It's not true!

Phil Goff claims to say he had never expressed an intention or desire to be the leader of the Labour Party, particularly while Helen Clark is in charge.

This from the man who once tried to roll Helen Clark when Labour's polling was last this low.

Rob Muldoon vs Helen Clark

The similarities between Rob Muldoon and Helen Clark have been canvassed a lot this week. One observation is that Clark has never thrown anyone out of her press conferences - which is true, but one of her Press Secretaries (politely) asked myself and another person to leave one. Even after we promised to be quiet and not interrupt, and only wanted to see how the press conferences were run.

True, we both worked in the ACT Parlimentary Office at the time - and it was far politer than a conversation I had shortly afterwards with another party leader!

You'd never believe this is the Government we're talking about!

Today a letter arrived in the mail from the IRD - not always a good sign, but this was quite an evil letter. It said that we were stealing our taxes back by under-estimating our income so we got more Working for Families money.

Now, in case you're wondering what tipped them off - it was their own systems that calculate that my wife was earning almost $25,000 a year. Which was news to us.

Chaucey earned a small amount of income in this tax year as she resigned from her job and was paid some outstanding annual leave. A small one-off payment. But the IRD couldn't distinguish between a one-off payment and regular income, so unilaterily decided that it knew our income better than us and that we needed to pay more tax, and told us so. And unless we set them straight they would do so - even though it was their mistake.

P.S. Trying ringing the IRD sometime - you can never get through. (With letters like this and people having to correct them it's no wonder why.)

Have you received a Spam email from Ellisnz.com?

I hate spam. (Don't we all?) And some b*stard is sending emails that appear to have been sent from my domain - but I've checked and it's not from me. Someone is spoofing with my domain name. I became aware of the problem because I've received a lot of backscatter because of this.

Hopefully the filters have captured all emails that have been sent, but if you have received any that appear from my domain I do apologise.

I have tracked down the IP the spam emails are coming from and I am trying to get this shut down.

Save the Undie 500!

Okay, the behaviour of some students after the Undie 500 was a little unwelcome (to say the least), but to ban the Undie 500 would be an over-reaction.

The the real issue isn't about the Undie 500, it's about the tolerence of antisocial behaviour of students in Dunedin - something that has gone on for years. Police should put more effort into visiting every flat in the trouble spot streets at the beginning, and throughout the year, to remind people of what is acceptable and how to organise safe events (and what to do if they get out of hand).

The event itself is well run, it's the 'after party' that causes the problems. Better enforcement at the beginning of the night would help. Also, not diverting offenders who threw bottles at police, or committed serious crimes like arson will help drive home the message for future years.

But if Dunedin is really serious about stopping the problems with student behaviour, then there is only one serious option - close the University.

Not impressed by Virgin Offer

Really, I'm not impressed by Virgin/Pacific/Branson Blue airfares. $39 specials are great, but after February you can bet the price will be back up to over $100 each way.

I would be impressed if an airline offered a 5 cent fare - like the one I got from Bratislava to Dubrovnik last year. (632km as the crow flies - Wellington to Auckland is 480km.) With taxes and fees it was about NZ$28 to travel on a 90 minute flight. On a new 737-800. That left on time. And arrived 5 minutes early.

Hutt City Mayoral Candidates

The nominations are closed, and it's official - Lower Hutt has five candidates for Mayor.

They are (in alphabetical order):

Ross Jamieson
Ken Laban
David Ogden
Rose Thomas
Ray Wallace

I managed to attend the Mayoral forum at the Civic Theatre on Wednesday, and based on my observations if this was an STV election - in Hutt City it's first past the post - I'd rank the candidates in the following order:

1. David Ogden
The incumbent, has focussed on keeping good control of finances and a growing rating base. Under his leadership rate rises in Hutt City have been kept under the rate of inflation, but no services have been cut. Saw that growing the rating base was important (the only candidate who mentioned this) and wants to improve facilities for children to be more active. Promised the Grenda to Petone link road would go through the Korokoro Valley over his dead body (the only candidate to do so). Hinted that he might be prepared to borrow money to start the Cross Valley Link Road sooner than it is currently budgeted for.

