 16 years and over will be eligible to apply to the Secretary of Justice to have the conviction expunged, an approach consistent with other overseas jurisdictions, such as Australia. If a person’s application is approved, government records will be amended so the conviction does not appear in criminal history checks and they will be entitled to declare they have no such conviction.

Very pleased with this decision. Having a criminal conviction can impact your ability to travel and gain employment, and no one should have this stigma merely for having engaged in consensual adult sexual relations.

Stuff reports:

An open letter urging Labour to reconsider Willie Jackson’s entry into the party bears the names of three former MPs.

Former party president Maryan Street, Carol Beaumont, and Marian Hobbs are understood to have their names on the digital open letter, according to screenshots provided to Stuff. 

The Young Labour-penned letter has now been signed by over 400 Labour Party members, as turmoil within the party has risen in response the selection of Maori broadcaster Willie Jackson as a prospective new Labour MP.

400 members is a significant proportion of the membership. They are both unhappy with Jackson as a candidate but also the leader bypassing the list ranking committee to do private deals with candidates.

Former campaign manager for Andrew Little’s leadership bid Nick Kelly has also signed the letter.

So he’s lost the support of his own campaign manager.

The longtime Party member who provided the screenshots on condition of anonymity said he wanted to make clear that it wasn’t just Young Labour protesting Jackson’s selection.

“Young people in the party shouldn’t be singled out for condemnation by the leadership.”

He said he was “shocked” by Jackon’s selection.

“Here was a party that spent last week standing up to Trump and for progressive values, and this week we’re proposing to slot a right-wing, shock-jock into Parliament? We just want a party that puts forward Labour values every week of the year.

“We want an inclusive big-tent party, but where do you draw the line? This guy supports charter schools – he’s no lefty.

“I just hope Andrew [Little] is right about Willie – because he’s made a mighty big captain’s call on this one. He can’t say people didn’t warn him.”

Captain’s call is a term that comes from Australia first used by Tony Abbott to justify his decision to give Prince Phillip a knighthood. It is now used to generally denote any stupid unilateral decision by a leader.

Little told RNZ Jackson’s Roast Busters comments were wrong and that he had apologised for them.

​”There is no open revolt,” Little said.

No open revolt?  He has caucus members hiring PR firms to help them campaign against his decision. Let’s look at who he has put offside with this:

1. His caucus for promising Jackson a higher list ranking than them
2. The party’s NZ Council for bypassing them
3. The women’s wing for Jackson’s comments on Roasbusters
4. The Maori wing for trying to push Peeni Henare out of his seat
5. The GLTBI wing for Jackson’s comments on homosexuality
6. The youth wing for Jackson’s comments on eveything
7. The teacher unions for Jackson’s support for charter schools
8. The candidates in National held seats who see someone who only joined the party a week ago promised a higher spot than them
9. His own former campaign manager

Jason Krupp and Rachel Hodder from the NZ Initiative write:

This week The New Zealand Initiative launched its report on immigration, The New New Zealanders: why migrants make good Kiwis. In it we make the case that while concerns about immigration are valid, we need to assess whether the facts bear these fears out before we make policy decisions.

In short, it was an attempt to verify or debunk whether immigration is really the cause of all the problems it is reported to be. In short, while we note the immigration system could be improved, it is hardly the bogeyman it is made out to be.

So it was hardly surprising to see NZ First leader Winston Peters rail against the report on his official Facebook page. After all, Mr Peters has made a career of fanning anti-immigrant sentiment into a populist inferno.

Predictable it may have been, but it nevertheless deserves a fact-based response.

Responding to Winston with facts – novel!

Second, while the 125,000 figure is startling at first, when you break it down it looks substantially less formidable. For instance, of these 125,000 people, 29% were returning New Zealanders and Australian citizens who aren’t affected by immigration caps.

A further 22% arrived on student visas, 31% on work visas and 5% on visitor visas. Here is the rub though: these are temporary visas, and the vast majority of these people will return to their home countries over time. A portion will transition into permanent residency, just under a fifth all in all, but this is what the immigration system is set up to do – establish a low risk mechanism through which migrants can prove they are a fit for New Zealand.

The remaining 12% of arrivals, or just over 15,000 people, are here on residence visas. That number is far less frightening than the 125,000 figure. We’re going out on a limb here, but we suspect this is the reason why Mr Peters has not delved below the headline figure.

The level of residency visas has shifted very little over time.

