Fiji sedition cases stir concern in Suva but life goes on

September 2, 2015

Pacific Media Centre – Report – By Kai Ping Lew in Suva Despite trials of various individuals charged with sedition in Western Fiji, life goes on as normal in the capital city, Suva, the hub of the country. But beneath the surface there is some concern among businesses, students, and the public about the potential effects of any escalation of political unrest. Seventy people have been arrested in the Ra province on charges of sedition and inciting communal antagonism. Of those arrested, 43 were charged with undergoing military-style training for the formation of a Christian state. Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama has stressed to the public that sedition is a serious offence, and that the Fijian authorities will mete out justice to anyone involved. He added that the Fijian government could only serve the citizens if there was stability and confidence in its future. Opposition SODELPA leaders Ro Teimumu Kepa and Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu were quick to point out that Bainimarama himself seized power in 2006 through a military coup. This argument has been held against him by the opposition continuously in the years following the formation of Bainimarama’s government. Fresh start For some Fijians, the democratic elections last year represented a fresh start, especially for those who want to look to the future past the coups that have socially and economically devastated the country since 1987. “I think we just want to get on with our lives and let the government do their thing,” said second year University of the South Pacific (USP) student Sakiusa Volavola. Treehouse Boutique manager Sera Kasaqa was among the store managers who said their businesses were unaffected since they had loyal customers who continued to make purchases. Kasaqa added that business was going on as normal for the average Fijian consumer. Eagle Boys Pizza manager Niko Bulai said consumption had been constant and he was confident that the arrests had contained the issue. “Right now everything is normal. If they continued with what they were doing it may have affected our customers because they will be too scared to go around,” he added. He said if Fiji experienced political instability, the economy would be affected because it would hinder tourism. “Without tourists, there will be lots of workers laid off, there would be no jobs,” said Bulai. Badly affected Tourism, Fiji’s major revenue earner and largest source of foreign exchange, was badly affected by the 1987 and 2000 coups. The sector provides direct and indirect employment for an estimated 40,000 people, representing approximately 17 percent of the economy. Several business owners declined to comment due to the uncertain political climate and the sensitivity of the issue. For the student population, the expenses continue as per usual. “I can say that it doesn’t affect me because I will spend on what I spend, even if something happens,” said USP student Safia Nisha, who is in the second year of her business programme. “Being a carefree student [the arrests] don’t worry me, but if something happens then of course I will worry,” she added. Students closer to graduation are concerned about how potential political instability could affect their employment opportunities. Looking for options “Already at hand we have a situation where only a small percentage of graduates are hired. In the event of political instability, the number would decline,” said USP third year business student Joshua Autar. His colleague Christian Wendt agreed, saying he would have to look for options overseas. “I would rather stay in Fiji because my family is here,” said Wendt. “But if I didn’t get a job within a year of graduating then I would leave, probably to the United States where I have relatives.” Investment Fiji said 108 foreign investments worth over F$315 million had been registered in the first quarter of the year, according to Investment Fiji chief executive officer Godo Müeller-Teut. These investments where anticipated to generate 1473 jobs. Potential instability could affect foreign investments negatively as overseas investors raise concerns over the security of their assets. Lost growth Analysis by economist Professor Wadan Narsey showed that the 2006 coup cost Fiji four years of economic growth. He also compared the economy of Mauritius to the Fijian economy, both dependent on the same industries of sugar and tourism and on similar growth paths in 1976. The comparison shows how Mauritius has increased its economy five-fold between 1976 and 2014, whereas Fiji’s has only doubled. “Any instability is bad for the economy,” said the head of a major Fijian company who asked to remain anonymous. “It’s a pity that the dissent has happened in the Ra district, which is part of the region the government has singled out for aggressive economic expansion. Niklas Pedersen and Kai Ping Lew are postgraduate student journalists from AUT University on the Asia-Pacific Journalism course. They are in Fiji on a two-week internship with Repúblika Magazine and Wansolwara and will also file a series of reports for Pacific Scoop about their experience. Fiji PM warns ‘plotters’ –]]>

Keeping up with the neighbours and happiness

By Selwyn Manning -

September 2, 2015

NewsroomPlus.com Contributed by Motu It’s not just individuals who get a burst of happiness from doing better than their neighbours, it’s true across countries as well. Researchers at Motu Economic and Public Policy Research found that countries that raise their national per capita income also raise their average life satisfaction. Motu is a not-for-profit, non-partisan research institute and received funding for this work from the Marsden Fund of the Royal Society of New Zealand. “We examined data encompassing nearly 80,000 people across 27 countries and 19 years and found very clear results that if your income increases so does your satisfaction with your life,” said Arthur Grimes, Senior Fellow at Motu. “Interestingly, however, if your income rises at the same rate as the people surrounding you, then you don’t get the same lift in happiness. So we looked into whether people from rural areas or cities were happier and if it mattered what sort of country you live in. We also looked at whether people compared themselves with people in other countries,” said Dr Grimes. The study looked at OECD founding (developed) countries and countries that are transitioning into developed countries. The work did not have access for statistics in New Zealand. “Life satisfaction in most transitional countries (which commonly have lower gross national disposable incomes) is below that of most founder OECD countries (which tend to have higher gross national disposable incomes). Mean Life Satisfaction across Countries: In developed countries town and small city dwellers tend to be happier than those living in large cities. However, in transitional countries, people were happiest in large cities, followed by towns, rural areas and finally small cities. Mean Life Satisfaction by Settlement Type: “Our results indicate that people in relatively immobile areas, like ‘Old Europe’ and rural areas in transitional countries, worry about doing better than the people around them, while the larger population areas in transitional countries are more up and coming and worry less about how their neighbours are doing,” said Dr Grimes. The study shows that individuals’ life satisfaction rises as their personal income rises and falls as the incomes of similar individuals within their own country rise. “Most importantly, however, our findings imply that for any individual country, a rise in per capita income does raise average life satisfaction in that country. This means government can increase citizens’ wellbeing through supporting policies that increase the national income,” said Dr Grimes. The Motu working paper Relative Income and Subjective Wellbeing: Intra-national and Inter-national Comparisons by Settlement and Country Type by Motu researcher Arthur Grimes and University of Auckland student Marc Reinhardt, was made possible by grants from the Marsden Fund of the Royal Society of New Zealand and the Resilient Urban Futures programme of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. –]]>

Keith Rankin’s Chart for this Week: African Economy

By Keith Rankin -

September 2, 2015

Analysis by Keith Rankin. The flood of immigration into Europe is becoming the number one news story; and once again a story that few people seem to have a clue about. There are two main streams of immigrants, one from Sub-Saharan Africa by way of Libya and Italy. The other from south-western Asia – Syria through to Bangladesh – by way of Turkey and Greece. We tend to always assume negative images of African poverty and violence. This assumption seems to be affirmed by so many more Africans than ever before migrating to Europe in perilous circumstances. Who would choose to endure six hours in a leaky boat? At best their future is uncertain. At worst it is death. There are particular issues at present of civil war in South Sudan, and who-knows-what in Eritrea. And organisations with some affiliation to Islamic State have been active in Mali and in pockets of Nigeria and Cameroon. More importantly, Libya is no longer a place for people from south of the Sahara to wait and work. But that’s been so for three years. Yet these particular factors can only explain a portion of the growing flood of African migrants. This week’s Chart shows annual economic growth in what we once called “Black Africa”. It’s high, between 4% and 8% every year this century, much higher than in the west. From 2005-07 we see the high growth associated with large current account surpluses, indicating high export commodity prices. Since 2012 the balance of payments has been showing significant and increasing deficits. 5% annual growth has been funded by financial inflows from places like Europe and China, not by exports. The money is coming into these countries via different channels, and as debt rather than as income to the elite rich. It looks to me as if ordinary people in Africa are borrowing money to much a greater extent than in the past, and that this borrowed money may be financing, among other services, a migration industry. (Also, the migrants from southwest Asia also clearly have money; albeit borrowed money in many cases.) The African economic picture suggests that a combination of demand and supply is driving the new migration; not demand alone. Desperation for a better life is nothing new. The economic means in Africa to actualise a perceived better life – on a large scale – is new. –]]>

Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Unable to Access Rugby World Cup Games!

By Selwyn Manning -

September 2, 2015

MIL OSI – Source: National Foundation for the Deaf and Deaf Aotearoa New Zealand Rugby is the game of our nation and we love to follow it and support our boys in black! Imagine if you will, what it would be like if you cannot hear the voice on the television telling you how the game is progressing and have to wait for someone sitting beside you to tell you what is happening in the game? This is what will be happening to hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders because captioning access to any of the upcoming Rugby World Cup games is being denied to all who cannot hear broadcast television. The National Foundation for the Deaf and Deaf Aotearoa New Zealand are appalled and both Agencies call on Hon Amy Adams, Minister for Broadcasting and SKY TV to address this matter with extreme urgency as marginalizing many thousands of New Zealanders who struggle to or cannot hear television broadcasts of the Rugby World Cup games including the semi-finals and finals is unacceptable. The matter has also been referred by The National Foundation for the Deaf and Deaf Aotearoa New Zealand to the New Zealand Human Rights Commission with a request that they investigate. –]]>

Tony Alexander’s Sporadic Economic Analysis – Things Have Slightly Settled Down

By Selwyn Manning -

September 2, 2015

MIL OSI Analysis – BNZ Economist Tony Alexander – Analysis – Sporadic 18 – September 2 2015

[caption id="attachment_3709" align="alignleft" width="300"]

Tony Alexander, BNZ economist.[/caption]

Things have slightly settled down in sharemarkets (slightly), so here are some thoughts on what is happening in China, plus some comments on dairying and a reminder of the housing boom spreading out of Auckland into the regions – except Christchurch.

I’ve held off writing about the recent turbulence in the Chinese sharemarket and associated big falls in other markets until things settled down a bit – which they have to a slight degree for now. Compared with four weeks ago just before attention turned to the little-watched Chinese market, the Shanghai share index has fallen by 19% though it is almost 40% down from its June peak. The Dow Jones Industrials Index in the United States has fallen by 9% though is 13% off its peak in May. Compared with a year earlier the Shanghai index is up 40% and the US index down by 6%. The fall in Chinese share prices including a 1.2% decline yesterday has brought forth much talk of a crash, China’s economy heading into recession, everyone who talked positively about exporting to China in recent years getting their comeuppance, and the NZ government having messed up by letting exporters sell to such a wobbly country. Here are some points to clarify things in no particular order of importance. Hopefully they will leave you better informed than the bulk of people appear to be currently.

1. When the Shanghai share index rose by 110% between November 2014 and June this year no-one wrote in our media or media anywhere else that China was clearly booming and we would soon be growing at a 5% pace. The Chinese market’s rise attracted little attention outside China, and it happened when the Chinese economy was slowing down. There is minimal connection between the Chinese sharemarket and the Chinese economy. The rise was simply driven by a combination of people shifting funds away from failing housing markets following revelations of over-supply and new investment restrictions along with falling house prices. Plus the authorities encouraged people to invest, then to borrow and invest, in shares. Very little Chinese household wealth is held in shares. 2. Our own sharemarket rose by only 7% during the period when the Shanghai index gained 110%. We are not much correlated. 3. Many in the West have been waiting for the Chinese economic boom to collapse since 1978. Thus there is glee in many quarters about falling share prices and the panicked moves by officials to try and stem rises, now including arresting people who predict price weakness. This coverage has helped prompt acceptance that China’s good days are over. But all such views have been wrong for three and a half decades now. 4. Muchasmanyhaveover-emphasisedweaknessintheChineseeconomy,thecountrynonethelessdoes have many problems. The biggest one is that with rising costs, excess production, and over-investment, China’s economy can no longer rely upon growth coming mainly from exports, manufacturing, and fixed asset construction. Eventually growth will be 65% (rather than the current <40%) driven by household consumption. But householders continue to save earnings and although retail spending is rising over 10% a year this is not fast enough to take up the slack left by other sectors weakening. China is stuck in an interim period between growth drivers and one cannot know how long it will last. The problem is made worse by weakness in house prices caused by excess construction, plummeting property development sapping revenue flows to local governments and making worse their high debt burdens, and high debts owed by developers exposing China’s banking system to potentially large losses.

However, while five cuts in interest rates have yet to have much impact, there is still near 4.5% worth of rate cuts which can be made if the Chinese economy slows precipitously. Fiscal coffers in Beijing also remain good, and as Japan has shown, when your debt is largely internally financed you can keep building more and more concrete and steel things to underpin growth for a great number of years. The difference with Japan is that China has massive household consumption growth to eventually come. Japan does not. China’s cheap labour/internal migration/infrastructure boom has ended and the economy will undergo adjustment issues for some time. This will place a cap on growth in Asia more widely, Australia, and here. But the size of China’s market will continue to grow and rising middle incomes particularly leave still valid the prevalent commentary in recent years regarding rising demand for safe food of good quality and other such goods and services including tourism. 5. New Zealand is a commodity exporter and we sell our largely unprocessed products to the highest bidder. China has been that bidder in recent years. To have expected dairy and other farmers to have accepted lower incomes since 2009 in order to altruistically spread NZ Inc. export risks over a wider base in the interests of supporting the entire community is ridiculous. 6. As highlighted in Sporadic 16 released on July 30, while weakness in dairying is highly negative for our economy, plenty of other sectors are doing well. Our BNZ Confidence Survey released yesterday http://tonyalexander.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/BNZ-Survey-Results-September-2015.pdf revealed plenty of non-dairy exporters reporting higher sales following the recent fall in the NZ dollar. E.G. “A very busy first five months of the financial year, and international sales greatly assisted by falling NZD. Some growth in Flexible Packaging with drop in NZD… NZ$ depreciation has helped; at these exchange rates we secure more global (offshore) work than we can cope with. Also exchange rate is favourable and some competitors have dropped the work rights so we are flavour of the month in some markets. …tight in NZ but lots of opportunities off shore helped by exchange rate Weaker exchange rate having a very positive impact.” And so on. Recession for NZ resulting from dairy and China weakness is still a low probability scenario – though one would be foolish to rule it out given the developing El Nino weather pattern and much uncertainty still surrounding the Chinese economy.

7. On a couple of other issues, China is not the sole source of downward pressure on our dairy export prices, which even after the 10.9% rise in last night’s limited supply auction still sit 32% down from early-March levels and 58% below their peak.

The long list includes these factors.

Higher production to come from Europe as a result of production caps ending in April.
Higher production to come from the United States because of cheaper oil causing lower prices forbiofuels causing lower demand for biofuel inputs causing lower input costs for beef and milk feedlots.
Higher production in any country in the world able to run cows because we are not the only onesclever enough to see the rising demand coming from China’s increasingly wealthy families.
Falling demand from OPEC countries hit by weak oil prices.
Rising production in New Zealand (though falling this season) and the never-ending focus on bulkmilk production, drying and bagging rather than adding value.
Russia’s ban on imports of Western food products (though we are excluded).
High dairy stocks in China – though no-one seems to know how high.

8. The other issue I wish to mention is the growing volume of evidence regarding housing strength shifting away from Auckland to the regions – all of them it seems except Christchurch which is now over-supplied with houses and facing weaker than expected CBD construction.

Note not just the 30% deposit requirement for Auckland investment property purchases from November 1 plus the requirement for all foreign buyers to supply an IRD number and the imposition of capital gains tax for all investment properties sold within two years of purchase. Two days ago IRD invited submissions on their plan to introduce in July next year a withholding tax on all sales of property by foreigners at the lesser of 10% of the purchase price or 33% of the profit. Plus annual Auckland dwelling consent numbers have now reached a ten year high of 8,530 and every fortnight seems to bring announcements regarding more land being freed up. The Auckland shortage will persist for many, many years. But the period of easy gains has ended now and for the next two years prices will rise at a less stellar rate than the 20% or so achieved in the past year. 9. Expect to see the Reserve Bank add further fuel to the nationwide housing market with a 0.25% official cash rate cut on September 10, then another one in late-October. If they cut beyond that it will be because things largely international will be turning out worse than we are currently expecting. But watch for additional delaying of the planned easing of LVR rules outside Auckland. The RB are probably right now wishing they never mentioned the regional easing back in May.

If I Were A Borrower What Would I Do? Our central bank is unlikely to raise interest rates for quite some time which suggests floating is good. But floating rates sit above short-term fixed rates so my best option would be to fix in the one to three year area. Personally I like our two year rate at 4.69% though would ask to see if I could get the three year rate below 5% which I have noted as desirable since February. For full analysis including graphics: Download document pdf 460kb

— Sporadic 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. 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

This publication has been provided for general information only. Although every effort has been made to ensure this publication is accurate the contents should not be relied upon or used as a basis for entering into any products described in this publication. To the extent that any information or recommendations in this publication constitute financial advice, they do not take into account any person’s particular financial situation or goals. Bank of New Zealand strongly recommends readers seek independent legal/financial advice prior to acting in relation to any of the matters discussed in this publication. Neither Bank of New Zealand nor any person involved in this publication accepts any liability for any loss or damage whatsoever may directly or indirectly result from any advice, opinion, information, representation or omission, whether negligent or otherwise, contained in this publication.

