You can imagine the pair having a gloating session watching it in the White House Cinema, maybe with Victoria Nuland to share the popcorn.

“World War 3 is a-coming!”

But those who don’t want WW3 or any more wars should heed this message:

A WIN FOR CHOICE IN EDUCATION

After years of tireless advocacy and commitment to educational reform, the bill to reintroduce charter schools has successfully passed its third reading in Parliament.

This is a huge step forward in providing greater choice and opportunity in education for New Zealand families – especially those who are most disadvantaged under the current system.

Last week David explained why charter schools are so important and why they matter to him:

ACT’s Cameron Luxton also welcomed the announcement, crediting charter schools as one the key reasons he decided to stand as an MP. One National MP recommended Cameron’s maiden speech to anyone who wanted to know why charter schools are so important – watch that highlight here. 

A WORLD-CLASS EDUCATION ONLY COUNTS IF YOU’RE IN CLASS

But having schools that work for students only makes a difference if the kids are actually in the classroom. Charter schools will have higher standards for attendance and achievement and will be required to meet them.The schools’ increased flexibility and freedom to innovate will help to engage students so that they actually want to show up for school. As for state schools, attendance rates are improving but they are still very concerning. 

So while the weekly reporting requirements and clearer expectations to school boards around attendance that we laid out earlier in the year are taking us in the right direction, there’s still work to be done. That’s why this week we unveiled the next phase of the Attendance Action Plan to ensure no child gets left behind. Education is essential for setting kids up for the rest of their lives.

Under the new plan, every student, parent, teacher and school has a role to play. Any student who reaches a threshold of days absent will trigger a response from their school and the Ministry of Education. That will include, in the worst cases, fines and prosecution.

David outlined the new plan to the media in Auckland this week. The Ministry of Education has released a best-practice template of how the Stepped Attendance Response (STAR) system will work.And with some students planning to wag a day off school today to ‘strike for climate’, David’s message was clear: Want to make a difference? Go to school.

MAKING OUR STREETS SAFER

ACT’s coalition commitment to make gang membership an aggravating factor at sentencing was recently passed – a stark shift from Labour’s policy of being kind and handing them millions of taxpayer dollars.

Some opposition MPs raised concerns that our changes were somehow ‘anti-Māori’. Mark Cameron set the record straight, rightly pointing out the reality that the vast majority of Māori are law-abiding citizens. 

As Mark points out, Māori are disproportionately affected as victims of crime, so our changes will improve the lives of all New Zealanders – but especially Māori.We’re also making good progress on a suite of other changes to crack down on crime such as limiting sentencing discounts, more aggravating factors (including for assaulting sole charge workers) and a direct instruction to put the interests of victims first.

Nicole discussed these changes in Parliament here – and it’s bad news for thugs and thieves. 

Also this week, Nicole attended the New Zealand Security Association’s annual industry awards and spoke with those who are too often on the front line defending law-abiding citizens from violent offenders.

Nicole is also progressing changes to improve the regulation of shooting clubs and ranges, streamlining the rules to make them more practical and focused on public safety.

Nicole provided more detail on these changes earlier in the week. If you want to receive updates directly from Nicole on the progress of her reform of the Arms Act, sign up to her mailing list here

UNSHACKLING NEW ZEALAND FROM LABOUR’S VANDALISM

Simon Court welcomed progress on ACT’s coalition commitment to repeal Labour’s oil and gas ban and also promote the use of crown minerals calling it a “step toward prosperity”.

Taking full advantage of the mineral resources at our disposal will boost foreign investment, create high-paying jobs, and offer hope to young people looking to remain in New Zealand for work and family.

Restoring oil and gas exploration is a crucial step to deliver energy security. A high-wage economy depends on affordable and reliable energy. 

We came far too close to blackouts this winter, and ACT is determined to restore energy security so homes stay heated and factories keep running.

Of course, not everyone was happy. Some thugs at Greenpeace locked themselves in the Wellington offices of mining group Straterra in protest. Simon was quick to point out the hypocrisy of the protestors, filming themselves on iPhones made from the very products they’re opposing...

CUTTING RED TAPE IN THE BUILDING SECTOR

Cameron Luxton, Parliament’s only ever Licensed Building Practitioner, was in Parliament this week welcoming moves to lower the cost of building.

