Labour’s new lineup is here, according to their website:

1. David Shearer – Science & Innovation
2. Grant Robertson – Employment, Arts
3. David Parker – Finance, Shadow Attorney-General
4. Jacinda Ardern – Welfare, Children
5. Clayton Cosgrove – SOEs, Commerce, Trade
6. Annette King – Health
7. Shane Jones – Regional Development, Foresty, Associate Finance
8. Phil Twyford – Housing, Auckland
9. Maryan Street – Environment
10. Chris Hipkins – Education, Chief Whip
11. Nanaia Mahuta – Youth, Maori Development
12. David Clark – Economic Development, Small Business
13. Sue Moroney – ACC, ECE, Women’s Affairs
14. Su’a William Sio – Local Government, Pacific
15. Phil Goff – Foreign Affairs, State Services, Defence
16. Darien Fenton – Labour, Immigration, Junior Whip
17. Damien O’Connor – Primary Industries, Food Safety
18. Clare Curran – Comms/ICT, Open Govt
19. Andrew Little – Justice, Tourism
20. Megan Woods – Tertiary Education

The top 20 are generally considered the shadow cabinet. Cunliffe has been given a portfolio, but this indicate he will not be in the Government if Shearer wins. In fact only the top 14 or so might get to be in Cabinet as you need room for coalition partners.

The top eight sit on the front bench, so King, Jones and Twyford join the front bench and Sio, Mahuta and Street get demoted off it. That is a significant reshuffle for the front bench.

King is a very safe pair of hands, and may be the first Labour Health Spokesperson in four years to lay a blow on Ryall. Against that promoting someone who was a Minister in the 1980s onto the front bench in the 2010s doesn’t signal rejuvenation.

I’ve previously said that Jones and Twyford deserve promotions. I am surprised Hipkins didn’t go all the way onto the front bench though.

Robertson is put in charge of jobs. He is an effective politician but may struggle for credibility to talk about job creation when as far as I know his entire career has been in the public sector, and he has never actually worked in the private sector which actually creates the jobs (and funds the public sector).

David Clark is obviously well thought off to put him against Steven Joyce. He has worked in Treasury so understands economics (unlike most of his colleagues).

Colin Espiner writes:

 South Africa doesn’t do trial by jury. The republic abolished the system in 1969, over concerns black people would never get a fair trial. South Africa, along with most of continental Europe, Africa, South America and Asia, uses the Inquisitorial judge-only trial system. 

I’m very relieved. Because Oscar Pistorius can play to the courtroom and the media about how he desperately tried to resuscitate his dying girlfriend after “shooting her by accident”, and weep uncontrollably about his “terrible mistake” until the cows come home. There’s no jury of his peers to sympathise with him. 

I’m not saying Pistorius doesn’t deserve a fair trial. Quite the reverse. Rather unfortunately for him, that’s precisely what he’s going to get. 

He’s going to have to explain to a sceptical judge just how he managed to get out of his bed after hearing a noise in the bathroom in the middle of the night, without checking to see if his girlfriend was lying beside him, shoot four rounds into the toilet door without once inquiring who was in there, before bashing the door down with a cricket bat. 

He’ll have to explain why Reeva didn’t scream, the inconsistencies between his account and witness accounts of heated arguments and screams coming from the property leading up to the shooting, and the alleged 17-minute delay between the first shot and the final three. 

And there will be no gullible jury to listen enthralled by their proximity to such a famous man, to be bamboozled by science and DNA evidence, or to take their own prejudices and stereotypes into the deliberation room. 

Colin makes a strong case I have to say.

We’ve had our own fair share of controversial trials of late, and I’m not sure the jury system has been getting it right either. New Zealand, along with Britain and America, is in the minority in persisting with jury trials, and I reckon it’s time for a rethink.

It strikes me as odd that complex fraud and civil cases can be heard by a judge alone but that virtually any criminal trial for an offence punishable by more than three months’ jail has the option of trial by jury.

Off memory that is changing so that only offences punishable by two years or more will have the option.

