David Fisher at HoS reports:

Leaked documents written by a political strategist who has trained National MPs set out a vision for taking the party to the right of the political spectrum, tripling donations to $6 million a year and using donations and government jobs as inducements to control MPs.

Written by political strategist Simon Lusk, the papers were leaked by a “senior National Party source” to theWeekend Herald, TV3’s The Nation and Fairfax.

I’d never seen the papers before this week.

The message was also important – “dominate the media by controlling the message through credible right wing blogs”. Mr Lusk also said there needed to be a focus on “taking over the public sector” to create a pool of fiscal conservatives who would work with politicians.

I’d  rather shrink the public sector than take it over 🙂

He urged those reading it to “stop donating to the current government”. “They have not listened and will not listen.”

Not surprisingly, a strategy of urging people not to donate to the party doesn’t meet universal popularity.

Incidentally National disclosed donations of $773,000 last year. That doesn’t include donations of under $1,500 which can also account for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Mr Lusk’s briefing came at a time when he was organising training sessions for potential National Party candidates. Disgraced MP Aaron Gilmore was among those keen to attend but was rejected after he failed to meet the fees charged.

As far as I know, the training sessions were free to attend, but invite only.

Longtime National Party member David Farrar, who runs Kiwiblog, was listed as a speaker at a February 2012 session at the Kauri Glen Lodge in Puhoi, north of Auckland, where the session was held. He pulled out.

“I was asked not to,” he said, saying “party hierarchy” made the request. “It would look as if it were officially sanctioned,” he said. He stayed for the social aspect – Mr Slater posted on his Whaleoil blog a photograph of Mr Farrar’s rental car reversed over a wall – before leaving.

Whale loves posting that photo.

The National Party is a broad church, with many factions. They include:

Blue Greens

They’re National but they’re conservationists. Nick Smith is the greenest blue in the party.

Blue Liberals

National with a heart – Katherine Rich showed her liberal streak when she rejected Don Brash’s social welfare plans.

Fiscal Conservatives

Small government, big business. Former party leader Don Brash later ran Act.

Internats

The overseas wing of the party. Prime Minister John Key is the ultimate homecoming story.

Young Nats

The path to the party from an early age. Nikki Kaye is currently the youngest minister in the House.

SuperBlues

The superannuitant wing. Dr Paul Hutchison has just picked up his Gold Card.

I wouldn’t really call them factions. Most “factions” in National are personality based rather than policy based.

Also the Blue Liberals are not wets, they are classical liberals who tend to be “fiscal conservatives” and social liberals – ie people who think the Government should but out of both business and our private lives.

In a related story, David Fisher writes:

A political strategist who has trained National Party MPs says the Ports of Auckland colluded with right wing bloggers to undermine industrial action against the Ports of Auckland.

The claim is in a leaked document written by controversial strategist Simon Lusk – and hotly denied by the publicly-owned port company. …

“The case in point is the way the Maritime Union have received huge negative publicity about their salaries, based on POAL (Ports of Auckland Limited) working with certain bloggers to control the story. Financial support for these bloggers will enable them to build their credibility and readership.”

I was asked about this. I have never had any communication or contact with Ports of Auckland, or anyone acting on their behalf, with regards to this issue. Off memory the only time I’ve had contact with them if when I blogged they should be shifted to Manukau Harbour! They are not keen on my proposal!

Mr Slater said he covered the strike as other media outlets did. He said there was no arrangement with the port to do so and he had not discussed it with Mr Lusk.

He said yesterday he had never actually been paid although believed he should be. On the port, he said: “I hate unions pathologically. I’ve hated them since I was 15 years old and I would do it for free.

“I have never been paid for any posts about unions, ever.”

Some things are just a pleasure!

The Electoral Commission has announced:

On 31 May 2013 the Electoral Commission board cancelled the registration of the United Future New Zealand (United Future) party at the party’s request in accordance with section 70 of the Electoral Act 1993.

Section 70 says:

The Electoral Commission shall cancel the registration of a political party at the request of one of the persons specified in section 63(1) if satisfied that the request for cancellation is made by the applicant on behalf of the party.

I presume they asked to be deregistered as they no longer had 500 financial members.

I don’t think this affects Peter Dunne’s status in Parliament, or as a party leader, as they were a registered party when elected. It does mean that if he stands again, it will be as an Independent or for an unregistered party.

United Future have said:

UnitedFuture Party President Robin Gunston today announced that the party has asked the Electoral Commission to cancel its registration as a political party while it clears up inconsistencies in its confirmed membership numbers.

“While we have well over the 500 members required under Section 71 A of the Electoral Act for a political party to be registered, there are inconsistencies in the party’s records around current addresses and the financial status of some of those members,” Mr Gunston said.

“Quite simply, this meant that we could not, hand-on-heart, sign the required statutory declaration to swear to our membership.

“For that reason, we have asked the Electoral Commission to cancel the party’s registration while we confirm the numbers.

Personally I think the threshold should be at least 1,000 members.

Critic reports:

The Captain Cook Tavern’s long history looks set to come to a close, with the pub’s lease expiring un-renewed on 29 June. James Arnott is one of the owners of Cook Brothers Bars, which has operated the pub for nine years, along with other establishments in the Octagon, Queenstown, Christchurch and Auckland. He told Critic that neither his company nor Dominion Breweries, which holds the main lease on the property, were interested in continuing the lease. 