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Fonterra Activate: Bringing tech innovation to dairy farms

By Selwyn Manning -

September 1, 2015

NewsroomPlus.com Contributed by Fonterra Fonterra is pushing on with a business relationship with digital innovation start-up company Job Done after they won an idea pitch yesterday at GridAKL, in Auckland’s innovation precinct. Seven teams representing Icehouse, Spark Ventures and BBDO spent a month developing prototypes at their own cost with a view to securing future services with the Co-operative to help farmers save time and money. The seven ideas were pitched to a judging panel made up of Fonterra farmers and staff, and consisted of:

Job Done, mentored by the Icehouse: a workforce management and productivity focused app under development by farmers for farmers. .
Pastoral Robotics, mentored by the Icehouse: aims to transform unwanted, environmentally harmful nitrate leaching and greenhouse gas emissions into more grass and more profit for dairy farmers. .
Old Yellow, mentored by the Icehouse: optimises feed inputs for dairy farmers and create a farmer to farmer marketplace that provides easy access to best quality feed at competitive prices. .
Senapps Technologies, mentored by the Icehouse: a smart monitoring service that collects data on traditional farm systems and devices and then uses analytics to understand the trends, patterns and anomalies. .
Proximity NZ, BBDO: absorbs the day-to-day challenges and processes for farmers, with particular focus around automation, knowledge and resources. .
Spark Ventures: Qrious pasture growth is a web application driven by climate input data. .
Map of Agriculture: building software to be able to create insights from collaborative benchmarking to create real actions from it.

Pitch winner Job Done was mentored by Icehouse and founded by Manawatu farmer Nigel Taylor.

Farmer Nigel Taylor of Job Done with Fonterra Group Director Co-operative Affairs Miles Hurrell

They presented their new workforce management and productivity app that allows farmers to track their workers’ location in real time using GPS. This helps with compliance and replaces the need for paperwork such as timesheets. Each venture worked alongside a Co-operative farmer who gave practical and honest feedback to guide and shape the ideas and concepts. Fonterra farmer Olin Greenan said the winning app had great promise. “Having more instant information and data available for my farm will definitely help me run a more efficient operation,” says Mr Greenan. “Some of the really important things such as compliance, environmental and employment regulations take a lot of time to track and manage. Time is very precious for farmers.” Judge and Fonterra Group Director Co-operative Affairs Miles Hurrell welcomed the opportunity to bring more innovation to the farm. “Our brief was simple, look for new ways to help farmers with their businesses by reducing input costs, improving profitability and saving time,” says Mr Hurrell. “Fonterra Activate is about exploring solutions that deliver benefits to all Co-operative farms, quickly and cost effectively.” “Job Done has a really strong idea that looks incredibly promising for helping our farmers save time and money.” All attendees were also invited to vote in a People’s Choice Award, won by Proximity with their Dairy 360 smartphone app. Their solution connects with Fonterra’s existing app Fencepost and helps farmers manage workflow and chip away at the overwhelming tasks such as paperwork. Fonterra is hoping the Fonterra Activate initiative will become a regular event, bringing continuous innovation to the farm. “I’m up for getting my hands on anything which provides more assurance that dairy products made from my milk are made to highest industry practices,” says Mr Greenan. Read more about Fonterra Activate here: fonterraactivate.com –]]>

Fiji Report: A day on the job at the Wansolwara newspaper

By Selwyn Manning -

September 1, 2015

Pacific Media Centre Pacific Scoop: Comment – By Kai Ping Lew Started work yesterday at Wansolwara, the award-winning University of the South Pacific student newspaper, and met with the team of co-ordinators of the regional journalism programme in Fiji. Tried to get our wi-fi sorted out, but no luck. I found the journalism students really helpful in getting me settled in, and really friendly. Some of them were really passionate about the ideals of journalism, doing it as a public service, and the need to do it well. I could relate to that. I spoke to Shailendra Singh, who is the co-ordinator of the Journalism Programme at USP. I wanted to understand why he chose to work here at the university in Fiji. He told me that he prefers the way of life, the people, the mannerisms. It’s familiar and it’s something that he’s grown up around. He moved his family overseas to Australia, but for himself, he chose to continue to work in Fiji, where he says many interesting things are happening. It’s a struggle many Fijians face, as the educated portion of the population moves away in search of a faster-growing economy. It’s an issue that splits many families, as the ones who are able to find employment go abroad to greener pastures. Escape dynamics It’s something I can also understand, as part of a family who is in the middle of migrating to Australia to escape the very same dynamics happening in Fiji – racial inequality, government corruption, and economic stagnation. Yet the fact that he could have moved abroad but chooses to stay in Fiji, to educate the young journalists who will play a part in shaping the path of the country while it makes its slow, meandering way… I find that selfless, and worthy of respect. For me, it sits perpendicular my intention not to be a journalist in Malaysia, where media freedom is suppressed and journalists risk much for a poorly-paid job. On the other hand, Shailendra may not be a journalist, but he has chosen to stay with this developing country, nurture it even as it works its way through its growing pains. Running away, avoiding something is easy, but it takes real perseverance and tenacity continue to pursue the ideal of accountability journalism, despite the barriers placed in the way by the governments. And it is arguably in the areas where press freedom is suppressed the most where the stories need to be told, because if the government had nothing to hide, they would have no reason to fear transparency. For me, it’s hard to balance this continuum of wanting to be an accountability journalist, yet also wanting to be able to do so in an environment where my personal safety is not at risk from the very institutions meant to be protecting it. Niklas Pedersen and Kai Ping Lew are postgraduate student journalists from AUT University on the Asia-Pacific Journalism course. They are in Fiji on a two-week internship with Repúblika Magazine and Wansolwara and will also file a series of reports for Pacific Scoop about their experience. Kai Ping Lew’s Fiji blog –]]>

NewsRoom Digest: Top NZ News Items for September 1, 2015

By Selwyn Manning -

September 1, 2015

This edition of NewsRoom_Digest features 13 resourceful links of the day and the politics pulse from Tuesday 1st September. NEWSROOM_MONITOR Top stories in the current news cycle include the four designs for the alternative New Zealand flag being revealed- three feature a silver fern and one a koru, new $5 and $10 bank notes being set for circulation next month and Prime Minister John Key deferring any move for New Zealand to revisit its refugee intake until a scheduled review next year . 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: Bids open for Ultra-Fast Broadband expansion; Update on recovery in storm-affected regions; Extra $2.6m support for storm-affected regions; New chiefs of Army and Navy announced; Fifth Children’s Team goes live in Hamilton; Government Grant For East Coast Stream Restoration; Appointment of Judge of the Court of Appeal; Key to unlocking Tauranga congestion underway; Red tape reduced for veterans; Court rules changed to support family violence information sharing; Air New Zealand – Air China alliance authorised Greens: Protect bees from pesticides this spring; John Key once again wrong on refugee numbers Labour: Government must do more to help global refugee crisis; New figures show speculators rampant New Zealand First: Goodbye Publicly Funded R&D As Chinese Eye Silver Fern Farms; Apology accepted; Barriers to Salisbury School enrolment must come down United Future Party: Dunne Speaks – Government has got Refugee Stance Wrong 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/ 4 ALTERNATIVE FLAGS FOR REFERENDUM: The Flag Consideration Panel announced today the four flag designs that eligible voters will rank in the first binding postal referendum this year, between 20 November and 11 December. Go here to view the four flags: https://www.govt.nz/browse/engaging-with-government/the-nz-flag-your-chance-to-decide/ ANTI-DUMPING LAWS: The New Zealand Government has announced that it intends to amend the Dumping and Countervailing Duties Act 1988, to introduce a bounded public interest test but not an automatic termination period. Read more here: http://www.bellgully.com/resources/resource.04051.asp DAIRY LIFTS TERMS OF TRADE: The merchandise (goods) terms of trade rose 1.3 percent in the June 2015 quarter, due to export prices rising more than import prices, Statistics New Zealand said today. This rise follows a 1.2 percent rise in the March quarter. More information is available at:http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/industry_sectors/imports_and_exports/OverseasTradeIndexesPricesAndVolumes_HOTPJun15qtr.aspx EAST COAST STREAM RESTORATION: An $89,700 grant from the Community Environment Fund for the restoration of the Whangawehi stream on the Mahia Peninsula was announced today by Environment Minister Dr Nick Smith during a visit to the catchment. Further information on the Fund is available at:www.mfe.govt.nz/more/funding/community-environment-fund KIWISAVER: A survey of New Zealanders approaching retirement has found one in four people are unsure of how to manage the money in their KiwiSaver funds when they reach 65. Click here for the survey:http://fma.govt.nz/news/reports-and-papers/research-papers/fma-and-cffc-survey-into-older-nzers-planning-and-expectations-for-and-experiences-of-retirement/ MĀ TE REO FUNDING ROUND EXTENDED: Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori, the Māori Language Commission, is extending this year’s Mā te Reo Funding Round for another week, with applications now closing Monday, 14 September 2015 at 10am. Language funding is provided across the three categories: Community events; Language resources; and Language courses. Registration to the Fund can be completed at:http://ww.funding.tetaurawhiri.govt.nz MAUNGATAPU UNDERPASS PROJECT IN TAURANGA: The first sod on the $45 million Maungatapu underpass project in Tauranga today, bringing the $100 million Hairini Link one step closer to completion. For more information on the project click here: http://www.nzta.govt.nz/projects/hairini-link/ MONETARY POLICY: From next year, the Reserve Bank will let go one chance each year to meet and set interest rates. That means the Reserve Bank could easily fall behind the run rate on the interest rate settings required to manage the economy. Read more on what NZIER (New Zealand institute of Economic Research) has to say here:http://nzier.org.nz/publication/speed-dating-central-bank-style-nzier-insight-52 NEW BANKNOTES LAUNCHED: The Reserve Bank today launched the first two denominations in a series of new banknotes that include new security features. Take the banknote for a spin at this interactive websitehttp://www.brightermoney.co.nz SPECIAL LICENCES REGIME: LGNZ and its member councils across New Zealand have confirmed support for the intent of the Bill passed in Parliament last week, to extend the licensing hours of businesses during the 2015 Rugby World Cup. A copy of LGNZ’s submission on the Bill is available here: http://www.lgnz.co.nz/assets/Uploads/LGNZ-Submission-RWC-Bill.pdf TOP SAFETY PICKS FOR USED CARS: Kiwi motorists have a fresh set of information to assist them in assessing the safety of their next used vehicle with the release of the 2015 Used Car Safety Ratings guide today. The report is available at : http://www.aa.co.nz/assets/motoring/pdf/individual-pages-2015-16.pdf?m=1440993851%22%20class=%22type:{pdf}%20size:{353%20KB}%20file VETERANS RECEIVE SUPPORT: Veterans will soon find it easier to claim their recreational travel concession. From December 7, eligible veterans can claim up to $200 per year for travel costs by filling out a statutory declaration, rather than keeping track of numerous receipts. For more information:http://www.veteransaffairs.mil.nz/resources/information-sheets-and-forms/claiming-for-travel-concession-html/ WILDLIFE SANCTUARIES: An international research team led by University of Otago scientists has documented prehistoric ‘sanctuary’ regions where New Zealand seabirds survived early human hunting. The team’s findings have been published this week in the leading international journal Molecular Ecology available at:http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/mec.13338/abstract And that’s our sampling of “news you can use” for Tuesday 1st September 2015. Brought to EveningReport by Newsroom Digest. –]]>

Cambodia offers more bad news in wake of Canberra’s asylum seeker gag

By Selwyn Manning -

September 1, 2015

Pacific Media Centre The Border Force Act is the most recent in a number of draconian Australian laws surrounding the treatment of refugees in the Republic of Nauru. Asia-Pacific Journalism reports on the asylum seekers crisis. Pacific Scoop: Report – By Matthew Hutching After receiving four of Australia’s Nauru-based refugees in April, Cambodia has said it has no plans to resettle any more. The announcement was made on Friday when Cambodia’s Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak told the Cambodia Daily: “We don’t have any plans to import more refugees from Nauru to Cambodia.” It is the latest in a string of bad news for Australia’s refugee management strategy. The nation, which has a policy to never resettle any asylum seeker arriving by boat, brought the Border Force Act into law in June. The Border Force Act threatens to imprison anyone working for the Department of Immigration who discloses information that they witness in their work. Former Nauru aid worker James Harris says this threat includes people like himself and anyone else contracted to work in detention centres. He said the Act is an attempt to stop doctors and aid workers telling the media about anything they have seen on Nauru. “A number of people were abused and it was reported to staff,” he said. ‘Children abused’ “Those staff used internal reporting structures, but nothing happened. Children who had been abused were still in the same situation. So finally 10 staff went to the media with it because all other channels were exhausted. “The internal reporting structures have proved not to work. Now under the Border Force Act it would’ve been an imprisonable offence for those same 10 people to go to the media with what they’d witnessed.” The Act is the most recent in a number of draconian laws surrounding the treatment of refugees in the Republic of Nauru. The small island nation’s government, which Harris says is essentially a puppet of the Australian government, has recently raised the price of a journalist visa to A$8000, and banned Facebook, among other websites, saying it was a crackdown on pornography. Harris had a personal experience of being under surveillance when he posted privately on Facebook after the Nauru riot in July 2013. “I posted a Facebook status that I knew was within the scope of what I was allowed to say under the Department of Immigration deed poll I had signed, which restricted me sharing information about Nauru. “I posted an article about the riot and said I was still in Nauru and would continue to work with the asylum seekers. I finished the status with ‘a riot is the language of the unheard’, a quote from Martin Luther King Jr. ‘Watching me’ “Two hours after posting, I was pulled out of the compound by a Salvation Army manager. I was told that the Department of Immigration and Citizenship had found my Facebook status and wanted me to know that I am “not being dismissed at this stage” for the post but that they wanted me to know that they were watching me. “I was advised to remove the Facebook status, which I did. I later found a screenshot of that Facebook status in the downloads folder of a Salvation Army work computer.” Harris told his story in a submission to the Senate Select Committee on allegations relating to conditions and circumstances at the Regional Processing Centre in Nauru. The submissions have revealed a lot of alleged abuse of asylum seekers from contractors Wilson Security and Transfield Services Ltd. In a submission on August 19, former Wilson security staff member Stuart Anthony Thompson said: “I was a staff sergeant in the South African police during and after the apartheid era and I can honestly say, hand on heart, that I have never witnessed the injustice and ill-treatment of human beings that I witnessed at Bravo Camp, RPC Nauru.” James Harris says the Australian government wants Nauru to be a deterrent. “They want people to choose to go home. But department statistics say nine out of 10 who come to Australia by boat are genuine refugees. So nine out of 10 cannot return. “You have a situation where they’re pushing people to breaking point so that they’ll make that choice to return. The nine out of 10 are really vulnerable and cannot return so there are not any options once they hit breaking point. ‘Suicide attempts’ “Things like self-harm and suicide attempts are pretty regular. That was your average day. And even minors that were self-harming. Seeing children in detention full stop is pretty horrific.” Once processed as a refugee at the detention centre, refugees were settled in the Nauru community on five-year visas. However, these visas have recently been extended to 10 years, consequently relieving pressure on the Australian government to deal with the issue quickly. Since Australia’s A$40 million resettlement deal with Cambodia has fallen through, the future of asylum seekers on Nauru remains uncertain. Harris said New Zealand is not doing anything to help either. “Part of the problem is that less than one percent of refugees worldwide are resettled each year. So people are left with no other option than to get on boats and take a really risky journey. “The fact that New Zealand only resettles approximately 1000 refugees each year is contributing to the reason why people are getting on boats. So we’re not playing our part.” Matthew Hutching is a postgraduate student journalist in the Asia-Pacific Journalism course at AUT University. Australia’s asylum seekers problem – secrecy and inhumanity Outrage over new child abuse –]]>