Then there is the claim that our analysis is wrong, and migrants do in fact steal jobs. The evidence? A dated report by the OECD and Mr Peters’ own experience at service stations, supermarket counters and in hospitality.

Mr Peters could be right if migrants were only workers. Unfortunately for his argument migrants are also consumers. They spend money on housing, clothes, food and a host of other goods and services – just like everyone else. That creates an opportunity for Kiwi businesses to satisfy this increased demand, for which they will need staff. Looked at this way, it could be said that migrants create jobs, not steal them.

And as the NZ Initiative pointed out we get the tax and the consumption from the migrants without havign had to pay for 18 years of education for them.

Peter Dunne released:

“Over the last few days we have seen virtually every political party in New Zealand condemn the extreme immigration stance taken by the United States via an ill-thought out executive order,” said Mr Dunne.

“But there is a disconnect between the anti-Trumpian rhetoric being used by Labour and the Greens and the policies that they then espouse regarding immigration here.

Labour and Greens have policies closer to Trump on immigration than any other party, bar NZ First.

“On the other hand we have opposition parties loudly beating the drum of condemnation regarding President Trump while also blaming immigration for unemployment (even though it is reducing), Auckland house prices (even though Auckland house price inflation is reducing), and calling many migrants “low-skilled”.

“An argument on immigration that talks about new migrants as problems, rather than as people, is exactly the same ‘us versus them’ narrative that contributes to reactionary and damaging policy regarding immigration,” said Mr Dunne.

Blame immigrants or at least those with Chinese surnames.

“We can have a sensible, tolerant and respectful discussion about immigration in this country, without descending into the politics of blame and persecution.

“It is time parties like Labour and the Greens match their stated opposition to Trumpian immigration policy with what they advocate in their own policy,” Mr Dunne concluded.

Little chance.

Stuff reports:

Tensions between the Christchurch Earthquake Recovery Authority (Cera) and Christchurch City Council have caused delays during Canterbury’s post-earthquake rebuild, a new report says.

The report, released by the auditor-general on Wednesday, highlights numerous issues with Cera’s performance, including poor communication with the public and a failure to deliver anchor projects on time.

Greater Christchurch Regeneration Minister Gerry Brownlee has slammed the report as “unbalanced” and says he remains “proud” of Cera’s work.

There’s an unfortunate pattern here that whenever a report comes out criticising some aspect of CERA, the Minister attacks the agency behind the report – previously Treasury and now the Auditor-General. This is not particularly reassuring that lessons are being learnt.

The Herald reports:

Patients seeking medical cannabis for pain relief will no longer need approval from a minister, the Government confirmed this morning.

As of today, the responsibility for approving applications has been delegated to the Ministry of Health.

Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne announced the policy change this morning following a review of the approval process.

Health Minister Jonathan Coleman hinted at the change yesterday, suggesting that the approvals process could be delegated to specialists.

But Dunne said today that responsibility would instead lie with the ministry.

Doctors will apply to the ministry for approval if a patient requests access to cannabis-based medical products.

As part of the policy change, Dunne also planned to create a list of internationally available, pharmaceutical grade cannabis-based products “to prodive additional clarity on the issue”.

Dunne said he told the Director-General of Health last week specialists seeking access to non-pharmaceutical, cannabis-based products would no longer needed ministerial approval from today.

A minor step in the right direction. It was daft that individual cases were being decided by the Minister previously. Having the Ministry of Health decide is more sensible. Of course I’d go much further.

Adam Kilgore writes in The Washington Post:

Sunday, Brady played the greatest game of football the sport has seen. Not the most perfect, nor the most artistic, nor even the most excellent. But the greatest nonetheless. He led the Patriots back from a 28-3 deficit on a stage that had never seen anything better than a 10-point comeback. He passed for 466 yards, a Super Bowl record, and completed 43 of 62 passes. He led a 91-yard drive touchdown in the final four minutes, capped with a two-point conversion.

The numbers are stupefying, and they would not have been attainable if not for Brady’s central feature. He would not let anything that happened Sunday night make him anything less than whole. The Falcons slammed him and knocked him to the turf, and he betrayed no physical diminution. He threw an inexcusable pass that swung the game in Atlanta’s favor by three touchdowns, and he showed no mental weariness. He knew how to fix the problem, and he knew he could do it. He kept coming.

Was an incredible game and Brady goes down in the record books.

