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US President Obama Insists TPP means America will write the rules of the road in the 21st century

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Overnight, United States President Barack Obama began lobbying before sending the TPP deal to the US Congress and stated the TPP means that “America will write the rules of the road in the 21st century.” (ref. WhiteHouse.gov) “When it comes to Asia, one of the world’s fastest-growing regions, the rulebook is up for grabs. And if we don’t pass this agreement — if America doesn’t write those rules — then countries like China will. And that would only threaten American jobs and workers and undermine American leadership around the world.

“That’s why I am posting the text of this agreement here for you to read and explore. There’s a lot in here, so we’ve put together summaries of each chapter to help you navigate what’s in the agreement and what these new standards will mean for you,” President Obama said.

He added: “I know that if you take a look at what’s actually in the TPP, you will see that this is, in fact, a new type of trade deal that puts American workers first.”

Regarding the TPP, the Obama Administration has placed much of its reputation on the line. And the US President’s push is to convince US workers that this multilateral deal will prevent other countries from becoming more competitive through lower labour costs, standards, wages, regulations and barriers to US imported goods and services.

Last night Obama said: “If you’re an autoworker in Michigan, the cars you build face taxes as high as 70 percent in Vietnam. If you’re a worker in Oregon, you’re forced to compete against workers in other countries that set lower standards and pay lower wages just to cut their costs. If you’re a small business owner in Ohio, you might face customs rules that are confusing, costly, and an unnecessary barrier to selling abroad.

“The Trans-Pacific Partnership will change that.

“It’s the highest standard trade agreement in history. It eliminates 18,000 taxes that various countries put on American goods. That will boost Made-in-America exports abroad while supporting higher-paying jobs right here at home. And that’s going to help our economy grow,” Obama said.

Major Holes and Inequality

Back here in New Zealand, University of Auckland trade law expert Professor Jane Kelsey has evaluated the released Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement texts and states there are “major holes” in the Government’s fact sheets and apparent inequalities between signature states.

Professor Kelsey said an initial review of the most controversial chapters confirms that New Zealand will have to comply with onerous new obligations and lose the future capacity to regulate in ways that an elected government thinks appropriate.

Her evaluation follows:

The investment chapter goes beyond New Zealand’s existing agreements in numerous ways. For example, a foreign investor from a TPP country that is party to a contract for oil exploration, a PPP contract for water, sewage or toll roads, or a mining or forestry concession with central government or an SOE exercising a delegated power, can use the controversial investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) process if it wants to claim its rights are breached, even if the contract requires them to use NZ courts or some other dispute mechanism. 

Foreign investors, notably from the US and Japan, gain special rights not available to New Zealand investors, which are commonly used to challenge new regulations that adversely affect their business. In New Zealand, where risk-tolerant light handed regulation is the norm, that poses major problems for a future government wanting to regulate in the public interest.

As the government conceded, the categories of investment where the rules can be tightened have been constrained, and existing regulation of various services and investments are locked in so they can’t be made more restrictive in the future.

Some of the so-called protections for environment, health and regulatory objectives in the investment chapter are a nonsense – they allow the government to do what the chapter allows the government to do. The wording of the annex on expropriation, which supposedly restricts the scope of indirect or regulatory expropriation – where regulations are challenged for eroding the value of an investment – is weaker than other New Zealand agreements.

The general exception provision, which provides only weak protection for public health or environment measures at best, does not apply to the investment chapter. Instead, there are highly contestable rights to adopt rules for ‘legitimate public policy’ reasons, but those apply only to some rules and will be interpreted by ad hoc investment arbitrators.

There are some attempts to rein in the ISDS process, but they do not address the major concerns. The arbitrators are still likely to be drawn from a small club (often referred to as the mafia) who are also investment lawyers; there are no conflict of interest rules, merely that they must be developed before the agreement comes into force; there is no appeal; compound interest can still be awarded; and the kinds of damages that be claimed are still extensive.

A further, fundamental problem is that investment tribunals have proved adept at reading down or circumventing attempts to constrain the adventurism of the tribunals, including provisions on which parties to the TPPA claim the right to make binding interpretations that the tribunals must follow. 

The tobacco-specific exception applies only to disputes brought by investors under the investment chapter, where a country opts to exclude it. Unlike the proposed Malaysian carveout for tobacco control measures from the entire agreement, it does not apply to other chapters, such as labelling rules, intellectual property, or the investment chapter itself. (Australia’s plain packaging law is currently facing a dispute over labelling and intellectual property in the WTO).

There is at least some provision for countries to impose capital controls, which does not exist in standard US FTAs. But it is circumscribed by almost impossible conditions. 

There are serious new constraints on financial regulation, including of cross-border financial transactions and data flows, which require further careful study.

The unprecedented State-owned Enterprises chapter has three complex principal rules, which will create major problems for SOEs that provide integrated services both within and outside the country or produce a mixture of goods and services. The procedural requirements are commercially intrusive and provide scope for harassment by other TPPA parties on behalf of their corporations.

The chapter will create particular problems for the creation of new SOEs that require a capital injection and subsidisation or other special treatment or the provision of guarantees – for example, the proposal to establish a new state-owned insurance company.

The intellectual property chapter has already been leaked and analysed. Copyright is extended by 20 years in two tranches; New Zealand is the only country that has to make changes immediately.

The highly sensitive area of biologics is far from secure. New Zealand’s negotiators say they consider our current process satisfies the obligation. But there is a very high risk that the US will demand that we adopt its interpretation of what is required and refuse to ‘certify’ our compliance (a pre-requisite for the agreement to come into force with the US) until we provider a longer effective monopoly on those new generation pharmaceuticals. In addition, the rule comes up for renegotiation in 10 years, by which time biologics will be a much more dominant part of the medicines budget.

The transparency annex that affects Pharmac’s processes will increase its administrative burden and a new review procedure provides Big Pharma with a new opportunity to challenge Pharmac’s decisions.

Professor Kelsey said the above comments confirm the predicted problems in the text. Full analysis of the different chapters will follow, with expert peer reviewed papers being released over the next few weeks.

SOURCE INFO: Late last night the New Zealand Government released the Trans Pacific Partnership texts, which can be accessed in full at www.tpp.mfat.govt.nz/text

[caption id="attachment_6273" align="alignright" width="150"]Tim Groser. Image courtesy of www.usnzcouncil.org. Tim Groser. Image courtesy of www.usnzcouncil.org.[/caption] New Zealand Government On releasing the TPP text to the public, New Zealand’s Trade Minister Tim Groser said: “This is a complex agreement, with 30 Chapters and associated annexes.  The large number of documents released today amount to over 6,000 pages of text and market access schedules.  Understanding the legal obligations of the TPP will require careful analysis of all documents, given the inter-relationship between many provisions in the Agreement. “Legal verification of the text will continue in the coming weeks.  The Agreement will also be translated into French and Spanish language versions.  Both steps, as well as the Government’s consideration of the final outcome from negotiations, will need to be completed before signature takes place. “Following signature, TPP, like any free trade agreement, will need to go through New Zealand’s Parliamentary processes,” Tim Groser said. —  ]]>

Major Holes in TPP Fact-Sheets + Inequalities Among Member States – Jane Kelsey

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Source: Professor Jane Kelsey + New Zealand Government

[caption id="attachment_6181" align="alignleft" width="150"]Professor Jane Kelsey. Professor Jane Kelsey.[/caption]

University of Auckland trade law expert Professor Jane Kelsey has evaluated the released Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement texts and states there are “major holes” in the Government’s fact sheets and apparent inequalities between signature states.

Professor Kelsey said an initial review of the most controversial chapters confirms that New Zealand will have to comply with onerous new obligations and lose the future capacity to regulate in ways that an elected government thinks appropriate.

Her evaluation follows:

The investment chapter goes beyond New Zealand’s existing agreements in numerous ways. For example, a foreign investor from a TPP country that is party to a contract for oil exploration, a PPP contract for water, sewage or toll roads, or a mining or forestry concession with central government or an SOE exercising a delegated power, can use the controversial investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) process if it wants to claim its rights are breached, even if the contract requires them to use NZ courts or some other dispute mechanism. 

Foreign investors, notably from the US and Japan, gain special rights not available to New Zealand investors, which are commonly used to challenge new regulations that adversely affect their business. In New Zealand, where risk-tolerant light handed regulation is the norm, that poses major problems for a future government wanting to regulate in the public interest.

As the government conceded, the categories of investment where the rules can be tightened have been constrained, and existing regulation of various services and investments are locked in so they can’t be made more restrictive in the future.

Some of the so-called protections for environment, health and regulatory objectives in the investment chapter are a nonsense – they allow the government to do what the chapter allows the government to do. The wording of the annex on expropriation, which supposedly restricts the scope of indirect or regulatory expropriation – where regulations are challenged for eroding the value of an investment – is weaker than other New Zealand agreements.

The general exception provision, which provides only weak protection for public health or environment measures at best, does not apply to the investment chapter. Instead, there are highly contestable rights to adopt rules for ‘legitimate public policy’ reasons, but those apply only to some rules and will be interpreted by ad hoc investment arbitrators.

There are some attempts to rein in the ISDS process, but they do not address the major concerns. The arbitrators are still likely to be drawn from a small club (often referred to as the mafia) who are also investment lawyers; there are no conflict of interest rules, merely that they must be developed before the agreement comes into force; there is no appeal; compound interest can still be awarded; and the kinds of damages that be claimed are still extensive.

A further, fundamental problem is that investment tribunals have proved adept at reading down or circumventing attempts to constrain the adventurism of the tribunals, including provisions on which parties to the TPPA claim the right to make binding interpretations that the tribunals must follow. 

The tobacco-specific exception applies only to disputes brought by investors under the investment chapter, where a country opts to exclude it. Unlike the proposed Malaysian carveout for tobacco control measures from the entire agreement, it does not apply to other chapters, such as labelling rules, intellectual property, or the investment chapter itself. (Australia’s plain packaging law is currently facing a dispute over labelling and intellectual property in the WTO).

There is at least some provision for countries to impose capital controls, which does not exist in standard US FTAs. But it is circumscribed by almost impossible conditions. 

There are serious new constraints on financial regulation, including of cross-border financial transactions and data flows, which require further careful study.

The unprecedented State-owned Enterprises chapter has three complex principal rules, which will create major problems for SOEs that provide integrated services both within and outside the country or produce a mixture of goods and services. The procedural requirements are commercially intrusive and provide scope for harassment by other TPPA parties on behalf of their corporations.

The chapter will create particular problems for the creation of new SOEs that require a capital injection and subsidisation or other special treatment or the provision of guarantees – for example, the proposal to establish a new state-owned insurance company.

The intellectual property chapter has already been leaked and analysed. Copyright is extended by 20 years in two tranches; New Zealand is the only country that has to make changes immediately.

The highly sensitive area of biologics is far from secure. New Zealand’s negotiators say they consider our current process satisfies the obligation. But there is a very high risk that the US will demand that we adopt its interpretation of what is required and refuse to ‘certify’ our compliance (a pre-requisite for the agreement to come into force with the US) until we provider a longer effective monopoly on those new generation pharmaceuticals. In addition, the rule comes up for renegotiation in 10 years, by which time biologics will be a much more dominant part of the medicines budget.

The transparency annex that affects Pharmac’s processes will increase its administrative burden and a new review procedure provides Big Pharma with a new opportunity to challenge Pharmac’s decisions.

Professor Kelsey said the above comments confirm the predicted problems in the text. Full analysis of the different chapters will follow, with expert peer reviewed papers being released over the next few weeks.

SOURCE INFO: Late last night the New Zealand Government released the Trans Pacific Partnership texts, which can be accessed in full at www.tpp.mfat.govt.nz/text [caption id="attachment_6273" align="alignright" width="150"]Tim Groser. Image courtesy of www.usnzcouncil.org. Tim Groser. Image courtesy of www.usnzcouncil.org.[/caption] On releasing the TPP text to the public, New Zealand’s Trade Minister Tim Groser said: “This is a complex agreement, with 30 Chapters and associated annexes.  The large number of documents released today amount to over 6,000 pages of text and market access schedules.  Understanding the legal obligations of the TPP will require careful analysis of all documents, given the inter-relationship between many provisions in the Agreement. “Legal verification of the text will continue in the coming weeks.  The Agreement will also be translated into French and Spanish language versions.  Both steps, as well as the Government’s consideration of the final outcome from negotiations, will need to be completed before signature takes place. “Following signature, TPP, like any free trade agreement, will need to go through New Zealand’s Parliamentary processes,” Tim Groser said. [caption id="attachment_7997" align="alignleft" width="300"]US President Barack Obama with US workers. US President Barack Obama with US workers.[/caption] Meanwhile, overnight, United States president Barack Obama said the TPP means that “America will write the rules of the road in the 21st century.” (ref. WhiteHouse.gov) “When it comes to Asia, one of the world’s fastest-growing regions, the rulebook is up for grabs. And if we don’t pass this agreement — if America doesn’t write those rules — then countries like China will. And that would only threaten American jobs and workers and undermine American leadership around the world.

“That’s why I am posting the text of this agreement here for you to read and explore. There’s a lot in here, so we’ve put together summaries of each chapter to help you navigate what’s in the agreement and what these new standards will mean for you,” President Obama said.

He added: “I know that if you take a look at what’s actually in the TPP, you will see that this is, in fact, a new type of trade deal that puts American workers first.”

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UPDATED: Jane Kelsey & Tim Groser on TPPA text finally being released

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Source: Professor Jane Kelsey + New Zealand Trade Minister Tim Groser.

[caption id="attachment_6181" align="alignleft" width="150"]Professor Jane Kelsey. Professor Jane Kelsey.[/caption]

‘Today’s release of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement text ends the farcical situation where governments were touting the benefits for the nation with no prospect of any independent assessment to contradict them,’ said University of Auckland law Professor Jane Kelsey.

It is not clear whether this will also start the 90-day countdown before President Obama is allowed to sign the agreement under US law, or whether any of the other countries would sign unilaterally before the US does.

But, Professor Kelsey points out, ‘the legal text is not enough on its own. We need to see the background documents that help make sense of the text, but the parties have vowed to keep secret for effectively another six years.’

‘We also need the various analyses the New Zealand government has relied on when talking up the benefits and playing down the costs.

“They have been coy about who has done this work, especially the projections of $2.7b benefits for the economy, and stalled on Official Information Act requests to release them, despite the High Court’s rebuke last month,” Jane Kelsey said.

Jane Kelsey indicated that a further statement relating to the content of the text will be released later tonight.

Meanwhile the New Zealand Trade Minister Tim Groser issued the following statement welcoming the release of the Trans Pacific Partnership text.

Tim Groser stated that New Zealand released the text “on behalf of the twelve members of the TPP” and in its capacity as Depositary of the Agreement, New Zealand released the text of TPP. [caption id="attachment_7208" align="alignleft" width="150"]Trade Minister Tim Groser. Trade Minister Tim Groser.[/caption] “New Zealand supported the release of the text as soon as the technical work to finalise the Agreement was completed,” Tim Grocer said. He said: “I am pleased that this has happened and that the public will be able to thoroughly review the full text of the TPP well before it will be signed by governments. “This is a complex agreement, with 30 Chapters and associated annexes.  The large number of documents released today amount to over 6,000 pages of text and market access schedules.  Understanding the legal obligations of the TPP will require careful analysis of all documents, given the inter-relationship between many provisions in the Agreement. “Legal verification of the text will continue in the coming weeks.  The Agreement will also be translated into French and Spanish language versions.  Both steps, as well as the Government’s consideration of the final outcome from negotiations, will need to be completed before signature takes place. “Following signature, TPP, like any free trade agreement, will need to go through New Zealand’s Parliamentary processes,” said Mr Groser. The Government has already released a number of fact sheets outlining the content of the TPP. Also released today is additional information on the estimated economic benefits of TPP on the New Zealand economy, and details on how potential costs associated with copyright and administrative provisions relating to PHARMAC have been arrived at. In the coming days, the Government will also release a legal summary of the Agreement. These documents, together with the full text, will be available at www.tpp.mfat.govt.nz/text The joint statement can be found at: http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/tpp-members-release-text-agreement

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NewsRoom Digest: Top NZ News Items for November 05, 2015

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Newsroom Digest

This edition of NewsRoom_Digest features 16 resourceful links of the day and the politics pulse from Thursday 5th November.

NEWSROOM_MONITOR

Top stories in the current news cycle include the Green Party announcing it wants to give tax breaks to businesses buying electric cars for staff, Cabinet confirming new rules discouraging people from turning down state houses and Immigration New Zealand saying the country could take up to 1500 refugees if there was more funding from the government for community services.

POLITICS PULSE

Media releases issued from Parliament by political parties today included:

Government: Qingdao to Showcase Māori Seafood Companies; New Haywards Interchange a milestone for Wellington; Social housing changes to house people sooner; Forestry joins GIA biosecurity agreement;Conservation innovation award for wasp bait; Minister wishes students the best for exams;$26m redevelopment for Takapuna Grammar School, Auckland; New initiatives improve cancer services; Extra targeted support into employment; $53.5m in Marsden funding for NZ researchers

Greens: Maiden Speech by MP Marama Davidson; Green Party Proposes Business Tax Breaks For Clean Transport Options; Green Party Supports Fair Pay And Conditions For MBIE Staff; Northland’s disappearing forests will spread;Minister in the dark for months about SIS breaking the law 

Labour: Maori Party not at the table; Overwhelming opposition to locking-in zero hour contracts

New Zealand First: Maori Party Silent On Māori Broadcasting Issues; Northland’s Youth MP Announced

NZ National Party: Bishop welcomes Hutt Valley transport milestone 

United Future Party: Dunne Speaks – Toys out of the cot on the RMA?

LINKS OF THE DAY

Links of the day have been a feature of NewsRoom_Digest since we first started production in August 2014.

ASTHMA STRATEGY: The Asthma Foundation has launched the first ever national respiratory health strategy, Te Hā Ora. Read more on the strategy at: http://www.tearahaora.co.nz/files/strat-plan.pdf

CAR OF THE YEAR: Voting is now open for the 2015 New Zealand Car of the Year People’s Choice award. Full link for People’s Choice voting: 

http://www.aa.co.nz/about/events-affiliations/new-zealand-car-of-the-year-2015/car-of-the-year-peoples-choice/

CLEAN TRANSPORT OPTIONS: The Green Party has today launched a suite of new policies that will dramatically increase the number of electric vehicles on New Zealand roads, save Kiwis money, and cut pollution. More information can be found at https://www.greens.org.nz/policy/smarter-economy/business-tax-breaks-clean-transport-options

DELOITTE FAST 50 INDEX: The annual Deloitte Fast 50 index, announced at the Deloitte Festival of Fast Growth, ranks businesses experiencing rapid revenue growth over three years across a range of sectors, including manufacturer, technology, services, retail and consumer products, exporters and mature business. For the full Deloitte Fast 50 index, go to http://www.fast50.co.nz and also http://newsroomplus.com/2015/11/05/fast-50/

EXAM TIMETABLE: About 145,000 students will participate in this year’s NCEA and New Zealand Scholarship examinations which begin tomorrow with Scholarship Drama and continue until December 4. The full exam timetable is available here: http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/qualifications-standards/qualifications/ncea/ncea-exams-and-portfolios/external/national-secondary-examinations-timetable/

FUTURE TSUNAMI THREATS: A report by Brendan Morris and Jose Borrero for Waikato Regional Council on the effects of the 1960 Chilean tsunami on Whitianga provides a good indication of where Whitianga town would likely be inundated if it were to experience a similar distant tsunami today. To read the full report click on the following link: 

http://www.waikatoregion.govt.nz/PageFiles/36082/TR201465.pdf

IDEAS FOR NATURE: The Conservation Innovation Awards are a WWF initiative which seek to unearth new ideas to boost conservation action in New Zealand. All entries to the 2015 Conservation Innovation Awards can be viewed at: 

https://wwf-nz.crowdicity.com/ PLUS also featured at http://newsroomplus.com/2015/11/05/wwf-1/

INVEST IN TRAINING: Directors’ skills matter to the staff they lead, which makes ongoing learning and development at the top just as important as it is for the remainder of a workforce, says recruiting experts Hays. This issue is explored further in the latest Hays Journal: http://www.hays-journal.com/issue10/1

NZDF ENGAGEMENT SURVEY: The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) today released results from its first ever annual engagement survey, which shows it’s on a par with other uniformed government organisations. The summary of the survey can be viewed at: http://bit.ly/1Q69llp

NZDF GETS GOOD MARKS: In an index released yesterday at the ASEAN Defence Minister’s conference in Malaysia, The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) is ranked the most transparent and least corrupt in the region. Read more:http://government.defenceindex.org/downloads/docs/GI-Asia-Pacific-Regional-Results-web.pdf?utm_source=MR+-+Defence+Index&utm_campaign=Defence-Index&utm_medium=email

NZ RESEARCH FUNDING: The Government has awarded New Zealand researchers $53.5 million in new Marsden Fund grants. For more information: http://www.royalsociety.org.nz/2015/11/05/set-for-success-researchers-receive-54-million-from-marsden-fund/

SMART NUTRITION LABELLING: A five-week study on nutrition labelling using smartphones is underway at the National Institute for Health Innovation at the University of Auckland. Anyone interested in taking part in the study should visit the study website for more information: http://diet.nihi.auckland.ac.nz/content/starlight

SOCIAL SERVICES: Evidence on the effectiveness of integrated social services for vulnerable people is mixed and continues to emerge, states a publication released today ‘What Works: Integrated social services for vulnerable people’. For the full report go to: 

http://www.superu.govt.nz/publication/what-works-integrated-social-services-vulnerable-people

WHITE RIBBON INVITES: White Ribbon Auckland Central organising committee is calling out Aucklanders, especially Central Auckland businesses, organisations, residents, workers and visitors to join the White Ribbon Day March on 25th November 2015 in the heart of the city.For more information and to sign up: 

https://www.facebook.com/events/995019840542550/

WOMEN OF INFLUENCE AWARDS: The Women of Influence Awards celebrate the remarkable, leading women shaping the future of New Zealand and recognise the impact they are making in their home country and overseas. The list of receipents can be found at: http://www.westpac.co.nz/who-we-are/sustainability-and-community/contributing-to-our-communities/inspiring-leadership/women-of-influence/winners/ 

WORKPLACE DIVERSITY: Research by human resources and recruitment company Randstad shows 78 percent of New Zealand workers believed their company had an open and inclusive culture and 88 per cent valued diversity in the workplace. Read more: http://www.randstad.com/press/research-reports/

And that’s our sampling of “news you can use” for Thursday 5th November.

