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Government by Google

Posted by Grant Robertson on August 5th, 2010

A little bit of light relief for the end of the session. I asked the Minister of Finance ” Does he stand by his statement, ” if you know which websites to go to you can get access to high quality advice?”

This came from Bill English on Radio NZ in the wake of the announcement of the review of policy advice that had come up with a figure for the cost of advice by entering “policy” and “policies” in a search of the title field of Budget documents.

It was a pity that Gerry Brownlee was not chosen to answer. It would have been more fun with him, but still nice to have a bit of a laugh at the end of the session.

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Filed under: internet, policy, public services
5 Comments

Obama’s open govt guru to talk at OpenLabourNZ public event

Posted by Clare Curran on August 2nd, 2010

US President Barack Obama’s Deputy Chief Technology Officer Beth Noveck will be a key note speaker at a public event to provide input into Labour’s policy on open and transparent government.

Labour will hold a public event on 28 August in Wellington to bring together ideas generated over the last four months on how to deliver open and transparent government.

OpenLabourNZ was announced  at the end of April on Red Alert as a new way of doing things; our first open policy process, inviting the public to participate in developing its policy on what an open, transparent government might look like.

OpenLabourNZ is an experiment in how Labour could engage with the community, seek their input, build support and use new technologies and methods to develop policy.

This is new territory for us and we want people to contribute by saying what they think a good policy on open and transparent government would look like.

To date OpenLabourNZ has attracted hundreds of responses by blogs, twitter and facebook and direct communication with the Party.

We are  serious about being open and transparent. It’s  a new initiative, but through it we hope to demonstrate that we mean business and will take the policy to the election and into government.

A bit of info about Beth Noveck

A fulltime law professor at New York Law School, her professional career has focused on developing technologies that increase participation in democracy. In the Obama administration, Noveck leads the open government initiative at the Technology Office at the White House focusings on incorporating more voices into policy planning. To do this, she has already created several online forums where readers can comment on White House proposals and add their own ideas.

She has been Deputy Chief Technology Officer at the White House since February 2009. She was a  Volunteer Policy Advisor to Obama (2007 to 2008); Law Professor, New York Law School (since 2002); Bodies Electric, President and CEO (1999 to 2002).

Beth will appear at the Labour public event via video link. Further speakers and the venue will be announced shortly.
The public event is free and open to the public but has limited places. We will shortly be announcing the process to register for the event. It will be live streamed so that people in other centres can observe and participate.

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Filed under: #OpenLabourNZ, Labour Party, comms & IT, democracy, digital, policy
15 Comments

Let us get clear policy on school PPPs

Posted by Trevor Mallard on July 23rd, 2010

A reminder of a previous post on school  PPPs :-

But lets make it clear. Labour will develop a clear policy position on this. It will involve unwinding the contracts – using legislation if necessary. As with ACC in the past and if there is another privatisation.

And my view is that policy will involve compensation for the value of the bricks and mortar but not for the overheads and tender costs.

So be warned – don’t spend up on getting these deals together.

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Filed under: #OpenLabourNZ, Loan Sharks, business, economy, education, finance, infrastructure, outsourcing, policy, privatisation
50 Comments

Should I explain John Key’s policy to him?

Posted by Darien Fenton on July 17th, 2010

As workers gear up to fight against the government’s moves on employment law, it’s clear that Prime Minister John Key doesn’t understand what he’s about to announce tomorrow.

He said on TVNZ last night : “you can’t just sack someone (under the 90 day trial period) – you have to go through a formal process, but what the process avoids is a personal grievance just for the sake of things.”

Well, he’s wrong.  Under the 90 day trial period, an employer can just sack someone. They don’t even have to tell them why. They can just say “Don’t come Monday.”

And a personal grievance just for the sake of things?  Please.  He has no idea what an effort taking a personal grievance is and why would he think someone would do it “just for the sake of things”.  The number of grievances that proceed to mediation or beyond are tiny in comparison to New Zealand’s 2 million workforce.

