Random Politics

[Lightspeed]

Does anyone have better than a guess as to what this means:

$475.351 million for Forecast Changes in Early Childhood Education, Primary and Secondary Education and Property Values

I'm guessing this is buying new land:

$270.577 million in capital funding and $80.349 in operating funding for the School Property Growth Package

Is this charter schools:

$151.567 million in capital funding for the New Zealand Schools Private Public Partnership - Project Two

Again I guess this is charter schools:

$177.347 million in capital funding (10 year total) and $20.226 million in operating funding (over four years) for the New Zealand Schools Private Public Partnership – Project Three

That's something like 80% of the increase right there.

If we guess this top two are somehow property related (??) and the next two are National's pet projects, it does fit that public education in general is being left to languish. I'm sure you brilliant fullas correct me where I'm wrong.

[Lightspeed]

If we look at public health funding are we going to find the bulk of the increase is somehow property related too? Is this how it's always worked when the government tells us they've increased funding? This extra billion for prisons... Mostly property too?

[Brutus]

Originally Posted by Ab's Link.

The School Property Growth Package will fund 480 new classrooms, two new schools, two school expansions and the rebuild of a kura kaupapa Māori. In addition, seven new schools and three school rebuilds and relocations will be delivered via two public private partnerships.

Originally Posted by http://www.education.govt.nz/ministry-of-education/specific-initiatives/public-private-partnerships/

Under a PPP, the Ministry engages the private partner to design, finance, build and maintain a particular school. We pay the private partner quarterly once the new buildings are open. We reduce the payment if the school facilities do not meet the standards in the contract. This effectively provides a 25-year guarantee on that school’s buildings and service delivery.

Originally Posted by Ab's link again

Operations grant increases have run well ahead of inflation in recent years. Cost adjustments have seen schools’ operations grant funding rose by over 15 percent from the 2010 school year start to the 2015 school year end. By contrast, CPI inflation rose 9.6 percent over the same period.

So, yes. No extra money being seen in Schools budgets, likely not even kept up with the real costs schools face.
Money for the most part is going on new classrooms required for roll increases.

[Ab]

But TAX CUTS!!1

[Ab]

My nzpol twitter list lit up yesterday with people posting about Nicky Hager and a new book. What's the story?

[Lightspeed]

Differing accounts of civilians deaths during a fire fight NZ was involved in, in Afghanistan (none, six or eight.) Weak evidence in all cases so far. It's being framed as a revenge attack, it's not clear if the expected more extreme suggestions (such as investigation by the ICC for war crimes) bear any merit.

[fixed_truth]

Former Defence Minister Wayne Mapp today confirmed that civilians were killed.
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politi...id-claims.html

I know this is a reality of war but it does seem a bit gung-ho.

[Lightspeed]

Conversely:
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/327226/afghan-raid-didn't-achieve-objective,-former-minister-says

Meanwhile, the former Chief of Defence Force said he was "pretty confident" there were no civilian casualties in the raids.

Lieutenant General Rhys Jones was in the position from 2011 to 2014.

He said the claims of casualties were investigated at the time. That included a visit to a local hospital, where investigators found a couple of "fighting age" men with gunshot wounds.

[Lightspeed]

New spying legislation passes

The Intelligence and Security Bill affects the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) and the Security Intelligence Service (SIS).

It removes the restriction on the GCSB intercepting New Zealanders' communication.

The drift continues...

[Lightspeed]

Of the same ilk:
Anti-laundering rules raise privacy concerns

...

I miss ilk...

[The Edge]

Who?

[Lightspeed]

ilk

[Ab]

Originally Posted by Lightspeed

Differing accounts of civilians deaths during a fire fight NZ was involved in, in Afghanistan (none, six or eight.) Weak evidence in all cases so far. It's being framed as a revenge attack, it's not clear if the expected more extreme suggestions (such as investigation by the ICC for war crimes) bear any merit.

well the book's authors seems to have cocked this up but good.

[Lightspeed]

That does appear to be their MO. Except, you know, the books sell.

[Ab]

The old "all publicity is good publicity" routine, eh?

[pxpx]

Originally Posted by Lightspeed

That does appear to be their MO. Except, you know, the books sell.

a fool and his money are soon parted

[[Malks] Pixie]

Originally Posted by pxpx

a fool and his money are soon parted

What little money there is - Stephenson has been quite up front that he's unlikely to make back the money that he's put into the project.

[CCS]

Good.

[[Malks] Pixie]

That got an actual lol from me at least.

[Ab]

Monday:

Nicky Hager and Jon Stephenson have stood by the claims in their book Hit and Run, saying they are "100 per cent sure" about the facts of the military operation

"We're absolutely confident we're right, no question about it."

