Dick Quax's Blog

Have Your Money Will Travel

2009-07-03T12:55:00.002+12:00

How much confidence can the New Zealand tax payer have in politicians who claim to be spending our money as if it were their own when it is revealed that Labour spent $783,000 on travel in the period between December 2007 and February 2008 not $336,000 as stated earlier by Treasury.

Shockingly, Labour clearly had no idea how much it had spent.

It paints a picture of a Labour government which had no idea what money they were spending and what it was being spent on.

Taxing your Lifestyle

2009-06-29T14:07:00.003+12:00

It never ceases to amaze what United Nations officials using public money can come up with.

At a recent seminar United Nations Under-Secretary-General Dr Anna Tibaijuka told a public gathering in Auckland last week the world could not tackle climate change and other environmental issues without redesigning city living.

The answer unsurprisingly, given the source, is a tax on your lifestyle.
Dr Tibaijuka who is the executive director of UN-HABITAT, the arm of the UN charged with promoting socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities stated:

“Maybe there is a case for putting up a tax and those who live in the suburbs have to pay it."

Why is it that UN officials living at the public’s expense in Manhattan penthouses always to know what is best for everybody else?

Letter to the Times

2009-05-11T13:20:00.000+12:00

Time for referendum

I REFER to correspondence on stage two of the Pacific Events Centre and Noel Robinson’s appeal we look after future generations by approving this venture.

Mr Robinson may be in a position to give money to this but there are many people around Manukau who cannot afford $394.

Frankly, the city council has no mandate to invest in private enterprise and I’m surprised this is still being discussed.

We were bullied into the Pacific Events Centre by Messrs Curtis and Robinson despite feedback from the community being against it.

I would suggest a voting slip be included with the next rates notice asking ratepayers to vote on stage two.

Ratepayers could then return it with their payment and the votes be counted, so the council gets a mandate.

Would the mayor go ahead on this basis and according to the ratepayers’ votes – and would Mr Robinson be willing to accept this?

Don Barker, Howick

Remembering the First Sub 4 Minute Mile May 6, 1954

2009-05-08T08:18:00.001+12:00

Fifty-five years ago, on a very windy day at the track on Iffley road at Oxford University, Roger Bannister, Chris Brasher and Chris Chataway made sports history. The world record set by Swede, Gunder Hagg, from 1945, of 4:01.4, was broken with the first mile under four minutes with a time of 3:59.4

It was the same year that Ed Hillary reached the summit of Mt Everest.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEgHhijFnEU

Q+A’s Guyon Espiner interviews Rodney Hide

2009-04-28T12:10:00.000+12:00

Points of interest:- Government views Auckland assets as state assets, so they won’t be sold in National’s first term- ACT Bill to cap all local body rates will be before Parliament in September: Mayors “almost as one” oppose it, National “keen to have a look at it”- ACT has delayed its Taxpayers’ Rights Bill back from “within six months” of the election to 2010- Hide committed to cutting “billions of dollars” from Government spending- Hide: “I think we have got a great deal of overlap and confusion within Cabinet… needs a tidy up”
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0904/S00244.htm

Fatty, You're Warming the Earth!

2009-04-22T13:25:00.003+12:00

Fat people require more fuel to transport them and the food they eat, and the problem will worsen as the population literally swells in size, a team at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine says.

See full story: UK Reuters

Who's Counting

2009-04-21T14:38:00.002+12:00

This letter first appeared in local Manukau papers this week.

WHILE attending a public meeting I was approached by a local businessman who congratulated me on my stand against the white-water rafting proposal being promoted by the trust that operates the Pacific Events Centre.

Amazingly, he told me members of the trust had shown him the business plan.
Amazingly, I say, because councillors who are being asked to make a decision on the trust’s request for $40 million have never sighted a business plan. All councillors have been told is the proposal is viable.

Remember the former mayor’s famous words when speaking of the Pacific Events Centre, “this won’t cost the rate payer a penny”.

So far it’s cost $52 million but then again who’s counting?

Political tickets join forces

2009-04-21T14:34:00.001+12:00

Manukau’s largest local body political ticket Peoples Choice is to merge with Auckland Citizens & Ratepayers Association.

Peoples Choice chairman Hamish Stevens says the move, agreed to at an executive meeting last Wednesday, is a response to the government’s announcement that the seven Auckland councils will be merged into one.

"The new Auckland governance structure and the demise of Manukau city means we need to work at a regional level with like-minded groups

Women Athletes Hard Done By

2009-04-20T20:41:00.001+12:00

While Valerie Vili will continue to garner athletic titles and awards but one goal that all track and field athletes aspire to will undoubtedly elude her is the world record.

In the women’s shot put the current world record is 22.63 metres set by Natalya Lisovskaya from the former Soviet Union in 1987. This is still 2 metres better than Vili’s best of 20.56 metres set last year.

The fact remains that almost all women’s world records set by athletes from the former eastern bloc were aided by a programme of state sanctioned drug taking.

How many drug free athletes were robbed of Olympic medals by athletes who otherwise would who have little better than a run of the mill athlete.

Australian, Raylene Boyle was one such athlete. Boyle was denied a gold medal in the 200m at the 1972 Munich Olympics by an athlete, Renate Stecher, East German secret service files revealed was on the state-sponsored doping program.

The Australian revels that German coaches implicated in the doping of athletes in the former German Democratic Republic are still coaching to this day.

Sex and the city

2009-04-14T11:40:00.001+12:00

Volunteers are joining forces to tackle the antisocial behaviour of street sex workers – and they’re taking the fight right to the punters’ letterboxes.

They’re sending "clients" little pink letters in the post in the hope their spouses will realise their partners are kerb-crawling.

The 15 members of the Papatoetoe Community Patrol say the condoms and human waste left behind by prostitutes and punters at Hunters Corner were bad enough.

But schoolchildren being propositioned by men looking for sex was the final straw.

Graffiti dobbers spurn rewards

2009-04-14T10:56:00.000+12:00

Manukau City Council joined the Stop Tags tip-off line a month ago, but has been running its own anti-tagging line for two years.The council spends $1m on graffiti a year, of which $800,000 goes towards painting and cleaning, $100,000 on investigations and the rest on education programmes.Senior policy analyst Rex Hewitt said the programme had had resulted in a "noticeably cleaner city".

State Vandalism

2009-04-10T13:53:00.000+12:00

One of the recommendations to come out of the Royal Commission Report on Auckland Governance is that an Urban Development Agency could be created which would have a role in ensuring that the more complex urban renewal in planned nodes and corridors is achieved. This agency, made up of unelected and unaccountable appointees will have the power to compulsorily acquire land for urban renewal. What this means is that someone who does not like or approve the area in which you live can throw you out of the house that may have been yours for decades and give the land to a developer whose plans conform to the vision of the Urban Design Agency.

In Liverpool, England an elderly lady has fought against the compulsory acquisition of her Victorian house, and the laws that enable such state vandalism.

Angela Merkel, Voice of Reason

2009-04-08T12:55:00.000+12:00

Politicians are able to spend our taxes like drunken sailors providing they call it investment. People look down on the drunken sailor spending his own money but at least he doesn’t call it investment.

At the recent G20 Summit German Chancellor Angela Merkel offered the wisest words during last week's G-20 summit: noting that the current economic malaise occurred "because we were living beyond our means," she urged governments to adopt cautious fiscal policies. Hence her crucial vote against the European Union's proposed $229 billion "rescue package" for Eastern Europe.

Inner City Zones Use More Energy

2009-04-07T13:26:00.000+12:00

We are reminded, repeatedly, by urban planners, environmentalists and most recently by the Royal Commission enquiring into Auckland governance that cities with greater density use less energy.

To quote from the Royal Commission Report:

“Dense cities use less energy per person than the more dispersed model. For these reasons, the MUL is a key policy and the consequent control of land use will require significant enforcement efforts.”

So imagine the shock and confusion when a green lobby group publishes research that shows the it is the dense inner city zones, not suburbia that unleash more green house gases.

Tagger phone line is paying dividends

2009-04-06T15:49:00.001+12:00

Tagger phone line is paying dividends

Taggers beware – Manukau’s new dob-in-a-tagger phone line is working.
Residents can call the anonymous number 0800 STOP TAGS to report tagging.