The changes will make it easier to use building products that are already approved for use in similar countries overseas, bringing some much needed choice and competition to the sector.

For young New Zealanders, the prospect of home ownership has become more and more of a distant dream over the past few years. Unless we want our best and brightest moving abroad, we need to make it easier to build in New Zealand – and that’s exactly what we’re doing.

END OF LIFE CHOICE

If you missed Q + A last weekend, make sure to check out ACT’s Todd Stephenson discussing his proposed improvements to the End of Life Choice Act, which will extend this option to more New Zealanders suffering from terminal illness.

Todd outlined how some New Zealanders who are experiencing unbearable pain and suffering from their terminal illness are unable to have the option of End of Life Choice because they can’t prove they’re likely to die within six months. The six month requirement wasn’t in David’s original proposal, but was part of a political compromise in order to get enough support to pass the bill. Todd’s amendment aims to fix this while keeping all other existing requirements.

…AND SO MUCH MORE

Dr Parmjeet Parmar obtained a copy of AUT’s discriminatory travel policy which allocates 30 per cent more points to travel applications for researchers who identify as Māori, and 20 per cent more for Pasifika. She sent a copy to AUT researchers to review themselves and many were outraged. But rather than stand up for its members being discriminated against, the union spokesperson sent this out to its members:

On a more positive note, Parmjeet hosted the launch of the launch of the Ethnic Arts & Trade Foundation in Parliament this week, an event attended by around 200 community members. David welcomed changes to ‘work from home’ policies in the public sector. In opposition, David asked more than 100 Parliamentary questions of different agencies on how often staff were actually in the office. In practically every case, they couldn’t say. The standard policy was ‘flexible by default’. Now, we’ll have real monitoring and reporting.

Brooke van Velden, as Minister of Internal Affairs, announced that parents will soon be able to choose their parent title on their child’s birth certificate. This is a step forward in terms of personal freedom and choice and would allow same-sex couples to, for example, both be listed as ‘mother’ on the birth certificate.Minister Karen Chhour spoke to the Caring Families Aotearoa conference on Tuesday in Christchurch, and was able to share the work she’s doing to improve the way caregivers are expected to work with agencies like Oranga Tamariki.

Todd renewed calls to abolish Human Rights Commission, and instead fund real justice by diverting the funding to the Human Rights Review Tribunal – an organisation that actually stands up for human rights. Todd also appeared on Reality Check Radio to discuss the Government’s new directive to target public services based on need, not race and also his proposed changes to the End of Life Choice Act.

Mark Cameron wrote to the Minister for the Environment asking her to provide farmers regulatory relief from unworkable freshwater regulations. Andrew Hoggard, in response to questions from Mark in Parliament, laid out the Government’s approach to the threat of foot and mouth disease.

Andrew also appeared on the Rural Exchange podcast to discuss his upcoming changes to the Biosecurity Act.

Laura Trask hosted an event at Parliament for an organisation that is using innovative new technology as a possible tool to help tackle underage vaping. To stay up to date with everything our MPs are up to, make sure to search them up on Facebook or Instagram and give them a follow. 

THE WEEK AHEAD

Parliament is in recess for the next two weeks so you’ll see more of our MPs out and about meeting with businesses, schools, and community groups and, of course, hearing from the public on the issues that matter to them.

by Geoffrey Churchman

One of the 65 exhibitors at Saturday’s Artisan market in the Memorial Hall was Ash Schuster selling prints of his animé inspired art.

I was particularly taken by his Conehead pictures and got one for our house. He actually received a commission from the RTL road traffic management company for a display piece on the strength of them, shown at right.

Naturally, he is well aware of the frustration that the massive number of these road adornments cause for motorists, and the slowness with which they are removed. I told him about the major inconvenience that the NZTA caused for Waikanae people on the Main Road in the last couple of years, particularly with the Old SH1 bridge and the added cycle lane early this year.

Ash was born in Port Elizabeth, South Africa in 1986 and came out to NZ in 1997. He has not been back to his home country but would like to make a trip there with his wife. He now works as an electrician, however, art is a major hobby which he took up during Lockdown and now supplements household income.

