Brendan O’Neill writes in The Spectator:

At the same time, a gang of peers is plotting to hold up Brexit. Led by Patience Wheatcroft (if you do titles, which I don’t, she is Baroness Wheatcroft of Blackheath, though of course not one soul in Blackheath ever voted for her), these ‘several dozen’ peers want to delay the enactment of Brexit, or what some of us call the people’s will, in the hope of bringing about a second referendum. A chance for us ignorant plebs to redeem ourselves and give the right answer. One of these peers, former Labour MP Oona King, now Baroness King of Bow (‘What?’, asks everyone in Bow), says she wants to ‘scrutinise’ the decision made by ‘the British people’ and ‘bring more facts to their attention’. Turns out the neo-aristocrats are a lot like the old aristocrats, fancying themselves as better placed than the little people to decide the fate of the nation.

Professors are joining the revolt of the elite, too. AC Grayling, the bouffanted atheist, has called on MPs not to support triggering Article 50 because Brexit was a ‘decision by crowd acclamation’ and ‘rule by crowd acclamation is a very poor method of government’. Dumb crowds. Other academics are threatening to quit Britain if something isn’t done about Brexit / the people. As one report puts it, ‘A rising tide of xenophobia [where?] and anti-intellectualism [ie. we’re stupid] following the Brexit vote is making academics think of leaving the country and discouraging others from applying for jobs here.’ What a temper tantrum. The people voted for something we don’t like, so we’re off! And they accuse the electorate of behaving like children.

If the elites do manage to prevent Brexit, then there will be a backlash like you have never seen. But they won’t succeed.

The Economist has released their annual survey of the best and worst major cities in the world to live in. The top 10 are:

1. Melbourne 97.5
2. Vienna 97.4
3. Vancouver 97.3
4. Toronto 97.2
5. Calgary 96.6
6. Adelaide 96.6
7. Perth 95.9
8. Auckland 95.7
9. Helsinki 95.6
10. Hamburg 95.0

The bottom ranked city is Damascus at 30.2, which is no surprise perhaps.

The Herald reports:

The device – the sort used by law enforcement and spying agencies – had been planted in a chair in the hotel, where the team have been staying since Sunday, theHerald has learned.

The hotel has launched its own investigation.

The Herald understands the foam of the seat appeared to have been deliberately and carefully cut to make way for the device and then sewn or glued back together to be almost undetectable.

The Herald has been told that hiding the device was a highly skilled and meticulous act and whoever put it there would have needed a significant amount of time to have pulled off such an accomplished job.

Tew said this afternnoon he had spoken with Australian Rugby Union counterpart Bill Pulver who was “just as shocked as I was” at the bugging.

“We haven’t made any accusations of anybody, so there’s no room for denials,” he said when asked if Australia had denied involvement in the incident.

When the discovery of the bug was revealed by the Herald late this morning, Tew said in a statment that the New Zealand and Australian rugby unions had “jointly decided to hand over the investigation to the Australian police”.

“We are taking this issue very seriously, and given it will be a police matter, it would not be prudent to go into further details.”

This morning Pulver told the Herald the organisation was alerted to the discovery by Tew this morning.

I don’t think it would have been the Australian Rugby Union. They could hardly tell the players “Hey this is the All Black game plan – we bugged their meeting”. The players would be revolted if they were told.

It is possible the bug was planted a while ago and intended for someone else at the hotel.

The other possibility is that some sort of tabloid media organisation did it. It isn’t that far removed from phone hacking.

UPDATE: Well if it was the Wallabies it didn’t do them much good. The All Blacks slaughtered them 42-8. Sonny Bill cheekily tweeted during the game “So who bugged whose rooms then”. I suspect the bigger motivating factor was the talk from Wallabies coach Michael Cheika about how the ABs would do without McCaw and Carter. Just fine was the response.

NZ scored six tries, which is great against any team, but incredible against the Wallabies.

Stuff reports:

New Zealand’s Lydia Ko has claimed a silver medal at the Rio Olympics, finishing runner-up to South Korea’s Inbee Park in the women’s golf tournament.

Park finished on 16-under after shooting five-under 66 in the final round, to claim a dominant five-shot victory. 

Ko avoided a playoff for silver with China’s Shanshan Feng after picking up a birdie on the 18th. Feng claimed bronze on 10-under with Ko shooting two-under 69 in the final round, finishing at 11-under overall. 

