Hands-on or hands-off?

In a predictable series of reactions, the elevation of Don Brash to leader of the National Party, has garnered bouquets from the business community and brickbats from unions and workers groups.

Business and employer groups say Brash has a good understanding of their needs- less red tape, lower taxes and a hands-off approach from the government.

That's a media report about Don Brash taking over the leadership of National.

Today expect John Key, in a speech to National's northern regional conference today, to urge a more hands-on approach to the economy.

Mr Key will point to Singapore, which he has just visited, to advocate a more hands-on role for Government in setting economic direction.

My understanding of Singapore is government is more hands-off than hands-on. Here's a quote from Singapore's PM:

"In Singapore we have decided we must keep our taxes low to attract new investments and minimise labour rigidities so that companys can expand and contract flexibly as business conditions change. Singapore is also promoting innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship. This means deregulating and liberalising the economy. It means emphasisng private enterprise as an engine of growth."

Don Brash said in 2003, "The next National government will be much closer in spirit to the vitality of the Singaporean model than to the complacency of their (Labour) government."

It will be interesting to learn what Mr Key actually means.

G I Blues

Here's an e-mail I received;

Hi Lindsay-

I know all this because I employ guys from Glen Innes, one of the HNZ ghettos in Auckland.

I employ two guys usually, my number 1 man and my number 2 man. No 1 man lives with his girlfriend and three kids in a State house. Apparently she has given up the DPB now she has a job, but she no doubt gets family assistance to boost her disposable income to something approaching mine. Not only do I pay his wages, but I also pay money back to WINZ (he doesn't live with them officially and doesn't pay his liable
parent contribution) when they catch up with him and I pay his Court Fines (otherwise the State will make me liable for those fines directly!!)

My No 2 man lives with his girlfriend who is expecting his second child (first child is with another girl who is on DPB on the other side of Auckland) They are looking forward to getting their own house as he doesn't like living with their Aunty and her son. Aunty works but son wants to be a gangsta! At 16 he does nothing. Did a day's work for me but doesn't like work.

Unfortunately no 1 man has had severe headaches over the last three weeks and is off work with high blood pressure. Aunty says it is the amount of dope he smokes, although in that case it should hit no 2 man as well! They are brother-in-laws, no 1 man living with no 2 man's half-sister and no 2 man is having baby with no 1 man's cousin.. This is normal in GI...

So I have had to fall back on no 3 man, who used to work for me. He is busy looking after some of his kids (read- 'on the DPB') while living with the mother of his three kids and occasionally has the two kids over from his other girlfriend out West Auckland. This does not give him enough time to work really, and the money is only attractive if it is cash with no tax...

I hope no 1 man recovers enough to come back to work, or he will end up like his father-in-law, who has not legally worked in 20 years, suffering from angina and a bad back. This has led to him being some 30kg overweight (or more) and now has diabetes as well. No 1 man has gout already (under 30 years old) and takes handfuls of pills for it as he munches on mussels and tomato pizza. When the pills fail under the onslaught of beers he takes a couple of days off anyway.

I'm sure if I wasn't a Libertarian I would still lose faith in the Welfare State after employing these fucking useless yobbies for over ten years!!

Unfortunately too many of the deadhead middle class don't see this as they are salaried employees in a nice white middle-class job...

Murray McCully reports on the globe-trotting affairs of Holy Willie.

Upon his appointment as our Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Peters was emphatic about his highest and most urgent priority: the restoration of good relations with the United States. And he even asked his Australian counterpart, Alexander Downer, to put in a good word.

How strange, therefore, to inspect the heavy travel schedule of Mr Peters since his appointment: Malaysia, Korea, London (twice), Malta, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Niue, Austria and Dublin. And last week Mr Peters’ tireless efforts to improve our relationship with the United States took him to Moscow, St Petersburg and Kiev. All signs that thus far Mr Peters’ pointy-headed MFAT officials have had difficulty in assisting their Minister with a direct route to Washington.

Oh, well. There are only around 190 countries in the world. And by a process of elimination, Mr Peters has simply got to get to Washington sometime in the next couple of years.

Depression UK's bggest social problem

In the UK, depression now has more people on benefits than unemployment.

Around 15% of the population suffers from depression or anxiety, says Lord Layard, emeritus professor at the Centre for Economic Performance of the London School of Economics. The economic cost in terms of lost productivity is huge - around £17bn, or 1.5% of UK gross domestic product. "There are now more than 1 million mentally ill people receiving incapacity benefits - more than the total number of unemployed people receiving unemployment benefits," he writes in the British Medical Journal.

In NZ benefits for pschological and psychiatric conditions run at about 75 percent (36,454) of the unemployment benefit total. (Can't tell you exactly how many people are on the dole right now as the Ministry of Social Development put up the March 06 figures yesterday but has taken them down again).

Update; The figures are back up (although UB is incorrectly labelled as March 2005). The current percentage is 82 so we are chasing the UK.

Peaceful, easy feeling...

I wonder if that's how the ratepayers of Waitakere feel about Bob Harvey's Peace City plans. Their rates jumped by 7.65% this year. There is an interesting breakdown here of where each dollar goes - 8.3 cents for "democracy". What's that a euphemism for? Window- dressing consultation processes probably.

Chickens come home to roost

An OECD economist and social policy analyst is visiting and talking about his study, Babies and Bosses;

The study showed that many New Zealand mothers found it impossible to balance commitments to both family and employment and so had fewer children or none at all.

"Declining birth rates and ageing populations will soon result in a shortage of workers so increased female participation in the labour force will be crucial to maintaining national living standards," he told the Herald.

The findings are from Dr Adema's Babies and Bosses study which looked at work and family life in 13 OECD countries.

It revealed that the "clear gap" in New Zealand was after-school care.

Although there were organisations to provide care, there was no central system, such as in Sweden and Denmark. Recently, the UK and Australia had also made it a priority, Dr Adema said.

But all of those countries have lower fertility rates than NZ.

In fact, at 1.99 our fertility rate is relatively high. Consider this article about France's "high" fertility rate, which just happens to be the same as ours.

So the measures the economist wants the government to take aren't about increasing fertility but about getting more economic productivity out of women. And what is that economic productivity primarily supporting? The welfare state.

Things really are arse about face.

Awful admission

Now the government is promoting its brand new scheme "Right job, Right time, Right from the start" because it discovered 20 percent of people applying for a benefit could actually work.

So what's been happening for the last seven years?

(There is a section in the relevant Cabinet paper which necessarily considers the legal, human rights and gender aspects of this proposal. If you didn't laugh you would cry. Govt has created its own strait jacket. )

Radio Interview

I've just pre-recorded a radio interview with Rob Holding of Radio Rhema which will play at 3.10 or 4.10 this pm. It's a discussion about what's wrong with the unemployment rate. What it covers up. And why I have a problem with the DPB.

Sickness and Invalid benefits keep climbing

Ministry of Social Development has just released benefit stats for year ending March 2006. DPB is down 2,300 but Invalid and Sickness benefits are up 4,400. Some single parents will have transferred onto these benefits.

Holy Willie

"It is one thing to highlight scandals when the public good is at risk or where genuine issues of incompetence and failure exist. It is another entirely to shamelessly indulge in the politics of personal denigration without the evidence to back it up. This playing the man without the ball at its worst."

Winston flagellating National and ACT over the David Parker case.

What can you say.

Further on NCEA

Having kept the same published table from 2003 I did a quick comparison of Wellington area schools. There are a couple of decile 1 and 2 secondary schools doing really well and I don't want to do them a disservice with my prior post. Porirua College and Wainuiomata High School have boosted their level 1 pass rates significantly and should be very pleased and proud of their achievement. Unfortunately two others, Bishop Viard and Mana have slumped significantly. Swings and roundabouts. Arguments about the merits of state education aside, if some schools can boost their performance, why can't others? All of these schools will be receiving similar funding so again, the success or failure of the students isn't about money.

