Wokeness - Down Under > New Zealanders declare 'personhood' for a mountain

 

Does personhood come with an assigned gender? I wonder what that would be?

New Zealand grants legal personhood to

Mount Taranaki

By Clyde Hughes

New Zealand granted personhood to a mountain on Thursday. File Photo by Mark Evans/EPA-EFE

Jan. 31 (UPI) -- The New Zealand government granted Mount Taranaki the same legal rights as a person after the country agreed to compensate its indigenous inhabitants for past colonization.

The mountain now owns itself with local tribes, iwi, and the government working in unison to manage it.

Local tribes have long considered the mountain as sacred and an ancestor. New Zealand officials said they want to confess to forced land confiscation during colonization.

"We must acknowledge the hurt that has been caused by past wrongs, so we can look to the future to support iwi to realize their own aspirations and opportunities," said Paul Goldsmith, the government minister who negotiated the deal.

The New Zealand legislature passed the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress bill giving the mountain a legal name -- Te Kahui Tupua -- and protection for its land. It will no longer be referred to as Egmont, the name British explorer James Cook gave it in the 18th century.

New Zealand gave personhood to the natural features of the Te Urewera scared(sic) forest on North Island in 2014, the first country to ever do so. Guardianship of the forest was given to the Tuhoe tribe.

The country did the same in 2017 with the Whanganui River, turning over guardianship to the iwi while granting it personhood.

Politics - New Zealand > Jacinda's Far-left Party slaughtered in election

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The personable Jacinda Ardern left the post of PM of New Zealand in January and her party has been on a steep downhill slide ever since as another left-wing government collapses.

New Zealand elects conservative government in decisive win

By Nick Perry  The Associated Press

Posted October 14, 2023 6:50 am

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on Thursday that she will not seek re-election and plans to step down “no later than the 7th of February. This summer, I had hoped to find a way to prepare for not just another year, but another term – because that is what this requires,” a visibly emotional Ardern said during a televised statement. “I have not been able to do that.” – Jan 18, 2023

Conservative former businessman Christopher Luxon will be New Zealand’s next prime minister after winning a decisive election victory Saturday.

People voted for change after six years of a liberal government led for most of that time by Jacinda Ardern.

The exact makeup of Luxon’s government is still to be determined as ballots continued to be counted.

Luxon arrived to rapturous applause at an event in Auckland. He was joined on stage by his wife, Amanda, and their children, William and Olivia. He said he was humbled by the victory and couldn’t wait to get stuck in to his new job. He thanked people from across the country.

“You have reached for hope and you have voted for change,” he said.

Supporters chanted his campaign slogan which promised to get the country “back on track.”

Outgoing Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, who spent just nine months in the top job after taking over from Ardern in January, told supporters late Saturday he had called Luxon to concede.

Hipkins said it wasn’t the result he wanted.

“But I want you to be proud of what we achieved over the last six years,” he told supporters at an event in Wellington.

Ardern unexpectedly stepped down as prime minister in January, saying she no longer had “enough in the tank” to do the job justice. She won the last election in a landslide, but her popularity waned as people got tired of COVID-19 restrictions and inflation threatened the economy.

Her departure left Hipkins, 45, to take over as leader. He had previously served as education minister and led the response to the coronavirus pandemic.

With most of the vote counted, Luxon’s National Party had about 40 per cent of the vote. Under New Zealand’s proportional voting system, Luxon, 53, is expected to form an alliance with the libertarian ACT Party.

Meanwhile, the Labour Party that Hipkins leads was getting only a little over 25 per cent of the vote — about half the proportion it got in the last election under Ardern.

And in a result that would be particularly stinging for Labour should it lose the seat, National was in a tight race for Ardern’s old electorate seat, Mount Albert. The seat has long been a Labour stronghold and was also held by another former Labour prime minister, Helen Clark.

The National Party candidate for the seat, Melissa Lee, told The Associated Press she was feeling excited but also nervous about the final result in Mount Albert.

“It’s been Labour since 1946. It has been the biggest, safest Labour seat forever,” she said. “It would be fantastic if we won it.”

Lee said that when she was door-knocking, people had told her they were tired of the current government and were concerned with the state of the economy and the spiraling cost of living.

