It’s concerning seeing those opposed to the fundamental democratic value of equal suffrage (another way of saying equal voting rights or “one person, one vote”), trying to confuse the issue by saying “but landlords with multiple properties get more than one vote.” That’s a strawman argument, but let’s break it down. If you’re enrolled as a parliamentary elector (on the electoral roll), you’re automatically eligible to vote in the local elections for the council district where you live. This is known as being a residential elector. If you own property and pay rates in a different council area from where you live, you may also qualify to vote in that area’s local election as a ratepayer elector. However, you can only vote once per council district, no matter how many properties you own there. This goes back to an ancient democratic principle called “no taxation without representation.” That means if you have to pay taxes to a state entity which has the power to require you to pay taxes (with the loss of your property or your freedom on the line if you don’t pay up) you should have a say in who gets to have the political power to require you to pay those taxes, and what they choose to spend those taxes on. It’s a basic very long-standing bedrock principle of democracy. New Zealand is one of only 25 true democracies on the planet. Democracy is a fragile bloom, and will only continue to flower in this country if we stand up for it and protect it.

The letters from my firm that have generated the hysteria reported by @rnz_news set out legal implications in New Zealand of the UK Cass Report that resulted in prompt decisions by numerous overseas authorities, to stop or to restrict puberty blocker drug treatment for minors. The letters were also informed by a recent New Zealand Ministry of Health evidence brief. We highlighted risks for health practitioners providing what is called ‘gender affirming care’ if they do not ensure they have an up to date understanding of the evidence on the balance between the benefit and the harm of such treatment. As lawyers we take seriously our duties to: - Accept work in a field where we profess to be competent to practice (the ‘cab rank rule’); and - To not misinform or misdirect as to the legal basis for the statements we make on behalf of our clients. It would be unethical for us to withdraw from acting for a client due to threats or criticisms of their views by others. The hostile attention to this client service is peculiar. The New Zealand Government has been consulting on exactly the issues raised by our correspondence. Having outlined the known risks and the poor information supporting previous claims of safety, it is considering restrictions of the kind our client advocates to reduce the risk of irreversible harms. Our client asked us to research the liability that might accrue from the odd delay in changing practice in New Zealand. We were then asked to write to practitioners in the area because our client believes that some of them have their heads in the sand, refusing to acknowledge the now well established absence of the normally required evidence of net benefit to justify the use of harmful drugs. The hysterical criticism of this firm seems to confirm our client’s concerns. In our opinion Te Whatu Ora and/or the Health and Disability Commissioner and/or the Ministry of Health should have written exactly the kind of letter our client instructed us to write. It might have helped to reduce the risk of avoidable and irreversible harm to minors who believe they are gender-dysphoric, accumulating while the New Zealand government decides whether to follow the UK government lead. It might have also helped to reduce the liability risk to practitioners. lawlaw.rnz.co.nz/news/national/5431…

The government approached TVNZ about a “special partnership” relating to climate change on 23 May 2022 which was signed on 31 October timed to coincide with COP27. Minister Woods received written updates as negotiations progressed and has confirmed that she has been “paying close attention that ECCA’s campaigns deliver value for money ..”. According to Minister Woods, the value of the $300,000 partnership was “determined by rate card value of advertising equivalents.” So the five 1news articles, the five interviews on TVNZ’s Breakfast, an interview on Seven Sharp, as well as a full hour “Climate Change Special” on prime time TV were all part of an advertising campaign paid for by the government with the full knowledge of a Crown Minister but not disclosed as such to the public.

In a briefing paper in December 2020 to the Prime Minister titled “Strengthening New Zealand’s Resilience to Mis/Disinformation” proposals were made for implementing “coordination mechanisms for addressing mis/disinformation”. The paper observed that “New Zealand government agencies do not generally undertake proactive monitoring for mis/disinformation, though there have been recent examples ..”. “For the same reasons that a multi-stakeholder approach is the suggested approach, it may be preferable for social media monitoring to be primarily undertaken by non-governmental, non-commercial partners.” The paper continues by considering the “international dimension”. Stating “New Zealand has received numerous requests to share reporting, analysis and approaches on countering mis/disinformation from a range of likeminded partners in both bilateral and multilateral contexts (in Five Eyes (FVEY) fora, NATO and the Canadian-hosted G7 RRM).” “We expect that likeminded partners will increase offers to work together on further actions, statements and attributions relating to mis/disinformation. Developing a stronger domestic approach to mid/disinformation would effectively and credibly support our collective understanding and mitigation of the risk.” “The international work may involve engaging closely with a range of those partners most constructively engaged in this work. Given the sensitivities involved in working on disinformation, the principles involved domestically may also stand us in good stead for international engagement.”

With Transport Minister Michael Wood having been stood down over airport shares, PM Chris Hipkins is standing in to cut the ribbon in Warkworth today. dlvr.it/SqkxSh

Blenheim, Marlborough and home to Carbonscape and @stuartsmithmp . Sustainable graphite for batteries. Fabulous science and tech. Getting ready to go Global. #Tech #Science #Marlborough #innovation

Govt's campaign suggesting shorter showers to save money costing $2.8 million dlvr.it/SpZmRt