Manukau City Council community policy and planning manager David Tucker says the line is already proving its worth.

"At the moment we get about 10 calls a week, five of which are useful. Not a bad start since the line is only a month old."

Three perspectives on Auckland

2009-04-06T10:17:00.002+12:00

There are a number of interesting perspectives offered on the Royal Commission’s report on Auckland governance.

Former ACT party MP Muriel Newman quite clearly has serious concerns that the impact the Local Government Act has had on the construction of the report.

Of key importance in all of this is the fact that the main reason for a change in the efficiency, performance, and cost of local government over recent years is the amendments to the Local Government Act made by Labour in 2002. These transformed local government from having a focus on maintaining infrastructure, providing core services and carrying out regulatory activities, to being responsible for the social, cultural, environmental and economic well-being of their communities. In addition, they were given the power of general competence, which enabled them to undertake virtually any activity they fancied, even if it had little to do with their core functions.
But rather than ask the Royal Commission on Auckland to consider the effects of this legislation during their inquiry, the Labour Government specifically excluded any investigation of the Local Government Act 2002 from their terms of reference.

Local government expert Owen McShane is concerned that a unitary government for Auckland is fascist model of governance with one Uber-Mayor, one Uber Council and One Uber Plan.

The promotion of a single Uber-City with a single Uber-Mayor, reflects the classic fascist advocacy of “strength through unity.”  The term ‘fascism’ comes from the Latin fasces which were a symbol carried by the early Estruscan Lictors – an axe wrapped in a bundle of bound sticks. The bundle of sticks reminds us that a collection of sticks can be broken one at a time, but when bound together the sticks become strong.

Former Labour Minister of Local Government Michael Bassett who oversaw the amalgamation of local government in the 1980’s has a somewhat different take on the report.

It sometimes reflects its authors’ slender knowledge of the finer points of Auckland’s local body history and politics. But it is much better than the proverbial curate’s egg: the report is good in many parts. The one city idea recognizes several things. Auckland needs a unified voice that the 29 councils prior to 1989 never provided, and the eight councils since then proved themselves unable to deliver. As one wise old dog said to me many years ago, the most difficult thing with local government is to “melt the mayoral chains”.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

2009-04-02T20:22:00.001+13:00

Is the plan for a greater Auckland Council a panacea for all that is wrong with Auckland or is it a pill that is too bitter to swallow? The National led government and the Minister for Local Government, Rodney Hide will have some hard thinking to do. They will need figure what to throw out and what to embrace or they could simply use the report as a doorstop.

What are the good parts? A united council working as one for the region to fix the problems that have long bedevilled Auckland, such as a myriad of plans and polices for the delivery of water, roading , public transport, sports facilities, and land use, is probably good.

Apart from that, what we have been presented with, however, will please no one. The local in local government has been gutted. Community boards, loath or love them, have provided a measure of grassroots government to local communities. Replacing community boards in Manukau, there are eight, with one Local Council serving 387,000 people from Otahuhu in the north to Drury in the south and stretching from Mangere to Pakuranga – with about the same power as a community board, is no longer government at a local level. This local community will go cap in hand to the BIG Auckland Council for its funding. Woes betide a local council which falls foul of the BIG Auckland Council.

However, the BIG Auckland Council will be able to save the planet and downtown Auckland. Since the Council will be BIG let’s consider how it will save the planet. Auckland, we’re informed, uses too much energy, because it covers a large area. Therefore the prescription is to make it a compact city with people living around railway stations, foregoing their cars and saving the earth from anthropogenic global warming. People will, of course, like their small energy efficient apartments because they will be designed by an Urban Design Panel which amazingly enough will know where and how you will want to live. And, if they disapprove of where you live, the Urban Design Agency will kick you out of your home and acquire the land it’s on compulsorily.

Downtown Auckland will also be saved. Because it is deemed the centre of Auckland by the BIG Auckland Council it will have its own Community Board – no Community Board for Pakuranga and Howick but, hallelujah, local grassroots government to save the Auckland CBD. The reason for this is simple. The Commissioners have not looked forward to what a modern Western city looks like but have chosen instead to look at late nineteenth century- early twentieth century city models. Old cities where people were less mobile than today tended to gravitate around a well defined city centre – Auckland used to be like this. This type of city is described as mono centric. Today people are more mobile than they have ever been and as a result our cities have become poly centric with residential, commercial and retail scattered over a much larger area. Downtown Auckland faces stiff competition from other retail and commercial centres. While outlying shopping centres flourish, the Auckland CBD withers. The Commission has decreed that this must stop and the BIG Auckland Council will see that it does inserting draconian anti-competitive clauses into its district plan. Don’t believe it – Wellington City Council is doing just that to ward off competition from outlying centres.

And let’s not forget the Commission has made a pronouncement, “The Auckland Town Hall should be the symbolic centre for the Auckland Council”.
The BIG Auckland Council will be wise and all knowing so they will solve all social problems and set up a Social Issues Board which will develop a Social Well-Being Strategy and Implementation/Funding Plan. There, that should solve all Auckland’s social ills!

The elections for the BIG Auckland Council will not be for people that you will know from your local community but for ten people who in all likelihood will have the wherewithal to run an election campaign in an area with a population 35 times bigger than the average parliamentary electorate. Therefore there is no guarantee that Howick or Pakuranga will see anyone from these areas on the BIG Auckland Council. There will be two councillors elected from within the Manukau Local Council area but given the voting pattern of Manukau it is more than likely those would come from the western or southern part of the Local Council area. What’s more there will be three places reserved for Maori – one whom will be an appointed, not an elected member. There is very likely to be a cry of “no taxation without representation”.
The new councillors who will more than likely be remote from the people of Pakuranga and Howick will put in place a new district plan which, going on past performance, of the present councils will take three to five years to become operative. There will be no private plan changes during this time and there will be no right of appeal to the Environment Court of any aspects of the BIG Auckland Council’s District Plan.

Economic development plays a large role in the BIG Auckland Council’s plans however whilst the Rugby World Cup will bring some economic benefits in the long term business must be able to plan and have some certainty. The report provides no certainty with private plan changes on hold and ongoing restrictions on the supply of land for development business will look to a friendlier environment in which to invest. This is something that we just cannot afford during times of recession.

The Report is very much a mixed bag, but on balance is unlikely to solve Auckland’s problems.

Sir Roger Douglas Speech

2009-03-20T19:26:00.004+13:00

Sir Roger Douglas in a recent speech confirmed that he is still the best thinker on matters economic in New Zealand. He certainly has his detractors, mindless buffoons who still believe in some socialist utopia that they imagine existed before Douglas became Finance Minister in 1984.

Douglas points out:

· Households borrowing too much has in part created this current recession, govt borrowing more will not help

· Free markets are not the problem they are the solution

· Recent past policies have been geared towards wealth redistribution not wealth creation

· We cannot spend our way out of a recession

· Labour costs have increased by 60% since 2000 with minimal gains in productivity

· Governments do not create jobs the private sector does – bike paths are a poor investment & will divert people from the productive sector

· Every dollar borrowed by the govt (TLAs) is a dollar unavailable to the private sector & will have to be repaid through taxes (rates)

· In the last 2 yrs $30 billion has been wiped of the stock market

· In the last 1 year $30 billion has been lost on our housing stock

· In total with losses at ACC, Super Fund & finance companies $70 -$80 billion has been removed from NZ’s wealth

· That’s $18,000 for every man, woman & child in New Zealand

Governments not Markets to Blame for Crisis

2009-03-19T16:49:00.001+13:00

The evidence is quite clear that it is the heavy hand of government interference in the markets by successive US administrations that is to blame for the current financial crisis not free markets. In its desire to increase home ownership the Clinton administration beefed up the 1977 Community Reinvestment Act so that banks were required to meet mortgage quotas. These quotas were overseen by the Department of Justice and banks which failed to meet quotas incurred heavy fines. Another branch of government Housing and Urban Development chose to increase home ownership through the charter of a government sponsored entity, Fannie Mae (Federal National Mortgage Association).

As the government pushed for lower lending standards or demanded greater “flexibility” Fannie Mae no longer required borrowers to provide any down payment. It was only a matter of time before the housing bubble burst.

Furthermore, US local and regional governments enthusiastically follow policies of urban containment – restricting the supply of land for urban development. The unintended consequence of this intrusion in the market has resulted in an unprecedented increase in the cost of land. The worst affected areas in the US are states such as California where land supply restrictions are the most draconian.