Arnott said that revenue at the Cook had fallen 40 per cent in the last five years, which he attributed to a “massive change in student culture.” Students drank less frequently, and were more likely to drink at home when they did. Meanwhile, the high rent on the large property had not reduced, and “major renovations” were required to keep the ageing building up to standard. General Manager Matt Barakauskas said that the pub’s staff faced unemployment due to the closure, but that efforts were being made to secure them employment elsewhere. …

If the Cook closes, it will bring to an end 153 years of operation. The establishment began in 1860, although the present building was constructed in 1874 after the original “aged wooden structure” was demolished. According to an article published in the Otago Daily Times on 8 June 1909, the pub “had always one or two permanent boarders” well into the twentieth century, and at least two people died while living in the then-named “Captain Cook Hotel.”

The Cook has had a long reputation of brushing the edge of liquor licensing laws. Around the turn of the twentieth century, The Cook’s publicans were fined on multiple occasions for secretly selling bottled beer on days when the pub was supposed to be shut, and patrons who had been forbidden to buy alcohol were often hauled before the courts for having sly pints at the Hotel. In more recent years, the wildly popular “Cook-a-thon” party held at the end of lectures earned the owners a warning from the Liquor Licensing Authority for encouraging excessive drinking.

As the University expanded in the 1970s, students formed an increasing percentage of the patrons. However, licensing laws that allowed the sale of liquor in supermarkets led canny students to pre-load as a “more cost effective option,” according to Arnott. He also believed, “with a small bit of confidence,” that the increasing use of other recreational drugs among students meant that patrons came to the club tripping, and interested only in drinking water. Whatever the reasons for its demise, the Captain Cook’s taps look set to run dry before next semester.

How very sad. I spent four years at Otago University and had many great nights at the Cook. It was also the venue for my 21st. With both the Cook and Gardies gone, it just won’t be the same there.

News.com.au reports:

In what is believed to be a national first, Mr Abbott and Lindsay candidate Fiona Scott sat in Liberal Party headquarters in Canberra and held an hour-long forum run by the party for the crucial electorate, held by Labor Minister David Bradbury, some 300 kilometres away.

The move allows Mr Abbott to further sidestep curlier questions by the mainstream media and Canberra press gallery and talk directly to voters in an extension of the talkback radio format favoured by former prime minister John Howard.

The Liberal Party robo-called listed phone numbers for homes in Lindsay on Wednesday night , attracting 20,000 registrations to be automatically called back for the event, according to Mr Abbott’s office.

Mid-way through the discussion, moderator and former television journalist John Gatfield said there were 8000 people on the line listening to questions from callers, who pushed a number if they wanted to ask a question.

8,000 homes participating from just the one electorate. That is a huge success.  And the idea of being able to just ask a question direct from your living room, by pushing a number is enticing.

While the process was run by the Liberals and some of the questions were simply asking Mr Abbott’s basic positions on issues such as disability care, some voters did press Mr Abbott on his claims, including how he could repeal the carbon tax if he did not have control of the senate.

Another caller asked why he didn’t talk about the effect of the war in Afghanistan in battling asylum seekers.

Issues discussed included everything from potholes in roads and transport to local asbestos problems with the National Broadband Network.

It will only work if you have a politician that can think on their feet.

Things were looking up for atheists, reports the National Post:

The Holy Father is full of surprises, born of true and faithful humility. On Wednesday he declared that all people, not just Catholics, are redeemed through Jesus, even atheists.

 

However, he did emphasize there was a catch. Those people must still do good. In fact, it is in doing good that they are led to the One who is the Source of all that is good.

Seemed sensible to me. One would hope God would judge you off your deeds, not off your beliefs.

The Vatican retracted Pope Francis’ statement that everyone, “even the atheists,” were saved from sin and redeemed by God and therefore welcome in heaven.

People who know about the Catholic Church “cannot be saved” if they “refuse to enter her or remain in her,” Vatican spokesman the Rev. Thomas Rosica said in an “explanatory note.”

Naughty Pope.

The Herald reports:

The increase in tobacco tax in January may have pushed the smoking rate below 16 per cent, a survey suggests.

Released today to coincide with World Smokefree Day, the survey of more than 200 smokers found a 4.5 per cent reduction in smoking prevalence following the 11 per cent tax increase, said Dr Murray Laugesen.

“That equates to a 0.75 percentage point reduction in the [national adult] smoking prevalence which is currently 16.5 per cent. The tax rise could have brought it below 16 per cent.”

This doesn’t surprise me. Price will of course affect demand.

But a sample of 200 is very small. The margin of error is around 7%, so a 4.5% reduction is not statistically significant.

The Dom Post reports:

Changes to the direction of Wellington City Council’s infrastructure unit CitiOperations were never formally conveyed to councillors, an interim report has found.

The report has been described by one councillor as evidence of more than 10 years work to dismantle the unit, while keeping elected officials in the dark.

“Instead of building it up they have worked to get rid of it,” Cr Paul Eagle said yesterday.

At a special city council meeting on April 4, it was revealed staff numbers at CitiOperations had been cut from about 200 to fewer than 40.

