Stuff reports:

The Trump administration announced that it is offering buyouts to all federal employees who opt to leave their jobs by next week — an unprecedented move to shrink the US government at breakneck speed.

A memo from the Office of Personnel Management, the government’s human resources agency, also said it would begin subjecting all federal employees to “enhanced standards of suitability and conduct” and ominously warned of future downsising. The email sent to millions of employees said those who leave their posts voluntarily will receive about eight months of salary, but they have to choose to do so by February 6.

Offering almost the entire public service an eight month redundancy payout is audacious. This could leads to huge cost savings after the first year, and also may mean that those who remain are more dedicated to the job.

When Don Brash was Governor of the Reserve Bank, it turned out he would do his own laundry while travelling, to save the Reserve Bank money. He always saw whatever they spent, as ultimately being taxpayer’s money.

Compare that to today, when the Reserve Bank spends more on their website than any other government agency.

Chris Lynch reports:

A left-leaning Christchurch political event has come under fire for using Christchurch City Council and Environment Canterbury (ECan) logos to solicit donations for a local Green Party campaign.

The event, titled “Local Government – Can We Make a Difference?”, was organised by Green Party activist Rosemary Neave, “working with the Greens, Labour, The People’s Choice, and The Tuesday Club,” a small left-leaning social group.

Promoted as a way to encourage political engagement, the event featured either Labour or Green local councillors, including Environment Canterbury Chair Craig Pauling.

Promotional material prominently displayed the two council logos and included a ticketing section soliciting donations under the label, “Donation to the Green Party for local campaign support.” Council rules explicitly state, “Council resources are not to be permitted for campaigning purposes.”

Very obvious this would have been against the rules.

Guest post by Jordan Williams

Last year, my former boss (i.e. Taxpayers’ Union Chair), and friend, Casey Costello took a lot of criticism and unfair suggestions that she is in the pocket of the tobacco industry or otherwise has acted dishonourably with her decision to treat smokefree (heated) tobacco differently from traditional cigarettes from a tax perspective.

The criticism of Casey has troubled me, as I know her well.  I have always found her integrity to be second-to-none, and unlike many modern-day politicians, she’s not in Parliament for egotistical reasons, rather her North Star (she believes firmly in equality of citizenship, and that a divided country is no path for prosperity for most Maori).  In shepherding through Cabinet the reduction in excise tax for heat-not-burn tobacco, I would be absolutely astonished if Casey’s motivation was anything other than what she says (to paraphrase): heated tobacco products are a far safer alternative to smoking, and by reducing the excise tax on them, it serves to incentivise the shift off the traditional durries that, unfortunately, some people are choosing / addicted to. 

I supported the move.  Clearly vaping has been the most successful smoking cessation tool in my lifetime (and if we were to tax it, there is a material risk smokers would switch back).  So it is reasonable to assume novel products such as heat-not-burn (and snuse – which has been very effective in Sweden to get locals to quit) may have their place in getting those hard-core addicts still smoking to give up.

Last year it occurred to me to ask NZ Customs about the timing of imports of the products the tax cuts applied to.  I wanted to know whether, perhaps, industry ran down their stocks or behaved in a way that might suggest they knew the tax change was coming. This would support Labour/RNZ’s theory that there was the sort of industry manipulation of NZ First or Casey that they have used as an attack line.

The response to my OIA from Customs is below. What is interesting is that even after Cabinet took the decision (20 May) but before the decision was announced (18 July), the affected products continued to be imported. In fact, June 2024 was the second highest month in 2024 for importation of the products (therefore attracting twice the tax than if the importers have delayed shipments by a few weeks!).

If the tobacco company lobbyists really were ‘in the know’ or donkey deep involved – they must not have mentioned it to their bosses who lost hundreds of thousands due to the timing of their imports.