It is these various intrusions into the mortgage, housing and land market by governments that has produced the fiscal crisis not free markets.

Getting out of this mire will not be easy but certainly more government intervention is not the answer. To quote Ronald Reagan, “government is not the solution, government is the problem”.

Snow, Snow everywhere

2008-08-20T16:35:00.001+12:00

After being warned by global warming alarmists that the ski fields would struggle to provide enough snow for skiing it now appears that there have been record snowfalls this winter. There is so much of the whitestuff in fact that the devices used to measure the depth of snow have proven to be inadequate.

Could it be that the hype surrounding anthropogenic global warming is just that – hype?

However, I suspect that the increased snowfall will be cited as another example of anthropogenic global warming. It is after all a non-falsifiable hypothesis for those who believe.

Land should be released: Commerce Committee

2008-08-18T10:29:00.002+12:00

Not surprisingly the number one recommendation of the Commerce Committee enquiring into housing affordability was that land should be released if housing is to become affordable. The Committee noted that the median price of a section in Auckland has increased from $139,000 in 1992 to $443,000 in 2007 an increase of 218%.

In relation to the metropolitan urban limits (MUL) which places an artificial boundary around Auckland the report had this to say:

“We consider that interventions to constrain the supply of land for new housing force up
section prices. We believe that the Auckland Regional Council should carefully assess this
dynamic, taking into account issues such as infrastructure. We believe a more deliberative
approach that focuses on making more suitable land available for new subdivisions would
lead to lower section prices and more affordable housing.”

Many of us such have been saying for years that it is the politicians strangling the supply of land that has led to economic stagnation and the social ills that we see all too often in places like Manukau.

Compare the situation that we are facing in the Auckland region with a dynamic city such as Houston, Texas where land supply is not constrained and housing rises only at the rate of inflation even with the inflow of refugees in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Hard Questions

2008-08-14T14:06:00.002+12:00

I spent an hour or so with Edward Rooney of the "Aucklander" at Xtreme Entertainment in Botany discussing, Manukau City Council, crime, police, Len Brown, sport, John Walker and sending down a few bowls.

Police Problems Continue

2008-08-08T15:48:00.001+12:00

The revelation in Parliament by National’s Chester Burrows a former policeman that police solved only five of the 53 aggravated robberies of South Auckland shops in the six months before liquor store owner Navtej Singh was fatally shot in a hold-up will come as no surprise to those familiar with the under-resourcing of the police in the Counties Manukau Police District.

This follows stories of lost files and files left unattended as a result of a combination of low staff numbers and inexperience. The average level of experience in the CMPD is just 5 years compared with 15 years in Invercargill.

In 2005 the then Police Commissioner Rob Robinson admitted that there were 11 “unassigned sex cases” after questions were raised in Parliament by ACT MP Rodney Hide. Police Minister George Hawkins admitted that that of the 11 “unassigned sex cases” 5 were cases of rape complaints. Mr Robinson also acknowledged at that time that there were1000 unassigned criminal complaints.

New Zealand has a low ratio of sworn police officers to population and crime and criminals will flourish unless there are more police on the streets of our cities.

Media beat up Mayor's leave request

2008-06-30T10:12:00.002+12:00

Mayor Len Brown in a written request to Council asked for a leave of absence for two months to allow him time to recover from his heart attack. Councillor David Collings (Pakuranga) without consulting anyone and presuming to know more about the mayor’s health status than the mayor himself proposed a six month leave of absence. The Council unanimously agreed to this but one wonders why Cr Collings would choose to second guess the Mayor Brown who presumably made the request in the hope of being back in two months. If at the end of that period he himself felt that he required more time undoubtedly it will be given.

Cr Collings comment that the whole Council “were kind of shocked” and “their bottom lip dropped” is way off the mark. Had I not wanted Len to have six month leave of absence I could have moved an amendment or voted against the six month period. I did neither.

Incidentally, there is no bad blood between John Walker and I. We have been friends for 35 years and in that time including many weeks on tour travelling together and sharing hotel rooms there has hardly ever been a cross word that has passed between us.

150 Violent Crimes a Day

2008-06-23T14:45:00.002+12:00

The Prime Minister’s claim that incidents of violent crimes are dropping is just not correct. Over the past nine years, violent offending has risen by 43% across the country, while in areas such as Counties-Manukau it has risen by 64%. Last year alone there were 56,983 recorded violent offences - an average rate of more than 150 a day.

In a short period of just nine days three people within a few miles of each other were murdered.

People are angry and demanding that harsher penalties are imposed on violent criminals. National has stated it will build more prisons. What it needs to consider is whether it will reintroduce private prisons. The one prison in Auckland that was run by the private sector was more secure, more humane had a better rehabilitation record and was cheaper to run. Only Labour’s socialist ideology demanded that it be closed.

Crime-Friendly Neighborhoods

2008-06-20T21:31:00.002+12:00

"Burras Road was a pleasant cul-de-sac of 21 new homes in Bradford, England. Its residents were blissfully unaware that, just east of the site, approval for a proposed new shopping center required the breaching of their cul-de-sac by a bicycle-pedestrian path.
Planners favored this requirement because, they say, cul-de-sacs do not encourage movement and therefore are 'auto-dependent' and 'anti-urban.' Opening up the site would connect residents to local services, and the path would promote walking and cycling."

NZ First needs to pay up

2008-06-19T21:36:00.000+12:00

Has there ever been a more conniving or manipulative politician in New Zealand than Winston Peters. New Zealand First having been caught stealing from the tax payer and ordered by the Auditor General, Kevin Brady to pay the money that they spent illegally decided to “donate” the debt they owe the taxpayer to Starship Hospital. “We don’t want it”, said Starship, when given the cheque for $158,000. Unfazed and undaunted Peters then spreads the money around other charities including the Cystic Fibrosis Association.

CFA have also said thanks but no thanks and Peters has rounded on to them big time.

It’s time NZ First did the right thing, stopped dragging charity organizations into the political arena and pay back the money it owes the tax payer.

PEC Seeks Ruling Over Land

2008-06-19T21:13:00.001+12:00

"POTENTIALLY tens of thousands of dollars of ratepayers’ money will be spent on legal action aimed at clarifying a difference of opinion between the Counties Manukau Pacific Trust and Manukau City Council.
The legal matter concentrates on a sensitive ‘umbrella agreement’ between the organisations and highly valuable commercial land transactions.
An upcoming Auckland High Court case will attempt to determine which of the two parties is entitled to money that’ll be generated from any potential sale of land, zoned business 5, adjoining TelstraClear Pacific Events Centre at Manukau central."

Len Brown suffers setback

2008-06-18T20:13:00.001+12:00

Manukau mayor Len Brown has suffered a setback in his recovery from heart surgery in Auckland Hospital and is now in a critical condition in Intensive Care.

Acting Manukau Mayor Gary Troup says Mr Brown had been making good progress but this turn for the worse is concerning.

“Len has undergone further surgery and is being closely monitored in intensive care. I have been in contact with his family and have offered the council’s full support,” Mr Troup says.

Topless bar owner says courts 'too soft' on crims

2008-06-16T16:41:00.002+12:00

The topless bar in Manurewa that Colleen Brown wanted shut down has been robbed at gunpoint the second such incident in the area in the last two weeks. Luckily, this time no one was hurt or killed but it does add weight to the police call for armed response in some parts of the country. The sad fact of life in New Zealand is that it is more violent and dangerous than it was even ten years ago. People I speak to are fed up with the violence carried out by a few and want action. For starters we need more police on our streets. New Zealand is under resourced when compared to Australia, US, England and Scotland. If it means paying the police more so be it. The first priority of any government is the protection of its citizens and their property.

Not so long ago the Helen Clark made the comment that we live in a benign environment. Clearly she has never been to some of the places in our community that are anything but benign.

Sir Bob Jones considers flouting EFA

2008-06-13T15:41:00.002+12:00

Great to see the Sir Bob is getting grumpy again

Media Release: Level of Violence Shocks

2008-06-09T15:24:00.001+12:00

Manukau City Council Portfolio Leader for Community Safety, Dick Quax is urging members of the public to help the police in their hunt for those who robbed and gunned down the owner of the Riverton Liquor shop in Manurewa.

