Two a penny

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National is playing down a high-stakes political battle between its support partners over Maori seats on the new Auckland council.

It has emerged that Local Government Minister and ACT Leader Rodney Hide told Prime Minister John Key in June he would resign as minister if the Government allowed any form of Maori seat on the yet-to-be-created council.

Cabinet had previously agreed in principle there would be no such seats, but at the June 3 meeting Mr Key had sounded him out on the possibility of Maori seats.

The Maori Party has been lobbying to overturn the Government’s position and recent events show that Mr Key is seriously considering whether Cabinet should reverse its decision.

“It was a live issue and a prospect,” Mr Hide said.

Mr Hide had also assured Mr Key ACT would not threaten the stability of the Government and the confidence and supply agreement would remain in place.

Mr Hide had told Mr Key that he could not compromise and still introduce the bill in his name, and would therefore have to stand aside.

His stance was not a threat, but a position of principle which Mr Key had to know about when decisions were made on the issue, he said.

“The coalition is going well, really focusing on the important issues facing New Zealand,” Mr Ryall said. . .

“ACT’s position is very well known to New Zealanders. but he is very solidly behind the Government. .”

Decisions on the Maori seats were yet to be taken, he said.”

Decisions on the Maori seats were yet to be taken, he said.

He called on Mr Hide to let Cabinet and Parliament decide the issue and then live with it.

“I would hate him to feel he has to step down over one little detail, if Maori seats are created, because that is now a very real possibility,” Dr Sharples said.

Labour accused Mr Hide of grandstanding to lift his party’s low poll ratings, but he said he had not intended to make his stance public.

Dr Sharples said he would be disappointed if Maori seats were not created, but he would stay on to advocate for Maori interests as a minister.

In the email, Mr Henare urges National MPs to back Maori seats, a reversal of its previous policy, saying there was public support for them.

Mr Hide said he was disappointed an email from National MP Tau Henare had been leaked to TV3 in which it had been wrongly claimed Mr Hide had been threatening the stability of the Government when it enjoyed only 1 per cent support in the polls.

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Kindy teachers want exemption from law

The Thursday, 22 January 2009

Kindergarten teachers want an exemption from National's 90-day trial period law, in what may be the first real test of the controversial employment legislation.
The Educational Institute, which represents most of the 2000 kindergarten teachers, has lodged a new employment claim with the Education Ministry. . It follows the passage of a law before Christmas giving employers of fewer than 20 workers the right to sack staff within the first 90 days without going through normal employment procedures.
The 28-month claim, which seeks a 4 per cent pay rise this year and continuing pay parity with primary teachers, was lodged in December but a new clause was lodged this week.
Educational Institute national secretary Paul Goulter said the law had serious implications for the education sector, where recruitment was a "major challenge".
The union fears smaller, rural associations, which employ fewer than 20 teachers, would be disadvantaged by the law, as working for them could become less attractive. It seeks agreement between the ministry and kindergarten associations that a 90-day trial period "is neither necessary or desirable" and would be left out of the kindergarten teachers' collective agreement.

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Recession ‘perfect time’ to build dream home

By CHARLIE GATES – Friday, 16 January 2009

A Christchurch housing developer is defying the recession to build a $4 million home for himself on the Estuary waterfront in Redcliffs.
When the 505-square metre "dream home" is completed this year, it will feature an outdoor pool with a view of Shag Rock, a glass-walled wine cellar complete with adjustable mood lighting, frosted perspex staircases and a large fish pond stretching into the house from outside.
The owner of the property, who wished to remain anonymous for privacy reasons, said it would be his "dream home".
The home has taken 18 months to design, will take 18 months to build and will include five bedrooms, six bathrooms, a gym, a home theatre, a pantry, a barbecue area, a spa, a three-car garage and a roof terrace..
"It is a dream home for my family and we have spent a lot of time and effort to make a home that suits the Christchurch market . It is beautiful surroundings and a beautiful spot and I think the area is completely undervalued," he said..
"Never let a good recession pass you by.
The developer said the recession had actually helped the building of his luxury home. "It is just a pinch in time. It is a perfect time to build because everyone has not got much work so you always get good contractors," he said.
"The recession has helped the build because you get really good contractors and a good price for materials. No-one was talking about it a year ago and no-one will be talking about it a year from now.
"It is a nightmare."
Project builder Simon Stewart joked that the unique nature of the building made it challenging to construct.
The architect for the project, Group Architecture 3 director Marcus Stufkens, said the grand home had been carefully designed.
"It is a one-off sort of building and it is very unique in a lot of ways," he said.
"From the start it has been designed so from the street you would not know the extent of how large the house is.
"It should be pretty impressive once it is finished," he said."

