Stuff reports:

A threat to contaminate infant milk formula with 1080 was a business ploy to drive sales of a competitor possum poison, the Crown says.  

Businessman Jeremy Hamish Kerr, 60, appeared in the High Court at Auckland on Monday after pleading guilty to two counts of attempted blackmail.

Police revealed in March 2015 that Fonterra and Federated Farmers had received threatening letters, along with milk packages that tested positive for the poison.

The letters threatened to contaminate infant formula and other products if New Zealand did not cease to use the poison. It also threatened to disclose the matter publicly.

Kerr, who developed a rival product to 1080 – the cyanide-based poison Feratox, pleaded guilty in December.

His actions might have ended up costing New Zealand hundreds of millions of dollars in lost exports. Plus there was the huge cost of the investigation and safety precautions. He should face a long prison sentence.

I’m tempted to say that what he did is even worse than if someone did this for political reasons – ie at least they were doing it for something they believed in, rather than to profit from it. But in the end either motivation is despicable and selfish so equally bad I’d say.

Rebecca Wright reports:

John Palino is standing to be the Mayor of Auckland.

He will make the announcement next Monday at 2pm at his new cafe, Friend of the Farmer in Takanini.

I know this because the man himself just rang me to let me know where and when he will be declaring.

Palino would beat Len Brown this time, if Len was standing again.

But Len isn’t standing. Phil Goff is standing to be Len’s successor from the left.

Palino standing means there will be four centre-right candidates (so far). That is very good news for Phil Goff. Under FPP he could win with as little as 25% to 30% of the vote.

What will be interesting to watch will be the first public polls. Which ever CR candidate is leading in the polls, may benefit from tactical support, and see them become the leading change candidate (Goff is very clearly status quo).

So my advice to candidates would be to start campaigning and spending as early as possible, as the first public polls could prove quite influential.

Stuff reports on how local mayors are voting in the flag referendum:

For change

• Wellington Mayor Celia Wade-Brown
• Porirua Mayor Nick Leggett
• Upper Hutt Mayor Wayne Guppy
• Masterton Mayor Lyn Patterson
• South Wairarapa Mayor Adrienne Staples

For current flag

• Lower Hutt Mayor Ray Wallace
• Kapiti Mayor Ross Church

Undecided

• Carterton Mayor John Booth

Stuff reports:

The man who allegedly threw muck over Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee at a Christchurch earthquake five-year anniversary memorial service yesterday lost his teenage son in the disaster.

John Andrew Howland has been charged with assault and is due to appear at Christchurch District Court today.

One can only have sympathy for anyone who lost a loved one at such a young age. But that sympathy doesn’t extend to excusing their actions years later.

This is not Howland’s first brush with the law. Three years ago he was in court on more serious charges.

UPDATE: Even more to this attacker than the media have reported. From Karen Andrews on Facebook:

Ok I have sat back and watched this play out and said I would not speak up but enough is enough!!!! Let’s get something straight…I am Jayden’s Aunty and know this story better than any of you commenting. He had no right to do what he did…it was premeditated, embarrassing, humiliating and totally undermined my nephews memory yesterday!!!

He does not live in Christchurch, doesn’t own a house so has never had any insurance or EQC issues so don’t blame that for his actions. He never raised Jayden, that was our family…don’t be fooled by the grieving father line…it is guilt that he wasn’t there for his son!!!

He is playing you all…don’t feel sorry for him..save that for The family that raised Jayden into the amazing young man he was!!!! Yes I know the pain first hand of the EQ’s…why??? Because I lost my home (red zoned in Bexley), I lost my nephew, I’m dealing with a son who has special needs and has been effected very badly from these events and I’m battling the mental health system and educations systems for him daily, all while grieving myself!! But do you see me out there making bad choices??? NO because I know that what happened wasn’t fair but you have to find a way forward, laying blame doesn’t change anything. Be a man and honour your sons memory!!!!

Now I’ll wait for the backlash for getting the truth out there!!!!

I’m disgusted beyond words that my nephews memory has come to this. He’d be so ashamed. RIP Jayden

What a great attitude Karen has. Sounds like she has had more stuff to deal with than most, yet she isn’t into the blame game.

Stuff reports:

A man has been charged with assault after allegedly pouring a “brown substance” over Brownlee.

The encounter happened shortly after the ceremony at the Christchurch Botanic Gardens finished about 1.30pm.