The owner, Mr Navtej Singh dies in Middlemore Hospital after being gunned down in his store.

“I am shocked and saddened by the degree of violence in our community. Mr Singh complied with all the demands of the gunman which is what the police advise when people are confronted in these dangerous situations”.

Cr Quax says that there has been a dangerous escalation in violence and the fact that thugs are prepared to use of guns to obtain a small amount of money and some alcohol is particularly disturbing.

“I am also concerned that there has been ongoing anti social behaviour in this area. The shops are tagged from the ground to the roof. The entire area looks like something out of South Central Los Angeles. Houses, power poles, fences, trees, the children’s playground, the skateboard park, the Post Office letter box and the public telephone boxes have all been vandalised’’.

“I have asked the Manukau Beautification Trust to get rid if the tagging in the area which will go some way towards regaining some community pride in the area”.

End

Speed will kill our children

2008-05-29T11:56:00.001+12:00

Some three years have passed since I asked Manukau City Council officers for a report on imposing a limited speed zone around schools in our city. Despite repeatedly asking for the report there is still no sign of it.

Manukau is a city which has a high proportion of young people – some 40% are under twenty years of age – and many attend low decile schools. Research out of the UK shows that children attending low decile schools are at a greater risk of being struck by a car while going to and from school.

Auckland, Christchurch, Hamilton and Waitakere are four cities that I am aware of that have imposed limited speed restrictions around their schools in this country and school speed zones are set in many other countries.

It’s time Manukau showed it cares about its kids.

The Aucklander News: Speed will kill our children

Tweedledum or Tweedledee

2008-05-26T15:04:00.002+12:00

It would appear; going by all the polls, that the Labour led government is toast come the next election.

But is it a new found affection for National that sees it some 15 per cent ahead in most polls or is it a rejection of tired, dejected Labour party mired in sleaze and discontent?

It’s hard to believe that people are moving to National, the party offers nothing that Labour has not already provided. A “me to party” providing nothing new and telling voters that they will continue to stay with the failed policies of the current administration. This hardly seems to be a recipe to get our country back amongst the top performers in the OECD. In the past National have always signed up to Labour’s policies why will this time be any different especially as John Key has already demonstrated that he is New Zealand’s second most flexible politician.

There seems that there is no party that Kiwis actually want to vote for and they will end up voting for the Nats because they are not Labour. It’s about time that the electorate got an opportunity to vote for a party that actually provided solutions to our problems of the day, poor healthcare, poor education, high crime rates, high cost of housing and high interest rates.

Daniel Newman: Community not having a bar of it

2008-05-22T13:00:00.001+12:00

Councillor Daniel Newman (Manurewa) responds to Cr Colleen Brown’s (Manurewa) criticism of the “boobs bar” in Manurewa.

Daniel Newman: Community not having a bar of it - 21 May 2008 - Opinion, Editorial - nzherald

NZ - The Latin America of the South Pacific

2008-05-21T09:50:00.001+12:00

This article from the Independent Institute - it makes sobering reading. New Zealand is not unlike Latin America. Read this and replace Bolivia, Argentina, Venezuela with New Zealand.

If there’s one constant in Latin America it may be this: For every step forward—politically and economically—there’s an equivalent step back. How else can one explain the never-ending roller-coaster many Latin American countries seem to ride? Bursts of freedom, energy and progress, followed by periods of inexplicable resentment, regret and regression.

32,000 deniers

2008-05-20T13:03:00.001+12:00

Question: How many scientists does it take to establish that a consensus does not exist on global warming? The quest to establish that the science is not settled on climate change began before most people had even heard of global warming.

32,000 deniers - FP Comment:

The Little Train That Could

2008-05-19T13:51:00.001+12:00

Here we are at the bottom of the world, emitting less than 0.2 per cent of the world's GHG striving to be a leader in stopping AGW if it exists. A recent report by the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research, an independent consulting firm, estimated the the government's emmision bill will result in 22,000 job losses and a drop in GDP by $4.6 billion or to put it in more personal terms that represents a $3,000 cut in each household income.

Why are we subjecting ourselves to this? Why do we want to be leaders on this? Maybe "Dear Leader" wants to work for the UN when this country spits her out later this year. A hell of a thing to have on her CV - I mutilated the NZ economy to "save the planet!

'Local hero' judge puts wind up taggers

2008-05-19T12:14:00.001+12:00

A judge who jailed a Hastings tagger for 28 days has been called a "local hero" who has other graffiti vandals running scared.

We need a judge here in Manukau like Tony Adeane who sentenced an eighteen year old tagger to time in the slammer. It’s about time that other judges realized that our communities are fed up with people who vandalise property. And it’s also time that so called “leaders”, Pita Sharples and Cindy Kiro got their heads out of the sand and realized that tagging is not art, is not an acceptable form of alternative expression but a criminal act and should be treated as such.

If we had a system such as the US we just might get judges such as Judge Adeane who are in touch with their communities. Good on him!

'Local hero' judge puts wind up taggers - Hawke's Bay - The Dominion Post

Watch the web for climate change truths - Telegraph

2008-05-17T19:48:00.001+12:00

A notable story of recent months should have been the evidence pouring in from all sides to cast doubts on the idea that the world is inexorably heating up. The proponents of man-made global warming have become so rattled by how the forecasts of their computer models are being contradicted by the data that some are rushing to modify the thesis.

Watch the web for climate change truths - Telegraph

Manukau Not Listening

2008-05-16T14:58:00.000+12:00

“People are calling but the Manukau City Council has taken the phone off the hook”.

This is how Pakuranga councillor Dick Quax describes the Council attitude towards its rejection of a volumetric component to its unpopular fixed wastewater charges.

The Policy and Activities Meeting recommended charging a fixed rate for wastewater at its meeting.

“We considered over 400 submissions on wastewater most them in support of a user pays pricing which was also supported by Manukau Water Ltd. In addition to that there was an online petition circulated by People’s Choice last year which collected nearly 2,000 signatures supporting some form of user pays for wastewater”.

Cr Quax points out that a fixed charge for wastewater is unfair and penalises small users of water such as the elderly and people living on their own.

“Here in Pakuranga there are many elderly people on fixed incomes who are being charged three or four times the water they bring into their homes to get rid of it – where is the fairness in that.”

“There is no fairness in a pricing regime which forces low users of water to subsidise high users”.

I am particularly disappointed that the mayor, Len Brown and Pakuranga councillor David Collings supported the fixed price regime.”

Double standards sinks attempt to extend kerbside recycling service

2008-05-15T21:18:00.000+12:00

Despite calling for community organisations such as sports clubs, churches, pre-schools and marae to be included in the new recycling services in 2008-09, only the 21 marae in Manukau City will enjoy the benefits of a service subsidised from general rates.

The decision to include marae but exclude sports clubs, churches and pre-schools has angered Manukau City Councillor Daniel Newman, who moved a resolution to extend the service to all community organisations.

“I am a strong proponent of recycling. I am a very enthusiastic recycler and believe the Manukau City Council should extend the new recycling service right throughout our community. Yet when it comes down to making a tough decision on this matter, the Council opted for a very limited extension of the recycling service.

“Tens of thousands of residents across Manukau City would have benefited from the extension of a recycling service to community organisations. Yet by voting down my motion to extend that service to all community groups, the Council has declined an opportunity to get serious about recycling and reducing the amount of material discarded in our landfill.

“The Council has once again passed over an opportunity to demonstrate real leadership and consistent treatment for the benefit of all residents and organisations in Manukau City,” Daniel Newman said.

At today’s Policy and Activities Committee meeting, Daniel Newman moved the following motion:

“That the 21 marae situated in Manukau City and community organisations such as sports clubs, churches and pre-schools be included in the new recycling services within the next financial year and subsidised from general rates”

That motion was defeated by 7 votes to 5.

Those councillors who voted for the Newman resolution to extend the recycling services to all community organisations were: Daniel Newman; Dick Quax; Jami-Lee Ross; Sylvia Taylor; and Sharon Stewart.

Those councillors who voted against the Newman resolution to extend recycling services to all community organisations were: Colleen Brown; Maggie Burrill; Len Brown; David Collings; Arthur Anae; Hugh Graham; and John Walker.

End.

