Tax breaks?

Thousands of families to get tax break
Mr Benson-Pope visited a Wellington call centre handling Working For Families inquiries today where he met call centre worker Nigel Ritchie.

Mr Ritchie is married with two children, one aged three and the other nine months, and earns $37,500. From Saturday his Family Assistance under the Working For Families package would increase to $334 per fortnight, up more than $200 a fortnight.

When the Childcare and Accommodation Supplement components of the Working For Families package are added, Mr Ritchie's family will get around $270 per week -- making them $110 a week better off from Saturday.

If I understand this properly Nigel is getting $14,040 pa from Working for Families. His tax would be $8,336. He is not getting a tax break. He is getting a hand-out. To boot, he is produces nothing of value to add to the wealth of the country (nothing personal Nigel). Some will argue he has produced two children. But there is no guarantee they will stay in NZ - unless all the state benefits make it irresistable.

What a prospect. The multitudes seduced with hand-outs and a Labour government with an insurmountable number of voters....

The size and nature of the welfare problem

A question I have been trying to answer for a long time is, how many children growing up in benefit-dependent homes are at risk of experiencing health or developmental problems? I came across a report at the Ministry of Social Development website that sheds some light on an answer. Here is a piece I wrote about it last week. This links in with the discussion Judge Boshier has sparked today.

Criminogenic programmes

There are around 7,500 people in NZ prisons.

According to the Corrections Department, "For many inmates drug use is a factor in their offending. The Department provides interventions, programmes and special treatment units, designed to help inmates understand the link between their addiction and patterns of offending and to stop using or distributing drugs."

So how are they doing?

Simon Power to the Minister of Corrections (13 March 2006): How many inmates started the 100-hour Alcohol and Drug criminogenic programme in each financial year since 2000/01; what are the numbers for the 2005/06 year to date?

These are the numbers of starts on all criminogenic programmes including alcohol and drug programmes.

2001/02 109
2002/03 233
2003/04 159
2004/05 103
2005/06 80

Impressive isn't it. And how many Psychological Service staff are employed by Corrections?

* Staff (2004/05 full-time equivalent): 116

More staff than there are inmates entering programmes.

Lost in tanslation

According to Newstalk ZB, Australian tourism officials have had to make a few changes to the "Where the Bloody Hell Are You" advertising campaign, because it does not make sense in Japan.

The word "bloody" doesn't translate, so the message has been changed to simply read "Why Don't You Come?"

It took a long explanation about Australian mateship for a conference of Japanese travel executives to understand the campaign.

And elsewhere.....

Doctor's office, Rome:
"SPECIALIST IN WOMEN AND OTHER DISEASES."

Dry cleaners, Bangkok:
"DROP YOUR TROUSERS HERE FOR THE BEST RESULTS."

On an Athi River highway - the main road to Mombasa, leaving Nairobi.
"TAKE NOTICE: WHEN THIS SIGN IS UNDER WATER, THIS ROAD IS IMPASSABLE."

Hotel, Japan:
"YOU ARE INVITED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE CHAMBERMAID."

Hotel, Zurich:
"BECAUSE OF THE IMPROPRIETY OF ENTERTAINING GUESTS OF THE OPPOSITE SEX IN THE BEDROOM, IT IS SUGGESTED THAT THE LOBBY BE USED FOR THIS PURPOSE."

In an Alpine mountain inn:
"SPECIAL TODAY - NO ICE-CREAM."

(Hat tip Adam Smith blog)

Fudging the issue

Despite the statistics, she believed NZ was still the best place to raise children, but "we can do better".

That's Annette King, Police Minister, commenting on the high number of domestic killings happening in NZ.

She is reacting to Peter Boshier, Family Court Judge, who said yesterday;

"We used to say of ourselves that New Zealand was the greatest country in the world to bring up children. If that was ever true, we cannot be so proud or complacent now.

"As judges, we see the damage daily. What is done to one is done to all. Domestic violence has become an issue for all New Zealanders."

I tend to find for Mrs King. Why? Because she is taking an individualist approach. Many families have decided NZ is still the best place to bring up kids. For them the statement is true.

Treating domestic violence as a collective issue will never change anything. I don't accept that it is spread evenly across cultures and socio-economic class. That is a myth the apologists push. And I don't know what the Judge really means by, what is done to one is done to all. That is empty rhetoric. If somebody says a problem has "become an issue for all New Zealanders" you can bet they want to put their hand in your pocket to try to sort it out.

What joy

Defining the opposite of "synergy".....

Policy Sharing Plan - The Labour governments of New Zealand and Britain plan to formalise the way public servants in both countries share policy development during this week’s visit by British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

NHS Doctor Blog

"State sponsored shag" is a post from a frankly highly disturbing but also very funny blog.
"Dr Crippen is angry. He has worked for over 20 years in the NHS. He watches and weeps as the Health Service, slowly but inexorably, is destroyed. He takes a sad, sometimes humorous, sometimes cynical, look at the health care from the inside."

Carping over Commonwealth Games "failure"

In the aftermath, the predictable whining about insufficient government funding has begun. But what ever got better because government threw money at it?
I say abolish SPARC and sack that Jonah, Trevor Mallard!

The Maori Party and Welfare

The DomPost reports today; In her speech to ACT's annual conference in Wellington yesterday, Mrs Turia stressed the similarities between ACT and the Maori Party on issues such as the foreshore and seabed and welfare reform.

She said the Maori Party wanted provision of welfare to be decentralised and all those receiving a benefit to be required to work.

The NZ Herald reports; Mrs Turia said one of the four Maori Party MPs had been opposed to her giving the speech, but she declined to name the person.

Perhaps that MP is her co-leader.

Pita Sharples has said; The Working for Families package does not sufficiently address poverty, or child poverty, in Aotearoa. This package, along with the government’s Single Core Benefit system, rolls out the expectation that all beneficiaries should be in or moving towards paid work (often low-paid work) - regardless of being full-time parents or living in areas of job shortages.

This is at odds with Tariana's proclamation.

The Maori Party has also aligned itself strongly with the Greens on the matter of the Child Poverty Action Group's campaign. Mrs Turia said;
"253,000 children are in households supported by a benefit. It is these children that stand to gain most from the action of CPAG in being granted access to the Human Rights Review Tribunal for its case alleging discrimination in the Child Tax Credit, and the proposed In Work Payment". The Maori Party want non-working beneficiaries with children to receive the same extra payment as those who go to work.

Increasing payments to beneficiaries to a level on par with workers is going to make it harder to get people interested in jobs.

The huge problem for Maori is intergenerational dependency. At the heart of the problem is children growing up in non-working homes. If Tariana is serious about tackling DPB dependency I wish her well. But I am not convinced she is. I hope I am proved wrong.

Question

Dangerous inmates fly around country. If the only female passengers on the plane were an inmate and her guard, who would the unaccompanied child passenger be placed next to?

Kahlua

Here's a dog portrait I'm working on - a chocolate Lab pup.


I've updated my artist blog

www.lindsaymitchellartist.blogspot.com

News of the day

"Women who want to delay having babies until their thirties are being urged to think again after stunning new research which reveals that infertility rates nearly double after the age of 26".

That's pretty alarming. But the findings could be expressed differently.

After 26 the chances of being fertile drop from 90 percent to 80 percent.

I wouldn't use this as a reason for rushing into parenthood with the next twit that comes along.

The Chancellor's Budget Speech

This is delightful.

"It is gratifying to be able to report that taxation has risen to such an extent that the average citizen now works until June 3rd for the government, showing what I am sure my fellow members will agree is a touching patriotism and faith in government."

With a little tweaking here and there I am sure Mr Cullen could deliver much the same speech later this year.

Cigarette banks

If you saw a bin at the supermarket labelled "Cigarette Bank donations" would you throw a packet of fags into it? You see, I sat outside a foodbank for over an hour recently and observed how many of the 'clients' smoked (no, I wasn't spying - just waiting for someone who I had given a lift to). People had money for cigarettes but not for food.