His Instagram page with many more examples is here

by Geoffrey Churchman

About 150 Kapiti Ratepayers attended this in the Ocean Road Community Hall yesterday afternoon. They were there to talk about the feeling of deep despair with the Kapiti Council’s constant massive increases in its Rates bills, this year 17.3% above last year, and what can be done to get the council to cut wasteful spending of which there are many examples — some are mentioned in the Official Information response reproduced below.

Apathy in dealing with this problem by the public has been the major obstacle in preventing it hitherto, but the widespread pain in the pocket now will hopefully prompt involvement.

There were 4 main speakers: Tanya of CALM in Kapiti, Dean of the Wellington group; Jackie Wheeler from Palmerston North and Cr Glen Cooper, the only Cr to attend and as mentioned previously he was one of 3 who voted against this year’s Rates increase. Bede Laracy and Johnny Best of the Raumati Community Board also had comments to make. No other CB members attended.

The Palmerston North group has had successes. Wellington City has been a problem in recent times because of dogmatic ideological attitudes of the Labour/Kakariki (Green) Councilors who dominate it and have insisted on, among other things, removing car parking and installing cycle lanes regardless of whether they are sensible (and most have not been).

A key point is that most of the people who work in local councils are Leftists who believe in ‘tax and spend’ as a matter of principle, and the infamous UN Agenda 2030 is something they are devout followers of. Closing small businesses by removing city parking is fundamental to that.

Most elected members in councils are also Leftists who have exactly the same attitudes as the staff. That hasn’t been the case in Waikanae so much, but certainly it’s a big problem districtwide in Kapiti.

Part of the answer is to elect Crs committed to cutting wasteful spending including the nice-to-have but non-essential vanity projects. This time next year, voting for the next council will be happening and good, right thinking (in both senses) candidates are needed.

Other topics were covered in the two hours. For some it was an information session on how councils work and how they are tied to central government laws, and what existing opportunities there are to tell the Council what you think of what they propose and do. WW editors play our part, but our reach is limited and an organized Ratepayers Association like this is much needed for coordinated action.

There is a seminar organized by the Wellington group happening on Saturday 19 October in Johnsonville. More about that shortly.

Here is the Kapiti Group’s Facebook page.

Comments:

Answers 1, 2 and 3: A fairly negative attitude can be detected here — we seem to be considered a pest for trying to hold the council to account, although we are not alone in that.

Answer 4: We think the amount allocated to adverts in Kapiti News is effectively financial persuasion of editor David Haxton not to indulge in any criticism of the Council.

Answer 5: An astounding total amount of $1,061,531 — Why? And why was the useless, costly Mr Power paid $200,657? A golden handshake to get rid of him?

Answer 6: Good grief — an unbelievable $10.7 million for a yard of new concrete and asphalt and two new bus stops with grassy roofs.

Answer 7: This is a complete waste of money and should be chopped.

Answer 8: The same as for (7). No-one will use this service as a tourist.

Answer 9: This does not produce value for money. Waikanae Watch probably promotes the Coast more than this does and we do it for free.

Answer 10: Another cost that should be chopped by quitting LGNZ. There is almost no benefit from being a member of this organisation.

Answer 11: Why buy electric cars that cost twice as much as conventional cars and have huge depreciation? How is that going to make any difference to ‘saving the planet’? I mentioned in 2021 that the council could collect used cooking oil from fish and chip shops and use that as fuel as London taxis do, and for almost nothing. It was ignored.

by Donna Buck

This is about the upcoming US election, but what happens there will determine a lot of what goes on here sadly, as this country seems to be in their back pocket and that of the UN, seeing as Winston voted for the UN’s Pact for the Future, giving away our sovereignty to the UN and the WHO — thanks for that Winston. I know it’s not a binding law this Pact, but just the fact that you voted for it shows where your allegiance really lies eh? Not New Zealand First is it? 

YouTube is busy censoring again on behalf on the DNC, this time Redacted’s brilliant episode about the warmongers in the Democrats in the US. The gist of it? Drafting men and women to fight in their wars next year will happen because of low military enlistment — he-he-ha-ha-ha-ha — and that voting for the Democrats is a vote for endless wars, sending their children and loved ones off to war to die for their money-mad partners in crime. Have a listen and share with people you know in America.

