NewsRoom Digest: Top NZ News Items for November 18 Edition, 2015

November 18, 2015

This edition of NewsRoom_Digest features 7 resourceful links of the day and the politics pulse from Wednesday 18th November. It is best viewed on a desktop screen.

NEWSROOM_MONITOR

Noteworthy stories in the current news cycle include the findings from a Salvation Army report that children do not have adequate or proper access to housing, the price of whole milk powder has taken another hit in the overnight GlobalDairyTrade auction and the Meat Workers Union has won a favourable ruling from the Employment Court in their long standing dispute with AFFCO.

POLITICS PULSE

Media releases issued from Parliament by political parties today included:

Government: Another 54 Communities of Learning formed; Parole-like supervision regime now in place; Aviation agreements will put more kiwi-trained pilots in Vietnamese skies;Awards celebrate seabird protection; Captioning to be extended to Prime Television; Pay equity meeting an important milestone; Expert group set up to review insolvency law; PM saddened at passing of Jonah Lomu

Greens: Another case of pay hypocrisy from the Government;NZ must not extradite people to be tortured

Labour: Big gaps in rushed returning offenders law; End homelessness now – scrap flag vote and stop state house sell-off; The Pacific loses a great friend

Māori Party: Māori Party Celebrates Correction Of Whanganui District Name; Māori Party Backs Urgent Bill To Supervise Deported Offenders

New Zealand First: Jonah Lomu

NZ National Party: Craig Foss praises Wairoa schools for working together for kids

LINKS OF THE DAY

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

APEC SUMMIT 2015: The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit 2015 commenced today in the Philippines. More details at: http://apec2015.ph/

BIODEGRADABLE PLASTICS: A UN report released today, “Biodegradable Plastics and Marine Litter. Misconceptions, Concerns and Impacts on Marine Environments”, finds that complete biodegradation of plastics occurs in conditions that are rarely, if ever, met in marine environments. The full report can be downloaded at:http://unep.org/gpa/documents/publications/BiodegradablePlastics.pdf

COMMUNITIES OF LEARNING: Another 444 schools have formed themselves into Communities of Learning, taking to 793 the number that have agreed to work systematically together under a government policy for raising student achievement. For more information about Communities of Learning go to http://www.education.govt.nz/ministry-of-education/specific-initiatives/investing-in-educational-success

INVISIBLE SUPERCITY: According to latest report of The Salvation Army Social Policy and Parliamentary Unit on housing need in Auckland – Invisible in the SuperCity – children were found to be sleeping outside in cars and garages. Read more: http://www.salvationarmy.org.nz/research-media/social-policy-and-parliamentary-unit/reports/invisible-supercity

MOVEMBER MO DOLLAR: Today, the Movember charity committed to men living happier, healthier, longer lives unveiled a unique initiative featuring some of New Zealand’s most influential faces, minted on a limited edition one dollar coin – the Mo Dollar. For more information visit: http://www.modollar.nz

VACANCIES RISE: The number of job vacancies advertised online rose by 1.8 per cent in October, while there was a 4.3 per cent rise across the year, according to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s (MBIE) latest Jobs Online report. Read more: http://www.mbie.govt.nz/info-services/employment-skills/labour-market-reports/jobs-online

VIRTUAL DRIVING SITE: A ground-breaking new virtual driving website is being launched by the AA to help better prepare tourists for driving in New Zealand. The AA Visiting Drivers Training Programme can be accessed at:http://www.aa.co.nz/visiting-drivers

And that’s our sampling of “news you can use” for Wednesday 18th November.

Brought to EveningReport by Newsroom Digest.

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Keith Rankin’s Chart for this Week: Finance-Related Growth 1991-2015

By Keith Rankin -

November 18, 2015

Analysis by Keith Rankin.

Weaker than in the Naughties.

This week’s chart is drawn from the same set of data as last weeks. However, instead of simply comparing the sector-GDP data from one quarter and comparing it with the same quarter of the previous year, I have taken eight quarters of data and compared their averages with the averages for the previous eight quarters.

The former approach better showed the very latest dip, while showing perhaps too many blips. The latter approach smooths the blips and shows more clearly the decade by decade similarities and differences.

This week’s chart shows important similarities between the twenty-teens and the twenty-naughts, while showing that actual growth of financial and real estate activity is much less this time around.

I think that the next major crisis will be more an economic crisis than a financial crisis, as the issues around inequality, debt-phobia and globally footloose (but increasingly restricted) labour get closer to breaking point. Financial crisis still remains very much on the cards, nevertheless. In 2007-09 New Zealand had a financial crumple-zone in the form of finance companies that flew then failed. There were substantial repercussions for unwary New Zealand savers. These finance company failures protected our banks. The banks have no such protection this decade.

While activity in the real estate sector recovered strongly immediately after the financial crisis (essentially sales and marketing; linked more to volume than price), the 2013 growth-high in this sector barely exceeds the low of the late 1990s. Domestic financial growth in these years (early 2010s) remained weak; bread‑and‑butter mortgages and debt‑repayment rather than lots of new loans. Imported finance was almost certainly playing a greater role then than now in boosting real estate activity.

Growth of incomes generated in Finance and Insurance tends to follow (rather than promote) growth elsewhere in the economy (although 1992‑93 and 1998‑99 appear to have been exceptions), reflecting the fact that this sector principally services the interests of those with savings to ‘invest’ and with assets to put‑to‑work generating financial returns.

Today we see that the financial sector (increasingly, the banks) are once again in the ascendant, having already grown faster than the economy for almost every year since 2004. It’s likely that bank activity (essentially recycling and recreating money) will continue to facilitate general growth within New Zealand at around three percent for another year or two, followed by another end-of-decade debt crisis. 2017 will be the year to watch.

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Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: The implications of the Paris attacks for New Zealand

By Bryce Edwards -

November 17, 2015

Political Roundup by Dr Bryce Edwards.

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Dr Bryce Edwards.[/caption]

Will the Paris attacks have implications for New Zealand in terms of domestic security, state surveillance, political mood and further military action?

The attacks on Paris will impact us on the other side of the world. It’s still too early to see the full implications, but political questions to consider include: Will New Zealand increase its military involvement in the Middle East? Are we now less safe? Will there be increased surveillance and other clampdowns by the state? Will a more conservative and reactionary mood become stronger? And how do we deal with these changes? One of the best items on the overall lessons and implications for New Zealand of the Paris attacks is the six-minute video on TV3’s Story by Kim Vinnell – see: What can we learn from the Paris attacks?

A security clampdown in New Zealand?

The safety of New Zealanders is becoming a major focus in the wake of the Paris attacks. The Government and institutions of the state will be keen to reassure and protect the country in light of increasing concerns about security.

The most obvious potential change in New Zealand is increased activity by the state in the name of protecting its citizens. But Jim Rolfe of the Victoria University of Wellington’s Centre for Strategic Studies makes a plea against the introduction of any hardline measures that might reduce liberties or ignite domestic tensions: “We should not, for example, inflame the situation by making generalised assertions of blame, with the implication that in New Zealand there are people who could make the same kinds of attack. All that does is make a bad situation worse and potentially lead to some form of mob reaction. Also, we should not make arbitrary restrictions on liberty of any kind. If certain measures were adequate at airports before these attacks, then they are adequate after them absent any new intelligence on a specific, or even general, threat against airports. The same point can be made for almost any area in which there might be a temptation to act ‘in the name of security’.” – see his article, Paris – What it means for us.

For other warnings about increased state surveillance, see No Right Turn’s No crisis should go to waste and Anthony Robins’ Paris as an excuse for more useless surveillance.

But are we safe? The Prime Minister has responded to questions about New Zealand security by saying the country is “probably less vulnerable than most others” and detailing why – see Audrey Young’s article, Five Eyes gives NZ an advantage in fighting terrorism, says Key. In this, John Key also notes some of the problems surveillance officials might be having keeping tabs on those of concern.

For a further discussion of security levels and whether they should be raised, particularly with some large upcoming concerts in Wellington, Dunedin and Auckland, see the Herald’s New Zealand concerts to go ahead as planned.

What about the risks from potential “home-grown terrorists” in the Muslim community? According to the president of the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand, Hazim Arafeh, the community keeps strong tabs on such possibilities: “We are very vigilant – one person carrying this ideology is one person too much” – see Ruth Hill’s Paris attacks: Syrians in New Zealand fear backlash.

A mob reaction against refugees and Muslims?

Are we likely to see the public mood turn against Muslims and refugees? That’s the fear of Duncan Garner, who says Target terrorists, not Muslims. He argues that the terrorists “must not be confused with the millions of law-abiding Muslims and these people must not be targeted in an alarmist response.”

Similarly, Alison Mau says that she’s been worried that the Paris attacks might produce “a reaction here in New Zealand that causes us to turn our backs on refugees from Syria” – see: Now’s the time to take more refugees, not fewer.

The Syrian Solidarity group shares these concerns, and its spokesperson Ali Akil is reported as saying talkback radio is already reflecting this prejudice: “Everybody who has always been against it [accepting refugees], they’re going to utilise this event to their own agenda and start scaremongering even further, and put pressure so the likes of France stop accepting refugees” – see Ruth Hill’s Paris attacks: Syrians in New Zealand fear backlash.

So far there are no overt signs of a backlash according to Islamic Council of New Zealand spokesman Abdul Nasser – see Alice Burrow’s NZ Muslims unite against Paris attackers.

There will be an increased focus on Islam and its adherents. For a discussion of the differences within Islam – with an emphasis on the diversity of belief and practice – see David Farrar’s Five shades of Islam.

On Cameron Slater’s Whale Oil blog there are some typically hardline conservative statements and posts about the situation. This is best covered by Pete George in his blog post, The French attacks and gun toting Slaterites. See also, Whale Oil – pro-ISIL Islamaphobic hate site.

Conservative political parties might also seek to campaign on public concerns relating to security. According to Demelza Leslie’s report, Prime Minister says no change in fighting IS, Winston Peters has responded by again targeting immigration issues.

Will New Zealand increase its military intervention in the Middle East?

There is a possibility that New Zealand will now increase its military involvement in the Middle East. Of course New Zealand is already involved in training Iraqi soldiers, and the relationship between this and the Paris attacks are discussed in RNZ’s Paris attacks sharpen NZ troops’ focus.

On the face of it, the Government is saying that nothing has changed – see Demelza Leslie: Prime Minister says no change in fighting IS. But John Key is obviously open to sending a military reconstruction team to Iraq and Syria. Audrey Young reports that he’s not immediately dismissing such an idea, saying “I wouldn’t want to put our people out there either unless I was convinced that it was actually safe to do that reconstruction work” – see: Five Eyes gives NZ an advantage in fighting terrorism, says Key.

There are plenty on the political right who are sympathetic to greater military intervention in the Middle East, with or without New Zealand involvement. Former Defence Minister Wayne Mapp has blogged about the issue – see: So now, where does NZ go? He says, “In the next few weeks I suspect western nations will take a more forthright approach to ISIS. It will involve “boots on the ground” even if this is mostly special forces directly supporting the Iraqi Army. New Zealand is likely to be asked to play our part”.

David Farrar has blogged on the big question of what is required to defeat ISIS – see: What will countries do to stop the terrorists? As always, his analysis is interesting, but his proposals are particularly worth reading because of Farrar’s close proximity to senior National Party and Government politicians. He calls for strong action, and begins by saying “I’d start the ball rolling by saying it is time to recognise Assad as the lesser evil… It’s time to say Islamic State is a greater evil than any other we face today, and that the political will and resources are needed to commit to eliminating it”.

Farrar says that a stronger invasion is needed: “The same level of commitment and determination as the Allies had in WWII would be needed, and inevitably there would be a huge level of civilian casualties. There could be no negotiated settlement, but like in WWII it would need to be unconditional surrender of all territory. I imagine the death toll would be in the tens of thousands on the side of invading forces, and hundreds of thousands on the other side.” He suggests, therefore, it is better to “provide huge military resources to Muslim countries and leaders willing to fight Islamic State – Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Turkey and maybe even Iran”. This avoids the appearance of a “crusade”.

Others on the right have also made strong calls for hardline action – see Mike Yardley’s The world must decapitate Isis and Tim Fookes’ Paris Attacks.

For a more sophisticated – yet also hardline – call from the left, see Josie Pagani’s Four things we can do after Paris.

The Herald is more sympathetic to a bigger military response after the Paris attacks: “Crimes of this kind demand an international response. It is time the civilised world said enough. All countries, including real Islamic states, should join a concerted action to remove this deadly distortion of their religion and the threat it poses to everyday life everywhere” – see: Paris terrorist acts demand joint response.

On the issue of domestic state surveillance, the Herald says: “Those who scoff at precautions taken, or question the need for surveillance of individuals whose actions or associations give cause for concern, ought to note what happened in Paris.”

Calls for caution and political solutions

Could increased military intervention make the situation worse? Some commentators say that rushing into action could make ISIS stronger, and may be exactly what the terrorists are wanting. See, for example, Chris Trotter’s Islamic State’s rush to the apocalypse.

France’s quick military response has been endorsed by the Herald today – see: French strikes signal stakes have changed. But the Dominion Post criticises the French President for framing the attacks as an “act of war”, declaring this “an unhelpful way of viewing terrorism” – see: Mass terror returns to Europe. Similarly, see today’s Southland Times editorial, Paris atrocities demand pointy, but not indulgent, reckoning and the Otago Daily Times’ Combating fear, hatred, division.

Probably the strongest caution from within New Zealand comes from the University of Otago’s Robert Patman – see his Herald article, More of the same will not work against ISIS.

Patman emphasises that a political solution is required: “Above all, the international struggle against terrorism must address the deeper historical, economic, and political causes that fundamentalist groups like Isis exploit and use for their own purposes. For one thing, the developed countries must rethink their efforts, in the words of Tahir Abbas, to bring hope to the poor, disenfranchised, marginalised and disaffected people who populate the Middle East.” He also points to two key political solutions: solving the Syrian civil war and establishing a Palestinian state.

See also Russell Brown’s blog post, Ten Thousand Maniacs. He argues “you can’t bomb hideous ideas out of existence.”

Leftwing reaction

When the Charlie Hebdo attacks occurred earlier in the year, there were major differences on the political left about the issue – see my column: Polarised NZ debate about the Paris killings.

This time around there is less reluctance on the left to express outright condemnation of the attacks without following up with a “but…” Nonetheless there are still reservations about the mainstream approach to the tragedy. For example, some on the New Zealand left are making anti-imperalism points in explaining the attacks. Blogger No Right Turn says that the ISIS attacks are “because France is bombing them in Iraq and Syria” – see: Paris.

He elaborates: “When the citizens of France allowed their government to go to war in Iraq and Syria, they invited retaliation. And over the weekend, they received it. We’ve got used in the west to thinking that war is cost free, that the jets go out and rain down their bombs and its other people’s children who die.” And for similar points, see Martyn Bradbury’s: Post Paris – how do we fight Terrorism?

There has been some consternation over a disproportionate focus on the attacks on Paris, while other atrocities receive less reportage, outrage and grief – see, for example, Steven Cowan’s The barbarism of Paris.

Chris Trotter also discusses this, suggesting that the problem leaves “many leftists in a quandary” – see: Responding to Paris: The Left must never abandon love for hate; justice for revenge.

But it’s also worth noting that one of New Zealand’s broadcasters did cover one of the so-called forgotten terrorist attacks – because she was actually there – see Rachel Smalley’s account which begins: “On Friday i was standing on a market street in Burj al-Barajneh in Beirut — it’s the suburb in the south of the city where ISIS had just detonated a series of suicide bombs” – see: The sight and smell of terror.

Finally, perhaps it’s time to see the Paris attacks through a less political lens. Ever since the tragedy started unfolding, politicos have taken to social media to make pronouncements and analysis about the events, often in a way that bolsters their own worldview or political agenda. Scott Yorke lampoons this and says, You know exactly what needs to be done.

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NewsRoom Digest: Top NZ News Items for November 17 Edition, 2015

By Selwyn Manning -

November 17, 2015

Christmas Island Immigration Detention Centre — ]]>

This edition of NewsRoom_Digest features 10 resourceful links of the day and the politics pulse from Tuesday 17th November. It is best viewed on a desktop screen.

NEWSROOM_MONITOR

Noteworthy stories in the current news cycle include the introduction of urgent legislation for a tighter regime to oversee and monitor New Zealanders with criminal convictions being deported from Australia on their return.

POLITICS PULSE

Media releases issued from Parliament by political parties today included:

Government: Student Loan info to be shared with Australia; Minister welcomes troops home from Taji; Appointment of Solicitor-General;Tax bill completes property investment rule changes; Government Reviewing Competition Laws; ‘H’ to be added to Wanganui District name; Programme results in more staff/patient time; Potential pest plague being monitored; New scholarships for Pacific students; Returning offenders Bill introduced to protect Kiwis; Amendment Bill clarifies policy

ACT Party: Netflix tax should be offset with tax cuts

Greens: Change the Govt if you want action on climate; Green Party Abstaining On Returning Offenders Bill

Labour: Lawsuit an indictment of Govt’s EQC failings; Long-term unemployed now long-term problem

New Zealand First: Jobs For The Boys And Girls – When Is It Going To End?; Fonterra Millionnaires Club Needs A Rocket; English Persists With Dodgy Youth Unemployment Stats

NZ National Party: Innovative teachers encouraged to apply for $10m fund

LINKS OF THE DAY

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

AD:TECH NZ CONFERENCE: A global conference designed for smart marketers and business operators was held today in Auckland. More details at: https://www.ad-tech.co.nz/

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPORT: The report by Amnesty International: Fear and Fences: Europe’s approach to keeping refugees at bay, reveals how moves to fence off land borders and enlist neighbouring countries, such as Turkey and Morocco, as gatekeepers, have denied refugees access to asylum, exposed refugees and migrants to ill-treatment and pushed people towards life-threatening sea journeys. Read more:https://www.amnesty.org.nz/sites/default/files/Fear%20and%20Fences_Europes%20Approach%20to%20keeping%20refugees%20at%20bay.PDF

DAIRY INDUSTRY STATISTICS: New Zealand Dairy Statistics provides the latest statistical information related to our dairy industry, including herd size, milk production and cow numbers. Read more:http://www.dairyatwork.co.nz/media/63217/new-zealand-dairy-statistics-2014-15.pdf

DELOITTE SOUTHLAND INDEX: South Island listed firms market capitalisation dips 0.3% in the quarter to 30 September despite encouraging results from smaller companies according to the Deloitte South Island Index released today. To see the full quarterly report, go to http://www.deloitte.com/nz/southislandindex

MAORI POPULATION ESTIMATES: Māori Population Estimates provide estimates of the Māori population of New Zealand at a given date. At 30 June 2015 the latest statistics are available at: http://bit.ly/1PL1cBs

NZ WAREHOUSE CHEAPEST: A survey by Colliers International shows industrial rentals in the country’s three main centres- Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington- are about 80 per cent cheaper than the world’s most expensive city. The survey is available at: http://www.colliers.co.nz/find%20research/monthly%20reports/

PACIFIC ISLAND SCHOLARSHIPS: New scholarships aimed at getting more Pacific people into the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics have been announced today. Applications for next year open today and close on 11 December 2015. For more information go to: http://www.pacificstem.org.nz

REVIEWING COMPETITION LAWS: The government has today released an issues paper seeking feedback on whether the law protecting consumers from anti-competitive behaviour by businesses is working well. The issues paper and submissions process can be viewed at: http://www.mbie.govt.nz/info-services/business/competition-policy/targeted-commerce-act-review

SALES AND ADVICE MONITORING: The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) today published its first monitoring report on practices in sales and advice within New Zealand’s financial services sector. Read the report here:https://fma.govt.nz/news/reports-and-papers/monitoring-and-compliance-reports/sales-and-advice-report/

YOUNG MOTHERS EDUCATION: Teenage mothers are nearly three times less likely to be in education than their peers without children according to Statistics New Zealand. Read more: http://bit.ly/1MOok1g

And that’s our sampling of “news you can use” for Tuesday 17th November.

Brought to EveningReport by Newsroom Digest.

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NewsRoom Digest: Top NZ News Items for November 16 Edition, 2015

By Selwyn Manning -

November 16, 2015

This edition of NewsRoom_Digest features 9 resourceful links of the day and the politics pulse from Monday 16th November. It is best viewed on a desktop screen.

NEWSROOM_MONITOR

Noteworthy stories in the current news cycle include a rebound in consumer spending in figures from Statistics NZ for the three months to the end of September, a prediction from the Department of Conservation of another predator explosion next year and news the lower North Island iwi Rangitane o Manawatu will receive $13.5 million as part of a Treaty of Waitangi settlement.

