Oct 2009
A generation of kids will be lost - NZ must do more
29/10/09 17:30 Filed in: News Releases
16,000 children are dying from hunger every day because food aid is now at its lowest level in twenty years, but the National government remains determined not to use our aid for ‘poverty reduction,” says Progressive leader and MP Jim Anderton.
The head of the United Nation’s World Food Programme recently announced that tens of millions of the world’s poor will have their food rations cut or cancelled in the next few weeks because some OECD countries have slashed aid after the financial crisis.
Jim Anderton was talking at the launch of the Mutima Project in Christchurch tonight.
The Mutima project is a volunteer organisation and will send a team of cardiac surgeons to Zambia to perform life-saving heart surgery on young adults.
“I commend them for the strength of their personal commitment and their determination to serve. We are a stronger and more caring community because of people like these Christchurch surgeons. Because of them, a hundred young Zambians will have a second chance at life.”
About 60% of the Zambian population are living on less than a $1 per day.
“But where is the urgency from the National government to save a generation of children who will die from starvation if the world does nothing?”
The National government has recently announced that it will abolish the goal of ‘poverty reduction’ for our aid, and replace it with a goal of ‘economic development’.
“I am a strong champion of economic development - I used to be Minister of Economic Development. But you can’t do much business development if people don’t have enough to eat or clean water to drink.”
“I also want to see the National government do more about bad governance and corruption in some of the poorest countries.”
“I want to see New Zealand get behind a new international Natural Resource Charter which sets out ‘best practice’ in countries with natural resources like oil (or copper in Zambia), so proceeds of those resources go to the poorest people and don’t end up in the pockets of the corrupt,” says Jim Anderton.
The head of the United Nation’s World Food Programme recently announced that tens of millions of the world’s poor will have their food rations cut or cancelled in the next few weeks because some OECD countries have slashed aid after the financial crisis.
Jim Anderton was talking at the launch of the Mutima Project in Christchurch tonight.
The Mutima project is a volunteer organisation and will send a team of cardiac surgeons to Zambia to perform life-saving heart surgery on young adults.
“I commend them for the strength of their personal commitment and their determination to serve. We are a stronger and more caring community because of people like these Christchurch surgeons. Because of them, a hundred young Zambians will have a second chance at life.”
About 60% of the Zambian population are living on less than a $1 per day.
“But where is the urgency from the National government to save a generation of children who will die from starvation if the world does nothing?”
The National government has recently announced that it will abolish the goal of ‘poverty reduction’ for our aid, and replace it with a goal of ‘economic development’.
“I am a strong champion of economic development - I used to be Minister of Economic Development. But you can’t do much business development if people don’t have enough to eat or clean water to drink.”
“I also want to see the National government do more about bad governance and corruption in some of the poorest countries.”
“I want to see New Zealand get behind a new international Natural Resource Charter which sets out ‘best practice’ in countries with natural resources like oil (or copper in Zambia), so proceeds of those resources go to the poorest people and don’t end up in the pockets of the corrupt,” says Jim Anderton.
0 Comments
Launch of the Mutima Project
29/10/09 17:30 Filed in: Speeches
The official launch of the Mutima Project
29 October 2009, 5.30pm.
Princess Margaret Hospital, Christchurch
SPEECH NOTES
I’m very pleased to be here tonight at the official launch of the Mutima Project.
I am often called on to speak to groups of volunteers who give up their time and use their skills to help other people; whether it’s the Canterbury Coastguard, community volunteers, or cardiac surgeons - (you might actually be my first group of cardiac surgeons).
Each time, I’m struck by the strength of the personal commitment of each of you to serve and help others. We are a stronger and more caring community because of people like you.
The organisations and businesses that have supported the project also deserve our thanks and our praise for being there when you needed them.
I once heard an ad which called on people to volunteer; it said ‘Volunteer! What else are you going to do with a degree in literature?’ You can’t say the same about those of you here tonight; ‘what else are you going to do with a degree in cardiac surgery?’ Well - hopefully a lot. We are here to celebrate that you are choosing to give up your time and use your skills to help the people of Zambia.
I’ve also heard it said that when it comes to community service, if you need something done - give it to the busiest person! I know that many of you are busy professional people, but still, more than 30 of you will make the time to travel to Zambia and carry out 100 heart operations over five years.
Some people spend a life-time volunteering.
I heard a story from a daughter who had just helped her 90-year-old mother through the strain of moving from the family home into a retirement home.
The daughter was trying to tidy up all the arrangements and tactfully said: "Mum, what about Meals on Wheels?" To which her mother replied: "No, dear, I don't think I could volunteer for them anymore.”
Behind the willingness to volunteer is the recognition that there is an urgent problem, and if you don’t do anything, people will suffer or die.
I was sickened the other day to read this statistic:16,000 children are dying from hunger-related illnesses every day on this beautiful planet of ours.