Wars are extremely disruptive to trade, markets and supply chains and increase costs for all. Biden’s wars since he took office have had this effect. —Eds

Are they male potency symbols? Reconnaissance aircraft would be needed more surely.

Australia could soon be able to purchase US$400 million (A$579 million) worth of guided missiles from the United States after the country’s foreign affairs department approved their possible sale.

The U.S. State Department notified Congress of its approval for the possible sale of Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missiles Extended Range (AARGM-ER) to Australia on Friday.

It comes after the Australian government asked to buy up to 100 of the missiles, among other gadgets, at an estimated cost of US$405 million.

Read more

by Wally Richards

SOME GARDENING TIPS

This week I thought it would be a good idea to pass on several gardening tips which are useful at this time of year.

Growing potatoes; Firstly it depends on the soil you are growing in. Generally you should deep cultivate and incorporate a good amount of compost into the soil making a friable loam.

Make a trench about 20 cm deep to plant your seed potatoes in.

Place about half a dozen sheep manure pellets, a tablespoon of gypsum, and a level teaspoon of BioPhos and some Neem Tree Powder, cover lightly with a little soil and sit the potato on it with the eyes pointing upwards.

Cover with a soil/compost mix about 3 cm over the seed and water in with Magic Botanic Liquid.

As the shoots come through the soil, lightly cover with more mix. Keep doing this until you have a mound about 12-cm tall then allow the tops to grow.

Spray the tops two weekly with Magic Botanic Liquid and Mycorrcin. Sprinkle a few Neem Granules on the mound, by the shoots, in case of soil insects eating into the tubers.

The soil should be kept moist at all times but not wet.

If you know that the potato psyllid is a problem in your garden then you should have already planted your seed potatoes.

Later plantings should always be protected with Wallys Cell Strengthening products which make the plant’s cell so tough the psyllid can’t pierce to feed and thus they die. That’s great for tomatoes and Tree tomato (Tamarillos) if you have psyllid problems.

Here is a tip a gardener told me to reduce codlin moth damage in apples: he reckoned he is able to greatly reduce damage by sprinkling Neem Tree Granules under the apple trees at this time of the year and watering it in.

Later set up a pheromone trap; or you can use treacle in a jar lid inside a onion bag hanging in the tree) First sign of the male moths start spraying the apples (not the tree) with Neem Oil with Raingard adde; repeat about every 14 days until no more moths are trapped.

It’s the same with Guava moth: keep a coating of Wallys Super Neem Tree Oil on the fruit and the grubs are stopped from getting in and ruining the fruit.

Oxalis is a problem for many and the easy way to knock it back is with Baking Soda.

Mix a heaped tablespoon of baking soda into one litre of warm water, stir to dissolve and add one ml of Raingard. Spray the foliage of the oxalis on a sunny day when the ground is a bit on the dry side. It dehydrates the oxalis foliage without harming any other plants. New foliage will appear and this should be also treated in the same manner as soon as it shows.

If you stop the bulbs from having leaves they will run out of energy and die. Do not work the soil as this only brings fresh bulbs to the surface and extends the problem. Instead cover the soil with fresh compost and plant into this.

Another method is to use Ammonium Sulphamate called Wallys Compost Accelerator 600 grams dissolve in 3 litres of water and water that over the foliage and down into the soil where it will compost the bulbs.

I am told baking soda spray at about 3 tablespoons per litre of water is a good control of wandering willie or wandering jew. If you have that problem, try it and it should not affect other plants.

I presume the plant is sensitive to alkaline sprays.

The same solution of baking soda (one tablespoon only) and Raingard is the best spray to prevent and control powdery mildew and black spot on any plants affected with these diseases.

If you have powdery mildew on plants especially in Autumn you can return them to green quickly by spraying Wallys Super Neem Tree Oil at 5 ml per litre late in the day.

The Raingard spreads and sticks the baking soda and prevents it from washing off in the rain for up to 14 days. This also applies to all contact type sprays such as copper.

If you add Raingard to any chemical weed killers your kill effective rate will be increased by 50% according to trials I have read.

About this time every year I have gardeners complaining about their broad beans flowering but no fruit setting. (Beans are fruit technically as they have seeds inside which we eat)

The reason for no beans forming, after the flowers fall is due to no pollination, which is due to there not being any bumble bees around early in the season to do the job.

