Protecting the vulnerable

A bill to strengthen the Crimes Act to deal with violent offending against children, and to modernise the law of assault and injuring, is a welcome move from Justice Minister Simon Power.

The four areas  the bill will deal with are:

• Assault, injury, and serious injury: a new matrix of offences that consistently address both culpability and consequence.
• Specific offences: offences with a specific (usually aggravating) feature – eg, assault on a child, setting traps, impeding rescue – are rationalised and updated.
• Offending against children: a new offence of failing to protect a child or vulnerable adult, and reform of other offences dealing with offending against children.
• Endangering, negligent injury and culpable homicide: a hierarchy of offences that address the range of outcomes arising from grossly negligent behaviour, whether death, injury, or risk of injury results.

“The new offence of failing to protect a child or vulnerable adult will hold accountable household members who fail to notify authorities of a child or vulnerable adult suffering abuse.

“Legislation will ensure it will no longer be an excuse to say you were not involved in abusing a child – the fact that you lived in the household and knew of abuse makes you involved.

Sometimes the people who watch and do nothing are victims of violence and abuse themselves.

But to do nothing when a child or vulnerable adult is being abused is to be complicit in the act.

“The commission also recommended repealing the specific assaults of male assaults female and assault on a child. But, at a time when the Government is working to discourage domestic violence, it would be inappropriate to repeal these offences.

I understand the thinking behind the recommendation. Violence isn’t the sole preserve of men but repealing these acts when there is such a need to counter domestic violence would send mixed messages.

December 19 in history

On December 19:

1154  Henry II of England was crowned at Westminster Abbey.

1606  The Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Discovery left England carrying settlers who found, at Jamestown, Virginia, the first of the thirteen colonies that became the United States.

1683  Philip V of Spain, was born.

1820 Mary Livermore, American journalist and women’s rights advocate, was born.

1906 Leonid Brezhnev, leader of the Soviet Union, was born.

 

1915 The evacuation of troops from Sulva Bay .

1915 Édith Piaf, French singer and actress, was born.

1920  King Constantine I was restored as King of the Hellenes after the death of his son Alexander I of Greece and a plebiscite.

1923  Gordon Jackson, Scottish actor, was born.

1924  The last Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost was sold in London.

 1925 Robert B. Sherman, American songwriter, was born.

1932  BBC World Service began broadcasting as the BBC Empire Service.

1934  Pratibha Patil, President of India, was born.

1941 The Royal Navy cruiser HMS Neptune struck enemy mines and sank off Libya - more than 750 men lost their lives including 150 New Zealanders.

1941 Adolf Hitler became Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the German Army.

1941 – Maurice White, American singer and songwriter (Earth, Wind & Fire), was born.

1944 Zal Yanovsky, Canadian guitarist (The Lovin’ Spoonful, was born.

1946  Start of the First Indochina War.

1972  Apollo program: The last manned lunar flight, Apollo 17, crewed by Eugene Cernan, Ron Evans and Harrison Schmitt, returned to Earth.

1983  The original FIFA World Cup trophy, the Jules Rimet Trophy, was stolen from the headquarters of the Brazilian Football Confederation.

 

1984 The Sino-British Joint Declaration, stating that the People’s Republic of China would resume the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong and the United Kingdom would restore Hong Kong to China with effect from July 1, 1997 was signed in Beijing by Deng Xiaoping and Margaret Thatcher.

1998  Lewinsky scandal: The United States House of Representatives forwarded articles I and III of impeachment against President Bill Clinton to the Senate.

2001  A record high barometric pressure of 1085.6 hPa (32.06 inHg )was recorded at Tosontsengel, Khövsgöl Province, Mongolia.

2001 – Argentine economic crisis: December 2001 riots – Riots erupted in Buenos Aires.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia.

Hark The Herald Angels Sing

Charles Wesley would have been 302 today.

He wrote the lyrics for this:

You Can’t Always Get What You Want

Happy Birthday Keith Richards -  66 today.

Need to know if need to help

A young man was chatting to me about the deplorable trend for friends of people celebrating 21sts to tell-all during the speeches.

