Posts by Craig Ranapia
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The public needed some educatin', at least if I'm anything to go by. Despite being relatively interested in politics, and in the age-group which benefits from the newly-reduced health care fees, I had no idea about this policy. [...] I think some measure of direct communication was appropriate ... but this one's clumsy.
Well, dc_red, clutch your pearls but I actually agree with you. "Some measure of direct communication" certainly was appropriate - which is why the Health Ministry allocates money and resources to public information campaigns. Ditto for the Education and Social Services portfolios, and I doubt any reasonable person would find that out of line. And if they're doing such a piss-poor job that they need an assist from the Prime Minister's 'leaders budget' (with a coincidental PR push for her party), then someone's got a lot of explaining to do at the relevant select committees.
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>That's rather prime ministerial, and very political from where I'm sitting.
Yes, and I wasn't too impressed upon reading this gem from Housing Minister Chris Carter in The Herald:
Housing Minister Chris Carter thought the adjudicator had not paid enough regard to the distress of other neighbours on the street when making the decision.
Where to start... This might come as a bit of a shock to Chris, but there are a few folks out there who would be severely might be severely distressed at finding there's a couple of queers living over the back fence. Not something I think the Tenancy Tribunal would pay any regard to, and I certainly hope indulging the prejudices of the neighbourhood isn't a crteria for Housing New Zealand when allocating public housing. When you get right down to it, Sharon Salt and her brood aren't people I'm gagging to live next door to. That's not really the point -- if any tenant (public or private) breeches the terms of the tenancy, there's a legal process to get rid of them. One would think Mr Carter and Ms. Clark would fully endorse that, and don't believe a state agency should get a pass on cutting corners.
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a bit unfair on Clark I think. That state house is in her electorate so as an MP she has to take some action and I'd be very surprised if she didn't know the back-story to it all.
Well, I've no problem with any MP advocating on behalf of their constituents. But FFS, I think Clark's continued chipping at the Tenancy Tribunal adjudicator from the bully pulpit of her position as Prime Minister is way out of order. Of course 'wading in' (as The Herald puts it) to another populist issue, isn't going to hurt her media profile any. But God, if she's going to go off half-cocked, perhaps we can all chip in and buy her a paddling pool while she actually gets a grip.
I was listening to The Panel on National Radio yesterday, and Matt Nippert had to remind Jim Moira and Richard Griffin (both in fine Colonel Blimp form, BTW) that there''s a difference between being a bad neighbour and a bad tenants. And being the thug-coddling wet liberal pussy that I am, I think Matt was right - and got sniggered at by Griffin for stating the bleeding obvious.
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On ya, Terence. If I started hugging posters in my GP's waiting room, it would all end in tears (I suspect she was a Victorian nanny in a previous life), a round blood test and some new pills in very short order. :)
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Which is where it gets a bit weird, because the leaders' fund is there to help parties communicate policy to the public. But the auditor-general has drawn the lines so tightly that it's hard to tell what counts as electioneering.
Which is exactly the line from politicians that gets zero sympathy from me - perhaps if the rules hadn't been so vague, and loosely enforced, as to be virtually meaningless the Auditor-General wouldn't have had to draw a line in the first place.
And isn't it also fair comment to point out that there's a substantial number of press secretaries and media advisors whose job (presumably) is to 'communicate policy' to the public? Government departments also have fairly substantial 'public communications' budgets -- though you mileage may vary on how 'informative' the Kiwisaver ads on tele at the moment actually are. (I'd say no more so than your average bank or insurance company advert, but feel free to disagree.)
If you've got loadsa money to do your own promotion, outside the campaign period, it's not a problem.
You mean parties actually producing and distributing their party propaganda with their own money? What an outrageous idea... :)
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The legislation only lasts till the end of this year, whereupon it's supposed to be replaced with a clearer set of rules, in time for the election.
I wonder if that would include something along the lines of anti-spam legislation, where all parties and politicians have to maintain (and follow) a 'no mail' list? Sorry for sounding cranky, but I don't really want to waste the few seconds it takes to throw political spam in the recycle bin, whether I'm paying for it or not.
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Then again, I've got to be fair and point out Clark and the Labour Party aren't electioneering quite as blatantly as their Australian state and federal counterparts. The Better Half and I were in Sydney just as the NSW state election campaign was kicking into high gear, and I'm sure it was entirely coincidental that television, radio and newspapers were awash in *cough* 'public information campaigns' that were remarkably uninformative...
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And the dreaded immigration bill is a controversy invented by conservatives so they didn't have to talk about Iraq any more.
Oh, come on Russell... I know it falls below the radar somewhat, but Bush has been catching shit for being, well, being a wee bit too liberal when it comes to immigration since he was Governor of Texas, and while we may turn up our little Kiwi beaks in a totally unjustified display of moral superiority, there are chunks of the US where illegal immigration is a real issue and has been for a long time.
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I can't believe they've done this. A leaflet from the government would have hit the mark; it would hardly have been a mystery who was in charge. But a leaflet slathered in red with Labour's own website address on it? Come on.
Well, Russell, I can -- because let's face it, this is exactly what the validating legislation was meant to allow, and it's not as if Labour ever admitted the Audior-General's report had a grain of merit as opposed to being a politically-motivated hit job.
And I expect another request to the Prime Minister's office that I don't want my letter box spammed by unsolicited and unwanted junk mail from her office to be ignored. Another case of 'do what I say, just don't say what I do'?
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*yawn* And for all the hot air from all sides of the political spectrum, and all over the world, I'm yet to hear anyone suggest that a small amendment to the US Constitution might be in order so no President can pardon their staffers or big ticket donors on their way out the door.
And, Alastair, could it be within the realms of possibility that someone can disagree with you in good faith (and without being a Bush sock puppet), and be treated accordingly?
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