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Capping legal aid spending and reducing administration costs are being floated as ideas by a review. .
Dame Margaret Bazley, who is heading the review, said demand for legal aid increased 23 per cent between 2003 and 2008, with grants for criminal cases rising 51 per cent between 2003 and 2009.
In 2008/2009 this had risen to 95,303 applications with 85,158 granted.
In 2007/2008, there had been 83,767 applications for legal aid with 73,905 granted.6 million to $123.
Over the same period of time the cost of claims rose from $105.9 million.3 million of the cost and two per cent of cases eating up a quarter of all spending.
A growth in high cost cases was driving up the expenses with 100 cases (49 criminal, 45 treaty and 6 civil) making up $21.
“This is not a sustainable business model,” the review said.
The increasing number of claims had also not been matched with any economies of scale and the average cost to administer each claim had risen from less than $100 in 2000 to more than $250 in 2008.
“Long-standing inefficiencies” in pre-trial criminal procedure, which led to delays in the courts, were also putting a strain on the legal aid system, the paper said.
The discussion paper also identified problems attracting and retaining experienced lawyers in the legal aid scheme, including pay rates and the administrative burden associated with it.
The review makes 73 suggestions or areas for discussion ranging from capping all or some of the budget, more use of a public defender service, more careful management of high cost cases and attracting better quality lawyers.
The review makes 73 suggestions or areas for discussion ranging from capping all or some of the budget, more use of a public defender service, more careful management of high cost cases and attracting better quality lawyers.
The society was considering extending the six months experience needed to practise as a barrister sole out to three years.
The report noted that it was harder to attract good lawyers to the legal aid system for a variety of reasons pay rates and red tape.
Justice Minister Simon Power said the review was aimed at finding a system that was structured “so it delivers effective services to those who need them most in a way that it cost-effective and sustainable”.
This, along with training and better remuneration, would improve the quality of legal aid, Mr Marshall said.”
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“This review has the potential to improve the lives of the people who come into contact with the justice system, and give taxpayers real confidence that they’re getting good value for money from legal aid expenditure
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New Zealand soldiers are keeping a close watch on the volatile town of Du Abe in Bamiyan province as Afghanistan’s presidential vote looms.
The area has been unstable in recent months and is known to harbour Taliban sympathisers.
The same New Zealand soldiers from the Provincial Reconstruction Team visited Du Abe this week to assess the situation before the ballot.
An insurgent attack on the town’s police station in June caught a Kiwi patrol in the crossfire.
He said the tension was evident ahead of polling booths opening later today.
Corporal Matthew Pearce led a small group of heavily armed men on reconnaissance through the town. “Usually they will return a salaam [greeting] a couple of times, but not one of them returned a salaam today.
“Today seemed a lot more, I won’t say hostile, but unfriendly,” he said.
Women are being discouraged from voting and few are expected to turn out at the town’s polling station today. .
“And on election day, if something does happen, again it would not surprise me.
“If a bomb went off in Du Abe today or any other day, it would not surprise me,” said Pearce, 26, from Burnham.
Taliban leader Mullah Muhammad Omar has called on his supporters to disrupt polling.”
With a constantly shifting population, intelligence on insurgents in Du Abe has been difficult to gather.
Talibanfighters have clashed with police in the centre of Kabul and threatened to shut the country’s roads.
But current president Hamid Karzai says the elections will not be wrecked.
“Enemies will do their best, but it won’t help.
“I hope that tomorrow our countrymen, millions of them will come and vote for country’s stability, for the country’s peace, for the country’s progress,” Karzai said late on Wednesday after a small ceremony for the country’s Independence Day holiday.
The brazen early morning raid was the third major attack in Kabul in five days, shattering the calm in a city which had been secure for months but is now tense and dotted with checkpoints.”
Earlier on Wednesday, gunmen stormed a bank building in central Kabul and battled police for hours in what the Taliban said was one of many attacks it had planned for the capital.