“Today not many putts were falling,” Ko said. “But for a crucial putt like that on the 18th [hole] to fall, I think I celebrated like the gold medallist… This means so much more to me. Since 2009 I’ve just dreamt and imagined myself to be here in Rio alongside the world’s best athletes.

“Having this silver medal is just a dream come true. The Olympics isn’t about [whether] somebody lost to another player. It celebrates each and every athlete and we’ve all won. This week has just been surreal.”

Great words from our best sportswoman.

We’ve now won 17 medals which I think is a record for NZ.

On the various league tables we are:

• Medals per capita 2nd
• Gold medals per capita 5th
• Weighted medals per capita 4th
• Weighted medals by GDP 15th
• Weighted medals by team size 32nd
• Total Medals 15th
• Gold Medals 19th

The Herald reports:

Eliza McCartney is the toast of New Zealand sport today after pulling off a stunning bronze medal performance in Rio.

The 19-year-old from North Harbour equalled her personal best 4.80m to nail the third place on a countback from Australian Alana Boyd and nothing could shake the excitement from her.

“My cheeks are so sore and my eyes are red from crying. I’m so happy,” she laughed.

McCartney has won New Zealand’s 16th medal of the Rio Games and while she was ranked eighth going into the event, it was still a tall order for a jumper who only joined the senior ranks at the world indoor championships in Portland, Oregon in March.

It was the biggest day of McCartney’s rapidly burgeoning career and she was determined to enjoy it. At one point she clapped at a medal ceremony; she congratulated another vaulter for clearing a key jump with a quiet word, her routine and rhythm was bang on and she made the most of it.

“In Portland, I got quite caught up in the hype, but also my nerves. I learnt a bit about that. It was the first time I’d been competing against senior girls. Now I feel I know them so that’s fine.”

The important point for McCartney was she started with a rush.

She cleared 4.50m, 4.60m, 4.70m and 4.80m with her first attempt each time.

Such a great competitor.  She’ll be a great medal prospect also at Toyko.

Vodafone announced:

Vodafone is pleased to announce new peak speed commitments for 4G rural wireless broadband services delivered under the Rural Broadband Initiative (RBI).

In an agreement signed with MBIE, Vodafone has increased its 4G wireless broadband peak speed commitment from 5Mbps to 30Mbps download. Its 4G peak upload speed commitment has increased from 500Kbps to 5Mbps.

A long way off fibre speeds but still pretty decent. A good way to cover areas where fibre is uneconomic.

As readers know I am no Trump fan. I don’t like his narcissism, most of his policies, and much of his style.

But that is not to say he is wrong on everything.

His policy to ban every Muslim in the world from entering the US, either as a migrant or tourist was one of the most reprehensible policies he has had. It treated 1.4 billion identically, that their religious affiliation was all that mattered. It would have treated Malala Yousafzai the same as Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

He has now retreated from that, and proposed “extreme vetting”. USA Today reports:

In calling for “extreme vetting” of foreigners entering the United States, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump suggested a return to a 1950s-era immigration standard — since abandoned — that barred entry to people based on their political beliefs.

“We should only admit into this country those who share our values and respect our people,” Trump said Monday, explaining how he would deter terrorists from entering the U.S.

I think there is a case for vetting on the basis of extreme ideology. Not as Trump describes it though.

Of course anyone who is an actual terrorist will not be allowed to migrate. No-one disagrees with that. But are we saying that anything short of being an actual terrorist is okay? Would you want Anjem Choudary migrating to NZ?

This is where again it is useful to differ between Islam and Islamism. Within Islam you have a huge range of views from those who are incredibly devout and support sharia law as the law of the land to those who are liberal and see their religion as merely something for their personal behaviour.

Christianity has a similar variety from extremely liberal Anglicans to ultra Conservative Catholics to some fundamentalist baptists groups such as Westboro.

Within Islam though those who hold extreme views (such as supporting the death penalty for apostasy) are a significant number. They are not a majority but a large minority.

