Following ACC Minister Judith Collins initiating defamation proceedings against Trevor Mallard and Andrew Little, Little has come out with fighting talk.

According to the NZ Herald, he had this to say:

I have absolutely no respect for the litigation, the process or the person behind it so I'm going to do what I can to make it as difficult as possible for her and anyone else involved in it.

One has to wonder if these two will ever grow up…

A lead story in today’s Timaru Herald entitled Health boss photographed drinking from beer bong details the exploits of one Murray Cleverley and his close association with a beer bong. Not wanting to be sensationalist, the paper decided not to publish the photographic evidence of the deed, instead leaving it up to the readers imagination. Hmm, maybe it went down something like this…

Following on from the story, was the main editorial piece, where Editor Peter O’Neill agonised over his reasons for printing such an un-newsworthy story. It turns out that neither O’Neill nor his reporters could bring themselves to ever look Cleverley in the eye again, as a health boss, knowing that he’s partaken in such a hideous deed.

Before you reach for the tissues in symphony of the poor reporters, I’d suggest that you might want to get the whole box. As now that the Timaru Herald have found themselves firmly perched on the moral high-ground, surely there’ll be a string of ground-breaking confessions gracing the pages of the Timaru Herald in the coming days. That is, unless their newly acquired conscience whimpers in the face of public ridicule.

Dear oh dear, John Key has just experienced that awful moment when he’s realised that the media actually has teeth. Will his usual wave and smile technique enable him to escape these hostile waters?

It’s no wonder the media are in a frenzy though. What with Gerry Brownlee’s foolhardy attack on Finland, the on-going ACC debacle that’s already cost one Minister his job, and the bizarre behaviour from the Minister who may have come up the river on a cabbage boat after all.

As Key explains in the video with Newstalk ZB's Leighton Smith below, he has a big agenda that he wants his Government to push through. Key admits that some of this agenda is contentious and he expects tougher media scrutiny as a result.

Key’s reality is that it’s only going to get tougher from here. The last thing he needs is Ministers creating side-shows. I fear that if he doesn’t set an example shortly then the rot will set in, leading to a disaster of a second term.

Gay marriage has been the hot topic of the week, ever since US President Barrack Obama declared his support for it.

Following Obama’s lead, John Key has declared his position that he “doesn’t oppose” gay marriage. Logically one could deduce that this means he supports gay marriage, but politics isn’t logical. In reality I think he’s plonked himself on the fence, neither opposing nor supporting gay marriage.

Although in saying that, Colin Craig's proposal that his Conservative Party could be a coalition partner for National might have got John Key thinking. Maybe gay marriage isn't such a bad thing after all...

Following last weeks oil spill into the Timaru Harbour from Sanford’s deep-sea fishing vessel San Enterprise, New Zealand First Party Leader, Winston Peters claimed the spill was far worse than reported. Peters claimed 40,000 litres of oil had leaked into the harbour instead of ECan’s reported figure of 4,000 litres.

Further investigation reveals that indeed there may be more crud (sic) than first reported, but ironically the further 36,000 litres may have come from Peters himself…

I don't know if it's the grease in his hair or a somewhat unfortunate accident, but it appears that Winston Peters has made a bit of a mess in Timaru…

Ahoy there! Looks like Trevor Mallard has borrowed John Banks' Cabbage Boat to come ashore...

..and apparently he’s got some National Party Board meeting papers that show just what they think of Colin Craig and his Conservative Party. To be revealed in the House today.

John Key never dreamt in a thousand years that he'd end up in Don Brash's footsteps...

John Banks has taken to his cabbage boat to try and weather hurricane Kim Dotcom.

In the continuing saga of John Banks and his election donations, Kim Dotcom has seized the initiative by producing a professional dance beat, which takes a jab at Banks. I put this video together to accompany the song:

The Government's recent announcement that Local Government is in for a shake-up, with its intention to re-focus Councils on core business and rein in ever increasing levels of expenditure and debt, has been well received in the trenches.

Stuff initially set up a talking point around Council expenditure and debt per population, but this was never going to be useful in terms of measuring the financial management of Councils. Economies of scale are by far the biggest factor in terms of looking at financials on a per capita basis. Smaller Councils generally have larger debts per population, but they also generally have larger asset basses per population.

To get a better indication of where Councils are at financially, I’ve compared all of New Zealand’s Local Bodies equally ranked on three factors: Debt ratio (total Liabilities over Assets) (where lowest is best), Financial Costs as a proportion of total Operating Costs (where lowest best), and Financial Costs as a proportion of Loans (where highest best).

The combined ranking (1st is worst) of these three factors is intended to compare Councils on what they’re borrowing, how fast they’re paying it back, and how much impact any borrowings are having on the Council.

