The Herald editorial:

Many Aucklanders would have been open-mouthed with amazement at the announcement that Mayor Len Brown is going to the world climate change conference in Paris at the end of the month. The audacity of the discredited mayor never ceases to amaze. He ought to have resigned long ago but any credit he recovered with his decision last week not to stand for re-election next year probably evaporated with this announcement. What purpose can he serve at the climate change conference?

Sight seeing?

The conference is going to hear that his council has set a target of reducing Auckland’s greenhouse gas emissions by 40 per cent by 2040, and that it is preparing for the impacts of climate change such as severe weather events, floods and sea level rise.

The Council’s target is nonsense because the Council has almost no ability to impact the level of greenhouse gas emissions in Auckland.

National governments can impact the level of greenhouse gas emissions by imposing a charge on such emissions, determining energy sources etc. A local authority has no such power, so the 40% target is basically wankery.

An interesting publication by Stats NZ on young mothers and the workforce.Their findings include:

• 3% of women aged 15 to 19 are mothers
• The proportion of 20 to 24 year old women becoming mothers has fallen from 25% in 1994 to 20% in 2014
• Two thirds of teen mothers are sole parents
• Teen mothers by ethnicity are Maori 6.1%, Pacific 4.2%, European 2.3% and Asian 0.8%
• 20 to 24 year old mothers by ethnicity are Maori 38%, Pacific 30%, European 17.5% and Asian 6.9%
• 20 to 24 year old sole mothers by ethnicity are Maori 23%, Pacific 16%, European 8.4% and Asian 1.6%
• 82% of teenage women who are not parents are in education compared to 29% of teenage mothers
• For 20-24 year olds the proportions in education are women (no kids) 45%, men 39%, sole mothers 22%, partnered mothers 14%

Wouldn’t NZ be so much better off if all of NZ had the same young mother rate as Asian New Zealanders?

This is cool. He’s obviously seen the movie many times.

ABC report:

A Massachusetts agency is letting a woman who belongs to the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster wear a colander on her head in her driver’s license photo after she cited her religious beliefs.

Lowell resident Lindsay Miller said Friday that she “absolutely loves the history and the story” of Pastafarians, whose website says has existed in secrecy for hundreds of years and entered the mainstream in 2005.

Miller says wearing the spaghetti strainer allows her to express her beliefs, like other religions are allowed to do.

A spokesman for the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles says policy does not permit head coverings or hats on license photos, but exceptions are made for religious reasons.

A great victory for freedom of religion!

The Herald reports:

The threat of a tap on the shoulder from Customs has led to more overseas Kiwis paying back their student loan, the Government says – including one who wrote a cheque for close to $100,000.

Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce said the target of collecting $100 million in a single year through the overseas-borrowing initiative would likely be met next year.

That’s great. Moving overseas is not a good reason to not pay your debts.

The New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations has criticised the Government for compelling students to repay their loans through a policy of fear rather than supporting them with a more intuitive repayment scheme, saying it could drive graduates away.

Actually the Government did that also. It introduced a scheme where if you make voluntary repayments, you get an extra 10% knocked off your loan. NZUSA attacked that as favouring the wealthy. This has been NZUSA’s problem – they have been seen for too long as a branch of the Labour Party.

The Guardian reports:

Their Muslim faith did not spare them from the terrorists’ bullets.

Houda Saadi, a 35-year-old waitress of Tunisian descent, was celebrating her birthday with her sister Halima and 10 other friends at La Belle Equipe in the 11th arrondissement when two terrorists sprayed the terrace with gunfire. Houda and Halima, who leaves behind a husband and two children aged seven and two, were among the 19 people killed in Friday night’s attack.

Very sad for the family to lose two sisters.

They came from varied backgrounds but the Muslim victims of the indiscriminate multiple attacks were all in the prime of their lives. They included a violinist, an architect, a receptionist and a shop assistant. As the children of France’s colonial legacy, or citizens of those countries, their deaths have cast a shroud of mourning beyond French shores to north Africa.

Terrorism can be indiscriminate.

