Stuff reports:

New documents cast doubt on Newshub’s claim that it admitted leaking an interest rate decision before it was investigated.  …

However Reserve Bank Governor Graeme Wheeler had earlier briefed the central bank’s board that MediaWorks had had to be prodded into admitting the leak.

“MediaWorks conducted its own investigation and initially said they had found no leak,” the Reserve Bank minutes of March 17 read.

“However, after prompting from Deloitte, MediaWorks had searched again and found the emails containing the leaked information.”

The Reserve Bank declined to comment. MediaWorks has been approached for comment.

Doesn’t really help their brand, having an OIA reveal they were economical with the truth.

NBR reports:

When NBR ONLINE first introduced its paywall in 2009, people lined up to give it the bash.

Sam Morgan, then a Fairfax director, called it “the brick wall” and he was one of the politer ones.

But it turns out that if you deliver news people can use, they are willing to pay for it.

People did sign on, and new subscription options have seen numbers accelerating over just the past six months to hit 4000 individual paid member subscribers today.

Their numbers are supplemented by 336 organisations with IP (internet protocol) subscriptions that let every staff member access NBR ONLINE from their office.

4,000 individual subscriptions is a good achievement. I suspect the bulk of the revenue comes from the 336 corporate subscriptions but still a useful contributions.

As Fairfax and NZME look at paywalls, they should look at how NBR has managed to do it profitably. From what I can tell, they do two important things:

• Provide lots of really good analysis, not just news (which you can get anywhere)
• Have some stories outside the paywall to get visits, but the best stuff behind the paywall so people know it is there and want to see it

Stuff reports:

Fairfax Media has settled a case brought by Stephen Jennings against the company and its former reporter, Michael Field, regarding an article published in March 2015 on www.stuff.co.nz, and in a number of regional Fairfax newspapers, about Mr Jennings and his businesses.

Fairfax Media’s management, its editors and Mr Field apologise unreservedly to Mr Jennings for the article. We accept that the article and the statements about Mr Jennings and his businesses within it were entirely without merit; Mr Field did not contact Mr Jennings for his comment; and the article failed to meet Fairfax’s high expectations in relation to its own editorial standards and journalistic ethics.

The amount of the settlement, which included an offer by Fairfax to repeat its apology in open court, is substantial. Mr Jennings has confirmed he is donating the net settlement to charities focused on Taranaki, his home province, and sub-Saharan Africa, where his businesses operate.

I’ve read a lot of defamation settlement statements over the years and this one represents an absolute reaming. The key statements are:

We accept that the article and the statements about Mr Jennings and his businesses within it were entirely without merit

Can’t get much harsher than that. But the real zinger is:

The amount of the settlement, which included an offer by Fairfax to repeat its apology in open court, is substantial.

Normally a settlement is done to hide the amount being paid. For the agreed statement to reveal it is substantial, shows Fairfax was on a hiding to nothing and knew they would lose massively in court.

Stuff reports:

Hopes of a Government Budget surplus in the financial year just ended have been given a boost, with new data showing the books were in the black by $320 million more than forecast at the end of May.

The financial statements for the 11 months to May 31 showed a surplus on the operating balance before gains and losses (Obegal) of $2.3 billion against a forecast $1.98b. 

The surplus of $2.3b compared to an Obegal surplus of $1.2b at the same time last year. Tax revenue has increased by 5.7 per cent while expenses grew by 2.3 per cent over that time.

It looks likely we will make surplus for a 2nd consecutive year. That is not an insignificant achievement – and one few other countries in the OECD have managed.

Here’s the current deficits in other countries as a percentage of GDP:

• Canada 1.3%
• Ireland 2.3%
• Australia 2.8%
• France 3.5%
• UK 4.4%
• US 4.9%

Now remember this is the deficit as a proportion of the size of the economy. As a proportion of government revenue they will often be around two to three times as big.

So we’re situated pretty well. Having a surplus means we get to have a choice about how much should go on extyra spending, debt reduction or tax cuts. Deficits means little choice.

Stuff reports:

It’s time for Wellington to banish the buses, tear out the traffic and hand control of its main street to people on foot, a mayoral aspirant says.

