Word of the day

Floccilation –  a delirious picking of the bedclothes by the patient, as in certain fevers; aimless plucking at the bedclothes occurring especially in the delirium of a fever.

Previewing World Milk Day

Sowell says

There are too many people, especially among the intelligentsia, who will never appreciate the things that have made this country great until after those things have been destroyed — with their help. Then, of course, it will be too late.

— Thomas Sowell (@ThomasSowell) May 26, 2019

Rural round-up

Employment model tipped on head – Richard Rennie:

As dairy farmers struggle to hire and keep staff Woodville farmer and DairyNZ director Ben Allomes has tipped his farm employment model on its head. 

He and wife Nicky aim to attract and retain people in an environment that recognises effort and nurtures potential while recognising a work-life balance.

The challenges in attracting and retaining good people and a need to restructure their business two years ago presented the Allomes with a chance to look at how they employ people on their 750-cow operation.

“It also came from a realisation that if I was in this industry for the long haul and was relying upon key people then I had a duty to make it work for them.  . . 

Wellbeing Budget should have worked with farmers on conservation:

The 2019 Budget has left Federated Farmers questioning why the Government’s first Wellbeing budget has left a critical gap in its commitment to conservation.

There is no additional funding for the QEII National Trust or the Ngā Whenua Rāhui Fund. Plus, woefully inadequate funding for the control of wilding conifers, Feds Arable and Biosecurity spokesperson Karen Williams says.

The extremely modest increase in funding for the National Wilding Conifer Control Programme means its work will be going backwards in terms of managing this out-of-control pest.  

“We hoped to see the wilding conifer programme receive more like $25 million per year.  . . 

Farmers milk new technologies – Luke Chivers:

Winton dairy farmers Billy and Sharn Roskam believe tapping into modern technologies is the key to an efficient dairy operation. They spoke to Luke Chivers.

It is 7am.

As daylight breaks on the Southland Plains, Winton dairy farmers Billy and Sharn Roskam’s morning milking is well under way.

Their 36-bail rotary is filled with the steady hum of modern machinery – from automated cup removers to automated teat sprayers and heat patches. 

“It’s all about labour and efficiency,” Sharn says.  . . 

It's been a dry Autumn in North Otago! pic.twitter.com/gGQpzaA16d

— Craig Trotter (@CraigGTrotter) May 29, 2019

Taieri couple can stay and seek residency – Sally Rae:

A Taieri couple’s future in New Zealand is looking much more certain after they were told they can apply for residency.

Last year, nurse Pawan Chander faced deportation to India after her application for a work visa was declined by Immigration New Zealand, as her husband Harrie’s employment as herd manager on a Woodside was deemed “lower skilled”.

Following publicity about the couple’s plight, Mrs Chander was granted a 12-month visitor visa to line up with Mr Chander’s work visa, which expired this month. . . 

Innovation rewarded – Yvonne O’Hara:

John Falconer’s hydraulic, remote-controlled deer crush, which he designed, was one of the reasons he and wife Mary won the Gallagher Technology and Innovation Award at the 2019 Deer Industry Environmental Awards last week.

“The crush has been a game-changer for us,” Mr Falconer said.

Mr and Mrs Falconer, of Clachanburn Station, Puketoi, won the award for their use of “farming technologies to improve productivity and manage resources”.

They also won the Duncan New Zealand Award for “vision and innovation while mastering a demanding environment”. . . 

.@ProfDavidHughes raises some important points around meatless burgers. They're anything but clean label with a massive list of ingredients but does this actually matter to consumers?#ButchersSummit pic.twitter.com/UYMp3t7wre

— Retail Meat NZ (@RetailMeatNZ) May 29, 2019

Costs up as farmers reinvest back into business:

DairyNZ’s newly-released Economic Survey 2017-18 shows farmers have taken advantage of increased milk income to catch up on deferred farm maintenance and revisit capital expenditure, previously delayed due to lower milk prices.

DairyNZ senior economist Matthew Newman said the annual farmer survey shows the largest increases in spend during 2017-18 (1 June 2017 to 31 May 2018) were on feed, repairs, maintenance and labour. But, it is likely expenditure has increased further in 2018-19.

“The 2017-18 season was difficult due to a dry spring/early summer for all regions. That affected pasture growth and peak milk production. It’s also the season that Mycoplasma bovis was discovered,” said Matthew. . .

Living off the grid for almost 80 years – Ciara Colhoun:

Margaret Gallagher has lived off-grid for almost 80 years.

When she was was born – near the Irish border in County Fermanagh in 1942 – it was not unusual for families to live without electricity and running water.

Margaret’s neighbours only began to update their homes in the late 1940s and 1950s.

But her family missed the opportunity to join the trend due to her mother’s death, when Margaret was 10, and her father’s ill health. . . 

In deep contemplation

One of Monty Python’s best:

To give it a New Zealand political twist – he’s not sleeping, he’s in deep contemplation.