Now, given the logistics of packing and stacking food items, the difficulties of storing perishables, wouldn't it just be a damn sight easier and more efficient to have cigarette banks?

Not a soul in Christendom would support the idea.

And that's why we have state-funded welfare. Money to fund welfare would never be given over voluntarily if people saw directly how it was being used. So the money has to be forced out of people through taxation.

One child, two homes

The Families Commission funds research. One study has suggested we don't know enough about how children spend their time between two or more households. More information should be collected and we need new terminology to reflect changing family life - terms such as 'two-home child' and 'separated child'. NZ Herald social issues reporter, Simon Collins asked me what I thought about this proposal and has included part of my response in this piece.

Shane Jones

Interesting interview with Shane Jones here.

Admits to having a big ego. He didn't need to. Says he finds himself, "reaching for the cane whenever Rodney opens his mouth..... The only way to escape Rodney Hide's penchant for making mischief is to live a hermetically sealed life."

And much more about the Maori Party, National and Shane Jones, a self-described "larger than life personality."

"Economy stationary as Govt fails to prepare NZ"

I dyslexically misread this headline from John Key as
"Economy stationary as Govt prepares to fail NZ"
then I thought, it amounts to the same thing anyway.

stick friends

(Thanks James - he should have commissioned me instead :-))

Pooh Corner

Not what you think. Wonders will never cease. A city council with a sense of humour.

Libertarianism

"Libertarianism does not require society saying 'Yes' to everything an individual wants to do. But libertarianism does require that the individual be allowed to say 'No' to anything."

I found this at http://decnavda.blogspot.com/2005/04/self-ownership.html
Very interesting blog about Libertarianism. Unfortunately it looks to be defunct but some of the archives are available.

Also; Libertarian Views of Government

There are three different "levels" of possible government compatible with libertarianism. Libertarians will usually be discovered arguing for one of these as "the" appropriate libertarian view, but all are compatible with self-ownership.

1. Anarchy. Zero. Government is evil. If less is better, none is best. Government commands are not voluntary suggestions; all government is the use of coercion, and all coercion is morally wrong or ineffective (zero or negative sum games as opposed to positive sum games in voluntary cooperation).

2. Minarchy. Government is a necessary evil. A monopoly on force is needed to protect individuals from violations of their rights by other individuals. In minarchy, the purpose of government is to prevent government.

3. A Rights-Respecting Government. Government can be good. There is no imposed limit on the size or functions of government, but it must respect the self-ownership rights of individuals just as any other entity. If I am forbidden from using a piece of property, it does not matter whether that property is owned by Bob Smith, Intel, or the government. Likewise, I cannot be abused, killed, enslaved, or deprived of my rightful property by either Bob Smith, Intel, or the government.


I hadn't considered 3. If self-ownership and property rights were strictly observed such a government would in any case be small because the private sector would crowd them out. No?

Tariana sounding tired on "gangs"

Maori Party co-leader, Tariana Turia, has got nothing new or original to say about gangs. She is no doubt right that banning patches in Wanganui won't make any difference but....

She said gang criminality and violence were linked to issues of unemployment, poverty, alcohol and drugs.

We aren't going to get employment any lower than it is; gangs are not poor and prohibition would play into gang hands. Which only leaves drugs. Legalise them and deprive the gangs of a major reason for their existence.

Part of the problem

This is part of the problem New Zealand is also experiencing. From Switzerland;

Mental health problems are driving increasing numbers of young people towards a lifestyle dependent on state benefits......The psychologist says it has become more acceptable to see problems in the individual, either in the form of a social phobia or panic attacks.

The government insists that much of the increase in incapacity benefits is due to the ageing population. It is more complex than that.

Benson-Pope and creative statistics

Mr Benson-Pope said New Zealand has seen a steep decline in the growth rate of Sickness and Invalid’s Benefits, but there is always more work to be done.

“Under the National government the Sickness and Invalid’s Benefits grew at a rate of 69 percent and 84 percent respectively. Under the Labour-led government this rate has dropped right down to 2.7 per cent in the latest year to December.”


Combined total for invalid and sickness benefits;
1993 63,686
1999 84,836
2005 121,366

Put any spin on it you like but the numbers speak for themselves.

Impotence good - impotence bad

The drug-buying monopoly Pharmac isn't very keen on the 'medicalisation of ageing'. The advertising of drugs like viagra, direct to the public, isn't very helpful. Too much consumer encouragement of unneccessary treatments that keep you young might raise expectations about government subsidies. Impotence is not life-threatening. Get over it.

Umm. But another arm of the state, the Ministry of Health says impotence is awful. It's the worst thing that can happen to a man. And given that smoking can cause it, cigarette manufacturers should put impotence warnings on packets (Don't anybody mention brewer's droop, for heaven sake).

Initially I thought the state was confused but now I see this strategy makes perfect sense.

John Key - Jim's man

Yesterday Kiwibank bought a controlling stake in New Zealand Home Loans. Here's John Key using strange logic to justify National's support for state-owned banks.

National Party finance spokesman John Key said the deal appeared to be an extension of a strategic plan by New Zealand Post to engage in joint ventures with private companies.

National supported joint ventures between the public and private sectors, he said.

"It makes sense for Kiwibank to engage in that way."

Getting private sector provision into an area which has been monopolised by the state is good. The state extending itself into areas to compete with the private sector is bad. Key's equivocation must be an anathema to Don Brash.

ID cards continue to be resisted

According to the Scotsman, The House of Lords once again defeated the government last night. Peers backed a joint Conservative and Liberal Democrat amendment that would prevent ministers making identity cards compulsory until at least 2011.

(A)former MI6 agent will be a key part of that resistance.

Baroness Park, who was made a peer by Margaret Thatcher, passed a withering verdict on the proposed cards, ridiculing ministers' suggestions that the system will make people safer. In fact, she said, the complete opposite is true.

"The very creation of such an enormous national identity register will be a present to terrorists; it will be a splendid thing for them to disrupt and blow up," she said.

On the back of the proposal to tag and number children earlier this week I could not believe the clamour from callers to NewstalkZB for an ID card for everybody! Lambs to the slaughter.

Public education

Bill Steigerwald, from the Pittsburgh Tribune says, Being forced to buy food in a depressing, pathetically understocked East Berlin government supermarket was a bit like being forced to buy public education in America.

Most people don't question our system of public education. But it's not only absurd and consumer-unfriendly, it's creepily un-American. Imagine if we had to get our groceries this way. Imagine a state Department of Groceries. Imagine a public food system where citizens are assigned defined grocery districts.

No thanks. Real estate agents might like the idea but nobody else would. Why we put up with it when it comes to our children's education I will never understand.

Standing ovation

It says a lot about parliament that "Labour MP David Parker got a standing ovation from his colleagues in Parliament today after explaining to the House why he had decided to quit Cabinet altogether."

I'm surprised they didn't haka.

Seriously - standards must be pretty low when doing the only decent thing merits rapturous applause.

Opting out of fatherhood

A US Men’s group is calling the feminist bluff with regard to “reproductive choice”. They say that if women have the “right” to abort any pregnancy without a man’s consent, the same right should exist for men who want to opt out of fatherhood.

This case is attracting a lot of attention but nowhere have I seen mention of the role of the welfare state in creating this dilemma. And it is a dilemma. What say should a male have in whether or not the female progresses with a pregnancy by him?

Most will disagree with me but as long as the state is going to fund single child-rearing, as of right, the father should be able to opt out. Having said that, it would be far better to just avoid the situation by taking responsibility for his own fertility.

If a female wants all the control over becoming a mother and the future of the child she should also have all the responsibility. That's tough on the child but it is the only way forward I can see.

If the state wasn't paying welfare then, on proof that the male is the biological father, the court should order he pay realistic child support, not simply a percentage of his earnings. In any case, the incidence of this happening would greatly reduce once the welfare incentive was removed.

My argument has always been that subsidised single-parenthood has lessened people's committment to each other and their children. It has made moving in and out relationships that have produced children, far too easy. It has created far more problems than it ever solved. Problems like this.