Contact:

Daniel Newman 027 478 1484

Topless bar hides bottomless pit

2008-05-15T16:46:00.000+12:00

Manukau Councillor Colleen Brown is not happy that a topless bar is in her local shopping centre. Read her Op Ed article from today's NZ Herald. Is she right?

Colleen Brown: Topless bar hides bottomless pit - 15 May 2008 - Opinion, Editorial and reader comments from New Zealand and around the World - nzherald

Take railways down road of retirement

2008-05-15T16:10:00.000+12:00

Jon Addison is the former editor of the 8 O'Clock and founding editor of Trucking Magazine presents some sobering facts about the state of rail in New Zealand. Michael Cullen is promising to run a "highly efficient rail system" but is rail really the saviour of our transport system or is it a relic of the late 19th and early 20th century? Has the government spent your dollar wisely or has it just bought us an expensive lemon?
Jon Addison: Take railways down road of retirement - 15 May 2008 - Opinion, Editorial and reader comments from New Zealand and around the World - nzherald

Supply of Land Determines Prices

2008-05-14T16:45:00.000+12:00

It’s an irony that politicians screech loudly that something must be done to take care of this or that.

With an election coming up the Labour led government now want to fix is housing affordability. A Bill has been introduced to Parliament to make housing more affordable. They are willing to impose draconian measures on councils, rate payers and developers to achieve just that. If only they stopped for one moment realised that it is the pols that have caused the problem in the first place. It is the restriction on the supply of land that causes the price of it the go through the roof. Politicians have strangled the land supply with growth restrictions such as Auckland’s Metropolitan Urban Limits. It’s supply and demand. It’s not rocket science - increase the supply and the price will come down.

Interesting Line up in Mangere

2008-05-13T15:13:00.000+12:00

Looks like things are going to get interesting in the race for the socialist stronghold of Mangere. William Sio who was on the Manukau City Council for two terms and now a Labour Party list MP is duking it out with another Manukau councillor’s brother Jerry, brother of Alf Filipaina. To make things even more interesting Arthur Anae former National MP & also a Manukau City councillor will also contest the seat.

They will be going up against Phillip Field the incumbent MP who was formerly with Labour and is now an independent. Field may not get to the starting line in this race as he has his on going problems facing 15 counts of bribery and 25 counts of attempting to pervert justice.

The only one missing from this intriguing line up (no pun intended) is Labour party stalwart, James Papa’ili found guilty of 15 counts of fraud while a Manukau City councillor.

One thing is for sure, they’ll all be working harder than a Thai tiler in Samoa to win the seat.

Environmentalists' Wild Predictions

2008-05-07T20:12:00.000+12:00

At the first Earth Day celebration, in 1969, environmentalist Nigel Calder warned, "The threat of a new ice age must now stand alongside nuclear war as a likely source of wholesale death and misery for mankind." C.C. Wallen of the World Meteorological Organization said, "The cooling since 1940 has been large enough and consistent enough that it will not soon be reversed." In 1968, Professor Paul Ehrlich, Vice President Gore's hero and mentor, predicted there would be a major food shortage in the U.S. and "in the 1970s ... hundreds of millions of people are going to starve to death." Ehrlich forecasted that 65 million Americans would die of starvation between 1980 and 1989, and by 1999 the U.S. population would have declined to 22.6 million. Ehrlich's predictions about England were gloomier: "If I were a gambler, I would take even money that England will not exist in the year 2000."

Townhall.com::Environmentalists' Wild Predictions::By Walter E. Williams

DIVERSITY TRAINING: How To Talk To Black People

2008-05-07T12:31:00.000+12:00

Ethnic diversity is considered an important part of the Olympic Games. But Eugene, Oregon which is hosting this year’s US Olympic Track and Field Trials is going that extra marathon in order to make African Americans feel comfortable. The city is providing diversity training so that, amongst other things, people will be able to talk to black Americans.

YouTube - DIVERSITY TRAINING: How To Talk To Black People

Global Warming on Hold

2008-05-06T15:57:00.000+12:00

Today’s UK Telegraph reports: “Global warming will stop until at least 2015 because of natural variations in the climate, scientists have said. Researchers studying long-term changes in sea temperatures said they now expect a "lull" for up to a decade while natural variations in climate cancel out the increases caused by man-made greenhouse gas emissions. The average temperature of the sea around Europe and North America is expected to cool slightly over the decade while the tropical Pacific remains unchanged. This would mean that the 0.3°C global average temperature rise which has been predicted for the next decade by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change may not happen, according to the paper published in the scientific journal Nature.”
This significant new study adds to a growing body of peer-reviewed literature and other scientific analysis challenging former Vice President Al Gore and the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate change (IPCC). MIT Climate Scientist Dr. Richard Lindzen’s March 2008 analysis found the Earth has had “no statistically significant warming since 1995.”- LINK.
http://wattsupwiththat.wordpress.com/2008/03/11/a-note-from-richard-lindzen-on-statistically-significant-warming/
Australian paleoclimate scientist Dr. Bob Carter also noted in 2007 that “ the accepted global average temperature statistics used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change show that no ground-based warming has occurred since 1998.” Carter explained that the “temperature stasis has occurred despite an increase over the same period of 15 parts per million (or 4 per cent) in atmospheric CO2.” (LINK)
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,21920043-27197,00.html
In August 2007, the UK Met Office, Britain's version of our National Weather Service, conceded that global warming had stopped as well. Both the Nature and UK Met Office analysis predict a continuation of global warming in future years. [Note: Hyping yet more unproven computer models of the future in response to inconvenient evidence based data is the primary tool of the promoters of man-made climate doom.]
Today’s new study in Nature essentially finds that global warming will have stopped for nearly 20 years. (1998 until 2015) According to the UK Telegraph article: “Writing in Nature, the scientists said: ‘Our results suggest that global surface temperature may not increase over the next decade, as natural climate variations in the North Atlantic and tropical Pacific temporarily offset the projected anthropogenic [manmade] warming.’”
The UK Telegraph article by reporter Charles Clover noted the significant deficiencies in UN climate models: “The IPCC currently does not include in its models actual records of such events as the strength of the Gulf Stream and the El Nino cyclical warming event in the Pacific, which are known to have been behind the warmest year ever recorded in 1998.”
The evidence based data showing the Earth’s failure to continue warming has confounded the promoters of man-made climate fear. The American people have consistently rejected climate alarm as a Gallup Poll released on Earth Day 2008 shows the American public’s concern about man-made global warming is unchanged from 1989. Gore's $300 million dollar campaign to promote climate fear is attempting to convince American's that they face a climate "crisis" despite the new accumulating scientific evidence.
http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Minority.Blogs&ContentRecord_id=5CEAEDB7-802A-23AD-4BFE-9E32747616F9
This new study in Nature further reveals a “tipping point” for the promoters of climate alarm. 2007 and now 2008 have challenged man-made climate fear as new peer-reviewed studies continue to debunk rising CO2 fears. A U.S. Senate minority report reveals over 400 scientists dissented from man-made climate fears, and more and more scientists continue to declare themselves skeptical of a man-made climate “crisis” in 2008.

Government buys back Rail

2008-05-06T15:52:00.000+12:00

Michael Cullen would have us believe that he has done a great deal by buying back the rail.

Let’s check the facts. Toll Holdings bought rail for $328 million, valued it at $400 million and sold it back to Dr Cullen for $665 million. Great deal? For Toll yes for the New Zealand taxpayer no!

Furthermore, Toll gets keep New Zealand's largest trucking company Tranzlink - which includes 430 trucks, distribution and warehouses - with up to $20 million of free rent on its depots, and removed it's liability to pay millions a year to Ontrack.

Trannzlink will make the money send it to Melbourne and the poor old kiwi taxpayer will continue to pay out in subsidies for a dog of a rail system which has never returned a profit and never likely to.

National is party to this economic rape by stating it won’t privatise the rail if it gets into power later this year. It has no option but to back Labour’s vandalism because if it states that it will privatise the rail Labour will paint them as scary rightwingers prepared to sell off the family silver.

Council forms Working Party to move Furniture

2008-05-05T10:20:00.000+12:00

If anyone should question the need for improved governance of the Auckland region one needs look no further than the Manukau City Council. Last month the Council’s Policy and Activities Committee chaired by Manurewa councillor, Colleen Brown, on the recommendation of Cr David Collings (Pakuranga) formed a working party to oversee the placement of furniture in council meeting rooms.

