Some useful recommendations from the LGNZ working group on local elections.

Move to a nationally consistent system of in-person voting for all local elections that is as similar as possible to parliamentary elections over a two-week timeframe in which to vote, with polling booths in venues where people frequently visit. Preferably by the 2028 local elections or the 2031 local elections at the latest.

If you really want to boost turnout, then I would allow all three methods of voting – postal, in booths and online. Postal is dying, and in booths did not do well in the days before postal.

If we do not shift away from postal voting in 2028, then the Local Electoral Act should be amended to enable overseas voters to use the same electronic voting approach as central government elections, and make it easier for voters to have voting papers reissued if they do not arrive.

Not just for overseas voters. Everyone should be able to access this.

The Government should amend the Electoral Act and Local Electoral Act to put the Electoral Commission in charge of administering and promoting local elections.

Strongly agree, and well overdue.

Local government and central government should move to a four-year term with elections spaced two years apart.

Also a strong agree. If in 2026 people vote for a four year term, then presumably central government elections would be 2029, 2033, 2037 etc. You could then have local elections in 2025, 2028, 2031, 2035, 2039.

The Local Government Act should be amended to strengthen the Code of Conduct process by Empowering the Local Government Commission to investigate complaints relating to significant breaches

I disagree with this one. It would change the nature of the LGC dramatically and politicise it.

Overall some good food for thought, and hopefully the Government adopts many of them.

I noticed a few weeks ago that WCC rubbish bags were now $4 each at the supermarket. I could recall when they were $2.50 each and was interested in when they increased so much. I asked WCC.

In 2020 the RRP was $2.38 and today they are $3.60. That is a 51% increase in just five years. Has the cost of rubbish collection gone up 51%? General inflation was only 22% so that is a 29% increase in real terms.

This is not a small increase. This comes on top of the 20% rates increases. They are addicted to spending.

At Patreon (paywalled) I analyse the proposed new boundaries for the 2026 general election, the likely impact on each seat for each MP, and which seats flip on paper – plus which MP is out of a job.

My prediction last year that Ohariu would disappear has been proven correct, while all those who insisted Epsom would disappear seem to have been guilty of wishful thinking.

Jerry Coyne has found a wonderful new research paper. The abstract is:

This article offers a queer lesbian feminist analysis attuned to lesbian-queer-trans-canine relationalities.

Specifically, the article places queer and lesbian ecofeminism in conversation with Donna Haraway’s work on the cyborg and companion species to theorize the interconnected queer becomings of people, nature, animals, and machines amidst ecologies of love and violence in the 2020s.

It takes two key case studies as the focus for analysis: first, the state instrumentalization of dogs and robot dogs for racialized and imperial violence, and second, quotidian queer and lesbian-dog relationalities and becomings. In the first, the article traces how dogs are weaponized as tools of state violence and proposes a queer lesbian feminist critique of white supremacy and militarization that can also extend to a critique of the violence committed through and toward the dogs. In the second, the article analyzes how, within lesbian, non-binary, and trans-dog intimacies, dogs help articulate queer gender, sexuality, and kinship formations, and as such, queer worlds for gender, sexual, and kin becomings.

The entanglements of violence and love in these queer dog relationalities provide insights into the complexities of queer and lesbian feminist worldbuilding. Lesbian and queer feminist cyborg politics can help theorize the potentials and challenges of these interspecies entanglements.

Sadly it is from a New York academic, so the Royal Society of NZ wasn’t able to fund it!

The NZ version of the deep state appears to be the NZ Public Health Service. They regards themselves as having a divine right to opine on every issue of the day from capitalism to building design. They have been allowed to do this for far too long, and it is great to see the Minister pushing back.

Simeon gives just a few examples of what the Public Health Service has been spending scare heath dollars on, instead of say childhood immunisations.

1. Submitting against a fast food outlet going resource consent on the grounds of planetary health, landscape values, traffic and Te Tiriti
2. opposed raffle tickets for local schools, Surf Life Saving, and Coastguard on the grounds it may encourage gambling habits
3. suggested that coffee carts should be mandated to display signs urging customers to bring reusable cups
4. advocating for the removal of sandwich boards from public spaces claiming they are “hazardous.”
5. told Aucklanders that their ratepayers’ and taxpayers’ money should be prioritised towards walking and cycling infrastructure, and other projects that shift people “away from cars.”

