Stats NZ reports:

The unemployment rate fell to 4.9 percent in the March 2017 quarter (down from 5.2 percent in the previous quarter), while employment continued to grow, Stats NZ said today.

“In the March quarter, 6,000 fewer people were unemployed,” labour market and household statistics senior manager Mark Gordon said. “The unemployment rate for men fell from 4.8 percent to 4.2 percent, making it the lowest rate since the December 2008 quarter. However, the unemployment rate for women was unchanged.”

Unemployed people are those who are available to work, and who had either actively sought work or had a new job to start within the next four weeks.

The number of employed people increased 1.2 percent (29,000 people) in the March 2017 quarter.

Pleasing results. Some key data:

• 29,000 more people in employment
• 6,000 fewer unemployed
• Labour force participation rate rises to 70.6% (was 68.8% a year ago)
• Unemployment rate drops to 4.9% (OECD average is 6.1%)
• Manufacturing jobs at 259,200 up 19,000 in the quarter
• Total hours worked up 4.3% from a year ago

The Guardian reports:

Paula Radcliffe and Jonathan Edwards have reacted with incredulity and dismay to news that all athletics world and European records before 2005 are likely to be stripped from the record books.

Radcliffe, who set the world marathon record in 2003, told the Guardian she was “offended” by proposals that were approved by European Athletics at the weekend, adding that it “unfairly damages the reputations of many innocent athletes”. Meanwhile Edwards, whose triple jump record dates back to 1995, called them “wrong-headed and cowardly” – and warned it will further erode trust in athletics. The plan, which is strongly backed by Seb Coe, president of the International Association of Athletics Federations, will not only require anyone who sets a world record to have been tested numerous times in the months beforehand but also to have the sample taken after their record performance still available for retesting.

The IAAF has stored blood and urine samples only since 2005, which means the records by Edwards and Radcliffe are at risk of being struck from the books, along with Colin Jackson’s indoor 60m hurdles world record of 7.30sec set in 1994.

It’s tough on them, but probably the right thing to do. So many of the records are obviously drug tainted, that this would allow a clean start.

The Herald reports:

Botany MP Jami-Lee Ross has been elected National’s new senior whip, with Taranaki King Country MP Barbara Kuriger becoming junior whip.

A whip’s job is to organise and discipline MPs, particularly those on the back-bench. They play a critical role in the operation of the House, including organising their party’s vote on legislation.

The position of chief whip is often a stepping stone to a ministerial appointment.

Ross replaces Hamilton West MP Tim Macindoe, who was promoted to Customs Minister in a reshuffle last month. Kuriger was third whip, and that position will now be filled by Waimakariri MP Matt Doocey.

Whips often go on to become Ministers so if National gets a 4th term, I’d expect Jami-Lee and Barbara to become Ministers at some stage during that term.

The Commerce Commission has made a final determination:

The Commerce Commission has today released its final decision declining authorisation for NZME and Fairfax to merge their media operations in New Zealand.

The merger proposed to bring New Zealand’s two largest newspaper networks and corresponding online news sites under common ownership.

The Commission’s preliminary view, published in November last year, was that the merger would be likely to substantially lessen competition in advertising and reader markets – specifically Sunday newspapers, online news and community newspapers in 10 regions. It also indicated that the merger would not be of such a benefit to the public that it should be allowed. Those views remain largely unchanged. …

The merged entity would have direct control of the largest network of journalists in the country, employing more editorial staff than the next three largest mainstream media organisations combined. Its news media business would include nearly 90% of the daily newspaper circulation in New Zealand and a majority of traffic to online sources of New Zealand news. Including its radio network, the merged entity would have a monthly reach of 3.7 million New Zealanders.

“This merger would concentrate media ownership and influence to an unprecedented extent for a well-established modern liberal democracy.  The news audience reach that the applicants have provide the merged entity with the scope to control a large share of the news consumed by a majority of New Zealanders. This level of influence over the news and political agenda by a single media organisation creates a risk of causing harm to New Zealand’s democracy and to the New Zealand public,” Dr Berry said. …

“While we cannot weigh in dollar terms the net benefits against the detrimental societal impacts we expect to see, in our assessment this is not a finely balanced decision. We decline to grant authorisation.”

A good decision, and the expected one. What will be interesting is how NZME and Fairfax respond. I think inevitably they will start laying off staff in order to try and make their businesses more sustainable.