George Borjas at Politico makes the case for vetting:

In particular, is it really that big a departure from what we have done in the past if we also asked green card applicants: “Do you believe that religious law should supplant the Constitution of the United States?” Or if we asked: “Do you believe that the law should treat people differentially based on their gender, their race, or their sexual orientation?” And would it really be that unreasonable if we had second thoughts about admitting persons who answered those questions in the affirmative? Are there really that many Americans who would disagree with the notion that a reasonable immigration policy should, in Trump’s words, keep out “those who do not believe in our Constitution, or who support bigotry and hatred”?

I think we should ask questions to exclude people who for example think apostasy should be a crime.

Of course, it is sensible to wonder whether such filters are effective. I doubt that the 9/11 terrorists admitted in their applications for foreign student visas that they planned to use their flight training to fly planes into the World Trade Center. But the fact that such filtering is far from perfect does not imply that we should not have any filters whatsoever. If nothing else, the perjury in the visa application gives the government an easy way for detaining and deporting dangerous immigrants living in our midst, even after they become American citizens. The falsification or concealment of relevant facts during the application process provides grounds for the removal of a green card, for the revoking of naturalization, and for eventual deportation.

It will not be of course 100% effective but perfect is the enemy of good. Asking such questions would give grounds for removal, but also it may discourage people from migrating to a country where they will not integrate.

The Herald reports:

Shot putter Tom Walsh has become a sporting pioneer at the Rio Games.

The 24-year-old builder from Timaru – a town which sources claim might soon be changing it’s name briefly to Tomaru – is the first New Zealand man to earn a medal in an Olympic field event in attempts spanning 88 years.

Walsh threw 21.36m with his penultimate effort to secure bronze.

American Ryan Crouser won with an Olympic record 22.52m, ahead of compatriot Joe Kovacs who delivered 21.78m.

Despite the wealth of medals earned by Kiwi men on the track, no chap since Stan Lay first threw a javelin at Amsterdam in 1928 has made it to the podium.

Great result. Amazing it has been so long. We are now 2nd for medals per capita and 3rd for weighted medals per capita.

Stuff reports:

Duncan Garner and current breakfast host Paul Henry are set to swap seats in a TV3 reshuffle.

It is understood the switch will see Henry move to co-hosting Mediaworks’ prime-time current affairs show Storywith Heather du Plessis-Allan, taking Garner’s spot.

Garner will shift to the breakfast slot on TV3, which simulcasts on radio and the internet. 

This will be interesting.

Back when Paul Henry did Breakfast on TV One, I said that HDPA would be a good co-host for him as she would take any shit he gives her, and give it back in spades.

So the 7 pm shot will be Henry vs Hosking. I predict the Greens will call for all media networks to be nationalised and only approved presenters allowed on at 7 pm!

The morning slot will be Garner vs Hillary Barry and Jack Tame. Henry had done very well at winning audience share off TVNZ, so will be interesting to see if that continues.

The Guardian reports:

Owen Smith, the Labour leadership challenger, sparked controversy on Wednesday by suggesting a British government would have to negotiate with Isis to end the conflict in the Middle East.

Asked in a televised debate whether the terrorist group, which controls large areas of Iraq and Syria and has claimed responsibility for numerous attacks in the west, should be allowed to join talks about resolving the conflicts in the Middle East, Smith said “all actors” should be involved.

The Herald reports:

The Human Rights Commission has given cautious support to the Government’s spying reforms.

However, the human rights watchdog says it is concerned about the broad definition of national security in the legislation, which will come before Parliament tomorrow.

Chief commissioner David Rutherford said today that the proposed changes to laws governing the Security Intelligence Service (SIS) and the Government Communication Security Bureau (GCSB) addressed concerns the commission had previously raised about the agencies.

These concerns included stronger authorisation for spying warrants, greater oversight of the agencies, and strengthened requirements regarding compliance with human rights law.

Rutherford said the proposed changes were “a significant improvement” but there were aspects of the bill which were still a concern.

“Chief among these is the definition of national security,” he said.

Defining national security threats is probably like defining spam – quite difficult to do, but you know it when you see it.

Stuff reports:

The Greater Wellington Regional Council has unanimously voted in favour of free wi-fi to be installed at bus and train stops.

The sustainable transport committee resolution passed uncontested at Wednesday’s meeting, and councillor Sue Kedgley hoped it would be available across the region by next year.

“People can be productively engaged while they wait for transport,” she said.

“It reduces the frustration people have when they have to wait a long time, and improves the whole public transport experience.”

