Helen Clark on top form

Free Trevor Mallard!

I'm the first to admit that Trevor Mallard is not my favourite person. (A view that is probably reciprocated.) But the decision to oppose bail on the private prosecution over the punching of Tau Henare is trivial, vextatious, and a further waste of the courts time.

The Police decided not to prosecute, and it was with good reason. So the Judge should not tolerate such a waste of time and grant bail within the first ten seconds, then deal with the procedural matters.

What value was that

Back in September 2004, Deborah Coddington asked Trevor Mallard how much has been spent on facilitators for developing teachers to better teach literacy. The cost over the four previous years was over $32 million.

And for all that money spent on improving the teaching of literacy, we got a relative decline in the literacy skills of students from a world ranking of 13th to 24th. The Progress in International Reading Study shows that our average reading score has gone from 529 to 532, hardly a discernable movement.

And remember that the $32 million was just for facilitators for developing teachers. That figure does not include the costs of any new literacy programmes.

Over Sexed, over paid and over here.

Who cares?

And as he seems to like them good looking and stupid, will he be popping in to see Nicky?

Update: Thanks to the brilliant Mr Whaleoil, here's what I mean about Nicky:

What is Torture?

TORTURE:
noun
1. The infliction of severe pain as a punishment or a forcible means of persuasion.
2. Great suffering or anxiety.
verb
Subject to torture.

(From the Oxford English Dictionary)

The United Nations claims that the Taser is a form of torture, and it probably fits the dictionary definition as the infliction of severe pain as a means of persuasion. But considering the alternative of using guns, I think most reasonable people should.

Nor should overseas misuse of the Taser be an argument for not equipping Police with it. In South America Police are allowed to use firearms to stop a fleeing suspect, even if unarmed. Would anyone suggest that the Police in New Zealand are not allowed to use guns (in certain circumstances) because of another police force has different guidelines that are less stringent?

Also, New Zealand Police do not have a blanket defence against charges of assault or murder - they can only use force in certain circumstances. If an officer has a dangerous disregard for Police policy they could find themselves in the cell next to the offender they wrongly attacked.

If New Zealand Police have robust guidelines for using the Taser only when preventing serious harm to themselves or others, I will support their introduction.

Lower Alcohol Limits?

There are renewed calls for lower alcohol limits for drivers. As I posted back in May, the correlation for lower limits and reduced deaths does not appear to exist:



Perhaps the call should be for better roads, enforcement on dangerous sections of roads, and better education of drivers - especially during the learning phase.

Also, a limit on the power output of a vehicle for drivers who repeatedly commit traffic offenses should be instituted.

Cheer up ...

Husband and wife are doing the dishes. She hands him a plate, and it slips through his finger to smash on the floor.

"Admit it," she says. "You're playing for the Black Caps."

The man denies it. "I'm not. I'm not playing for the Black Caps."

"So where do you go three times a week, and those month long trips overseas? You're at practise, and on tour."

"I'm having an affair with my secretary. We've pop off to the hotel those nights and then have long holidays on the company. But I swear I'm not playing for the Black Caps."

The wife breaks down and cries. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry I didn't believe you."

She recovers and washes the next plate, handing it over to be dried. Once again, it slips through his fingers and smashes on the floor.

"You bastard. You are playing for the Black Caps."

This is not free speech

I welcome news that two protesters have been convicted for offensive behaviour for burning a flag at this years ANZAC Day Dawn Service at the War Memorial.

There actions are equal to those of the infamous Westboro Baptist Church who protest at the funerals of murder victims and US Soldiers killed in action - claiming that the deceased are in Hell because of tolerance of homosexuality.

A legitimate protest would have been to have a minutes silence for the innocent victims of war, or to distribute leaflets afterwards calling for the withdrawl of troops from overseas deployments.

But I have no doubt that the protesters were delibrately trying to provoke during the sombre dignity of an ANZAC Day dawn service, so got what they deserve.

Three Smacks (plus a lot of bruising), and he's guilty

Why Family First and other groups opposed to anti-smaking are trying to highlight what is essentially (if you'll pardon the pun) a media beatup is beyond me.

