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SOCIETY FOR PROMOTION OF COMMUNITY STANDARDS INC.

Smack admission bars grandparents – NZ Herald

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Grandparents described as “the perfect family” have been banned from taking in their baby grand-daughter because they believe in smacking.

Brian and Hannah Johnson, of Tauranga, have two adult children of their own, have been Child, Youth and Family caregivers for a niece for 13 years, and have brought up an 8-year-old grandson since he was a baby.

But CYF has refused to let them take in their grandson’s 21-month-old half-sister because they told CYF they smacked their grandson occasionally as “a last resort”.

Mrs Johnson, 57, said a CYF social worker told her last week: “We were the perfect family, perfect grandparents, if it wasn’t for that little thing and that was smacking.

“I feel like our name has been tainted now,” Mrs Johnson said.

“I went out of my way, I worked for them for this long time unpaid, I have done it out of the kindness of my heart to be of service to them, I have been up to the CYF office so many times it’s not funny. I don’t feel like I’ve been fairly treated.”

She sought help from Ngai Te Rangi social services, the Maori Party, the Social Development Ministry, Social Development Minister Paula Bennett and finally the Family First lobby group.

Family First director Bob McCoskrie said the Johnsons’ experience, and six other new cases he has documented, showed “good families” were being penalised by the 2007 law change that banned parents from using force against children for “correction”.

“Not only are police resources being wasted on investigating ‘smacking’ allegations, but CYF is ignoring the intent of the law and is removing children from good homes where the parents may use a smack,” he said.

For full story by Simon Collins see: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10813892

THE LAW

Allowed:

Parents can use reasonable force to: Prevent harm to the child or others.

Stop the child committing a criminal offence.

Stop offensive or disruptive behaviour.

For “the normal daily tasks that are incidental to good care and parenting”.

Not allowed

It is illegal to use force for “correction”.

Former sex expo firm – Eden Digital Ltd – owes $350,000 – NZ Herald 16 June 2012

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The company that held the licence for a sex expo allegedly still owes creditors more than $350,000, according to its liquidator’s latest report.

In 2008 Auckland-based Eden Digital was given the licence to run the Erotica Lifestyle Expo – an event “targeted at adult consumers” which has been held in Auckland and some other North Island centres for more than a decade.

The event was often preceded by the Boobs on Bikes parade, which featured topless women riding on motorcycles.

But in November last year Eden Digital was placed into liquidation after its licence for the expo was cancelled by its shareholder CVC Group.

CVC is also the sole shareholder of Esprit Events, the new licence-holder for the expo.

After the cancellation, Eden Digital’s income was “decimated”, liquidator Grant Reynolds said.

According to a report Reynolds filed with the Companies Office this week, Eden Digital allegedly still owes creditors more than $350,000.

One preferential creditor had filed a claim for $171,792 and seven non-preferential unsecured creditors had filed claims totalling $183,901, the report said.

At the time of liquidation it was estimated the company owed $434,000.

A list of creditors when the company was first liquidated included Inland Revenue, ACC, ASB Showgrounds and Marquis Condoms.

According to Reynolds, Eden Digital was sold to a related party shortly before he was appointed and he is investigating this sale, as well as any possible voidable preferences.

A voidable preference is a payment of debt made before liquidation which a liquidator can apply to call back on the grounds it unfairly privileged some creditors over others.

Reynolds is also investigating any possible Companies Act breaches.

Pornography industry heavyweight Steve Crow is a former director of Eden Digital, according to Companies Office records. In 2010, Crow was banned from acting as a director for four years after the collapse of companies linked to him.

Source. Story by Hamish Fletcher. 16 June 2012

See: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10813330

Eden Digital Ltd – update on liquidation and Erotica Lifestyles Expo licence transfer

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Update on Inquiry into Funding of NZ Porn Industry: On 13th June 2012 the second Liquidator’s Report on Eden Digital Limited (In Liq) was issued (It was put into liquidation on 22/11/11 and was directed by American businessman John M Carr CPA from 23/04/08 to 13/09/11). [ Photo of John M Carr http://www.carr.co.nz/images/jmc.jpg ]

The Report revealed that one preferential creditor – (the IRD) has filed a claim in liquidation for $171,792 [for unpaid GST & PAYE].  Based on the first (earlier) Liquidation Report, the company’s employees, who constitute another class of preferential creditors, are owed $20,000 in wages. The latest report shows that seven non-preferential (unsecured) creditors, have filed claims in liquidation for $183,901. This brings the total owed by Eden Digital Ltd to these creditors, to $355,693. An additional several thousands of dollars will probably be claimed by Grant Bruce Reynolds, the Liquidator, of Reynolds & Associates Ltd, (Insolvency Practitioners), for his fees and expenses, and these costs must be paid in advance of all other payments to preferential creditors.

It is unlikely that any of the unsecured creditors will receive anything after all the secured creditors are finally paid out. The latter include the shareholder CVC Group Ltd, directed by John M Carr CPA and holder of all 150,000 company shares in Eden Digital Ltd; Vision Rentals Ltd, Solutions Group Receivables, Konica Minolta Business Solutions and Harper Collins Publishers.

