‘The so-called Joint Declaration on Inclusive and Progressive Trade, released by New Zealand, Canada and Chile alongside the signing of the resurrected Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA-11), comes across as a desperate attempt to put a gloss on a profoundly unprogressive deal’, says University of Auckland law professor Jane Kelsey.
‘They promise to make the TPPA-11 work for women, indigenous peoples, small and medium enterprises, workers, the environment. Yet those constituencies have repeatedly made it clear that the deal itself is anathema to their interests – most recently in a statement from fifty women’s organisations across ten of the eleven countries, who condemned the signing the agreement on International Women’s Day’.
Professor Kelsey notes that ‘progressive’ Canada presumably refused to sign a side-letter to protect New Zealand from investor-initiated disputes. Instead, Canada, Chile and New Zealand issued another joint statement where they promise to work on the ‘evolving practice’ of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS), offering suggestions that are mere tinkering with the system.
‘How does that fit with the Prime Minister’s description of ISDS as “a dog” and the instruction to negotiators not to include ISDS in New Zealand’s future agreements?’, she asked. ‘This joint statement does nothing to engender confidence that the government is really serious about ridding us of ISDS.’
Reinforcing those concerns, the government appears to have increased New Zealand’s exposure to ISDS in relation to Singapore. The free trade agreement in 2001 required the government’s consent before a Singaporean investor could bring an ISDS dispute. A new side-letter says Singapore’s investors can use the right under TPPA-11 to sue New Zealand, presumably without its consent.
Other side-letters which Trade Minister Parker said would protect New Zealand from ISDS are from countries whose investments in New Zealand are largely insignificant. Australia had already signed such a letter. Malaysia is the only new signatory with substantial investment in New Zealand. Yet its side-letter does not block Malaysia’s investors from using ISDS. New Zealand would have to positively veto a dispute.
‘This outcome does nothing to assuage our fears that the government will capitulate again on its promises to abandon ISDS and to adopt a new inclusive and progressive approach to international trade relationships and agreements.’
Toi-Ohomai job cuts further proof Minister must fix tertiary funding model
Plans announced today by the management of Toi-Ohomai Institute of Technology to cut jobs because the institution did not meet narrow funding metrics is further evidence that the current tertiary education funding model is broken and failing to meet the needs of local communities.
Dr. Leon Fourie, Chief Executive of Toi-Ohomai, notified staff today of his intention to “adjust” 18.4 full-time equivalent teaching roles across the institution. The job losses follow a large number of allied staff redundancies made by management last year, disproportionately impacting on women employed at the institution.
Rules imposed by the last National government penalise tertiary education institutions for not getting enough bums on seats. Instances where an institution enrols fewer than 99 percent of the students needed to meet its funding provision for the year, the institution must pay money back. Such rules destabilise institutions, and often force courses to close and jobs to be lost. In a statement signed by staff, students and Chief Executives of polytechnics at last week’s the Voices from Tertiary Education forum the Minister was urged to change these rules in the forthcoming Budget, something he said he was open to doing [1].
Sharn Riggs, national secretary of the Tertiary Education Union, said: “We are extremely disappointed with the Chief Executive’s announcement today. Current funding rules are based on meeting narrow, market-based metrics that ignore the huge contribution institutions like Toi-Ohomai make to their communities. The Minister has been told by sector leaders, staff and students that this model needs to change, now’s the time to make it happen.
“Public institutions like Toi-Ohomai are responsible for some of the most creative and innovative teaching in the country, and the funding model must support this. It is vital these institutions can continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible in tertiary education and are not repeatedly destabilised by a funding model that has proven time and time again to be broken. Working with staff and the local community we will do as much as we can to urge Dr. Fourie to revisit these plans.”
The 2018 Don’t Bank on the Bomb report was released last night. The report is produced by PAX – a member of the Nobel Peace Prize winning International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear weapons (iCAN) – and is the only report published each year detailing the global investments by financial institutions in companies producing nuclear weapons.
This year’s report details an increase of $(US)81 billion in new investment in 2017 compared to 2016. The report shows 20 companies in particular stand to profit the most from the increase in nuclear threats.