Brought to EveningReport by Newsroom Digest. –]]>

AUDIO: What does good journalism mean? Lisa Er talks to David Robie

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Evening Report
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AUDIO: What does good journalism mean? Lisa Er talks to David Robie
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MIL OSI Analysis –

Green Planet FM’s Lisa Er talks to Pacific Media Centre’s David Robie on the state of the media in NZ and the Asia-Pacific region. Image: Del Abcede

Thursday, November 5, 2015

Item: 9472

Lisa Er INTERVIEW: AUCKLAND (Green Planet FM / Pacific Media Watch): Freedom of the press describes the right to gather, publish, and distribute information and ideas without government restriction. This right encompasses freedom from censorship, but does our media really have complete freedom in New Zealand? We need to ask this question when we see the government’s response to Nicky Hager’s investigative journalism, and Channel 7 is removed from TV in spite of having half a million viewers. A journalist was recently no longer required by the New Zealand Herald after writing an honest critique of the TPPA, and what happened to Campbell Live and why? David Robie, professor of communication studies and Pacific journalism, director of the Pacific Media Centre, journalist and author answers these questions and more. Are journalists part of a movement that merely holds up a mirror to society with all its cynicism, or are they part of a process of empowerment and action for a better world? Why are certain topics ignored? Perhaps the headings would not be sexy enough. Perhaps sport and tabloid news are appealing to the masses more than educated comment on important events in this country and around the world. Have the corporations bought the larger media outlets? How do economic issues affect the impartiality of the media? Optimistic view In spite of all this, David Robie is optimistic about the work of “our last TV public broadcaster” – Maori TV. However, he is concerned for his students as to what sort of career they can expect in New Zealand’s media. Political crises and indigenous issues throw a spotlight on a region’s news media and its role in democracy. David Robie champions media scrutiny in the Pacific and believes more research will contribute much to the communications industry. This is an area where young journalists can go and experience stories that need to be reported, but they might be dangerous assignments. For example in West Papua people are being arrested and detained for taking part in peaceful activities. The victims of security force harassment and violence in West Papua are predominantly those who have publicly expressed their support for self-determination or independence. We hear little about this in New Zealand, although Māori Television did a story recently. The journalists were escorted by the Indonesian authorities, however.

Embarrassing Indonesia Perhaps if the world’s mainstream media reported on this it would embarrass Indonesia into modifying their behaviour somewhat.

Also “Understanding our neighbours is vitally important and researching and publishing on the media is an important goal for good governance for the region,” says Professor Robie. Having been a journalist on board the Rainbow Warrior on the voyage leading up to the bombing in 1985, David has always had an interest in peace. He talks on how peace journalism can challenge “war voyeurism”. Is a peace keeper keeping peace peacefully when carrying a gun, for example. Peace journalism explains conflicts and the reasons for them in some depth. It gives all parties a voice, whereas war journalism is propaganda oriented and is mainly concerned with victory.

“The idea of peace journalism troubles some journalists – mostly due to a lifetime of relying on ‘conflict’ as a core news value. This is surprising, because in this era of ‘infotainment’ and super-hype in news media, this peace notion is much more about reasserting basic news values such as truth, context, fairness and depth.”

Reporters and editors have the choice to create opportunities for society to consider non violent responses to conflict. This is an example of where journalists can be a part of the solution and not part of the problem. * David Robie has written 10 books on the region’s politics and media, including Mekim Nius: South Pacific politics, media and education; Eyes of Fire, a book about the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior, and Don’t Spoil My Beautiful Face: Media, Mayhem and Human Rights in the Pacific (Little Island Press, 2014). He was awarded the 2005 PIMA Pacific Media Freedom Award and the 2015 Asia Communication Award. Full broadcast podcast – 1hr

Creative Commons Licence

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 New Zealand Licence.

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Tony Alexander’s Weekly New Zealand Economic Overview November 5 2015

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Economic Analysis by BNZ economist, Tony Alexander. Thursday November 5th 2015 [caption id="attachment_3709" align="alignleft" width="150"]Tony Alexander, BNZ economist. Tony Alexander, BNZ economist.[/caption] In this week’s Overview I make a quick note of the weaker than expected employment numbers released yesterday along the lines of them reflecting the collapse in business sentiment early this year. Now that sentiment is back up again employment growth will resume.

We’ve seen a variety of housing measures released which by and large show rising strength outside of Auckland and Christchurch exactly as we predicted would happen at this point in the housing cycle. Auckland is flattening but it will take a few months to truly gauge by how much as patterns have been distorted by buying (and selling) ahead of October 1 and November 1 rule changes. Plus we don’t know if the extra difficulties Chinese people have getting funds out of China will remain or fade away in coming months. In that regard the speed of growth in China’s economy seems relevant. In the interest rates section I note that while a further cut in NZ’s official cash rate remains probable, the weak employment numbers probably won’t influence the RB hugely as they are a lagging indicator of our economy, not a leading measure of growth and inflation pressures. The most interesting bit of this week’s WO I reckon is the last little bit on page 6. I discuss the shift in our central bank’s influencing of your experience in having a mortgage and stimulating or not the housing market away from the post-1984 emphasis on altering interest rates back toward the pre-1984 emphasis on credit availability. We are slowly shifting back more to a credit rationing period. It won’t be as bad as before 1984, but with interest rates no longer available as a weapon for the RB to use as was the case from the 1980s and with those rates likely to remain low for many years, over time the biggest challenge for borrowers will become getting funds in the first place rather than their ongoing cost.
Download the full analysis document here (msword 332kb) of continue to read on.

Labour Market Reflects Early Year Sentiment Collapse

This morning the main gauge of how our jobs market is doing was released. The Household Labour Force Survey tells us through survey-based estimates the number of jobs created in the most recent quarter, how many people are in the workforce, how many are officially unemployed and so on. Strong jobs growth is considered a good thing by just about everyone except employers struggling to find staff, and anyone opposed to whichever political party happens to holds the reins of power at the time.

What we learnt this morning is that courtesy probably of the collapse in business sentiment earlier this year job numbers fell by 0.4% during the September quarter. This was the worst result since a 0.5% fall in the middle of 2012. Job number declines are relatively rare and we don’t see this as the start of a downward trend, especially given the many comments we get from firms regarding their inability to find the staff which they want.

Labour demand is strong and this can be seen for instance in the ANZ Business Outlook Survey where year ahead employment intentions have lifted to a net 12% positive from 3% in September. The average reading is 6%. Earlier this year the reading was +23% and the decline to only 3% helps explain the jobs decline last quarter. The more recent rise suggests employment will bounce back in the current, December, quarter.

The unemployment rate moved up to 6% from 5.9% which is actually quite a small rise considering the fall in employment and strong migration-driven population growth. The country’s working age population rose 0.6% in the September quarter and was ahead 2.2% from a year ago.

Does the weak result mean the Reserve Bank made a mistake not cutting interest rates last week and they should have injected some stimulus to the economy? The risk is certainly very strong that they are continuing their post-GFC habit of over-estimating inflation, and as noted last week personally I would have cut the OCR one last time. But the key point to be noted regarding these labour market numbers is that they are a lagging indicator of the NZ economy, not a leading indicator. They reflect what happened earlier this year and do not tell us what will happen six months from now. So our central bank will pay more attention ahead of the next rate review on December 10 to business and consumer spending measures, confidence gauges, currency changes, and inflation predictors than this week’s jobs report. A rate cut come December is probable.

Housing

Last week I invited you to give thought to the impact of increasing life expectancy on demand for investment property. Basically the longer people expect to live the greater their ability to recover from a financial shock and the longer the payoff from investing in an asset which produces both growth and capital gain. This aspect of increasing life expectancy is probably still in its infancy but will attract more discussion in coming years. Something which has been with us and having a strengthening impact for over a quarter of a century however is the message to get ready for retirement.

Consider the first baby boomers born in 1946. In 1976 they were 30 and focussing on getting through oil crises, come 1986 they were 40 and getting toward peak career earning periods. But with share prices crashing in 1987 along with the property market, and governments shifting their fiscal policy planning focus from the year ahead and the electoral cycle to a ten year period at least, we started to see discussion of the cost of providing pensions for the retiring baby boomers.

Very quickly from the early-1990s the message started to go out in official government campaigns and advertising by financial service providers that people needed to save money and prepare for their retirement. So maybe they did, although the savings data do not show this. Check out this graph of the NZ household savings rate.

So did newly fearful baby boomers start jumping into shares having seen their dreams of early retirement through share clubs of the 1980s collapse in the 1987 crash? Definitely not. Did they start ramping up cash in term deposits? No. In 1991-92 there was a huge structural adjustment in the average level of interest rates in New Zealand as inflation settled down near 2% following some painful years of the Reserve Bank getting price rises under control. Those people seeking fixed returns flocked to finance companies and we all know how that ended up terribly for so many of them.

Lets just put it in black and white here. The clever and/or lucky ones started building up their wealth through investing in housing. They have done extremely well by ignoring anyone talking about overvalued markets, low yields, brain drain and so on.

So now to the present day where we still have the message that people need to prepare for their retirement, but it is less shrill, more professionally argued, and either not a focus for young people trying to save a home deposit, or those already with a house figure Kiwisaver will take care of things for them. Plus we have seen any party advocating raising the retirement age or cutting national superannuation getting slammed in the polls. Labour hold their annual conference in Palmerston North this weekend and on the agenda apparently will be dropping their policy of raising the retirement age following criticism from leader Andrew Little that it contributed to their losing last year’s election.

The conclusion of people and the position of the Prime Minister and Finance Minister is that taxpayer funded super will be kept in place with approximately the same arrangements as now. The scare stories probably no longer work, especially as young and middle aged people see reports of surveys showing how very happy old people are, and how they get happier as they get older! That is not the message given from the early 1990s when the image was painted of a decrepit dystopia for all those who failed to save up money in managed funds to supplement their pension.

So what does this all mean for the housing market in the next few years?

  • The increasing appreciation of how happy old people are according to surveys,

  • the high sustainability of the current national superannuation system according to our two most senior cabinet ministers, and

  • the growing belief that Kiwisaver will take care of any extra retirement expenses,

mean the incentive to save for retirement has diminished. But offsetting this is

  • the expectation of a lengthening period being spent in retirement reliant upon non-labour income,

  • adjustment to the very slow capital accumulation generated by investment in simple savings products, and

  • hopefully awareness that big financial crises come along near once a decade

The need exists for preparation for funding one’s retirement through a diversified asset portfolio containing more growth assets heading into the traditional retirement age of 65 than was the case previously. This argues in favour both of property and managed funds. Housing investors should be careful not to become overly weighted toward property. Those favouring shares should be careful not to underestimate the cash flow benefits of continuing rental income when equity prices fall 30% – 40% as they do every now and then.

Auckland Housing

Just a quick comment here regarding why there is such high demand from young people to live as close as possible to the city centre which is where many people work – increasingly so as Auckland becomes more of a centre for agglomeration-driven innovation. Commuting in Auckland is difficult and if you are reliant upon trains to get around you face a problem. Sometimes it feels like you could walk faster to your destination than stay on the train.

Three months ago I took the train from Britomart to New Lynn some 12 km away. It took half an hour at very slow speed. This week I took the train in the other direction. It took 40 minutes with the train waiting for a few minutes first at Newmarket then just outside the Britomart tunnel. That is an average speed of 18kph. New York’s average speed I understand is about 29kph, London’s Underground 33kph, Tokyo 36, Sydney 43.

Getting to New Lynn from the CBD two hours before heading back in the train I took a taxi. It took just over ten minutes and cost $40. Taking the train saved me $36 but cost me an extra 50 minutes in total door to door. I can see why people seem to still prefer commuting in their cars and why avoiding commuting may spur an eventual extra lift in demand for city apartments.

Regarding housing data, this week the monthly Barfoot and Thompson Auckland numbers were released. They show that in October sales were ahead 14% from October 2014 but this followed over 40% gains in September, August and July. We need to be careful however with these annual comparisons because last year activity cooled off ahead of the general election on September 20 then took off afterward with confirmation of a returned National government rather than victory to Labour and a range of promised new taxes.

In seasonally adjusted terms sales fell 20% in October so there may have been some buying ahead of rule changes from October 1. It will take a few months for the data to settle down and allow us a better picture of the underlying level and rate of growth in sales but it would be surprising not to have things generally quietening down given the measures introduced specifically to achieve that.

The average sales price edged up to $840,000 in October from September to be 14% ahead of a year ago and up 0.9% in the three months to October from the three months to July. Three months ago this rate of price gain was 6.3%, six months ago 2.4%, and nine months ago 3.9%. So price growth has slowed down after accelerating late last year.

Dwelling Supply

Demand for housing is rising around New Zealand as populations grow, especially in Auckland, and old houses need replacing. How is new supply going? On average in each of the past 20 years consents have been issued for the construction of 22,500 houses. The total in the year to September was 26,200 so new supply is growing at a pace almost 17% above average. This is good news and given the efforts being made in Auckland to speed up house construction this number is likely to rise further, though there will be downward pressure from the ending of the residential construction boom in Christchurch.

In Auckland consents totalled 8,700 in the past year which is 15% above the 20 year average and rising at an annual growth rate of near 22%. This is good, but if we were to allow for growth in Auckland’s population in the past 20 years then we may only be at the growth-adjusted average still. The housing shortage in Auckland is not yet improving and that bespeaks of good support for prices going forward though with a rate of appreciation lower than in the past year given buyers backing off in response to recent regulatory changes.

NZ Dollar

The weaker than expected employment numbers released yesterday morning plus the 7.4% fall in average dairy prices at the latest auction caused the Kiwi dollar to lose around one cent US. But apart from that blip one can continue to say that our currency is still going through a firm risk-on phase. As noted last week this involves investors around the world feeling others feel they feel others feel that things are okay so it is safe to buy high beta assets like commodities, equities and far flung currencies.

At some stage this risk-loving phase will pass and a bout of the heebie-jeebies will cause our currency to weaken again. I have no idea when that will happen. For now the NZD still seems well supported. Watch for the US non-farm payrolls report on Friday night which could cause a change in expectations of monetary policy tightening in the United States and thus alter USD support.

If I Were A Borrower What Would I Do?

I gave a presentation to a large group of people interested in the residential property market in Auckland last week and the usual question came up regarding interest rates. Specifically many people were quite fixated on if and when the next cut in the official cash rate would come because they want to lock in at least a two year fixed rate at the lowest level possible.

That makes sense from a cost minimisation point of view. But if you are one of these people and you are sitting there floating waiting for the low point in the cycle let me offer some thoughts for you to ruminate on.

First, we economists have proved since 2007 that we cannot accurately forecast low and high points in short-term interest rate “cycles”. Too many times we have decided that a low point has been reached, advocated fixing as long as possible, only to see interest rates either keep falling or to rise as expected but then go to newly low levels. Be careful about relying too much on what we think the Reserve Bank will do in the next few months. It is where the focus of so many economists lies and what we talk about more than any other thing. But talking and fixation do not translate into accuracy.

Second, even if people like me were really really confident about the low point in the rates cycle you may not want to lock most of your mortgage into one fixed term. Predictability of many things has plummeted since 2007 and you should consider allowing for that by keeping some of your debt floating and the rest at a couple or even three fixed rate terms.

Third, if picking the bottom is the thing you are fixated on, try this perspective. No sane person ever said until recently that we should expect NZ borrowing costs to fall back to levels of the 1960s. For borrowers these interest rates are astoundingly low and for those of us who have borrowed in the past we have the benefit of perspective which new borrowers do not have and which means when we fix a rate slightly above the low point we don’t lose any sleep. That is because we remember paying 18.5% in September 1987, or even higher. To us there is little meaningful difference between 4% and 4.5% beyond bragging rights. Its a complete gimmee!

For younger borrowers maybe one-quarter of a percent makes a big difference. Can I politely suggest that if the viability of your purchase is highly dependent upon whether you lock in at 4% versus 4.5% that you probably should not be buying the house in the first place. There is a risk that when your two year rate matures borrowing costs will be higher than they are now. If you couldn’t service a rate of 6% then don’t buy. Personally I don’t think costs will be 6% in two years. But then again I did not pick these amazingly low rates a year ago – especially in the context of all of us expecting higher rates on the back of further rises in the official cash rate from 3.5% and tightening monetary policy in the United States pushing fixed rates upward.

For Noting

Pessimism Evaporates

Between March and August this year when international dairy prices were falling rapidly, one or two journalists and Opposition MPs started predicting that the economy was heading into recession. But such predictions never really gained momentum because of two factors. One, the stimulus to growth coming from many other things including the lower NZD and easing monetary policy plus non-dairy exporters doing well and a construction boom. Two, the high probability that the collapse in dairy prices would get overdone and there would be a price recovery.

There has been such a recovery though it pays to remember that prices are still half of what they were at the peak of two and a half years ago. The recovery however coupled with the absence of the business and consumer spending collapse some chicken littles seeking a change in government prophesised has produced lifts in measures of consumer and business sentiment.

The most recent of these was the monthly ANZ Business Outlook survey released on Friday which showed that in early-October a net 11% of surveyed businesses were optimistic about where the economy would be in a year’s time. One month earlier this reading was a net 19% pessimistic and in August it was 29% pessimistic. So sentiment has bounced up quite well and it now sits at the average reading for October seen in the past ten years. If you had no other numbers to go on you would say that implies economic growth in the coming year of 2.5%.

There were improvements also in the various subsidiary measures which we like to look at. The net proportion of businesses planning to hire people jumped up to 12% from 3% in September. This is still down from 23% in February but well above the average reading this past decade of 6%. So good jobs growth remains in prospect and that is the sort of thing which leads us economists to say consumer spending growth prospects look reasonable and that wages pressure will eventually develop.

We also saw in the survey a net 12% of businesses saying they plan to raise their capital spending levels. This was up from 7% in September but again was below the February reading of 22% and above the average October reading of 9%. So this is the sort of thing which makes us feel good about growth being sustained in the medium to long term. Business investment tends to raise productivity as new technologies are embraced and perhaps capacity is expanded.

All up, the survey validates the story we have been running since early this year of there being plenty of factors to support growth in our economy beyond just dairying.

Your Mortgage Risk Has Shifted

Before financial deregulation of 1984-85 the risk associated with having a mortgage was getting one in the first place. Credit was rationed so you had to have a good relationship with your bank built up through having a good savings record stretching over a number of years. Deregulation changed that, credit availability boomed, but previously steadyish interest rates went on a grand roller coaster ride.

We are now heading back to the pre-1984 environment. Your interest rate risk is much lower than at any period since 1984. The world is facing deflationary rather than inflationary pressures. Central banks remain largely worried about their economies’ growth prospects so they are keeping interest rates low and fear the unknown impact post-GFC of raising rates.