David Farrar, a longtime conservative pollster, said there was still a good chance that Labour would end up holding the seat once all the votes were counted. However, he said, his initial impression of voting throughout the country was that it was turning out to be a “bloodbath” for the left.

Luxon has promised tax cuts for middle-income earners and a crackdown on crime. Hipkins had promised free dental care for people younger than 30 and the removal of sales taxes on fruit and vegetables.

Also at stake in the election is the government’s relationship with Indigenous Maori. Luxon has promised to axe the Maori Health Authority, which he says creates two separate health systems. Hipkins says he’s proud of such co-governance efforts and has accused Luxon of condoning racism.

Within days of taking the reins in January, Hipkins found himself dealing with a crisis after deadly floods and then a cyclone hit New Zealand. He quickly jettisoned some of Ardern’s more contentious policies and promised a “back to basics” approach focused on tackling the spiraling cost of living.

Warm spring weather in the largest city, Auckland, seemed to encourage voters, with queues forming outside some polling places. Early voting before Election Day was lower than in recent elections.

During a six-week election campaign, both Hipkins and Luxon traveled the country and hammed it up for the cameras.

Earlier in the week, Luxon, who served as chief executive of both Unilever Canada and Air New Zealand, told an energized crowd in Wellington that he would crack down on gangs.

“I’ve gotta tell you, crime is out of control in this country,” Luxon said. “And we are going to restore law and order, and we are going to restore personal responsibility.”

Luxon also got cheers when he promised to fix the capital’s gridlocked traffic with a new tunnel project.

Luxon is relatively new to politics but held his own against the more experienced Hipkins during televised debates, according to political observers. But Luxon also made some gaffes, such as when he was asked in a 1News debate how much he spent each week on food.

His answer of “about sixty bucks” (U.S. $36) was ridiculed on social media as showing he was out of touch with the cost of living.

Bits and Bites from around the World > Gorilla-Sized Penguins; Godzilla Egg? Found on Japanese beach

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Fossils paint the picture of gorilla-sized penguins

that once roamed New Zealand

An artist's depiction of two newly described penguin species, Kumimanu fordycei and Petradyptes stonehousei,

which roamed New Zealand beaches over 50 million years ago. (Simone Giovanardi)

Daniel Ksepka, CBC Radio · 

Posted: Feb 17, 2023 12:35 PM PST | Last Updated: February 17

Fifty million years ago, New Zealand was home to penguins that stood as tall as humans and weighed as much as adult gorillas. 

Scientists have discovered fossils of the largest penguin known to date, thought to have weighed between 148 and 160 kilograms (300 and 340 pounds). 

"It totally blew me away the first time I saw it," lead study author Daniel Ksepka told Quirks & Quarks host Bob McDonald. "This thing was gigantic. It makes an emperor penguin look kind of like a little tiny robin."

In a new study published in the Journal of Paleontology, scientists identified two new species of penguins based on fossils embedded in rocky formations on the Otago beaches of New Zealand's South Island: Kumimanu fordycei and Petradyptes stonehousei. 

Both species are thought to have existed around 55 to 59 million years ago during the Paleocene era. 

Researchers compared the fossils to the bones of 20 modern penguin species to learn more about the ancient water birds. "We probably would recognize it as a penguin, but it would have been quite distinct from the little fellows we see in zoos and aquariums today," said Ksepka, who is a curator at the Bruce Museum in Greenwich, Conn.

Only a couple of bones belonging to the giant K. fordycei — named after New Zealand paleontologist Ewan Fordyce — were discovered. But they were enough to give researchers a clue about its appearance. 

Left to right: Skeletal illustrations of Kumimanu fordycei, Petradyptes stonehousei, and a modern emperor penguin. Only a handful of bones were found for the newly identified species, but they were enough to estimate the penguins' body mass. (Simone Giovanardi)

"We measured hundreds of penguin bones from modern species to try to estimate the body mass [of the ancient penguins]. And we arrived at a total of about 340 pounds, which is just kind of mind-blowing. I mean, imagine a penguin the size of a gorilla," Ksepka said. 

Emperor penguins, the largest species alive today, weigh about 40 kilograms (90 pounds) which makes K. fordycei nearly four times heavier. 

The smaller of the two newly discovered species P. stonehousei — named after biologist Bernard Stonehouse — also outweighs the modern emperor penguin, weighing in at 50 kilograms.