NCEA results

The secondary school percentages for NCEA passes are published in the DomPost today.

The advice is to take the decile rating into account when making comparisons. In general the link between performance and decile rating is fairly evident but there are some low decile schools performing very well.

For instance, in the Hawkes Bay there are two secondary schools both with a decile rating of 1 (poorest):

Flaxmere College managed to get 5.6% of its Year 11 pupils through level 1
whereas Hukere passed 88.9 percent (The rolls are dissimilar in size with 318 vs 96).

Overall the low decile school's performance is way below national averages. Given most kids are qoing to need qualifications of some sort, the polarisation is quite alarming. And the degree of polarisation looks greater amongst Maori.

Sending a strong message

Bureaucrats are fond of talking about sending messages to society either through creating policy or passing legislation. One example is the decision to prosecute an Upper Hutt woman for not making her 14 year-old son attend school.

Mokomoko is the first person to be prosecuted in an Education Ministry and police scheme to reduce truancy in the Hutt Valley and Wainuiomata.

She was due in court yesterday but failed to turn up (I thought that was contempt). The case proceeded and she was convicted (of what I am unsure). She escaped a fine because she's on the DPB and couldn't afford to pay one (since when has being on a benefit meant exemption from fines?) For the next six months she is on notice to reappear in court if required (how does she reappear when she didn't appear in the first place?)

So that little exercise will certainly send a strong message to other parents.

DPB - career advice

Oswald's comment on the previous post reminded of this letter I received from a nurse working in a maternity ward who says that young women she dealt with told her teachers had said there were no jobs for them so they should go on the DPB to guarantee their income. If you can't read it she ends, "DPB mums now have DPB daughters!"

Widow's benefit snapshot

Numbers on a widow's benefit;

1975 16,738
1990 12,676
2004 8,601

The decreasing numbers reflect men's growing life expectancy, the gradual disappearance of war widows and greater likelihood of remarriage. Here's what I find interesting.

Welfare state proponents say the DPB hasn't shaped people's behaviour. It is not a lifestyle choice. Single parenthood is pretty much accidental, unplanned or unforeseen. A bit like widowhood. In which case one would expect the numbers on the DPB to remain fairly steady reflecting demographic and labour market changes.

Let's see what happened to the DPB numbers;

1975 17,231
1990 94,823
2004 109,021

I accept the picture is complex and many arguments can be made for the blow-out in the latter group but I hold that the stark contrast is essentially about choice.

Gareth Morgan's road trip

Gareth Morgan is on another motorbike trip and speaking regularly to Paul Holmes on the NewstalkZB breakfast show. This time he is in the US. His comments this morning were really interesting. Riding across Virginia and North Carolina, he is staying off the interstates which he says carry big rigs doing 120-130 km. The speed limit is 100 but there is a fair degree of tolerance. On the rural roads you can go for fifty kilometres without seeing a shop but there is a church every one kilometre. On Sunday their carparks are packed with SUVs. The doors are locked and the curtains drawn. And the congregation stays all day. Goodness knows what they do in there, he says. Church attendance in the US is 47 percent but he estimates attendence in these states is more like 80-90 percent (NZ has about 5-6.)

You can see maps, photos, listen to or watch the interviews and read Gareth's impressions at the above link. Good stuff.

Crisis......what crisis?

The Christchurch Hospital has seen visits to its emergency department rise by more than 7,000. This is a perfect example of people abusing "free" services. Consider the circumstances of some of the patients. Turning up for blood tests and x-rays; because they don't have a GP to go to; for social problems; because they need a bed for the night; for non-acute psychiatric problems; for "flu, colds, upper respiratory tract infections, sprains, strains and bruises or those whose only problem was being drunk."

I've been to A&E twice. Once when my toddler first choked on, then swallowed a screw extracted from her high chair and again when my son had acute appendicitis. Both times I was surprised at the patients waiting with no apparent urgent complaint. To be fair I guess my toddler's problem wasn't highly visible.

The owl and the pussycat?

Two boaties were rescued trying to cross Cook Strait in a four-metre wooden dinghy with a single sail and oars made from broomstick handles.

Another "talkfest"

Here's a loaded question; "We are talking about using the law to save lives. Who can argue with that?"

Me. Laws are breakable. Laws do not tell us what is moral or immoral. The more laws we have the less we respect them. We should be valuing human life - not the law.

The question came out of a hui on domestic violence which was attended by 80 people over the weekend. The major complaint appears to be that the courts are not doing enough to protect women from domestic violence.

The (Domestic Violence) act expressly lowered the threshold of the level of violence considered severe enough for a protection order without notice to be granted.

Delegates and speakers said more and more protection orders were being put on notice, meaning women needing immediate protection were often being left without court order protection for several weeks.

The DVA allows for yelling at somebody to be defined as violence. And it is my understanding that the protection order facility has been abused.

Genuine domestic violence is ugly and it kills but no amount of law is going to protect someone from a partner or ex who is out of control. In the worst case scenario a protection order is about as useful as a microchip in a savage dog.

These people, as well-meaning as they may be, are barking up the wrong tree.

Take your own advice

"You all have an obligation to wake the fuck up and realise how every thing that you have now, all the rights to be free to earn money to marry when you want, to gain an education, to control your sexuality and bear children when you want – all of these rights have been fought for by women and they can be taken away."

That is an excerpt from one Kate Sutton's Womensfest speech delivered at Auckland University on April 11th. It's the run-of-the-mill feminist tirade against the oppressive male, some of which is rather extreme. But considering the above, the solution to perceived residual equality problems lies in the hands of her audience. Women have never had so much freedom and choice.

So stop whingeing about who might take it away. (I wouldn't rule it out but the day that happens everybody's liberty will be going down the dunny). Stop blaming men for your own inadequacies and stop demanding the state accommodate your ambition and fund your failure.

Take responsibility for yourselves in every respect. Why? Because you can.

(Thanks Whig)

My soldier

This is a very early effort. I found my soldier in a farewell family group photo and wanted to preserve him. He hangs on my wall. Sadly I don't know who he was or whether he returned from WW1. But not for want of trying.

Through the publisher of the book it came from, I tracked the original photo to its owner. She only knew that the very young boy in the photo was her cousin. I tracked him down by ringing every Bryant in the Wellington phonebook. I found an elderly man who was almost blind. He was Frank Bryant and could identify two of the soldiers in the photo as his father and uncle but he had no idea who the third was. Which just happened to be the one I had been drawn to. Efforts to trace his battalion through assumptions based on what I knew, or find his image in other official photos all failed. But through my search I became immersed in the history, spending time at the Defence Library and Waiouru. He remains a mystery.

The happy upshot of it all was I put two cousins together who had been out of touch for many years, one believing the other had passed on. They were able to spend some time together before Frank died. And I am still in touch with his wife.

"How Labour turned the UK into a Soviet Tractor"

This is a withering analysis (with NZ parallels). Simon Caulkin describes how, despite the right motivation, the UK's planning culture has snowballed;

Despite its professed dedication to market disciplines, New Labour is the most micromeddling administration in history, creating detailed specification and prescription for everything from school lesson planning to the way documents are processed or calls answered in local government offices.

Sanity prevails

Earlier in the month I posted about a Queenstown court case where three men were being charged with the same drink-driving offence. It's been thrown out. What a waste of time. And it isn't a flash look for the police involved.