But while they keep rates low risks in asset markets are growing. They want to reduce these risks but can’t use interest rates to do it. So they are experimenting with credit controls. They are returning to the pre-1984 era where your ability to access funds to do what you want is being tightened up. In New Zealand so far we have the loan to value ratio rules introduced in October 2013. We have the 30% minimum deposit for buying an Auckland investment property introduced last month.

This is just the start. If the Reserve Bank wants to slow not just the Auckland market but newly surging regional markets (they will let those markets have their head for a while), then they will tighten again – but not via interest rates.

Your challenge as a borrower going forward is shifting from managing your interest rate risk to getting the credit you want when you want it. So my question to you is this – how much effort are you putting into your relationship with your bank? At the moment we are trying our best to lend as much as possible to you. But in coming years our discrimination between borrowers will grow. Get ready.

The Weekly Overview is written by Tony Alexander, Chief Economist at the Bank of New Zealand. The views expressed are my own and do not purport to represent the views of the BNZ. To receive the Weekly Overview each Thursday night please sign up at www.tonyalexander.co.nz To change your address or unsubscribe please click the link at the bottom of your email. Tony.alexander@bnz.co.nz
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Antarctic Protection Foiled Again

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NewsroomPlus.com Contributed by Alex Barrow International talks addressing the protection of the Ross Sea and the East Antarctic coastal region have fallen short of environmental scientists’ hopes.

Source: http://ocean.si.edu
Source: http://ocean.si.edu
The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) have failed to adopt protected marine proposals due to a lack of support from Russia at this year’s annual meeting. The CCAMLR Commission is membered by twenty five states as well as eleven acceding states. For the bids to pass, all CCAMLR member countries have to collectively agree to impose these seas as marine protected areas (MPAs). Active support from China and the US for the proposal to protect the Ross Sea for marine preservation purposes,  met with resistance from Russia. And both Russia and China voted against official protection of the East Antarctic coast. Opposition is largely due to fishing industries and economic benefit. Although this factor carries some weight, Professor Mark Costello of the University of Auckland cautions against prioritising economic benefit. “A more precautionary approach would be to protect the entire Southern Ocean and then negotiate where and what kind of fishing would be allowed based on its economic (e.g., no government subsidies) and environmental sustainability”. The Ross Sea is one of the last seas relatively untouched by humans, retaining a natural state virtually free of pollution, over-fishing and invasive species. The drive to protect it draws from the sea being uncontaminated and giving scientists an opportunity to research marine wellbeing as well as protecting species from over-fishing. This is the fifth time in a row that the bid to get marine protection has failed, causing frustration amongst scientists. Professor Costello says that negating countries are neglecting their responsibilities. “No country owns these areas and resources but they have agreed to be responsible to care for them for future generations. It is thus appalling that after several years of negotiations that any country would object to having some areas that are left as natural as possible” Over the past five years proposals for MPA protection in these Antarctic zones have been regularly revised. China has approved the latest revisions for the protection of the Ross Sea but have not yet yielded to the proposals regarding the eastern seas of the Antarctic. Professor Karen Scott of the University of Canterbury is positive about this improvement and optimistic that the near future will bring better results. “The positive steps taken by China and Russia in respect of the Ross Sea proposal moves us closer to establishing Marine Protected Areas in 2016.  International developments including the designation of other MPAs on the high seas demonstrate that states are becoming increasingly supportive of area protection in Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction”. –]]>

Smith Journal – “Quirky Stories”

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NewsroomPlus.com Reviewed by Alex Barrow When I saw this magazine and flicked through it for the first time my initial thought was how eye catching the imagery was and how great the covers would look on my bedroom wall. With the cover of the spring issue boasting a bad ‘70s impression of Elvis in a blue cowboy suit ft. complimentary Venetian mask, the tone of the magazine is a play on taking life a little less seriously. Dotted throughout are pictures of kooky people, abstract places, and random objects, initially appearing arbitrarily. This reflects the features themselves, in no ways connected except for the sheer essence of creativity that each radiate. Screenshot 2015-11-05 13.31.19 The magazine attributes stories of ‘thinkers, adventurers, makers, writers and inventors’ and pulls through with some quirky accounts of originality. The features themselves are sufficiently in-depth without being too wordy. Ranging from illegal hot air balloon making in Brazil, to a man’s adventure sailing the seas for ten years, to the great ‘emu war’ in Australia, the magazine’s off-centre coverage of stories is what gives the magazine such great appeal. Despite the intriguing feats some of the subjects have accomplished, their cool, down to earth approach makes their stories that much more inspiring. I found that this publication has the profound ability to draw the reader in with kooky, under-the-radar features that have the essence of listening to your crazy uncle tell stories of his offbeat past while also making you question why you aren’t doing these bizarre things yourself. From flamenco inspired tight-rope walking, to garden grown furniture, to Neil deGrasse Tyson, Smith Journal covers all the bases in everything you never knew you wanted to know. Screenshot 2015-11-05 13.31.10 Despite Smith Journal exclusively appearing in specialist magazine outlets it is well worth seeking out. As a person who hasn’t regularly bought magazines in years, this is definitely on my radar as one to keep up with. The magazine is a refreshing take on what is happening around the world from an everyday everyperson’s point of view, and at the end of the day, who doesn’t need a new magazine to indulge in. ______________________ The Smith Journal is an indie style Australian based publication that is distributed quarterly all over the globe. As the sibling to popular fashion magazine Frankie, Smith Journal has a similar aesthetic appeal with a completely different audience approach. –]]>

Across The Ditch: All Black Celebrations Roll On + Some Comments Aussies Make After Visiting NZ

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Across The Ditch: Selwyn Manning and Peter Godfrey deliver their weekly bulletin Across The Ditch. This week: All Black Celebrations roll on, will the cheer ever end? + A light hearted yarn about some humorous comments Aussies have made after visiting New Zealand – Recorded live on 5/11/15. They’re Back! (ref. NZHerald ) The All Blacks still dominate the news and interest over here in New Zealand with tens of thousands of people lining the streets to get a glimpse of their sporting heroes. The All Blacks also were received back home with over two thousand people cheering at Auckland International Airport. Then around midday, over 25,000 people gathered at Victoria Park in the Auckland CBD to officially welcome them home. The event was live streamed throughout the country and head coach Steve Hansen said it was an honour to be associated with the team and a special honour to bring smiles to millions of faces back home. A more frosty reception greeted Prince Charles and Camilla the Duchess of Cornwall after the aircraft they were travelling on had quite a rocky ride into the notoriously windy capital, Wellington. Apparently poor Camilla is a little afraid of flying and she looked rather shaken when navigating her way down the NZ Airforce’s Boeing 757 steps. A short time later she placed a ponga leaf (Silver Fern) on the tomb of the unknown warrior and joined the smiling prime minister, John Key for a reception at Government House. ITEM TWO: Perhaps a bit of light humour! Fairfax’s online outlet Stuff.co.nz highlighted a list of comments Aussies made about New Zealand after visiting here. The original list was compiled on Traveller.com.au. (ref. Stuff.co.nz ) Some of the comments include (paraphrased): “Not everyone drives Holdens, Utes don’t have roo bars on them, there’s no red dust, no smell of gum trees and most pubs don’t have Aussie beer on tap.” Another says: “Just give Auckland a miss – that’s my advice – it may be NZ’s biggest city but it is also the most soulless and poorly planned city in a so-called first world country.” “There’s nothing much that can kill you”. “Disagree – New Zealand bush can be deadly… They have been swept away by rivers, caught out by hypothermia, gotten lost etc.” “New Zealanders are in general friendly and accepting of other cultures. (But they talk funny) ” “Kiwis drop the ‘er’ at the end of words and end up saying (mother – motha, father-fatha, later-lata etc)” New Zealand has 30 million sheep and only 4.5 million people, so why is a lamb chop so expensive? Put it down to 15% GST on everything, including food and essential services. And slang featured… Much of the Kiwi slang is shared with Australia, but it does have some slang that is uniquely Kiwi, for example ‘mad as a gum diggers dog’ – Up in Auckland however we say ‘Dry as a gum-digger’s dog’. A completely different notion suggesting that all a grumpy old dog needs is a decent drink. LAST WORD: We’re all looking forward to the Australia V New Zealand Test Cricket match that starts this morning (Thursday morning) at the Gabba!]]>

A Tasty Fun-pack of NZ Animation

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NewsroomPlus.com Contributed by Adam James Ring. There’s some well-timed news this week for lovers of all things animation, with NZ On Screen releasing their ‘animation collection‘ – a tasty fun-pack of iconic and nostalgia-inducing New Zealand made animations.   The ‘collection’ arrives right on the doorstep of the AnimfxNZ conference at Wellington’ s Embassy Theatre starting this Friday 6 November. (AnimfxNZ is organised by Grow Wellington, part of the Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency, in association with PikPok and Weta Digital). The NZ On Screen collection features a diverse range of mediums and styles, with cartoons and CGI trickery included alongside homegrown music videos, stop-motion shorts and DIY weirdness. As animators were limited to two portfolio entries each, there is a considerable amount of work that didn’t make the final cut, that fact itself highlighting the depth and breadth of talent in New Zealand animation. Following are favourites picked from the collection by the NewsRoom_Plus team. Click on an image to be directed to the video. Room that echoes – Peking Man, Music video, 1985 room This classic music video from 80’s new wave band Peking Man, which seemed so futuristic at the time, now looks like it’s being generated through a Commodore 64 video card. Watching it conjures up youthful memories of spiky hair, blue light discos and shoulder pads. Margaret Urlich on vox still sounds great and the computer animation, while basic now, was pretty cool for the time. Footrot Flats – Film, 1986 footrot It’s impossible to overlook this excellent film adaption of the classic comic strip. Watching it again now, it still has a powerful effect. Murray Ball’s characters come straight out of our collective New Zealand consciousness; that place where we all feel some deep kinship with the rural folklore of our country. And though many of us who lived through its long reign in the charts might grumble, Dave Dobbyn’s hit soundtrack is still a pop masterpiece. Bride of Frankenstein – Toy Love, Music Video, 1980 toy love Truly psychedelic and strange, this groundbreaking video from Chris Knox and Alex Bathgate’s seminal, pre-Tall Dwarfs new wave band, hits like a hurricane of colour and seizure-inducing flashes. Made by Joe Wylie, whose short ‘The Nightwatchman’ is also included in the collection, it includes what NZ On Screen called ‘surgery porn and animated tomato sauce.’ Say no more. Radio with Pictures – Fane Flaws Opening Titles, Television, 1987 5104.hero.png For many of us who grew up in the 80’s, Radio with Pictures was essential viewing. The show’s host, Karen Hay, became something of a local ‘alternative’ icon, later marrying singer of The Mockers, Andrew Fagan. This opening credit piece by Fane Flaws included music by Peter Dasent, a bandmate from the Jenny Morris-led group, The Crocodiles. Swinging the Lambeth Walk – Len Lye, Music Video, 1939 4064.KEY.jpg By far the oldest entry, Len Lye’s visual ‘swing jazz’ masterpiece is still an impressive watch. Painting and scratching directly onto film, Lye’s experimental pieces owe more to art than film. That they still resonate now as much as when first produced, speaks volumes of their artistic quality. If you’re looking for the ‘alpha’ piece of this collection, this is it. Man with Issues – Short film, 2003 man issues Using a great mixture of black-comedy and story psychodrama, Tom Reilly’s short film manages to pull off a one room claymation piece without any loss of pace. Reminded me of the feel that british satirical puppet-show Spitting Image conjured up. Goodnight Kiwi – Television, 1981 gdnght kiwi It seems almost unbelievable now, but once upon a time this charming piece would signal the end of TV programming for the night. Like many others, I’m sure, I distinctly remember watching it all the way through more times than I can count. There seemed something disrespectful about turning the TV off before the kiwi and his playful cat had reached their bed. ‘Goodnight from Television New Zealand’ seems so quaint now. Though it’s hard not to feel that we’re worse off, especially since ‘goodnight kiwi’s’ ultimate replacement has been late night infomercials and bad movies. To see the full collection, visit NZ On Screen. –]]>

Keith Rankin’s Chart for this Week: New Zealand Inflation 1991-2015

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Analysis by Keith Rankin.

[caption id="attachment_7924" align="aligncenter" width="975"]Inflation in New Zealand's Tradable and Non-Tradable Sectors. Inflation in New Zealand’s Tradable and Non-Tradable Sectors.[/caption]

Since the 1980s, inflation has been the policy bogey issue in New Zealand and in many other developed countries. The irony is, now that we are moving into deflationary times, the rules that we created to give priority to supressing inflation now require us to do our very best to create it.

The global recessionary environment of 1991-92 put a final end to the inflationary era that peaked globally around 1980. So this chart essentially covers New Zealand inflation in the low inflation era.

What is particularly interesting is the divergent experience of inflation in the country’s tradable and non-tradable sectors.

Each of these sectors represents essentially half of a developed country’s economy. Industries are in the tradable sector if they represent part of a global market. So all primary products, manufactured products, and a few service industries (eg international transport) for the tradable sector. The non-tradable sector, on the other hand, is made up of public utilities, construction, and most services including public administration.

As we would expect, tradable inflation largely reflects the realities of a highly competitive global marketplace. Hence tradable inflation tends to be lower, on average, than non-tradable inflation.

A country’s exchange rate also strongly influences tradable inflation. A falling exchange rate raises the domestic prices of traded goods and services. We see this in 1992-93, in 2000-2001, and in 2008-09. (In 2001 we also see an inflation peak, this time in both sectors. It’s due to the increase in Goods and Services Tax to 15%.)

The more interesting puzzle is to explain the fact that inflation in the less competitive non-tradable sector tends to be highest when the exchange rate is rising, and hence when tradable-sector inflation is lowest. Many costs incurred in the non-tradable sector are tradable inputs, which should mean low inflation there also when the exchange rate is appreciating.

It would appear that rising interest rates which attract a lot of foreign savings into New Zealand (as NZ private sector debt) – much of it for speculative purposes – create a superficially buoyant economy in which public utilities, construction companies, and business/financial services simply raise prices because they can.

In more recessed times, when foreign money does not flow into New Zealand and the New Zealand dollar depreciates, the non-tradable sector faces more challenging market conditions, and focusses on reducing labour costs as an alternative to the routine price hikes that it would otherwise indulge in.

The pattern since 2009 is becoming clear, although we need to mentally abridge the 2011 GST spike; global deflation in the tradable sector and steady inflation of around 2½ percent in the non-tradable sector. Indeed the latest fall in the New Zealand dollar exchange rate – largely precipitated by falling world commodity prices (including dairy and coal) – has not so far yielded an inflationary bounce.

The penultimate point to note is that, for the most part, the experience of inflation of individual industries is far from that of “stable prices” with steady annual inflation of two percent, as prescribed in the Reserve Bank Act. For large amounts of time, sectoral inflation has been below one percent or above three percent. The two percent target has been achieved simply by averaging these diverse actual experiences. (Like the joke about the hunter economist who spots two deer. He aims precisely between the two animals, misses both, and exclaims ‘gotcha’!)

My final point is that it is extremely hard to raise annual inflation to two-percent using low interest rate monetary policies. Low interest rates do not send us on a borrowing spree. They simply reduce costs.

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The digital media revolution, a free press and student journalism

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USP student journalist award winners with diplomats and university management. Image: Lowen Sei/USP. USP student journalist award winners with diplomats and university management. Image: Lowen Sei/USP.[/caption] Report by David Robie. This article was first published on Café Pacific Professor David Robie’s speech at the University of the South Pacific 21st Anniversary Journalism Awards on 30 October 2015: Kia ora tatou and ni sa bula vinaka, FIRSTLY, I wish to acknowledge the people of Fiji for returning this wonderful country to democracy last year, and also to the University of the South Pacific and Dr Shailendra Singh and his team for inviting me here to speak at this 21st Anniversary Journalism Awards event. [Acknowledgements to various university and media VIPs] As I started off these awards here at the University of the South Pacific in 1999 during an incredibly interesting and challenging time, it is a great honour to return for this event marking the 21st anniversary of the founding of the regional Pacific journalism programme. Thus it is also an honour to be sharing the event with Monsieur Michel Djokovic, the Ambassador of France given how important France has been for this programme. France and the Ecole Supérieure de Journalisme de Lille (ESJ) played a critically important role in helping establish the journalism degree programme at USP in 1994, with the French government funding the inaugural senior lecturer, François Turmel, and providing a substantial media resources grant to lay the foundations. I arrived in Fiji four years later in 1998 as Head of Journalism from Papua New Guinea and what a pleasure it was working with the French Embassy on a number of journalism projects at that time, including an annual scholarship to France for journalism excellence. These USP awards this year take place during challenging times for the media industry with fundamental questions confronting us as journalism educators about what careers we are actually educating journalists for. When I embarked on a journalism career in the 1960s, the future was clear-cut and one tended to specialise in print, radio or television. I had a fairly heady early career being the editor at the age of 24 of an Australian national weekly newspaper, the Sunday Observer, owned by an idealistic billionaire, and we were campaigning against the Vietnam War. Our chief foreign correspondent then was a famous journalist, Wilfred Burchett, who at the end of the Second World War 70 years ago reported on the Hiroshima nuclear bombing as a “warning to the world”. By 1970, I was chief subeditor of the Rand Daily Mail in South Africa, the best newspaper I ever worked on and where I learned much about human rights and social justice, which has shaped my journalism and education values ever since. I travelled overland for a year across Africa as a freelance journalist, working for agencies such as Gemini, and crossed the Sahara Desert in a Kombi van. It was critically risky even then, but doubly dangerous today. Eventually I ended up with Agence France-Presse as an editor in Paris and worked there for several years. In fact, it was while working with AFP in Europe that I took a “back door” interest in the Pacific and that’s where my career took another trajectory when I joined the Auckland Star and became foreign news editor. The point of me giving you some brief moments of my career in a nutshell is to stress how portable journalism was as a career in my time. But now it is a huge challenge for you young graduates going out into the marketplace. You don’t even know whether you’re going to be called a “journalist”, or a “content provider” or a “curator” of news – or something beyond being a “news aggregator” – such is the pace of change with the digital revolution. And the loss of jobs in the media industry continues at a relentless pace. Fortunately, in Fiji, the global industry rationalisations and pressures haven’t quite hit home locally yet. However, on the other hand you have very real immediate concerns with the Media Industry Development Decree and the “chilling’ impact that it has on the media regardless of the glossy mirage the government spin doctors like to put on it. We had a very talented young student journalist here in Fiji a few weeks ago, Niklas Pedersen, from Denmark, on internship with local media, thanks to USP and Republika’s support. He remarked about his experience:

