Milne muses

“Writing is a combination of two skills: the ability to use words and create with words. A writer is a craftsman and a designer. My father felt the urge to create. Another man might have made things with his hands; he made things with his imagination.”~C.R.Milne #create pic.twitter.com/VPGZVCdRBj

— A.A.Milne (@A_AMilne) November 25, 2024

Beautifying the blogosphere

Last nights sunset: one for the ages. It was like I had cycled into a painting pic.twitter.com/0kxq7gqfkP

— Calum 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 ⛐ (@CalumRaasay) August 31, 2024

Maya muses

Each of us has that right, that possibility, to invent ourselves daily.” — Dr. Maya Angelou. As November ends, reflect on how you’ve grown and reinvented yourself. What new strengths have you discovered? 🌻✨ #EndOfMonthReflection #ResilienceWithMaya #GratitudeAndGrowth pic.twitter.com/sVaPzmIMAw

— Maya Angelou (@DrMayaAngelou) November 30, 2024

Is the West in decline?

Konstantin Kisin gives his answer to the question of whether the West is in decline in his Holberg Debate Speech:

. . . Until we decide we want to become a civilisation that succeeds, we will not.

The message in this is simple, reversing the decline is up to us.

Word of the day

Puggie – sticky, claylike; the hole in a game of marbles into which the marbles are rolled; the bank, kitty, jackpot or pool in a game of cards; a one-armed bandit or fruit machine.

Sowell says

Thomas Sowell speaking about this quote: pic.twitter.com/Wlwz8XNjHd

— Thomas Sowell Quotes (@ThomasSowell) November 21, 2024

Woman of the day

Woman of the Day classic pianist Dame Myra Hess of Kilburn died OTD in 1965 aged 75. She was acclaimed for her interpretation of the works of Mozart, Schumann, Brahms and Beethoven, but it was for her contribution to maintaining public morale during the Blitz that George VI made… pic.twitter.com/4c3LTSsRga

— The Attagirls (@TheAttagirls) November 25, 2024

Two serious investigations

Waipareira is facing the loss of its Trust’s charity status:

Charity regulators have moved to deregister high-profile social services provider Waipareira, concluding a long-running investigation into its funding of chief executive John Tamihere’s political campaigns.

The decision follows a four-year investigation by Charities Services into Waipareira that has seen settlements reached and breached, accusations of racism, and Charities Services staff complain about bullying behaviour from Waipareira’s lawyers.

News of looming deregistration and the loss of its tax-free status broke in Waipareira’s own financial statements filed this week to the Charities Register, which end with a note stating: “On 23 September 2024, the trust received a formal notification from the Charities Registration Board (CRB) of its intention to make a decision to deregister the charitable entity Te Whanau O Waipareira Trust.”

The note went on to say the trust was “reviewing the notification, assessing the implications for its operations, and intends to respond to the notification by the set deadline provided of November 22”.  . . 

Charities Services has a long-held view, which has withstood legal challenges in the past, that charities are forbidden from endorsing or donating to political parties or campaigns.

Political parties are voluntary organisations but aren’t regarded as charities and donations to them and their campaigns don’t qualify as charitable pursuits.

Waipareira effectively made hundreds of thousands of dollars of donations to TPM’s 2020 election campaign and Tamihere’s own tilt for the Auckland mayoralty in 2019. The accounts also disclose a trust subsidiary provided $5486 in “messaging services” to TPM’s election campaign last year.

It is understood these related to mass text messages sent out to Waipareira contacts during the 2023 election campaign urging “Two ticks Te Pāti Māori”. . . 

Four years is a long time for an investigation and there’s a delay in releasing information on a potentially more serious investigation with links to the Trust and TPM:

The public won’t learn the findings of an investigation relating to allegations of the misuse of personal data at Manurewa Marae until at least the end of January.

But it is expected the findings will “impact all of the public service” and some matters relating to the investigation will “require referral to other authorities for further consideration”. . . 

The investigation was sparked by allegations that Census data and Covid-19 vaccination information collected at Manurewa Marae in Auckland had been misused for Te Pāti Māori’s election campaign. The marae was also a voting site. 