Mystery of the vanishing penguin giants

According to Ksepka, the Paleocene birds' flippers more closely resembled the wings of flying birds, which made them less efficient swimmers than their modern counterparts. But their impressive size would have helped them dive deeper and keep warm in the water for longer periods of time.

But being gorilla-sized also came with disadvantages. "If resources are scarce, a smaller penguin will be able to get a day's meal much easier than a gigantic species," Ksepka said.

He points to resource competition as a likely reason why penguins today are much smaller. Fossil records point to giant penguins starting to vanish around 15 million years ago, the time when pinnipeds like seals and sea lions were spreading widely throughout the southern hemisphere. 

"They could be competing for food. They could be bothering the penguins — eating them is one very good way to bother them. But also monopolizing breeding grounds," Ksepka said. 

"You imagine one of these giant penguins trying to lay eggs and then, all of a sudden, two elephant seals are fighting over territory and just crushing everything around them."

There's still much to learn about the giant Paleocene penguins. Scientists haven't found the skulls of either of K. fordycei or P. stonehousei, so they can only guess what their heads would have looked like based on previously discovered bones of penguin species in the same era. 

But one thing is certain for Ksepka. "These would have been a breathtaking sight when they were alive," he said. 

Godzilla Egg? Found on Japanese beach

By Ben Cost

February 22, 2023 12:51pm  Updated

A mysterious sphere that washed ashore in Japan is being labeled a “Godzilla egg” by social media watchdogs — with some conspiracy theorists claiming that the so-called King of the Monsters‘ offspring is “multiplying.”

The titan-size controversy surfaced yesterday after a woman reported a “suspicious” ball on Enshu Beach in Hamamatsu, a southern coastal city about 155 miles from Tokyo, Asahi News reported. The spherical object measured 4 feet around and was believed to be made of iron due to its rust coating.

Accompanying photos show the enormous orb, which evokes an alien anomaly or unexploded ordnance from a way gone by.

Fearing it was the latter, officials cordoned off an area within 655 square feet of the ball while bomb disposal crews inspected the unusual jetsam. Investigatory X-rays determined that the sphere was hollow and, therefore, not a live bomb, prompting officials to lift restrictions soon afterward, according to Fuji News Network.

Apparently, not a live Godzilla either!

Bomb disposal crews are seen inspecting the ball, as officials restricted access within 655 square feet

around the object for most of the day.

Twitter/NHK

However, officials never actually identified the ball, prompting online con-sphere-acy theorists to try and take a stab.

Many compare it to the embryo of Japan’s iconic movie monster. “Obviously a Godzilla egg,” joked one tinfoil-hatted Tweeter, while another wrote, “great now Godzilla is real.”

“That Japanese sphere that washed up on the beach is giving dinosaur egg [vibes] lol,” postulated another of the so-called fallopian flotsam.

Some speculators compared it to the circular anomaly from “Sphere,” the 1998 sci-fi flop based on the best-selling Michael Crichton (“Jurassic Park”) novel of the same name. “If science fiction has taught us anything, it’s that somebody’s going to touch this thing, their hand’s gonna go through it into a parallel universe and then all hell’s gonna break loose,” wrote Wall Street Journal writer Paul Vigna.

Meanwhile, Vice joked that the “spheres are multiplying” on their official Twitter account.

Unfortunately, this so-called Godzilla egg could be a giant “goose egg” so to speak. Vice speculated that the object might be a giant mooring buoy given its protrusion that allows it to hook onto something.

The debate follows the spate of UFO hysteria that surfaced after the United States shot down an alleged Chinese spy balloon followed by multiple unidentified objects.

Bits and Bites from Around the World > Beetles cause town to go dark; American bugs invade Sochi; Pregnant, single Journo welcomed by Taliban, but not NZ;

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Town goes dark amid massive bug infestation

Unusual rains and heat saw beetles reproducing in larger numbers

and invading a small town in Argentina

FILE PHOTO: A town during a blackout. © AFP / Yuri Cortez

The Argentinean town of Santa Isabel has been forced to shut off its lights for several days in an effort to persuade the millions of bugs that have invaded its streets to leave and look for another place to stay.

The town of some 2,500 in Argentina’s central province of La Pampa has been plagued by swarms of beetles for over a week. “They’re everywhere – in the houses, in the shops,” Deputy Mayor Cristian Echegaray complained to the media.