Nelson Mayor Nick Smith also says on Facebook:

So they are advising NCC on road bypasses, on forest conversion, on draining playing fields and lowering bus fares. And in every case reflecting their personal opinion, not the policy of the elected Government.

All this is not just grossly inappropriate, but it comes at a cost. Every dollars spent by the Public Heath Service on their political lobbying is a dollar not being spent on activities such as vaccinations.

The proportion of non-immunised kids in NZ has exploded from 1 in 20 to 1 in 4. This is a public health disaster, At this level we lose herd immunity and kids gets whooping cough which last year was officially at epidemic levels. You can’t rule out diphtheria re-emerging either if we don’t lift vaccination rates.

The Daily Mail reports:

Thousands of jobs faced the axe last night after Sir Keir Starmer announced NHSEngland will be scrapped in a bid to slash red tape.

He hopes that ditching the ‘world’s largest quango’ will save hundreds of millions of pounds a year that can be spent on patients instead.

This is the exact opposite of what NZ Labour did. NZ Labour merged all the DHBs into one huge entity, while UK Labour is saying let the Regional NHSs run themselves without a centralised quango.

Half the 18,600 office staff employed by the two organisations will be lost, with the funds redirected to doctors, nurses and frontline services. This will help to cut waiting lists and improve care, Sir Keir claimed yesterday.

Sounds similar to what the Government is NZ is trying to do – cuts back office staff to redirect to doctors and nurses.

One of the areas where big savings could be made is in the number of equality schemes in the NHS. While ministers view some as important, they say there are far too many that are well-meaning but misguided.

UK Labour seem much more rational than NZ Labour.

From Stephen Kirchner.

Taxing imports is bad for consumers and bad for businesses. The only winner is the Government that gets all the extra tax revenue.

At Patreon (paywalled), I write on why I think World War III is now very plausible:

The odds of this occurring in the next five to ten years has gone from implausible to very possible …

There will be some sort of peace deal in Ukraine this year. The Ukraine conflict was always going to end in a peace deal. Almost all wars end in deals, except WWII which was the rare modern exception of “total victory” being demanded.

What matters are the details of a peace deal.

Stuff reports:

Public health doctors are worried the government is trying to suppress their expertise – raising alarm about what they’re describing as “overreach”.

This is nothing to do with so called expertise. This is to stop taxpayer funded lobbying, as we saw with Public Health officials trying to stop a McDonalds in Wanaka.

On Tuesday, doctors spoke on condition of anonymity to raise their concerns after a meeting earlier that day with the National Public Health Service director, Dr Nick Chamberlain.

He told those doctors that any advice they wanted to offer about issues in their regions needed sign off at a “national level”.

Some public health officials think their job is to take their taxpayer funded salary and advocate for whatever policies they like. This is ending, thank God.

Brown said he wanted medical officers of health to stop writing about issues such as fast food and “leading advocacy campaigns” on public health issues. Instead, he said their focus should be on “technical advice” and immunisation campaigns.

Absolutely. If they want to be lobbyists, they should quit their jobs and form a lobby group and seek donations for it.

Public health doctors have expertise in how social and environmental issues can impact the health of a population. They also offer expertise in how the policies of central and local government will improve or harm health.

Lots of people have expertise in particular issues. Treasury has staff with expertise on how increasing the minimum wage can lead to higher unemployment. That doesn’t mean Treasury staff are allowed to submit to every Council in NZ, advocating against living wage policies.

Brown said he was fed up with seeing doctors giving advice on issues such as fast food restaurants.

Referencing the Wānaka McDonald’s issue, which saw a medical officer submit against the resource consent for another branch of the burger giant to be built, Brown said: “Writing submissions opposing a fast-food restaurant in Wānaka, as Health NZ did last year, is not what New Zealanders expect from their health service.”