Djamila Houd, 41, had been a receptionist at the headquarters of the Isabel Marant ready-to-wear fashion house near the Palais Royal for the past three years. She too lost her life on the terrace of La Belle Equipe. A colleague said she was “very jolly and friendly” and an essential member of the closely knit team. A friend who is now on compassionate leave has posted poignant pictures of the two of them enjoying fun times on a boat trip earlier this year.

A useful reminder that the vast majority of Muslims in France and Europe do integrate well. The challenge is the significant minority who do not.

The dead among France’s Muslim community included Asta Diakité, the cousin of the French footballer Lassana Diarra who was playing in the friendly against Germany on Friday night when two suicide bombers disrupted the match. Expressing his pain in a Facebook posting, the footballer said that Diakite, who worked in a chemist’s in the 18th arrondissement, was “my rock, my supporter, my elder sister”.

The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment has released a report:

New Zealand needs to better prepare for the impacts of a rising sea on its coastal towns and cities, warns the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment.

In a major new report released today, Dr Jan Wright called for an overhaul of the way New Zealand is preparing for sea level rise.

“Homes, businesses and infrastructure worth billions of dollars have been built on low-lying land close to the coast,” Dr Wright said. “Rising sea levels will have major impacts in many places. In time, some coastal land will become uninhabitable.”

The Commissioner found that councils and communities face a very difficult task in planning for sea level rise. On the Kapiti Coast and in Christchurch City, for example, the process has been particularly adversarial.

“Perhaps the most difficult aspect is the impacts on people’s homes, which for many are much more than financial security. Councils must use science that is fit for purpose, and engage with communities in a measured way and with empathy.”

One key finding of the report is that preparing for sea level rise is very much a work in progress and that the Government needs to do more to help. There is a need to take some time to develop a better approach.

“We must plan for sea level rise, but there is time to do it carefully”, Dr Wright said. “There are a few cases where action is required soon, but in most cases it is more important to do it well than to rush.”

The report contains eight recommendations to the Government. The first seven are focused on improving the direction and advice given to councils. These are to the Minister for the Environment and the Minister of Conservation.

The last recommendation is to the Minister of Finance and is focused on the fiscal risks of sea level rise.

I’ve read the report and it is well done. Many reports scaremonger about 10 metre rises, while this one does not. It focuses on the possibility of a 50 cm rise, and identifies 9,000 homes that could be impacted by that.

Sea levels have been rising slowly but steadily for the last century and there is no reason to think this will stop. The question is whether the rate of increase stays the same, or quickens.

The increase since 1900 has been around 20 cms globally and locally. So the long-term rise rate has been around 2 mm a year.

But since around 1990 the rate has been around 3 mm a year. So the most conservative estimate of future increase would be to remain at 3 mm a year.

So what could be the extent of any rise in say 50 and 95 years? I use those time periods as 50 years is probably the outer limit of impacting a current owner of a house. The 85 year period covers economic impact, even if not current owner impact.

In 2065, at 3 mm a year, the increase would be 15 cm or half a foot. This is unlikely to have a huge impact.

However the upper boundary of the most pessimistic scenario of the IPCC has more rapid rise, which would be 40 cm by 2065. In that scenario around 9,000 homes are affected.

So the likely range is 15 cm to 40 cm by 2065. They are not equally likely – the 40 cm is the current top estimate. As we get better data and information over the next decade, projections may change.

How about out to 2100? Well at 3 mm a year that is an increase of around 25 cm or almost a foot. But what under the most pessimistic IPCC scenario?  That is almost a metre. Again that is the upper end of the scenario. The midpoint for that scenario is around 70 cm.

So over close to 100 years the likely range is one foot to three feet.  Obviously if it is at the upper end, that will have a significant impact on coastal properties.

The NZ Herald editorial:

The Labour Party’s financial deficit problems should be of concern to all New Zealanders. It is not necessary to be aligned with National or Labour to recognise that a healthy democracy needs two parties capable of providing sound government. …

The country will go to the next election with sensible alternatives on offer, to re-elect National for a fourth term or decide it’s time for a change. Three-term governments have usually been enough for New Zealand voters, but normally the mood for change is evident by this time. Labour may have to hang in for a longer haul and it needs help. It deserves a fair deal from those doing well in an economy that took two parties to put right.