The 2018 Don’t Bank on the Bomb Report found:
~ A total of $(US)525 billion (an increase of $(US)81 billion) was made available to the nuclear weapon producing companies, of which $(US)110 billion came from just three companies: BlackRock, Vanguard and Capital Group ~ 329 banks, insurance companies, pension funds and asset managers from 24 countries invest significantly in nuclear weapons
The top 20 nuclear weapon producing companies stand to benefit the most from this increased nuclear threat, most of which have dedicated significant lobbying resources in Washington DC ~ On a positive note, since the adoption of the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons 30 companies have ceased investing in nuclear weapons.
~ Two of the top five largest pension funds in the world are divesting from nuclear weapons.
There are no New Zealand financial institutions in the 2018 ‘Hall of Fame’, as there have been in previous years, although the Super Fund is included in the Runners-up, the list of “imperfect exclusions” – financial institutions that have taken the step to exclude nuclear weapon producers from their investments, but whose policy is not all-inclusive. While commending the Super Fund for adopting a public policy on nuclear weapons, the report recommends that the Super Fund “exclude all nuclear weapons producing companies involved in all delivery systems specifically designed for nuclear weapons. Furthermore, the Fund should extend the scope of the policy to all financial products, including assets in pooled hedge fund mandates”.
Three of the Australian owned banks that operate in New Zealand – ANZ, ASB (part of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia) and Westpac – are included in the list of financial institutions that have been involved in financing one or more of 20 selected nuclear weapon companies between January 2014 and October 2017. Two of these – the ANZ and ASB, via the Commonwealth Bank of Australia – have been involved in financing Serco, among others, by $(US)45 million and $(US)98 million respectively.
Serco New Zealand (part of the British company that, along with Lockheed Martin and Jacobs Engineering Group, manages the operations of Britain’s Atomic Weapons Establishment, and is responsible for manufacturing, maintaining and developing new nuclear warheads for Britain’s arsenal) is also supported financially by the New Zealand government – initially through its (now rescinded) contract to run the Mt Eden Corrections Facility, and currently through its 25 year contract to operate the Auckland South Corrections Facility. Any contract with Serco arguably comprises a breach of the prohibitions in the New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act (1987) on aiding or abetting anyone involved in the manufacture or possession of any nuclear explosive device.
As the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons moves towards entry into force, now is the time for all financial institutions around the world to stop any association with nuclear weapon production, divest if investments exist, and establish solid policies preventing any future investment – as Don’t Bank on the Bomb’s author Susi Snyder (PAX) has pointed out: “The Nuclear Ban Treaty has sparked momentum towards divestment, shown by 10% fewer investors in nuclear weapon producers, and an increase in financial institutions comprehensively prohibiting any investment. Investments are not neutral, these companies should be congratulated for standing on the side of humanity”.
It is particularly important for New Zealand, as it prepares to ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, to ensure that all New Zealand financial institutions and government contracts are fully consistent not only with the ban Treaty’s provisions but also with the New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act (1987).
Links to more information:
~ Don’t Bank on the Bomb, download the full report, or download it chapter by chapter, at https://www.dontbankonthebomb.com/2018-report ~ Information about the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and the New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act (1987) and is available on the iCAN Aotearoa New Zealand site, http://www.icanw.org.nz
E tū is extremely concerned to see another local manufacturer shutting up shop and heading overseas.
Schneider Electric confirmed today it is closing its Christchurch plant and shifting operations to Australia and Vietnam with the loss of about 50 jobs.
The plant, which produces light switches and power plugs, was formerly part of iconic Christchurch company PDL, with a decades-long history in the city.
“These are quality fittings and they’ve been very popular for many years. They’re in most New Zealand homes and would be instantly recognisable to most Kiwis,” says E tū Industry Coordinator, Phil Knight.
Phil says a number of workers have been with the firm since its days as PDL, with one long serving staffer clocking up 42 years on the job.
“This is a workforce that’s very much a big family. They’re proud of their product and also very sad to bid farewell to their workmates and friends,” says Phil.
The announcement comes just weeks after ABCorp announced it was closing its Christchurch plastic card factory and also relocating abroad.