Bumble bees have to emerge as queens out of their winter hibernation and start forming a colony; till this happens and numbers increase not many beans set. Later on the plants produce well.

Another thing that you can do to encourage any native bees or bumble bees to pollinate the broad beans is to spray them with sugar and water.

Dissolve a couple of tablespoons of raw sugar into a litre of warm water and spray the plants. The same can be applied to any fruiting plant or tree that requires pollination.

Why raw sugar? Because it is natural and more appealing to the insects; it is also far better for you to take than white, refined sugar.

A lot of us will be germinating and growing seedlings for pots and gardens and every time we transplant, the young plants suffer.

This can be simply overcome by spraying the plants a couple of days beforehand with Vaporgard which greatly reduces transplant shock and is ideal to spray onto foliage you are going to cut for cuttings. (For cuttings dip the end in a bit of honey or spit on them, either helps)

If planting out in a windy area or near the sea you can give the plants a far better start by spraying them with the Vaporgard.

Increase the yield, size of the fruit and flavour, of strawberries by spraying them every 2 weeks with Mycorrcin. Trials showed an increase of up to 400% and that is a fact.

For extra big strawberries you may like to try my ‘Wally’s Secret Strawberry Food’. Strawberries bigger than apricots are possible.

For best overall results in the garden apply sheep manure pellets or Bio Boost (both are good) instead of any chemical fertilisers.  Spray the preferred plants (roses etc) and vegetables with Magic Botanic Liquid (MBL) every two weeks. Spray the soil around the plants at the same time.

Gardeners that have been using this natural spray have reported that they have never had such great gardens and crops before.

MBL makes a really big difference to the health of the plants and soil and you will be impressed.

Many gardeners will be spraying with copper sprays at this time and here is a big one, DO NOT mix any spraying oils with the copper. Sure you have been told in the past to mix the two together and many do so through force of habit.

The fact is the oil greatly reduces the effectiveness of the copper and helps wash the copper particles off faster in rain when compared to not having the oil.

Then ask yourself why is the oil used? The simple answer is, it is used to smoother scale or thrip insects. If you have no scale or thrips present, why waste your money?

If the pests appear at anytime you can use an oil to control them.

Liquid Coppers are more user-friendly than powdered ones as they do not block your jets like the powders do.

Soon aphids will appear on the new shoots of roses and other plants; if you have any of those old yellow cakes of Sunlight soap, simply lather some up in warm water and spray the aphids. It’s best done when the sun is off the plants, later in the day. The fatty acids from the soap break down the aphid’s bodies.

If you do not have any of those yellow cakes then use Wallys Super Neem Tree Oil with Wallys Super Pyrethrum added.

Whitefly on tomatoes is a great problem for many gardeners and by simply placing some Neem Tree Granules around near the base of the plants will help prevent their populations from building up without the need to spray much, if at all.

The granules need to be repeated about every 6-8 weeks.

If you have worms in your lawn causing worm casts that you do not like, then dissolve some Cold Water Surf in water and throw that over the lawn.

The worms will come to the surface where you should then pick them up and bury these valuable creatures back into your gardens.

Someone told me recently that it will also bring grassgrubs to the surface where the birds will eat them. I’m not sure if this is correct or not but it’s worth a shot. Do it early in the morning as that is when the sparrows etc. look for breakfast.

Here is an interesting thing I have just learnt; allow avocado stones to dry for a couple days on windowsill then carefully chop up or grate into small bits. Soak these bits in rubbing alcohol or Vodka for a day or so. Apply the liquid to any area that you have pain, sore back, knee wherever. It gives pain relief fairly quickly I am told.

You can also plant the stones somewhere suitable for a tree top grow, mark the place with a stake and likely you will be eating your own avocados in about 3 years time.

Phone 0800 466464
Garden Pages and News at www.gardenews.co.nz
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Mail Order products at www.0800466464.co.nz

Probably not. While Trump has made clear his opposition to the Biden regime’s war in Ukraine and will swiftly end it, there won’t be any change in approach to the Middle East. Some Leftists may vote for minor candidates like Jill Stein rather than the Kackling Kamel, however.

https://twitter.com/Ediswatching1/status/1838966644388888773