Soldiers' Pardon Bill to go ahead 

Wellington: A Bill granting posthumous pardons to five New Zealand soldiers executed
during World War 1 for desertion or mutiny will proceed, Prime Minister Helen Clark
announced yesterday.

The Pardon for Soldiers of the Great War Bill, drafted by Labour's Invercargill MP, Mark Peck, seeks to
pardon privates Victor Spencer, of Bluff, Frank Hughes and John King (of Canterbury) and John Sweeney
(Otago), shot for desertion, and Private Jack Braithwaite, of Dunedin, executed for mutiny.

The decision to push ahead with the Bill follows an inquiry commissioned by the previous government and
conducted by retired High Court judge Sir Edward Somers.

His report concluded that shell shock or other stress-related disorders were a likely cause of the men's
actions.

"Despite that finding, the Somers report found that in light of the evidence of the time, it was unable to
conclude that there was sufficient evidence of a miscarriage of justice, a conclusion which the previous
government accepted," Ms Clark said. 

"Our conscience wouldn't rest if we didn't do something to retrospectively pardon those soldiers . . .

"It's just so pitiful that men who were sick, drunk, epileptic, shell-shocked, ended up being executed," she
said.

Three of the men were veterans of Gallipoli before serving in the trenches in France, Ms Clark said.

Mr Peck said the men's families had waged a long campaign to have them pardoned.

"I've worked closely with two of them, the Spencers and the Braithwaites, and I know that they will be just
delighted that this blot on the families' characters has now been removed," he said.

"It is a good day for them and I think the Government has made a humane decision."

said.

Alliance drops push for ban 

Wellington: The Alliance confirmed yesterday it had dropped its push for a compulsory ban on genetic
engineering field trials to reach a deal with Labour and accused the Greens of taking an "extreme" position in
their fight for a compulsory ban.

Associate Environment Minister Phillida Bunkle, an Alliance member who is a former Green MP, said her
former party was still pushing for a mandatory ban for political ends.

The Greens have stepped up their criticism of the voluntary moratorium in recent days and tried
unsuccessfully last week to introduce a Bill that would enforce a ban.

Ms Bunkle said the compromise was a good one, and safe.

Coalition canes smokers 

NZPA Staff Correspondent

Wellington: The Government was last night ramming
legislation through Parliament raising tobacco excise and
putting another dollar on a packet of cigarettes.

It was presented as a health measure but opposition parties
were sceptical and questioned the effectiveness of the
pre-budget move.

Effective at midnight, the Government's decision means
most packets of 20 will increase from $7.20 to $8.20. A
50g packet of loose tobacco will go up by about $3.15.

The Government said the price impact would depend on
whether the tobacco companies absorbed some of the
excise increase or passed it all on to smokers. It is usually
passed on.

Excise increases are normally announced in the budget but
Finance Minister Michael Cullen said the Government had
made the decision and he was doing it now because it
would probably leak between now and mid-June.

Health Minister Annette King said tobacco taxation was one of the most effective means of encouraging
people to stop or reduce smoking.

"There are almost 5000 smoking-related deaths in New Zealand each year, and that doesn't count all those
who live impaired lives after strokes or heart attacks or other illnesses, including various cancers," she said.

Mrs King told Parliament that when the previous government raised the price of a packet of cigarettes by
56c in 1998, consumption had fallen by 6%.

National Party MPs did not directly oppose the increase but attacked the Government for using the unusual
process of calling extraordinary urgency so the legislation could be put through all its stages without a break -
with the House sitting until 8am today if necessary.

Opposition finance spokesman Bill English said it was "a minor policy decision" and should have been held
until the budget.

Mr English, and other National MPs, described it as "a revenue grab" and accused Labour of breaking its
pre-election promise that no taxes would be raised apart from an income tax increase for high earners.

Dr Cullen said it would raise an estimated $110 million during the next financial year - which National said
was suspiciously similar to the $120 million package proposed for the West Coast.

The Greens said they supported the increased but had serious reservations.

Green MP Sue Bradford said smoking rates were high among beneficiaries and Maori, and there had to be
better programmes to help them stop smoking.