So the NZ Herald is imploring people to donate money to the Labour Party. Good to know where they stand.

Voting starts today. For those interested here is how I will be voting in the first referendum:

For the last two weeks I was preferring the black, blue and white fern, as black is our de facto national colour. But it was seeing the flags all flying outside the Westpac stadium that swung me back towards this one. The black looks better on a screen, but the red better in real life – and stands out more on darker days.

My very close second choice.

Red Peak has grown on me, and if it wins the first referendum I’d vote for it over the current flag.

Doesn’t do a lot for me. A pity the simple silver fern on black design was not chosen. I understand the concern ISIS has a black flag also, but I still love the simplicity of it. This design though just doesn’t quite work for me. If it won, would probably vote for the current flag to remain.

Sorry Koru. Someone has to be 5th.

The Herald reports:

A Wanaka family are at a loss what to do after their 7-year-old son was excluded from Wanaka Primary School and all other schools in the area refused to enrol him.

The family, who have asked not to be named, said yesterday their son was excluded on October 28 after throwing a folder at another pupil and a teacher.

The boy’s mother said earlier incidents at the school included the boy stabbing another pupil with a pencil on his first day at the school and being suspended twice for disruptive behaviour and biting staff.

No one wants to see a seven year old not in school, but schools also have a responsibility to other students to keep them safe.

The mother said her son could be difficult and had recently been diagnosed with attention deficit disorder.

You can have ADD but not stab people with pencils and bite teachers. At the risk of am armchair diagnosis, the kid needs a psychologist.

The Herald reports:

Richie McCaw has today confirmed he is hanging up his boots and retiring from professional rugby.

The 34-year-old All Blacks captain and most capped All Black of all time has drawn the curtain on his stunning international career which started in Dublin 14 years ago, almost to the day, and ended in London last month when he hoisted the Webb Ellis Cup aloft for the second time.

Not just the most capped All Black of all time, but the most capped rugby player ever.

“I am heavily involved in the Christchurch Helicopters company, they are great people and I’m excited about the opportunities there. Aviation is something I’m passionate about, I’m going to carry on flying and work towards getting my commercial pilot licence.

Great to do what you love.

McCaw said he’d love to be involved in the game in the future. He never considered taking up a professional contract overseas after his international days were over.

Riche would be a great referee! 🙂

Some McCaw stats:

• 131 victories for the All Blacks (32% of their total victories since 1903)
• Won 131 out of 148 tests
• Scored 27 tries
• 10 Bledisloe Cups
• Four tri-Nation titles
• Three Rugby Championships
• Two World Cups
• Win 59 out of 61 tests in NZ
• World Rugby Player of the Year three times

14 years of test rugby is an incredible effort, especially as a flanker.

Louise Upston has announced:

Five district councils and three city councils have been invited to demonstrate they can meet the government’s requirements for an online voting trial. If successful, the councils will be able to offer online voting alongside postal voting in the local government elections next year.

Whanganui, Rotorua, Matamata Piako, Selwyn and Masterton districts have confirmed their interest as well as Porirua, Palmerston North and Wellington cities.

“The councils must meet a strict set of requirements before they can offer online voting,” says Associate Local Government Minister Louise Upston. “They need to show they will manage the risks – notably issues of security and fairness – and they must preserve public confidence in the integrity of the electoral system.”

That’s a good mix for a trial of small and large. The population in each Council is:

• Wellington 191,000
• Palmerston North 80,000
• Rotorua 65,000
• Porirua 52,000
• Selwyn 45,000
• Whanganui 42,000
• Matamata Piako 32,000
• Masterton 23,000

Online voting will be an option for those who want it. Postal voting will still be available and no doubt the method used by the majority.

Stuff reports:

Una Jagose, the acting head of the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB), has been appointed New Zealand’s new Solicitor-General. 

