Sue Fea at Stuff reports:

New Zealand needs to raise the academic achievement of its Maori and Pacific Island students to match those of Pakeha students, Education Minister Hekia Parata said in Queenstown yesterday.

New Zealand had made significant gains, now ranked seventh internationally in Pisa (Programme for International Student Assessment) reading and literacy proficiency levels.

However, while Pakeha were ranked second in the world, Maori were 34th equal and Pacific students were ranked 44th, Ms Parata said.

As has been said before, our averages are good, but our tail is unacceptably low.

The Government was aiming to get 85 per cent of primary and intermediate school students at, or above, the national standards by 2017.

At the moment 76 per cent of children reached or exceeded the national standard for reading, 72 per cent of learners for mathematics, and 68 per cent for writing.

While some parties think the best way to lift achievement is not to monitor student achievement at all!

Ms Parata said she had told various iwi groups, “good on you, guys” for coming to Wellington to talk about land issues and fisheries, but invited them to come to talk about the education of their children or stay in their area and help support them in the education opportunities available.

“I say the same to Pacific churches and they are all responding.

Maybe we’ll see some Iwi invest in a charter school or two!

Michael Forbes at Stuff reports:

Speed limits should be bumped up to 110kmh on the newest and safest roads, the Automobile Association says – and the Government is not ruling out the idea.

The suggestion comes as the Government announces it will review speed limits up and down the country over the next three years as part of its Safer Journeys action plan.

Associate Transport Minister Michael Woodhouse would not rule out increasing the 100kmh maximum speed limit as part of the review, but he felt such a move was unlikely to happen soon. Police say they are open to discussion.

AA motoring affairs general manager Mike Noon said nudging up the speed limit by 10kmh on some roads could reduce congestion and improve productivity by ensuring the quicker movement of freight.

The type of road best suited to a 110kmh limit would be divided, four-lane motorways that have been built to KiwiRap four-star status, such as the northern gateway toll road north of Auckland.

This seems very sensible to me, and I’m glad the Government is not ruling it out.

I recall the open road limit going from 80 to 100, and that was a good thing.

Since then car technology and safety has improved significantly, as have the quality of some of the new roads. The idea of having it apply only on our best safest motorways also seems sensible. It is obvious to me that there are some roads where it is quite safe to drive at 110 km/hr – there are also some roads where you are a lunatic if you drive at over 70 km/hr even though the legal limit is 110 km/hr.

The speed you drive at should always be dependent on the conditions and may change from minute to minute.

New Zealand has one of the strictest speed regimes. Australia, Canada and France all have motorway limits of 110kmh, while Britain’s is 70mph, or about 113kmh.

Yep, NZ is one of the lowest.

On Germany’s autobahns, there are no speed limits, although drivers are advised to stay under 130kmh.

And Austria!

The Herald reports:

The Earthquake Commission has laid a complaint with Christchurch police that Bryan Staples, the recipient of an accidental email including private customer information, allegedly threatened to use the email to extract preferential payment of invoices. …

Mr Staples – an insurance advocate and former EQC employee – sent an email advising EQC that if the commission paid particular accounts “in full within the required time frame, there will be no media announcement and the matter will die a natural death”.

It will be interesting to see the full e-mail, but on the surface of it, I’d say it is extremely unwise to demand money or you will go to the media.

The Herald reports:

Speaker David Carter has ejected MPs from the House for the first time, kicking out Labour’s Trevor Mallard and Chris Hipkins this afternoon.

Mr Mallard was told to leave the debating chamber after telling Mr Carter to “sit down ’til I’m finished” during question time.

Let there be no mistake. Any MP who ever acts that arrogantly to the Speaker will be kicked out of the House – at a minimum. Actually damn lucky not to be named.

Wow, are things getting silly.

Andrea Vance at Stuff reports:

Prime Minister John Key has outlined the nature of his friendship with chief foreign spy Ian Fletcher under questioning about the illegal surveillance on Kim Dotcom.