“I treat my parents on a need to know basis,” he said.

As a parent, I agree with that policy and the older the children the less parents need to know.

I’m quite happy to remain ignorant of minor transgressions and random acts of silliness at any stage and my view of what constitutes minor and random becomes more relaxed as the children age.

However, I would want and need to know, if I needed to help.

Yesterday Cactus Kate  asked a question: should she tell friends she saw their 17 year old using illegal drugs?

She’s had 96 responses, almost all of which said yes.

 A child doing something which could endanger her health and well being,  and lead to arrest and charges which would limit her future travel and professional options will almost certainly need help eventually.

If it was my daughter I’d want to know about it and I’d be better able to help if I found out sooner rather than later.

Sport talk

’tis the season for best and worst.

Best sporting feat of the year – Southland winning the Ranfurly Shield. I’m awarding that not for the match but the enthusiastic response of the province to winning it.

And worst? Does my failure to maintain last summer’s fitness for the whole year count?

It’s a sham

Our Riverton farm was on the market earlier this year.

At the time the grapevine was buzzing about a Maori bloke who was signing up farms without setting foot on them.

Shortly after ours was signed up by a man offering a 1% deposit after unspecified due dilligence.

The real estate agent told us he had absolutely no confidence in the offer and we didn’t accept it.

It sounds very like the offer came from the same outfit which the ODT reports has bought 28 farms in Southland.

A Maori trust, with financial backing believed to come from Dubai, has contracted to buy 28 farms in Southland, with plans to buy others throughout the country.

The cost of the farm purchases so far is estimated at more than $150 million.

Inquiries by the Otago Daily Times have revealed concerns in the rural industry about the group’s actions, from delays confirming the sales contracts to deposits not being paid as expected.

Two of Southland’s largest rural real estate companies, PGG Wrightson and Southern Wide, declined to deal with the trust, but the farms have been bought through other real estate agents.

That the two major firms won’t have anything to do with the trust is pertinent.

If it’s the same outfit which made the offer to us, it’s a sham.

To h and not to h that is the decision

Who’d want to be Maurice Williamson, Minister of Land Information charged with making the decision on whether or not it’s Wanganui or Whanganui?

Neither will please everybody so he’s opted for both.

Wanganui is to be given its “h” back in a compromise under which Government agencies will have to follow the new spelling but others will have a choice.

I’m impressed with this diplomatic decision. Government agencies w(h)ill have to do as they’re told and the rest of us can do what w(h)e w(h)ant.

Do you want sex with that?

What message does a billboard with an unhappy Joseph and Mary under the duvet and the words: Poor Joseph, God is a hard act to follow give?

Catholics, evangelical protestants and other denominations who revere Mary are offended. I’ve read and heard a range of views from Christians who take a less literal interpretation of the Bible and none of them was amused either.

Archdeacon Glyn Cardy said:

“What we’re trying to do is to get people to think more about what Christmas is all about,”

Does that mean he wants us to think Christmas is about sex?

I thought it was supposed to be about hope, faith, peace, joy and love.

December 18 in history

On December 18:

1271  Kublai Khan renamed his empire “Yuan” (元 yuán), officially marking the start of the Yuan Dynasty of Mongolia and China.

1620 – The Mayflower landed in present-day Plymouth, Massachusetts with 102 Pilgrims on board.

Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor by William Halsall (1882)

1642  Abel Tasman and his men had the first known European encounter with Maori.

1707 Charles Wesley, English Methodist hymnist, was born.

1777 The United States celebrated its first Thanksgiving, marking the recent victory by the Americans over General John Burgoyne in the Battle of Saratoga in October.

1778 Joseph Grimaldi, English clown, was born.

1849 Henrietta Edwards, Canadian women’s rights activist, was born.

1863 Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria, was born.

1878 Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union, was born.

1888 – Richard Wetherill and his brother in-law discovered the ancient Indian ruins of Mesa Verde.