New Zealand and Tonga work together on new programme to prevent suicide

By Selwyn Manning -

September 1, 2015

APJS-P2-web-princess-2-george-425wide — ]]>

Pacific Media Centre Embarrassment, shame and stigmatisation of mental illness are examples of risk factors in Pacific communities. Asia Pacific Journalism reports on a new Tongan initiative dedicated to preventing suicide. Pacific Scoop: Report – By Georgina Harris An agreement dedicated to suicide prevention in Tongan communities has been signed between the Tongan Princess Angelika Lātūfuipeka Tuku’aho and New Zealand-based Pasifika-led organisation Le Va. Signed last month at the Tongan High Commission in Canberra, this is the first time such a memorandum of agreement has happened between a Pacific nation and New Zealand. Le Va chief executive Dr Monique Faleafa says National Suicide Prevention (NSP) Tonga and their patron, Princess Angelika, heard about the work they do with FLO: Pasifika for Life, and approached the organisation. Established in 2014, FLO is the first New Zealand suicide prevention programme that works within Pacific communities, and is run on behalf of the Ministry of Health. Following the signing of the agreement, the first step will be to look at data and then develop a programme that will work for Tongan communities, both in Tonga and New Zealand. NSP Tonga has been consulting their communities regarding what will be useful going forward. Dr Faleafa says this “may differ island to island, village to village, groups will develop their own solutions to address suicide prevention”. The Auckland Manukau Tongan Methodist Parish secretary Edwin Talakai, whose community has been affected by suicide, says having Princess Angelika as part of the agreement gives it status and hopes her presence will help raise awareness and communication. Specific needs Dr Faleafa says Le Va have found there are specific Pacific needs when it comes to suicide prevention. “To understand how to prevent suicide we need to know what puts us at risk, what protects us from these risks, and how to recognise and respond to warning signs. We have found that there may be risk factors, protective factors, and warning signs that are unique to Pacific people, that are different to the mainstream population in New Zealand.” Dr Jemaima Tiatia-Seath, a lecturer in Pacific studies at the University of Auckland, who has done research on mental health and suicide prevention in Cook Island, Samoan and Tongan communities, says the agreement is a positive step in the right direction. Embarrassment, shame and stigmatisation of mental illness are examples of risk factors in Pacific communities. Dr Tiatia-Seath says “the lack of communication or barriers to communication, inter-generational conflict and the topic [of suicide] being taboo to discuss” can often hinder necessary conversation. “I really do believe we need to have these conversations. We need to educate our Pacific communities on the safest ways to have these conversations, and in the most culturally appropriate way.” Talakai says pride, and the relationships between parents and children, are two specific barriers he has seen in his community regarding suicide prevention. Risk factors Specific Pacific risks run alongside general risk factors such as poor mental health, alcohol and drugs and sexual identity issues. Suicide is the leading cause of death among young Pasifika people. Dr Tiatia–Seath says while there are many risk factors there is no one answer. “Suicide is so complex, you can’t pinpoint it to just one issue.” She says there is also important work and research to be done in Pacific communities around suicide attempts and also postvention – the intervention and help given to those affected by a suicide in their immediate family or wider community. At the same time, Le Va is working to educate the New Zealand-based Pacific public at a local level by working with community leaders. These are people who can then educate others in their own communities, such as clergy or sports club leaders. Dr Faleafa says these workshops will be implemented at end of August for the next 12 months. The programme has already been piloted with Pacific groups in Auckland, Wellington, and Dunedin. “It’s not just about education – it’s a call to action. Participants will have suicide prevention action plans at family, community and wider societal levels.” Dr Tiatia-Seath says partnerships with Māori are important and noted the work that Le Va and Te Rau Matatini do to collaborate on the joint programme Waka Hourua: National suicide prevention for Māori and Pasifika communities. Helplines If you are concerned for your immediate safety, dial 111 Lifeline 0800 543 354 Youthline 0800 376 633 Suicide Crisis Helping 0508 828 864 (0508 TAUTOKO) FLO: Pasifika for Life Waka Hourua Georgina Harris is a postgraduate student journalist at AUT University. –]]>

Tony Alexander’s Confidence Survey Results – September 2015

By Selwyn Manning -

September 1, 2015

MIL OSI Analysis – BNZ Economist Tony Alexander – Analysis: [caption id="attachment_3709" align="alignleft" width="300"] Tony Alexander, BNZ economist.[/caption] Other surveys show businesses in New Zealand to be very down in the mouth – which is perhaps not surprising considering the decline in our previous rock star sector – dairy – and the worries being expressed about our previous rock star export destination – China.

But unlike countries where things which are exported are usually made from many smaller things which have been imported, the fall in our currency is providing a clear net boost to many export sectors. Tourism particularly is being turbocharged, but operators are also happy about the lower currency and noting improving sales in manufacturing, education, wine, Kiwifruit, advertising, business consultancy, retailing and packaging. Growth in our economy is slowing and interest rates will be cut again. But balancing factors are already in play so a recession scenario remains of very low probability. You can Download the full analysis document here pdf 483kb Mission Statement To help Kiwi businesspeople and householders make informed financial decisions by discussing the economy in a language they can understand. The results here come from our monthly survey of over 11,000 Sporadic readers. To receive Tony Alexander’s outputs please click here. No Sign of Panic, Lower NZD Welcomed There is no obvious sign of a new deterioration in how businesses are seeing their current operating environment revealed in our monthly BNZ Confidence Survey. In fact although a number of respondents mentioned concerns about developments overseas and dairying remains very weak, far more people noted how the weaker NZ dollar is benefitting their business. These latter comments covered tourism, manufacturing, education, wine, Kiwifruit, advertising, business consultancy, retailing and packaging. On the housing front there are a few more comments regarding Auckland easing slightly off the boil though remaining fundamentally strong. And movement of buyers to the regions continues apace. With regard to specific sectors the following broad comments can be made. Accountancy Things going steady by and large but at the margin it is clear that a few accountants are starting to see client numbers deteriorating. Advertising and Marketing A dominance of comments saying things are quiet. Business Consultancy and Services Responses largely positive. No strong signs of clients slashing spending to focus only on short-term cash flows. Civil Construction/Infrastructure Positive comments overall, Auckland strong. Construction Overall activity may have peaked in many places but the volume of work remains strong. Education Good comments regarding the international student market, not so positive on domestic numbers. Energy Oil and gas very weak. Engineering Positive comments on work expected as a result of the lower NZ dollar. Volumes of work strong overall. Farming Dairy comments overwhelmingly negative again – unsurprisingly given the fall in the projected payout. Beef good. Forestry Export not strong but domestically still okay. Mixed comments on investment in the sector. Horticulture Kiwifruit in a very good state. ICT – Information Communications Technology More negative comments than for some time in this sector with redundancies noted in telecommunications. Legal Busy as ever it seems. Not that I am suggesting it is great for the economy that the lawyers are busy. Manufacturing Mixed as ever but with an interestingly high number of positive comments regarding the fall in the NZ dollar. Printing and Packaging Some growth but not really signalling anything much. Property Development Very strong but it is location-focussed. Property Management/Investment Obvious upward pressure on rents. Property – Non-residential/Commercial Generally falling yields. Nowhere near enough responses to say anything much, especially about any particular location. Recruitment Busy, with good candidates hard to find. Residential Real Estate Wellington short of stock with prices rising and buyers increasingly apparent. Auckland slightly coming off the boil with a little caution kicking in, though price pressure remains upward and listings hard to get. Positive comments regarding markets in Hamilton, Northland, Tauranga, Hawkes Bay, Whakatane. Retail Steady to slightly less than steady. Mixed as ever of course. Tourism Positive overall though maybe not as much in Marlborough. Vehicles If the economy were tanking then we would expect one of the first sectors to feel the pain to be vehicle sales. This is not happening. For full industry comments Download the full analysis document here pdf 483kb

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Fiji Report: Pacific Scoop student journalist team tackle day one in Suva

By Selwyn Manning -

August 31, 2015

Pacific Media Centre Pacific Scoop: Comment – By Niklas Pedersen in Suva Today, I arrived at the humble headquarters of Repúblika Magazine in an office complex just a couple of minutes in the bus from our home base at the University of the South Pacific. Already here on the first day of my weeklong internship at Repúblika, editor Ricardo Morris showed me some examples of the challenges he and his magazine face in the Fiji mediascape. Yesterday both the Sunday editions of The Fiji Times and Fiji Sun carried a warning from the Prime Minister, Voreqe Bainimarama, on their front page. Bainimarama warned the Fiji people and others abroad, that any form of “insurrection” would be severely punished in regard to the latest “sedition” cases in the country. Nowhere to be found was the obvious point that “rebellious activities” was exactly how the now-elected Prime Minister gained power in the 2006 coup. The media here are full of contradictions like that. Just today, I bought The Fiji Times, which on the front page featured a story about the Permanent Secretary for iTaukei Affairs urging the Fijian people to keep using their native iTaukei-language and stop it from disappearing. That story was continued on page 6, right next to this headline: “PM stresses need to master English language,” in which Bainimarama is quoted saying: “I realise that for many people, English is not their mother tongue at home. But it is our national language […] so we need to master it properly.” Maybe there’s a lesson in the art of timing political announcements. Niklas Pedersen and KP Lew are postgraduate student journalists from AUT University on the Asia-Pacific Journalism course. They are in Fiji on a two-week internship with Repúblika Magazine and Wansolwara and will also file a series of reports for Pacific Scoop about their experience. KP’s journalism blog on Fiji Watch for the Pacific Scoop team’s Fiji Report via Storify. –]]>

Did you know it was the 25th Anniversary of the NZ Bill of Rights Act last week?

By Selwyn Manning -

August 31, 2015

NewsroomPlus.com Contributed from Parliament.nz

The US has their Constitution, the UK the Magna Carta. For New Zealand one of our most important laws is the NZ Bill of Rights Act, which was 25 years old last week.

The Act, passed in 1990, affirms, protects and promotes our human rights and fundamental freedoms. It was designed to protect New Zealanders against the actions of the State.

Today the NZ Bill of Rights Act is considered to be one of our constitutional documents. Others include the Treaty of Waitangi, other Acts such as the Constitution Act 1986, decisions of the court and constitutional conventions. Together these key sources make up our constitution.

The Act was brought to Parliament by Geoffrey Palmer, who was the Minister of Justice at the time.

Screen Shot 2015-08-31 at 5.23.41 pm — Full photo credit: http://natlib.govt.nz/records/23108017

Here are some of the many rights and freedoms that are set out in the Act:

the right to peaceful assembly (which includes the right to protest peacefully)
the right to freedom of expression (the right to say what you want, within certain legal limits, without punishment from the State)
the right to not be discriminated against
the right to vote in general elections
the right to justice.

Although these and other rights were commonly understood to be already recognised, this Act confirmed those rights. An easy to read explanation has since been published, so everyone can understand what these rights mean.

How the NZ Bill of Rights Act protects human rights today

Here are two examples of how the Act (known as BORA) helps to protect human rights today.

The first relates to the making of new laws in Parliament. When a proposed law (a bill) is introduced in Parliament, the Attorney-General must check to see whether it is consistent with BORA. If it seems likely to breach people’s rights under BORA, the Attorney-General must write a report so that MPs can understand the problem before deciding whether to support the proposed law.
The second protection relates to the courts and the way they interpret certain laws. Courts are required to prefer interpretations that protect people’s human rights, in line with BORA.

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NewsRoom Digest: Top NZ News Items for August 31, 2015

By Selwyn Manning -

August 31, 2015

This edition of NewsRoom_Digest features 6 resourceful links of the day and the politics pulse from Monday 31st August.

NEWSROOM_MONITOR

Top stories in the current news cycle include Jetstar’s selection of four new regional destinations it will be flying to, concerns from the Aotearoa Zealand Association of Social Workers (ANZASW) about any privatising of Child, Youth and Family functions following on acknowledged weaknesses, and figures showing the the highest monthly rise in consents for new houses and apartments in more than three years.

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: Minister opens papakāinga near Tauranga; Worldwide reputation at the border recognised; Minister welcomes Money Week 2015; Tonga Language Week celebrated; Regional airline competition welcomed; Auckland housing consents top 1000 in July; Residential property withholding tax proposed for offshore sellers; PM to attend 46th Pacific Islands Forum; Progress being made in Pacific health

Greens: Govt needs to rule out Serco buying our state houses; National’s empty economic complacency failing today and for the future

Labour: Govt must make most of Jetstar competition; Privatising CYF about ideology not care; Labour Celebrates Tongan Language And Diversity; Key’s threat to veto premature

New Zealand First: National’s empty economic complacency failing today and for the future

NZ National Party: MP Foss welcomes win for Hawke’s Bay growers; Foss welcomes competition in Hawke’s Bay

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/

MONEY, MONEY, MONEY: Money Week is a nationwide week of events which runs from 31 August to 6 September. For a range of digital tools and useful information about Money Week 2015 visit http://www.moneyweek.org.nz

MONTHLY ECONOMIC INDICATORS: The August Monthly Economic Indicators (MEI) report was published today by the New Zealand Treasury. Read more here: http://www.treasury.govt.nz/economy/mei/aug15

NEW DWELLING CONSENTS INCREASE: There were 2,824 new dwellings consented nationally in July 2015, up 24 percent compared with July 2014, Statistics New Zealand said today. For more, go here:http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/industry_sectors/Constructio/BuildingConsentsIssued_HOTPJul15.aspx

RESIDENTIAL LAND WITHHOLDING TAX: An officials’ issues paper released today seeks public feedback on proposals for a residential land withholding tax. Revenue Minister Todd McClay welcomed the release and says the proposed tax would apply only to offshore sellers. He says it is an important part of the Government’s residential property tax compliance work and will ensure tax is paid under the Bright-line test legislation. Submissions close on 2 October 2015. You can access the paper here: http://taxpolicy.ird.govt.nz/publications/2015-ip-rlwt/overview

TONGAN LANGUAGE WEEK: A national programme of activity is underway for Tongan Language Week – with details at http://www.mpia.govt.nz/assets/01-FINAL-280815-National-Tonga-Language-Week-Events.pdf and on the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/MinistryofPacificIslandAffairs

WORKPLACE SURVEY: This morning the second Wellness in the Workplace survey – a nationwide study of 113 employers (with 116,000 employees) by Southern Cross Health Society and BusinessNZ was released. The full Wellness in the Workplace 2015 survey can be found athttp://www.businessnz.org.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0013/108400/Wellness-in-the-Workplace-Survey-Report-2015.pdf

And that’s our sampling of “news you can use” for Monday 31st August 2015.

Brought to EveningReport by Newsroom Digest. –]]>

Seeking a more compassionate Pacific geopolitical strategy from Australia, NZ

By Selwyn Manning -

August 31, 2015

Pacific Media Centre Kaliopate Tavola reviews stability in the South Pacific region with the Pacific Islands Forum meeting due next week in Port Moresby. ANALYSIS: In a previous blog for the Pacific Institute of Public Policy, New regional architecture can draw lessons from PARTA, I referred to Wesley Morgan’s paper: ‘Negotiating powers: Contemporary Pacific Trade Diplomacy’. In that paper, Morgan had characterised how Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) had felt when they could not join PARTA. He said: “Officials in both countries had long viewed a stable regional order in the South Pacific as a pre-eminent geostrategic priority”. The statement has both geostrategic and geopolitical significance – geostrategy being a subfield of geopolitics. It is geostrategic, for instance, since it points to a specific geographical location: the South Pacific in this case, to which ANZ’s specific foreign policy and relevant and commensurate resources are being directed. That can be explained by way of regionality and all its integration impetus, history, migration and resulting diasporic influences. It is geopolitical for the reason that the South Pacific’s geographical area borders the ANZ countries. Some may even say that ANZ are geographically part of the South Pacific. As such, “a stable regional order” in the area: stability in the broadest sense of security – defense and economic/financial – is critical for peace and stability. Peace and stability in the wider region forms a natural buffer for peace and stability at home. Relevant national, regional and international policies inevitably need to be formulated and resourced. The region has experienced instability since 1971. The formation of the South Pacific Forum (SPF) in that year was an outcome of instability itself when independent Pacific island countries broke away from the SPC council to form their own forum. ANZ were invited subsequently to join the new forum. Instability issues Since then the SPF, which later in 2000 became the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) has had to address instability in its member states over the years, resulting in various declarations and activities such as: (i) the Aitutaki Declaration on Regional Security Cooperation (1997); (ii) the Biketawa Declaration (2000); (iii) the Nasonini Declaration on Regional Security (2002); (iv) the RAMSI (2003); (v) the execution of Australia’s ‘Pacific Solution’ for refugees which is raising security concerns in PNG and Nauru; and (vi) Fiji’s case for a reconfiguration of the regional diplomacy architecture to reposition ANZ in the regional structure. There have been other security incidents in Bougainville and Timor-Leste in the wider Pacific region. Furthermore, the geopolitical interests of the larger global powers in the region, and the Pacific at large, and the sensitivities and sense of vulnerability and reassessments of political alignments they bring to bear, also provide a constant backdrop to Pacific security and stability. In the context of all this, can it be said that “a stable regional order”, envisioned by ANZ is being achieved? At the outset, it has to be said that a stable regional order is essentially a collective responsibility of all PIF members. For ANZ, however, it is additionally a stated geopolitical interest and as such, their individual or collective efforts aimed at this objective are inevitably subject to greater scrutiny, not only by other PIF members, but also by outside observers. Furthermore, any determination of stability or instability in the region can be realistically graduated in relative terms – relative to security situations in other parts of the world. In this context, one is likely to conclude that the unstable situations in the south Pacific region are only of minor concern by global standards. In any case, the record of PIF as regards its various declarations and other interventions over the years is indicative of the organisation’s clear efforts in wanting to be in control of its security situations. ANZ can certainly take some credit for this. Be that as it may, security continues to be a focus in the region. The history of instability that has dominated the region since inception is instructive. Furthermore, the perception of security is currently fluid – undergoing reconceptualization, as discussed here. Professor Steven Ratuva at the University of Canterbury wrote recently:

“The notion of security has undergone transformation over the years as a result of the introduction of new conceptual frameworks such as human security, securitization, gendered security and subaltern security, amongst others, which seek to expand the boundaries of security beyond the traditional notion of ‘hard’ security or emphasize significant dimensions in security thinking.”