Attorney-General Chris Finlayson announced the appointment, saying Jagose had a “very sound legal judgement and has proven herself a capable and effective leader”. 

She replaces Michael Heron QC who will stand down, to spend more time with his family, after three years in the role. 

Jagose was Deputy Solicitor, Crown Legal Risk at Crown Law for two years before becoming acting director of the GCSB.

It’s a pity to lose her from GCSB, as from all accounts she has been very effective in sorting out their compliance regime and processes – plus she has been far more open than previous directors.

The Herald reports:

Uber has announced a 10 per cent drop in all its fares as local companies put out their own apps to try to reclaim ground in the taxi market.

Auckland Uber fares will be cut by a tenth today and the company says this will make its fares up to 40 per cent cheaper than taxi rides.

At the same time, a taxi driver with almost 50 years’ experience is launching an app aiming to provide customers with a cheaper ride than Uber and bring back more rides for taxi drivers.

Excellent. That’s what we want – both price competition and service improvement. Taxi firms developing their own apps is the logical response to Uber.

Eric Sercombe has been in the driving industry for 47 years and works for Dial-a-Cab and VIP Taxis.

He is also the operations manager for Ezygo, a new app that people can use to order a taxi that will be cheaper than Uber.

Every element of the fare with Ezygo, from the mileage rate to the meter rate, was 5c cheaper than Uber, Mr Sercombe said. The drivers would also make more money per ride.

“Our fee for the driver is only 10 per cent. Uber’s is 20 per cent. So a $25 ride on Uber, the driver takes home $20, but a $25 ride with us, the driver takes home $22.50.”

Great – good luck to them.

The House is still in urgency today debating and voting on three bills through all stages.

They are:

• The Returning Offenders (Management and Information) Bill (completed)
• The Social Security (Commencement of Benefits) Amendment Bill (completed)
• The Local Government (Auckland Transitional Provisions) Amendment Bill.

The House will sit from 9 am to midnight with one hour breaks at 1 pm and 6 pm. Normally there is no question time under urgency, but the Government sought leave for question time to still occur.

It is likely the House will finish with the third bill this afternoon.

The questions are:

1. Hon ANNETTE KING to the Minister of Health: What pressures are facing the public health workforce as a result of this Government’s decision to fund core Crown health expenditure to cover “most, but not all, inflationary pressures”?
2. SARAH DOWIE to the Minister of Finance: Does he stand by his statement that the Government is focused “on reinforcing the business confidence needed to invest, create more jobs and increase incomes”?
3. RON MARK to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by all his statements?
4. EUGENIE SAGE to the Minister for the Environment: Has he given clear national direction to local authorities to help them protect coastal communities from rising sea levels; if not, why not?
5. PAUL FOSTER-BELL to the Minister of Education: What recent announcements has she made regarding property investment in schools?
6. CHRIS HIPKINS to the Minister of Education: Is she satisfied the Government has fulfilled its 2008 commitment to tackle truancy; if so, why is the truancy rate now higher than it has ever been?
7. ALASTAIR SCOTT to the Deputy Prime Minister: What steps is the Government taking to allow New Zealanders to choose our future flag?
8. DAVID SEYMOUR to the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations: Does he stand by all his statements?
9. KELVIN DAVIS to the Minister of Police: By what percentage has the crime resolution rate decreased overall since 2008?
10. BRETT HUDSON to the Minister for Communications: What is the current status of the build programme for Ultra-Fast Broadband and the Rural Broadband Initiative?
11. MARAMA DAVIDSON to the Minister for Climate Change Issues: What plans does New Zealand have to help our Pacific Island neighbours given that the Prime Minister of Tuvalu, Enele Sopoaga, has recently appealed to New Zealand to “stand with us Pacific Islands countries and increase their commitments”?
12. KRIS FAAFOI to the Minister for Building and Housing: Is he confident that all taxpayers’ money allocated for his HomeStart roadshow is being spent appropriately?