UPDATE; Cathy Young has written a column about this subject at Reason. She says, Sometimes, male complaints about women who get pregnant and ensnare men have strong overtones of misogyny—just as female tirades about men who cut and run easily turn to male-bashing. But not all women, and not all feminists, think alike. Feminist attorney Karen DeCrow, a former president of the National Organization for Women, has written that "autonomous women making independent decisions about their lives should not expect men to finance their choice."

One can hardly castigate men for treating an unwanted child as a burden to be avoided unless one recognizes that prochoice feminism has fostered such a mentality. Given the biological differences between the sexes, there may be no way to find a balanced approach to reproductive rights that would be equally fair to women and men. But the issues raised by Feit's lawsuit deserve consideration.

PM scoffs at charge of political bias

This headline, from the ODT, caught my attention. I had to think about why. Then it came to me that "scoff" is the perfect word for Helen Clark's attitude. There is none better. We are seeing her "scoff" more and more and nobody likes it. Even Labour supporters. In this respect Don Brash is the perfect foil for Clark. Mr Brash never "scoffs". With Don we are "scoff-free". Hang in there Dr Brash because the PM's star is on the wane.

Once a Meathead....

Remember the character who played Meathead, Archie bunker's son-in-law? The Wall St Journal has a good piece on his political "robin hood-type" campaign to get the taxpayer to fund universal pre-school for all Californian children, regardless of whether that is actually a desirable thing.

Mr. Reiner's ad campaign mentions neither the indifferent results of universal preschool nor its budgetary consequences. This, in itself, would not be a problem, because a democracy counts not on any one person's script, but many partial ones from numerous interested parties, to get the full story across to voters. But there is a problem when someone has unfair access to taxpayer dollars to bankroll his script over others.

Don't believe everything you read

Callers to NewstalkZB today were aghast that Nelson, coined the stress capital of New Zealand by Judith Collins, has 15.6 percent of its working-age people receiving a sickness benefit because of stress. Host Tim Dower said he didn't believe it.

He's right. The NZPA had somewhat mangled Judith Collin's press release which actually said, "15.6% of working age people receiving a sickness benefit in Nelson are on that benefit because of stress."

In fact the Nelson region has a lower beneficiary to working-age population ratio than the national average. ONLY one in ten of their working-age population (15-64) is on some sort of benefit.

GP workforce in "crisis"

Newstalk ZB reports, Alarming signs are emerging that New Zealand's GP workforce is aging, stressed and diminishing. A study released today by the Royal New Zealand College of Practitioners says 30 percent of GPs intend to change their work arrangements in the next five years.

The Health Minister believes the Government can stop the nation's GPs from burning out as its Primary Healthcare Strategy will ease the workload of GPs. (GP Council Chair) Dr Foley is unconvinced by the Government's assertions its Primary Healthcare Strategy will ease the problem.

Let me quote two GPs in my electorate who gave up their practices;
Dr Wijewickrama, in the face of advancing PHOs, "politicians don't generally improve things - they generally mess things up."

Dr Yeen Chan, "Every few months we have changes coming our way from different sources. You are so busy but it's not related to patient care." Dr Chan had seen the bureaucracy sponging health dollars skyrocket.

I'm from the government and I'm here to help you. I don't think so.

"Plan to give kids ID numbers"

The Government is examining a proposal to have all children tagged and numbered in a central database to stem abuse and failure at school.

What I want to know is, will the tags go through their noses or ears? And why not microchip them while they're at it.

Government mouthpiece

Came across a letter in the Sunday Times Magazine which entertained me no end. It was entitled "You can't choose your family" and written by Nick Hill, CEO of SPARC, in response to an article by his sister, Deborah Hill-Cone, published in an earlier edition.

As far as I can ascertain she had written about how hateful and humiliating PE was at school. He says he "fought a number of emotions" when he read it and she shouldn't let her experience put her off an "important part of being a human being." Eeeek.

I couldn't resist and sent the following;

Nick Hill wrote, March 19, "Sport - love it or hate it - binds this nation together and is at the heart of our identity."

As the CEO for Sport and Recreation New Zealand, a Crown agency, sport is at the heart of Mr Hill's identity. He makes a living being paid, in part, by those who couldn't care less about sport, to persuade them otherwise.

The thing is, thousands of New Zealanders are individuals seeking their own identity and meaning which may or may not lie in sport. They couldn't give a monkey's about collective identity. (I could go further and suggest that some athletes at the Commonwealth games get heartily sick of nationalists riding on their success.)

Using his letter to run the gamut of the government's current 'nation-building' kick through to the 'fight obesity' offensive, Hill finishes by nagging us yet again to, PushPlay for 30 minutes a day.

Some quiet time spent thinking for ourselves might be more useful.

NZQA - more problems

This report poses more questions than it answers.

The Qualifications Authority admits last year's calculus scholarship exam was far too difficult. Nearly a quarter of all students who sat the exam got zero, and a mark of only 18 percent was considered a pass.

Why is the exam setter so out-of-sync with the syllabus, and if he or she isn't, is the problem student ineptitude? Whatever the answer(s), parent's confidence is undermined yet again. These kids don't deserve to be mucked about like this.

Greens pleased with school walk-out

A group calling itself "Radical Youth" is organising a school walk-out tomorrow to support Sue Bradford's youth rate bill. They describe themselves as "anti-capitalist".

They believe,"The government should be working to end child poverty in New Zealand. Welfare benefits should be raised, as since the heartless 1991 benefit cuts they have been at a level unfit to survive on. Forget about ‘free trade agreements’, we should be trying to create decent jobs for people in New Zealand. In the past we used to employ people making things, not stacking the shelves of the Warehouse."

We need to get through to these kids that at the heart of the socialist alternative is force and compulsion. I tried explaining this to a bunch of students last year. Capitalism equals the voluntary redistribution of wealth whereby both parties benefit. Forced redistribution by governments will always disadvantage one party, very often, both. It appeared to go over their heads I'm afraid. Partly because my powers of verbal communication are not that hot. But partly, I suspect, because they can't conceptualise. And, not to be discounted or under-estimated, being "anti-capitalist" is cool.

But I still feel this message, govts = force and compulsion, is the best way to combat their left-wing delusions. Kids hate being made to do anything.

The truth about student loans

The Sunday Star Times has a good piece by Ruth Laugensen "dispelling myths about student loans". In summary;

1/ There is no obligation to pay back a loan until your earnings get above $16,500

2/ New information reveals women repay their loans a bit quicker than men.

3/ Higher education is not necessarily the path to riches. Of 20,000 who left tertiary study in 1994, by 2000 a quarter were earning less than $10,000 a year.

4/ Students aren't all slack about money. Of any group there tends to be two extremes. One large block will have make no progress on repaying and the other will clear their loan quickly.

5/ The poor do not have the biggest loans. Those coming from high decile homes tend to enter the "expensive" fields of study.

6/ It doesn't take most students decades to repay their loans. The median time taken is 6 years and 7 months.

7/ The interest-free policy will be open to exploitation with some planning and where students have wealthier parents.

(My comment) It's quite obvious that the current scheme, combined with the benefit system, produces the worst of incentives. These will be exacerbated when people don't have to pay any interest.

Conservatives out-breeding Liberals

Conservatives are having more children than Liberals according to this research, which has some interesting implications;

The greatly expanded childless segment of contemporary society, whose members are drawn disproportionately from the feminist and countercultural movements of the 1960s and '70s, will leave no genetic legacy.

There seems to be a suggestion that conservatives will breed carbon copies of themselves but then, where did the "feminist and counter-cultural" ideas come from? Children with conservative parents?

There is also no mention here of the much higher US fertility rates among hispanics and blacks who are more likely to vote democratic, which by my definition makes them Liberals.

I wanna be a hero

Defending plans to introduce congestion charges in parts of Auckland, Dick Hubbard described the transformation of regard for London Mayor "Red" Ken Livingstone, after the implementation of the Congestion Charge in 2003, as going from "zero to hero". Their plans are to extend the chargeable areas and contrary to what Dick says, everybody is not thrilled about the prospect. This report is recent and reasonably well-balanced.

