Current Events category

TVNZ, TV3, Maori TV and Sky News have all agreed to go against parts of the new rules that were voted on in parliament which essentially banned use of images and videos of MPs for satirical use.

They accept that they will be held in contempt of parliament if they do, but they all agree that the new rules are undemocratic.

“This is not an issue of MPs versus the television media; it’s about New Zealanders being denied a particular viewpoint on New Zealand politics,” [TVNZ Head of News and Current Affairs, Anthony] Flannery says.

All these MPs seem to forget that anyone can see them anyway if they go to the debating chamber. I was thinking maybe someone should set up an open blog for anyone to post up what they saw of MPs that day. No images, of course, but at least people would still know if David Benson-Pope was sleeping on the job again!

It has just been announced that new rules that will make use of images and videos of MPs for satire illegal have passed by a large margin.

These rules not only affects TV programs like One News and 3 News, but it affects everyone, especially those creating independent media such as myself and other bloggers and those on YouTube. Penalties include fines and jail terms.

When you’re banning satire in the digital age, there are blogs out there and there are people out there, doing their own thing on the internet and they are not going to be able to use this footage either. It impinges not just on media freedom, it’s everyone’s freedom — Vernon Small

Why on earth politicians think they are so high-and-mighty is beyond me. It’s not our fault they sleep on the job, pull obscene gestures and yell insults to each other – all in the public eye. If it was a normal business they’d all be out of a job and nothing would stop other employees or people seeing the fault from satirising it. This is all a step too far.

(Image from KiwiBlog/Dave2)

It has been expected for sometime, but Paul Reynolds has been confirmed as the new CEO of Telecom New Zealand. Reynolds is currently CEO of BT Wholesale, and was there during the operational split of BT – something he can hopefully apply here as Telecom NZ is to go through a similar split.

Smart thing for Telecom to do, really. I believe that BT now see benefit in their split, but current Telecom only see loss. The government has been in discussions with BT regarding the split, to try and copy and learn from their experiences. With someone that’s “been-there-done-that,” I’m sure it’ll be a much smoother ride and that the current goal of unbundling in 2009 comes sooner.

Telecom cried that it was going to go the fastest it could, uncapped (except during peak times). However, a major botch up to the traffic shaping as meant everything, including normal web traffic, was being shaped. Today Telecom has had to refund 60,000 customers $7.5 to 8.8 million. The credit for those who have been on the plan since the beginning (December) will get up to $160 back.

Telecom are no longer accepting new sign ups to the plan until an internal technical review is completed.

The plan was launched in December in response to being forced to uncap bandwidth. It provided a list of services that were going to be shaped, including peer to peer (P2P) applications.

This is going to hit them where it hurts.

• Read the press release

Jayden was handed over to police yesterday morning by his grandfather Dick Headley, ending five months on the run.

The maternal grandfather wanted his daughter (the mother) to gain custody.

At first I though, “they must have figured that they won’t get custody at all now.” I did have my doubts about that, people who do stuff like this don’t think like normal people.

And sure enough I was right. The mother, Kay Skelton, is still going to fight for custody. The father, Chris Jones, gained custody originally. The family court does have a bias towards the mother when granting custody, so something must’ve been up for her not to get it in the first place.

Jayden was quick to get back into normal life, and he has also recounted the time spent on the run. More people are expected to be arrested in relation to the kidnapping.

You may have heard in the news recently about the missing 6 year old kid who was kidnapped by his grandfather from Hamilton Central Library on the 18th of August this year. I received this in my inbox this evening and wish to pass it on.

All New Zealander’s,
Please can you help find this 6 year old missing boy?

Jayden Headley was kidnapped from the Hamilton Public Library in August 2006.

A $10,500 Reward has been offered for any information leading to Jayden’s return in time for Christmas.

Evidence suggests Jayden is being kept in isolation by his 68 year old grandfather as a result of a lengthy custody battle.
Police are concerned for Jayden’s welfare and believe there may be a possibility he is hiding Jayden somewhere in Northland, New Zealand.
A warrant has been issued for Dick Headley’s arrest.

Please think about the area you live in, is this man hiding Jayden in your area?
If you are unable to help directly then please (for Jayden’s sake) forward this e-mail on to as many New Zealander’s as you can.
NZ is not too big, let’s get Jayden home for Christmas.

Ph 0800-JAYDEN (0800-529336) or visit www.jayden.gen.nz

Hopefully he can be found before Christmas so then he can spend it with his father, who has custodial rights to Jayden.

Whoa, sorry for my small hiatus. Work was keeping me busy, and when I got home I didn’t really care for the blog.