Wake up winston, its only a quick budget pic.twitter.com/ngKTQ9G2i1

— Fonzie (@fordfarms10) May 30, 2019

It’s only words

Has any government not put money into policies which aim to improve wellbeing?

I can’t think of a single one that hasn’t put considerable amounts into   health, education, welfare, infrastructure . . . any and all of the areas that impact on and contribute to wellbeing.

Just two years ago, then Finance Minister Steven Joyce said:

. . .This budget is about delivering more of the public services, the infrastructure, the resilience, and the incomes that New Zealanders need to get ahead and to provide for their families.

This budget is about the opportunity we have to build on the platform we have all created and deliver greater prosperity for New Zealanders. . .

This Government is focused on helping our most vulnerable people lead more successful lives. . . 

Initiatives included helping people move from benefits to work, improving safety of victims of family violence, investment in social housing, funding for caregiver support and social initiatives aimed at tackling long-term issues for the most vulnerable.

It included measures to help children get a better start in live and there was a significant increase in mental health funding..

Social investment is about tackling our most challenging social issues. The combination of these new initiatives and the Government’s decisions about family incomes will allow us to make serious headway with some of the longer-term challenges faced by the most vulnerable New Zealanders. . . 

He concluded:

This budget is all about “Delivering for New Zealanders”.

It takes four significant steps to bring the benefits of a stronger economy to all New Zealanders. It makes a big investment in public services, it makes a record investment in new infrastructure, it improves the resilience of our country to future shocks, and it strengthens families by lifting their incomes.

It’s important that we remember that the only reason we get to have this conversation is because we have a strong and growing economy built on a strong economic plan.

We must maintain our focus on growing the economy and sticking to the plan.

It is only by doing that, that we can provide for the prosperity of all New Zealanders.

What a contrast between the former government’s careful management and understanding that economic growth is essential to support social initiatives and the current one which is very good at soft words that seek to disguise a slowing economy.

The debate continued and then-PM BIll English spoke:

. . .We are unashamedly addressing the hard core of New Zealand’s longest-run social problems, and in this Budget there are 14 initiatives that do that. I want to pay tribute to public servants who, I know, find it difficult to fit the model. It creates a lot of tension and sometimes a bit of frustration, but we are making some progress because what is the point of having a Government if it cannot deal with the most complex, the most vulnerable, . . 

The previous government called it social investment. Its words were backed up by policies that were working to improve lives and sustainably funded by a growing economy. .

This government calls it wellbeing and so far it’s only words. If it’s going to be more than words and to make a significant and positive difference it will have to do a lot better on delivering, not just on its promises but on economic growth too, than it has to date.

The projected surplus next year is only $1.4 billion. That’s a big number but not in the context of government spending.

Our economy is sharply declining and this Govt is asleep at the wheel. #Budget2019 has no plan to grow the economy. Only a strong and growing economy delivers the funding for the services NZers rely on like health and education. pic.twitter.com/emnIdEl8sI

— Simon Bridges (@simonjbridges) May 30, 2019

Opposition leader Simon Bridges points out:

. . . The Prime Minister boasts in her press release that growth is forecast to average 2.6 per cent over the next four years, under the National Government growth was 4 per cent. This Government simply can’t be trusted with the economy. 

“NZ First has once again shown that it holds the purse strings with today’s announcements of a billion on rail that nobody wants and even more for forestry. That’s on top of Shane Jones’ billion dollar slush fund and the billion dollars already promised for trees. The cost of this coalition is not worth it for New Zealanders with what they’re getting in return, and it certainly isn’t improving anyone’s wellbeing.

“It’s no wonder Grant Robertson has had to drop his self-imposed debt target and increase the spending limit by $17 billion so he can fund the Government’s bad spending decisions. Surpluses are forecast to be billions of dollars lower than they were just a few months ago. . . 

Changing the language doesn’t change the fact that wellbeing can only be built on a strong and growing economic foundation.

 

Quote of the day

Manners are about imagination, ultimately. They are about imagining being the other person.”  ― Lynne Truss who celebrates her 66th birthday today.

May 31 in history

1279 BC – Rameses II (The Great) (19th dynasty) became pharaoh of Ancient Egypt.

526  A an earthquake in Antioch, Turkey, killed 250,000.

1223 Mongol invasion of the Cumans: Battle of the Kalka River – Mongol armies of Genghis Khan led by Subutai defeated Kievan Rus and Cumans.

1578  Martin Frobisher sailed from Harwich,  to Frobisher Bay, Canada, eventually to mine fool’s gold, used to pave streets in London.

1669   Samuel Pepys recorded the last event in his diary.

1678  The Godiva procession through Coventry began.

1759  The Province of Pennsylvania banned all theatre productions.

1775  American Revolution: The Mecklenburg Resolutions adopted in the Province of North Carolina.

1790 Alferez Manuel Quimper explored the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

1790 – The United States enacted its first copyright statute, the Copyright Act of 1790.

1813  Lawson, Blaxland and Wentworth, reached Mount Blaxland, effectively marking the end of a route across the Blue Mountains.