I have previously tried to do stories in Denmark and New Zealand – two countries that are both in the top 10 on the RSF World Press Freedom Index, so I was a bit nervous before travelling to a country that is number 93 and doing stories there …. Fiji proved just as big a challenge as I had expected. The first day I reported for duty … I tried to pitch a lot of my story ideas, but almost all of them got shut down with the explanation that it was impossible to get a comment from the government on the issue. And therefore the story was never going to be able to get published. At first this stunned me, but I soon understood that it was just another challenge faced daily by Fiji journalists.
[Screening of Niklas Pedersen news story on climate change – Pacific leaders speak out with one voice on climate change] This was a nice piece of storytelling on climate change on an issue that barely got covered in New Zealand legacy media. Australia and New Zealand shouldn’t get too smug about media freedom in relation to Fiji, especially with Australia sliding down the world rankings over asylum seekers for example. New Zealand also shouldn’t get carried away over its own media freedom situation. Three court cases this year demonstrate the health of the media and freedom of information in this digital era is in a bad way. •    Investigative journalist Jon Stephenson this month finally won undisclosed damages from the NZ Defence Ministry for defamation after trying to gag him over an article he wrote for Metro magazine which implicated the SAS in the US torture rendition regime in Afghanistan. •    Law professor Jane Kelsey at the University of Auckland filed a lawsuit against Trade Minister Tim Groser over secrecy about the controversial Trans Pacific Partnership (the judgment ruled the minister had disregarded the law); and •    Investigative journalist Nicky Hager and author of Dirty Politics sought a judicial review after police raided his home last October, seizing documents, computers and other materials. Hager is known in the Pacific for his revelations about NZ spying on its neighbours. Also, the New Zealand legacy media has consistently failed to report well on two of the biggest issues of our times in the Pacific – climate change and the fate of West Papua. One of the ironies of the digital revolution is that there is an illusion of growing freedom of expression and information in the world, when in fact the reverse is true. These are bleak times with growing numbers of journalists being murdered with impunity, from the Philippines to Somalia and Syria. The world’s worst mass killing of journalists was the so-called Maguindanao, or Ampatuan massacre (named after the town whose dynastic family ordered the killings), when 32 journalists were brutally murdered in the Philippines in November 2009. [Screening of Philippine National Union of Journalists video on the Ampatuan massacre – Keep the story alive] But increasingly savage slayings of media workers in the name of terrorism are becoming the norm, such as the outrageous attack on Charlie Hebdo cartoonists in Paris in January. Two masked gunmen assassinated 12 media workers – including five of France’s most talented cartoonists – at the satirical magazine and a responding policeman. In early August this year, five masked jihadists armed with machetes entered the Dhaka home of a secularist blogger in Bangladesh and hacked off his head and hands while his wife was forced into a nearby room. According to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists in figures released this year, 506 journalists were killed in the decade between 2002 and 2012, almost double the 390 slain in the previous decade. (Both Reporters Sans Frontières and Freedom House have also reported escalating death tolls and declines in media freedom.) While there appear to be far more democracies in the world than ever before, the CPJ’s executive director Joel Simon says there is a sinister new threat. And this is in some respects more troublesome than the old style dictatorships. Simon describes this new scourge in a recent book, The New Censorship: Inside the Global Battle for Press Freedom, as the ‘democratators’, those leaders who profess to be democratic but are actually subverting their mirage of open governance. As Simon says:
“What are these differences between dictators and democratators? Dictators rule by force. Democratators rule by manipulation. Dictators impose their will. Democratators govern with the support of the majority. Dictators do not claim to be democrats – at least credibly. Democratators always do. Dictators control information. Democratators manage it.”
Simon points out that democratators win elections yet while they may be free, they are not really fair, meaning they are decided by fraud. He has a growing list of leaders that fit this label, including Latin American “populists” like Rafael Correa of Equador and Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua, “European backsliders” like Viktor Orban of Hungary and Viktor Yanukovych, the deposed former president of Ukraine, and African leaders such as Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Jacob Zuma of South Africa. Also high on Simon’s list of media threats is the way terrorism has impacted on how big media groups currently go about their global news-gathering. Conscious of the ever-present threat of ritualised kidnappings and bombings, journalists are sometimes forced to report from bunkers and are less enthusiastic about meeting uncertain sources in case they might be abducted. Even the appearance of journalists sometimes makes them look like an extension of the military—with helmets, flak jackets and camouflage fatigues. This accentuates their targeting by fundamentalist groups who regard them as an extension of the “state”. China is the elephant in the room when it comes to freedom of information. While China’s leaders embrace the internet, they believe they can, and ought to, control the web. It is clear that China has the technological means and resources to make internet control a reality. Chinese authorities use monitoring and filtering to keep a lid on the cyberspace “conversation” to prevent repercussions. United States responses to the Wikileaks scandal in 2013 and the massive surveillance revelations by Edward Snowden encouraged allegations of hypocrisy from critics pointing out that Washington’s commitment to internet freedom dragged when its own geopolitical interests appeared threatened. Earlier this month, I had the good fortune to be in Brussels as one of the people giving feedback at a stakeholders meeting for a massive European Union-funded research project on the media reporting on six major violent conflicts around the world, including the Syrian civil war and conflict in Burundi. While there I happened to pick up a new “Euro” style newspaper called Politico, which steered me to a remarkable media development in Spain with the headline “He brings news of the future” Who was he? says the subeditor in me when it was always drummed into us to have a name in the headline. (The online version changed the headline). This was the story of Pedro J. Ramírez, one of the leading editors in Spain, who had been in charge of El Mundo for 24 years. But he was sacked by his newspaper’s owners. Why? Because under his leadership, El Mundo pursued a robust investigation into corruption implicating the governing Popular Party and the Prime Minister [Mariano Rajoy]. When he was fired, Ramírez used his massive €5. 6 million pay-out to help fund a new online newspaper, El Español. His pay-out plus record-breaking crowdfunding doubled what had been previously raised by a new Dutch publishing venture, De Correspondent. Another interesting success story has been in France, where investigative journalist Edwy Plenel, famous for his Rainbow Warrior bombing investigation in 1985 for Le Monde, founded Mediapart. He has assembled a team of some 60 journalists and his fearless brand of investigative journalism is shaking up the establishment. Even in New Zealand, where the mediascape is fairly dire with hundreds of jobs cut in recent years—and a loss of 180 jobs in a recent shake-up at Fairfax New Zealand, the country’s biggest news publisher, there are stunningly innovative things happening. The main independent New Zealand media group Scoop Media – and we at AUT’s Pacific Media Centre have a partnership project with them, Pacific Scoop – has launched a new crowdfunding business model and established a Scoop Foundation for Public Interest Journalism. This brings me to the achievements of the University of the South Pacific and its talented new crop of graduates. Close to 200 USP journalism graduates are now contributing to the Fiji and the Pacific region’s media and related careers. Through its long-standing award-winning newspaper Wansolwara – now 19 years old, surely a remarkable accomplishment for any journalism school in the Australasian and Pacific arena, the student journalists have played an important role in independent, engaging and truth-seeking journalism. Personally, I shall always remember with pride my experiences with USP and Wansolwara over the five years I was with the campus—the longest by far of any expatriate educator. Wansolwara was founded by student editor Stan Simpson and lecturer Philip Cass. And Pat Craddock of the USP Media Centre was another key person in building up the programme. One of the highlights for me was the reporting of the George Speight coup in May 2000 by the courageous USP students. They won many awards for this. It was thanks to the groundwork and experience that I gained at both USP and previously UPNG as a journalist turned academic that I was able to go to the next level at the Pacific Media Centre. There I have been able to blend some of the best elements of academic media studies and practical journalism that makes a difference. A tribute too to Dr Shailendra Singh and his team, Irene Manarae, Eliki Drugunalevu and Dr Olivier Jutel. Shailen was recently the first home-grown academic at USP to gain a PhD in journalism at the University of Queensland with the first major survey of the Fiji mediascape for more than a decade. Congratulations Shailen for a very fine thesis! My concluding message to graduating student journalists is that no matter what government, political or industry pressure you face, you should hold on strongly to your core values of truth, accuracy, honesty and courage in the public interest. Our communities deserve the best from their media in these deceitful times. University media are among the few that can still be trusted and they should do their best to contribute to democracy with integrity. So go for it and change the world to the way it should be! STOP PRESS: Before we move on, I have also been given the honour of launching the USP Journalism Alumni Network, which I am happy to do – as a USP alumni myself, I did my own PhD here at USP and I am very proud of that. It was a combination of three decades of history of journalism education and the impact of politics on the media. The purpose of the USP Journalism Alumni Network is to reconnect with alumni, make them part of the USP journalism family and give them an opportunity to contribute to the development of journalism education at USP in the region. More details will be released later. Today, we launch the network with a short video about USP Journalism Graduate Destinations. Dr David Robie is Professor of Journalism and the Director of the Pacific Media Centre in Auckland University of Technology’s School of Communication Studies.He was head of journalism at the University of the South Pacific between 1998 and 2002. –]]>

Resource: WTO publishes its annual suite of data

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NewsroomPlus.com

Trade Profiles 2015 provides one-page snapshots of the most relevant indicators on growth, trade and trade policy measures for over 200 economies.

The data provided include basic economic indicators (such as gross domestic product), trade policy indicators (such as tariffs, import duties, the number of disputes, notifications outstanding and contingency measures in force), merchandise trade flows (broken down by broad product categories and major origins and destinations), services trade flows (with a breakdown by major components) and industrial property indicators.

Services Profiles 2015 provides key statistics on “infrastructure services”, i.e. transportation, telecommunications, finance and insurance, for 186 economies. This includes, for the first time, data for all 161 WTO members.

 The information is derived from multiple sources, such as national accounts, employment statistics, balance of payments statistics, foreign affiliates statistics, foreign direct investment statistics and quantitative indicators largely sourced from international/regional organizations and specialized bodies.

World Tariff Profiles 2015 provides a unique collection of data on tariffs imposed by WTO members and other economies. It is jointly published by the WTO, the International Trade Centre (ITC) and the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

The first part of the publication provides summary tables showing the average tariffs imposed by individual economies. The second part provides a more detailed table for each economy, listing the tariffs it imposes on its imports (by product group) as well as the tariffs it faces for its exports to major trading partners. The profiles show the maximum tariff rates that are legally “bound” in the WTO and the rates that economies actually apply. Data on anti-dumping measures are provided in a separate annex.

The special topic in this year’s issue is “Tariff accumulation, effective protection and export competitiveness in global production”, which looks into the impact of tariffs on industrial production costs.

Last but not least to mark the 20th anniversary of the WTO, International Trade Statistics 2015 looks back at world trade from 1995 to the end of 2014.

The publication features a variety of charts to highlight the most noteworthy trends in world trade over the past 20 years. Numerous tables provide more detailed data while a chapter on methodology explains how the data are compiled.

All three profiles — World Tariff Profiles, Trade Profiles and Services Profiles — are now available in the WTO Statistics Database in Excel and HTML formats, and the PDF versions are available in English on the WTO web site. The French and Spanish versions will be available shortly. The printed versions will be available in mid-November. All four publications can be ordered from the WTO Online Bookshop.

The WTO Statistics web page also contains updates of:

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MediaPA: Social Media Business Trends for 2016

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NewsroomPlus.com Contributed by Phillip Quay Social media marketing has always been a peculiar animal. Since its early days, where platforms were finicky and critics insisted that social marketing was not a viable marketing strategy, we’re now witnesses to an era with rock­solid platforms, useful business advertising options, and plenty of free opportunities to make our content public. socialmedia Still, the world of social media changes quickly, with dozens of new platforms arriving each year and most existing companies scrambling to stay ahead of the game with new features and innovations. If history and some recently emerging trends are any indication, 2016 will be a host for a variety of new trends and changes in the social scene. Here is a Top 5 set of predictions for 2016. (1) What was once considered something nice for a business to have – optimising your company’s website for mobile devices ­ has become a necessity and a valuable investment for the future. This past March marked the first time the four leading messaging apps in the world has amassed the same amount of users as the top four social networking platforms. More and more, shoppers are turning to using mobile devices like smartphones and tablets to research a product, comparing deals online, finding a retail outlet, and most importantly, making the purchase. (2)  2016 will see “inthemoment” updates dominate the competition. While Social media is already “in­the­moment” by it’s very nature, there are some social media platforms that are more “in­the­moment” than others. Think Periscope and Snapchat, the new fascination with live­streaming and live social will continue strong in 2016. Increasingly, social media apps will aim to put their users at an event—virtually. (3)  While Google still remains the king of SEO (Search Engine Optimisation), the way that consumers search for services and products in 2016 will evolve past simple SEO. In a recent study, 88 percent of consumers online are influenced by reviews and online comments by other consumers. Those consumers are going directly to sites like Facebook, YouTube or in apps like Trip Advisor. A reason for this shift is the growing popularity of Pinterest, helped by the fact that its market is largely dominated by women in their 30s with young families, a demographic known to do most of the shopping. –]]>

Construction Complete On New Satellite Receiving Station

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NewsroomPlus.com Contributed by Maritime New Zealand Construction has been completed on a new search and rescue satellite receiving station between Taupo and Rotorua, built as part of a joint project by Maritime NZ and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA).

An aerial view of Maritime NZ’s new satellite receiving station between Rotorua and Taupo.
The site, together with a similar receiving station in Western Australia, has been constructed ahead of the introduction of a new generation of medium-Earth orbit search and rescue (MEOSAR) satellites. MEOSAR satellites (orbiting at around 20,000 km above the Earth) are replacing the current low-Earth orbit (LEOSAR) satellites (orbiting at between 800-1000 km), which are being phased out over the next four years. The MEOSAR system will begin operation in 2017, and will significantly boost search and rescue (SAR) capability in the NZ and Australian SAR regions, which together stretch north to the Equator and south to the South Pole, east to half way across the Pacific, and west half way across the Indian Ocean. US company McMurdo is carrying out the work in New Zealand and Australia. The New Zealand contract, managed by Maritime NZ, is made up of $7.2m for construction of the receiving station and $5.5m in operating costs over the next 11 years.
McMurdo software engineer Josh Ahmanson outlines of the operation of the site’s data centre to (from left) Rescue Coordination Centre NZ manager Mike Hill, Maritime NZ Director Keith Manch, and Maritime NZ General Manager Safety and Response Services Nigel Clifford.
The two sites will undergo rigorous testing before the MEOSAR system is officially brought online in late 2017 by COSPAS SARSAT, the international coordinating body for global search and rescue. The six satellite dishes at the new site are covered by domes to protect them from the elements and are designed to be as visually unobtrusive as possible. The receiving station is expected to be officially commissioned towards the end of 2016. There are currently 18 MEOSAR satellites operating, compared with five LEOSAR satellites. This means beacon signals will be received more quickly and beacon locations identified with greater accuracy. This will further improve over the next five years as the number of MEOSAR satellites is expected to increase to more than 50, ensuring several satellites will be in view at all times from anywhere on Earth. Once operational, signals received by the new site will be sent to a new mission control centre in Canberra, which will pass them to the appropriate rescue coordination centre. If a beacon is activated in the NZ SAR region, these alerts will go to the RCCNZ in Avalon, in the Hutt Valley, Wellington. The coverage from the sites in New Zealand and Australia will provide overlapping coverage of both search and rescue regions. “This is a truly a joint system for New Zealand and Australia – and a key part of the global COSPAS SARSAT system,” Maritime NZ Director Keith Manch said.
Maritime NZ General Manager Safety and Response Services Nigel Clifford (left) and Taupo rescue helicopter pilot John Funnell, with a range of distress beacons.
“Our two countries are responsible for a huge section of the earth when it comes to search and rescue, and without our joint contribution there would be a significant gap in the network. Beacons can take the ‘search’ out of search and rescue, and the MEOSAR system will dramatically increase the global SAR capability. “Emergency distress beacons are key equipment for anyone operating at sea, on land and in the air – whether commercially or recreationally – but they can’t operate without sites like this.” Existing beacons, of which there are 54,000 registered in New Zealand, will not be affected by the change in satellites. The RCCNZ, part of Maritime NZ, responds to around 550 beacon alerts each year. Background The global search and rescue satellite system is managed by the International Cospas-Sarsat organisation. A consortium of Russia, the United States, Canada and France formed the organisation in 1982. Since then 41 participants – including New Zealand – have joined to provide satellite tracking equipment, with 40,000 people rescued to date. Cospas-Sarsat sets standards for beacons, satellite equipment, and ground stations enabling a truly global approach to search and rescue. The current global search and rescue satellite system makes use of two types of satellite – LEOSAR satellites and geostationary, or GEO, satellites, that are stationary above the equator. Because of New Zealand’s distance from the equator, the GEO satellites are low on the horizon, which can limit their line-of-sight visibility, particularly in mountainous terrain. That makes LEO satellites important, but these are limited in number and not always over New Zealand, meaning there can be delays between a beacon activation and its detection by a LEO satellite. –]]>

New Zealand Report: All Blacks Return To Huge Haka + Kiwis Say Yes to NZ-Bred Melbourne Cup Win + NZvAU Cricket

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New Zealand Report: Selwyn Manning joins Australia’s radio FiveAA.com.au breakfast team with Dave Penberthy and Will Goodings to deliver New Zealand Report.

This week’s New Zealand Report: The Rugby World Champions the All Blacks return to New Zealand with a huge Haka by Air New Zealand staff on the tarmac of Auckland International Airport + Kiwis are celebrating the NZ-bred Melbourne Cup win by Prince of Penzance by woman jockey Michelle Payne + NZ’s Black Caps are preparing to front-up against Australia in a test Cricket series opener at the Gabba – NZ Report was recorded live on 4/11/15.

It’s proving to be a week of top sport celebrations with the Aussie-trained-owned New Zealand-bred Thoroughbred horse, Prince of Penzance, winning the Melbourne Cup. News of Michelle Payne becoming the first woman to win the Cup led national news reports here in NZ, with Kiwis celebrating at having bred the winning outsider. Prince of Penzance was bought for $50,000 back here at the Karaka Sales in New Zealand. Prince of Penzance was bred by John Thompson of MataMata about two hours south/east of Auckland who remembers POP was “a confident young fella” when being raised at his stud. Thompson said he has a couple of mares to breed this week so will put off celebrating for a month or two. New Zealand has also been celebrating third place winner Criterion, the horse owned by Kiwi Sir Owen Glenn. And the All Blacks return to New Zealand today (Wednesday) with around 100 thousand people expected to crowd into Auckland’s CBD to welcome the team (and the cup) home. The All Blacks will begin touring the Webb Ellis Trophy around the country over the next few weeks. And then there’s the Cricket. New Zealand’s Black Caps team has been acclimatising in Brisbane in preparation for the first Australia V NZ test match at the Gabba which begins on Thursday. The test series should sort out the Australasian pecking order after both the Kiwis and Aussies failed to knock the English off their test Cricket perch in 2015. Let the sledging begin! New Zealand Report broadcasts live on Australia’s radio FiveAA.com.au and webcasts on EveningReport.nz LiveNews.co.nz and ForeignAffairs.co.nz.]]>

NewsRoom Digest: Top NZ News Items for November 03, 2015

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Newsroom Digest This edition of NewsRoom_Digest features 7 resourceful links of the day and the politics pulse from Tuesday 3rd November. NEWSROOM_MONITOR Top stories in the current news cycle include Auckland’s average house prices creeping ever closer to the million dollar mark and news of a big jump in the number of times police are attending call outs to deal with mentally ill people. POLITICS PULSE Media releases issued from Parliament by political parties today included: Government: Legislation to help councils plan for future; Productivity Commission to examine new models of tertiary education; Four tonnes of tobacco abandoned at airports;Business.govt.nz recognised for outstanding work; More flexibility for tertiary enrolments; McClay to attend Asia-Europe Foreign Ministers Meeting; New Bill to set up trans-Tasman patent attorney regime; Wine and Spirit geographical registration coming; $16m additional funding for Canterbury DHB; New rules for Filipino dairy workers; Next step for 600-home development in Chch Greens:Govt can help victims of domestic violence stay in work; Conservation Week celebrations empty without real commitment to conservation; Govt should back Kiwibank to drive down bank profits Labour: Review timely but ineffective without funding; Pressure on DHBs as scalpel taken to funding; Minister’s attempt to silence judges rejected; Rapidly rising house prices shows bright line test failure; Government doubles down on loose governance; Parata in denial over early childhood education cuts New Zealand First: Police Picking Up Pieces From Neglected Mental Health Services;Record Immigration Stretching Hospitals, Schools, Housing LINKS OF THE DAY Links of the day have been a feature of NewsRoom_Digest since we first started production in August 2014 CANCER MEDICINE ACCESS: A new analysis by PHARMAC of cancer medicine access in Australia and New Zealand shows that New Zealanders are getting access to the best cancer medicines available. View the analysis at:www.pharmac.health.nz/cancer-outcomes-comparison ELECTRICITY SECTOR CONSULTATION: The Electricity Authority today released a consultation paper which looks at how batteries, consumer apps, electric vehicles, solar panels, smart meters and other emerging technologies are affecting the electricity sector. The consultation documents are available here:http://www.ea.govt.nz/development/work-programme/transmission-distribution/distribution-pricing-review/consultations/#c15642 EMPLOYMENT GROWTH: New Zealand’s strong employment growth between 2001 and 2012 drew in a disproportionate number of lower skilled workers according to Motu Economic and Public Policy Research. Read more: http://www.motu.org.nz/our-work/productivity-and-innovation/firm-productivity-and-performance/firm-productivity-growth-and-skill/ HOUSING PRICES: Auckland’s average house prices are creeping ever closer to the million dollar mark according to newly released QV figures. More information is available at: https://www.qv.co.nz/resources/news/article?blogId=208 LOW FUEL PRICES: The price of fuel fell a total of 8 cents a litre during October, reducing petrol prices to their lowest level since April, and diesel to the lowest price since February 2015. For more information, go to:www.aa.co.nz/petrolwatch POLICE ANNUAL REPORT: The latest police annual report shows officers are dealing with three times as many people suffering from mental distress, and eight times as many people who are suicidal, as they were in the late 1990s. The report is available at: http://www.police.govt.nz/about-us/publication/annual-report-2015 RAW MILK REMINDER: The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) is reminding consumers to take care when drinking raw unpasteurised milk, which is considered a high-risk food. Read more:http://www.foodsmart.govt.nz/food-safety/high-risk-foods/raw-milk/rawmilk.htm And that’s our sampling of “news you can use” for Tuesday 3rd November. Brought to EveningReport by Newsroom Digest. –]]>

Does processed meat cause as much cancer as smoking? WHO knows

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NewsroomPlus.com

If you were left feeling confused by the media coverage of a recent report from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), don’t fret, you’re in good company.  