Key went on to describe the law as “probationary periods”.  We already had those in the law prior to the 90 day Act last year, and still have them for all workers.

John Key needs to study up on his policies. I’m happy to help.

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Filed under: Employers, legislation, policy, workforce
35 Comments

New thinking: careful experimentation #OpenLabourNZ

Posted by Clare Curran on May 29th, 2010

The future is all about data. Stuff that’s produced by people like you and me. And how it is distributed, used and re-used.

Data you generate. Data that cannot exist without you. Now that data is valuable, it is the new lock-in. Anyone can build another auction site, but 200 million ratings can’t be acquired overnight. Anyone can build another bookstore, but 10 million reviews can’t be acquired overnight. Google. Amazon. eBay. Flickr. Facebook. YouTube. Everything where the value is created via data you create in the first place.

Is there such a thing as digital philosophy? If so, I think I’ve found one. A digital philosopher that is.

JP Rangaswami is chief scientist at British Telecom (BT). He writes a blog under the name Confused of Calcutta. I only discovered him today.

And I’m not sure I understand everything he’s saying. But what I like is that he’s challenging our existing paradigms (man after my own heart).

This piece, sent via twitter today is called Musings about evil. And he talks about the importance of data and careful experimentation.

It took IBM 40 years to “become evil”. It took Microsoft 20. It took Google 10. It took Facebook 5. It took Twitter 2.5…….

Actually nobody “became evil”. Becoming evil is not suddenly getting easier. What we’re seeing is the confluence of a number of trends:

  • Growth in the power of the consumer, in consumerism, a post-Nader, post-Sixties phenomenon
  • Advances in information transmission and reproduction, particularly with the advent of the internet and the web
  • Emergent affordability and ubiquity of edge devices that increase the number of people connected to each other

He contends that despite the huge amount of change that is occurring, business,  and ways of doing business, have not changed. Which is creating problems.

No new business models have emerged … since the year dot, there have only been three ways of collecting value for services provided: pay-per-drink, all-you-can-eat, get-someone-else-to-pay. We have a litany of terms for the third way: advertising, sponsorship, patronage, gifting, subsidy, freemium, it doesn’t matter. There are still only three models.

The way we store, share and use data is becoming incredibly important.

These are some of the reasons why privacy and sharing and not-sharing are needing to be discussed, understood, legislated for. These are some of the reasons why identity and intellectual property and net neutrality are critical issues, issues that must be resolved in a sensible way.

It’s going to take some time before we have the conventions, practices and laws to make the digital landscape the land of the free and the home of the brave. Until then, our watchword should be careful experimentation. But experimentation nevertheless.

Read his piece. And think about this stuff.

This thinking lies at the heart of the issues that underpin copyright in the digital age. We must do some new thinking about what we produce, how important it is, who gets to use it and how they use it. Government can and should have an enabling role in this I believe.

If you’re interested,  my speech in the first reading of the Govt’s Copyright Bill (replacement to Section 92A) raised some of these issues. The big question is, what to do about it?

Hat tip: @LaurenceMillar

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Filed under: #OpenLabourNZ, comms & IT, copyright, digital, intellectual property, internet, policy
10 Comments

Finance Team Budget Discussion

Posted by David Cunliffe on May 18th, 2010

On Thursday evening at 8.30pm, I will be hosting a discussion with other members of the Labour Finance team about the Budget. This will be filmed and streamed live at: http://labour.org.nz/budget2010

There will be the ability for those watching to chat with others around New Zealand who are also tuned in. We will be monitoring the comments and will hopefully be able to answer some of your questions during the session.

If this works well, then we hope to turn it into a regular feature.

If you’d like to be automatically reminded prior to the event just fill in your email below.

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Filed under: Budget, Cost of Living, Household income, Tax, digital, economic, economy, finance, infrastructure, jobs, policy
13 Comments

Farrar on #OpenLabourNZ

Posted by Clare Curran on May 14th, 2010

David Farrar on Kiwiblog has some initial ideas on open and transparent govt. It’s taken me a wee while to get round to commenting on them. Which is no reflection on his ideas. I hope he’ll have more.