“We’ve seen a string of these closures, and every time it’s a blow for our members and the economy,” says Phil.
“The official line is there’s a buoyant job market out there, but manufacturing jobs like these have provided secure, well-paid, permanent, full-time jobs. These are now a relative rarity.
“However, these workers do have skills and good work records that would be of interest to any employer in any number of industries,” he says.
Phil says the union will be promoting their interests once a closure date is confirmed.
Schneider’s other New Zealand operations are not affected by the closure.
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Timu village from the top showing the site where 11 people were buried by landslips during the earthquake on 26 February 2018. Four of the bodies have been recovered, seven are still buried, including five children. Image: Sylvester Gawi/Graun Blong Mi- My Land
Tomorrow Papua New Guinea will be marking two weeks since the devastating 7.6 magnitude earthquake that devastated parts of Hela, Southern Highlands and Western Highlands provinces on February 26. Officials still have little idea of the full scale of the death and damage, because of the remote rugged terrain involved in what has been described by the BBC as the “invisible quake” – at least to the outside world. However, more than 100 people have died with landslides engulfing entire villages.
Some Papua New Guinean journalists have been doing an admirable job reporting the disaster to international media as well as their own people in difficult and risky circumstances – journalists such as EMTV’s deputy editor Scott Waide and NBC’s Sylvester Gawi. When communications were difficult through mainstream media connections, they have used their personal blogs. Here is the latest blog from Gawi republished from Asia Pacific Report:
Papua New Guinea’s Highlands earthquake disaster has brought to light some of the many things that need to be considered in assisting those affected by disaster and restoring vital infrastructures and communication links between relief agencies and the people.
The response to the 7.5 magnitude earthquake on February 26 took almost a week for the National Disaster Centre to find out statistics of people who were affected, casualties, homes and food gardens destroyed and how to deliver relief supplies to those affected.
While a small team of medical officers in Hela and Southern Highlands provinces have been hard at work trying to reach and assist the affected communities, more deaths and injuries were reported from areas unreachable by road and telecommunications.
These are some of the impediments to getting accurate statistics:
Most communities do not have schools, clinics and ward offices that will keep the records of people in their wards or communities.
No road links to almost all the areas affected. The rugged terrain also makes it difficult for roads to be constructed and maintained.
No telecommunication reception, or television and radio signals by which the people can be advised and educated on the disasters and how to avoid destruction.
Displaced Timu villagers in Hela province listening as a local translator advises them on the visit by Tari Hospital’s Dr Tana Kiak (with red cap) during a visit to the village this week. Image: Sylvester Gawi/Graun Blong Mi- My Land
At Timu village in Komo-Magarima, Hela province, 11 people were were killed by landslips caused by the earthquake.
Four out of the 11 bodies were recovered while the other seven bodies are still buried under the debris.
Timu village is just a few tens of kilometres away from the provincial capital Tari but it is way back in terms of basic services available for the people.
No benefits from gas pipeline
The people knew that there is a gas pipeline running through their neighbouring villages from Hides to the Papuan coastline but they have not seen the benefits from the gas and petroleum extraction in the province.
Teams of researchers and volunteers from relief agencies were tasked to collect data, informations and statistics of people who have been affected, but they can only be flown by helicopter into the affected areas.
Mendi School of Nursing building in the Southern Highlands which was damaged by the earthquake. Image: Sylvester Gawi/Graun Blong Mi- My Land
There are no medivac helicopters to transport relief supplies and doctors into the affected communities.
The PNG Defence Force, Missionary Aviation Fellowship (MAF) and Adventist Aviation Services were kind enough to do trips into these remote communities.
The cost of hiring a helicopter in PNG is quite expensive. Helicopter companies are charging around K5000 (about NZ2200) an hour. With most communities being isolated in the remote areas, it is costly and ineffective to attend to more than five villages in a day.
The Australian Defence Force Hercules aircraft transporting relief supplies from Port Moresby, Lae and Mt Hagen has been landing at Moro airport, then smaller aircraft bring the supplies back to Tari and offload onto helicopters to distribute.
Disaster response in PNG has been very slow and hasn’t improved from previous experiences.