“How did that happen? Why were our hands not on the steering wheel?” asked Mayor Celia Wade-Brown at the time.

A quote that will haunt.

In February 2001, the council passed a minute that “CitiOperations not be sold and all actions related to the process of divestment cease”.

Mr Lavery identified 15 occasions between 2001 and 2012 when briefings and workshops on CitiOperations changes were communicated to councillors.

“Briefings are not a formal record of advice or decisions, but the range of these communications clarify that any changes to the role of Citioperations were undertaken properly, and within delegations,” Ms Wade-Brown said.

“However, it is also evident that there was no time where council was formally advised that the resolutions of 2001 were no longer feasible, and to seek elected member endorsement of a new direction for service delivery.”

The report signalled a “more active role” for councillors in decision-making about the way in which council services were delivered, Ms Wade-Brown said.

Mr Lavery’s findings will be presented at a council workshop next month, with a report out later.

Mr Eagle said it was clear the 2001 edict was ignored by council officers.

“Those [councillors] who were supportive of outsourcing were kept informed, and those who were not were the ones surprised,” he said.

However, he welcomed the interim report as a move towards greater transparency under Mr Lavery.

” … at least in-house delivery options are being considered.”

A focus on how many staff work at CitiOps is the wrong focus. It may make Councillors feel good to have more staff working for the Council, but as I said yesterday the left too often focus on numbers, not outcomes.

The questions that Councillors should be asking is whether the current model is providing excellent operations at a good cost for ratepayers, and whether that model can be improved.

The Press has two nifty features on this story.

At the top of the page they have  a recovery meter showing the percentage completed for various recovery tasks such as home reparis, EQC claims and payouts, infrastructure rebuilds, demolitions and opening of the red zone.

Down the bottom they have a calendar of likely future events.

Stuff reports:

Prime Minister John Key has urged critics of cartoons about the the Government’s breakfast in schools programme to accept cartoonists can blow things out of proportion.

While he had not seen the cartoons, Key said he had heard second hand reports about them and understood they may not be to everyone’s taste.

“By the description I was given it certainly could be offensive to people.”

As a general rule, however, he tried not to comment too much on cartoons.

“I’m often the source of the humour in them, if you like, and I try and take it all with a grain of salt because cartoonists are notorious for taking a mile out of an inch.”

Wise advice. I suspect what many hate about it, isn’t the skin colour of two of those featured, but the political message the cartoon sends.

I wonder how many of them complained when a cartoonist compared Paula Bennett to Josef Mengele, because she (shock horror) supported free contraception for beneficiaries?

His comments came after Race Relations Commissioner Susan Devoy said the cartoons were offensive and appalling.

Her distaste for them has spurred her to question the high threshold required for a finding of racism within the commission’s inquiries and complaints process. The threshold under the law was “very high” and was about inciting racial disharmony.

“Perhaps it is not right that the threshold is that high,” but that was a matter for the Government she said.

Asked why anyone should make a complaint about the cartoons when the threshold for what was considered racism was so high, she replied: “I ask myself that all the time”.

I’m against any change to the threshold. The threshold for the state to actually prosecute people for what they say should be incredibly high.

If people don’t like the cartoon, then they should express that to the newspaper. They can choose to boycott it. They can set up criticism sites. The best antidote to speech you don’t like is more speech, not less speech.

I don’t actually like the cartoon myself.  I wouldn’t publish it on Kiwiblog* if a cartoonist submitted it to me, but that is my decision to make.

* Yes, it has of course now been published here, but that is in the context of reporting on the controversy about it.

Feeding Time

Click for larger, higher res image

Local visitors to the garden appreciate a bit of supplementary feeding 🙂

Tracy Watkins reports:

NZ First leader Winston Peters is demanding the release of phone records to pinpoint the source of the leak in the Government Communications Security Bureau inquiry.

Mr Peters has used parliamentary privilege to accuse UnitedFuture leader Peter Dunne of leaking a report by Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Kitteridge into potentially illegal spying by the GCSB.

Mr Dunne has categorically denied the allegation but has confirmed he has been spoken to more than once by inquiry head David Henry.

Other ministers who received the report have said they were not interviewed by Mr Henry.

In Parliament yesterday, Mr Peters questioned Mr Henry’s failure to take evidence under oath, or keep an electronic record of witnesses’ answers to questions.

He also questioned the failure to examine phone records of “particular ministers”.

“All the evidence is in those phone records, and your minister is gone,” Mr Peters told Deputy Prime Minister Bill English.

Mr English said later it was entirely up to Mr Henry whether to seek phone records.

I should make it clear that I would be absolutely amazed if Peter Dunne leaked the GCSB report. It would be remarkably out of character.

But it would be good to find out who did leak it. And I would expect an inquiry to look at phone records. They won’t prove or disprove anything, but they could help with the inquiry.

Tony Alexander at BNZ writes:

For your guide, now that debate about migration soaring and the insular side of Kiwis is starting to be revealed again, here are the numbers showing who the migrants are. 

Winston and others would have you believe they are mainly Chinese. The actual figures for the last year:

• Kiwis returning 28%
• UK 10.1%
• China 8.9%
• India 7.0%
• Australia 6.4%
• US 2.9%

So only 1 in 11 people migrating to NZ are Chinese.