Here they are (in Farrar’s words):

So what are my initial ideas for an open and transparent government policy.

  1. My previous suggestion that all Cabinet level documents be automatically placed on the Internet by DPMC within six months of creation.
  2. Expanding Parliament TV to include select committees
  3. Requiring all payments (above a modest threshold) from a Govt agency to be listed on a central website

All worthy of discussion. I think making broadcasting the public sections of select committees  would be a huge step forward. Obviously not everyone’s cup of tea but would certainly make the process of government much more  visible.

Funny that I agree more with Farrar than with Trotter so far!

What do you think?

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Filed under: #OpenLabourNZ, Labour Party, Red Alert, blogs, comms & IT, democracy, internet, policy, select committee
16 Comments

Higher Incomes, Better Jobs

Posted by Grant Robertson on May 13th, 2010

Phil’s speech in Nelson yesterday can be found here.

Obviously I think it is a good speech. It is exactly the kind of speech an Opposition Leader should be making in the lead up to the Budget in the middle year of the electoral cycle. It lays out the fundamentals of Labour’s approach to the economy and gives an indication of our priorities, and the areas where we are doing further work.

Actually it does have a number of quite specific commitments as well. In particular re-focusing tax cuts to middle and low income earners, changes to monetary policy, restoring government contributions to Kiwisaver and the Super Fund, restoring incentives for R&D.

Looking ahead we are finalising a fairer tax package. This includes investigating raising the thresholds for a top tax rate to around $100,000. Phil does not rule out reversing the increase to GST, but we are also investigating the possibility of removing it from fresh fruit and vegetables.

One area that has not received much attention in the media are Phil’s comments on overseas investment.

Foreign investment will continue to be important and encouraged. In particular we need to attract good greenfield investment that has a net benefit for New Zealand. It can bring factories, jobs, technology and other gains – that’s good investment. However our overseas investment legislation should not allow loss of control over strategic assets and areas which are natural monopolies within our country.

We need to ensure we maintain New Zealand control over key export areas.We should not allow cumulative purchases of farms that would allow control over Fonterra, for example, to slip out of New Zealand. We need solutions that harness our own capital, our own talents and brains and skills, and invest in them so that we do better at earning our way in the world.

This is an area which will be getting more attention over time, and is one that I know a lot of New Zealanders are very concerned about.

Overall this is a very substantive speech, and gives a strong indication of the territory Labour is staking out when it comes to the economy.

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Filed under: GST, Tax, economy, finance, inequality, jobs, policy
64 Comments

Peter Harris on NZ Super

Posted by Chris Hipkins on May 13th, 2010

Peter Harris has done an interesting guest post over at Policy Progress on New Zealand Superannuation. Peter puts forward a compelling argument that the Brash Taskforce was wrong to argue that NZ Super is overly generous. He draws on data that shows average post-tax pensions in OECD countries to be about 70% of earnings after tax. Here in NZ it is 42%, making us the 5th lowest in the OECD.

Peter argues that the universal nature of New Zealand Superannuation makes it more equitable than equivalent arrangements in Australia, where differentials in earnings during someone’s working life are replicated in their retirement.

In defending the universal nature of NZ Super, he quotes Michael Cullen, who argued that providing basic income security in retirement is both the least and the most citizens should expect from the state. In other words it is the state’s role to ensure pensioners don’t live in poverty, but it is not the state’s role to ensure that their earnings in retirement reflect their earnings during their working lives.

Peter’s final comment focuses the debate not on whether the scheme is generous or affordable, but how we should pay for it:

By any standard, New Zealand Superannuation is affordable and sustainable. A programme that costs at peak no more than 10% of GDP is both. The legitimate question is whether that is the priority that the citizens want. Debate that by all means, and debate how it is to be funded, but please, as a matter of analytical rigour, do not prejudice the path of that debate by making the assertion that our scheme is “generous”.