“My expectation is that Health NZ should prioritise delivering healthcare services over engaging in broader advocacy efforts. This includes the National Public Health Service which should be focused on improving immunisation rates and tackling key health challenges, rather than weighing in on where fast-food outlets should be located,” he said.

Brown said medical officers of health had an “important role in providing local technical advice”, and that would continue.

The health budget is already stretched. I am sure the vast majority of NZers want more money spent on GP access, elective surgery, EDs, medicines etc and less on lobbying councils and commissioners on resource consents.

The Press reports:

No one stands a chance of survival in a crash at 215kph, a judge has warned an Southland teen.

Harrison Ian Aitken, 18, a carpet layer of Gore, was clocked driving 215kph on August 03 when “running late for soccer”.

I feel safe saying that his excuse is bullshit. No one drives at 215 km/hr because they are running late. They drive at that speed because they like it, and don;t think or care about the consequences.

Aitken had previously plead guilty to charges of dangerous driving in the Gore District Court in November after two incidents in August and September.

So after he got clocked at 215 km/hr in August, a few weeks later he was at it again.

Aitken was disqualified from driving for 12 months, backdated to the date of his first incident, which means he will be disqualified from driving until August 2025.

He has got off lightly. I hope he changes his ways before hs kills someone.

This clearly crosses the line from reporting news to manufacturing news. No one can argue that complaints about school lunches should generate over 25 stories a week for an entire month.

This is quite simply the media at war with the Government.

Climate scientist Michael Mann won $1 million in a defamation lawsuit against writer Mark Steyn. However the damages have been reduced to $5,000 due to false claims by Mann about lost grants.

Some extracts from the recent court ruling:

• They each knowingly made a false statement of fact to the Courtand Dr. Mann knowingly participated in the falsehood, endeavoring to make the strongest case possible even if it required using erroneous and misleading information
• Both attorneys deliberately engaged in outright misrepresentations, with the intent of presenting false evidence in support of a crucial aspectof Dr. Mann’s claims,that fall squarely within Rule 8.4(c)’s prohibition against “conduct involving dishonesty
• Therefore, as Mr. Williams and Mr. Fontaine knowingly violated the rules of professional conduct, the Court finds that their conduct,in service of Dr. Mann, involvesthe requisite bad faith warranting sanctions pursuant to the Court’s inherent authority
• Dr. Mann’s assertion that there was no falsehood or misrepresentation in his testimony orhis counsel’s conductborders on frivolity
• The Court arrives at such a sanction because the misconduct of Dr. Mann and his counsel (1) was extraordinary in its scope, extent, and intent;

It seems Dr Mann has done more damage to his own reputation through this lawsuit, than Mr Steyn did!

The Parliamentary Counsel Office (who draft the laws) have published a useful tool for government agencies and MPs who are involved in law making.

Basically you enter details around a proposed law around its size and complexity, and it provides timing details such as:

• 20 weeks for drafting
• 3 weeks for consultation
• 4 weeks for ministerial consultation
• 2 weeks for Cabinet process
• 7 months for parliamentary readings
• 1 week for royal assent

This should allow agencies to better assess timeframes for new laws or amendments.

A guest post by Wendy Geus:

Could Matt Doocey’s transgender stance be contributing to anxiety in our young?

Like Ardern’s mythical ‘climate emergency’?

I sent an email to Winston Peters after I read New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill to remove Diversity, Equity and Inclusiveness regulations from our public service, congratulating him on his decision. No doubt mine was not the only one. I felt jubilant at the thought of a politician finally addressing this issue.

When I checked the Herald for details shortly after, the article was gone. (This is why a major shareholder of NZME is keen to sack the board and return some balance to this pious, humourless left wing publication.) They report, grudgingly, anything they don’t agree with then remove it quickly to avoid too much coverage of ‘unsafe’ ideas. Hopefully that will be rectified soon.

Seeing Trump’s swift action on removing the DEI peremeating public services in the United States, New Zealand First senses that people here feel the same about the take over of identity politics in our public service in all its absurdity. Appointments of roles using rigid DEI guidelines could in a worse case scenario affect people’s safety and lives.