Councillors are elected by the people to govern, and see that policy they set is implemented by council staff.

One councillor was recently seen directing traffic on a busy city intersection. That’s carrying micro management a tad too far.

At the same P&A Committee I was rounded on by some councillors for questioning the tardy response of council to a request from residents, backed by the Transport Committee back in April 2007 to reduce the speed limit on a notorious stretch of road.

A year later the residents who live on this dangerous road are still waiting for council action.

This is truly a case of rearranging the deck chairs while the Titanic sinks.

Labour routed

2008-05-04T09:43:00.000+12:00

The rout of the socialists in the UK local body elections is bad news for their kiwi comrades. Economic commentators in this country having been telling them that they need to give tax relief to middle New Zealand. The government has ignored those calls and now with little wriggle room they face annihilation later this year.

Brown's party routed in UK elections - 03 May 2008 - NZ Herald: World / International News

Climate Change - has it been cancelled?

2008-04-23T11:59:00.000+12:00

View Professor Bob Carter on Shine TV explaining why New Zealanders should oppose the Emissions Trading Scheme Bill now being debated by a Parliamentary Select Committee: For YouTube LINK

Flogging or jail for bad driving

2008-04-23T11:40:00.000+12:00

For Manukau and other New Zealand cities flogging could be the answer to the "boy racer" problem.

Flogging or jail for bad driving | The Australian

Government plays ducks and drakes with airport sale veto

2008-04-11T17:29:00.000+12:00

Investors have received a clear signal they can’t trust the Government to stay out of their business, says Business NZ, following the Government’s decision to veto the Canadian bid for Auckland International Airport .

Chief executive Phil O’Reilly says rule changes by the Government, late in the piece, had impacted investor confidence.

“Just because of loud shouting by some, the Government has decided to play ducks and drakes – not only with international investors acting in good faith, but also with the retirement nest eggs of many New Zealanders and that should not be acceptable.”

Mr O’Reilly says the Government has indicated there is a group of strategic assets that could be treated in the same way if they were ever for sale to a foreign investor.

“If this is the case then the Government should tell New Zealanders what they are, so that investors know the conditions under which they are investing.

MMP Raises its Stupid Head Again

2008-04-11T13:45:00.000+12:00

The absurd nature of MMP which has been apparent to many for a long time reached new heights of madness this week when Foreign Minister Winston Peters and his New Zealand First party slammed New Zealand’s free trade agreement with China. The Labour led government is scrambling to explain the Peters’ role is not compromised by his stand. Trade and foreign policy are not related and Peters is free to continue opposing the FTA.

However it was Michael Cullen who declared not long ago that an FTA with China is a key foreign policy initiative. Maybe he just forgot to tell Peters!

Let the Olympic Torch Be

2008-04-07T16:38:00.000+12:00

There is something sad surrounding the Olympic torch protests in London. The Olympic flame symbolises the Olympic spirit and not China’s human rights record.

One thing is true that the world would be worse off if there were no Olympic Games. Apart from China the Olympics have been held in countries where the record of human rights has been less that exemplary. The 1936 Games held in Berlin were used by the Nazis as a propaganda tool but in the end they have been remembered for the wonderful athletic performances of Jesse Owens. Those Games exposed the myth of the Nazis theory of Aryan racial superiority.

In 1976 African nations boycotted the Olympics in Montréal because of New Zealand’s sporting links with South Africa. No one cared and the great African runners did not get a chance to show how good they were.

The 1980 Olympics were held in Moscow just after the Soviet Union had invaded Afghanistan.

There is hardly a nation on the face of the earth that has held the Olympics and could claim to satisfy everyone everywhere in regard to its policies foreign or domestic.

It is right that China’s human rights record should be scrutinised but targeting a symbol of peace and humanity is not the way to do it.

Climate facts to warm to by Owen McShane

2008-04-07T15:18:00.000+12:00

Climate Change still with us but Global Warming Cancelled - or

Being in the Hottest Spot at the Right Time

Unlike so many of the hapless victims on TVOne’s daily Crimewatch – (also known as TVOne News) I have recently been lucky enough to be in two right places at the right time.

In December, last year, at the UN conference in Bali, I heard Viscount Monckton present a paper prepared by himself, the Australian Dr David Evans, and our own Dr Vincent Gray (who were at Bali too) which showed that while the IPCC models predict that greenhouse gases would produce an extensive “hot spot” in the upper troposphere over the tropics the satellite measurements show no such hotspots have appeared.

Monckton and Evans found that a large part of this discrepancy is the result of some basic errors in the IPCC’s assessment of the Stefan-Boltzmann equation. When they applied their revised factor to the effect of greenhouse gases the temperature rise was about a third of that predicted by the IPCC.

So by late last year we not only knew IPCC forecasts of atmospheric global warming were wrong; we were beginning to understand why they are wrong.

The key issue in this debate is whether anthropogenic greenhouse gases or natural solar activities, are the prime drivers of climate change. A closely related argument is whether or not the climate is highly sensitive to carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere. Put together, these uncertainties raise doubts as to whether the IPCC models can accurately forecast the climate over the long term. If they cannot, then we have to wonder how much damage we should risk doing to the world’s economies in attempts to manage the possibly adverse effects of these “predictions”.

The findings that the predicted “tropical hotspots” do not exist are important because the IPCC models assume these “hotspots” will be formed by increased evaporation from warmer oceans leading to the accumulations of higher concentrations of water vapour in the upper atmosphere, and thereby generating a positive feedback which reinforces the small amount of warming which can be caused by CO₂ alone.

Atmospheric scientists generally agree that as carbon dioxide levels increase there is a law of “diminishing returns” – or more properly “diminishing effects” – and that ongoing increases in CO2 concentration do not generate proportional increases in temperature. The common analogy is painting over window glass. The first layers of paint cut out lots of light but subsequent layers have diminishing impact.

So, you might be asking, why the panic? Why does Al Gore talk about temperatures spiraling out of control, causing mass extinctions and catastrophic rises in sea-level, and all his other disastrous outcomes when there is no evidence to support it?

The alarmists argue that increased CO₂ leads to more water vapour – the main greenhouse gas and this water vapour provides positive feedback and hence makes the overall climate highly sensitive to small increases in the concentration of CO₂. Consequently, the IPCC argues that while carbon dioxide may well “run out of puff” the consequent evaporation of water vapour provides the positive feedback loop which will make anthropogenic global warming reach dangerous levels.

This assumption that water vapour provides positive feedback lies behind the famous “tipping point” which nourishes Al Gore’s dreams of destruction, and indeed all those calls for action now – “before it is too late!” However, no climate models predict such a “tipping point”.

However, while the absence of hot spots has refuted one important aspect of the IPCC models we lack a mechanism which fully explains these supposed outcomes. Hence the IPCC, and its supporters, have been able to ignore this “refutation”.

So by the end of last year, we were in a similar situation to the 19th Century astronomers who had figured out that the Sun could not be “burning” its fuel – or it would have turned to ashes long ago – but could not explain where the ongoing energy was coming from. Then along came Einstein and E=mc².

Similarly, the climate skeptics have had to explain why the hotspots are not where they should be – not just challenge the theory with their observations.

This is why I felt so lucky to be in the right place at the right time when I heard Roy Spencer speak at the New York conference in March of this year. At first I thought this was just another paper setting out observations against the forecasts, further confirming Evan’s earlier work. But as the argument unfolded I realized that Roy Spencer was drawing on observations and measurements from the new Aqua satellites to explain the mechanism behind this anomaly between model forecasts and observation. You may have heard that the IPCC models cannot predict clouds and rain with any accuracy. Their models assume that the water vapour goes up to the troposphere and hangs around to cook us all in a greenhouse future.

However, there is a mechanism at work, which washes out the water-vapour (as it were) and returns it to the oceans, along with the extra CO₂ and thus turns the added water vapour into a NEGATIVE feedback mechanism.

The newly discovered mechanism is a combination of clouds and rain! (Spencer’s mechanism adds to the mechanism earlier identified by Prof Lindzen called the Iris effect.)

The IPCC models assumed that the water vapour formed clouds at high altitudes which lead to further warming. The Aqua satellite observations and Spencer’s analysis show that the water vapour actually forms clouds at low altitudes which lead to cooling.

