Is Oranga Tamariki guilty of neglect?

• Lindsay Mitchell writes –

One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?

Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care.

CHRIS TROTTER: Tougher love

Mark Mitchell’s gang laws will separate the liberal sheep from the authoritarian goats

• Chris Trotter writes –

THE INTENSIFYING POLITICAL CONTROVERSY over the Coalition Government’s policy on gangs promises to be one of those sheep-from-goats moments. While the Left will veer instinctively towards the sociological, the Right will opt to (paraphrasing one of the best lines from Pulp Fiction) “get medieval” on the gangs’ collective ass.

Practical questions, such as “Can this policy possibly work?” will crash into angry ideological responses, “Are you saying gangs are above the law?” The sociological “sheep” who believe in a world unconstrained by the fiction of “human nature”, will face the “goats” of realism, who recognise only the necessity of keeping human beings’ potential for chaos and cruelty under strict control.

It’s Judith Collins, KC, (among other things) now – and here’s hoping she has noted what happened to Sir Francis Bacon

Buzz from the Beehive

What does Judith Collins have in common with Sir Francis Bacon? Oh – and with former Labour cabinet ministers Sir Geoffrey Palmer and Martyn Finlay?

All served as Attorney-General in their respective countries, but Sir Francis, Sir Geoffrey and Finlay also were King’s or Queen’s Counsel.

The practice of appointing KCs and QCs dates back to the late 1500s and early 1600s, with the appointment of Sir Francis Bacon.  Initially, the title was known as King’s Counsel and was only bestowed upon men but during the reign of a female sovereign, it was changed to Queen’s Counsel.

A question of confidence is raised by the Minister of Police, but he had to be questioned by RNZ to tell us he has it

It looks like the new ministerial press secretaries have quickly learned the art of camouflaging exactly what their ministers are saying – or, at least, of keeping the hard news  out of the headlines and/or the opening sentences of the statements they post on the home page of the governments official website. 

A statement from Police Minister Mark Mitchell says …

Minister sets expectations of Commissioner

The opening sentence informs  us:

Today I met with Police Commissioner Andrew Coster to set out my expectations, which he has agreed to, says Police Minister Mark Mitchell.

Ah – but does he have confidence in the commissioner?

KARL DU FRESNE: The Christchurch mosques inquest- what we know so far

• Karl du Fresne writes –

The inquest into the Christchurch mosque massacres has unexpectedly become a source of national shame and embarrassment.

A procession of witnesses has appeared before deputy chief coroner Brigitte Windley with evidence of a confused and chaotic response from police and ambulance services. New Zealand has no reason to feel guilty about the atrocity itself, which was the act of a lone outsider, but the failings of the first responders have come as a shock.

Perhaps the most damning revelation so far is that paramedics took half an hour to enter the Al Noor mosque, apparently because it was St John’s ambulance policy not to enter unsafe scenes.

Govt invests in making Auckland CBD safer and (with $113.7m) in giving greater strength to disabled people

Buzz from the Beehive

More evidence of a government belatedly burnishing its law-and-order credentials can be found in an announcement today from the Minister of Police and the Minister for Auckland Central.

Their glad tidings are that “Central and Local Government” are investing in a range of new measures to tackle low-level crime and anti-social behaviour in the Auckland CBD to complement a greater Police presence in the area.

This initiative involves modest expenditure: new “safety hubs” are being established with the support of $100,000 of Government funding.

“Local government” in the opening  sentence of the press statement is a reference to the Auckland Council, which is not named until the  13^th paragraph although it is chipping in another $100,000.

The government also is pitching for the votes of the country’s one in four people who are defined as disabled.

How Labour is trying to buff its image on the law-and-order front and woo farmers with tax changes

Buzz from the Beehive

A raft of media headlines over the past few days highlights the challenge for a government hoping to be re-elected on the strength of its performance when it comes to keeping the community safe from criminals.

Among them:

Thieves target luxury handbag store for second time in two …

 NZ retailers tackle $1 billion crime problem

Policing in a new era of crime

American tourists warned over ram raids and increasing crime in New Zealand

The Labour Party has responded with the promise of delivering an additional 300 frontline police officers if it is re-elected, creating what it says would be the best ratio of police to people in modern history. 

CHRIS TROTTER: The demonstration effect

 

 

She’ll Be Back! A fortnight out from the General Election, with early voting already underway, it is difficult to think of any person the Labour Government would be less likely to welcome than Posie Parker.

 

• Chris Trotter writes – 

WHAT HAPPENED IN AUCKLAND on Saturday, 25 March 2023, revealed the power of officially-sanctioned protest. That power was demonstrated to even greater effect the following day in Wellington.

 

New Zealanders are blessedly unfamiliar with this type of politics, which is more commonly associated with authoritarian regimes such as Viktor Orban’s Hungary, or Nicolás Maduro’s Venezuela. Nevertheless, the mass demonstrations against Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull (aka “Posie Parker”) strongly backed by government ministers and the state-owned media, revealed just how potent a weapon the mass mobilisation of sympathetic citizens by official, or quasi-official, forces backed up by the news media, can be.   

Police Minister declares the new firearms registry open for business – but it’s in the cross hairs of stuff ACT is gunning for

Buzz from the Beehive

 The one new announcement on the government’s official website today – to proclaim the digital Firearms Registry has begun operating – is matched on the Scoop website by a vow from the ACT Party to gun down the registry.

And in another statement on the Scoop site – this time from  the National Party – the Minister of Police is challenged to clarify data she provided in a press release she issued earlier this month.

Her latest statement, of the “look what a great job we are doing” variety, has been posted here –

Latest from the Beehive

Firearms Registry delivers professional and modern gun ownership system

The new digital Firearms Registry began operating today, delivering another milestone in the improvement of firearms safety and oversight in New Zealand, Police Minister Ginny Andersen said.

The registry is one of the final firearms reforms following the March 2019 terror attack in Christchurch.

In her statement, Ginny Andersen says from today, nearly a quarter of a million firearms licence holders in New Zealand will begin entering their firearms and arms items into the new Firearms Registry, fulfilling a promise the Government made in 2019.

Can she be sure of that number?

Code of conduct for school board members is announced by a minister whose grasp of Parliament’s rules is in question

Buzz from the Beehive

 Education Minister Jan Tinetti brings news of a book of rules for school board members at the same time as her own grasp of Parliament’s rule book has been brought into question.

Tinetti has announced a compulsory code of conduct to “ensure school board members are crystal clear on their responsibilities and expected standard of behaviour”.

How crystal clear she might be on her responsibilities as a minister and the standard of behaviour expected of her is questionable.

Her press statement was posted on the government’s official website just a day or so after the Privileges Committee advised it will consider whether a false statement by Tinetti and the delay in correcting it amounts to contempt of Parliament and a deliberate attempt to mislead the House.

The committee considers and reports on questions of privilege relating to Parliament and MPs. “Privileges” are the powers and immunities which ensure Parliament is independent of the Crown and the courts.