This is a quote from the head of the United Nation’s World Food Programme, who warns that food aid is now at its lowest level in 20 years – even though the need is greater than it has ever been.
Tens of millions of the world's poor will have their food rations cut or cancelled in the next few weeks because rich countries have slashed aid funding as a result of the financial crisis.
The number of hungry people in the world has increased from 150 million to more than one billion - in a single year.
We’re talking about the loss of a generation of children to malnutrition, food riots and political destabilisation. It’s a silent tsunami.
This generation of children will never recover unless we do something.
And yet our newspapers aren’t running headlines telling us about this tragedy; there’s no sense of urgency that we have to keep trying to do something.
As many of you here know - some of this tragedy is playing out in Zambia as we speak.
About 60 % of the Zambian population are reportedly living on less than $1 per day.
One in five adults is affected by HIV.
But it’s not all hopeless. There’s a lot we can do, as a country both through our membership of international organisations, and as individuals.
The Zambian economy has depended on copper mining for many years now.
And yet despite being rich in natural resources, its people have been stuck in extreme poverty.
Political corruption and the bad practice of international mining organisations have played their part.
Today, there is international pressure to see countries like Zambia sign up to a draft Natural Resource Charter. This would guide the actions of governments and international businesses so that the proceeds of natural resources go towards development, not into the pockets of the corrupt.
I would like to see New Zealand get behind this Charter and do everything we can to get the governments and businesses in rich countries and the governments of developing countries to sign up to best practice.
I would like to see New Zealand do more as good global citizens. It’s a great shame that NZAID, our aid agency will now be absorbed back into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The goal of ‘poverty reduction’ for our aid has been replaced with the goal of ‘economic development’.
I am a strong champion of economic development - I used to be Minister of Economic Development’. But you can’t do much business development if people don’t have enough to eat or clean water to drink, or good quality health care.
We can put pressure on politicians to do the right thing. But what we each decide to do as individuals matters too.
Whether you’re performing heart surgery on a young person in Zambia and giving them a second chance at life; or whether you’re a supporter of the Mutima project - your decision to be part of this project matters.
Thanks to you, a hundred young adult Zambians will have a chance to lead productive and active lives.
Who knows? One of them might become a future leader determined to do more to save that generation of children who are dying right now.
You will have left behind a better functioning hospital system so that in the future Zambian surgeons can perform critical surgery themselve, and projects like Mutima won’t be necessary.
But for today, your work is urgently needed, and I applaud you for your decision to do something to save lives. I wish you the best of luck and I look forward to hearing all about it when you get back.
29 October 2009, 5.30pm.
Princess Margaret Hospital, Christchurch
SPEECH NOTES
I’m very pleased to be here tonight at the official launch of the Mutima Project.
I am often called on to speak to groups of volunteers who give up their time and use their skills to help other people; whether it’s the Canterbury Coastguard, community volunteers, or cardiac surgeons - (you might actually be my first group of cardiac surgeons).
Each time, I’m struck by the strength of the personal commitment of each of you to serve and help others. We are a stronger and more caring community because of people like you.
The organisations and businesses that have supported the project also deserve our thanks and our praise for being there when you needed them.
I once heard an ad which called on people to volunteer; it said ‘Volunteer! What else are you going to do with a degree in literature?’ You can’t say the same about those of you here tonight; ‘what else are you going to do with a degree in cardiac surgery?’ Well - hopefully a lot. We are here to celebrate that you are choosing to give up your time and use your skills to help the people of Zambia.
I’ve also heard it said that when it comes to community service, if you need something done - give it to the busiest person! I know that many of you are busy professional people, but still, more than 30 of you will make the time to travel to Zambia and carry out 100 heart operations over five years.
Some people spend a life-time volunteering.
I heard a story from a daughter who had just helped her 90-year-old mother through the strain of moving from the family home into a retirement home.
The daughter was trying to tidy up all the arrangements and tactfully said: "Mum, what about Meals on Wheels?" To which her mother replied: "No, dear, I don't think I could volunteer for them anymore.”
Behind the willingness to volunteer is the recognition that there is an urgent problem, and if you don’t do anything, people will suffer or die.
I was sickened the other day to read this statistic:16,000 children are dying from hunger-related illnesses every day on this beautiful planet of ours.
This is a quote from the head of the United Nation’s World Food Programme, who warns that food aid is now at its lowest level in 20 years – even though the need is greater than it has ever been.
Tens of millions of the world's poor will have their food rations cut or cancelled in the next few weeks because rich countries have slashed aid funding as a result of the financial crisis.
The number of hungry people in the world has increased from 150 million to more than one billion - in a single year.
We’re talking about the loss of a generation of children to malnutrition, food riots and political destabilisation. It’s a silent tsunami.
This generation of children will never recover unless we do something.
And yet our newspapers aren’t running headlines telling us about this tragedy; there’s no sense of urgency that we have to keep trying to do something.