Their acquaintance dates back to their childhood, when their mothers were “best friends”, Key said. He also went to school with Fletcher’s brother.

Their mothers were friends. Shock horror.

I hope no one is suggesting that Ian Fletcher should not have got his job, because his mum was friends with the PM’s mum before she died.

Oh wait, they are.

Patrick Gower blogs:

This is the real significant of the error in not disclosing the foreign bank account for four years. It negates the ability of the Labour Party Leader to attack the Government over lesser errors.

And highlighting Government errors is a major part of what being in Opposition is about.

Part of the problem for Shearer is that there has been no real explanation of the error. If the explanation was he was aware of the bank account but didn’t realise he had to disclose it – then that would be understandable.

But it seems to be merely that he forgot he had the bank account, despite including it in his tax returns every year.

Judith Collins has announced:

The Conviction and Sentencing Statistics, published on the Statistics New Zealand website, show 98,783 people appeared in court in 2012, down 7 per cent from 2011 and 22 per cent from 2009.

That is good. Of course it is probably due to a mixture of reduced offending, and giving out more cautions for minor offences.

The number of people charged with a violent offence has dropped 17 per cent over the last four years, after steadily increasing between 2004 and 2009.

I always tend to focus on the violent crime stats as they are the ones most likely to be reported. Other areas of crime such as drugs or traffic are somewhat dependent on how proactive the Police are. That drop in violent crime does reverse the trend increase.

74 per cent of the people charged in court are convicted, and 10 per cent of those are sent to prison. For every 10,000 people in New Zealand, 22 were sentenced to prison in 2012 compared with 25 in 2011.

Interesting stats on the 74% conviction rate. I wonder what it is for those who plead not guilty?

Along with the general reduction in youth convictions, the number of children and young people convicted in an adult court for serious offences has dropped from 500 to 199 in the last five years. Children and young people now make up less than 3 per cent of the total people charged in court in New Zealand.

“Fewer children and young people coming before our courts is an encouraging sign. We know that a key to reducing crime is to stop young people entering the court and justice system in the first place,” Ms Collins says.

That is also very welcome. Of interest will be how many offences are being committed by young people also.

Daniel Altman at Foreign Policy writes:

In 1999, the traditionally hard currencies of Europe’s north merged with the softer currencies of the south to form a new money that was somehow supposed to be stronger than any of the ones it replaced. Under the stewardship of the European Central Bank (ECB) in Frankfurt, the euro was meant to — and did — become a reserve currency to rival the dollar. Though the supposedly prudent northern countries didn’t always keep their budget deficits under control, they still managed to survive the worst of the global economic downturn. By contrast, the profligacy of the south, together with its flawed banking systems, has created a hotbed of crises that stretch 2,300 miles from Lisbon to Nicosia.

These crises would have been a lot shorter if the countries involved — Greece, Portugal, Spain, now Cyprus, soon Slovenia, and perhaps Italy for a second time — had possessed their own currencies. But all of them use the euro, so their monetary policy is set in Frankfurt at the ECB. Instead of devaluing their currencies in order to spur exports and ease the repayment of debts, all of these countries have had to undergo some combination of fiscal austerity, deflation, and, most notably in Cyprus’s case, loss of assets.

The lesson is you can’t have monetary union without fiscal union. Monetary policy and fiscal policy need to work together.

The interesting thing is the impact on political stability as well. They have a table showing how Parliaments in southern Europe have become more fragmented and extreme, which threatens Europe as a whole to a degree. They use the  Herfindahl Index to calculate the fragmentation.

The NZ Parliament Herfindahl Index is currently 0.34.

Anne Tolley has released what is effectively a league table of our 17 prisons. It’s great to have such transparency on how our prisons are doing on various criteria.

All 17 prisons are now measured on their performance against each other in a range of areas including security, assaults, drug tests and rehabilitation programmes. They are then categorised in four performance grades, with the resulting tables released quarterly.

The information is used by Corrections and prison managers to identify and share successful practices, and focus on areas which need improvement.