As such, there is a constant need for monitoring and evaluation of security issues in order to formulate consequential policies and measures for stability to effectively prevail. Considering all that has been said above, it can be concluded that whilst no direct blame can be directed at ANZ specifically for the instability that has characterized the region, they would necessarily be somewhat alarmed at what has happened over the years, given the efforts and resources expended in addressing the instability; and also given the fact that their best endeavors at ensuring ‘a stable regional order’ have often been frustrated. The latter is likely to be constantly nagging the minds of the planners both in Canberra and Wellington. The most recent incident of Fiji wanting to reconfigure the regional diplomacy architecture and to reposition ANZ’s position in the regional structure is one that is loudly ringing alarm bells in both capitals. It may not force the issue onto the table where it can be passionately and forcefully debated. This is evident from the outcome of the Sydney meeting last month when the issue of the regional architecture was dropped from the meeting that had been initially convened to address the issue. However, the substance of the matter is such that due consideration should be given it; otherwise it will keep recurring in future. Notwithstanding any procrastination for a lively discourse on the latest incident to test the region’s stability, the writer believes that this incident is imperative as an urgent prompting for ANZ to return to the drawing board and to reassess this pre-eminent geostrategic priority. Australia does, for instance, use the opportunity of its White Paper to re-examine its geostrategic and geopolitical interests. Recently, the government of the day has had to reassess its traditional (security) alignment with the US with a balancing of its (economic) interests with China. It has also made a declaration on the significance of India and Indonesia as far as the Pacific region is concerned. I am sure that New Zealand has gone through a similar process. This, suitably, provides the backdrop to the South Pacific’s stability. What is critical for both ANZ is a specific and analytical focus on the south Pacific region – a “repair and maintenance” approach to their traditional methodology and modality of partnership, particularly on PIF, and to establish a more equal relationship, even to the point of being preferential in order to be equal; a more inclusive, a more compassionate partnership. Kaliopate Tavola is a Fijian economist, politician and diplomat. He served as Fiji’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and recently served as the first High Level Representative of the Melanesian Spearhead Group. He is a founding member of the PiPP board and this article was first published by PiPP. Bougainville protest over missing people

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

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Gay rights in the Pacific – what still needs to be done?

By Selwyn Manning -

August 30, 2015

APJS-P2-Fiji-President-Poster-latifa-new-425tall-crop — ]]>

Pacific Media Centre Free and Equal is a global United Nations campaign aimed at promoting equality for gay rights communities throughout the world. Asia-Pacific Journalism reports on a how the Pacific version of the campaign is approaching the region. Pacific Scoop: Report – By Latifa Daud The struggle for equality within the Pacific region continues as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex communities face violence and stigmatisation, according to the regional office for the Pacific of the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Toiko Kleppe, associate human rights officer at the OHCHR’s regional Pacific office says the Pacific Free and Equal Campaign was launched to create a platform for communities to come together and raise awareness for gay rights in the region. Free and Equal is a global United Nations campaign aimed at promoting equality for LGBTI communities throughout the world. While there has been a shift towards equality and decriminalisation, there are still eight nations across the Pacific that still criminalise same-sex relations. “We hope the governments in the Pacific will adopt laws to protect LGBTI people from discrimination and active measures to make sure attitudes change, for example by working closely with schools and health care facilities. Educating them to be respectful of the rights and needs of LGBTI people to prevent any form of stigma or harassment,” says Kleppe. Part of the issue within the region is also a lack of data about LGBTI violence, which makes it difficult to tackle the community’s issues. Kleppe says they are “starting to collect data or at least give an overall picture of what the situation is like across the Pacific”. Variety of issues Ymania Brown, co-convenor of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA Oceania) says the experience in the Pacific is varied and each nation has its own issues. Therefore, the way LGBTI issues are raised has to be within the cultural realities of different nations. Regarding fa’afafine in Samoa, Brown says the focus needs to be on the historical roles they carried pre-colonisation. “How the roles that were to be determined is really from division of labour. In a traditional Samoan society, the leader of the family didn’t really care about your personal persuasion in terms of your sexual orientation. All they really cared about was whether you were able to contribute as a member of the extended family. There was no pretext of ‘you were born male so therefore you only do particular tasks’”. She also says that while the community has many issues to address, the laws of the land do not always reflect the lived experiences of LGBTI communities. “While they say it’s illegal to perform certain acts you can see there is no animosity towards them and there is no persecution. The UN needs a method of the measuring of the acceptability of LGBTI citizens to be done in line with the lived experience of the citizens”. Journey towards acceptance Joey Joeleen Mataele, chair of the Pacific Sexual Diversity Network, shared her journey towards acceptance in her community as a leiti in Tonga. “I was the first one to wear a dress to church … I had a bit of fear, a bit of insecurity, but at the same time I said to myself: I am what I am, and no one is going to change this,” she told the Pacific Free and Equal campaign website. The Pacific Sexual Diversity Network is a region-wide group that represents the interests of men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender community organisations. It was formed as a response to the threat of HIV and AIDS within MSM and transgender communities within the Pacific. A UNAIDS report from 2013 about AIDS response in Asia and the Pacific says even though there has been a 26 percent reduction in new HIV infections since 2001, “the epidemic still outpaces the response and half of people eligible for antiretroviral treatment are not accessing it”. Noelene Nabulivou and Lucille Chute from DIVA for Equality say it is also important to acknowledge the diversity within the LGBTI community. “It’s important to ensure that we respect and appreciate diversity in our messages and include the voices of LGBTI who are also people with disabilities, older, younger, women, those living in urban informal settlements, rural and remote communities, and others that are less heard,” according to the Pacific Free and Equal website. Diverse Voices and Action, or DIVA for Equality is a peer support group in Fiji are lesbian, bi-sexual women and trans-masculine people, and other marginalised women including those in non-traditional employment and sports. Born ‘free and equal’ A report by OHCHR, Born Free and Equal, talks about sexual orientation and gender identity in international human rights law. “At least 76 countries have laws in effect that are used to criminalise consensual relationships between adults of the same sex. Such laws, typically prohibit either certain types of sexual activity or any intimacy or sexual activity between persons of the same sex. In some cases, the language used refers to vague and undefined concepts, such as “crimes against the order of nature” or “morality”, or “debauchery”. “The Special Rapporteur categorised the effects of criminalisation on the right to health in three ways: inhibition of access to health services, violence and abuse, and social stigmatisation. Where same-sex sexual conduct is criminalised, individuals are unable to gain access to effective health services and preventive health measures are not tailored to the needs of LGBT communities. Health professionals may refuse to treat same-sex practising clients or may respond with hostility,” said the report. Kleppe from the Pacific regional office says access to healthcare and safety networks is an issue within the region. Latifa Daud is an AUT postgraduate student majoring in journalism and reporting on the Asia-Pacific Journalism Studies paper. The UN Born Free and Equal report Born Free and Equal Facebook Page An earlier Asia-Pacific Journalism report on gay rights –]]>

Niue’s plan for composting to make a difference over waste

By Selwyn Manning -

August 30, 2015

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Pacific Media Centre – Pacific Scoop: Report – By Susan Epskamp. Getting rid of waste is something that we would all rather not think about. But in Niue, different Pacific organisations are coming together to create a pilot project to create awareness in villages around safe waste management, reports Asia-Pacific Journalism. Compost. It may be simple, but it has proved to be an effective way of managing organic waste. This project will use this method involving half of Niue’s population with the help of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) in partnership with the Pacific Organic and Ethical Trade Community (POETCom). Lusianna Ralogaivau, SPREP’s Global Environment Facility Project Coordinator, says the Niue project is a pilot to demonstrate composting to reduce unintentional persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as dioxins and furans. Ralogaivau says this project meets the obligations of the Stockholm Convention by reducing the priority POP emissions. At the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, the international community commited themselves to protecting human health and the environment from persistent organic pollutants. SPREP’s 2000 study, Management of Persistant Organic Pollutants in Pacific Island Countries, highlights the significance of managing the waste of persistent pollutants in developing nations. It states the management of chemicals and hazardous wates are difficult for Pacific Island countries because of the lack of information about the types and volumes of materials being brought into countries. Poor understanding There is also a poor understanding within the wider community of how these should be used, stored and disposed. Dr John Robertson, a senior lecturer of chemistry at AUT University, says traditional approaches to waste deal very poorly with persistent organic pollutants. “Traditional rubbish fires are very low temperatures and often don’t break down POPs but simply evaporate them into the air where they (randomly) go somewhere else “Burning almost anything creates small amounts of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, some of which are carcinogens.” Another form of traditional waste methods is dumping, which can also cause trouble for the environment, Dr Robertson says. “Dumping things in uncontrolled rubbish dumps means that soluble material leaks out and travels through the environment.” Ian Richardson, living in Fualahi in Niue, says he makes his own compost because the soil is very shallow and very high alkalinity due to the high levels of calcium carbonate. ‘Backyard gardener’ “I am a backyard gardener. Most locals here have no idea about soil as they seem to be stuck in the traditional ways. “They use the slash and burn methods to clear bush or the government caterpillar to clear the land.” Dr Robertson says composting is a way that puts waste in a defined space. “About 99.9 percent of the time you end up with an excellent soil conditioner as the only byproduct,” he says. “Composting can be done on a household scale or on a community scale and will, to a limited extent, destroy nasties like POPs.” The training for the seven villages participating will start on September 14 with a compost consultant coming in through SPC’s POETCOM member (Titikaveka Growers Association in Rarotonga). Stephen Hazelman, POETCom’s organic systems extension officer, saw this project as a good way of doing something productive with organic waste. Compost training “The training will be about compost production. We are making it practical with demonstrations to actually show what compost can do to plants, and the other effects,” he says. Hazelman explains that although the idea is to transfer the methods used in Niue and use them throughout other Pacific Island countries, it is not going to be easy. “There is a lot of work to do in this one year pilot project.” Hazelman understands the challenges his team face while trying to introduce this new project, but he believes they will face more challenges to keep it going after the pilot is finished. “Composting is funny in the Pacific, it has been promoted over long periods of time but nothing really sustainable. Everyone tries and asks people to do composting but after the first or second one, nobody ever does it again.” Ralogaivau is more optimistic that the project will progress well. “This is not some new science being introduced, but taking practices that are already taking place to another level and ensuring all gaps are met in the whole jigsaw of what would be an ideal waste management system.” Ralogaivau hopes that aside from the knowledge resulting in the much anticipated behavioural change, together with the enhanced waste management that leaves no gaps, “the system will be able to sustain itself”. On a larger scale The project is just one aspect of the Pacific POPs Release Reduction Project, which aims to reduce emissions from poor solid and hazadous waste management practices. The Pacific POPs Release Reduction project is co-funded through the Global Environment Facility – Pacific Alliance for Sustainability (GEF-PAS) and Agence Française de Développement (AFD). It is executed by SPREP, in close cooperation with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). Susan Epskamp is a student journalist on the Asia-Pacific Journalism Studies paper at AUT University with a passion for people. Ridding the world of POPs: A guide to the Stockholm Convention on POPs, published by Secretariat of the Stockholm Convention and United Nations Environment Programme. –]]>

Kiwis play a hand in new PNG domestic violence helpline

By Selwyn Manning -

August 30, 2015

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Pacific Media Centre Papua New Guinea has high domestic and sexual violence statistics, with nearly two thirds of all women experiencing violence at some point in their lives. New Zealanders have had a hand in launching a sexual violence helpline this month, reports Asia-Pacific Journalism. Pacific Scoop: Report – By Chelsea Armitage New Zealanders have helped launch a new family and sexual violence helpline in Papua New Guinea this month, created to campaign against the country’s endemic abuse. ChildFund New Zealand contributed $2.6 million from charitable donations and match funding from the New Zealand government’s aid programme to the cause. Chief executive of ChildFund New Zealand Paul Brown says the charity’s work in Papua New Guinea is community-led and the service has been needed for a long time. “We’ve heard from women, children, and action groups that they really needed this counselling service,” he says. The hotline will be operated by seven female counsellors specially trained through the University of Papua New Guinea. They will initially provide counselling services to callers, then depending on the individual’s case, the victim will then be referred to various service providers and organisations across the country. Long wait ChildFund Papua New Guinea director Manish Joshi says the counselling and referral service has been in the works for a long time. “We started planning this about two and a half years ago after a call from the Family and Sexual Violence Action Committee,” Joshi says. ChildFund Papua New Guinea began developing the idea before reaching out to its offices in Australia and New Zealand. He says New Zealand’s involvement was “really, really helpful and appreciated”. “We all know the level of violence against women and children is still endemic here. There’s no hidden fact about it. “The support from the New Zealand government was huge, and I think with Papua New Guinea being a Pacific partner for New Zealand, it’s very timely and appreciated for the New Zealand government to support this hotline extensively.” The New Zealand High Commissioner in Papua New Guinea, Tony Fautua, says this country’s financial contribution is “significant”. “It’s not just a one-off service, this is something that we see as a need, and something that New Zealand is willing to support over the long term,” says Fautua. Technical expert The hotline launched in partnership with Volunteer Services Abroad, who provided a technical expert to work with ChildFund to set up the hotline. “It’s also about the partnership with the local NGOs,” Fautua says. These organisations include the Family and Sexual Violence Action Committee and FHI 360, which Fautua says are “so critical”. “This is something brought in through ChildFund, but it’s using the existing NGO specialists in Papua New Guinea and working with them.” The service wasn’t planned to launch until 2016, but because of overwhelming support it was launched ahead of schedule, Joshi says. Papua New Guinea has a long and chequered history with family and sexual violence. While recent concrete abuse statistics are hard to come by, the country’s Health Minister Michael Malabag said in February that 68 percent of women in Papua New Guinea had experienced violence. That’s more than 2.3 million women. ‘Horrific statistics’ “It’s a tough, tough country. A lot of the gains we’ve been making in the villages are being undermined by endemic violence,” ChildFund New Zealand’s Paul Brown says. “They’re horrific statistics, two out of three women have been violently attacked. The numbers are just unfathomable. The service will be in high demand,” Brown says. Joshi says simply having somewhere to call when things get tough, coupled with the confidentiality, is fantastic. “Victims can also hear about some services where they can go, and the psychological and medical treatment options after they have suffered violence,” he says. But the helpline isn’t just for victims, Brown says. “It’s also for the perpetrators themselves, who may need someone to call when they’re in a dark space.” Fautua says the hotline gives support not only to women but also families and men, in terms of reaching out and receiving support over and above what they might normally get from the police. “This counselling service is a win-win, because it provides a counselling service to people who need that support, but it’s also using Papua New Guinea university students, who graduate from counselling. Experience and skills “They can use some of the experience and their skills in order to support this very, very important area,” Fautua says. Security plans are in place for the seven counsellors working on the as they are in “exceptional danger”, Brown says. “We’re making sure they’re under good care, as we’re worried their personal security could be jeopardised. The counsellors are a brave bunch of women,” he says. Joshi says security at the building where the counsellors will operate from will be “updated and oriented” as to how to care for the workers. “We will provide a pick up and drop off service for the counsellors too, to make sure they reach the office and home after work safely.” Reported statistics on mobile phone use across the country vary between 75 percent and 90 percent of the population having access to a handset. “In the last couple of years, mobile has had an evolution in Papua New Guinea. It has reached almost all corners of the country,” Joshi says. Mobile phone issues Papua New Guinea mobile communications research consultant Dr Amanda Watson (pictured left) has been studying mobile phone use in Papua New Guinea and says these penetration statistics aren’t as clear-cut as they seem. The researcher says she has set up two of her own telephone helplines in the country, including a childbirth emergency phone. “In most parts of Papua New Guinea, people don’t have access to electricity, so being able to recharge mobile phone handset batteries can be a real challenge for people,” says Dr Watson. Although the hotline has been launched as toll-free, it is currently only free of charge for customers of one mobile provider, Digicel. Dr Watson says people of Papua New Guinea don’t necessarily have a lot of money, and they’re not spending it on a daily basis on their phones. “Many people wouldn’t necessarily have credit in their phones, even people who are working in quite reasonably well paid jobs by the country’s standards,” she says. Her 2012 Queensland University of Technology doctoral thesis on the topic is titled The Mobile Phone: The new communication drum of Papua New Guinea. It presents findings that show across all mobile phone users surveyed nationwide, the average number of texts and calls made per day was one, and the median was zero. “While I know there is potential for phones to be very valuable in Papua New Guinea, it’s very common in a village – and even people all over the country – to not have credit on their phones.” Cellphone service provider Digicel is currently the only provider to offer the hotline toll-free, but discussions are underway with other providers, ChildFund New Zealand’s Paul Brown says. Dr Watson says helplines in the country need to be completely free in order to be accessible for the people of Papua New Guinea. The New Zealand funding will last five years, and the hotline will be monitored, tracked and analysed, with the findings feeding back into further training. Chelsea Armitage is a postgraduate student journalist at AUT University. Domestic violence as a way of life: The daily reality for PNG women –]]>