As many of you here know - some of this tragedy is playing out in Zambia as we speak.
About 60 % of the Zambian population are reportedly living on less than $1 per day.
One in five adults is affected by HIV.
But it’s not all hopeless. There’s a lot we can do, as a country both through our membership of international organisations, and as individuals.
The Zambian economy has depended on copper mining for many years now.
And yet despite being rich in natural resources, its people have been stuck in extreme poverty.
Political corruption and the bad practice of international mining organisations have played their part.
Today, there is international pressure to see countries like Zambia sign up to a draft Natural Resource Charter. This would guide the actions of governments and international businesses so that the proceeds of natural resources go towards development, not into the pockets of the corrupt.
I would like to see New Zealand get behind this Charter and do everything we can to get the governments and businesses in rich countries and the governments of developing countries to sign up to best practice.
I would like to see New Zealand do more as good global citizens. It’s a great shame that NZAID, our aid agency will now be absorbed back into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The goal of ‘poverty reduction’ for our aid has been replaced with the goal of ‘economic development’.
I am a strong champion of economic development - I used to be Minister of Economic Development’. But you can’t do much business development if people don’t have enough to eat or clean water to drink, or good quality health care.
We can put pressure on politicians to do the right thing. But what we each decide to do as individuals matters too.
Whether you’re performing heart surgery on a young person in Zambia and giving them a second chance at life; or whether you’re a supporter of the Mutima project - your decision to be part of this project matters.
Thanks to you, a hundred young adult Zambians will have a chance to lead productive and active lives.
Who knows? One of them might become a future leader determined to do more to save that generation of children who are dying right now.
You will have left behind a better functioning hospital system so that in the future Zambian surgeons can perform critical surgery themselve, and projects like Mutima won’t be necessary.
But for today, your work is urgently needed, and I applaud you for your decision to do something to save lives. I wish you the best of luck and I look forward to hearing all about it when you get back.
Who owns the ASB? Not us
29/10/09 16:22 Filed in: News Releases
The ASB has been an Australian owned bank for the last two decades, and it is misleading the public when it pretends to be a ‘Kiwi Bank’, says Progressive MP Jim Anderton.
The ABS is running promotional ads claiming ‘We’ve been a Kiwi Bank since 1847.”
“The truth is we don’t really know who owns the ASB. We know it is owned 100% by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), but who owns the Commonwealth Bank?
“It used to be owned by the Federal Government of Australia but it was privatised in stages beginning in 1991.”
Almost half of the current owners of the Commonwealth Bank are ‘nominee’ companies. That means their identities are hidden behind other well-known companies, like the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC).
“We don’t really know who owns ASB. All we know for sure is that New Zealand doesn’t.”
In 1989, the ASB Bank Community Trust sold 75% of the shares to The Commonwealth Bank of Australia. In 2000 the CBA bought the remaining 25% of ASB shares from the Trust.
Since 2000 the ABS has been 100% owned by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
“We do however have a New Zealand owned banking network owned by all New Zealanders - and it’s called ‘Kiwibank’.”
“The Aussies are welcome to start their own ‘Aussiebank’ but they shouldn’t try to pinch ours,” says Jim Anderton.
The ABS is running promotional ads claiming ‘We’ve been a Kiwi Bank since 1847.”
“The truth is we don’t really know who owns the ASB. We know it is owned 100% by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), but who owns the Commonwealth Bank?
“It used to be owned by the Federal Government of Australia but it was privatised in stages beginning in 1991.”
Almost half of the current owners of the Commonwealth Bank are ‘nominee’ companies. That means their identities are hidden behind other well-known companies, like the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC).
“We don’t really know who owns ASB. All we know for sure is that New Zealand doesn’t.”
In 1989, the ASB Bank Community Trust sold 75% of the shares to The Commonwealth Bank of Australia. In 2000 the CBA bought the remaining 25% of ASB shares from the Trust.
Since 2000 the ABS has been 100% owned by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
“We do however have a New Zealand owned banking network owned by all New Zealanders - and it’s called ‘Kiwibank’.”
“The Aussies are welcome to start their own ‘Aussiebank’ but they shouldn’t try to pinch ours,” says Jim Anderton.
An ‘unfortunate’ arrangement
28/10/09 16:45 Filed in: News Releases
The Auditor General’s findings about Bill English’s accommodation arrangements go significantly further than findings that caused Marion Hobbs and Phillida Bunkle to stand down from ministerial office in 2001, Progressive MP Jim Anderton says.
“This makes Mr English’s position as finance minister very difficult,” Jim Anderton says.
“I have been in the same position as Mr Key is now in, in having to make a decision on the future of the Minister. A precedent for the right thing to do has been set.”