A lot has happened since Don Brash resigned as leader of the Nats. So,

• John Key and Bill English replace what is Don and Gerry. I’m glad they also pushed away Gerry Brownley. But it seems that John has had a good first week, and has cleared up his position on more policies than what I think Don did. However, as discussed with one of my friends last night, he has said that he supports things like welfare and benefits, but it’s the details that we’ll have to wait for. Still, a good pair.
• Along with that, Don Brash resigned from politics altogether. He said that it was “on a high note.” It took me a couple of moments to think about what high note. It is true that National is now polling extremely well, and Don isn’t doing too badly on the preferred PM stakes, but this is all overshadowed by the e-mails, the Exclusive Brethren details, and his endless string of gaffs.
• The Waterfront stadium was gone for good. But then, uhhh, why are we getting another “two weeks your out” situation with Eden Park? I’m glad we aren’t getting a daily update on the funding for the Eden Park upgrade, which is the biggest concern. More than $200 million is needed. And if that isn’t found, then it’s off to North Shore.
• One thing that is frustrating me about this is how we have the people living near Eden Park complaining about how their lives are so tough that they live next to a stadium. Why doesn’t the media ask these silly people why they chose to live near a stadium in the first place?
• Fiji is sitting and waiting for the coup to take place. The deadline was noon last Friday (Fiji time). However, rugby took priority. Apparently the new time is 3am tonight. Though, isn’t this coup all over the fact that the government wanted to forgive those who started the 2000 coup?

I got back from work today to discover that Don Brash has resigned from National leadership. This comes as he has placed an injunction on leaked e-mails, which subsequently blocked a book that was announced the same day the injunction came into force.

It has turned into a not-if-but-when situation, however it is still a shock, and after a year of constant calls for new leadership. It has been a very long time coming.

So, where to next for the party? There are already talks about John Keys being the next leader; he has been climbing up the polls ever so graciously over the past year. However, the Nicky Hagar book, The Hollow Men, involves him as well. It doesn’t look very good for the National party right now, despite high pollings.

• The announcement on National Party’s website

Everyone has an opinion on the waterfront stadium proposed for Auckland. The idea is to build a national stadium to host the World Cup in 2011, as well as many other events. The alternative is Eden Park, and if not that, then Jade Stadium in Auckland.

There have been many, many polls on this. TV3 did one on 3 News and showed more people are against the waterfront stadium. NZ Herald had one released the next day showing the same thing.

One News has been holding a poll all week (they also keep stating that it is not scientific - well done on TVNZ for not making out it is) and have shown an interesting result. While overall more are in favour of Eden Park, there is a very clear split between the phone/text voters, and the online voters. The phone ones (which are 0900 numbers and xx cents per text) has about 35% in favour of the waterfront. The online one (which of course is free on TVNZ.co.nz) has 65% in favour. The final poll result will be shown on One News tonight at 6.

I guess the poll is showing exactly what an unscientific 0900/mail-in poll is like. Because you have to pay, only those with very strong opinions (which are usually those against things), would bother voting. I’d believe the online poll more, as while there is self-selection still present, the deterrent of having to pay is removed.

One more thing that some people are pointing out - not everyone knows the full picture. Russell Brown as summarised it pretty well:

But let’s look at what’s actually proposed: the wharf around the stadium will be a public concourse; there will be bars and restaurants lining the area. At the end of the wharf, I would think, you’d feel like you were actually out on the harbour. Viewed from Devonport, all lit up at night, I imagine the structure would look stunning. Like Eden Park, it would house function rooms and venues, its glass walls opening up a harbour vista. Unlike Eden Park, the facilities could be used as often as anyone wanted them.

Outside, Quay Street is wide enough to be closed off as a pedestrian boulevard for major events, and still have room for a dedicated bus and taxi lane. There are 20,000-odd carparks within walking distance, a bus depot and a railway station. Any transit investment made in the area will also work for the Vector Arena and the Viaduct.

I’m kind of for the waterfront option myself. It’ll be much better than the current ports. My only concern is how long is it going to take to build? After they make the choice, they have to rush legislation through parliament so it can be weaseled out of the Resource Management Act. And then what happens if it isn’t built on time? I think this should have all been discussed during the RWC2011 proposal.

Yesterday afternoon, the government announced that if the drinking age bill failed, then they would review how the underage kids are being supplied with alcohol.

So the bill failed.

What amuses me is how the government is doing the review after putting in measures that had no guarantee that it’ll work. Maybe next time they’ll make informed decisions. Not to mention, boost enforcement of the current act which is what should have been done the whole time - I’ve only seen it happen twice with premises closing en masse because of being duped into serving an underage kid by the police.

So, in general, some good news all round - not that I’m 19 anymore.