The table has six prisons in the “exceeding” category, eight in “effective” and three “needs improvement”.

Mount Eden is the privately run prison. In the first half of 2012 it was in the “needs improvement” category, then in Q3 went to “effective” and in Q4 is “exceeding”.  It is the most improved prison.

Of course Labour and Greens are vowing to close it down.

Abby Gillies at NZ Herald reports:

Prostitutes as young as 13 are earning up to $600 a night in South Auckland, says an MP who will be at a meeting called by community leaders to discuss an “outbreak” of underage street workers in the area.

Community and government representatives, including NZ First MP Asenati Lole-Taylor and party leader Winston Peters, will attend the open meeting hosted by Otara-Papatoetoe Local Board next Saturday.

The increasing number of underage prostitutes on the streets in Otara from Thursday to Saturday nights has shocked residents in the area.

Tina Herewini, a warden who patrols Otara’s town centre and parks, said there could be as many as 20 to 30 young girls lingering at the corner of Bairds Rd and Kew Lane.

Before one talks of further law changes, how about enforcing the current law.

Shouldn’t the Police be sending in a team to remove any under-age prostitutes and refer them to CYFS?

Prostitution is only legal when the prostitute is aged 18 or older. I’m not sure the law is the problem here – it is enforcing it.

Jo Moir at Stuff reports:

A 10-year-old Porirua boy has torn down his rugby posters and binned his All Blacks duvet cover after his local rugby club made him feel “sad and fat”.

Joshua Moe has been told he has to play in the under-13s this season because – at 71 kilograms – he is too heavy to play in his own age group. But Joshua fears he will get hurt playing with boys who are older than him.

It’s great Joshua wants to play rugby, and I can understand his fear of getting hurt playing with older kids. However there is also a risk of kids his own age getting hurt when there is such a size and weight disparity.

The average weight for a 10 year old boy appears to be 32 kgs, so at 71 kgs Joshua is double their weight. The chance of them being damaged is significantly higher I would say than Joshua being damaged by 13 year olds who will still be smaller than him.

Last year Joshua received special permission to play in the Northern United under-11s team – a grade lower than the rules allowed for someone of his weight.

But at last week’s weigh-in for the new season, the club told him he had to move up to the under-13s. His mother, Vanessa Moe, queried the ruling, but was told he could either play in the under-13s or not at all.

She has now complained to the club, as well as to the New Zealand Rugby Union and the Human Rights Commission.

Oh Good God, this has nothing to do with the Human Rights Commission. Having weight restrictions for sports is hardly new. Boxing has it also.

“This has gone beyond rugby itself, and is now about a club making my son feel like crap and not wanting to play at all,” she said.

Joshua is looking to turn his back on rugby and plans to do swimming this year and have a go at rugby league next year.

“I want the rugby people to apologise and make the rules so it’s about age, not my size,” he said. “My friends all treat me the same, but the rugby club made me feel sad and fat.”

It’s awful Joshua feels like crap, and it is possible that the club officials handled it very badly. And some flexibility could well be desirable.

However at the end of the day a rule based on size/weight is not discriminatory – it is sensible and quite standard in many contact sports.

Autumnal sunrise over McArthur Ridge pinot noir vineyard. Clyde, Central Otago. New Zealand landscape photography by Todd Sisson.

I fear that we may not be seeing too much of this juicy colour in 2013 – most of the trees seem to be kicking it in early after a summer of interminable thirst.  Speaking of slaking one’s thirst – I understand that the pinot noir from this vineyard is pretty good value (according to someone who knows about these things).

Have a great Easter break – see you on the other side…

Free Wallpaper Download

You may download the large version of today’s image from this link:  Please note the new, shorter, Password = wwp

This image is up as a canvas print here and available for licencing here.

See you next week – and thanks for all the great comments last week!

Cheers – Todd [www.sisson.co.nz] 

David Cunliffe blogs at Red Alert:

Next week thousands upon thousands of New Zealanders will wake up to a cut in their take-home pay because of policy decisions by the National/United Future government.

