Voting: simple and easy, even from overseas.

Next Saturday, each eligible New Zealander will be given the opportunity to vote for who they wish to represent them in government for the next three years.

Unfortunately a large number of young people won’t use this opportunity and as a result their opinion won’t be expressed.

The sad reality is that many people will happily answer online polls, express frustration via status updates and in general complain (often quite rightly) about how crap it is to be young won’t leave the house to pop down to their local school or community hall to vote and make a difference where they actually can.

However, this is the true reality: there is more power in casting a vote than three years of online polls, status updates, and complaining combined.

In New Zealand, under the MMP voting system, every vote is equal, and every vote matters.

But, when you don’t vote you are giving up that equality, you are letting someone else decide, and they will surely decide what is best for themselves, not for you.

For young people this election is particularly relevant for two key reasons: minimum wage/employment and education.

Currently the minimum wage in New Zealand is $12.75/hour and in Australia it is $15.51 AUD/hour which converted to NZ dollars is $20.52/hour – almost double.

If National is re-elected to government their policy is to set a youth minimum wage of 80% of the full minimum wage. That would lower the NZ minimum wage to $10.20/hour – less than half that of Australia’s. In other words young people get screwed.

National have also spent the last three years in government making it harder and more expensive to access education. Entry to university and polytechs are now capped, fees have continued to rise, and it is much harder to get student loans and if National get re-elected expect this to get worse.

Put simply, youth unemployment is over 17%, there are few jobs, people who currently have jobs can expect to be paid less for the same work, and upskilling is a tough gig. Young people are being screwed.

However, most other parties have policy to set the minimum wage to $15/hour and increase access to education.

But while young people continue to moan on Facebook, and fail to vote, they will continue to be screwed by a government that doesn’t care about them.

Next Saturday is an opportunity to change that and elect a government that does represent you.

About a third of people under the age of 25 are not enrolled to vote. If this is you then please enrol you must do so before Friday 25^th November. You can enrol here: http://www.elections.org.nz/app/enrol/

Most importantly make sure you go out and vote on Saturday.

Chur,
Passionate young kiwi, living in Australia, wishing to call NZ home again someday.

Indonesia has become a major transit point for people from Afghanistan, Iraq and other war-torn countries trying to illegally enter New Zealand and Australia.

How many times does it have to be repeated that it is not illegal to seek asylum… in fact it is a guaranteed human right!

Reuters photographs show the refugees holding up signs that read: “We need New Zealand”.

Really? Cause the photo attached to the stuff article says “Newsland”. Sure it could be a spelling mistake, but I am feeling that I am not being fed the full story and instead either these few photos are from a select few people from the boat… or even worse they have been staged.

Then comes the comment from John Key:

“It confirms what I’ve been saying for some time; it’s only a matter of time before large vessels, steel hulled vessels capable of navigating their way to New Zealand or Canberra or far away parts of the world, would try and make their way here.”

I would love to see any boat make it to Canberra. It is quite a distance inland from the coast!

I remember about a year ago Key making a similar bizarre comment from Key about asylum boats… one thinks he is still getting his media advice from the same people who advise Australia’s Liberal Party.

Maybe Go Back To Where You Came From should be shown on TV in New Zealand too.

What I have tabled and plotted below is the date of the moon phases against the number of earthquakes that day. I got the earthquake data from the Geonet archives and the phases of the moon from the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand. The counts are for only the single day of the moon phase, however, if someone has time they could plot them for instance a day either side as well. However, this simple analysis shows one thing. There is no clear correlation between the extreme phase of the moon and the number of earthquakes.

Now the only interesting spin on the data I can get out of quick analysis is the table below. What I have done is totalled the number of earthquakes for each phase. I have then removed the September data from three of the phases, and the February data from the Last Quarter phase to stop it being polluted by many aftershocks after a big event.

So what does this show? Well nothing much. If you remove the immediate aftershock data it shows that there are more aftershocks on a New or Full Moon. However, this is an average of one extra per day per month. It is not for one second statistically significant.

If someone wants to do deeper statistical analysis go ahead. This took me about 30 minutes to construct when I got bored.

Yesterday the NZ Herald’s Editorial claimed that Auckland didn’t need trains because the entire network can be shut down for three weeks and chaos doesn’t happen. I really can’t be bothered arguing with idiots, but AKT does a little bit of it here.

However, as the photo above shows, there is no possible way trains could be running over the next few weeks. There are no tracks, and entire platforms are being rebuilt.

The closedown of the Auckland rail network over the quietest time of the year is one of the best things that can happen. It allows as much work to be done as possible, over a period of typically good weather, without major disruption to most commuters as many of them are holiday. Buses are replacing trains so it isn’t exactly like there is no service at all. And once all these upgrades are complete Auckland will have a train service that it should have had 20 years ago. It may take another 20 years to get to the level it should have today – CBD tunnel, North Shore rail, airport rail.