Volcano displaced islanders
In February 2018, I was in Wewak when a volcanic island began releasing smoke after being dormant for more than two centuries. The Kadovar Island volcano has displaced more than 600 islanders who are now seeking refuge at a temporary care centre supported by aid agencies.
Again the experiences from the Manam volcano in Madang hasn’t helped the authorities to sort out a permanent resettlement area for the displaced islanders. Slow response from the National Disaster Centre has caused greater loss for the people in the last three years.
They’ve lost their culture and they have lost their way of life on Manam island while living at the care centre at Bogia.
The National Disaster team should be the first people on ground after the disaster strikes.
They must be the first to make contact with the affected people, not turning up a week later only to find out that people died while waiting to receive treatment.
I hope the present disaster will provide an insight into issues that need to be addressed by the Papua New Guinea government to ensure the National Disaster Centre is adequately and constantly funded to serve its purpose.
There seem to be two enormous forces hurtling towards each other.
On one side you have feminists and women incandescent with righteous rage at sexual harassment in the work place that has gone unchallenged for centuries upon centuries upon centuries.
On the other side you have men fearing that they will be unfairly outed on social media in a witch hunt.
This latter response seems to be ill educated because what is confronting men is far more fundamental a swing of the pendulum against them than a witch hunt, it’s a witch trial.
A ‘witch hunt’ is an angry lynch mob hunting for a mythical monster and what we have learned and seen about harassment in the work place over the last couple of years tells us that harassment isn’t a myth, it’s real, it’s visceral and it’s unacceptable.
We don’t have a witch hunt against men here because there clearly are monsters deserving of being hunted, but we do have the ingredients for a witch trial.
The Salem Witch trials in 1692 were made infamous because the evidential threshold was lowered to mere allegation. All a woman had to do was stand, point and say, “Goodman Ezekiel made me fornicate with the Devil’ and Goodman Ezekiel was executed.
Current debate stipulates that anyone claiming harassment or sexual assault must be believed and that any attempt to challenge, critique or question any allegation is slut shaming, victim blaming or perpetuating rape culture.
While that is a valid means of supporting victims in a system where few ever see justice, it can not in of itself replace the hundreds of years of established evidential thresholds that make Court’s arbitrators of the law.
Within the #MeToo movement there is a fierce debate between radical feminists and liberal feminists. Radical feminists do not care if innocent men get destroyed by false allegations because all means justify the ends of patriarchy. Liberal feminists argue you can’t write off 50% of the species as rapists and due process matters. Trial by Twitter would be a great leap backwards even if those being destroyed are loathsome.
Why Alison Mau’s #MeTooNZ campaign is such a positive addition to the debate however is because her investigations will need to occur within investigative journalist standards and defamation law.
NZ has some of the most stringent defamation law in the world and many on social media seem to have no understanding of it. The cost to successfully sue a defamatory comment on social media is offset by the fact that most on social media have no money to cover the legal bill let alone the damages. Fairfax on the other hand is a multi-million dollar transnational corporation who would be under intense scrutiny from defamation law if a story simply relied on an allegation against an individual.
This means any investigation will need to be on solid ground and removes the fears of a witch hunt or witch trial.
Ultimately I think the #MeToo campaign will out some abusers and they will be punished and women will see some sense of justice however once men fully comprehend that their entire career, reputation and life can be destroyed with just one single allegation on social media, we will see a polarisation of the sexes that will make Orthodox Jews look liberal.
When men understand they could lose everything with no due process whatsoever they will rush to remove themselves from any situation where they are alone with women be it social or business.
Such social polarisation isn’t new or unheard of, we’ve seen this before with men and children. Throughout the 80s and 90s the narrative was any man who hangs around children was a pervert and there was an exodus in male primary school and secondary school teachers and it simply became untenable for any man to be anywhere near children.
Even now, any man who voluntarily hangs around children is viewed with deep suspicion socially.
American Vice President Mike Pence was mocked for his rule to never be alone with a woman, as the power of allegation eclipses due process, many men will come to see Pence’s position as the only survivable tactic in a post #MeToo world.
