Elusive Taniwha finally snapped on Zealandia reservoir 

Press Release – For Immediate Release (Embargoed until 1 April 2013)

“Friends” of the Karori Historical Society

A local man on a Zealandia night adventure has snapped a photo which will change the course of New Zealand history.  His grainy but unambiguous photo clearly shows a Taniwha swimming near the Karori water dam.  While Taniwha have previously been considered legendary and/or extinct, locals and experts believe that the recent upgrade work on the nearby distribution tanks, designed to help provide emergency water to a parched Wellington, has stirred the elusive beast from its long slumber in the depths.

The current reservoir was built in 1925 but the Taniwha is likely to have taken up residence well before that and long before the development of sonar, photography and video cameras.  That would be only logical explanation why it has been largely undetected to date.  However, in recent days, several unnamed older members of the Karori Historical Society have claimed that their journal – “Stockade” – had recorded a number of previous sightings but they were reluctant to “go public” with the information for fear of ridicule.

Confronted with the soon to be famous photo, a senior Karori historian reluctantly confirmed that she was well aware of the earlier Taniwha sightings.  “Legend has it that there were two Wellington Taniwha – Whataitai and Ngake – when Wellington harbour was originally a lake.  Ngake lashed his tail back and forwards, and crashed into the great Seatoun wall of rock with such force that he smashed out into the open sea.  He swam off into the deep waters of Raukawa Moana (Cook Strait), and was never seen again.”

“It is just possible,” said the historian who refused to be named “that the other Taniwha found its way into the Upper Reservoir during the 1855 Earthquake and made his way down into the deeper waters of the lower dam – built between 1876 and 1878.  The creature would have then used the deep waters below the cliff to hide for decades.  It probably lived on ducklings, eels and gold shavings from the abandoned mine.”

In light of the new photographic evidence – easily comparable in quality to pictures of Big Foot, Elvis and the Loch Ness Monster – a glass bottomed boat is being readied for the expected influx of visitors including international media, biologists and extreme tourists.

Further sightings should be notified to the Acting Deputy Spokesperson for the “Friends” of the Karori Historical Society Mr David Bernard.

ENDS

The Press editorial:

For as long as many people can remember, the open-road speed limit for driving in this country has not changed. It has not increased significantly since the late 1960s when it was raised, under the old imperial system, from 55 miles per hour to 60mph – the equivalent of 96kmh, so not significantly different than the 100kmh that applies today on highways and motorways.

Umm, that is missing out a big chunk of history. The open road limit may have been 60 miles per hours, but in 1973 due to oil shocks, it dropped to 80 km/hr or 50 miles/hr.

It was only in 1986 it went to 100 km/hr.

So far from the open road limit rarely changing, the changes have been:

• 1962 – from 50 mph to 55 mph
• 1969 – from 55 mph to 60 mph
• 1973 – from 60 mph to 50 mph or 80 kmh
• 1986 – from 80 kmh to 100 kmh

Consider the cars that Kiwis were driving when the speed limit was last raised.

There is a world of difference between the engineering and safety standards of 21st-century cars and the likes of the Morris Minor, the original Mini, the Ford Cortina, the Holden Kingswood, the Rover 2000 and the Hillman Imp. Road engineering, too, has improved during those decades. Seen in this context, a proposal to raise the limit by only 10kmh on a relatively small number of top roads can be seen as very modest.

The difference in car safety and engineering is massive.

The speed limit is a maximum, not a target, and the rules – so often observed mainly in the breach – state that people should drive at a speed under the limit that is appropriate to the road, traffic, weather and other conditions.

If the speed limit is increased on engineered motorways, this should not be taken as an indication to drive at 110km on the open road or rural highways, where a 110kmh speed limit would not be appropriate.

Yep – drive the the conditions. Sometimes that will be 110 km/h and sometimes 70 km/h.