POLITICS PULSE

Media releases issued from Parliament by political parties today included:

Government: Trade Minister travels to Philippines for APEC; Paris attacks condemned; Deed of Settlement signed with Rangitāne o Manawatū; Completion of 100th house at first SHA celebrated; Joyce makes second visit to Viet Nam; Speech – DRC Food Security and Food Safety Strategy Summit; Great Walk and National Park addition to memorialise 29 Pike miners; Fraud Awareness Week highlights dangers for consumers and small business; NZ and Viet Nam launch new era in relations;New Zealand and Viet Nam sign agreement for aviation cooperation; Viet Nam-NZ agreement for health collaboration; Mobility Action Teams a step closer; Strategic Education partnership with Viet Nam, Fraud Awareness Week highlights dangers for consumers and small business; Second round of $10m teacher innovation fund; Multi-billion dollar bond listing a first for local government; Minister to speak at Singapore education and technology leadership summit; Councils applying for online voting trial; Appointment of Dunedin Coroner; Appointments to Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Board; Consultation on low value imports next year; GST on online services – levelling the playing field

Greens: Green Party expresses sympathy for Paris victims

Labour: Ministry covers up damning NCEA report

New Zealand First: Speech – Events In Paris, A Serious Matter For New Zealand; Next Global Dairy Trade Likely To Be A Big Fall – Peters

LINKS OF THE DAY

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

APEC CEO INSIGHTS: For the fifth year, PwC is knowledge partner to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) CEO Summit. Links to various reports generated for the event are being posted at: http://www.pwc.com/apec

ENROL TO VOTE: The first referendum on the New Zealand flag starts this week, and those wanting to take part have only a few days left to get enrolled. More information about taking part in the referendums on the New Zealand flag is available at: http://www.elections.org.nz/flag

> NEWSROOM_PLUS has published another update on the flag debate here:http://newsroomplus.com/2015/11/15/flag-3/

FOOD SAFETY CHALLENGE: The annual ANZ Privately Owned Business Barometer survey included 178 food and drinks firms and found an industry that was upbeat about the future, hungry for growth, showing the way in mobile technology and social media use, and collaborating to open export opportunities. Read more:https://comms.anz.co.nz/barometer-reports/article/detail.html?id=21740&name=Food%20&%20Beverage

IWI SETTLEMENT: The Crown has signed a deed of settlement with Rangitāne o Manawatū settling the iwi’s outstanding historical Treaty of Waitangi claims. A copy of the deed of settlement is available at www.govt.nz/treaty-settlement-documents/rangitane-o-manawatu

ONLINE VOTING TRIAL: Five district councils and three city councils have been invited to demonstrate they can meet the government’s requirements for an online voting trial. Details of the voting framework and an updated version of the government’s trial requirements will be on the Department of Internal Affairs’ website:http://www.dia.govt.nz/online-voting

RETAIL SPENDING RISE: Retail sales growth in the September 2015 quarter was led by large gains in the motor-vehicle industry, according to Statistics New Zealand. Read more: http://bit.ly/1OMP1pd

SUPPORTING LGBTI YOUNG PEOPLE: A cross-agency response Supporting LGBTI (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex ) Young People in New Zealand has been released.

The response follows the Ministry of Youth Development led consultation that took place across the LGBTI community and highlights key work underway across government that supports LGBTI young people. To download the document go to: http://www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-and-our-work/newsroom/2015/supporting-lgbti-young-people.html

TEACHER INNOVATION FUND: Applications have opened for the second round of the $10 million Teacher-led Innovation Fund. More information can be found here: http://www.education.govt.nz/ministry-of-education/specific-initiatives/investing-in-educational-success/teacher-led-innovation-fund/

And that’s our sampling of “news you can use” for Monday 16th November.

Brought to EveningReport by Newsroom Digest.

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Should the flag change?: That would be affirmative

By Selwyn Manning -

November 16, 2015

NewsroomPlus.com Contributed by Alex Barrow Eight young people went head to head with their views on whether or not the New Zealand flag should be changed last Thursday, at Victoria University of Wellington. Hosted by the Commonwealth Youth New Zealand (CYNZ), in association with the Victoria University of Wellington Debating Society, this was another opportunity for airing of the flag referendum – or debacle some would already say – that is due to be given some more airing on a panel today on TVNZ’s Q+A “of a diverse range of Kiwis talk(ing) about their choices and the broader question of what it means to be a New Zealander”. CYNZ Events Officer: “While CYNZ does not take a stance on the debate, we think it is very important to provide young people with the opportunity to hear different sides of the argument for changing the flag, and encourage them to exercise their democratic right to vote in the referendum”. COMMON INSIGHTS Thursday nights’ debate gave insight into what common arguments and beliefs are held by a generation who will have to live with the flag in the future. The debate was mediated by ACT’s David Seymour, ACT, Katie Bradford of ONE News, Labour’s Jacinda Ardern, and National Party MP Chris Bishop. As could be anticipated, the essence of the debate surrounded the idea of New Zealand identity versus the related cost and the lack of physical necessity for a new flag. The debate’s affirmative team arguments for a flag change constituted a call for a national symbol to reflect the culture of New Zealand, and its status as an individual country – albeit not a republic.

“The aspect of culture that we have that differentiates us from Britain is substantial. That’s why we need to adopt an authentic cultural symbol.” “New Zealand is not just an off-shoot of England. It’s not just a colony. We are a country in our own right. Flying a flag that inextricably ties back to England doesn’t represent all of New Zealand.” “We have a chance now to choose not just a nicer looking flag but a flag that’s more meaningful, that represents us better, and that can take us forward as New Zealand”.

On the negating team the emphasis was placed on the costs of the referendum, when a flag change is not necessarily a popular option. Furthermore, they criticised the five new flag options. The third speaker, an apparently passionate patriot for the current flag closed his speech with, “God save the Queen, and democracy save our flag”.

“We don’t support the massive waste of money, time, and political capital on something like this.” “People derive their own meanings…The New Zealand flag is something that the New Zealand people can identify with because it is our flag.”

The adjudicators congratulated both teams for their creative and informed arguments, and the skill of the debaters. Despite both offering strong considerations, the winning team was the affirmative, who argued in favour of the flag change. Previous agency stories on the flag debate: –]]>

Beirut and Paris: Two terror attacks with different tales

By David Robie -

November 15, 2015

Report by David Robie. This article was first published on Café Pacific By Belen Fernandez AS NEWS arrived of terror attacks in Paris that ultimately left more than 120 people dead, US President Barack Obama characterised the situation as “heartbreaking” and an assault “on all of humanity.” But his presidential sympathy was conspicuously absent the previous day when terror attacks in Beirut left more than 40 dead. Predictably, Western media and social media were much less vocal about the slaughter in Lebanon. And while many of us are presumably aware, to some degree, of the discrepancy in value assigned to people’s lives on the basis of nationality and other factors, the back-to-back massacres in Beirut and Paris served to illustrate without a doubt the fact that, when it comes down to it, “all of humanity” doesn’t necessarily qualify as human. Of course, there’s more to the story than the relative dehumanisation of the Lebanese as compared with their French counterparts. There’s also the prevailing notion in the West that — as far as bombs, explosions, and killings go — Lebanon is simply One of Those Places Where Such Things Happen. The same goes for places like Iraq, to an even greater extent, which is part of the reason we don’t see Obama mourning attacks on all of humanity every time he reads the news out of Baghdad. The situation in Iraq is also obviously more complicated — not to mention the ones in Afghanistan, Yemen, and other locations on the receiving end of US military atrocities. Why doesn’t it break the president’s heart to order drone attacks and other life-extinguishing maneuvers? Short answer: because it’s not the job of superpowers to engage in self-reflection. Thus, Obama’s selective vision enables him to observe in the case of Paris: “We’ve seen an outrageous attempt to terrorise innocent civilians.” Superficial Western media It bears mentioning that, in the case of Beirut, the city’s multi-sectarian composition has allowed for varying intra-metropolitan gradations of humanity, available for detection by the Orientalist eye. It’s safe to surmise that, had the recent suicide bombings taken place in, say, an upscale Beirut nightclub, beach resort, or other Lebanese venue about which the superficial Western media love to exclaim, the human fallout may have aroused more audience interest. Indeed, had the victims been more “like us” than the otherised, eerie and criminal-sounding inhabitants of Beirut’s southern suburbs where the bombings occurred — incessantly described by the sheeplike media as a “Hezbollah stronghold” or “Hezbollah bastion” — they’d have stood a much greater chance of breaking our hearts. Hell, we might have even seen references to Beirut’s romanticised former identity as the “Paris of the Middle East.” Following Friday’s attacks in the Paris of Europe, meanwhile, Facebook users in the vicinity of the city were encouraged to check in as “safe” — an option not made available the previous day to Facebook users in Beirut. In her own Facebook status today, Professor Laleh Khalili of the School of Oriental and African Studies in London noted that, while the online social networking service had also offered the safety check-in after this year’s earthquakes in Nepal, Chile, and Afghanistan/Pakistan, the same “button is not offered to people in Palestine or Syria or Iraq or Lebanon and countless other zones of destruction”. Stripping of politics Khalili added: “What might including Paris in the rank of ‘natural’ disasters mean other than a stripping of its politics, a kind of anti-politics that sees this as a story of good vs. evil or of suffering but without a history? Those other places are ‘political’ and their victims cannot be invoked in [Facebook’s] supposedly ‘neutral’ milieu.” As for the clearly political repercussions of the Paris massacre, which French President François Hollande has blamed on the Islamic State group, persecuted refugees and minorities naturally stand to bear the brunt of the inevitable racist and xenophobic backlash — a godsend for right-wing European politicians and organisations, keen to exploit the bloodshed to the max in the service of their own sociopathic visions. In its live updates on the aftermath, the British Guardian reported today that “Poland has announced it will no longer take refugees via an EU programme, in a deeply controversial statement which linked the [refugee] crisis to the killings in Paris.” Obstacles multiply Unfortunately, however, there are a whole lot of people who won’t see such a move as controversial at all. And as the obstacles to refugee existence multiply, what’s often forgotten is that events like the Paris massacre pale quantitatively in comparison to the situations many refugees are fleeing — ones in which the West itself is often implicated. In a world far superior to the one we have, the scenario might qualify as an assault on all humanity. The fact that it doesn’t is truly heartbreaking. Reprinted from Green Left magazine and TeleSUR English. Belen Fernandez is the author of The Imperial Messenger: Thomas Friedman at Work, published by Verso. She is a contributing editor at Jacobin magazine. –]]>

Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: 30 questions about Parliament’s detainee debate

By Bryce Edwards -

November 14, 2015

Political Roundup by Dr Bryce Edwards.

[caption id="attachment_4808" align="alignleft" width="150"]

Dr Bryce Edwards.[/caption]

New Zealand’s Parliament has descended into “political civil war” over the Australian Christmas Island detainee debate. In an attempt to unravel the complex, fast-changing and heated debate, here are 30 questions, with some possible answers.

New Zealand politics has moved into extraordinary territory this week in the continuing controversy over New Zealand citizens detained by Australia in offshore security facilities. The apex of the highly polarised debate occurred when the Prime Minister lashed out at Opposition MPs accusing them of supporting rapists, which prompted a walkout of MPs.

What started out as a debate about human rights versus law and order concerns, quickly morphed this week into a focus on gender politics and violence, and politicians’ behaviour. To understand how the controversy got to this point, and where it’s going, today’s column points to some of the more interesting and important questions these debates have raised.

1) Have New Zealand politicians lost sight of the “real issue” this week? Peter Dunne has spoken out to condemn all sides in what he calls New Zealand’s political civil war. In this hard-hitting blog post, the government minister complains that National, Labour and Green MPs have lost the plot. He says that the actual detainee issue “seems to have become secondary to the noise it has generated”. He calls for local politicians to unite against a common enemy – Australian human rights abuses.

2) Are Opposition and Government politicians more concerned with point scoring in the debate than the actual detainees? This seems to be the conclusion reached to a series of must-read questions put by libertarian Peter Cresswell in his blog post, Christmas Island, rape, and other random questions.

3) Was John Key right about “rapists and murderers” being amongst the New Zealanders on Christmas Island? No. Eventually Justice Minister Amy Adams released a detailed breakdown of the crimes concerned, indicating the PM was wrong – see the Herald’s No Kiwi rapists or murderers on Christmas Island. As Matthew Hooton (@MatthewHootonNZ) tweeted, “For those still interested: of NZers on #ChristmasIsland, 0% are murderers, 0% rapists, 2.5% pedos & 100% hve already served their sentences.”

4) What was John Key’s motivation for attacking his opponents as supporting racists and murderers? Duncan Garner thinks he’s being cynical: “John Key has clearly decided there are no votes in this and no votes to lose. He’s worked out middle New Zealand probably doesn’t give a damn. He’s probably polled on it. It’s ruthless and calculating politics” – see: You don’t ditch all human rights just because they’re crooks. Garner also complains that “Key has gambled people don’t care. He may be right. And in the process he’s shown how brutal and ruthless he can be, almost as ruthless as the Aussies themselves.”

5) Was Key using the “Dead cat strategy” in Parliament when he accused his opponents of supporting rapists? Many on the left believe that Key’s outburst in Parliament about rapists was deliberate and calculated. This theory is outlined by Rob Salmond in the blog post, Cold, calculated and cynical. He points out that it’s a long-standing political tactic advocated by rightwing political strategists Crosby/Textor – that politicians can create a distraction from negative media coverage by throwing strange allegations into the debate in order to muddy the waters. See also Gordon Campbell’s On the John Key smear attack.

RNZ’s Jane Patterson also calls it “Classic wedge politics, carried out in dramatic fashion” – see: Australian detainees issue unveils master class in cut-throat politics.

But maybe Key’s motivation was less calculated and cunning, and more simply a reaction to pressure. Danyl Mclauchlan puts forward this argument in his blog post, Notes on the politics around Australia’s deportation policy. He says, “The motivation was probably Kelvin Davis going on Morning Report yesterday and calling Key ‘weak’ for his failure to stand up for New Zealanders. Rather than have the line repeated on the TV news Key decided to project strength in the House by abusing the opposition. Now instead of calling Key ‘weak’ the opposition are complaining about him being mean to them. Goal achieved.”

6) Why did Labour and Green MPs walk out of Parliament? The best news report on what happened is Isaac Davison’s Silenced and ejected from Parliament: The female MPs who revealed they had been victims of sexual violence. Some of the MPs explain their actions in TV3’s 4-minute Story item by Dan Parker: MPs who walked out tell their story. See also Metiria Turei’s Guardian article, I told New Zealand’s parliament about my sexual assault – it was difficult, but necessary.

7) Is John Key using rapist allegations as a political tool? Yes, according to the Greens – see RNZ’s John Key ‘using rape as a political tool’ – Metiria Turei. Turei also claims that Key is using this tactic “to distract from serious issues”, but perhaps contradictorily was also reported as believing “the parliamentary furore did not distract from the detainee problem, as both issues were highly relevant.”

8) Does Parliament and Government have a problem with “rape culture”? Yes, according to academic and Labour candidate Deborah Russell, who has blogged about “Rape culture in action in our Parliament, promulgated by the Speaker” – see: An object lesson in silencing women. She condemns David Carter’s actions: “All of it is chilling. A powerful man, presiding over the highest court in the country, silencing women who have been victims of assault, and ruling them out of order.” She argues that “rape culture” is endorsed by “the most powerful and senior representatives of the ruling National party”.

9) Are the Opposition MPs who have spoken up about their experiences of sexual assault making the issue “all about themselves”? That’s the argument made by one long-time National Party activist – see Sam Sachdeva’s MPs who shared sexual assault stories ‘paraded their victimhood’ – Michelle Boag. Listen to the 4-minute RadioLive discussion.

10) Aren’t we being unfair to John Key about his “rape supporters” allegation? A case can be made that Key wasn’t actually painting the whole debate as being about those who support rapists versus those who support New Zealanders – see media training expert Pete Burdon’s blog post, Key comment taken out of context. He makes the argument that Key was only talking about the details around transporting the detainees back to New Zealand: “He added that it would take longer for some like rapists and murderers because he wanted to make sure that other New Zealanders on the same commercial flights as them were safe. That would take more time and could involve other options like chartering planes. When this explanation was dismissed by opposition MPs, he said something like, “You can support the rapists and murderers, but I’m more concerned with the safety of other New Zealanders when they are coming home.” In that context, it’s more understandable why he made the comment. He wasn’t talking about rapists and murderers generally, but only those who could potentially be a threat to other travellers.”

11) Shouldn’t Labour and Green MPs be proud to support the human rights of all detainees, regardless of their convictions? This is the argument put on The Standard blogsite, which castigates the MPs who walked out for not taking all human rights seriously: “It would have been nice if Labour and the Greens had broadened the debate to include the refugees on Christmas Island as well as Australia’s other prison Islands, but no. The members from the left of the house who were so keen to distance themselves from any suggestion of being rape apologists or whatever, that they walked out of the debating chamber – might as well keep on walking. They are of no use” – see: Human Rights, Psychos and Opposition.

12) Has the Government been doing enough to fight for the rights of the detainees? The Dominion Post says no: “John Key has done a U-turn on Kiwi detainees in Australia. A few weeks ago he was threatening to talk tough with new Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. That didn’t happen. And now Key sounds as though he is a PR man for the Australian Government” – see: PM should oppose bad Australian law on detainees, not defend it. See also Brian Rudman’s column, Shameful lack of political fallout over Aussie gulags.

13) Has John Key been consistent in his arguments about the detainee issue? Toby Manhire thinks not, and responds with Ten things John Key has (and hasn’t) said.

14) Will John Key and National suffer in the polls due to the “rape supporters” allegation? According to blogger Oliver Chan, National has been caught off-guard by the growing power of feminism, and ultimately “Key and National have no choice but to adapt conservatism to incorporate modern feminism” – see his blog post, Off-Key.

The NBR’s Rob Hosking seems to agree, and says that the actions of the Opposition women could change female voters’ minds about Key and National: “It was emotional, it was raw, and it was true. It was still a calculated political stunt. It may even work. Never underestimate the raw rage many women, of all shades of the political spectrum, carry inside on this issue. The footage of women MPs trying to talk about sexual assault and being shut up by a male Speaker is going to be run, and re-run, over coming months. It is going to hurt National. A huge part of Mr Key’s success has been his appeal to women voters” – see the paywalled article, Low Gears: Key’s Jeremy Clarkson-style stunt may backfire.

15) Has the Prime Minister lost his moral compass? The first to make this allegation over this scandal is Green blogger David Kennedy – see: How low can Key go? He argues that “John Key and human rights are not a natural pairing”, and he outlines other examples where the PM has been found wanting on ethical issues. He concludes: “John Key is a Prime Minister with no obvious moral compass and has no interest in making a stand on moral issues.”

16) Was Kelvin Davis right to confront the Prime Minister on his way to the debating chamber? Not according to many senior press gallery journalists. Audrey Young says that Davis showed a “lack of decorum”, and furthermore, “MPs should have the freedom to walk the corridors of power without being verbally assaulted by anyone, the public, the media, or political opponents. Certainly anything that impedes an MP’s route the House is a prima facie breach” – see: John Key’s reaction completely disproportionate.

Similarly, Tracy Watkins says: “It’s one thing to have your opponents yelling insults across the House, and quite another to be waylaid by a fellow MP in the corridor and verbally abused. Politicians regularly rub shoulders at shared spaces like the Beehive Caff and parliamentary gym, and usually manage to leave their political disagreements at the door of Parliament’s debating chamber. Davis’ actions risk unsettling that fine balance” – see: Key ramps up the politics on Kiwi detainees.

None of this means that Davis deserved to be pushed by the Prime Minister’s Diplomatic Protection Service – see Jane Patterson’s A new level of brutality for debate? And for more on this incident, and condemnation of both Davis’ and Key’s behaviour, see Vernon Small’s Perspective out the window at Parliament over Christmas Island detainees.

17) Has the Government really been “protecting Kiwis” from deportees? Patrick Gower says not, and outlines how little the Government has done since the deportees started arriving in New Zealand since December last year – see the second half of this TV3 report: Five Kiwis caught up in Christmas Island riots.

18) Is Australia’s use of the Christmas Island detention centre really like the US use of Guantanamo Bay? Veteran activist Mike Treen explains why it is, and why he joined protesters outside the Australian Consulate in Auckland this week – see: Australia, refugees and the rights of NZ-born workers.

19) Doesn’t New Zealand also deport criminals? Yes, we do. And the way in which New Zealand sends criminals to Pacific Islands might also be criticised – see RNZ’s Convicts dumped in Tonga by NZ.

20) What are the differences between New Zealand and Australian rules for deporting criminals? For the best account of this, see Andrew Geddis’ Australia: purging the convict stain?

21) Is Parliament’s Speaker biased? David Carter has been strongly criticised for the way he dealt with the Prime Minister’s allegations, and then with various attempts by MPs to talk about their experiences of sexual assault. The arguments against Carter are put by Greg Presland in The Standard blog post, New Zealand needs a new Speaker. And according to Danyl Mclauchlan Carter is both biased and incompetent – see: Disorder in the House.

22) Should Parliament’s Speaker be sacked? According to blogger No Right Turn, David Carter’s “partisan hackery, incompetence, and desire to protect his caucus mates and turn a blind eye to their offences has gone too far. Lets be very clear: Carter is not the ‘Speaker of the House’ – he is National’s Speaker, the ‘Speaker for the National Party’. And that’s just not sustainable. He should resign, or the House should sack him” – see: Sack the Speaker. If you agree, you can go to the online petition, Speaker David Carter, Resign Immediately.

Chris Trotter outlines why the independence of the Speaker is so important, and the role they must play in protecting debate and the Opposition – see: A Disgraceful Performance: Why John Key and the Speaker need a refresher course in Democracy.

23) Should Parliament’s Question Time be abolished? It’s not clear who might be advocating this, but Mike Hosking nonetheless provides an answer in his one-minute video, Question Time shambolic but necessary.

24) Is parliamentary politics set for increased hostility? It seems so, according to Tracy Watkins, who says “From here it can only get uglier”. She points out that “Labour and the Greens are in open revolt and Parliament has descended into chaos”, and “Speaker David Carter has all but lost control of the House and MPs are taking that as free rein to throw ugly rhetoric around” – see: More lows than highs in ‘rapists’ stoush.