The recent account of a Delta Airlines plane flipping on a Canadian airport tarmac, piloted by a woman with 3 female co pilots and engineers whose catchphrase was ‘Unmanned’, illustrates DEI at its most awkward and concerning. Political correctness defies anyone  questioning if they were up to the job. But when the safety of hundreds of passengers is at stake, accountability is crucial. Doubtful in Canada where DEI runs deep.

I mentioned in a previous article a Washington Examiner report on the Goldwater Institute’s investigation indicated: “DEI ‘s ‘obscene price tag’ of $1.8 billion dollars with United States University students forced to waste 40 million hours fulfilling mandatory DEI initiatives.”  Also Government departments’ DEI fixation, such as the FBI in particular, affecting performance outcomes; and serious questions, in this regard, asked of the Los Angeles Fire Department following the LA fires.

Victorious Trump’s courage to attack the tyranny of the left won the day in the United States but is an ongoing challenge. Washington Times asserts  ‘Trump must stand strong against the Left’s rage’ signalling his ongoing fight, one in which our passive Prime Minister does not engage.

He seems to condone the ongoing transgender activists’ indoctrination of our children; men playing in women’s sport; and maintaining the secrecy around the details and culpability for our embarrassing maritime disaster last year which has made New Zealand a global laughing stock…. to name just a few.

Not to forget the outcome of the announced Court Martial of the ship’s Captain which seems to have vanished into thin air, aided by the media’s disinterest as their witch hunt of David Seymour’s lunch programme has taken priority over this mere triviality.

Jacinda Ardern at the height of her global virtue signalling appointed Yvonne Gray with great fanfare, to the prestigious role of Captain of the newly minted $147 million Manawanui. All things being equal that in itself should not have been a problem if her credentials were sound; except she had just returned from a three year break from the Navy. Was she apppointed purely on merit? Was there noone else who could have done this job, including the three quarters of staff who are men, many more qualified with longer and more recent experience?

This appears to be one of the myriad Labour government’s ideological appointments negatively affecting culture, performance, productivity and in this case, safety, throughout the New Zealand public service which Luxon is loath to change but Peter’s is intent on addressing.

Associate Defence Minister Chris Penk who served in both the New Zealand Navy and Australian Navy seemed an obvious replacement for Defence Minister Judith Collins after she went on the attack following the maritime disaster, shutting down discussion, labelling critics misogynists and demonstrating she was completely out of her depth. (excuse the pun)

Will we ever find out the details around this disaster and who ultimately was culpable; or will we get a white washed redacted report to protect the ‘mental health’ of those involved and the reputations of officials.

Like Canada, DEI still reigns supreme under our weak PM. Girls, apparently, can do anything. 

From subjecting 2 year olds to (taxpayer funded) transvestites reading stories to them in libraries and labelling it ‘normal’. (Personally as a toddler I would be more terrified of the weird creature reading the story than the Destiny’s church haka which children see everywhere these days)…

To Health New Zealand’s ongoing stated discriminatory preference for Maori, Pacifika, the Rainbow community and the disabled in their job advertisements, which was not addressed by former CEO Margie Apa (who probably introduced it) or Dr Shane Reti…

To lessons indoctrinating our children as young as three or four who are still learning to hold a crayon or pencil, that they can change sex. Imagine how this must seem to these little minds still learning to navigate their world as a boy or a girl; confusion and anxiety must result.

The sexualisation and indoctrination of our young by predatory trans gender activists is not what parents expect. I know many parents are at their wits end over this and are not being listened to. (Like in the USA under Biden)  

I understand at the end of 2024 New Zealand First got an undertaking for this programme to be withdrawn but not till the end of term one 2025. No doubt the likes of Doocey, Luxon and Stanford had a say in prolonging it. Who knows what damage it continues to do to all our students subjected to this radical programme.

With an agreement to remove ridiculous ‘treaty obligations’ references from the public service in the Coalition  Agreement this shouldn’t be difficult, with a simple reversal of the public service amendment made by Chris Hipkins. Why has this not been done already? We are nearly half way through their first term. Much animated cabinet discussion must have taken place, or not…  Luxon’s preferred way of dealing with sensitive issues.