1819 Walt Whitman, American poet, was born (d. 1892).

1859  The clock tower at the Houses of Parliament, which houses Big Ben, started keeping time.

1862  American Civil War Peninsula Campaign: Battle of Seven Pines or (Battle of Fair Oaks) – Confederate forces under Joseph E. Johnston & G. W. Smith engaged Union forces under George B. McClellan outside Richmond, Virginia.

1864 American Civil War Overland Campaign: Battle of Cold Harbor – The Army of Northern Virginia under Robert E. Lee engaged the Army of the Potomac under Ulysses S. Grant & George G. Meade.

1866  In the Fenian Invasion of Canada, John O’Neill led 850 Fenian raiders across the Niagara River as part of an effort to free Ireland from the English.

1872 Heath Robinson, English cartoonist, was born (d. 1944).

1884 Arrival at Plymouth of Tawhiao,  Maori king, to claim protection of Queen Victoria.

1889 – Johnstown Flood: Over 2,200 people died after a dam break sent a 60-foot (18-meter) wall of water over the town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania.

1898 Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, American clergyman, was born (d. 1993).

1902 The Treaty of Vereeniging ended the second Boer War war and ensured British control of South Africa.

1910 Creation of the Union of South Africa.

1911  The ocean liner R.M.S. Titanic was launched.

1916  World War I: Battle of Jutland – The British Grand Fleet under the command of Sir John Jellicoe & Sir David Beatty engaged the Kaiserliche Marine under the command of Reinhard Scheer & Franz von Hipper in the largest naval battle of the war, which proved indecisive. Among the ships was HMS New Zealand.

1921 Tulsa Race Riot: A civil unrest in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the official death toll was 39, but recent investigations suggest the actual toll was much higher.

1923 Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, was born (d. 2005).

1924  The Soviet Union signed an agreement with the Peking government, referring to Outer Mongolia as an “integral part of the Republic of China”, whose “sovereignty” therein the Soviet Union promised to respect.

1927  The last Ford Model T rolled off the assembly line after a production run of 15,007,003 vehicles.

1930 Clint Eastwood, American film director and actor, was born.

1935  A 7.7 Mw earthquake destroyed Quetta, Pakistan,: 40,000 dead.

1935 Jim Bolger, 35th Prime Minister of New Zealand, was born.

1938 Peter Yarrow, American folk singer (Peter, Paul and Mary), was born.

1939 Terry Waite, British humanitarian, was born.

1941 – Anglo-Iraqi War: The United Kingdom completed the re-occupation of Iraq and returned Abd al-Ilah to power as regent for Faisal II.

1942 World War II: Imperial Japanese Navy midget submarines began a series of attacks on Sydney.

1943  Zoot Suit Riots began.

1953 – Lynne Truss, English journalist and author.

1961 Republic of South Africa created.

1962 The West Indies Federation dissolved.

1962  Adolf Eichmann was hanged in Israel.

1965 Brooke Shields, American actress and supermodel, was born.

1967 Phil Keoghan, New Zealand-born US television personality, was born.

1970  The Ancash earthquake caused a landslide that buried the town of Yungay, Peru; more than 47,000 people were killed.

1971  In accordance with the Uniform Monday Holiday Act passed by the U.S. Congress in 1968, observation of Memorial Day occurs on the last Monday in May for the first time, rather than on the traditional Memorial Day of May 30.

1973  The United States Senate voted to cut off funding for the bombing of Khmer Rouge targets within Cambodia, hastening the end of theCambodian Civil War.

1975 Mona Blades, an 18 year-old htich hiker disappeared, after last being seen in an orange Datsun.

1977  The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System completed.

1981  Burning of Jaffna library, Sri Lanka.

1985 Forty-one tornadoes hit Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Ontario, leaving 76 dead.

1989 – A group of six members of the guerrilla group Revolutionary Movement Tupac Amaru (MRTA) of Peru, shot dead eight transsexuals, in the city of Tarapoto

1991 – Bicesse Accords in Angola laid out a transition to multi-party democracy under the supervision of the United Nations’ UNAVEM IImission.

2005 – Vanity Fair revealed that Mark Felt was Deep Throat

2010 – In international waters, armed Shayetet 13 commandos, intending to force the flotilla to anchor at the Ashdod port, boarded ships trying to break the ongoing blockade of the Gaza Strip, resulting in 9 civilian deaths.

2013 – The asteroid 1998 QE2 and its moon made their closest approach to Earth for the next two centuries.

2013 – An EF5 tornado devastated El Reno, Oklahoma, killing nine people, becoming the widest tornado in recorded history, with an astounding diameter of 2.6 miles (4.2 km).

2013 – The asteroid 1998 QE2 and its moon made their closest approach to Earth for the next two centuries.

2017 – A car bomb exploded in a crowded intersection in Kabul near the German embassy during rush hour, killing over 90 and injuring 463.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia

Word of the day

Snirl – to curl up; twist; snarl; wrinkle.