This man grabbed his child so forcefully that he caused bruising. That is not discipline, but abuse. And trying to pass it off as a light smacks with an open hand is obviously not true. It was anger, not discipline, that was motivating the father.

Only when someone who gives their child a light tap on the bottom and is convicted will I start to take the protests more seriously.

March on, march on ...

Yesterdays march against the EFB was a bit disappointing. I estimate about 300-400 people turned up, and very few were experienced marchers so the march sped down Lambton Quay quite quickly. (For maximum impact you walk slowly, and keep spread out - it can make a small crowd look quite large)

I wasn't over impressed with the Act on Campus effigy of Winston Peters being hanged.

However, it improved greatly when the Young Labour (or some counter protest group) joined in - it stirred the march to action and they started chanting noisily to drown out the counter group.

What I thought was most telling was the counter protest group were able to mingle into the anti-EFB protesters without a problem. Especially given the events at the Labour Party conference.

Well, that's all right then!

Justice Minister Annette King has told Parliament that the Electoral Finance Bill is not bad, because despite all the bad clauses restricting freedom of speech they are over-ridden by the law of common sense. Right - Problem solved. Call off the protests and put away the placards.

Or am I just paranoid that it is not the intent of Parliament that counts, but the interpretation of what is written. And what is written is that all forms of communication that draw attention of any political issue to the public is being regulated.

I'm for the open disclosure of electioneering advertising material - but having a talk with someone about politics would be captured by this law. So I'll still be there tomorrow.

DEMOCRACY UNDER ATTACK !

Protest March starts at Civic Square, outside Town Hall. Assemble midday. March commences at 12.30 along Lambton Quay to Parliament grounds.

Speakers: John Boscawen, Organiser, Garth McVicar (Sensible Sentencing Trust) and Bob McCroskrie (Family First).

Having seen a summary of the Electoral Finance bill as reported back I believe that the most basic parts of our democracy are at risk. It will even be technically illegal to verbally speak to another person in favour or against any political party under this Bill without making numerous disclosures. At the same time the government is giving itself new powers to spend your taxpayers money electioneering. making it harder to remove.

I feel that New Zealand’s democracy is under attack - while existing politicians are generally trustworthy, you can't rule out a politician of the future using this bill to supress the populace from speaking out.

Whatever I say on this blog or any other blog is unrestricted - I could use a psuedonym if I chose (as many do) and could legitimately hide my true identity. I could spend an unlimited amount advertising my blog as long as I do not attempt to make any income from it.

But if I repeat the same words out loud I have to disclose a lot more information about myself - even a simple conversation with my wife is technically covered by this law!

Most of you will know of my political interests. But this is not a party political issue, it affects all New Zealanders. I do not support Family First, and would have thought that I would never join a protest in favour of a position they hold.

I encourage you to attend the protest march on Wednesday in Wellington.

You may never have marched in protest before - this will be only my third. However, if you only ever join one protest march in your life, I am asking to join the March for Democracy.

B1 & B2 can go to ...!

Today I helped out at the the Wellington Childrens Christmas Parade, preparing and marshalling floats. The float I was assigned to was the 'Bananas in Pyjamas'. And I heard this non-stop for about two hours:



So if you want to really annoy me this week, just start singing:

Bananas, in Pyjamas
Are coming down the stairs,
Bananas, in Pyjamas
Are coming down in pairs ...

Let's hear it for Tuhoe!

Or Ali Ikram needs to stick to his day job.

What do you need to do to not get bail?

According to this report, despite having convictions for:

Sexual offences
Possesion of cannibas for supply
Fraud
Theft

And being charged with the Murder of his lover, a Judge thought Michael Curran would be suitable to be bailed and live in the community. And then he went and murdered a two-year-old girl of a neighbour (with whom he was having affair.)

The evidence supporting the first charge (of which Curran was found guilty of manslaughter) included an admission that he inadvertently caused the death of Natasha Hayden by strangling her.

On balance, the Judge should have seen that at least a Manslaughter conviction was like to be obtained - so should have denied bail.

We all make mistakes. But the Judge who granted bail to Curran failed so completely that you wonder why they haven't been removed from the bench.