Domestic violence "out of control"

This report doesn't entirely surprise me. A business owner involved in towage and contracted to the Police told me in the course of their work they monitor the Policy radio frequency. After the law banning smoking in pubs was passed the number of domestic violence incidents shot up. The explanation put to me was those men who had previously knocked off work and spent the rest of the night at the pub, were now buying their booze and going straight home, with their mates in tow. Not easy to see how this might drive up the potential for domestics to develop. Another story for the "unintended consequences" file.

These men (and some women too) would be better off all in one place picking fights with each other. A place easily and quickly accessible to the cops. And more importantly, away from children.

Blokes' night out

Apparently there are only two things men go out for. One of them is beer. What is the other? And would you go to this "Men's Health Night"? Be honest.

Special Benefit

WINZ currently pays out $2.8 million a week in Special Benefit. SB is extra assistance for cases of genuine hardship. Today's DomPost reports on a case WINZ have just won through the Court of Appeal. A Christchurch beneficiary was denied an increase in her special benefit to cover a lawyers bill. She showed dogs and had taken the Kennel Club to court over some undisclosed matter. As she couldn't get the taxpayer to fund that, she took WINZ to court as well. Hope she lost both cases.

As of April 1 the Special Benefit will be abolished...only to be replaced by something called Temporary Additional Support. The reason being case managers can use their discretion when granting a Special Benefit. This is now deemed undesirable and should be replaced with a rules-based system. The TAS bill will be even higher.

Turned off

I was trying to listen to question time. But this buffoon, who thinks he who shouts loudest shouts last, was just too much. We are being governed by big mouths and blockheads. Heaven help us.

Unemployment rising in the UK

According to the National Office of Statistics, The unemployment rate was 5.0 per cent, up both over the quarter and over the year. The number of unemployed people increased by 37,000 over the quarter and by 109,000 over the year, to reach 1.53 million. This quarterly increase in unemployment was due to more unemployed women.

The number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance benefit has increased. The number of job vacancies has increased.
Huh?

And, The number of economically inactive people of working age rose by 65,000, to reach 7.96 million, the highest figure since comparable records began in 1971.

Get the picture?

Questions

An interesting question was posed yesterday by a letter writer to the NZ herald. I didn't read the letter so I hope I get it right. The question was who gets the interest accruing from the $8,000,000 U2 fans have deposited with the ticket agency?

Which in turn prompted me to wonder, in relation to the next post, do WINZ clients pay any interest on recoverable grants for appliances, furniture etc? Or are we looking at around $25 million worth of interest-free loans?

In debt to WINZ

Tuesday I received the following figures released under the Official Information Act. 62,500 DPB beneficiaries owe money to WINZ.

Across all working age beneficiaries the percentage of people in debt to WINZ is fifty one (155,000). For DPB recipients however, the percentage rises to fifty nine. The mean amount owed is $502.

In the 2004/05 year, thirty seven percent of the newly established debt was due to grants. The balance was made up of debt established by Benefit Control and Data Matching (23 percent) and overpayments established by WINZ (40 percent).

Two thirds of those owing money were female. Forty eight percent were Maori or Pacific Island. Only seventeen percent had some other kind of income aside from a benefit and over 6,000 people were not making any repayments.

The really worrying aspect of this situation is this debt is only part of the picture. Like non-beneficiaries, many of these people will have money owing on creditcards, on hire purchase agreements, to loan sharks, etc.

Not only is being on a benefit a lifestyle for many, so is being in debt.

(These figures were current at November 30, 2005.)

Sue Bradford - apologist for shirkers

The first reading of Wayne Mapp's Private Member's Bill "Employment Relations (Probationary Employment) Amendment Bill" happens tonight. It would see the introduction of a three month probationary period for new employees. This move would encourage businesses to take on staff.

The anti-business Greens naturally oppose it. According to Sue Bradford;

"If Dr Mapp's bill goes through, employees will be sacked at will during the first three months on the job. Even worse, once sacked, they become liable for a stand down of up to 13 weeks from Work and Income once they register back in the benefit system. People will be scared to start jobs and scared to change them."

She has just handed another reason to layabouts why they should stay on the dole. By the way, no stand down period applies to the DPB so she will have to find another excuse for single parents, especially those 46,000 with school-age children only, not to take a job.

Maori Party reject expansion of legal aid

The speeches are coming thick and fast from Hone Harawira. And they are always so interesting. Here he is speaking to a bill which will see an expansion of eligibility to legal aid.

"By 2010, Maori will be the most imprisoned people per capita in the world. So yes, Mr Speaker, like it or not, the way things are going, Maori are going to need Legal Aid like never before. So when the Maori Party looks at this Legal Services Amendment Bill, we ask the questions do so with one focus - how will this Bill change things for Maori?"

Hone says he doesn't want Maori represented by the legal "bunnies" the legal aid system turns out. He doesn't want Maori represented in courts that are, "mono-cultural, and their language and procedures deny Maori access to justice."

In fact what he wants is an entirely separate justice system.

And so the Maori Party will oppose the bill because, "It deals with individual rights while continuing to deny Maori their collective whanau, hapu and iwi rights and in fact their human right to the same measure of justice enjoyed by all other citizens in Aotearoa."

It's raining women - or is it?

There has been talk about a surplus of women, especially in the 30-34 age group.

Demographer, Paul Callister has been researching this;
Callister said it was difficult to pinpoint exact reasons for the surplus of women but said men – particularly young men, Maori and Pacific Islanders – failing to fill in census or statistical forms was one major reason.

So I interpret this as meaning that the surplus on paper doesn't necessarily equate to a surplus in practice. (Perhaps some of these are the same "young men" that don't fill in birth certificates either.)

Fathers not named

About 7 per cent of New Zealand children have no named father on their birth certificate.

In many cases the children know their father, but they are not named on the certificate to avoid paying child support.

So says the NZ Herald. Children are usually defined as people under 15, after which they become youths. There are around 900,000 so some 63,000 don't have a father named on their birth certificate. Perhaps they should fill in the space with "taxpayer".

Do it or we will make you

Back in 2001 the radio industry was told to lift their quota of NZ product or else. I well remember the debate having got involved in a tit-for-tat with Mike Chunn (Head of Australian Performing Rights Association) through the letters page of the Evening Post. He was slagging programmers as "prejudiced and lazy" and was right behind the Minister's quota push.

It's a fine line between the threat of compulsion and compulsion itself. So I say again, the logic is very mangey. Because radio stations did what they were told under threat of complusion the argument has been twisted to, NZers must have wanted it after all. Now look where Maharey wants to go;

Mr Maharey said he would consult the Radio Broadcasting Association and the music industry to decide where to go next with the code.

He said radio in Australia and countries of a similar size to New Zealand, such as Ireland, had up to 50 per cent local music.

More pavement art

OSH would probably rule this a "hazard"!

Mandatory and mediocre

One in five songs played on the radio are now NZ-made.

Thankfully not on the station the kids and I listen to, Hauraki. (Unless they have a whole programme devoted to such stuff of which I am unaware). If you are into 60's, 70's and eighties music there is just oodles of great stuff, only a tiny percentage of which was made by NZ artists. The state imposition of a local quota, innocuously called a "Code of Practice", is outrageous.

"This is a fantastic result for the music industry, and it demonstrates what we've known all along - that New Zealanders want to tune into more of their own music," Steve Maharey said.

What kind of logic is that? Making people have it proves they wanted it?

Private radio stations should be free to play whatever music they want to, not music deemed mandatory by the Minister. Butt out, Maharey.

Thanks - again - Minister

Here Benson-Pope is preening himself with some good news for beneficiaries. From April 1st an increase of 3.16 percent, which reflects the rise in the cost of living, will appear in beneficiary pay packets.

Umm. In December 2005 Mr Benson-Pope received a rise of 6.5 percent and it was backdated to July. Nice.