Samoan human rights report will hopefully show Pacific nations the way, says UN

By Selwyn Manning -

August 30, 2015

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Pacific Media Centre Last week the Samoan Ombudsman launched the country’s first ever State of Human Rights Report. The United Nations hopes the Samoan effort will inspire other Pacific nations to do the same, reports Asia-Pacific Journalism. Pacific Scoop: Report – By Ida Brock – To Samoa, from Samoa. Such is the title on Samoa’s State of Human Rights Report, which was launched last week. A report researched and prepared by the Office of the Samoan Ombudsman and the very first of its kind in Samoa. The report has been well-received, especially by the Office of United Nations’ High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR). “I think it’s the first time something like this has been done in the Pacific. It’s quite an achievement for what is really a very small office,” says Catherine Phuong, acting head of office of the OHCHR in the Pacific region. “For the rest of the Pacific, it’s sending a strong signal in terms of the importance of human rights.” The UN official hopes that the report will make other Pacific nations follow in Samoa’s footsteps and bring violations against human rights to a halt. “Samoa is showing that even with limited resources, you can achieve something important. I think they are setting quite an example for the rest of the region and I hope it will be followed,” she says. Benchmark work rofessor in human rights law Sue Farran from Northumbria University in United Kingdom also thinks there may be a chance, the report will become a benchmark for other Pacific nations’ work with human rights. “If the Pacific nations see the report as a positive thing, then maybe. But there is often tension between Pacific Islands with them not wanting to be influenced by other Pacific countries. It’s early days and we’ll have to wait and see,” she says. The Office of the Ombudsman took on the work with the report when it was appointed National Human Rights Institution of Samoa in 2013. The wish was the institution and the report would make a difference to the way human rights was perceived in Samoa. “We hope that this report will get people to start thinking about the idea of human rights, not as a foreign ideal but as something that has a place in our society,” says the Ombudsman, Maiava Iulai Toma. But as positive as it is that Samoa has launched its own report on human rights, there is still a long way to go, says Professor Farran. “There are some areas that has been quite contentious historically. Freedom of the media is one and women’s representation in Parliament is another. Also, domestic violence is an ongoing issue in Samoa,” she says. The new State of Human Rights Report states, that 39 percent of the Samoans have witnessed abuse against women in their village in the past year. But nonetheless, Samoa is somewhat of a pioneer in the Pacific when it comes to addressing human rights issues, according to Dr Farran. “Compared to other Pacific nations, Samoa is making quite a good effort.” Culture and rights clash The new report outlines a number of vulnerable groups in Samoa: women, children, people with disabilities and prisoners. It also addresses the clash between human rights law and fa’asamoa, meaning “the ways of Samoa”. “A significant proportion of Samoans consulted believe that human rights and fa’asamoa conflict. This conflict is central to the human rights issues Samoa experiences and unless it’s resolved, the acceptance of human rights in Samoa will continue to be a challenge,” it says in the report. It’s very common in Pacific constitutions that the rights of the family plays a huge role. It’s a customary right, says professor in human rights law Petra Butler from Victoria University in Wellington. “In Pacific constitutions the right to practice culture is very explicit. The constitutions are very family oriented and the group is protected,” she says. And in Samoa the village councils have enormous power over the people, Dr Farran explains. Making the two things meet is a great challenge. “It’s fine to have countries sign up to international treaties and making new laws, but if it isn’t touching the people directly, it won’t have a lot of significance. It’s all about making the people understand that human rights are beneficial to everyone and not some sort of post-colonial imposition,” she says. Action plan The Office of the Ombudsman has a plan on how to improve the state of human rights in Samoa. “This report will go hand in hand with a great deal of work around public awareness and continuous educational work,” the Ombudsman says. And especially education should be a central focus, according to Professor Farran. “They should teach the children how human rights fit with Samoan values and how human rights are positive for all Samoans. That could have a positive outcome. A lot of societal views are formed early on,” she says. Besides the need for education, the Office of the Ombudsman provides more than 30 recommendations for action to the Samoan government and NGOs in Samoa. For example it says that the government should “provide dedicated funds and adequate assistance to all NGOs working on the protection of families, especially in rural areas”. Asia-Pacific Journalism has not got a comment from the Samoan government, but the Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Lupesoliai Sailele Malielegaoi, said when he attended the launch of the report:

“When this report is tabled in Parliament, I ask that time is taken to consider and debate the issues it covers, and that a Parliamentary Committee is tasked with following up on the report’s recommendations.”

According to Catherine Phuong from OHCHR, it sends a strong signal that the Prime Minister attended the launch of the report. “It shows, they know more needs to be done in terms of human rights protection in the country,” she says. The Ombudsman is obligated under the Ombudsman Act from 2013 to prepare a periodic State of Human Rights Report to the Samoan Parliament every year. Ida Brock is a Danish student journalist reporting for the Pacific Media Centre and the Pacific Scoop on the Asia-Pacific Journalism Studies paper. –]]>

Radio Live’s Sunday Morning Panel: Mark Sainsbury Rodney Hide & Selwyn Manning

By Selwyn Manning -

August 30, 2015

Do have a listen to the Sunday Panel on Radio Live (here’s the link to the player, or click on the image). On Radio Live’s Sunday Morning Panel Mark Sainsbury Rodney Hide & Selwyn Manning get stuck into the big issues and explore solutions:

The kicking machine puts the boot in to Labour’s rising star Jacinda Ardern.
Is former Australia PM Kevin Rudd positioning to take on Helen Clark for the UN secretary general position? Does he have the credentials?
A Warrant of Fitness for State Houses surely must be a part solution to the mouldy, drafty, toxic homes that are making far too many children sick in this country.
We debate the public/private running of this country’s prisons. What are the solutions to the country’s massive challenge over private running of prisons in New Zealand. Surely the Serco experience shows this private model does not work.
CYFs, should the state have a part in running this vital social service? Has the state done a good job in the past? Should we have a system that equips those with the skills to advocate a regional solution to a regional problem?

Let the debate continue.

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Kiribati president’s coal challenge faces deaf reception in New Zealand

By Selwyn Manning -

August 29, 2015

Pacific Media Centre Kiribati President Anote Tong called for a moratorium on new coalmines and coalmine expansions in a letter to world leaders in early August. This has been given a cool reception in New Zealand, reports Asia-Pacific Journalism. Pacific Scoop: Report – By Mata Lauano Although renewable energy plays an important role in New Zealand, says Energy and Resources Minister Simon Bridges, shifting away from non-renewable energy cannot be done overnight. However anti-coal campaigners, Coal Action Network Aotearoa (CANA), say this just isn’t good enough. Earlier this month President Anote Tong sent a letter to world leaders calling for a moratorium on coalmines and coalmine expansions as Kiribati is under threat from rising sea levels and changing weather patterns due to global warming. “Kiribati, as a nation faced with a very uncertain future, is calling for a global moratorium on new coal mines. lt would be one positive step towards our collective global action against climate change and it is my sincere hope that you and your people would add your positive support in this endeavour,” President Tong wrote. When Asia-Pacific Journalism asked Prime Minister John Key whether he had received his letter, we were advised: “The Prime Minister has not received a letter from President Tong calling for a moratorium on new coalmines.” All letters to heads of state or governments were being physically sent out since the beginning of this week, says Rimon Rimon, a spokesperson for the Kiribati government. “We anticipate Prime Minister Key will receive the letter perhaps this week or next depending on the courier.” Kiribati considers New Zealand a major development partner, says Rimon, advising that the larger country “has been assisting Kiribati in many areas involving fisheries, education, sustainable town planning, housing and including an annual quota of 75 for the Pacific Access Category among others”. No real action However, Cindy Baxter of CANA says she doesn’t believe that the government is serious about reducing coal production in order to reduce emissions. “It has done nothing to encourage this.” Baxter advises that New Zealand needs to listen to our Pacific neighbours and reduce our reliance on coal, both in the export markets and domestically. According to CANA the government needs to strengthen the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). “First give it a cap, state that there are only x amount of emissions allowed to be traded, so that they become more scarce as the cap reduces to meet an emissions reduction target.” However the government, says Baxter, also needs to stop subsidising the big emitters, “so that they actually pay for their emissions and that would encourage them to cut them. Coal would be on its way out if there was a price on its emissions”. Baxter tells Asia-Pacific that the government has subsidised the biggest emitters so that the taxpayer pays for the vast majority of what they would have to pay to emit under the Emissions Trading Scheme. New Zealand’s current plan According to Bridges while renewable energy plays a hugely important role in New Zealand, and has an increasingly significant role to play internationally, it’s impossible to make an instant switch from non-renewable energy instantaneously as the world is transitioning to a lower-carbon economy. “The International Energy Agency expects non-renewables, including coal, to continue to account for more than half the world’s energy needs for at least another two decades. That’s why this Government has a mixed and balanced approach to energy production and use.” Bridges says it’s worth noting that in 2014, about 80 percent of New Zealand’s electricity generation came from renewable sources, “we have an ambitious goal of 90 per cent by 2025.” Genesis Energy has also announced plans to shut down the last two coal-burning electricity generators at Huntly power station by 2018. The closure will mark the end of coal-fired power generation in New Zealand. However Baxter is dubious, bringing up the biggest coal users in the country such as Fonterra. “Why am I talking about Fonterra? Because after NZ Steel and Huntly, Fonterra is our biggest coal user – and our research shows its use of coal has grown 38 percent since 2008.” There are others, such as Christchurch Hospital, which is installing new coal-fired boilers instead of wood burners. “Because, again, the government provides no disincentives. Kiribati’s call President Anote Tong says the future safety of his people depends on collective and aggressive action to stem the use of coal, which is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions that are driving climate change. “Let us join together as a global community and take action now. The construction of each new coal mine undermines the spirit and intent of any agreement we may reach, particularly in the upcoming COP 21 in Paris, whilst stopping new coal mine constructions NOW will make any agreement reached in Paris truly historical.” It will be interesting to see how John Key will respond once he receives his letter especially as he has stated earlier this year, during a statement on deploying NZ soldiers to Iraq, that New Zealand takes its responsibilities regarding climate change seriously. “It is why we have an emissions trading scheme, it is why we are investing heavily in science, and it is why we will be taking a responsible target to Paris. We are a small country but we do our bit.” Mata Lauano is a student journalist on the Asia-Pacific Journalism Studies paper at AUT University. She is completing a Postgraduate Diploma in Communications (Journalism). Kiribati president calls for a moratorium on coal mines –]]>

Indonesian law outlawing presidential insults unlikely to pass, say analysts

By Selwyn Manning -

August 29, 2015

Pacific Media Centre

President Widodo … distancing himself from the draft presidential defamation law. Image: DW

A draft Indonesian Criminal Code amendment, condemed by critics as undermining freedom of speech, is interpreted to mean that burning pictures of the president and vice-president and mocking them in public are insults carrying heavy jail penalties. But, asks Asia-Pacific Journalism, will the law pass? Pacific Scoop: Report – By Michael Neilson Fears that “authoritarian-era” defamation laws will be reinstated in Indonesia are unfounded, say observers of the country’s political scene. Indonesian activists and journalists expressed outrage earlier this month, after President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said he supported a proposal by the government to re-introduce criminal charges for insulting the president in the draft of a Criminal Code (KUHP) amendment. Sony Ambudi, an Indonesian human rights activist of the Asia-Pacific Human Rights Coalition (APHRC) who currently resides in New Zealand, says Jokowi is merely testing out other members of Parliament, and seeing what he can get away with. “I don’t think they will pass this law. It is a way Jokowi can test out the capacity of Indonesian members of Parliament. Why would parliamentarians pass it, as the President could then use it against them?” An experienced observer of Indonesian media and politics, who seeks anonymity due to his position in Indonesia, also does not believe the draft will become law. “I am confident the proposed Jokowi protection law will never get up, like so many other proposals. I suspect this issue will drag on as it has for three years and die a quiet death.” The idea to restore the provisions was initially proposed by the previous administration of Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in 2012, but discussion on it has been delayed until now. Distancing move Ambudi says President Widodo is using that fact to distance himself from the draft laws. “He is trying to show to everybody it is not from him, but from the previous administration,” he said. Three articles of the Criminal Code that criminalised defamation were scrapped by the Constitutional Court (MK) in 2006 following a court ruling in favour of lawyer Eggi Sudjana and activist Pandapotan Lubis, who were facing charges for slandering President Yudhoyono and his aides. It was argued the articles undermined freedom of speech, as defined by the constitution, and caused uncertainty, as they were subject to multiple interpretations. One interpretation ruled that burning pictures of the president and vice-president and mocking them in public were insults, and the violators were subject to a maximum of six years’ imprisonment. Such laws were often used arbitrarily by former President Soeharto, and Indonesia’s first president, Soekarno, to arrest their critics. Draft amendments The current draft amendments under concern are Article 263:

“Anyone who publicly defames the President or Vice President is liable to criminal charges and is subject to imprisonment for five years maximum or is subject to Category IV fine.”

And Article 264:

“Anybody who broadcasts, show or places writings or pictures in a way that they are visible to the public, or play records so that they are hearable to the public, which contain defamation against the President or Vice President or which aims to make defamation contents known or better known to the public, is liable to criminal charges with imprisonment of five years maximum or is subject to Category IV fine maximum.”

Thousands of Indonesians have condemned the “authoritarian-era” draft laws via social media, and the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), based in Indonesia, released several press releases condemning the proposals. An excerpt from a statement on August 15 by Suwarjono, the chairman of AJI reads:

“The first victims if those articles are reinstated would be the press. These articles on defamation of heads of state are flexible and can be arbitrarily interpreted. If a journalistic source or the media becomes critical, the rulers can easily gag them.”

Political journalist and media freedom advocate Brent Edwards, chair of the print and media arm of the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union in New Zealand, says the EPMU opposes any moves to restrict freedom of press or to place restrictions on journalists reporting news free of fear or favour. “My understanding is this legislation will have a chilling effect on journalism so we believe it is a backward step for Indonesia.” Legal misunderstanding Indonesian journalist Hera Khaerani says she does not believe the law will pass, and that it is unnecessary. “President Joko Widodo doesn’t need the presidential insult law to exist again. We have a similar law, covering all citizens, regulating insults. “Of course we should differ insult from criticism, because criticism is good… [But] insulting a president is not healthy for democracy. “He doesn’t have to feel insecure about not being protected by law when getting insults. So I see it is a mere lack of understanding of the law,” she says. Even though the MK scrapped the three defamation articles from the Criminal Code in 2006, a person can still be charged for defamation if someone files a report against that person, as per articles 310 and 311. Ambudi said much of the concern from the activists is unfounded. “Unfortunately some activists haven’t properly read the draft, yet they make strong reactions. But fortunately they are only a few. “I don’t think the law will be passed, because the other parliamentarians are so afraid of it.” Michael Neilson is a Postgraduate Diploma in Communication Studies student journalist at AUT University. Part of this story was published first by Te Waha Nui. Indonesia slumps in press-freedom index –]]>

Keith Rankin on The Future of Income

By Keith Rankin -

August 29, 2015

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

We are starting to hear, again, more discussion about the ‘future of work’, and about robots taking over. This was a fashionable topic in the 1820s (the machinery question), the 1920s (automated production lines), and the early 1980s (computers). It’s a misguided concern, because its premise is that there will not be enough work for our workforce in the future.

It’s a bit like being concerned that we will not have enough pollution in future, and certainly more pollution creates more work; so, more pollution must be a good thing. Yeah right?

Work is unambiguously a cost (not a benefit), and we should never ever forget that. The real concern is the future of income, not the future of work.

In the late 1920s there was a substantial process of automation. A good example in New Zealand was the introduction of milking machines, and the migrations to the larger urban centres on account of less labour required on the farm. In Germany and the United States it was a time of huge investment in fixed capital, ramping up the global mass-production system just when markets for wage goods were collapsing. It was the era of Taylorism and Fordism; time and motion studies of workers doing repetitive tasks, and then assembly-line production.

Aggregate income, by definition, is the same as economic output. But we use the word ‘income’ most when we are emphasising the distribution of output rather than its composition. The really important concept, that of ‘wage goods’, captures both the idea of income and the idea of output. It was a commonly used phrase in the 1920s, rarely heard today.

In the early 1930s – the depression years – the world economy was ramped up to produce lots of wage goods, but workers’ earnings were so low (in large part because so many were unemployed or on short-time) that the market demand for wage goods collapsed. So, capital became as unemployed as labour was. Indeed Keynes was as concerned about unemployed factories and machines as he was about unemployed workers. Under these conditions, economic investment made no sense.

If, in the future, robots take over much of our work, then not only do workers stand to become unemployed, but so do robots.

The central structural crisis in the world economy today is that we have a productive structure based on pumping out masses of wage goods – ie the goods and services that wage workers buy – at a time when ordinary workers are paid too little to be able to afford them in the quantities we want to produce. At least Henry Ford understood that, if he was to create a great company and a great automobile industry, his own workers (and other workers like them) would need to be able and willing to buy automobiles. So he paid his workers more. Ford understood that, if the car was to have a great future, it would be as a wage good, not an elite good that only the rich would buy.

This system, where workers are not paid enough to buy the wage goods they make, may be called ‘scrooge capitalism’.

Debt is the short- and medium-term solution to scrooge capitalism; when the system requires the mass consumption of wage goods, but does not pay ordinary consumers sufficient income to buy them. If we won’t pay workers enough, we instead lend them the difference, so that the workers can buy the wage goods that the scrooge capitalists make. Indeed this system does work, so long as these capitalists never insist on the repayment of these credits. That can actually work for a long time, because it’s in the nature of scrooges that they do not wish to be repaid; rather they like to simply accumulate credits. (When one debtor repays a scrooge, the scrooge invariably looks for other debtors to lend to, rather than spending the repaid debt.)

Scrooge capitalism crashes when the scrooge capitalists stop lending to the communities of workers and to the workers’ communities. (We saw such a crash in 2008 with the temporary cessation of sub-prime lending.) Workers’ households must buy the wage goods; it’s central to industrial capitalism that they do so. Captains of industry live by making and selling wage goods. (The remaining rich mostly live by selling financial and business services to these industrialists, or by selling such services to each other.)