Security staff grabbed the man who poured the substance and pushed him away from Brownlee, before he disappeared into the crowd.

Police said a 41-year-old male left the scene but was found and arrested a short time later.

He was charged with assault and is due to appear in the Christchurch District Court on Tuesday.

Brownlee declined to comment when contacted by Stuff..

“It was just a guy who just walked up at the end of the memorial service and said, ‘this is for you’,” he told NewstalkZB earlier.

Brownlee said he tipped a 2-litre ice cream container full of “pretty mucky stuff over my head”.

He would not speculate what was in the container, but it “didn’t smell too good.”

Assaulting politicians is never to be condoned – whether throwing objects at them or pouting stuff on them.

I suspect those who do it have a belief that it will damage the politician, as all their comrades will cheer them on for their act of defiance.

What they don’t get, and probably will never get, is that the average person is simply repulsed by such behaviour and, if anything, increases public support for the target of their nastiness.

It also have a detrimental impact on the ability of us all to have easy access to MPs. As John Oliver joked, in the US the person throwing an object at Steven Joyce would probably be shot dead. I like that we don’t have that culture here. But one day we may have, if the hate brigade get their way.

Hence I hope the person responsible is given a sentence that will act as a deterrent.

“The penny ought to drop that what we should be doing is cutting spending and that’s what the Treasurer has said for some weeks now and on this point, he’s actually right.”

– Paul Keating, Former Labor Prime Minister, 04/02/16

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.

Letter and cartoon copied from NBR.

I know several of the tenants in Solnet House and I suspect would indeed be happy to vacate their offices to allow for the 5,000 metre high statue of Gareth.

I also especially enjoyed the economic impact analysis of the proposal, as it seem more robust than most similar studies, projecting the statue and temple will lead to 20,000 more hotel rooms, 900 more cruise ships and four extra airport runways.

Stuff reports:

A new battle for Britain has erupted with London Mayor Boris Johnson saying he would join the campaign to encourage Britain to leave the European Union.

The move on Sunday (Monday, NZT) posed a direct challenge to Prime Minister David Cameron, who has launched a major push to keep his country within the 28-nation bloc.

The popular, raffish Johnson immediately becomes the most prominent Conservative Party politician to break ranks with fellow Conservative Cameron’s vision of the best course for Britain in a June 23 referendum on continued EU membership.

This is significant. However the remain camp has a good lead in the polls for now. The last two had remain 15% to 18% ahead. However the leave camp have some excellent campaigners.

Most Conservative Party members back a Brexit and they will vote for the next leader. Boris will lose institutional support for his stance, but may gain member support – and they will elect the next Leader and PM.

The Herald reports:

The Saudis may go public, OPEC’s in disarray, the U.S. is suddenly a global exporter, and shale drillers are seeking lifelines from investors as banks abandon them.

Welcome to oil’s new world order, full of stresses, strains and fractures.

For leaders gathering in Houston next week at the IHS CERAWeek conference — often dubbed the Davos of the energy industry — a key question is: what will break first? Will it be the balance sheets of big U.S. shale companies? The treasuries of Venezuela and Nigeria? The resolve of Saudi Arabia, whose recent deal with Russia to freeze output levels offered the first hint of a rethink?

A number of US companies are losing money and may go bankrupt. But that won’t help the other producers long-term. If the price then starts to rise, their licenses will be picked up by other companies and production will increase again.

Where the risk is borne by private companies not Governments, the impact is less. It is on those companies, not the country.

Saudi has huge reserves so can keep going. Russia and Venezuela are probably the two countries most at risk.

U.S. shale drillers had a key role in bringing prices that low, by adding 4 million barrels a day in less than four years – – almost like a new OPEC member materializing overnight. Natural gas has mirrored the pattern, with surging output and plunging prices.

Frack baby frack.

Russia has a relatively diversified economy, but it’s still running the biggest deficit in five years, and selling assets to finance a stimulus program. Nigeria, which depends on oil for almost all of its exports, is battling to stave off a currency devaluation and pleading for development loans to replace the missing petrodollars. Venezuela is even worse off, with debt defaults looming and an inflation rate estimated by the International Monetary Fund at 275 percent.

Venezuela is the one closest to collapse.

The Herald reports:

A Wairoa pharmacist refuses to sell the emergency contraceptive pill over her counter because of personal beliefs.