A friend has asked me to spread the word and solicit votes for Warrington Surf Lifesaving Club, I’d appreciate your votes and a blog post would be even better:

BP is running a nationwide competition for Surf Life Saving, where an IRB (Inflatable Rescue boat) is the prize for the club with the most votes. Warrington Surf Club was leading the votes, since a campaign was kick started by Columba College, after the incident at Purakunui, when the IRB from their club was used.

The boats are worth $25,000 and for a small club like Warrington, this would mean lots of raffles, sausages sizzles and quiz nights to raise the money to buy one.

Please support Warrington and go on-line and vote for Warrington Surf Lifesaving Club, and to pass this on to friends, workmates and family for their votes (voting closes shortly).

Please visit www.bpsurflifesaving.co.nz select Southern Region and then Warrington SLSC.

The Maori Party have announced:

New co-leader, Te Ururoa Flavell, has announced a solution has been implemented to the leadership and succession challenge that the Maori Party have been facing.

Upon reflection we have all agreed that with Tariana retiring at the 2014 election, it will not benefit the Maori Party to have both co-leaders retire at or before the next election. Therefore it has been decided that Pita will remain co-leader for the foreseeable, future and will remain a Minister while the Maori Party is in Government.

Maori Party President Pem Bird has thanked Pita Sharples for his agreement to remain one of the helmsmen of the Maori Party waka, and also thanked Tariana Turia for her service to the party.

Tariana has agreed for her retirement to take effect immediately as a co-leader, and the National Council has resolved to elect Te Uroroa Flavell as her successor  This means that we will have clear leadership going into the 2014 election with Pita Sharples and Te Uroroa Flavell as co-leaders. Tariana will remain a Minister up until the election, and it is our expectation that Te Ururoa will become a Minister after the election if the Maori Party is in Government again.

 

 

Continue reading »

The Herald reports:

North Korea issued its latest belligerent threat yesterday, saying it has entered “a state of war” with South Korea. It came a day after its leader threatened the US because two American bombers flew a training mission in South Korea.

Analysts say a full-scale conflict is unlikely and North Korea’s threats are instead aimed at drawing Washington into talks that could result in aid and boosting the image of leader Kim Jong Un at home.

But the harsh rhetoric from North Korea and rising animosity from the rivals following UN sanctions over Pyongyang’s February 12 nuclear test have raised worries of a misjudgment leading to a clash.

In a joint statement by the government, political parties and organisations, North Korea said it will deal with all matters involving South Korea according to “wartime regulations”. It also warned it would retaliate against any provocations by the US and South Korea without “any prior notice”.

I know this is just rhetoric from North Korea, and any actual conflict would be a terrible loss of life.

But there is a little bit of me that almost hopes the North Korean regime does launch an attack, so that they lose their ability to continue to threaten the region, and more importantly so that 25,000,000 citizens are freed from their slavery and brain-washing.

North Korea arguably has the worst human rights record of any country on Earth, and their grinding levels of poverty and starvation are entirely self-imposed. I hope within my life-time, those 25 million human beings get to reclaim their human rights – preferably without conflict.

I blogged last week that so far I thought the new Pope was looking very promising, and he continues to impress. I’m not Catholic but I want the Catholic Church to have a leader who will do well.

The Herald reports:

Pope Francis has won over many hearts and minds with his simple style and focus on serving the world’s poorest, but he has devastated traditionalist Catholics who adored his predecessor, Benedict XVI, for restoring much of the traditional pomp to the papacy.

Francis’ decision to disregard church law and wash the feet of two girls, a Serbian Muslim and an Italian Catholic during a Holy Thursday ritual has become something of the final straw, evidence that Francis has little or no interest in one of the key priorities of Benedict’s papacy: reviving the pre-Vatican II traditions of the Catholic Church.

One of the most-read traditionalist blogs, “Rorate Caeli,” reacted to the foot-washing ceremony by declaring the death of Benedict’s eight-year project to correct what he considered the botched interpretations of the Second Vatican Council’s modernising reforms.

So what is the fuss over including two girls?