Many bus stops in Wellington are already in free wifi zones. The way you reduce frustration is to have less of a waiting time!

“Ultimately I’d like to see it on trains and buses, but it’s a bit more complicated getting it on to moving transport,” Kedgley said. “The least we can do is get it in at train and bus stations.”

Would be far more useful to have it on the trains and buses and this is becoming quite common overseas.

Thanks to Rupert for producing this map of Wellington showing what a one km buffer around Wellington schools would look like. Some health activists advocate such a buffer for dairies and this week a buffer for convicted sex offenders.

As you can see such a buffer is absolutely unworkable. To live or have a dairy outside the buffer would mean either camping out at Wellington Airport, or maybe in the Seaview industrial zone.

Stuff reports:

Betsy Davis sat in her bedroom in Ojai, a US valley town surrounded by the California mountains. On a windowsill near her bed was a collection of crystals and gems she had brought back from her adventures.

Her caregivers routinely placed her iPad on her lap and she would type – slowly poking the keypad with her pinkie.

This time, she was writing an invitation for her farewell party.

“First, you are all very brave for sending me off on my journey,” she wrote in an email last month to family members and friends.

“Thank you so much for travelling the physical and emotional distance for me. These circumstances are unlike any party you have attended before, requiring emotional stamina, centredness, and openness. I strongly encourage you all to connect with every person at the party – this will not only benefit you but me as well.”

Three years earlier, Davis had been diagnosed with ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, a merciless illness that renders muscles unusable and speech unrecognisable.

Davis did not want to experience death the way the disease typically demands, her family and friends said; she wanted to celebrate her life – eating favourite foods, listening to favourite music and reliving favourite memories with those who meant the most to her – then slip away surrounded by love and support.

“There are no rules,” she wrote. “Wear what you want. Speak your mind. Dance, hop, chant, sing, pray . . . but do not cry in front of me. Okay, one rule. But it is important to me that our last interactions in this dimension are joyful and light. If you need to cry, there will be designated crying areas . . . or just find a corner.”

But, she told them, “I AM allowed to cry.”

“One of the symptoms of ALS is uncontrollable laughing/crying. So, in effect, I’m not crying because of you, but merely because my neurons are having a meltdown. However, if I laugh, it probably is because of you.”

ALS, which stands for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is a neurodegenerative disease that afflicts some 20,000 Americans at any given time, according to the ALS Association.

On average, those who have been diagnosed with ALS are expected to live two to five years, the association says.

In recent years, terminally ill patients like Davis have drawn attention to the much-debated issue of right-to-die legislation. Currently, only four US states have death with dignity laws – Oregon, Washington, Vermont and now California, whose End of Life Option Act took effect in June. …

Betsy Davis, a 41-year-old artist with wavy red hair, freckled skin and an appreciation of beauty, had to use a wheelchair, having lost muscle control in her legs. She was struggling to use her hands, to speak, to swallow.

“The idea of her taking charge of her departure was something she had talked about from the early stages of the diagnosis because everyone knows where this disease goes,” Niels Alpert, a longtime friend who once dated her, said.

“She knew she would rather take control of her final destiny before she entered total locked-in syndrome and was completely helpless.”

He said Davis knew that she needed to do it soon – while she could still use her hands to take the lethal medication.

She decided it was time, her family and friends said, and she set the date for a two-day celebration at her Ojai home.

“She knew she wanted a party; she wanted a gathering,” Kelly Davis said, adding that her sister “wanted to challenge the notion of death and a big, happy gathering was a way for her to do that.”

And, in her death, it seems, Davis also wanted to bring others closer together.

“What she really wanted was for everyone to reconnect,” Kelly Davis said, adding: “I think she knew what she was doing – she was creating a support group.”

On the weekend of July 23-24, more than 30 people came from across the country for what Davis called her “rebirth.”

They arrived at a home filled with mementos from her life – artwork, books, clothing and keepsakes from her worldwide travels, such as desert sand from Jordan and incense from Japan.

Each item had a blue Post-it note stuck to it with a name of a friend she wanted to pass it down to. “Let me live on through you!” she wrote in her email.

Davis asked her friends to try on her clothes and take items they wanted, Kelly Davis said. Some men in the group tried on her dresses, Kelly Davis said, and modelled them to make her laugh.