Defence counsel Sonia Vidal had said in the Queenstown District Court on April 11 she had huge concerns about the legality of the charges.

Police charged all three men because they did not know who had been driving during the incident which brought them to police attention.

They have no proof of who the driver was, or the exact vehicle that was driven, so police have entered the house and charged all three flatmates, she told Judge Dominic Flatley.

I have huge concerns about the legality of many steps in the process, Ms Vidal said.

Deja vu

The Law Commisson wants to reduce parole eligibility. "We want to reform the parole system in a way which is consistent with the 'truth in sentencing' approach," Sir Geoffrey said at a press conference in Wellington.

Truth in sentencing. Now where have I heard that before?

Deborah Coddington on ACT MPs

Deborah Coddington does a live spot on Larry William's NewstalkZB Show each Monday. Today Mary Lambie is filling in for Larry. Asked what she thought about ACT MP's activities Deborah was critical. She surmises Heather is joining the army to glean experience and then likened this to National MP Katherine O'Regan's pointless exercise of going on a benefit to see what it was like. She refused to see any merit in the idea. They appear to be publicity hunting, Deborah says. Yet she was castigated by the ACT party for not being able to keep her personal life out of the papers and now it looks like they are going down the same path! The ACT party was supposed to be about principles, not politics, says Deborah.

There was a fair bit of egging along by Mary Lambie who wants to know who will be left in Parliament to do the work and why are TVNZ are doing an exclusive coverage deal with them. She is interviewing a undisclosed Dancing with the Stars contestant later. If it's Rodney I'm sure he will adequately answer these questions for her. Afterall, Parliament didn't grind to a halt when Deborah went off to Cambridge in 2003.

Dunne gives EPMU a dressing down

Yesterday I blogged that the EPMU 90 day notice of protest action is a threat to the smaller parties. Peter Dunne obviously thinks so too.

Let's put it on the record for future reference;

"Who on earth do the EPMU think they are that they should stoop to this sort of industrial blackmail?" asked Mr Dunne.

"This is not France where industrial legislation is decided by street rioting ? this is New Zealand where these matters are decided by people making submissions to a select committee and by the people's elected representatives in Parliament.

"United Future's votes were crucial in sending Dr Mapp's Bill to a select committee for consideration and the EPMU's threats have had the effect of firming up our support for the Bill," said Mr Dunne.

Sierre Leone

What have Sierra Leone and New Zealand got in common?

Canadian tourists have been attacked in both countries in the past few days. The difference is, in the third world nation of Sierra Leone the assailants were chimpanzees.

Trespass rights denied

An Oakura (south of New Plymouth) man is refusing to allow people to cross his land. They have been hurling abuse at him and his kids and still attempting to cross the paddock. The man is living in a house caravan in the paddock they want to cross. It isn't clear why he has decided to refuse them access but here's the thing. They can walk around the paddock quite easily. But the angry abusers think they have the right to trespass on this man's land.

The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel was snapped while holidaying in Ischia over Easter. Pray with me a similar calamity never befalls our dear leader.

Don't make HC Minister of Welfare

The Prime Minister is also Minister for Heritage, Culture and Recreation.

When Labour came to power, spending was $316 million per annum. Since 1999 it has ballooned to almost $1 billion. Latest Treasury Statement of Financial Performance shows that in the year to June 2005 spending was $991 million. That's a 213 per cent increase.

Put into perspective, Law and Order spending rose by 33 per cent over the same period.

For heaven sake, don't make Helen Minister of Social Welfare!

(And for the record, as an artist, I don't think we have any right to special privileges from the state.)

Extreme Trivia

Eleven days from now, on Wednesday, May 4, 2006, at two minutes and three seconds after 1:00 AM in the morning, the time and date will be:

01:02:03 04/05/06

I'll probably sleep through it....

(Ta Adam Smith blog)

Low society

The "undercover" Herald journalist who inveigled her way into the company of Mick Jagger for four days by lying (an act of omission is a lie) and then told all, including his confided mistrust of the media, is a toe-rag and a hack.

Union threatens mass protest

The EPMU is threatening mass protests. According to Newsroom New Zealand’s largest trade union is putting National Party industrial relations spokesman Wayne Mapp on 90 days’ notice of mass industrial protest over his Employment Relations (Probationary Employment) Amendment Bill.

What is it they want Wayne Mapp to do? This is to threaten the smaller parties who supported the bill to select committee eg The Maori Party.

Forget Janet and John - here come Mary and Matt

This really takes the cake. What I'd really like to say is WHAT A LOAD OF BOLLOCKS.

This Christchurch School is trying to regulate the way staff speak to and about each other. For instance;

"Matt, we shouldn't really be talking about Mary behind her back." Or: "Matt, I can see you feel strongly about that. You really need to be saying it to Mary."

The obligation to respond extends to a person on the fringe of the conversation. "Come on, guys, Mary's not here. It's not part of the code."

And what do the staff think?

A current staff member said the code was not working and many of the staff regarded it as a joke.

"Every workplace gossips. The serious thing is they have taken away our trust because we are not allowed to talk freely to each other. Our support system is each other."

Explosion in premature births

This report from the Scotsman surprised me because it blames mother's lifestyles for premature births. My first child was three weeks early. I was still working in a very active job but getting pretty tired. So I thought perhaps I was going to read about how the growth of working women was contributing to this phenomenon. But no.

Researchers say it is difficult to explain the rise but obesity, smoking and social class might be part of the problem. Very young and older mothers are also more likely to have a premature birth.The factors cited are obesity, smoking and social class.

You find things in the darnedest places

As part of my DPB campaign I issued a press release on Thursday counteracting the demands from the child poverty advocates, The Maori Party included. Interestingly it has been turning over on the Maori Party website ever since.

Hone vs Perigo

Emotions are running very high on TV One's Eye to Eye as Hone Harawira and Lindsay Perigo go head-to-head over banning tobacco. Hone says tobacco came with colonisation and Perigo says so did cars, refrigerators and tvs. This is b...s... Grow-up. When asked by host Willie Jackson if he'd given up smoking Perigo replied, yes, he had but he thought he would take it up again the moment he got out of the studio.

Look, Harawira's loathing of the white tobacco manufacturers for "killing his people" is palpable. This is a race issue for him. But his desire to stop his people smoking is absolutely genuine and Perigo encouraged Hone's passionate appeals to his people - moral persuasion. But legislation to ban tobacco will not work.

Asked for the way forward Perigo said, put a tattoo on all politician's foreheads, health warning - dictatorship is bad for you.

(The programme replays on Tuesday evening)

Bedtime story....

...one we could do without.

Naenae - fast becoming a cesspit - hosted a Canadian tourist who had been burgled, trussed, hooded and dumped. I am so sorry.

A Canadian tourist is in Hutt Hospital with a broken nose, broken ribs, punctured lung and badly bruised body after being beaten and robbed.

He was found wandering battered and dazed on a street in Naenae early on Wednesday morning.

state of the art aptitude testing

Here is the latest aptitude test being employed by consultants:

1. How do you put a giraffe into a refrigerator?

The correct answer is: Open the refrigerator, put in the giraffe and close the door.
This question tests whether you tend to make simple things too complicated.

2. How do you put an elephant into a refrigerator?

Wrong Answer : Open the refrigerator, put in the elephant and close the door.
Correct Answer : Open the refrigerator, take out the giraffe, put in the elephant and close the door.
This tests your ability to think through the repercussions of your actions.

3. The Lion King is hosting an animal conference; all the animals attend except one. Which animal does not attend?

Correct Answer : The elephant. The elephant is in the refrigerator.
This tests your memory.

