Dave

Budget documents show the government was told of "profound" wellbeing benefits from the free school lunch scheme months before it decided to trim its funding.

The research was supposed to be published in June but was still under wraps.

However, Budget papers published this week referred to the study's early findings.

"Emerging findings support previous evaluation findings, but also highlight further benefits of the programme, including improvements in achievement and the importance of universality," said a December briefing note to Minister of Education Erica Stanford.

"This includes that learners are more settled and able to engage with classroom activity and learning, with some schools showing increased academic achievement resulting from an enhanced learning experience from being more settled and less distracted. Initial findings also indicate that the programme is having a profound impact on the wellbeing of learners," it said.

Earlier this year, the government cut annual funding for the scheme by $107 million, reducing the per-student spend for children at intermediate and secondary schools to $3.

A March briefing paper about changing the model for Ka Ora, Ka Ako said it was not clear whether lunches could be provided at that price.

"The most significant risk from the proposal is that we have not market-tested or otherwise analysed the proposed $3 per head price. We do not know whether sufficient supply exists to offer lunches to the specified standard at this price across the full range of schools," the document said.

I'm looking at getting a gateway device to replace the ISP router that sits between the internet connection and the mesh WiFi.

I am running pi-hole on a (very old) raspberry pi, but I know some gateways get quite fancy so I'm wondering if it's possible to have pi-hole on the gateway itself, to run as DNS and DHCP servers?

Other things I'm looking for in a gateway are VPN as a client (preferably Wireguard) and PoE ports for cameras.

If it's possible to host something like pi-hole directly on the gateway then hardware recommendations are appreciated!

We're paying higher prices, specials are confusing and loyalty schemes aren't delivering overly significant rewards.

Those aren't just the musings of a frustrated supermarket shopper - but are some of the findings in the Commerce Commission's first annual grocery report, issued on Wednesday.

Rewards schemes were only giving a return of between 0.71 percent for Flybuys and 0.75 percent for Everyday Rewards.

Between 2007 and 2019, the average weekly spend on grocery food increased 7.3 percent every three years but the latest data showed a leap of 28.9 percent.

The commission's report said supermarkets would point to their own rising costs as the reason for price rises.

But it said margins had continued to grow - all of the major supermarkets had experienced an increase in price-cost margins, which meant that retail prices were increasing faster than the cost of the goods.

The report said supermarkets "continue to achieve higher levels of profitability than we would expect in a workably competitive market".

It was not likely that Costco would be able to expand to the point where it could become a serious third supermarket contender, it said.

The report said the Warehouse could be an option - its network of shops meant it was in a good position to encourage shoppers to split their shopping in many cases - but it had said it had no intention of raising the capital needed to compete.

The "five things" don't work that well as a list, but they are:

• High prices aren't in your head
• Competition is not bringing down margins, or prices
• Other competitors aren't finding it easy
• Innovation, but is it what we want?
• Would fines make a difference?

Just after 4pm this afternoon NZ5366 travelling from Christchurch to Wellington landed safely after smoke was seen coming from the engine," Air New Zealand Head of Flight Operations, Hugh Pearce said in a statement.

"The aircraft was met by emergency services and all passengers have disembarked safely.

Pearce later added that the cause remains under investigation.

A suspected boat burglar has been arrested after jumping into the tide and leading police on a slow-motion chase in the Bay of Islands.

He refused to come ashore, instead rowing towards the ferry ramp then abandoning his dinghy and swimming towards Russell.

Officers, including a police dog, followed him in an inflatable boat.

The police spokesperson said the man had missed his calling: "He should have been a marathon swimmer."

Ground-breaking work on fairness and equity within New Zealand's police force has quantified for the first time the gap between Māori and Pakeha when it comes to how they're treated.

It comes from the world-leading project Understanding Policing Delivery, which granted a research team unrestricted access to police staff and data.

Controlling for all other relevant factors, including previous criminal history, youth and gang affiliation, Māori are still 11 percent more likely to be charged with an offence than a Pakeha person in the same situation.

A leaked document from tobacco giant Philip Morris says the company should target political parties including NZ First to get more favourable regulation for its Heated Tobacco Products (HTPs).

RNZ has obtained the 2017 document 'Designing a Smoke-free Future in New Zealand', a corporate affairs plan to lobby for HTPs and other smokeless nicotine products to be embraced as part Smokefree 2025.

The Philip Morris New Zealand (PMNZ) lobbying plan, dated August 2017, was drawn up as the National-led government of the day was legalising vaping products. The document maps out a path for HTPs to gain similar recognition.

"It is essential that we move proactively to control the narrative about PMNZ, our products and in particular, our potential contribution to harm reduction," the document says.

"We would like to force those opposing PMNZ's role in a Smokefree NZ … into a position whereby to oppose PMNZ's RRPs (Risk Reduced Products) is to oppose harm reduction, or be pro-harm."

Tougher rules are needed to combat the risk of political corruption in New Zealand, according to the Helen Clark Foundation.

In a report for the public policy think-tank, set up by former prime minister Helen Clark, author Philippa Yasbek set out 26 recommendations to strengthen the country's anti-corruption measures.

They included penalties for those who failed to comply with the Official Information Act, capping a person's political donations to $30,000 per electoral cycle, mandatory reporting of all gifts offered to politicians, and a three-year wait before any former politician could become a lobbyist.

"Corruption is an insidious cancer. It is not enough for democracies like ours to pay lip service to principles of transparency and steps which need to be taken against corruption," he said in a foreword to the report.

"New Zealand must critically examine these issues on a regular basis. That is why this article is so important and why it raises very serious questions about New Zealand's current commitment to transparency."

Yasbek said anti-corruption measures in New Zealand were largely governed by social norms, but laws were needed.

The government aims to test just over 3.3 million drivers a year in its plan to increase roadside tests for drink and drug-impaired drivers.

Transport Minister Simeon Brown is launching a $1.3 billion Road Policing Investment Programme which will run for the next three years.

He said 65 percent of breath tests will be done at high or extreme alcohol risk times.

The scheme will also have a target of carrying out 50,000 drug tests per year.

Brown said another priority will be speeding on open roads and at high-risk locations.

"This plan has a clear focus on outcomes and has clear targets to ensure police are focused on the most high-risk times, behaviours, and locations.

Home loan borrowers can expect rates to fall throughout the rest of this year and next, commentators say.

The Reserve Bank cut the official cash rate by 25bps to 5.25 percent on Wednesday.

While it was a move that was forecast by several economists, it was a u-turn from the bank's position in May. Infometrics chief executive Brad Olsen described it as a "WTH moment" and "the biggest flip-flop ever".

Last weeks thread here

Welcome to this week’s casual kōrero thread!

This post will be pinned in this community so you can always find it, and will stay for about a week until replaced by the next one.

It’s for talking about anything that might not justify a full post. For example:

• Something interesting that happened to you
• Something humourous that happened to you
• Something frustrating that happened to you
• A quick question
• A request for recommendations
• Pictures of your pet
• A picture of a cloud that kind of looks like an elephant
• Anything else, there are no rules (except the rule)

So how’s it going?