Councillor Nicola Young has promised to push for Lambton Quay to be converted into a pedestrian mall, and to revisit sending State Highway 1 underground along Vivian St, if she is elected mayor in October.

With the demise of Wellington’s trolley buses just around the corner, and the decommissioning of the overhead wires to follow, the time was right to discuss removing traffic altogether from the jewel in the Golden Mile, Young said.

It would place Wellington alongside other “forward-thinking” cities that had restricted their main shopping areas to foot traffic, such as Sydney’s Pitt St Mall and Adelaide’s Rundle Mall.

Young’s vision for Lambton Quay involves paving, more trees, street furniture, distinctive feature lighting, social spaces and no vehicle fumes.

I think this is a very good idea. Bob Jones proposed similar a few years back. Turning it into a mall would be great for the city centre. Get far more people shopping and walking there and more outdoor sections for cafes.

A third UK party is now leaderless, but this one in a good way, reports Stuff:

Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage has resigned as head of the UK Independence Party (Ukip), saying he had realised his ambition of Britain voting to leave the European Union.

Farage said on Monday he had “done my bit” following the referendum.

“What I said during the referendum campaign is I want my country back. What I’m saying today is I want my life back,” he said.

Farage said the victory for the Leave side meant his political ambition was achieved. “I came into this struggle from business because I wanted us to be a self-governing nation, not to become a career politician.

Very smart to get out while on top. It can only be down hill from here, especially as UKIP no longer has much of a rationale to keep going.

Some calculations from a Liberal source:

So if the pre-polls go as strongly to the Coalition as in 2013, they could get close to 80 seats. Not sure the trend will be the same though, as there were more pre-polls this time and Labor’s scare campaign on Medicare was at its height during the pre-poll period.

The latest ABC results has Coalition 68, Labor 67, 5 others and 10 in doubt.

The Herald reports:

The Green Party says it will not soften its anti-genetic modification stance despite a plea from some of the world’s top scientists, who say opposition by green groups is blocking GM foods that could help reduce disease in third-world countries.

In an open letter published last week, 107 Nobel laureates urged environmental groups to end their opposition to genetically modified food, saying that there was no evidence of risks to human health and their stance was based on emotion and dogma. The scientists singled out Greenpeace, saying it had led opposition to Golden Rice, a crop which is genetically modified to provide Vitamin A and which has the potential to reduce disease and death in third-world countries.

The open letter prompted Act Party leader David Seymour to call on the Green Party to abandon its “outdated” position on GM.

“The Green Party needs to catch up with science, and modify its position on genetic modification, especially when Golden Rice has the ability to give sight to thousands of babies struggling with a lack of Vitamin A,” he said.

Green Party GM spokesman Steffan Browning said the party re-evaluated its GM policy regularly, but it would not be making any changes as a result of the open letter.

Of course not. Who do 107 nobel laureates know. They’re the sort of nutters who who also poo-poo treating Ebola with homeopathy.

Stuff reports:

Top Gear’s new host Chris Evans has quit after just one season, a day after reports of a police investigation into claims of sexual assault.

Evans took to Twitter to announce his resignation overnight, saying: “Gave it my best shot but sometimes that’s not enough”.

He made no mention of newspaper reports a day earlier that he would soon be interviewed by London’s Metropolitan Police over a former colleague’s allegations that he groped her and exposed himself to her and other staff at a workplace in the 1990s.

Evans was cited as the cause of a ratings plummet on the rebooted show, amid reports of a feud between him and co-host Matt LeBlanc, of Friends fame.

Just 1.9 million viewers tuned in for its final episode of the season on Sunday night. Its premiere in May drew 4.4 million viewers – still well down from about 5.8 million who tuned in during previous seasons hosted by Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May.

His resignation will have nothing to do with the historic claims, but all to do with massively low ratings and LeBlanc falling out with him.

There’s hope for future seasons with LeBlanc who has been excellent.

“There are some truths so completely self-evident, that demonstration is quite superfluous. This is one of that number. For who would attempt to deny, that the certainty of enjoying the fruits of one’s land, capital and labour, is the most powerful inducement to render them productive? Or who is dull enough to doubt, that no one knows so well as the proprietor how to make the best use of his property? Yet how often in practice is that inviolability of property disregarded, which, in theory is allowed by all to be so immensely advantageous? How often is it broken in upon for the most insignificant purposes and its violation, that should naturally excite indignation, justified upon the most flimsy pretexts?”