Gaynz.com has an article on the achievements of Charles Chauvel. A number of people have suggested to me that the list is so detailed that it must have been written by Charles himself. Some extracts:

February 2013: Parliament unanimously supported his resolution to condemn proposed homophobic legislation in Uganda in Nigeria, after National had earlier blocked his attempt due to, well, politics.

Oh what an achievement. He managed to get Parliament to spend 10 seconds allowing him to read out a motion. And it failed the first time not due to politics, but because he failed to let the whips know that he intended to seek leave. The way the article is written is why it looks like Charles compiled it himself.

August 2012: Ruffled conservative feathers when he asked anti-abortion group Right to Life to send him its rules, so he could see whether it actually has a mandate to comment on the issue of marriage equality.

Asked a group for a copy of its rules? That seriously counts as an achievement?

A similar passion for rivial detail can be seen in Chauvel’s Wikipedia article. Despite never being a Minister, his Wikipedia page is more detailed than 99% of MPs, including his own leader. It includes details which are not generally publicly known such as how his grandparents moved from Scotland and started a dance company!!! It has numerous direct quotes from him, includes details such as how he once wrote a guest post for No Right Turn, and even lists four SOPs he wrote on a climate change bill. It’s the sort of detail you expect on Obama’s Wikipedia page, not a fairly obscure List MP. Oh the page also has the in depth analysis of a bill he wrote, which was never even drawn in his name.

Now of course it is all possible that in both cases these incredibly detailed lists of achievements have nothing to do with Charles.

But I do recall how in 2011 he was found out writing letters to the editor praising his efforts as an MP, and asking friendly lawyers to send them in under his name.

Incidentally it was people in Labour who pointed out to me some time ago the obviously self-authored Wikipedia page. His self-promotion efforts are the stories of legend by various Labour people.

John Armstrong in NZ Herald reports:

Epsom voters are likely to be targeted by a combined scare campaign and charm offensive from Act as the party ratchets up its efforts to hold the seat.

Act is putting even more emphasis on National’s need for a reliable coalition partner to persuade local voters to allow it to keep its toehold in Parliament despite its basement-level support in nationwide polls..

Act’s new president, John Boscawen told the party’s weekend conference that if Act was not back in 2014 in even bigger numbers, National woulds be dependent on either the Maori Party or NZ First “or worse still, both of them”.

“The people of Epsom have huge power and have used it very wisely.”

Mr Boscawen said that as president he would go out and about with John Banks every week on to the streets of Epsom, into the shops and on to the doorsteps, and constantly remind Epsom voters of how crucial their vote was in securing a further three years of National government.

Many people do not realise this, but if National had won Epsom, then Labour would have gained an additional List MP. This would have meant a hung Parliament.

• National 59 and United Future 1 = 60
• Labour 35 + Greens 14 + NZ First 8 + Mana 1 = 58
• Maori = 3

The Maori Party would have held the balance of power if National had won either Epsom or Ohariu.

Of course that doesn’t mean that will automatically be the same scenario in 2014, but if things are close again, then individual seats may be very important.

The reason Labour would gain an extra seat, is because the currently sit on the 121st quotient. If ACT failed to qualify for allocation, then effectively their quotient goes to the party that was closest to next getting an MP. National has the 120th quotient and Labour the 121st, so Labour would have benefited from ACT’s demise.

The Herald reported:

Charter schools a ‘failed experiment in New Orleans’

So who is saying they are a failed experiment?

A visiting opponent of charter schools has told the education and science committee in Parliament today the Government should not proceed with charter schools.

Karran Harper Royal, from New Orleans, cautioned the committee against approving charter schools.

“I am a proud American, but not all that comes out of America is good. Charter schools have been a failed experiment in New Orleans.

There is no reason for New Zealanders to go down that road, Ms Harper Royal said.

“Why would you want to give up your democratic involvement in your public education system for a privatised public school system when the evidence coming out of the United States shows that charter schools fail.”

It is interesting that Ms Royal should talk of democratic involvement, because that is where I want to focus.

Royal is a dedicated opponent of charter schools. In fact just a few months ago she stood for election to to the Orleans Parish School Board District 3.

So do the actual parents and voters of New Orleans share her strident views on charter schools being a failure? Did she get elected in a landslide?

She came last, getting just 10% of the vote.