We all know the story. A beautiful girl was killed by a mad bloke when he was bailed to a property near her. A terrible tragedy that should have been avoided by good offender management. But what it has led to has been a ridiculous increase in the number of people held in prison on remand.
Half of them never spend another day in prison once they are actually tried in a court of law, either because they were not guilty or because they had already served their time before they were brought to trial.
In September 2010, before the death of Christie Marceau, 20% of people in prison were on remand, that is being held before their case was heard. As a result of changed legislation and pressure from the no bail lobby, that figure is now 30%.
Let’s do the maths on that. 1207 more people were in prison on remand in September 2017 than in 2010. It costs around $103,000 to keep someone in prison for a year, so if these numbers are fairly constant, this means that stricter bail laws are costing around $124 million each year.
Most of the people on remand are young offenders who are inducted into gangs while in the remand prison. Once they get out, they are more likely, not less likely, to be a criminal. We are actually paying for young people, mainly young men, to be trained up for a life of crime by the worst in our society.
Oh yes, and while in prison they lose contact with their best supports, including family and friends. Many (about half) have children who are being brought up in single parent families.
And did you know that the Department of Corrections does not provide the full range of therapeutic programmes to remand prisoners because they are not sentenced, and therefore cannot be required to attend courses and programmes? Added to that, many remand prisoners have a burning sense of injustice about being locked up without trial, which just makes them worse and more likely to re-offend.
In short, the well-meaning and heartfelt call to keep dangerous people in prison awaiting their trial has led to an expensive and counter-factual policy nightmare. There are about 3000 people on remand in prison, each one representing a life crisis and great personal trauma for themselves, victims and family.
A review of all remand prisoners on 3 criteria: community safety; ability to be maintained effectively in the community without re-offending; and family or friends willing to take the person in, would be a good start to reducing prison numbers. And urgent action is needed!
At the other end of sentences, there are many prisoners who cannot get out of prison on parole because they still need to meet various criteria like going on courses. Many are at very low risk for re-offending and should serve out their time in a community sentence.
We are now at the end of a 30-year experiment where more people have been imprisoned without making a single bit of difference to community safety or overall crime rates. Each year we spend about another 100m million on the Corrections vote, which is now at the all-time high of $1.673 billion. At the moment it is still looking likely that another billion of your taxpayer money will be spent on building a new prison. Would you rather build that or spend the funds on health and education?
For years and years, successive government have declared that public opinion is against reducing the numbers in prison. And yet, what the public opinion consists of is a small number of people with extreme views who just want to lock up huge numbers of people, whatever the cost to us and whatever the cost to the families and communities that lose fathers, sons and workers.
Of course there are people who need to be locked up for shorter or longer periods. Of course there are people that should pretty well never see the light of day on the streets again. But I volunteer in prisons and I know that most should not be there. They need alcohol and drug treatments. They need good mental health support. Some need community supervision, a home, a job and some incentives to lead a good life.
It is beginning to look a lot like we are going to get some leadership on these matters from the Minister of Justice. More power to his elbow! This blog will continue to support innovative and therapeutic initiatives, plus new rules for the judiciary (probably via law changes) to bring about a significant reduction in prison numbers. Start with remand numbers – there’s at least 1,000 unnecessary and harmful places right there! And please don’t build that new prison. Urgent action NOW can remove the necessity for this.
Dr Liz Gordon began her working life as a university lecturer at Massey and the Canterbury universities. She spent six years as an Alliance MP, before starting her own research company, Pukeko Research. Her work is in the fields of justice, law, education and sociology (poverty and inequality). She is the president of Pillars, a charity that works for the children of prisoners, a prison volunteer, and is on the board of several other organisations. Her mission is to see New Zealand freed from the shackles of neo-liberalism before she dies (hopefully well before!).
I’m a bloke who has very good idea’s many of which you already know about, even if you don’t know they were mine. Now I don’t claim bungee, but I was there the moment AJ had his light bulb moment…and it was me that said “make all three movies at once!” and got Jackson a better deal than he asked for. I even once gave Steve Jobs one of his “great ideas” renowned thief that he was…look up the IMAC G4.