Of course, this is a government which believes in progressivity - in more ways than one.

Holidays for some

Tax Holiday Widened - Parliament is set to make more generous a tax holiday designed to attract skilled people to New Zealand, conscious that Australia plans similar enticements.

What about retaining skilled people???

Footpath art

James Jenkins sent me a dozen or so amazing pieces of footpath art. I'll post some of them over the next few days. Do you know what city they come from James?

Helen not important enough for Bono?

According to Stuff U2 announced they will be picking up their tour in November.

Bono also admitted he would seek a meeting with Prime Minister John Howard when he returns to Australia about increasing its foreign aid to poor nations.

Waiting on Labour, UF, Greens, Maori.

Good to see National and ACT supporting Barbara Stewart's private member's bill (to select committee) to reduce the number of MPs. She needs more than that though. Big govt man, Jim Anderton opposes it.

More sledgehammer ideas

Shocking video to stop baby shaking. Sorry, but I find this idea objectionable. According to the NZ Herald;

All new parents could be shown a graphic video showing the effects of severe shaking on a baby's body and brain, in an effort to cut child abuse.

It involves parents watching a video, reading a brochure and signing a "commitment statement" before they leave the hospital after giving birth.

We are all to be treated like idiots because a few people are. And what about all the potential shakers who won't see the video. The next "step-parent", the older sibling, the babysitter? What about home-births?

Listen, for a "normal" mother, just watching your newborn having the compulsory heel prick to extract some blood for the national database is harrowing enough.

Corporate tax rate only the half of it

The TTC (Total Tax Contribution) for business is explained here.

"The World Bank put the TTC in the UK at 52.9 per cent compared with just 21.5 per cent in the US and 34.6 per cent in Japan." How on earth is Britain supposed to remain competitive, and an attractive place to do business in while this is going on?

Anyone aware of similar calculations done for NZ? I figure we would be closer to the UK than the US.

It's the avacado's fault

Avocado-lovers warned over knife accidents. These sorts of stories must be read with some sense of bemusement by more people than me. Surely.
Personally I find pumpkins and butternuts far more troublesome. But I have developed a technique whereby, having lodged the knife firmly into the outer skin, I pick up the entire thing and, using both arms, slam it back down on the cutting board. This eliminates any risk of cutting yourself. However it could result in being hit in the head by half a flying pumpkin. Of course, it wouldn't be my fault......

LibDems - The Right in ascendency

Britain's Liberal Democrats, the third largest party in Parliament, are a funny bunch. They don't seem to know whether they are to the left or right of Labour. But after some dirty tussling over leadership, Sir Menzies (Ming) Campbell, backed by the right wing, has been appointed.

In 2004, a number of leading Liberal Democrats produced The Orange Book: Reclaiming Liberalism....In a series of 10 essays, the Orange Book came down firmly in favour of ...calling for the party to refashion itself as the champion of “free market” capitalism....David Laws, the party spokesman for work and pensions, argued for abolishing the state-run National Health Service and replacing it with an insurance scheme embracing the private sector....Clegg has made clear he intends to drive forward the policies of “tough liberalism” by sharpening up the party’s line on crime and rebutting claims that it is “soft” on law and order....David Laws, unveiled plans to remove welfare benefits from lone mothers.

Radical? Well not quite. Laws wants lone parents to support themselves when, wait for it, their youngest turns twelve. And in the May 2005 general election, the Liberal Democrats called for an increase in taxes on the rich to finance health and education. They do oppose ID cards and the war in Iraq.

It always surprises me how many political parties seem to tackle each issue in isolation without any underlying and guiding principle. A quick look at their website tells you diddly squat about what they actually stand for. Yet they win seats. Proof that the public vote for people - not policies, philosophies or principles.

Message to stay-at-home mums.

The collective way many people want us to look at life really is loathsome. From today's Sunday Star Times we learn that at least one judge is prepared to stand against this rubbish, to the ire of the editor. A married couple split after many years. They have considerable assets. The judge orders a fifty/fifty split which gives them $4.5 million each. The wife isn't happy with this. She puts in a claim for 70 percent of their assets or a further $1.7 million on the basis her future earning potential has been corroded because she stayed at home with the kids. Judge observes that she had ample opportunity to return to work once the children were settled at school. She chose to stay home. The judge turns her down.

So the editor construes this as a message to (or from, take your pick) society that we do not value at-home mothers. Balderdash.

In reality we are individuals making our own value judgments about our families. There is no collective right or wrong way. Each couple, and their children, will be different and each will have contributed in different and unequal ways. It is quite adequate for the law, in a case like this, to uphold a fifty/fifty split.

My personal observation is that many men work very hard and have far more constraint on their time than their partners. Stay-at-home mums have a great deal of freedom and choice, particularly in the case of those with high household incomes. Staying at home with the kids is a privilege. It isn't a sacrifice. Above all it is a choice. Having made your bed, expect to lie in it.

NZ women sent to Sydney for abortions

The Waitemata Health board is paying for women with pregnancies advanced to 18 - 21 weeks to go to Sydney for abortions. NZ nurses and sometimes doctors are refusing to perform these abortions but the Health board is legally bound to provide them.

The question that springs into my mind is, why do these women leave it so long?
There will be cases of fetal abnormalities only detectable at a later stage and the decision to abort must be heartbreaking. But I find it hard to believe that others didn't know until 4 or 5 months, although when you read the occasional story about a woman getting right to the birth unaware of the pregnancy maybe it's more feasible than I think.

Then there is the bigger question of whether tax-payers, which is the case here, should have to fund abortions at all....

Why Blacks disproportionately affected by AIDS

This theory from Ronald Bailey of Reason;

..... two researchers found that the increase of AIDS among American blacks closely tracked the rise in incarceration rates of black men over the past two decades. The researchers point out that about one out of 12 black men are in jail or prison, compared with one in 100 white men. And if current trends continue, a third of all black males born today will spend some time in prison.

Prisoners become infected with HIV through sex and intravenous drug use. Data on the prevalence of sexual activity in prison vary, but one conservative estimate found that 20 percent of male prisoners experience some type of sexual assault and 7 percent are raped.

....Until recently, prison wardens and the state and federal legislators have largely looked away, not wanting to deal with the crude and brutal facts of prisoner sex. Their inaction has incubated a public health crisis. Of course, the most effective way to prevent HIV infections among prisoners would be for correctional officer and administrators to put a stop to sexual intercourse and oral sex in their institutions. But since inmates tend to be young, violent, testosterone-fueled men, that is much easier said than done.

....Shockingly, many corrections officials oppose testing inmates for HIV infection when they are initially locked up because their budget-strapped institutions would then be obligated to pay for their treatment. One result is the tragic rise in infection rates among African-Americans.

....Government scientists did not create the HIV virus, but a conspiracy of inaction and silence among government officials is worsening the AIDS epidemic among black Americans.

Anti-Americanism - take that

An old American gentleman on his way to a walking holiday in the French Alps, arrived in Paris by plane.
At French customs he fumbled for his passport.
"You have been to France before, monsieur?" the customs officer asked sarcastically.
The old gent admitted that he had been to France before.
"Then, you should know enough to have your passport ready for inspection," snapped the irate official.
The American said, "The last time I came to France I did not have to show my passport."
"Impossible old man!" the official replied. "You Americans always have to show your passports on arrival in France!"
The old American gave the Frenchman a long hard look. Then he calmly stated: "I assure you, young man, that when I came ashore at Omaha Beach in Normandy on D-Day in 1944, there were no Frenchmen anywhere on that beach."

Ripping off the system

Social service agencies are questioning why families who earn more than $70,000 a year are still living in state housing while more than 11,000 people are languishing on the waiting list.

This situation is endemic to having state housing. Either we accept it as a feature of the system or we scrap state housing altogether.

CYF is dysfunctional

I am really worried about the bind we find ourselves in. CYF is dysfunctional. A Cabinet paper released on Thursday describes how and,in some part, why. Of particular note is, "Many problems were created by those drawing up policy not understanding what happened on the front line".