– Jean Baptiste Say

The quote of the week is brought to you by the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union. To support the Union’s campaign for lower taxes and less government waste, click here.

A translation of a story in Bild is fascinating:

In a remarkable interview this week, Franz Klintsevich, a senior Russian security official, explained the case matter-of-factly: “Let’s be frank. Snowden did share intelligence. This is what security services do. If there’s a possibility to get information, they will get it.”

With this, Klintsevich simply said what all intelligence professionals already knew – that Snowden is a collaborator with the FSB. That he really had no choice in the matter once he set foot in Russia does not change the facts.

Klintsevich is no idle speculator. He is a senator who has served in the State Duma for nearly a decade. More importantly, he is the deputy chair of the senate’s defense and security committee, which oversees the special services. The 59-year-old Klintsevich thus has access to many state secrets – for instance regarding the Snowden case. …

His statement outing Snowden’s relationship with the Kremlin therefore cannot be an accident or a slip of the tongue. For whatever reason, Putin has decided to out Snowden as the collaborator that he actually is – and has been for three years already.

One reason for this may be Snowden’s recent tepid criticism via Twitter of Russia’s draconian new laws on domestic surveillance – which vastly exceed any of the activities of the Western democracies that Snowden has so strongly criticized from his FSB hideaway. Indeed, his hosts finally allowing their American collaborator to tweet negatively about Russia – many had noted Snowden’s silence on FSB repression and worse – may be a sign that the defector has outlived his usefulness.

In truth, Snowden was never all that well informed about American intelligence. Contrary to the myths that he and his mouthpieces have propagated, he was no more than an IT systems administrator. Snowden was never any sort of bona fide spy. There are no indications he really understands most of what he stole from NSA.

The FSB therefore milked Snowden of any valuable information rather quickly. He likely had little light to shed on the million-plus secret files he stole. Instead, his value to Moscow has been as a key player in Kremlin propaganda designed to discredit the Western intelligence alliance.

In that role, Snowden has done a great deal of damage to the West. But he was never a “mole” for Moscow inside NSA. In reality, the Snowden Operation is probably a cover to deflect attention from the one or more actual Russian moles who have been lurking inside NSA for years, undetected.

Based on the cases of previous Western intelligence defectors to Moscow, Edward Snowden faces an unhappy future. Whatever happens to him is up to his hosts, who control all aspects of any defector’s life. There no longer can be any honest debate about his relationship with the Kremlin, which has settled the matter once and for all. Putin and his special services consider Snowden to be nash – there is no question about that now.

So Snowden stole information from the US, and has shared it with Russia. Can’t see him getting a pardon anytime soon. He should get used to living in Russia.

The Guardian reports:

Ben Wallace, an MP who was working on Johnson’s campaign, wrote on Twitter that Gove would be like Theon Greyjoy from TV series Game of Thrones, “by the time I am finished with him”. The character was tortured in a dungeon and had his penis removed.

Extraordinary to have one MP tweet this about another in their party.

But Gove may well not make the final two. Theresa May is almost certain to be one of the final two. The Conservative caucus vote on the five candidates, and the two highest polling go forward to a full membership ballot.

Andrea Leadson may get the second highest number of votes, which would mean teh final choice would be between two women.

Audrey Young gives ratings for the Ministers halfway through their third term. Her scores are:

• John Key 9/10
• Anne Tolley 9/10
• Murray McCully 8/10
• Todd McClay 8/10
• Amy Adams 8/10
• Simon Bridges 8/10
• Hekia Parata 8/10
• Bill English 7/10
• Nikki Kaye 7/10
• Gerry Brownlee 7/10
• Steven Joyce 7/10
• Judith Collins 7/10
• Maggie Barry 7/10
• Jonathan Coleman 7/10
• Chris Finlayson 7/10
• Nathan Guy 7/10
• Paula Bennett 6/10
• Michael Woodhouse 5/10
• Nick Smith 5/10
• Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga 4/10

Newshub reports:

Green Party co-Leader Metiria Turei is defending Housing New Zealand (HNZ) after Newshub revealed thousands of three-bedroom state homes are being occupied by a single person.