Takutai Tarsh Kemp, the party’s candidate in the local Tāmaki Makaurau electorate who went on to win, was the marae’s chief executive at the time. Te Pāti Māori has strongly rejected the allegations and welcomed investigations. President John Tamihere called for “hard evidence” to substantiate claims.

The PSC investigation, which was specifically into whether the personal information provided to government agencies as part of Census 2023 and for Covid-19 vaccination purposes had been misused, was one of many inquiries launched at the time. . . 

Deputy Public Service Commissioner Heather Baggott said “careful consideration” of the findings was needed and it would “take time to work through”.

The inquiry was “complex”, Baggott said, involving six agencies, third-party providers and “findings that will impact all of the public service”.

“Some matters will also require referral to other authorities for further consideration.”

She said the findings require a “thorough response” and the commission “intends” to release them and its response “at the end of January”.

“The protection of personal information is paramount and it’s important we get the response right.” 

Agencies in the scope of the inquiry included Statistics NZ, the Ministry of Health, Health NZ, Te Puni Kōkiri, Oranga Tamariki, the Ministry of Social Development. The third party providers within scope included the Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency, Te Whānau o Waipareira Trust and Manurewa Marae Trust Board.

Willis told the Herald: “The report goes to public trust and confidence in the public service, so the Public Service Commission needs to have utmost confidence in their findings, conclusions, and next steps.

“I have been advised that the Public Service Commission wants more time to ensure both that natural justice processes are completed satisfactorily, and that they can respond effectively to the findings in the report.” . . 

The delay will be frustrating to some but given the seriousness of the issues and the number of agencies involved, getting it right is more important than the timing of the release.

‘Extraordinary fiscal ignorance or wilful deception’

How on earth could she think this?

Labour’s finance spokeswoman Barbara Edmonds has replaced a graph that incorrectly stated the Ardern-Hipkins Government reduced New Zealand’s debt levels by about $31 billion in its second term.

In nominal terms, the graph appeared to show the Ardern-Hipkins Labour Government repaid debt faster than any Government since 1972 — an extraordinary feat in the midst of a pandemic.

In fact, depending on what measure you use, Labour’s second term saw a rapid increase in borrowing thanks to the pandemic, reducing the tax take and increasing expenses. Debt increased by $72b or $36b by two of the most common recent metrics.

Finance Minister Nicola Wills described the incident as “either a case of extraordinary fiscal ignorance or wilful deception. Either way, it does not look good for Barbara Edmonds”.

“Government debt did not go down in Labour’s last term and to claim it did in a misleading graph is disgraceful,” she said.

After Labour was alerted to the error by the Herald, Edmonds replaced the graph with a more accurate one. Editing her Facebook post, Edmonds said, “[w]e’ve changed the chart to use the Treasury graph (with our crisis inserts)”, but did not say that the original graph was inaccurate or misleading. . .

No-one with even a slight interest in politics and the economy could fail to understand just how badly debt increased under Labour’s mismanagement.

That the party’s finance spokesperson got this so badly wrong and then wouldn’t admit how badly wrong she’d got it seriously undermines her credibility.

 

 

Word of the day

Ideation – the formation of ideas or concepts; the capacity for or the act of forming or entertaining ideas; the process of forming ideas from conception to implementation; idea creation; the formation of thoughts and mental images; an idea of something in someone’s mind.

Sowell says

No matter how disastrously some policy has turned out, anyone who criticizes it can expect to hear: “But what would you replace it with?” When you put out a fire, what do you replace it with?

— Thomas Sowell Quotes (@ThomasSowell) November 18, 2024

Woman of the day

Woman of the Day aeronautical scientist and champion glider pilot – the first woman to cross the Channel in a glider – Anne Burns born OTD 1915 in Haworth, Yorkshire. She investigated the causes of fatal air disasters and was so thorough, she risked her own safety by replicating… pic.twitter.com/9KEO4Wf2gl

— The Attagirls (@TheAttagirls) November 23, 2024

Courage and shame

Courage and shame have been on show for more than three months in a French court.

The courage, that of Gisèle Pélicot who was subjected to unimaginable abuse, the shame all that of her husband and the scores of men who subjected her to that abuse.

When the case opened in September, the public wondered why a “perfect, loving, attentive and caring” (in Ms Pélicot’s words) middle-class husband secretly drugged his wife into “chemical submission” by mixing anti-anxiety drugs into her mashed potato, raspberry ice cream and rosé.