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Witches, masons miss out on fake knives

Saturday, 20 December 2008

Abulk order of fake plastic knives and swords, coveted by local witches and Freemasons, will be handed over by Customs, but not in time for the Christmas rush.
Importer and retailer Dave Hannay won the right to retrieve the 230 knives and swords after the Customs service failed to appear in Napier Civil Court yesterday – but he cannot have them till next month, and then only if Customs does not object.
The order included 60 dragon-handled double-edged swords, 50 slide knives and 120 daggers with twisted blades.
The Chinese-made knives and swords were to have been sold in Mr Hannay's Napier store, King of Swords, but were seized by Customs in Auckland on December 21 last year as they were deemed to be offensive weapons.
The items, most of which are plastic with blunt edges, would have sold for about $9200. .
"The daggers were for the Freemasons. The swords have blunt stainless steel blades and plastic handles, and are glued into a resin dragon before being sold. "You'd be surprised who buys them. The others are bought for all sorts," Mr Hannay said. There are heaps of witches round here, and down in Masterton. Witches need them for their covens.
"This means I've missed two Christmases. And re-enactors, they like them too. If they'd [Customs] just turned up in court it might have been sorted. I've spent a year writing letters to various people trying to sort this out. "But these are weak imitations."
Mr Hannay said he understood that Customs was bound by definitions that saw fakes such as his classified as offensive weapons. I sell pocket knives in my store that are more dangerous. They'd snap if you hit anyone with them."
He said Customs had been made aware that it should have appeared in court. It's just ridiculous. He adjourned the case till next month in case Customs wished to be heard.
Judge Geoff Rea said that, "on the face of it", the knives would be ordered to be turned over to Mr Hannay.

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Weekend of drunken mayhem: 1000 calls to police

Monday, 15 December 2008

Drunkenmayhem sparked more than 1000 calls to Wellington police over the weekend 650 to the police communications centre and 414 triple-one calls.
Most of them related to booze-fuelled fights, disorder, domestic disputes and driving complaints.
"It is a high number, but not unusually high for this time of year in summer people tend to go out in the good weather, start drinking early and carry on right through the night," Mr Darroch said.
Inspector Steve Darroch said Wellington police were flat out dealing with alcohol-related incidents from Saturday afternoon, when people headed out to enjoy the good weather and kept drinking through the night.
Wellington police were busy yesterday processing 22 intoxicated people who had been held in cells overnight. . It accounts for 70 per cent of emergency hospital admissions, kills nearly three people a day and accounts for well over half of all crime.
The weekend binge underlined concerns at the growing booze toll, as reported in The on Saturday.
Wellington Hospital chief medical officer and drug and alcohol specialist Geoff Robinson said New Zealand needed to face up to its alcohol problem, which killed about 1000 people a year.
Every weekend, booze sends 84 people on average to Wellington Hospital either injured or seriously intoxicated.
Hot spots for drunken disorder on the weekend were Courtenay Place and Taranaki St, especially in the vicinity of nightclubs, Sergeant Corey Watts said.
Doctors and counsellors have called for a big rise in beer and wine prices, cuts in the number of outlets, bans on television advertising, raising the legal drinking age and more funding for treatment programmes.
Courtenay Place Expressoholic employee Alan Hunt said drunken tomfoolery was prevalent in Courtenay Place every Friday and Saturday night.
"Saturday is always a busy night, but more people were locked up than usual this weekend probably reflecting the time of year," Mr Watts said.
Neighbouring cafe owner Thanasis De Winter believed the drunkenness and violence on the streets on Saturday night was about normal levels, but he noticed a stronger police presence and more people being arrested throughout the evening and continuing well into Sunday morning.
"People are generally pretty good till about 10pm, then from about 3am fights start and there are girls screaming," Mr Hunt said.
Porirua police arrested eight drunken men the same night on a variety of charges, including assault and breaching bail conditions.
"Police were pretty tough arresting people with alcohol," Mr De Winter said.

. Earlier this month, more than 1000 drivers were breath-tested in booze-bus operations in Otaki and Levin, but only nine were found to be over the limit

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Court rules beating footage should be seen

Monday, 29 September 2008

The Auckland High Court has ordered that a videotape of a prisoner being beaten and pepper-sprayed in a police cell should be seen by the public.
More than eight hours of footage was filmed at the Whakatane police station where Rawiri Falwasser, 20, was badly injured while in custody on Labour Day in 2006.
The policemen convinced the trial judge to prevent television stations from showing those images to the public.
In June the closed-circuit television tapes of the incident were played to a Tauranga District Court jury that acquitted Sergeant Keith Parsons, 51, Sergeant Earle Busby, 46, Senior Constable Bruce Laing, 53, and Constable John Mills, 39, of nine charges of assaulting Mr Falwasser.
Both broadcasters showed footage from the tapes today and TV3 reported that the High Court decreed the trial decision not to release the tapes was "wrong in every way".
TVNZ and TV3 sought the release of the tapes because not releasing the them would "inevitably lead to a view that the jury got it wrong and lead to public questioning of the verdict".
He is bashed in the head with a baton, leaving him bleeding.
It said the perspex walls of Mr Falwasser's cell at the Whakatane police station gave a clear view of what happened to him.
The tape also shows Mr Falwasser being sprayed repeatedly with pepper spray through vents in the cell, at one point he tries to block the vents with clothing and at another he drops to the ground.
Police said they were using reasonable force, Mr Falwasser said he feared for his life.
But Police Association president Greg O'Connor said the public would only get half the story.
M r Falwasser's mother said despite the verdict she was pleased the tape had finally been made public.
Mr O'Connor said the release would result in trial by media.
"The problem is there's no sound on the tape so the public will not hear the entreaties, they will not be told that Mr Falwasser's brother, that a medical professional, that a mental health professional, had attempted to obtain his co-operation before this happened," Mr O'Connor said. However, seen segmented and edited it will be the enemy, not only of the officers but of police and the justice system in New Zealand.
"These officers thought the video was their friend in this situation, and it was — when seen in its entirety.
Crown prosecutor Fletcher Pilditch earlier told the court the public interest in the case was wider than just the verdict: "It related to how a person was treated in custody."
But the High Court today ruled the reputation and rights of police officers were outweighed by the public's right to see the evidence that led a jury to acquit them."