Paulo Garcia’s maiden speech

National MP Paulo Garcia delivered his maiden speech yesterday:

PAULO GARCIA (National): Thank you, Mr Speaker.

[Authorised Te Reo text to be inserted by the Hansard Office.]

[Authorised translation to be inserted by the Hansard Office.]

[Filipino text to be inserted by the Hansard Office.]

We thank our loving God, that he has given his children the opportunity to serve New Zealand not just in nursing homes and hospitals, in dairy farms and construction sites, in IT and engineering and hospitality but also now in the New Zealand Parliament. Grant us a steady heart, mind, and body that we may help bring your will for us in New Zealand to fruition, because this is what this country of New Zealand has done for me and the migrant community from the Philippines that I am a part of. This country has welcomed us into corners of this society that our Asian community is not normally associated with—dairy farms, the mainstay of rural New Zealand life that so much of our country’s myths and legends stem from, and, yes, I refer to the Colin Meads and other farming legends of our national All Blacks team. That farming Filipinos will uphold the tradition of farmers supplying rugby players to the All Blacks is an aspiration I have not entirely given up on!

I am Paulo Garcia, I am Catholic, I am a Filipino, and a New Zealander, and I am happy, excited, and blessed to be standing here before you. It is a privilege and an honour to work with all of you, and it is a testament to this great nation that migrants can become New Zealanders and represent this nation in our House of Parliament—a greatness that was sorely tested earlier this year when a man determined to drive division and intolerance into our midst entered two mosques and killed 51 people, 51 people who had chosen to make this great nation of ours home, 51 people of faith, of Islam, who were expressing the convictions of their beliefs. The evil man who aimed to drive religious intolerance into our midst must not be allowed to succeed. Equally, those who aimed to do the same in Sri Lanka when they attacked and killed hundreds of Catholic worshipers sought too to drive religious intolerance. Equally, they must not be allowed to succeed.

They will not succeed, because this nation allows migrants of all faiths and ethnic backgrounds to succeed and to be represented within this hallowed Chamber. That I am here tonight as the first member of the New Zealand Parliament of Filipino descent is a tribute to the National Party’s recognition of strength in diversity and the value that ethnic communities bring to New Zealand—a New Zealand that holds itself out as open to all, where people from the world over are able to live without fear in the practice of their faith and values, and in observance of their cultural norms. This makes for a multicultural and ethnically diverse New Zealand. There is not a day that I wake up without giving thanks for being in New Zealand. To be sure, not everything has been simple and rose coloured. I have also experienced hatred. I have been slandered and have been ostracised. Yet, I do not have a monopoly on this experience. In reality, many of us do experience this as well in various forms on a daily basis, not just migrants but many of our displaced youth, who seek connection from gangs; emotionally isolated people who seek refuge in drugs, alcohol, and gambling; the old who live alone and die without seeing their family and friends and who may soon be encouraged to die without seeing family and friends.

Even though we have evolved to be just and compassionate, we also have the evolved capacity for greed, anger, and hatred. All of us have the seeds of prejudice within us, but it is a question of which seeds we water and grow. There have been people who say my views are intolerant. Why? Because I am pro-life? Because I believe in the sanctity of life? Because I take the great Māori proverb literally and to its logical conclusion? He aha te mea nui o te ao? What is the most important thing in the world? He tangata, he tangata, he tangata—it is the people, it is the people, it is the people. Just as Māori have such a beautiful saying, so too do I stand on the words of Mahatma Gandhi when he said that the true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members. When it comes to human beings, we cannot pick and choose which ones are protected and which ones are not, and we cannot say some vulnerable lives must be protected but others not.

I am thankful for and proud of the wonderful response to the Christchurch attacks that were made by many in politics and the media, who were open and understanding to the Muslim community in New Zealand, my fellow travellers in faith, and just as we should be aware of the underbelly of ethnic intolerance in this country, we need to be equally aware of the prejudice of religious intolerance often used as a handy tool in debates. It is insulting for some in this Chamber to suggest that the sole motive to retrograde policies such as euthanasia are religious ones, which is akin to saying that people of faith do not have intellect and shouldn’t also take their place here and contribute to society. We live in a day when we have put our own interests ahead of our children, and this modern society will continue to do so to its own detriment.

Men are particularly to blame. Women are often left abandoned, uncertain, and pressured to get rid of unexpected children or to raise them on their own. I salute in absolute praise all single mothers. I can honestly say that if either my wife or I had had to raise our daughters alone, we would have struggled severely as well. Despite the due importance we all attach to this task in our hands—that of governing this country—parenting is the most important job we really have. As mothers and fathers and, collectively, as a Parliament and as a nation, we need to support our parents, we need to support our families, and we need to support our children, but I highlight that the men of this country need to do more. We as men need to stand strong in our relationships. We must be reliable providers and protectors. We must show tamariki the way to respect and honour women.