In a statement sent to media on Sunday night, the authors say it's "actually impossible that the story is wrong".

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/poli...an-allegations

NEK MINNIT


Today:

Hit and Run authors concede they got the location for a raid wrong in their book

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/poli...-in-their-book

[Lightspeed]

Originally Posted by Ab

The old "all publicity is good publicity" routine, eh?

I was thinking more along the lines of money in the bank is best money. But yeah, it's probably the publicity that will pay off.

[Ab]

Noone ever accused Nicky Hager of being a bad promoter.

[Ab]

The Greens on the other hand....

http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politi...car-crash.html

[Heyzoos]

Originally Posted by Lightspeed

Of the same ilk:
Anti-laundering rules raise privacy concerns

...

I miss ilk...

I will let him know.

[Lightspeed]

Good, that is good.

[Ab]

Andrew Little is toast.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...ectid=11831045

[Lightspeed]

I'm not sure how he didn't see this coming. Surely it's obvious a couple of National donors/benefactors are going to drag this out for all its worth?

Maybe it's a ploy so that Labour can conveniently drop the numpty Little so the sharp and bright Ardern can step in?

[Ab]

I don't know either. Pride? Fuck he could have made this all go away on day zero with a retraction and an apology, but noooooo, strong union leaders don't apologise for shit.

Now he's defamed a rich person who has a list a mile long of Good Works In The Community and who is literally dying. A person who has nothing to lose and whose only interest is protecting his reputation.

Little is going to get fucking ANNIHILATED.

[DrTiTus]

The Hagamans have a right to take it to court, but in my IANAL opinion, I expect the judge will find Little not guilty.

A defense of "honest opinion" would satisfy me if I were the judge - also "common-law" qualified privilege (criticism of politicians/political parties is allowed). A combination of both should provide everything Little needs.

Not being able to question the motives of large donations is a recipe for corruption.

[ZoSo]

"ANNIHILATED" in a NZ court, bit optimistic?

[Ab]

Sorry, I didn't mean "get financially penalised into oblivion by the court". I meant it more in a political sense - there's no way for him to come out of this not looking like a fucking tosser. And there's no way he has the time or money to defend this.

[ZoSo]

I think you're thinking of australian politics atm. The punditry has already shifted here and will push this barrow to election at least imo. Even while currently looking like a tosser, he's holding around 30% and they're talking about who winnie is going to go with, not nesc. getting out the knvies as far as I can see (atm). One can only hope for a 5th scalp though.

[CCS]

Originally Posted by DrTiTus

Not being able to question the motives of large donations is a recipe for corruption.

Andrew Little CAN question the motives of a large donation, and he can do so under parliamentary privilege (that's kinda one of the tenets of parliamentary privilege). He just can't defame someone outside of parliament and that's where he fucked up. Little seemed to have no real idea as to whether the Hagaman donation was corrupt or not, but he went ahead and smeared Hagaman anyway because he thought it would score him political points. He thinks his tough guy "cut the crap" routine works.

The really dumb thing is that he should know better. As a lawyer and a politician he should know that in parliament he say things like "stinks to high heaven" but outside of parliament he has to moderate his language. Poor judgement on his part.

[ZoSo]

Encouraging.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...ectid=11831648

Hopefully avoid the retardation occurring in the us, canada & uk, before it really digs in here.

[[Malks] Pixie]

Had someone proposed a change to the law around this?

It seems like a huge extrapolation to take one incident surrounding a student group and blow it up into "our universities are censoring free speech".

[Ab]

It feels to me like a general concern of the literati right now that discourse is getting squashed in Western universities because "intellectual freedom" has somehow come to mean "freedom from hearing things I find offensive".

[CCS]

Originally Posted by [Malks] Pixie

Had someone proposed a change to the law around this?

It seems like a huge extrapolation to take one incident surrounding a student group and blow it up into "our universities are censoring free speech".

I think the concern is that snowflakes here are starting to follow the lead of snowflakes overseas and it is seen as the beginning of the end.

[[Malks] Pixie]

So hang on, what you're saying, is that the letter writers want university to be a "safe space" free of social consequences? /s

[CCS]

Yeah man, totally. Consequences like snowflakes getting hurty feelings. Consequences like snowflakes having a meltdown when they struggle to cope with the revelation that not everyone buys into their sanctimonious worldview.



Oh yeah /s

[[Malks] Pixie]

Shit man, that's asking a lot of your everyday commerce student - I'm not sure if they could handle the harsh reality of having their world view challenged.

On a more serious note is this in relation to course related or extra-curricular stuff? I know there was a whole lot of hand wringing around the idea of "no-platforming" a while ago but I haven't really seen (or heard, or read) any evidence of it occurring over here.