Labour MPs promised some of the extra revenue would be used for smoking cessation programmes but
opposition members said hardly any of the $750 million raised through excise was used for that.

The legislation was opposed by Act New Zealand and New Zealand First.

Act leader Richard Prebble said his party was voting against it on principle.

"The Government is trying to get rid of all the bad news so it can produce a good news budget," he said.

NZ First MP Doug Woolerton said it was a tax on people who could not afford to pay it.

National, Act, NZ First and United MP Peter Dunne voted against the Bill when it went through its first
stages but the Government won 66-54.

PM attacked again over Waitara shooting
                                 remarks 

NZPA Staff Correspondent

Wellington: Prime Minister Helen Clark came under renewed
fire for her comments on the Waitara shooting during a snap
debate in Parliament yesterday afternoon.

Attorney-general Margaret Wilson and associate Maori
Affairs Minister Sandra Lee leapt to her defence in a robust
debate on the police shooting of Steven Wallace nine days ago.

Police Minister George Hawkins was more circumspect,
reiterating his belief that politicians should not speak out
without facts. 

"There are things to learn and they are far more important than
people trying to score cheap political points."

Ms Clark had spoken out last week on the "general
background" in which the shooting occurred, not "the specifics
of the incident itself", he said earlier.

Opposition MPs argued Ms Clark had ruined the Government's
relationship with police.

Act New Zealand leader Richard Prebble said it had become a political issue because the prime minister had
spoken "in a most inflammatory way", saying race was the basis of the shooting.

Opposition MPs tried to make mileage out of a newspaper story quoting Ms Clark as saying poor police
relationships with Maori "undoubtedly had a bearing" in the shooting.

"I did not make that statement," Ms Clark said, as she had last week.

"What I said . . . was that I had received a report from Te Puni Kokiri which advised me that the relationship
between police and Maori in the community had not been good.

"I said that I believed that that had a bearing on the tragedy, because I do believe that in any event of this
kind it does not occur in a vacuum; it occurs in a sociological context."

Ms Wilson said no law had been broken, and there had been no interference with the homicide inquiry, or
those of the Police Complaints Authority and coroner.

Green Party justice spokesman Nandor Tanczos said he had been searched by police "on no grounds".

He said wider issues surrounding the shooting should be debated, among them police firearms protocol and
allegations of police racism.

The New Zealand Herald yesterday did not name the police officer who shot Steven Wallace, despite
winning a High Court case lifting his name suppression.

  Waitara has racism problems that must be addressed, Race Relations Conciliator Rajen Prasad said
yesterday. 

He was visiting the town after accusations of race problems erupted after Steven Wallace's death. 

After speaking to the community, Dr Prasad said he was satisfied there were issues that needed to be
addressed, but those issues were not necessarily unique to Waitara.

Dr Prasad said he would brief Ms Clark today and he would consider whether his office should conduct an
inquiry.

Day in the House 

Wellington: Defence Minister Mark Burton made a ministerial statement about the location of a New
Zealand military observer in Sierra Leone when Parliament sat at 2pm.

Two petitions were presented.

Select committee reports were also presented.

The Tariff (Zero Duty Removal) Amendment Bill and the Social Welfare (Transitional Provisions)
Amendment Bill were introduced and set down for first readings.

Ministers answered 12 questions of the day.

Parliament then began an urgent debate on the Government's response to the shooting in Waitara.

When the urgent debate ended, Parliament took extraordinary urgency on a vote of 66-54 to pass the
Customs and Excise Bill through all its stages. The Bill was introduced.

It was given its second reading by 66-54 and the House went into committee to consider it clause by clause.

Late last night, the House was still sitting under urgency.
Cullen promises budget will be
                               boring 

Wellington: Finance Minister Michael Cullen's first budget is set to show government
spending falling relative to the size of the economy over the next few years as the
Government maintains a tight fiscal line.

Dr Cullen yesterday said the budget, to be unveiled next Thursday, would be "boring" and was unlikely to
contain any surprises.

Though the Government's spending plans would mark a change of direction from the previous National-led
government, most of those plans - such as higher pensions, lower state house rents and interest free student
loans - had already been announced.