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Polls show Karzai leading but likely to fall short of the outright majority needed to avoid an October run-off, after his main challenger, ex-foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, ran a stronger than expected campaign
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Dan Carter says he’s ready to start against the Wallabies if required but All Blacks captain Richie McCaw has warned against the star playmaker being seen as a “miracle man” for his struggling side.
Carter started his return to the international scene when he was part of the All Blacks 31-man training squad that got down to business in Auckland on Wednesday afternoon. .
A lengthy meeting to debrief the double disaster in South Africa was followed by an intense training session in west Auckland that was marred by an ankle injury to halfback Piri Weepu.
He believed he had made significant progress in his Air New Zealand Cup outings with Canterbury to be ready for a test recall. He was in the thick of the action and after practicedeclared he was up to starting the Tri-Nations and Bledisloe Cup test in Sydney on Saturday week. I feel like I’m ready to play at international level again.
“That’s why I’m here.. I am lucky with my experience to know what to expect and it is a huge step up from Air New Zealand Cup . but I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think I was ready to play international rugby again.. To be back in this environment is great but I really want to push to get out on the field (against Australia).
“I’m hopeful (of starting). He has no doubts about Carter’s abilities but warns that he shouldn’t be seen as a one-man fix-it for the All Blacks’ problems.”
McCaw was delighted to have his old mate at his side again.
“I presume he will be in the mix for next weekend which will be great.
“He a classy sort of man and he’s shown over the last couple of weeks that he has got over his injury and to have him running around here is great,” said McCaw.
“We don’t expect him to come back in and be the miracle man. We have got to make sure that we make it easy for him to just go about what he does well.
“He has just got to slot in and carry on with the things he does well. We have all got things we have got to make sure we get right. That’s the challenge for all of us. We have got to make it as easy as we can for him.”
McCaw felt there would be benefits to the enforced break Carter endured with his six months layoff with an Achilles problem.”
McCaw felt there would be benefits to the enforced break Carter endured with his six months layoff with an Achilles problem.
“I think perhaps mentally he is even better (than before),” McCaw said.
“He has had a break and he’s pretty excited about getting into the rugby. I think from that point of view there is probably a silver lining about having a break like he has.
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A Wairarapa village is being promoted as the new Gallipoli, with pilgrims urged to stay home to remember our fallen Anzac soldiers.
The air force is behind the drive to bring thousands of people to Tinui, where our first Anzac memorial service was held in 1916, for Anzac Day commemorations.
The commanding officer of pilot training at Ohakea, Paul Stockley, hopes thousands will head to the site. It comes as warnings continue over the safety and security of the tens of thousands who go to Turkey each year. While there is always Gallipoli, it was Tinui that had the world’s first Anzac day service. “We see this as an opportunity for young New Zealanders to start a tradition here..
“With our support and promotion from this year onwards, hopefully over the years it becomes more and more recognised and could see thousands choose Tinui over . Gallipoli.. “I would be delighted to see Tinui become a place where people come to pay their respects and remember those who have fallen.”
Veterans’ Affairs Minister Judith Collins, who will travel to Gallipoli next week, said Tinui held a special place in Anzac history.
In material sent to homes and schools in the central North Island, a message has been: “If you can’t make it to Gallipoli, make it to Tinui. .
“That is not what it is about.”
Returned and Services Association president Robin Klitscher said though the move should be applauded, it was wrong to single out one site as the focus for commemorations.”
In 1916, the Rev Basil Ashcroft held the first Anzac Day commemoration in the Tinui church, before leading villagers to the top of Mt Maunsell, or Tinui Taipo as it is known locally, to erect a permanent memorial. It is about people recognising their own communities and to go to Gallipoli on Anzac Day or any other day is part of that also. Forty-eight people from the village died in the two world wars.