CYF is dysfunctional, and always will be, because it reflects the dysfunctionality of the people it deals with. What the policy-makers and public don't understand is there are tragedies waiting to happen that no amount of intervention will stop. Then the social worker is blamed, almost to the point of having caused the problem. Of course social workers sometimes ignore process and rules. They use their own judgement and they have individual views about what action will deliver the best outcome. They don't have crystal balls.

But because they have the power to remove a child they are distrusted and consequently mislead by 'clients'. CYF case workers are not popular. Other organisations often get better results because they are trusted. The government knows this and want to capitalise on it. There is a move afoot to farm out cases to private organisations.

But what do you know? The last thing some of those private organisations want is state money. If they become agents of the state they end up with CYF-like problems. Other organisations see the development and want to get on that gravy train quick smart. Despite their good intentions they will become corrupted by the bottomless tax-payer pocket.

One way forward (an interim progression) is for government to pay a private agency, whose sole job is to get people off welfare. They only get paid on results. Similar schemes have worked in the US.

Let the private charities that can do the intimate social work successfully, stay free of government money and all the attendent bureaucratic obligations. Let CYF remain the strong arm of the law which gets the kids out when the private sector calls them in.

And, of course, stop encouraging the wrong people to breed. If society can't stomach getting rid of the DPB altogether make it strictly temporary.

Plain English

Bill English's newsletter is worth a read this week. He talks about the "extravagantly stupid Building Act", and the seemingly crazy business of the working overstayers evicted today.
"The staff concerned had been refused work permits and are now overstayers. But why were they refused work permits? It's almost impossible to get staff for hospitality jobs in Queenstown, and all sorts of non-New Zealanders are getting work permits to fill the gap. Takaro is isolated and its requirements specialised, and they just can't get any suitable staff.
Takaro is setting out to establish itself as part of the "spa industry", where high net wealth individuals pay large amounts of money to spend time on health and wellness. We need this tourism business and more like it. So did these immigrants break all the rules, or is it a case of bureaucratic bumbling? I want some answers."
During the election campaign I stood in for the Mana candidate at a Porirua College meeting. Bill English stood in for Chris Finlayson. I was impressed with his easy manner with the students. Trumped Winnie Laban. He's smart and one of National's best.

Thanks for that, Minister

"Over the next two weeks more than half a million households will be encouraged to check whether they are entitled to tax relief under the Working for Families package.

An estimated 85,000 middle-income New Zealand families will become eligible for Family Assistance tax credits for the first time as part of Working for Families from 1 April.

Working for Families information brochures will be sent to 535,000 households outlining the new increased income limits. "

"We want to make sure families who are eligible know about the changes, which is why we're getting the information to their door," Minister for Social Development and Employment David Benson-Pope said.

Let's see. 450,000 households will get material for their recycling bins. The other 85,000 will find out how to give the government a dollar and get back 80 cents. And we will all be able to savour the privilege of keeping Benson Pope in his ministerial lifestyle. Doesn't it give you a warm glow?

Could it happen here?

This is a ticket given to a British motorist who gave a speed camera the one finger salute. He was, by the way, under the speed limit. This story about police priorities sounds glaringly familiar. So be warned!

Super Nannies

The UK government intends to send Super Nannies into the homes of the most anti-social families.

These social workers, with extra health or other specialised skills, will be with the family early in the morning and late at night, ensuring the children are fed, dressed, sent to school and layabout parents get jobs. At night they will make sure children are washed and put to bed and not roaming the streets.

Antisocial families are currently monitored by up to 10 different local authority agencies — allowing those determined not to change their ways to play different bodies off against each other.

Under the plans, such families will be put under the full-time supervision of a single case worker, who will only move on when there is evidence that households are responding.

This may be a good thing and I'll tell you why. The social worker is going to have the sole responsibility for getting routine, structure and just some semblance of normality into these homes. He or she is going to find out that the main barrier to achieving this is her employer, in another guise. In the case of the UK, the Dept of Work and Pensions. As long as the "layabout" parent keeps collecting their dole or lone parenting payment without sanctions changing any other behaviour patterns will be nigh on impossible. I speak from experience.

While many different authorities were involved, no single one had to take the responsibility for making a difference. So, as an alternative to the status quo I would support this. Finding anybody who wants to do the job is another matter.

On the button

The greatest threat to the future of our nation -- to our freedom -- is not foreign military aggression … but the growing dependence of the people on a paternalistic government. A nation is no stronger than its people and the best measure of their strength is how they accept responsibility. There will never be a great society unless the materialism of the welfare state is replaced by individual initiative and responsibility.

— Charles B. Shuman

Announcement

I've been thinking. As we now have a Maori Party whose sole reason for existing is the paramouncy of being Maori, I am officially starting the Blonde Party based on the paramouncy of being Blonde. Brunettes and Redheads are welcome to join. I don't know what the point of that would be but being Blonde, I don't need one. If you feel Blonde, you are. Just wanting to be Blonde is silly and patronising enough to qualify you. I undertake to release a policy every time the Maori Party does. As they are trail-blazing the way for parties based on skin colour and I am trail-blazing the way for parties based on hair colour, I will follow their lead. If I can't come up with a Blonde policy I'll find a Blonde joke. You probably won't notice the difference.

For instance, the Maori Party say Maori should get their Kiwi super savings earlier than anyone else because Maori don't live as long. So the Blonde Party says that Blondes should also get their Kiwi super savings early because low IQ is linked to lower life expectancy. Makes perfect sense.

I am already planning our first campaign which is to lobby Statistics NZ to include a question about hair colour in the 2011 Census. The state needs to plan for the Blonde demographic.

Would you like to join?

Update: I am going to headhunt Sue Kedgley. I just heard her on the radio saying "it was incredulous" that the Wellington region had allocated only 6 pecent of its transport budget to public transport. She knows some big words and with a command of english like that she would project exactly the image we want.

State knows best

Parents and teachers are angry that the government has refused to appoint parents or teachers to the Correspondence School board.

According to the DomPost the Education Minister Steve Maharey announced a new-look board this week that did not include any staff memebers or parents.

The existing board had been appointed by the government two years ago as an interim measure.....parents and staff had hoped the new board would include representatives.

A senior staff member said education had suffered under the Government-appointed board. "There are still kids who haven't got work this year...."

Parent Angela McIntyre said it was disgraceful parents had not been given the opportunity to be on the board like face-to-face schools.

But Mr Maharey said parents and staff had been kept well-informed and a skills-based board was appropriate.

Defending this on National Radio yesterday he apprently said that the parents and teachers get copies of minutes from the meetings.

Let them eat cake.

A bear, a lion and a chicken sit talking about who is the toughest.

The bear says, "When I roar the whole forest trembles!"

The lion says, "When I roar the whole jungle shakes with fear!"

The chicken says, "All I have to do is cough and the whole f**king world sh*ts itself!"

Jeepers

Only a few weeks ago drivers were barred from working on buses because they'd slept with their underage girlfriend many moons ago. Meanwhile we have a guy who killed his wife and kids by slitting their throats going into people's homes as a Census collector.

Area manager Judy Cartwright said Te Huia had been doing a great job and she was comfortable with him knocking on doors. "He's been suffering for what he did for 13 years. How long does he have to be crucified for?"

Asked if she intended to continue employing him, she replied: "Absolutely. I have no reason to take him off. There?s never been any discussion about that."

But last night Statistics New Zealand released a statement saying Te Huia had resigned that afternoon.

"It emerged today that the collector had failed to disclose information material to his employment," said Government statistician Brian Pink.

This Census operation has certainly already produced some very interesting revelations.

From welfare waffle to education waffle

880 (2006). Allan Peachey to the Minister of Education (22 February 2006): What does the Minister understand his Ministry to mean when it refers to teachers working together in “professional practice communities”?

Hon Steve Maharey (Minister of Education) replied: In a community of professional teaching practice, teachers:
· seek opportunities to model, observe, coach, critique and reflect, and use action research approaches;
· take a school based approach over time that fosters collaboration and collegial support;
· value ongoing guidance and support from within and outside the school.