It’s just something I do…I see things others don’t…even if it seems obvious in hindsight to all…Hell there is even a TV ad about me…”What do you think Dave?” Not that I know much about farm services…but hey! “Put Llama’s in it” I said…”I like Llama’s.”
Not that very many know it’s based on a real person…life’s funny like that.
You see a long time ago I learnt that if you don’t have the resources or the connections but you want to get something done then don’t get precious about it give it to the folks who can do it and do it right, even if it meant you get nothing in return. So I did…many times. Mostly intentionally.
It must have been all that early childhood bullying I suppose…and well you know…blab a billion dollar idea once and you look like a loser, blab a dozen billion dollar idea’s then maybe, just maybe, it’s because you’ve got a plan…
And yeah I did have a plan…or rather do have a plan. I want to save the world. And the next stage of it means going public.
So read this…
My letter to the Prime Minister
Re: Bring back the Moa!
A formal request for your support of “The Moa Prize,” a “crowd sourced” innovation prize for advances deemed in the best interests of the people of New Zealand and the World in general.
Dear Prime Minister,
I believe the greatest danger to our chances in dealing with the challenges of our time is the sense of hopelessness that most of us feel when we consider the damage we are doing to ourselves and our planet.
Not so long ago we held as an article of faith that our ceaseless inventiveness and industry was a force for good and that there was nothing we could not accomplish if we set our minds and collective will to it. We held that “progress” as we called it was a good thing and would only make things better.
But our modern lives have rendered us cynical and often bitter and now such an article of faith is viewed as naive. I contend that we are the poorer for this loss as without such faith our capacity to exert a collective will and to influence and shape our future in positive ways is diminished.
It is great ideas that unite us in action but if we cannot share an optimism in those ideas we cannot carry the majority to agreement and make them a reality. It is optimism that will inspire the faith we need in ourselves if we are to fix the problems that beset us and our world.
I believe we should seek to inspire a renewal in that collective optimism and demonstrate our capacity to do great things by doing a great thing, something that can serve as a tangible symbol of our hope for a healed world and our ability to deliver it.
I want to bring back the Moa, the Huia and the Hokioi (Haasts Eagle).
As you may be aware there have recently been great strides in our understanding of the science and technology needed to establish “de extinction” as a viable proposition. Recent reports have indicated that such an eventuality is no longer considered decades from reality but rather only a matter of a few years.
Should the will be there to pursue it.
It is also a matter of record that the available genetic material makes the Huia a prime candidate for such a restoration as, if to a lesser but still considerable degree, is the Moa.
These and the Hokioi are birds that excite the imagination of people not just in New Zealand but all over the world. They are the stuff of legend, their loss emblematic of the harm we have caused our natural world and to learn of their extinction fills all with sadness.
But if we bring them back they will instead become living symbols of our hope and intention to heal the wounds our rise to dominance on this planet has caused our living world. Their recreation will inspire all and by doing so aid us in pursuing the measures we need to take if we are indeed to make managing climate change the “nuclear free moment” of our generations.
Seriously.
As you will recall I have written before concerning my idea for “The Moa Prize” a series of “crowd funded” innovation prizes for advances deemed in the best interests of the people of New Zealand and the World in general.
You will also recall my desire to offer such prizes for innovations that will lead to homes that generate a sufficient surplus of renewable energy that they make a significant contribution to our growing electrical power generation needs. Demand that is set to grow dramatically and rapidly as we transition to a fossil fuel free transportation network.
However it has always been my intention to also offer this prize for the successful de extinction of the Moa, indeed I regard offering it as essential to the success of the concept of a crowd sourced and funded innovation prize series.
To even attempt to bring back the Moa is a thing that will capture the imagination of the world and aid greatly in raising the monies needed to make this concept a reality, as will our Governments endorsement of it.
My intention is create “The Moa Prize” as a Crowd Sourced and Funded Innovation Prize Series that offer substantial prize monies for specific innovations. These prizes will vary in value from $5 million to $100 million and will start with five bounty’s paid upon the delivery of each innovation. Those who suggest an innovation will receive five per cent of the prize money.