1890  Edwin Armstrong, American inventor (FM radio) was born.

1898  Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat set the new land speed record going 39.245 mph (63.159 km/h), in a Jeantaud electric car. This is the first recognized land speed record.

1900 The Upper Ferntree Gully to Gembrook Narrow-gauge (2 ft 6 in or 762 mm) Railway (now the Puffing Billy Railway) in Victoria, Australia opened.

 The Monbulk Creek Trestle Bridge.

1905 – Irving Kahn, American financial analyst and investor, was born.

1908  Celia Johnson, English actress, was born.

1910 – Eric Tindill, New Zealand cricketer and rugby player, was born.

1912 The Piltdown Man, later discovered to be a hoax, was found in the Piltdown Gravel Pit, by Charles Dawson.

 

1913 Willy Brandt, Chancellor of Germany, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, was born.

1916  Betty Grable, American actress, was born.

1935  Jacques Pépin, French chef, was born.

1938 Chas Chandler, English musician (The Animals), was born.

1943  Keith Richards, English guitarist (The Rolling Stones), was born.

1946  Steve Biko, South African anti-apartheid activist, was born.

1946 – Steven Spielberg, American film director, was born.

 

1963 Brad Pitt, American actor, was born.

1966 Saturn‘s moon Epimetheus is discovered by Richard L. Walker.

1969  Home Secretary James Callaghan‘s motion to make permanent the Murder (Abolition of Death Penalty) Act 1965, which had temporarily suspended capital punishment in England, Wales and Scotland for murder (but not for all crimes) for a period of five years, was carried by both the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

1973 Soyuz 13, crewed by cosmonauts Valentin Lebedev and Pyotr Klimuk, was launched from Baikonur in the Soviet Union.

1987  Larry Wall released the first version of the Perl programming language.

1997  HTML 4.0 was published by the World Wide Web Consortium.

1999 NASA launched into orbit the Terra platform carrying five Earth Observation instruments, including ASTER, CERES, MISR, MODIS and MOPITT.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia.

Unfinished Symphony

Franz Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony was first performed on this day in 1865.

Wouldn’t it be good if. . .

. . . there was another week between the end of November and Christmas?

That way people like me who turn off at the first sight of tinsel in September wouldn’t find themselves more than a little under-prepared with just a week to go.

Sugar beet silliness

Phil Clarke blogs on sugar beet silliness in the EU.

Good weather has led to a bumper crop of beet and the EU as a whole is expecting to produce about 2.4 million tonnes. But that exceeds the 1.37m it’s allowed to export under a WTO ruling.

That was based on a complaint by Australia, Brazil and Thailand which had argued that the EU was “dumping” its surpluses on the world market.

But that was in the days when world prices were way below EU levels. The situation is very different today, with the global shortage of sugar leading to a doubling in prices in just 12 months.

The response suggested by CIBE is for the EU to increase the export ceiling for 2010, so that, instead of having to stockpile about 1m tonnes of surplus sugar, processors can sell it to the world market and help relieve the global shortage…

What could be more sensible? Global prices would come down a bit, the EU sugar industry would earn a bit and consumers the world over would save a bit.

But that’s not the way Brussels sees it. It maintains that “it is not possible to export out-of-quota sugar in excess of the WTO limit” and suggests the only option is to carry over any surplus into next season.

The EU could make a request to the WTO to lift the export ceiling.

 It certainly seems unlikely that the likes of Australia, Brazil and Thailand would complain, since their consumers are feeling the impact of high sugar prices too.

The more likely outcome, however, is that the EU will do nothing. As a result, each member state will have to put its extra sugar into storage this winter, with all the cost that involves, and carry it forward to next season.

And that will mean further reductions in EU growers’ 2010/11 contract tonnages – even though prices are sky high and the world is crying out for sugar.

I presume the reason the WTO is involved is because the sugar beet production is subsidised.

The market might not be perfect and it means accepting the lows which inevitably occur but this illustrates how silly subsidies are when they prevent producers from benefitting from the highs.

It’s not good for consumers either. They’ll have been taxed to pay for the subsidies when demand was low and now there’s a sugar shortage they’ll be paying higher prices.