2. Rose Thomas
Previously stood on a ticket with former Mayor John Terris. Not standing as a councillor. Wants to borrow more money for capital works on flood protection and the cross valley link road, and will cut spending on non-essential services to fund the cost of borrowing. Wants to hold rate rises to inflation. Gave examples of the spending on councillors as a place to cut back. Toughest on crime, wants to ban gang patches from shopping areas. Also keen to have the District Plan amended to keep high rise buildings back from residential areas.

3. Ray Wallace
Another who has previously stood on former Mayor John Terris' ticket. Sitting Councillor and standing as both Councillor and Mayor. Like Rose Thomas, wants to borrow to complete flood protection works urgently. Also wants to have the district plan amended. Wants to abolish the three Ward Committees and replace them with Community Boards, devolving more power to the boards from the City Council. Encouraged me to stand in the Eastern Ward after the meeting! (No, I'm not standing.)

4. Ross Jamieson
Former Mayor of Eastbourne and sitting councillor. Also standing as a councillor. Came across as a bit flakey, but knowledgable about the state of local issues. Again sees Flood Works as top priority. Committed to building roads to ease congestion and air pollution. Wants to borrow heavily to fund projects such as toddlers facilities at the local swimming pools - sounded as though he was prepared to borrow very heavily. Regards current City debt levels as very low.

5. Ken Laban
Best to say that Ken Laban is an excellent social worker with a big heart. Wants to improve the lot of the poorest people in the city and get them voting in local body elections. Not sure where he stood on getting the rubbish collected, the roads maintained, and the sewerage pumped. No idea what priorities he has for spending other than engaging with . Didn't mention flood protection, the district plan or any other issue that really affected the audience once. Also against him was his supporters heckled the other candidates. (and it was obvious they were from the Labour Party - I recognised most of them!)

Not surprisingly, the biggest issues in Hutt City this election are Flood Protection (which failed in the February 2004 floods), District Plan changes (especially heritage buildings and proposed apartment towers in Lower Hutt and Petone), and Roading (Cross Valley link road from Maugaraki).

UPDATE: Labour, opps, Hutt 2020 have put out an email trying to cover up Ken Laban's lack of knowledge of Local Government by claiming that Ken talked about a "vision" and "principles" for the city, whereas the others identified what needed to be done in the city.

Quote of the Day

From 'Appalled' of Christchurch:

"To those people languishing on Pete's waiting lists, my sincere sympathy - the Health Minister is more focused on the bed the National party leader sleeps in than finding one for you."

Amen.

Scratching my Head

After offering an easy way out of the Air New Zealand flying troops to Iraq controversy, you'd think that Helen Clark would be happy with Alexander Downer. All she had to say was that Foreign Affairs should have notified their Minister, and now Australia has said it won't use Air New Zealand the matter was closed. Simple. Time to move on.

Instead, she keeps digging herself into a hole with the Australian Government - why?

Parking

Saw this photo on the NZ Herald site of some creative parking in Kelburn:



But somehow it doesn't quite beat this example I saw in Paris two years ago:



But nothing beats the parking in Bucharest:



Or the traffic hazards on Romanian Highways:

Here is an unpleasent thought ...

From this Bebo page, which took two minutes to find from reading this Herald Article about the Juvanyle Crip Boys street gang.

Air New Zealand Charter Services

I find the reaction from Government Ministers and other politicians to the news that Air New Zealand flew a charter flight for the Australian Military a little perplexing.

Unlike all other Government-owned companies, Air New Zealand is not a State Owned Enterprise and is not subject to any interference from Ministers as long as it continues to operate legally - and there is no law in New Zealand or elsewhere. The Government also needs to consider the other shareholders - if it acts in a way to devalue the company by preventing Air New Zealand to carry out profitable business it could risk it's own shareholding be devalued as the market reacts to the political interference.

It also sends a message to the market the Government is willing to interfere in legal business transactions for political reasons, making the overseas investors (who are already a bit twitchy) even more nervous about keeping capital in New Zealand businesses.