Neal Katyal is a former Obama Acting Solicitor-General. He writes in favour of the nomination of Neil Gorsuch:

I am hard-pressed to think of one thing President Trump has done right in the last 11 days since his inauguration. Until Tuesday, when he nominated an extraordinary judge and man, Neil Gorsuch, to be a justice on the Supreme Court.

So no Trump fan.

But if the Senate is to confirm anyone, Judge Gorsuch, who sits on the United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit in Denver, should be at the top of the list.

I believe this, even though we come from different sides of the political spectrum. I was an acting solicitor general for President Barack Obama; Judge Gorsuch has strong conservative bona fides and was appointed to the 10th Circuit by President George W. Bush. But I have seen him up close and in action, both in court and on the Federal Appellate Rules Committee (where both of us serve); he brings a sense of fairness and decency to the job, and a temperament that suits the nation’s highest court.

High praise.

I, for one, wish it were a Democrat choosing the next justice. But since that is not to be, one basic criterion should be paramount: Is the nominee someone who will stand up for the rule of law and say no to a president or Congress that strays beyond the Constitution and laws?

I have no doubt that if confirmed, Judge Gorsuch would help to restore confidence in the rule of law. His years on the bench reveal a commitment to judicial independence — a record that should give the American people confidence that he will not compromise principle to favor the president who appointed him.

That is what you want.

The Democrats will be foolish if they filibuster to stop a vote. Then the Republicans will change the rules so only 50 votes is needed. And then if there is another vacancy on the Supreme Court, Trump will not need to nominate someone who can get 60 votes,but instead someone who can just get 50. They should save their opposition for the next vacancy.

This is a not very subtle sledge of Andrew Little and his shoulder tapping of WIllie Jackson. In one post Street make the point that:

• The seven female candidates named are all loyal and hard working members, unlike Jackson who only joined up this week
• The seven candidates will be working hard in actual electorate seats, unlike Jackson who has a list only candidacy
• The seven candidates don’t have a guaranteed high list ranking, unlike Jackson
• The seven candidates were not shoulder tapped by Little
• Implicitly Little has shafted these seven candidates by should tapping Jackson for a high list place

Trust me Labour is a very unhappy place right now.

An extraordinary story from Newshub:

Labour’s Poto Williams hired a private public relations firm to craft her statement on Willie Jackson joining the party.

Christchurch-based Inform PR sent out a statement from Ms Williams condemning her leader Andrew Little’s decision to welcome Mr Jackson into the Labour fold.

The statement was first sent out to select media via Inform PR then later posted to her Facebook page.

Inform PR’s Cameron Taylor was unable to confirm when he was asked to step in – saying all questions should be directed at Ms Williams.  

“I can’t talk about it,” he said. “I can’t say anything about it, you’d need to ask her office about that.”

The company’s website implies that they charge between $70 – $100 an hour.

I’ve been involved in politics for around 30 years and I can’t recall ever before an MP hiring a public relations firm to help them promote a statement attacking a decision personally made by their party leader.

If Little lets this pass without sanction, then his leadership is even weaker than we thought. Any other leader in any other party would sack or suspend an MP who hired a PR firm to attack the party leader.

I mean think about that. An MP hired a PR firm to put out a press release attacking a star candidate hand picked by their own leader. And they think they can run the country.

The trouble is Little does not have the support of his caucus. He got monstered in the caucus room on Tuesday and has had to back away from the promised high list place for Willie Jackson. He has managed to alienate the Maori wing, the youth wing, the Rainbow wing, the parliamentary wing and the women’s wing of Labour in one go. And you know what, there isn’t much of Labour not in one of those wings.

Stuff reports:

A central Auckland church has stepped up to offer sanctuary to a group of Indian students who face being deported from New Zealand.

The students entered the Unitarian Church in Auckland’s Ponsonby early on Monday morning, Joe Carolan from Unite union said.

The group came to New Zealand on student visas, for which they had paid about $20,000 each back in India.

It was only after they arrived that they discovered their supporting visa documents had been forged by the agents.

Immigration New Zealand notified them in writing last year that they would have to leave the country because the fraudulent documents meant their visas were not valid.

More than 190 students have been issued deportation notices since May 2016, and 125 have already chosen to leave the country voluntarily.

However some are refusing to go home without a fight.

“We gave up everything to come here, there is nothing left,” 23-year-old student Harjeet Singh said on Thursday.

Fellow student Mohammed Salman, 24, said he felt guilty knowing how much his family had sacrificed so he could come to New Zealand.