Is there another way? Yes, it involves distributing income in such a way that the ‘plebs’ – the 99% in recent parlance, but better thought of as the 75% – receive as of right bigger income shares than they presently do, despite this being a time when there is less need the labour.

So, if capitalism is to survive, the future of income has to involve a much more equitable distribution of aggregate income. It cannot be through higher payrolls, because wages are a cost to individual capitalists, just as labour is a cost to individual workers. (Capitalists, like workers, are cost minimisers.) What is required (in addition to present forms of income) is a return on collective equity; the recognition of the social need for a form of income that is more equal than wages.

By its very nature, private equity income is the most unequal form of income. Public equity income can compensate, by being the most equal form of income. Just as high wages helped Ford and his workers, public equity income can help today’s budding Fords sell their wares, can help ensure their workers are able to enjoy what capitalism offers, and can help those many people who are worse off than fulltime wage workers.

Further, once the plebs get a bigger share of the cake – both as an equity right and as a pragmatic means to maintain a market for the capitalists’ robots’ outputs – the working plebs can choose to work fewer hours, happily passing up the overtime (which I regard as anything more than 30 hours a week of wage work) to the robots and to the unemployed. The result can be substantial productivity gains, bearing in mind that labour productivity is total output divided by the total hours of labour supplied.

All society gains when we are able to choose to work less, while continuing to enjoy the same amounts of wage goods as before. Further it’s sustainable; the demographic transition to permanently low birth rates occurred in advanced and emerging economies once there was widespread income security. When we have income security, the production system responds to genuine consumer needs, rather than overloading us with the needs that its marketing machine requires of us. It’s no longer ‘profit or perish’.

In Economics 101, the production system (supply) is our servant, not our master. It can be so.

—

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

By Selwyn Manning -

August 28, 2015

This edition of NewsRoom_Digest features 9 resourceful links of the day and the politics pulse from Friday 28th August.

NEWSROOM_MONITOR

Top stories in the current news cycle include a prediction the New Zealand economy will get a $100 million boost with the announcement of direct year-round flights between Christchurch and China, the Prime Minister acknowledging a strong link between children who have been in state care and crime and the death of a Waikato farm worker in an accident just a day after Parliament passed legislation that deems farms to be a low-risk workplace.

POLITICS PULSE

Media releases issued from Parliament by political parties today included:

Government: Bay of Plenty place names corrected; Huntly section of the Waikato Expressway begins; Minister welcomes Canterbury Regional Economic Development Strategy; Cook Islands to benefit from Tropic Twilight; Minister opens South Island’s first Urban Cycleways; Manukau Court’s $51m court upgrade complete; Healthy Families NZ launched in Waitakere

ACT Party: Auckland Council must stop coveting neighbours’ assets

Greens: Ihumatao should be protected; Minister needs to follow overseas examples; dump SERCO; Kiwis lose $871 million from power company privatisations; Kiwis lose $871 million from power company privatisations

Labour: Time for inquiry into petrol margins

New Zealand First: Seven Years On And National Is In No Rush To Help Children; We Say It Again – Serco Must Go

NZ National Party: Bishop to hold public meeting on family violence

LINKS OF THE DAY

ALCOHOL & PREGNANCY: The Social Policy Evaluation and Research Unit (Superu) has released new research on drinking during pregnancy using data from the longitudinal study Growing Up in New Zealand. Read more here:http://www.superu.govt.nz/alcoholandpregnancy

ALPS 2 OCEAN CYCLE TRAIL: John Key has announced a further $935,000 will be invested to help complete the Alps 2 Ocean cycle trail. Go here for more: http://www.alps2ocean.com/trail-map

CANTERBURY DEVELOPMENT : Minister for Economic Development Steven Joyce has welcomed a report from Environment Canterbury which will provide the building blocks for a strong and vital economic future across the Canterbury region. A copy of the report can be found at http://www.ecan.govt.nz/CREDS

COUNCIL SUPPORTS FARMERS: Waikato Regional Council says it’s keen to help where it can when it comes to farmers and related agricultural businesses weathering the stresses caused by the current low dairy payout. More information on council rules relating to farming is available at www.waikatoregion.govt.nz/Community/Your-community/For-Farmers/

EMPLOYMENT LAW BREACHED: The Employment Relations Authority (ERA) has ordered Pro-Build Canterbury Limited to pay more than $58,000 in penalties and arrears to workers for breaching employment laws. Read more here: http://employment.govt.nz/workplace/determinations/PDF/2015/2015_NZERA_Christchurch_111.pdf

FMA RELEASES REPORT: The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) today published its enforcement and investigations report for the year ending 30 June 2015. The full report is available here:http://fma.govt.nz/news/reports-and-papers/monitoring-and-compliance-reports/investigations-and-enforcement-report/

HEALTH AND SAFETY LAWS: The much anticipated Health and Safety at Work Act was passed by Parliament yesterday following a fortnight of debate and last minute “tweaks” to further clarify the new requirements. Click here for more: http://www.bellgully.com/resources/resource.04049.asp

NAMES CORRECTED: Land Information Minister Louise Upston has today announced her decision to correct the spelling of 12 place and feature names in the Opotiki District. The full list of Waiotahe place names are available at:http://www.linz.govt.nz/regulatory/place-names/recent-place-name-decisions-and-place-names-interest/nzgb-decisions-august-2015.

UNDP LAUNCHES STORYTELLING CONTEST: UNDP has launched a global storytelling contest, Voices2Paris, to contribute to raising public awareness on the negative impacts of climate change as well as on the opportunities and solutions seen in actions by individuals and governments alike across vulnerable developing countries worldwide. Read more here: http://www.europe.undp.org/content/geneva/en/home/partnerships_initiatives/climate-stories.html

And that’s our sampling of “news you can use” for Friday 28th August 2015.

Brought to EveningReport by Newsroom Digest. –]]>

New Japanese weapons bill stirs nuclear anxiety in the Pacific

By Selwyn Manning -

August 28, 2015

Pacific Media Centre – Asia Pacific Journalism’s Niklas Pedersen reports on a controversial new Japanese piece of legislation. Video: APJ Pacific Scoop: Report – By Niklas Pedersen A new bill due to be passed by Japan’s diet next month could counteract the longstanding Japanese opposition against nuclear weapons. Japan’s Defence Minister, Gen Nakatani, said that the bill would formally allow the military to transport nuclear weapons of foreign forces. This proposition goes against one of the three non-nuclear principles of Japan, which states that the country shall not possess, manufacture or let nuclear weapons be transported on their soil. “This is a pretty dramatic change. Allowing nuclear weapons into Japan reverses the policy of the last half century,” said Associate Professor in Politics and International Relations at Auckland University, Dr Stephen Hoadley. The bill passed the lower chamber of the Japanese diet last month despite public outcry and demands from the opposition to scrap it. For some countries the foreign policy development in Japan is more troubling than others. The Pacific Islands have had a tempestuous history with nuclear weapons and commentators say a new stance from Japan could make those feelings come rushing back. ‘Great concern’ “This is an issue of great concern to the [Pacific] region, given that so many nuclear tests were conducted in the Pacific,” said Asia-Pacific Director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, Tim Wright. Associate Professor Steven Hoadley pointed out that especially the republic of Kiribati and the French Polynesian islands as two nations could fear a possibly more aggressive Japanese nuclear policy given their proximity to nuclear test zones. “They will be concerned that a renewal of any nuclear capability might result in future tests,” he said. There are still 15.000 nuclear weapons left in the world. 1800 of them are on high alert and are ready to be launched with few seconds notice. Asia-Pacific Journalism video report by Niklas Pedersen of AUT University and the Danish School of Media and Journalism. –]]>

A little bit of ‘Whim Wham’ for National Poetry Day

By Selwyn Manning -

August 28, 2015

NewsroomPlus.com Wellington-based online news agency NewsRoom_Plus has chipped into National Poetry Day by recording a reading of two satirical and whimsical newspaper verses from the days of ‘Whim Wham’. “What better way to celebrate the joy of the written and spoken word – the real essence of poetry – than by recalling the marathon efforts of Allen Curnow to marry the poetic form with every day news events,” says NewsRoom_Plus journalist Stephen Olsen. “Our team decided we would record two poems from a collection of his newspaper work edited by Auckland professor Terry Sturm in 2005 and put them up on Soundcloud at https://soundcloud.com/newsroom_monitor/newsroom-on-national-poetry “As detailed in the foreword to that collection of 200 pieces – simply called Whim Wham’s New Zealand – Curnow’s astonishing output mounted up to more than 2000 verses spanning five decades. Apparently the first verse was written as a gently mocking account of an all-night sitting of Parliament, and was only intended as a space-filler when Curnow was working at the Christchurch Press. As noted by Professor Sturm, Curnow’s work under the pseudonym of Whim Wham went on to be a mix of ‘light’ pieces on commonplace topics and ‘serious’ poetic pieces designed to challenge readers. Olsen said he was struck by how lively and topical the verse remains, and left the last word to Professor Sturm, who sadly passed away in 2009:

Terry Sturm – “The personnel might have changed, the spin merchants might go under different names and use different languages of deception … but the issues remain the same”.

–]]>

Radio: New Zealand Report – Maori Party Accuses Govt of being Slum-Landlord + Complaint Against Witch-Doctor

By Selwyn Manning -

August 28, 2015

New Zealand Report: Selwyn Manning joins FiveAA’s breakfast team Jane Reilly, Dave Penberthy and Mark Aiston to deliver New Zealand Report. This week: Maori Party Accuses Government of being Slum-Landlord + Complaint Against Witch-Doctor Ads – Recorded live on 28/08/15. Opening video image: Mouldy State Houses – Image courtesy of Lauren Baker Radio New Zealand.

ITEM ONE The co-leader of the Maori Party has delivered a stinging attack on the National-led Government, criticising it as a “slum landlord”. Marama Fox – whose political party actually props up the Government with a confidence and supply agreement – said Thursday that until the Government brings its state housing stock up to liveable standards it is “the biggest slumlords of this country”. A recent study of state houses found over 95 per cent of state owned homes would fail a warrant of fitness. The findings back up news of a surge in hospital admissions for respiratory illnesses that have driven even large hospitals, like Auckland City Hospital, to operate beyond capacity. A pattern has been in evidence where children and the elderly living in state houses have fallen ill due to damp, drafty, mouldy, and at times toxic living conditions. Last year the coroner found the death of an Auckland toddler, Emma-Lita Bourne, was “entirely possible” that the cold, damp, state house where her family lived had contributed to her death. And UNICEF’s Deborah Morris Travers – who was once our youngest ever government minister as Minister of Youth Affairs in the National-New Zealand First coalition between 1996-99 – said yesterday: “With outgoings for rental housing costs at a historic high, families up and down the country are struggling to provide even minimum shelter to their children.” She added: “Likewise, when housing is of such poor quality that it makes children sick, it breaches their right to the highest attainable standard of health.” Maori Party co-leader Marama Fox said: “The standard of rental housing in this country is appalling and our children are getting sick, and we cannot afford to let that happen.” However, the Prime Minister John Key said in Parliament on Wednesday that the Government had insulated 280,000 homes, 48,000 of which were state houses. He added that the Government had spent $30m providing heating and housing, and was spending $300m a year maintaining homes. The politics of this issue suggests the Government is attempting to avoid state houses becoming subject to a warrant of fitness. It appears committed to minimising maintenance costs prior to offloading thousands more state homes onto private ‘social housing’ providers. ITEM TWO A complaint has been laid with the Advertising Standards Authority after it was revealed “witch doctors” healers and astrologers had been charging fortune seekers thousands of dollars for promises of prosperity and a fabulous love-life! It may surprise few to know, nothing tangible resulted from the promises. A former Fijian newspaper publisher, Ranjit Singh, has laid a formal complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority over the ads placed in the Indian Newslink newspaper, the Fairfax-owned Manukau Courier, and on Apna TV. According to Mr Singh the adverts claimed to provide lifelong protection and even a solution to Lucky Lotto! Unfortunately it does sound too good to be true. New Zealand Report broadcasts live on FiveAA.com.au and webcasts on EveningReport.nz, LiveNews.co.nz and ForeignAffairs.co.nz. –]]>

NewsRoom Digest: Top NZ News Items for August 27, 2015

By Selwyn Manning -

August 27, 2015

This edition of NewsRoom_Digest features 8 resourceful links of the day and the politics pulse from Thursday 27th August.

NEWSROOM_MONITOR

Top stories in the current news cycle includes the Children’s Commissioner releasing a report on the welfare of children in state care, the Financial Services Council (FSC) disputing the Treasury’s view that KiwiSaver is not helping boost retirement savings and the extension of Mt Eden prison investigations due to the high number of complaints from prisoners and their families.

POLITICS PULSE

Media releases issued from Parliament by political parties today included:

Government: Organ Donors Bill passes first reading; Minister welcomes State of Care report; Govt launches Green Paper to explore digital convergence; Views sought on 21st century content regulation;War on Weeds begins; Competing interests balanced in changes to anti-dumping laws; Good progress continuing under Housing Accord; Minister announces investigation; Traders benefiting from online registration; Next Ambassador to Argentina announced; Rheumatic fever rates drop 24 percent; Original waiata wins Supreme Award; Māori Technology Scholarship to change lives

Greens: Commissioner’s findings on CYFS require emergency response; SERCO review extension a clear signal for Final Warning; Landcorp’s ‘dairy at all costs’ strategy is not working; Greens To Prioritise Fixing Health And Safety Law; First new houses at Fenchurch opened; CYFS state must not be used to justify privatisation

Labour: Bleak report on the state of our children; Dodgy data used to justify axing KiwiSaver kickstart; Serco inquiry extended; Truck Shops ignore consumer laws; Taihoa at Ihumatao says Labour; Figures suggest National deliberately excluded farming

New Zealand First: Merchandise exports sharply down; Minister’s Rheumatic Fever Claims Undermined By Figures

United Future Party: Dunne Speaks- Sometimes the Silly Stuff Gets in the Way

LINKS OF THE DAY

EUTHANASIA INQUIRY: Public submissions are invited into the inquiry by Parliament’s Health select committee into “ending one’s life in New Zealand”. More details are available at: http://www.parliament.nz/en-nz/pb/sc/make-submission/0SCHE_SCF_51DBHOH_PET63268_1/petition-of-hon-maryan-street-and-8974-others

FIRST STATE OF CARE REPORT: Children’s Commissioner Dr Russell Wills today released his Office’s first public annual report on the service Child, Youth and Family provides to our most vulnerable children. The report is available on-line at http://www.occ.org.nz/state-of-care

FIRSTBORN WOMEN OBESE: The study led by New Zealand’s Liggins Institute, in collaboration with Swedish scientists, shows firstborn women are more likely to be overweight or obese than their second-born sisters. The report is available here: http://press.psprings.co.uk/jech/august/jech205368.pdf

GREEN PAPER TO EXPLORE DIGITAL CONVERGENCE: Communications and Broadcasting Minister Amy Adams today launched a Green Paper and work programme outlining the Government’s response to the challenges and opportunities of a converged world. More information on the Green Paper and associated work programme can be found at :

http://convergencediscussion.nz/

HOUSING PROGRESS: Eleven new Special Housing Areas (SHAs) that will provide up to 1600 new homes across Auckland were announced today by Building and Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith and Mayor Len Brown. Further information on the Auckland Housing Accord is available from:www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/EN/ratesbuildingproperty/housingsupply/Pages/aucklandhousingaccord.aspx andhttp://www.hnzc.co.nz/housing-development/developments-overview/auckland/northern-glen-innes-redevelopment-1

REPORT ON MOBILE TRADER INDUSTRY: The Commerce Commission has today released a report detailing the findings of its year-long project looking at mobile traders, commonly known as truck shops. The full report on mobile traders can be found on the Commission website: http://www.comcom.govt.nz/the-commission/consumer-reports/mobile-trader-201415-project/

TAIC RECOMMENDATIONS: The Transport Accident Investigation Commission has this morning published a report setting out urgent recommendations to address three safety issues for pedestrians using level crossings within the Auckland and Wellington metropolitan rail networks. The report is available at:http://www.taic.org.nz/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=ixbzWWtOa54%3d&tabid=36&mid=613&language=en-US

WAR ON WEEDS: “It’s time to declare War on Weeds”, says Conservation Minister Maggie Barry as she encouraged New Zealanders to roll up their sleeves and join forces to fight against invasive weeds in a new campaign launched today. More information on the campaign can be found at: http://www.doc.govt.nz/our-work/war-on-weeds/ andhttp://www.beehive.govt.nz/sites/all/files/War-on-Weeds.pdf

And that’s our sampling of “news you can use” for Thursday 27th August 2015.

Brought to EveningReport by Newsroom Digest. –]]>

Across The Ditch: Petrol Prices Cheaper But Not Cheap Enough + RWC Law Will See Bars Open 24/7

By Selwyn Manning -

August 27, 2015

Selwyn Manning and Peter Godfrey deliver Across The Ditch. This week: Petrol prices are cheaper in New Zealand but not cheap enough when compared to petrol pump prices in Australia + Rugby World Cup Law passes in the NZ Parliament making it possible for bars to remain open 24/7 which the World Cup is played in the UK – Recorded live on 27/08/15.