Eric Crampton has highlighted a recent decision by the Alcohol Regulatory and Licensing Authority. He summarises:

The New Zealand police have been trying to usurp Councils’ legislative role in setting local alcohol policy. It looks like there has been a systematic campaign by the police, often with the Medical Officer of Health, to object to license renewals unless the licensee agrees to conditions the police want to put on the renewal.

The law passed by Parliament is that local Councils set licensing hours, not the Police and the Medical Officer of Health. But in some areas they have decided they know better than the law, and have been working to impose their views on all licence holders. Crampton summarises again:

The police in Wellington, along with the Medical Officer, have been bullying bottle shops, threatening to object to licence renewals unless they agree to earlier closing times. If there were some issue where a particular licensee had incompetent staff later in the evening and regular problems with, say, selling to intoxicated people or to minors after 10pm, then objections would be fair enough. But it’s really starting to look like the police just want all of downtown to have earlier closing times because they don’t like the closing times that Council chose. They had their say during the LAP process, didn’t get their way, and are trying to bully their way through by their power to make it tough for licensees to get their licenses renewed. The power to veto is the power to legislate.

There is a big difference between objecting because a licence holder has broken the conditions of their licence, and objecting just because the Police want them to close earlier.

So what has the ARLA said in this case:

[77] Both appeals before the Authority relate to the appellants’ dissatisfaction with the DLC not imposing restricted trading hours by way of a condition imposed on the licence. It is clear from their submissions that they opposed this application, in large part, because the licensee did not agree to shorter opening hours, notwithstanding that they accepted other conditions put to them.

[78] The Authority would be concerned if both the Police and the Medical Officer of Health went into the DLC hearing because they failed to negotiate a 9.00 pm closing time to achieve, as the second appellant put it, a “goal to reduce accessibility”.

[79] Reporting agencies should be careful to avoid ‘negotiating’ conditions with an applicant in exchange for those agencies not opposing the application. Doing so risks creating the impression that they have used their statutory reporting function under s 103 to achieve their own ends.While the interests of reporting agencies are undoubtedly of significant importance, and it is for that reason that they have been given a function under s 103, the Authority would take a dim view if opposition turned on whether an applicant agreed with reporting agencies’ recommendations on conditions. The role of the Police and the Medical Officer of Health under s 103 is clear. They are to inquire into the application and if they have any matters in opposition, to file with the DLC a report on those matters. The evaluative exercise under s 131, and the imposition of conditions, is for the DLC alone and not for the Medical Officer of Health or the Police. It would be an improper use of their reporting role in s 103 if that was used in a way that effectively usurped the DLC’s licensing function.

This is a major slap down by a judicial body of the Police and the Medical Officer of Health. They have been called out for improper use of their roles.

This should be enough for the respective Ministers of Police and Health to tell their agencies that their job is to enforce the law, not try and create the law. When a judicial body says they are apparently acting in a way that usurps the functions of district licencing committees, they need to stop. And if they won’t stop themselves, then they should lose their special status under the Act.

The Herald reports:

A special pathway to citizenship for expat New Zealanders living in Australia remains intact, Prime Minister Bill English has confirmed.

A spokeswoman for English said he had spoken to Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull today, a week after Turnbull announced tighter citizenship rules in Australia.

“Prime Minister Turnbull confirmed that the Pathway to Citizenship for eligible New Zealanders, announced in February 2016, has not been changed.

“It remains in place and on track, and is separate from the citizenship changes which Australia announced last week.

“Prime Minister English has thanked Prime Minister Turnbull for this confirmation.”

A good outcome for Kiwis in Australia.

So someone in the State Department put up an information page on Mar-a-Lago as Trump has hosted so many foreign leaders there. This leads to an op ed saying Trump should be impeached for this.

A classic case of Trump Derangement Syndrome.

Now Labour’s list is out, we can look at likely demographics of their caucus. This is based on an assumption of them having 35 MPs, being 27 electorate and eight list, representing 29% party vote.

Gender

• Male 54% (48% of adult population)
• Female 46% (52%)

So once again Labour has ignored their requirement to have gender equality. Only at 35% party vote do they get equal number of women and men in caucus.

Ethnicity

• European 49% (69%)
• Maori 31% (13%)
• Pasifika 14% (6%)
• Asian 6% (12%)

A huge over-representation of Maori and Pasifika in their caucus and under-representation of Europeans and Asians (compared to population).