That cross became the first Anzac memorial in New Zealand and stood on the hilltop for nearly 50 years before an aluminium cross replaced it in 1965. The Historic Places Trust will consider funding to investigate registration next month.
For nearly two years, the village of just 16 houses has battled to have the site recognised by the Government and the world.
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Influenza expert calls for more use of Tamiflu
– Sunday, 22 February 2009
Bird fluhasn't hit New Zealand yet, but a killer Brisbane flu's imminent threat is a prime reason to dust off your stockpiled Tamiflu.
Influenza expert Dr Lance Jennings told the Sunday Star-Times the best way to protect against flu was vaccination, which would be available around the country from the first week in March.
"A lot of people have a stockpile of Tamiflu for bird flu, but few GPs prescribe it for flu.
However, he said the antiviral flu drug, Tamiflu, was underused in New Zealand, despite its effectiveness in treating the potentially fatal disease if taken soon after symptoms begin."
In 2005, the government stockpiled 855,000 doses of Tamiflu enough to treat 21% of the population and costing $26 million as part of its strategy to cope with a possible bird flu pandemic sweeping the country.
"I think we need more education around the usage of this drug and for GPs so they are aware they can prescribe it for influenza.
Jennings, a clinical virologist at Canterbury Health Laboratories, said New Zealand was also the only country in the world to allow pharmacists to prescribe the drug, which meant people suffering flu could buy it over the counter. The fears also prompted a buy-up of the antiviral by the public.
He was unaware of any deaths in New Zealand from the three strains. .
New Zealand's past few winters had been relatively mild for influenza, with the last cluster of children dying from flu in 2005, when three North Island youngsters died of an influenza B strain, Jennings said.
Six children's deaths in Brisbane last year were blamed on the Brisbane (H3N2) influenza strain, and it had caused a severe flu outbreak in the United Kingdom over the current northern hemisphere's winter. We have no way of predicting [this winter] will be a really bad season, but just examining at the activity of these viruses in the United States and the UK, and what happened in Australia, it's prudent to advise people there is a vaccine.
"All influenza has a potential to be deadly.
The flu jab is free for people aged 65-plus and those with certain chronic medical conditions, including asthma and heart disease."
The World Health Organisation recommends which flu strains are included in flu vaccines in both hemispheres.
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Helicopter crashes in prison grounds
By CLIO FRANCIS – Wednesday, 18 February 2009
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CHOPPER CRASH: The pilot of this helicopter escaped serious injury after his machine crashed near Te Awamutu, this morning.
A pilot was lucky to escape unscathed when his helicopter crashed into a water trough at Waikeria Prison near Te Awamutu this morning.15 this morning when he noticed "a problem with his engine". .
He said while the helicopter suffered serious damage, due to the low altitude and reduced speed the pilot was unhurt.
"He's done a loop to come into land in a paddock next to the prison's administration block when part of his spraying equipment has made contact with a water trough causing the aircraft to flip.
"Our officers secured the crash scene in conjunction with Corrections staff prior to the arrival of Civil Aviation crash investigators who have arrived at the scenes.
He did not require any medical attention, Mr Simes said."
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Councillor’s appeal blocks city stadium
Saturday, 07 February 2009
Wellington City Council's planned $46 million indoor sports stadium in Kilbirnie is being delayed for up to 18 months by one of its own councillors, who has appealed to the Environment Court.
Independent commissioners gave consent the previous month for the 12-court stadium at Cobham Park.
The appeal was filed by Andy Foster, the council's urban development and transport portfolio leader, who believes Cobham Park is the wrong site. Work was due to start in April, with the centre opening in September next year. I believe the council is trying to fly this under the radar.
"The appeal asks for a transparent public process to look at the alternative sites. Both were discounted by the council."
He said the centre should be built in the central city, either on Harbour Quays land owned by CentrePort or on the concourse above Westpac Stadium. "They didn't think they could get all 12 courts there.