National: Four questions on business confidence, school property, NZ Flag and broadband

Labour: Four questions on health spending, truancy, crime and Homestart Roadshow

Greens: Two questions on sea levels and climate change

NZ First: One question on PM standing by his statements

ACT: One question on Treaty Minister standing by his statements

In my earlier blog post I laid out that the problem with Islam extends beyond Jihadist Muslims to other Islamists or extreme Muslims who cheer on death in certain circumstances. They are a minority of Muslims, but still number in the hundreds of millions.

We sadly see this in this story:

Turkish fans booed and chanted Allahu Akbar (“God is greater”) during the minute’s silence for the victims of the Paris attacks before their national team drew 0-0 with Greece in a friendly international match on Tuesday (Wednesday NZ time).

They celebrated the slaughtering of youths at a nightclub.

Starting to rethink my view that one day Turkey should be allowed into the EU.

Todd McClay announced:

Revenue Minister Todd McClay says measures proposed in a tax bill introduced today are about fairness and equity.

“It is about creating a level playing field for collecting GST and putting New Zealand businesses and jobs ahead of the interests of overseas suppliers”, says Mr McClay.

These measures are an important first step in the Government’s efforts to deal with increasing volumes of online services and other intangibles purchased from overseas suppliers that should, under New Zealand’s tax rules, be subject to GST.

“GST should apply to all consumption that occurs in New Zealand.  This is what makes our GST system fair, efficient and simple,” says Mr McClay.

“The growth of online digital and overseas services means the volume of services on which GST is not collected is an increasing challenge – for the Government in terms of the GST revenue foregone, and as a matter of fairness for New Zealand suppliers of services and intangibles who must account for GST in their pricing structures.”

Mr McClay says the proposed measures will apply GST to cross-border “remote” services and intangibles supplied by offshore suppliers (including e-books, music, videos, and software purchased from offshore websites) to New Zealand-resident consumers, by requiring the offshore supplier to register and return GST on these supplies.  

I haven’t got a problem with this. I will have a problem if the de minimis threshold on imported goods is reduced to such a low level, your books and minor purchases are stopped at the border.

The key issue here is how many overseas retailers will actually agree to register. Some will, but not all. The FAQ notes:

Why would offshore suppliers comply with the proposed rules?

When similar rules have been applied in other countries, offshore suppliers – particularly large international suppliers that account for the majority of cross-border services and intangibles – have demonstrated a willingness to comply. For many of these companies, failure to comply with their obligations would pose a significant risk to their reputation.

So I imagine Amazon, Apple will comply. But will Ebay as they are just an auction house, not a retailer?

The bill is here. It says a supplier will treat a customer as being from NZ if there are at least two non-conflicting pieced of evidence, from the below:

A group of Canadians have set up the Trudeaumetre website which lists the 184 promises made by new Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and monitors if they have been implemented, are in progress, or have been broken.

It’s a good initiative, and would be nice to see in other countries, such as New Zealand.

The key is that the people doing it should be non-partisan.

So far Trudeau has implemented three promises:

1. Revoke rules and regulations that muzzle government scientists and allow them to speak freely about their work (with only limited and publicly stated exceptions).
2. Restore mandatory long-form census.
3. Include an equal number of women and men in the Cabinet.

Duncan Garner writes:

OK capital dwellers, here’s a tough trivia question for you.

What has Celia Wade-Brown achieved in two terms as mayor and decades on the Wellington City Council? Take your time, have a good think.

More cycleway campaigns, more ratepayer money for the arts and libraries and – maybe – a longer airport runway. That’s pretty much it after five years as mayor.

Now her council is embroiled in an unnecessary and expensive legal scrap over a ridiculous decision to pay a living wage to council contractors.

Simply put, the capital lacks leadership – and as a result is suffering from inertia.

Perhaps she was only ever an accidental mayor anyway, winning by just 176 votes in 2010 under the STV voting system.

Wade-Brown talks about projects still to come but hasn’t she had her time? Surely the city needs a fresh, dynamic leader. Consensus politics sounded like a nice idea but has proved a failure.

Wellington needs to come together, amalgamate the councils, and be more bold and ambitious.