Dominique Pélicot would then invite scores of men he met on an online chat room called “without her knowledge” to rape her 200 times in her own home over a decade without raising suspicions from his wife or other family members.

There was shock at the sheer number of men involved and the fact that most came from towns and villages in a 50km (30-mile) radius of Mazan, the village in Provence where the Pélicots lived.

Whether fireman, soldier, nurse, company boss, or truck driver, their Monsieur Tout-le-Monde (everyman) status reflected a cross-section of French society that brought the case uncomfortably close to home.

“We’re not monsters, we’re men like all of you,” Paul Grovogui, 31, a food processing plant worker facing 10 years, told the court.

“We’ve all got a life, a family life, we all functioned normally.” . . 

Anyone who thinks what they did was normal, or who functioned normally in spite of doing it, has a very perverted understanding of normality.

Then there was the staggering amount of evidence: crucially Mr Pélicot had filmed every sexual act on his wife and meticulously archived them in a computer file called “abuse”.

Yet there was one key ingredient to catapult the mass rape case to a landmark trial of societal proportions: Ms Pélicot herself.

It was only with her permission that the trial and the horrific evidence were public.

You could feel it as soon as the diminutive pensioner stepped purposefully into court in a floral dress to face her husband of 50 years and a roomful of unknown aggressors. She was calm, composed and brave. Her head was held high. By her side were the couple’s three children Florian, David and Caroline.

In a historic opening moment, Roger Arata – the presiding judge who led a panel of five magistrates – told a packed courtroom and second spillover chamber for scores of international journalists that all hearings would be public.

Defence lawyers had pointed out that footage shot by the husband would be shown to the court and that “not only would it be dangerous to hold the proceedings in public, but it would also undermine the dignity of the individuals concerned”. . . 

The only one with dignity was the woman abused.

“She wants to raise awareness, as widely as possible, of what happened to her so that events like these never happen again,” said one of her lawyers, Stephane Babonneau. . . 

She did it not just for justice for herself but to make other women and girls safer in future.

Eighteen of the 51 accused including Mr Pélicot were in custody. One still at large would be judged in absentia, while 32 other defendants attended the trial as free men, meaning they would walk in every day through the same door as Ms Pélicot.

Those who arrived free sauntered in or even cracked jokes amongst themselves, as if they could control the narrative.

But very quickly, it became clear that Ms Pélicot, not they, would call the shots.

She refused to be typecast as the frail victim while also confiding her robust exterior hid inner torment: “The facade looks solid, but inside, it’s a field of ruins. Everything needs to be rebuilt.” . . 

How difficult that must be to show such strength and courage on the outside, when inside is so broken.

As the trial wound up after 15 weeks, Laure Chabaud, the lead prosecutor, told judges: “With your verdict, you will make clear that there is no such thing as ordinary rape.”

“You will deliver a message of hope to the victims of sexual violence” and “return a part of humanity to Gisèle Pélicot that she was robbed of,” she said.

Her words echoed those of Ms Pélicot’s closing statement, in which she said: “It’s time that the macho, patriarchal society that trivialises rape changes.

“It’s time we changed the way we look at rape.” . . 

It’s also time to change the way victims are seen, the shame is not theirs.

The accused were then given one last chance to speak.

Some continued to plead innocent. A handful chose to mumble final apologies.

If they were seeking absolution from Ms Pélicot, they were sorely mistaken; in an act of utter indifference, she simply checked her mobile phone.

Yet when Mr Pélicot rose to his feet in the defendants’ glass box, Ms Pélicot looked him straight in the eye.

“You have the rest of my life in your hands,” he told the five judges who on Thursday.

“I would like to start by hailing the courage of my ex-wife,” said the corpulent retired electrician.

“I beg her, and the rest of my family, to accept my apologies…I ask their forgiveness”.

“I can tell my whole family that I love them.”

His words are belied by his horrific actions.

He could do no such thing because none of his children had turned up for his closing remarks, leaving their mother all alone on the civil plaintiffs’ bench.

That poignant image serves as a reminder that the highest profile mass rape trial in living French memory is first and foremost the tragedy of one family with a name: Pélicot.

