Posts by George Darroch
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This is our city, and these are our lives. And we want to make them better.
We shouldn't have to justify that. But we do. The proof is usually in retrospect - we see how good things are, and the mainstream changes. The proof is also available elsewhere in the world, but it takes something special for New Zealanders to accept that their country isn't doing things better. I think that the visit of Janette Sadik-Khan, a person from New York, had more impact than would have had a dozen Danish and Dutch.
The opponents of change slink off from their position without a moment of shame or introspection, before bloviating in public on the next thing. That won't ever change, but hopefully we give them less of a microphone in the future.
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So much goodness here. It just keeps getting better…
(I can’t be the only who thinks that the Wkend is terribly overrated, however. The cover is a slight improvement.)
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Hard News: The Message, in reply to Sacha,
pools across the whole region are now free to children
Most people are not children.
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Hard News: The Message, in reply to Russell Brown,
She seems to be loving the job of Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner, and isn't afraid to get stuck into her former colleagues. I've found her to be intelligent, kind and genuine.
But she didn't ever excel at 'retail-politics', the kind of handshaking and speech-making talent that a politician in a strongly contested seat needs to have.
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Hard News: The Message, in reply to Kumara Republic,
Is that the same David Hay who’s previously been involved with the CitRats? Or are there 2 of them?
Different guy. The former deputy-mayor hasn't been seen or heard of lately, thankfully.
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Hard News: The Message, in reply to Russell Brown,
I believe that Hay has not been allowed to rejoin. I'm not 100% confident of that, but reasonably certain.
It's a pity that he's standing for mayor, because he was actually a really good policy analyst for the council and drove them towards some decent social policy. Those policies remain in place, but my experience is that they need good people to defend them (against the gambling industry, for example).
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One thing that is interesting is that we've settled on a fairly coherent political 'normal' that most endorse. There are no huge deviations from the current script. It's actually testament to Brown and Hulse and a bunch of reasonable people around the table that this has happened - the Mayor has been a far more competent manager than most have realised, and the Government has enjoyed his leadership. That experience will be a large part of why they're comfortable endorsing Goff for Mayor.
I'm not sure how far Goff's call for efficient spending is a matter of policy, or simply useful rhetoric. A twitterer was decrying the fact that he didn't go deeply into talking about the west and south, but the fact is that the red suburbs are already largely his, thanks to an army of Labour footsoldiers. Everything within view on the north and east of One Tree Hill is where he needs to concentrate on winning. Aspirational and intelligent Auckland has a far more resonant pitch there.
One thing I think he could do very well to promise would be more pools and libraries. These come in the order of $10-20m each, depending on their size and scope, but have huge benefits. They improve knowledge and health and make people happy. Compared to widening a section of road or upgrading a pipe, they're electoral gold. Various parts of the city have remained neglected, a legacy of their former councils, and they wonder what they're getting for their rates. (Manukau meanwhile has an abundance, and free entry thanks to a targeted rate.) Perhaps we could sell the Remuera Golf Course and build pools across the city.
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Hard News: The Message, in reply to simon g,
FWIW, I think he shouldn’t do both jobs. Undermines both of them, and increases public contempt for democracy. And to be clear, Goff hasn’t said he would.
Goff campaigning while being an incumbent MP will annoy the right greatly. It won’t make any great difference to the result though, even if they push the issue strongly.
National has a distinct lack of appreciable candidates to stand in Mt Roskill, and Labour has a couple of very good ones in Michael Wood and (possibly) Priyanca Radhakrishnan. National won’t want a trouncing, even at the expense of making the opposition spend their funds. Giving them longer to put something together will help National.
Edited.
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Legal Beagle: Voting in the Flag Referendum, in reply to Rosemary McDonald,
Those Who Rule Us probably have the new flag at the mass manufacturing stage already.
This exercise is pantomime.
I’ve been surprised at the level of antagonism towards this process. It’s not rational; as if this exercise is a disruption of Our Zealand. That the stasis we’re in is comfortable and even optimal.
I’m not voting, because I want a new flag. I believe that we’re better off with a narrative of this process as a trainwreck, so that the next attempt in 2030 is defined as something completely new, rather than a continuation of a failed attempt.
Edit: And because if I vote, my vote will be seen as an endorsement of Kyle bloody Lockwood's Weetbix #1.
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Bowie.