A two-page press release, and Lancet article, from the IARC – an agency of the World Health Organisation – has caused a stir internationally, with everyone from the usually reliable Guardian to underlings like the NZ Herald getting caught up in some sloppy journalism.

The report, based on the accumulated research of over 800 studies, announced that processed meat is deemed ‘carcinogenic to humans’, and now included in a list of known carcinogens that cause cancer. The inclusion of processed meat in this list, which also includes tobacco, asbestos and alcohol, has prompted many to wrongly assume that it is as bad for you as other carcinogens.

These overcooked headlines say it all:

“Avoid bacon and sausages… they’re as bad as cigarettes”

“Processed meats rank alongside smoking as cancer causes – WHO”

“Bacon’s as bad as asbestos? WHO thinks so”

To further complicate matters, the same report deemed red meat to “probably cause cancer”. A statement that was disastrously misunderstood and subsequently reported, by some outlets, with tabloid-esque pageantry.

Cue frantic efforts from the meat industry to restore calm, including manufactured polls like this from Beef Magazine:

A recent beefmagazine.com poll asked BEEF readers, “Do you think WHO has an anti-beef agenda?” With 87 votes so far, 79% of voters said, “Yes, the recently released cancer report saying beef is a carcinogen is bad science.” Another 14% said, “No, the report is accurate.” The remaining 7% aren’t sure.

Some local TV news shows managed to mangle the story even moreso than their peers in print and online media. Radio NZ’s Mediawatch dissected the mess on Sunday, with TV shows 3 News, Seven Sharp and Story the main perpetrators of some seriously sloppy journalism.

This from 3 News:

“There’s a warning for those who love a classic Kiwi fry-up. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), processed meat like bacon and sausages are as big a cancer threat as cigarettes.”

So was the confusion a failure of the media or the IARC?

The Atlantic went straight for the throat of the IARC and its methods, asking, “Why is the world health organization so bad at communicating cancer risk?” It is, to some degree, a fair assessment. The method of the IARC’s findings is certainly confusing at first glance.

And the Irish Times posted an excellent article, both defending our right to collective confusion – when faced with oblique scientific reports – and suggesting that the media’s pursuit of clickable headlines is partly to blame:

Misuse of information based on statistics is not uncommon. “The headlines are designed to pull out scare-mongering facts,” says Dr Caroline Brophy of the department of maths and statistics at Maynooth University.

The agency’s study was an observational one and showed a tenuous connection between red meat and cancer, she said. But these were correlations rather than proof of causation.

A large factor in how the story was so inaccurately reported concerned this line from IARC’s summary and press release:

“The experts concluded that each 50 gram portion of processed meat eaten daily increases the risk of colorectal cancer by 18%.”

This triggered some significant fireworks, and a fair amount of public outcry by meat-loving people everywhere. The World Health Organisation received enough backlash to release a statement clarifying their position and involvement:

IARC’s review confirms the recommendation in WHO’s 2002 “Diet, nutrition and the prevention of chronic diseases” report, which advised people to moderate consumption of preserved meat to reduce the risk of cancer. The latest IARC review does not ask people to stop eating processed meats but indicates that reducing consumption of these products can reduce the risk of colorectal cancer.

It could be argued that the problem began, not with IARC’s press release, but with the headline-hunting of the media outlets who first covered it. It’s a common failure that we’re all familiar with – a failure to clarify and verify the facts, albeit under the imposed pressure of embargo-driven rushes.

In Bill Kovach and Tom Rosentiel’s definitive guide, The Elements of Journalism, this kind of reporting falls under a basic principle of journalism – the discipline of verification.

To quote Kovach and Rosentiel:

In the end, the discipline of verification is what separates journalism from entertainment, propaganda, fiction, or art. Entertainment – or its cousin “infotainment” – focuses on what is most diverting… Journalism alone is focused on the process employed to get what happened down right.

So what did the press release say that the media found so confusing? The report clearly states the agency’s findings, in regards to both red and processed meat:

Red meat

After thoroughly reviewing the accumulated scientific literature, a Working Group of 22 experts from 10 countries convened by the IARC Monographs Programme classified the consumption of red meat as probably carcinogenic to humans (Group 2A), based on limited evidence that the consumption of red meat causes cancer in humans and strong mechanistic evidence supporting a carcinogenic effect.

Processed meat

Processed meat was classified as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1), based on sufficient evidence in humans that the consumption of processed meat causes colorectal cancer.

The use of groups to catagorise carcinogens is somewhat confusing, especially when you consider that group 1 – ‘carcinogenic to humans’ – includes items with a wide variety of risk (Cigarettes are not equal in risk to alcohol, nor is asbestos to processed meat etc). But when you get right down to what was reported and why, the blame for the confusion can surely be laid upon the media and some sloppy journalism.

So what does the report actually tell us?

Arguably, the best coverage came from the Cancer Research UK’s blog, who were one of the few to unpack the science in a way that made sense to laymen. They produced a useful graphic, shown below, which explains the use of catagories, as well as clarifying the point that tripped the media up in the first place – that the ‘catagories represent how likely something is to cause cancer in humans, not how many cancers it causes.’

151026-IARC-Meat-rating-TWITTER

So to give a summary of what IARC’s report means, once properly broken down, this from the same article:

The results showed that those who ate the most processed meat had around a 17 per cent higher risk of developing bowel cancer, compared to those who ate the least.

‘17 per cent’ sounds like a fairly big number – but this is a ‘relative’ risk, so let’s put it into perspective, and convert it to absolute numbers. Remember these are all ball-park figures – everyone’s risk will be different as there are many different factors at play.

We know that, out of every 1000 people in the UK, about 61 will develop bowel cancer at some point in their lives. Those who eat the lowest amount of processed meat are likely to have a lower lifetime risk than the rest of the population (about 56 cases per 1000 low meat-eaters).

If this is correct, the WCRF’s analysis suggests that, among 1000 people who eat the most processed meat, you’d expect 66 to develop bowel cancer at some point in their lives – 10 more than the group who eat the least processed meat.

And to provide some scope on the matter, they compare the difference of risk between tobacco and processed meat, by use of another handy graphic (Which the Guardian picked up and used in some great follow up articles, redeeming their earlier sloppiness).

6c59bcee-8e9b-4ff2-9408-4c0d45ab9e8f-563x720

Interestingly, the Science Media Exchange (Scimex), released an informative reaction on the same day of IARC’s official press release, offering expert context and scope for media use. Unfortunately, no one picked it up and ran with it. If they had, the headlines may have read very differently.

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Russel Norman – one door closes, another opens

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NewsroomPlus.com

Contributed by Alex Barrow

Russel Norman has officially closed the door on his long term career in Green Party politics and opened another to the non-governmental organisation Greenpeace.

Having had a life-long passion for politics, sustainability and social justice, both career paths have been natural progressions since his tertiary studies where he achieved a doctorate in political science.

Although Dr Norman was Australian born and raised, he completed his PhD in New Zealand and has stayed ever since.

“I didn’t come over here with the intention of staying forever. It just ended up that way because there were lots of great things about New Zealand”.

The Green Party was always in Dr Norman’s line of interests, and he has worked hard to build the party up to where it is now.

Russel-Norman-card

When asked what his most significant achievement has been while he has been in office, Dr Norman alluded to Green Party votes climbing to 11% and maintaining that benchmark in the past two elections. “I think what we demonstrated was that if you stick to your principles and you have something that can convince people as being worthwhile, and you are persistent about it and disciplined about it, then over time you can build a political force”.

Even before his commitment to Green Party politics, Dr Norman was heavily engaged in political movements.

“I was involved in the peace movement during the ‘80s. In the ‘80s there was a real sense of crisis about nuclear war, so I was really involved in that. The anti-apartheid struggle was a big deal, then a lot of student issues. Aboriginal land rights in Australia, the bi-centenary in ’88 so yes there was a series of issues that were important to me”.

When discussing the proactive approach of Greenpeace when dealing with environmental issues, Dr Norman said he was looking forward to working at the fore of Greenpeace to build a better environmental future, particularly with the topical sustainable tuna campaign happening right now.

“What so interests me in going to Greenpeace is the way that civil society can push political parties to do things that they might not otherwise do”.

Dr Norman has co-led the Green party since 2006 and since then has promoted several campaigns for the welfare of the environment. Over the past nine years of Norman being in office the Green Party have addressed social, economic, and most influentially, environmental concerns.

Norman’s notable pledges have included agricultural reduction, water pollution issues and, perhaps most conspicuously, the Tibetan flag incident of 2010. During his time in Parliament though Dr Norman has admitted his perception of New Zealand politics was constantly evolving, and that governmental parties are now in growing need of appealing to young voters.

“Young people in particular see that politics is irrelevant to them and I think that’s a challenge for the political establishment and political parties about how we make sure to connect with those people”.

In last year’s election the Green Party won 11% of the national vote, falling 4% short of their party aim. “We did okay to hold our own. We got quarter of a million votes which is great and the Green Party’s been established as the third party of New Zealand politics but clearly there’s a challenge to get beyond that”.

Despite the lower than expected campaign support, Dr Norman is confident in New Zealand’s ability to see the bigger environmental picture as promoted by the Green Party.

When asked what he thought what would be the best approaches in tackling environmental issues, Norman advocated sustainable transport such as catching buses or cycling as an alternative to driving, and reducing the number of dairy cows in New Zealand. As quoted in his valedictory speech: “We have got a major pollution problem on our hands. It needs to be said that there are too many cows”. However the question as to how this would damage the New Zealand economy considering the dairy industry being one of New Zealand’s biggest sources of financial income, was not addressed and still remains a question for the Green Party to answer.

Dr Norman’s departure from Parliament is the end of an era for New Zealand politics, and the start of one for the environmental NGO sector. With several environmental issues circulating with global warming, deep sea drilling and the upcoming US navy visit in relation to New Zealand’s stance as a nuclear-free country, Norman is certainly going to be busy in his new role.

His continuation in the public sphere underscores his ability to tackle things from the get-go and a dedication to following through for the future good of the environment.

  • Dr Norman is now the executive director of Greenpeace, taking over the reins from Bunny McDiarmid.

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Keith Rankin on New Zealand: Second-Wealthiest Country in the World?

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Analysis by Keith Rankin. This article was also published on TheDailyBlog.co.nz.

I heard this on Radio New Zealand on Sunday (25 Oct): Greg Fleming – The Global Wealth Report. Apparently New Zealand’s average and median wealth is second only to Switzerland, despite falling this year. The information comes from Credit Suisse’s Global Wealth Report 2015.

This is reminiscent of an article by Wolfgang Münchau in the Financial Times on 14 April 2013: The Riddle of Europe’s Single Currency with Many Values. (I mentioned this in Scoop on 31 July 2013; Auckland House Prices — The Ongoing Saga.) Münchau noted a European Central Bank survey claiming that average personal wealth in Spain was 50 percent higher than in Germany, and that the good people of Cyprus were on average over three times richer than Germans. Indeed, allegedly, Germans, the poorest people in the Eurozone, were bailing out super-rich Cypriots.

In 2013, Spain and Cyprus were at the depths of their financial crises. The unemployment rate in in Spain was 27%, compared to just over 5% in Germany. Some people’s concepts of wealth are seriously askew.

Münchau gave a somewhat Germanic explanation. He noted, quite correctly, that past higher inflation rates in Spain than in Germany mean that the Euro is undervalued in Germany and overvalued in Spain. But that can only be a small part of the story. Cyprus for example had asset prices bloated by huge amounts of Russian money, some of it possibly less than legit.

These surveys are an attempt to measure grossly inflated financial and real estate assets as if they were actual economic wealth. And they assume that a society’s wealth is the sum of the prevailing market values of the financial assets of its individual people, rather than treating wealth as a form of synergy.

Applying common sense instead, we know that a wealthy community is one through which money flows and reflows. Such communities have an air of prosperity about them; not boarded-up derelict buildings.

From a societal point of view, money is wealth – and a harbinger of wealth – only when it is moving. Yet ‘rich’ individuals see wealth as, for them, money that stops in their possession rather than money that moves through the community. This is the central tension of money; while it works by moving, we too easily want it not to move. A healthy person has blood flowing through their bodies in a consistent and comprehensive manner, at varying intensities of physical activity. If people are bleeding or have blocked arteries then they are not healthy; the blood is not flowing and reflowing. Yet, in the case of blocked arteries, there is a build-up of stationary blood at the sites of the blockages. That accumulation of blood is neither health nor wealth. Those sites in the body abnormally rich in blood represent the poverty of the whole, not the wealth of the parts.

Money from both miserly New Zealanders and from foreign savers comes into certain parts of New Zealand – especially the property market and banks that feed it – but does not cycle through New Zealand’s economic highways and byways. It is ‘spent’ largely on assets that already exist. So these asset prices climb to absurd levels that do not relate in any meaningful way to New Zealanders’ lives. Aucklanders, like Spaniards before them, seem wealthy if they compare their bloated and economically meaningless house prices with those of houses in Düsseldorf or Fukuoka.

Further, Auckland has been subject to a number of previous housing bubbles (in the 1980s, 1990s and mid-2000s). Market values never really fell during the pauses between the bubbles. Instead of owners accepting that their houses were worth less than they wanted to believe they were, they just didn’t sell them, maintaining the pretence that these assets were both their wealth and a reflection of their cleverness. As in Spain and Cyprus, people with overpriced assets dared not sell once the supply of the panicked showed signs of outstripping the demand of the gullible. Better to pretend to be rich – not putting your asset values to the test – than to accept the truth. Financial bubbles happen when fools sell promises to bigger fools. Such foolishness verges on cleverness only when there is a ready supply of bigger fools than oneself. Auckland has had more than its share of bigger fools. Hence New Zealand’s apparent wealth in Credit Suisse’s statistical database. Rich clots.

Inequality is a problem for many reasons. Probably the most important reason is that inequality impedes the flows of money – the buying and selling of goods and services by ordinary people doing ordinary and extraordinary things – that underpin healthy and wealthy communities.

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NewsRoom Digest: Top NZ News Items for November 02, 2015

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Newsroom Digest

This edition of NewsRoom_Digest features 14 resourceful links of the day and the politics pulse from Monday 2nd November.

NEWSROOM_MONITOR

Top stories in the current news cycle include net migration reaching record levels with more international students and temporary workers arriving in the country, the Government suggesting a new system of rewards for good schools and sanctions for those that struggle as part of the review to the Education Act and a NZ Defence Force exercise involving more than 2000 military personnel is underway on the South Island’s West Coast.

POLITICS PULSE

Media releases issued from Parliament by political parties today included:

Government: New Zealand thrashes Australia; Productivity Commission to examine urban planning rules;Conservation Week 2015 – Healthy Nature, Healthy People; New regulations to protect oceans; MedTech Centre of Research Excellence opened in Auckland; Immigration changes for regions into effect; Tenancy bond system moves online; Education Act update gets underway; Next Ambassador to Russia announced; Caution urged this fireworks season; NZ/China PhD scholarships programme; Promoting good mental and environmental health; Text message reminder service goes live in District Courts; Minister saddened at passing of Dr Bill Ballantine

Greens: Govt needs to think carefully before ruining NZ’s clean green and GE-free brand; Education Act review a farce; Green Party Welcomes Marama Davidson To Parliament

Labour: Craig Foss should demonstrate accountability; TVNZ backtracks on chopping news jobs in the South 

New Zealand First: Peters – All Blacks To Get Parliamentary Motion; Save TV Coverage In The South 

LINKS OF THE DAY

Links of the day have been a feature of NewsRoom_Digest since we first started production in August 2014

CONSERVATION WEEK: This week is Conservation Week, with the theme for 2015 ‘Healthy Nature, Healthy People’. It’s about the link between looking after our special natural places and the tangible health benefits you can enjoy from experiencing them. Read more: http://www.doc.govt.nz/get-involved/events/conservation-week/

EDUCATION ACT UPDATE: The Education Ministry is urging New Zealanders to have their say on a revamp of education legislation that will help to shape the future of the education system. Further information about the consultation and how to make submissions can be found at: www.education.govt.nz/education-act-update. A discussion document and an introductory video from Ms Parata can be found here:https://consultation.education.govt.nz/

EXPERIENCE OF OIA: People have just four days left to tell the Chief Ombudsman about their experiences of making requests to government agencies under the Official Information Act if they are to inform her enquiry into government agencies’ OIA practices. The surveys, which can be accessed at http://tinyurl.com/OIAsurveys, close at midnight on 5 November.

FISHERIES REVIEW: The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) has started a review of New Zealand’s fisheries management system and is inviting people to have their say. Click here for more: http://mpigovtnz.cwp.govt.nz/law-and-policy/legal-overviews/fisheries/fisheries-management-system-review/

MEI ECONOMIC INDICATORS: The October Monthly Economic Indicators (MEI) was published today by Treasury, providing a summary of recent economic events. Read more at: http://www.treasury.govt.nz/economy/mei/Oct15

MIGRATION TRENDS: Few figures released today show big increases in the number of skilled migrants, students and visitors to New Zealand. The Migration Trends and Outlook 2014/15 report is available here:http://www.mbie.govt.nz/info-services/immigration/migration-trends/trends-and-outlook/2014-15

OCEAN REGULATIONS: New Government regulations to manage the waste and pollution within New Zealand’s vast Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) come into effect today. The regulations are available from:http://mfe.govt.nz/marine/legislation/regulations-under-eez-act

ONLINE TENANCY BOND: A new tenancy bond service goes online today as part of the Government’s programme of making public services more convenient and easier. Further information is available from:http://www.tenancy.govt.nz

PHD SCHOLARSHIPS: Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce today announced the resumption of a reciprocal research scholarships programme with China that will award up to 40 PhD scholarships over 2016/2017. Further information on the programme will be available from 1 December on Education New Zealand’s website: http://www.enz.govt.nz/our-services/scholarships

SPCA LIST OF SHAME: The SPCA releases its List of Shame annually to raise awareness of animal welfare issues and the ongoing need for education and vigilance around preventing cruelty to animals. The 2015 List of Shame is available for download from the Royal NZ SPCA website:http://www.rnzspca.org.nz/images/SPCA_List_Of_Shame_2015.pdf

SMS FOR COURT: A new text message reminder service is now available for those appearing in court. Defendants can sign up for the text service at: http://www.justice.govt.nz/courts/district-court/text-message-reminders

SUSTAINABLE CITIES: The New Zealand Centre for Sustainable Cities has just released the survey on people’s sentiments about cities. Go here for more: http://sustainablecities.org.nz/resilient-urban-futures/drivers-of-urban-change/

URBAN PLANNING INQUIRY: The Government has asked the Productivity Commission to look at ways of improving New Zealand’s urban planning system. This inquiry follows on from the Commission’s investigation of how councils make land available for housing, which found that New Zealand’s urban planning laws and processes were unnecessarily complicated, slow to respond to change and did not meet the needs of cities. See more here:http://www.productivity.govt.nz/news/new-inquiry-urban-planning

WEST COAST MINERAL STRATEGY: Local councils on the West Coast are pushing for more mining in the area as they say it could reverse the tide of recent job losses. The Buller, Grey and Westland District Councils and the West Coast Regional Council together with Development West Coast have unveiled a West Coast Minerals Strategy. Read more: http://mineralsstrategy.wix.com/westcoast

And that’s our sampling of “news you can use” for Monday 2nd November.

Brought to EveningReport by Newsroom Digest. –]]>

Across The Ditch Sports Wrap: All Blacks Win Rugby World Champs Beat Wallabies 34 – 17

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Across The Ditch: Selwyn Manning crosses live to Australia to join radio FiveAA.com.au’s Peter Godfrey for an Across The Ditch post Rugby World Cup wrap up of the All Blacks versus Wallabies final. A very gracious Peter Godfrey congratulates NZ on the All Blacks becoming the Rugby World Champions for the third time.Recorded live on 2/11/15. The Best of the Game: The Wallabies second half recovery had everyone thinking it was going Australia’s way. From Australia’s 3 points to the All Blacks 21, most people here thought it was all over. But a wise nephew of mine in Sydney texted to say wait it is early days. Next thing, the Wallabies were 17 points to the All Blacks 21, and, suddenly, it was game on. That was a phenomenal statement by Australia. Dan Carter’s drop goal a short time later arrested the Wallabies’ run, and we saw two world class tries run in by Ma’a Nonu and Beaudon Barratt with conversions by Dan Carter that phase set the final score… 34 – 17. A fabulous fast running game, the best of Southern Hemisphere Rugby. In the words of former Wallabies captain George Gregan… “Four more years boys, four more years!” 😉

Across The Ditch broadcasts live each week on Thursdays on Australia’s radio FiveAA.com.au and webcasts on EveningReport.nz LiveNews.co.nz and ForeignAffairs.co.nz.