“Why did you keep it?,” one lawyer asked during cross-examination after Ms Pélicot confessed her children were ashamed of the word.

In a courtroom where you could hear a pin drop, she replied: “My name is now known the world over. They should not be ashamed to bear this name. Today, I want my grandchildren to be proud of their grandma. Today, we remember Gisèle Pélicot.”

Her strength and courage show that shame must change sides.

pic.twitter.com/gx00JFr6Gq

— Laila Mickelwait (@LailaMickelwait) October 8, 2024

 

Barry Soper’s Politician of the Year

Barry Soper has named his Politician of the Year:

As the year draws to an end spare a thought of what life must be like for Christopher Luxon.

This is a man who’s been in politics for just four years. To describe his rise to the top as meteoric would be an understatement. No one in modern political history has become Prime Minister with so little political experience.

The board room comes no where near the Cabinet office. For starters as the chief executive of Air New Zealand what Luxon said to his executive was essentially done.

In the Cabinet room anything he says is the subject of debate and frequently his view doesn’t always win the day. He’s had to learn to compromise big time.

Luxon isn’t your typical politician, let alone the leader of the country. For starters the demon drink has never got so much as a sniff from him. And he’s a Christian to boot.

Almost 35 years ago when Jim Bolger became the Prime Minister, there was a feeling from some he’d never make it because he was a Catholic!

Luxon was advised when he was about to give his maiden speech to Parliament to leave out the Christian side of his life. He ignored the advice and went full-on about his beliefs. The public seemed to have liked it. It led to a healthy debate about Christianity and politics.

It wasn’t long ago MPs would have been ashamed to say they weren’t Christian. Now it can be regarded as a liability but the PM is clear that his faith is a private matter and reasonable people accept that.

This man was pilloried by the media for having too many properties – he had seven. In recent months he’s sold three and again he’s been vilified for the profit he’s made without paying tax on it.

You’d surely be asking questions of a man with his professional, highly paid background, if he didn’t have investments. He was attacked, as if it was immoral, when he said on Newstalk ZB Drive a while ago “let me be clear: I’m wealthy, I’m, you know, sorted.”

It may have been clumsy but the quote was for some reason seen as the quote of the year in some quarters, as though he was removed from the pain of those who haven’t done as well as him are going through.

Of course he does, he didn’t enter politics with a blindfold. He did enter politics earning a fraction of what he was on as the airline boss! And he entered politics genuinely hoping that he could put the place back on track.

And he should be celebrated for that, not condemned.

That he was pilloried is a reflection on those doing the pillorying rather than on him.

It’s true, he entered politics to make a difference.

He’s certainly not in it for the money, having taken a substantial pay cut to serve the country.

For those of us who knew him before he made the leap, they would appreciate he came into the job coveting the Prime Minister’s role. Never did he think though he’d achieve that in a few short years. But he should have, the National Party which he led just a year after signing on as an MP was a dog’s breakfast.

His leadership brought unity to the political wing of the party, putting it in the position it is today.

That cannot be overestimated. The party – or at least the parliamentary wing – was in chaos. He not only unified it, he’s kept it unified.

It’s a tougher job than any recent incumbent has had, dealing with the egos of those around him. He’s certainly done it with the old warhorse Winston Peters, dining at each other’s houses. He likes Peters despite the fact that he derailed the Government on the ferry deal.

Whatever the outcome, Peters will declare it as his victory and no one in the coalition will likely publicly disagree with him.

Act’s David Seymour is another kettle of fish, much more slippery even than Peters. He’ll be deputy Prime Minister in May, just in time for Nicola Willis’ austere Budget. That’ll be a significant coalition test for him.

So as Luxon packs his bags for the holidays with his family and friends, he can reflect on a stinker of a year, but one that he’s survived pretty well.

His ratings were never going to be high given the mess that he inherited, but in my making-it-against-all-odds book, he has to be my politician of the year.

It’s not only the mess he inherited that has made his work difficult, it’s that far too many people in the media use their role as activists who haven’t accepted the change of government rather than as a balanced fourth estate.

However, the media environment has changed and he is able to use social media to cut out the messengers between him and the public, and he does that to good effect.