Wairoa Pharmacy is the town’s only dispensary.

To be eligible to sell the emergency contraceptive pill, commonly referred to as the morning-after pill, pharmacists have to complete a course.

Owner Elsa Norvil says she will not do this, for personal reasons.

“There are alternatives in place and it is an ethical right whether or not one chooses to stock or dispense the emergency contraceptive pill,” she said.

She has every right not to stock it. I disagree with her beliefs, but she should be able to stand by them.

“I am prepared to dispense it on doctors’ instructions and believe this acknowledges other’s rights to access this service.”

Seems a fair compromise.

Some residents are concerned that limited local access could be contributing to Wairoa’s high teenage pregnancy rate.

Wairoa has no family planning facilities so the morning-after pill can be obtained only by doctor’s prescription or from school-based health services.

The pill can be taken up to 72 hours, or three days, following unprotected intercourse to prevent a pregnancy from progressing.

Concerned locals say the Hawke’s Bay District Health Board needs to make the pill more accessible. They point out it is available over the counter at pharmacies in other centres.

Wairoa people say they respect Miss Norvil’s views but because hers is the only pharmacy in town, other options need to be offered.

There is no monopoly on pharmacies. You don’t need permission to set another one up. So one solution is to find a pharmacist who wants to set up a competing pharmacy.

And Wairoa people might choose to prefer a pharmacy that is more customer focused and will supply the health needs of the population, regardless of views.

Audrey Young writes:

Key told reporters at the post-Cabinet press conference this week that he expected he and Turnbull would discuss the issue during Key’s current visit to Sydney although it was not on the formal agenda.

It is a safe bet that if Rudd declared his candidacy, Australia would publicly support him.

But it is hard to see there would be any enthusiasm for a vigorous campaign on his behalf in the way Key is promising to lead for Helen Clark, in the event she declares.

Key’s latest line this week was to say he would lobby every leader of every country he knew to help her, that New Zealand would do all it could to support her and finance her campaign.

I can’t imagine a Labour PM doing this for a former National PM.

Despite his record, Australian media regularly suggest Rudd has an outside chance of getting the job. In reality, he has no chance. Clark has an outside chance.

In comparison to Clark’s record, his is pitiful. Her record was of uniting a highly factionalised Labour Party and leading it into Government for three successive terms.

He was dumped as a sitting Prime Minister two and a half years into his term by former colleagues who called his management style chaotic and dysfunctional.

I can’t imagine any leader who has met Rudd actually voting for him!

The frontrunner of those who have declared is considered by insiders to be Irina Bokova, director-general of Unesco since 2009 – and from Eastern Europe (Bulgaria), which has never had a Secretary-General.

She was formally nominated last week and has an extensive CV with experience in politics and diplomacy.

The question is whether Bokova will get US support. UNESCO is historically see as very anti-US. The other Bulgarian candidate is a Vice-President of the EU but that may get blocked by Russia. So if they both get blocked, then the road may open up for Clark.

Clark would get supported by the UK and China as of right. Key could probably get Obama and the US on side to support her. France and Russia would be the unknowns.

A few extra thoughts on the hate speech which was on the Radio NZ Checkpoint page.

Unless you vet comments in advance, no publisher can prevent inappropriate comments from appearing. I don’t think anyone blames Radio NZ for the fact they appeared. But what one can judge on is how quickly they were removed. RNZ staff acted once there was publicity about it, but for an organisation with $35 million a year of taxpayer funding, the comments should have never lasted as long as they did.

Some salient points:

1. Some of the comments had been up for three days or longer – conclusion no regular checking of the page.
2. The comments were incredibly vile – massive use of the c word to describe the PM and one person saying his mother should have been gassed in the holocaust – how could people feel you can say such a thing on a Radio NZ page?
3. Over 100 comments had to be deleted by RNZ staff, which was close to a quarter of the comments on the page. So this was not one or two comments that slipped through, but a mountain of vile abuse which dominated the page.
4. No-one alerted RNZ to the comments before they got publicity. If someone used such language about a politician on KB, I’d have several e-mails within minutes from readers alerting me to it. But somehow no one reading the Radio NZ Checkpoint Facebook page thought the comments needed drawing to the attention of Radio NZ. This suggests that the only people on the page were those of a similar view on John Key.
5. Has Radio NZ done anything beyond delete the comments? Have they reported those who made the most vile comments? Have they blocked them from the Radio NZ FB pages? Or are they free to do the same next time?