The recent Local Government Commission proposal was probably  a step too far and drew strong opposition in Wairarapa and Hutt Valley. But Wellington, Porirua and maybe even Kapiti could easily amalgamate without unduly affecting communities.

And there’s already an heir apparent: Porirua Mayor Nick Leggett. The capital needs a shot of adrenaline – and this guy can work across party lines and he supports this kind of amalgamation.

Some very good sources tell me he is now seriously considering running in Wellington.

We do not need two mayors 20km apart. It’s ridiculous.

Leggett is popular in the northern suburbs, is a finalist in next week’s Wellingtonian of the Year awards, and boasts the biggest majority of any mayor in Porirua’s history.

Wellington can no longer wait for fresh leadership. The capital needs a unifying mayor, not a flake overseeing a stagnant pond.

Even Auckland Mayor Len Brown has finally come to the conclusion that it’s time to give up. Wade-Brown should follow suit.

I don’t think Wade-Brown will seek a third term, but time will tell.

His 37 tries for the All Blacks. My favourites are the four against England on 18 June 1995.

Such a sad loss. 40 is far too young.

The Herald reports:

Labour MP Phil Twyford says he will not be intimidated by an alleged smear campaign that is apparently backed by foreign property speculators.

Labour’s housing spokesman will reportedly be targeted by controversial political consultant Simon Lusk at the 2017 election because of his strong stance on offshore buyers.

TV3’s Duncan Garner said last night he was told Mr Lusk was being funded by “Chinese money” to carry out a “direct mailout” that would focus on the Te Atatu MP.

Asked to respond this morning, Mr Twyford said: “I think it’s interesting that foreign property speculators are so concerned to defend the tax-free mega-profits they’re making in the Auckland housing market that they’re willing to hire the National Party’s dirty tricks machine to do their work for them.”

Phil Twyford makes the same mistake as he made in his research in which he claimed up to 40% of Auckland house purchases are made by foreigners because they have Chinese sounding surnames.

I don’t know anything about this rumoured campaign, but Chinese money is much much more likely to refer to local Chinese who felt greatly offended by Twyford claiming that most purchasers with Chinese surnames must be foreigners.

You see the interesting thing is that Twyford is the MP for Te Atatu.  And Te Atatu’s electorate profile shows 24% of residents are Asian. So I guess he has pissed off a huge number of his own constituents, and they’re the ones who want a new MP – one who doesn’t insult them.

So Twyford has just gone and made it worse for himself by referring to his own constituents as foreign property speculators.

Stuff reports:

Charlie Sheen has revealed he is HIV positive – and he’s paid millions of dollars to people who “extorted” money to keep his diagnosis a secret.

In a candid interview with NBC’s Today show, Sheen said he was diagnosed with HIV “roughly four years ago”.

This is perhaps the least surprising story of the decade, considering Sheen is reputed to have had over 5,000 sexual partners.

Asked if he had infected any of his sexual partners, the Hollywood actor said it was “impossible, impossible”, and that he had “always led with condoms and honesty when it came to my condition”.

Not impossible, and his partners say he is lying.

Last week, Britain’s The Sun reported that an A-lister, described as “a womaniser”, had known of his HIV-positive status for years.

While the newspaper didn’t name the actor, it reported he had previously dated movie and television stars, a glamour model and Hollywood personalities.

“The reality is that if he’s knowingly put women at risk then that’s disgusting and it’s only a matter of time before that becomes public,” a source told The Sun.

Another source said friends had encouraged the man to go public before he was named by media, but he was worried about the impact on his career.

The newspaper was slammed over its reporting, with British HIV charity the Terrence Higgins Trust saying it was “utterly wrong” to disclose an individual’s HIV status without their permission.

I’m not quite so sure.

Yes as a general rule. But should there be exceptions? If someone is refusing to tell partners and is having unprotected sex, then should it be revealed? I guess the alternative to revealing, is prosecution – and Sheen may end up facing charges.

While AIDS (if HIV develops into it) is no longer a death sentence, it is still wrong on every level to not tell anyone you sleep with if you are HIV+ – they deserve to make an informed decision.