There were certainly none of those trappings on display Thursday at the Casal del Marmo juvenile detention facility in Rome, where the 76-year-old Francis got down on his knees and to wash the feet of 12 inmates, two of them women. The rite re-enacts Jesus’ washing of the feet of his 12 apostles during the Last Supper before his crucifixion, a sign of his love and service to them.

The church’s liturgical law holds that only men can participate in the rite, given that Jesus’ apostles were all male. Priests and bishops have routinely petitioned for exemptions to include women, but the law is clear.

Francis, however, is the church’s chief lawmaker, so in theory he can do whatever he wants.

“The pope does not need anybody’s permission to make exceptions to how ecclesiastical law relates to him,” noted conservative columnist Jimmy Akin in the National Catholic Register. But Akin echoed concerns raised by canon lawyer Edward Peters, an adviser to the Vatican’s high court, that Francis was setting a “questionable example” by simply ignoring the church’s own rules.

Papal infallibility can come in useful sometimes 🙂

“People naturally imitate their leader. That’s the whole point behind Jesus washing the disciples’ feet. He was explicitly and intentionally setting an example for them,” he said. “Pope Francis knows that he is setting an example.”

Yep, an example that probably thrilled many female Catholics around the world.

The inclusion of women in the rite is problematic for some because it could be seen as an opening of sorts to women’s ordination. The Catholic Church restricts the priesthood to men, arguing that Jesus and his 12 apostles were male.

Francis is clearly opposed to women’s ordination. But by washing the feet of women, he jolted traditionalists who for years have been unbending in insisting that the ritual is for men only and proudly holding up as evidence documentation from the Vatican’s liturgy office saying so.

I think people are reading too much into it, if they think this will lead to female priests.

My thoughts are with the family and friends of Eric and Kathy Hertz and the wide 2Degrees company which Eric was CEO of.

Hertz was a major part of the success of 2Degrees which last August signed up its millionth customer after just three years of operations. Their entry into the market led to a halving of call and text costs from other telcos.

The company will of course endure without their CEO, but it will be a very sad time for their 750 staff and board.

Hertz gave an interview just four days ago:

As for Hertz, who is an American, he says he’s not going anywhere. His family have settled in New Zealand and have acquired residency. “This is home. It’s a wonderful place to live. I’ve worked and lived in seven different countries and the quality of life here is unequalled. I don’t know why people leave.”

One of many people who came here for a job, and decided to never leave.

An excellent column by Brian Gaynor:

The writer expressed his strong opposition in the following way: “The [asset sales] represent asset stripping. They are publicly owned by everyone, including poor people. The dividends they produce will no longer be returned to the population as a whole but to a small, wealthy minority. There is no innovation or expansion, just a continuation of the rich getting richer, and the poor poorer”.

Gaynor first points out:

The first point is that the sale of 49 per cent of MRP to 300,000-plus New Zealanders is not asset stripping as none of the company’s assets will be sold for the benefit of the Crown or the new minority shareholders.

And in fact a mixed ownership model will allow the former SOEs to acquire more asset and expand, if they so wish.

The second point is that the Government will continue to receive 51 per cent of MRP’s dividends and the payout should increase in the years ahead.

Port of Tauranga is a good example of this.

The Mount Maunganui company listed on the NZX in March 1992 after the public acquired a 44.7 per cent shareholding. The Bay of Plenty Regional Council owned the remaining 55.3 per cent.

Port of Tauranga paid a total dividend of only $2.2 million in the year before its NZX listing and the Regional Council’s shareholding was worth just $44 million at the $1.05 a share IPO price.

Twenty years later the Bay of Plenty Regional Council’s economic interest in the port company has increased as follows:

The council’s shareholding has declined from 55.3 per cent to 54.9 per cent but the value of its holding has soared from $44 million to $1.015 billion.

The council now receives an annual dividend of $34.6 million from the port company compared with just $2.2 million when it owned 100 per cent.

This is the model that the unions and their allies have tried to destroy.

Everyone is a winner – the Bay of Plenty Regional Council and its ratepayers, Port of Tauranga’s minority shareholders and the company itself.