He wanted the business community, which has suffered from declining confidence, largely due to a series of
Reserve Bank interest rate hikes, to see the budget as moderate and fiscally conservative.

Government spending as a proportion of the economy's total output would fall slightly next year and continue
to fall over subsequent years, despite a planned $5.9 billion of extra spending on key areas.

Dr Cullen said the budget would include programmes to help business, including spending on industry
development and a new system of grants for business research.

The budget surplus for next year is expected to be slightly above the $1 billion outlined in the budget policy
statement in March.

Surpluses in the following two years will be significantly higher than the $1.9 billion and $2.2 billion projected.

The Government remains on track to keep new spending within a $5.9 billion cap it outlined in the March
statement, but will bring slightly more of this spending into the 2000-01 year than previously expected and
spend less in the following years.

Dr Cullen said the Government had committed much of the extra spending it planned and the next two
budgets would involve tight controls on new spending initiatives.

  National yesterday claimed the Government had broken an election pledge after Dr Cullen confirmed the
budget would not contain tax incentives for research and development.

The Government plans instead to introduce a new scheme of direct research grants to businesses, after
receiving advice that introducing tax breaks might cause a drop in the tax take without increasing the amount
of research carried out.

Before the election, Labour said it would introduce tax breaks for research and development, and it
confirmed that in the speech from the throne, which outlined the Labour-Alliance coalition's policy
programme.

National economic development spokesman Max Bradford said the news was "more evidence that the
Government has very few clues about what it will actually offer the business sector".

Dr Cullen said the Government abandoned the plan after getting strong advice from Treasury and the Inland
Revenue Department that it would be a "black hole" for tax funds.

There was a risk companies would have been able to redefine existing spending in order to avoid tax, without
increasing spending on research.

  Full details of the Government's planned superannuation fund will not be included in the budget but Dr
Cullen is still confident it is "on track" for next April.

Dr Cullen said he had dropped a proposal to make the fund tax exempt, as that would cause long-term
difficulties with the Government's tax take.

He and Treasury officials have been discussing details of the fund with Alliance leader Jim Anderton. Dr
Cullen said once these were finalised he would talk to New Zealand First, the Greens and National in a bid to
win their support.

The budget would outline some details of the scheme, including its overall expected impact on the
Government's books.

Dr Cullen's proposal is for a portion of government surpluses each year to be put into a fund which would be
used to offset future costs of providing pensions for retired people.

The fund would be managed on a commercial basis by a board of private fund managers, not by the
Government. – NZPA

Bad press offset with good news 

By Dene Mackenzie and NZPA

Stunned by the ferocity of business criticism, the Government has launched a counterattack by releasing a
string of good news pre-budget funding announcements.

The announcements started in earnest on Tuesday with the pledging of an extra $14 million over the next
three years to crack down on burglary.

Yesterday, the Government announced Pacific Island community development and employment initiatives
would receive a boost of more than $10.2 million over four years.

It also announced a $1.6 million pilot project under which six communities will be given funding to choose
their own social services, over and above core government welfare and benefit services.

Finance Minister Michael Cullen's office released a schedule for further announcements, which University of
Otago political studies head Prof Bob Catley said was designed to get Government supporters back on side.

"Things have been going bad in the media. They have to produce something to offset that. There is a big
head of steam developing because business is annoyed with the Government.

"I have been talking to business people over the last couple weeks and it is clear they are very annoyed."

The rot set in for the Government during April with the announcements of money being paid to stop trees
being cut down on the West Coast, new tax rates, ACC re-nationalised and the war over the Employment
Relations Bill, Prof Catley said.

"People have had a good look at the Government and said it's `way to the left'. It has a perspective of the
world no government in New Zealand has had for 20 years."

Talking to the business community might not be the right answer because the things to be talked about were
anti-business.

"It's no use someone who has been slagging off business for 25 years, turning up and saying `we're business
friendly'. It doesn't wash," he said.

Today, Conservation Minister Sandra Lee, Fisheries Minister Pete Hodgson and Environment Minister
Marian Hobbs will launch the Budget 2000 bio-diversity package at Parliament and Social Services and
Employment Minister Steve Maharey will speak at the Manawatu Science Centre and Museum.