Now the logical thing to do is move these people into smaller state homes. But Labour and Greens oppose moving a tenant out of a state home, no matter how their circumstances change.

This means that fewer people get into a state house.

Ms Turei believes many of the tenants in the apparently under-occupied properties have family staying with them, but can’t tell HNZ because they’re too scared they’ll be kicked out.

Now think about the implications of this. Turei is saying that tenants actually have many more people living in them, but not telling HNZ because if they did their income level would be too high to qualify.

So again the Greens support state homes not going to those most in need, but just those who happen to already have one – and tough luck to those who have greater needs.

Bryce Wilkinson writes:

If you are above 40, I hope you would have built some financial net worth through hard work and thrift.  And if you are under 40, I hope that at least you aspire to build up some savings for a more comfortable retirement.
 
But perhaps like me, you did not realise that by working hard, paying off your mortgages and saving, you are depriving 15-19 year olds of a fair share of your wealth?  Every dollar you save relative to someone with no savings increases wealth inequality.

Yep the more you save, the more wealth inequality there is as a 15 year old hasn’t yet started working to save money.

It gets worse. There is also major inequality within each stage of the life cycle. Take households with dependent children. The median net worth of such a two adult household is around $250,000; for a one adult household it is $26,000. But is this the fault of two-adult households?

Of course it is. We should take $110,000 from every two adult household and give it to every sole adult household.

And let’s not get started on education-related inequality. Those who worked hard to get post-school qualifications, and subsequently, obviously earn more and own more. The median net worth of those with a master’s degree or a doctorate is $195,000; it is only $49,000 for those with no school qualification. But does that mean we need to blame academics for inequality?

This is also an easy one. If you work hard and get a post-graduate degree you need to then hand over $75,000 to a school leaver to compensate them.

On TV, Sue Bradford blamed the lamentably unresponsive major political parties for inequality. Decent political parties would force you all to do the decent thing.
 
But the real question is this: If age, education, and hard work are the most important factors for some people being wealthier than others, is there anything that could or should be done about it? And would anyone vote for it? 

Logan’s Run had the solution. Their solution was highly effective at preventing wealth inequality.

The Herald reports:

A Northland retailer selling e-cigarettes is “astounded” by the growth in sales since tobacco prices increased 10 per cent on January 1.

People puffing on the electronic devices, or “vaping” as the practice was known, were becoming a common sight around Northland with the retailer – who spoke anonymously – describing the cigarette substitutes as “the best thing I’ve ever sold”.

E-cigarettes – or electronic cigarettes – are devices that allow users to mimic the ritual of smoking a cigarette. Many glow at the end when activated, as real cigarettes do. Instead of inhaling smoke from burning tobacco, users inhale vapour containing nicotine.

“I’m astounded at how many people are buying them, and at how many people are giving up smoking using them. It’s a quiet little revolution,” said the retailer, who lost both his parents to smoking-related illnesses.

“I gave up cold turkey 10 years ago and it was hell – for about a year. The hardest thing to give up about smoking is the puff and the kick. These [customers] say it’s easy, and they’ve been trying for years and years.”

Yes it is possibly the easiest way for people to quit smoking, yet it is illegal to sell the nicotine for e-cigarettes in NZ – people have to import from overseas.

Holly Bognar said she had smoked for most of her life from about age 13 – apart from when she was pregnant.

“I’d always gone back to it,” the 38-year-old said.

“I was heavily smoking until four months ago and now I don’t at all, not even when I drink alcohol, I’ve transitioned to e-cigarettes.”

Ms Bognar said, when she first switched to her e-cigarette, she puffed on it a lot, a pattern the retailer said a lot of his customers reported.

“Now I’ve sort of weaned myself down, which just gradually happened,” she said.

“It’s also the amount you can save. It was about $65 initially, and a thing of oil (for the e-ciggie) is about $10, which lasts a couple of weeks. That’s compared to probably a 30g in five days, which is $55 and heaps to take out of your benefit.”