25) What will be the on-going effects of John Key’s use of law and order rhetoric in Parliament? It might make New Zealanders even less tolerant of ex-criminals according to John Tamihere. RNZ reports his views that Key’s comments will reinforce “the country’s punitive culture towards criminals and made it harder for them to reintegrate into society” – see: PM’s comments encourage punitive culture, says MP.

26) Should New Zealand have challenged Australia’s human rights record at the United Nations Human Rights Commission assessment meeting this week? There are plenty of voices complaining that New Zealand has missed a strategic and moral opportunity by not standing up against our neighbour’s human rights abuses – see, for example, Toby Manhire’s Australia’s detention policy condemned at UN from all sides. But what did NZ say?, the Press editorial, Christmas Island riot shows folly of Australia’s out-of-sight strategy, and – best of all – James Robins’ Australia’s shame, and New Zealand’s silence.

27) Should New Zealanders boycott Australia? Peter Dunne suggests they will – see the Australian Daily Telegraph newspaper’s Kiwis could boycott Oz: NZ minister.

28) Where and what is Christmas Island, anyway? For some background about the island and the detention centre, including how the island got its name, and what happened to the casino there, see Stuff’s Christmas Island: From tropical paradise to detention nightmare, and back again.

29) What caused the latest “riots” on Christmas Island? The sad plight and death of Kurdish asylum seeker Fazel Chegeni is detailed in the Guardian’s article by Ben Doherty, Closed doors and troubled minds: the anguish of Christmas Island’s detention centre.

30) Finally, is there any humour to be found in this political saga? Yes – see Hayden Donnell’s Is John Key Gutless? Yes He Probably is TBH.

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Keith Rankin on Whyte Trite

By Keith Rankin -

November 14, 2015

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

Every now and again we see former Act leader, Dr Jamie Whyte, popping up on current affairs panels, such as his appearance on The Nation three weeks ago. Whyte is always happy to discuss his ‘classical liberal’ laissez-faire philosophy, and apply it to any issue put to him, be it guns or the PM’s penis. (Whyte’s political philosophy is also called minarchism, and one of its intellectual leaders was Robert Nozick, author in 1974 of Anarchy, State and Utopia.)

His is such a simple philosophy, about the primacy of private property rights on all matters. People must be allowed to do whatever they want with whatever they own, so long as they don’t harm others. Thus it’s not really about economic outcomes, or economic ‘efficiency’, as neoclassical economics (or even neoliberalism) most concerns itself with. It’s a seductive, very simple, and easily communicable message of aspirant personal freedom.

What this philosophy lacks is any coherent sense of ‘publicness’. Filling this void is a very menacing entity called ‘the state’, which is allowed to interchange semantically with ‘the government’, making governments themselves agents of menace. As such, governments cannot be agencies of the people which facilitate the public expression of the good lives that most of us wish to lead. Ronald Reagan once declared that governments are the problem, not the solution.

To make matters worse, the school of political economy that defined modern classical liberalism in the 1980s called itself ‘public choice’; a complete misnomer for a philosophy that only validates private choice. In public choice theory, ‘the state’ is a kleptocratic ‘stationary bandit’ with its hands perpetually in our pockets, stealing from us and imposing deadweight costs on our lives. In the early 1980s, Treasury’s bible was Mancur Olson’s The Rise and Decline of Nations (1982).

In the twentieth century the most read publicist for the philosophy of selfishness was Ayn Rand – whose most famous titles were The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. She called her version of laissez faire ‘objectivism’; another mis‑moniker. There can be no philosophy more subjective than one which extols selfishness as its core value. For minarchist libertarians, there are two conflicting principles – that of self‑interested individualism and that of ‘altruism’.

In this philosophy of extreme liberalism, the world is populated by individuals who transact with each other in consensual fashion. There are three main forms of transaction – pure market, sexual, and venturing. The first two involve just two parties and are essentially casual meetings of buyers and sellers, or of potential sexual partners. The latter (‘venturing’) involves the formation of ‘companies’ – temporary collectives with the status of individuals. In all cases, individuals, mindful of their self-interest, are free to contract into longer term relationships. They will do things like marry if each contractee calculates such a contract to be individually advantageous. (Chicago economist Gary Becker – especially in the 1960s and 1970s – applied such concepts to pretty much all aspects of private life. It has been called New Home Economics.)

Altruism is perpetually scorned as a kind of race to the bottom, whereas self-interested individualism gives us the ‘invisible hand’ that allows libertarians to believe in selfishness as a virtue. Altruism is portrayed as self-sacrifice; a loss incurred by the altruist in favour of a gain for another individual. The idea that most altruism in practice is giving to the collective – not giving to other individuals – is lost because the whole concept of ‘public’ is so diminished in minarchist thinking. Uncalculated private-to-public giving – a core feature of actual economic life – simply does not compute in individualist terms.

The underlying ideas of classical liberalism go back to the years either side of 1700; specifically the writings of English philosopher John Locke (who helped bring about the English revolution of 1688) and the Anglo‑Dutch satirist Bernard Mandeville. Mandeville’s ‘Fable of the Bees’, subtitled “Private Vices, Publick Benefits”, is the real source of the selfishness mantra.

Adam Smith’s ‘Invisible Hand’ was much more couched. Smith said that, “frequently”, self-interested motives yielded desirable collective outcomes. This famous passage was in Book 4 of The Wealth of Nations (1776); the section on international trade. It was out of self-interest, Smith argued, that people preferred to invest in local rather than foreign enterprises, and therefore trade policy towards protectionist ends was not required.

The key idea of Jamie Whyte’s individualism is that any subjective behaviour is OK so long as nobody is harmed. The secondary idea is that the discipline of competitive market forces eliminates bad choices. Thus the free market is actually quite punitive, and not nearly as free in practice as it is in legal statute.

The central weakness of this philosophy is the capacity for systemic (usually unintended) harm arising from individually selfish choices. One area of harm is the emergence of inequality that arises from the atomisation of wealth. In the end the ‘losers’ in these free competitive processes become forced to sell assets or incur debts in order to survive. When these losers eventually and inevitably become insolvent they must concede first their lands and then themselves to their creditors. The losers stand to become someone else’s property. Laissez-faire capitalism without a public context eventually slips into feudalism, whereby human beings become bonded to the minority who made the most fortunate or the most ruthless private choices.

Still one of the best social commentaries ever written was The Social Limits to Growth (1976) by Fred Hirsch. A book of two halves, the first half describes how increasingly our choices are motivated by our desires to gain status rather than comfort, and to soften discomfort (through defensive consumption) if we find ourselves becoming losers in capitalism’s corrosive calculus. The second half of the book goes deeper into the self‑undermining nature of capitalism as we know it; of capitalism with a one-dimensional private focus, of capitalism that inevitably loses the moral foundations that underpinned its early success.

I’ll finish here with one example from history. Today I read The Economist book review (Grey and dreichy, 7 November 2015) of London Fog: A Biography, by Christine Corton (Belknap Press). “Pea-souper” fogs recurred frequently in London from the 1830s to the 1950s. “Pea-soup fogs were quite different [from the ‘dreich’ that London had always suffered from]; they were so polluted with soot from domestic and industrial coal fires that people coughed up black mucus. As The Times put it in 1853, London’s fogs converted ‘the human larynx into an ill-swept chimney’.” The Economist goes on to note that:

“The difficulty for the clean-air reformers was that unlike, say, sewage or water, fog was never a candidate for grand public engineering works. The answer was regulation, which brought legislators up against the two great pillars of a capitalist society: the free market and private property. Industry’s right to buy the cheapest, smokiest coal, and the citizen’s right to his or her own fireside, meant that every attempt at properly enforceable anti-smoke legislation was doomed – until the Clean Air Acts of the 1950s and 1960s.”

Need I say more? Private self-interest may create harm not just to hapless individual victims, but to everyone, including the self-interested whose free choices about how to use their private property create these problems in the first place. The public is everyone, including the very rich.

Dr Whyte is not all trite. Economic freedom is a value to be cherished. It can be supported by capitalism, but not capitalism as we know it. Rather, capitalism with two faces, public and private; not the one‑dimensional nonsense that we were force-fed in the 1980s. The public is a silent equity partner in all capitalist enterprises. Too silent.

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NewsRoom Digest: Top NZ News Items for November 13 Edition, 2015

By Selwyn Manning -

November 13, 2015

This edition of NewsRoom_Digest features resourceful links of the day and the politics pulse from Friday 13th November.

NEWSROOM_MONITOR

Top stories in the current news cycle include District Health Boards being accused of keeping some people from getting hip and knee surgery, more than 100 people showing their support for two Maori Television receptionists who are being sacked because they can’t speak fluent Te Reo Maori and the Government confirming it is merging the country’s fire services into a single national organisation.

POLITICS PULSE

Media releases issued from Parliament by political parties today included:

Government: Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank legislation passes third reading; Bright-line Bill passes third reading; Closer air connections between NZ and Vietnam; Chief Electoral Officer to step down; $79m Western Springs College investment largest ever for NZ school; Whanganui launches eighth Children’s Team; Speech – 137th Annual United Fire Brigades association (UFBA) AGM; Over $20m saved on AoG Telecommunications contract; Minister welcomes major upgrade of Otahuhu Station

Greens: What role did ministers play in keeping Saudi report secret?

Labour: Hardship tailored to suit government coffers; Hardship tailored to suit government coffers; Independence of the ERO called into question; It’s black and white – National caught out; NZ unemployment now worse than Australia

Māori Party: Bill allowing MPs to swear their allegiance to Te Tiriti o Waitangi back in the House

New Zealand First: Debate Needed On Aussie Deportation Law;Government’s Youth Unemployment Numbers Dodgy; Debate Needed On Aussie Deportation Law; Speech – Too Much Ideology In National’s Energy Policy; No Christmas Cheer As Hospital Parking Revenue Soars

NZ National Party: Foreshore opening a great day for Onehunga

LINKS OF THE DAY

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

ENVIRONMENT REPORTING: The Government is consulting on proposed topics for national environmental reporting. Topics identify the things we want to know about the environment for each of the five environmental domains we report on (air, atmosphere and climate, fresh water, land, and marine). Read more:http://www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/environmental-reporting/topics-environmental-reporting-consultation-document

FRAUD AWARENESS WEEK: Fraud Awareness Week starts this weekend with calls for people to be more vigilant with regards to money wiring and email hacking. Find out more at http://www.scamwatch.govt.nz/faw

NZ WOOL ACQUISITION: The Commerce Commission has issued its final determination approving Cavalier Wool Holdings’ (Cavalier) application to acquire New Zealand Wool Services International’s (NZWSI) wool scouring business and assets. More information can be found here: www.comcom.govt.nz/business-competition/mergers-and-acquisitions/authorisations/merger-authorisation-register/detail/716

PROFITING FROM WAR: Peace Action Wellington yesterday released a report into New Zealand’s weapons and military-related industry in support of the campaign to stop the annual New Zealand Defence Industry Association conference starting Tuesday morning at the TSB Arena in Wellington. The report is available at:https://peaceactionwellington.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/paw-report-for-webprint.pdf

TELECOMMUNICATIONS CONTRACT: A list of twelve telecommunications providers who have been selected to provide telecommunications and managed security services to Government were announced today. More information can be found at: https://www.ict.govt.nz/services/show/TaaS

TOURISM INDUSTRY SUMMIT: The Tourism Industry National Tourism Summit will be held on November 19th in Wellington. More information is available at: http://www.nationaltourismsummit.co.nz/

And that’s our sampling of “news you can use” for Friday 13th November.

Brought to EveningReport by Newsroom Digest.

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Jane Kelsey: Groser avoids principled reconsideration of TPPA information request despite Court orders

By Selwyn Manning -

November 12, 2015

Source: Professor Jane Kelsey.

[caption id="attachment_6181" align="alignleft" width="150"]

Professor Jane Kelsey.[/caption]

A month ago the High Court ordered Trade Minister Tim Groser to reconsider an Official Information Act request from Professor Jane Kelsey, dated January 2015, relating to the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA).

‘The Minister has finally responded, fobbing off the request with further delays and procedural wrangling, despite a request that he treat the matter with urgency’, Professor Kelsey said.

In relation to Cabinet mandates, one of the categories requested, the Minister says the documents have been collated but no officials will be available to review them until after 5 February 2016 – conveniently the first date on which the TPPA can be signed following the expiry of President Obama’s 90-day notification to the US Congress of his intention to do so. Professor Kelsey notes there is no guarantee when or if any of those documents will actually be released.

The remaining categories of information are deemed to require too much research and collation and Professor Kelsey has been asked to reduce their scope – something, she observes, could and should have been sought back in February.

‘The Minister continues to display the arrogance that has marked these entire negotiations’, says Kelsey. ‘In his closing remarks, Justice Collins observed that

the Act plays a significant role in New Zealand’s constitutional and democratic arrangements. It is essential the Act’s meaning and purpose is fully honoured by those required to consider the release of official information.

The Minister has manifestly failed to do that’.

The judge reserved the right for the applicants to return to court within six months should his belief that formal declarations were not required prove erroneous. An application will shortly be filed in accordance with that right.

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Tony Alexander’s Weekly New Zealand Economic Analysis – November 12 2015

By Selwyn Manning -

November 12, 2015

Tony Alexander, BNZ economist.[/caption] This week’s Overview is just three pages long so its not going to set the world alight. I concentrate on the important issue of making sure you don’t rush to form conclusions about things based upon just one month’s observations. You need at least three months worth of data to say anything really meaningful. If you look at just October you may conclude that house prices are falling in Auckland. But if you smooth over three months what we have instead is a trend of slowing house price rises from the pace of earlier this year. Note how the NZ dollar is about the same now as it was a week ago against the greenback. But we are up against the other main currencies as the US dollar was boosted by Friday’s strong US employment report. Our strength highlights that compared with most of the rest of the world we are in good shape and the chances are not high that the NZ dollar will undergo any major weakness over the coming year. Regarding interest rates nothing fundamental has changed. The chances of rate rises in NZ in the near future are very low and a further 0.25% cash rate cut might come on December 10. Watch the possible tightening of US monetary policy next month however to see how it affects long-term borrowing costs in particular.

Click here for the full analysis document (Download document pdf 298kb) or continue reading:

Smooth Your Data This week I thought it would be a good idea to highlight one of the key things you need to keep in mind when looking at economic data. It is extremely unwise to look at one month’s results and extrapolate them into a trend. All data series are subject to fluctuations, and this is especially the case in a small country like New Zealand. You really need to look at where things are headed over three month periods and perhaps longer before making any strong statements about what seems to be happening. Take the case of Auckland house prices for instance. The headlines read that they fell by 4% in October and this means a correction is underway. But prices on average rose 3.3% in September and 2.6% in August so if we smooth across all three months we see that prices have risen 3.8% compared with the three months ending in July. Back then they rose by 6.1% compared with the three months to April when they rose 8% compared with the three months to January. Looking at those numbers I feel on very safe ground saying that the pace of house price increases in Auckland has slowed down. I cannot rule out a falling trend having started, but it is extremely unlikely, especially when one considers that ahead of October 1 there was a scramble by investors looking to buy property before new rules kicked in. As the Reserve Bank Governor said yesterday when discussing the six-monthly Financial Stability Report, it is too early to conclude that things have fundamentally changed in Auckland. Personally I think they have – toward slower house price inflation rather than falls. This is because we have seen many buyers back off because of the new rules, and because investors are now into the buy outside Auckland phase of New Zealand’s housing market cycle. This can be seen in the plethora of data showing rapid growth in dwelling sales in the likes of Waikato/Bay of Plenty, and in accelerating house price inflation in some non-Auckland locations. How long will this phase last? It is unlikely that buyers will receive an interest rates shock in the next three years because of the low inflation outlook here and overseas taking into account the structural changes in links along the way from changing economic growth rates to inflation. Specifically, and to emphasise again one of the key points I have been trying to get across for five years now, things have changed radically post-GFC. First, economic growth rates have tended to come in lower than predicted. Second, growth which has been achieved has generally not led to growth in employment which happened in the past. Third, even given lacklustre jobs growth in most countries the growth achieved has not produced upward pressure on wage rates as would have happened pre-GFC. Fourth, even given the wages growth which has been achieved it has not produced rises in business selling prices as would have been the case pre-GFC. And thus we get to the end result that because of changes in all of these linkages the economic growth rates achieved globally post-GFC have not led to the sorts of interest rate levels or rises which we would have seen pre-GFC. As Taylor Swift sings, Everything has changed.” Nonetheless, if we have a look at the United States for a moment, their employment numbers released last Friday were much better than expected. Jobs rose by 271,000 in October and the unemployment rate fell 0.1% to 5.0%. The chances have therefore increased that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates next month. If they do then we will for the first time since 2006 gather new information on how the US consumer and business sectors react to rising financing costs. The chances that any forecasting group has a model which gives accurate insight into those reactions are very slim. So if rates do go up be prepared to see a huge level of discussion regarding the impact on growth and how much higher US interest rates will go. Scope for volatility in financial markets is huge, especially in the context of most emerging economies suffering at the moment with capital outflows and recession or slowing growth. There will be lots of debate about what rising US dollar-denominated financing costs will mean for them. Here in NZ we expect to see some upward pressure on our long-term interest rates as a result of US monetary policy tightening. But please don’t ask us how high medium to long-term interest rates will be in a year’s time as none of knows truly how much US interest rates will rise. The Fed. tightening will be a huge experiment which they will not rush blindly into without massive monitoring of market and economic reactions in the US and elsewhere. Switching back to NZ now and continuing the theme above of being careful never to make strong statements on the basis of one month’s data, spending using debit and credit cards grew by only 0.2% at the core level in October from September. The previous month growth was 1.1% and in August 1%. Does this mean we all closed out wallets last month? Of course not. Smooth over the three month period and you get an annualised pace of growth in core retail spending of 9.3% compared with 1.8% three months ago and 8.2% six months ago ending in April. The picture we have is of you and I getting quite conservative over winter but from spring getting back into form with a spending surge. Note however that the average pace of growth in this particular spending measure is 5.6% so retailers should be careful not to over-extrapolate the last three months into a booming Christmas. Having said that, with the ANZ Roy Morgan consumer sentiment gauge jumping to a well above average 122.7 this month from 114.9 in October there seems little reason for believing that in most parts of the country this Christmas spending period will be quite good. Get in before the masses perhaps is the message now. Housing Nothing much beyond suggesting that you wait a few months before making strong statements about the extent to which the Auckland market has turned, and the pace with which prices will rise elsewhere. NZ Dollar Our currency has ended this afternoon essentially unchanged from where it was a week ago against the US currency near 65.5 cents. But because the USD got a boost from October’s employment growth in the US coming in near 100,000 better than expected we have made slight gains against the other currencies. Perhaps this just goes to reinforce to some degree the line we have been running that there is fundamentally good support for the NZ dollar. The government has just recorded a fiscal surplus, the current account deficit is only 3.5% of GDP, we have lovely high rankings on ease of running a business and lack of corruption etc., lots of people love us so are staying here or not migrating across the ditch, we have lots of exporters not involved in dairying doing very well, and the construction sector is going gangbusters. If I Were A Borrower What Would I Do? I would not be worried about interest rates rising much on me over the next three years so I would be quite happy to take one of the lovely discounted two year fixed rates out there at the moment. Personally I have never been much of a fan of one year rates because they give little hedging against unexpected rate rises, and normally I would like to lock in a three year rate. But rates beyond two years are not so flash and it is in the two year area that the lenders are mainly concentrating their marketing efforts.

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

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In praise of The New Yorker

By Selwyn Manning -

November 12, 2015

NewsroomPlus.com Welcome to our ongoing series in praise of magazines – where the time has come to give a shout out for The New Yorker. First of all, the reason we’re devoting a regular spot for ‘magazine reviews’ on NewsRoom_Plus – enabled with the kind help of Magnetix – is twofold. One reason has similar, if not identical, motivations to the defenders and lovers of books. Namely, a sincere belief that the culture and tangibility of a printed artefact may be subsumable by online formats, but it can never truly be replaced. The other reason is directly related to the simultaneous mix of currency and curiosity that a print magazine naturally contains and conveys. Speaking just for myself, a magazine hits home most when there is a soupcon of current affairs and an embodied ability to surprise with its quality of writing, or with the wit and weave of its combinant design of words and pictures. The surprising thing about the institution that is The New Yorker is its well-appreciated retention, and repetition even, of its look and feel, from finely-wrought font to its famous and ever-finessed cartoons that could, at a mere pinch, see the pages being turned back to The New Yorker’s birth year of 1925. Examining the Nov. 2 issue – The FOOD Issue no less – signs of 2015 do emerge if you flip past its opening signifiers of cultural life (Food and drink, Auctions and antiques, Readings and talks, Jazz and standards, Night life, Orchestras and choruses, Dance, The Theatre, Galleries, Museums and libraries, Art, Movies), which while largely specific to the city many still call the Big Apple, are just so undeniably urbane. In that most enduring editorial space, ‘The Talk Of The Town’, the commentary focuses on the grilling that Hillary Clinton recently underwent on the backend of seven full investigations of the circumstances surrounding the Benghazi attack that occurred during Clinton’s term as Secretary of State. The conduct of the House Select Committee on Benghazi is summed up in one word: absurd. For purely journalistic reasons my pick in this section of The New Yorker was a contribution by book author James Surowiecki (he of The Wisdom of Crowds) on the “misdeeds” of the for-profit education industry – schools that “made promises they couldn’t keep”. In almost the briefest article in this edition of the magazine, Surowiecki surgically identifies that a dependence on student loans and gaming of a taxpayer-funded financial-aid system was the business model for the for-profit boom in the USA that targeted “non-traditional students”. One sentence says it all: “Since the schools weren’t lending money themselves, they didn’t have to worry about whether it would be paid back”. Lies and more lies. Lies about job placement rates. Lies about projected life earnings. Surowiecki incisively observes that students at those cash-extracting colleges could be compared to home-owners during the housing bubble. “In both cases, powerful ideological forces pushed people to borrow (‘Homeownership is the path to wealth’; ‘Education is the key to the future’). In both cases, credit was cheap and easy to come by…” The, no doubt partial, remedy in the US is that the for-profit gravy-train-riders will be required to “prove that, on average, students’ loan payments amount to less than eight per cent of their annual income”. Ones that fail that test four years in a row will have access to federal monies cut off. At one level this may shut doors on inclusive education options and accessible degrees to those who were being put on the rack, students. What Surowiecki argues is that the long overdue “crackdown” should be prompting more money for funding-starved community colleges and public universities. More crucially, he suggests that it would be timely to challenge the notion that a tertiary education automatically transforms a person’s job prospects or presents an automatic answer to an economy’s ills or creates jobs if they’re not there.