Also of interest is the change, from the previous year. Here’s the change:

• France +16.4%
• Australia +12.7%
• Kiwis +8.3%
• China +3.2%
• Germany +2.2%

Alexander notes:

What I want to highlight is this. The gross inflow of migrants to New Zealand has risen by 3,410 or 4.1% in the past year. Pure Kiwis account for 1,870 or 55% of that change, Chinese account for 7% of that change – hence the idea that there is a soaring Chinese inflow driving the Auckland housing market is not accurate. 

But they make a convenient scapegoat.

Some nice humour from Trans-Tasman on how party leaders would respond to the recent wintry blast:

John Key

Points out NZ experienced similar bouts of cold weather “pretty much every year, actually, under nine years of Labour. And they did NOTHING!” And then confuses winter with autumn.

David Shearer

“This hardworking bloke came up to me in a pub and told me he and his hard working family have done everything they can but they just can’t cope with these hard working winters any more hardworking.”

Russel Norman

Calls on the Reserve Bank to get one of those neat “smart, green” new 3-D printers so it can print out some more summer. 

Winston Peters

“Everyone knows where this weather came from, though few have the courage to say it. This weather comes from China.”

Peter Dunne

Issues discussion document on obscure tax rule which allows deductibility of small weather related expenses: says it is not actually Government policy yet because there might be some fishhooks IRD haven’t told him about.

John Banks

Can’t remember any weather, but says if there was any it was donated anonymously.

Tariana Turia

“Whanau Ora means we can draw on our histories as hunters, gatherers, growers to withstand the winter, and ….hmm. Can we put in a Waitangi claim for some decent thermals?”

Heh, not bad.

I’ve updated the average of the public polls to reflect the five polls released this month.

Stuff reports:

Who knew terrorists had to fill out expense reports?

According to a letter obtained by Associated Press, al Qaeda was beset by the kind of managerial problems that afflict companies around the world.

Al Qaeda chiefs required lower-level terrorists to attend meetings on time, return phone calls promptly, follow orders, fill out expense reports properly and not bitch about managers in public.

Who knew that even terrorist groups, had bureaucracies?

The 10-page letter lays out in embarrassing detail the problems al Qaeda chiefs were having managing a particularly difficult terrorist in the group’s North African division.

Moktar Belmoktar, an Algerian-born terrorist in his 40s, clashed with his superiors on numerous occasions, mostly over procedural matters.

I wonder if he obliged to file a strategic plan, listing the desired outcomes, his planned outputs and necessary inputs?

The letter criticises Belmoktar for accepting a less-than-impressive 700,000 euros in ransom for Canadian diplomat Robert Fowler in 2008, when the going rate was $US3 million.

He also broke union rules!

3 News reports:

The ACT Party is challenging a criminologist who says the three strikes sentencing law is unfair.

The law is an ACT initiative and means a violent criminal gets a maximum sentence on a third conviction with no parole – even if they plead guilty.

Victoria University criminologist John Pratt has raised the case of 21-year-old Hastings man Elijah Whaanga, who was handed his second strike last month for two street muggings and jailed for two-and-a-half years.

Mr Pratt told Radio New Zealand Whaanga is “nothing more than a schoolyard bully” and hitting him with three strikes would be unfair punishment.

A schoolyard bully?

This confirms my view of most criminologists, Greg Newbold excepted.

But ACT president John Boscawen, a former MP who took the three strikes law through Parliament, says that’s rubbish.

“The so-called schoolyard bully is in reality a violent young man with over 72 convictions,” he said.

“He is exactly the type of criminal three strikes was intended to target.”

Mr Boscawen says Whaanga’s first strike was for two aggravated robberies, and his second and final warning was for another two aggravated robberies.

72 convictions? Yeah, just a schoolyard bully.

Tomorrow is 1,000 days since the first Canterbury earthquake. Gerry Brownlee has produced an interesting list of 100 things the Government has done in that time. Some are significant, and some of course less so.

Since 4 September 2010 we have:

1.         Passed two pieces of special legislation allowing the Crown to respond appropriately to the Canterbury earthquakes

2.         Established a dedicated government department, the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority

3.         Passed 24 Orders in Council to amend or suspend laws to affect timely recovery

4.         Hosted 250 public community meetings, speaking to at least 30,000 people

5.         Had the Ministry of Social Development begin an outbound calling campaign to evaluate the immediate needs of older and vulnerable members of the community and get help to them.  Contact was made with over 20,000 people this way in the days after the February earthquake

6.         Zoned 181,000 residential properties in greater Christchurch according to degree of land damage

7.         Created a website identifying residents’ land zoning, landcheck.org.nz

8.         Received an incredible 5.11 million views over its first 24 hours of the landcheck.org.nz website operating

9.         Hosted two expos covering insurance advice, council information and a winter wellness programme

10.       Hosted a Rebuild and Recovery Expo attended by over 5000 people

11.       Held 43 residential red zone land decision meetings for thousands of residents

12.       Held 20 residential red zone offer workshops for hundreds of residents

13.       Held 10 other red zone-related meetings

14.       Held two orange zone meetings for people awaiting final zoning

15.       Held six residential green zone land decision meetings to inform residents what the zoning meant for them

16.       Held 43 residential green zone technical land category meetings

17.       Held 21 Port Hills white zone meetings explaining the basis for investigating final zoning

18.       Held 15 Accessible City Transport briefings for members of the public

19.       Held 15 special workshops with professional and technical experts on a range of issues related to geology, geotechnical investigations and information we believed the residents of greater Christchurch wanted to know