Did any media think of checking that the person who claims to speak for New Orleans was rejected by 90% Orleans Parish just three months ago? The candidate who won by the way is a Democrat who strongly supports charter schools – as does President Obama and many Democrats.

The story also failed to mention that Royal was paid to come over here and campaign against charter schools by the PPTA (as I understand it). That would be relevant.

But what of these “failed” charter schools in New Orleans. Will we see any mention of the following:

• The Harvard Business School found 19 of the 20 highest performing non-selective schools were charter schools and “The overall percentage of schools performing below the failing mark of 60 fell from 64% in 2005 to 36% in 2009”
• That the biggest supporters of US charter schools are African-Americans at 64%. Only 14% of African-Americans oppose charter schools.
• That the overall performance of all schools in New Orleans has improved from 56.9 in 2004 to 70.6 in 2009.
• 82% of parents with children enrolled at public charter schools gave their children’s schools an “A” or “B”, though only 48% of parents of children enrolled in non-chartered public schools assigned A’s or B’s to the schools their children attended
• The Cowen Institute finds significantly higher test scores in charter schools in New Orleans than non charter schools
• That 78% of students in New Orleans have chosen to attend charter schools
• That prior to charter schools, 96% of the city’s public school students were below basic proficiency in English and “In 2002, only 31 percent of fourth graders were deemed at or above basic in English/language arts. By 2009, that number had swelled to 59 percent.”
• The Democratic Mayor of New Orleans says charter schools have meant “the achievement level of the kids in the inner city is now beginning to match the kids on the statewide level in a very, very short period of time”
• The Mayor also says “Before Katrina, the graduation rate was less than 50 percent. Now it’s more than 75 percent. Test scores are up 33 percent.”

All I can say is that if this is what failure looks like, we need a lot more of it.

So why are  Labour and the Greens are fighting so hard against charter schools?

I think this report in The Southern may give us a clue:

Not only do charters dominate the education landscape, but also nearly every attendance zone has been eliminated, making school choice almost universal. None of the schools, from charters to regular public schools, are bound by a collective bargaining agreement. In other words, they have no unions they have to deal with.

Heresy!

Vernon Small at Stuff reports:

Education Minister Hekia Parata recommended that Wanganui Collegiate should not be integrated into the state system, but she was rolled by her Cabinet colleagues.

If integration had not gone ahead, the private school would have closed last year, documents obtained under the Official Information Act show.

Instead, it will now receive $3.1 million a year from the taxpayer, despite an oversupply of 1400 places in the state school system in the region.

The documents show that, on October 29 last year, Ms Parata recommended to the Cabinet that ministers reject the integration move and take no further action.

However, a second paper two days later shows her recommendation was overruled.

“Following discussion on your proposal, and having taken account of all the information before it, Cabinet subsequently noted the following decision: ‘That the Minister of Education intends to agree to the integration of Wanganui Collegiate School into the state network of schools at an estimated cost of $3.1 million per annum . . .”

This is not entirely uncommon, and is sometimes the life of being a Minister. You’ll recommend one thing to Cabinet, they’ll vote for something else, and as Minister you have to go up and front a decision that you disagree with.

Personally I have no problem with the decision as if Collegiate had closed, then the taxpayer would be having to fund their current pupils in state schools, so saying no would not have saved taxpayers money. That means that if the issue is no longer fiscal, then it should be about quality of education.

Thomas Reese looks at the next Pope:

Benedict has appointed 57 per cent of the cardinal electors (John Paul II named the rest), so they will most likely elect someone with similar views. In American terms, that means someone to the right of Newt Gingrich on social issues and to the left of Nancy Pelosi on economic issues.

Sigh. I’m the opposite. I’m to the right of Gingrich on economic issues and the left of Pelosi on social issues 🙂

The author is a Jesuit priest at Georgetown University.

I’ve blogged at Curiablog the results of the latest 3 News Reid Research poll.

Note that the poll was done after the release of the Auditor-General report into the proposed Sky City convention centre.

Fenceline

EveryTrail – Find trail maps for California and beyond

An 8.5 km hike around the fenceline of the Karori Sanctuary, Zealandia. It has 460 metres of vertical elevation so is a good challenge. It is the same route as the annual gutbuster run.