They ate pizza and hot tamales.

They listened to Britpop and indie rock, including New Order and the Pixies.

They watched a film, Dance of Reality, by Chilean director Alejandro Jodorowsky.

They huddled together on her porch, where friends played the harmonica and the cello.

They talked. They laughed. And, at times, some of them stepped away and cried.

“She was full of smiles. She was happy,” said Alpert, her friend from New York.

He added: “She was very happy to see her best friends and most beloved family members, so that aspect was joyful. Of course, underneath that, we were all feeling a deep sense of pain and grief.”

Kelly Davis said it was “really remarkable how joyful everything was” but that, every so often, she would have a “reality check” about how the party would end.

“I would look at my watch and say, ‘In five hours, my sister will no longer be living,’ ” she said, crying. “You just have to accept it. You just have to acknowledge it and move on.”

That Sunday night, as the sun started to set, Davis headed toward a hillside outside her home with her family and friends to watch the sky turn pink.

First, Davis told her father that he had always been her hero, Kelly Davis said. And she told her sister, who is a journalist, “‘Don’t stop trying to make the world a better place.’ “

“I was crying,” Kelly Davis said.

Betsy Davis’ caregivers helped her slip into a blue-and-white kimono that she had bought in 2014 with her friend, Alpert, during a bucket-list trip to Japan, Alpert said. A family friend drove her up the hill in his new Tesla.

There, her family members and closest friends sat in chairs under a white canopy facing California’s setting sun.

Her caregivers helped her onto a bed, where she would soon take a cocktail of morphine, pentobarbital and chloral hydrate mixed into a coconut milkshake to “mask the taste,” her sister wrote in the Voice of San Diego.

Betsy Davis was allowed a choice, because she lived in Oregon. I hope that people in New Zealand in the same circumstance will one day also be allowed that choice.

An incredibly moving article.

Matthew Hooton writes in NBR:

It was education minister David Lange who first had the vision to try to fix this system with his bulk funding proposal in 1988, shared by his successors Phil Goff and Lockwood Smith.  Despite Smith’s opt-in trial in the early 1990s, which showed bulk funding was overwhelmingly positive for teachers and students, union militancy meant all three education ministers ultimately failed and the full centrally controlled system was restored by Helen Clark’s union-friendly government in 1999.

It goes without saying that, until now, John Key’s poll-driven government has had no inclination to revive the issue, daring only to confront the unions over Anne Tolley’s national standards proposal, also vehemently opposed by the union bosses on the grounds it could be used to provide information on teacher efficacy.

That said, both the union bosses and Mr Key are acting rationally from their own perspectives. Any form of bulk funding – even Ms Parata’s half-hearted “global funding” proposal – would slowly weaken the hold of union bosses over schools. Over time, principals would start to evolve the structure of their schools to better meet the needs of their students. Tired older teachers would more easily be moved on to administrative roles. Successful younger teachers might be paid a bit more, at first informally but later under new non-union employment agreements. Part-time specialists in science, art or critical thinking could be hired more easily, working in more than one school.

It goes without saying that the unions think giving principals more flexibility to run their schools along these lines must be stopped at all costs and they have a history of being prepared to go to any lengths to retain the status quo.

In most workplaces, staff would welcome greater flexibility!

The Herald reports:

Green MP Jan Logie says it is worth debating whether New Zealand should introduce a no-protest zone around abortion clinics, similar to those enforced in some Australian states.

Sure and I’d like to debate whether NZ should introduce a no-protest zone around political party conferences.

In the Australian states of Tasmania and Victoria, filming, intimidation and protests are banned within 150m of abortion centres. In New South Wales, a bill to provide a 150m “safe access zone” has just been introduced by a Green MP on the grounds of ensuring the right to medical privacy.

Logie said the Green Party had no plans for a member’s bill on the issue but another speaker had raised the Australian example. There were different views expressed on it and she believed a broader discussion was needed.

“I do think there’s is a genuine issue around the impact of those protests directly targeting women and making their lives worse.”

And protests around party conferences target delegates and make their lives worse.

The Abortion Law Reform Association of New Zealand president Terry Bellamak said protesters didn’t have a place outside health clinics.

“Women experience harassment as intrusive and intimidating, even if protesters are silent.

“It’s just not kind. To stand outside where someone is just trying to go about their day getting health care and to be silently judging them.