Jim Anderton wrote to the Auditor-General saying Mr English’ arrangements needed scrutiny. The report finds Mr English’s arrangements were not within the rules. The Auditor General’s report states:
The result was that the Crown was renting a property for Mr English from a trust in which he had an interest, and the arrangement was explicitly based on a view that he did not have an interest. Clearly, this was unfortunate.
“The report discloses Mr English went to some lengths to arrange his affairs around the accommodation allowance entitlement. That is not a good look for a Minister of Finance.
“The Auditor-General’s advice does not even mention other issues that the Prime Minister still needs to consider: that Mr English was giving his Wellington address as his home for the purpose of being a director of a company (incidentally, the company that owns his Dipton investment), but claiming to live in Dipton for the purpose of receiving an accommodation allowance.
“A prudent minister might have noticed the contradiction between those two claims.
“I have always welcomed the idea of Mr English having his family with him in Wellington. That is not the issue. The question is whether he was right to claim entitlements for doing so.
“It would not have been in any way objectionable if Mr English had lived in Wellington with his family and claimed an out of town allowance for his occasional trips to Dipton,”
Jim Anderton said.
“This makes Mr English’s position as finance minister very difficult,” Jim Anderton says.
“I have been in the same position as Mr Key is now in, in having to make a decision on the future of the Minister. A precedent for the right thing to do has been set.”
Jim Anderton wrote to the Auditor-General saying Mr English’ arrangements needed scrutiny. The report finds Mr English’s arrangements were not within the rules. The Auditor General’s report states:
The result was that the Crown was renting a property for Mr English from a trust in which he had an interest, and the arrangement was explicitly based on a view that he did not have an interest. Clearly, this was unfortunate.
“The report discloses Mr English went to some lengths to arrange his affairs around the accommodation allowance entitlement. That is not a good look for a Minister of Finance.
“The Auditor-General’s advice does not even mention other issues that the Prime Minister still needs to consider: that Mr English was giving his Wellington address as his home for the purpose of being a director of a company (incidentally, the company that owns his Dipton investment), but claiming to live in Dipton for the purpose of receiving an accommodation allowance.
“A prudent minister might have noticed the contradiction between those two claims.
“I have always welcomed the idea of Mr English having his family with him in Wellington. That is not the issue. The question is whether he was right to claim entitlements for doing so.
“It would not have been in any way objectionable if Mr English had lived in Wellington with his family and claimed an out of town allowance for his occasional trips to Dipton,”
Jim Anderton said.
Research and development: from Fast Forward to slow and slower...
20/10/09 09:04 Filed in: Columns
Column for Canterbury Farmer
One of the strangest moments in the last election campaign was when the National party announced that it would abolish the Fast Forward Fund, and cut tax incentives for our most innovative businesses prepared to invest in research and development in agriculture.
Unfortunately the National-led government has kept that promise, and we're now facing a crisis in funding for research in the primary production sector.
Fast Forward came out of the 20/20 Summit I hosted as Minister of Agriculture at the end of 2007. A key recommendation of the gathering was to create a dedicated fund to finance research and development. The goal was to take each stage of production, from the production of the raw product on farms, to manufacturing and ultimately to markets here and overseas, and to add value at each stage.
In 2008 we announced the launch of the Fast Forward Fund with the intention of using it to catapult the New Zealand economy into the future.
We had a model where the funding was shared between government and the private sector. The Crown made a commitment to put $700 million up front into the fund which was matched by a similar amount from the private sector.
We had a joint Crown/private sector board to oversee the investment and the allocation of funds which was to have a life span of at least a decade to give certainty over a decent period of time.
The Fast Forward was placed under the management of three independent ‘Guardians’ who would invest it. Treasury and MAF estimated that the Fund plus interest would reach $2000M over a ten-year period.
The National-led Government cancelled the Fund.
The Fast Forward board had already held four meetings and was developing its overall strategy and the principles to be used to oversee the allocation to programmes and projects. Suddenly it was stopped and the initial investment from the government of $700 million plus $15 million of interest that it had earned, less the costs of getting it established, was returned.
Minister of Agriculture David Carter has replaced Fast Forward with the 'Primary Growth Partnership’ (PGP) which is apparently now 'up and running' with $30 million to spend in its first year and a total of $160M over the next three years.
Hon. Carter has yet to tell me how many research project proposals the PGP has received, nearly twelve months after Fast Forward was already working.
This is a huge opportunity lost. We are already facing a crisis in research and development. Meat & Wool New Zealand has announced it will stop any wool-related activities because of the loss of the wool levy in the recent referendum. This means there is no more money to fund the research and development of our wool based products.
The recently established Government Taskforce needs to give hope to the wool sector that there is a plan to increase the demand for our wool with a lift of prices for the producers, particularly for the coarse wool sector where research is so badly needed. Companies, like Ice Breaker using fine wool merino are already world leaders when it comes to making the most of research and development to expand their markets.
Finally, though, what the primary production sector really needs is not government taskforces; it needs money to fund research and development, and it needs the certainly of knowing that funds will not be taken away arbitrarily by politicians or government departments.