Gender and Ethnicity

• European Men 29% (33%)
• European Women 20% (36%)
• Maori Men 17% (6%)
• Maori Women 14% (7%)
• Pasifika Women  9% (3%)
• Pasifika Men 6% (3%)
• Asian Men 3% (6%)
• Asian Women 3% (6%)

Area

• Auckland 37% (34%)
• Wellington 20% (11%)
• Provincial 17%
• Rural 17%
• Christchurch 9% (13%)

Wellington over-represented as usual.

Age

• 30s 26%
• 40s 31%
• 50s 40%
• 60s 3%

Stuff reports:

Former prime minister John Key has taken a directorship with the “incredible” Air New Zealand.

Key, who in March left Parliament after resigning following eight years in power, will be a director from September.

Air New Zealand chairman Tony Carter said it had been trying to get Key as a director since the former prime minister announced his resignation in December.

“John will bring extensive international commercial experience, outstanding leadership skills, global perspective and a keen understanding of the tourism sector gained during the years he was tourism minister as well as prime minister of New Zealand.”

What a great appointment for Air New Zealand.

Labour have finally released their 2017 party list.  What I have shown above is the effective list, taking account of what seats they are likely to win.

If you assume they retain their current 27 seats, then they get their first List MP (Little) at 23%.

Willie Jackson will become an MP if they get 29%, around their current level of polling. Of course in the last three elections they have done worse at the election than their polling six months out.

Mallard only gets back in if they get over 32%.

So assuming they get 29%, who will be their new MPs:

• Ginny Andersen
• Deborah Russell
• Paul Eagle
• Priyanca Radhakrishnan
• Jan Tinetti
• Willow-Jean Prime
• Kiri Allan
• Willie Jackson

The Independent reports:

A man in Saudi Arabia has reportedly been sentenced to death on charges of apostasy after losing two appeals. 

Several local media reports identified the man as Ahmad Al Shamri, in his 20s, from the town of Hafar al-Batin, who first came to the authorities’ attention in 2014 after allegedly uploading videos to social media in which he renounced Islam and the Prophet Mohammed. 

He was arrested on charges of atheism and blasphemy and held in prison before being convicted by a local court and sentenced to death in February 2015.

This is appalling. No one should be executed (or criminalised) for their religious beliefs, or for their decision not to believe in God. Such tyranny belongs in the Middle Ages, not 2017.

Hat Tip: No Right Turn

The Telegraph reports:

Students are joining university Conservative societies in growing numbers in reaction to the activities of left-wing activists on campus, it has been claimed.

Several Conservative student groups at Britain’s leading universities doubled in size last year, new figures show – with membership at the Cambridge University Conservative Association swelling by more than 40 per cent.

The number of new members at Brunel University’s student Conservative society has surged by more than 400 per cent, while the Conservative and Unionist Association at Edinburgh University has almost tripled in size.

All good news, but why?

Conservative student leaders say the influx of new members is in response to what they say are attacks on free speech by left- wing student groups.

They claim the Rhodes Must Fall campaign for the removal of a statue of colonialist Cecil Rhodes from the grounds of Oriel College led to hundreds of students joining Oxford University’s student Conservative society.

The best outcome from it.

Alastair Ward-Booth, chairman of Cambridge’s Conservative Association, said membership had surged because students were seeking “respite” from the “insane and exclusionary” politics of left-wing groups.

That would explain it.

Eliot Smith, President of Reading Conservatives, said  the breaking point for many students took place last year, when left-wing students attempted to boycott Jeremy Paxman from speaking on campus because he had allegedly made “sexist comments” on University Challenge.

He added that many members were exasperated by so-called “special snowflakes” and found their actions to be “quite silly”.

Go the snowflakes.

Jo Moir reports:

A “crisis meeting” is being held by Labour’s list ranking committee and it’s likely prospective Labour candidate Willie Jackson will be given a higher place.

It’s understood he was given the 21st slot on Labour’s original list and wasn’t happy about it.

Jackson, a high profile broadcaster and former Alliance MP, is said to have flown down to Wellington on Monday morning to take his frustrations to the party first-hand.

The party was expected to announce its list around mid-morning but has now pushed it out to Tuesday morning while the party works through the ranking issues. A Labour Party source said a “crisis meeting” would be held on Monday night and it was expected Jackson would get a higher list ranking as a result.

It’s understood the delay is also because other electorate candidates are disappointed with their list ranking.

