In an interview on Magic Talk on Monday National Party Leader, Judith Collins, seemed to blur the line between managing pain and a deliberate choice for a person to end their life.

Asked how she reconciled her Christianity with support for decriminalising abortion and making euthanasia legal, Collins said "... I've seen my father with a whole dose of morphine put in him in the hospital that he was in. I tell you what, that was a lot better than watching my sister-in-law basically starve to death," Collins told Magic Talk.

However Palliative Care Speciality, Sinead Donnelly says there's a clear distinction between administering morphine for pain and deliberately terminating a life.

"Morphine is used legally and appropriately every day to relieve a patient's pain and shortness of breath, but not to terminate a life", Donnelly told CathNews.

Legitimising what we think has been the practice for many years is not what the End of Life Choice Act about, she says.

"This euthanasia Act will be legalising the use of agents like phenobarbitone and propofol at high doses to end people's lives.

"The use of these agents carries with them the intention of ending someone's life not the relief of their symptoms", she said.

Studies have shown that patients live longer when morphine is used appropriately and carefully to relieve pain.

Often families think that morphine led to the patient's death when actually the patient is actively dying, morphine is given to relieve their pain and the patient coincidentally dies, Donnelly says.

This is vastly different to a medical practitioner or nurse giving a patient high doses of phenobarbitone and propofol with the intention of ending their life, she says.

We do not need to vote for giving people Morphine to relieve their pain, it is already legal.

This vote is about something completely different, it has a different intent. This euthanasia referendum is about a deliberate act to end a person's life early.

In a recent discussion on NewTalkZB, Hospice NZ clinical director Rod Macleod and Wellington GP labelled the euthanasia Act poor law.

English said the law was "very weak", noting the absence of a requirement for a patient to consult their family or friends about their decision to request an assisted death.

Under this law an 18 year old could request to be euthanased, English said.

"And the first those parents might get to know about this is if they get a phone call or a death certificate coming to them. And that's something that no parent wants."

English and Macleod voiced concern that if the vote passed, New Zealand like other countries will broaden their laws, for example in Canada euthanasia could be made available to non-terminal patients.

Dr John Bonning, an emergency medicine specialist from Waikato Hospital defended the euthanasia Act.

"They're allowed to vote, they're allowed to go to war, they're allowed to make their own choices", Bonning said.

Sources

• Newshub
• 1 News
• NZ Herald

Collins, who stands in the Papakura electorate, lives in Tamaki, a seat comfortable held by National MP Simon O'Connor.

She arrived about 11 am to place her vote at St Thomas Tamaki, stopping in the chapel to offer a prayer before going in to vote. Read more

But a Newshub article says her record shows some surprising votes for socially liberal policies.

Same-gender marriage
In 2004, Collins voted against the Civil Union Bill, "not because of any sort of homophobic views" but because it created "a parallel form of marriage."

She voted for the Marriage (Gender Clarification) Amendment Bill in 2005, which would have defined marriage as only between a man and a woman. This failed in its first reading.

In 2013 she voted in favour of the Bill allowing same-sex marriage.

Abortion

In 2019, Collins voted in favour of the Abortion Legislation Bill which removed abortion from the Crimes Act.

Euthanasia

Collins had voted against the 2003 Death with Dignity Bill.

She also voted against the End of Life Choice Bill in its first reading.

But in the debate on the third reading of the Bill last year, she held back tears as she gave an emotional speech about her father, who died from terminal bone cancer.

Collins said she used to be opposed to assisted dying, but now believes giving people the choice to die with dignity is the right thing to do.

Cannabis

National has up until recently declined to commit to enacting the result of the non-binding cannabis referendum, which will be voted on in September as part of the 2020 election.

But former National leader Todd Muller said his party will likely support the legalisation of cannabis if New Zealand votes "yes" in the upcoming referendum.

Collins has not expressed a view. The AM Show in October 2018, she declined to say whether she'd be likely to vote in favour of legalising recreational use of marijuana.

She acknowledged that personal use will "probably" end up legalised soon.

Sex work

In 2003 the Prostitution Reform Act decriminalised sex work in New Zealand.