Endearing and Enduring Traits

On a cheerier note, one of The New Yorker’s endearing traits is its low-key and understated story-flow. A FOOD issue in any other hands might well be wallpapered with in-your-face gourmet photography. Not so The New Yorker. The entree story, ostensibly about the rustic-sounding Campaign for Rural Barbecue, settles gently into place, and doesn’t mention the subject matter of the North Carolina-based barbecue till well into a meaty five page piece. A great read if you’ve ever suffered from “barbecue deprivation”, or wondered whether a barbecue should come with a wine list. This is what might be called ‘slow writing’. The next story, on the potential for seaweed to be a miracle food (“if we can figure out how to make it taste good”), lingers even longer, with characters lifting off the page who are happy to be known by handles such as Captain Kelp. Interviewees aren’t passed off with a potted bio or hasty back story, but rather receive the justice of being written about with the benefit of simply set-out life events, for instance, how it happens that you go from being an oyster farmer one year to a kelp farmer the next, pushed there by extreme weather events. Elongated paragraph by elongated paragraph, this one article became an easy-to-follow lesson in science and in climate change, then a pointer on how dulse (look it up) was made to taste like bacon when cooked, and on to the joys of diving in an undersea forest. This is the antithesis of short reading – or, fie upon thy name, clickbait. The Food stories just keep coming, they don’t cave into each other but continue being erudite, educative, and most of all, enjoyable and contemporary in a geeky way. Did you know research has shown a blue soup bowl can make the soup seem significantly saltier? Or that an evocative soundtrack can intensify the flavour of a food? Off your fast food? Then an eight pager – yep, eight.. whole.. pages, brings to the fore new outlets (anyone heard of Lyfe Kitchen? or Sweetgreen?) that are operating as “enlightened” businesses. What about restaurants that do their best to attain hashtags like #LatAm50Best, in a parallel universe to Michelin stars? Turns out that there could be a world of opaque and obsequious ranking going on. Or not. For a non-foodie, reading about internecine sniping in that world, and of the ’50 Best’ being likened to a “little mafia”, was refreshing.

A HEADY MIX

The New Yorker still succeeds in being a heady mix, rounded out, as it is, with reviews by Critics, and fiction, and poetry. The cartoons appear dated but are as wry and acerbic as they’ve ever been – though with one twist, in that there is now a cartoon caption contest on the last page that I couldn’t recall seeing before (one that pops up with “complete rules” at contest.newyorker.com). At first I wasn’t sure I could come to terms with The New Yorker democratising its cartoon captions. To be honest I’m still not sure. Balancing the retention of the classic pen and inks with the image of a successful caption writer glowing in a pinnacle of their penmanship is, I guess, one way of trying to reconcile the unholy sight of an un-captioned cartoon in The New Yorker. I mean would it still be The New Yorker, without the The? Long live The New Yorker. –]]>

NewsRoom Digest: Top NZ News Items for November 12 Edition, 2015

By Selwyn Manning -

November 12, 2015

This edition of NewsRoom_Digest features 8 resourceful links of the day and the politics pulse from Thursday 12th November.

NEWSROOM_MONITOR

Top stories in the current news cycle include the international headlines being made by the ejection of several women MPs from Parliament as they tried to speak about being victims of sexual assault, milk prices falling by 5.7%, with the average price being the cheapest since January 2008 and a new paper on gender inequality saying women generally continue to work in lower paid industries despite about 60 percent having tertiary education.

POLITICS PULSE

Media releases issued from Parliament by political parties today included:

Government: Way paved for easier consenting of cycleways; Prime Minister’s Science Prizes announced; Sports stars rally to fight obesity; Improving resource base key to sustainable growth; Broadband rollout to rural hospitals complete; Trade Minister welcomes dramatic growth in exports to Chinese Taipei; Construction of Earthquake Memorial begins; Additional funding for Whanganui and South Taranaki; Fellowships for 17 NZers announced for 2016; Guy to Australia and China for conferences; Minister announces Transport reappointments; Youth Fund 2016 recipients announced; Funding for Lake Horowhenua clean-up; Inaugural Chief Victims Advisor to Government appointed; Debt collection resumes for education payroll; EECA Board appointments;

Greens: Amy Adams must clarify why New Zealanders are being detained on Island; Greens Call Out Government’s Agenda Of Politicising Environmental Decision Making; Supermarket referee long overdue

Labour: Labour backs gender equal New Zealand; Detainees belong in Australia, not New Zealand; Christchurch build a joke; NZ falls down OECD unemployment ranks; Foreign buyers ban will achieve what Govt failed to

New Zealand First: Māori Television in breach of Treaty over firing receptionists; Top Up Rescue Helicopter Funding Shortfall

NZ National Party: MP welcomes news of Onehunga port sale;Tukituki MP Craig Foss congratulates youth fund 2016 recipients; Hutt City Youth Awards Finalists Announced;MP congratulates Youth Fund 2016 recipient

United Future Party: No Need for Greens Renewable Energy Bill

LINKS OF THE DAY

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

ENABLING WOMEN’s POTENTIAL: The National Council of Women of New Zealand today released a report titled: Enabling Women’s Potential – the economic, social and ethical imperative, which champions gender equality, fairness and equal opportunity. Read more: http://www.ncwnz.org.nz/what-we-do/enabling-womens-potential-the-social-economic-and-ethical-imperative/

FOOD PRICES FALL: In October food prices fell 1.2 percent, according to Statistics New Zealand.Click here for more:http://bit.ly/1Lb7Gn0

IMPROVING RESOURCE BASE: The updated Building Natural Resources chapter of the Business Growth Agenda with an emphasis on lifting primary sector productivity while improving our environmental outcomes at the same time. was launched today. A copy of the chapter is available here: http://www.mbie.govt.nz/info-services/business/business-growth-agenda/towards-2025

LAKE CLEAN-UP: The Government is to provide $980,000 in funding from the Te Mana o Te Wai Fund to restore the health of Lake Horowhenua. Further information on the Te Mana o Te Wai Fund is available from:http://www.mfe.govt.nz/more/funding/te-mana-o-te-wai-fund

OBESITY CAMPAIGN: A new high profile public awareness campaign starts today to encourage people to make healthy lifestyle changes to tackle obesity. For further information about the Childhood Obesity Plan visit the Ministry of Health website, here:https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/obesity/childhood-obesity-plan

STANDARD DRINKS: The campaign ‘Know Your Limit: Rule of Thumb’ being led by Hospitality New Zealand has highlighted how few New Zealanders actually know what a standard drink is. For an interactive calculator to find out how many standard drinks are in your glass go to:

http://www.cheers.org.nz/standard-drinks/

WINSTON CHURCHILL FELLOWSHIP: The names of 17 people who have been awarded a prestigious Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship for 2016 were announced today. More information on the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust is available on the Community Matters website: http://www.communitymatters.govt.nz

YOUTH FUND 2016: 50 successful applicants will receive a total of around $217,000 to fund community projects led by young people, as part of Youth Fund 2016. Details of successful applications are available here:http://www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-and-our-work/newsroom/2015/youth-fund-2016-projects.html

And that’s our sampling of “news you can use” for Thursday 12th November.

Brought to EveningReport by Newsroom Digest.

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In the Office of the Auditor-General we trust

By Selwyn Manning -

November 12, 2015

NewsroomPlus.com NewsRoom_Plus received an update this week on “new appointments to senior positions here at the Office of the Auditor-General”. We did think about headlining it ‘Who You Gonna Trust?’, as a nod to the importance of the Office in keeping all those within its purview, straight and accountable. It’s a tough job, and we need to trust the people doing it. As admirers of transparency in the public sector here are the new appointees, as supplied. The acknowledgements to the people they have replaced are also reproduced below. Unusual permission to feel warm and fuzzy is granted. Deputy Controller and Auditor-General Greg Schollum began his five-year term as Deputy Controller and Auditor-General of New Zealand on 28 September. The Deputy Controller and Auditor-General is appointed under the Public Audit Act 2001 in the same way as the Controller andAuditor-General, and is also an Officer of Parliament. The Deputy has the same responsibilities under the Act as the Auditor-General, but carries them out subject to the Auditor-General’s control. Greg joined the Office of the Auditor-General in September 2004 as the Assistant Auditor-General, Accounting and Auditing Policy. For more information about Greg, please view his profile on the OAG website. Assistant Auditor-General, Local Government Andrea Reeves was appointed Assistant Auditor-General, Local Government in September. Andrea started with Audit New Zealand’s Christchurch office in 2000 as a new graduate. She also worked in the Dunedin and Wellington offices before joining the Office of the Auditor-General in 2009 as a Sector Manager. Andrea and her team are committed to maintaining the Office’s engagement with local government on key matters of interest to us all. For more information about Andrea, please view her profile on the OAG website. Assistant Auditor-General, Legal Melanie Webb joined the Office as Assistant Auditor-General, Legal in October. Melanie was the Chief Legal Advisor at the Department of Internal Affairs and spent 12 years working for the Ministry of Justice. She heads the Office’s Legal Group, which provides legal advice and support across all aspects of the work of the Office of the Auditor-General and Audit New Zealand. The Legal Group has particular responsibility for managing the conduct of inquiries carried out by the Auditor-General, and also administers the Local Government (Members’ Interests) Act 1968. For more information about Melanie, please view her profile on the OAG website.

[… And it’s good bye from…]

After 34 years with the Office, Bruce Robertson (Assistant Auditor-General, Local Government) decided that it was time to take his career in another direction. Both the Office and the local government sector have valued Bruce’s contribution, and he leaves us all with a sound foundation to address the future challenges facing the sector. Phillippa Smith served two terms as Deputy Controller and Auditor-General and her vast contribution to improving the performance of, and the public’s trust in, the public sector is greatly appreciated. Nicola White was Assistant Auditor-General, Legal, for eight years. She was a valued leader in our Office and we are grateful for the significant contribution she has given the Office and the public sector. She is now living overseas. –]]>

GMO or not GMO? That’s not the Question

By Selwyn Manning -

November 12, 2015

NewsroomPlus.com Contributed by Adam James Ring. The dialogue around what is and what isn’t a genetically modified organism (GMO) has again breached the surface of the political and public agenda, with Minister for the Environment, Nick Smith, announcing last week that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is seeking submissions on a proposal to clarify their legal definition. Under current regulations, some commonly used crops are deemed GMO, despite being grown in New Zealand for decades. This difficulty of definitions can be attributed to the now outdated and easily misunderstood wording of the existing Hazardous Substances and New Organisms (Organisms Not Genetically Modified) Regulations 1998, something which the EPA document’s proposed amendments seek to amend. Difficulties surrounding these regulations came to public attention during a controversial case last year, where the High Court overturned an EPA decision to allow Crown Research Institute Scion to bypass existing GM regulation laws and develop pine tree strains using new techniques based on ZFN-1 (Zinc Finger Nuclease Type 1) and TALEs (Transcription Activator-Like Effectors). These ‘targeted mutation’ techniques are widely considered ‘conventional’ or, perhaps more accurately, ‘not-GM’ by scientists and the international community, as they add no foreign genetic material to the organism. Many experts argue that these longstanding techniques should be excluded from regulation. Indeed, this was the EPA’s original ruling. Before being overturned in court due to regulation ‘technicalities’. Responding to the High Court ruling in 2014, Associate Professor Peter Dearden, Director of Genetics at Otago University commented on the nature of these techniques, saying that “this technology leaves nothing behind. No extra, or added bit of DNA remains, only the change we want to make.” The crux of the problem, which was highlighted by the court’s ruling, is that the distinction between GMO and non-GMO – according to current regulation – has “become vague over recent years” according to Dr Tony Conner of AgResearch. Dr Elspeth MacRae, General Manager of Manufacturing and Bioproducts at Scion, speaking to the Science Media Centre, commented that “the legislation is now almost two decades old and well out of step with the rapid advancement in science and the large amount of scientific evidence regarding the risks and benefits of genetic technologies.” While this is certainly not the first – nor most likely the last – time that GMO regulation has caused difficulties, the primary issue in this case, is not a lack of regulation but simply of new technology overtaking existing definitions. At the request of the Ministry for the Environment, who assessed the regulations in the aftermath of the High Court ruling, the EPA have developed and released a discussion document, approved by Cabinet at the end of October. It outlines the proposed amendments, a process that the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act (HSNO) 1996 allows for. The EPA has said in a recent press release, that the “consultation document proposes a clarification to show that organisms and plants bred using chemical and radiation treatments which were in use on or before 29 July 1998 will not be considered genetically modified under the law.” Though the High Court did overturn the EPA’s original decision, the judge who presided over the case noted at the time that the regulations are poorly drafted and open to misunderstanding. It is this ‘poor drafting’ that the proposed amendments intend to correct, thus realigning GMO governance with current understanding and innovation. Without presupposing what submissions the EPA will receive, it seems unlikely that there will any major problem with the proposed amendments. Environment Minister Nick Smith has called the proposed changes “cautious”, saying that “they are necessary to ensure we do not inadvertently include many older breeding technologies within the definition of genetic modification and do not change the intent of the current policy.” “Biotechnology has moved on from when the original regulations were put in place in 1998,” he added – a view shared by many leading scientists, as well as Scion, who were on the receiving end of the High Court case last year. While there is often some automatic resistance from anti-GMO organisations, the general feeling is that the EPA’s proposed changes are sensible and won’t affect New Zealand’s international GMO status. It’s practically a given that the public dialogue surrounding what is and what isn’t a GMO will no doubt continue; constantly shifting and adjusting to match new discoveries and techniques. In this instance the Sustainability Council of New Zealand, who instigated the 2014 case against the EPA and Scion, support the proposed changes. That they opposed the exclusion back in 2014 has more, they say in a press release, to do with a desire to see GMO’s continue to be regulated, rather than unregulated, and not because they oppose the use of radiation and chemical techniques Scion wish to use. Barring any unforeseen and legitimate opposition, it should be safe to say that once the submissions are reviewed and reported back to the Ministry, the current regulations will be sensibly adjusted to exclude the aforementioned techniques. This should and can be done without posing any danger to New Zealand’s international reputation as a GM-free food producer. For more information and expert responses visit the Science Media Centre. –]]>

Do you like to ride your bicycle?

By Selwyn Manning -

November 12, 2015

NewsroomPlus.com Auckland Transport earlier this month revealed the top ten most scenic bike rides in the Auckland region. The number of Great Rides has increased to ten from six last year. The “Great Rides” are: Matakana Trails The Matakana trails ride has fantastic views and many points of interest including café’s, wineries and roadside stalls offering fresh produce. The track goes through farmland as well as bush and quiet communities. This ride has been established by the Matakana Cycle Trail Trust and takes you from Matakana to Omaha and Point Wells. The ride is recommended for more confident cyclists as it includes sections on gravel roads. It is a 14km long, takes about an hour to complete and is a mix of off-road shared paths, cycle lanes and quiet roads with 50km – 70km hour speed limits with gravel and sealed sections. Te Ara Tahuna Pathway: Orewa Estuary Te Ara Tahuna Pathway provides an excellent ride for people new to cycling, or riding with children on bikes or scooters. It is easily accessed from Western Reserve, 40 minutes drive north from Auckland centre. It makes for a great day out and especially if combined with time at the beach or shops. The path features tributes to the estuary’s past as a significant food gathering place for Maori.It is 7.6 km long and takes around 40 minutes. Green Route: Devonport to Takapuna The Devonport to Takapuna Great Ride includes paths, boardwalks and bridges weaving through parks, mangroves, and heritage streets. Along the way find a nautical-themed playground at Northboro Reserve, look for eels among the mangroves, and delve into North Shore’s history at its oldest cemetery founded in 1891. The route is 9.5 km and takes 40 minutes. Hobsonville Point Hobsonville Point is an old Air Force community that is being redeveloped as Auckland grows, reflecting aspirations to create well planned urban environments. The area provides an easy recreational route with purpose built off-road paths. Twin Streams: Henderson Creek and Opanuku Stream The Henderson Creek shared path links the Northwestern cycleway and the Henderson township. It is a beautiful ride through planting including the international tree collection and Tui Glen, an historic pleasure park. The Opanuku Stream shared path stretches from Great North Road to Henderson Valley Road. The Opanuku Stream path and nearby Oratia Stream path include environmental, conservation and community initiatives aimed at protecting the area from floodwater coming down from the Waitakere Ranges. Auckland Waterfront: Britomart to Mission Bay This gentle ride along the wonderful Auckland waterfront is one of the most popular in Auckland. The whole route is off-road and beside the water of the Waitemata harbour with views to Rangitoto. At Mission Bay enjoy the beach, park, restaurants, pubs, cafes or cinema. The ride can be extended to St Heliers Bay. The path is busy and shared with pedestrians so please ride slowly and share with care. Pakuranga Rotary Pathway The Pakuranga Rotary shared path is a very popular walk or ride stretching 9km from Prince Regent Drive in Farm Cove to the Panmure Bridge. The path weaves past the Pakuranga Sailing Club and offers great views up and down the Tamaki River. The ride is well sign-posted and information panels provide historical information about the area. There are lots of picnic spots along the path, which is also home to the local favourite ‘snake’ playground. The Cascades Paths: Pakuranga, Botany and Meadowlands Join the shared path at numerous points between Meadowland and Millhouse Reserves and Lloyd Elsmore Park. There is a flat, concrete path for almost the entire route. The path is an easy recreational ride for weekend cyclists, while also providing a family friendly destination with an excellent learners trail built especially for kids within Lloyd Elsmore Park. The Rotary Centennial Bike Trail runs 1.2km through the park and has been designed to help kids learn to ride and improve their skills. Each of the challenge sections has an alternative easy route and there are jumps and seesaws to practice on. Waikaraka Cycleway: Onehunga to Mangere Bridge The ride includes paths on both sides of the Manukau Harbour connected by the old Mangere Bridge. It provides a great weekend outing for families and adults alike. It’s completely flat (almost), has interesting stops along the way and stunning views. Centred on the old Mangere Bridge, this ride is in two parts connected by the old Mangere Bridge. On the Onehunga side, 4km of concrete path hugs the Upper Manukau Harbour and passes alongside the Waikaraka cemetery. The wide path has a smooth concrete surface that makes cycling easy. Wattle Downs The Wattle Downs ride takes you around a picturesque part of the Manukau Harbour coastline through Mahia Park and Wattle Downs. The 10km paved route hugs the shoreline and has many seats and picnic tables for you to catch your breath or admire the view. The ride goes past the Manukau golf course, has opportunities to reach the water and two playgrounds. The path is in two parts, connected by about 400m of quiet residential road. –]]>

Le Quesnoy: “We haven’t forgotten”

By Selwyn Manning -

November 12, 2015

NewsroomPlus.com At the eleventh hour, on the eleventh day, of the eleventh month, Armistice Day commemorates fallen soldiers throughout the First World War. This date marks the anniversary of all hostilities ceasing on the Western Front, and has been marked annually since the end of the war that was supposed to ‘end all wars’. With the official day taking place yesterday, ceremonies were organised all over New Zealand in memory of those who died in the battle. Few people may have known that a week before, on 4 November, a ceremony was held in Whangamata connected to one of the last battles of World War 1 with a special connection to New Zealand – the battle of Le Quesnoy. With about fifty people attending the event, the spirit of New Zealand history was very much alive. Among those who attended were service personnel, RSA members, Lions members, Mayor Glenn Leach and Waikato Regional Council Chair Paula Southgate. Descendants of WWI soldiers also attended the event. Timothy Clarke’s great uncle died in the battle of Le Quesnoy, and he attended the event to show his respect. “People say, ‘Lest we forget’. We haven’t forgotten”.

unnamed — Beryl Wharton and her grandson Timothy Clarke pay tribute to their relative, Sergeant Vincent Stephenson Twidle, who was killed in the Battle of Le Quesnoy on 4 November 1918.

Timothy found out about his great uncle Vincent and his role in WWI when he asked his grandmother if she had any medals he could wear in this year’s Anzac Day parade – which marked the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli landings. Shortly after Anzac Day he had a school assignment to research the war and working on this project he discovered his great uncle’s war record and that he had been killed at Le Quesnoy liberating the town from German troops. “His brothers came home but he didn’t. It would have been heart-breaking news for his family as he was unmarried and had plenty more life to liv

Memorial Forest

The Thames Coromandel District Council opted to plant a World War I memorial forest in Whangamata as an honour to those who fought for New Zealand.