20.       Produced 320 different CERA publications

21.       Produced and distributed over 1 million CERA newsletters highlighting major recovery news and initiatives

22.       Produced and distributed 36,000 CERA information and assistance brochures to specifically inform residents of the Crown offers, Technical Category 3 information, earthquake support services and other information about recovery

23.       Translated our factsheets and brochures into seven different languages; Arabic, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Samoan, Simplified Chinese, Traditional  Chinese and Tongan

24.       Sent out 6160 CERA tweets

25.       Held two celebrity bike races to celebrate the re-opening of key city streets

26.       Zoned 7860 homes red, as being on land unsuitable for residential occupation, and to date have entered into sales and purchase agreements with 7082 property owners

27.       Carried out maintenance at 6021 residential red zone properties

28.       Overseen demolition or removal of 2153 houses in the residential red zone

29.       Completed vegetation scopes of 795 properties and identified 975 individual trees and plants that will stay in place

30.       Planted 12 tonnes of grass seed in the CBD and the residential red zone as part of our clearance and maintenance programme

31.       Removed and recycled 200,000 metres of fencing from red zone properties

32.       Spent $1.2 billion purchasing residential red zone properties and been so proud to see those people moving into warm homes on safer ground – most of them still in Christchurch.  That’s right, they didn’t leave!

33.       Completed 30 individual cordon reductions

34.       Reduced the CBD cordon by 352 hectares

35.       Demolished 1470 commercial buildings across the CBD and suburbs

36.       Assisted 196,000 public visitors into the Cathedral Square area via bus tours and walking tours

37.       Registered 7309 cases with Earthquake Support Co-ordinators

38.       Answered 13,000 calls to the 0800 Earthquake Support phone number

39.       Undertaken 15,188 appointments through the Avondale and Kaiapoi earthquake assistance hubs

40.       Built a temporary stadium in 100 days – a stadium which this weekend will receive its 300,000th paid customer

41.       Hosted 20,000 local kids and parents at a free stadium open day with a range of fun events and refreshments

42.       Ordered 301 emergency demolitions through Civil Defence

43.       Established the Canterbury Earthquake Temporary Accommodation Service (CETAS)

44.       Assisted with 3392 CETAS requests for accommodation

45.       Built three temporary accommodation villages with a fourth under construction, which will bring the number of dwellings available for temporary stays while houses are being repaired to 123

46.       Had over 350 households stay in our temporary villages

47.       Granted 2163 temporary accommodation allowances, equating to an average $333,614 being paid each week

48.       Issued 97 CERA press releases

49.       Issued 127 Ministerial press releases

50.       Live-streamed seven press conferences

51.       Responded to over 4500 individual media enquires

52.       Conducted a Wellbeing Survey in conjunction with local councils, the Canterbury District Health Board, and Ngai Tahu which 2381 residents completed

53.       Published the Wellbeing Survey’s results and put in place initiatives to address areas identified as needing greater effort

54.       Co-ordinated 70 ‘Summer of Fun’ events over summers of 2011 and 2012 for kids and families hit by the quakes, many of them in Christchurch’s eastern suburbs

55.       Received 682 Facebook likes for the ‘Summer of Fun’ events, and 2874 likes on the main CERA page

56.       Hosted over 30,000 local kids and parents at those ‘Summer of Fun’ events

57.       Hosted 200 emergency services personnel and their families at a Christmas lunch

58.       Posted 158 educational and informational videos on the CERA website, ranging from five minutes to two hours in duration, resulting in 230,237 individual viewings

59.       Had 521 of those videos shared by viewers through their own social media channels

60.       Got agreements in place to purchase $228 million worth of central city land so we can build the anchor projects identified in the Christchurch Central Recovery Plan

61.       Got contracts or agreements in principle now achieved for 43.4 per cent of the total land area required for the anchor projects

62.       Reached final settlement on 31 CBD properties required for the city’s rebuild

63.       Signed contracts for the purchase of a further 33 properties

64.       And reached agreement in principle with the owners of another 48 properties

65.       Spent $231.6 million on CBD land purchases required for rebuilding the city

66.       Begun construction on the first phase of the Avon River Precinct

67.       Got seven onsite Development Plans approved for the CBD’s Retail Precinct

68.       Completed a draft concept design of the East Frame – one of the priority anchor projects in the CBD

69.       Released an Expression of Interest document for potential tenants of the city’s Innovation Precinct

70.       Sent 1100 big yellow Amazing Place resource packs to Canterbury school children so they could compete in designing what we think will be the coolest kids’ playground anywhere in the world

71.       Had 6000 Canterbury children take part in the Amazing Place Playground Competition – and we thank every single one of them