In April 2024 in the UK the release of the Cass report, after a ground breaking four year investigation into the use of puberty blockers for young children, resulted in their immediate banning for under 16s with Gender Dysphoria. This from a radical Labour government. Northern Ireland followed close on their heels.

The Tavistock Clinic at the centre of this, where Minister for Mental Health Matt Doocey had worked prior to coming to New Zealand, was closed down. A key finding of the investigation was to include an holistic approach to treat young people with this condition.

My further concern stems from a comment Doocey made on Q @ A in March 2024, words to the effect that he was looking forward to the moment his children reveal to him what their genders are.

And he is the Mental Health Minister? How disturbing.

His beliefs are not rational and do not withstand public scrutiny when put under the common sense, logic and reason lens. This is why the radical left invented ‘hate speech’ to prevent criticism of their irrational beliefs using the excuse it could be ‘unsafe’. Further lunacy of the left on a par with Alice in Wonderland; fine for a fairy tale, but not real life.

The media buys into all this and bullies anyone who criticises. So is it not about time someone came along and shook up the radical left journos at the Herald?

The New Zealand Ministry of Health took little notice of the findings in the Cass Report and the use of puberty blockers for under 16s in New Zealand continues. Stephen Frank’s recent letter questioning treatment has been met with outrage by our media and dissent from apparent experts in the field.

When will this tyranny end?

Radio NZ reports:

A District Court judge accused of interrupting a New Zealand First function at an exclusive Auckland club says she mouthed an inaudible comment after hearing a snippet of a speech about the teaching of tikanga at law school.

But Judge Ema Aitken says that when she did so, she didn’t recognise NZ First leader and Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters’ voice as he was addressing party faithful. And she didn’t know it was a political function, despite a banner at the door.

This deserves a Tui billboard!

The thought that someone would hear Winston speaking, and not recognise who it was (and miss the large banner) is hilarious.

In a letter to the Judicial Commissioner, which has been provided to NZME, the judge gave her account of what happened that night, saying while she was returning from the toilet, she took a wrong turn and inadvertently walked past the NZ First function.

While passing the room, she heard a snippet of a speech from a male speaker saying something along the lines of, “They’re now teaching in law school that tikanga Māori law overrides the Westminster system”.

She said she was surprised and taken aback as she wasn’t expecting to hear the word tikanga at what she assumed was a social function.

“The statement was incorrect to me and mischaracterised the important role of tikanga for lawyers and judges in the District Court processes,” she said in her statement.

As she walked past, she said, she mouthed to a woman seated at a table near the door, who looked familiar, “that’s not true”. She said that would have been inaudible. She later recognised the woman as NZ First MP Casey Costello.

She said she made a comment disagreeing with speaker, reportedly, “He’s lying, how can you let him say that?”

The judge said no one at the table with Costello, which she estimated included at least six others, turned and responded to her comment. She denied shouting and said she was speaking in a normal voice.

The judge said she was quickly approached by a man and a woman, who walked her back down to her function, which was in the room next door.

If all she did was make a comment in a non raised voice to one person, why would she have been escorted back to her function by two people?

I read this Newsroom article to try and work out what Labour’s position on public-private partnerships is. It seems to be:

1. Labour is open to supporting PPPs where they make commercial sense and where they align with our values of fairness, co-operation, and some form of public ownership/control of critical infrastructure. (Sep 24)
2. “We support PPPs when they maintain some form of public ownership/control of critical infrastructure and align with Labour values of fairness and cooperation. A robust analysis that demonstrates long-term cost effectiveness and better value for public money must guide consideration of PPPs.” (Nov 24)
3. Newsroom asked Labour leader Chris Hipkins about the party’s position on public-private partnerships.  “I think the Government should be really upfront with New Zealand about what they’re considering hocking off,” he replied. (March 11 2025, am)
4. Citing the potential cost of changing lightbulbs, or negotiating extra hours in the school hall, she said Labour would want to be “careful” about PPPs for these assets. “So those are the key boundary areas for Labour, that we are very, very careful when it comes to where the state has a duty of care.” In those areas where there is a duty of care, she said, then the Government should be paying “some” of the upfront capital – which rather implies that the private sector would pay the balance. (March 11 2025, pm)
5. Newsroom was told that private ownership and operation of schools and hospitals were completely off the table for Labour. But where the financing and building of school, hospital and prison infrastructure by private companies had been agreed, Labour would consider it – so long as the deals met the criteria of not costing the taxpayer more in the long-term because the Crown had to be tenants in a public hospital. (March 13 2025, am)
6. Labour did not support PPPs for prisons, she said. Nor did it support the private ownership of core infrastructure – for example schools, hospitals and prisons – which would only mean worse outcomes for Kiwis. (March 13 2025, 7 pm)
7. The next Labour government will not support any step towards the private ownership or operation of our public hospitals, schools, prison or critical infrastructure. These are essential public services, and people expect their government to safeguard them for the benefit of all New Zealanders long into the future.” Note that, like McLellan, she did not rule out private involvement in the design, build, financing or maintenance of schools and hospitals. Just in any private ownership and operation. (March 14 2025, 11.10 am)
8. Newstalk followed up: Do you mean you’re ruling out, in a public-private partnership, the building of it? “Both,” Edmonds said. “Both the capex and the opex.” (March 14 2025, 1.30 pm)

And it carries on. Not only does their position keep changing as unions lobby them, but they keep trying to conflate privatisation (sale of an asset) with a PPP (private sector funds and manages the asset for a limited time, ownership remains with government) and with just plain old private sector constructions (which we have had since the Ministry of Works was abolished).

Luke Malpass writes:

The day began with a meeting with Modi, hugs and general admiration, and ended with Luxon delivering the best speech he has made in many months, followed by an informal mixer with the business and community delegations at the New Zealand High Commission.

Luxon’s speech to the Raisina Dialogue was a long affair, but was lofty and global in tone and was well delivered, weaving between the bilateral relationship. It was about the changing world where security is likely to trump economics and in which protectionism and the rise of AI will affect everything. …

All the reports indicate a very successful trip, with the bonus of an agreement to start negotiating a free trade agreement.

Some facts about India:

• Largest population on Earth – over 1.4 billion
• 5th largest economy – US4 trillion
• Average GDP growth of 5.8% over last 20 years
• Annual exports and imports between NZ and India are only $1.5 billion each way, most being travel related

As someone whose life work is in education I hear adults complain so often about the “next generation”.

This quote has always anchored me:

‘The children now love luxury; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are tyrants, not servants of the households. They no longer rise when their elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize over their teachers.’

(Commonly attributed to SOCRATES by Plato

A couple of weeks back I included some information on the athletic performances of 15 year old Sam Ruthe. Last night I had the privilege of being at Mt Smart to watch him run. Equally impressive was the support and pacing of double olympian Sam Tanner.Even aftere the race Sam Ruthe was composed with press and all supporters.

Brilliant.

Alwyn Poole
[email protected]
Innovative Education Consultants Ltd
Education 710+ Ltd
alwynpoole.substack.com
www.linkedin.com/in/alwyn-poole-16b02151/

TUANZ said:

The Technology Users Association (TUANZ) is raising concerns about the potential risks of deregulating the long-standing copper network outside urban areas as proposed by the Commerce Commission in its announcement this morning.  

While we acknowledge the need to transition users away from legacy and outdated networks, we remain concerned about the possible impact on rural communities – especially as they already face the shutdown of the 3G mobile network this year. Deregulation could lead to affordability issues, potentially leaving vulnerable communities without reliable and affordable internet or phone services.

“The Commission believes most rural users have up to three alternative providers, but we would like to analyse the data behind this claim to identify any gaps in coverage and capability,” says Craig Young, CEO of TUANZ. 

I’m with the Commerce Commission on this. The availability of Starlink, especially, has made copper a very poor choice for rural users. When I lived on a rural lifestyle block we could only get ADSL and then when Starlink came around, we could get speeds 20 times faster than ADSL.

Copper is a technology of the 1990s and 2000s – not the 2010s let alone the 2020s.