Jackson, who had ties to the Maori Party, was shoulder-tapped by Labour leader Andrew Little late last year to run and announced at Waitangi that would he seek a place on the list.

Little threw his support behind Jackson getting a high-list placing.

But Northland and East Coast candidates, Willow-Jean Prime and Kiri Allan, look to have secured list spots ahead of Jackson – likely helped by Labour’s 50/50 gender policy.

Willie was warned about the gender policy and that Little was making promises he couldn’t deliver.

Until we see the full list we won’t know what chances Willie has, but we can do an estimate based on what we sort of know to work out his effective placing. So who is ahead of him

• current electorate seats – 27
• current MPs – Little, Parker, Mallard, Huo
• New cands – Price, Allan, O’Connor

So Jackson may be effectively 35th on the list. That means Labour would need at least 28% to get Jackson in, which is far from the guaranteed spot he thought he was getting.

If he does now get bumped further up the list, then you’ll have some very angry candidates who get ranked below him – especially if they then miss out making Parliament.

I am all for tax cuts but sustainable tax cuts need spending restraint. It is likely we will get some tax relief in the 2017 Budget, and that is because the Government has managed to restrain spending so it has gone from 34% of GDP to around 28%.

News.com.au reports:

All very good idea, except that Trump is also proposing greater spending, so the already huge deficit will just get bigger and bigger and one day the US economy will crash due to its debt.

Stuff reported:

The victim of a prolonged harassment campaign by a Dunedin government employee has spoken of the fear that almost drove him to take his own life.

Dunedin businessman Daniel Pryde waived his right to name suppression after Jeremy Buis was sentenced in the Dunedin District Court on Friday.

Earlier this week he shared his account of the two-and-a-half year harassment. 

“I really thought someone was watching and was going to shoot me,” he said.

The campaign was incredibly nasty and all over a parking stoush. Buis continued with the campaign even after his arrest. His actions seemed to verge on psychopathic.

And for that reasons it is stunning the court has suppressed details of his employer. There is huge public interest in knowing this. (No, do not speculate or hint at it in the comments – this is not Reddit).

The sentence of 200 hours community work is laughable and an insult.

The Crown should appeal both the sentence and the suppression of his employer.

Stephen Daisley writes in The Spectator:

For the benefit of Sky News, standard Christian doctrine says gay sex is a sin. It’s the sin that gives sinning a good name. There ought to be a stewards’ inquiry into why it didn’t make it into the Ten Commandments. But, yes, it’s one of those trespasses we ask to be forgiven. 

Sky’s Darren McCaffrey demanded to know Tim Farron’s view on the matter at a Lib Dem event on Monday. In case you’re wondering, Farron hasn’t proposed banning the love that once dared not speak its name and now won’t shut up about it. Nor does he want to roll back any of the gains the gay rights movement has made in the last 20 years. In fact, he has criticised equal marriage legislation for failing to accommodate the rights of trans people and wants to see the ‘spousal veto’ scrapped. 

But Farron is a Christian and, worse, one of those ones who actually believes it all. …

This is not journalism, it’s bloodsport for secularists. Farron is not proposing a single policy that would adversely impact LGBT people. He is not being asked to clarify his political principles so much as repudiate his faith. It is an ugly business and one that will be causing Farron acute anguish, something which his pursuers must know. The sight of talented broadcasters reduced to tormenting a politician for his religious affiliation makes for unpleasant viewing.

It has been truly nasty seeing the media demand Farron give his religious views, rather than his political views.

The hounding of Tim Farron reflects the metropolitan prejudices of so many journalists and the social and professional circles they move in. Few are the Sunday brunches in Shoreditch that must be arranged around church services. That helps explain why some questions of faith and ethics are posed and others are not. Reporters are not asking abortion-supporting MPs whether they think a foetus is a baby while inside the womb. No news channel reckons the election turns on a gay MP’s musings on promiscuity and unsafe sex. No Muslim MP has been invited on Andrew Marr to explain how Mohammed flew to Jerusalem on a winged horse given to him by the Archangel Gabriel.

Exactly. It is only Christianity which journalists can find it safe to mock and ridicule.

Claire Trevett profiles Mark Mitchell:

Monday was a very good day for Mark Mitchell — he was promoted to Defence Minister and his runaway dog Stig was found after five days AWOL.

Mitchell made a video for his Facebook page to mark the occasion. He spoke of the privilege and honour of being in Cabinet but spent most of the time talking about the return of Stig, a black Labrador his family had since it was a puppy in 2011.