For me that last comment is the critical one. How are we going to pay for it? Over the next 10-20 years the number of people over the age of 65 will roughly double while the number in the workforce will stay about the same (although it goes without saying that as we live longer more and more people are likely to continue working, thus paying PAYE tax, beyond the age of 65).

National cut contributions to the NZ Super Fund last year and has yet to demonstrate how it will make up the shortfall. Both John Key and Bill English are playing the short game on NZ Super – they’re kicking it to touch for a future generation to deal with.

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Filed under: policy, senior citizens, superannuation
17 Comments

#OpenLabourNZ new Facebook page

Posted by Clare Curran on May 11th, 2010

We’ve listened to your feedback about finding a unified place to post your thoughts and ideas on an open and transparent government.

We have set up a Facebook Page (www.facebook.com/OpenLabourNZ) where you are encouraged to post your ideas and comment on what other people think. We will also post links to other blogs and sites on the page that mentions OpenLabourNZ so that you can easily see what people are talking about.

You’re still encouraged to comment here, or on your own blogs, but hopefully this is a step in the right direction.

Feedback?

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Filed under: #OpenLabourNZ, Labour Party, blogs, comms & IT, democracy, policy
24 Comments

#OpenLabourNZ No silver bullet says Trotter!

Posted by Clare Curran on May 10th, 2010

Yesterday, political commentator “extraordinaire” Chris Trotter, posted a provocative piece on OpenLabourNZ via his blog Bowally Road (would we expect anything else?)

In his usual inimitable style, Chris waxed lyrical about “magical remedies for monstrous and besetting evils – and all derived from folklore.” He was referring to such means as silver bullets, stakes through the heart, philosopher’s stones and the like.

The latest magical remedy, being attempted  by the Labour Party, being the internet and OpenLabourNZ, Labour’s first attempt at developing policy online and involving the people of NZ.  

Called OpenLabourNZ, the first cab off the rank is on Labour’s policy on open and transparent government.

Trotter describes this as the virtual political party and then goes on to say that nothing beats face to face contact and politics being conducted in the real room.

Well I’m keen for people to discuss this.

I’m an optimist and a bit of an opportunist. A back-handed compliment from Chris Trotter is better than no compliment.

Nothing beats the engagement on the doorsteps and the argy bargy of a political stoush between people in a real room. But the online world is real and exciting ,and new and conventional boundaries are kind of irrelevant.

And hey Chris, you did blog about it (via the internet). You old wolf you.

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Filed under: Labour Party, blogs, comms & IT, democracy, internet, policy
31 Comments

#OpenLabourNZ Are the principles right?

Posted by Clare Curran on May 5th, 2010

Idiot/Savant has blogged a thoughtful critique on the guiding principles on OpenLabourNZ.

He says open government is not about public sector reform. It is not about innovation. It is not about giving our fat internet pipes something to do. It is first and foremost about democracy and accountability

Then he says: open government isn’t about technology; it is about openness. Technology is just the tool. It can and should be a very powerful tool, but the focus shouldn’t be on that – rather it should be on maximising openness to increase collaboration etc.

And goes on to say that the third principle gets it wrong as well. Public information is not a “national resource” – it is public property.

I don’t have a particular problem with Idiot/Savant’s critique other than a sense that he misses out the bit that’s about the role of government. I think democracy, accountability, openness, increasing collaboration and making public information public are vital. But I also think government is there to do things.

However, the notion that public information should be public domain rather than subjected to crown copyright and that it should need a very strong reason to override is important to discuss.

What information shouldn’t be public and why?

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Filed under: #OpenLabourNZ, Labour Party, blogs, comms & IT, consultation, democracy, policy
17 Comments

#OpenLabourNZ The guiding principles

Posted by Clare Curran on May 3rd, 2010

Last week Labour announced a new way of developing policy. Out in the open, and involving you.