From 1 April 2013 the minimum KiwiSaver contribution is increasing from 2% to 3%, while the Student Loan compulsory repayment jumps a whopping 20% to 12 cents in every dollar earned over the repayment threshold.

Just a second. A Labour MP is complaining that KiwiSaver contributions are going from 2% to 3%?

Under Labour the minimum contributions were 4%, and they complained bitterly when national reduced it to 2%.

Now Labour stands for a gradual move to universal, employment-based KiwiSaver contributions over time, because that will grow the economy and secure savers in retirement.

And while KiwiSaver is currently voluntary, meaning those who can’t afford a drop in the take home pay don’t have to join, Labour propose to make it compulsory to force every worked to take a drop in their take home pay (to use DC’s rhetoric).

There are valid arguments for and against compulsory KiwiSaver, but it is a bit rich to criticise a KiwiSaver contribution increase as being a cut to take home pay, when your policy is to make it compulsory!

But with unemployment today at record levels, and with so many families only just getting by, it’s crucial that changes which hit people in the pocket are well-signalled and well-understood before they take effect.

Umm, the policy was announced well over 12 months ago. And if you are unemployed you are not contributing a portion of your salary to KiwiSaver.

Unless Labour is proposing that KiwiSaver not just be made compulsory for employees, but also for beneficiaries?

The Green Party already have the most prescriptive set of rules for their list ranking. It runs to 44 pages!

As you all know their rules already require one of their co-leaders to have a penis, and one not to have a penis.

With list ranking they already have quotas for everything – at least 40% must be female, at least 10% must be Maori, at least 20% from the Mainland and at least 10% must be under 35.

However this quota purity does not go enough for some Green Party members. Whale has leaked e-mails with a remit calling for:

The Party List at each election shall comprise all odd ranked places filled by one gender, and even numbered places filled by the other gender.

The gender filling odd numbered places at any one election shall fill even numbered places at the following election.  The gender filling odd numbered places at the first election after this remit is adopted shall be determined by a coin toss.”  

Total gender equality. And you work out who is ranked number one by a coin toss so the patriarchy can’t keep oppressing. Just delightful. It seems the motivation is that some activists are upset that Russel Norman keeps getting ranked No 1 and Metiria Turei No 2, despite being nominally equal co-leaders.

Now with the Green Party love for quotas, I’ve decided to help them out. I’ve calculated in Excel the idea demographic composition for each list position for them.

So their No 1 list place must be a straight female European with black hair. No 2 must be a straight male European with brown hair.

No 4 has to be a straight male Maori with black hair. No 5 a gay female European with black hair.

At No 15, you have a bisexual European female with brown hair. And you even have a ginga quota with No 12 being a straight male European with red hair.

This tables makes it very easy for the Greens with all their quotas. They don’t have to worry about competence, experience, skills. Or they need to do is recruit someone for each list place that meets their demographic quotas. People could apply for a specific list place, such as “I’m a straight blonde female European and would like to be considered for List spot No 9”.

Now you could argue having hair colour as a demographic quota is over the top, but look at the discrimination gingas suffer and the jokes blondes suffer from. Also you could complain people can change their hair colour. Now you could insist on a do the drapes match the curtains test, but in the end it is a human right to be whatever hair colour you feel you are. So if people wish to change hair colour to get a higher list ranking, who are we to doubt the validity of their personal choices?

Now I have not added in the age quota and regional quota their rules also insist on. I may do that in a further version.

The Herald reported:

The Department of Conservation will axe 140 jobs and reduce the number of conservancy regions in a department-wide shake-up.

Director-General of Conservation Al Morrison announced the cuts this afternoon after the proposals were put to staff around the country this morning.

The cuts include 118 regional management and administrative roles, as well as 22 operational roles including asset management, planning and inspection positions.

Less managers means more money for operations. Sounds good to me.

Of course there is a balance. Every organisation needs manager and administrators, but they tend to grow in every company and organisation and from time to time you do a restructure.