Stuff reports:

The developers of a new ride-sharing app are using Auckland’s bus strikes to launch their product.

The Chariot BETA app is now available for download on Google Play. It is designed to connect users with people driving in the same direction and is promising to transform New Zealanders’ commutes.

An Apple version is still in development.

Chief executive and co-founder Thomas Kiefer said it was exciting to launch the app.

“For roughly the price of a bus fare, people who use Chariot will be able to get a ride from, or give a ride to, someone going in the same direction. It is a convenient, affordable, fun and safe way to get to where you need to go,” he said.

Sounds a great idea. I hope they do an Apple version soon. I’d be keen to use it.

Clinton won Nevada by 6% over Sanders. He did well to make it so close, but really needed an upset here. Clinton should win South Carolina easily and be well set up for Super Tuesday.

Trump wins South Carolina, but on 33% only. Rubio just beats Cruz for 2nd place. Bush drops out after a distant fourth on 8% showing once again money only takes you so far.

Kasich will be under pressure to drop out also, and Carson shouldn’t last much longer. So it becomes a three way Trump-Cruz-Rubio race. Rubio did around 7% better than what he was polling.

Next up for the GOP is Nevada. Trump had a 20% lead in the last poll on 15 February.

After that is Super Tuesday.

Danyl McL writes:

Two new polls in the last few days. Roy Morgan here, Colmar Brunton (I’ll link to it when its up).  There are interesting discrepancies at the margins: Roy Morgan has the Greens up and New Zealand First way down, Colmar Brunton the opposite and it’d be nice to know which – if either – was right. But the general trend is no change. National still close to 50% entering the second year of its third term.

Labour were polling 39% at the same stage in their third term – 6% behind the major opposition party.

Which is amazing but also not even slightly surprising. The first six weeks of the year has seen the left-wing parties talking about subjects of great interest to left-wing voters – the TPPA, free tertiary education, should John Key go to Waitangi? But, as with the last seven years, they’ve said and done nothing to cause soft National voters to question the competence or credibility of the government to run the country, and consider an alternative.

May their stupidity long continue.

That’s really the game, now. Opposition MPs talking about values and visionary aspirations and compromised sovereignty and the future of work and what a jerk they all think John Key is is all very well, but if Key’s government is seen to be doing a good job in delivering the core government services that voters value, they’re not going to change their votes.

Jobs, wages, low inflation, low interest rates, more hospital operations, better schools etc etc – that is what matters to people.

And they shouldn’t!

Wow.

Someone should send Danyl a membership form 🙂

Richie McCaw posted on Facebook:

This is the moment when I decided a new flag would be great for our country. Running out at Twickenham and seeing the two flags looking so similar. The silver fern has always been the special symbol on the All Black jersey that represents who we are as kiwis, so the new flag with a silver fern as a part of it would be a great option I believe.

This is a once in a generation chance to have a distinctive flag for New Zealand.

Whale Oil has blogged comments made on the Radio NZ John Campbell Checkpoint page about John Key. They have been up there for days, so I can only presume Radio NZ either has allowed them to stay up deliberately or don’t spend any of their $32 million a year of taxpayer funding on moderating or reading the comments on their social media pages.

The comments include multiple death threats and use of the c word to one commenter saying “They should have gassed his mother” and others liking and laughing at that.

I’d have sympathy for Radio NZ if the comments were only up for a few minutes or even hours as you can’t pre-vet them. But some have been up for days.

If Helen Clark was still Prime Minister and a taxpayer funded media site had comments like this up about her for several days, I’d imagine there would be mass sackings at the highest level.

Michael Tanner writes at Cato:

A self-professed “democratic socialist” is running for the Democratic presidential nomination, and he is running neck and neck with a party icon. Polls show that more than a quarter of Americans have a favorable opinion of socialism, which might not sound so bad until you learn that that includes 43 percent of those under age 30, and 42 percent of Democrats. Meanwhile, barely half of Americans have a favorable view of capitalism. Democrats, in fact, are as likely to view socialism positively as they are capitalism.

What accounts for this collective historical amnesia?

Tanner reminds us:

After all, if one looks at the long course of human history, our existence was pretty much hand to mouth for most of it. All that began to change in the 1700s with the development of modern — that is, capitalist — economics.

