News Worthy, 2 August 2007
new-zealand-national-party
Fri Aug 03 2007 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)
News Worthy, 2 August 2007
Friday, 3 August 2007, 9:56 am
Column: New Zealand National Party
News Worthy
2 August 2007 - No. 119
Electoral Finance Bill
It is truly said that politics is all about numbers and one assumes that the Government may have the numbers for the Bill it has introduced to contain election expenditure.
One of the significant changes is that the spending caps which were limited to three months before the date of an election have now been widen out to the start of the election year.
The next election is probably in November 2008 on an assumption that the Labour Government will run full-term.
So the effect of this legislation is that from 1 January 2008 to November 2008, any one who wants to publish anything that is critical of the Government will be subject to tight rules and tight spending caps but the Government will be free to spend multi-million large scale, tax-payer funded advertising campaigns on any or all of its policy.
The Government is no stranger to such taxpayer funded advertising. Already Labour is spending $15 million of taxpayer money to promote Working for Families, $7.4 million to promote Kiwi Saver (Labour spent $1.2 million in June alone) and $5.1 million to promote ACC.
The curse of methamphetamine use is well known
The National Drug Intelligence Bureau has recently published its 2006 clandestine drug laboratory report.
This report provides an overview of information related to the dismantling of clan labs by New Zealand Police during the 2006 calendar year. 'Official' clan lab recording began in 1996. A single clan lab was dismantled in that year. Since then, clan lab numbers have increased significantly with around 200 labs being located each year since 2003. February 2006 saw the detection of New Zealand's 1000th clan lab.
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Unsurprisingly the report notes that most clan labs detected are manufacturing methamphetamine.
One in three clan labs located in a residence has children present which is a very concerning factor.
Life on the ocean wave
The Navy is facing a critical manpower shortage exacerbated by Project Protector.
The 9,000 ton MRV is the first of seven ships being built under the Ministry of Defence’s $500 million Project Protector. Two offshore patrol vessels are being built in Melbourne and four inshore patrol vessels are being built in Whangarei.
Whilst the plan is for the multi-role vessel to be operated by the Navy it will undertake work for a range of government departments as part of a multi agency approach to protecting our borders.
The Minister of Defence has acknowledged that the RNZN faces a critical manning shortage. So from a defence political perspective the manning priority will go to the Project Protector ships. The irony of course is that the two vessels in our naval combat force – HMNZS TE KAHA and her sister ship HMNZS TE MANA will face restricted running and limited manning constraints.
What if HMNZS CANTERBURY became our first fleet auxiliary vessel?
The Royal Fleet Auxiliary is a component of the naval service that keeps the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom running around the world. Its main function is to supply the Royal Navy with fuel and supplies. It also counts amongst its assets a repair ship and amphibious assault vessels.
RFA vessels are manned predominantly by civilians augmented with Royal Navy personnel to perform specialized military functions such as operating and maintaining helicopters, operating weapon systems or manning hospital facilities.
This proposal would free up Naval personnel for duty in the Naval Combat Force.
Political Quote of the Week
"By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and Third by experience, which is the bitterest." Confucius
ENDS
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