Consumer Affairs Minister Phillida Bunkle will announce consumer issues relating to e-commerce and Mr
Maharey will release details of a pilot education programme to the Manawatu Principals Association.

On Sunday, Courts Minister Matt Robson and Justice Minister Phil Goff will release the restorative justice
package in Auckland and the two ministers will on Monday release the victims' rights package.

Mr Robson and Maori Affairs Minister Dover Samuels will make a Maori Land Court announcement next
Tuesday.

Next Wednesday is a rest day as ministers prepare for Thursday's budget.

7 July

Drink-driving charges admitted but MP denies any fraud 

John Tamihere

NZPA Staff Correspondent 
Wellington: Labour MP John Tamihere yesterday admitted he has three drink-driving convictions but vehemently denied fraud 
allegations raised in an anonymous fax. 
Mr Tamihere made the admission in Parliament, with the backing of Prime Minister Helen Clark, when he gave a personal statement 
denying the fraud allegation. 
His move was prompted by an anonymous fax, apparently sent from a pay fax in an Auckland pharmacy, which alleged Mr Tamihere 
was guilty of fraud and drink-driving. 
Act New Zealand leader Richard Prebble, who has been one of Mr Tamihere's harshest critics since the Hauraki MP entered 
Parliament last November, said he had known of the allegations all year but had not raised them because they did not involve taxpayer 
money. 
Mr Tamihere admitted the drink-driving convictions - in 1979, 1984 and 1993 - and said he had no problem with them coming out. 
However, he "categorically" denied the fraud allegation. 
"Some weeks ago, members of the Act and New Zealand First parties did make comments which implied that I, by association, have 
been involved with the misuse or misappropriation of taxpayer funds relating to Te Whanau Waipareira Trust," Mr Tamihere said. 
"Similar allegations are, once again, being circulated to media and others by way of an anonymous fax . . ." 
Mr Tamihere, a former lawyer, said the allegations related to documents he signed off on behalf of a marae committee when he was 
the secretary only, rather than a trustee. 
"In August 1990, a dispute arose between members of the trust and one of the trustees alleged that signatures on the deed of 
acknowledgement of debt had been forged," he said. 
"These allegations led to claims that the train of documents giving security could be voided." 
That matter went to the Maori Land Court, which upheld the transactions, but in 1993 the Auckland District Law Society investigated 
the forgery allegations. 
". . . while it determined that some of my actions were Continued on page 3 

MP denies fraud 
inappropriate, it did not determine to strike me off," Mr Tamihere said. 
"In 1995, the police took a prosecution in regard to these allegations. The outcome of this case was that I was discharged without 
conviction. 
"The court ordered that all aspects of this case be suppressed on the basis of the range of people of high standing that gave evidence 
and the like." 
The allegations made yesterday had, therefore, been dealt with by the formal authorities and judged to be without substance, Mr 
Tamihere said. 
"In effect, what I'm saying is that I have been audited, I have been inquired into, I have been investigated and I have been prosecuted 
but at no time . . . have I [had] a conviction against the Crimes Act, nor have I been struck off, and these are the allegations that have 
been made. 
"The final thing I'll say is, running the gauntlet of these audits, investigations, inquiries and prosecutions, I am the only member in this 
House to have undergone that scrutiny to this extent and I am the only member in this House who can stand up with a certificate of 
fitness to be here." 
Mr Tamihere later said he believed the "new brown aristocracy" was behind the allegations. 
"Maori play the politics of poverty and poor people savage one another, and I understand them." 
Mr Tamihere gave an assurance nothing else would emerge about his background and said Ms Clark had been aware of his past. 
He did not believe the matter would affect his chances of replacing Dover Samuels as Maori affairs minister, a position he is keen to 
secure. 
Ms Clark sacked Mr Samuels following allegations he had an improper relationship with a teenager in the 1980s. Police are 
investigating the allegations. 
Through a spokesman, Ms Clark said she had heard Mr Tamihere's explanation and was satisfied it was the end of the matter.