$45m for Global Research Alliance

New Zealand will contribute $45 million over four years to the Global Research Alliance on agriculture greenhouse gases, Climate Change Issues Minsiter Tim Groser and Agriculture Minsiter David Carter announced.

Ministers from 20 countries last night joined New Zealand to establish the Alliance which brings together public and private researchers.

“New Zealand is pleased to have been able to pull together such a diverse range of countries, including major players like the United States and India, to work together on finding practical solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture. 

“This Alliance will be a credible force for ensuring the resources, research capability and international goodwill to reduce farm emissions while ensuring food production meets the demands of a growing world population,” says Mr Groser.

Founding Alliance member countries are Australia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, France, Germany, Ghana, India, Ireland, Japan, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, and Vietnam.

The Alliance – proposed by Prime Minister John Key at the UN General Assembly in September – has been heavily promoted by NZ ministers as a constructive initiative that brings developed and developing countries together on reducing emissions from livestock, cropping and rice production.

Mr Groser says the commitment is a significant step in boosting the profile of agriculture greenhouse gas research internationally.

“14 per cent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions are from agriculture, but for New Zealand and parts of the developing world, that figure is much higher. There is an urgent need to develop technologies and practices to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase carbon sequestration in agriculture while enhancing food security,” says Mr Groser.

Agriculture Minister David Carter says the Government is confident the Global Research Alliance will help the world’s food producers keep their emissions to the minimum possible, and play an important role in overall global mitigation efforts.

“The Alliance is one of a suite of measures the Government is working on to address agriculture emissions, including the domestic Centre for Agriculture Greenhouse Gas Research, based at AgResearch, and the amended Emissions Trading Scheme passed last month.

“Other efforts include greenhouse gas footprint projects for primary producers and trials of carbon sequestration techniques such as biochar.

“The culmination of these measures will be a big step towards assisting New Zealand farmers to meet their climate change obligations,” Mr Carter says.

Global Research Alliance members will meet early in 2010 in New Zealand to establish working groups, and discuss priority setting and opportunities for encouraging participation.

Regardless of the motivation, international co-operation on agricultural research is a positive move.

MacKenzie dairy development applicant responds

Environment Canterbury has recieved more than 3000 submissions on the application for intensive dairy operations in the Mackenzie Basin.

Richard Peacock, a director for two of the companies applying for resource consent for intensive dairying operations in the Mackenzie Baisn has responded to my post on the issue.

Since the post is a few days old and his comment may be missed, I have copied it in full:

Fonterra utilise this farming system in China and believe it to be appropriate there, 75% of dairy farmers in Europe and USA utilise this farming system. If it is environmentally sustainable in these countries why not in that part of NZ that most closely replicates these continental climates. Having travelled widely I encounter reference only to sheep when NZ is mentioned. There is total surprise when it is advised that NZ is one of the largest exporters of dairy products in the world. This farming model works. It reduces feed requirement (30% less in winter). There is total control of effluent discharge. Wet ground, no grass growth, no spreading of effluent on ground. No urine patching (the biggest cause of nitrate leaching, methane can be collected economically and re-utilised on farm to drive plant, equipment (tractors and trucks, surplus power can be fed into the National grid, research is being undertaken to collect CO2 and Nitrous Oxide in the barns, scrub it and store it in the effluent management system. Self sustainability in emissions is potentially achievable and this system should be encouraged. The financial model works at $4.50 per kg of milk solids as cows can be milked during winter to capitalise on winter milk premium, production is 25-30% higher due to less energy expended walking to and fro and the capital cost of the stables are paid for largely by not having to send cows off farm during the 10 week winter period ($300-350 per cow including freight).
The Greens have focused on negative by attacking this farming system as a way to get some oxygen (albeit that it answers all their environmental concerns), people are encouraged to think that free stall stables similar to pigs in crates (nonsense), 3000 submissions have been lodged against the applications on the back of the Greens generated hysteria but Environment Canterbury advise that of those who have submitted only 130 have bothered to view the applicants submissions to understand just what is proposed. I know these things because I am the project director for Southdown Holdings Ltd and Williamson Holdings Ltd, 2 of the applicants.