4. There is a river you must cross. But it is inhabited by crocodiles. How do you manage it?

Correct Answer: You swim across. All the crocodiles are attending the animal conference!
This tests your reasoning.

(Ta Adam Smith blog)

Children's Commissioner accused of "bullying"

Here Maxim have picked up on a release from the new Family First Lobby group which is headed by Bob McCoskrie, formerly host on Radio Rhema. If true, it's disgraceful but sadly, not surprising.

Update; TelstraClear News says it has been approached by one of the social workers involved who confirms the story.

Poll; Labour overtakes National
Quote; You don't have to fool all the people all of the time; you just have to fool enough to get elected.
– Gerald Barzan

The relentless advance of tax freedom day

The Centre for Independent Studies reports Australia's Tax Freedom Day will fall on April 25 this year - two days out on 2005.

One hundred years ago, Tax Freedom Day fell on 24 January. At the outbreak of World War II it fell on 26 February. By the late 1950s, it had extended to 19 March, and it shifted into April during the Whitlam years.

By 1998-99, Tax Freedom Day had been pushed out to 21 April. Last year (using revised ABS figures*) it was 23 April. This year it is another two days later than that. That’s another two days spent paying for the government rather than working for ourselves.

What the heck is "boomeritis"?

Find out here.

Which reminds me, the kids and I were looking at our poster purchased at the Stones concert. Keith Richard's hands are in really bad shape. The knuckles nearest to the tips of his fingers are swollen to twice their normal size. Which makes what he does doubly amazing.

Heart disease findings

I am tempted to predict a media release from Tariana Turia about the urgent need to address the racism in heart disease care on the back of this study publication;

Deaths caused by heart disease are increasing at "an alarming rate" among young and middle-aged adults, especially Maori, according to a study published in the New Zealand Medical Journal.

Either that or Hone will pick it up and use it to promote his tobacco prohibition campaign.

(On that subject, did the Maori Party promote a tobacco ban policy before the election?)

Jackson on unsexy list

I couldn't resist this headline wondering whether it was a reference to Peter or Michael. Who else would you put on it? My nominations would include Keith Locke, Tama Iti and the Christchurch Wizard.

Quick fix remedy the wrong one

The last two days have seen a concerted effort by various groups to pressure the government into putting more cash into the homes of beneficiary children; the CPAG, Home and Family Society, Dr Cass Byrnes and the Maori Party have each made submissions. It isn't because the plight of these children doesn't concern me that I reject this proposal - it's the opposite.

Children's health is about more than income levels. An extensive study addressed this in 2002 when researchers compared poor children from homes reliant on government transfers with those from poor homes reliant on market income (benefit homes vs working homes).

Both groups had incomes below the poverty threshold yet the study found the first group were worse off than the second. In part this was because of parental characteristics which made them more likely to be on welfare. Their children were "more likely to be subject to restrictions in key items of consumption."

Despite similar incomes the beneficiary was more likely to report inadequacy of income. For instance 17 percent reported having postponed a child's visit to the doctor to keep costs down. In the second group this dropped to 8 percent. Didn't have suitable wet-weather clothing for each child applied to 16 percent in the benefit households and 9 in the working households. There is a lengthy list I could quote from.

"The results of this study suggest that poor children in families primarily reliant on government transfers are a particularly vulnerable group....The findings suggest a need for policies that have a wider focus than just income support."

We should absolutely resist any action that will encourage more people onto benefits. Quick fix remedies rarely endure and often aggravate.

Work stoppages

Statistics NZ has just released the number of work stoppages in 2005. Trending up again.

Racism in asthma care

Some press releases from the Maori Party I regard with vague amusement but others are beyond the pale (excuse the unintentional pun). Here Tariana is clamouring about racism in asthma care.

There are no barriers to Maori accessing medicines and advice on their use that do not apply to any other race. There are factors that disproportionately affect Maori eg higher smoking rates, benefit dependence, poor diet, crowding in inadequate homes. However, none of these factors is beyond the control of the individual, in particular, the parent. I am not buying it.

Having worked as a child asthma educator I know we did our best to reach as many people as possible. But my experience was fewer Maori parents took up the opportunity.

More on Mr Key

The Molesworth and Featherston has also noticed Mr Key's activities. (My criticism yesterday was not of what he did but how he drew further attention to it in such a self-serving manner.)

The Key to wealth and ignominy

National's finance spokesman John Key has always impressed us, as he has most political watchers. So, we are here to help.

You put your foot in a potentially steaming one, John, with that decision to take out a mortgage on the Wellington digs to take advantage of a perk available to MPs. (It became known through the otherwise innocuous – because it does not give details of size of wealth and assets – register of MP's assets.)Yes, most MPs structure their affairs to take advantage of the freebie. Yes, it is a rational economic decision. But are you not mega-wealthy? Can't you make more than the average wage on those Merrill Lynch shares every time the currency yawns and stretches? You are also fond of berating the Government for providing middle-class welfare through things like the Working for Families extension – as you did last week in this newsletter. Well, sorry John-boy.

Is this not middle class welfare capture extraordinaire? Do you need the cash? It is costing those poor taxpayers you are fond of saying need relief. Take our advice. Pay off the mortgage with your loose change and lance a potential boil before Labour wakes up to it.

Artistic interference

Scotland imposed a smoking ban similar to ours on March 31. One theatre manager is defying the on-stage smoking ban because he believes it is "interference with art". (Perhaps Russell Crowe could try that one but it would pose the tougher question of whether his music constitutes art). Loved this quote;

The theatre and comedy producer David Johnson said: "The ban is ludicrous, it's pathetic, frankly. You can show sex on stage but you couldn't show them smoking afterwards."

The Greens are not left-wing.

Who said so?

According to Vernon Small, writing in today's DomPost, Nandor Tanczos. Apparently he has written a paper explaining why the Greens are not a left-wing party as part of his bid for the co-leadership. Sadly it is available at their website but only to members. As I can't access it I am doing my best to imagine what it says.

The Greens are not left-wing because;

-They oppose massive redistribution of wealth
-They believe the state should reduce legislation that interferes with employment
-They believe free trade is fair trade
-They believe in private property rights
-They believe indigenous people have the same rights as other New Zealanders

Yeah. That sounds like the Green Party we all know and love.

Sympathy for the devil

This kid is locked up for ROBBERY. ROBBERY. I guarantee it won't be the first.

But the entire story is about why we should feel sorry for him. Don't tell me...the system is letting him down.

This unpleasant and uncomfortable experience might be the best thing that could happen to him if it's not already too late. If it were my son I'd be sick over it but at the same time I'd be telling him, this is the consequence of your actions.

Eat your heart out, Tom

Is this the somewhat portly, grizzly and balding cartoonist Tom Scott who depicted Mick Jagger in the DomPost today asking, "If time really was on our side we'd look better than this surely?"

Scott is four years Jagger's junior.

Oh, the sacrifices....

Last week a letter appeared in the DomPost about John Key. If my memory serves me right it was the feature letter along with a photo of Key. Today his response appears, drawing further attention to the original complaint.

Guilty as charged

Ken Wilson asserts (Letters April 13) that by claiming a parliamentary accommodation allowance when I can afford not to do so, I am guilty of rorting the taxpayer.

Such logic can be applied to any of the genuine costs that I incur as an MP, including travel and related expenses.

Rather than my rorting the system, maybe Mr Wilson would like to tally up the immense contribution in terms of family time, the alternative income I could earn were I not in Parliament, and the considerable financial donations I make each year, and then reflect on whether I am rorting the system.

If that makes me guilty of a rort, I stand guilty as charged.

John Key, National MP, Helensville.