Whatever laws we might pass in this Chamber, the pro-life voice must no longer be despised and discounted as offensive. Preachers of tolerance and inclusion must no longer seek to silence and condemn those with opinions that make them uncomfortable but are nevertheless opinions based on another person’s own beliefs and values systems. While we need to stay vigilant and investigate people who post offensive material online, we need to be equally concerned about any move in this House to restrict freedom of speech, a move which has all too often been used by those in power to silence those with differing opinions or ideas. This doctrine, peddled by those who pretend to be progressive, asserts that the mere expression of ideas itself is a limitation on the rights of others. This is preposterous. We must always run the risk of being offended in the effort to afford each citizen their freedom of expression, their freedom to be wrong, and, yes, unfortunately, even nasty. We must let the punishment of those with hateful messages be their own undoing.

As representatives of our people, it is important to be able to faithfully fulfil at each moment the duties of love and justice we owe to all of New Zealand despite the difficulty of applying such principles to this contingent world. Keeping this sense of loyalty constantly active is the best defence against an ageing of the spirit, a hardening of the heart, and a stiffening of the mind that threatens us all. We need to be truly aware of our real motivation as to why we are here. Are we here just to promote self and self-interest, or are our actions ultimately driven by what will benefit our in group only? Our answers may reveal that we may then not truly be representative of all people in New Zealand, and we must and may rectify our intentions.

I would not be here without the help of amazing examples of fortitude and courage. My mother, Anna, as she personally took loving care of my father over the 10 years he suffered dementia until his death. My father-in-law, Rene, who personally took loving care of my mother-in-law as she was struck by ALS until her passing. Lawyer Lilia B. de Lima in the Philippines for fearless integrity in doing what is right. Ambassador Virginia Benavidez for her selfless dedication to the service of others. Jesus Domingo, our ambassador now, for his friendship. Lawyer Richard McLeod and Corban Revell Lawyers, National Party president Peter Goodfellow, MP Melissa Lee, and Roger Bridge, who all took a chance on this lawyer from the Philippines. My deepest gratitude and prayers go to MP Nuk Korako, for him and his family to go well, for his retirement allows me to stand here before you tonight.

Finally, I thank every single person who helped in the 2017 campaign—too many to name, many here tonight—who helped without measure day and night, in rain and cold, despite busy schedules and family commitments, moving concertedly towards an intangible goal, doing tasks that none of us have ever done before. The love of my life, Malu, and my beloved daughters

, who inspire me to give myself to others more and more every day, leaving nothing for myself. Fourteen years ago, I was a struggling student at the University of Auckland law, taking papers and the bar exam. Those were tough times. We were a single income household of six, but now here I stand as a Member of Parliament of this great nation.

Many will say that I am living a dream. I disagree. This is not a dream; this is a Kiwi reality.

May I end with the words of inspiration that drive me and give me hope for all New Zealand lives, words written by my daughter Mariana in her poem entitled “Identity”.

A migrant house is built tall on foundations filled with sky, stacked with the hopes of generations into storeyed bastions that testify to us.

We were made to hold together.

I stand proud in the shade of a roof made for me to raise high by proclaiming I have a Spanish name, an American accent, and an Asian face.

And I have been welcomed in Aotearoa.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. Mabuhay.

Thatcher thinks

It is not the creation of wealth that is wrong, but the love of money for its own sake. pic.twitter.com/OtYmVd7ghc

— Margaret Thatcher (@MrsMThatcher) May 28, 2019

If it can get worse . . .

The face of Budget 2019 has given up on New Zealand and joined the exodus to Australia:

.Freeman, who features on the Wellbeing Budget with her 9-year-old daughter Ruby-Jean, said she moved to Auckland at the start of 2018 to pursue her dream.

While they both got good work – featuring on Shortland Street, Jono and Ben and advertisements including Harvey Norman – she couldn’t afford the financial sacrifice, a brutal realisation after discovering she was paying her 15-year-old babysitter more than she was earning.

She admitted she had given up on New Zealand. . .

As for the photo on the cover of today’s Budget, she said she initially felt it was out of context but then she saw that the Budget was all about happiness and wellbeing which both she and her daughter had now found in Queensland.

“It was very out of context but I kind of get it after they’ve been talking about happiness and wellbeing. Obviously it doesn’t matter that I’m not even in NZ anymore.”

It might not matter to her but someone who can’t afford to live in New Zealand is not a good advertisement for the government however good its intentions for wellbeing might be.

Murphy’s Law states that if it can get worse it will.

This is supposed to be the Wellbeing Budget but it’s much more likely to be recalled as a shambles.

Biosecurity flight video launched

Airlines have finally caught on to the importance of biosecurity:

The primary sector has waited an incredibly long time for airlines to play their part in our national biosecurity border system, says Federated Farmers.

Today the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) launched an in-flight video to educate people travelling into the country by plane about biosecurity.

“We congratulate MPI for battling away on this for years and finally getting all airlines with screen capacity to agree to do it,” says Feds biosecurity spokesperson Karen Williams.

It is surprising that our national carrier didn’t lead with this initiative as they are considered thought leaders in the airline industry.