"They didn't even put an offer to the port," Mr Foster said."
A submission from Ian Maskell, an independent project and development consultant contracted by the council to investigate the concourse option, backed his claims, Mr Foster said. But they could have put eight there and seven at Hataitai [netball courts] for the same price."
The council reviewed its decision last year to build on Cobham Park. .
Mr Foster called it "a very quick and dirty peer review that only included council information". Mr Maskell said the concourse option design team was not interviewed as part of that review and was at odds with its findings. "[It] is unequivocally the best site.
Mayor Kerry Prendergast said the review heavily favoured Cobham Park."
With the concourse and Harbour Quays, the council would have to pay an extra $30 million to improve Jervois Quay and buy CentrePort land, valued at $15 million. Construction cost is cheapest, it is significantly less complex because we own the land, no [land] negotiations are required, and it can be delivered two years earlier than the other sites.
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KKK man shows up to council in wig and dress
Friday, 19 December 2008
Kapiti Observer
NOT WELCOME: Dale Evans, in purple wig, and his Santas are ejected from the council chamber.
Just six months after upsetting Kapiti councillors by dressing in a Ku Klux Klan outfit, community board member Dale Evans has struck again.
He appeared at a Kapiti Coast District Council meeting in a purple wig and women's clothing, with seven Santas in tow, and was ejected from the chamber yesterday by police prompting one councillor to compare the council to a three-ring circus. She told him not to disrupt the meeting.
Mr Evans had hoped to speak to the council about the bore water problem, but was confronted by mayor Jenny Rowan before he even entered the chamber. Mr Evans and his Santas refused to budge and the mayor adjourned the meeting. . Some councillors left the chamber and police were called. I certainly do not want the police involved, that is a complete over-reaction, a human rights issue. Councillor Lyndy McIntyre objected, saying: "We have community members here, let's hear them out and get on with the meeting."
Councillor Tony Jack said: "We do our best to do our job, but council is portrayed as a three-ring circus. And it is Christmas."
Mr Evans said every individual, regardless of how they were dressed, had a right to speak. No one asked me if I wanted to hear what he had to say. He and a group in Santa suits had spoken to the council once before to highlight another community matter. He and a group in Santa suits had spoken to the council once before to highlight another community matter.
Council chief executive Pat Dougherty said the ejection was justified.
When two police officers entered the room yesterday and advised Mr Evans to leave, he and the Santas mostly aged between 14 and 16 walked out. They were asked to leave under standing orders. "Asking police to eject a group dressed in Santa suits and women's clothes was totally justified following the earlier Ku Klux Klan incident from the same person.
Mr Evans said he was taking up the matter with the Human Rights Commission."
Ms Rowan said whatever message Mr Evans and his group wished to deliver should have been done in a respectful manner.. "I should be able to dress in what I want to . If former policeman Dr Rob Moodie can dress in a frock, why can't I? My dress was not inappropriate, the council totally over-reacted and denied me my freedom of speech.."
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Burning oil spill kills woman, 86
By EMMA PAGE – Sunday, 30 November 2008
A frail South Auckland grandmother died yesterday after receiving extensive burns when she accidently knocked a pot of burning melted margarine on to herself.
The 86-year-old, believed to be Indian, was alone in her Pahurehure home when fire safety staff believe she went into the kitchen to find that the melted margarine, which was going to be used to make ceremonial candles, was smoking. .
Neighbours, who saw smoke, rushed to help and called emergency services. She then fell over, spilling the burning margarine on herself and resulting in significant burns.
Cocker says the woman's family had gone out.
The woman was treated at the scene by fire and ambulance staff and was taken to Middlemore Hospital, but she later died. He urged people not to leave things unattended on the stove and to be mindful of the dangers of heating oils and fats.
"Our message to the public is to make sure your elderly dependents are OK. He also wanted to remind families to look after their elderly relatives."
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"Make sure what they are doing is safe