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Vanuatu Prepares For Drought While Recovering From Pam

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NewsroomPlus.com Contributed by UNDP A text messaging system which helped communities in Vanuatu recover from the devastation of Tropical Cyclone Pam, is also helping communities to prepare for the next potential drought disaster with the impending El Nino. IMG_0604To help Tropical Cyclone Pam-affected people keep their food supply safe, two separate pre and post-cyclone campaign Text messages were sent to 90,000 people around Vanuatu. In the immediate aftermath of Tropical Cyclone Pam, at the request of the Ministry of Climate Change and the Food Security and Agriculture Cluster, people were also asked to respond to a simple survey about their food supply situation. This  helped the Cluster collect data for recovery planning to then guide  government to distribute information and help to the communities most in-need. Text messaging (or SMS) of updates, hints and advice plus requests for food security information for remote communities, have been part of an ongoing campaign to assist the people of Vanuatu prepare, respond and now recover from Cyclone Pam. The campaign is being led by the Government of Vanuatu in a public-private sector partnership with Digicel Vanuatu and supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) through its Pacific Risk Resilience Programme (PRRP) and other partners. Mr. Mark Vurobaravu, Principal Agriculture Officer, Technical, for the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said, “the next stage of the campaign will be sharing information with communities most affected by the cyclone to help with their recovery and build resilience, and including a short text message quiz to test people’s awareness of risk-resilient agriculture.” “With El Nino looming, it’s important we also include messaging for drought preparedness”, Mr. Vurobaravu said. He added, “the Food Security and Agriculture Cluster just sent out an SMS, informing farmers and rural communities on the impending drought period and advising them to embark on resilient farming practices such as intercropping, mulching, simple cost effective irrigation techniques, and growing drought tolerant crop varieties,” “Key food security SMS messages were prepared for crops, livestock, forest and fish sectors and distributed through Digicel networks countrywide,” Mr. Vurobaravu said. To supplement the SMS campaign, “The Department of Agriculture has sent out El Nino adaptation messages in print leaflets for key food security crops.” “A key agriculture message advice to farmers is to quickly plant three-month crops such as maize, sweet potatoes and vegetables for fast recovery,” Mr. Vurobaravu said. The Digicel Head of Advertising and Media, Mr. Mike Worsp said “newspapers, and other mainstream media don’t reach about 35 per cent of the country, but many people have a mobile, which make them a very valuable tool in disaster situations” Prior to the Cyclone Pam campaign, two  other successful climate and disaster-awareness text message quizzes have been held, as a result of the leadership of the Government’s Ministry of Climate Change and the partnership between, Digicel Vanuatu, the UNDP’s Pacific Risk Resilience Programme (PRRP) and the SPC GIZ Coping with Climate Change in the Pacific Region (CCCPIR). PRRP works with Pacific Island nations and their people to consider the risks they face from climate change and disasters and include those risks in their routine plans for development. Communities can become more resilient to climate change and disasters if the usual routine of government, community and other planning takes these risks into account. This risk governance approach is delivered through a partnership between the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and international non-government organization Live & Learn Environmental Education (LLEE), and supported by the Australian Government. PRRP is being delivered in four countries: Fiji, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu. –]]>

Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: Libertarians against dirty politics

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Political Roundup by Dr Bryce Edwards.

Does New Zealand have an authoritarian political culture? 

[caption id="attachment_4808" align="alignleft" width="150"]Dr Bryce Edwards. Dr Bryce Edwards.[/caption]

Activists of the left and right are united against what they see as dirty politics from the New Zealand Police and Westpac bank. The Police and Westpac are accused of breaching Nicky Hager’s privacy, in what many believe to be a concerted state campaign to undermine an investigative journalist who has been a thorn in the side of the government. This debate and controversy was sparked by David Fisher’s news report, Police got Hager data without court order.

Fisher has updated this with a report today, Chilling details of intrusion into Nicky Hager’s privacy. This report suggests that the controversial use and abuse of personal information by the state and corporates is quite common. 

The alleged excessive use of state power, and Westpac’s willingness to abide by it, has been condemned by activists from across the political spectrum. This is a useful reminder that libertarian philosophies and concerns about civil liberties cut across the traditional ideological divide. 

The most prominent libertarian of the moment, Edward Snowden (@Snowden) even tweeted about the privacy breach to his 1.6m followers, sending them to a Radio New Zealand report, Police obtained Hager data without court order. 

Journalist Seymour Hersch, who also has a high profile globally, spoke out about the wider police intervention against Hager – listen to the Pulitzer-prize winning journalist’s 6-minute interview on Morning Report: Government’s treatment of Hager is ‘dramatically wrong’. 

New Zealand’s authoritarian political culture

On the right of the political spectrum, Matthew Hooton (@MatthewHootonNZ) was quick to condemn the bank for giving Hager’s information to the Police, saying “Don’t bank with @Westpac. Whatever you think of Hager, this is a fucking outrage”.

He wasn’t the only one on the right to come out on Hager’s side. Rodney Hide has a column in today’s NBR (not online), in which he strongly criticises the Police and the bank, but also draws a picture of a bigger problem in New Zealand political culture – deference to authority.  Hide says that “we are ready to do as we are told – and more than ready to dob in those who don’t. And when someone in authority wants something, we give it to them. No questions asked.” He concludes that the Establishment gets its way too easily: “Thanks to Mr Hager, we are reminded just how easily we are to govern.”

This is also a point well made by the NBR’s political editor, Rob Hosking, who argues that authorities should “have to justify themselves to citizens – not the other way around.  Citizens themselves need to remember this – and not seek to toady up to every authority figure that comes along” – see his column, Hager, toadying and the ‘company policy’ copout (paywalled).

Hosking’s wider point is this: “There is, as noted here many times over the past couple of years, a creeping authoritarianism from the current government – and, in fact, across the political culture, with government support partner the Maori Party, as well as Labour and Green parties, moving in more authoritarian directions.  It is not about – to use those hackneyed terms – ”right” versus “left.”  It is about, in the end, free citizens versus over-reaching, arrogant officialdom.”

Many of those on the right who oppose Nicky Hager are taking his side on the issue – for example, see Peter Cresswell’s blog post, Nicky Hager: Ugly man, ugly invasion of his property. Cresswell argues that the need for the Police to get warrants “is a small but valuable piece of due process providing all individuals some legal protection against abuse by the authorities”.

Libertarians of the left

Tweets from the left have also focused on civil liberties. For example, Chris Trotter (@BowalleyRoad) responded to the news by tweeting, “The covert cooperation of powerful institutions. Nicky Hager’s treatment by Westpac and Police is a wake-up call for every sentient citizen.” You can see more social media views in my blog post, Top tweets about the Police-Westpac breach of Hager’s privacy. 

A more in-depth critique comes from blogger No Right Turn, who strongly condemns Police procedures: “The police defend this practice as “just asking”, but that’s disingenuous. The fact that they wear a uniform and represent the state means that their requests are never just requests, but are instead by default viewed as legitimate demands which should be obeyed. And police exploit this obedience and desire to cooperate to the full – in this case, to demand extensive and intrusive information on a journalist (including his finances, his phone metadata, where he’d travelled and who with) in a purely political investigation aimed at uncovering and punishing someone for embarrassing the government of the day. Its a gross abuse of power.” – see: An unwarranted demand for information.

See also, Anthony Robins’ blog post on The Standard: Angry at Westpac.

Media freedoms defended

Many journalists and media organisations are also speaking out against the actions of the Police and Westpac, as well as defending Hager’s right to claim journalistic privilege against police raids. Press editor and Media Freedom Committee chairperson Joanna Norris has spoken out on the case, arguing that “Special consideration should also be given to journalists who may have an obligation of confidentiality to their sources” – see Vernon Small’s Nicky Hager seeking “full and frank” disclosure from Westpac over data release. Norris warns “every journalist could be investigated and their records released just because they had talked to someone who may have committed a crime.”

Vernon Small also condemns what has happened, saying it “should send a shiver down the spine” – see: Private data deserves greater respect than Westpac showed Nicky Hager. He explains: “It would be bad enough if the police had come seeking the records of a member of the public but it is more chilling still when it is a journalist, who relies on being able to keep his or her sources confidential and who will on occasions interact with people ‘of interest to the police’.”

And other journalists are weighing in. Dita DeBoni says “whether you like Nicky Hager or not, whether you agree with what he set out to do or not, there is something rotten about the way the police acted in the case – and something profoundly out of order about the way Westpac Bank rolled over” – see: Privacy right is not a right when not ‘right’.

See also, Rachel Smalley’s Hager’s info handover unacceptable. She says the Police-Westpac actions are “something that should make us all feel uncomfortable”.

Of course, some might think this is self-serving on the part of the media. Certainly that’s the view of Cameron Slater, who has responded to Vernon Small’s opinion piece with a blog post, What about respect for my privacy, Vernon?

Slater complains of a double standard: “Yes it grates, that they so willingly breached my privacy and yet cry a river of tears for Nicky Hager’s.” Furthermore, he says “The sanctimony and hypocrisy of the media to even take the side of Nicky Hager on this issue is unbelievable. Not a single journalist has asked me for comment as they write the pro-Hager pieces.”

Slater might have some support from journalist Karl du Fresne who recently asked: Can Nicky Hager really be called a journalist? Du Fresne has some praise for Hager’s work, but doesn’t think he qualifies for special legal treatment: “What he does is entirely legitimate and even praiseworthy in an open democracy, providing it’s done lawfully.  Hager’s books make an important contribution to informed debate and help voters make decisions on important issues, such as state surveillance and honesty in government.  But does that make him a journalist? I don’t believe so.”

Hager and Police awaiting judgement

Hager has challenged the decision to raid his house a year ago, taking the Police to the High Court. Justice Denis Clifford’s judgment on the case is due anytime now – in fact it was supposed to come out by the end of October. 

The decision could be complicated by a recent Supreme Court decision on another matter, which might put Hager in a more vulnerable position with the law – see David Fisher’s Court decision puts Hager back in frame. 

It seems that the Supreme Court’s decision about the definition of hacked computer files could make Hager’s claim of journalistic privilege more difficult to sustain, and could even lead to charges against him. According to Fisher, “Hager may face criminal charges over accepting the hacked material used to write the bombshell book”. 

For a background discussion on the Supreme Court decision, see Andrew Geddis’ blogpost, Dixon v R: An easy case that raises hard questions and also Anthony Robins’ Technology and the law – and going after Hager. 

But an editorial in today’s New Zealand Herald suggests that Hager should be safe, because even with the new Supreme Court decision, the journalist’s work was clearly in the public interest – see: Dirty Politics passes public interest test.

Here’s the key point of the editorial: “Putting aside political allegiances, the book did shine a light on aspects of the modern political world which had previously been in shadow. As a result, the public is better informed about the way our democracy operates.  The Supreme Court’s ruling suggests receiving illegally obtained email may be a crime.  On this basis, Hager’s challenge to the police search of his house may be harder to sustain. But since his book served a public interest, free speech should prevail.”

Finally, the court records from the Hager High Court case have now been made public – including an affidavit written by myself. These have all been published on the Scoop website – see Alastair Thompson’s Inside The Hunt For Rawshark – The Hager Raid Court File. 

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NewsRoom Digest: Top NZ News Items for October 30, 2015

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Newsroom Digest

This edition of NewsRoom_Digest features resourceful links of the day and the politics pulse from Friday 30th October.

NEWSROOM_MONITOR

Top stories in the current news cycle include the Government looking to begin formal negotiations with the European Union (EU) on a free trade agreement as soon as possible, the completion of the first phase of the investigation by the Chief Inspector of Prisons into assaults and ‘fight clubs’ at Mt Eden Prison and the Associate Transport Minister saying there is no need for an independent inquiry into the transport industry watchdog- the Transport Accident Investigation Commission.

Note: As well as providing a precis of leading broadcast bulletins each day, our NewsRoom_Monitor service does a daily paper round with succinct ‘news picks’ from the main metropolitan papers emailed by 9am each morning. If you’re interested in a free trial please email monitor@newsroom.co.nz

POLITICS PULSE

Media releases issued from Parliament by political parties today included:

Government: EU-NZ FTA has huge potential says Groser; NZ takes significant step towards an EU FTA; Welcome news for NZ’s social enterprise sector; Work continues with Australia on deportees; Feedback sought on better access to books for visually impaired; Proven leader to chair development company; Speech – Conference of Parties to the International Convention against Doping in Sport; Building consents top 26,000; New ‘Airline-style’ safety card for hospital patients; NZ welcomes China’s support for Ross Sea MPA; Eastern Bay of Plenty Children’s Team goes live; EPA to consult on GMO regulations

Greens: Poor transport planning holding New Zealand back

Labour: EQC accounts show surplus slipperiness; Government underfunding behind tragedy mistakes

New Zealand First: Opposes Government’s ETS Move On Farming; National Puts Roadblocks In Way Of Electric Vehicles; Mouldy south Auckland homes show WoF needed now; ‘Trophy’ Station Among Sales To Foreigners

NZ National Party: Bishop congratulates Hutt Valley Young Enterprise companies

LINKS OF THE DAY

Links of the day have been a feature of NewsRoom_Digest since we first started production in August 2014 at newsroom-nz.tumblr.com. 

We are currently building an archive of these at: http://newsroomplus.com/resources/resourceful-links/

BOOKS FOR VISUALLY IMPAIRED: A discussion document which seeks feedback on whether New Zealand should join an international treaty aimed at making more published material available for people with print disabilities was released today. For more information and to read the discussion document go to: http://www.mbie.govt.nz/info-services/business/intellectual-property/copyright/the-marrakesh-treaty

CLARIFY REGULATIONS: The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) has been requested to run a consultation on proposed changes by the Minister for the Environment on the wording of the regulations governing which organisms are defined as “not genetically modified”. Go here for more : http://www.epa.govt.nz/consultations/new-organisms/Pages/consultation-organisms-not-genetically-modified-regulations.aspx

EMPLOYERS WISH LIST: A Victoria University of Wellington survey has shed light on what employers across New Zealand are looking for when recruiting students and graduates.The survey’s Executive Summary is available online:http://www.victoria.ac.nz/st_services/careers/pdf/reports/2015-employability-skills-survey-executive-summary.pdf

EU-NZ FTA: Trade Minister Tim Groser today welcomed the announcement by Prime Minister Key and European Union leaders that both sides will embark on the next steps to enable negotiations on an EU-New Zealand FTA to begin as soon as possible. The joint statement can be found here: http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_STATEMENT-15-5947_en.htm

HOME BUILDING: In September 2015, 2,242 new dwellings were consented in New Zealand – up 257 (13 percent) from the same month last year, according to Statistics New Zealand. Read more: http://bit.ly/1kXpgWk

LIVING IN AUCKLAND: The University of Auckland has released its latest ‘Guide to living in Auckland’ to assist the thousands of students who will move out of home and into the city for tertiary studies next year.The Guide to Living in Auckland has been given out to first year hall residents and is available on the University of Auckland website at:http://ebooks.accommodation.auckland.ac.nz/students_guide_to_living_in_auckland/

METHODOLOGIES REVIEW: The Commerce Commission has today released a process update paper confirming the key topics and next steps for the input methodologies review. A copy of the process update paper can be found at:http://www.comcom.govt.nz/regulated-industries/input-methodologies-2/input-methodologies-review/

PARACETAMOL CONCERN: A research in the NZ Medical Journal recommends a “closer look at tighter age and quantity restrictions on paracetamol sales”. The article can be viewed at: https://www.nzma.org.nz/journal/read-the-journal/all-issues/2010-2019/2015/vol-128-no-1424-30-october-2015

PATIENT SAFETY: An ‘airline-style’ patient safety card and video was launched today for all New Zealand hospitals. A copy of the patient safety card can be viewed at: http://www.open.hqsc.govt.nz/patient-safety-week/publications-and-resources/publication/2333 and video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2IeCWoThU4&feature=youtu.be

And that’s our sampling of “news you can use” for Friday 30th October.

Brought to EveningReport by Newsroom Digest. –]]>

Journalism awards provide some solace

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NewsroomPlus.com Contributed by Adam Ring  If you’ve ever caught yourself lamenting the current state of local journalism, then the recent Bruce Jesson Foundation awards should provide some timely solace, and a reminder that journalism is alive and well in New Zealand. The awards, established in 2004 in honour of the journalist and politician Bruce Jesson who died in 1999, provide grants of up to $4000 in advance to complete works of “critical, informed, analytical and creative journalism”. This year the Bruce Jesson Foundation has awarded $3000 to Wellington-based Errol Wright and Abi King-Jones of CutCutCut Films for The 5th Eye, an investigation of the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) and its role in the global Five Eyes network. The other $1000 goes to Auckland journalist and lawyer Catriona MacLennan for a report on the feasibility of adopting the living wage at Auckland Council. The 5th Eye tells two stories in parallel – an investigation into the GCSB’s role in surveillance for the United States and its allies, and the 2008 break-in at the Waihopai spy base in Marlborough by three Catholic activists who successfully deflated a dome covering a satellite interception dish. Wright and King-Jones say the break-in was “a misadventure of sorts that saw the three almost fail in their mission through a series of mishaps and twists of fate”. The footage was shot over the past seven years, and the Jesson grant will enable the film-makers to complete the edit in time for a 2016 release. Catriona MacLennan’s report on the Living Wage aims to update a 2013 report on the feasibility of paying all Auckland Council workers and contractors at least the living wage – a pay rate high enough to support a couple with two children assuming that one parent works fulltime and one half-time. It is currently estimated to be $19.25 an hour. The minimum wage is $14.75 an hour. In 2013 the council paid 1544 workers less than the living wage. At the same time it paid more than $100,000 to 1500 well-paid employees, a number that has risen to 1920 this year. Wellington City Council has voted to support payment of a living wage both to contractors and employees but Auckland Council voted against a living wage. In presenting Catriona MacLennan with her award, foundation chair Sir Edmund Thomas said he was well aware of her writings in the legal area and her journalism “invariably set the highest standard”. The foundation has also given three Emerging Journalist Awards and $500 each this year to journalism students, all from Massey University in Wellington. They are: Pantograph_Punch Elizabeth Beattie’s story – available in full on Pantograph Punch.com – is a reflective account of her Nana’s struggles with mental illness, before the days of modern clinical and educational reform and understanding. A mix of observation and personal reflection, the writer grants us a rare, inside view of mental illness, seen from within a family unit. How it manifests in – and effects – each relationship, is a fascinating and moving story.

From early in my childhood, I knew my Nana wasn’t like other Nanas. She never did baking with us on weekends, or read stories to us, and she wasn’t allowed to look after us on her own. Instead, she would get up in a crowded Dunedin cafe and burst unexpectedly into song, her favourite choice being a quivering rendition of ‘Pokarekare Ana’. She would give impromptu speeches at public gatherings, and determinedly insert herself into formal photos of church elders. She once rang up a radio station and convinced the hosts that she was a former gold medalist in the Olympics. Once live on air, they only twigged something was amiss when she revealed to them live on air that she was well into in her seventies, and that she had a trapeze in her bedroom.
Marjorie Lusty spent much of her early life in and out of hospitals and asylums (including Seacliff Asylum – the institution that treated, and famously misdiagnosed, Janet Frame), struggling to find stability in a society that had yet to advance its understanding of mental illness and its treatment. Her relationship with hospitals and institutions, and treatment in general, was paradoxical, something common among sufferers of Marjorie’s generation.
In Nana’s time, people experiencing mental illness who were subject to compulsory treatment were consulted as an afterthought to treatment, if at all. From 1935-39, only 22.4% of patients were institutionalised voluntarily, and although the number of voluntary admissions had increased to 47.5% in the period from 1955–59, mental healthcare treatment was still very much in its infancy. As some indication of attitudes, the size of the institutionalized population formed around half of all in-patients in the country.
It is this paradoxical relationship – between sufferer and treatment – that is most revealing. The writer shows us a woman who on the one hand craves independence, creativity and freedom, but must, on the other, often retreat to the calm and routine order of in-hospital care to combat overwhelming and uncontrollable feelings.
But when overwhelmed, Nana would often choose the structure of institutionalised care, sometimes without advance warning. And so my mum’s memories of Nana as a parent are scattered with her disappearances: “She’d drive to Porirua Hospital and book herself in,” she recalls. “and I didn’t know her behaviour was abnormal, because I had nothing to compare it to.”
Through Elizabeth’s relationship with her Nana – who spent her later years living with the family full-time – we see how much the changes in treatment and understanding have effected people like Marjorie and their families. It’s a sad yet powerful reminder of how far we’ve come in treatment and perception. For more details on the Bruce Jesson Foundation visit: www.brucejesson.com –]]>

NewsRoom Digest: Top NZ News Items for October 29, 2015

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Newsroom Digest

This edition of NewsRoom_Digest features 12 resourceful links of the day and the politics pulse from Thursday 29th October.