This waffle is a perfect example of how our education system fails. What I want from the education system is that my children learn how to think (not to be confused with what to think) and how to communicate.

Advice for Sue Bradford et al.

I will be e-mailing the following article to Sue Bradford. It is easy to understand and draws on factual evidence.

MINIMUM WAGE, MINIMUM SENSE

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

After humiliation at the polls in November, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger now advocates raising the state minimum wage from its current $6.75 an hour to $7.75 by July 2007, says David Henderson of the Hoover Institution. While Democrats support the idea of helping poorer families, researchers claim artificial wage rates adversely affect lower income people.

Consider the findings of various economists:

* Only 20 percent of the workers potentially affected by an earlier one dollar increase in California's minimum wage were supporting a family on a single minimum-wage income. The other 80 percent were teenagers or adult children living with their parents, adults living alone or dual earners in a married couple.
* Increases in minimum wages actually redistribute income among poor families by giving wage increases to some and putting others out of work. They estimate the 1996 and 1997 federal minimum-wage increase amplified the proportion of poor families by one-half to one percentage point.
* People in their late 20s worked less and earned less the longer they were exposed to a high minimum wage, presumably because the minimum wage destroyed job opportunities early in their work life.

Also:

* A comprehensive survey of studies of the minimum-wage increase found that a 10 percent increase in the minimum wage reduces employment of young workers by one percent to two percent.
* If this estimate holds for California, Gov. Schwarzenegger's proposed 15 percent increase would destroy 1.5 to 3 percent of young Californians' jobs -- about 35,000 to 70,000 jobs.

Cart before the horse

This judge is talking sense in as much as he identifies the first three years of an at-risk child's life being the core of many future problems.

Retired family court judge, Graeme MacCormick says,"It is from disadvantaged children, those not given a good start in life, that most of our young and not so young criminal offenders come.

"We cannot afford more police, more court staff, more judges, more prisons, more accident and emergency and mental health workers, more wasted lives, than we already have."

But a national at-risk register? I don't trust the state to get anything right in respect of registers, follow-up and intervention. Go back a step further and ask, why do we encourage people who couldn't look after a kitten, let alone a child, to have babies? It seems senseless to continue to do this and then bang those babies onto an at-risk register as soon as they arrive, assuring ourselves that is enough.

Your home is not your castle

Census takers go on to people's properties. Over the space of a week or so nobody knows when they will turn up. In Kapiti three Census takers have been bitten by dogs. One a ridgeback-mastiff cross which bit a man on the arm, the second a labrador which bit a woman on both legs, and the third was unspecified but the collector received minor bites on her elbow.

Get this. The Census area manager says,"We have contacted the police and Kapiti dog ranger and requested that the offending dogs be destroyed."

The dog ranger says,"We will be checking to make sure dog owners adhere to common law, which states quite clearly that every home has to have dog free access."

Quite clearly nobody can have a dog for the purpose of security or deterrence. Anybody who cannot afford or doesn't want to fence from their gate to their front door can't have a dog - not even a miniature poodle. This edict is another abuse of property rights.

Why so long?

It is marvellous how quickly one can correspond with e-mail. I was thinking about a book I read, of correspondence between Peter Buck and Sir Apirana Ngata, when days and weeks would interrupt the conversation.

But only yesterday my main bitch with the Whangamata controversy was that, which ever way the final decision went, it should never have taken 11 years. Over such a long period the resentments and division build. The eventual ruling is then much harder to come to terms with and get over.

We whinge about lack of access to broadband and how it is holding us back. Heck. Speedier technology can't combat the stultifying and stifling processes we have put in place to prevent development.

This appeared in yesterday's DomPost in response to Michael Bassett's column about irresponsible people having too many children.

Future of Freedom Foundation

This has to be the best logo and their website address is also really succinct at www.fff.org

You can subscribe to their daily e-mail which always contains an interesting quote. This is today's;

According to a new poll, only one in four Americans can name two of the five freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment. But more than half of Americans can name at least two of the characters on The Simpsons. Hey, if they ran the Constitution on TV eight times a day, we'd know it.

— Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Kimmel Live

Expect shortages

Think for a moment about the implications of this snippet;

Midwife Shortage - Three leading obstetricians in Auckland say they are worried negative publicity about midwives will add to a serious and growing shortage in the profession.

So we can look forward to similar shortages of politicians, police, prostitutes, professional rugby players, gang members, catholic priests, newspaper editors, bloggers.....

Another tax hike

The Press leads today with the news that Christchurch rates are about to take a 9.9 percent hike.

Christchurch homeowners face the largest rates rise in at least 20 years, with more financial pain feared.

Last month, the council decided on about $1.5 million of cost-cutting measures, including the possible closure of some suburban swimming pools and libraries. It also endorsed increased fees, notably in the cost of parking in the central city.

Cr Helen Broughton said the rates rise was too high, but she could not say where further cuts should be made.

She could look here. In December the salary of the Chief Executive was raised to $351,000 and a bonus of 8 percent paid. What was the bonus for? Keeping the ratepayer happy?

The symbolism of steak

Victoria University senior psychology lecturer Marc Wilson, an omnivore, and PhD student Michael Allen, a vegetarian, say meat is symbolic.

"Why do people eat meat? Partly, it's a way of expressing dominance or masculinity . . . Really masculine men eat more meat," Dr Wilson said.

National Party supporters and men who saw the world in a hierarchical way tended to eat more meat than Labour Party supporters and women – who saw the world in a more interconnected, less structured way, the researchers found.

Perhaps there is also the small matter of the price of a piece of steak....

OECD gravitates towards "enemies of liberty"

I thought the OECD was going soft. This news from the Independent Institute confirms it.

THE OECD DRIFT

For about half of its life, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) attempted to defend and promote economic liberty in the West. As Independent Institute Research Fellow Pierre Lemieux explains,however, in the past
two decades the OECD has drifted toward government intervention.

Beginning in the 1980s, the OECD began advocating "fair competition" and a "global playing field," rather than free trade. Since the 1990s, it has also pushed both "socially responsible" corporate governance, which puts the alleged claims of so-called community "stake holders" on par with the claims of stockholders, and "sustainable development," which asserts presumptuously that long-run development requires the government to prevent private developers from acting against their own rational self-interest.

Although the OECD still does some good work (Lemieux lauds its country surveys and research on comparative health-care systems), the recent selection of Angel Gurria of Mexico to head the OECD in June, rather than the market-oriented classical liberal candidate Alain Madelin of France, bodes poorly for the organization -- and for the future of economic liberty.

Writes Lemieux: "Alain Madelin believes that the OECD will be more and more carried into the world governance movement, which, he explains, is where the enemies of liberty have refocused their fight. He adds, pessimistically, 'It is the end of the OECD.'"

Can seven violent deaths go unreported?

According to Human Rights Commissioner, Joy Liddicoat, quoting the National Collective of Women's Refuges, seven women have been killed in domestic violence incidents this year alone. In trying to verify this I checked the Sensible Sentencing website.

It has recorded 9 murders this year. But none of them were women. Seven were men in either their late twenties or early thirties. The other two were a three year-old boy and a 14 month-old baby girl.

What am I missing here? There is no mention of this fact at the Women's Refuge website

I've searched "woman killed in domestic incident nz 2006" to no avail and I've searched the Police press releases, also to no avail.

According to Stop Violence Against Women historically a woman is killed by a partner or ex every five weeks or around 11 women a year. So if seven have been lost already something is seriously awry (as though it isn't anyway.)

I can only conclude that these seven deaths slipped completely beneath the media's radar.

UPDATE: Now it's in the newspaper so it must be true.

Prison Population Projections

Prison population projections have just been released.
No surprises that further increase is expected. But why the predictable seasonal fluctuations?

You Will Comply

This is nauseating stuff from collectivist compulsionists. A UK real estate agent painted his shop the wrong colour and was forced to pay three thousand punds in fines and legal fees. Check the link to see just what a dreadful shade of yellow he chose.