One of the strangest moments in the last election campaign was when the National party announced that it would abolish the Fast Forward Fund, and cut tax incentives for our most innovative businesses prepared to invest in research and development in agriculture.
Unfortunately the National-led government has kept that promise, and we're now facing a crisis in funding for research in the primary production sector.
Fast Forward came out of the 20/20 Summit I hosted as Minister of Agriculture at the end of 2007. A key recommendation of the gathering was to create a dedicated fund to finance research and development. The goal was to take each stage of production, from the production of the raw product on farms, to manufacturing and ultimately to markets here and overseas, and to add value at each stage.
In 2008 we announced the launch of the Fast Forward Fund with the intention of using it to catapult the New Zealand economy into the future.
We had a model where the funding was shared between government and the private sector. The Crown made a commitment to put $700 million up front into the fund which was matched by a similar amount from the private sector.
We had a joint Crown/private sector board to oversee the investment and the allocation of funds which was to have a life span of at least a decade to give certainty over a decent period of time.
The Fast Forward was placed under the management of three independent ‘Guardians’ who would invest it. Treasury and MAF estimated that the Fund plus interest would reach $2000M over a ten-year period.
The National-led Government cancelled the Fund.
The Fast Forward board had already held four meetings and was developing its overall strategy and the principles to be used to oversee the allocation to programmes and projects. Suddenly it was stopped and the initial investment from the government of $700 million plus $15 million of interest that it had earned, less the costs of getting it established, was returned.
Minister of Agriculture David Carter has replaced Fast Forward with the 'Primary Growth Partnership’ (PGP) which is apparently now 'up and running' with $30 million to spend in its first year and a total of $160M over the next three years.
Hon. Carter has yet to tell me how many research project proposals the PGP has received, nearly twelve months after Fast Forward was already working.
This is a huge opportunity lost. We are already facing a crisis in research and development. Meat & Wool New Zealand has announced it will stop any wool-related activities because of the loss of the wool levy in the recent referendum. This means there is no more money to fund the research and development of our wool based products.
The recently established Government Taskforce needs to give hope to the wool sector that there is a plan to increase the demand for our wool with a lift of prices for the producers, particularly for the coarse wool sector where research is so badly needed. Companies, like Ice Breaker using fine wool merino are already world leaders when it comes to making the most of research and development to expand their markets.
Finally, though, what the primary production sector really needs is not government taskforces; it needs money to fund research and development, and it needs the certainly of knowing that funds will not be taken away arbitrarily by politicians or government departments.
Nick Smith stigmatises families of suicide victims
15/10/09 13:50 Filed in: News Releases
Minister of ACC, Nick Smith says it was ‘a mistake and wrong’ for the last Labour-led government to support the families of suicide victims through ACC.
“Nick Smith should have the courage to say this directly to the families of suicide victims. It is yet another cowardly and insensitive comment from a Minister who is determined to further stigmatise these families,” says MP for Wigram and Progressive Party leader Jim Anderton.
Nick Smith apologised in parliament today for his comments on TVNZ News last night where he said that the terminally ill might as well ‘throw themselves under a train’ to get the same treatment for their own families as is available for the bereaved families of suicide victims.
“If the children or loved ones of a suicide victim don’t get our support through ACC, then where do they get it from? Is the Minister saying that they don’t deserve our support? Or is he saying that they should go on a sickness benefit?”
“When he said yesterday that the government’s ‘objective is to secure the long-term future of ACC as an efficient and fair 24/7, no-fault insurance scheme for all New Zealanders’, he clearly did not mean the families of suicide victims. He is effectively victimising these most vulnerable of New Zealanders.”
As the Minister in charge of suicide prevention programs in the last Labour/Progressive government, Jim Anderton introduced a program of support for families after a suicide (Postvention). This provided urgent counselling where needed to families, and victim support for those affected.
Nick Smith claims that it is necessary to cut support to the families of suicide victims because ACC has a huge deficit. He said if someone with a family committed suicide, that family could have been given almost $1 million in compensation over time.
“Yet the cost for ACC to give support to a family of three children on an average wage is less than $210,000 over five years. With approximately 350 claims per year, that is about $7 millions per year to all families of suicide victims who make an ACC claim.”
“That is a small cost to pay out of what Nick Smith claims is a $2 billion shortfall annually, to help some of the most vulnerable families in our community.”
“Nick Smith should have the courage to say this directly to the families of suicide victims. It is yet another cowardly and insensitive comment from a Minister who is determined to further stigmatise these families,” says MP for Wigram and Progressive Party leader Jim Anderton.
Nick Smith apologised in parliament today for his comments on TVNZ News last night where he said that the terminally ill might as well ‘throw themselves under a train’ to get the same treatment for their own families as is available for the bereaved families of suicide victims.