Bill passed abolishing bulk funding 
Wellington: Bulk funding will be abolished and balloting for places in some popular secondary schools introduced under legislation 
passed by Parliament yesterday. 
Kaikorai Valley College and Otago Girls High School are two Dunedin schools likely to be affected by the balloting provision. 
The Education Amendment Bill, passed by 64 to 54 votes, gives local students automatic entry to their school and, if that school is at 
risk of overcrowding, gives boards of trustees the ability to set up a home geographical zone. 
Entry after that will go, in order, to students wanting to enrol in special facilities such as Maori immersion units or special education 
classes; students with siblings at the school; those whose siblings are former students at the school; those whose parents are school 
employees. After that, entry is by ballot. 
Schools which entered bulk funding after June 18, 1998, would have their agreements cancelled next January, while those that had 
time left on their three-year contract and entered it before June 18, 1998, could either leave the scheme next July or, with other bulk-
funded schools, at the beginning of the 2001 school year. 
Education Minister Trevor Mallard said the Government had allowed an extra $60 million in the budget for running schools and 
abolishing bulk funding would mean it could ensure the extra funding was fairly distributed. 
The Bill also.- 
Makes board and school mergers easier by removing restriction that stopped one board from administering more than four schools. 
Gives the education minister the power to intervene on the recommendation of the chief review officer, a request of more than 20% of 
school parents or a request by the board. 
Implements voluntary staggered board elections for half the parent representatives every 18 months, instead of electing the whole 
board every three years. 
Repeals the law which made membership of tertiary student associations voluntary unless a student referendum voted for compulsory 
membership. The Otago University Students Association has retained compulsory membership. -

Stand down period could go 

Wellington: A Green Party Bill introduced to Parliament this week will wipe out the
13-week stand-down period for the dole - if the party can get enough support in
Parliament to pass it.

The Social Services (Work Testing and Community Wage) Bill would also reinstate income support for all
students over the summer break, Green MP Sue Bradford said.

"The removal of the student community wage by the National government has had a huge impact on student
poverty. 

"It is unfair, discriminatory and totally unrealistic for students up to 25 years of age to be dependent on their
parents for income and support during the break between academic years," she said.

The member's Bill was drawn out of a ballot this week and will face its first hurdle in Parliament in a few
weeks.

Peters attempting to restrict opinion polls 

                          Wellington: A member's Bill by New Zealand First leader
                          Winston Peters would ban opinion polls 28 days before a
                          general election if it is passed by Parliament.

                          Mr Peters will need the majority support of MPs to get his Electoral
                          (Public Opinion Polls) Amendment Bill through its next hurdle and sent on
                          to a select committee for public submissions.

                          The Bill was drawn from a ballot of members' Bills at Parliament this
                          week.

                          It proposes to ban the publishing or republishing of poll results, or
                          comment on them, in the immediate 28 days before a general election or
                          a by-election, with infringement costing a fine of $5000.

                          Mr Peters complained at the last election that media coverage of polls
                          had an impact on his party's result at the November election, when the
                          party received just 4.3% of the party vote and was only returned to
                          Parliament because Mr Peters won his Tauranga electorate.

                          In the Bill's explanatory note, he said considerable emphasis and publicity
                          was given to polls. 

                          "The material produced is frequently used by the media and others to
publicise personal assertions and is often used in a manner designed to further influence voters in a particular
direction."

That had created disadvantage for one party or individual over another in a "manner not consistent with the
principles of fairness and democracy", Mr Peters said.

National dumps own Bill 

Wellington: National has withdrawn support for its own Bill requiring gun owners to
register individual firearms.

Submissions to a select committee made it clear that the Arms Amendment Bill fell short in a number of
areas, National conservation spokesman Eric Roy said in a statement yesterday.

"Both sides of the gun debate have major reservations about the Bill and it became clear to our
representatives on the committee that it would take more than a few amendments to make it a practical
piece of legislation."

National introduced the Bill in response to High Court judge Sir Thomas Thorp's 1997 firearms review. The
Bill attracted thousands of submissions, most of them opposed to measures including a requirement for gun
owners to register individual firearms or face a $500 instant fine.