“The whole idea of ‘Ko Tatou This is Us’ is  to start visitors to our country thinking about WHY our country is so special and what they can do to help us keep it that way.  People respond to the ‘why’, and that is critical for behaviour change.”  Travellers, even those returning home who should know better, can accidentally leave risk items in their hand luggage.  I hope the inflight video will ensure these items are dumped in the bins.”

The script writers for the public service announcement hit the nail on the head – the New Zealand we all know and love only exists because of strong borders and we can only have that if visitors and returning citizens play their part and not bring in risk items, Karen says.

“Our way of life does depend on the behavior of those entering the country.”

The video also recognises how diverse the country’s visitors and citizens are, she says.

The video has been translated into 12 different languages including French, Hindi and Bislama, a national language in Vanuatu. Vanuatu supplies many of the seasonal workers New Zealand’s primary industries relies on to exist so to have this level of recognition shows how seriously biosecurity is being taken.

 

Rural round-up

Fonterra is investing in  artificial meat but would you eat it? – Bonnie Flaws:

Are cows evil? You could be forgiven for thinking so.

If the alternative protein companies are right, it’s much better to eat reconfigured soy-protein with genetically modified heme, or even meat grown in a lab, than eat an actual cow.

The question is timely because in a surprise move Fonterra announced last month it was  investing in Motif Ingredients, a Boston biotech startup that wants to use genetic engineering and cultured ingredients to “make foods that are more sustainable, healthier, delicious, and more accessible”.

While people had different feelings about eating lab-cultured meat, there was a common concern around healthy and safety from those spoken to. . .

Federated Farmers urges perseverance on NAIT re-registration:

Technical and other issues are not helping with re-registration for the National Animal Identification and Tracing (NAIT) scheme but Federated Farmers is urging all farmers to persevere.

“This is too important to backslide on. The Mycoplasma bovis issue has highlighted why we need excellent levels of compliance with NAIT,” Feds Dairy Chairperson Chris Lewis says.

“All of us – farmers and OSPRI – need to pull together to get NAIT working well. In terms of eradicating M. bovis, to borrow the words of Ed Hillary, that’s the way we’ll ‘knock the bastard off’.” . . .

M Bovis: Thousands of dairy farms not on tracking system as moving day looms :

Almost 8000 dairy locations are yet to re-register to a national tracking system, with just days to go until moving day, when sharemilkers move their cows to new farms around the country.

The Ministry of Agriculture says there are 14,940 dairy locations around New Zealand; 7034 have re-registered, 7906 are yet to do so – so more than half. One farm can consist of several NAIT locations, a ministry spokeswoman says.

It means moving day will be an anxious one for many because the main way Mycoplasma bovis spreads is through the movement of animals. . . 

On #June1st it is #WorldMilkDay – we are proud to feed the world 🌎 this nutritious food! I’m grateful to @dairy_women for being awarded the @Fonterra DWOTY Dairy Woman of the Year Award 2019. #raiseaglass and join us on Saturday! #taranaki @taranakinews pic.twitter.com/py1bYNnaac

— Trish & Glen Rankin (@Chalkcheese77) May 27, 2019

Merino growers celebrate their best – Sally Rae:

Excellence in producing merino wool has been recognised at the Otago Merino Association’s annual awards function.

About 170 people attended the event in Alexandra on Friday night, where the winners of the Clip of the Year and Child Cancer Foundation fleece competition were named.

The overall Clip of the Year title went to the Sutherland family, from Benmore Station, a property synonymous with high-quality fine wool. . . 

Finalists announced for inaugural Primary Industry Awards:

The following nominations are the successful finalists for the Primary Industries Awards, to be presented at a gala dinner sponsored by FMG in Wellington on July 1.

The awards are part of the Primary Industries Awards Summit, on July 1 – 2.

The awards aim to shine a spotlight on the important role the primary sector plays in the economy and honour the most successful and innovative primary industries’ producers and supporters. . .

Wairarapa Cricket Farm to provide 100% Kiwi cricket flour:

A cricket farm in the Wairarapa will be the first of its kind in New Zealand to provide 100% locally sourced cricket flour.

Rebel Bakehouse began work on its cricket farm 18 months ago, to ultimately provide flour for its new cricket flour wraps which were launched into Kiwi supermarkets in March 2019.

Chris Petersen, of Rebel Bakehouse, says making cricket flour and cricket wraps respond to consumer demand for healthier alternatives in the bread aisle. . .

What makes you proud to say, "I'm a farmer" when people ask what you do? #Y2KFarmer #changethecultureoffarming pic.twitter.com/cOzT0DcM4S

— Millennium Farming (@TheY2KFarmer) May 27, 2019

NZ Horticulture exceeds $9.2 billion:

New Zealand horticulture is well on track to meet its goal of $10 billion by 2020. The industry was valued at $9.2 billion in the year ending 30 June, 2018, up $400 million from 2017. The increase was driven by a strong growth in exports, which rose to $5.5 billion from $5.1 billion the year before.