These are the first five prizes to be offered:
De extinction:
1. Produce a viable breeding population of the Dinornis robustus The South Island Giant Moa. $10 million
2. Produce a viable breeding population of the Heteralocha acutirostris The Huia.
$10 million.
3. Produce a viable breeding population of the Harpagornis moorei The Hokioi or Haast Eagle. $10 Million.
The Great Leap Forward:
4. A solar powered Kitset Home that pays for itself by selling electricity.
$50 million
5. A solar powered Conversion Kit that can also turn our current homes into power stations. $100 million
Entrants will need to partner with NZ scientists and industry.
Subsequent to this my intention is to establish an on line presence that will invite all to submit an idea of benefit to both New Zealand and to all the people of the world. Anyone will be able to comment and to “upvote” and to pledge money should that particular idea become an official “Moa Prize.”
These idea’s must be optimistic idea’s and ones of genius and each must aim to help heal our planet and bring peace to all its peoples. They should also make us smile.
It is my contention that the establishment of such a means of capturing innovative ideas and making them a reality is the missing part of the global innovation infrastructure our technology now allows.
Should this Prize become a reality I will also ask that our Government agree to items four and five being supported by the provision of a subdivision under Kiwibuild that will serve as a “competition village” where entrants can demonstrate their solutions.
And to agree to offer contracts to the winners for the mass production of these houses in New Zealand both in order to satisfy our housing needs and to lay the foundations for an industry capable of exporting this solution to the world.
As you will recall I have previously suggested we build a State House for the 21st Century.
“The house that jack built 2.0!” A home were no child will ever be cold or damp or hungry. I will repeat that request.
Finally, you will recall that in my last correspondence I reported to you that I was the person that suggested to Elon Musk and Space X that they should attempt to send a Tesla Roadster to Mars on the first launch of their Falcon Heavy rocket.
No doubt you have seen the footage of their success in doing this and have, perhaps, like me marvelled at the absurd and yet beautiful sight of the “Starman” orbiting the Earth in a convertible electric car.
Of all the things I have seen in my mind’s eye that have become a reality this is the one that fills me with the most pride. That little red car launched deep into our Solar System with a cheery “don’t panic” sign on the dashboard is a thing of joy to behold, particularly if one’s sense of humour encompasses a delight in the absurd.
I remind you of this as whilst putting an electric car into deep space is a fundamentally absurd idea it was done to serve a serious purpose because it too serves to bring attention, funds and legitimacy to my project.
So I will repeat my request made in that previous correspondence. I would like you to call Elon and ask him to support and promote “The Moa Prize” to his legions of admirers around the world, and indeed to his fellow Silicon Valley “technocrats”. I would like you to ask him to help us bring back the Moa.
It is a call he is expecting, or rather, hoping to receive.
I trust that there are some amongst your advisors who understand the tremendous boon the potential association I offer could be for our country and our world…and all for one phone call. I urge you to do this.
And of course should you or one of your Senior Advisors like to discuss this matter further with me I would be happy to make the time.
Yours faithfully,
So there you go folks…laugh or scoff all you want, but ask yourself would you really turn down the opportunity this represents when it only takes a phone call to find out? And then go ask the Prime Minister the same, maybe you will get the courtesy of a response because to date I haven’t.
Let me know how you go.
David Tank is a political activist and member of the NZ Labour Party, he helped to establish the Green Party in 1990 and has previously worked as a Journalist, Editor, Political Advisor, Kiwifruit worker, barman and as many other things.
He is currently a candidate for Tauranga City Council and the author of a petition seeking to set the date of the weed referendum for 26th January 2019.
Mr Tank grew up in Tauranga, leaving in 1984 to study Journalism in Wellington and left NZ for Australia in 1993. He returned to NZ and Tauranga in 2012.
On International Women’s Day, I attended an event honouring disabled women hosted by CCS Disability Action. I don’t know how well Māori women were represented there.
More to the point, I hadn’t even thought of the question till I read Mihingarangi Forbes’ piece which recognised the importance of celebrating New Zealand’s leading role in achieving suffrage for women, but also of honouring the contribution of Māori wome to that process. They were underrepresented both physically in the room, and verbally, there being no acknowledgement of the pivotal roles of wahine toa in the period.
