Ron Smith: Syria and President Obama - why intervene now?

Sometimes international developments, and the political decisions that lie behind them, are hard to explain.  On the other hand, there are occasions when there seem to be too many plausible explanations, and that can be a worry as well!  This latter seems to be the case with the recent announcement from the Obama Whitehouse that America will now supply ‘military assistance’ to the Syrian opposition.  So, given the widely acknowledged ‘war weariness’ of the US population, why has this decision been taken, and why now?  The civil war in Syria has been going on for more than two years, and with much of the character that it now displays, so what explain the decision?

Rob Paterson: Constitutional Change in New Zealand

Introduction: New Zealand is reviewing its constitution but the panel set up to do this review is comprised, not of constitutional experts or representatives of a fair cross-section of the people of New Zealand, but an appreciable number of Maori studies academics, some with strident anti-colonialist views. Discreet and separate Maori and non-Maori consultation is a feature of this review. It is the second constitutional review in seven years and is being undertaken in the absence of a constitutional crisis. The review is being driven at the behest of the Maori Party, a political party that captured just 1.4 percent of the party vote in the 2011 general election.

Michael Coote: Submission on the Auckland Unitary Plan

May 2013

Draft Auckland Unitary Plan Feedback from an Auckland Ratepayer and Resident

To whom it may concern,

I write concerning the Draft Auckland Unitary Plan (“D-AUP”) as it relates to policy concerning Maori and Mana Whenua [The people of the land who have mana or customary authority – their historical, cultural and genealogical heritage are attached to the land and sea].

Mike Butler: Treaty try-on forces farmer to sell

Allan Titford did not know what he had stepped into when he bought land 40km north of Dargaville that he intended to farm and subdivide. That was nearly 27 years ago. Within seven years, he was one of several farmers forced off their land as a result of trumped-up treaty claim and a farcical Waitangi Tribunal inquiry. The Te Roroa claim is not the only “grievance” that started out as an opportunistic try-on that gained a kind of standing by repeated petitions to parliament.

Ron Smith: Security and trust

I have regularly argued (or sometimes simply assumed) that it is reasonable to accept some degree of state intrusion into the private dealings of its citizens, in the interests of national or individual security (see, for instance, ‘Spying and the public interest’, November 2011).  Of course, I also accept that it is permissible to spy on individuals who may not be citizens but who may represent a threat to those who are.  Indeed, quite recently, I have criticised US security authorities for failing to be sufficiently proactive in the matter of the Boston bombers (‘Loosers’, April, this year).

Mike Butler: Tuhoe deal just? You decide

Were Tuhoe innocent victims of crafty colonisers or did their 19th century leaders make a series of bad choices that exposed their people to the sharp edge of the British Empire? This article compares some Office of Treaty Settlements rhetoric that alleges “Crown behaviour made a harmonious relationship with Tuhoe impossible” with historical fact.

Lindsay Mitchell: Getting to grips with 'child poverty'

A recently-released Ministerial Committee on Poverty report  contains information familiar to me but presented in new and revealing ways. For instance, the chart below shows that of the 270,000 children deemed to be living  'in poverty' (i.e. in households below 60 percent of the median equivalised after housing costs) more than half are not experiencing hardship. That's because income is arguably less important than outgoings, or budgetary prioritising:

Mike Butler: Young Maori wooed for eighth seat

The Maori roll is more appealing to new voters, according to an Electoral Commission progress report, while the number of seasoned Maori voters moving to the Maori roll is roughly the same as those who leave it. The progress reports are part of the 2013 Maori Electoral Option which enables Maori voters to choose whether they want to be on the general or Maori rolls.

Frank Newman: Insurance shake-up

The Canterbury earthquakes are having huge consequences. Not only are the lives of residents in the area directly affected, but it is causing seismic changes to the insurance industry and that affects every property owner in New Zealand. You need to be aware of those changes – your house may depend upon it. 

Ron Smith: Terrorism, propaganda and war

Terrorism has long been described as ‘the propaganda of the deed’;  I noted this last August (‘Terrorism, Murder and Madness’).  It is a description that comes from Nineteenth Century Russian theorists of political violence, who were persistently intent on bringing down the Czarist regime.  Since then, it has provided a potent method of getting the message across for a wide range of activist groups, down to the present time, and there is every reason to think that it will continue into the indefinite future. 