NEWSROOM_MONITOR

Top stories in the current news cycle includes the Reserve Bank saying further interest rates are likely despite leaving the Official Cash Rate (OCR) on hold at 2.75%, KiwiRail making a plea for support from the government and public arguing that expenditure on the infrastructure is vital for the country as a whole, and a story in the NZ Herald that Treasury is advocating for new rules that would restrict the amount house-hunters can borrow according to how much they earn.

Note: As well as providing a precis of leading broadcast bulletins each day, our NewsRoom_Monitor service does a daily paper round with succinct ‘news picks’ from the main metropolitan papers emailed by 9am each morning. If you’re interested in a free trial please email monitor@newsroom.co.nz

POLITICS PULSE

Media releases issued from Parliament by political parties today included:

Government: Otago University council members reappointed; TIN 200 companies grow to $9 billion; New scholarship for European Union students; Bay of Plenty Action Plan for regional growth; New Community Corrections site opened;Bus Interchange officially opened; EPA decision on GMO welcomed;New rules for companies start today; Ōpōtiki Harbour Development receives Government support; NZ ranked second in the world for ease of doing business; Bay of Plenty Action Plan set to grow the Toi Moana Māori regional economy; Crime-funded lab screens 2000 drugs at border

Greens: Time to take a stand on Aussie human rights abuses; Auckland housing crisis costs families and distorts economy; Govt should side with Kiwi kids and ban junk-food vending machines; Christchurch needs more than just the new Bus Exchange

Labour: Truth needed on NZ involvement in people smuggling; Nats must stop delaying Opotiki Harbour;Commercial and recreational fishers pick up the slack;National must rule out loan-to-income ratios

New Zealand First:Aussie Banks Bonanza At New Zealand’s Expense

United Future Party:Dunne Speaks- Westpac’s strike against personal privacy

LINKS OF THE DAY

Links of the day have been a feature of NewsRoom_Digest since we first started production in August 2014 at newsroom-nz.tumblr.com. 

We are currently building an archive of these at: http://newsroomplus.com/resources/resourceful-links/

AMNESTY ALLEGATIONS: New evidence gathered by Amnesty International in a report titled By hook or by crook suggests that Australia’s maritime border control operations now resemble a lawless venture with evidence of criminal activity. View the full report here: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/ASA12/2576/2015/en/

BUSINESS RANKING: The World Bank’s Doing Business report ranks New Zealand as one of the best places in the world to do business. Click here for more: http://www.doingbusiness.org/reports/global-reports/doing-business-2016

BUSINESSES REACH 500,000: According to Statistics New Zealand, in February 2015, the number of businesses in New Zealand passed the half million mark for the first time. Read more: http://bit.ly/1LYTm2q

EDUCATION REPORT: The Ministry of Education released its annual report today. The report can be viewed at:http://www.education.govt.nz/assets/Documents/Ministry/Publications/Annual-Reports/MOE-Annual-Report-2015.pdf

EU STUDENTS: A new scholarship for European Union (EU) students that will allow them to study for a semester at a New Zealand university was announced today. Go here for more information: http://www.enz.govt.nz/our-services/scholarships

KIWIFRUIT INNOVATION SYMPOSIUM: The inaugural Kiwifruit Innovation Symposium in Mount Maunganui today showcases the leading science underway across the industry. Read more: http://www.zesprievents.co.nz/event?id=313 

KIWIRAIL REPORT: KiwiRail’s 2015 Annual Report reflects a year of recovery and consolidation for the company as it maintains its focus on simplifying and improving the business. For more information:http://www.kiwirail.co.nz/uploads/Publications/Continuous%20Disclosure%20Statement%20August%202015.pdf

LIVER CANCER TRIAL: The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) has approved an application to import for release a genetically modified live vaccinia virus (Pexa-Vec) for use in a multi-national clinical trial involving patients with a form of liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma). More details here: http://www.epa.govt.nz/search-databases/Pages/applications-details.aspx?appID=APP202601

ONE-PERSON HOUSEHOLDS: One-person households are projected to be the fastest growing household type in New Zealand, increasing from 390,000 in 2013 to 580,000 in 2038, Statistics New Zealand said. Go here for more:http://bit.ly/1Wiyhub

REGIONAL ACTION PLAN: The Bay of Plenty Regional Economic Action Plan, a set of key initiatives designed to lift employment, incomes and investment across the region was launched today. More information and The Toi Moana Bay of Plenty Action Plan summary can be found on the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment website:http://www.mbie.govt.nz/info-services/sectors-industries/regions-cities/regional-growth-programme/bay-of-plenty

TAIC REVIEW: The Transport Accident Investigation Commission has today published a review of its inquiry concerning the September 2010 parachuting aircraft accident at Fox Glacier. The review is available at:http://www.taic.org.nz/ReportsandSafetyRecs/AviationReports/FoxGlacierinquiryreviewupdate/tabid/289/language/en-US/Default.aspx

TIN REPORT: The Technology Investment Network’s 2015 Report reveals New Zealand’s TIN 200 companies collectively grew to $8.952 billion in annual revenue, a $600 million (7.3 per cent) increase over last year. The report can be purchased online from: http://www.tin100.com/shop.html

And that’s our sampling of “news you can use” for Thursday 29th October.

Brought to EveningReport by Newsroom Digest. –]]>

Across The Ditch: Wrap Before Rugby World Cup Final + Waiheke Is Lonely Planet’s Top 5 Destinations

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EveningReport.nz’s Selwyn Manning and Australia’s radio FiveAA.com.au’s Peter Godfrey deliver their Across The Ditch bulletin. This week: Final Wrap Before Rugby World Cup Final + Waiheke Island Lonely Planet’s Top 5 Destinations – Recorded live on 29/10/15.

The All Blacks have dominated almost all media this week after securing its position in the Rugby World Cup final. The Prime Minister John Key has become an unashamed groupie turning up in the dressing room after last weekend’s win over the Spring Boks and almost every game possible since the All Blacks won the 2011 World Cup. He’s been schmoozing All Blacks captain Richie McCaw, and Key appears to want the man on his team. Key has also offered McCaw a knighthood on numerous occasions. To date, McCaw has turned him down on both counts. McCaw is a bit of a hero over here, he has played in 147 All Black international games, and is still considered the best open side flanker in the world. To relax, the guy goes flying light aircraft around New Zealand’s Southern Alps! But legends aside… This final is going to be great. If Australia win, the Wallabies will be the first team to ever win the RWC three times. If the All Blacks win, they will be the first to win the RWC three times. No other team comes close. Since winning the World Cup in 2011, the All Blacks have won 47 games, drawn two, lost three. The most recent loss was to the Wallabies in Sydney a couple of months ago! All this theatre makes for a great clash between these two arch rivals. On Sunday morning, New Zealand will rise before the dawn, the country will grind to a halt as the game plays out. After the game, irrespective of the outcome, the malls will be empty, the roads bereft of vehicles. People may shuffle out for brunch at a cafe. If the All Blacks win, all will be good and grand throughout the land. Smiles will be exchanged. If they lose, the country will be in mourning, haunted again by those words muttered by the Wallaby captain George Gregan way back in 2003 when the All Blacks lost to Australia in the World Cup semi final. Back then Gregan said: “Four more years boys, four more years.” ITEM TWO: Auckland’s Waiheke Island has been awarded Lonely Planet’s fifth place in its top destinations. And we are all thrilled about that! Here’s why. (ref. NZHerald.co.nz)

Across The Ditch broadcasts live each Thursday morning on Australia’s FiveAA.com.au and webcasts on EveningReport.nz LiveNews.co.nz and ForeignAffairs.co.nz.

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ESFNZ: Protecting New Zealand’s rarest of the rare

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NewsroomPlus.com

Contributed by Zealandia

New Zealand’s most vulnerable native species have a new protector, with the launch this week of the Endangered Species Foundation.

ESFNZ2The Foundation aims to create a $30 million endowment fund for front-line conservation projects.

At the Foundation’s launch, Chairman Kerry Prendergast said New Zealand has thousands of incredible native species that are in real danger of extinction.

“There are more than 4000 species currently endangered in New Zealand, and only 250 of them are currently in conservation programmes. There’s a great need for this organisation, if New Zealand is to protect its most vulnerable indigenous species and habitats from extinction.”

Mrs Prendergast said the Foundation would focus on the “rarest of the rare”.

“It’s not just the pretty ones that need protecting,” Mrs Prendergast said. “The Endangered Species Foundation is committed to focusing support where it’s most urgent, rather than on what has the most public appeal.”

ESFNZ3
Endangered species: ESFNZ Chair Kerry Prendergast and Conservation Minister Maggie Barry with a very special tuatara. Almost invisible to the eye at the top of the Minister’s glove is a Maud Island frog.

Conservation Minister Maggie Barry launched the Foundation at the Zealandia Wildlife Sanctuary, and said that initiatives such as the Endangered Species foundation gave her heart for the future of conservation.

”It is not always just about raising money, raising awareness is at least as important, putting the right people in touch with each other, celebrating and thanking conservation leaders from all walks of life, and providing high-quality information that makes the challenge of managing these highly endangered species easier.

“It gives me hope for the future when we focus our attention on plants and animals, especially those that are the most critically endangered, and, along with DoC, we all combine our efforts and our talents to turn around the tide of threatened extinctions.”

The Foundation was conceived when Dr Mike Thorsen, a botanist and ecologist, and his father Neil Thorsen, an experienced manager of philanthropic trusts, were discussing how a shortage of funds hampered the conservation of endangered species.

“We thought ‘could we raise a million dollars for endangered species conservation?’ and we came to the conclusion it shouldn’t be too hard,” says Dr Thorsen.

In 2012 the pair started to put the idea into motion.

“When we started we just made one ‘small’ change to the original plan. We decided to aim to raise $30 million over five years instead of $1 million,” Dr Thorsen says.

“People and businesses saw the merit of the idea and now there’s a very diverse group who have pitched in to help. Today the public are being given the chance to themselves help to save a unique piece of New Zealand from extinction,” he said.

The foundation has already received more than $1million in donations, and is about to start fundraising in earnest assisted by a network of ambassadors. The work of the foundation is supported by companies and experts donating their time and resources.

“We have just a part-time support officer which ensures that nearly all money raised goes directly to conservation projects, with the fund administered by New Zealand’s most experienced fund managers,” said Dr Thorsen.

Neil Thorsen says that from his experience, the endowment fund will grow significantly over the generations.

As well as officially launching the foundation, the Foundation released a list of the ten most endangered species in New Zealand.

This list is the most comprehensive and up to date in the country.

“ESFNZ’s scientists worked with species experts and used the very latest data to provide what is the most accurate list available. The species in the list will, if nothing is done, become lost forever,” Mrs Prendergast says.

“In some cases it will cost less very little to save a species.  Donors have a real opportunity here to leave a legacy of a whole species for generations after you to enjoy.”

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NewsRoom Digest: Top NZ News Items for October 28, 2015

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Newsroom Digest

This edition of NewsRoom_Digest features 8 resourceful links of the day and the politics pulse from Wednesday 28th October.

NEWSROOM_MONITOR

Top stories in the current news cycle includes changes to funeral practices and customs being proposed by the Law Commission in its review of the Burial and Cremation Act, a new report on Asian migration that shows more people are choosing to live in provincial areas and the a poor environmental rating New Zealand has received from the OECD.

Note: As well as providing a precis of leading broadcast bulletins each day, our NewsRoom_Monitor service does a daily paper round with succinct ‘news picks’ from the main metropolitan papers emailed by 9am each morning. If you’re interested in a free trial please email monitor@newsroom.co.nz

POLITICS PULSE

Media releases issued from Parliament by political parties today included:

Government: McClay attends Pacific Trade Ministers Meeting; New eating and activity guidelines for adults; Minister encouraged by moves toward migratory bird protection with China; $24m redevelopment for Balmoral School, Auckland; Low income earners benefiting from finance partnership; Foss announces grant for veteran support services; $2.7 million for international education in regions and new markets

Greens: New evidence shows charter school experiment not working; New OECD environment report damaging for New Zealand’s reputation

Labour: Unprepared government scrambles to deal with deportees; Govt broadband not keeping up with business needs; Brownlee ignoring EQC allegations; Time to modernise role of Reserve Bank; NZDF stupid to reject Iraqi-born Kiwi; No excuses for building delays

New Zealand First: Pigs Not The TB Culprit Either; Key Can’t Cut EU Deal As TPPA Truth Emerges; Ministers Of Sport And Trade M.I.A. On Wellington Phoenix 

NZ National Party: Bishop selects Britnee Tapara for Youth MP role

LINKS OF THE DAY

Links of the day have been a feature of NewsRoom_Digest since we first started production in August 2014 at newsroom-nz.tumblr.com. 

We are currently building an archive of these at: http://newsroomplus.com/resources/resourceful-links/

ASIAN DIMENSION GROWS: The report Beyond the metropoles: The Asian presence in small city New Zealand examines the impacts of and trends of Asian migration in six areas: Invercargill and Southland; Queenstown; Nelson; Napier-Hastings; Rotorua; Tauranga and Western Bay of Plenty. The report is available at:http://www.asianz.org.nz/reports/report/beyond-the-metropoles-the-asian-presence-in-small-city-new-zealand/

COMPUTER SECURITY TEAM: The New Zealand Internet Task Force that it has launched a public funding campaign to build a Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT). For more information about CSIRT visit:http://www.csirt.nz/

EATING GUIDELINES: The Ministry of Health has released the Eating and Activity Guidelines for New Zealand Adults, which combines the ministry’s updated nutrition and physical activity advice into one document for the first time. To view the new guidelines document and other information in the series, visit:http://www.health.govt.nz/publication/eating-and-activity-guidelines-new-zealand-adults

ECONOMIES IMPROVE: Developing economies quickened the pace of their business reforms during the last 12 months to make it easier for local businesses to start and operate, says the World Bank Group’s annual ease of doing business measurement. Go here for more: https://www.openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/22771

FUNERAL INDUSTRY REFORM: The Law Commission’s review of the 51-year-old Burial and Cremation Act also recommends modernising how deaths are certified, relaxing rules around where some people can be buried and making it easier to open a privately-run crematorium. Read more: http://www.lawcom.govt.nz/our-projects/burial-and-cremation-law

FLAG VOTING: The Electoral Commission is calling on New Zealanders to make sure they are correctly enrolled and ready to vote in the first referendum on the New Zealand flag. People can check that their enrolment details are up to date at http://www.elections.org.nz

LABOUR FORCE SURVEY: Statistics New Zealand conducted a survey of the working-age population estimate of the usually resident, non-institutionalised, civilian population of New Zealand aged 15 years and over. Read more:http://bit.ly/1Mh04jD

OECD ENVIRONMENT REPORT: The OECD report, Environment at a Glance 2015 says New Zealand is the worst performing of all 34 member states in terms of the percentage of municipal waste going into landfills. The report is available at: http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/docserver/download/9715091e.pdf?expires=1445988348&id=id&accname=guest&checksum=A21B0FB9A6124656BA0949DDFF45952C

And that’s our sampling of “news you can use” for Wednesday 28th October.

Brought to EveningReport by Newsroom Digest. –]]>

Movember 2015 Kicks Off

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NewsroomPlus.com

Contributed by Movember Foundation

As the month of the Mo grows closer, Kiwi men are making last minute preparations to get a clean shave for November 1st, prepping for not just one – but two special occasions.

Richie McCaw's 2014 Movember EffortsOn November 1st all eyes will be on our men in black in the United Kingdom, but back on local ground, New Zealand men will be preparing for a battle of a different kind.

“It is extremely exciting to be celebrating 10 years of Mo growing in New Zealand this year. We would love for 2015 to be our best year yet so we can continue to support men in this country,” says Robert Dunne, New Zealand Country Manager for the Movember Foundation.

 Movember is the opportunity for people all around the globe to commit to making a difference for men to live happier, healthier and longer lives.

This year, 5000 Kiwis have already signed up at Movember.com, many taking on a workplace challenge, or taking part independently. Kiwi men call on friends and family to make a donation at their personal fundraising profile on the Movember website.

This November marks the 10th anniversary of Movember in New Zealand, with more than 100,000 moustaches grown since the campaign’s local launch in 2006.

Fresh after his efforts in the UK, All Black Brodie Retallick, will attempt to be one of New Zealand’s tallest Mos. The 2.04m tall lock has committed to growing his Mo, following in the footsteps of other famous rugby Mo Bros who have gone before him, including All Blacks captain and long time Mo Bro Richie McCaw.

“Our national rugby team has inspired some Kiwis to grow Mos over the years, raising awareness for a worthy cause in the process, and we’re grateful for their endorsement,” says Dunne.

Every bit of support helps in the crusade to stop men from suffering in silence and often dying too young – on average six years earlier than women. “Men are often reluctant to talk about the impact of significant life events and seek help if they don’t feel well. Movember opens up those conversations and aims to encourage men to be more vocal about their wellbeing,” continues Dunne.

Participation can also be in the form of the charity’s MOVE challenge, which encourages men and women to do 30 MOVEs in 30 days. Kiwi Mo Bros and Mo Sistas can take on this challenge together.

Whether it’s a workout one day, a game of ping pong the next, a walk to the shops instead of a drive or a month long bike ride, supporters find new ways to MOVE to support a healthy lifestyle. For Mo Sistas, MOVE is a way to do something tangible in the name of men’s health.

Click here to register nz.movember.com

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New Zealand Defence Force Sends Trainers To West Africa

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NewsroomPlus.com

Contributed by the New Zealand Defence Force

The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) is sending two instructors to West Africa to teach at a world-class peacekeeping training facility.

Under an initiative led by New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Lieutenant Colonel (LT COL) Helen Cooper and strategic analyst Erica Gold will be teaching a module as part of a Gender, Peace and Security Master of Arts programme at the prestigious Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC). They will also lecture on peace operations and conflict prevention at Ghanaian universities and spend a day teaching female officers from the Ghana Armed Forces, which has served in peacekeeping operations globally since the early 1960s.

“This training assistance is a meaningful and tangible peace and security initiative that reinforces New Zealand’s longstanding contribution to United Nations peacekeeping efforts,” said Air Commodore Tony Davies, Assistant Chief Strategic Commitments and Engagements.

“This also marks the first time New Zealand will be contributing to the peacekeeping programme of the Centre, which seeks to address the peacekeeping training requirements not only of Ghana but also of the West African sub-region and the continent,” he added.

LT COL Cooper, currently the Commanding Officer of the NZDF Youth Development Unit, deployed previously to Cambodia and East Timor. In 2011, she deployed to the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Lebanon as the Chief Military Observer, the first female to hold a command appointment at that level within the mission. Her work during the deployment earned her commendations from the United Nations and the Lebanese government. She is often invited to speak about women in leadership positions and her experiences as a peacekeeper.

Erica Gold, who works at Headquarters NZDF as a strategic analyst focusing on North Africa and the Middle East, has been leading the organisation’s research on the contribution of female military personnel to operational success. A former Regular Force soldier deployed in 2012 to Afghanistan as part of the Provincial Reconstruction Team, Ms Gold has provided training in this area to a range of audiences within the NZDF and Australia. Her research has also informed decisions relating to current deployments.

“New Zealand is second only to Sweden in the percentage of women we’ve deployed to operations and overseas. In a way, we are a trailblazer in this area,” Lt COL Cooper said.

She explained that when developing the training module, she and Ms Gold agreed that “we will talk about New Zealand’s experience rather than impose that this is how things should be done”.

An internationally recognised Centre for research on conflict prevention and peace operations, the KAIPTC has run over 230 courses for military, police and civilian personnel from over 88 countries and organisations in Europe, North and South America, Asia and Africa since 2003.

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Flightless Birds Soar At Two Of Wellington’s Top Attractions

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NewsroomPlus.com Contributed by Positively Wellington Tourism Wellington Zoo’s Kororā Little Blue Penguins will waddle their way into your affections in their new enclosure right in the heart of the coolest little capital in the world. It is home to a variety of animals including Kunekune pigs, bees, eels, Grand and Otago Skinks, Maud Island Frogs, sheep, as well as Kororā Little Blue Penguins. More than 5,000 visitors interacted with the animals over the opening Labour Day weekend.