Eden Digital Ltd, which was incorporated on 23rd April 2008, held the licence for Erotica Lifestyles Expo until 16 September 2011 (as reported in the Waikato Times) – the day John M Carr CPA resigned as director of Eden Digital Ltd and appointed Raymond Sydney Corben Simpson of Mt Eden, Auckland, as its sole director. On that same day the Expo licence owner, CVC Group Ltd, directed by John M Carr, withdrew the licence from the licencee Eden Digital Ltd, also directed by John M Carr. (CVC Group Ltd owns Eden Digital Ltd and both have John M Carr as sole director).

Although Eden Digital Ltd was technically put into liquidation on “by special resolution of the shareholders”, under ‘the watch’ of Mr Raymond Simpson on 22nd November 2011; this action was necessitated as a result of a financial collapse that occurred under the sole ‘watch’/directorship of John M Carr.

It would appear that Eden Digital Ltd must have been trading whilst insolvent and had not been paying tax for many months – prior to Mr Simpson being appointed as director – a state of affairs that occurred under the directorship of John M Carr – [ Note again!: he was director from 23 April 2008  to 16 September 2011. More importantly he was sole director from 15 May 2010 to 13 September 2010].

Having abandoned the directorship of Eden Digital Ltd on 16 September 2011, Mr John M Carr’s next move was to incorporate the company Esprit Events Ltd, of which he is sole director, a company also owned by CVC Group Ltd. Esprit Events Ltd purchased the Erotica Lifestyles Expo licence from CVC Group Ltd, a company of which he (Carr) is also sole director. CVC Group Ltd wholly owns both Eden Digital Ltd and Esprit Events Ltd.

Eden Digital Ltd was the licensee of Erotica Expo Expo and the transfer of the licence to a related party, Esprit Events Ltd, could hardly be seen as a significant or complex financial transaction. Director John M Carr merely obtained the licence from himself and then gave it to back himself, then returned it to himself, to put it crudely. Such a ‘transaction’ did not require a large contingent of lawyers from Checketts McKay Law firm in Cromwell or a consignment of Adult Services handmaidens to effect the ‘complex’ financial ownership transmutation. It was not exactly the ‘sale of the century’.

Having now obtained the financial records of Eden Digital Ltd, Grant Bruce Reynolds, the Liquidator, has indicated that he will be focusing his investigation into Mr John M Carr’s activities as director: specifically on “any potential breaches under the Companies Act,” and on any possible voidable preferences”. He will also be “Reviewing the sale of the business [Erotica Lifestyles Expo/Eden Digital Ltd] to a related party [Esprit Events Ltd] pre liquidation including obtaining advice on the validity of the sale and whether or not adequate consideration was given by the Purchaser for the business.”

Among the 22 unsecured creditors of Eden Digital Ltd listed in the First Liquidation Report filed on 23 November 2011, are PJ Digital Ltd and the US-registered corporation Better Business Services, Inc.  [see note below] both owned and directed by John M Carr; NZX Media Ltd and Ezisoft Computer Systems Ltd, both directed by David Bruce Crow; ASB Showgrounds which has provided the venue for a number of successive Erotica Lifestyle Expos; IRD (penalties and interest for unpaid tax), and ACC (unpaid ACC levies).

Note: Better Business Services, Inc., also referred to as BBS Inc, was incorporated in San Antonio, Texas, on November 11th, 1983, and was authorised under Texas Charter number 67876000 to carry out defined business activities in Texas, including those carried out in a certified public accountancy practice (tax returns, bookkeeping, payroll etc). John M Carr CPA is director, president and registered agent of Better Business Services, Inc. an unsecured creditor of the NZ-registered company Eden Digital Ltd (In Liq). On 6th September 1984 under charter number P03291 BBS, Inc. was authorised to do similar business in Florida.

References:

Expo claim ‘bollocks’  By Daniel Adams. 29 November 2011

http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/6053216/Expo-claim-bollocks

Companies Office website: www.companies.govt.nz

Porn Kingdom asset sale to be questioned. National Business Review. 8 July 2009. By Lucy Craymer.

http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/porn-kingdom-asset-sale-be-questioned-105061

Registered charities and the proposed Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct and Register of Lobbyists

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Under legislation proposed by Green MP Ms Ms Holly Walker, people who receive pay for lobbying MPs about laws or policies and who fail to register with the Attorney-General as paid lobbyists, could face criminal charges. The Lobbying Disclosure Bill, drawn from the parliamentary ballot on 21 April 2012, seeks to bring transparency to the activities of all paid lobbyists who attempt to sway and influence legislative processes by communicating with MPs. The bill proposes that the Auditor-General be empowered to investigate any alleged breaches of a Lobbyists’ Code of Conduct, which all paid lobbyists must agree to and sign, before they can lawfully engage in the lobbying of MPs. The Auditor-General will also be empowered to remove or suspend persons from a Register of Lobbyists if they breach the Code of Conduct.