We started at the Zealandia and climb up to the Brooklyn Wind Turbine. The odd flat piece, but mainly uphill.

From the wind turbine you continue along the fence towards Hawkins Hill but then veer back towards Karori. You think you do not have much more climbing to go, but actually the track drops down into a valley which then gives you another big climb up to Wrights Hill.

From Wrights Hill, it is mainly downhill. The track next to the fenceline is so steep at parts you are advised to use an alternate zigzag down, which we did.

Some great views, and a reasonable distance to go from Karori to Brooklyn and back.

Big ups to all the cyclists on the shared path. Everyone helpfully yells out that they are approaching you, what side of the path they are on, and how many of them there are.

If anyone knows what the berries are in one of the photos, feel free to comment.

News.com.au reports:

KEVIN Rudd would catapult Labor into an election-winning position if he was to be reinstalled as leader, according to a new Galaxy poll.

A comeback by the former prime minister would deliver a 14 per cent boost to Labor’s primary vote in Queensland, putting it in line to seize two-thirds of the state’s seats.

The poll of 800 Queenslanders, taken on the evenings of February 20 and 21, found that federal Labor’s support, with Prime Minister Julia Gillard at the helm, was stuck on 33 per cent – close to the primary vote Labor received at the last election.

This would see Tony Abbott lead the Coalition to victory by 55 per cent to 45 per cent on a two-party preferred basis in Queensland if preferences flowed as they did in 2010.

But Labor’s primary vote would soar to 47 per cent in Queensland if Mr Rudd returned to the leadership and faced off against Mr Abbott, the poll found.

Rudd is effectively campaigning full-time to gain the leadership back off Gillard. It will come to a head in March probably.

I’m not sure Rudd will win though. Generally MPs will vote for their own surivival, but a fair few Labor MPs would rather lose their seats than have Rudd back as Leader.

Rob Kidd at Stuff reports:

An online gamer is accused of killing his cyber-rival after losing a fantasy game where they were pitted against each other in battle.

The violent blurring of the virtual and real worlds came after the pair had spent several hours playing an online game, each in his own house kilometres apart.

The Sunday Star-Times cannot reveal the names of the accused killer nor his victim, where the homicide took place or when, because the details may prejudice an eventual trial.

However, police have confirmed they believe the most likely motive for the attack was the game which the pair played in the hours immediately before the attack. 

There may be a guilty plea of course, but if it goes to trial I think there will be international attention on it. Very sad for the families concerned.

The HoS reports:

High-profile lawyer Greg King, who died last year, has been cleared by the Ministry of Justice of wrong-doing after a prisoner accused him of over-billing for legal aid.

King, who defended Scott Guy-murder accused Ewen Macdonald in the most high-profile trial of 2012, died in November. His death was reported to the coroner.

A Rimutaka prisoner convicted of sexual offences had complained King had over-charged for his services by inaccurately putting in for hours worked by his wife, fellow lawyer Catherine Milnes-King.

But the ministry’s deputy secretary of legal and operational services, Nigel Fyfe, told the Herald on Sunday an investigation found nothing untoward on King’s part.

The allegations were the subject of newspaper inquiries by Fairfax staff to King just prior to his death. It is good he has been officially cleared.

Experts on suicide always stress there is never any one cause. But it will be interesting to read what the Coroner determines to have been the factors that contributed to the tragic decision King made to end his life.

Kathryn Powley in HoS reports:

Stephen Hovell, the principal of the school where confessed paedophile James Parker preyed on children has been sacked.

Stephen Hovell claims he has been made a scapegoat for Parker sexually abusing pupils at the primary school in the Far North. He plans to fight for his job.

Parker – Pamapuria’s former deputy principal – is in prison after pleading guilty in August to 49 child-sex offences, but is yet to plead on 23 other charges, including four of sexually violating male pupils.

This is going to court, so I’m not commenting on the legality of the sacking. But I will suggest that it is not quite a case of blaming someone for what happened on their watch, that they had no idea at all about.