72.       Announced that the playground will be named in honour of the amazing children’s author Margaret Mahy ONZ

73.       Completed over 96,000 EQC repairs in total, including emergency repairs

74.       Installed 18,740 heating systems

75.       Received a total of 467,135 EQC claims, 116,660 of which have been settled and closed

76.       Paid out $5.3 billion in EQC claims

77.       Established the Stronger Christchurch Infrastructure Rebuild Team (SCIRT), an alliance of CERA, Christchurch City Council, NZ Transport Agency, as well as City Care, Downer, Fletcher, Fulton Hogan and McConnell Dowell, to fix Christchurch’s destroyed underground water and wastewater infrastructure, and the battered roads

78.       Completed 257 SCIRT projects worth $122 million dollars

79.       Laid 23 km of fresh water pipe – that’s 33 per cent of the fresh water damage repaired

80.       Laid 161 km of wastewater pipe – 24 per cent of the damage

81.       Laid 10 km of storm water pipe – 40 per cent of required repairs

82.       Laid 211,083 square metres of road pavement – that’s only 16 per cent of the work to be done

83.       Had 8978 face-to-face interactions with locals about SCIRT work

84.       Distributed 1382 SCIRT work notices to 353,637 residents

85.       Got another 129 SCIRT projects worth $467 million dollars underway

86.       Issued 33,000 CERA passes to individuals

87.       Issued 1500 of those CERA passes for access to the residential red zone

88.       Issued over 200,000 renewals of CERA passes

89.       Held 18 elected members’ meetings for 120 councillors, community board members, CDHB members, Ngai Tahu representatives and Environment Canterbury commissioners

90.       Received 1958 letters to the Minister and 1377 letters to CERA’s chief executive

91.       Responded to 22 oral and 197 written Parliamentary questions about earthquake recovery

92.       Received 593 requests under the Official Information Act

93.       Funded dozens of key exporters to rapidly visit their key clients overseas so they knew their businesses were open, and how much their custom would help the recovery.  This resulted in a continued flow of business, and in some cases resulted in new business

94.       Directly supported 8000 businesses and 63,500 individuals (employees and sole traders)

95.       Paid $214 million in wage subsidies following the September 2010 and February 2011 earthquakes, which bought businesses time to adjust to the events and avoided massive redundancies which would have caused great harm to Christchurch’s economy

96.       Established the Christchurch Earthquake Appeal Trust, which has raised over $100 million in pledged and received funds and has funded more than 100 projects so far

97.       Helped bring business back to the CBD by launching the Re:START container mall project, with a $3.36 million interest-free loan from the Christchurch Earthquake Appeal Trust to help fund it

98.       Completed the Government share offer of Mighty River Power, which raised $1.7 billion for the Future Investment Fund, which will help fund important rebuild activities including more than $900 million in new capital funding for Christchurch including the Christchurch and Burwood hospitals redevelopment, funding for the justice and emergency services precinct, and tertiary education institutions

99.       Announced a $600 million plus redevelopment of the Christchurch and Burwood Hospitals, with the Government contributing $426 million towards it

100.    Announced the Government is investing $1 billion in restoring and renewing the education sector in greater Christchurch, including building or rebuilding 16 schools

Gerry also announced today that the Government has purchased almost two thirds of the land it needs for the CBD priority projects rebuild. The last two times I’ve been to Christchurch all the activity has been demolitions. Hopefully next time I’m down there, there will be some buildings going up!

Questions for Oral Answer 2pm – 3pm

Questions to Ministers:

1. MAGGIE BARRY (NAT) to the Minister of Finance: How did the Budget balance the Government’s programme of responsible fiscal management with extra support for vulnerable families?
2. JACINDA ARDERN (LAB) to the Minister for Social Development: Do the same needs in the community continue to exist now as they did in 2011 when she extended the life of the Community Response Fund stating “we listened to community organisations who were concerned the fund was ending while pressures remained, so we kept it going”; if not, why not?
3. Dr RUSSEL NORMAN (GRE) to the Minister of Finance: By how much, in dollar terms, is the Treasury forecasting New Zealand’s external debt to increase between 2012 and 2017 as measured by the net international investment position?
4. Dr CAM CALDER (NAT) to the Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment: How is the Government investing in New Zealand’s export education sector in Budget 2013?
5. CHRIS HIPKINS (LAB) to the Prime Minister: In the inquiry being conducted by David Henry into the leaking of the Kitteridge report on the GCSB, are Ministers being interviewed on oath; if not, why not?
6. Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS (NZF) to the Minister of Transport: Why does Civil Aviation Rule Part 67 require that the applicant for a commercial or airline transport pilot licence have no deficit of colour vision to an extent that is of “aeromedical significance”?
7. Peseta SAM LOTU-IIGA (NAT) to the Minister of Housing: How will Budget 2013 contribute to delivering more affordable housing and better social housing?
8. Hon ANNETTE KING (LAB) to the Minister of Health: Are all district health boards meeting his expectations of providing timely, quality health services; if not, which DHBs are failing to provide “Better, Sooner, More Convenient” health care?
9. COLIN KING (NAT) to the Associate Minister of Education: What recent announcements has the Government made regarding the School Network Upgrade Project?
10. GRANT ROBERTSON (LAB) to the Minister of Justice: How many expressions of interest or nominations for the position of Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner were received by the Ministry of Justice after the advertised deadline of 13 October 2012?
11. KEVIN HAGUE (GRE) to the Minister of Health: How many New Zealanders are expected to have diabetes in 2021, and what is the expected cost of providing health services for them?
12. Hon PHIL HEATLEY (NAT) to the Minister for the Environment: What recent announcements has the Government made to help businesses understand and manage the risks posed by hazardous substances?