Random Observations from Michael

Is anyone surprised that someone who registered as living in Wellington Central with the Electoral Office, but told Parliament they lived in Waikanae to be eligible for a Taxpayer Funded Apartment in Oriental Bay is the same person arrested for theft?

Did the Dom Post, Waikato Times and Press really publish because they're interested in Justice. Or was it just to boost circulation?

A Minister suggests someone for a PR job in their department and they get hired. A Minister doesn't want to work with someone in their department and they get fired. What's the point of have Cheif Executives on big salaries if Ministers are making all the decisions?

If there really was an eruption, you think that you would have been able to turn the radio on and every channel would be broadcasting an alert to get out. And I'm sure Marc Ellis is overjoyed at all the free publicity. And No, we're not related.

Where's the Wellington Protest?

FIght Back!

Ultra-conservative group Family First are not my cup of tea. And I'm betting that it's their members ringing and pressuring advertisers to withdraw from advertising a raunchy TV show.

So, now that advertisers are pulling out of spots during TV3 show Californication, NZ should fight back.

So if Burger King, CRC, Finish Dishwashing Liquid, Cadbury, Flight Centre and Ferrit have all withdrawn from advertising during the show then tomorrow we should all:

Have a Big Mac (or a Quarter Pounder, if you prefer).
Lubricate with Castrol.
Wash up with Active Dishwash powder.
Eat a Nestle chocolate bar.
Book a flight with House of Travel.
Buy online at Trade Me.

That would send a message that New Zealanders are not going to be intimidated by a minor fringe group. After all, if you care about Family Values so much that you are likely to be offended:

DON'T WATCH IT AND PRAY FOR OUR SOULS INSTEAD

Electoral Finance Bill

The 2005 General Election rates as one of the dirtiest, underhanded elections in New Zealand's history. Most parties were caught with behaviour that was less than desirable. So it's not a surprise that the Government did review the situation and suggest a clean up.

The main concerns raised during and after the campaign were:

• The Anti-Green Party/Change the Government Pamphlets issued by members of the Exclusive Brethren church.
• The use of Parliamentary Funding for campaign materials, principally by the Labour Party, but ultimately used by all parties except the Progressives to some degree.
• The National Party over spending it's election advertising allotment.
• The use of "non-political" advertising to promote the profile of candidates during the 90 day election campaign period (specifically by Bob Clarkson).

Rather than bag the Government for the heavy handed response in the Electoral Finance Bill, I suggest it would have been simpler to amend existing electoral law with the following:

Prevent candidates from advertising themselves for non-political purposes for 90 days before the election.

As borne out by Winston Peters' electoral petition, candidates can spend an unlimited amount promoting their business activities during a campaign, even if the advertising is a (wink-wink) promotion of the candidate. By preventing candidates using this to get around the $20,000 campaign budget.

Also, this will prevent Government funds being used to promote candidates during the election period. If political parties felt that this would have severely hampered promotion they could have voted to raise the $20,000 limit that was set for the 1996 election so in real terms is now the equivilant of $16058. And to future proof, the limit should be reset every three years by the Electoral Commission to allow for inflation.

Make authorisation of material more transparent and Increase penalties for false or improper declarations.

One of the best ways to prevent campaigns being hijacked by special interests is for transparency of special interests. The Exclusive Brethren are known to be a secretive and unusual group, once it was revealed that they were behind the anti-Green pamphlets a lot of the creditability was lost. I would find it hard to be influenced by fringe groups, as would most people who don't live on the fringe.

Introduce penalties for publishing misleading or untruthful election material

This would be the hardest to define, as a lot of material could be passed off as honest opinion. But by making it an offence to deliberately mislead in election material there would be a lot more thought and care put into publishing material.

Clarify responsibility for offenses to make Political Parties able to be charged, Increase fines for offenses to provide a firmer deterrence, and move the investigation and prosecution of Electoral Offenses under the control of the Electoral Commission.

By making Political Parties responsible for breeches of the Electoral Act (and Broadcasting Act), officials won't have to identify who specifically to charge. And with Political Parties being predominately volunteer organisations, having the threat of prosecution removed from individuals will not discourage people getting politically active.

