Archive for May, 2011

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  Experts debunk National Policy Statement on Freshwater - by frog

  
  
  
  This week Environment Minister Nick Smith released a long awaited and long overdue National Policy Statement on Freshwater. Unfortunately he took the teeth out of what was a sound draft policy statement and removed the parts which would have made the most progress towards cleaning up our seriously polluted rivers and lakes. The governments’ announcement [...] read more
  May 11, 2011 1:46 pm - 6 Comments
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  NZ Herald: MMP deserves to survive referendum - by frog

  
  
  
  Today’s NZ Herald editorial reflects on the outcome of the UK referendum on Preferential Voting as an alternative to First Past the Post and saying how ‘lucky we are’ to have managed the reform of our 19th Century unfair First Past the Post (FPP) system. The arguments for electoral reform were familiar to New Zealanders. [...] read more
  May 11, 2011 1:09 pm - 9 Comments
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  Claim of right defence being restricted after Government lose case - by Keith Locke

  
  
  
  One of the problems with bills amending the Crimes Act is that they sometimes contain disparate provisions, some of which we support, others we oppose. The Greens voted against the Crimes Amendment Bill (No 2) at its first reading last night, particularly because it effectively removes the defence of ‘claim of right’ that was successfully [...] read more
  May 11, 2011 11:31 am - 2 Comments
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  Government policies lead to reduced access to tertiary education - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  Last year, Massey University cut enrolments to summer school without telling students. Hundreds were shut out of a summer education. Massey did this as it was fearful of exceeding Government-imposed enrolment caps. Now Massey is to drastically reduce student numbers by 15 per cent over the next three years directly as a result of the [...] read more
  May 10, 2011 5:19 pm - 8 Comments
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  Conundrum for PM on changes to royal succession rules - by Keith Locke

  
  
  
  Prime Minister Key said this morning he was “not uncomfortable” with a suggestion that he was leading Commonwealth discussions on ending discrimination in the laws of royal succession. He implied he is more likely to get agreement to remove discrimination based on gender (that is, the current preference for male heirs) than discrimination based on [...] read more
  May 10, 2011 4:34 pm - 9 Comments
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  Flash mob for CBD rail loop - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  The Budget is fast approaching and so far the government has shown no sign that they will fund the CBD rail loop. In fact, their latest Government Policy Statement on transport funding shows that over the next 10 years they’re planning to spend $7 on roads for every $1 they spend on sustainable transport options [...] read more
  May 10, 2011 1:00 pm - 19 Comments
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  MMP leads the way - by frog

  
  
  
  It is great to see MMP leading in the latest referendum poll. MMP is a much fairer electoral system than First Past the Post. Under MMP the amount of votes a party gets determines how many seats it gets. It is a proportional system which means that there is no chance of an unfair or [...] read more
  May 10, 2011 10:32 am - 8 Comments
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  SlutWalking comes to Aotearoa-New Zealand - by frog

  
  
  
  Decades pass, but it seems misogynist attitudes towards women continue. The 1970′s heralded the first of the “Reclaim the Night” protests by women demanding the right to move freely in their communities day and night without sexual harassment or sexual assault. But not much has changed over 35 years.  Sexual assault rates haven’t diminished, and [...] read more
  May 9, 2011 6:15 pm - 97 Comments
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  Trustpower and the Govt plan to mine this national park – Rakaia River - by Russel Norman

  
  
  
  Last Saturday I went to pay my respects to one of the grand old men who built the Canterbury Plains, the Rakaia River. The Rakaia River is the greatest of the remaining untamed braided rivers. Starting in the Southern Alps it reaches the ocean south of Lake Ellesmere/Te Waihora. It is one of the rivers that [...] read more
  May 9, 2011 6:13 pm - 4 Comments
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  Submission guide for Auckland Spatial Plan - by David Clendon

  
  
  
  I’ve prepared a submission guide on Auckland Unleashed, the discussion document that Auckland Council released recently to guide their spatial plan. The spatial plan is extremely important because it will guide Auckland’s development for the next 30 years. The Council’s discussion document isn’t perfect – in some areas it’s pretty vague and in others it [...] read more
  May 9, 2011 10:00 am - No Comments
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  Tiki Taane comes back singing - by Keith Locke

