Simon says the weirdest things – shoplifting fines

Written By: - Date published: 9:05 am, September 24th, 2018 - 23 comments
Categories: making shit up, Media, national, Politics, Simon Bridges, the praiseworthy and the pitiful, you couldn't make this shit up - Tags:

This series of posts, picking on weird things that National leader Simon Bridges says, is like shooting fish in a barrel. There is so much choice …

Latest is his comments on Darroch Ball’s Shoplifting (Offence and Penalties) Bill.

First up he cannot do math. He struggled to work out what was 1.5 times $2 and said initially that it was $2.50.

He also was not aware that the bill imposes a minimum fine of $150. In fact this is crystal clear from the contents of the bill which says:

9 Interpretation

In this subpart — infringement fee in relation to an infringement offence, means the greater of:
(a) $150:
(b) an amount equal to 1 and one half times the value of the goods to which the offence relates calculated in accordance with section 7(2):

You would think that he would have used his experience as a crown prosecutor to read and understand the bill.  It was only 7 pages long.

It is not as if he was caught by surprise. This was the first question he was asked. Surely his media advisers were told what would be discussed and prepared him for the interview.

The bill itself is a bit of a mess with this gem of a statement in the explanatory note:

Currently, prosecutions for shoplifting under the Crimes Act are cumbersome. This is administratively onerous and costly for the police, courts and judicial system. This bill shortcuts the tangled litany of red tape, going straight to the infringement.

As well as this:

Shoplifting is not going away; its frequency and brazen nature increases from amateur opportunists at entry level to organised gangs stealing to order. Swift, sharp and immediate action for this gateway crime is an opportunity to break the cycle.

Prosecutions are no more cumbersome than they were twenty years ago. It is just that police resources are used differently. And issuing infringement notices is not going to reduce red tape, it will only increase it.

And an instant fine for someone so desperately poor that they steal something? I am sure that will work well.

Jane Bowron in this impressive opinion piece advises Bridges to stop barking at every passing car.  To this I would add he should keep his mouth shut unless and until he actually knows what he is talking about.

23 comments on “Simon says the weirdest things – shoplifting fines ”

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  1. mac1 1
    24 September 2018 at 9:16 am

    With that ability to calculate, how can Simon Bridges hold the government to account?

    https://www.national.org.nz/team

    The team that is holding the government to account.

    Snigger.

    • Dukeofurl 1.1
      24 September 2018 at 10:28 am

      Its trying to emulate Key who get away with half baked nonsense like this all the time.

      To support him , the beehive under Key would have a crew to read and analyse the paperwork and condense it into a few paragraphs and include a few sound bites for effect.
      As opposition leader he has far less resources and the staff are less skilled. Plus he made the mistake of getting a monday morning time slots, so unless the staff work Sun afternoon and evening and Bridges digests it all very early on Monday, the end result is the muddled mess we see.

      Whats the chance the media pundits wont spend the next few days analysing why Bridges cant do an easy number in his head in the way they pontificated over Ardern and the ‘meaning of GDP’

      • Frankie and Benjie 1.1.1
        24 September 2018 at 3:10 pm

        Monday for leader of the opposition and Tuesday for PM was the arrangement in the last government (if my poor memory serves).
        I hadn’t thought that that arrangement was organisationally more difficult for the opposition before.
        However John Key and various cabinet ministers avoided interviews so often, maybe the opposition was grateful for any chance to bring this into sharp relief by fronting up.
        I think Simon’s barking is due to being in an Iron lung machine (pet media and PR spin employees) to give him some oxygen to stay alive as leader.
        Shadow cabinet seems to be very quiet to give Simon as much as possible. I wonder if Judith went against instructions to suck some air time away (but not well enough to help her cause at all though).

    • Incognito 1.2
      25 September 2018 at 7:51 am

      National used to have mathematical wiz who could create billion dollar holes out of thin air but he left in a puff of smoke. The new National Finance spokesperson only got an AA rating.

  2. Michelle 2
    24 September 2018 at 9:41 am

    if he (soimon) stops barking he might become irrelevant

    • mac1 2.1
      24 September 2018 at 10:07 am

      Reasons why dogs bark: Territorial/Protective: Alarm/Fear: Boredom/Loneliness: Greeting/Play: Attention Seeking.

      Poor dogs………..sad, lonely, bored, unaware of territorial boundaries, fearful and seeking attention.

    • SaveNZ 2.2
      24 September 2018 at 10:48 am

      He’s not barking, he’s yapping.

      • mac1 2.2.1
        25 September 2018 at 8:29 am

        In Footrot Flats terms, Simon is more of a yapping Prince Charles than a Major. Judith Collins is Horse, Paula Bennett is the goose and Nick Smith is the goat. David Seymour is the poor performer Cecil facing the freezing works of political oblivion.

        The analogy should stop there before Wal, Cheeky, Dog, Dolly and Cooch are re-cast…………… though Murphy’s pigs for example are easily identifiable.

  3. Clive Macann 3
    24 September 2018 at 9:41 am

    Keep it up Simon.
    You will keep Labour in power for many years to come with your Astute statements.