Mick Jagger is a Maniac

It isn't enough to say the Stones have still got it. They've got more than ever. More energy, more charisma, more lovability. And if there was ever a shining example of synergy this is it. We were up in the stands alongside the stage which runs the width of the ground, which Mick runs over and over. Dancing like a maniac with those long skinny arms and big hands flailing about but the hips and thighs pulling it all together with tight rhythmic and rapid movements. He is ageless.

Hardship assistance - where to from here?

The Special Benefit, extra non-repayable hardship assistance, was scrapped on April 1 but those already receiving it would continue to.

The Ministry of Social Development, through their official media statement, says one of the reasons the Special Benefit was replaced with Temporary Additional Support is, "Establishing upper limits on individual allowable costs helps to ensure people do not receive last resort hardship assistance for items that may not be affordable to other people on low incomes. For example, the maximum repayment cost for a television in Special Benefit was $70 per week. Repaid over 52 weeks, this allows the purchase of a television costing $3,600 - which is well out of the reach of most people on low and middle incomes."

So being without a TV, or a quality TV, was such a hardship the taxpayer had to pay for them. The beneficiary who received the money didn't have to pay it back and if they managed to "qualify" before April 1 for a TV costing $3,600 they will continue to get it paid for.

It is my guess that some people on benefits will be paying their cable subscriptions out of their main benefit and using the Special Benefit to pay for the wide-screen TV. I am sure it hasn't escaped the public's notice that satellite dishes proliferate amongst housing for the "neediest".

But back to the real problem with the Special Benefit. It was discretionary. Case managers could, and did, decline applications. Exercising discretion is too close to discriminating or even judging. So it has been scrapped for "a fairer rules based approach" which will make it "more transparent and easier for clients to understand and case managers to administer."

Now that nobody can be denied the extra hardship assistance, newly called Temporary Additional Support, how much will be allowed for TVs? And what was that about welfare being a safety net?

Car craziness

Talking about waste and abuse inherent in state welfare systems (referred to in a following essay) this article from today's DomPost, about the huge increase in the number of car-related payments made to beneficiaries, reminded me of something I was told last year.

This company is contracted by the state to tow away vehicles. When the owner turns up to collect said car they have to pay three or four hundred dollars. In the case of a beneficiary a quick call is made to WINZ and a payment is arranged.

How crazy is that? The state contracts to confiscate the car and then pays to return it.

The Separation of Charity and State

I've never posted an entire essay before but this is so good I can't resist.

The Separation of Charity and State
by Jacob G. Hornberger, Posted April 17, 2006

The primary function of the federal government these days is to help out others with federal welfare assistance. The assistance is dispensed in a variety of ways — directly, in the form of a money payment (Social Security); indirectly, by helping people with payments to third parties (Medicare and Medicaid); subsidies to government entities and private organizations (grants to public schools or corporate welfare); and in-kind benefits, such as housing or food. After the recent Hurricane Katrina disaster, federal officials even went so far as to disburse bank debit cards to hurricane victims.

Federal welfare assistance to Americans has become such an ingrained part of our lives that most Americans hardly give it a second thought. While “waste, fraud, and abuse” have become a standard part of the welfare-state lexicon, the answer for many is simply, “The system needs reform.”

Yet when recommended reforms are instituted, “waste, fraud, and abuse” inevitably rear their ugly heads again, which then generates the call for new reforms, perpetuating an endless cycle of problems and reforms.

All this fiddling avoids the central issue: Why not separate charity and the state, in the same manner our ancestors separated church and state? Why not get government totally out of the charity business? I’m suggesting that we do much more than simply repeal all welfare-state programs. I’m suggesting that we go further and elevate our vision to the same level as that of our American ancestors when they separated church and state. I’m suggesting the following amendment to the Constitution: “The federal government shall not provide any subsidy, grant, welfare, aid, loan, or other special privilege to anyone.”

(The amendment could, at the same time, bar the states from engaging in the same activity, pursuant to the principles of the Fourteenth Amendment, but for purposes of this discussion, the amendment will be limited only to the federal government.)

After all, think about what our ancestors bequeathed to us by providing similar language in the Constitution regarding religion. They could have provided for a system in which the federal government subsidized and regulated churches and other religious activity. If they had, today we would have the same cries of “waste, fraud, and abuse” that we hear about welfare-state programs and the same calls for “reform.”

Instead, the Founding Fathers raised their vision to a higher level and asked a much more fundamental question: Why not get the federal government totally out of the religion business? No subsidies and no regulations. And, thus, no “waste, fraud, and abuse” and no perpetual calls for “reforming” the system.

“But who will build the churches if the federal government doesn’t help out?”

“Where will the poor go to church, since they don’t have the money to build churches?”

“Who will protect us from unscrupulous church ministers?”

“Who will keep the churches operating?”

“What if rich people don’t give money to the churches?”

“What if everyone rejects God and religion?”

To our ancestors, what mattered above all else was freedom, even if the results of that freedom were not what everyone hoped for and anticipated. In other words, even if the result of a constitutional prohibition against federal assistance and regulation of religion was that no churches were built, or the poor had no churches to attend, or that rich people refused to donate to the churches, or that there were unscrupulous ministers, or that everyone rejected God and religion, those were consequences with which they could live. Even if every one of those consequences materialized, our ancestors would not have reversed their position against federal involvement in religious activity.

Of course, as history has shown, their decision to separate church and state not only produced religious freedom — that is, freedom from the federal government — it also produced a wondrous outcome in which there are hundreds of thousands of churches and countless religious activities for both rich and poor alike, all voluntarily funded and self-regulated. And those who don’t believe in God or who reject religious activity are free to follow their convictions as well.

Force and charity

Why not have the same vision with respect to charity?

After all, what meaning does charity have when it is engaged in by government? Charity connotes a willing heart of one person that reaches out to help another person. Yet government is based on force, and how can force be reconciled with any meaningful concept of charity?

Think of the process involved in government-provided welfare. The government requires everyone to send it a certain percentage of his income in order to provide the financial means for it to give welfare assistance to others. This requirement is not voluntary. Despite what any tax protester may tell you, if you don’t pay your taxes you are subjecting yourself to the distinct possibility of being hounded by the IRS and by federal prosecutors.

I repeat: the payment of your income taxes is not voluntary. In other words, it’s not like making donations to your church. If you stop donating to your church, the minister is not going to put a freeze on your bank account, garnish your wages, or put a lien on your home. The IRS, once it catches up with you, will do all those things. And it will enforce those levies and liens, even to the point of a foreclosure sale of your home. And if you resist with force (e.g., guns) the marshal’s enforcement of the foreclosure sale, which requires you to vacate your home and deliver possession to the new owner, you will be shot dead.

“But if people have democratically voted to impose such taxes on everyone so that the government can provide welfare for people, doesn’t that mean we’re free?”

Well, consider this: If people had democratically voted to impose taxes on everyone so that the government could provide financial assistance to churches, would that mean that we’re free? Of course not. Freedom pertains to individuals and it entails the right of people to decide what to do with their own money. If a bunch of us get together and vote to donate your money to our church, how does that make you free? The same principle of individual freedom with respect to the funding of churches applies to the funding of charity. Why shouldn’t each person have the right to decide that matter for himself with his own money? Isn’t that what genuine freedom is all about?

Proponents of the welfare state sometimes suggest that when federal officials dole out money to people, it reflects the goodness and compassion of the American people. But how can that be? When your employer withholds part of your income to send it to the IRS, does it reflect compassion for others either by you or your employer? Or does it instead reflect fear of IRS retaliation for nonpayment of taxes?

And when a federal bureaucrat sends money to someone in need, how does that make you a compassionate and caring person? It doesn’t. And it also doesn’t mean that the bureaucrat is a good and caring person, because he’s not donating his own money but instead doling out the money that the IRS has forcibly exacted from American taxpayers.