Given that Labour have access to Parliamentary Questions (and RNZ have the same access as I do to the OIA) why did they not ask this most blindingly obvious question?  Then again, ‘exposing’ that a Minister is an independently minded person taking on the blob to get on with the job doesn’t really fit their preferred narrative…

24-675 Jordan Williams Response_RedactedDownload

OIA 24-675 tobacco import duty 1 January 2023 – 22 October 2024Download

In interests of disclosure (although it is very well known) the Taxpayers’ Union have had tobacco/nicotine companies as members. Our opponents like to suggest that it’s the majority of our funding (in fact, the sum of membership dues and donations from all industry supporters – alcohol, sugar, nicotine, and construction companies amount to no more than 3% of our annual income in each of the last five years). Details of who funds the Taxpayers’ Union is disclosed on our website.  This blog post was not sent to/shared with the Minister, her office, or any industry player(s) prior to publication.

CNN report:

Colombia has walked back from the brink of a damaging trade war with the United States, reaching an agreement on accepting deported migrants being returned on military planes, after a flurry of threats from President Donald Trump that included steep tariffs.

Colombia said Sunday evening it had agreed to “all of President Trump’s terms,” including the “unrestricted acceptance” of immigrants who entered the US illegally, after two US military planes carrying deportees were blocked from entering the country.

Trump started with a -4% approval rating in 2016. This time he is at +9%, which he never achieved in his first term, and may go even higher. The backdown by Colombia was swift and total.

Fran O’Sullivan writes:

News media went for Simeon Brown with the cheap shot that his appointment as Health Minister meant getting an abortion could be threatened.

The media posse at the National Party caucus retreat this week wasn’t focusing on his priorities for this weighty portfolio: how he would ensure New Zealand does develop a first-class health system amid the disarray left behind when a major centralisation by the last Labour Government to form Health New Zealand resulted in chaos. All too complex in today’s media world? Surely not.

Instead, its members picked up on an obvious smear by a pro-abortion lobby suggesting Brown’s appointment meant abortion services and funding delivered by the health system were in jeopardy. His appointment was a “provocation”, the lobby claimed.

It was ridiculous.

This reflexive approach by press gallery journalists in particular drives coalition ministers to exasperation. The default position is often to go for the negative first instead of trying to understand what new policy positions involve.

If (fr example) the Sensible Sentencing Trust objected to a new Minister on the grounds of their personal beliefs, does anyone think the media would run a story on it? Of course not.

Radio NZ reports:

A young wahine Māori is hoping to integrate te ao Māori into her business one slice at a time after becoming a Pizza Hut franchisee at just 22 years old.

Caitlyn Lewin (Ngāti Mutunga o Wharekauri and Rangitāne o Wairau) started working at Pizza Hut at the age of 15 with no CV, just a handwritten note.

“It was the first ever job I gave my CV in to. I didn’t even have a CV at the time. I just wrote some random stuff on a paper at the library and just took it in. Got an interview, got the job, and literally started washing dishes three days a week.”

Now, at 22 years old, she owns her own store in Tawa, Wellington.

That’s incredible and great.

Lewin climbed the ladder, and by 17, she was a duty manager, juggling high school, working 40 hours a week, and representing New Zealand in softball.

Great work ethic.

As some of you will have children or grand-children facing a new school year – anxiety for kids can be a big deal. Below are some of my thoughts on that.

I am a diagnosed social-phobe. I find social-interactions, meetings and group interactions highly problematic. The effects of this are – social withdrawal, all sorts of manifestations when something cannot be avoided (sweats, shakes, inappropriate expressions, etc), and fatigue.

It was not something recognised or understood until my fortieth year – but then explained a lot. I had been white knuckling though life until then. By and large, things have gone better since as I can prepare for events and know what is going on internally.

In many of my school years I was school averse. I hated going to school. Even as a teacher/Principal I would get to the end of the holidays, or weekend, and say; “I don’t want to do to school tomorrow.” The refrain from my family was; “You have to – you are the Principal.” Once I got there I loved it.

For a child, with this kind of anxiety, things can be very tough – they reflect on past experiences of conflict and bullying from students and teachers. They worry about social rejection and being the odd one out. They hyper-focus on one aspect of potential embarassment or a teacher they fear. They worry about failure of all kinds – or success that sets them apart from others.