The forest has been officially renamed Le Quesnoy Park, a tribute to the liberation led by New Zealanders in World War I. The forest is home to 122 trees, each representing a soldier who died overcoming the German enemy occupants in the small French town Le Quesnoy. With the symbolism of the trees reflecting the respective sacrifices these soldiers made, Mayor Glenn Leach praises the efforts of those involved in organising the memorial forest, the seventh of its kind in the Coromandel region. “When we look at the Memorial Forests across the Coromandel, this is the finished article. Whangamata, you have set the benchmark”. This year alone, approximately 3000 trees have been planted since planting began on Anzac Day. More than 12,000 New Zealanders died on the Western Front in just two and a half years of fighting, more than the final count of the entire Second World War. Donations can still be made to fund the cost of a tree. Each tree planted is named in honour of a chosen soldier who was killed through the war, or to the “unknown soldier” – one of those whose remains were never identified. To donate go to www.tcdc.govt.nz/donatetree –]]>

Across The Ditch: Auckland Mayor Len Brown Will Not Stand + Oh The Cricket!

By Selwyn Manning -

November 12, 2015

Across The Ditch: EveningReport.nz’s Selwyn Manning and Australian radio FiveAA.com.au’s Peter Godfrey deliver their Across The Ditch bulletin, this week they discuss the rise and fall of Auckland’s mayor Len Brown and also discuss the Australia V NZ Cricket test loss at the Gabba and try to navigate some hope for the Kiwis as they front up to an inform Aussie side at the WACA – Across the Ditch was Recorded Live on 12/11/15.

ITEM ONE: Auckland’s controversial mayor, Len Brown, has indicated he will not stand in the 2016 mayoral elections. Len Brown was relegated to lame-duck status only days after winning the 2013 mayoralty, after it was revealed he had been having an affair with a woman half his age, and that the woman was connected to his political opponents. The other woman was Bevan Chuang, who, besides having a sexual relationship with the mayor, was also involved with a campaign strategist, Luigi Wewege, for the opposing centre-right ticket. The affidavit raised questions as to whether the mayor had been played. Immediately after the election, Bevan Chuang agreed to have her ‘detailed’ affidavit published on the ruthless Whaleoil.co.nz political blog – which is edited by Cam Slater, the son of a former National Party president. The affidavit alleged in detail that the mayor had had sex with her during working hours, had used the mayoral chambers as a place for his sexual liaisons, including the sacred Ngatiwhatua Room, how he had also used rooms in hotels and raised questions as to whether he had received gifts such as rooms at Sky City casino and other hotel rooms around the city. The affidavit was so explicit it alleged the mayor’s particular sexual penchants, frequency, allegations of phone-sex, gifts. The allegations were not denied by the mayor, but he refused to resign. It’s fair to say the affair has been a monkey on his back throughout this political term. The Labour Party, which aided Len Brown’s two successful mayoral campaigns, distanced itself from him. Last week, Len Brown officially welcomed the All Blacks back to Auckland only to be boo-ed by around 35,000 people. Days later, he sniffed the air and realised his days of glory were long gone, that his lame-duck mayoralty had morphed into political overstayer status. ITEM TWO: Australia V New Zealand Test Cricket I guess we should at least mention the Cricket… In case you missed it, New Zealand’s Black Caps Cricket team got an absolute thrashing by Australia at the Gabba, by over 200 runs! Now Australia’s star batter David Warner is promising to smash the Kiwis out of the park. Back here in New Zealand, pundits are attempting to salvage some respect by claiming our star batter Kane Williamson is one of this country’s best ever batters. The problem is… Williamson was actually born in South Africa! That aside, his century at the Gabba is said (at least over here) to be a masterpiece. (ref: NZHerald.) So all eyes and ears will be tuned in this Friday for the second test at the WACA. AND, here’s a list of things the Kiwis need to do better (courtesy of the NZ Herald) Across The Ditch broadcasts live weekly on Australian radio FiveAA.com.au and webcasts on EveningReport.nz LiveNews.co.nz and ForeignAffairs.co.nz. –]]>

Keith Rankin’s Chart for this Week: Housing-Related Growth 1988-2015

By Keith Rankin -

November 11, 2015

Analysis by Keith Rankin.

[caption id="attachment_8085" align="aligncenter" width="977"]

Rockstar Economy?[/caption]

New Zealand’s present iteration of the national accounts – SNE – gives annual growth in quarterly increments for a wide range of sectors. Here I focus on those sectors that relate to housing.

Firstly, manufacturing acts as a kind of control sector. It’s consistently the best indicator in the national accounts of the overall health of the economy (albeit in conventional production-focused terms). It tends to match overall GDP growth, but with bigger cyclical variations. It also tends to lead both the downturns and the recoveries.

So in manufacturing we see the recessions of 1991, 1998 and 2008. We also see an important dip in 2006 that was masked by somewhat contrived growth in the construction, financial and dairy sectors. And we see that manufacturing growth has been tepid in recent years, having barely recovered in the wake of the global financial crisis. In the years of overvalued exchange rates in the middle of the 1990s and 2000s, we can see the rot setting in.

Construction activity is known to be highly variable, though it would be much less so if governments followed proper countercyclical policies. For example, in the early 1990s, the huge downturn in private construction could have been countered by public works such as Auckland’s south-western motorway, and overdue improvements to Auckland’s rail system and electricity distribution grid. Instead, in the year of Ruth Richardson’s ‘Mother of all Budgets’, huge numbers of unemployed workers fled to Australia. In many cases it’s them and their children who got involved with petty crime (the Australian economy was not particularly flash in the early 1990s), and are now getting caught up in Australia’s detention centres for overstayers and miscreant denizens.

Ownership of dwellings is a strange one to explain. Essentially it is the rental value of owner-occupied houses, and is included in the national accounts for the same reason that landlords’ services are included. The national accounts try to treat all owners of occupied houses as landlords receiving rent. Thus this sector gives essentially a measure of growth of rents on residential land.

In the early 1990s we see market rental values rising as construction fell away sharply. They climbed strongly again in the early 2000s following construction contractions in 1998 and 2000. While rents have grown much less quickly this decade than house prices, the slow growth here also reflects falling proportions of owner-occupied housing.

(We might note that the construction peaks in 1997 and 2000 could be called the ‘leaky peaks’. These were the core years of the ‘leaky homes’ fiasco.)

The rise in construction this decade is clearly linked to the Christchurch earthquake, an economic saviour for the present National-led government. Low growth in rental values – despite known and substantial rent increases in Christchurch – suggests that recent growth in house prices is not really related to a strong increase in the demand (as economists understand that term) for housing. (Demand is ‘want’ supported by cash.)

While there is clearly much unmet need in housing, rents can only rise in line with renters’ capacity to pay rent. Likewise, the growth in construction generally has not been matched by growth in the construction of new houses that are affordable to new would-be owner-occupiers. (We note that the affordability of a house relates to lifestyle costs – eg long commutes, extended childcare – as well as to the price of a house, the cost of its maintenance, and the interest rate on the mortgage.)

There are already signs that we have just passed the peaks for this cycle in manufacturing and construction. Both of these 2014 activity peaks are looking weak compared to their peaks in 1995 and 2003. Compared to even our recent past, this decade’s rock-star economy is at best faded glory.

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NewsRoom Digest: Top NZ News Items for November 11 Edition, 2015

By Selwyn Manning -

November 11, 2015

This edition of NewsRoom_Digest features 8 resourceful links of the day and the politics pulse from Wednesday 11th November.

NEWSROOM_MONITOR

Top stories in the current news cycle includes the Law Commission proposing a defence of partial murder for victims of family violence who kill their abuser, the Reserve Bank saying the health of the financial system remains sound while warning of the risks from weaker dairy prices and Auckland’s overheated housing market and the Government hinting the Earthquake Commission could retain its frontline role in future disaster management, despite suggestions it would be better placed as a backroom operation.

POLITICS PULSE

Media releases issued from Parliament by political parties today included:

Government: 2015 Rutherford Medal winner announced; Ministers recognise 150 years of the Māori Land Court; Australia-New Zealand agreement to help combat identity crime; Speech to the Insurance Council of New Zealand annual conference; New public health legislation planned;Child passport subsidy to remain;Proposed law change will improve communities’ recovery from emergencies;Proposals sought for MBIE Science Fund; Todd McClay – Speech to Trans-Tasman Business Circle; Business Transformation – IRD cooperates with Xero and MYOB to simplify GST; Business Transformation – Less time, lower cost, more benefits; Airline alliance better connects NZ and USA; Systems to stop WMD trafficking put to the test; Proposals sought for Regional Research Institutes; Appointment to Te Papa Board; Public views sought on future environmental reporting topics; NBOMe reclassified as Class B1 Drug

Greens: National fiddling while Auckland burns; John Key should “back” sexual violence survivors; Greens Offer Government Chance To Vote For The Environment

Labour: Groser bungle means Koreans can ban NZ buyers but we can’t ban theirs; Enough is enough as dam deadline looms; Te Ture Whenua Bill opposition; Increasing risks as housing contagion spreads; Ratepayers could subsidise Ruataniwha dam after secret meeting; No Plan B for Southern Response; National all talk no action on provisional tax; National’s Tax Return Tax a cash grab; Patients waiting in more pain for operations

New Zealand First: If In Doubt Of Cellphone Coverage, Buy A Satellite Phone Says Minister; Apology over accusations of support for rapists and child molesters required; Roast Busters II Debate Refused; Putting Wood First Creates Work And Jobs; NZ Super ruling won’t spark review; Armistice Day Motion Blocked By National’s Gerry Brownlee; Bill Requires Parent Migrants To Hold Health Insurance; Armistice Day Motion Blocked By National’s Simon Bridges; Polytechs Merger Shortchanges Regional Students

LINKS OF THE DAY

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

2016 YEAR OF PULSES: The United Nations, led by its Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), today launched the 2016 International Year of Pulses to raise awareness about the protein power and health benefits of all kinds of dried beans and peas. Read more: http://www.fao.org/pulses-2016/en/

BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION: Inland Revenue’s Business Transformation programme is likely to take less time, cost less, and deliver more benefits than the original projections. More details available at:http://makingtaxsimpler.ird.govt.nz/

EARTHQUAKE PRONE BUILDINGS: Researchers at Motu Economic and Public Policy Research Trust and GNS Science have recently published two papers examining the impact of the quakes on the property market that reveal interesting aspects in the psychology of purchasing decisions. Impacts of Earthquake Regulation and Building Codes on the Commercial Building Market is available at: http://www.motu.org.nz/our-work/urban-and-regional/housing/before-a-fall-impacts-of-earthquake-regulation-and-building-codes-on-the-commercial-building-market/

The Changing Price of Disaster Risk Following an Earthquake is available at: http://www.motu.org.nz/our-work/urban-and-regional/housing/that-sinking-feeling-the-changing-price-of-disaster-risk-following-an-earthquake/

ENVIRONMENT REPORTING SYSTEM: New Zealanders are being invited to have their say about proposed topics under the new national environmental reporting system. The consultation opens today and ends on 23 December. Further information is available at:http://www.mfe.govt.nz/environment-topics-consultation

FAMILY VIOLENCE LAW: The Law Commission is seeking feedback to improve the law relating to victims of family violence who kill their abusers in an Issues Paper published today. Read more: http://www.lawcom.govt.nz/media-release/law-commission-issues-paper-victims-family-violence-who-commit-homicide

FINANCIAL STABILITY REPORT: The Reserve Bank of New Zealand released the Bank’s November Financial Stability Report today. The report can be viewed at:http://www.rbnz.govt.nz/financial_stability/financial_stability_report/fsr-nov2015.pdf

GUEST NIGHTS RISE: National guest nights for September 2015 were 5.2 percent higher than in September 2014, according to Statistics New Zealand. Go here for more: http://bit.ly/1knCSuc

REGIONAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE PROPOSAL: Proposals are invited from groups of businesses, researchers and private investors who are seeking to collaborate to establish regional institutes that will deliver commercially-focused and industry-relevant research to their region and New Zealand as a whole. More information can be found on the MBIE website: http://www.mbie.govt.nz/info-services/sectors-industries/regions-cities/investigating-regional-research-institutes/?searchterm=regional%20research%20institutes

And that’s our sampling of “news you can use” for Wednesday 11th November.

Brought to EveningReport by Newsroom Digest. –]]>

New Zealand Report: Political Stoush Erupts In Parliament After PM’s Body Guard Fends Off Labour MP

By Selwyn Manning -

November 11, 2015

New Zealand Report: Selwyn Manning joins Australia’s FiveAA.com.au breakfast team to deliver his NZ Report bulletin. [caption id="attachment_183" align="alignleft" width="150"] Selwyn Manning, editor.[/caption] New Zealand Report This week: A political stoush erupted in the New Zealand Parliament yesterday after the Prime Minister John Key’s body guard pushed Labour MP Kelvin Davis after Davis accused John Key of being gutless over his handling of Kiwis detained by Australia at Christmas Island. Later, inside the debating chamber, John Key accused Labour of sticking up for rapists, murderers, sex offenders. The comment caused a mass walkout of Parliament by Labour MPs. – Recorded live on 11/11/15 Report: A political slouch erupted yesterday after a high profile Labour MP was fended off by one of the Prime Minister John Key’s body guards. John Key was making his way to Parliament’s debating chamber when Kelvin Davis, Labour’s corrections spokesperson, stepped toward him and accused him of being ‘gutless’ over failing to get a result over Kiwis being detained by Australia at Christmas Island. When Davis stepped toward the Prime Minister, John Key ignored him and passed without hindrance, but not before Davis said: Prime Minister you are gutless over the 501s. At that moment, the Diplomatic Protection Squad body guard pushed Davis toward a wall. Davis was not complaining. His point was made. And he said the body guard’s fend-off was less impressive than the under-9s junior rugby team. But Key was steaming, and shortly after in Parliament he accused the Labour Party of being on the side of rapists, murderers and child molesters. The allegation caused a mass walkout of Labour MPs from Parliament. The theatre underscores how the politicians are playing this issue. Key wants the detainees to be labeled as murderers, rapists, and child sex offenders. While Labour is attempting to expose John Key’s inability to resolve the deportation issue when he met with Malcolm Turnbull two weeks ago. Neither party wants the deportees in New Zealand but both parties realise Australia will not relent over the policy. New Zealand Report broadcasts live on Australian radio FiveAA.com.au and webcasts on EveningReport.nz LiveNews.co.nz and ForeignAffairs.co.nz.]]>

Reserve Bank warns that the risks facing NZ financial system have increased

By Selwyn Manning -

November 11, 2015

Reserve Bank governor Graeme Wheeler has issued a warning that while the financial system is performing well, there is an increased risk of economic instability due to “increased risks related to the dairy and housing” sectors.

In a statement this morning, Graeme Wheeler said New Zealand’s financial system continues to perform well despite a deterioration in the outlook for global financial stability and increased risks related to the dairy and housing sectors, Reserve Bank Governor, Graeme Wheeler, said today when releasing the Bank’s November Financial Stability Report.

“Global economic growth has softened over the past six months, and uncertainty over the path of economic and financial adjustment in China has helped to depress commodity prices and added to financial market uncertainty. Interest rates at historic lows are encouraging higher leverage, leading to a build-up in risk in international asset markets. This environment creates risks for the New Zealand banking system, which remains reliant on the global markets for funding.

“The dairy sector faces a second consecutive season of weak cash flow due to low international dairy commodity prices. Prices have shown some recovery since August, but many indebted farms are coming under increased pressure, which would be exacerbated if low dairy prices are sustained or dairy farm prices fall significantly.

“House price growth in Auckland has increased strongly with house price-to-income ratios in the region now comparable to those seen in some of the world’s most expensive cities. Rising investor activity has been an important driver of price developments, and international evidence suggests that investor loans have a higher tendency to default in the event of a major downturn in the housing market.

“A sharp downturn could challenge financial stability, given the large exposure of the banking system to the Auckland housing market. While it is still too early to judge the effect of recent policy changes, they are expected to help moderate pressure on Auckland house prices, and will improve the resilience of bank balance sheets to a housing downturn.”

Deputy Governor, Grant Spencer, said that “Banks hold strong capital and liquidity buffers and have maintained their profitability with further reductions in cost-to-income ratios. Lending growth to households and businesses has picked up and is being funded mainly through higher domestic deposits.

“The banks are working with dairy farmers experiencing difficulty, and it is important that they continue to take a medium-term view when assessing farm viability. The banks’ losses on dairy exposures are expected to be manageable but banks need to ensure that they set aside realistic provisions for the likely increase in problem loans.

“New rules on Auckland residential investor loans came in to force on 1 November. The bulk of these loans are now required to have a loan-to-value ratio (LVR) of no more than 70 percent. Banks are also now required to put residential property investment loans in a separate asset class and hold more capital against them.

“LVR restrictions have been eased outside of Auckland where housing market activity has been more subdued. However, the Bank is closely monitoring the recent rises in house price inflation in some areas such as Hamilton and Tauranga.

“The Reserve Bank has a number of other regulatory initiatives in train. Public consultation has recently closed on a stocktake of banking regulations and a summary of submissions will be published shortly. We have recently released a consultation paper proposing changes to the outsourcing policy for banks. And we are also well advanced on an improved oversight regime for payment and settlement systems.”

More information: Financial Stability Report

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NewsRoom Digest: Top NZ News Items for November 10 PM Edition, 2015

By Selwyn Manning -

November 10, 2015

This edition of NewsRoom_Digest features 13 resourceful links of the day and the politics pulse from Tuesday 10th November.

NEWSROOM_MONITOR

Top stories in the current news cycle include the Government seeking assurance from Australia that New Zealand detainees are sent back as soon as possible once requested, the International Monetary Fund has warned that surging house prices and weaker dairy prices remain the main risks to the New Zealand economy and the Pay Equity Coalition says women are working free from today until the end of the year because of the gender pay gap.

POLITICS PULSE

Media releases issued from Parliament by political parties today included:

Government: Incorporated Societies Bill out for public consultation; South Frame public space designs revealed; Literary sculptures installation begins; Canterbury Polytechnics to merge; Big boost for Māori exports; Youth Parliament 2016 members announced; Health research strategy planned; NZ welcomes Myanmar’s historic election

Greens: Pay women more; Did the Trade Minister wilfully forget he’s also Minister for Climate Change Issues?; Green Party Calls On Transport Minister To Adopt ‘Gold Coin’ Bus Trial; Is John Key losing it?

Labour: Private tertiary education in freefall under National; PM has lost his moral compass over Christmas Island

New Zealand First: Peters – Silver Fern Farms The Heist Of The Century

NZ National Party: MP selects youth to represent Maungakiekie

LINKS OF THE DAY

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

AIRPORT LAND VALUATION RULES: The Commerce Commission has today released draft amendments for consultation on the application of the airport land valuation rules as part of the input methodologies review. Click here for the draft decision: http://www.comcom.govt.nz/regulated-industries/input-methodologies-2/input-methodologies-review/airport-fast-track-processes-for-im-review/

BERRIES THE “GO TO” FOOD: Scientists in North Carolina and New Zealand are collaborating and engaging with growers to build the scientific evidence to convince consumers that berries are nature’s “go to” health food. For more information, visit http://www.transforming-science.com

CARD SPENDING: Retail spending using electronic cards was $4.9 billion in October 2015, up $260 million (5.6 percent) from October 2014, Statistics New Zealand said today. Spending rose in five of the six retail industries, with a fall in fuel spending. Go here for Electronic Card Transactions: October 2015 – http://bit.ly/1PlC1qC

CLIMATE SURVEY: Business has a clear plan for how it will lead on climate change over the next five years, according to the Sustainable Business Council. Click here for the BusinessNZ survey:http://www.sbc.org.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/111198/BusinessNZ-Climate-Survey.pdf

GREEN SPACE DESIGNS REVEALED: The Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA) has released the designs for the public areas which show how the green spaces will be created. More than half of the area, which comprises seven city blocks, is currently uninhabited and this plan creates new opportunity for its neighbours. Go here for more: http://cera.govt.nz/

HEALTH RESEARCH STRATEGY PLANNED: A new health research strategy will be developed to focus and align the economic and health goals of the health research sector. For more information visit: http://www.health.govt.nz orhttp://www.mbie.govt.nz

“KNOW YOUR LIMIT” CAMPAIGN: Hospitality New Zealand is offering advice on how much motorists can legally drink before driving, through what it calls a ‘rule of thumb’ guide. Go here for more:http://www.hospitalitynz.org.nz/industry/know-your-limit.html

LITERARY SCULPTURES: The installation of the first literary panels has begun at The Terraces, a key attraction of the precinct. The panels display excerpts from works by prominent authors Sir Apirana Taylor, John Deans, Wiremu Te Uki and David Eggleton. More information on the Ōtākaro/Avon River Precinct designs released so far can be found here: http://ccdu.govt.nz/projects-and-precincts/te-papa-otakaro-avon-river-precinct/otakaro-art-by-the-river

REINZ: 7,838 dwellings sold in New Zealand in October 2015, up 18.6% on October 2014 and down 4.1% on last month. Click here for more: https://www.reinz.co.nz/reinz/index.cfm?1CB561D5-18FE-7E88-42FB-507342EF7F81&obj_uuid=7650B192-FAE0-4833-8565-2F713491E084

SOCIETIES BILL: A draft Bill to update the law governing incorporated societies is being released today for public consultation. The draft Bill can be viewed, and submissions can be made, online at http://www.mbie.govt.nz/info-services/business/business-law/incorporated-societies

TORTOISE EXTINCTION: The survival of the Indian Star tortoise is being threatened by a booming illegal trade, that causes extreme suffering to tortoises, due to a growing international demand for tortoises as exotic pets, wildlife experts warn today. Click here for the report: http://natureconservation.pensoft.net/articles.php?id=5625

WELFARE SERVICES IN AN EMERGENCY: The Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management has just released a new guideline governing how, when and where welfare services should be delivered in emergencies. The Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management at the national level, and Civil Defence Emergency Management Groups at the regional level, assume overall responsibility for the leadership and coordination of welfare services in an emergency from the Ministry of Social Development from 1 December. The guideline is available here:http://www.civildefence.govt.nz/cdem-sector/cdem-framework/guidelines/welfare-services-in-an-emergency/

YOUTH PARLIAMENT 2016: 121 Youth MPs and 17 members of the Youth Press Gallery who will be part of Youth Parliament 2016 were announced today. A full list of the Youth MPs is available: http://www.myd.govt.nz/young-people/youth-parliament/youthparliament2016participants.html

And that’s our sampling of “news you can use” for Tuesday 10th November.