Local law enforcement agents have blamed the beetles for damaging the police station, residential buildings, and vehicles, as well as plugging the drains at a gas station, among other inconveniences.

Residents have documented the infestation in videos uploaded to social media, showing thousands of bugs in the roofs of their houses and huddling in dark holes.

Some have been filling huge boxes with the insects, driving them out of town in their cars, and dumping them, so as to be able to go on with their daily routine without the insects’ hindrance.

The authorities attribute the infestation both to unusually heavy rains for the time of the year and the heatwave that recently hit Argentina, which saw temperatures rise to almost 40C (104F).

Those conditions were perfect for the reproduction of the bugs, the larvae of which develop below ground.

Millions of adult beetles then flocked to Santa Isabel, attracted by its streetlights. The insects don’t bite or sting, but they’re protected by a sturdy shell and have a tendency to hit things as they fly, so locals were recommended to cover their faces while outside to avoid injury.

Santa Isabel eventually decided to turn off its streetlights and the lights in public building to make the bugs “go away and find another town,” Echegaray told the AP news agency on Saturday.

The town has been dark for the past three days, with the move proving effective. The number of beetles has decreased dramatically during the blackout, he said.

When you think of American bugs in Russia, it's usually listening devices that come to mind.

Call the ‘Men in Black’! Huge cockroaches invade

Russian resort of Sochi

Note: dated story - 30 Jul, 2019

They sowed fear in moviegoers after being seen bolstering an alien invasion in ‘Men in Black’ and now American cockroaches have been spotted in the Russian resort of Sochi. Scientists warn they won’t be going away.

Actor Will Smith on the Men in Black II movie poster. © AFP / Yoshikazu Tsuno;

American cockroach. © AFP / Sam Yeh

With their body length reaching up to 5cm and a full length of 9cm with whiskers, the American incarnation of the bugs are considered the largest common cockroaches on Earth. They have wings and are very skilled at flying, something their Russian counterparts never do.

Is this an example of American exceptionalism?

The insects are dangerous pests; they spread diseases, cause allergic reactions in humans and damage not only food supplies but also the buildings that they infest.

These are the new neighbors that residents of Sochi, the famous resort on the Black Sea will have to get used to from now on. Numerous red-brownish bugs have been spotted in homes and green areas of the 2014 Olympic capital, scientists from Sochi National Park said.

American cockroach (Periplaneta americana) © Sochi National Park (9cm = about 3.5in)

As for how an invasion by an alien species occurred, they explained that “the American cockroaches are often held in terrariums as an exotic large insect and also used as a food for terrarium animals: lizards and certain species of snakes.” The scientists believe that roaches simply escaped from their terrariums to start populating Sochi.

The species, which got its name after being transferred to America on trade and slave ships in the 17th century, originates from tropical Africa. So, the conditions in Sochi are perfect for it. The Russian resort has a humid, subtropical climate, with the thermometers reaching plus 30 Celsius in summer and annual average temperature of plus 18.4 Celsius. American tourists, who visit the resort often, refer to it as “Russian Miami.”

Despite its being new in Sochi, the adaptive American cockroach has spread across the globe in areas with tropical climates. It’s often encountered in Southern Europe, the Middle East and Asia, with the nickname of a “little hard-to-kill pest” given to the insect in China.

The Asians have even learned to derive benefit from the pests. The roaches are an important ingredient in Chinese medicine, with one pharmaceutical company operating a farm that breeds around six billion of them every year. Restaurants in China, Vietnam and other countries also serve their customers a range of dishes that offer American cockroach as a protein.

In the 1997 sci-fi comedy hit ‘Men in Black,’ the American cockroaches were allies with an extraterrestrial bug, who landed on Earth to capture the powerful device called the Galaxy. But it was his soft spot for the local insects that eventually allowed Agents K and J to defeat the alien and foil his plans.

The residents of Sochi are unlikely to be using the roaches to diversify their diet, but they are, of course, no strangers to exotic insects. Sochi National Park had recently shared pictures of rare sawyers, which were made on its territory. Those bugs are also considered pests due to feeding on trees or wooden structures, but some of them look absolutely beautiful.