 Questions to Members:

1. HOLLY WALKER to the Chairperson of the Social Services Committee: When do submissions to the Social Services Committee on the Housing Accords and Special Housing Areas Bill close?
2. HOLLY WALKER to the Chairperson of the Social Services Committee: What is the length of the period for submissions to the Social Services Committee for the Housing Accords and Special Housing Areas Bill?
3. HOLLY WALKER to the Chairperson of the Social Services Committee: Has he, as chairperson of the Social Services Committee, written to anyone soliciting submissions the Housing Accords and Special Housing Areas Bill; if so, who?
4. HOLLY WALKER to the Chairperson of the Social Services Committee: How many submissions have been received on the Housing Accords and Special Housing Areas Bill?
5. HOLLY WALKER to the Chairperson of the Social Services Committee: Did he decide that submissions to the Social Services Committee on the Housing Accords and Special Housing Areas Bill will close today; if so, why?

Today National is asking five questions, Labour four, the Greens two, and NZ First one. Labour is asking about the Community Response Fund, the inquiry into the Kitteridge report leak, DHBs, and the appointment of Jackie Blue as Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner. The Greens are asking about external debt and diabetes in NZ, while Winston Peters is asking about Civil Aviation Rules.

Nothing from David Shearer today, so patsy/pasty of the day goes to Phil Heatley for question 12: what recent announcements has the Government made to help businesses understand and manage the risks posed by hazardous substances?

Holly Walker is also asking Sam Lotu-liga a bunch of questions about submissions on the Housing Accords and Special Housing Areas Bill.

Budget Debate 3pm – 6pm

The Budget debate will continue, with just under 6 and a half hours remaining.

The NZ Herald editorial:

Air New Zealand has been widely criticised for turning away an aspiring stewardess with a moko in the skin of her forearm. In response the airline says it is reviewing its policy. It will be weighing up whether the woman’s complaint has done more harm to its public image than tattooed cabin attendants might do to its business. In other words, it must assess whether the tolerance people profess in public truly represents their feelings. …

Nobody outside Air New Zealand is in a position to question its commercial judgment. Critics do not depend for their salaries on the airline’s success in a competitive international market. Air New Zealand managers have the best incentive to assess the true reaction of most people to tattoos and the company’s decision on whether to maintain its ban on visible tattoos will be a reliable indicator of how society really regards this fashion among younger people today.

Many of their critics have accused the company of hypocrisy since the rejected tattoo was a Maori motif and Air New Zealand brands itself with a koru. They missed the point. The aversion of many people to tattoos goes deeper than the subject drawn, it is the act of deliberate and permanent disfigurement as they see it, that they find appalling.

I think this is the key issue. It is nothing to do with the design. People have every right to get a tattoo, but it may affect the sort of jobs you can get. It’s the same with hair styles. If you like to have a mohawk, don’t be too surprised if you don’t get employed as a receptionist or air hostess. Likewise, if you like facial piercings, then again don’t be surprised if some jobs do not come your way.

Now the difference is you can change your hair style, and remove piercings. But tattoos are not easily removable. True. But that is not the fault of the employer. That is a decision the person with the tattoo made.

Around 20 years ago I probably found tattoos off-putting, but now actually like really cool body art. One friend has probably quarter of her body covered with amazingly lovely art. Definitely not something I’d ever ever do though.

Maori and Pasifika patterns are more attractive than most of the insignia commonly carved into skin and Maori motifs are now often imitated in other parts of the world, not always to the pleasure of their cultural proprietors. It may be that faux ta moko already help promote New Zealand in other places. If so it could be greatly to the advantage of Air New Zealand to have genuine examples of the art on some of its front-line staff.

But the company has not seen it that way, or not until this week. Its reassessment, when it comes, ought to be doubly respected because Air New Zealand not only has the incentive to make the right decision, it is not a conservative company. It is more adventurous than most in its presentation of itself, notably with pre-flight safety films that are not afraid to challenge passengers’ expectations and sense of humour, not to mention their patience

It is an issue for them. I reject that it is a race issue. It is not about the design. As for Miss Nathan, I see Jetstar has offered her a job, so she can still fufill her dreams of being an air hostess.

Allanah Eriksen at NZ Herald reports:

Lenders are offering home-owners the lowest short-term bank mortgage rates in New Zealand history as they compete to lure customers before an expected rise next year.

Westpac, BNZ and ANZ have all dropped their one-year interest rates below 5 per cent in the past week and ASB is expected to follow suit before the Reserve Bank puts a cap on the skyrocketing housing market, economists say.

David Chaston, of financial news website interest.co.nz, which compares rates, said banks were “unbelievably competitive” at present.

“The banks themselves have special deals for special-interest groups.

“They sometimes end up with 25 basis points off the published rates. So the trick is to go in there and negotiate hard, and they are very receptive to it at the moment.”