A week ago, Police Minister George Hawkins floated the idea of scrapping or significantly rewriting the
legislation.

But Mr Roy stressed that the issues would not be ignored just because National had withdrawn its support.

"There are numerous concerns about safety, security and fairness which won't go away. I'll be working
constructively with recreational groups to ensure their concerns are being addressed in any legislation which
may be in the pipeline."

Anderton says bank stifling
                        employment 

                                  Wellington: Deputy Prime Minister Jim Anderton
                                  fired another shot at Reserve Bank governor Don
                                  Brash yesterday, accusing him of hiking interest
                                  rates to stop unemployment falling.

                                  Dr Brash, in a controversial speech this week, warned that
                                  wage rises might force him to raise interest rates - interpreted
                                  by commentators as a shot across the bows of new industrial
                                  relations legislation which has raised fears of a return to union
                                  power.

                                  Mr Anderton, who has repeatedly clashed with Dr Brash over
                                  monetary policy, said in a speech yesterday the economy had
                                  to continue to grow. Unemployment was now at 6.1%.

                                  "In the past, the previous government took the view that 6%
                                  unemployment was as good as it gets. It believed that 6%
                                  unemployment was necessary to keep inflation under control
                                  and maintain stable prices," the Alliance leader said.

                                  "That is the approach that Dr Brash was taking this week
                                  when he talked about putting up interest rates if wage rises
                                  created inflationary pressure."

He said the central bank believed that if unemployment decreased, then wages went up and that pushed up
prices - a theory he did not believe.

"So when the Reserve Bank thinks unemployment is falling, it increases interest rates to slow the economy.
By slowing the economy, it maintains at least 6% unemployment and - in its view - takes some of the
pressure off inflation."

Mr Anderton said maintaining unemployment at present levels was "not good enough".

Dr Brash is due to decide whether to increase rates on August 16. A drop in quarterly unemployment figures
out this week has caused some economists to predict that will put pressure on wage rates, which will in turn
cause Dr Brash to put up interest rates.

Muddle by ministry 

NZPA Staff Correspondent

Wellington: Shambolic handling of a Waitangi Fisheries Commission announcement by Maori Affairs
Minister Parekura Horomia continued at Parliament yesterday. 

Mr Horomia promised when he was appointed minister on July 25 he would announce yesterday the
schedule for appointments to the Treaty of Waitangi Fisheries Commission. 

Yesterday, he issued a statement saying he would make recommendations within two weeks, but the
statement was retrieved from press gallery offices not long after and a promised replacement did not arrive. 

A spokeswoman said the statement had been wrong and the appointments would not be announced until the
end of August.

She did not know why the timing had suddenly changed and also did not know when or if the minister would
issue his formal replacement statement.

It was then learned a replacement statement had been issued by his office to at least one organisation
outside Parliament, but not apparently to media.

Mr Horomia's press secretary then denied a replacement statement had been issued, despite NZPA
obtaining a copy.

Mr Horomia did not respond to requests for comment on what exactly was going on.

He said in both statements he had "decided to signal that matters are well in hand".

The process of making new appointments to the commission was started by the previous National-led
government and has been going on for more than two years.

Anger at gang claim by Maori minister 

A claim by Maori Affairs Minister Parekura Horomia that gangs "own half of Timaru"
has infuriated Timaru mayor Wynne Raymond.

Mr Horomia made the comment on Thursday while speaking to the Maori affairs select committee on the
Government's Closing the Gaps policies.

He said gangs were not always full of Maoris and in Timaru gangs "own half the town . . . they ain't Maori".

Mr Horomia's comment drew a sharp retort from Mr Raymond.

"I'm disgusted with these ignorant, ill-informed and off-the-cuff comments from the new minister."

Mr Raymond said it was not true that Timaru gangs owned half the town.

Fellow Cabinet minister and Aoraki electorate MP Jim Sutton said it was clear Mr Horomia was at least 15
years out of date about Timaru's gang situation.

"They might have owned a lot of property once, but certainly not now."

Mr Sutton said he planned to have a chat with Mr Horomia about his comments and bring him up-to-date
with Timaru's impressive crime clearance rates, low reoffending rates and low level of gang activity.