ITEM ONE Petrol prices in New Zealand are dropping after global oil commodity prices sank this week. Prices in Auckland fell below NZD$1.90 per litre of 91 unleaded petrol. As a comparison, the NZ Dollar is currently tracking the Aussie Dollar at around NZ$1 to Australia $0.91. Or to look at it from the other side of the equation for every Australian dollar you get around $1.098 NZ dollars. The Automobile Association has predicted the slump in global oil prices per barrel will cause prices at the petrol pump down below 1.80 per litre of 91 unleaded petrol. Already this week, it appeared a competitive war among outlets was in evidence. GULL service station outlets in Auckland led the market down to $1.86 per litre. Fairfax reported Thursday that three Z service stations were offering 91 octane for $1.829. Those stations were located on the North Shore of Auckland and one outlet in South Auckland. Most outlets played the market conservatively with prices between $1.91 to $1.99. ITEM TWO As you have probably realised over the past few weeks, Rugby is a religion in New Zealand. So much so, the politicians have forced legislation through Parliament so that pubs and bars can stay open all night during the Rugby World Cup tournament. The World Cup tournament will be contested in England and kicks off on September 18. The new law is designed to ensure Rugby fans and punters will be able to drink and watch the Rugby World Cup games, irrespective of what time the games will be screened. The New Zealand Herald’s political editor Audrey Young reports there will be some restrictions however…

• There must be no outdoor speakers; no discarding of empty bottles and no use of outdoor courtyard areas. • The police have to be given seven days’ notice. • Premises which have had their licenses varied or suspended in the previous 12 months will not be able to extend their hours to show Rugby World Cup games.

Excluding those three points, the pubs and bars throughout the land will be the winner on the day. That outcome caused Green Party MP Kevin Hague some discomfort, especially as Parliament in his view was forcing a liberal booze law on local councils. He argued that councils not parliament ought to decide whether bars and pubs could stay open. The Greens also were against pubs and bars being able to remain open when they were located near schools and kindergartens. At the end of the day, it looks like politicians have found a remedy for hangovers, at least in delaying the inevitable.

Across The Ditch broadcasts live on FiveAA.com.au and webcasts on EveningReport.nz, LiveNews.co.nz and ForeignAffairs.co.nz.

]]>

In the horse’s mouth: Windows 10

By Selwyn Manning -

August 26, 2015

cyberman3_upgrade_or_be_deleted merovee_wordpress — ]]>

Concerns for my Microsoft dependence My name is Carolyn, and I’m a long time Windows OS (Operating System) user. Recently I began to see how it might be impacting negatively on my, and maybe all our lives. I upgraded to Windows 10, used it for a couple of weeks, then began to have second thoughts. I reverted back to Windows 7 as offered in the first month after the upgrade. All seems well on the most visible surface of the new OS, but it is the less visible operations that require more investigation. My biggest concerns are with the ways Windows 10 may violate users’ privacy, and/or delivers users up to Microsoft’s other money-making services, and to other marketers. In this Microsoft seem to be taking a step beyond such incursions by others into social media, especially on Facebook, and delivering them to the most private spaces where we live. My worries are that, not being a tech-head, and having gone along with the ongoing developments of operating systems, I now have very little control over what Microsoft is doing with the systems I use for my most personal data. It is also a major step along the way to the commercialisation of computing and the internet, once seen as a revolutionary open source system that would promote grassroots, citizen democracy: a free, sharing, gift economy. Windows 10, as a (possibly desperate) move by Microsoft to protect and expand its market monopoly/dominance, in the face of increasing competition. It just seems to be a step too far for me. Windows 10: the pros and cons Generally Windows 10 has been getting good reviews as regards its usability, and the capabilities it offers. A few reviewers recommend that Windows 7 users stay with it. However, many also say 10 is a better option than Windows 8, which is considered to have been a pretty mediocre system: it took on a lot of features of touch screen mobile devices, but when used for a device focused on the keyboard and mouse, it seems a bit chaotic and confusing. For instance Woody Leonhard at infoworld says:

Windows 10 is what Windows 8 should have been, but it has too many rough edges to attract Windows 7 users. Continuous upgrades could change that as early as this fall.

He does not seem to have concerns about Windows 10 and privacy issues, praising the security features, which

… proudly offers a bundle of new features, including improved security, a new browser, and the voice-activated intelligent assistant Cortana. You might even call Windows 10 the most revolutionary version of Windows ever, mainly because it will be continually upgraded as part of Microsoft’s “Windows as a service” effort.

In the gift horse’s mouth: enticement to revenue-generating capabilities “Windows as a service” makes the OS free to non-business users, in order to shift the costs to businesses (they will have to pay for it), and to accessing add-on services such as games and apps. Search capabilities also aim to encourage the generation of revenue. Gregg Keiser explains:

Microsoft’s strategy is to go low on consumer Windows licenses, hoping that that will boost device sales, which will in turn add to the pool of potential customers for advertising, services and apps. In other words, what Microsoft gives up in selling each Windows license it figures to make up in volume elsewhere.

Leonhard is glowing about most of the new features in Windows 10, although he also does point out some flaws. His claim for increased security does seem to relate to a built in anti-virus and to security breaches by those outside of Microsoft’s sphere of influence:

This includes “… multifactor security techniques tied to accounts where you simply log in once and do nearly anything.

It also aims to make private data secure when using public networks, and more. Windows 10 and privacy Online there are arguments for and against Microsoft on privacy. The pro-Microsoft arguments tend to say that there are similar features in earlier Windows OS’s, and that the 10 version is just a continuation of that. They also argue for such features being necessary, and against them being a bad invasion of privacy. WheezyJoe outlines some of the privacy concerns, with a link to an article on Verge article on the privacy policy for Windows 10. WheezyJoe argues that Verge’s piece takes a “Microsoft-friendly” approach. There is also a link to the Windows’ privacy policy: Alex Hern writes in the Guardian, on 1 August:

Hundreds of commenters on sites such as Hacker News and Reddit have criticised default settings that send personal information to Microsoft, use bandwidth to upload data to other computers running the operating system, share Wi-Fi passwords with online friends and remove the ability to opt out of security updates.

Windows 10 includes embedded personalised adverts, gives the user a unique advertising ID, which is linked to the users’ email address. The latter is linked to other services.

Using that information, Microsoft is able to personalise ads to the user, during both web surfing and, for newer apps downloaded from the Windows Store, app usage.

For instance, Windows 10 turns Microsoft’s previously in-built Solitaire card game into an app that has unskippable ads. Some articles provide advice on how to switch of the 12 or 13 features that could enable privacy breaches: However, others claim the OS will continue to send data to Microsoft even after the data-sharing features have been turned off. Beyond privacy to loss of control, & spying potential This leads to suggestions of Windows 10 (possibly inadvertently) enabling spying on users – invoking the likes of the NSA/5 Eyes keystroke digital spying capabilities. Since I have reverted back to Windows 7, every time I logon, I get a pup op message saying Microsoft recommends that I upgrade to Windows 10, or that my Windows 10 Upgrade is waiting for me. Such a desperate hard sell just makes me feel resistant. Leonhard also points out that people like me, who have had second thoughts about Windows 10, will be locked from further upgrades for Windows 7 – he gives a step by step guide as to how to disable the lock. It puts me in mind of Doctor Who’s Cybermen and their refrain, ‘You must be upgraded” – to the free system, promising a higher level of humanity; but where people will become an integral part of the machine, and lose their humanity and freewill. The alternative to being upgraded, is being deleted [see Merovee on WordPress, site of the feature image]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQs3gVobcfg In the next part I will look at some of the alternatives to Microsoft. Also: Check out this thought provoking article: 8 Ways Technology Is Improving Your Health.]]>

NewsRoom Digest: Top NZ News Items for August 26, 2015

By Selwyn Manning -

August 26, 2015

This edition of NewsRoom_Digest features 8 resourceful links of the day and the politics pulse from Wednesday 26th August.

This is the first birthday for NewsRoom_Digest (or ‘ND’ as it’s known to the NewsRoom team) since it first commenced appearing on 26 August 2014. Happy Birthday ND!

NEWSROOM_MONITOR

Top stories in the current news cycle include Air New Zealand making a record profit of $327 million in the year ending June, Finance Minister Bill English says the risk of recession in New Zealand is greater if China has a hard landing, and the 2015-2020 National Drug Policy has been launched at Parliament today.

Featured content on our news-log today includes an interview with Anton Oliver about a new exhibition that opened at the weekend to commemorate a set of rugby-related personal stories from the First World War, and a contribution from the UNDP Pacific Centre about their Continuing Market Business Education (CMBE) programme in Fiji. See:http://newsroomplus.com/the-journal/

POLITICS PULSE

Media releases issued from Parliament by political parties today included:

Government: Law Society gets it wrong; Better information for Judges making family violence bail decisions; Consultation on steps to ozone recovery and asbestos ban; NZ aid to assist Timorese coffee and cocoa farmers;Free weather forecasts for recreational pilots; Release of 2015-2020 National Drug Policy; Review aims to optimise palliative care services

ACT Party: Nanny state retreats;..

Greens: Green Party Bill Will Bring NZ Rental Laws Into The 21st Century; Greens to vote down bad World Cup booze law;Gambling Commission Reappointments; Social Sector Trial helping Dunedin youth into work

Labour: Takahe massacre supposed to get all New Zealanders involved in conservation; Waiver cost still a mystery; Housing New Zealand dividends could save children’s lives; China exports fall 27 per cent in a year; National should support all families for 26 weeks; National’s health and safety shambles puts school camps at risk; National’s asset stripping agenda hits schools; Democracy still the loser in Canterbury; Unsecure website risks Ashley MoBIEson hack

Māori Party:Māori Party Congratulates Hon Dr Sir Pita Sharples

New Zealand First: English caught out over official information act responses; First home buyers in the Hutt taking advantage of HomeStart; The facts on immigration and parent reunion for the uninformed; Evidence Doesn’t Back Up Cut To Limited Service Volunteers

LINKS OF THE DAY

2015-2020 NATIONAL DRUG POLICY: The 2015-2020 National Drug Policy has been launched at Parliament today by Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne. The Policy sets the Government’s approach to minimise harm from alcohol and other drugs for the next five years. The policy is can be viewed at : http://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/mental-health-and-addictions/drug-policy/national-drug-policy

DEMENTIA: A global study predicts the number of people with dementia will nearly triple by 2050, with the numbers in New Zealand to increase to more than 150,000 in the next 35 years. Go here for the World Alzheimer Report 2015:http://www.alz.co.uk/research/world-report

DONOR COMPENSATION: Improving compensation for live organ donors is a rare opportunity to save both lives and healthcare dollars, according to a report released yesterday by The New Zealand Initiative. Read the report here:http://nzinitiative.org.nz/site/nzinitiative/files/Organ%20Donors%20Final.pdf

FRUIT AND MEAT EXPORTS RISE: The value of total goods exported was $4.2 billion in July 2015, up $514 million (14 percent) compared with July 2014, Statistics New Zealand said today with fruit and meat leading the rise. More information is available at :http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/industry_sectors/imports_and_exports/OverseasMerchandiseTrade_HOTPJul15.aspx

KIWIS MORE FRUGAL IN WAKE OF GFC: A newly released University of Otago study of consumer lifestyles suggests many Kiwis have become thriftier and more closely aligned with traditional values in the wake of the global financial crisis (GFC). A PDF of the report is available here: http://www.otago.ac.nz/marketing/otago121778..pdf

MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS (MDGS): The head of the United Nations Development Programme, former NZ Prime Minister Helen Clark, says Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to halve extreme poverty have been met, overwhelmingly because of changes in China. Read more here: http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/goals/

RBNZ CONSULTS ON OUTSOURCING: The Reserve Bank has today released a consultation paper with proposals for an updated outsourcing policy for banks. The consultation will run for 10 weeks and closes on 4 November 2015. See the consultation document here:http://www.rbnz.govt.nz/regulation_and_supervision/banks/consultations/consultation-review-outsourcing-policy-registered-banks.pdf

REGIONAL TOURISM INDICATORS: Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment released the Regional Tourism Indicators (RTI) for July 2015. Click here for more: http://www.mbie.govt.nz/info-services/sectors-industries/tourism/tourism-research-data/regional-tourism-indicators

And that’s our sampling of “news you can use” for Wednesday 26th August 2015.

Brought to EveningReport by Newsroom Digest. –]]>

Keith Rankin’s Chart for this Week: Labour Productivity in New Zealand 1988-2014

By Keith Rankin -

August 26, 2015

Analysis by Keith Rankin.

[caption id="attachment_6703" align="aligncenter" width="987"]

Productivity: It depends on the denominator.[/caption]

When economists talk on the media, we often hear the word ‘productivity’. Interviewers’ eyes glaze over. To many, ‘productivity talk’ is code for blaming the workers for whatever economic ailments we might have, and for employers wanting to reduce labour costs more so they can make more gizmos for anybody but their own workers.

The ‘productivity’ concept is important, however, because it really is an indicator of economic success. It’s a ratio. Business commentators focus on the numerator; the outputs over the inputs. And most economic policymakers think we should achieve high productivity growth by having strong input growth and even stronger output growth. That’s not very intelligent thinking, at least for advanced economies.

In advanced (ie already high-productivity) economies, gains in living standards and sustainability come from reducing the denominator. Thus productivity increases through continuing to produce at present levels, while reducing inputs; especially reducing labour inputs. In advanced economies, such as New Zealand, continued increase in living standards arise from less labour, not more gizmos. Labour is a cost (input), not an output.

The chart here shows labour productivity rising more slowly after the mid-2000s.

I show two measures of productivity. One (top) is a measure of output per actual employed person (with part-time workers counting as half). The second measure is of output per person who is or would like to be employed. People who would like to be employed part-time are counted as half, and I have taken all people aged over 15 classed as neither employed nor retired nor students nor caregivers as counting as ‘half’ within the denominator. Thus the lower line is a more correct measure of productivity; of output per willing worker.

The difference between the two lines is a result of joblessness, which is a broader concept than narrowly-defined ‘unemployment’.

The ideal future has three components: increasing productivity, convergence of the two lines (the elimination of joblessness), and reductions in employment. On the latter matter, the ideal target could be that everyone who wants to be part of the workforce has 20-25 hours per week employment. The target then, to achieve future labour productivity gains, is to eliminate most full-time employment (as well as eliminating joblessness), while maintaining output and income at present aggregate levels.

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Developing her market business with smile and learning

By Selwyn Manning -

August 26, 2015

NewsroomPlus.com – Contributed by UNDP Pacific Centre Under a blue tarpaulin shade put up at the temporary market space next to the bus terminal in Lautoka, stalls selling vegetables, fruits, root crops, market vendors were slowly starting another busy day. Among them, Lidia Vilaiwaqa was putting bags of yagona on the table preparing to open her stall.

Lidia Vilaiwaqa with her customers at her stall

Ms. Vilaiwaqa has been in the market business for over seven years, since her husband retired. “I used to come home with the money I earned on the day and often ended up with giving it to our community people who needed and came to me, kerekere in Fijian, you know,” she said. Opting to open her stall a little later than usual, she attended a training offered by UNDP in partnership with Westpac. The training session took place at the women market vendors’ accommodation in Lautoka and provided market vendors with a concept and practices of produce presentation and customer relations. It was the second session in the Continuing Market Business Education (CMBE) programme following the topic on ‘Basic Financial Literacy’ delivered in May. More than 120 market vendors in total have attended the training programme in Lautoka. Women make up the majority, from 75-95% of vendors in the region. Market Vendors have traded for many years and learn business skills by trial and error. The CMBE provides appropriate training, space and conversations to improve and strengthen the financial literacy and business practice of market vendors especially women market vendors. “I learnt from the training that budgeting and saving are important part of our business. Also, it is important to make nice presentation at the stall and talk to our customers with smile. I always make sure my stall is nice and tidy so my customers would feel nice,” said Ms Vilaiwaqa. Sometimes she sells up to 35kg of pounded yagona in a week. She keeps records on her notebook, how much she bought yagona for, how much to pound it and transport, and the total of her sale each week. Soon after she started preparing her stall, a pair of young shoppers came and bought a bag of yagona, her first customer for the day. “It is good to learn new things and put it into practice so I can develop my business better,” she smiled. The CMBE is delivered as part of the Markets for Change project , a six-year, multi-country initiative that aims to ensure marketplaces in rural and urban areas of Fiji, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu are safe, inclusive and non-discriminatory, promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment. A UN Women project, Markets for Change is implemented in partnership with UNDP and supported by the Australian Government. –]]>

Hot Topic: The Age Of Resilience starts tonight

By Selwyn Manning -

August 26, 2015

Hot-Topic.co.nz A quick heads up that the Royal Society of New Zealand’s panel discussion series on the theme of The Age Of Resilience starts tonight at the Auckland Museum at 6pm. French and NZ experts will consider the “economic conundrum” of transitioning to a low-carbon economy and at the same time deliver a “high and sustainable level of human well-being”. On the panel are Pierre Ducret (see the NZ Herald today), Dr Suzi Kerr, Professor Catherine Larrère and Fraser Whinerary. Kim Hill will be in the chair, and the evening is being recorded by Radio New Zealand for broadcast next month. More details at the RSNZ web site, and you can download a flyer here. Two further sessions are being held in Wellington and Christchurch: in Wellington tomorrow night on Climate in-justice? and Christchurch next Tuesday on The Anthropocene Challenge. Details and flyers from the RSNZ here. An interesting series — and if you can’t make the live recordings, all three will be on Radio NZ National in September and October as part of the Talking Heads strand.