Established in 1983, the Sochi National Park is the second oldest in Russia. It covers a vast area of 1,937 sq km, starting from the Black Sea shore and going all the way up to the Caucasus Mountains. The reserve hosts a variety of rare plants and animals, with the Persian Leopard reintroduced there in 2009.

Pregnant foreign reporter asks Taliban for refuge after

being rejected by home country

One has to be in a truly “messed up” situation to seek an offer of safe haven

from the Taliban, a New Zealand journalist pointed out

The Taliban fighters in Afghanistan’s Maymana. © AFP / Elise Blanchard

A New Zealand reporter, who ended up pregnant and unmarried while working in Qatar for broadcaster Al Jazeera, has revealed that she had to turn to the Taliban for help after her own country said she couldn’t return due to Covid-19 curbs.

Charlotte Bellis had previously become famous when she attended the Taliban’s first press conference after the radical group took power in Afghanistan last August and asked its leaders: “What will you do to protect the rights of women and girls?”

Now, she’s making headlines again after finding herself in an unexpected conundrum, which the reporter detailed in a bombshell opinion piece for the New Zealand Herald on Friday.

In September, when Bellis returned from Afghanistan to Qatar’s capital Doha, where Al Jazeera is based, she found out that she was pregnant from her partner Jim Huylebroek, a photographer who contributes to the New York Times and who had also been in Kabul.

It was a huge surprise as doctors had always been saying that she was incapable of having kids, but it also meant that the reporter couldn’t stay in Qatar anymore, as being pregnant and unmarried was illegal under that Muslim country’s laws.

Bellis resigned from Al Jazeera, hoping to give birth sometime in May in New Zealand, which shut itself from the outside world during the pandemic but planned to reopen its borders for residents in February.

The duo went to Belgium –Huylebroek’s home country– to wait until regular flights to New Zealand became available. The reporter knew her nationality meant she couldn’t stay in the EU for too long, so she’d also been trying to win a spot in a Managed Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ) facility in New Zealand, but with no luck. 

And when the reopening of the borders was delayed by the authorities in Wellington due to the emergence of the Omicron variant, Bellis was left with just one destination she could travel to – Kabul. Both she and Huylebroek and still had visas that allowed them to live in Afghanistan.  

The reporter said she organized a meeting with senior Taliban contacts, asking them if there’ll be “a problem” if she comes to the Afghan capital with her partner, considering the fact that she’s pregnant and that they weren’t a married couple.

“No, we’re happy for you, you can come and you won’t have a problem,” a Taliban official responded, according to Bellis. “Just tell people you’re married and if it escalates, call us. Don’t worry. Everything will be fine.”

“When the Taliban offers you – a pregnant, unmarried woman – safe haven, you know your situation is messed up,” she wrote.

The reporter is currently in Kabul, but she doesn’t want to actually give birth in Afghanistan due to the turbulent situation and poor state of healthcare in the country.

With the UN expecting an extra 50,000 Afghan women to die in childbirth by 2025, “getting pregnant can be a death sentence” there, she pointed out.

But those arguments didn't seem too convincing to the authorities in New Zealand, who rejected Bellis’ emergency MIQ spot application on Monday. Among other things, the pregnant woman was told that she “did not provide any evidence” of having a scheduled “time-critical” medical treatment in New Zealand and that she couldn’t access the same treatment in her “current location.”

Someone got up on the wrong side of the bed, I think.

The reporter confessed that she was “in shock” after getting such a response. She started contacting lawyers and some other important people in New Zealand to make it clear that she was going to fight back against the ruling – by appealing and taking it to the media.

But, on Wednesday, the status of her application on the MIQ website switched from “deactivated” to “in progress.” The next day, her partner received an email, saying that he could now also apply for an emergency MIQ spot.

According to Bellis, the turnaround occurred after New Zealand’s Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins was informed of their case. And she wasn’t happy to be “getting preferential treatment” from the government, which only wants to avoid “an incoming political headache.”

“They rejected us, like they have so many thousands of other desperate New Zealanders, and seemingly because of who we are, and the resources we have,” she argued.

The reporter said she decided to share her troubles because “the decision of who should get an emergency MIQ spot is not made on a level playing field, lacks ethical reasoning and pits our most vulnerable against each other.”

She called for the system to be changed, adding that it was time for the authorities in New Zealand, not the Taliban, to answer what would they do to protect the rights of women.