Marie here has been a nurse for over 30 years in the Wellington region. She had her retirement party at the Wellington Hospital today so I had to pop in and say hello! Well done on a wonderful career Marie. And thanks to all the nurses around New Zealand who look after us all in… pic.twitter.com/IQuIDTwp9R

— Christopher Luxon (@chrisluxonmp) December 19, 2024

 

It’s been a massive year delivering for New Zealanders. I summarised all the main points in my final speech to Parliament for the year.

As you can see, I had a bit of fun with it!https://t.co/QBzDUH6CPh

— Christopher Luxon (@chrisluxonmp) December 18, 2024

 

Rates are out of control, and it’s time for change. That’s why the Government is taking action. pic.twitter.com/antfIqtJkm

— Christopher Luxon (@chrisluxonmp) December 16, 2024

This is the first commentator I’ve come across to nominate the PM as PotY. There are several other very worthy contenders for the role, but given the challenges he’s faced, the unity he’s gained and maintained, and the way he’s ignored distractions from coalition partners and people and events outside government to stay focussed on what really matters justifies the title.

Word of the day

Saturnalia – the ancient Roman festival of Saturn in December; a period of general merrymaking and the predecessor of Christmas; an occasion of wild revelry or indulgence; an unrestrained often licentious celebration; a party where people behave in an uncontrolled way; orgy.

Sowell says

Once you buy the argument that some segment of the citizenry should lose their rights, just because they are envied or resented, you are putting your own rights in jeopardy — quite aside from undermining any moral basis for respecting anybody’s rights. You are opening the…

— Thomas Sowell Quotes (@ThomasSowell) November 16, 2024

Woman of the day

Woman of the Day Polish Air Force Captain and Air Transport Auxiliary pilot Barbara Wojtulanis born OTD in 1912 in Warsaw. Her WW2 undercover work was crucial to the formation of the No. 303 Squadron RAF and she was the first Polish woman to jump with a parachute and to fly 1,000… pic.twitter.com/7ewkdP3Kuo

— The Attagirls (@TheAttagirls) November 22, 2024

John Marsden 27.9.50 – 18.12. 24

The world has lost a very talented writer:

Acclaimed Australian author John Marsden, whose young adult novels were read and beloved across the world, has died aged 74.

Marsden wrote the internationally best-selling Tomorrow book series, which sold millions of copies and was adapted for film and television.

He won many major awards for children’s and adult fiction, and in 2006 received the Lloyd O’Neil Award for contributions to Australian publishing. . . 

Marsden’s 1993 novel Tomorrow, When the War Began, about a hypothetical war where Australia is invaded, made him one of Australia’s most renowned young adult novelists. . . 

Pan Macmillan Australia, Marsden’s publisher, labelled the Tomorrow books “the best series for Australian teens of all time”.

In 2018, speaking about the books, Marsden told the ABC: “The characters have plenty of weaknesses … but I wanted teenagers to realise that doesn’t mean you have no strengths”. . . 

A series not just for teens, like all good books for children and teens, Marsden’s were also good reads for adults.

Marsden founded and served as principal at two schools in regional Victoria, Candlebark near Romsey and Alice Miller in Macedon.

“Running a school is probably the most intense and complicated job I’ve had in my life. The only thing I can compare it to is when I worked in the emergency department at Sydney Hospital when I was about 19,” he told the ABC in 2018.

Of starting the school at Candelbark, which sits in bushland, he said: “It’s very important that young people get their hands dirty, both literally and metaphorically … there’s a lot of laughter. There’s a lot of joking. There are a lot of serious conversations, too.” . . 

Wise words from a talented writer and teacher.

Opportunity for levity

Adjournment speeches provide an opportunity for levity mixed in with thanks :

Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON (Prime Minister) 

As we close out the year here in Parliament, I want to thank everyone who makes this place work: our security team, Dignitary Protection Service (DPS), VIP drivers, messengers, Hansard, select committee staff, cleaners, Copperfields, library staff, IT, tour guides, travel, finance, and everyone in the Parliamentary Service, the Parliamentary Council Office, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and Cabinet Office, and all of the private secretaries advising Ministers and drafting legislation. Thank you, and merry Christmas to you all, and I really hope you all have a fantastic summer with your loved ones.