It is totally inappropriate to look at partial privatisation as a zero sum game, a game where there must be a loser for every winner. Partial privatisation can lead to a substantial increase in value and income for a regional council, or the government, if the listed company is well governed and managed.

Absolutely. There can be no argument that privately owned and managed companies do better overall than wholly owned public ones. By this I do not mean no private companies fail and no public companies succeed. Of course not. But if you look at decades of economic data across OECD countries, the difference is stark.

And Gaynor gives a local example:

In the following 12 years, before the company was taken over by its majority shareholder, the Auckland Regional Council’s economic interest increased as follows:

The council’s shareholding remained at 80 per cent but the value of its holding soared from $318 million to $678 million at the $8 a share takeover price

The council’s annual dividend from the port company jumped from $8.5 million to $34.3 million.

The company’s performance has been poor since it was fully acquired by the Regional Council, now Auckland City, in 2005.

Auckland City’s annual dividend has fallen from $34.3 million in 2005, when it owned 80 per cent of the company, to $20.1 million in the June 2012 year, even though it now has 100 per cent ownership.

When a company is 100% owned by the Government (or a Council), it will make sub-optimal decisions due to influence of the shareholder.

If they are listed on the NZX they have a legal duty to treat all shareholders equally and do what is best for the company as a whole. If the major shareholder wishes to influence their decisions they have to do so transparently through public shareholder resolutions.

The HoS Herald editorial:

You have to hand it to the National Road Safety Committee. These public servants don’t conceal their view that the Cabinet needs to lower blood-alcohol limits for drivers. While the politicians wait, inexplicably, for research on safety gains of lowering the adult alcohol limit from 80 to 50 milligrams per 100 millilitres of blood, the committee pulls no punches.

The HoS and Herald has been running a campaign for over a year demanding the Government do what it says, and not complete its research. To have a hysterical editorial saying that it is inexplicable they are waiting for research speaks for itself.

They also mischaracterise what the research is. It is not research into whether there would be safety gains from lowering the blood alcohol limit to 50. You don’t need research to tell you that. There would also be safety gains from lowering it to zero. There would be safety gains from dropping the speed limit to 20 km/hr.

What the hysterical HoS demands the Government  not find out is how much of an impact a lower limit would have, and what the cost would be – ie how many people legally drive at an 50 to 80 level, and would be criminalised for doing so in the future.

If you claim there is no need to know this data, then why is 50 the right level to go to? Why not 60? Why not 40?

Its latest Safer Journeys report says: “Any level of alcohol increases driving errors, and affects alertness, skill and judgments … we need the adult legal breath-alcohol concentration limits to better reflect the risk that alcohol poses to all road users and communities.”

Of course any level of alcohol increases risk. Just as any level of speed increases risk.

The committee has leapfrogged the research project – an excuse for inaction by former Transport Minister Steven Joyce – and suggested a new solution: variable limits for types of drivers. While those under 20 already face a zero limit, the committee proposes new levels “lower than the default” for those with drink-drive convictions, commercial licences, in different adult age bands and with existing demerit points.

Not a bad idea. Worth considering.

It is worth looking at the blood alcohol levels in over 25 year old drivers who are fatally injured. In 2011 it was:

• None – 36
• 0 to 30 – 68
• 31 to 50 – 3
• 51 – 80 – 2
• 81 to 100 – 2
• 100 to 150 – 3
• 150 to 250 – 20
• 250+ 15

I’m yet to be convinced drivers in the 51 to 80 range are the problem.

NZ Herald quiz here.

Tamsyn Parker at NZ Herald reports:

Analysts said the negotiation issue could have a small negative effect on the pricing of Mighty River Power’s shares.

Milford Asset Management senior analyst William Curtayne said the situation would probably result in the bankers having to alter the pricing of the offer moderately.

For those looking to buy Mighty River Power shares it could mean the company would now be cheaper.

But Mighty River Power was still a great company which was giving off a lot of cashflow compared with what savers could get by putting their money in the bank.