Collins voted against the Bill - in the second reading saying: "In my opinion, prostitution is rape accompanied by payment - if the prostitute is lucky."

Source

• newshub.co.nz
• newshub.co.nz
• Image: thegardian.com

This will consider the issue of whether New Zealand should continue not to tax most capital gains (tax the fruit from the tree, but not any growth in the tree that bears the fruit).

The Labour Party, however, has already indicated its strong commitment to a capital gains tax, following countries such as Australia that has had a capital gains tax since 1985.

It is important that New Zealand gets this right. Unfortunately, Labour has said it intends having any capital gains tax enacted before the next election - late 2020 - to come into effect 1 April 2021.

That means legislation into Parliament in the first half of next year, soon after the Working Group's final report in February.

In reality, the Working Group will need to all but finalise its February report by the end of this year, with legislation soon after that.

Not much time. No time for proper consultation. No time to think through the consequences.

A capital gains tax would mark a sea change in the New Zealand tax system.

We have, over the past 30 years, established a world class tax system that is relatively simple, has low compliance costs, and stays in the background.

Unlike Australians, most New Zealanders do not face the annual nightmare of complex income tax returns. When I was Minister of Revenue, I strongly supported the view that the need for tax returns should be rare, not standard.

A capital gains tax is likely to change all that. Capital gains tax is known to require some very complex rules, have high compliance costs, involve filing lengthy tax returns and be very intrusive.

If you do not believe me, ask any Australian what they think (except of course Australian tax accountants and lawyers who earn mega fees from their complex rules).

Taxing capital gains would impact on all areas of the economy.

A particular concern to me is the housing market. This is where much of the revenue will come from.

The Government has said the family home will not be taxed. Fair enough. But this excludes most housing and means no increase in affordable homes. The rich will invest in mansions, putting further pressure on urban house prices. And what if the home is partly used for rental, a homestay or Airbnb? Is the increase in value of the family home then taxed?

The impact on the most vulnerable - those living in rentals could be disastrous. Continue reading

• Judith Collins is a New Zealand politician. She is the National MP for Papakura and is the National Party's spokesperson for Housing.
• Image: Newshub

Australian authorities are trying to extradite McGrath from New Zealand to face 252 child sex charges.

He is currently on bail.

A Christchurch District Court judge put the final extradition decision in Ms Collins's hands.

McGrath's lawyers launched an application for a judicial review after Ms Collins refused to give them more time to make submissions.

But they sent their submissions to Ms Collins in July and withdrew the review application.

Ms Collins has said she will receive advice from officials and will carefully consider submissions.

Continue reading

Politicians from both sides attended the recent monthly Samoan Mass held in south Auckland.

Judith Collins who was present at the Mass said, "South Auckland can always make or break elections".

Labour Mangere MP Su'a William Sio was also there.

He says that while he has been coming to the Mass for 14 years, it was the first time he has seen National MPs in attendance.

David Cunliffe will be going to the next month's Mass.

Most people 3 News spoke at the recent Mass plan to vote red, but he reporter said the safe Labour seats may not be the fortresses they once were.

"There is a slight shift towards National and New Zealand First as well," says churchgoer Evelyn Stowers.

She still supports Labour, but says there's a "but": "They're not delivering the goods, simple as that, and leadership."

Others present also noted the Labour leadership as a cause for concern, and even his MPs think he needs to do more.

"David [Cunliffe] is aware of that, and as part of our strategy we're getting him out and about in the regions," says Sio.

Source

• TV3 News
• Image: Screen Shot TV3News

She says it's clear restorative justice conferences are a useful tool in keeping offenders from going on to commit other crimes.

"It's estimated from the 1569 meetings held in 2011 and 2012, just over 1000 fewer offences have occurred as a result," Mrs Collins told Radio New Zealand.

Ms Collins says there will be about 3,600 restorative justice conferences this year and that every district court now has the facility to to enable these meetings.

While the restorative conferences only take place if both parties agree to attend, Mrs Collins says she plans to increase the conferences over the next two years.

Mary Betts of the Auckland Diocesan Justice and Peace Commission welcomed the Minister's comment.

She said the New Zealand Catholic Bishops in 2009 highlighted restorative justice as a means of reconciliation between victims and offenders, a successful way for offenders to realise the effects of their offending, and be less likely to re-offend.