Welfare and morality

In fact, while proponents of the welfare state imply that their system is founded on moral principles, the situation is actually the opposite. The welfare-state system constitutes a grave violation of the principles of morality, not to mention the principles of freedom and free will.

Think of it this way: Suppose I hold a gun to someone’s head and force him to take $5,000 out his bank account at an ATM. I then go into the poorest part of Washington, D.C., and I give every cent of what I took from him to poor people.

Would anyone say that I had performed a moral or compassionate act? No. Everyone would clearly see that I had conducted myself in an immoral manner. If I want to help the poor, then I should do it with my own money or with money that people have voluntarily donated to me for that purpose. To use money that I have forced other people to give me doesn’t make me a caring and compassionate person and, for that matter, it doesn’t make the person from whom I’ve forcibly taken the money a caring and compassionate person, even though his money was given to the poor. It simply makes me a thief and him a victim of theft.

While everyone can clearly see the moral implications of that scenario, for some reason people’s reasoning becomes cloudy when government enters the picture. If government does the same thing, the feeling is that what would ordinarily be considered an immoral act is somehow converted into a moral act. Or the feeling is that if a majority of the people vote in favor of the action, somehow it becomes moral.

Isn’t that what the entire concept of the welfare state is based on: a perversion of moral values as well as a denial of the freedom of the individual to decide what to do with his own money? What would be wrong with a system in which people keep their own earnings and decide for themselves which charities, if any, they wish to donate to or which people they wish to help?

“What if no one donates to charity?”

“What if children turn their backs on their parents?”

“What if everyone hates the poor?”

“What if people refuse to help those in need?”

But aren’t those the same types of questions that would be asked in response to freedom of religion, that is, the separation of church and state? Sure, it’s theoretically possible that everyone will refuse to help others, but how likely is that? Anyway, if that really were the case, how likely is it that all those selfish people would democratically approve of a welfare state in which the federal bureaucrats have the power to take their money and give it to others?

What we need more than ever in this country at this point in our history is a rebirth of liberty. That entails Americans’ igniting a spark for individual freedom within themselves. It also entails the necessity of their gaining a sense of confidence and trust, not only in themselves but also in others and in freedom itself. Just as Americans don’t fear religious freedom and the potential adverse consequences that come with such freedom, they need to lose similar fears regarding charitable freedom. Once that day comes, Americans will be prepared to do with charity what our ancestors did with religion — separate charity and state.

Across the ditch

Almost a quarter million Australian men aged 25-44 are no longer looking for work according to The Age. As a percentage of that age group the figure has more than doubled from 4 in 1978 to 9 today. Almost half are living on disability pensions.

Meanwhile, the welfare lobby are calling for more welfare spending and John Howard is defending his version of Working for Families which has been branded "welfare for millionaires". The family tax credits are being attacked for "discouraging work and handing benefits to high income earners." Where have we heard that before? Only difference is, over there it is Labor doing the criticising.

So much confusion in the mushy middle. Rampant redistributionism reigns and the main parties merely bicker about the details. The same is happening here, Australia, the UK and the US. Whatever they call themselves, they are all big-spending governments.

Rumsfeld is reporting to the Presidents' Cabinet. He says "3 Brazilian soldiers were killed today in Iraq."

The President says "Oh, my God" as he buries his head in his hands.

The entire Cabinet is stunned. Usually Bush shows no reaction whatsoever to these reports.

Just then Bush looks up and asks "How many is a brazilian?"

(Ta Dad)

Tummy taboo topsy-turvy

US cheerleaders have been banned from showing their midriffs and the ban is about to extend to Australia. Will NZ be next? Isn't this ludicrous? The decent specimens made illegal while the somewhat less appealing types go freely amongst us. There should be midriff police slapping tickets on their big backsides while the svelte are encouraged to continue setting the standard.

Compulsory health insurance

Something quite sensational is happening in Massachussets. The government has passed a law to make health insurance compulsory. Those who fail to buy insurance by July 2007 will be fined. For those below a certain level of income the govt will subsidise policies. This is highly controversial with some taking the view that getting the govt out of health care is the only way to go - it is afterall govt interference which pushed the cost of health insurance out of many people's reach. If the insurer's fail to respond to this move by lowering premiums the cost to the taxpayer will blow out. I confess to being rather confused about this issue (still seems like socialised health) but a couple of American readers may be able to shed some light.

The Libertarian argument."The arrogance of elected government officials never ceases. However, in a welfare-state society like that of the United States, one cannot expect anything less. The Massachusetts Legislature approved a bill last week that would force all residents of the state of Massachusetts to purchase health insurance. If they do not, then they will be forced to pay a fine, and if they do not pay the fine, they will be dragged off to jail for breaking the law."

Student allowances

Student allowances are another form of welfare administered by the Ministry of Social Development. Their latest Studylink newsletter details the widening of eligibility for Student Allowances which took effect on 1 January 2006 (it also covers the circumstances by which you can live and work overseas and still have your student loan interest written off). Eligibility for a Student Allowance is based on parental/partner income and NZ citizens, permanent residents and refugees qualify.

So I thought I'd take a quick look at who uses the scheme. Here's a quick comparison between 1999 and 2005

The amount distributed is fairly steady. In 2005 $360m up from $350m. Slightly more females are receiving student allowances at 53 up from 50 percent. The ethnic make-up is the most interesting aspect. In 1999 9 percent were Maori, Asians made up 12 percent. By 2005 Maori had increased to 11 percent and Asians to 22.

Twice as many Asians as Maori are taking up student allowances.

Biggest highway privatisation deal

While we quibble about public-private partnerships to build roads (and John Key even uses the public/private concept to support government getting into the private sector ie KiwiBank buying into the home loan industry) here's a government getting out of maintaining existing highways.

In the biggest highway privatization deal in U.S. history, state officials Wednesday signed an agreement Wednesday to turn the 157-mile Indiana Toll Road over to a foreign consortium that will operate it for a profit for the next 75 years.

Golly - madness

I supose the cops had nothing better to do. We all know the UK is a crime-free haven.
So Herefordshire police had time to seize three golliwogs from an alarmed shop-owner who thought, when he was urgently called to his premises on a Sunday, a break-in had occurred.
(Thanks Reason)

Public health - a permanent state of crisis

"The long suffering public is growing weary of reading about revolutionary advances in the world of medicine when it knows that in times of trouble it is nothing short of an achievement to gain admission to a public hospital to be treated by conventional means....last month Wellington Hospital's waiting list was suspended for two weeks because of an unusually high demand for beds and shortage of trained staff."

The column goes on to detail the numbers waiting for treatment at Wellington and Hutt hospitals and the new Health Minister's plan to cut the waiting times and lists. Can you guess which year this was?

(Clue; It's not 2006, cause Hodgson doesn't even have a plan.)

Tories axe speech-making

Stop thumping the tub, you're putting off women, Tories told

TUB-THUMPING speeches, the climax of selection contests in the Conservative Party for generations, have been axed by David Cameron to try to increase the number of women MPs.

New rules sent to 100 target seats this week say that set-piece speeches must be replaced by an interview in front of the full membership, to be conducted by a local dignitary, journalist or professional from outside the party.

The traditional barn-storming speech is thought to give men, with their deeper voices and often lengthy experience of public speaking, an advantage.

Speech-making is my achilles heel but I think it's requisite for an MP. Either you get better at it or compensate by being very good in other areas.... Then again politics is changing fast. Turn out for public meetings is very low. Getting your message to voters via the media is more important..... Then again, media cover meetings and won't be kind to a poor speech-maker. No. This seems like a mistake to me. What do you think?