Curtayne said it might also be good news for Meridian in the long term.

He said if the company pulled out of selling power to Rio Tinto, it could sell the power to other energy companies such as Genesis or Contact which would enable them to shut down more expensive operations like the Genesis-owned Huntly and Contact’s Otahuhu power station.

“It sounds bad at the headline. But in the long run if the market reacts effectively we could end up with a relatively benign outcome.”

Curtayne said it was better that the situation be revealed now.

“It’s good for them to come out and signal where they are now. It gives the situation more clarity.”

He said it could mean the Government got less money for Mighty River Power, but more for Meridian, which is worth twice as much.

Devon Funds Management analyst Phillip Anderson said it would affect the price of Mighty River Power at the margins.

Even more reason for the Government to stay out of this, and leave the negotiations to Meridian.

Audrey Young writes:

Opposition parties are frustrated that Mr Carter is not applying the same method as Dr Smith.

Generally Dr Smith would decide whether a question was “straight” or “political” and if he deemed it a straight question he would not accept a political answer – one that contained a political attack on a party.

That was hugely different from the days when ministers could simply use a word from the question and be deemed to have acceptably “addressed the question”, which is the requirement.

Mr Carter has opted for a halfway house. If he believes a minister has not addressed a question adequately, he will allow an MP to repeat it, sometimes several times, and Mr Hipkins has used it to the greatest effect with his questioning over the resignation of Education Secretary Lesley Longstone.

“The reason is he is asking straight questions,” said Mr Carter.

Mr Carter said he thought Dr Smith was the best Speaker he had ever seen in action “but I never thought for one minute I would do things exactly as Lockwood did”.

“He tended to paraphrase the question as he saw it and paraphrase the answer as he saw it and then draw a conclusion as to whether the answer was adequate enough.”

Mr Carter said he attempted to do that for the first couple of days but the result was that some MPs sought to bring the Speaker’s comments into a question in the House.

Ultimately if the minister hadn’t given a satisfactory answer, it was not the Speaker’s responsibility, it was the minister’s responsibility.

“At some stage in proceedings you have got to move on and then the Members of Parliament and anybody listening to Parliament will judge the accuracy and ability of that minister.”

I’d make the point that the first months of a Speaker’s regime are always turbulent, and the best time to judge is around four months in.

Jared Savage at NZ Herald reports:

Nearly 100 children were found wandering by themselves in SkyCity last year, show new statistics which anti-gambling advocates say prove problem gambling is a growing issue.

In most cases, the adults responsible for the children were found in the main gaming floor on pokie machines or at a table game.

Note we don’t get told the proportion between the two. It might be 4 at pokie machines and 96 at table games. Does the PGF who released the data have the breakdown?

Figures released by the Department of Internal Affairs under the Official Information Act show there were 64 incidents of “unattended children” last year, involving 96 children. In 2009, just 19 such incidents were recorded.

64 incidents is around one a week. Sounds reasonably high but what I want to know is comparison rates. How many unattended children are found each week in malls and/or supermarkets and what is that as a proportion of overall customers?

Because casinos are probably the only entities required to report on this data, it is all too easy to jump to conclusions.

James Weir at Stuff reports:

Opposition parties say Tiwai Point smelter’s majority owner is trying to force the Government into a subsidy for the $1 billion a year aluminium plant in a deal with not enough transparency.

A snag in negotiations between state-owned generator Meridian Energy and Rio Tinto over power prices at the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter may have implications for asset sales, with the Government lining Meridian up for a float after Mighty River Power.

Earlier today it was announced that despite government involvement, talks between Meridian and the smelter company had effectively broken down, with a deal “unlikely”.

Meridian said it still hoped to get a deal, and Prime Minister John Key has cautiously said asset sales can go ahead despite the snag.

Last year, Rio Tinto said the smelter could close if it did not get cheaper power prices from Meridian, even though a long-term electricity contract came into force this year. The smelter uses about 15 per cent of New Zealand’s electricity.