The Northland Age commented:

The fact that Parker was hosting boys at his home was well known, even if what was going on there was not. The school administration does not seem to have been falling over itself to investigate allegations that swirled around the man, and, according to the report, it might have been the use of one word as opposed to two others in the Education Act 1989 that allowed him to continue offending for as long as he did. …

 Meanwhile the glaring omission from this 37-page report is input from Stephen Hovell. As principal at Pamapuria his role in this tragic story is pivotal, and the fact that he declined to be interviewed can lead to only one conclusion, one that is not favourable to Mr Hovell. …

There are degrees of culpability in this story, and some of it belongs to Stephen Hovell.

I really don’t see how you can say this is a case of scapegoating. Also if Hovell did refuse to co-operate with the inquiry then his position was clearly untenable.

The Herald also reported:

Parker’s closeness to some families and his mana as kapa haka leader made it hard for people to suspect or accuse him. Others felt their concerns would not be acted on because he was close to principal Stephen Hovell.

Before 2012, the closest Parker came to prosecution was in 2009 when a boy told his sister about the abuse. She told her mother, who went to police. Two other boys were named as victims. However, one said nothing had happened and the two others retracted their allegations.

Detective Dean Gorrie of Kaitaia CIB could not lay charges but wrote Mr Hovell a sternly worded letter about Parker’s sleepovers, saying they had to stop immediately.

It was not clear whether the letter was read in full to the school board of trustees, which was given only limited information by Mr Hovell.

To be honest I’m surprised he didn’t resign long ago. To refuse to co-operate with the inquiry and to then commence legal proceedings to keep your job suggests a focus on his own welfare continues to win out over the welfare of his charges.

Despite being just two and a half years old my laptop seems to be in need of replacing. I’m having to boot it up in safe mode half the time as it just won’t start up normally.

In the past I have not wanted to consider a non-Windows machine as the transition was going to be too much hassle, but this time I am open to a Macintosh, and in fact that is probably my preference. They just seem to last longer.

As with previous times, keen for feedback from readers as to what they would recommend. My ideal features are:

• Fast
• Long battery life
• Can be used for 12+ hours a day
• Relatively light
• Quick start up
• Can handle multiple apps open at same time
• Resilient
• 1 TB or more storage
• 16 GB or more RAM

The quiz is here. I think 10/10 in 34 seconds may be a record. No guesses!

Mike Watson at Dom Post reports:

The Taupo Ironman event is to go ahead after local iwi and organisers agreed to a confidential settlement.

Discussions were held all week after Lake Taupo owners Tuwharetoa Maori Trust Board sought to charge a levy for Ironman New Zealand competitors to use the lake for the swim leg of the international triathlon, to be held next weekend.

The trust board was reported to be seeking a $40 levy for each entrant, which would have netted about $58,000.

Taupo Mayor Rick Cooper said he was sickened and saddened by yesterday’s announcement. “If a charge has been set for the use of the lake I would be extremely sad; in fact, I feel sick to hear it. …

Ngati Tuwharetoa, under a revised deed of settlement signed with the Crown in 2007, are considered legal owners of the lake bed and air space above it, and have the right to license commercial users of the lake.

I’m pretty appalled myself.

I can understand the agreement Labour made in 2007 as part of a settlement that commercial users may have to pay a fee. To my mind that was intended for activities which are primarily about making a profit – say a jet ski hire operation.

But sporting events should not be treated in the same way. Charging $40 a person for swimming in the lake just goes against the grain.

If any future agreements include use of lakes, it would be highly desirable for commercial use to exclude sporting events.

Simon Bridges has announced:

The Government’s focus on significantly lifting New Zealand’s workplace health and safety record is behind the establishment of a new, stand-alone agency, says Labour Minister Simon Bridges.

The creation of a stand-alone Crown agent was a key recommendation of the Royal Commission on the Pike River Coal Mine Tragedy.

“The new agency will have a dedicated focus on health and safety and underlines the Government’s strong commitment to addressing New Zealand’s workplace fatality and serious injury rates,” says Mr Bridges.

“We have a firm target of a 25 per cent reduction of these rates by 2020.

This was a key recommendation of the Royal Commission, and you expect the Government to implement all the recommendations unless there is a very good reason not to. The Pike River tragedy is a good example of what happens when there is an inadequate focus on health and safety.