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PERRIAM impresses at New Zealand Fashion Week 2015

By Selwyn Manning -

August 26, 2015

Model wears the PERRIAM Woman 16 Lindis Cable Polo Jersey, the Roaming Jacket (with merino leather sleeve inserts) and the Classic Snow white pant_photo by Neil Gussey — ]]>

Source: Info ScopeMedia.co.nz.

[caption id="attachment_6736" align="alignleft" width="187"]

Model wears the PERRIAM Woman 16 Lindis Cable Polo Jersey, the Roaming Jacket (with merino leather sleeve inserts) and the Classic Snow white pant_photo by Neil Gussey.[/caption]

Luxury merino fashion brand PERRIAM has impressed national and international media during its debut at New Zealand Fashion Week (NZFW) in Auckland yesterday.

PERRIAM Woman Winter 16 was unveiled on the catwalk as part of NZFW’s Choose Wool show, held at the ANZ Viaduct Events Centre in front of a capacity audience.

Curated by top Kiwi stylist Anna Caselberg, Choose Wool showcased some of New Zealand’s leading designers. PERRIAM featured alongside Sabatini, twenty-seven names, Tanya Carlson, Hailwood, Liz Mitchell, French83 and Wynn Hamlyn.

Titled “Untamed”, PERRIAM Woman Winter 16 is a collection of elegant, effortless wardrobe essentials with a contemporary, sport-luxe vibe. Inspired by the rugged beauty and natural environment of Central Otago, the collection features New Zealand merino wool with touches of rabbit fur, merino leather and other textiles.

Untamed teams luxurious cable knitwear with flattering silhouettes for a modern, relaxed style and features splashes of animal print and flashes of signature gold trims. Blacks, soft taupes and grey marl feature in the colour palette.

Wanaka-based designer Christina Perriam drew on her high country merino farming background for the PERRIAM Woman Winter 16 range. Christina hails from Bendigo Station, near Tarras, and is firmly entrenched in the wool industry through her upbringing and 15 years as a designer working with merino wool.

“To be selected for Choose Wool at NZFW has been an absolute honour, as PERRIAM truly represents what the show is celebrating – wool in NZ fashion. The NZ wool industry is repsected internationally and fashion plays an important role within the industry. PERRIAM garments are designed to last with timeless elegance and style and we’re proudly NZ-made, using NZ-produced merino,” she says.

[caption id="attachment_6737" align="alignleft" width="204"]

Model wears PERRIAM Woman 16 Dunstan Polo Dress and the Avalanche Pant_photo by Neil Gussey.[/caption]

The Choose Wool show was supported by an elaborate host of influential international media and fashion delegates, including ASOS, Marie Claire, global fashion and entertainment channel Fashion One, Glamour magazine and Vogue UK.

About PERRIAM:

PERRIAM is a New Zealand-made merino clothing brand that embodies the comforting luxury inherent in the spirit of the high country. The heart of PERRIAM is Christina’s family and their farm, Bendigo Station in Central Otago – a place of rich history, pioneering spirit, enduring natural beauty and the home of the famous Shrek the Sheep. PERRIAM is about slow fashion, not fast fashion, but it is fashion-forward. PERRIAM celebrates the beauty amongst the busy-ness of life. A relatively new brand, PERRIAM Woman was launched in October 2014, along with a flagship retail store in Tarras and online store www.perriam.co.nz. PERRIAM Woman Winter 16 will be wholesaled throughout New Zealand for the first time. Little PERRIAM, the brand’s babies and children’s label, was launched in February 2015. Designer Christina Perriam also has her eyes on a growth plan that includes PERRIAM retail stores and intends on eventually launching PERRIAM Man, PERRIAM Sleep and PERRIAM Home.

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Substituting Balls and Boots for Bullets

By Selwyn Manning -

August 26, 2015

NewsroomPlus.com – Contributed by Rupeni Vatubuli, NewsRoom_Plus The just-opened Balls, Bullets and Boots exhibition in Palmerston North is all about telling the stories of fifteen individuals with rugby connections who served in the First World War. For that you need someone in the role of a story teller. Preferably, if possible, an All Black – but who?

Anton-Oliver_3035917 — Anton Oliver in his playing days

Stepping up to the mark is London-based Anton Oliver who, when asked, didn’t hesitate to lend his voice to the interactive multimedia aspect to the exhibition as its ‘virtual guide’. Oliver, a former All Blacks captain as was his father Frank, has a track record as a guest narrator, having toured with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra to narrate the classic tale ‘Peter and the Wolf’ in 2013. When NewsRoom_Plus spoke with Anton it didn’t take long to sense his motivation for taking part in a project that opens up another angle on memories and stories attached to the WW100 commemoration. As for so many All Blacks before and since his own time in the jersey, Anton holds Dave Gallaher, captain of the 1905 ‘Originals’ rugby team, in special regard. Not being one for hiding his emotions, you can hear the lump in Anton’s throat when he mentions Gallaher. An Irish-born New Zealander, Gallaher enlisted for service in the First World War after a younger brother was killed in action. He was 43 when he was shot in the face during the attack on Gravenstafel Spur, Belgium on 4 October 1917 and died later that day – one of the 966 fatalities in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in that one month alone. Family connections to that era include the loss of a great Uncle who died at the battle of the Somme, and that both of his grandfathers enlisted for service. In a Crowd Goes Wild interview about the exhibition with another All Black, Josh Kronfeld, Anton said he has found himself “bawling my eyes out” when visiting battle sites such as Passchendaele. In another promotional appearance for the exhibition, this time on TVNZ’s Breakfast, Anton reflected on the “huge amount of power in telling people’s stories”. “The overarching war machine has a different rhetoric (but these men) came back damaged and changed”. Oliver – who turns 40 on 9 September – survived and thrived in the All Black jersey for 13 years. Looking back on that lengthy rugby playing career – from his early days about which he still jokingly refers to himself as “an uncultured, monoysllabic, Shrek hobbit” – he reckons it took him a 3 full years to feel at ease. That recollection of lengthy service in the cause of sport, and the fact that the Balls, Bullets and Boots exhibition will be going on tour for at least three years after closing in Palmerston North on Armistice Day this year, 11 November 2015, are other points of resonance for Anton’s involvement. History is something he told NewsRoom_Plus is important to everyone, also sharing the view that history should remain compulsory in the school curriculum in order to give all students a sense of identity.

Pictured above at the exhibition opening at Palmerston North’s Te Manawa cultural centre are Manawatu Mayor Margaret Kouvelis, Palmerston North Mayor Grant Smith and that doyen of sports historians and commentators Keith Quinn. Links:

Go to www.ww1rugby.nz for more information on the exhibition, where you get to ‘meet’ a woman coach, three pre-war All Blacks and three post-war All Blacks, a schoolboy rugby player-cum-soldier and a rugby-mad military defaulter, rugby players who served in the Royal Navy, Royal Air Force and NZ Tunnelling Company, three NZ Maori players and a highly decorated VC winner who had a stellar pre-war provincial rugby career. .
Like the Rugby Museum Facebook page here: NewZealandRugbyMuseum

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David Robie on Rainbows, warriors and ship naming

By David Robie -

August 25, 2015

Analysis by David Robie. This article was first published on Café Pacific WHEN the 30th anniversary edition of my book Eyes of Fire (Little Island Press) was published on the day last month marking the bombing of the original Rainbow Warrior on 10 July 1985, Susi Newborn questioned my account of the naming of the Greenpeace environmental flagship. She was involved in the buying of the Aberdeen-built fishing trawler Sir William Hardy that was then renamed as the Rainbow Warrior. In the interests of historical accuracy, I have thus double-checked my sources for the book, including interviewing some of those involved at the time. I am quite satisfied there was no major inaccuracy in that section of my book comprising two paragraphs. There was only a minor one which I am revising in future copies thanks to modern printing-on-demand technology. The decision to rename the rusty old ship Greenpeace UK had just bought was a collective one, taken in October or November 1977 at a small meeting on board the vessel in West India Dock, London, following a proposal made in writing a few weeks before by Rémi Parmentier to dub her Warrior of the Rainbow. Those present at that meeting were Denise Bell, Charles Hutchinson, David McTaggart, Susi Newborn, Rémi Parmentier and Allan Thornton. Parmentier had first heard of the Rainbow Warrior Native American legend from a fellow called Georges Devez who had worked with him for some time in 1977-78. The hand-written note, sent by mail from Paris by Parmentier to Greenpeace UK was stuck on a wall in the Greenpeace London office for some time. Bob Hunter’s 1979 book on the seminal years of Greenpeace, Warriors of the Rainbow, was published two years later, but Parmentier says that it is quite possible that his colleague Devez could have heard of the Rainbow Warrior legend indirectly through Hunter. Bob Hunter’s book inspired me to write Eyes of Fire about the humanitarian mission to relocate the Rongelap people, suffering from the legacy of US nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands. There are many variations of the Rainbow prophecy, not just the Navajo-Hopi version. Among other tribes to have interpretations of the prophecy were the Cree (one of the largest groups of First Nation Native Americans) in Canada, Cherokee, Sioux, Salesh and Zuni. My inspiration for the Eyes of Fire book title was a Cree version of the legend, as represented in the title page preamble. –]]>

Harmeet Sooden: Iraqi Civilians Caught Between Scylla and Charybdis

By Selwyn Manning -

August 25, 2015

Human Rights Watch - Displaced Yezidi — ]]>

Harmeet Sooden has recently returned from Iraqi Kurdistan, where he was working on a human rights project assessing communal tensions in a camp for internally displaced persons. In 2005, Harmeet was kidnapped in Iraq while working for an international human rights organisation, and held hostage for nearly four months. He argues the protection of civilians should be the cornerstone of New Zealand policy in Iraq.

Analysis by Harmeet Sooden. New Zealand’s military intervention in Iraq, as a member of the US-led coalition, is being sold to the New Zealand public as an exercise in stopping ISIS’s atrocities, especially those against the people of Iraq. The reality, however, is that many of Iraq’s civilians are caught between Scylla and Charybdis – between two dire alternatives: on the one side, opposition groups and ISIS; on the other, the US-led coalition and Iran. While human rights violations committed by ISIS are widely condemned, those committed by New Zealand’s coalition partners, including Iraq, are underreported. The coalition’s strategy to counter ISIS relies on the use of force. Key to the coalition’s military campaign in Iraq is building the capacity of the Iraqi military and supporting Iraqi ground operations with airstrikes. Since the beginning of the conflict, human rights organisations have been implicating coalition members in human rights violations that may constitute war crimes. The Iraqi government, in particular, is responsible for widespread abuses, disproportionately against Iraq’s Sunni Arab population. Iraqi security forces, originally trained and armed by the US, have engaged in: torture, hostage-taking, and summary execution of civilians, including women and children; beheading, lynching, and immolating captives, desecrating corpses, and celebrating the atrocities in photographs and videos posted online; looting and wanton destruction of property, and shelling and bombing residential areas and hospitals. Iraqi and Kurdish authorities sometimes prevent families fleeing the fighting from reaching safer parts of the country. Iraqi forces have also established “death zones” around Baghdad. Other coalition members such as the US, Britain and Australia, who are conducting airstrikes and training Iraqi forces, themselves have a poor human rights record in Iraq. For example, the International Criminal Court is currently considering allegations of systematic torture and unlawful killings carried out by British forces in Iraq between 2003 and 2008. The abuses by Iraqi forces are often preceded by coalition airstrikes. Not only are the airstrikes effectively providing cover for what appears to be ethnic cleansing in areas re-captured from ISIS, but they are also directly causing civilian deaths that may amount to war crimes. According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, the airstrikes are compounding the humanitarian consequences of the conflict. [caption id="attachment_6692" align="aligncenter" width="640"]

Harmeet Sooden (second from left) interviews a displaced Iraqi family in Arbat IDP Camp, Iraqi Kurdistan on May 21, 2015. Up to 85 per cent of the camp’s 17,300 residents were displaced from their homes when Iraqi forces re-captured parts of Salah ad-Din governorate from ISIS. Image: Christian Peacemaker Teams.[/caption] UN agencies warn that Iraq is “on the brink of humanitarian disaster” due to the escalating conflict between the US-led coalition and opposition forces, and the severe shortfall in international funding. At least 3.1 million Iraqis have been internally displaced since January 2014, and a further million could be displaced in the coming months. A total of 8.2 million people now require immediate humanitarian support. The situation has deteriorated to the point where “[a]uthorities in Iraqi Kurdistan suspect that displaced people are selling their kidneys to feed their families.” At the same time, it is becoming increasingly dangerous for humanitarian workers to carry out their work. The UN has concluded that civilians are the primary targets of the conflict in Iraq. New Zealand’s main contribution to the coalition is through Task Group Taji, a New Zealand-Australian training mission co-located with US training teams at the Taji Military Complex (Camp Taji) site. The task group is a small but not insignificant component of the multiple-site ‘Building Partner Capacity’ (BPC) programme led by the US. The primary mission of the BPC programme at Camp Taji is to train the Iraqi army’s 15th and 16th Divisions. Both divisions were formed to replace the US-trained units that collapsed in 2014 when ISIS seized the Mosul region. They are composed of new recruits as well as soldiers who fled during last year’s assault. Since May 2015, Task Group Taji has trained Iraqi troops from the 76th Brigade, a formation within the 16th Division, and the 71st, 22nd and 23rd Brigades. In April 2015, the Wall Street Journal interviewed several Iraqi soldiers being trained at Camp Taji, who openly said “they actively served on their days off with Shiite militia – some…still listed by the U.S. as terrorist groups”, some also sponsored by Iran. The UN has reported that the popular mobilisation forces (PMF) and other pro-government militias “seem to operate with total impunity, leaving a trail of death and destruction in their wake” that often rivals the depredations of ISIS. The Iraqi security forces, and to a lesser extent the peshmerga, collaborate with the PMF. UNICEF has confirmed reports of children being recruited by militias from all sides, including those supported by the Iraqi government. The PMF is reportedly providing combat training to children in summer camps established throughout the country. Militias fighting alongside Iraqi and Kurdish forces are using armed boys and girls on the frontline – some as young as 10. Enlisting children under the age of 15 or using them to engage in hostilities is a war crime. In addition to jointly operating Task Group Taji with New Zealand, Australia is running a Special Operations Task Group. This Australian task group is rendering military advice and assistance to the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS), a CIA-supported “elite Iraqi security force accused of killing prisoners and other human rights violations,” which include “torturing detainees with impunity” at a secret detention facility in Baghdad, and “unnecessary civilian casualties”. Iraqi Special Operations Forces (ISOF) – sometimes referred to in local circles as the ‘dirty brigades’ – provide CTS’s primary combat capability. ISOF units are under investigation by the Iraqi government for committing ISIS-like atrocities against non-combatants. Iraqi soldiers trained by the NZDF at Camp Taji have now been deployed to the frontline to join the coalition’s Ramadi offensive. The military campaign to re-capture Ramadi involves elements of the Iraqi security forces that are spearheaded by the CTS and supported by coalition air power, including Australia’s Air Task Group, and pro-government militias, notably the PMF. [caption id="attachment_6691" align="aligncenter" width="640"]

An officer with the New Zealand defense force gives a brief during a build partner capacity conference at Camp Taji, Iraq, July 22, 2015. The conference brought together coalition leaders to assess the Iraqi security forces training programs at BPC sites across the country. It allowed them to discuss topics like length of instruction, capturing lessons learned and leadership development as they apply to the Iraqi security forces trained at the sites. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Charles M. Bailey/Released)[/caption] The NZDF training, even if it includes courses in “ethical behavior in war”, cannot address the root causes of the coalition’s human rights violations: for instance, the structural corruption and sectarianism introduced into Iraq’s military and state institutions after the 2003 US-led invasion. The NZDF cannot eliminate the risk of the training offering the Iraqi army greater means to worsen the human rights situation. NZDF personnel are also deployed in unidentified roles in Baghdad and other undisclosed locations. The military role New Zealand’s intelligence services are playing in the conflict is secret. The full extent of New Zealand’s activities in Iraq is therefore not subject to public scrutiny. Sectarian abuses that prevailed under the government of Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki continue unabated under his successor, Haider al-Abadi. Yet, the New Zealand Government insists on backing a regime that is showing little regard for civilians. When coalition forces were poised to re-conquer Tikrit in March 2015, Prime Minister al-Abadi said in a speech to the Iraqi parliament: “There is no neutrality in the battle against ISIS. If someone is being neutral with ISIS, then he is one of them.” His words epitomise the dilemma civilians face in areas where ISIS is active. Far from being the “responsible international citizen” it professes to be, New Zealand is participating in a military enterprise that is exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in Iraq. There is a straightforward way New Zealand can begin to protect the people of Iraq: namely, by withdrawing its support for the human rights violators in the coalition, and acknowledging that worthwhile alternatives exist. New Zealand policymakers can get away with reckless policies so long as New Zealanders keep silent and tolerate them. –]]>

How the NZ Bill of Rights Act protects human rights today

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