As I read further down the article, an uncomfortable uncertainty filled me. I asked myself: If I were, hypothetically, organising and IWD event, would it have occurred to me up front to ensure Māori and Pasifika women were well-represented, as Forbes describes? Months earlier, would I, in my hypothetical outreach role, have considered reaching out to try and build relationships with those communities? Would I have taken that well-intentioned but vague notion out of a strategy document and set about putting it in action within the whirlwind of day-to-day activities?
The honest answer to those questions is: I hope so, but I’m not sure.
I am absolutely certain that I agree these steps are crucial, and should be second nature to me. After all, I’m a disabled woman, and goodness knows we’re a similarly likely pick for being regularly overlooked. (I could be wrong, but my guess would be that we, too, were under-represented at #Suffrage125).
However, I’m also Pākehā. As I absorbed Forbes’words, it hit home to me as it hadn’t quite before, that believing in the value of intersectionality and actually internalising it to the point where we regularly seek out—and follow through on—ways to put it into practice, are two distinct stages. And despite all of the goodwill in the world, getting from the first to the second and then staying there requires more conscious forethought, introspection and regular evaluation than would ever spring automatically from tacit agreement with the notion.
Further, it’s a gnawing, guilty, depressing reality that those, like Mihingarangi, who are representing their communities, also feel obliged to speak out because they are uniquely able to provide some voice for those members given no space to speak. I ought to understand something of what that feels like, too. I, and a great many of my friends, do likewise in myriad ways for the disabled community in Aotearoa.
I wish such vocal persistence, such reams of reinforcement of the same messages, didn’t have to still be the norm for something so rudimentary as being represented and recognised in a space. I wish I could say that as I read what others have written before the Mihingarangis, that this generation could consistently advocate on the back of clear and celebrated progress towards decolonisation. I wish that in Pākehā-documented disabled spaces, we might talk more about intersectionality and being good allies.
I could lengthen my Wishlist all day, but I know that progress isn’t linear. Of course it makes no sense that Māori and Pasifika women are represented better in Parliament than they were at #Suffrage125. I know that those of us in communities who face parallel issues in many regards should “get” this, should be inherently and constantly conscious of those parallels and what privileges we variously hold. But internalising and acting to harness our privilege to dismantle systems of power and oppression just doesn’t seem to be our default position, even if we ourselves fall victim to similar systems, and even if we wish it were.
Thus, I believe that we, as disabled people, and particularly disabled Pākehā, must recognise that we on the one hand know the toil that it is to stand up for each other time after time, and that on the other, we are reliant on that same toil from others to internalise the need to heed similar calls to our very own. So let’s be grateful for our common determination to creating a world based on justice where are communities are all valued, and let’s make a point of being better allies.
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The elevation of Simon Bridges to National Party leader has sparked some of the most stupid comments that I’ve seen in recent years. Be very clear – there is absolutely no doubt about Simon Bridges’ whakapapa (or Paula Bennett’s, for that matter) he is Maori.
The argument is not about whakapapa, the argument should be, and must be, whether or not he will adopt pro-Māori positions.
A question for anyone who reads this is Can anyone recall Simon making a stand for Māori? Has he ever stood up for the reo, whenua, Maori seats, Waitangi Tribunal, is there any kaupapa Maori that Simon has advocated on?
To my knowledge, there has been nothing and that is the worry.
I’m pleased that he is proud of his Maori heritage and I know that some of my Ngati Maniapoto relations are pleased that our tribe now has the first Māori leader of a major political party, so congratulations to him and his whanau.
However the real test will be whether he advocates on his peoples’ behalf.
If he embraces strategies from the National Party that continue to see our people impoverished and destitute, will Ngati Maniapoto and Te Ao Māori continue with their support?
Well I certainly hope not. The days of us supporting Maori just because they are Māori should be well and truly over. Sometimes, and people might not agree, you would be better off having a pākeha person or anyone for that matter who would advance a pro-Māori agenda.
If people want to support Maori just because they are Māori but would sell you out at the drop of a hat, then good on them, but I’ll never be one of those people.