Tax Freedom Day last year

On the most apalling day weather-wise we set up a series of signs along the Esplanade, Petone, where the traffic crawls through at peak time. Here's the first;

...followed by example after example of government profligacy (spoilt for choice);



We made the Newstalkzb News and a Herald photographer took some shots. He said he couldn't resist coming down, after hearing my call to the radio, to see what sort of nuts would be protesting in a southerly storm. Committed ones.


Me and Gavin.

Tax Freedom Day this year

The US Tax Freedom Day is April 26, out 3 days from last year and ten from 2004.

In the UK it is really late - June 3rd. They illustrate it with this chart and question;


How long do we have to spend working for the government, rather than ourselves? The answer is nearly half the year.

Last year, Staples Rodway declared May 24 to be Tax Freedom Day in NZ and May 17 in Australia. According to the NBR Tax Freedom Day -- that magic point in the year when New Zealanders begin working for themselves, rather than the tax man -- will come a week or two later this year.

Enjoy your holiday because when you go back to work on Tuesday (or tomorrow) you'll still be working for the state!

Invalid benefit snapshot

In 1990 27,830 were on an invalid's benefit. Today there are 74,500.

People on this benefit for psychological or psychiatric reasons make up 27 percent, the highest incapacity group.

In 1990 48 percent of invalid beneficiaries were under 40 - that has dropped to 30 percent, which reflects our aging population.

The percentage that are female has grown from 40 to 47.

75.3 percent have been on this or another benefit continuously for four or more years.

(There is some discussion about the reasons for these steep increases in the comments section of "Sickness benefit snapshot".)

Sickness benefit snapshot

In 1990 28,351 people were on a sickness benefit. Today there are 46,862.

51 percent have been on it for more than a year. In 1990 only 29 percent had been on it for more than a year. Today, more people are sick and they are sick for longer. Really.

From Richard Worth's newsletter

Political Quote of the Week

"You know, doing what is right is easy. The problem is knowing what is right" - Lyndon B. Johnson - 37th US President

Richard Worth

It doesn't inspire me - as quotes go. In fact, in politics I would have thought, knowing what is right is easy, the problem is doing it. That would be a better motto for National.

What is going on?

This chart (the result of a PQ from Simon Power) shows the number of CYF placements over the past five years. Family/whanau placements, foster care or youth justice residences. The top figure is also included in the bottom but assuming the numbers have been recorded in the same way each year the increases are quite staggering.

Food stamps

It isn't unusual to hear people talking about routinely providing beneficiaries with a food voucher instead of cash, to ensure that children actually get fed. I point out that food stamps can also be manipulated and used as black market currency. Illinois, US has tried to get around this by using electronic cards regularly credited with funds to be used only at authorised foodstores. But that is still being ripped off.

The latest scam works like this:

A welfare recipient goes to a store with a Link card credited by the government with a dollar amount for groceries -- say, $100. The store clerk swipes the card through a government computer and takes credit for $100 in phony food sales. Then, the clerk hands $70 to the welfare recipient, keeping the rest as profit.

Food-stamp benefits can be legally used only to buy "food or food products for human consumption, plus seeds and plants for use in home gardens to produce food," according to the USDA.

But over and over, federal authorities have watched food-stamp recipients, who find out about crooked stores through word of mouth, use illegal cash from their Link cards to feed their drug habits, not their families.

Baker said the fraud is especially insidious because the family members of Link cardholders often wind up having to stand in line at food pantries for handouts because the Link benefits have been squandered on drugs.

And, just to add insult to injury, it appears that some of the ripped off funds are going to terrorist organisations.

Union threatens, patients could pay more

One thing the public always seem to support is more money for nurses. That is, when it comes from the government. It will be interesting to see if they are so keen when they are asked for it directly on their next visit to the doctor. The Nurses Union are threatening that GP fees will rise if the government doesn't stump up with the extra $22 million they want. On one hand, I am always pleased to see user-pays in action. On the other, people have already paid for the nurses through taxation. People should of course be angry and ask again, why are we paying twice?

(This new negotiator isn't a very good comrade. Laila Harre would never have suggested such an idea. She would have known instinctively you don't get offside with the public by threatening to put your hand directly into their pocket. You do it stealthily, through the government. Laila was smart. And the public are, by and large, stupid.)

The state by any other name ....

The British Conservatives have signed up to Labour's child poverty reduction target. BUT it is up to the supportive state to make child poverty disappear. So says Oliver Letwin, head of Conservative Party policy UK.

"It is a problem of demoralised neighbourhoods, of broken families, of drug and alcohol dependency, of poor schooling, of poor housing and decrepit estates, of unemployment and unemployability, of children growing up with too little hope and too much fear."

These problems, Mr Letwin said, could only be dealt with "bottom up, from the locality, from social enterprise meeting local needs" – local campaigners were the "heroes" and it was up to the state to set up the framework in which they could flourish.

"It is not the commanding state but the supportive state that we need: enabling society to support, inspire, mentor and lead young people out of deprivation," he wrote.

As long as the state keeps paying for all of the afore-mentioned, that is what we will get. How we describe the state won't make a blind bit of difference.

Then the Guardian asks, What would Margaret Thatcher think?

Certainly the Conservative switch is unlikely to have been entirely altruistic. Any party trying to remove its "nasty" label needs to do something dramatic. Inequality has become so familiar it is easy to forget just how rapid its growth was under the Conservatives in the 1980s. Three decades into the welfare state, both inequality and relative poverty in Britain were at their lowest points in 1979. Seven years later child poverty had tripled: from one in nine to one in three living below the poverty line. No other country except New Zealand suffered such a brutal reverse.

Child poverty is largely bound up with sole parenthood. Yet it is discussed in terms devoid of any association. The state paid for it - the state got it. When the state started doing it, the politicians of the day most certainly would have described themselves as proponents of a "supportive" state.

Michelle

This is my friend Michelle. She sat for my portrait entry in this year's National Portrait Competition, currently showing at Shed 11. I am delighted to learn the painting is one of twelve selected for a further exhibition "Double Exposure 3" to be held next January in Wellington.
I believe it has been selected because of the subject. My aim was to capture Michelle's warmth. The painting itself was a rush job but it must have "connected".

Teenagers and welfare don't mix

Minister for Social Development, David Benson-Pope announces another scheme to spend taxpayer's money. "It's estimated that up to 45,000 15 to 19 year-olds do not enrol in tertiary study or get a job after leaving school. This is a waste of human potential," said Mr Benson-Pope.

That is as clear as mud. 45,000 over what period? Whatever the period, it is 45,000 too many. So the answer from the government is to pour more money into services to get these people into jobs. Wouldn't it be far simpler to take away the alternative to a job? Why oh why are we giving welfare to kids straight out of school?

And here's another thing. At May 2005 there were 37,631 single parents on a benefit who had started on welfare as a teenager. But not necessarily on the DPB. Here's the breakdown;

So sitting around on the dole or independent youth benefit is a pathway to pregnancy.

(I don't know how one managed to start their welfare career on NZ Super but nothing surprises me any more.)

Strange court case

Police have charged three men with the same drink-driving offence because they could not establish which one was driving the car. They surely cannot be convicted.

Defence counsel Sonia Vidal said she had huge concerns about the legality of the charge.

Police had charged all three because they did not know who had been driving.

They have no proof of who the driver was or the exact vehicle that was driven so police have entered the house and charged all three flatmates.

I have huge concerns about the legality of many steps in the process.

Queenstown men Cameron Milford Hoyle (23) and Phillip Parker (24) are also charged with dangerous driving and with driving with breath-alcohol levels of 856mcg and 763mcg respectively.