I encourage all those with genuine interest to view the ECan website and in particular the Farm Environmental Management Plans of SHL, WHL and 5 Rivers prepared by Melissa Robson of GHD. Informed submissions in support are welcome.

December 17 in history

1538  Pope Paul III excommunicates Henry VIII of England.

1577  Francis Drake set sail from Plymouth, England, on a secret mission to explore the Pacific Coast of the Americas for English Queen Elizabeth I.

1773 At Wharehunga Bay, Queen Charlotte Sound, 10 men who were with James Cook’s navigator Tobias Furneaux died at the hands of Ngati Kuia and Rangitane, led by their chief, Kahura.

1819  Simón Bolívar declared the independence of the Republic of Gran Colombia in Angostura (now Ciudad Bolívar in Venezuela).

1834 The Dublin and Kingstown Railway, the first public railway in Ireland opened.

1865 First performance of the Unfinished Symphony by Franz Schubert.

1889 New Zealand’s Eifel tower opened at the South Seas Exhibition.

1904 Paul Cadmus, American artist, was born.

1915 André Claveau, French singer, was born.

1918 Culmination of the Darwin Rebellion as some 1000 demonstrators march on Government House in Darwin.

1935 First flight of the Douglas DC-3 airplane.

A DC-3 operated by Flygande Veteraner in Sweden

1936  Tommy Steele, English singer and actor, was born.

 

1937 Kerry Packer, Australian businessman, was born.

1938  Peter Snell, New Zealand runner, was born.

1939  Battle of the River Plate – The Admiral Graf Spee was scuttled by Captain Hans Langsdorff outside Montevideo.

1944 Major Major, No. 1 Dog, 2NZEF, and member/mascot of 19 Battalion since 1939, died of sickness in Italy. He was buried with full military honours at Rimini.

1947  First flight of the Boeing B-47 Stratojet strategic bomber.

Boeing B-47E-65-BW (AF Serial No. 51-5257)during rocket-assisted takeoff test.

1961 Sara Dallin, English singer (Bananarama), was born.

1967  Prime Minister of Australia Harold Holt disappearsed while swimming near Portsea, Victoria and was presumed drowned.

1969 The SALT I (Strategic Arms Limitation Talks) began.

1969  Project Blue Book: The United States Air Force closed its study of UFOs, stating that sightings were generated as a result of “A mild form of mass hysteria, Individuals who fabricate such reports to perpetrate a hoax or seek publicity, psychopathological persons, and misidentification of various conventional objects.”

1983 The IRA bombed Harrods Department Store in London, killing six people.

1989 Pilot episode of The Simpsons aired in the United States.

2003  SpaceShipOne flight 11P, piloted by Brian Binnie, makes its first supersonic flight.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia.

He loves to go awandering . . .

Gerry Brownlee may not want to go awandering with David Parker but he showed that politics can be fun during question time today:

Hat Tip: Kiwiblog

7/10

I’m slipping – only 7/10 in today’s Dominion Post politics quiz - and it took me 50 seconds.

Mrs Worthington

Noel Coward would have been 110 today.

Just wondering . . .

. . . what happens to the half used bottles of complimentary shampoo and conditioner which are left in hotel rooms?

Are they refilled or is it okay to take them?

And what about the other toiletries? Is it okay to take the bottle if you’ve used the hand cream? Or to take it even if you haven’t used it?

Then there’s the pen.

Is it okay to take it because its a promotional tool for the hotel which reminds you – and whoever else uses the pen – about it?

Or is souveniring of these little things petty theft which adds to the costs for the accommodation provider?

Apropos of this, I was chatting to an airline steward as the plane was coming in to land.

His first stay in a hotel was an overnighter for work.

He was delighted with all the little bottles in the bathroom and took them home for his children.

Then he discovered all the wee bottles in the fridge and took them too. A couple of days later the hotel caught up with him and explained the contents of the mini bar weren’t complimentary.