“It’s the 21st century. We all have the freedom to make our own moral choices.”

Including the freedom to protest.

I’m pro-choice. I think those who do protest outside abortion clinics are misguided and insensitive and do indeed make what can be a traumatic experience even worse for those involved. I wish they didn’t protest, just as I wish the Westboro Church didn’t picket funerals. It reflects badly on them.

But they have a right to protest, and I don’t think no-protest zones are a good idea.

Stuff reports:

Uber and the Government could be on the brink of a truce following a promise from Transport Minister Simon Bridges to make the vetting process for commercial drivers cheaper and faster.

Just a week ago Bridges warned Uber drivers could be taken off the road completely if they didn’t start following the law – since April the company’s drivers have failed to go through the required vetting process.

Bridges accused the $60 million business of “mocking” New Zealand’s safety compliance rules, saying the Government had “zero tolerance for illegal behaviour”.

But on Tuesday Bridges extended an olive branch to Uber saying he was “going to make sure it’s much cheaper and takes much less time” to get a P endorsement passenger carrying licence.

Simon has been in fact saying this for some time. It is the right thing to do.

While Uber is doing its own Ministry of Justice and driver licence checks before deciding if someone can drive – these checks don’t cover criminal convictions beyond seven years, a medical fitness to drive or overseas criminal convictions.

Responding to Bridges’ comments, an Uber spokesman said, they want to work with the Government to ensure Kiwis have access to a “quick and affordable accreditation process that puts consumer safety first”.

 “It is encouraging that Minister Bridges has committed to reducing the cost and complexity of obtaining a Government P-Endorsement.”

The cost of a P endorsement, which Bridges says is less than $2000, is prohibitive and he’d like to see it brought down to around a third of the cost.

Plans are in place to speed up the process for undertaking the vetting process and Bridges expects both those issues to be cleared up once a Bill is introduced to the House. 

“Once we’ve done that, whether you’re a taxi, Uber or some other ride-share operation, there will literally be nothing to complain about. It will be a low compliance level playing field for everyone.” 

It should be low compliance because technology provides a much better safety guarantee than in the past. Look at how things have changed:

• With Uber you know your driver’s identity 100%. With a taxi it is reliant on you remembering the name on their ID card
• With Uber you have the exact route recorded. You can prove where the car was at any point in time. This increases safety and also reduces fraud potential as seeminhly occured with ECan
• With Uber you never pay cash or need cash on you
• With Uber you get prompted to review your driver every single time. With a taxi you need to do go to the hassle of ringing up and complaining
• With Uber drivers with a rating below 4.5/5 get dumped as drivers.

This provides a huge amount of safety and security.

So the Government should make driver safety checks quicker and cheaper to recognise this. But also until they do, Uber should not use unlicensed drivers who breach the law.

The Herald reports:

Kiwi actor Sam Neill has slammed Sydney’s lockout laws and the state’s ban on greyhound racing. …

First up was Sydney’s lockout laws which he said had taken the guts out of the city.

“Sydney (in the 1970s) seemed to me to be the most vibrant place in the world and I think a lot of that vibrancy has been sucked out of the place,” Neill said.

“I particularly lament this lockout which has taken the guts out of the nightlife of Sydney. And Sydney without nightlife is kind of a pointless place. I don’t really want to see Adelaide being a place to go for a good weekend.”

The actor labelled Kings Cross one of the saddest places he’s ever been to and said the city needs it just as London needs Soho.

“Instead of making the streets safe, they’ve just stopped the streets,” he said.

This is exactly what the Police are trying to do by stealth in Wellington. Sydney bars now have to lock people out at 1.30 am (Police here want 1 am). And it has killed Sydney nightlife.

Kirk Hope of Business NZ writes in Stuff:

Business is concerned about a proposed law that would be harmful to business and the economy.

A Labour Party member’s Bill, the Minimum Wage (Contractor Remuneration) Amendment Bill, is due for its third reading in Parliament soon and currently looks as if it might have enough votes to be passed into law.

If so, it would be a bad law.

The Contractor Bill is seeking to pay contractors a minimum wage.

On the face of it, this sounds like a good thing. No-one supports people being paid less than the minimum wage; certainly BusinessNZ firmly supports employees’ right to minimum wage protections.