“If the children or loved ones of a suicide victim don’t get our support through ACC, then where do they get it from? Is the Minister saying that they don’t deserve our support? Or is he saying that they should go on a sickness benefit?”
“When he said yesterday that the government’s ‘objective is to secure the long-term future of ACC as an efficient and fair 24/7, no-fault insurance scheme for all New Zealanders’, he clearly did not mean the families of suicide victims. He is effectively victimising these most vulnerable of New Zealanders.”
As the Minister in charge of suicide prevention programs in the last Labour/Progressive government, Jim Anderton introduced a program of support for families after a suicide (Postvention). This provided urgent counselling where needed to families, and victim support for those affected.
Nick Smith claims that it is necessary to cut support to the families of suicide victims because ACC has a huge deficit. He said if someone with a family committed suicide, that family could have been given almost $1 million in compensation over time.
“Yet the cost for ACC to give support to a family of three children on an average wage is less than $210,000 over five years. With approximately 350 claims per year, that is about $7 millions per year to all families of suicide victims who make an ACC claim.”
“That is a small cost to pay out of what Nick Smith claims is a $2 billion shortfall annually, to help some of the most vulnerable families in our community.”
Iconic sports should be free to air
14/10/09 13:02 Filed in: News Releases
The government now reportedly has $8 million on the table to help TVNZ, Maori Television Service (MTS) and TV3 bid for the right to screen the Rugby World Cup, says MP for Wigram and Progressive leader Jim Anderton.
“Does it now accept the principal that all iconic sporting events should be free-to-air?”
Te Puni Kokiri (the Ministry for Maori Development) has funded the MTS bid by $3 million. The Government has allegedly freed up $5 million for a TVNZ and TV3 bid.
“$8 million would buy a lot of coverage for free-to-air sporting events.”
“We could buy the rights to screen the up-coming game between our national soccer team, the All-Whites who will play Bahrain to see if they qualify for the soccer World Cup next year in South Africa; as well as the rights for TVNZ to screen next year’s Commonwealth Games in Delhi.”
For the last forty yearsTVNZ has screened the Commonwealth Games.
“When TVNZ announced last month that it was seeking to offload its rights to broadcast the Commonwealth Games, the National Government refused to get involved, saying the arrangement was a commercial contract between TVNZ and Sky.”
“At the time Jonathan Coleman said the public could no longer expect major sporting events to be provided free on television.”
“What’s changed?”
“Does it now accept the principal that all iconic sporting events should be free-to-air?”
Te Puni Kokiri (the Ministry for Maori Development) has funded the MTS bid by $3 million. The Government has allegedly freed up $5 million for a TVNZ and TV3 bid.
“$8 million would buy a lot of coverage for free-to-air sporting events.”
“We could buy the rights to screen the up-coming game between our national soccer team, the All-Whites who will play Bahrain to see if they qualify for the soccer World Cup next year in South Africa; as well as the rights for TVNZ to screen next year’s Commonwealth Games in Delhi.”
For the last forty yearsTVNZ has screened the Commonwealth Games.
“When TVNZ announced last month that it was seeking to offload its rights to broadcast the Commonwealth Games, the National Government refused to get involved, saying the arrangement was a commercial contract between TVNZ and Sky.”
“At the time Jonathan Coleman said the public could no longer expect major sporting events to be provided free on television.”
“What’s changed?”
Alcohol abuse more serious than methamphetamine
08/10/09 16:19 Filed in: News Releases
The abuse of alcohol is by far and away the most serious drug abuse we face in New Zealand, the former Associate Minister of Health in charge of the government’s drug policy, Jim Anderton said today.
“It is more serious than the abuse of methamphetamine, even though it is a deadly serious and unacceptable drug.
“The Prime Minister and his government’s first priority to prevent drug abuse in New Zealand is to take up the challenge posed by incidents of heavy drinking, which is now deeply imbedded in our culture, across all ages.
“The economic costs, the health costs, the costs to our justice and corrections systems and lost time off work as well as road deaths and serious injuries are calculated by reputable economists to cost New Zealand between two to three billion dollars a year,” Jim Anderton said.
“The National-led government has announced today that it is taking cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine off our pharmacy counters. This means that those acting illegally have succeeded in removing our most effective cold and flu treatments while the majority of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine is illegally imported across our borders and not sold over pharmacy counters.
“Simon Power’s statement to the Hospitality Association, as the Minister of Justice and Commerce last Wednesday, that “I tend to view liquor law reform through a wide angle lens” does not fill me with confidence that the Law Commission’s recent “Alcohol in our Lives” Discussion Document will bring about the liquor law reform that New Zealand needs.
“The easy availability of alcohol, the lowering of the drinking age, and the influence of the alcohol industry on alcohol-control policy has turned our drinking culture into a pathological problem.
“The police know that this is an urgent issue. Between half and three-quarters of all police work is associated in some way with alcohol abuse.
