So you want to enhance your property? Don’t forget to get the cultural okay from your local iwi

“Of course I’ve got an iwi permit…but only for a wee-wee”

Hard on the heels of his political triumph with the supermarkets, Labour Maori Affairs spokesman Shane Jones will have chalked up more political points with his criticisms of a new rule that will affect Auckland property owners.

The city’s leaders – fasten your seat-belts, folks – are requiring property owners to seek iwi approval to work on sites of cultural and heritage value to Maori.

As if living in Auckland isn’t penalty enough for any individual of sound mind, this is a lulu of an idea.

Jones actually calls it dangerous as well (obviously) as an extra compliance cost.

His views are reported today in the NZ Herald:

If you thought there was something sick about the public service, it turns out you probably were right

It looks like our public servants are a bunch of skivers, unless – of course – you are a leftie tosser and maintain they are stressed and overworked.

Take your pick.

Whether or not they are as healthy as workers in the private sector may well be arguable, but they are much more likely to take time off when they are (or they profess to be) sick.

The SST tells us the difference in a report today –

Public servants averaged 7.7 sick days each last year, compared with 5.3 days for workers in the private sector.

These figures apparently come from The National Employers’ wage and salary survey, based on interviews of more than 39,000 employees.

Two professors offer statistical succour for Alasdair Thompson but Dr Judy remains sceptical

Alf will be making another pitch to his Cabinet colleagues to save good public money by dispensing of the services of a few more civil servants.

The jobs he has in mind are those at the Human Rights Commission and, more partiuclarly, the job of the Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner.

This post with a grand title is held by one Judy McGregor, a former newspaper hack who somewhere down the track became a professor.

On the Human Rights Commission website she is introduced as Dr Judy McGregor, PhD, PGDip, LLB, BA, the Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner; she is jointly designated as the Disability Rights Commissioner.

She is a former Massey University professor, trained lawyer and has a doctorate in political communication.

This implies she takes a very scholastic approach to issues within her domain.

But is she dispassionate and open-minded?

Today we find she is casting doubts on some research done by two other professors, although she seems to be unaware of their work and has not yet read it.

Ahoy there, ladies – got a place on board for a bloke who has been hounded by the harpies?

A good place for studying productivity and gender disparities.

Mrs Grumble has some great advice for the beleaguered Alasdair Thompson, who looks likely soon to have nothing much to do except think about how to say things without inviting the wrath of the nation’s harpies.

He should take a cruise.

Not just any cruise.

He should take a cruise on the Pacific Pearl.

The ship has a sheila at the helm – or rather, a sheila as skipper who will order whoever is at the helm which way to turn.

Does this make her the ship’s master – or its mistress?