Wellington Zoo Chief Executive Karen Fifield said Meet the Locals He Tuku Aroha was “a celebration of our country, our animals and our people”.
“We’re re-opening a large part of the Zoo that visitors haven’t been able to access for some time, and we’re thrilled that we can do it with Meet the Locals He Tuku Aroha.”
Minutes from the CBD, Zealandia also enjoyed a busy Labour Weekend with strong visitor numbers taking advantage of great weather to get in touch with nature.
But it’s their avian icon, the kiwi, which has overcome its shy reputation to become one of the stars of Zealandia Night Tours where visitors are almost guaranteed to see our national bird in the wild. Peak season for Zealandia’s Night Tours starts in November, with torchlight-lit tours every night of the week. The good news for nature night-lifers is that you’re guaranteed to hear, and have a good chance of seeing one of the flightless birds in the wild. Lead Ranger for Conservation, Matu Booth, says the impressive kiwi spotting success rate comes down to the skill of Zealandia’s tour guides. “They know where kiwi like to hang out and what they like to do when they are active at night. The guides have become very adept at locating them, even on the darkest of nights.”
Zealandia is home to the largest population of little spotted kiwi on the mainland. More than 130 of the birds roam free within the safety of Zealandia’s sanctuary valley.
Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency chief executive Chris Whelan says Zealandia and Wellington Zoo are two of the jewels in Wellington’s crown, but the city is also blessed with a glorious harbour, a green town belt and compact size. “There is a heart of nature on the city’s doorstep which allows locals and visitors easy access to an outdoor lifestyle – whether that’s enjoying the solitude of a bush walk in the green belt, tackling a mountain bike trail, or taking in all that Zealandia and Wellington Zoo has to offer.” –]]>

Into the present past: journey through Helensville

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Feature by Carolyn Skelton.

Journey to Helensville

Small town New Zealand, has never been totally isolated or disconnected from the wider world. Helensville is at the northern end of the western branches of the Auckland Transport bus lines.  Taking a trip there from Auckland city, reveals some of the vast rural-urban differences within greater Auckland.  I got the bus at Karangahape Road, near the Family Bar, where early twentieth century buildings meet 21st century leisure and commerce. The bus goes past the massive work in progress that is the Waterview Connection, along the north western motorway, which these days is continually under construction.  New lanes are being built at a higher level beside the existing lanes. The bus stopped at the Westgate Centre in Massey, also undergoing massive construction –  then went on through the semi-rural areas of Kumeu and Waimauku. AT bus drivers tend to be very courteous and helpful to passengers.  But as we entered the more rural terrain, a different kind of friendliness is indicated by the way the driver stopped to let off a young guy with a small backpack.  I think he was headed to Murawai. There were no bus stops there.  The driver told him to just wait on the side road and flag down a bus when it came past. It got more noticeably into farming country as we get closer to Helensville.  Then the bus did a circuit of Parakai, past the camp ground and hot springs (Parakai is the reversal of Kaipara, the 2 elements meaning the para fern as food: see Helensville Museum and Pioneer Village website). Helensville – a river runs through it… and a railway line Then, we are taken on into Helensville. It is very much a 21st century small NZ town; but one where the past continues to live a very contemporary context. It has the same kind of products as Auckland City on display in shops, one of the same supermarket chains, and the same kind of bus shelters. There are far less cars on the roads than on east coast small towns like Warkworth, giving a sense of a slower pace. The town sits beside the Kaipara River, the main means of transport until the first IMG_1191few decades of the 20th century.  The canoes brought the first inhabitants up the river into the area around the 15th century. Later came the Pakeha and with them the development of the timber and kauri gum industries. In 1862, timber miller John McLeod and his wife Helen built their home out of kauri and named it “Helen’s Villa”.   This was the basis of the town’s name. A local resident told me that they like Helensville as it is: non-touristy, and a bit scruffy – a bit hippyish.  This 2011 article describes it as “post-hippie”.  That article focuses on a lot of the commercial venues: the cafes and craft stores. But there is far more depth of history in the Helensville landscape. Helensville, history and screen productions: past into the present Ngati Whatua o Kaipara is a visible presence in the town, as I could see from signage on buildings as I walked up the main street, Commercial Road. Almost opposite the Ngati Whatua o Kaipara community building is the old Post Office IMG_1149Building.  This building moonlights as the Brokenwood Police Station in the Brokenwood Mysteries. Towards the end of the final episode (#8) to season 2 of the TV series, DSS Mike Shepherd drives out of the Brokenwood Police Station and turns right into Commercial Road.  In fact, he should have turned left to where he is next seen driving down Garfield Road, past what was once the Regent Picture Theatre.  I walked that route. This connects past screen history, with the more recent use of Helensville as a filming location. The theatre building, now a second hand shop, wears its faded glamour well.  IMG_1135There’s posters from movies past on display, such as those for the Titanic. Picture shows came early to Helensville. Mrs Mongomery travelled the Kaipara are with her carbide picture plant (Men Came Voyaging by C.M. Sheffield, 2011: 159). The Montgomeries were touring the Auckland region with the Kinematograph shows as early as 1900, eg  showing moving images of bull fighting and the Transvaal War. Perry’s Pictures showed films in the Helensville Foresters Hall, such as indicated by this 1912 newspaper article, featuring “Billy the Kid”. Later became the Star Picture Theatre, located, I’m told, at 20 Garfield Road, a couple of premises up from the Regent Theatre.  Stewarts Hall was built during WWI and later became the Lyric Theatre.  It burned down in 1939, and the Regent Theatre was built on the same site in 1941 (Helensville Heritage Study: Volume II The Register: for the Rodney District Council, 1994). On the opposite side of the road, beyond the wet muddy banks of the Kaipara, the IMG_1169aptly named Grand Hotel can be seen.  Beyond that is the Railway Station Museum and the Railway Station, itself a living museum piece.  I felt I was in a mid 20th century movie, or a Woody Guthrie song as I watched 2 men walking off down the railway tracks beside the silent railway carriages. I then walked along the Riverside Walkway, to the Helensville Museum, where I learned that many screen productions had been filmed in the area. Helensville featured as the town of Cobham in the 1980s TV series, Mortimer’s Patch. IMG_1168Helensville has always been linked to the wider countryside and world, through transport routes and the ever changing technologies of communication. It has a unique character and a rural, small town feel, while being far from isolated.  It continues to play a significant role in contemporary media.  ]]>

New Zealand scores four spots in Lonely Planet’s Best In Travel 2016

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NewsroomPlus.com If there was a list of publishers that love lists then surely Lonely Planet would be in the Top 10. Lonely Planet’s latest Best in Travel 2016  – billed as an annual collection of the best trends, destinations, journeys and experiences for the upcoming year – does the honour of choosing Auckland’s very own Waiheke Island as number 5 in its list of the world’s Top 10 Regions for next year (putting aside the question, is an island unto itself a region?).

Go Waiheke Island!
Go Waiheke Island!
New Zealand’s next win is that the Speight’s Coast to Coast gains second place on the list for Best Places to Test Your Survival Skills, with a compliment that the “the iconic 33-year-old event is … achievable for mortals … and the atmosphere is more fun-run than Iron Man” (excepting serious competitors one imagines). In other top placings Queenstown’s “funky Fergburger” makes it to number 5 on Best Burger Experiences, and in the category of the The World’s Most Extraordinary Sleepovers the Tasman region scores big with the Boot Bed & Breakfast. The copywriter scores big on that one too, with the commendation that “Looking like something out of a children’s book, the boot sleeps two, with a cosy Hobbit-meets- Beatrix Potter-meets-twee feel”. Feeling the twee?

TheBootBACK TO Waiheke Island

Here is Lonely Planet’s Chris Zeiher in full PR mode with Waiheke love: “A mere 35-minute ferry ride from downtown Auckland, New Zealand’s third-most densely populated island is a utopia of secret coves, beautiful beaches, rolling vineyards, luxury lodges and bohemian sensibilities. Affectionately known as the ‘Island of Wine’, Waiheke is home to over 30 wineries and some of the best boutique cellar door experiences New Zealand has to offer.” But wait, there’s more: “Waiheke’s bohemian and hippie past is not far from the surface and the island continues to have a thriving artistic community where over a hundred working artists ply their trades in disciplines such as sculpture, glass blowing, painting and woodwork. The island is an outdoor enthusiast’s playground, where mountain biking, sea kayaking and sailing can all be indulged”. And Chris isn’t out of breath quite yet: “Waiheke is an electric, heady mix set against a Buddha Bar soundtrack: fast yet slow all at the same time – there’s nowhere else on earth quite like it.” We can’t wait to read the testimonials for the regions that beat out Waiheke; namely the number one spot won by Transylvania, Romania, followed by West Iceland, Cuba’s Valle de Viñales, and Italy’s Friuli’s wine regions. Making up the remainder of the Top 10 regions list were The Auvergne in France, Hawaii, Bavaria, Brazil’s Costa Verde and … St Helena (described, by the New York Times no less, as the ‘Cursed Rock’ of Napoleon’s exile).

How would you rate these lists?

Lonely Planet’s Top 10 Countries to visit in 2016: 
  1. Botswana
  2. Japan
  3. USA
  4. Palau
  5. Latvia
  6. Australia
  7. Poland
  8. Uruguay
  9. Greenland
  10. Fiji.
Lonely Planet’s Top 10 Cities to visit in 2016 (bonus points for knowing the country, or region!):
  1. Kotor
  2. Quito
  3. Dublin
  4. George Town
  5. Rotterdam
  6. Mumbai
  7. Fremantle
  8. Manchester
  9. Nashville
  10. Rome.

How are these lists created?

Each year, the recommendations and celebrations in Best in Travel (206pp, full colour, 180mm x 145mm, paperback) are drawn from hundreds of ideas submitted by Lonely Planet’s staff, authors and extended community of travellers, bloggers and tweeters. Their suggestions are then refined by a panel of in-house travel experts, based on topicality, excitement, value and that “special X-factor”. Turkish delight: This year’s global sponsor for Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2016 is Turkish Airlines, who have provided a competition prize of flights to a Best in Travel destination. –]]>

Keith Rankin’s Chart for this Week: New Zealand Balance of Payments 1972-2015

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Analysis by Keith Rankin.

[caption id="attachment_7828" align="aligncenter" width="968"]Balance of Trade and Balance of Payments. Balance of Trade and Balance of Payments.[/caption] This week’s chart shows New Zealand’s trade and current account balances from 1972 to 2015. (Strictly, because the annual data is for years-ending March, the period covered is April 1971 to March 2015.)

The current account is a measure of international current receipts of New Zealand Inc. (households, government and businesses) minus current payments. Current receipts are exports of goods and services, financial income (mainly interest and profits earned by New Zealand residents), and transfers (essentially gifts).

(Note that NZ Inc. here means New Zealand as a whole as an economic entity. It is not a term infused with either pro-business or anti-business sentiment.)

While the biggest component of the current account balance is the balance of trade on goods and services, the biggest component of imbalance – by far – is the large and persistent deficit on financial income. The New Zealand current account has been in deficit – payments exceeding receipts – every year since the 1974 oil shocks. This deficit has been financed by what is loosely called ‘foreign investment’.

(Deficits are negative balances on the chart, and surpluses are positive balances.)

With the balance of trade averaging about zero over the whole period, New Zealand’s export receipts have been sufficient to pay for New Zealand’s imports. What has not happened, however, is net payments of interest and other financial income. Rather the ‘foreign sector’, which is New Zealand’s creditor, has consistently lent to New Zealand its interest payment obligations. Incoming ‘foreign investment’ approximately matches those interest payments and profits that flow out of New Zealand. New Zealand has not missed out on any enjoyment of imported goods and services on account of its financial obligations.

This implicit arrangement works to the satisfaction of both parties (NZ Inc. and its ‘foreign sector’ creditor). New Zealand maintains its high living standards by avoiding the usual debtor fate of having to produce more goods and services than it enjoys. And the foreign sector, which generally chooses to spend less than it earns, has an attractive outlet in New Zealand for some of its savings.

New Zealanders’ propensity to incur private debt – and to borrow to pay the interest – is a stabilising factor in the world economy. However, it’s only a small stabilising factor, given that New Zealand is only the 55th largest national economy in the world.

New Zealand has played this role because of the willingness of its banks – through monetary policy – to offer higher risk-adjusted interest rates to foreign savers than they could gain from most other savings’ outlets. The irony is that the post-1980s bias towards tight monetary policy in New Zealand is actually the main reason why money flows so easily into New Zealand, enabling an exchange rate that is generally overvalued, and enabling New Zealand to import substantially more than it would otherwise be able to do.

In the absence of these accommodating monetary policies – policies that accommodate high foreign propensities to save – the chart from 1972 would show current account balances averaging around zero, and with large balance of trade surpluses. New Zealand’s general standard of living – measured by average expenditure per person – would have been significantly lower had New Zealand monetary policy not played this unintended accommodating role. The offsetting cost to NZ Inc is the risk of a chronic-debtors’ fate.

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New Zealand Report: Rugby World Cup All Blacks V Wallabies Final This Sunday Morning

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New Zealand Report: Selwyn Manning joins Australia’s radio FiveAA breakfast team to deliver New Zealand Report, this week they dig into the form of Rugby World Cup finalists the All Blacks and the Wallabies – Recorded live on 28/10/15.

This has got to be the perfect outcome of the month-long Rugby World Cup tournament, with both the All Blacks and the Wallabies in the final. Consider this… there have been three major World Cups in 2015. Crick, Netball and Rugby. Australia and New Zealand have been in all the finals. Maybe this is New Zealand’s time to shine 🙂 It’s a statement on how good southern hemisphere Rugby is that all four teams in the semi finals were from below the equator: Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. Predictably the All Blacks V Spring Boks game was as they say, a real nail biter with the Spring Boks ahead at half time, and the All Blacks finishing the game with two tries, two conversions, and a drop goal to mount a two point 20-18 lead. The South Africans failed to score a try but booted their way into contention, capitalising on the All Blacks high penalty rate. And that penalty rate is the biggest problem with this All Black team. No one from the New Zealand team has really explained why the All Blacks have been giving away so many penalty goal opportunities to their opponents. It was a concerning pattern in the pool games, and it nearly lost the All Blacks a shot at the final when the Spring Boks exploited this weakness when in All Blacks territory. But the All Blacks are on form now, they are fast and probably the finest pack in the World Cup. And they are peaking at the right time. The All Blacks also have shown they do have the ability to shape the game-play and tactics to counter any opposition. Australia, while having outplayed all opponents so far in the World Cup, showed a few signs of being battle-weary last weekend. But then again, the Wallabies fired up and delivered when they needed to against a passionate Argentina on Monday morning. And you guys have amazing depth. Both the Wallabies and the All Blacks substitution-bench is arguably as good as the starting players and certainly better than most other opponents in this World Cup. Now everyone is focussing on Sunday morning’s final. The pundits this side of the ditch are predicting a fabulous game. It’s Australia and NZ’s opportunity to really show the northern hemisphere how this game should be played. No team in the world can play like our two countries. And both sides always turn it up a notch when that Trans-Tasman rivalry kicks in.

For the record, the NZHerald is ranking the top players as follows: (ref. NZ Herald) 1. Richie McCaw (All Blacks captain, Flanker) 2. Dan Carter (All Blacks first five) 3. David Pocock (Wallabies number 8) – The punters say your guy is unstoppable and will be key to creating a Wallabies win. The ABs will mark him totally. 4. Nigel Owens (the Referee from Wales). He is said to be the best ref in the game. 5. Bernard Foley ( Wallabies first five, solid goal kicker and a real revelation that is seriously concerning for the All Blacks camp) 6. Scott Sio (Wallabies prop. He’s a powerhouse and the All Blacks are watching carefully to see if he is match fit from injury) 7. Ben Smith (All Blacks fullback, this guy is world class under a high ball and in the kick-and-chase phase of the game) 8. Ma’a Nonu and Sunny Bill Williams (All Blacks second five players. These two world class players share the game with Nonu doing the damage in the first half and SBW coming in off the bench, injecting power into the centre-and-backline in the second half) 9. Matt Giteau (Wallabies second five, he has built huge respect on this side of the ditch especially through this World Cup tournament. The punters say he’s got the smarts to really turn the game) 10. Beaded Barrett – All Blacks utility, Barrett has intuition and superb handling skills in a fast passed game, injecting real energy into the phase play.

And then there’s the rivalry. Over here, Kiwis love to see our Aussie counterparts having a go. The NZ Herald has reported how the Aussie tabloid The Daily Telegraph headlined its front page calling the All Black Captain Richie McCaw, “The Richety Grub!” The Daily Telegraph said, this guy has been bugging Australia for years! (ref. NZ Herald ) Over here this man is God, even the Prime Minister wants him on his National Party team and keeps offering him Knighthoods. To date, McCaw says no to both. It’s going to be a great game!

New Zealand Report is broadcast live weekly on Australia’s radio FiveAA.com.au and webcasts on EveningReport.nz LiveNews.co.nz and ForeignAffairs.co.nz.

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NZ: Student newspaper condemns growing closed doors democracy

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Te Waha Nui editor Matthew Hutching. Te Waha Nui editor Matthew Hutching.[/caption]

AUCKLAND (Te Waha Nui/Pacific Media Watch): An award-winning student journalism newspaper has condemned growing secrecy about politics and state business, saying it is “increasingly stifling” freedom of information in New Zealand.

Te Waha Nui, whose print edition has won several prizes in the Ossie Awards annual student journalism honours in recent years, condemned the trend in an editorial.

Two front page stories also highlighted Chief Ombudsman Dame Beverley Wakem commenting on “tidying up” of government agency practices under the Official Information Act and the success of a four-year defamation case by investigative journalist Jon Stephenson against the NZ Defence Force.

Stephenson condemned the country’s “weakened media watchdog” and government obstruction as undermining New Zealand democracy.

Below in italics is Te Waha Nui editor Matthew Hutching‘s editorial. Hutching is a postgraduate student journalist with AUT University’s Asia-Pacific Journalism Studies paper.

Te Waha Nui editor Matthew Hutching wrote in the editorial:

“Having a distracted public enables these powers [government and public agencies] to conduct more public business behind closed doors, without complaint”. His editorial under the headline “What price information freedom?”:

For student journalists today, our professional horizon appears as a turmoil of doom, gloom, hope and excitement. We are graduating into a media world that offers new ways of telling stories and presenting information. 

But journalism is also unsure of itself. Media outlets are hampered by declining revenue from the advertising online exodus, and in the scramble to stay alive they have largely sacrificed quality news on the altar of website clicks. 

Society is changing too. People are busied by economic pressures and they don’t have time or energy for civil engagement. 

What’s weakening good journalism is that the government and public agencies know this. Having a distracted public enables these powers to conduct more public business behind closed doors, without complaint. And it is increasingly stifling the freedom of information in New Zealand.

Three court cases this year frame the state of freedom of information and the health of journalism. They reveal our increasing reliance on the final pillar of democracy – the justice system – to maintain our right to know.

The front page stories touch on these cases. Investigative journalist Jon Stephenson told an uncomfortable truth about the New Zealand Defence Force’s activities. This government agency tried to silence him by discrediting him. He succeeded however, in winning a settlement and retraction from the state. 

The second is Jane Kelsey vs Trade Minister Tim Groser, where a distinguished academic took a government minister to court for his blanket rejection of information requested under the OIA. The judgment found that the minister had disregarded the law.

In the judgment for this case, Justice Collins corrected the chief ombudsman’s decision to allow withholding information which was equally balanced with being in the public interest. 

Justice Collins said: “…if a decision-maker is in two minds when undertaking the test required by 9(1) o f the Act, then information should be released unless there is good reason for withholding it.”

The third case is one for which judgment will be revealed very soon. 

It is the outcome of a judicial review requested by investigative journalist Nicky Hager after police raided his home last October, confiscating documents, computers and other material. Regardless of the outcome, the judgment will cast light on the legitimacy of our state sector’s behaviour. 

The attitudes shown by government agencies in these three cases are chilling. They portray a government which is increasingly flexing its third-term muscle, to the detriment of a free and open society.

This year, AUT University students have encountered it firsthand as they faced persistent stonewalling from a particular government agency in response to official information requests. 

We have learned how to ask for information under the Act, what to ask for, and how to complain to the Ombudsman. It has given insight and trained us for a profession where official information is hard to access. 

Hopefully we’ll never have to go to the High Court for it. 

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