We are developing a policy on open and transparent government. And we set out the process that we’d use.We are inviting your views, your comments, your ideas and suggestions.

Today’s post sets out the guiding principles:

  • That open engagement at all levels of government is integral to promoting an informed, connected and democratic community, to public sector reform, innovation and best use of the national investment in broadband.
  • That using technology to increase collaboration in making policy and providing services will help achieve a more consultative, participatory and transparent government;
  • That public sector data and information is a national resource, and releasing as much of it on as permissive terms as possible will maximise its economic and social value and reinforce a healthy democracy;
  • That online engagement by public servants should be enabled and encouraged. Robust professional discussion benefits their agencies, their professional development, and the New Zealand public
  • That Labour’s open government policy will be able to translate from opposition into government. That we can live up to what we say we will do.

Labour will carefully consider the implementation and political implications of input received before it is adopted as policy. We will inform participants of the real world constraints (political, logistical, financial) as part of the engagement process.

Now it’s up to you to contribute to this important discussion.

To find out how to contribute click here

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Filed under: Labour Party, blogs, comms & IT, consultation, democracy, policy
8 Comments

It’s a demographic challenge

Posted by Chris Hipkins on May 2nd, 2010

A few weeks ago I did a post on the home ownership dream that promoted quite a lot of discussion and over 100 comments. It was prompted by some of the reading and research that I’ve been doing on intergenerational equity. I’m currently reading a book by David Willetts called The Pinch, subtitled “How the baby boomers took their children’s future – and why they should give it back”. The title is a bit provocative, but the book is well researched and presents a whole heap of data to back up Willetts’ arguments.

One possible explanation he puts forward for the rising cost of housing is simply demographic. Throughout our lives we accumulate wealth. In our older years we spend it, or we pass it down to the next generation. But an equitable transition of wealth between generations assumes an equitable distribution of the population amongst age groups, which clearly doesn’t exist. The baby boomers aren’t to blame for the fact that they’re currently controlling a disproportionate share of the world’s wealth, if you want to blame anyone; blame Hitler.

It’s not just housing either. A similar argument can be made about employment. For example, let’s assume than within an organisation there are a certain number of senior managers, a certain number of middle-managers, a certain number of entry-level jobs etc. We all start somewhere, usually at the entry-level, and then we progress throughout our careers. But a smaller generational cohort following a larger one is likely to find some congestion at the top. The boomers have reached the top and still have about a decade to go before retirement. And given we are living longer and many don’t want to retire at 65 anyway, it could be a lot longer.

Fast forward another decade and that’s when the baby boom pinch will really start to be felt. With half a million extra New Zealanders over the age of 65 while the workforce remains about the same size, it’s clear the govt of the day is going to face some real challenges. The cost of NZ Super will roughly double, not to mention the cost of healthcare and other social services such as aged care. If we’re to argue that each generation has a responsibility to care for those who came before and those who come after (elderly and children), where does that leave a generation disproportionately smaller?

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Filed under: democracy, economy, housing, inequality, policy, public services, senior citizens, social democracy, workforce
15 Comments

#OpenLabourNZ: What people are saying

Posted by Clare Curran on May 1st, 2010

Here’s a few links to some blogs on other sites:

At The Standard:
Open Government – Open Labour

Written By: Marty G – Date published: 8:50 am, April 30th, 2010 – 21 comments
Categories: accountability, activism, community democracy, democratic participation, labour – Tags:

It’s fantastic to see Labour’s Clare Curran working on an Open Government policy as a major plank for the next election. I’m pretty sure that it’s something various authors here have suggested over the last year and a bit – great minds, eh?

Read more here:

At No Right Turn:
#OpenLabourNZ

Labour is experimenting with crowdsourcing policy development, with a new project called OpenLabour. Policy ideas will be floated on Red Alert, with feedback through the comments. The result will be “a key input for Labour to consider in developing its policy”. How seriously it will be taken depends on how good it is. Which points out an obvious vulnerability right there: right-wing trolls engaging in their usual disruption and sabotage could easily make this a waste of time for everyone involved.