“Sixty per cent of people arrested by the police are under the influence of alcohol at the time they commit the offence for which they are arrested. Alcohol abuse affects the community and people other than the drinker; forty per cent of all deaths and almost half of all other injuries from alcohol-related car crashes impact on those who have not been drinking at all.
”I call on the government to get serious about alcohol abuse.
“Reduce the availability of alcohol because research around the world has shown that there is a direct link between the availability of alcohol and the level of harm caused by alcohol. Increase the minimum age for buying alcohol to twenty years old; help communities reduce the proliferation of liquor retailers; and reduce the advertising of alcohol especially at sporting events,” Jim Anderton said today in Timaru
Jim Anderson is chairing a meeting tonight in Tïmaru: "Ten things the alcohol industry won't tell you about alcohol”. This meeting is one in a series of thirty eight being held around New Zealand, organised by Alcohol Action, with the presentation by Dr Doug Sellman, Director of the National Addiction Centre, and Professor of Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine at the University of Otago.
“It is more serious than the abuse of methamphetamine, even though it is a deadly serious and unacceptable drug.
“The Prime Minister and his government’s first priority to prevent drug abuse in New Zealand is to take up the challenge posed by incidents of heavy drinking, which is now deeply imbedded in our culture, across all ages.
“The economic costs, the health costs, the costs to our justice and corrections systems and lost time off work as well as road deaths and serious injuries are calculated by reputable economists to cost New Zealand between two to three billion dollars a year,” Jim Anderton said.
“The National-led government has announced today that it is taking cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine off our pharmacy counters. This means that those acting illegally have succeeded in removing our most effective cold and flu treatments while the majority of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine is illegally imported across our borders and not sold over pharmacy counters.
“Simon Power’s statement to the Hospitality Association, as the Minister of Justice and Commerce last Wednesday, that “I tend to view liquor law reform through a wide angle lens” does not fill me with confidence that the Law Commission’s recent “Alcohol in our Lives” Discussion Document will bring about the liquor law reform that New Zealand needs.
“The easy availability of alcohol, the lowering of the drinking age, and the influence of the alcohol industry on alcohol-control policy has turned our drinking culture into a pathological problem.
“The police know that this is an urgent issue. Between half and three-quarters of all police work is associated in some way with alcohol abuse.
“Sixty per cent of people arrested by the police are under the influence of alcohol at the time they commit the offence for which they are arrested. Alcohol abuse affects the community and people other than the drinker; forty per cent of all deaths and almost half of all other injuries from alcohol-related car crashes impact on those who have not been drinking at all.
”I call on the government to get serious about alcohol abuse.
“Reduce the availability of alcohol because research around the world has shown that there is a direct link between the availability of alcohol and the level of harm caused by alcohol. Increase the minimum age for buying alcohol to twenty years old; help communities reduce the proliferation of liquor retailers; and reduce the advertising of alcohol especially at sporting events,” Jim Anderton said today in Timaru
Jim Anderson is chairing a meeting tonight in Tïmaru: "Ten things the alcohol industry won't tell you about alcohol”. This meeting is one in a series of thirty eight being held around New Zealand, organised by Alcohol Action, with the presentation by Dr Doug Sellman, Director of the National Addiction Centre, and Professor of Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine at the University of Otago.
We have a drinking problem
05/10/09 16:14 Filed in: Newsletters
There is a culture of romanticising heavy drinking in New Zealand. All-Blacks games and the Black Caps summer cricket series drip in alcohol promotion. But we act surprised when cricketer Jesse Ryder and rugby star Jimmy Cowan get into trouble for drinking too much. The community vilifies them, rather than the alcohol companies who sponsor the games and encourage young New Zealanders to go out do exactly that - drink to excess.
A leading alcohol researcher in the United Kingdom said that “Nations, like people, can develop a pathological pattern of alcohol misuse.” That’s what has happened in New Zealand. We already had a drinking culture, but the easy availability of alcohol, the lowering of the drinking age, and the influence of the alcohol industry on alcohol-control policy has turned that culture into a pathological problem.
We shouldn’t be surprised that teenage girls have drinking problems. They see the ads, and then they walk into dairies, local supermarkets and neighborhood liquor stores where they can buy alcohol anytime they want. No wonder our young teens have a booze problem
It’s hard to say it out loud: “We have a problem with alcohol abuse”. There are a lot of people who use alcohol responsibly, and they feel like their lifestyle is being criticised. But their drinking habits are not an issue. The culture of tolerating heavy drinking is the problem.
The police know all about it. While most of us are sleeping peacefully in our beds, they’re dealing with the violence on the streets; the doctors and nurses are patching people up in our hospitals and our councils clean up the mess before we get up in the morning.
So in case you slept through the drunken chaos during any weekend, here are some facts:
The consequences of harmful drinking affect us all.
The next question is what we should do about it.