According to the latest Fresh Facts, published annually by Plant & Food Research since 1999, horticultural exports tripled from $1.7 billion 20 years ago. They now accounted for almost 10% of New Zealand’s total merchandise exports. . .

Just when you think it can’t get worse

Treasury allowing Budget information to be found from a simple search on its own website was bad enough.

Calling it hacking and involving the police without properly investigating first was worse.

And just when the organisation ought to be showing it’s learned a lesson and taking extra care it does the opposite:

. . . 10:30am – In a major blunder, Treasury staff mistakenly handed out copies of the budget to journalists and political commentators.

Newshub’s Political Editor Tova O’Brien tweeted that she was given one of the top secret documents. When the recipients questioned whether they were supposed to see them before going into the lock-up, she says an official asked “Are you not Treasury?” before hurriedly taking the copies back. . . 

It’s a simple human error but given the lead-up it shouldn’t have happened.

So will heads roll?

If these reports from within Treasury are true, we should expect resignations or sackings. Making false accusations of criminal activity to police to deflect from one's organisation's own basic incompetence is not acceptable. https://t.co/7rCn4FKJ8U

— Oliver Hartwich (@oliverhartwich) May 29, 2019

Treasury bungled badly and Finance Minister Grant Robertson and Winston Peters made baseless accusations against Simon Bridges.

Will there be resignations or even apologies?

Don’t hold your breath.

Budget shambles

Yesterday the government and Treasury kept saying Treasury had been hacked.

At 9pm the night before David Farrar had a less sinister explanation:

. . . That possibly the material was put up on a website of some sort and someone found it. Treasury are calling it hacking because they didn’t think it was open to the public. But there is a difference between hacking a secure computer system, and locating information that is on the Internet (even if hidden).   . .

This morning police say there wasn’t a hack:

The people who accessed Budget information from the Treasury website did not act illegally.

Instead, they appeared to have used a search tool on the Treasury department’s website, which “does not appear to be unlawful”, police advised Treasury.

The person or persons were able to “exploit” the system because Treasury staff had been preparing a clone website in the background that they intended to swap over with the live website on Budget day.

To do this they began uploading some Budget information onto the clone site.

Although not publicly accessible, some of the information could be seen when a search was made on the website. . .

This is supposed to be Finance Minister Grant Robertson’s day to shine. Instead at least some of the spotlight will be on the shambles at Treasury, the government department for which he’s responsible.

Budgets aren’t the super-sensitive documents they used to be when the value of the dollar, tariffs and taxes would change at the stroke of a government pen.

But it’s supposed to be be a positive focus for the government.

Instead Opposition leader Simon Bridges has stolen the limelight thanks to some simple technological tinkering by someone who, contrary to the accusations, was not acting illegally.

Quote of the day

Just because I’m a woman does not mean I have to deal with everything to do with food. Helen Sharman who celebrates her 56th birthday today.

May 30 in history

70 Siege of Jerusalem: Titus and his Roman legions breached the Second Wall of Jerusalem. The Jewish defenders retreated to the First Wall. The Romans built a circumvallation, all trees within fifteen kilometres were cut down.

1416 The Council of Constance, called by the Emperor Sigismund, a supporter of Antipope John XXIII, burned Jerome of Prague following a trial for heresy.

1431  Hundred Years’ War: 19-year-old Joan of Arc was burned at the stake by an English-dominated tribunal. Because of this the Catholic Church remember this day as the celebration of Saint Joan of Arc.

1434  Hussite Wars (Bohemian Wars): Battle of Lipany – effectively ending the war, Utraquist forces led by Diviš Bořek of Miletínek defeated and almost annihilated Taborite forces led by Prokop the Great.

1536  Henry VIII of England married Jane Seymour, a lady-in-waiting to his first two wives.

1539 Hernando de Soto landed at Tampa Bay, Florida,  with 600 soldiers with the goal of finding gold.

1574  Henry III became King of France.

1588 The last ship of the Spanish Armada set sail from Lisbon heading for the English Channel.

1635  Thirty Years’ War: the Peace of Prague (1635) was signed.

1642  From this date all honours granted by Charles I were retrospectively annulled by Parliament.

1757 Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, was born (d. 1844).

1806 Andrew Jackson killed Charles Dickinson in a duel after Dickinson had accused Jackson’s wife of bigamy.

1814 Napoleonic Wars: War of the Sixth Coalition – the Treaty of Paris (1814) was signed returning French borders to their 1792 extent.

1819 – William McMurdo, English general, was born (d. 1894).

1832  The Rideau Canal in eastern Ontario opened.

1842  John Francis attempted to murder Queen Victoria as she drove down Constitution Hill with Prince Albert.

1845 – Amadeo I, King of Spain, was born (d. 1890).

1846 Peter Carl Fabergé, Russian goldsmith and jeweller, was born (d. 1920).

1854 The Kansas-Nebraska Act became law establishing the US territories of Nebraska and Kansas.

1859 Westminster’s Big Ben rang for the first time in London.

1862 – Mirza Alakbar Sabir, Azerbaijani philosopher and poet, was born (d. 1911).