Read more here:

At Political Dumpground:
#OpenLabourNZ

Labour has decided to open up its policy development to the public. Quite a bold move by any political party I must say and I look forward to seeing how it develops. It is a good move forward for a more democratic society. Rather than writing a law and then getting public opinion get that public opinion first so the law can be written on that framework. A much better way to do it in my mind.

Read more here:

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Filed under: #OpenLabourNZ, Labour Party, blogs, comms & IT, consultation, democracy, policy
9 Comments

#OpenLabourNZ: What you are saying so far

Posted by Clare Curran on April 30th, 2010

Labour’s first attempt to develop open policy in an online environment is called #OpenLabourNZ. Our  first policy is on open and transparent government. Here’s a summary of the ideas and views coming through so far:

Ideas
Important not to look like party is “out of ideas”
Who will own ideas generated by this?
How will commitment to act on the ideas generated be ensured?

Party values
Will you be led more by public or party opinion?
What will happen when/if party opinion is out of line with public opinion? Is there room for flexibility?
Ensure core values of the party are retained
Make a commitment to acting on the ideas that are generated by the public, in keeping with party values

Moderation/ Technical elements
Format of submissions
Promotions of this process outside Red Alert and blogs
Possibility of creating a Wiki
Ensuring you engage those who don’t already use Twitter or social networking sites

Civil Education
This is a new opportunity for immediacy and directness, sparking interest in parliamentary processes
Engaging those who may feel disconnected from “the system” – particularly younger generations

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Filed under: #OpenLabourNZ, Labour Party, blogs, comms & IT, consultation, democracy, policy
15 Comments

#OpenLabourNZ How it will work

Posted by Clare Curran on April 30th, 2010

Labour announced yesterday that we are trying something new. A new way of developing policy. Out in the open, and involving you.

We are developing a policy on open and transparent government. This is how you can participate.

Stage 1. Participate in the first round of discussion

This is a brainstorming phase. We want to hear all your ideas, suggestions, and the issues you think are important regards open and transparent government. At this stage any contribution is welcome and valid, no matter how left field. Blog posts, links to news articles and reports or research, commentary on what’s happening in other countries, your half thought through or fully structured thoughts, anything is welcome.

It would be great if you could use the OpenLabourNZ tag whenever you write about the issue. This will make it easier for us to find and aggregate your input.

To participate you can:

Stage 2. Participate in a public event

Labour will host a public event in about four/five weeks (date to be announced) which you can attend in person, or through remote access. We hope to stream it live and to have several prominent speakers on open, transparent government. This is an opportunity to take part in a live discussion on the main issues raised during the first round of discussions and to hear other people’s views.

Stage 3. Comment on the draft policy on the wiki

After the public event, a draft policy paper will be put together by an independent writer who will be tasked with drawing together all the major themes and issues raised during Stages 1 and 2. The draft paper will be placed on a wiki for editing by anyone who wants to participate, over a defined period. It will then be finalised, and presented to Labour as a major piece of input into our policy development process.

Please participate in good faith. If you have any questions, just post them on this  blog or email me directly.

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Filed under: #OpenLabourNZ, Labour Party, Red Alert, Social media, blogs, comms & IT, consultation, democracy, policy
32 Comments

#OpenLabourNZ A new way of doing things

Posted by Clare Curran on April 29th, 2010

Labour is about to try something new. A new way of developing policy. Out in the open, and involving you.

Labour wants to start by developing a policy on open and transparent government. We want to do that in an open and transparent way.

Over the next couple of weeks there will be a series of posts on Red Alert on this.

  • The first post will outline the process and how you can participate.
  • The second will present some initial principles and ideas to generate discussion.

This is exciting and new and because it’s our first time, we might make some mistakes. We hope you’ll show goodwill and tolerance and above all, that you’ll have things to say.