But one doesn’t have to go back 300 years to see the advantages of free-market capitalism. Consider that in the last 25 years, a period during which much of the world has embraced free markets, a billion people have been lifted out of poverty, and the global poverty rate has been slashed from more than 37 percent to less than 10 percent.

It’s not just the decline in poverty that tracks with the adoption of free markets and capitalism. Literacy rates increase and infant mortality declines as countries adopt market-based economies. Life expectancy rises, and people’s health improves. Even the environment gets cleaner.

And opportunities open up for women and minorities. Indeed, nothing challenges entrenched elites like the “creative destruction” of free-market capitalism.

People don’t like the destruction of capitalism but without destruction, you don’t get new businesses.

There was a reason, after all, why West Germany built the Mercedes-Benz, while East Germany produced the Trabant.

Bernie Sanders may think it’s terrible that we have a choice of deodorants, but most Americans would rather not shop in a Venezuelan supermarket.

Need more? According to the Human Freedom Index, more economic freedom correlates with more personal freedom. Just consider countries with state-controlled economies and how little personal freedom they allow. On the other hand, countries with free-market economies tend to be free in other ways, too.

Economic freedom and personal freedom almost always go together, with only a couple of exceptions such as Singapore.

The Federated Mountain Clubs said:

FMC President Robin McNeill is elated that New Zealanders have reached into their pockets to buy a piece of land for addition to Abel Tasman National Park. The Givealittle crowd funding campaign was recently successful in its quest to raise $2 million to submit a tender on the Awaroa property.

“I have walked this piece of piece of beach before when tramping the Abel Tasman Great Walk and felt the sand between my toes. It is fantastic that New Zealanders have come together to raise funds to add it to the National Park”.

“People reaching into their own pockets like this just shows how much New Zealanders care about conservation, freedom of access and our network of National Parks and Great Walks”.

“Unfortunately the Department of Conservation was unable to purchase this piece of land because of funding constraints. DOC only receive $315 million dollars from the government to run 1/3 of New Zealand. That works out to be around $35 for every rugby field worth of land area. All things being equal, DOC will only have $260 to control pests, maintain tracks and provide facilities to this new piece of National Park every year”

I’m a fan of DOC and as fiscal conditions allow, support greater funding for them.

However I don’t think the maths here is that helpful. Dividing funding by land area gets an average but not one that means much because not all land under DOC control is the same.

There are vast portions of DOC land that probably never get seen by a human, or even have one come close. They don’t need much money spent on them.

The areas that get more people visiting them tend to get more resources.

And crown funding is not the only source of funds for DOC.  Around 150,000 people a year visit the Abel Tasman Park and those who stay at campsites and huts pay fees. I suspect those who use water taxis also help fund DOC as they water taxis probably pay for a concession.

DOC don’t release exact data on income for the track but based on an economic study a few years ago, a ball park is:

• 25,000 hut nights x $32 = $800,000
• 35,000 campsite nights x $18 = $630,000
• 10,000 Totaranui nights x $15 = $150,000

So that is possible income of around $1.6 million by users.

Stuff  reports:

The release of more data on the risk factors for children will provide “valuable insights” into the issues they face, Finance Minister Bill English says.

English said the publication of the new data on Thursday extended the analysis to include those aged between zero and 14 years of age, giving a broader picture.

Analysis of the data revealed four “indicators” that could lead to poor outcomes for the children: a Child, Youth and Family finding of abuse or neglect; being supported by benefits for most of their lifetime; having a parent who has been punished by the courts; and having a mother with no formal qualifications.

I suspect the one one being benefit dependent and having no formal qualifications are linked. This is one reason why reducing welfare dependency is so important. And to date the Government has done a reasonable job.

Children with two or more of those indicators were three times more likely to leave school with no qualifications, three times more likely to receive a prison or community sentence between 25 and 34, and four times more likely to be on a sole parent benefit by 21.

Which creates a cycle, very hard to break out of.

The information was being made widely available, and would help the social sector to understand how it could best help vulnerable members of society, he said.

“This is priceless information for service providers who need to understand the people they are trying to help.

“We want to reduce misery, rather than service it and that requires a deep understanding of the drivers of social dysfunction.”

What a great quote.

Captions below. As always, funny not nasty.