Thank you also to everyone supporting us in our offices here at Parliament and all across the country. And I’d like to give a special thank you to Katja Kershaw from my own electorate office, who is finishing up after 13 years serving the people of Botany. Katja, can I say thank you for your support—thank you for your support of me and the community over so many years of service.

And can I just say to all the families and the partners of all of the MPs here in Parliament, merry Christmas. You make the sacrifices that allows each and every one of us to be here, and we want to say thank you to you.

And, Mr Speaker, can I say thank you for your very thoughtful and measured refereeing of this place.

SPEAKER: Yes, take your time.

Rt Hon CHRISTOPHER LUXON: And, after the year that you’ve had, I know that Santa is not the only big jolly man with an extensive naughty list.

Now, to my colleagues across our Government, I want to say thank you to all of you for your hard work, for getting our country back on track. There’s no doubt about it, New Zealand has elected us to actually get on to the issues that they care deeply about, and that is rebuilding the economy to reduce the cost of living. It’s about restoring law and order to keep Kiwis safe. It’s about delivering better public services like health and education. Twelve months is a very, very short time, and yet so much has happened, because when it comes to the economy this year, Kiwis have seen inflation down to 2.2 percent, down from 7.3. They’ve seen three interest rate cuts after 12 rises. Their wages are rising faster than inflation for four quarters in a row after 13 quarters of declining real wages. Tax relief for 3.5 million New Zealanders, the first time in 14 years. Business, consumer, and farmer confidence at their highest levels in recent times.

On the law and order front, we’ve had total victimisations down, after violent crime was up 33 percent and retail crime doubled. Gang patches are banned, ram raids are down 60 percent, and the foot patrols are up 30 percent.

In our schools, we’ve had an hour a day each of reading and writing and maths. Where phones are banned from classrooms, we’ve got structured literacy and maths in place to teach our kids the basics brilliantly. And school attendance is up six points.

In health, we’ve invested a record $16.7 billion more. We’ve rolled out 26 new cancer treatments as part of 54 new medicines helping 175,000 Kiwis, and we’ve hired 2,900 more nurses.

Now, that’s a lot of progress represented by 160 actions in our quarterly action plans alone. We know, on this side, there’s a lot more for us to do, but we are incredibly ambitious for this country, and on this side of the House we are energised by the challenge ahead of us.

Now, to my colleagues on the other side of the House, the Leader of the Opposition, Chlöe Swarbrick—there actually is a comma between those two statements—Marama Davidson, Rawiri Waititi, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, and everyone in the Opposition: I do want to wish you all the best for Christmas, and I hope that you have a safe and a happy time with your loved ones.

And to all of my haters over there, to all of my haters over there who say I use too much management speak, well, I don’t know how I can be any clearer. What I would say to you is that we have some big goals to chunk down so that we can grip up the deliverables and benchmark our KPI targets. And I make no apologies for that.

But Labour could do with some KPIs, because when they spend a year in Opposition ostensibly working on policy and the three things that they come up with are: (1) not joining a security agreement, (2) building a hospital that they’ve already failed to deliver and build, and (3) working up some new taxes that they’ve actually been talking about for over a decade; you’ve got to wonder, what are they doing over there each and every day?

Now, if Labour was in charge of Santa’s workshop, I can tell you the elves would be charging consultants fees, the sleigh would cost $4 billion, and the reindeer would be working from home.

I have to say, the most troubling part of Chris Hipkins’ recent Labour conference must have been the flight back to Wellington—yup, first because he was pulled in for a check-in for excess luggage; in fact, six years of excess luggage he’s been carrying around. Then he was in the lounge and there was no room at Kieran McAnulty’s table for him, and he was turned away from David Parker’s. And you know what? Then, during the safety briefing, flight attendants had to intervene because he instinctively started blowing into the mouth piece for more inflation.

Now, we have also seen some interesting news from Te Pāti Māori over the last week. They have committed to pulling in $200 billion through a capital gains tax—or about half the size of the New Zealand economy. We don’t just have a Grinch who stole Christmas on our hands; we actually have a Grinch who’s actually stealing every Christmas three times over for the next 500 years.