Getting to school each day can become a huge hurdle and the evening before can become a fretful time for every family member. This may only occur for a short period of a child’s life and it might come from nowhere and siddenly be a big issue.

Each solution is slighly different but here a few hints I have picked up through my experiences and through helping many children get through this kind of situation.

– Play down the compulsion aspect. My parents – with positive intent – used to tell me that: “You must go to school. It is the law.” It was like hitting my with a psycological base-ball bat.

– Don’t hurry – but do work in increments. On the one had – a few months of interupted school can be learned from and will not destroy future careers. But, it is good for all if there is an incremental plan. This could be morning/afternoons for a few weeks. Three days a week. Just in certain classes ……

– Listen carefuly to the child – prefereaby before they are tired and anxiety is heightened – and help them to distinguish the rational from the irrational.
Identify positive teacher and friend relationships and try and further those links.

– When anxiety is expecially heightened seek out professional help and play the long game. Many of the world’s high achievers are people with anxiety/depression as a part of their back-gound (e.g. Churchill’s “black dog”.) Medication is an option but research hard as a parent and look, initially, for it as a stop-gap option.

– Care for yourself – in the same way that an airline says put on your oxygen mask first. If you get overwhelmed you become a lot less available to help your child.

Happy to discuss further.

Alwyn Poole
[email protected]
alwynpoole.substack.com

I don;’t understand how the Reserve Bank is exempt from the restraint that applies to the rest of the public sector agencies. For 10 years the Bank ran well with around 250 staff and now it has almost 650.

Tama Potaka released:

The Government has achieved its target to reduce the number of households in emergency housing motels by 75 per cent five years early, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says.

In just one year it has dropped from 3,141 households to 591. That’s 2500 fewer families living in motels.

“While the previous government only knew where about 50 per cent of those leaving emergency housing were going, our Government has done the work to significantly improve on this. As a result, we know that about 80 per cent of those leaving emergency housing have moved to social, transitional, or private housing with some kind of government support such as the Accommodation Supplement. 

Emergency housing should be for emergencies. But under Labour it became a way of life for too many.

The Herald reports:

Eden Park has welcomed Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s State of the Nation address, during which he took aim at council event rules limiting the number of concerts the Auckland stadium is allowed to host.

But Luxon’s address has been met with backlash from former Prime Minister Helen Clark, who accused his Government of rejecting “sound planning law”.

Addressing the nation on Thursday, Luxon narrowed in on a “culture of saying no”, arguing it is holding back New Zealand’s economic growth.

In his speech, he emphasised the need for more concerts, mining, and infrastructure to boost jobs and innovation. He said concerts could boost the country’s local economy.

“Kiwis spend thousands flying across the Tasman to see massive concerts, go out to bars and restaurants, and boost the Australian economy, when back home Eden Park sits empty because of council event rules,” Luxon said.

100% agree with the PM.

The vast majority of Eden Park residents want more shows at Eden Park. It’s ridiculous that so many top shows bypass New Zealand, as the largest venue is so restricted.

The Officers of Parliament Committee announced:

The Officers of Parliament Committee has presented a report to the House recommending the appointment of John Richard Allen as Chief Ombudsman.

Mr Allen is the Chancellor at Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington and chief executive of WellingtonNZ.  He is a former chief executive of the New Zealand Racing Board, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and the New Zealand Post Group.

This is a good appointment. Allen has a strong background in both the public sector, but isn’t a typical former chief executive as he had a strong commercial background with NZ Post and previously as a partner in a law firm.

Georgina Campbell writes:

Former Wellington mayor Justin Lester says while he doesn’t intend to run for the city’s top job again, Labour has approached him about his potential candidacy and he’d “never say never”.

Lester has caused a stir by refusing to rule out a comeback ahead of local body elections in October.

That agitation has been heightened by his launching of a new social media Facebook page called Wellington Alive to celebrate the good things happening in the city.