Green party co-leader Russel Norman said today: “Rio Tinto are using the Government’s asset sale programme to screw Meridian Energy for a better deal [on power prices], that is as plain as day.”

Yep, they are.

Rio Tinto are absolutely trying to use the situation to get better terms for a deal they had already signed up to.

Meridian as the commercial operator is best placed to make the decision about what sort of volume discount they give the smelter. The Government should not be involved in any price negotiation.

If Rio Tinto decide to closer the smelter because they can’t get a low enough electricity price, then that is their decision to make. It would be very sad for those who work down there, but would also mean that we’d probably see power prices drop all around New Zealand. That’s not an entirely bad thing.

The market would adjust, with some smaller power stations possibly closing.

Gavin White at UMR blogs:

We asked New Zealanders which of the following statements came closest to their views on the origin and development of human beings: 

• A) Human beings have developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life, but God guided this process 
• B) Human beings have developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life, but God had no part in this process 
• C) God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last ten thousand years or so

To keep the write-up clear, I’ll refer to Statement A as ‘intelligent design’, Statement B​ as ‘pure evolution’ and Statement C as ‘creationism’.

I like that they didn’t just ask people do they believe in evolution or creationism but actually gave them statements to choose from. A good approach in my opinion, as different people may think creationism means different things.

The numbers show that, amongst New Zealanders:

• 26% believe in ‘intelligent design’
• 45% believe in ‘pure evolution’
• 23% believe in ‘creationism’
• 6% are unsure.

I’m surprised the level for “pure” creationism is so high, ie that one in four said they think humanity is less than 10,000 years old.

As you might expect, the American numbers are quite different:

• 32% of Americans believe in ‘intelligent design’
• 15% believe in ‘pure evolution’
• 46% believe in ‘creationism’
• 7% are unsure.

Only 15% of Americans believe in “pure evolution”. Oh dear. Now that I have a problem with people believing in intelligent design. There can be no proof for or against intelligent design. I can’t be certain there isn’t a creator who has been nudging things along.

However I can be pretty certain that humanity is more than 10,000 years old. Unless God spent a lot of time and effort in laying fake clues for us!

Claire Trevett at NZ Herald reports:

Maori Party co-leader Pita Sharples has come out of his corner fighting in the leadership contest with MP Te Ururoa Flavell, saying that although he knows the standoff could damage the party he will not stand aside or give a future date for his retirement, because he believed staying on was critical for the party to survive.

I think Sharples motives are good, and he is right that if he retired as an MP it would be bad for the Maori Party. He will be 73 at the election, and probably wouldn’t mind a quieter life.

But the issue is whether he has to remain as co-leader to still help the Maori Party retain support. I would have thought there is some sort of elegant solution where he becomes the “Kaumata”, is pledged to remain a Minister but you make Flavell co-leader to clearly signal there is a succession plan.

“I believe I’m the best person to lead us into the next election. We’ve had so much disruption with Hone going, and people saying there should only be one Maori party, and now Tariana is leaving.

“So it is important someone who has the connections, who is known throughout the country and has given all my heart and integrity is there to try to rally them back to the party.” He said he was not angry at Mr Flavell for challenging, but wished he had waited a while longer.

However, Dr Sharples is also refusing to commit to standing down at a future date after 2014 even if that would convince Mr Flavell to stay his challenge, saying that might weaken his leadership impact.

If there had been some clear indication of dates, then I imagine Flavell would not have been so public with his desires.

Dr Sharples also said he regretted saying he hoped to lead the party until the day he died – a comment he said was intended to be light-hearted but which drew criticisms, including from NZ First leader Winston Peters, by people comparing it with a dictatorship. He hoped Mr Flavell would stay on if the party elected to stay with Dr Sharples.

“I would love him to stay with me, so we could work together. He’s an awesome worker. But the leadership is a particular kind of thing at this stage, and I think I can reach out to a whole lot of sources that need to come back.

It will be interesting to see if they manage to find a solution to this.