And isn’t it nice to finally see some power masts appear, it will be two more years before they carry live power.

Sure this may be a very broad generalisation but the actions of the Council of Trade Unions (CTU) in the dispute regarding The Hobbit has done more damage to the reputation of unions in NZ than any government policy could dream of.

If NZ loses The Hobbit much more than $500 million in production costs and 2,500 immediate jobs will be lost. The flow on effects of tourism and related jobs and money will also be lost and the value of this cannot be measured. All of this because an Australian union with 80 members in NZ tries to hold an entire nation to ransom.

The reality is NZ is small economically and this dispute is already having an impact on the currency markets. NZ’s reputation in Australia is being trashed with the story front page on Friday’s newspapers. And even the actual actors are fed up with the stupidity of the unions. The NZ Herald reports:

… at the Armageddon Expo, Stargate Atlantis actor Torri Higginson told the crowd it would be “insane” if The Hobbit was not filmed in New Zealand. “If anyone knows him [Peter Jackson] tell him I’ll work for free,” said Higginson. “F*** the unions.”

Personally, I am ideologically pro-union. However, the actions of the CTU have put me off ever joining a CTU affiliated union, and I think many people in NZ would feel the same way. I except in the coming year union membership in NZ to drop even more.

Kiwiblog sums up the feeling of the nation well:

I suspect many actors would work for free on the film. But Jackson will not only be paying good weekly rates, he is the first Producer to offer residuals to NZ actors. How the fuck the CTU ever decided to make him public enemy number one I don’t know.

Henry states:

I do not want to continue to be used as a lightning rod for racial disharmony in this country.

Rick Ellis, CEO TVNZ states:

I believe Paul has done the right thing.

The reality is that his comments have split the community and damaged New Zealand’s international relationships, and there is no going back from that.

Paul is not the first broadcaster to step over the line, and I expect he won’t be the last – but there are factors at play here that have taken things to a unique level.

I think the TVNZ statement suggests he was pushed.

5pm ABC News 24:

6pm 7News Sydney:

6.30 SBS World News Australia:

7pm ABC1 NSW News:

In the blue corner we have a bunch of Canadians Longboarding down State Highway One at the Bombay Hills

I must admit the longboarding looks pretty cool, and these guys are “professionals”, still State Highway One is a nuts place to do it. With the TV3 ad it is a nice mock/copy but without any homage to the original it makes them look really bad. It is the same as the Telecom ad a few years ago in which everyone around the Telecom office sang, but this was a copy of a viral video from the states. Maybe the same ad agency did both ads?

Deputy Prime Minister, Gerry Brownlee, is arguing that in response to 37,552 submissions on the proposal the back down is listening to the people, however, I think it is more than likely they are listening to the polls. The timing of this announcement makes you wonder if the government is trying to smokescreen and divert attention away from the controversy that is surrounding their announcement of changes to the Employment Relations Act.

Interestingly enough at the end of the announcement, Brownlee, makes the assertion that in areas of non-conservation “New Zealanders have given the minerals sector a clear mandate to go and explore that land, and where appropriate, within the constraints of the resource consent process, utilise its mineral resources for everyone’s benefit”. This is complete rubbish, poll after poll has shown that the vast majority of New Zealanders do not want mining, it is a dirty and old technology and is not the solution to moving the country forward. The future is in education and the information section not in destroying the natural environment for a quick buck.

This morning I had a brief discussion with some of my colleagues regarding the Australian police force and how they operate. There are some very clear differences: all front-line police officers carry guns, all front line officers carry Tasers, all front-line officers carry pepper spray.

I still remember the controversy around the introduction of pepper spray around a decade ago in NZ and then the more recent introduction of the Taser (something I have been sceptical of). I certainly do not believe that all front-line officers in NZ should be armed at all times, I can only see a sea of controversy erupting as a result of this: crazy nut-cases taunting police into suicide by cop, cops drawing their weapons in inappropriate circumstances (as seen a number of times with the Taser in both NZ and Australia), and the threat criminals feel by an armed police force and subsequently increasing their own “protection” with even more guns and weapons.

However, the latest shooting follows on from the Napier Siege of last year where an officer was killed and the 2008 killing of an officer working undercover. In all three cases there is a common link, unarmed officers confronting criminals with drugs. This is where the NZ police need to get a lot smarter.

Gone is the day where you can send in two unarmed cops to do a drug bust and the respect for authority will just see criminals roll over. If NZ police are going to do any form of drug raid or operate in areas where people are taking drugs there is a very clear need for them to be armed. Going into a gun fight with pepper spray is never going to work out.