Labour can’t abide the possibility of the left losing control of Wellington. If they think Whanau is toast, then they’ll make sure they stand a candidate who can beat a candidate from the right.

Saying you have no intention to run is a very very weak denial. It is far from Shermanesque.

Judith Collins announced:

The Judicial Conduct Commissioner has recommended a Judicial Conduct Panel be established to inquire into and report on the alleged conduct of acting District Court Judge Ema Aitken in an incident last November, Attorney-General Judith Collins said today.

“I referred the matter of Judge Aitken’s alleged conduct during an incident on 22 November 2024 to the Judicial Conduct Commissioner,” Ms Collins says.

“The Commissioner has recommended a Judicial Conduct Panel be set up to inquire into what happened. However, because of my role in making the referral, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith will act as Attorney-General on this matter, to avoid any perception of conflict of interest, bias or pre-determination on my part in the decision yet to be made.

“Mr Goldsmith will therefore now consider the Commissioner’s recommendation.

It is no surprise that the Commissioner recommended a judicial conduct panel. The choices were to dismiss the complaint, refer to the Head of Bench or recommend a judicial conduct panel.

The threshold for recommending a panel is “the conduct may warrant consideration of removal of the Judge”.

The AG does not have to appoint a JCP, but it is almost unthinkable one won’t be appointed if the Commissioner has recommended it. You can’t appoint one, unless the Commissioner has recommended it.

The JCP has three members appointed by the (Acting) AG after consulting the Chief Justice. Two will be judges, or former judges (or a barrister of at least seven years standing) and one will be a lay person. It is chaired by the retired judge or if there is not one, the senior most judge appointed.

The JCP has public hearings (I attended the last one) and they report to the Attorney-General whether or not the Judge should be removed from office. The AG then decides whether or not to remove them.

The quarterly inflation rate of 0.5% and annual inflation rate of 2.2% is acceptable, even though a bit on the high side (I think the range should be 0 to 2%).

The breakdown annually is 4.5% for non-tradeables and -1.1% for tradeables. 4.5% is still too high and if I was the Reserve Bank I’d be tempted to only do a 0.25% drop in the cash rate.

Against that though the quarterly non-tradeable figure was only 0.7% and if you annualise that out, then that is 2.8% so under the 3% band.

While it is the overall rate that has to be under 3%, we have little control over tradeable inflation, but more so over non-tradeable or domestic.

The annual non-tradeable rate has been:

• 2021: 5.3%
• 2022: 6.6%
• 2023: 5.9%
• 2024: 4.5%

Hopefully in 2025 it will be well below 3%.

Radio NZ reports:

Imagine earning $3.5 million ($US2 million) a day – that was the average daily income for the world’s billionaires last year.

Imagine inventing the most popular electric car in the world and selling 7.5 million of them,

Imagine inventing a space company that has done almost 500 rocket launches, more than the rest of the world combined.

Imagine co-founding an artificial intelligence company.

Imagine founding a neurotechnology company.

Imagine founding an Internet provider that uses 7,000 satellites to provide Internet to almost five million users.

If you can imagine doing all that, you too can imagine earning $3.5 million a day.

The Free Press reports:

Four years ago, the Biden administration promised 25 million people in rural America, like Beining, that they would get reliable access to the internet. But so far, the $42 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program has yet to hook up a single customer.

Amazing. And remember we got over a million homes on fibre for under $1 billion!

In addition, states had to prove that they promoted participation from minority-owned businesses, women-owned businesses, and “other socially or economically disadvantaged individual-owned businesses.” They also had to create a Five-Year Action Plan that required collaborating with unions and “underrepresented communities,” including prisoners, LGBTQI+ individuals, women, and people of color.

Brendan Carr, the senior Republican on the Federal Communications Commission, told The Free Press that “woke leftist policies” woven into BEAD’s eligibility requirements contributed to the holdup.

This would explain the lack of action. It is similar to the WCC requirement that street cleaning companies have policies about supplier diversity.