But look what this woman had to say;

Councillor Irene Ratcliffe, from Derbyshire Dales District Council, said the issue was not really the colour.

"It isn't about the colour - it is about complying and I believe we have to enforce it as we have to live together as a community."

Drugs and heartache

Methadone programmes allow registered heroin addicts to collect a daily supply of methadone from their local pharmacy. The methadone is usaully taken at the pharmacy. But in the case of days when the pharmacy is not open "takaways" are given. A programme operates in New Zealand but there is a queue to get on it.

What the programme offers is a chance to get clean by taking a reducing dose legally. It allows the addict to disassociate him or herself from criminal activity. It allows people to hold down a job.

In Scotland a two-year-old boy recently died from swallowing methadone stored at home. His two siblings are now in care. All three should have been in care.

"Drug and methadone dependency have reached epidemic proportions, with our social services left to pick up the pieces of government policy that lacks the will to tackle the issue head-on."

Some 20,000 drug addicts - nearly a third of the Scottish total - are on a methadone treatment programme. Figures from the General Register Office for Scotland show there were 80 methadone-related deaths in 2004, compared with 225 for heroin. The figures for 2003 were 87 and 175 respectively.

These figures don't tell us a lot about whether the programme is succeeding because the methadone-related deaths may not relate to people on the programme. The methadone may have been illegally obtained or sold by somebody on the programme.

In NZ there appears to be three outcomes of the programme. People actually get clean; the methadone becomes a crutch but it is still a better crutch than heroin; others continue to be involved in criminal activities which eventually catch up with them.

The Howard Penal Reform league says;
International research clearly demonstrates the short and long-term benefits of placing those with opioid dependence on methadone programmes as soon as addiction is apparent and help sought. Rapid access to treatment is shown to be beneficial even when initial or interim treatment is not comprehensive and involves less than optimal doses.

The risks with methadone programmes are real. But on balance the risks associated with an addiction to illegal heroin are worse. We need more legality. We need to get more people more quickly onto these programmes - not fewer.

"State teachers go private for own"

One of the problems facing parents in my electorate is the vast size of the major state secondary school. It has a roll of 1800. Many parents have no choice but to send their children to this school even when it doesn't suit their child's needs. Fortunately we could afford to 'pay twice' to get one child into an independent school with a small roll. The people who work there have their own children enrolled - unlike many teachers in the UK state system, who have been sharing their contempt for state schools and intentions to avoid them if at all possible;

STATE school teachers have admitted they are planning to educate their children in independent schools rather than send them to the comprehensives allocated by their local councils.

Teachers contributing to an education website last week complained of being made to “lump it” with “bottom of the league” schools where drugs and bullying were rife.

Alan Smithers, professor of education at Buckingham University, said he was concerned by the entries on the TES website, which is mainly used by state school teachers.

“Teachers know the school system best,” said Smithers. “If they are thinking it is not good enough for their children, that is an indication that something must be seriously wrong.”

The role of a government

There can be no doubt what National Finance spokesman, John Key, thinks the role of government is. This is from a speech delivered to the West Harbour Rotary Club today;

"At a national level, if we can generate more income in the future, we have more ability, collectively, to do things - to improve our public services and to strengthen our national institutions.

Health and education services are usually the first things people think about as benefiting from a stronger economy. I agree, but I also look further than that. I'm always impressed, for example, with the Australian Institute of Sport, and by the constant stream of gold medal winners and world champions who come out of it. Australia can afford a facility like this because it is a much wealthier country than we are. The quality of a national institution like this is reflected back again in a strong sense of national pride.

In a similar vein, I made the point last year in a speech that part of the reason we should strive to have a prosperous economy is so we can fund and enjoy things like our Symphony Orchestra."

Crisis? What crisis?

What can this story possibly be about;

....found the extent of the crisis....lack of time as the major problem...."This is a major concern to us" ....the same tragic story kicks in....too male-dominated ....unfriendly to female....lack a family atmosphere....the decline was even greater....there are many barriers....here are a number of issues which need to be addressed for the long-term good....expectations of an inclusive, socially interactive environment were quickly shattered....

So what is this crisis?

The Public Health System

Contrast these two stories.

Spending rises but surgery falls at city hospitals
Health spending has risen from about $6.6 billion a year when Labour took office to about $10 billion. But most of the extra spending has gone into rolling out the Primary Health Organisations.

Doctors warn no more care after hours
A South Island doctors' group representing 460 GPs is threatening to withdraw from providing after-hours care if workforce and funding problems are not fixed.

Is this as good as it gets?

Rachealle Namana

I knew Namana was out. I'd looked her up on Garth McVicar's database some time ago. What happened to Lillybing changed my life because I reached the point when I no longer wanted to pay for people to live dissolute, destructive and deviant lifestyles and make the lives of children in their care utter misery. Somehow it made me complicit.

Let's not forget what happened (the italicised passages are the words of Pamela Stirling writing for the Listener in 2001).

One depositions witness said Lillybing had arrived at the kohanga reo that day with "shit running down her legs", bare feet "pinky purple" with cold and a snotty face. Other children teased Lilly bing because she smelt. The witness said she retched when she tried to change Lillybing's nappy.

Lillybing was not much more than a baby. A small 23 month-old constantly left in the care of her Aunty, Rachealle Namana, who had four children of her own. Namana resented being put upon. She was called on to breastfeed Lillybing when the biological mother was unable. Lillybing would be left with Namana, without nappies, which is why the toilet-training episode apparently occurred.

There was evidence that Namana hit Lillybing each time she fell from a little wooden platform in front of the adult-sized toilet during a toilet training session that started at around 8pm. It was after 11pm, said the thirteen year-old withness, crying through much of her evidence, that she found Lillybing alone on the toilet, clinging with her arms and legs 'to stop her falling in'.

But Namana was defrauding WINZ. "My sister left for Australia and I kept the benefit."

By Namana's own account she was getting an extra $400 a fortnight. Namana chainsmokes and there is money for alcohol. Namana claims only to go to the pub at lunchtime to put a $2 bet on the TAB, but at the Royal Oak her unborn child was known as "Jack"; short for Jack Daniels. Ask her about drinking during pregnancy and she says she only discovered she was pregnant at seven months. 'I was on the injection; it saves money on tampons.'

There was money for drugs and there was money for band equipment. The partner had a band called FUBAR, which stands for Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition. The first word Lillybing said most clearly was "f...".

On the day Lillybing died there was a birthday celebration for Namana and Hemopo's 8 year-old. Her present? A Sky cartoon channel subscription.

But Lillybing is the child who a health worker described in depositions as a 'woebegone little thing' and looking as though she 'never had enough cuddles'.

She fell over all the time. A bruise on her forehead was mistreated with a boiling cloth. Vaginal injuries and bleeding were ignored. At some stage on the day of her death Namana shook her violently causing a major cerebral injury. The Crown says she had also suffered some severe abdominal bruises at about the same time.

When Lillybing lay dead on the couch Namana had driven to her stepmother's house looking for a driver so she could "get on the piss".

Nothing has changed.

Hinewaoriki Rerenoa Merekara Karaitiana - Matiaha 7 Aug 1998 - 23rd July 2000

Gallery

A commentor asked if any of my work could be viewed on the web so I have set up a gallery here.

Privatisation of welfare - not

Saw the following on the Adam Smith blog.

Was I hallucinating when I heard British Gas are to offer a lump sum rebate for the aged or disadvantaged? I called BG. Sure – At the last monstrous price increase they agreed with government to offer a means tested benefit. They promise to mail details but it may just have been a dream. BG seemed unclear if this benefit is to be subsidized by the Government or by their shareholders. Can you believe that utilities are offering competing means tested benefits? Does this signal progressive privatization of welfare?

This isn't "welfare privatisation". Utility companies are not there to provide welfare. Privatising welfare would be about welfare agencies providing welfare services operating on voluntarily donated money. Like World Vision.
You see, thanks to the state, welfare has wrongly become synonomous with just the provision of money. It is much more.