Brought to EveningReport by Newsroom Digest. –]]>

Enviroschools booming in Northland

By Selwyn Manning -

November 10, 2015

NewsroomPlus.com More than 160 students, teachers, family and community members have gathered at Whangarei and Taipa to learn about renewable energy and associated new technologies at this year’s Enviroschools regional expos.

The two annual expos for primary and intermediate students – this year themed ‘iEnergy’ – were held at Whangarei’s Marist Sports Club on Tuesday 03 November with a second at Taipa’s Karepori Marae two days later. John Bain – one of two councillors who represent the Northland Regional Council’s Whangarei Urban constituency – officially opened the first event and says once again the expos have provided exciting hands-on learning experiences. Councillor Bain, who also chairs the council’s Regional Transport Committee, says the expos featured four ‘action stations’ designed to showcase the latest renewable technologies and inspire young people to use them. One action station looked at electric cars and how these stack up against conventional vehicles in terms of both power and efficiency. A second station focussed on electric bicycles (including assembling them) as an alternative means of transport. A third action station centred on solar power and how it can be harnessed and use while the final station looked at energy efficiency in homes and schools. Councillor Bain says the regional council introduced the popular Enviroschools programme to Northland more than a decade ago and there are now 75 schools in the programme region-wide. “The Enviroschools programme has a strong focus on sustainability and the expos were a great way to demonstrate various aspects of this. Council hopes they will be a real catalyst for ongoing interest and learning.” Information about the Enviroschools Programme generally is available from the regional council’s website via: www.nrc.govt.nz/enviroschools –]]>

Bees work hard for us

By Selwyn Manning -

November 10, 2015

NewsroomPlus.com Contributed by Alex Barrow Steffan Browning, Green Party MP, has urged New Zealanders to stop buying harmful insecticides that are slowly wiping out the bee population. At yesterday’s launch of a public campaign in front of the Beehive, Browning called for the Environmental Protection Agency to take neonicotinoid pesticides off the shelf and out of our environment. A major point ahead of the launch was that healthy bees are fundamentally critical to our food chain and need protection. This campaigning under the banner call-to-action of Save Our Bees, and ‘Bees work hard for us, but they need us to work hard for them too’, continues the efforts of former Green MP Sue Kedgley and others this decade, and recognises the risk to bees from both varroa mite infestations and widespread use of pesticides. To bring this issue to a more heightened awareness Browning suggested yesterday that Parliament could look into maintaining bees in the Parliament gardens, considering the abundance of Pohutukawa in the summer months and as a tangible sign of encouragement for more New Zealanders to plant bee-friendly gardens or even to take up backyard bee-keeping as a hobby.

Green MP Steffan Browning: “We could have beehives at the Beehive!”

Neonicotinoid pesticides, which are commonly available in hardware and gardening stores, are a target of the campaign, with the aim of taking pesticides such as Yates Confidor, Yates Rose Gun, KiwiCare Rose Force and KiwiCare Insect Hit “off the shelves and out of our environment”. In addition neonicotinoids (or neonix) are embedded in the seed of a plant and, once grown, retains the chemical to ward off insect pests. However this is proving to be fatal to a vulnerable bee population, as well as causing environmental damage through leaching and leaking into waterways. “Neonicotinoids have been shown to be damaging bee health. There have been some links to what is known colony collapse disorder. They will certainly reduce the bees immune systems as well as other pesticides too,” said Browning.

The endangering of bees is not a new topic, and particularly came to public attention with documentaries such as ‘More Than Honey’ and ‘Vanishing of the Bees’. Browning is not only concerned for the bees in this sense, but also the lack of information supplied to insecticide buyers. “The most minute traces of neonicotinoids affect bees and we want them to restrict the use of neonix from seed treatments. One thing we want straight away is (for them) to be taken out of retail sales. Anyone can and will go and buy neonix off the shelf without knowing of the real effects of the sprays”. There is a record high of bee hives at present, however evidence of the welfare of these hives is unknown. “What we don’t know is the population of bees. Are those hives a lot of small hives? Have they got a robust colony? Or is it somewhat weaker? We do know that these things affect bees negatively… bee keepers find a lot of dead bees”. Harmful insecticides, with catchy names such as Ultra Strike and Super Strike, have been removed from The Warehouse and PlaceMakers’ shelves, with the companies agreeing to help with the fight to ‘Save the Bees’. “We’re going to the other major hardware stores, Foodstuffs, Progressive, and some of the garden chains as well, and putting it to them again, and some for the first time to say ‘Hey join in. We won’t be shy about letting people know that you’ve done this”. Mr Browning isn’t just blaming the horticulture and agriculture industry. Albeit a relatively small scale of damage, backyard gardeners’ use of the product is also a risk. One particular example of neonicotinoids being used is in lawn seed. Although bees do not pollinate grass, lawn flowers can grow and they too will contain the harmful chemicals. “It’s really good for people not to be spraying flowering plants or spraying somewhere where there are weeds. Bees aren’t discerning whether it’s a weed by our standards, or a flowering plant”. Browning highlighted some gentler options. Topical sprays that are sprayed occasionally are better for bees as they only last for a very short time, unlike the long term effects of neonicotinoids. Ultimately, organic growing would be the most ideal option but Browning understands that this is not entirely economically viable either. The best treatment he advocated was Neem Oil which has a lesser impact on insect life, but should still be used with caution. Biodiversity is another form of natural pest control. “Encouraging more diversity in the gardens, and in agriculture and horticulture, [means that] there’s a range of parasites and predators naturally there to deal with some of the pests”. However he acknowledges that this is not a complete solution and that insecticides have their obvious merits, though he cautions against regular use. Tacking the issue is likely to result in some heavy backlash from suppliers, Browning adds. “If the EPA reassesses it they’ll be in there (all) guns and all trying to have the least impact on their sales as possible. When the EU restricted some use for some plants over a two year period, which is just coming to an end now, I think that they’ll kick off again as well”. Although neonicotinoids are not necessarily cheaper to produce, they are “hard-hitting” which is why they sell. Mr Browning further advises reading up on harmful insecticides for home growers. “No householder goes to a Growsafe course and gets trained how to use it. [The chemicals] might be on the label in the small print on the back… (yet) there’s a real risk”. “We can have a healthy food chain, healthy ecosystem and healthy environment that includes bees and other pollinators doing their vital work,” said Mr Browning. For more information go to action.greens.org.nz/bees and the website of the National Beekeepers Association of New Zealand (nba.org.nz) Further reading: –]]>

‘Green fleet’ for Climate Action

By Selwyn Manning -

November 10, 2015

environmentally friendly tour of the North Shore — ]]>

NewsroomPlus.com – With the United Nations Climate Change Conference coming up in three weeks, New Zealanders are jumping on board to back the conference’s aspirations to lower global greenhouse gas emissions.

bikes c — For more photos go to: https://www.facebook.com/events/510653939097169/

On Sunday over one hundred Aucklanders took part in an environmentally friendly tour of the North Shore. With attendees using bicycles, electric bikes, electric cars, and even an electric bus to promote their ‘green fleet’, these New Zealanders endeavoured to raise awareness of the environmental damage we are doing now, and what changes need to come in the future. Zoe Lenzie-Smith as one of the New Zealand Youth Delegates attending the upcoming conference: “I am proud to be a young New Zealander, and as a small country we know how to make a stand, whether it’s for women’s right to vote or the rugby world cup. But, for climate action, we’re going backwards – New Zealand has some of the highest greenhouse gas pollution levels in the developed world. We’re soon to lose our international standing, if we continue with our weak pollution reduction targets and no plan in place to reach them”. With the upcoming conference located in Paris, New Zealand will be joining the global meeting with more than 190 other nations. New Zealand will be put under the spotlight considering the skyrocketing of greenhouse emissions since 1990, with a 42% rise in net emissions in just twenty three years. The New Zealand government have prepared targets to reduce emissions to 11% below 1990 levels, yet have not yet clarified how they plan to put this into action.

Education and Advocacy Manager at Tearfund NZ, Murray Sheard, acknowledged global progress, but pushed for further improvement: “In the last 20 years, we have lifted more people out of poverty than ever before. But the better we’ve got at development, the worse we’ve got at sustainability. Not only could climate change undo all our progress, it will force people from their homes, including our closest neighbours in the Pacific.” With this relevant to the recent rejection of climate change refugee Ioane Teitiota, New Zealand has a lot to answer for in addressing the needs of the environment. Not only will the conference call leaders to take smart, sustainable action, but initiatives such as the ‘green fleet’ tour in Auckland shows that New Zealanders are ready to make the necessary changes. Wayne Walker – Auckland councillor and Chair of the council’s Environment, Climate Change and Natural Heritage Committee – attended the event, and got on his bike to join the demonstration. “It’s great to see so many of the local community get behind this important grass-roots initiative, especially all the families that have come by to show their support; they are sending a clear message that they want a clean energy future for our kids.”

This is one of a series of nationwide community initiated demonstrations to promote action preventing global warming. About the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference

The 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference will be held in Paris from 30th November to 11th December.
The governments of more than 190 nations will gather to discuss a possible new global agreement on climate change, aimed at reducing global greenhouse gas emissions to limit the global temperature increase to 2 °C above pre-industrial levels – the threshold beyond which scientists estimate global warming will become catastrophic and irreversible.
The objective is to achieve, for the first time in over 20 years of UN negotiations, a binding and universal agreement on climate, from all the nations of the world.
For more information, see the following summary article: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jun/02/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-paris-climate-summit-and-un-talks

Additional references: According to the recently published state of the environment report, New Zealand saw a 42 percent increase in net greenhouse gas emissions between 1990 and 2013. And a new report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) gave New Zealand a poor mark for the amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced not only per capita, but also relative to its economic production. The New Zealand government has a target of reducing emissions by 11 percent from 1990 levels by 2030, which it will take to Paris in December. This has been criticised as insufficient by independent environmental monitors, Climate Action Tracker. The government has also not made it clear what the plan is in order to achieve the 11 per cent target. –]]>

Review: Ever the Land documentary

By Selwyn Manning -

November 10, 2015

NewsroomPlus.com Last week’s showing of ‘Ever the Land’, at Lighthouse Cinema in Wellington, delivered a fantastic insight into the struggles and triumphs experienced as part of the Living Building Challenge in action here in New Zealand. The documentary tells the story of the Tuhoe tribe in Te Urewera and the cultural impact they had on the construction of the ‘Living Building’ – a completely sustainable community centre based in the Urewera region for the people of Tuhoe. http://evertheland.com/player/ The shooting of the film cleverly combined the essence of Tuhoe’s cultural ties to the land with the importance of the ‘Living Building’ concept. ‘Ever the Land’ is a particularly good snapshot of Tuhoe and the wairua of that iwi. Their close spiritual connection to the land is embodied in this documentary and reflected in many of the Tuhoe members’ involvement in the building of the eco-friendly community centre. The building itself was a clever construction which took an abstract approach to modern building discourse. The architects and suppliers had to look outside of the box to ensure they kept within the guidelines of the ‘Living Building Challenge’ requirements. This not only addressed the sustainable conditions of the project, but it also sat well with Tuhoe ideals surrounding the land as a taonga (treasure). As a bit of a history buff I personally enjoyed the coverage of past injustices being addressed and how settlements and agreements have been made to right these wrongs. As New Zealanders we should be aware of our history and this documentary gave a good steer into that. ______________________ This film screening was hosted by Wellington TimeBank as a fundraiser. For more information on the Living Building Challenge visit living-future.org –]]>

Photo Picks Of The Week

By Selwyn Manning -

November 10, 2015

NewsroomPlus.com – Photos of the Week is a visual diary of images sent to newsroom.co.nz Stunning Sunset! Scientists at Antarctica have witnessed the last sunset of the year as the continent moves into 24-hour daylight. Mudship Down! The Navy recruits of Basic Common Training (BCT) course 15/02 compete for the Efficiency Cup at the Tamaki Leadership Centre in Whangaparaoa. Christchurch beckons! SCIRT Buskers Comedy Club English Gents show what people can expect at the next World Buskers Festival, for which promotion has started. A gruesome connection! A new campaign makes a dramatic link between fish and chips and the extinction of Māui and Hector’s dolphins. Yipes! Prince Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall react as the Prince handles a tuatara during a visit to the Orokonui Ecosanctuary on November 5, 2015 in Dunedin, New Zealand. (A wayward bee was the cause of the distraction). Boom! A 10-year-old Ruatoria boy Kuratiwaka Ngarimu, whose video message to All Black star winger Nehe Milner-Skudder had gone viral before the Rugby World Cup final. Kuratiwaka and his mother surprised Nehe at a Rugby World Cup welcome home event with a home-made cake Kuratiwaka promised Nehe, and he was able to present it on stage in front of his heroes. Mesmerising Mermaids! Paul Hartigan Mermaid Cup 2: Looming bigger and brighter for its second year, the Auckland Festival of Ceramics celebrates all things clay with exhibitions, talks, demonstrations and tours throughout November and December. Rats, you’re dead! WWF (World Wildlife Fund) chose to award a $25,000 grant to this Iwi-led community project from the East Cape is based on the principle that a healthy environment means healthy people. With a long-term commitment to ensuring conservation becomes part of everyday life, the project seeks to integrate environmental efforts with economic, social and cultural development and education in the Uawa Tolaga Bay area. –]]>

Animator Rob Hoegee: “I love Brains”

By Selwyn Manning -

November 10, 2015

NewsroomPlus.com – At the recent AnimfxNZ conference in Wellington, Newsroom_Plus had the opportunity to sit down with Rob Hoegee, head writer and executive producer of animation series Thunderbirds are Go. Newsroom_Plus: Hi Rob, really great to meet you, and thanks for taking the time to speak with us. So, first up, how has animation changed over the time that you’ve been involved? Rob Hoegee: When I started in animation – which really wasn’t that long ago – using CG for a half-hour, Saturday morning kids show was almost unheard of. And technology has changed so fast, to the level now that we’re able to get feature quality animation, for budgets that normally would be a reasonable budget for a typically 2D, hand-drawn cell animated show. So that’s one thing, but I think there has also been trade-offs because in – with sort of the prevalence of the digital transition from animation – it also gives you the ability to change things up until the very last minute. I mean, some shows that I do that are CG shows, we’re making changes until the day we deliver the programme. I mean, it used to not be that way. You would write your script, you would record it, you’d draw storyboards, you’d put together your design pack, it would go off to Korea, they would animate it, you’d get back your footage, you’d make a few edits – sometimes call retakes – mix it, put in music – there’s your show. And so, it’s sort of ‘what you see is what you get’, and that just kind of doesn’t exist anymore, because the ability to sort of, you know – kinda tinker around until the very last minute is one of the biggest changes. And I think that’s… great because that striving for perfection is always going to be there as creative people, that’s sort of what we always want, but on the other hand, you know, things are never finished. That reminds of what Picasso said about his paintings. When a dealer would come to his house to buy his paintings, they’d point to a painting and ask ‘is that one finished?’ and Picasso would say ‘No.’ So he’d point to another and ask ‘is that one finished?’ and Picasso would say ‘No. None of them are finished – I’ve just stopped painting them.’ Ha ha, yeah it’s kind of true, you sort of need to know when to say when and ah, that’s sort of a big challenge. So for animation from this point on – there have been some questions to the speakers so far (in this event) and it’s an impossible question to answer fully – but where would you like to see animation go in the future? What do you find exciting about what could happen? We’ve sort of reached a point where, you know, (sound of ‘Thunderbirds Are Go’ in the background) Oh yeah, there’s our presentation! I think the most interesting, the most exciting new frontier is going to be finding new and innovative ways to tell stories. From a technical perspective we’ve gotten pretty good about getting things looking nice on screen but there are so many different – so many new platforms now that, you know, the age of sitting down in front of your television on a Saturday morning to watch the two hour block of cartoons that’s on the one network – those days are long gone, and so you really stuck with – so you’re really faced with lots of new challenges because there’s, you know, most kids are watching cartoons now on their parents i-phones, and that’s a completely different way to experience storytelling. And so, a 30 minute Scoopy Do just doesn’t play the same way, so I think the next step is finding ways to embrace new formats and create engaging content that suits those (formats). What’s been the best bit for you about creating ‘Thunderbirds are Go’? I’ve been absolutely astounded by the level of quality that we’ve been able to put into a half hour kids show. It is… superlative in every single way. I mean, every little aspect is crewed by individuals who love what they do, and they love Thunderbirds, and we all from the very beginning knew that this was something special. And you can really see the extra work. From the very first animation test I saw, my comment was ‘This is a show that you can play with’. It had this super, kind of – hyper-real feel to it and I think that comes across. I mean, it is absolutely mesmerising to look at, I think. It’s so cool for me – as a fan of the original – I grew up with the Thunderbirds. It’s great to see the translation of it into this format. It’s amazing. We really did try to honour the spirit of the original show, I mean, there was never any willingness to try to remake it in the same image. We weren’t trying redo Thunderbirds. We were making our Thunderbirds – and it should stand alone. It’s got a good flow to it – it’s easy to get submerged in. There was a sense – most of our backgrounds are live action miniatures – there’s sort of two ways to go. Do you make your animation, that goes on top, look real or do you make your miniatures look fake. You know, it had to be real so even the techniques that we were using in the CG animation… we’re painting surfaces that they then scan in. So even when you’re looking at the CG you’re looking at real painted objects. So it does really have this – it really does grab you, visually speaking. And from a storytelling perspective too, it’s been a lot of fun exploring that world and finding ways that we can tell this story in our own way. Do you have a favourite character? Gosh, I love Brains, and amazingly I love Grandma Tracy. There are a lot of characters in our series that were very much underserved in the original series. Two of the main ones being Kayo (formally Tin-Tin) and Grandma Tracy. You know, Grandma in the original was more of an afterthought and Tin-Tin I thought was just sort of, you know, served a purpose for that series but we had a really great opportunity with this of making her into a fantastic character so I really enjoy writing for her a lot. And like I said, I think Grandma’s a lot of fun. It really feels like now that animation has taken such a huge step from the weekend cartoons – for one the storytelling is amazing. It’s a bit like – I know these are very different but – for me there’s a parallel with how graphic novels reinvented the comic strip and brought deep storytelling to a medium that was perhaps, previously less explored – from a storytelling point of view. I love that transition. I feel that way about animation and your project as well, it’s a huge step forward. It’s interesting too – that’s a good analogy – those sorts of transition happen in animation too. You have these sort of Hanna-Barbera, churn them out types of shows, you know, Dynomutt… Scooby Do is a good version of that. But then you start getting into shows like Batman: The Animated Series where, you know, storytelling has taken a turn, and these types of shows now… it’s no longer a cartoon. Animation is simply the medium through which the programme is produced. What I love about it is that this kind of animation is a virtual world – it has its own universe. The effort you guys have put into it really shows in the quality of the story. Thanks! Rob, thank you so much for your time, and I’ll look forward to hearing your presentation. It’s a pleasure – anytime. You can see our in-depth article on the conference here. –]]>

Digital Culture Alive & Well at AnimfxNZ

By MIL_Syndication -

November 10, 2015

NewsroomPlus.com Contributed by Adam James Ring. The AnimfxNZ conference was held in Wellington’s Embassy Theatre over the weekend, bringing together a wide variety of animation, VFX and game industry specialists. The event, organised by Grow Wellington (with the support of the GAV Trust, Weta Digital and PikPok games), incorporated talks and panel discussions from some of the best and brightest in their respective fields, as well as providing some valuable industry networking, in between the showcase presentations and behind-the-scenes reveal all’s. Among the guest speakers was futurist and science fiction writer Neal Stephenson (USA), who discussed the future of technology and its possible effects on society at large. When asked to reflect on our current relationship with technology, he predicted that our overuse of social media would be seen as ‘the signature of this decade’. He went on to suggest that in the near future, the use of virtual and artificial reality could signal a new frontier of connectedness and sense of shared community. When asked from the floor to describe his creative process and how he decides what to write about next – and which new technologies to include in the storytelling – he played down any suggestion of gifted foresight, saying that he just ‘sits alone in a little room making stuff up’, to which the moderator added, sparking a round of laughter, ‘like everyone else in this room’.

A shot of one of the computer-generated World Trade buildings from feature film ‘The Walk’.

Founder of Atomic Fiction, Kevin Baillie (USA), spoke of how his company is making use of cloud technology for video rendering, greatly reducing costs and operating at a profit – ‘a difficult task for digital effects companies these days’ he added. He showed scenes from the upcoming Robert Zemeckis film, The Walk (which depicts the true story of Philippe Petit’s high-wire walk between the tops of the two World Trade buildings in New York, as covered earlier by the documentary Man on Wire), and discussed the difficulties of computer generating the now non-existent buildings as well as the whole of downtown Manhattan on a relatively small budget.