I am a huge fan of the work DOC does, and the conservation estate they administer. But that doesn’t mean they are immune from the pressure to be as efficient as possible.

“DoC must adapt if it is going to meet the conservation challenges that New Zealand faces – even if you doubled DOC’s budget tomorrow we would still be going ahead with this proposal,” Mr Morrison said.

I think that statement is a massively important one – that this proposed restructuring would be put forward regardless of funding. That the sign of a chief executive focused on  improving their organisation.

I don’t know enough about the details, to critique it in depth. But Al Morrison is pretty respected for the work he has done as Director-General, and I am sure DOC with 1,200 staff can continue to deliver.

Of course for those staff directly affected, it is a tough time. No amount of talk about organisational improvement is consolation for a loss of job security.

Le papier ne sera jamais mort / Paper is not dead on influencia.net ! from INfluencia on Vimeo.

Heh – nicely done.

Stuff reports:

A public servant has appeared in court after allegedly dragging his partner along the floor by the hair, before beating her.

The man is one of two senior Waikato public servants due in court this week charged with assault.

The cases are unconnected, with the second defendant accused of having assaulted two people – one allegedly a family member.

Extensive suppression orders prevent naming or giving details of the occupations of either of the men, who are from different Waikato towns.

I have zero information on either case, or the identity of the two men.

But the codewords used by the media are easy to decipher.

If you are a “senior public servant” and also live in a town, well 99% of the time you must be a police officer. You don’t see a lot of Ministry of Health offices in Huntly or the like!

Note again i have no actual information on the cases, and am just making an educated guess. As I don’t know the identity or occupations of either man, I can’t be breaching a suppression order.

The point I am making is that the media have effectively pointed to the occupations by using a combination of generic role and location that narrows it down.

It’s like the time I was the off the record source for a story for a newspaper in the early 1990s and they referred to me as a “Senior Young National” in Wellington. I somewhat irately pointed out to the reporter that they might as well have printed my name, date of birth and photo as the description was so obviously me!

Judge David Harvey has blogged a keynote speech he gave to the Australian Digital Alliance Forum on copyright law in the modern era. It’s a fascinating essay on the history of copyright, the changes over time, the balancing of rights etc.

He summarises his own proposal for copyright going forward:

 1. Copyright should not be seen as a property right – either actual or inchoate

 2. A copyright owner’s rights should not be absolute.

 3. Copyright should be seen as an exception to the wider rights of freedom to receive and impart information guaranteed by Art. 19 ICCPR – and, given copyright does not engage until expression (according to current copyright theory),  it must be subject to the supremacy of Article 19.

 4. Interference with Article 19 rights requires justification by the “copyright owner”.[49]

 5. Once interference with the Art 19 right is justified, any restrictions to the general right and any advantages that accrue for the benefit of the “copyright owner” may be permitted to the extent that they are:

a) necessary to meet the copyright owners interests and justification and

b) proportionate in terms of the extent of the interference

 6. Concepts such as fair use, protection term, remedies (and their extent) fall within the tests of necessity and proportionality rather than exceptions to a copyright owner’s right.

 I like the idea of the major right being the right to receive and impart information, and copyright restrictions must fall within this right as justifiable limitations or exceptions. I think that is superior to having copyright as the “major right” and then having to justify exceptions to copyright for purposes of quoting, parody, satire, academic scrutiny etc.

Daniel Adams at the Waikato Times reports:

Hamilton’s mayor is being accused of using mayoral forums to electioneer ahead of this year’s election – a claim she rejects.

Mayor Julie Hardaker also rejected the claim that ratepayers are helping fund her re-election after a complaint was made to electoral officials.

Councillor Dave Macpherson has asked for a ruling from the city returning officer on a series of branded forums organised by staff for Ms Hardaker.

He claims the mayor’s forums are electioneering in disguise and should stop.

Or it is a Mayor doing their job and making themselves available to ratepayers to discuss any issues they have. Macpherson is being silly and petty.

The best quote on Mr Macpherson comes from his former leader Jim Anderton:

But Anderton was dismissive of the remarks.

