Posts by izogi
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There's another HNZ chemical-contamination story in this morning's Taranaki Daily News, except as yet nobody seems to know what the chemical is. It's good to see, at least, that HNZ didn't use that as an excuse to do nothing or worse in this case.
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Polity: Labour and the Greens in a tree..., in reply to Craig Young,
However, the problem is that he's lodged there as a pustule while silencing real, practical and informed left political commentary.
How does that happen? Is he just good mates with the editors and broadcasters, and someone they know they can get cheaply and easily on short notice about any issue to represent "the left"? Does anyone complain to the relevant media organisations that he's a bad representative? Is anyone available to take his place and talk easily and immediately about everything he talks about?
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Polity: Labour and the Greens in a tree..., in reply to Moz,
I suppose what really annoyed me was that he seemed so reasonable in comparison, but in the end has was just "not as bad as other Nats".
With that I would not disagree. My view is that he actually took an active interest in taking responsibility for the portfolio with some seriousness instead of simply being pushed around by higher-ups in Cabinet all the time. But even then, he still has the standard National Party ideology (with which I disagree), and still did (allegedly) have suspicious interactions with his Department's independent statutory functions.
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Polity: Labour and the Greens in a tree..., in reply to Moz,
he couldn't be much worse than Nick Smith as Minister for conservation
What in particular do you dislike about Nick Smith in Conservation?
I'd much prefer an alternative government, but from the options available and from what I saw of him, Nick Smith actually took a strong interest in it and, past issues aside, I thought he was probably the best available option, at least in the context of the intentions of National's Cabinet as a whole. He put lots of effort into considering both the Fiordland tunnel and Monorail proposals, and ultimately resolved to deny both of them.
Nevertheless, he came after rubber stamping Kate Wilkinson who was a terrible Minister of Conservation, and who was responsible for authorising some dreadful decisions. The Crystal Basin swap for one, which went directly against advice of the Canterbury Aoraki Conservation Board and the Nature Heritage Fund, which had bought the land with intent of it becoming gazetted Conservation Park, and Ngāi Tahu for that matter.
And then there's Maggie Barry in there now, and overseeing an unprecedented demotion of Conservation Park land to Stewardship Land, specifically so it can be swapped away for commercial purposes, and thus creating a radical new precedent which threatens what it even means for land to be classified as specially protected.
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Polity: Labour and the Greens in a tree..., in reply to Sacha,
like this, you mean? Trevett manages to make it about her pin-up PM. Longest job interview ..
Yes, pretty much. It's the shallow end of journalism which only ever frames politics as sport. Instead of investigating and reporting with substance, it commentates on every single development in terms of strategy, winning and losing.
Patrick Gower's brilliant at it, which is why I almost never bother with him.
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Polity: Labour and the Greens in a tree..., in reply to Art Croft,
Your polling figures declaring that the left is finally on the rise could be taken from anytime with in the last 10 years. Ten years when National have relentlessly thumped the left. I don't think National will be panicking just yet.
I agree. Trying to extrapolate the future based on a chart like this, which shows the declared effect happening once before, is dodgy at best. It's great bait for people willing to see patterns which don't necessarily exist.
I hope it's not long before discussion shift back to policy, and what can be expected from this partnership, instead of just ongoing meta-commentary about political gamesmanship. New voters aren't likely to be attracted to either party based on talk about their existing or anticipated polling performance.
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Hard News: Crowded houses, in reply to Hilary Stace,
Thanks. Yes I saw that. I'm really still hoping to find a clearly written description of the difficulties of getting photo ID in New Zealand if you're in certain circumstances.
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Hard News: Crowded houses, in reply to Kumara Republic,
Either those who think "our PM is a great guy to drink with" will realise the whole house of cards for what it is... or they'll sink further into denial and go a little bit Trump.
Or a bit of both. People start looking for excuses to claim that they never really liked that guy anyway. Every scandal from the last 5+ years will get an airing, but of course the alternative at the time was so much dreadfully worse, and so that justified voting and expressing support as people did.
It's hard to know how long this government's going to last. When it finally goes, though, I doubt many will be accepting any great personal mistakes in keeping it there so long. Which is fine, as long as the majority who voted against it actually wanted it gone.
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Hard News: Crowded houses, in reply to Hilary Stace,
My daughter spent the morning helping a young man get some photo ID. You can't seem to get photo ID without photo ID to prove it is you. It is extraordinarily difficult for people without a passport, drivers' licence or other identifying certification.
Would anyone happen to know of any clear write-ups on this (NZ-based, preferably online) which I could reference next time someone tries to argue with me on how reasonable it is to require regular people to have ID to do regular stuff that's meant to be accessible and easy to do?
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Also in this day and age, many people simply don't get their coverage from the same traditional sources. There's so much more choice when looking for excuses to justify what's already believed.