Kevin Baillie’s life-changing meeting with George Lucas while still a teenager.

Rob Cavaleri (USA), who has led the animation on films such as Ice Age and Horton Hears a Who, spoke in depth about the making of the new Peanuts movie, and the challenges they faced matching the animation perfectly to the original Charles M. Schulz comic strip. He discussed the use of a comprehensive training programme, developed for the almost 100 animators, to ensure uniform animation across the board.

John Sanders gives tips for game developers.

John Sanders (USA) from Sony spoke on game development, highlighting some tips for indie developers, and Rob Hoegee (USA) joined David Scott (NZ) to discuss the making of Thunderbirds Are Go, a kids animation show based on the original 1960’s British sci-fi series. (Newsroom_Plus had an opportunity to sit down wth head writer and executive producer Rob Hoegee. Read that interview here) Adding some European flavour to the event, Michel Nicolas (France) discussed the bustling animation scene in France and provided some insights into the activities of his animation company Folimage. The opening night had featured an exclusive premiere of their recent feature film production Phantom Boy, directed by Academy Award-nominated filmmakers Jean-Loup Felicioli and Alain Gagnol The day also included animation, story and gaming panels, with a collection of guests including New Zealanders Martin Baynton (Pukeko Pictures), Andrew Lamb (Camshaft) and Brent Chambers (Flux) and Lisa Shulz (TellTale), Grant Moran and Rob Hoegee from the US. Earlier that morning, The Minister for Economic Development, Steven Joyce, opened the event, joined by Chris Whelan (CEO of Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency) and Jos Ruffel (Co-founder of Garage Project). #AnimfxNZ15 generated a fair amount of twitter traffic throughout the conference, with observers posting updates in real-time, highlighting some of the speaker and panel highlights. The day was rounded off with networking drinks, hosted by Mechanic Animation, and an afterparty at Red Square, hosted by PikPok games. Saturday’s programme was centered around Weta Digital and their recent achievements with The Hobbit trilogy and Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, as well as some exploration of their latest developments in video FX. For more information see the AnimfxNZ website. See also: Understanding Cloud Terminology – Cloudwards –]]>

Policing At A Glance

By Selwyn Manning -

November 10, 2015

NewsroomPlus.com – The New Zealand Police released its annual report this week. NewsRoom Plus takes a look at the report and highlights some interesting finds and how the Police dealt with protecting our communities, keeping our roads safe and minimising crime. Protecting our communities In 2014/15 for every 10,000 population there were:

301.4 repeat victimisations
12 offenses against children
14.3 offences against vulnerable children
-0.29 cyclists killed or seriously injured
0.72 pedestrians killed or seriously injured

In the 2013/14 period there were 2,668 prosecutions relating to offences involving firearm, this increased to 2,922 for 2014/15 Breaches of Police Safety Orders remained at 8% from the previous year. 71% of missing people reported to Police are current mental health patients (including dementia, which due to the aging population suggests this demand for Police services is only going to increase). Road Safety

8,851 repeat calls for service, traffic emergency
3% of vehicles stopped were in breach of Road User Charges
93% rate of child restraint wearing
146 million kilometers travelled (level of road use)
0.9 road deaths per 10,000 vehicles
63 young drivers aged 15-24 involved in fatal road crashes
52% of vehicles travelling over urban speed limit
22% of vehicles travelling over open road speed limit

Crime In 2014/15 for every 10,000 population there were:

98 violent crimes
198 youth crimes
818 total crimes
22.2 serious assaults resulting in injuries

There were 25,822 bail breaches detected and increase of 11,072 from the previous year 7% of court hearing delayed because of summonsed parties did not appear 17,322 offenders who received a non-prosecutorial resolution Targets set from 2013/2014

13% reduction in recorded crime (20.1% achieved) –
19% reduction in Police (nontraffic) apprehensions resolved by prosecution (41.3% achieved)
4 percentage point increase in expenditure on preventative activities (5.8% achieved)
increased public trust and confidence (now at 78%)
increased satisfaction with Police services (now at 84%) – an increase in feelings of

The Commissioner of Police has set a target of achieving 80% trust and confidence by 30 June 2017. –]]>

Taking down the gender agenda

By Selwyn Manning -

November 10, 2015

NewsroomPlus.com Contributed by the F Word We are told gender no longer matters, so why are girls drenched in pink and boys still look forward to earning more? Whose surname do our kids get? And most importantly, who should pay for dinner on the first date? These are some of the questions tackled in the sell-out comedy The F Word – returning to Wellington after a nationwide tour. The F Word – sex without the ism is a comedy about what FEMINISM means in modern day New Zealand. After their sell-out debut season in BATS last year, this group of Wellington actors and improvisers took their comedy about feminism on the road around the country – even to a tin shed full of farmers in Methven. “I thought we might get lynched at the end” says improviser and economist Geoff Simmons. “One farmer came up to me after and said ‘that was very funny. Complete load of sh*t, but very funny’. This reaction – along with the Tony Veitch saga – shows we still have a lot of work to do, and we hope this show helps in its own way.” The play was born over some heated discussions between members of the troupe, which provided plenty of fodder for the play. “We got to share perspectives and explore issues to a level you don’t normally get to do with friends. We all learned a lot about each others point of view.” says actor and Director of the Voice Arts Trust Nicola Pauling. Did they find any answers? “Sometimes, but mostly we just found more questions,” says musician, improvisor and computer programmer Matt Hutton. “We’re seeing more legal equality between the sexes, so now we need to change our culture, which is hard. We don’t want to preach, just ask the hard questions – if this sort of behaviour isn’t acceptable any more, what do we do instead?” In the process of writing the play the group found out a lot about themselves. “I’m a feminist now, whereas before I thought ‘what’s all the fuss about?’” says improviser and drama teacher Katie Wilson. “I particularly enjoyed watching Geoff alter his dating habits, but I’ve made some changes too. I now make an effort to ask guys out and ensure we split the bill.” –]]>

NewsRoom Digest: Top NZ News Items for November 10, 2015

By Selwyn Manning -

November 10, 2015

This edition of NewsRoom_Digest features 8 resourceful links of the day and the politics pulse from Monday 9th November.

NEWSROOM_MONITOR

Top stories in the current news cycle includes a Ministry of Education survey showing the costs of Early Childhood services have been rising faster than their income, the Corrections Department saying the main reason it is cutting the hours of staff supervising those doing Community Work is that fewer people are being sentenced to do the work and Australian officials are trying to resolve a tense standoff at the Christmas Island detention centre.

POLITICS PULSE

Media releases issued from Parliament by political parties today included:

Government: Groser welcomes formal intention of US to sign TPP; Warawara Forest Pest Control Good Sign For Northland; NZISM has appointed a new Chair, Samantha Sharif, to lead its Advisory Board;Deed of Settlement signed with Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki; Fur seals protected in Abel Tasman National Park; NZ welcomes Cook Islands measures to tackle tax avoidance; Meth users stopping vulnerable from getting state homes; New panel to advise on palliative care services; $1.2m for the Ultimate Waterman; Significant changes made to draft Te Ture Whenua Māori Bill; PM to visit Viet Nam, Philippines and Malaysia

Greens: TPPA fails to acknowledge climate change; Minister must instruct SIS to reassess denied security clearances; NZ Govt cannot support Australia on UN Human Rights Council

Labour: Māori ready to play part in the new economy; Grant Robertson – Speech to 2015 NZLP Conference; Annette King – Speech to 2015 NZLP Conference; Ground-breaking new policy to make homes cheaper; Millions of hours owed in annual leave compromising patient care; Labour Will Use Buying Power To Create Jobs;Public health about people not headlines

New Zealand First: GCSB & SIS must help verify airport security cardholders

NZ National Party: Foss welcomes MP’s support for Ruataniwha Dam; MP Craig Foss encourages applications for the 2016 PM’s Education Excellence Awards

LINKS OF THE DAY

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

CANTERBURY EARTHQUAKE CLAIMS: The Insurance Council of New Zealand announced today that private insurers have settled $15.9 billion in Canterbury earthquake claims in its latest release of quarterly progress data. Read more: http://www.icnz.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/Canterbury-Earthquake-Progress-Stats-Q3-2015.pdf

COST OF EARLY CHILDHOOD: The Education Ministry’s income and expenditure survey found average costs at education and care centres rose 11 percent between 2011 and 2013, while their income increased only six percent. The survey is available at: https://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/data-services/collecting-information/collection-forms/survey-of-income-expenditure-and-fees-at-ece-services

DAIRY MANAGER COMPETITION: The new entry criteria in the 2016 New Zealand Dairy Manager of the Year competition means dairy farm workers with a variety of backgrounds, experience and skills are able to enter. Read more: http://www.dairyindustryawards.co.nz

EMISSIONS GAP REPORT: A new climate agreement can encourage further action to limit global temperature rise to 2°C by 2100, according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Emissions Gap Report. The Executive Summary of the Emissions Gap Report can be downloaded from UNEP Live:http://uneplive.unep.org/theme/index/13#indcs

ENERGY USE: According to Statistics New Zealand, the manufacturing industry used around 157,000 terajoules of energy in 2014, down 8 percent from 2012. Read more:http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/industry_sectors/Energy/EnergyUseSurvey_HOTP14.aspx

NGĀI TAI KI TĀMAKI SETTLEMENT: The Crown has signed a deed of settlement with Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki at Umupuia Marae, Maraetai in Auckland over the weekend. A copy of the deed of settlement is available at http:www.govt.nz/treaty-settlement-documents/ngai-tai-ki-tamaki/

PwC’s REGIONS OF OPPORTUNITY: While New Zealand cities and towns are not global mega cities, there’s opportunity for regional New Zealand to become ‘regions of opportunity’, according to PwC’s New Zealand’s Regions Of Opportunity publication.Read more: http://www.pwc.co.nz/publications/local-government/new-zealands-regions-of-opportunity/

RETIREMENT GUIDE: The Westpac Massey Fin-Ed Centre has released updated Retirement Expenditure Guidelines to help New Zealanders plan for their retirement. Read more:http://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/fms/Colleges/College%20of%20Business/School%20of%20Economics%20&%20Finance/FinEd/Research/177653%20Report%20Final%202015.pdf?DA42402CD4AA728716CC580B3BFCA3F4

And that’s our sampling of “news you can use” for Monday 9th November.

Brought to EveningReport by Newsroom Digest. –]]>

Refugee conditions in Manus and Nauru camps ‘suitable for families’, says Gillard

By Selwyn Manning -

November 9, 2015

Pacific Media Centre

This is the Julia Gillard interview on Al Jazeera theat defends how asylum seekers have been detained in “toxic and inhumane conditions” on Manus Island and Nauru. Chris Graham of New Matilda reports.

ANALYSIS: Watching the former Australian Prime Minister try to explain away her “toxic and inhumane” policies towards refugees is something to behold.

Tony Abbott’s first appearance on the world speaker’s circuit – when he tried to explain why Europe should ‘turn back the boats’ – rightly drew howls of derision from Australia, and most corners of the world.

But his predecessor, Julia Gillard appears to be having a much easier run of things, despite the fact her policies targeting asylum seekers were almost identical.

On Saturday morning, Gillard appeared on Al Jazeera’s Up Front programme to promote her role as the new chair of the Global Partnership for Education, an NGO which promotes the importance of education to children.

But award-winning journalist Mehdi Hasan was more interested in Gillard’s record as Prime Minister, and specifically what she did to some of the world’s most vulnerable children while she ruled a wealthy nation.

In particular, Hasan pushed Gillard to respond to claims from Amnesty International and the UN Committee for Human Rights that Australia, under Gillard’s watch, detained asylum seekers in “toxic and inhumane conditions” on Manus Island and Nauru.

The interview began with a classic Gillard motherhood statement: “Well frankly, I think the world and the wealthiest parts of the world have got a great responsibility here.”

‘Non-answer”
That was in reply to a question about whether or not Australia should do more to help the global refugee crisis. Which is as “non-answer” as an answer gets. So Hasan had another crack, asking Gillard what percentage of the world’s refugee population Australia takes. She didn’t know, but knew it was “very generous.”

“I don’t know what proportion, but I do know by the standards of the United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees we’ve been a very generous re-settler of refugees. We’ve always operated a very sizeable program.”

Hasan replied: “Your country in 2014 received just 0.43 per cent of the world’s asylum claims.”

Gillard later asserted that Hasan was unfairly “taking a snapshot of history.”

Indeed he was taking a snapshot of history… a snapshot of Gillard’s history as Prime Minister, when the numbers of children held in “toxic and inhuman conditions” on Manus Island and Nauru peaked under her government at almost 2,000.

The fiddle, as with all things Gillard is in the language. Australia does take a proportionally ‘generous’ number of refugees from the UN re-settling program, which only managed to resettle around 73,000 refugees in 2014.

At the same time, more than 13 million refugees sought asylum via the UN in mid-2014, many of them from conflicts Australia sponsored.

“Queue-jumper”
That’s the so-called “queue” made famous by John Howard’s queue-jumper rhetoric. A “queue” that will take, on average, 178 years to reach the front of.

Gillard studiously avoided commenting on the actual facilities on Manus and Nauru. Save for this: “We had a variety of models of what detention was. Many of the facilities were quite different… suitable for families, and kids were in school, kids were in school. And in terms of what I do now, my prime mission is to make sure kids are in school.”

“Suitable for families”, presumably, who are okay with rape, sexual assault, indefinite detention and living in tents behind wire.

Gillard also played the ‘woe is me’ card.

“You don’t know what it’s like as Prime Minister to get the telephone from your defence forces to tell you that they suspect that an asylum seeker boat has gone down, and they’re engaging in desperate measures to try and rescue people from the water, but whatever they do people die. So that is the underpinning of the policy,” she said.

I imagine the men, women and children still locked up on Manus and Nauru three years later can feel Gillard’s pain

Chris Graham is the publisher and editor of New Matilda. He is the former founding managing editor of the National Indigenous Times and Tracker magazine. Chris has won a Walkley Award, a Walkley High Commendation and two Human Rights Awards for his reporting.

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Pacific Report: Suicide in Fiji – are we taking note?

By Selwyn Manning -

November 7, 2015

Pacific Media Centre

Behind the scenes how much of a struggle is it in Fiji for the organisations and government ministries in charge of depression issues to push for a reduction in the suicide statistics? Rupeni Vatubuli reports from Suva.

COMMENTARY: Suicide is increasing at a rate that most Pacific Islanders can no longer chose to ignore.

Atypically the act of intentionally taking one’s own life is brought about as a result of depression usually accompanied with mental disorders, alcohol, financial and interrelationship problems.

Although an alarm will surface in news headlines – an alarm that is only raised at the expense of someone’s life – this is just like all the other news – there one day, gone the next .

Without being melodramatic, it leaves me frustrated when issues like suicide aren’t follow up on beyond occasional headlines. I mean, what’s happening between times, or more specifically “what has been done since the last incident?”

Behind the scenes how much of a struggle is it for the organisations and government ministries in charge of this issue to push for a reduction in the suicide statistics?

As a person who has lost both a friend and relative to suicide, I would say my own labelling of suicide victims was naive and ignorant. Seldom would I have ever thought of suicide as the only way to end a victim’s suffering.

WHO estimated that over 800,000 people die due to suicide every year.

Fiji suicides
Fiji recorded 89 suicides from January to September this year, with 10 involving children under the age of 16 and a total of 30 people below the age of 25 taking their lives during the past eight months.

On Friday, September 18, classes for secondary, primary and pre-schools in Fiji were put on hold for a day as it was declared “Suicide Prevention Day” soon after the death of three primary school students who were said to have taken their lives due to academic reasons by drinking a formula used for killing weeds.

For that week, the spotlight was on the:

Any likelihood that such an incident might be repeated made every parent, school and government ministry worry. Everyone was talking about “suicide” whether to a relative or friend; or even posting on social media sites. No matter what medium was being used, “Suicide Awareness” (a topic usually considered as taboo) was finally out there in the open.

Right up until the Rugby World Cup 2015 hit… and just like that… suicide was a topic tucked away only to be brought up as statistics for the next kava session.

Who is at risk?
While the link between suicide and mental disorders – in particular, depression and alcohol use disorders – is well established in high-income countries, many suicides happen impulsively in moments of crisis with a breakdown in the ability to deal with life stresses, such as financial problems, relationship break-up or chronic pain and illness.

In addition, experiencing conflict, disaster, violence, abuse, or loss and a sense of isolation are strongly associated with suicidal behaviour. Suicide rates are also high amongst vulnerable groups who experience discrimination, such as refugees and migrants; indigenous peoples; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex (LGBTI) persons; and prisoners. By far the strongest risk factor for suicide is a previous suicide attempt.

Methods of suicide
It is estimated that around 30 percent of global suicides are due to pesticide self-poisoning, most of which occur in rural agricultural areas in low and middle-income countries. Other common methods of suicide are hanging and firearms.

Knowledge of the most commonly used suicide methods is important to devise prevention strategies which have shown to be effective, such as restriction of access to means of suicide.

Prevention and control
Suicides are preventable. There are a number of measures that can be taken at population, sub-population and individual levels to prevent suicide and suicide attempts. These include:

reducing access to the means of suicide (e.g. pesticides, firearms, certain medications);
reporting by media in a responsible way;
introducing alcohol policies to reduce the harmful use of alcohol;
early identification, treatment and care of people with mental and substance use disorders, chronic pain and acute emotional distress;
training of non-specialised health workers in the assessment and management of suicidal behaviour;
follow-up care for people who attempted suicide and provision of community support.

Suicide is a complex issue and therefore suicide prevention efforts require coordination and collaboration among multiple sectors of society, including the health sector and other sectors such as education, labour, agriculture, business, justice, law, defense, politics, and the media.

These efforts must be comprehensive and integrated as no single approach alone can make an impact on an issue as complex as suicide.

Rupeni Vatubuli of Newsroom filed this commentary for Pacific Report. It was first published by EveningReport.nz and is republished by PMC Online with permission.

Links:

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Keith Rankin: Crash Investigation

By Keith Rankin -

November 7, 2015

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

[caption id="attachment_8019" align="alignleft" width="300"]

An Airbus A320 airliner from Air New Zealand.[/caption]

One television programme I find quite compelling is National Geographic’s Air Crash Investigation, or ‘Mayday’ when it’s screened on Prime. Indeed the crash of the Air New Zealand test flight near Perpignan in France on 29 November 2008 has featured on this programme, though I recall no major news reportage at the time the case was finally resolved. (See Final moments of Air NZ test flight, Stuff 3 March 2014.)

There’s the painstaking use of the scientific method that accompanies a truly professional inquiry. Different hypothetical causes of a crash are systematically tested and then ruled out (disproved). Then there’s the fact that catastrophic outcomes generally have multiple causes, including human error arising usually from confusion or deference. If something – even something major – goes wrong in the mechanics of a modern airliner, that aircraft can usually still be guided towards a non‑catastrophic outcome, if the people concerned make the optimal decisions.

New Zealand is not covered in glory when it comes to major crash investigations. The 29 November 1978 crash on My Erebus was subject to two major investigations which yielded two apparently conflicting culprits. The reality of course is that both findings were correct, but that neither told the whole story. The airline did mis‑programme the DC10 aircraft, and tried to cover up their mistake. Yet the pilots should never have been flying at low altitude anywhere vaguely near a mountain that they couldn’t see.

The recent investigation into the 4 September 2010 Fox Glacier crash was a fiasco. Destroying evidence at any time, let alone so soon after the event, was at very least highly unprofessional and it suggests that someone with something to hide was aided if not abetted by the authorities. (See ‘Arrogant’ crash agency criticised for Fox Glacier investigation handling, Stuff, 29 October 2015; Craig Foss should demonstrate accountability, Labour Party Press Release, Scoop, 2 November 2015.)

The worst crash investigation debacle in New Zealand that I recall was the appalling investigation to the Mikhail Lermontov sinking in 1986. The New Zealand pilot crashed the passenger liner in Marlborough Sounds and could have caused the loss of over 700 lives. The Russian senior crew who trusted him faced substantial consequences when tried back home in the Soviet Union. The person who admitted crashing the ship (but not why) escaped with a barely wet bus ticket. (25 years on, ship pilot still silent, Marlborough Express, 16 February 2011; Lermontov sinking still lures conspiracy buffs, NZ Herald, 16 February 2006.) He had been investigated by one of his best mates.

We now have a new mystery on our hands. The truth of Kogalymavia (Metrojet) Flight 9268 (of Russia), lost last weekend over Sinai (Egypt), may remain opaque for a long time, possibly forever. (Refer Bomb Is ‘Possibility’ in Loss of Russian Jet Over Egypt, Obama Says, New York Times, 5 November.) Initial media coverage in New Zealand was minimal, thanks to the saturation coverage of the Rugby World Cup final. However, once I got the general picture, and then heard the ISIL claim that they (or affiliates) brought it down, my thoughts turned to the Al Jazeera documentary that I watched last year about the bombing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988. (See Lockerbie Bombing: New Investigation Points To Iran, Business Insider, 11 March 2014.)

The conclusion of the Al Jazeera programme was compelling. Lockerbie was utu for the confused shooting down of Iran Air 655 over the Persian Gulf by the United States warship USS Vincennes. Yet the ‘official’ verdict is that Pan Am 103 was downed by Libyan agents. (This case is the Teina Pora of global politics; essentially an egregious cover-up.)