Pets are family, and losing one (even temporarily) is awful.

Mitchell, 48, is a genial, unassuming bloke who looks like a big softie. Do not be fooled. A former police Dog handler, he spent 14 years in the Police Force, dealing with the Mongrel Mob in Gisborne and getting painfully acquainted with the blade of a samurai sword in Rotorua.

He quit in 2003 and intended to pursue a gentler career training polo ponies. Instead he ended up in the Middle East, working in the volatility of Iraq in 2004 straight after the invasion of Iraq by US-led forces.

All up he spent eight years in the Middle East, first working for a British contractor providing security to the Coalition Provisional Authority and training Iraqi security forces. …

Mitchell eventually set up his own security firm based in Kuwait but working across the Middle East and further afield, where he developed expertise in kidnap and ransom negotiations, as well as extricating hostages.

This almost understates what Mark did. He set up the Threat Management Group of Agility Logistics, and grew it from eight to 500 staff. He was involved in over 100 hostage negotiations. Might be a useful skill if National ends up in coalition with NZ First!

That time in his life has attracted criticism from some, including Auckland Peace Action spokesperson Virginia Lambert who said Mitchell had been a “mercenary fighter during the bloodiest period of the US occupation”.

“Mark Mitchell not only went freely and willingly to fight in an illegal war of aggression, but he made a profit out of it. It is disgusting,” she wrote in a press release after the announcement of Mitchell’s position.

Such comments frustrate Mitchell, who says he was not a mercenary and has no qualms now about the work he did. “I wouldn’t change anything I’ve done. I’m… quietly proud, I’m not someone that shouts it from the rooftops — I’m a Kiwi after all. But I’m proud of the difference we made in people’s lives in terms of their security and ability to get on with their lives.”

He points to work he did such as opening mass graves with scientists from the Hague gathering evidence for the war crimes trial of Saddam Hussein. “When you’re opening mass graves and you’re finding the remains of babies clinging to mums, it’s a pretty clear reminder of the atrocities which were taking place. That was a very, very tough job for everyone involved. Instead of questioning why we were there, all it does is provide more resolve in terms of knowing there had to be changes made.”

Protecting scientists working to gather evidence of war crimes is something a peace group should be praising.

A fake news editorial from the Dominion Post:

That is partly because he has also set himself an onerous new target for reducing the national debt. The Government has been aiming for a level equal to 20 per cent of GDP for its time in office; now he proposes a new standard of 10 to 15 per cent .

The announcement by Steven Joyce clearly refers to net debt.

In 2008, a few months before coming to power, English could see this. Debt was 17 per cent of GDP, Labour was targeting 20 per cent, and he had no intention of trying to wrestle it down further.

But if you look at the 2008 Budget, it is gross debt that is 17% of GDP. Net debt in 2008 was 1% of GDP, well below the 10% to 15% proposed by Joyce.

So the failure of the Dominion Post leader writer to understand the difference between gross and net debt has resulted in a factually incorrect and misleading editorial.

Stuff reports:

Associate justice spokesperson for sexual and domestic violence Poto Williams said only 13 per cent of the sexual assault cases reported to police ended in a conviction and something needed to be done to address the “power imbalance”.

Labour would change the system so that a victim was believed as a starting point, and that an accused would have to prove consent – an idea rejected by National.

I thought Labour had dropped this policy, but it seems they have not. This is horrific and every civil libertarian out there should be condemning it.

If Labour becomes Government, then people accused of rape (where there is no question that sex happened, just consent) will have to prove beyond reasonable doubt they had consent or they will be convicted of rape and sentenced to up to 20 years in jail.

It will be presumed guilt upon accusation. Arguably their worst policy, and one that the media should be highlighting much more. It would change hundreds of years of criminal law that you are deemed innocent unless proven guilty. It will mean you are deemed guilty unless you can prove you are innocent.

One News reports:

Politico has a lengthy article on how much of a bubble the US media live in. They found:

• 90% of Internet publishing employees work in a county Clinton won
• 75% of Internet publishing employees work in a county Clinton won by over 30%
• 72% of Internet publishing and media employees work in a county Clinton won

So it is not deliberate bias, just that so many in the media live in a neighbourhood which is unrepresentative of the country as a whole.

It would be interesting to study NZ media and where they live. I suspect most NZ media will live in Labour held electorates despite Labour holding only 21 out of 64 general electorates.