The UNDP has released their 2013 Human Development Index. New Zealand remains in 6th place with an HDI score of 0.919, just ahead of Sweden and Ireland.  Israel is 16th, Finland 21st and UK 26th.

At the bottom end are Congo and Niger.

All things said, no other place I’d rather live in.

The BBC reports:

A school’s decision to ban triangular flapjacks after a pupil was hurt has been labelled “half-baked” by the Health and Safety Executive.

It follows an incident at Castle View School in Canvey Island, Essex, when a boy was hit in the face by a flapjack.

Catering staff at the school have been told only to serve square or rectangular flapjacks.

The school said the “isolated accident” had led to a review of “the texture and shape of the flapjacks” provided.

Words fail me.

A spokesman for the Health and Safety Executive said: “We often come across half-baked decisions taken in the name of health and safety, but this one takes the biscuit.

“The real issue isn’t what shape the flapjacks are, but the fact that pupils are throwing them at each other – and that’s a matter of discipline, and has got nothing to do with health and safety as we know it.

“We’re happy to make clear that flapjacks of all shapes and sizes continue to have our full backing.”

Good that in this case the regulator is the one with common sense, and it is the school that is over-reacting.

I went to the Wellington premiere of Eternity, at The Paramount last night.

Eternity is a New Zealand made film by local filmmaker Alex Galvin. It was filmed in New Zealand and Hong Kong. In fact one scene I recognised as being in Hobson Street opposite my apartment, and Old St Pauls and the Wellington Town Hall are also featured. Oh yes the Parliamentary Library also.

The film starts with a gripping interrogation scene and turns into a murder mystery with a twist. The police detective is in a virtual world which has been infected with a virus and has to solve the mystery before the system reboots and the day starts all over again. 

He has to work out not just who did it, but how it was done – which is much harder. He can access two virtual assistants – Helpdesk and Sherlock – but Sherlock is a once only assistance.

The film is around 90 minutes and it absolutely succeeds in grabbing you, and keeping your attention as you want to discover who dun it (my guess was wrong), why, and how.

The special effects are well done, and I loved the music. Also the personal assistant was hilarious (you’ll work out why).

My one criticism is that I didn’t find the lead character was someone you developed an emotional attachment to. You want your lead character to be someone you are rooting for, or against, and that you feel emotionally charged at what may happen to them. I never quite felt it with Detective Manning. That may be deliberate – that the focus was on solving the mystery, more than whether Manning would be reunited with his family or not.

A great little movie which would have done a modern day Agatha Christie proud.

Kate Chapman at Stuff reports:

A bill to give people Monday off when Anzac and Waitangi Days fall on a weekend is a step closer to being passed.

Labour MP David Clark’s Holidays (Full Recognition of Waitangi Day and Anzac Day) Amendment Bill passed its committee stages on a voice vote in Parliament tonight. …

The bill was expected to have its third and final reading on April 17 but the first holiday to coincide with the weekend won’t be until 2015.

For those wondering about future dates which will be impacted by this bill, I’ve done a table

The change I’d like to see now happen is we swap Queen’s Birthday for a New Zealand Day.

It is rare for a members’ bill to pass against the opposition of a Government, but it is good it can happen.

I note that my support for the bill and calculations on the minimal costs to employers were quoted by Grant Robertson and Iain Lees-Galloway in the debate last night. Not sure quoting me makes National MPs more or less likely to vote for it 🙂

I think consistency in Mondayising is a good thing, and if we have legislation for 11 public holidays a year, then it should be 11. We can debate whether 11 is too few or too many, but I think consistent Mondayisation is entirely sensible.

Would anyone advocate that if Christmas Day and Boxing Day falls on a weekend, there be no long weekend?

When debating public holidays, we should look at them in combination with annual leave. In total Kiwis get 31 days a year off on pay – four weeks annual leave (or they can cash one in) and 11 days public holidays. The difference between the two is people take annual leave at all different times, while public holidays are days when many (but not all) employers are closed.