Furthermore, Spencer shows that the extra rain which falls from these clouds cools the underlying oceans providing a second negative feedback to negate the CO₂ warming. (see image.)

This has struck the alarmists like a thunderbolt, especially as the lead author of the IPCC chapter on feedback has written to Roy Spencer agreeing that he is right!

There goes the alarmist neighbourhood!

The climate is not highly sensitive to CO₂ warming because the water vapour is a damper against the warming effect of CO₂.

That is why history is full of Ice Ages – where other effects, such as increased reflection from the ice cover, do provide positive feedback – while we do not hear about Heat Ages. The Medieval Warm Period for example is known for being benignly warm – not dangerously hot.

We live on a benign planet – except when it occasionally gets damned cold.

While I have done my best to simplify these developments they remain highly technical and many people distrust their own ability to assess competing scientific claims. However, in this case the “tipping point theories” are based on models which do not include the effects of rain and clouds.
The new NASA Aqua Satellite is the first satellite to actually measure the effects of clouds and rainfall. Spencer’s interpretation of the new data now means that our models now include the effects of rain and clouds and thus make all previous models and forecasts obsolete. Would anyone trust long-term forecasts of farm production which were hopeless at forecasting rainfall?

The implications of these breakthroughs in measurement and understanding are dramatic to say the least. The responses will be fun to watch.

Sprawl link to fat tenuous

2008-04-05T14:02:00.000+13:00

For some time now urban planners have been trying to convince people that the suburbs are bad for us. They claim that living in the "burbs" means that suburbanites are dependent on cars and don't get enough exercise and contributes to obesity. According to urban plannerslLiving in high density housing around transport nodes is better for our health.

Now a study has come out to put that far fetched theory to rest.

"There's a lot of talk about redesigning cities and the expectation that they will affect people's health and weight in particular, but what these results tell us is that those expectations are probably incorrect," said Professor Matthew Turner of the University of Toronto and a co-author of the study.

Moreover, data was released from the Flinders University Achieving a Healthy Home Environment study which surveyed the homes and lifestyles of 280 families in the southern suburbs of Adelaide and found that the size and set-up of homes contributed largely to how fit and healthy young children were. Larger section meant healthier kids.

Sprawl link to fat tenuous - 05 Apr 2008 - NZ Herald

Bold steps needed to arrest slide

2008-04-03T21:08:00.000+13:00

Revenue taxes are needed to finance necessary government spending, but they are a drag on the economy. This opinion piece penned by the author of the 2001 Tax Review, Rob McLeod, chairman of the Business Roundtable explains how tax cuts will help the NZ economy.

Rob McLeod: Bold steps needed to arrest slide - 03 Apr 2008 - nzherald

Press Release

2008-04-03T20:58:00.000+13:00

Pakuranga Councillor Dick Quax has been quick to jump to the defence of Manukau’s large immigrant population following the attack on the Asian community by New Zealand First deputy leader, Peter Brown.

“Manukau City is the melting pot of New Zealand. Forty one percent of all Manukau people were born overseas”.

According to Cr Quax that presents a huge and exciting challenge and opportunity for the city.

“A very large number of people from Asia have made their home here especially in the eastern part of Manukau. We are better of economically, socially and culturally as a result of the immigration from Asia”.

“People here still recall the racist speech New Zealand leader, Winston Peters made in Howick leading up to the 1996 election. We don’t want him back and he can take his hate mongering elsewhere”.

We are a tolerant and welcoming city said Cr Quax himself an immigrant who came to New Zealand as a youngster with his family in the 1950s.

A Cool Look at Global Warming Speech to the NZ Business Round Table by The Rt. Hon. Lord Lawson

2008-04-02T19:39:00.000+13:00

In October 1989, Nigel Lawson, the longest-serving Chancellor of the Exchequer since the First World War, resigned after a very public row with the then Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher.

For ten years he had been one of the Government's chief policy makers, and for most of that time a key member of the Cabinet.

Lord Lawson served as Chancellor of the Exchequer between 1983 and 1989 under Margaret Thatcher, prior to this he served as Secretary of State for Energy between 1981 and 1983 and Financial Secretary to the Treasury between 1979 and 1981.

He has been a Member of the House of Lords since 1992

NZCPR guest

Williamson Right to Query Global Warming

2008-04-02T15:39:00.000+13:00

Well, it seems my local PM, Maurice Williamson (National) has committed the most heinous crime known to the Labour Party and TV One. The crime he is charged with is not being a global warming alarmist. What I like about Williamson he researches issues and is not afraid to speak his mind. He doesn’t follow the common herd led by an idle media which has never looked at both sides of the climate change debate.

Williamson is smart enough to know that earth’s climate has always changed and informed enough to doubt anthropogenic global warming.

Oh, and one more thing there has been no global warming since 1998.

Claims senior Nat MPs deny climate change | POLITICS | NEWS | tvnz.co.nz

News Release from Owen McShane The Centre for Resource Management Studies

2008-04-01T11:08:00.000+13:00

On the face of it, all the signs are that house prices will fall across the board – and indeed have already started falling.

Given that the CRMS has been predicting the bursting of the housing bubble for many years it would seem reasonable to expect the Centre to expect the market to finally correct itself and restore the "good old days" when the median house price was no more than three times the median household income.

However, price is largely determined by the relationship between supply and demand. While demand may well be falling it may also be that supply is continuing to fall just as quickly.

The global financial uncertainties which are squeezing home buyers are also squeezing those who supply both the sections and the dwellings to build on them.

All around the country, proposed residential subdivisions, both large and small, are being abandoned because the developers, large and small, cannot afford to service the holding costs or pay the compliance costs and development contributions, especially in advance of any sales.

Their financiers are increasingly unwilling to carry the risk.

We have long had a situation where any proposal to develop residential property of any kind in any location attracts objectors – and whether they number in their ones or twos, or in the thousands, they can delay projects for years.

Many of those objectors are now "dancing in the streets" because developers are withdrawing their proposals. Needless to say these happy objectors are already comfortably housed and have enjoyed their capital gains.

However, these withdrawals from the market may mean that supply remains so constrained that house prices will remain high and a jumbo load of New Zealanders will continue to leave for Australia every day.

Those who are delighting in abandoned developments in their neighbourhoods might soon begin to wonder who will be left to staff the hospitals and schools, and to build the houses, and to manage the farms, and even to pay their own pensions or for their own increasing demands on health care?

We can only hope that Councillors will realise that this is the time to make life a little easier for those who house our population, and our young skilled people in particular, rather than regard them as greedy

Brisbane to get 30,000 extra new homes - Breaking News - National - Breaking News

2008-04-01T08:04:00.000+13:00

More than 30,000 new homes have been earmarked for Brisbane under a strategy to tackle a severe lack of supply.

Queensland not only faces a housing affordability crisis, but commercial space is at a record low, with the CBD market the second tightest in the country behind Perth.

The state government's Urban Land Development Authority was established last year to get land and housing on the market quicker.

Brisbane to get 30,000 extra new homes - Breaking News - National - Breaking News

Act 'hijacks' lecture

2008-03-31T15:11:00.000+13:00

Some Labour party pip squeak, who didn't want to be named is upset that Kiwis may like the idea of lower of tax rates. Could it be that Mr P Squeak didn't want everyone to know that he is still on the tax payer teat after all these years?

Act 'hijacks' lecture - 30 Mar 2008 - NZ Herald

Another Global Warming Scam

2008-03-28T16:50:00.000+13:00

The great thing about being green is that it allows you to get away with the most outrageous scams. Air New Zealand is the latest to understand this and you can now off set the carbon foot print you leave when flying on the national carrier by buying into a carbon offset scam .. oops sorry scheme!

It doesn’t work anywhere in the world, but hell, Kiwis will buy into, because like Kermit we love being green or is that being scammed.

And what will our brave little green airline do with the indulgences that are paid to it. My guess is that they’ll say thanks and go to lunch!

Watch Their Noses Grow

2008-03-27T13:39:00.000+13:00

In politics trust is gold. If the voters believe that a politician is not trustworthy their chance of getting elected are slim. Both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have shown themselves to be untrustworthy.

Senator Obama would like people to believe that he knew nothing of the inflammatory racist comments Jeremiah Wright was making in the church that Obama was a member of for twenty years. And no ordinary member. He once donated $20,000 to the church.