Health Bill threatening to open
               a new can of worms 

By Eugene Bingham

Annette King better hope the health system's wheels
keep turning during the latest round of restructuring.

She may need patching up herself by the end of it.

The combative health minister unveiled the Public
Health and Disability Bill on Wednesday and
immediately sampled a taste of what was to come.

Within two hours of the Bill being tabled, Ms King was
jousting with National's Wyatt Creech before a packed
health select committee. Then tensions within the
Labour Maori caucus blew up, exposing a messy
division that will complicate the Government's flagship
Closing the Gaps programme.

After eight months of industrious work by officials and
the Cabinet in relative quiet, the health reforms had
burst on to the agenda. The Bill itself and the changes it
sets rolling ensure Ms King a bruising time from now on
in.

Beyond the wary - and weary - cries that the sector has
had enough restructuring lie a plethora of issues
guaranteeing health as one of the Government's nagging headaches.

The iwi versus urban scrap, the procreation of health politicians and new bureaucracies, and heightened local
expectations loom as bogeys to haunt the process.

Under the changes, 21 district health boards will inherit responsibility for local health needs. Seven board
members will be elected and four appointed by the minister.

In the jargon of the sector, the boards will be both "providers" and "purchasers" of health services. Above
them will be a beefed-up Ministry of Health, into which the Health Funding Authority will be folded.

The Government trumpets the changes as a move to more grassroots decision-making. In fact, the Bill's
greater achievement will be the enshrining of a national approach to the country's health woes.

The legislation will lock in place a national health strategy, a document that paints the background against
which health bureaucrats and politicians must make their decisions.

Put together by a high-powered reference group, the strategy sets priorities and goals such as reducing
smoking and obesity.

Boards will work to the same overall programme, promising smoother and more equitable health delivery
around the country.

Health dollars will be carved up on the basis of a redefined formula that recognises boards are paid on the
basis of the population they care for rather than what they do.

It could be popular stuff. People like to think they will get the same health care no matter where they fall ill.

Injecting democracy back into the system and surgically removing the commercial approach will win plaudits
too.

Drawing away the veil of secrecy by insisting boards meet in public and be subject to the Official
Information Act is laudable.

In reality, however, allowing communities to go to the polls could cause the Government damage.

First, board members will be very constrained in what they can actually do. Ultimate power remains vested
in the hands of the minister who will brandish a range of punishments for errant boards. The degree of
autonomy enjoyed by each board will also depend on the minister's assessment of their abilities. Each will
have to present annual and strategic plans to the Government. And the legislation under which they operate
is so prescriptive, it even sets down how a teleconference can be held.

Frustrations will grow when well-meaning people voted in by their local community to make changes realise
the democracy is little more than window-dressing.

Undoubtedly, people will run for election on the basis of expanded health services pledging, for example, to
open a specialist intensive care unit within their rural hospital. They are not going to get it.

Which raises the second and more thorny political problem: is the Government creating a layer of critics for
itself? When something goes wrong, won't elected members simply blame Annette King for not giving their
board enough money? The lines of accountability could be blurred and messy.

Things become more complicated by the various committees the Bill spawns - each board will have three
committees advising it on matters such as hospital governance, while at least four will advise the minister.

All these problems are on the horizon. Immediately pressing is the issue splitting Labour's Maori caucus.

Helen Clark will have a challenge to keep her most volatile MPs under control.

Signs of trouble emerged on Tuesday when associate Health Minister Tariana Turia left the Labour caucus
in tears. Tensions over the way the boards deal with Maori organisations had boiled over.

Displaying its continued commitment to Maori, the Government has set about defining that relationship in the
legislation.

In so doing, it has reignited the debate about urban and iwi authorities and constructed another platform for a
debate on Maori sovereignty.

As Muriwhenua leader Shane Jones put it, the poor health system has enough to deal with let alone having
the sovereignty issue landed on it.

The Bill will be the first piece of social legislation to contain a clause insisting it is interpreted in a manner
consistent with the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi.