So saving $45 a week and far less harmful.

Stuff reports:

Kiwis in rental properties which need insulation under new rules could face price hikes of $15 a week as a result of the changes, a landlords’ organisation says.

Labour says a failure to place heating standards into the rules means they are not enough to help families living in cold homes.

The new tenancy laws, which come into effect on Friday, mean all rental properties must have working smoke alarms by then, and insulation within three years.

There must be underfloor and ceiling insulation to 1978 standards in all 60,000 social housing properties by Friday, and all new tenancy agreements must declare the level of insulation.

Insulation is a good idea as it keeps houses warmer and reduces heating bills.

But it has to be paid for, and it can be pretty expensive. So yes rents will rise to cover the cost of the insulation. Hopefully this will be compensated for by reduced power bills.

InternetNZ has published a guide to NZ ISPs. This is not the usual guide comparing prices because there are many other good sites that do this.

This is about other aspects of being an ISP, They specifically look at:

• Does the ISP allow you to check your account online easily
• Do they have a co-ordinated disclosure policy on how to report security bugs
• Do they have a data breach notification policy
• Do they used the DIA child exploitation filter, and tell you about it
• Do they support IPv6
• Do they publish transparency reports on how often they give customer info to Government agencies

You can see the results compared for 15 ISPs here.

The Herald reports:

Shippers have given the thumbs down to one finding from the Port Future Study – that Auckland’s next major port could be sited in the Manukau Harbour.

The study, officially due out today, said Auckland’s next new “super port” could be moved to the Manukau Harbour or the Firth of Thames at a cost of $4 billion to $5.5 billion.

New Zealand Shipping Federation executive director Annabel Young, who is a member of the Consensus Working Group launched by Mayor Len Brown a year ago to reconsider Ports of Auckland’s place on the city waterfront, said shippers do not favour a west coast port alternative.

Young said the working group included a diverse range of people but they had reached an agreement.

“And the agreement that we reached did not assume that the port would have to move, but if it does need to move it needs somewhere to go to, and we need to start thinking about that now,” she said.

The Firth of Thames was originally considered as the site of New Zealand’s only oil refinery, which ended up being built at Marsden Point, near Whangarei.

Young said it was no secret that shippers favoured a port on the east coast – where most of New Zealand’s ports are located – because of the generally wilder weather and sea conditions on the opposite coast.

“The east coast is always going to beat out a west coast site,” Young said. Manukau has scored well because of its proximity to road and rail. “That said, it’s not a great site for a port,” she said.

So no ideal location but with a capacity limit at the current location, a decision will need to be made eventually.

The Government announced:

The Prime Minister today announced a new $1 billion Housing Infrastructure Fund to accelerate the supply of new housing where it’s needed most, Finance Minister Bill English and Building and Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith say.

The contestable fund will be open to applications from councils in the highest growth areas – currently Christchurch, Queenstown, Tauranga, Hamilton and Auckland.

Mr English says the Housing Infrastructure Fund will help bring forward the new roads and water infrastructure needed for new housing where financing is a constraint.

“The Government will invest up front to ensure the infrastructure is in place. But councils will have to repay the investment or buy back the assets once houses have been built and development contributions paid.”

Dr Smith says the fund will be available only for substantial new infrastructure investments that support more new housing, not to replace existing infrastructure.

“To access the fund, local councils must outline how many new houses will be built, where they will be built and when they will be available. Ideally, they will have agreements with developers on these issues.

Councils have been saying that to make more housing available, they need more money for infrastructure. This helps provide it.

Mr English says infrastructure, and its financing in particular, is one of the three key constraints to building more houses – alongside land supply and consenting requirements.

“Councils have strict debt limits which means some lack the headroom to invest in infrastructure now and then wait for future development contributions to recover the costs. The fund will help provide more infrastructure sooner by aligning the cost to councils with the timing of revenue from development contributions.”

Depending on the number and timing of applications, it will require the Government to temporarily borrow up to $1 billion, which will increase net debt until it is repaid.

Dr Smith says the Government is also considering establishing Urban Development Authorities (UDAs) to help further speed up the supply of new housing.