Reuben Chapple: All ideas have a pedigree

Dr Elizabeth Rata’s recent article (“Democracy and Diversity”) makes some excellent points about why equality in citizenship and one law for all must always trump identity politics in the public square. However, she seems to have skated somewhat lightly over how it is that “liberals of both the Left and the Right embraced biculturalism with such religious-like commitment.” All ideas have a pedigree.

Karl du Fresne: Who's Norman trying to kid?

Russel Norman’s speech to the annual conference of the Greens, in which he compared John Key with Robert Muldoon, rated a 10 for desperation and a zero for credibility. I’m no cheerleader for Key, but even to mention him in the same breath as Muldoon is laughable. Norman arrived in New Zealand from Australia in 1997, and on the basis of his speech I would guess that’s about as far back as his knowledge of our political history extends.

Mike Butler: De-knighting treaty sugar daddy

While Prime Minister John Key is agonising over whether former National Cabinet Minister Sir Douglas Graham should be stripped of his knighthood, here are a few aspects of the beleaguered knight’s record on treaty settlements, often quoted as his saving grace. Graham, who went down in the 2008 collapse of the Lombard finance company along with Bill Jeffries, Lawrence Bryant, and Michael Reeves, had appeals against their sentences for their roles in the failure rejected on Thursday, and were told that their sentences were “manifestly inadequate”.

Mike Butler: Taupo tribe loses $29m

“Bad investments and bailouts” have wiped almost half the value off Taupo tribe Tuwharetoa’s $66-million share of the “Treelord’s” treaty settlement, the Dominion Post reported today. (1) Ngati Tuwharetoa is the second tribe to admit to losing millions in settlement spoils. About a year ago, Taranaki's Ngati Tama reported it lost its $14.5-million payout it received in 2003, also in “bad investments”.

Barend Vlaardingerbroek: UE 2014 – A Plug for Meritocracy

The meritocratic ideal is a prominent aspect of the mindset of a ‘conservative liberal’ like yours truly. Essentially this means that what people get out of life ought to depend firstly and foremostly on what they put into it – the ‘merit’ they acquire through their own efforts. Like all ideals, the notion does not square entirely with observed reality.

Lindsay Mitchell: CPAG back in court - again

The Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) is about to return to court for the third time arguing that the In Work Tax Credit should go to beneficiary families. The group has an opinion piece in today's DomPost: 

New Zealand continues to grapple with a poor track record for child poverty and particularly the rising inequality affecting our poorest children. More

Frank Newman: RMA a failure

The Resource management Act is about to get another makeover, the 21^st since the legislation became law in 1991. The new changes are to be announced within the new few weeks and expected to take up to three years to put into effect. Twenty-one changes in 22 years is a clear admission that the Act is not working, and never has.

Ron Smith: Cover-ups and scandals - another Watergate?

If I were to tell you about a state that was monitoring the telephones and emails of journalists and their families, and administratively harassing opposition activists, whilst denying any knowledge or responsibility for what was going on, where would you think that country was?  Africa maybe?  South America?  North central Asia?  (There is a very big country up there, with next-to-no tradition of democracy and plenty of reports of just this kind of activity). 

Matt Ridley: Too virulent to spread

Here we go again. A new bird-flu virus in China, the H7N9 strain, is spreading alarm. It has infected about 130 people and killed more than 30. Every time this happens, some journalists compete to foment fear, ably assisted by cautious but worried scientists, and then tell the world to keep calm. We need a new way to talk about the risk of a flu pandemic, because the overwhelming probability is that this virus will kill people, yes, but not in vast numbers.

Phil McDermott: The Unravelling of the Auckland Plan

Getting the housing equation wrong
The failure of the Auckland Plan to reflect the simple aspirations of Aucklanders for home ownership and predominantly low-rise suburban lifestyles and promote instead the lofty compact city vision held by its planners and policy-makers made its unravelling inevitable.  And now it’s started. Rationing land to squeeze the city upward was always going to create problems.