  
  
  
  Appropriately, Tiki Taane has responded to being charged for disorderly behaviour last month by writing a catchy song, Freedom to Sing. The song was to be launched last night in the same Tauranga nightclub he was arrested in for singing the well-known song, F… the Police. Here is a Youtube of his rendition of Freedom [...] read more
  May 8, 2011 2:37 pm - 1 Comment
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  General debate, May 8, 2011 - by frog

  
  
  
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  May 8, 2011 8:28 am - 50 Comments
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  Flag-burning decision confirms the right to protest - by Keith Locke

  
  
  
  The Supreme Court’s quashing of Valerie Morse’s conviction for burning a New Zealand flag has confirmed the right to protest as guaranteed by our Bill of Rights. The Court found that the district court judge hearing the case had misunderstood the meaning of offensive behaviour. The Supreme Court said that just provoking anger, disgust or [...] read more
  May 7, 2011 9:33 am - 80 Comments
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  Greens reject use of fire at will law for parliamentary staff - by Keith Locke

  
  
  
  Both the Greens and Labour have said they won’t allow National’s 90-day probation law to be used against any of the staff they employ. Unfortunately Parliamentary Services, under advice from the State Services Commission, has issued guidelines that the 90-day provision should apply to staff contracts. They government has been playing a double game on [...] read more
  May 6, 2011 5:36 pm - 3 Comments
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  Could this be the beginning of the end of the failed War on Drugs? - by frog

  
  
  
  Earlier this week, the Law Commission released its final report on Controlling and Regulating Drugs.  Green Co-Leader Metiria Tūrei issued a media release supporting the Commission’s report at the time, but I thought I’d provide a bit more information about it here. The report is a weighty tome – 350 pages, including 144 recommendations, so [...] read more
  May 6, 2011 12:28 pm - 36 Comments
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  Fatah/Hamas pact welcomed - by Keith Locke

  
  
  
  It’s good to see the NZ Herald, the UN and former US President Jimmy Carter all coming out today in support of Fatah/Hamas agreement for a Palestinian unity government. The Herald rightly says that “Palestinian unity should be regarded as an opportunity, not an obstacle”, noting that Hamas “was elected and continues to enjoy the support [...] read more
  May 5, 2011 5:33 pm - 119 Comments
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  Saints or support workers? Rodney Hide on special education - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  In the middle of his other troubles, Associate Education Minister Rodney Hide spoke at our Select Committee on Wednesday about the Review of Special Education. It was apparent that his 6 month journey with this portfolio has included some transformative moments, as documented in TVNZ’s Make the Politician Work. He has been open about the [...] read more
  May 5, 2011 5:21 pm - 2 Comments
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  Rail petition makes tracks to Beehive - by Gareth Hughes

  
  
  
  As a Gissy-boy and rail-fan I passionately believe that we can’t afford to lose this community asset and we need to stand up to protect it. Kiwirail has announced the lines possible closure in 2012 if further customers can’t be found. The Government has given Kiwirail ten years to ‘turn itself around,’ but Kiwirail is [...] read more
  May 5, 2011 5:09 pm - 5 Comments
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  The hypocrisy of Brash’s “one law for all” - by frog

  
  
  
  Failed National Party Leader Don Brash has been banging on a lot again about “one law for all” since his hostile takeover of the ACT Party last week. So I thought I’d take a look at Brash’s track record when he was an MP: 9 December 2004: Brash voted against the Civil Union Bill which [...] read more
  May 5, 2011 11:14 am - 19 Comments
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  Don Brash and SM - by frog

  
  
  
  To be clear this is isn’t a blog post about Don Brash’s sexual predilections. It is about Don Brash’s call for supplementary member electoral system (SM) to replace MMP. It looks like Don and his rich right wing business buddies have decided that reselling FPP is too hard. So they have gone for supplementary member voting system which is [...] read more
  May 5, 2011 10:30 am - 10 Comments