On Monday a New Plymouth man, Jason Richards, 36, with 114 previous convictions, pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery.

Richards, along with two others was found guilty of getting another man drunk and drugged in an effort to rob him of $600.

The attackers, who king-hit their victim in a city park, found only his cellphone and $25 on him.

Richards' lawyer is asking for time to look into the prospect of a restorative justice conference.

Restorative justice meetings take before sentencing between an offender and a victim, with a trained facilitator also present. The process provides victims a safe environment where they can tell then offender of their experience.

Sources

• Radio New Zealand
• Stuff
• Image: Critic

Justice Minister Judith Collins implied it was ridiculous and suggested this "sort of display" is "why people are leaving the Anglican Church".

Perhaps the symbol of a fenced in cell is upsetting to the journalist and the politician but Bishop Duckworth was just doing his job, albeit in a colourful way.

Last week Anglican churches around the country were focusing on penal reform. We have some serious problems in New Zealand. We incarcerate people at a greater rate than almost all like countries and we have a very high recidivism rate.

This is a problem for all of us because a prison system that is not rehabilitating people becomes a school for further crime. That in turn puts us all at risk.

The bishop's question is, "Do we want a system that simply punishes offenders or do we want one that changes behaviour and leads to less reoffending?"

The time in the cell drew public attention to the question and allowed him a week to contemplate and pray.

We all understand the former. The latter is perhaps a mystery for some, but you have to admit that is what you would expect of a bishop.

So what is the substance? The rate of imprisonment in New Zealand more than doubled from 91 per 100,000 people in 1987 to 197 per 100,000 in 2010. Today's figure shows a small improvement, sitting on 192.

These very high imprisonment rates are well above like countries with the exception of the United States. Britain imprisons 148 per 100,000, Australia 130, Canada 118 and France 105.

The picture gets worse if we look at the imprisonment of Maori. They are imprisoned at a rate of 700 per 100,000, three and a half times more than non- Maori, or over five times more than the total Canadian rate.

So are New Zealand's streets safer as a result of all this very expensive locking up? It does not appear so because the recidivism rates are very disturbing. Around half New Zealand's prisoners (49 per cent) return to prison having reoffended over the four year period after being released.

The figures suggest some smart thinking is needed. We lock up more people than other like countries. We have a shameful ethnic bias within those figures and a very high reoffending rate.

The bishop didn't blame the Government or the justice or correction systems. He stated that his vigil was not a protest. It was a call to think, discuss and act. This problem has grown over the last 25 years under successive governments, but there are hopeful signs within the corrections and justice systems. Continue reading

Sources

• Charles Waldegrave in Stuff
• Image: Anglican Taonga

Charles Waldegrave leads the Anglican Church's family centre social policy research unit.

This comes a fortnight after newspapers published a controversial cartoon, depicting overweight Polynesians celebrating the food in schools programme as an excuse to spend more on drinking, smoking and gambling.

Race Relations Commissioner Dame Susan Devoy has said while the cartoon is appalling and offensive, it does not meet the threshold for racism in the Human Rights Act. Continue reading

Prison Fellowship general manager Robin Gunston said the Fellowship had welcomed the evaluation and agreed with suggested changes. These included improving communication with Corrections and making sure more prisoners finished the 18-month programme. But Corrections' demand to include a rehabilitation element was completely at odds with the programme's purpose. Drug and violence rehabilitation programmes were already offered elsewhere in prison, and the faith-based unit aimed to prepare prisoners for reintegration at the end of their sentence.

The Department says it clearly signalled last November that an amended programme would have to be submitted by May, but Gunston says initially the Fellowship understood it had to introduce the rehabilitation component by the end of May and, if it was not up to Corrections' standards, a month's notice would be given of the unit's closure. He said negotiations with Corrections on Friday had clarified what needed to be done.

Corrections Minster Judith Collins said the faith-based unit did not provide any valuable services that Corrections did not. She called the evaluation "disappointing" and said the programme was clearly not achieving its objective, although faith could have a positive impact in reducing reoffending.

Source

• TVNZ
• Image: Andrew Gorrie DomPost