“Dave Macpherson is one member of the Alliance, he is on the Hamilton City Council… last thing I knew he was the deputy chairman of the subcommittee of the dog control appeal authority.”

Attacking a Mayor for actually getting out there and meeting ratepayers is just silly.

The Law Commission has published its final report as part of their review of regulatory gaps and new media.

I blogged on their draft report in December 2011, and said I thought their draft report was excellent.

I also blogged my submission on the draft report in March 2012.

Their final report is not hugely different to their draft report, but there have been some useful changes, especially around the key area of having any media regulator totally independent from Government (unlike the current Broadcasting Standards Authority).

The report is a welcome dose of common sense and respect for a free media, which avoids the excesses recommended in the UK an Australia.

The Law Commissions cites four policy objectives in their report:

• recognise and protect the special status of the news media, ensuring all entities carrying out the legitimate functions of the fourth estate, regardless of their size or commercial status, are able to access the legal privileges and exemptions available to these publishers
• ensure that those entities accessing the news media’s special legal status are held accountable for exercising their power ethically and responsibly
• provide citizens with an effective and meaningful means of redress when those standards are breached
• signal to the public which publishers they can rely on as sources of news and information.

They note:

Finally, there is a strong public interest in ensuring that any accountability mechanisms for the news media encourages rather than stifles diversity. It must therefore provide a level playing field for all those carrying out the functions of the fourth estate, irrespective of their size, commercial status, or the format in which they publish or distribute their content. In other words it must be technology neutral focusing on content and context rather than the format or delivery platform.

I agree, and that is why I support their key recommendation of just one self-regulatory standards body, rather than the existing three bodies (one Govt regulatory, and two self-regulatory).

Some of their recommendations are:

• A news media standards body (the News Media Standards Authority or NMSA) should be established to enforce standards across all publishers of news.
• Membership should be entirely voluntary and available to any person or entity that regularly publishes or generates news, information or current opinion.
• To gain the full legal rights of news media (which are extensive), an entity or person must be accountable to a published code of ethics and the NMSA.
• The NMSA should be chaired by a retired Judge who is appointed by the Chief Ombudsman and the majority of complaints panel members should be representatives of the public who are not from the media industry.
• The NMSA will have a code of practice and may also have sub-codes for different mediums (I think is is important as I think online media should focus more on correction, which is less of a remedy in broadcast or print media).
• NMSA powers will include publishing of their decisions, website take downs, corrections, right of replies, apologies, censure and ultimately termination of membership. However no power to fine.
• A three person appeals body is also recommended.
• No state funding of the NMSA for its regulatory function – will be entirely industry funded.
• A working party of seven people to establish the NMSA, with the Chief Ombudsman appointing the Chairperson and the Chairperson the other six members – with industry representatives in the minority.
• NZ on Air funding of news and current affairs will only be open to media that are members of NMSA.
• BSA would have its role reduced to good taste and decency and protection of children standards only.

I think this report is an opportunity for the media to move from a mixed model of partial government regulation and partial self-regulation to effectively full self-regulation. I also like the opening up of opportunities for non traditional media to gain the legal privileges of the media, so long as they are willing to sign up for a code of practice and complaints procedure.

To some degree the status quo isn’t broken, so I wouldn’t call this a legislative priority for any Government. We’ll see a formal response in 120 days (off memory). But it does represent a sensible way forward and is worth pursuing.