1868  Decoration Day (the predecessor of the modern “Memorial Day) was observed in the United States for the first time (By “Commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic” John A. Logan‘s proclamation on May 5).

1869  – Grace Andrews, American mathematician, was born (d. 1951).

1871  The Paris Commune fell.

1876  Ottoman sultan Abd-ul-Aziz was deposed and succeeded by his nephew Murat V.

1879 New York City’s Gilmores Garden was renamed Madison Square Garden by William Henry Vanderbilt and opened to the public at 26th Street and Madison Avenue.

1883  A rumour that the Brooklyn Bridge was going to collapse causes a stampede that crushes twelve people.

1901 – A 10-man Royal Commission reported unanimously that New Zealand should not become a state of the Commonwealth of Australia.

1909 – Benny Goodman, American clarinet player, songwriter, and bandleader, was born (d. 1986).

1911  At the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the first Indianapolis 500 ended with Ray Harroun in his Marmon Wasp becoming the first winner of the 500-mile auto race.

1913  First Balkan War: the Treaty of London, 1913 is signed ending the war. Albania becomes an independent nation.

1914  The new and then largest Cunard ocean liner RMS Aquitania, 45,647 tons, set sails on her maiden voyage from Liverpool, England to New York City.

1915  The East Indiaman ship Arniston was wrecked during a storm at Waenhuiskrans, the loss of 372 lives.

1917  Alexander I became king of Greece.

1919 – René Barrientos, Bolivian army officer and politician, 55th President of Bolivia, was born. (d. 1969).

1922  In Washington, D.C. the Lincoln Memorial was dedicated.

1928 – Joan Birman, American mathematician, was born.

1941  World War II: Manolis Glezos and Apostolos Santas climb on the Athenian Acropolis, tear down the Nazi swastika and replace it with the Greek flag.

1942  World War II: 1000 British bombers launched a 90-minute attack on Cologne, Germany.

1948  A dike along the flooding Columbia River broke, obliterating Vanport, Oregon within minutes. Fifteen people die and tens of thousands are left homeless.

1955 – Caroline Swift, English lawyer and judge, was born.

1955 Topper Headon, British musician (The Clash), was born.

1958  Memorial Day: the remains of two unidentified American servicemen, killed in action during World War II and the Korean War respectively, were buried at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery.

1959  The Auckland Harbour Bridge, crossing the Waitemata Harbour was officially opened by Governor-General Lord Cobham.

1961  Long time Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo was assassinated in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

1961 – Harry Enfield, English actor, director, and screenwriter, was born

1962 Kevin Eastman, American comic book creator (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), was born.

1963  A protest against pro-Catholic discrimination during the Buddhist crisis was held outside South Vietnam’s National Assembly, the first open demonstration during the eight-year rule of Ngo Dinh Diem.

1963 – Helen Sharman, English chemist and astronaut, was born.

1966 Former Congolese Prime Minister Evariste Kimba and several other politicians are publicly executed in Kinshasa on the orders of President Joseph Mobutu.

1967 Daredevil Evel Knievel jumped his motorcycle over 16 cars lined up in a row.

1967  The Nigerian Eastern Region declared independence as the Republic of Biafra, sparking a civil war.

1971 Mariner 9 was launched to map 70% of the surface, and to study temporal changes in the atmosphere and surface, of Mars.

1972 The Angry Brigade went on trial over a series of 25 bombings throughout Britain.

1972  In Tel Aviv members of the Japanese Red Army carried out the Lod Airport Massacre, killing 24 people and injuring 78 others.

1989  Tiananmen Square protests of 1989: the 33-foot high “Goddess of Democracy” statue was unveiled in Tiananmen Square by student demonstrators.

1996 – A New Zealand Royal Honours System was established with the institution of the New Zealand Order of Merit, which replaced the various British State Orders of Chivalry.

1998  A magnitude 6.6 earthquake hit northern Afghanistan, killing up to 5,000.2002– 272 days after the September 11 attacks, closing ceremonies were held for the clean up/recovery efforts at the World Trade Center site in New York City.2003 – Depayin massacre: at least 70 people associated with the National League for Democracy were killed by government-sponsored mob in Burma. Aung San Suu Kyi fled the scene, but was arrested soon afterwards.

2012 – Former Liberian president Charles Taylor was sentenced to 50 years in prison for his role in atrocities committed during the Sierra Leone Civil War.

2013  – Nigeria passed a law banning same-sex marriage.

Sourced from NZ History Online & Wikipedia

Word of the day

Bobèche – a disk or collar on a candle socket to catch drippings or on a candlestick or chandelier from which to suspended glass prisms.

Thatcher thinks

To be free is better than to be unfree always. Any politician who suggests the opposite should be treated as suspect. pic.twitter.com/uLGbO8sZTC

— Margaret Thatcher (@MrsMThatcher) May 25, 2019