EFA’s effect on 3rd parties

Bryce Edwards continues his analysis of the 2009 election with a look at the effect of the EFA on third parties.

He concludes:

It is beyond the scope of this chapter to ascertain the EFA’s effectiveness in achieving its stated objectives, but it is worth nothing that part of the EFA’s stated purpose was to ‘ensure that the controls on the conduct of election campaigns: (i) are effective; and (ii) are clear; and (iii) can be efficiently administered, complied with, and enforced’ (EFA 2007, s 3). Yet the experience of many participants showed that these goals were not achieved. A second major stated purpose of the EFA was to encourage participation in elections, but as this paper has shown, there is evidence to suggest that the opposite occurred in terms of the participation of third parties.

It is notable that after its election loss, the Labour Party not only voted with National in Parliament to abolish the EFA, but also later made a submission to the Ministry of Justice on electoral law that advocated that third parties should be subjected to much looser regulation during elections. In an indication of how unpopular the regulation of third parties was in 2008,

He also continues his analysis of the party’s which campaigned in last year’s election with a look at New Zealand First.

Revenge a dish best served breaded

Popular widsom suggests revenge is a dish best served cold, but English chef Keith Floyd served his breaded.

A Telegraph obituary recounts:

On one occasion he gleefully recalled serving a serially ungrateful diner a carefully cooked beer mat disguised as a breaded escalope of veal. The man ate it without comment but criticised the topping on his crème brûlée.

I’ve had the odd steak which tasted like leather and some takeaways seem to have the consistency and nutritional value of the cardboard they’re served in;  but I haven’t knowingly partaken of a beer mat, breaded or otherwise.

UPDATE: Liberty Scott has more on Floyd.

What the h? – Updated

What’s in an h?

A name with any other letter would spell as sweet.

To h or not to h, that is the question put to the Geogrpahic Board and it decided unanimously to h Whanganui.

The Minister of Lands, Maurice Williamson has the power to confirm, modify or reject the decision.

Alas poor Wanganui we knew it well . . .

UPDATE:

Quote Unquote has come up with the best reason for inserting the h:

But the basic principle here is that anything which annoys Michael Law must be good.

Greenpeace has wrong target for wrong reasons

Greenpeace activists might have had a case if they were protesting about the biosecurity risks from importing palm kernel extract.

But in undertaking an act of piracy and attacking Fonterra they had the wrong target for the wrong reasons.

Federated Farmers president Don Nicolson was right to call it an act of piracy.

“I fully respect the freedom of Greenpeace to protest legally but they have crossed the line by interfering with legal commerce and free navigation on the high seas.

“That’s why the Police need to take this act of piracy, or sea-robbery, very seriously and prosecute those activists to the full extent of the law.  Those activists need to be sent a message that is unequivocal and clear.  They need to be made an example of.

“It’s also economic treason designed to damage New Zealand’s reputation abroad.  Greenpeace is actually anti-farming and these new tactics show how low they are prepared to go. 

Nicolson pointed out PKE is a waste by-product of a waste by-product, derived from producing palm oil we eat or consume daily. 

This point was made by Feds’ biosecurity spokesman John Hartnell in an earlier media release:

“Palm kernel extract is a waste by-product left over from the processing of palm oil for consumer products.  I can’t state that enough, palm kernel is a waste by-product.

“Palm kernel has so little commercial value that if it isn’t recycled into supplementary feed, it is burnt.  That doesn’t sound too great for either climate change or the environment. . .

“Palm plantations aren’t created just to generate a waste by-product, just as newspapers don’t exist solely to support recycling.

Farming is a much easier target than the people who buy potato chips and all the other food which contains palm oil and Nicolson correctly points out:

“Greenpeace knows it cannot win the argument on logic so has resorted to illegal means to express its lies.  It’s a despicable new tactic that has Greenpeace’s loathing of farming written all over that ship. 

Fonterra said the ship wasn’t carrying any feed bound for its stores and that it only uses pke from sustainable sources.

The 14 activists who illegally boarded the ship have been arrested.

Can farmers fund Fonterra?

Fonterra has ruled out a public listing, a decision which is supported by most of the cooperative’s shareholders.

Suppliers are wary of a public listing because they want higher returns from the milk they produce and that might not be the primary aim of outside shareholders.

Having ruled out listing the company has to look for other ways of funding expansion and will be making an announcement tomorrow afternoon.

It is likely to include a change to the way shares are redeemed.

At the moment farmers can sell shares back to Fonterra if they want to stop supplying the company or if production drops below the level of their shareholding.

That can help farmers with cash flows if, for example, their milk supply falls because of drought. But it also allows them to sell out when the share price is high, supply another company for a year or two then buy in again when the share price has fallen.

It would be better for the company if farmers had to sell to other suppliers or wait a few years – at least three and up to five – before redeeming their shares and if the price for redemption was set at a three or five year rolling average.  

Adolf at No Minister  and Cactus Kate have posts on this topic.

September 17 in history

On September 17:

1787 The USA Constitution was signed.

1883 USA writer William Carlos Williams was born.

1901 English adventurer Sir Francis Chichester was born.

Norfolk Island two cent stamp commemorating Chichester’s arrival in his Gypsy Moth in 1931.

1929 English racing car driver Sir Stirling Moss was born.

1931 US actor Anne Bancroft was born.

1941 The death penalty was abolished in New Zealand.

1944 the airborne invasion of Holland began. Operation Market Garden is celebrated annually.

Waves of paratroopers land in the Netherlands during Operation Market Garden in September 1944.

Sourced from BBC On This Day, NZ History Online and Wikipedia.