So my mind wandered to Ukraine, and MH17. (See this Harvard Review story Sorry, but Iran Air 655 is Not Equivalent to Malaysia Flight 17, 7 August 2014.) Could Flight 9268 have been utu for MH17? And could ISIL be being set-up in the same way that Libya was after Pan Am 103? Or could ISIL have been infiltrated? In fact, one could argue that the CIA and MI6 would be quite deficient organisations if they do not have people acting under cover within ISIL. Presumably such agents could be nudging ISIL towards Russian rather than western targets. (Indeed, my favourite Sam Neill character is Sidney Reilly in Ace of Spies.)

Wearing my suspicious hat on Sunday evening, I watched a recording of Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 911. Moore depicts the GW Bush administration as being economically bound to Saudi Arabia, indeed to (among others) the Bin Laden construction conglomerate. Moore described various cover-ups, including a rapid evacuation from the US of members of the Bin Laden clan immediately after the 11 September 2001 (‘911’) attacks on New York and Washington. Moore intimated that the subsequent invasion of Iraq (18 months later) was in part cover for the more embarrassing story that 911 was really an attack emanating from within one of America’s staunchest allies.

During the week I decided to watch Al Jazeera’s very recent two-part documentary Enemy of Enemies: The Rise of ISIL, 26 October 2015. It was a very interesting reveal of the Byzantine relationships and alliances this century in those former Assyrian and Ottoman lands we now call Iraq and Syria. The title ‘Enemy of Enemies’ initially related to an alliance formed between Sunni Jihadists and the post-Saddam Hussein remnants of the Iraqi Ba’ath Party. But, as the story developed that title gained multiple meanings. One relates to the sheer convenience to Bashar Assad’s brutal Alawite regime (Shia aligned) in Syria, in his ‘civil’ war, of the emergence of ISIL.

My sense is that a new geopolitical “axis” (the term used in ‘Enemy of Enemies’) is forming, with the nearly 1400 year sectarian conflict between Sunni and Shia Muslims defining that axis, and the strong economic and geopolitical links between Russia and Shia regimes in the ‘Middle East’ (Iran being the biggest of these) giving it global reach.

If this is the emerging axis – and one that may one day include China (given its interests and Security Council vetoes of western action against Assad) – then (to persevere with World War 2 vocabulary) who are the allies? Maybe we can think of an extension of the US-Saudi alliance. And we can think back to the 1980s and the Iran-Iraq War. That was when Saddam committed his atrocities; and he was then the west’s man.

So, I’m kind of imagining a Sunni-NATO alliance, and a Shia-Russia axis. Whose side does that place ISIL on? What’s the betting that soon we may see ISIL’s wickedness being downplayed a tad? (And indeed, I gather from another Al Jazeera doco this week that ISIL is having far more effect on weakening the Taliban than the USA ever did.)

Of course it’s all speculation. But speculation is a synonym for imagination. It helps us to join the dots, to create some structure to events that are clearly important but otherwise senseless.

I would like to see a world where the speculations that are central to the technique of competent air crash investigators are combined with their scientific ‘ruling out’ processes. If it’s not ruled out it’s still in. And once we’ve applied this method to geopolitics, we can start using it to assess other sacred cows, such as monetary policy and the other arcane conundra of finance and macroeconomics. Our understandings of the global ‘Great Crash’ of 1929 and the associated ‘Great Depression’ of the 1930s remain as blurred as our understanding of who brought down Pan Am 103, and why it happened.

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Jane Kelsey: Obama’s 90-day countdown to signing just the start of US politicking to rewrite TPPA

By Selwyn Manning -

November 7, 2015

US president, Barack Obama. Image: White House.[/caption]

Following release of the text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) on Thursday night, President Obama has given the 90-day notice to Congress that is required before he can sign the agreement.

Under Article 30.5 the agreement would come into force 60 days after all original participants notified completion of their domestic processes. If that did not occur within 2 years, but 6 parties that make up 85% of the GDP of the 12 countries had given that notification, the TPPA would come into force after another 60 days.

Either way, this must include two big players, the US and Japan. And notification by the US cannot occur until the Congress has passed the implementing laws, and the President has certified that other countries have complied with the US understanding of the other country’s obligations.

‘The US political process is pivotal to the outcome’, says Auckland University law professor Jane Kelsey. ‘With 5 February 2016 the earliest date Obama can sign, the TPPA is fodder for the US election cycle. That starts with the Iowa caucus, set for 1 February 2016, with eleven primaries set for “super Tuesday” in early March.’

‘Access to the text has heightened the intensely polarised debate within the US. The TPPA is toxic among Democrat voters with any candidate, include Presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton, facing a potential boycott from progressive supporters and a drought of campaign funds if they endorse the deal.’

Professor Kelsey recalls that President Obama had to rely on predominantly on Republicans to get the Fast Track legislation through Congress. ‘Republicans, especially the Tea Party faction, are hardly going to rally to Obama’s side in the midst of a presidential election campaign, and will bargain hard in return for any support they do give him.’

Already there are demands from both sides of Congress for changes, such as withdrawing the potential exclusion of tobacco policies from the investor-state dispute process, stronger disciplines on so-called currency manipulation, and revisiting the deal on pharmaceuticals.

Professor Kelsey reports that informed US commentators predict the implementing legislation will not appear until a ‘lame duck’ session of Congress, during the interregnum between the outgoing and incoming Congress when the former have nothing electorally to lose. That is more than a year from now.

While the debate across both houses of Congress is capped at 90 days, she notes there is no guarantee it would pass. ‘A new President could well seek to reopen the text, as the Obama administration did with the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement when he forced Korea to accept a supplementary deal four years after it was first signed.’

‘The TPPA is infinitely more complex and controversial. The certification process would come on top of that – reinforcing the point that the “final” deal released yesterday is anything but final’.

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Bryce Edwards’ Political Roundup: The left’s problem with rugby

By Bryce Edwards -

November 6, 2015

Political Roundup by Dr Bryce Edwards.

[caption id="attachment_4808" align="alignleft" width="150"]

Dr Bryce Edwards.[/caption]

While a euphoric mood has swept large parts of the country since the RWC final win, not everyone has been celebrating – especially parts of the political left. Was the World Cup, as some on the left claim, a “bread and circuses” distraction for the masses or could it be a lost opportunity for progressives?

Conservative political columnist Liam Hehir has written an interesting account of the capacity for rugby to unite New Zealanders, transcending the usual dividing lines and offering a social cohesion that is not readily found in our society – see: New Zealand united by our national religion. Hehir believes that with South Africa’s apartheid days behind us, we may now enjoy rugby “free of political baggage”.

He argues we can celebrate and enjoy sporting prowess, putting aside worries about problems in New Zealand: “These days All Blacks tests can – and should be – something to be enjoyed in blissful ignorance of outside contentions. And so those who find themselves disappointed with the social, political and economic state of the nation can take heart. We are rugby world champions once more.”

Joe Bennett vividly expresses a similar sentiment about the religious nature of rugby in New Zealand: “Like most of the country I set the alarm for five in the morning. I wanted to attend the quadrennial service of national coming together. The congregation might be scattered, but it would worship at a million conjoined electronic altars” – see: Victory elevates All Blacks to national aristocracy.

Leftwing opposition to rugby

In contrast to the political right’s easy embrace of rugby, the left has long had a problem with the national sport – mostly as a reaction against the dominance of sport over more urgent political issues. This is expressed best in Donna Miles-Mojab’s Suffocating dominance of sports in NZ is serious threat to Kiwi culture. She says that the obsession with the All Blacks “is distracting us from paying enough attention to the important social, economic and environmental threats that face New Zealand.”

Similarly, Martyn Bradbury’s complaint is perfectly captured in the title of his blog post – see: Great – the All Blacks win RWC – can we get back to far more important issues now. He writes: “Yay! We’re best at a game barely anyone else plays! If only we could put in the effort for 305 000 kids in poverty that we do for rugby. We can ‘feed the backs’ but we can’t ‘feed the kids’.”

For a veritable roll call of all that the left finds difficult about rugby culture, see Steven Cowan’s blogpost, One nation under Richie, and that other guy. He cites the All Blacks intensely corporate front, “media generated Rugby World Cup hysteria”, increased threat of domestic violence following a major loss, and the co-opting of All Black achievements by politicians.

Unlike Hehir, Cowan believes we are being sold a myth about national unity and, instead, a “fake and fundamentally reactionary nationalism (is there any other kind?) has been foisted on us by the corporates and its media allies” intent on papering over important social divisions in pursuit of the dollar.

A “wet blanket” approach from the left?

Gordon Campbell argues that the RWC victory shouldn’t be taken so seriously when few other countries take an interest in the sport – see On Rugby mania. He says “While New Zealand treat rugby as a national religion no one else – apart from (maybe) South Africa, Wales and a few small Pacific nations – have ever taken to the game with anything like the same enthusiasm. In sum, we excel at something no other country cares as much about. While we may be the world champions, we’re shouting down an empty well.”

In fact, according to one academic study, a ‘Silent majority’ of Kiwis are not into rugby. Rodney Hide responded to this with Silent majority? Yeah right. He suggests that the academic survey research was based on less than robust methodology – ie what appears to be the opinions of the researcher’s friends and contacts.

Others thought that the academic concerned – and, perhaps, the wider anti-rugby milieu – was being a “wet blanket” – see Steve Braunias’ parody, Secret Diary of The Rugby World Cup final.

The biggest parliamentary challenge over the RWC was over pub opening hours, with many on the left opposing the liberalisation of drinking regulations. In the end the worries and predictions of bad behaviour turned out to be largely misplaced – see the TV3 report, Seymour: Kiwis responsible, not infantile and David Farrar’s NZers were responsible.

Public relations consultant Mark Blackham argues that the controversy over pub opening hours revealed a disturbing picture of how some in politics view the public: “In the world of our misanthropic elite, ordinary people are automatons, nudged like a Savea shoulder charge into open bars to get drunk and beat each other up” – see: RWC doom merchants are misanthropes.

Rethinking the left’s orientation to rugby

The left’s relationship with rugby in recent decades has been immensely fraught and conflicted. Much of this stems from the way rugby was used in the past to drive a wedge and divide society for political gain – most notably in 1981.

The Springbok tour was an enormously hard time for people on the left to support rugby and it has cast an extraordinarily long shadow over rugby in this country. To this day it is hard for many on the left to countenance any love of the sport.

Must this always be the case? A must-read post on the leftwing blog The Standard begins with the observation “1981 marks the point where – for good reason at the time – the left ceded the idea of sport to National”. The post goes on to question the left’s attitude and asks: Is it time for progressives to love rugby?

The post does an excellent job of expressing the antipathy much of the left has for the sport: “We hate it because it’s full of mean-old competition, winning and losing, and injuries. We hate it for its pervy sexism, male media dominance, and macho muscle over mind. We hate it for its self-glorification, commercialisation, and wealth focus. We hate it for its patriotism, corruption, and taxpayer and ratepayer subsidies. We hate its regulated violence, alcohol dominance, and sheer meaninglessness.”

Yet the writer suggests that a “glass half-full” approach might be better for the left: “We could love it for the proud communities that sustain the clubs…We could find who among the athletic elite are also Progressively inclined… Recognize that actually sport is as good as education for class mobility… Actually, sport can be a unifying community force for good.”

The post concludes with the reminder that “Sport is where the common people are, as well as the elite. Until the left learn how to love sport as well as the right, we will continue to cede massive territorial ground before the game has started.”

In addition, see my blog post, Some thoughts on the politics of rugby in 2015. I argue many of the reasons given for taking an oppositional stance to rugby are either no longer relevant or rapidly being eliminated from the game, and against the implication that being a rugby fan renders you unable to critically evaluate the world around you in a way that other hobbies – eg attending jazz and film festivals, renovating an old villa or walking the Heaphy track – do not.

Similarly, writing in the Herald today,Paul Thomas argues, “Those who continue to portray rugby as the arrowhead of a thuggish, misogynistic, pakeha culture are oblivious to the game’s thriving multiculturalism and willingness to engage with all sectors of society” – see: Stand up and be proud NZ – we’re doing great.

For a very thoughtful take on the evolving (positive) character of the All Blacks, see Russell Brown’s The good guys.

Someone else with a view on the All Blacks who is always worth a listen is John Campbell. He appeared this week on the BBC’s Today Programme – listen to his interview from the 1h:44 mark, in which he declares if he was prime minister of New Zealand he would ban football and make rugby compulsory for boys and girls. See also, Campbell’s column, Richie has already rewritten the history books.

On the The Crowd Goes Wild last week, Hayley Holt surveyed Jacinda Ardern, Laila Harre, Carmel Sepuloni, James Shaw, Phil Twyford, Kris Faafoi and Grant Robertson in an endeavour to prove to Mark Richardson that “the centre left love rugby more than anyone” – see: The Politics Crowd Goes Wild (for rugby). Co-host Mark Richardson remained unconvinced, but did express a sudden desire to vote for Jacinda Ardern, in a nod to another sport-meets-politics controversy.

Loving the All Blacks too much

Of course, admiration for the All Blacks can be taken too far. Matthew Hooton pleaded recently for the PM to Leave Richie McCaw alone (paywalled): “No doubt the captain understands that test-match dressing room visits from Helen Clark and now Mr Key are inevitable and is suitably detached from the fawning of politicians not to be embarrassed about it. But the politicians should be. Don’t they see how cringe-inducing their behaviour is? How ridiculous it makes them look? How potentially damaging it is to the All Blacks as a unifying symbol? And how demeaning it is to the status of the important political roles they hold?”

Naturally Key did no such thing. In Rugby mania, Gordon Campbell says it was like watching the PM become a real life “Tim the superfan” from the Mastercard TV commercials, but more disturbing.

The PM’s omnipresence, particularly in the dressing room, has raised more than a few eyebrows, and led Danyl Mclauchlan to wonder “if any other ‘iconic’ New Zealanders have ever been co-opted for a political party’s propaganda to the degree that Richie McCaw has?” – see: Adventures in political iconography.

Depending on your perspective, the PM’s devotion to McCaw is “really quite sweet” (Judith Collins) or completely over the top. Collins said to Paul Henry: “having had the odd selfie with Richie McCaw, and a bit of a cuddle, you can never get too much of that, frankly” – See: Prime Minister John Key ‘adores’ All Blacks captain Richie McCaw. Henry replied: “Yes, but yours are odd selfies, whereas it appears John Key is living with Richie McCaw” – see the original video: Judith Collins, Annette King politics wrap.

The PM’s “bromance” with McCaw is satire gold. Scott Yorke features a guest post from Richie McCaw on A special relationship. McCaw writes: “He also loves to text, and when I wake up in the morning I will usually find about twenty or thirty of his messages on my phone. Reading all those texts over a plate of weetbix is a great way to start the day.”

Arise Sir Richard

A New Zealand Herald editorial claims that, in contrast to Australians, “New Zealanders can hardly wait to see titles bestowed on their homecoming All Black captain and coach” and that “the country missed the titles during the nine years after Helen Clark’s government abolished them in 2000” – see: Kiwis OK with knighthoods.

But Herald columnist Brian Rudman couldn’t agree less, believing we are Trapped in a time warp with Queen’s honours. He writes: “With British royals about to process around the country, Labour and Green party leaders rallying behind Prime Minister John Key’s plan to award All Black skipper Richie McCaw a knighthood, and the referendum over a national flag pending, it’s like I’ve woken up in colonial New Zealand circa 1915.”

Rudman says on becoming PM Key offered royal titles like “confetti to all those who’d missed out on the top title during the Clark years. It was like a Moonie mass wedding, with more than 70 knights and dames created overnight.” He hopes McCaw’s previous rejection of a knighthood is also a rejection of an antiquated honours system, but isn’t counting on it.

Just as well, it would seem, as Key is confident that McCaw is not philosophically opposed to the honour but simply waiting for retirement before accepting – see: Richie McCaw may accept knighthood when he retires says John Key

The same report indicates the offer may not be extended to McCaw’s team mates: “When asked if Dan Carter would be offered an honour, Mr Key said he was a great first-five and it was a shame he was leaving the country.”

Key will also be flattered to see himself compared to McCaw in Audrey Young’s naming of the All Black equivalents amongst our politicians – see: Here they are – All Blacks of NZ Parliament. She names Key at open-side flanker – “Not as popular as Richie McCaw but has the same level of commitment and competitiveness to the game, leading by example with no let-up from start to finish. High level of intelligence not always apparent behind common demeanour. Like McCaw, has the ability to engage in dirty play but clever enough not to get caught.”

Not to be outdone, Labour was quick to honour the team, with Audrey Young reporting Trevor Mallard asks Steve Hansen to consider another Rugby World Cup run. Young reports “Mallard also said New Zealand was finding Hansen’s humour “very, very special.”

The Labour Party and the Greens have also been forced to defend their backing of a knighthood for McCaw, with both parties arguing that they are simply supporting an appropriate honour under the existing system. Labour says “its support for knighting All Blacks skipper Richie McCaw does not equate to a vote of support for the honours system” – see Isaac Davison’s Support of McCaw knighthood ‘not vote for honours’.

That said, Labour clearly does not intend doing anything about the system. As Tracy Watkins points out “Labour deputy Annette King’s cool reception on Tuesday to suggestions Labour might revive that policy is all we need to know. Just like the flag, there doesn’t seem to be much of a groundswell of public support for scrapping them. Labour has sniffed the wind and knows this is one fight not worth buying. And certainly not if it means raining on Richie McCaw’s parade” – see: Scrap Knighthoods? Not while Richie’s around.

Finally, it’s worth reading some of the wonderful satire about the RWC, all of which has political angles – see David Slack’s Obituary of John Key, died April 1, 2016, Scott Yorke’s Right thinking: All Black’s gesture a terror ploy and, best of all, The Civilian’s Nation starting to realise that nothing happens after winning World Cup. And for visual satire, see my blog post, Cartoons and images of the Politics of the Rugby World Cup.

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NewsRoom Digest: Top NZ News Items for November 06, 2015

By Selwyn Manning -

November 6, 2015

This edition of NewsRoom_Digest features 9 resourceful links of the day and the politics pulse from Friday 6th November.

NEWSROOM_MONITOR

Top stories in the current news cycle include the Treasury publishing the financial statements of government for first first three months of this financial year, the Government releasing the legal text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership on behalf of the deal’s 12 member countries and Māori and Pasifika groups dominating the applications in the latest round for new charter schools.

POLITICS PULSE

Media releases issued from Parliament by political parties today included:

Government: New Zealand releases TPP text; Another step forward for Child Hardship Bill; Draft report on dairy competition released; Speech to the Opening Ceremony of ASEM Foreign Ministers Meeting, Luxembourg; Minister leads whakatō mauri ceremony in Shanghai; 2016 PM’s Education Excellence Awards open;Good to Grow Partnership announced; Auckland home construction at 10-year high

Labour: Govt refuses to even try to fix its Korea land sales mistake;Make the right call, mate!; Screws put on health as budgets blow out

NZ National Party: Schools encouraged to enter PM’s Education Excellence Awards

LINKS OF THE DAY

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

AMNESTY REPORT ON SYRIA: Amnesty International’s 70-page report – Between prison and the grave: Enforced disappearances in Syria – reveals that the Syrian authorities are profiting from widespread and systematic enforced disappearances. Go here for the report: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde24/2579/2015/en/

CLIMATE CHANGE LINK: Citizen scientists have helped NIWA determine that climate change has likely increased the chances of extreme rainfall that deluged Northland last year.For the full report see:https://www2.ametsoc.org/ams/index.cfm/publications/bulletin-of-the-american-meteorological-society-bams/explaining-extreme-events-from-a-climate-perspective/

DAIRY SECTOR COMPETITION: The Commerce Commission has today released its draft report for consultation on the state of competition in New Zealand’s dairy industry.A copy of the draft report can be found here:http://www.comcom.govt.nz/regulated-industries/dairy-industry/report-on-the-state-of-competition-in-the-new-zealand-dairy-industry/

DAIRY STORY: DairyNZ has launched a new online tool which visualises data about dairying in New Zealand in a three dimensional model using gaming technology . Go to http://www.3ddairy.co.nz

GOVERNMENT FINANCIALS: Financial Statements of the Government of New Zealand for the Three Months Ended 30 September 2015 was released today. Read more:http://www.treasury.govt.nz/government/financialstatements/monthend

PM’S EDUCATION AWARDS: The 2016 Prime Minister’s Education Excellence Awards opened today. Entries close on 18 March 2016. Entry forms and information are available here:https://www.pmawards.education.govt.nz/enter/

PwC DIGITAL IQ: The key behaviours that correlate strong digital investment to profitability for New Zealand businesses have been highlighted by PwC New Zealand’s 2015 Global Digital IQ Survey.Click here for the report:http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/services/advisory/2015-global-digital-iq-survey.html

TPP TEXT: On behalf of the twelve members of the TPP and in its capacity as Depositary of the Agreement, New Zealand released the text of TPP.These documents, together with the full text, will be available atwww.tpp.mfat.govt.nz/text The joint statement can be found at: http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/tpp-members-release-text-agreement

VALUE OF SKILLED MIGRANTS: New research by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment shows that skilled migrants are generally settling well into the New Zealand labour market. The Labour Market Integration and Retention of Skilled Migrants in New Zealand report is available here:http://www.mbie.govt.nz/publications-research/research/research-index?topic=Migrants+-+settlement&type=All and the Migration Trends and Outlook 2014/15 report is available here: http://www.mbie.govt.nz/info-services/immigration/migration-trends/trends-and-outlook/2014-15

And that’s our sampling of “news you can use” for Friday 6th November.

Brought to EveningReport by Newsroom Digest. –]]>

Endearing and Enduring Traits

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Memorial Forest

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