Ms Walker wants regular statistics to be gathered on all paid lobbyists and the data regularly collated and reviewed, so the public, government officials and a host of enforcement agencies can closely scrutinise all their activities.

If her proposed bill, as drafted, passes into law, charities registered with the Charities Commission, such the the New Zealand Aids Foundation (NZAF), that are heavily engaged in political advocacy and lobbying AND receive significant government funding (see below); will need to have all and every one of their paid lobbyists sign a Lobbyists’ Code of [ethical] Conduct and register their personal details on the Register of Lobbyists.

Failure to do so prior to watching a rugby match from a NZAF-sponsored corporate box, or watching a NZAF-sponsored modelling pageant, alongside any MP or MPs, regardless of their gender, age, race, religion, political affiliation or sexuality; might lead to an unauthorised NZAF lobbyist having criminal charges being laid against him or her. Such unauthorised lobbyists attending a Big Gay Out event or a Hero Parade, who might be photographed or filmed arm-in-arm with an MP, whilst indulging in “political advocacy,” may face the prospect of being charged with criminal activity (lobbying).

Once charged, the NZAF charity worker accused would be required in make a credible defence to the Attorney-General, disclosing the range of presumably “gay” friendly legislative issues discussed with the friendly MP, and the methods used in the lobbying campaign, if any.

Authorised NZAF lobbyists who face charges over alleged breaches of the Code  will have to rely on the official records made of their lobbying encounters as recorded by the friendly MPs as well as their own diary records and any corroborating evidence provided by Big Gay-Out/Hero Parade participants/witnesses.

(NZAF, a registered charity [CC22230], which received $4,112,376 in government funding/contracts, and $342,029 in other grants/sponsorship in the financial year ending 30 June 2011, has “40-something staff throughout the country” according to one NZAF official. No figures have been provided as to how many of these are paid lobbyists. $2,564,846 was spent by NZAF on salaries/wages in 2010/2011. See www.charities.govt.nz ).

The Auditor-General would need to scrutinise the lobbying activities of registered charities like NZAF, if the latter’s paid staff were charged with unlawful lobbying, and refer offending paid charity workers to the police if they breached the new law. The Bill requires a report on any suspended or deregistered paid lobbyist to be reported to Parliament, as well as all investigations of such breaches to be undertaken.

Given that the Auditor-General is an MP, he or she will have to be very, very, careful in all dealings with undercover paid lobbyists, particularly when attending highly-visible social events, if the bill passes into law.

Reference: Lobbying Disclosure Bill. In the name of Green Party MP, Ms Holly Walker.

http://www.greens.org.nz/bills/lobbying-disclosure-bill

Lobbying Disclosure Bill “significantly limits core democratic expression” – says Attorney-General

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The Lobbying Disclosure Bill in the name of Green MP Holly Walker – a bill that would require lobbyists to face tougher scrutiny – breaks human rights laws on freedom of speech, according to the Government’s lawyer Attorney-General Christopher Finlayson. His Report concludes:

This Bill significantly limits core democratic expression. In going well beyond what would be required to regulate the activities of lobbyists, it risks creating a chilling effect for average New Zealanders who may fear criminal sanctions for merely communicating with a Member of Parliament on behalf of their business in relation to government policy.  This would be an unacceptable limit on a core element of freedom of expression.

On the question of whether any justification exists for the limitation of freedom of expression imposed by the proposed legislation, he states:

The limits on freedom of expression sought to be imposed by the Bill are greater than reasonably necessary to meet the objective.  This is because, primarily due to poor drafting, the Bill goes well beyond the activities of professional lobbyists to include a wide range of other activities.

The proposed law aims to bring transparency to MPs dealings with lobbyists, argues Ms Holly. The Attorney-General Chris Finlayson is required to report to Parliament if a bill appears inconsistent with human rights legislation. Ms Walker’s bill makes it a criminal offence for lobbyists to impart information to ministers, MPs and their staff without signing up to a register and a code of conduct. Such “lobbyists” under her bill would include businesses, charities, trade unions and interest groups etc. Her bill which is modelled on a Canadian version, also regulates how politicians receive that information.

Mr Finlayson concluded this limited the ability to express information “freely”.

References.

1. Report of Attorney-General under the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 on the Lobbying Disclosure Bill

Click to access DBHOH_PAP_23052_AttorneyGeneralReportoftheunderthe.pdf

2. Lobbying Disclosure Bill: Explanatory note. Green Party. Holly Walker MP

http://www.greens.org.nz/bills/lobbying-disclosure-bill

3. Green’s bill rips veil off lobbying. by Kate Chapman Stuff.co.nz April 10, 2012

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/6713985/Greens-bill-rips-veil-off-lobbying

4. Greens’ lobbyist bill gets MP’s seal of approval. By Adam Bennett & Claire Trevett. April 17, 2012

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10799429