Open and transparent government is about how politicians, the governing party and the public sector constructively interacts with citizens to be more democratic and effective.

Will you be writing Labour policy?
We want to be upfront with you from the beginning

Your input will contribute to Labour’s policy. The #openlabournz document will be taken as a key input for Labour to consider in developing its policy, noting the other drivers and that there will be changes possibly made between it and the final policy. However, please be assured that the final output will be of high quality, and that high quality suggestions are always taken very seriously in Labour Party policy development.

Labour is of course a political party and politics will dictate what the final policy looks like and how it is arrived at. Once the #openlabournz document is completed, we will keep you posted about where the policy is at, and where it ends up. Labour’s policy finalisation process is for Labour members and you’re welcome to participate in that next step through the usual route of joining the party.

Why are we doing this?
Red Alert was established as a tool using new technology to build a voice for Labour and to demonstrate that we are doing things differently and prepared to truly “engage” with the public in ways we haven’t before.

The debates on Red Alert are good. There is a definite need however for another mechanism which takes the discussion further on particular issues. A way of providing an open forum for discussion that can provide input into Labour policy. That’s authentic. That shows we are who we say we are.

#OpenLabourNZ is a way to do that. If the process works, we’ll do it again on other issues. You might have suggestions. So remember the hash tag #OpenLabourNZ. And watch this space for the next post.

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Filed under: #OpenLabourNZ, Labour Party, blogs, comms & IT, consultation, democracy, policy
68 Comments

What shall we do with the drunken drivers?

Posted by Darien Fenton on April 19th, 2010

Over the weekend, I visited the SADD (Students against Driving Drunk) conference, which was attended by young people from colleges throughout the upper North Island.

SADD is a peer education programme with the primary objective of reducing the harm caused on our roads by drink drivers and is run in secondary schools by students. It can also be incorporated into the school curriculum.

During the time I was there, SADD members reported back from group work on educating others, both at school and in the community, on the impact of drunk driving. This was entertaining, and very powerful, as they talked about the impact of a crash on families, the school, on students and the community.

We also saw videos of the winners of the Turners Short Film Competition, 2009 and a video, prepared by SADD with student involvement that they hope will make the main TV channels.   I was impressed by these young leaders, who are taking on an issue that isn’t necessarily that popular among their peers – or for that matter older people!

With road safety in the news, I took the opportunity to ask SADD members their views on increasing the driving age. It’s fair to say their views were mixed, but all were firm on increasing driver education and supervision.

The next big issue Cabinet will consider is the NZ drinking limit for all ages. Should we lower the blood-alcohol limit from 80 milligrams per 100 millilitres to 50mg? If so, what difference do you think will it make?

The Automobile Association says that there is no evidence that lowering the blood-alcohol limit will reduce road deaths.

Is the alcohol limit the problem, or is the problem those who drink a lot more than 0.8 (or 0.5%) and who are recidivist drunk drivers? (and there’s been a few in the news lately). And if the latter, what should we do with them?

I would be interested in your views.

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Filed under: policy, transport
33 Comments

How much was Trump paid?

Posted by Chris Hipkins on March 15th, 2010

Gambling in New Zealand is highly regulated. Casinos and pokie machine venues can’t advertise. The notable exception is Lotto, who can get away with a lot more than other gambling outlets. Can you imagine Sky City getting away with a TV advertising campaign suggesting you could “Trump up your life” by visiting the casino? Me neither.

I think given the extra lattitude that Lotto are given in their advertising it’s important that they’re upfront and transparent in their activities. I’m concerned that they are refusing to reveal how much they paid Donald Trump for their latest promotion. Newstalk ZB has the story.

Which raises the wider issue: should Lotto be treated differently to other forms of gambling like casinos and pokie venues? Are our restrictions on Lotto advertising too light, or are our restrictions on casino and pokie advertising too heavy, or is it a combination of both? Interested in your thoughts…

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Filed under: policy, regulation
25 Comments

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