Of course no workplace can be made free from risk, and nor should it be. Health and safety is always a balancing act. Otherwise we would engineer cars to not drive faster than 30 km/hr.

Stuff has a story on the former singing career of Gerry Brownlee.

Gerry is still a good singer. I’ve heard him at various karaoke parties over the years. My favourite is when he does the Helen Reddy song “I am woman, hear me roar” 🙂

I blogged on Thursday how the Herald ran a blog post from James Dann that was both factually incorrect and also failed to disclose Dann stood for Labour for the Christchurch City Council.

Well again on Friday they have run a blog post by Dann (of course attacking the Government again). Once again they do not mention that he is a Labour Party candidate.

How can the Herald justify not telling its readers that the blogger whose work they reprint, who constantly attacks the Government, is in fact a political party candidate?

Matt Stewart at Stuff reports:

Carterton balloon crash pilot Lance Hopping should not have been flying the day he and 10 passengers died, a damning report by the Civil Aviation Authority reveals.

The health and safety report shows Mr Hopping’s medical certificate had expired about six weeks before the fatal flight. He should not have been piloting a commercial aircraft.

At 7.22am on January 7 last year, the balloon burst into flames after hitting a power line, then crashed into a paddock just north of Carterton, killing Mr Hopping and his 10 passengers, including two who jumped or fell from the basket.

It has not been revealed how many other flights he piloted after his medical certificate lapsed. The six weeks covered Christmas and New Year, which are usually busy times for ballooning.

That’s very bad, especially considering Hopping was the current of former President of Ballooning industry body.

In May, an interim report by the Transport Accident Investigation Commission showed toxicology tests on Mr Hopping’s body four days after the crash proved positive for cannabis.

The CAA report says Mr Hopping had time to activate the safety valve at the top of the balloon, which allows for a quick but controlled descent, but did not do so. It finds that he failed to meet his obligations under the Health and Safety in Employment Act, and those failures contributed to the accident.

“The balloon had on-board safety features, including a rapid deflation system and a parachute valve, but there was no evidence that the passengers were ever briefed on their use, and in the event, they were never deployed,” CAA director Graeme Harris said this week.

“Insufficient communication between the balloon and the ground crew, particularly during the landing phase of the flight, was also cited as a contributing factor.”

I initially though the accident was a freak unavoidable event. Sadly it seems it was not.

The CAA website is horrific for finding info. I’m not sure if the report is online or not. Can anyone locate it?

Had a stunning day on Friday at the Gibbs Farm by Kaipara Harbour.

It was organised by the Wellington Sculpture Trust, and around 120 – 150 people flew up from Wellington for it. I doubt anyone regretted it. The farm is outstanding in three ways.

• The views
• The animals
• The sculptures

Together they create an experience that people literally travel to New Zealand to see. The Farm has an open day once a month. I highly recommend you try and attend at some stage. Allow a good three hours to get around everything.

This stag had a cry like a foghorn. You could hear him on the other side of the farm.

There is a statue of a giraffe but also three actual giraffes on the farm. I prefers giraffes not to be in captivity but they have such a large space to roam around in they seemed pretty happy.

This is a close up of A Fold in the Field with a mower making its way up over one of the folds.

This is called 88.50 ARCx8. The yaks at the bottom give you an idea of how large it is.

The Green and White Fence runs for 3.2 kms.

This is me inside the iconic Dismemberment, Site 1.
d

And Jordan W sliding out the far end.

The end is 25 metres tall.

Horizons

Red Cloud confrontation in Landscape

Another view of Dismemberment. The people by it give you some idea of its size. It is 85 metres long.

The central lake and fountain.

The Mermaid. Just next to it is a water polo lake

As we were driving out, we encountered this ostrich happily sitting down on the road blocking it. He wouldn’t move even with the bus in front of him. Someone had to get out and lead him away.

The animals are all very tame, and basically treat the farm as belonging to them, and are very nonplussed by the visitors.

Again a great day. Big thanks to Alan Gibbs for his generosity in making it available to the public, and for his talk to us. Also to the Wellington Sculpture Trust for organizing the day.