Sharpening the issue is the requirement for boards to establish "partnership relationships" at the governance
level with mana whenua, which is defined as the people with customary authority over a particular area.

Hauraki MP John Tamihere is alarmed by the use of this particular term and believes it will lock urban Maori
out of the crucial health decisions in their backyards.

Ms King is hoping to appease Mr Tamihere with a subsequent clause obliging boards to work with all Maori
agencies at the operational end.

Ms Turia's tears, meanwhile, were over frustration at not winning a greater role for iwi whom she believes
wield the right and the responsibility to exclusively take part at the governance level.

There was pressure on Ms King to place iwi authorities alongside the boards.

That was rejected. But insertion of the term mana whenua is a victory on behalf of iwi. Mana whenua is a
traditional term bearing a more sacred meaning and more political clout than just tangata whenua or local
tribes.

Its use will open up the possibility of contests when more than one iwi exists within a particular area. 

Which all leaves the question: what difference will all this make to help doctors and nurses at the front line of
the health system anyway? - The New Zealand Herald

Wake-up call for ministers
By Dene Mackenzie

Rod Donald

Some cabinet ministers were "mesmerised" by their public perception and 
needed to be reminded they were in a
minority government, Green co-leader Rod Donald said yesterday.
"We aren't setting out to bring them down to size but, if they expect our 
support on a particular Bill, then they need to talk to us in advance.
"One day, they will find out in the same way we found out about a recent 
Bill - through the public media - that we don't support it."
Asked how were relations between Labour and the Greens, Mr Donald said 
the Greens were consulted on some
issues and some ministers were excellent.
Others were "quite tardy" and usually consulted only on issues the 
Government thought the Greens were interested
in or for which the Government felt it was unlikely to get support from 
anywhere else. The Greens were interested in
all issues, he said.
Progress had been made on the protocol between the Greens and the 
Government. Although the process had
dragged on too long, it would set a standard ministers would have to 
comply with, Mr Donald said
Without Green support, the Government had to rely on New Zealand First 
votes to get legislation through.
The Greens had worked with National to improve parts of the first ACC 
Bill.
 Green MPs would not support the party-hopping Bill being brought to 
Parliament soon and NZ First support would be
needed to get it passed.
Mr Donald described Labour
Party president Bob Harvey as arrogant to exclude the Greens from any 
talks about election and broadcasting
funding or to bring them in as a last-minute thought. He had heard Mr 
Harvey say on radio that Labour would be talking to National and the Alliance about 
changes in funding.
"It is arrogant for the president of the Labour Party to meet up with its 
old two-party club-mate National and its
new-found friend the Alliance to jack up broadcasting and election funding 
and cut the other parties out.
"More importantly, he is usurping the select committee process."
The justice and electoral select committee was conducting an inquiry into last year's 
election and broadcasting
funding was on the agenda.
It was also the right time to consider public funding of political 
parties, Mr Donald said.
While the Greens received some broadcasting funding. it received far less 
than New Zealand First and about the
same as the Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party.
The Australian model, in which every political party that went over the 
5% threshold in any electorate received $1.50 a vote, was a place to start, he said. While 
it might not be the best 
answer, parties who were not represented in Parliament still got some distribution and 
that made for a fairer 
democracy.

looking at legislation at this stage. – NZPA

Day in the House
Wellington: Three petitions were presented when Parliament resumed at 2pm yesterday.
The transport and industry relations committee report on the Airport Authorities 
Amendment Bill No 2 was presented.
Bills introduced were the Earthquake Commission Dissolution Bill, the Films, Videos 
and Publications Classification Prohibition of Child Pornography Amendment Bill and 
the Imported Used Cars Commission of Inquiry Bill.
Ministers then answered 12 questions of the day before the third reading of the Education 
Amendment Bill. That Bill was passed 64 – 54.
Parliament then resumed the interrupted debate on the first reading of the Gaming and 
Lotteries Amendment Bill.
The House voted that the Bill proceed to select committee stage. It will be considered by 
the government administration select committee.
Labour MP John Tamihere then sought, and was granted, leave of the House to read a 
personal statement.
The House then adjourned and will resume on July 25 after a two-week recess. – NZPA