Yesterday, Westpac became the market leader for fixed one-year home-loan rates when it launched its “special” 4.94 per cent deal, down from 5.19 per cent.

It is available to borrowers with at least 20 per cent equity in their property and a minimum loan of $100,000. For two weeks in February, it offered a rate of 4.89 per cent, which was the lowest in history.

ANZ launched a one-year 4.95 per cent offer on Monday, matching BNZ’s move on Friday.

The level of interest rates can make a massive difference to a family’s income, if they have a mortgage.

Say you have a $300,000 mortgage over a 15 year term. Here’s your weekly repayments at different interest rates:

• 7% – $621
• 6.5% – $602
• 6% – $583
• 5.5% – $565
• 5% – $546

So interest rates being 2% lower, can mean an extra $75 a week for a family with a $300,000 15 year mortgage.

Having a mortgage myself, I’m appreciating the lower interest rates, but am sadly not seeing an increase in disposable income. I’m being good, and using it to pay off the loan faster.

The WCC Watch website is regularly blogging again, and they look at John Morrison:

Timing is everything in politics and I can’t think of many better ways to kick off your campaign for mayor than to announce that you’ve brokered a deal to bring over 300 new jobs to your city.

This morning, John Morrison announced in the Dominion Post that he and his mate, John Dow, have secured a deal with Australian call centre outfit, CallActive, that will bring between 300 and 500 jobs to the City. …

The most interesting aspect of this deal is that it highlights the role of the Mayor and Council in facilitating business in the City. A fundamental role of the Council is to create an environment that encourages businesses to grow and flourish in the City. In many ways, outside of the Chambers, the Mayors main role is to be the Cheerleader-in-Chief for Wellington and you have to say that from his current role, John Morrison appears to have used his networks and nous to find this opportunity and act as the Cheerleader in Chief by getting the deal.

Now of course, he is operating within the current Council and he is just one councillor. But he owned the AFL game on ANZAC Day – he was the one on the field representing Wellington (apparently Celia Wade-Brown turned down going on the field). He brought the game here and by all accounts that was crucial to Wellington getting this deal ahead of Auckland as he was able to make a deeper connection with the Australians beyond the business table. At a time when so many corporate jobs are heading to Auckland (in the last few years ANZ, BNZ, Telecom and others have shifted their HQs and numerous jobs to Auckland from Wellington) this is a significant deal for the City. If I was Morrison I would be exploiting the hell out of it too!

While others have been off setting up committees to handwring en-masse and were no doubt drafting think-piece white papers on what Wellington needs to do, Morrison saw an opportunity and nailed it.

This sets up an interesting narrative. Morrison, despite just being a Councillor, has managed to both secure a major jobs boost for Wellington, but also a significant tourism success with the AFL game.

This contrasts to the overall performance of the Mayor and Council, as seen by businesses in Wellington:

Wellington businesses say public service cutbacks and the performance and leadership of Wellington City Council are the main factors holding back the Wellington economy, according to a survey by Wellington Employers’ Chamber of Commerce. …

For the first time, the survey asked businesses what were the top three issues they believed were holding back the Wellington economy. Responses relating to public service retrenchment, and performance and leadership of Wellington City Council, featured most heavily, followed by inadequate infrastructure and the absence of long-haul flights to Asia.

To be listed as the second biggest issue holding the economy back, is a searing indictment on the current Council leadership.

The Press reports:

Christchurch East could be heading west.

The expected redrawing of Christchurch’s electorate boundaries may be the catalyst for further political shakeup in the region after big upsets at the 2011 general election.

In a big turnaround, Labour was rolled in the previously safe Christchurch Central and Waimakariri seats and suffered a dip in its party vote across the city.

Census data collected in March will form the basis for the new-look electorates after the earthquakes triggered significant population shifts from eastern and central Christchurch.

The Representation Commission is expected to release draft boundary changes in November, which should be finalised in April next year after consultation.

All electorates must have about the same population and South Island electorates are fixed at 16.

Christchurch East – the hardest hit by Government red-zoning – could grow to the west and claim chunks of neighbouring Christchurch Central to boost voter numbers.

The changes in Christchurch are likely to be significant, but are quite hard to predict. Before you even look at Christchurch, you have to look at what happens outside Christchurch.

The Representation Commission starts down South, in Invercargill. In previous years the population growth in Invercargill is less than  in the South Island as a whole. This means the electorate has too few people in it and has to grow in size to be within 5% of the average population. That means its boundaries move North. This means Clutha-Southland loses territory to Invercargill, plus is normally under quota itself, so its boundaries move North also – by an even larger amount.

But it is possibly that the depopulation in Christchurch may mean that this time those seats are not under quota. So until we know that, we don’t even know what will happen to the seats outside Christchurch. If it does follow previous occasions, then each rural electorate will move North, and Selwyn will take in more territory on the outskirts of Christchurch. Once you have done that, then you look at how Christchurch City electorates get divided up.

Dalziel said her electorate could have lost up to 10,000 voters.

A move west into central was the obvious change, while heading north to include Kaiapoi and Pegasus was a possibility but less likely because the Waimakariri district was not Christchurch.

Bromley – a former East electorate suburb – could be reclaimed from Port Hills, as well as Linwood and Richmond from Central.

There will be a lot of interest in the outcome.