Hipkins later confirmed to The NZ Herald that he was told about the reporter's situation by “a senior National Party MP” and ordered to check “whether the proper process was followed” regarding her emergency MIQ application.

I'm not sure how clever this story is - outing the Taliban for telling her to lie about being married, outing possible special consideration by New Zealand. If both of these entities react negatively to the publicity, where will Charlotte go then? 

New Zealand Lawmakers Pass Tough Gun Laws Over Mosque Attacks

By Clyde Hughes

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, shown here in a ceremony last week, helped usher in new gun laws in Parliament Wednesday.

UPI -- The New Zealand Parliament passed stricter gun reform legislation Wednesday, less than a month after shooting attacks at two mosques in Christchurch killed 50 people.

The third reading of the Arms Amendment Act passed 119-1, which includes a ban on semi-automatic weapons and military-style semi-automatics, a ban on parts, magazines and ammunition that could be used for modification into a semi-automatic.

A ban on pump-action shotguns with more than a five-shot capacity was also included. The law set an amnesty period until Sept. 30 during which such weapons can be turned in.

The bill now needs the signature of New Zealand Governor-General Patsy Reddy for it to become law.

"We are ultimately here because 50 people died and they do not have a voice," New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said. "We in this House are their voice and today we have used that voice wisely."

David Seymour, the lone member of Parliament voting against the measure, warned the legislation will create an underground market that will only grow in the future.

"If a significant number of weapons aren't handed in, we risk creating a large black market of dangerous weapons without any regulatory oversight," he said. "That may be more dangerous world than we had prior to March 15."

Advisers will now create a price list of the nation's buyback program.

Last week, a New Zealand judge ordered that accused shooter Brenton Tarrant undergo two mental health examinations to see if he is mentally fit to enter a plea in the case.

Generic Drug Prices in Canada Drop by Almost 40%

The real story behind the sudden drop in Canada's drug prices

CBC News 

The industry group representing Canada’s generic drug makers announced Monday they had

reached a new pricing deal with the federal, provincial and territorial governments (except Quebec).

(Tero Vesalainen/Shutterstock)

Big Pharma blinked. But why?
By Vik Adhopia

Something unprecedented happened this week in the opaque world of Canadian drug pricing.

Some generic prescription drugs just got a lot cheaper for everyone — and the actual prices are no longer a secret. The sudden price cut is a big deal because Canada is near the top of the list in drug spending per capita compared to other industrialized countries.

The news broke on Monday when the industry group representing Canada's generic drug makers, the Canadian Generic Pharmaceutical Association, announced they'd reached a new pricing deal with the federal, provincial and territorial governments (except Quebec).

The deal means lower prices for 70 of the most commonly prescribed generic drugs. These drugs cover conditions such as high blood pressure, depression, high cholesterol, epilepsy and heart conditions. And they will be 25 per cent to 40 per cent cheaper as of April 1.

But why would Big Pharma suddenly agree to lower prices? Fear of something worse?

Part of the story is the power of bulk buying. For the last few years, provincial governments have been negotiating together, using the clout of their collective bulk buying power to lower prices they pay under public drug plans. (Those plans usually cover seniors, Ontarians under 25, welfare recipients, Indigenous people, Mounties and military personnel.)

But negotiations were different this time. The governments brought a big stick to the table — the threat of tendering. Tendering happens when governments spend tax dollars to buy goods, from office chairs to fighter jets. They make sellers submit offers, to see who can offer the lowest price. However, governments don't do this when they buy drugs. At least not in Canada.

But thanks to Quebec, the rules of the game changed last year.

Frustrated by escalating health plan costs, Quebec decided it would play hardball with generic drug companies by making them submit tenders for the most commonly prescribed medications.

"And everybody started to panic," said Marc-André Gagnon, a pharmaceutical policy researcher at Carleton University.

The drug companies knew that once Quebec got drug discounts, the rest of the provinces would want a similar deal. And that would start a cascade, with private insurance plans and people with no drug insurance also demanding lower prices.

In the end, Quebec didn't have to resort to making companies compete with each for the lowest price. The generic companies blinked. They voluntarily lowered their prices. And for the first time they published the true prices — which are normally kept confidential, so that no one is certain what anyone else is paying.

"Just the threat of tendering made all generics manufacturers get together and say 'OK we agree to reduce prices by 38 per cent across the board,'" said Gagnon.