Oral Questions 2.00 pm – 3.00 pm

Questions to Ministers

1. DAVID SHEARER (Labour) to the Prime Minister: Does he have confidence in all his Ministers?
2. Peseta SAM LOTU-IIGA (National) to the Minister of Finance: What progress is the Government making in its programme to build a more competitive and productive economy?
3. GRANT ROBERTSON (Labour) to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by all his statements?
4. JAMI-LEE ROSS (National) to the Minister of Corrections: What announcements has she made on the introduction of prison performance tables?
5. Hon RUTH DYSON (Labour) to the Minister of Conservation: What is the total number of staff that will lose their jobs at the Department of Conservation as a result of staff cuts announced today, and how many, if any, of those are “frontline” staff?
6. MELISSA LEE (National) to the Minister for Social Development: How is the Government’s Social Workers in Schools initiative making a difference for vulnerable children?
7. EUGENIE SAGE (Greens) to the Minister of Conservation: Can he guarantee that any job cuts announced today will not impact on the Department of Conservation’s ability to protect the conservation estate?
8. Dr RUSSEL NORMAN (Greens) to the Minister for the Environment: Does she agree with Guy Salmon’s comment that she is a Minister who wants to lower environmental standards?
9. Dr CAM CALDER (National) to the Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment: What has New Zealand’s income from international education been for the past 12 months?
10. Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS (NZ First) to the Minister of Trade: Does he believe that a multi-million dollar fraud case involving one of Zespri’s import agents in China has hurt New Zealand’s international trading reputation?
11. CHRIS HIPKINS (Labour) to the Minister of Education: Does she have confidence in the Ministry of Education; if so, why?
12. LOUISE UPSTON (National) to the Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations: What recent progress has been made towards the settlement of historical Treaty of Waitangi claims?

National is asking five questions, Labour four, the Greens two, and NZ First one. Labour is asking on staff cuts at DoC, confidence in the MoE, and two gotchas to the PM. The Greens are also asking on staff cuts at DoC, as well as environmental standards. NZ First is asking on a fraud case in China. Patsy of the day goes to Melissa Lee for question 6: How is the Government’s Social Workers in Schools initiative making a difference for vulnerable children?

Government Bills 3.00 pm – 6.00 pm and 7.30 pm – 10.00 pm

1. Social Security (Benefit Categories and Work Focus) Amendment Bill – committee stage
2. Student Loan Scheme Amendment Bill (No 2) – committee stage (cont.)
3. Local Electoral Amendment Bill (No 2) – committee stage

The Social Security (Benefit Categories and Work Focus) Amendment Bill amends the Social Security Act 1964 to introduce a new system of main benefits, drug testing requirements, and work and child welfare obligations for beneficiaries. Paula Bennett is in charge and it just barely passed second reading, with National, ACT and United Future the parties supporting.

The Student Loan Scheme Amendment Bill (No 2) was introduced by Peter Dunne in August 2012, in his role as Minister of Revenue. The Bill introduces data-matching with the New Zealand Customs Service to locate borrowers in serious default when they enter or leave New Zealand. It will also change the definition of income, bringing it into line with the definition used for Working For Families tax credits and student allowances, from April 2014. At second reading only the Greens and Mana voted against.

The Local Electoral Amendment Bill (No 2) was introduced October 2012, in response to the John Banks donation saga. The Bill amends the principle legislation in regard to provisions for the conduct of local elections; transparency and accountability around electoral donations; and the integrity and efficiency of the electoral system.

Stuff reports:

Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee is demanding answers after EQC’s “unprecedented” privacy blunder while his Labour counterpart has called for his resignation.

Brownlee said last night he would meet EQC chief executive Ian Simpson and chairman Michael Wintringham this morning to insist on answers.

Brownlee, who found out about the 73,000 extra claimants only at 2.21pm yesterday (the media conference was at 3pm), said the blunder was embarrassing and he had a “lot more to find out”.

“On Friday when we first learned there had been a mishap, it was in the realms of being a forgivable mistake but when you learn that rather than 9700 claims affected it’s more than 80,000, well, that escalates it a little bit further to say the least.” …

Labour earthquake spokeswoman Lianne Dalziel said Brownlee needed to “make an appointment with the Prime Minister and hand in his resignation notice”.

A staff member didn’t notice that his auto-complete function had inserted the wrong recipient name, and sent an attachment to the wrong person.

And Dalziel thinks this is a case for the Minister to resign.

All I can say is that Labour will need a very large caucus if they get into Government, because I expect Ministers will be resigning every week or so based on this new hysterical standard.