UDAs have streamlined powers to override barriers to large-scale development, including potentially taking responsibility for planning and consenting and other powers.

UDAs could be the policy (if they do them) that has the biggest impact.

It appears the loans from the Government will be interest free. At say 5% borrowing costs, this would take $50 million a year to the operating balance. That surplus may not last long at this rate!

Stuff reports:

TVNZ have responded to a petition with over 10,000 signatories and ditched plans to screen a controversial British reality TV show in which participants had sex during the programme.

Sex Box,  a Channel Four show in which couples have sex inside a screened box before a studio audience then step out to discuss the experience, was due to air on TV2 next month.

But the network confirmed today they had dropped it from schedules. 

“The series was initially considered to form a part of our July line-up but given the feedback we’ve taken the time to re-look at it,” said a spokesman. “On reflection, we agree it is not the right fit for inclusion in the TV2 schedule.”

“We typically get a range of viewer opinions expressed about our on-air and online content. Not everyone will agree with every decision we make but we do listen,” the spokesperson added.

TVNZ said that they were “responding to the feedback” the network had received about the show, and agreed that after “taking a closer look at Sex Box” the show was not “the right fit” for the public broadcaster.

An online petition launched by petitioner Ann-Maree Quinn to see TV2 axe the show launched on community website CitizenGo in early June, and has since garnered 10,184 signatories, with a goal to eventually reach 20,000.

The show sounded terrible and exploitative. Just like almost every other reality TV show.

But they purchased the rights to it, and have decided not to show it because of an online petition. That is the wrong decision.

We have scores of channels people can watch. If people didn’t want to see it, they can choose another channel. Instead we have censorship via petition.

“Yet another bizarre reality TV show to occupy our screens, but this one is particularly troubling on a number of levels,” the petition read.

“It is not prudish to object to Sex Box. Some things ought not to be for sale, ought not to be promoted with evocative storylines, solely to grow viewership,” Quinn continued.

“Some things simply require a level of good taste and decency.  Sexual intimacy is not just a recreational activity to be viewed, scored and analysed in such a public setting,”

Quinn’s anti-Sex Box petition deemed the series “a new low” in our “flash in the pan, celebrity-seeking culture.”

Quinn, who is currently based in Australia, said the purpose behind starting her petition was to “maintain high community standards on public TV.”

So a petition stated by someone not even in New Zealand gets TVNZ to change their broadcasting decisions.

Stuff reports:

Vogel House will not be returned to the Vogel family, the Crown land commissioner has ruled.

The $4.1 million former ministerial home was offered to the Vogel Charitable Trust and the Wellington SPCA – both beneficiaries of Jocelyn Vogel’s estate – in January, to the dismay of Jocelyn’s descendants. 

Tim and Geoff Vogel, her grandsons, appealed against the decision in a bid to keep the home in which they were raised within the family. 

The Crown land commissioner announced on Thursday that the brothers’ application had been declined.

“The applicants submitted that it would be equitable to allot Vogel House to them, because of their special circumstances and the hardship that it would cause if public applications were sought,” said John Hook, Crown property group manager at Land Information New Zealand (Linz).

How does it cause them hardship to not get a house which has not been in their family for 50 years?

Tim Vogel, a Wellington lawyer, said he and his brother felt they had been “shafted”, and might take the matter as far as the High Court.

“It’s not over yet. This decision is subject to a judicial review, and that’s certainly possible.”

He was confident he and his brother would win a judicial review, and said the law supported their fight.

“Vogel House was built for the Vogels, bought for the Vogels, lived in by the Vogels. Who do you think the property should go back to?”

It should go to the beneficiaries listed in Jocelyn Vogel’s will.

He believed the two charities would sell the house.

As could Mr Vogel if he and his brother get it. What has that to do with things?

“My grandfather didn’t even like animals, there’s no way he would be leaving Vogel House to the SPCA.

A red herring. It was his grandmother’s will. Is he saying that is in anyway legally relevant?

“We feel angry, we feel aggrieved, and we don’t feel we have been given a fair hearing. 

“We cannot let that go unchallenged.”

Yes you can.

You want a $6 million house for nothing. Can’t blame you – so would I. But stop bleating to the media and making you you are a victim.