"Whether they are covered under a public/provincial drug plan or an employer-sponsored drug plan or if they have no drug plan at all — the new prices apply to them," said Jeff Connell, vice-president of corporate affairs for the Canadian Generic Pharmaceutical Association.

So what do the generic drug companies get in return for dropping their prices? They don't have to worry about being forced to compete with each other during the five years that the deal is in place.

"We know what the rules are, we know what the prices are … so that's important," Connell said.

But are we getting the lowest prices possible for these 70 drugs?  Not compared to New Zealand which is noted for its skill at squeezing the lowest prices out of drug companies with its competitive bidding process, although there are drawbacks.

When we compared the new Canadian prices with New Zealand's list, we found many examples where Canadians will still pay two to 10 times more than the New Zealand government under its universal drug plan.

All of that suggests that prices are lower when companies are forced to compete and submit tenders. And that's why generic companies will probably blink again in five years when the new deal expires.

This is great, although it seems it could have been better still. Also, it has nothing to do with non-generic drugs which pharmaceutical companies can use to bleed us dry. It's a good step, but a humble start to a long journey.

Here's how some of the Canadian and New Zealand drug prices compare under the new deal:

Generic Drug                 Condition     New Canadian Price/100 pills  New Zealand Price/100 pills

Atorvastatin 80mg   High cholesterol                $23.42                                      $6.58 Cdn

Amlodipine 5mg   Blood pressure/Heart           $13.43                                      $1.21 Cdn

Metformin 850mg     Diabetes - Type 2               $3.39                                       $1.42 Cdn

Candesartan 32mg      Blood pressure               $22.81                                     $10.75 Cdn

Olanzapine 10mg Depression/Schizophrenia    $70.88                                       $5.35 Cdn

Finasteride 5mg    Prostate Enlargement          $41.38                                       $4.37 Cdn

South Africa’s Anti-Smacking Law: Lessons from New Zealand

Family First NZ, a leading family group in New Zealand, is warning South African families that a smacking ban will do more harm than good by criminalising good parents, and harming children and families with little effect on the real issue of child abuse.

“A decade on from the passing of the controversial anti-smacking law in New Zealand, the law has maintained its very high level of opposition, but most significantly the law has had a ‘chilling’ effect on parenting and rather than tackling rotten parents who are abusing their children, it has targeted well-functioning parents,” said Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ.

“An independent legal analysis at the end of 2014 by a prominent NZ public lawyer of court cases involving prosecutions for smacking found that statements made by politicians that the smacking ban would not criminalise ‘good parents’ for lightly smacking their children are inconsistent with the legal effect and application of the law.”

A report at the beginning of last year analysing the 2007 anti-smacking law, “Defying Human Nature: An Analysis of New Zealand’s 2007 Anti-Smacking Law”, found that there was not a single social indicator relating to the abuse of children that had shown significant or sustained improvement since the passing of the law.

Police statistics show there has been a 136% increase in physical abuse, 43% increase in sexual abuse, 45% increase in neglect or ill-treatment of children, and 71 child abuse deaths since the law was passed in 2007.

A survey this year found that two out of three New Zealanders said they would flout the law.

An earlier survey in 2011 – four years after the law was passed – found that almost a third of parents of younger children say that their children have threatened to report them if they were smacked, and almost one in four parents of younger children say that they have less confidence when dealing with unacceptable behaviour from their children.

“New Zealanders predicted all of this before the law was passed, but their concerns were ignored. The politicians and anti-smacking lobby groups linked good parents who smacked their children with child abusers, a notion roundly rejected – and still rejected – by NZ’ers,” said McCoskrie.

“The anti-smacking law assumes that previous generations disciplined their children in a manner that was so harmful that they should now be considered criminals. But anti-smacking laws are problematic because they contradict many adults’ own childhood experiences with discipline and their long-term outcomes.”

“We would warn South African parents that this law will harm and rip apart families. Even just an investigation – without prosecution – by the police or social services is hugely traumatic and destabilising to families.”

“The supporters of smacking bans such as the UN are influenced by political ideology rather than common sense, good science and sound policy-making. Parents use occasional smacking because it works and it’s appropriate. Criminalising good parents who simply want to raise law-abiding and responsible citizens is bad law-making,” said McCoskrie.