Hillary Clinton claims she was named after Sir Edmund Hillary. This is truly hilarious. Senator Clinton was born in 1947 – six years before Ed Hillary became the first to climb Mt Everest.

She has now made the startling revelation that she came under sniper attack when she visited Bosnia in 1996. She now acknowledges that she never dodged a bullet in Bosnia and says she “misspoke”.

The two Democrats have a problem – creditability.

Hard right? No, they're hard left

2008-03-24T20:09:00.000+13:00

Roger Douglas answers his socialist critics for whom the only solution for the problems facing New Zealand is more government intervention and higher taxes.

Roger Douglas: Hard right? No, they're hard left - 24 Mar 2008 - Opinion, Editorial and reader comments from New Zealand and around the World - nzherald

Freedom, not climate, is at risk

2008-03-23T13:22:00.000+13:00

The author Michael Crichton stated it clearly: “the greatest challenge facing mankind is the challenge of distinguishing reality from fantasy, truth from propaganda”. I feel the same way, because global warming hysteria has become a prime example of the truth versus propaganda problem. It requires courage to oppose the “established” truth, although a lot of people – including top-class scientists – see the issue of climate change entirely differently. They protest against the arrogance of those who advocate the global warming hypothesis and relate it to human activities.

FT.com / Comment & analysis / Comment - Freedom, not climate, is at risk

Moves to stop Council flying sovereignty flag

2008-03-20T12:52:00.000+13:00

Proposals to fly the Tino Rangatiratanga flag outside the Manukau City Council are being challenged by a group of councillors opposed to the move.
A group of nine councillors, representing half the membership of the Council, have lodged a Notice of Motion seeking a council decision to refuse the flying of the flag.

Scoop: Moves to stop Council flying sovereignty flag

Regulations Are at the Root of U.S. Housing Mess

2008-03-19T15:49:00.000+13:00

With the U.S. economy on the ropes and esteemed financial institutions such as Bear Stearns Cos. and the Carlyle Group suffering major losses, policy makers are outdoing one another in the search for creative intensive care. The irony is that the latest research suggests that government policy makers started this mess in the first place.
Mr. Hyde put us in the hospital. Dr. Jekyll has met us at the operating table.

Read more:

Bloomberg.com: Opinion

Flag decision sent back for more consultation

2008-03-14T14:13:00.000+13:00

A decision on whether Manukau City Council should officially fly the Tino Rangatiratanga flag has been delayed pending the development of a comprehensive report on a flag flying policy for the council.

The council’s Te Tiriti O Waitangi Committee last night considered whether to approve in principle the flying of the Tino Rangatira Flag for five days leading up to and including 6 February 2009 and annually thereafter.

However, committee chair Cr Alf Filipaina said that, after a very full discussion, members felt the decision could not be made without first investigating and approving a flag flying policy to cover all instances of when it might be appropriate for the council to fly any other flag alongside the New Zealand and the Manukau city flags. The committee resolved to request a report outlining issues and protocols for flying flags on Manukau City Council facilities be presented to its meeting on 12 June, 2008.

Cr Filipaina said the committee also acknowledged the special relationship that the council has with Tainui and Kingitanga and sought to investigate whether it would be appropriate to fly the Te Kahu flag for the day of Koroneihana in August 2008 and annually thereafter. It has asked officers to bring a report back on this issue to the committee by May, 2008.

“We have indicated to officers that we expect there to be comprehensive community consultation as part of developing these reports,” Cr Filipaina said.

Cold Water on "Global Warming"

2008-03-09T11:33:00.000+13:00

"It has almost become something of a joke when some “global warming” conference has to be cancelled because of a snowstorm or bitterly cold weather.

But stampedes and hysteria are no joke - and creating stampedes and hysteria has become a major activity of those hyping a global-warming “crisis.”

They mobilize like-minded people from a variety of occupations, call them all “scientists” and then claim that “all” the experts agree on a global-warming crisis.

Their biggest argument is that there is no argument.

A whole cottage industry has sprung up among people who get grants, government agencies who get appropriations, politicians who get publicity, and the perpetually indignant who get something new to be indignant about. It gives teachers something to talk about in school instead of teaching."

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/02/29/opinion/main3893146.shtml

Brian Gaynor: Shades of Muldoon in Cullen's edict - 08 Mar 2008 - NZ Herald: New Zealand Business, Markets, Currency and Personal Finance News

2008-03-09T10:32:00.000+13:00

Brian Gaynor: Shades of Muldoon in Cullen's edict - 08 Mar 2008 - NZ Herald: New Zealand Business, Markets, Currency and Personal Finance News: "Finance Minister Dr Michael Cullen's decision to effectively stymie the partial takeover offer for Auckland International Airport (AIA) is an unwanted reminder of the meddling policies of former Prime Minister Robert Muldoon.
Dr Cullen's edict was so appalling, and so inconsistent with his policies of the previous eight years, that one can only conclude it was strongly influenced by political considerations ahead of this year's general election.
A restriction on the overseas ownership of strategic assets is not uncommon in other countries, particularly Australia, but the timing and method of the AIA decision was totally unsatisfactory for investors and overall sharemarket confidence."

Labour's Attack on Property Rights

2008-03-04T20:53:00.000+13:00

The government demonstrated that politics come before business with its decision to tighten overseas investment rules. But this is more than just Labour’s populist instincts to bash big business it’s an attack on private property rights. Michael Cullen has effectively cut 18% off the price of the AIA share price with his announcement today There has been overseas interest in the Auckland International Airport for two years and now that Labour is trailing by 20 per cent in the polls they suddenly decide that the new rules now need to extend the ‘importance of local control’ to the approval process.. So much for economic transformation. When votes are at stake Labour will do anything to remain in power and that includes turning New Zealand into the North Korea of the South Pacific.

Greater Effort Needed to rid our Community of Riffraff who Vandalize

2008-02-08T13:16:00.000+13:00

Everybody, it seems has an opinion on “tagging” or graffiti vandalism. The latest to express her views is Maori Party co-leader Turiana Turia. Her comments that, “Some members of our community see (tagging) as a crime, other members see tagging as an expression of identity” is extremely naïve.

Fortunately very few members of our community see tagging as “an identity of expression”. Most people see the mindless squiggles that appear on fences, walls, bridges, motorway overpasses, street signs, bus stops and even trees as a blot on our landscape and want leaders such as Ms Turia to do something more than making absurd statements.

Lately we are seeing reports of escalating violence as the result of confrontation between members of the community and taggers. The most tragic is the recent death of a tagger in Manurewa. Taggers have also reacted violently when confronted by outraged and frustrated property owners whose fence, garage and even their house has been the target of repeated attacks.

In one such incident a man confronted three youths who were tagging his property. As he spoke to the group one of them came at him from behind and smashed his head with a baseball bat. As he lay on the ground close to death the three stole his shoes and jacket. As a result of this beating he has been under constant medical supervision, can no longer drive, has had to give up teaching and is now restricted to doing menial work. There are other incidents of whole families being threatened with beatings and even death by taggers.

Manukau Mayor Len Brown and I will be presenting a paper to council calling for a greater effort to rid our community of these riffraff who vandalize with impunity. Recommendations being considered are; greater community involvement, better liaison with the police, corrections and the judiciary, a greater use of private investigators, better crime prevention through improved urban design, more use of technology, the continued promotion of the Manukau City Council (Control of Graffiti) Bill and offering rewards for information which leads to the arrest and conviction of graffiti vandals.

While the friends of criminals in our society may see tagging as a harmless prank and an alternative expression of identity this is completely out of step with mainstream New Zealand which has had enough.

The Passing of a Great New Zealander

2008-01-16T11:39:00.000+13:00

The passing of Sir Edmund Hillary yesterday will be one of those moments in life that we will always remember exactly where we where when we heard about it.

I am in the United States on holiday and I was in the kitchen of my in laws when the news was announced on the ABC.

The news of Sir Ed’s death has been on all American television stations and newspapers.

Sir Ed was figure of international importance and while he liked to describe himself as an ordinary New Zealand bloke he was of course extraordinary – the last great adventurer.

He was the one New Zealander who I most wanted to meet and I had that privilege back in 1990 at the opening of the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame.

[posted originally on Saturday, January 12, 2008]