“It’s very difficult for us,” he said.

“How can we show our faces to our parents? How will they feel?”

Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse said people were ultimately responsible for the accuracy of their visa documentation.

He said it was no excuse for the students to claim they were unaware of their agents’ activities.

Claiming they didn’t know what their agents did is as believable as the sports stars who fail drug tests claiming they didn’t know something was prohibited.

The fact is they entered New Zealand under false premises. If you allow them to stay on, on the basis they allege they did not know what their agents did, then you’d incentivise many many more agents and applicants to do the same.

The students should sue their agents – that is who their beef should be with, if they genuinely did not know the applications were fraudulent. However I expect that they personally did have to sign the application forms so should have been aware of what they were submitting.

Radio NZ report:

Authorities want to hold an intellectually disabled man, who has already been detained for more than 10 years after he was caught trespassing, for another three years.

The man’s family, represented by human rights lawyer Tony Ellis, oppose the National Intellectual Disability Care Agency’s bid.

The man – who has autism – arrested in 2006 for trespassing and smashing windows.

At first you might think compulsory detention for that is over the top but …

A clinical psychologist told the court the man posed a high risk of re-offending. He had a pattern of aggressive behaviour including making threats, assaulting staff and breaking windows.

He had violent fantasies that included stabbing and decapitating people.

He said the man has a history of challenging behaviour that includes cutting a student’s neck with a knife when he was a teenager.

In 2006 he broke into his neighbour’s garage with an axe and smashed the windows of a car.

On the other hand doesn’t sound a good outcome for his neighbours!

In court yesterday, the doctor said the man had violent fixations and believed he was on a mission for James Bond.

He had been found drawing violent pictures that included people tied to beds, being stabbed and having their heads and feet cut off.

In the time he has been locked up he has punched and slapped staff and threatened to kill people.

So it seems almost certain he will harm or kill someone, yet they’re trying to get him released!

The doctor said, despite being in compulsory care for over 10 years, the man showed no signs of being rehabilitated.

The doctor confirmed under cross-examination from Mr Ellis that the authorities could improve their standard of care. He confirmed he had spent little more than an hour with the man during his assessment interviews.

The court heard how staff had denied the man daytime naps to punish him for bad behaviour and removed his stationery when he drew violent pictures. Mr Ellis said that was “cruel” as the man’s autism made him a visual person.

Mr Ellis said the institution – which RNZ News cannot name – was punishing the man and not helping to rehabilitate him.

Not everyone can be rehabilitated, sadly.

Stuff reports:

The All Blacks find it hard to understand that a man who has worked for them for many years has been charged in relation to the bug found in their Sydney hotel team room in August.

Fairfax Media understands Adrian Gard, 51, the director of Bodyguards International – a security and investigations company based in Brisbane – is the man charged with public mischief while he was employed as a security consultant by New Zealand Rugby. 

It is believed Gard has worked for the All Blacks as a security consultant for 10 years whenever they have toured Australia. …

In a statement released by NZ Rugby, All Blacks head coach Steve Hansen said: “Frankly, the charge seems bizarre and unbelievable. It’s very hard to understand. The charged man has worked for the All Blacks, and many other organisations, for a long time and is someone who is trusted and well-respected by us.

“However, as with all cases before the courts, there has to be a due process that takes place and it is not right or proper for us to make any further comment as this could jeopardise the outcome of the case.”

If the charges hold up, this is pretty huge. It is a total betrayal of the All Blacks by the very man paid to keep them secure in Australia. If he is found guilty, did he do it for money and who paid him?

The Australian Rugby Union will rightfully feel vindicated that the suspicion has been lifted off them – not that I think anyone seriously thought they were involved.

The Herald reports:

The Greens – and some Labour MPs – are calling for a national goal of making Māori language compulsory for all children in state schools.

The Greens have unveiled a new policy this morning to make te reo Māori a “universal core subject alongside English and maths” in all state schools from years 1 to 10.

I love the double speak – “universal” instead of compulsory. The left love this. They used to call compulsory student associations universal student associations.

Let’s think about expanding on their double speak:

• Seatbelt wearing in cars to be universal
• Attending school to be universal
• Tax paying to be universal

The secondary teachers’ union immediately welcomed the new policy, but Education Minister Hekia Parata said students were more motivated to learn if they were not forced to do it.

One can be in favour of more students learning te reo but against compulsion.