The only problem is that contractors aren’t employees.

Contractors sign up to contracts for services and are paid for outcomes, not paid by the hour.

Requiring contracts to specify hourly or weekly pay rates would have the effect of turning them into quasi-employment agreements.

Perhaps this is the aim of the Bill – to get rid of contracts for services altogether, or to create confusion about using them.

Confusion would be the inevitable outcome.

Blurring the line between employment agreements and contracts for services would throw doubt on a lot of business law. New tax rates and new employment laws would have to be created to apply to the strange hybrid that ‘contracts’ would become.

Sectors that use contracts for services a lot would be beset by uncertainty – manufacturing, building and construction, transport and many others.

The construction industry in Auckland and Christchurch would be affected. People earning their living as contractors would be most harmed by the uncertainty.

This confused outcome would result because the Contractor Bill itself is confused.

By focusing on a minimum ‘wage’ it seems to assume that a contractor always has only one contract with one client, and assumes that the single client should be paying an equivalent of the minimum wage or more.

But in fact most contractors provide their services to many clients, not just one.

An electrician or plumber for example would engage with many clients over a working week, earning a combined income well above the minimum wage.

This bill basically turns contractors into employees. Labour has never liked contractors. They think everyone should be an employee and in a union.

The Contractor Bill confuses employment agreements with contracts for services.

The correct place to have minimum wage protections is in employment agreements. Every employment agreement must pay at the minimum wage or higher, a practical protection for every New Zealand employee.

But it’s not practical to try to put minimum wage protections in contractors’ contracts. it would make many of them unworkable and would cause confusion in the marketplace.

The Contractor Bill appears to have been drafted by people with no experience with commercial contracting and who do not understand how contracts for services work.

The Labour Party in other words.

The Bill is supported by Labour, Greens, Maori Party and NZ First, and is opposed by National and ACT. The single vote of MP Peter Dunne could decide whether the Bill passes or not.

Business hopes that MPs currently supporting the Contractor Bill will think hard about the consequences of their vote.

The push for this bill is not coming from contractors. It is from unions who see it as a first step to turn contractors into union members.

Stuff reports:

Hutt South MP Trevor Mallard believed the monitored property was within one kilometre of a school or playground, meaning it breached rules set down about homing this type of offender in communities.

He intended to raise his concern with Corrections officials this week.

“They appear to have done a round-about route to the school rather than as the crow flies.

I don’t think offenders should be next to schools, but being 1 km away is not that close. The reality is that almost all of Wellington will be within 1 km of a school. There are 174 schools in Wellington and 393 ECE centres. So imagine 567 one km radius circles.  That could be up to 1,800 square kms of area. Wellington City is 290 square kms, Lower Hutt 377 kms, Upper Hutt 540, Porirua 182.

So demanding that an exclusion zone be a one km radius from a school is a bit nonsensical.

And arguing it should be as the crow flies rather than along walkable routes is also silly, as you know people can’t actually fly.

Stuff reports:

Top New Zealand women’s sailors Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie have won silver in the 470 class at the Rio Olympics.

It completed a remarkable comeback for the Kiwis, who endured two disqualifications that effectively ended their hopes of defending the gold medal they won in London four years ago.

Aleh and Powrie battled back to enter the medal race on Friday (NZ time) in second place on the points table.

They duly came third in the double-points medal race to make the podium and claim a hard-earned silver.

Well done the sailors.

Stuff also reports:

There was not a hint of disappointment from Kiwi kayak queen Lisa Carrington as double-gold history proved just beyond her reach at the Rio Olympics, .

Carrington had to settle for the bronze medal, well behind dominant Hungarian Danuta Kozak, in the final of the K1 500m at the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon on Thursday (Friday NZ Time).

My favourite Olympian!

And later today a Gold will be confirmed:

It will be Day 13 of the Olympics and that will be unlucky for some. But New Zealand have one gold in the bag for the day – Peter Burling and Blair Tuke can’t be beaten in the men’s 49er skiff. They are too far ahead of the opposition heading into the final medal race.

That will give New Zealand four gold medals – putting the team equal with Kenya, Spain and Jamaica, if they are all luckless, and just one off US swimmer Michael Phelps.

We’re in 17th place at the moment for gold medals. We will move to 14th when the gold is awarded.

On medals per capita we are third.