Now, to my friends in the Green Party—Julie Anne, no need to get up. I saw recently that there’s a new Green MP that has a member’s bill to liberalise the use of parody, and I just think it’s just great—it’s just great—to see the Greens live those values by being a parody of themselves each and every single day. I have to say, if you folks weren’t so opposed to it, we would have happily—happily—added Darlene Tana’s resignation to our fast-track list.

To my friends in the media: can I just say thank you for always holding me to account and for always being so fair and balanced! I wish you a very happy and safe holiday—please do take as long as you need.

Now, back to the colleagues on this side of the House. Can I just thank the Deputy Prime Minister for his work out in the world this year, but also for providing some very good humour here, at home in this seat next to me. And I have to say, I have appreciated the supplementary questions the Deputy Prime Minister often asks me, even though they’re sometimes, frankly, more difficult to answer than the Opposition’s. But, I guess, on the bright side, by the end of this parliamentary term, everyone in this House is really going to know a lot about Sir Apirana Ngata.

Now, Shane Jones, he’s been mischievous this year, but we’ve worked out why—we’ve worked out why—he’s the first person to get on the naughty list so that he can get a lump of coal.

I saw a lovely headline—it was an absolutely lovely headline about David Seymour finding love. And while I know David and Winston’s working relationship has been stronger than so many predicted, to be honest, I did think it was still quite a bold description of their relationship.

Secret Santa with ACT this year was a disaster, though. They wouldn’t stop taking credit for every present. Sorry. But, seriously, to all my ACT colleagues, can I say merry Christmas and may your dinner tables be devoid of woke food.

Now, turning to my own National team, we have the aces in the places. To my deputy leader and the greatest finance Minister ever Nicola Willis: the turn-around job you are tasked with is immense, and, frankly, there is no better person to execute it. Chris Bishop—what a massive year. By the numbers, 149 fast-track projects, 700 long blacks, 50 park runs in the Hutt, and a beautiful brand new baby. Dr Shane Reti with the impeccable bedside manner that seems to soothe everyone except Ayesha Verrall. Simeon “Roads, Roads, Roads” Brown—more than just his boyish good looks. Erica Stanford—transforming our education system so we can give our kids the best possible chance for the future. Paul Goldsmith and Mark Mitchell—making this country safer, delivering consequences for crime, and bringing the focus back to victims. Louise Upston, who wants the very best for Kiwis and is therefore determined to get people off welfare and into work. We’ve got Judith Collins—relentless for science and innovation, whether it’s AI, space, or gene technology. Todd McClay—or “Trade McClay”, as I’ve been known to say—truly relentless in the pursuit of opportunities for Kiwi businesses abroad. Tama Potaka—the man with shirts louder than Shane Jones’ interjections—you are doing an incredible job. Matt Doocey, our very first Minister for Mental Health—and DPS thanks you for being my body double in Christchurch. And Simon Watts, who is delivering net-zero six years earlier while still growing our economy.

I just want to acknowledge all of our Ministers outside Cabinet, our team of whips led by Scott Simpson, and all of our MPs: thank you for managing what’s been an incredibly large workload.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can I just close by wishing every New Zealander a very merry Christmas. On a serious note, it truly is a great privilege to do this job. I get to talk to New Zealanders about their challenges and also their aspirations, and that makes me more determined to come back to this place to make sure we realise all the great potential in this fantastic country of ours. I want to say, finally, for everyone that’s actually working in our hospitals, and our police, our lifesavers, our firefighters, thank you for the work you’re going to do over the summer keeping us safe. And can I say to everyone, merry Christmas and bring on 2025. 

c

Hangovers hurt

The dire state of government finances shown in the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) is largely due to mismanagement by the two previous Labour governments.

Their overspending, combined with the Reserve Bank’s letting interest rates get too low and stay too low for too long, has left the country with an economic hangover.

Some of the spending might have been justified had it  been on long term investments like building hospitals, schools and roads, but it wasn’t.

Far too much of the money they taxed, borrowed and spent was wasted on initiatives that appeared to have been funded on the mistaken belief that more spending was better spending.

It wasn’t, fat too much was simply wasted.

That is making the hangover worse and in urgent need of tough medicine.

Hangovers hurt and just like those caused by too much alcohol, a hair of the dog approach would give only a very temporary fix.

The only way to treat this malaise is to cut all waste, forgo any nice-to-haves and take a very, very conservative approach to what are have-to-haves.