But the most perplexing reaction (to me) came from Green MP Keith Locke - he said the New Zealand is more likely to be a target of terrorism because of the charter flights. Apart from the obvious hyperbole in the statement, Keith Locke has long been a champion of allowing Ahmed Zaoui to stay in New Zealand - a man convicted of being a member of a terrorist or criminal group in Belgium!

Hone's reparation

Hone Harawira can count himself lucky that he only has to repay half the costs the taxpayer paid for his trip to Australia - I would have made him pay it all back. To me he abandoned his duties in what looks like a premeditated move to visit the Northern Territory.

But I do agree those that criticised Hone for making the trip in the first place should not give Hone 'crap'. I think our politicians need to decide how best to serve after being elected into Parliament.

Our MPs are far more harshly judged by their actions at elections, than they are by their peers - just ask Jim Sutton!

Crash? What Crash?

Despite what the NZ Herald describes as a "crash" on Wall Street, there is not so much to be concerned about.

Have a look at the performance of the Dow Jones Average over the past three years:



Remember, even after today's fall the Dow is almost 60 points ahead of where it was at the end of last month, and 800 points ahead of where it started the year.

Of course, good news never sells many newspapers.

Hone on Walkabout

I don't have any problem with Hone Harawira's trip to Australia's Northern Territory to meet with Aboriginal groups. Indigineous politics is the speciality of the Maori Party, and it's up to our politicians to decide how best to serve those who elected him.

I only have an issue with the taxpayer funded airfare to get to Australia - funded with the purpose of him attending Select Committee business. If he is using taxpayer funds for studying Victorian electoral law and victims rights law, then Hone Harawira should do this.

Spin 101

Michael Cullen is delighted that 90,000 people have joined Kiwisaver.

On the same day, Statistics NZ annouces that the number of people employed in New Zealand is 2,239,000.

That's a total uptake of 4% of all working people - or is that a rejection by 96% of all workers?

But it gets worse. As you don't have to be employed to join Kiwisaver, any New Zealander is eligible. New Zealand's Population at time of writing was estimated to be 4,186,610 - Only 2% of all eligible New Zealanders have taken up Kiwisaver.

And this is despite being bombarded with television, radio and print ads about Kiwisaver - from both the Government and from fund providers. If a private company had spent as much promoting it products for such a small uptake I'm sure whoever was in charge would be out the door!

Mark Prebble and Helen Clark

It's been said that a week is a long time in politics, so a decade must be an eternity.

Back in 1998, Helen Clark severely criticised Mark Prebble's appointment to the role of Chief Executive of Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, calling him an "Apostle of the New Right".

Now, almost ten years later, Helen Clark and her cabinet Ministers are defending him against allegations that he is not nuetral!

What about the worker?

A friend of mine, who runs a small but successful technology company, made this point to me the other day - If you an employee on a typical $45,000 salary, this Government has stolen $2500 from you each and every year.

This bloke is an excellent employer. His staff don't leave this company unless it's to set up their own - and he usually contracts them back while they build their own clientele. He pays for his staff to do university degrees and training. I've never heard anyone complain about working for this company

Labour have given you an extra weeks holiday that you didn't ask for - or want! $1000 of extra pay your employer can't give you. They've given you a subsidy for a retirement scheme you haven't joined. But because the employer has to consider that you might, you lose out on $1500.

You have no choice - you can't cash up your extra week. You can't divert the $1500 to your own savings scheme.

And your employer sits down to look at his budget for the upcoming year, he looks at his staff costs blowing out and gives you next to nothing in the hand.

What's Labour's policies for 2008?

I sick of Labour not annoucing any of it's policies it is going to run with at the next election.

After all, by this stage in the last electoral cycle they had announced the free student loans policy, 20 hours free child education for three and four year olds ... Oh no, wait - they announced those in the six weeks before the election!

Hmmm, I wonder if National will do the same?

Couldn't resist this!

You have been warned:

That's my wife on TV!

Despite mis-spelling Chaucey's name - she and Bevan are famous! They were on TV3 News tonight.

At least in the broadcast they spell her name correctly:

Legislation drafted to stop discrimination against breastfeeding