They are due to appear in the Queenstown court on April 24.

Judge Flatley said he could not understand how police would get over the burden-of-proof threshold.

The same Frank Macskasy?

What a surprise to see the name Frank Macskasy on the front of the DomPost this morning. It usually appears on the letters page after another go at the failure of the 80's reforms. On more than one occasion Frank accused me of "living in a world of her own" or "determined to ignore the evidence". It was always his contention he dealt in the truth. Yesterday, in the Upper Hutt District Court, a Frank Macskasy admitted a fraud charge of stealing a dead baby's identity to obtain a passport. He was remanded for sentencing next month.

Hard to listen to

US Correspondent Steve Merczynski speaks to Newstalk ZB host Larry Williams about phone calls played in the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui. One is replayed from a young woman on the 83rd floor of the South Tower. I can't listen to it again. But we shouldn't forget the enormity of the horror, the great sadness of that day and the years following for families and friends of the dead.

On how many counts can Hone get it wrong?

From a speech Tobacco Companies – It’s Time To Go, released today;

1/ And I have fired people for smoking in the wrong places.

It hasn’t made me the most popular son of the North, but as Errol Flynn once said “frankly I don’t give a damn”. Tobacco is killing my people, and I will use every weapon to defeat this monster.

2/ Liberals will say though that smoking is about Maori people making choices. But I say no. HELL NO!!!

3/ Addiction to cigarettes is also part of institutional racism,
because tobacco companies use their structures, their policies and their practices to oppress our people in the same way as government agencies have.

4/ And honestly folks, getting rid of tobacco is the only logical conclusion to the work you and many others have been doing for years. It makes more sense than just trying to manage the impact of tobacco.

5/ And I look forward to when Maori people can finally enjoy the same rights and privileges as everyone else, because we have given so much, and because we deserve better.

Student loans

Statistics from the Integrated Dataset on Student Loan Borrowers show that borrowers under 25 years, and those aged 60 years and over, had the highest median amount transferred for 2004 from StudyLink to Inland Revenue, Statistics New Zealand said today.

I have a question (when don't I have a question?) As a student loan only has to be repaid when a certain earning level is reached, $17,000, which is more than a single person's Super, do people over 60 expect to repay their loans?

Still experimenting with still lifes. I never use black but I was given a tube so I've been mixing it with a lemony yellow which gives a deep, not too raw, green.

From the Strange Stories file

The Scotsman reports an Australian Federal Police officer was using a Scottish pyshic to help investigate a threat on PM John Howard's life.

The Australian Labour Party spokesman for homeland security, Arch Bevis, said he would be greatly concerned if the AFP was using clairvoyants to hunt criminals and terrorists. "I think, perhaps, this fellow has watched a few too many of the US detective shows," he said.

Or "Medium" maybe.

Maori children on benefit

Some good work here by Simon Collins, the Herald's social issues reporter. He has attempted to establish how many Maori children have a parent on a benefit. He arrives at 45.9 percent.

Population estimates for June 2005 show around 264,000 Maori 0-17 year-olds which would put the percentage at 35. But, as Collins points out, there was some double-counting in the Census which, in turn, is used as a base for further estimates.

In 2001 it amounted to 130,000 children being counted twice. So who knows what the true percentage is. Here-in lies the problem of counting people in more than one ethnic group.

Which is also one of the reasons I oppose the statistical concept of two-home children. More double counting, more vagueness. Probably the best we can say currently is that between one in two and one in three Maori children are being raised on a benefit.

Placebo politics

On opposite pages of the DomPost this morning we have two very different minds. One which sees the problem and another which thinks it does. The first is Michael Bassett with his column "Taming the feral breed". Bassett attacks the dog micro-chipping strategy as "placebo" politics and goes on to the broader picture in which the same sort of politics is now routinely practiced by our "student" politicians; "But till such time as the great welfare recruiting ground for under-achievement and consequent anti-social behaviour is faced up to, nothing offers more than temporary relief."

Then we have the benefit of the wisdom of Murray Edridge, Barnado's CE, urging the repeal of section 59 to "save lives". "The sooner NZ society stops giving ambiguous legal signals on violence in the home, the better it will be for our children. Our laws set a standard, and ensuring that standard is clear and unambiguous is the first step in social change. The standard in itself does not change behaviour. Our law is very clear and unambiguous, for example, about murder or theft. These crimes continue to occur, but in the knowledge they are wrong. In the same way, repeal of section 59 will make an unambiguous statement about the use of violence against children."

Convincing, isn't it? This guy likes to spend his time fawning around the likes of the Children's Commissioner, the Families Commission and the CPAG, all hand-wringing do-gooders whose careers turn on rhetoric and dalliance.....or, if I can borrow Mr Bassett's phrase, "placebo" politics.

Who is right?

“The Maori Party welcomes the decision by the Government to back down from a hastily thought through plan on managing our freshwater resources”.

“Water is a basic human right under international human rights law (United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights)” said Mrs Turia.

ACT leader Rodney Hide says, "New Zealanders will be disappointed that instead of considering all the options, Labour has fallen back on its 'command and control' ideology.

"This is a strategy straight from the bankrupt former Soviet Union.

Why are we waiting?

Yesterday I was complaining about the sluggish release of the March 2006 quarter unemployment rate when compared with other countries. Just checked the release schedule for April and the HLFS release doesn't appear. The December quarter release was published on Feb 9. (It would appear) it takes us at least a month longer to publish than the US or Australia.

New Look "Letter"

Richard Prebble's Letter appeared on Scoop today with a new byline:

The Letter Limited
PO Box 1551, Wellington, New Zealand
E-mail: admin@theletter.biz
Web: www.theletter.biz
Please Note: Formerly the column The Letter was circulated by the ACT Party. It no longer is.

NZ abortion delay-rate too high

Wellington doctor Carol Shand said yesterday delays were caused by abortion laws, which required women to go through a complex series of steps including numerous medical referrals before they could get an abortion.

This report doesn't surprise me having recently accompanied someone to an abortion clinic as support. First, the person has to see a counsellor. Then they have to see a doctor. Then they have to come back on another day to have the abortion. On this occasion the first two processes took three hours (and that was after some queue-jumping). People are herded in, some with partners and children in tow, at the rate of around one every ten-fifteen minutes. The consultations can't possibly keep up with the intake. There is one small women-only waiting room and then a much bigger area with a TV. There is no privacy. Some of the women looked quite distressed and tearful even.

This set-up is a sham. And it is leading to unacceptable delays.

There are no stats

Back in March I questioned how seven deaths that occurred as a result of domestic violence in 2006 alone could go unreported by the media (I did eventually find one in Chch in early January).

Women and children continue to suffer the overwhelming majority of domestic violence abuse, said Commissioner Joy Liddicoat.

The National Collective of Women’s Refuges has noted that seven women have died as a result of domestic violence in New Zealand since the start of 2006.

I wrote to the National Collective of Women's refuge asking where they got their stats from - no reply. I wrote to the police asking them for the relevant statistics. Here is the reply I received;



"....concerning the number of women that had died as a result of domestic violence.......official statistics for what you have requested no not exist."

So my question remains. How reliable is the data propagated by the National Collective of Women's refuge?

Compulsory obesity tests

Scottish politicians want to introduce obesity tests for all five year-olds;

Ministers claim that in order to shed Scotland's tag as the sick man of Europe, they need to intrude ever further into children's personal health and the private lives of families.

But the drastic measures were attacked last night as the latest attempt to dictate to parents how they should bring up their children.

Doubtless there are obesity obsessionists here who would leap at such an idea.