We need to reduce the availability of alcohol because research around the world has shown that there is a direct link between the availability of alcohol and the level of harm caused by alcohol.
We should increase the minimum age for buying alcohol to twenty years.
More needs to be done to help communities reduce the proliferation of liquor retailers.
The advertising of alcohol should be reduced, especially on television during the coverage of sport.
Give police much stronger tools for making pubs comply with the law. At the moment if they have serious concerns about license breaches, they have to wait until a license comes up for renewal. They should be able to do something straight away.
Most disturbing, is the continued promotion of alcohol to young people who don’t have as many choices available to them, are more likely to succumb to peer pressure and are susceptible to advertising.
We recognise there’s a problem, but then we put the fox in charge of the henhouse and expect the alcohol industry to police themselves and come up with the right policies to control alcohol consumption in our communities.
The good news is that people who enjoy the many positive features that come with drinking in moderation - enjoying friendships, socialising and having fun - are starting to see that there is a big problem in our communities, and that we need a major culture change in our attitude to heavy drinking. That means we all have to do something, because we are all affected by the abuse of alcohol.
For more information on the “Ten things the alcohol industry won’t tell you about alcohol” and the timetable for the 38 meetings throughout New Zealand, go to www.alcoholaction.co.nz .
I am chairing the meeting in Timaru on the 8th October at Sopheze on the Bay, at 7.30pm. Get to one of the meetings if you can.
The Progressive Party will be writing a submission on New Zealand’s alcohol policies to the Law Commission’s report on alcohol. If you would like to do this too, post a submission to Liquor Project Co-ordinator, Law Commission, PO Box 2509, Wellington, by Friday 30th October 2009.
A leading alcohol researcher in the United Kingdom said that “Nations, like people, can develop a pathological pattern of alcohol misuse.” That’s what has happened in New Zealand. We already had a drinking culture, but the easy availability of alcohol, the lowering of the drinking age, and the influence of the alcohol industry on alcohol-control policy has turned that culture into a pathological problem.
We shouldn’t be surprised that teenage girls have drinking problems. They see the ads, and then they walk into dairies, local supermarkets and neighborhood liquor stores where they can buy alcohol anytime they want. No wonder our young teens have a booze problem
It’s hard to say it out loud: “We have a problem with alcohol abuse”. There are a lot of people who use alcohol responsibly, and they feel like their lifestyle is being criticised. But their drinking habits are not an issue. The culture of tolerating heavy drinking is the problem.
The police know all about it. While most of us are sleeping peacefully in our beds, they’re dealing with the violence on the streets; the doctors and nurses are patching people up in our hospitals and our councils clean up the mess before we get up in the morning.
So in case you slept through the drunken chaos during any weekend, here are some facts:
- Between half and three-quarters of all police work is associated in some way with alcohol abuse.
- Sixty per cent of people arrested by the police are under the influence of alcohol at the time they commit the offence for which they are arrested.
- Researchers estimate that alcohol causes $2,400 million of harm each year.
- Alcohol abuse affects the community and people other than the drinker; forty per cent of all deaths and almost half of all other injuries from alcohol-related car crashes are to ‘innocent victims’ who were not drinking.
The consequences of harmful drinking affect us all.
The next question is what we should do about it.
We need to reduce the availability of alcohol because research around the world has shown that there is a direct link between the availability of alcohol and the level of harm caused by alcohol.
We should increase the minimum age for buying alcohol to twenty years.
More needs to be done to help communities reduce the proliferation of liquor retailers.
The advertising of alcohol should be reduced, especially on television during the coverage of sport.
Give police much stronger tools for making pubs comply with the law. At the moment if they have serious concerns about license breaches, they have to wait until a license comes up for renewal. They should be able to do something straight away.
Most disturbing, is the continued promotion of alcohol to young people who don’t have as many choices available to them, are more likely to succumb to peer pressure and are susceptible to advertising.
We recognise there’s a problem, but then we put the fox in charge of the henhouse and expect the alcohol industry to police themselves and come up with the right policies to control alcohol consumption in our communities.
The good news is that people who enjoy the many positive features that come with drinking in moderation - enjoying friendships, socialising and having fun - are starting to see that there is a big problem in our communities, and that we need a major culture change in our attitude to heavy drinking. That means we all have to do something, because we are all affected by the abuse of alcohol.
For more information on the “Ten things the alcohol industry won’t tell you about alcohol” and the timetable for the 38 meetings throughout New Zealand, go to www.alcoholaction.co.nz .
I am chairing the meeting in Timaru on the 8th October at Sopheze on the Bay, at 7.30pm. Get to one of the meetings if you can.
The Progressive Party will be writing a submission on New Zealand’s alcohol policies to the Law Commission’s report on alcohol. If you would like to do this too, post a submission to Liquor Project Co-ordinator, Law Commission, PO Box 2509, Wellington, by Friday 30th October 2009.