  4. cleangreen 4
    24 September 2018 at 9:42 am

    Like a rat trapped in a barrel bridges is now gleaning his turds by saying he now wants to work with jacinda on “climate change”!!!!!!!!!

    Un-beliveable as Bridges has been part of the effort to shut down our rail system and push all freight onto our roads that will increase the climate emission gasses five times faster.

    Rail accordinng to this report will save us $1.3 Billion a year and cut cliate changwe emisions according to a rail study his Government poduced and kept under wraps when he found out the truth!!!!!!

    “Reducing carbon emissions by 488,000 tonnes a year – the equivalent of taking 87,000 cars off the road – saves $8.5 million.”

    http://www.kiwirail.co.nz/uploads/Publications/The%20Value%20of%20the%20Rail%20in%20New%20Zealand.pdf

    Facts at a glance:

    Rail contributes up to $1.5 billion in often unseen benefits to New Zealand each year.
    The value of rail to New Zealand far outweighs its cost to the taxpayer.
    Using rail reduces the number of deaths and injuries on our roads by a net 271 a year.
    Rail saves taxpayers money on congestion, road maintenance costs, injuries and fatalities and reduced carbon emissions.
    Reducing congestion saves $1.3 billion, the equivalent of 100,000 fewer daily car trips and taking 30,000 trucks off the road for an hour a day.
    Reducing carbon emissions by 488,000 tonnes a year – the equivalent of taking 87,000 cars off the road – saves $8.5 million.
    Improving safety outcomes saves $60 million.
    Reducing road maintenance saves $63 million.
    Rail is also an important and sustainable economic contributor to the regions and links New Zealand to export markets overseas.

    • Tuppence Shrewsbury 4.1
      24 September 2018 at 10:22 am

      Well done Clean Green. With the barest of segue’s, you’ve introduced a rant that has no relevance to MS’s post.

      you realise repetition ad nauseum of the same claims actually turns people off your argument and doesn’t make it any more valid?

  5. Tuppence Shrewsbury 5
    24 September 2018 at 10:20 am

    I couldn’t see the part where the money goes back to the shopkeeper / business owner who was the victim of the crime?

    • Dukeofurl 5.1
      24 September 2018 at 11:06 am

      if the shoplifter is caught redhanded and thus given an instant fine there is no loss for the shop.
      Its the ones that get away that cause the loss, and a good portion of that is staff theft.

      • soddenleaf 5.1.1
        24 September 2018 at 11:53 am

        And,..

        when they sell food as fresh that’s not? do we fine them when we return the goods to the store? people do forget they put a item in their pocket… …well dementia… …are those suffering dementia going to be able to appeal?

        • soddenleaf 5.1.1.1
          24 September 2018 at 12:04 pm

          now you got me started. Why cant you buy a all metal pair of scissors, why the plastic, it wears out quick and goes to landfill. its why the planet does stand a chance.

          • Dukeofurl 5.1.1.1.1
            24 September 2018 at 12:58 pm

            Try chemist shop… what you are after is what is now called surgical scissors which are all metal.

  6. ankerawshark 6
    24 September 2018 at 12:00 pm

    #Lets keep Simon

    • soddenleaf 6.1
      24 September 2018 at 12:08 pm

      yes, keep him round, like emglish, lost twice, once from opposition…

      hey you can tell when the opposition is failing, they commentators have nothing to talk about and so start declaring explaining is losing. highly indicative of an out of touch oppo.

    • AsleepWhileWalking 6.2
      24 September 2018 at 4:34 pm

      Well I like Simon.

  7. AB 7
    24 September 2018 at 12:22 pm

    An idea on shoplifting – esp. cigarettes.
    Levy tobacco companies to pay for:
    – free nicotine replacement therapy for anyone who wants it and for as long as they need it
    – subsidising dairies and small groceries to not stock cigarettes – say a 5-year phase out period declining from 100% of lost revenue in year 1 and based on historical sales data.
    Really we should be taking every opportunity to extract every cent possible from tobacco companies and lock a few people up as well if the opportunity arises. Though probably there are trade agreements that make it difficult (sigh!)

    C’mon Simon why not run with these?

  8. gsays 8
    24 September 2018 at 2:12 pm

    What happened to cigarette vending machines of yestyear?

    Dairy owners either invest in machines or stop selling durries altogether.

  9. Tony Veitch [not etc.] 9
    24 September 2018 at 2:27 pm

    Read the comments under the Jane Bowron article linked to in the last paragraph of the post.

    I think there’s a quiet ground-swell stirring in this country – people are well aware of two things:

    1. that the Nats did fuck all for ordinary NZers in their 9 years and left a legacy of damaged social institutions in this country,

    2. for all their faults, (and I don’t admit they have any!) the Coalition is trying to put things right.

    People, I would hate, simply hate, don’t you know, for there to be a leadership change in the Nats. On second thoughts, with the ‘talent’ in the Nats, maybe that wouldn’t be all that bad, lol.

  10. Doogs 10
    25 September 2018 at 9:14 am

    If you think about it, there has been a serious outbreak of a rampant and unstoppable disease which MFAT has no hope of even containing. It is most evident on the blue benches and is known to us all as Foot (and) in Mouth Disease. The Nats have caught it from Bridges and it’s spreading like wildfire. No known antidote, thank goodness!