Debt Ranking	Council	Region	Type	Assets $000's	Loans $000's	Liabilities $000's	Fin Costs $000's	OpEx $000's	Liabilities / Assets (%)	Fin Costs / OpEx (%)	Fin Costs / Loans (%)
1	Kaipara	Northland	District	557,630	82,745	89,004	3,596	40,334	15.96	8.92	4.35
2	Waitomo	Waikato	District	294,552	45,372	50,639	2,524	22,840	17.19	11.05	5.56
3	Hamilton	Waikato	City	3,550,352	394,076	459,482	20,470	207,249	12.94	9.88	5.19
4	Dunedin	Otago	City	3,035,728	325,873	400,374	11,171	201,387	13.19	5.55	3.43
5	Auckland	Auckland	City	30,626,000	2,976,000	4,146,000	173,000	1,318,000	13.54	13.13	5.81
6	Tauranga	Bay of Plenty	City	3,592,992	398,774	485,948	23,621	147,584	13.52	16.01	5.92
7	Tasman	Tasman	District	1,246,828	139,587	160,366	7,372	91,643	12.86	8.04	5.28
8	Rotorua	Bay of Plenty	District	1,068,194	134,066	170,213	7,797	107,318	15.93	7.27	5.82
9	Taupo	Bay of Plenty	District	1,328,462	150,464	171,937	8,987	80,233	12.94	11.20	5.97
10	Whangarei	Northland	District	1,552,495	147,937	177,195	8,049	119,160	11.41	6.75	5.44
11	Greater Wellington	Wellington	Regional	834,603	161,284	161,284	5,424	170,714	19.32	3.18	3.36
12	Western Bay of Plenty	Bay of Plenty	District	1,167,417	150,437	174,755	10,341	69,896	14.97	14.79	6.87
13	South Taranaki	Taranaki	District	870,078	82,154	91,192	4,938	53,926	10.48	9.16	6.01
14	Timaru	Canterbury	District	782,743	60,655	77,203	3,555	55,744	9.86	6.38	5.86
15	Queenstown-Lakes	Otago	District	911,035	98,227	114,893	6,469	79,012	12.61	8.19	6.59
16	Wanganui	Manawatu-Wanganui	District	895,250	88,550	106,606	5,854	64,851	11.91	9.03	6.61
17	Bay of Plenty	Bay of Plenty	Regional	493,057	0	91,654	0	77,121	18.59	0.00	0.00
18	Far North	Northland	District	1,636,506	109,323	133,425	6,187	103,145	8.15	6.00	5.66
19	Kapiti Coast	Wellington	District	829,607	66,547	91,841	4,473	54,791	11.07	8.16	6.72
20	Matamata-Piako	Waikato	District	582,265	34,999	44,042	1,929	42,382	7.56	4.55	5.51
21	Palmerston North	Manawatu-Wanganui	City	1,346,591	139,672	165,451	11,132	103,781	12.29	10.73	7.97
22	Christchurch	Canterbury	City	7,593,726	504,126	700,979	25,712	729,289	9.23	3.53	5.10
23	Buller	West Coast	District	325,419	23,024	29,909	1,512	24,531	9.19	6.16	6.57
24	Ashburton	Canterbury	District	615,207	38,544	44,510	2,235	47,286	7.23	4.73	5.80
25	Whakatane	Bay of Plenty	District	670,422	40,510	55,733	2,146	60,623	8.31	3.54	5.30
26	Horowhenua	Manawatu-Wanganui	District	421,043	31,000	41,218	2,099	37,956	9.79	5.53	6.77
27	Masterton	Wellington	District	706,738	26,780	37,241	1,464	32,919	5.27	4.45	5.47
28	Wellington	Wellington	City	6,683,757	331,437	487,401	19,872	400,039	7.29	4.97	6.00
29	Otorohanga	Waikato	District	248,767	13,448	16,175	857	14,253	6.50	6.01	6.37
30	Ruapehu	Manawatu-Wanganui	District	355,573	26,320	33,227	1,894	28,698	9.34	6.60	7.20
31	Selwyn	Canterbury	District	1,193,034	53,080	67,617	3,198	58,242	5.67	5.49	6.02
32	Hutt	Wellington	City	1,258,384	77,993	109,279	4,640	123,269	8.68	3.76	5.95
33	New Plymouth	Taranaki	District	2,242,586	104,354	125,162	6,272	121,480	5.58	5.16	6.01
34	Westland	West Coast	District	399,947	13,528	17,145	435	16,731	4.29	2.60	3.22
35	Manawatu-Wanganui	Manawatu-Wanganui	Regional	420,008	25,000	33,272	1,485	47,471	7.92	3.13	5.94
36	Northland	Northland	Regional	122,859	0	5,938	38	25,497	4.83	0.15	0.00
37	Hurunui	Canterbury	District	335,835	11,402	16,542	448	28,358	4.93	1.58	3.93
38	Waikato	Waikato	Regional	437,697	0	18,611	257	94,274	4.25	0.27	0.00
39	Southland	Southland	Regional	76,517	0	3,333	42	20,170	4.36	0.21	0.00