Police resources are going to be allocated towards preventing and investigating crimes against people and property - it's their expertise. This was especially true when Police gave the investigation notified to them such a low priority that they would have missed the cutoff for charging under the Electoral Act if the media had not reported the deadline immediately before it was due. Electoral Law can be managed best by the Government Agency that has its expertise in the area.


So there you have - no limits on anyones right to participate in the debate and no need for organisations to register just in case they need to enter the fray later on. And I don't think my summary is too far from the current proposed Bill but doesn't include the worst aspects that are upsetting activists.

Sent to me by a friend ...

I'm surprised

Having seen all the media coverage of the raids in Ruatoki, you could have been mistaken into beleiving that the general view is that the Police over-reacted to some tomfoolery and what is not a serious threat.

But I was surprised when I saw todays poll on Stuff - with over 10,000 votes now recorded, the reaction is overwhelmingly in favour of the Police taking action under anti-terror laws.



It's good to see that the Police generally still have the confidence of the public in this matter, and that a small (but vocal) minority are not fooling anyone into believing that the allegations of various activists owning an AK47 is not a serious matter.

Spot the Difference

"Mr Ryall, get back in your box. I'm running this show." - David Cunliffe, replying to an interjection in Parliament from Tony Ryall about who is responsible for managing Health in NZ.

"Very clearly, the primary accountability rests with the district health board." - David Cunliffe, replying to the very next question.

So just who is running this show?

Sun, Sand, Torture and Sea

I'm not going to holiday in Fiji any time soon. As I have previously criticised the Fijian Military Dictator Bainimarama, I would be too afraid of getting arrested, beaten and denied access to legal assistance.

If there was a plot to assassinate Bainimarama, then it is legitimate to arrest those who there is evidence against and to follow the established standards of legal detention and conviction. Beating a suspect by the police leads me to suspect that there is no such evidence and the police are attempting to 'heavy' a confession.

And promises that Fiji is safe for holidaymakers seem hollow when a NZ citizen was beaten in custody and denied access to diplomatic staff.

I know that Bainimarama is wanting to remove the racial elements of Fiji's constitution to make 'One person, one vote', but there is a correct way of making this change - and the first step would have been for Bainimarama to quit Fiji's military and try to get himself elected to the Fijian Parliament in the traditional democratic method.

I'll believe it when I see it

Labour have promised tax cuts. Twice previously they have cancelled announced tax cuts so I won't hold my breath.

• First in 1999, Labour cancelled the tax cuts scheduled for April 2000 that had been announced in the 1999 Budget.
• Then, in 2006 Labour cancelled the "chewing-gum" tax cuts they announced earlier.

During the same period, Labour have added new levies onto petrol - each time claiming that it would pay for the (same) planned new roads - and bumped up prices on all sorts of Government Services.

Perhaps the most cynical was doubling the cost of issuing Birth, Death and Marraige Certificates becuase they were being computerised - when every other organisation uses computers to lower the unit cost of a service.

Given the track record of Labour, I'm not holding my breath for anything more than a small adjustment that will be given grudgingly.

How more can "Jump the Queue"

I'm not surprised to see that a man waited in hospital for a week for surgery; or that a former hospital manager can advise how to get surgery quicker.

Public Hospitals in New Zealand schedule surgery on the basis that a certain number of unplanned urgent cases will turn up on a day, and then extra capacity is allocated to elective surgery. When more unplanned cases arrive than anticipated, elective patients (who may have been prepped and be waiting to be wheeled into surgery) get sent home - the least urgent elective patient first.

As a result, you occasionally get people prepped for surgery and sent home several times - some end up on Campbell Live.

Back in the latter part of the 1990s, National used Private Hospitals to try and clear some of the backlog - to avoid the problem of elective surgery capacity being cannibalised by urgent cases.

I remember at the time staying in a Backpackers in Hokitika where the manager was telling me that he'd got his surgery in a private hospital - when told at first he thought his doctor had mistakenly thought he had Health Insurance, but he got to go private as his operation was to be done in Christchurch and it wouldn't be reasonable to expect him to drive over Arthurs Pass and back several times if his surgery got delayed.

Using the private sector for public operations works - Labour should have the guts to swallow it's pride and admit it was wrong to not renew the contracts with Private Hospitals and get more patients treated.