40	Waimakariri	Canterbury	District	1,084,036	38,065	55,495	2,212	61,212	5.12	3.61	5.81
41	Nelson	Nelson	City	1,222,642	59,745	76,966	4,566	76,248	6.30	5.99	7.64
42	Hawke's Bay	Hawke's Bay	Regional	429,236	11,352	20,086	544	35,561	4.68	1.53	4.79
43	Taranaki	Taranaki	Regional	78,374	0	3,901	0	18,620	4.98	0.00	0.00
44	Grey	West Coast	District	328,293	13,467	18,874	858	23,429	5.75	3.66	6.37
45	Hastings	Hawke's Bay	District	1,554,089	58,171	81,469	3,712	90,233	5.24	4.11	6.38
46	Chatham Islands	Chatham Islands	District	46,129	576	2,380	28	6,527	5.16	0.43	4.86
47	Kaikoura	Canterbury	District	163,284	6,275	8,555	418	9,495	5.24	4.40	6.66
48	Opotiki	Bay of Plenty	District	185,233	4,185	7,519	209	10,799	4.06	1.94	4.99
49	Thames-Coromandel	Waikato	District	1,243,983	45,540	70,062	3,130	73,977	5.63	4.23	6.87
50	Invercargill	Southland	City	694,551	37,597	52,246	2,692	68,805	7.52	3.91	7.16
51	West Coast	West Coast	Regional	68,981	2,399	6,457	170	8,596	9.36	1.98	7.09
52	Porirua	Wellington	City	1,147,201	40,239	63,209	3,137	66,960	5.51	4.68	7.80
53	Marlborough	Marlborough	District	1,302,239	17,396	38,082	598	85,612	2.92	0.70	3.44
54	South Waikato	Waikato	District	357,741	6,576	12,204	337	27,265	3.41	1.24	5.12
55	Hauraki	Waikato	District	517,616	16,769	24,230	1,141	27,778	4.68	4.11	6.80
56	Rangitikei	Manawatu-Wanganui	District	485,110	0	5,843	16	30,846	1.20	0.05	0.00
57	Gore	Southland	District	349,316	10,949	13,824	746	17,040	3.96	4.38	6.81
58	Stratford	Taranaki	District	294,940	3,201	5,448	146	13,774	1.85	1.06	4.56
59	Canterbury	Canterbury	Regional	700,776	6,975	23,934	359	128,391	3.42	0.28	5.15
60	Wairoa	Hawke's Bay	District	208,990	0	4,812	0	22,982	2.30	0.00	0.00
61	Central Hawke's Bay	Hawke's Bay	District	723,871	12,501	14,958		27,722	2.07	0.00	0.00
62	Otago	Otago	Regional	425,875	0	6,247	0	45,814	1.47	0.00	0.00
63	Waipa	Waikato	District	1,113,401	31,000	40,868	2,174	58,176	3.67	3.74	7.01
64	Upper Hutt	Wellington	City	604,057	20,512	27,986	1,592	41,582	4.63	3.83	7.76
65	South Wairarapa	Wellington	District	374,347	8,399	11,708	639	14,819	3.13	4.31	7.61
66	Mackenzie	Canterbury	District	185,520	0	1,464	0	10,421	0.79	0.00	0.00
67	Central Otago	Otago	District	645,757	0	4,840	0	31,497	0.75	0.00	0.00
68	Tararua	Manawatu-Wanganui	District	869,011	16,052	20,737	1,151	28,818	2.39	3.99	7.17
69	Gisborne	Gisborne	District	1,846,479	33,874	52,887	2,890	74,603	2.86	3.87	8.53
70	Manawatu	Manawatu-Wanganui	District	579,071	12,024	19,852	959	38,718	3.43	2.48	7.98
71	Carterton	Wellington	District	150,095	1,636	4,419	117	13,191	2.94	0.89	7.15
72	Waikato	Waikato	District	1,403,585	24,225	42,177	1,954	70,375	3.00	2.78	8.07
73	Clutha	Otago	District	904,919	15	6,181	1	37,303	0.68	0.00	6.67
74	Napier	Hawke's Bay	City	1,345,845	4,036	19,813	394	71,964	1.47	0.55	9.76
75	Waimate	Canterbury	District	376,270	1,280	2,969	161	12,504	0.79	1.29	12.58
76	Kawerau	Bay of Plenty	District	64,165	3	1,696	1	9,435	2.64	0.01	33.33
77	Southland	Southland	District	1,341,241	387	11,134	31	58,652	0.83	0.05	8.01
78	Waitaki	Otago	District	690,162	11	8,002	3	41,451	1.16	0.01	27.27
	Total			107,416,335	7,652,720	10,300,330	438,581	6,713,392	9.59	6.53	5.73

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Figures are based on the Financial year ending June 2011. Note that both the Kaipara and Tararua District Councils have yet to publish their audited Financial Reports, so the 2011 Annual Plan figures have been used for both these Councils.