Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: Dropping the Bomber

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  • Joe Wylie, in reply to peterpeasant,

    How the hell did we wind up here via Tauranga?

    You sound as if you're stuck on a submerged seamount.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report Reply

  • Caleb D'Anvers, in reply to Rich Lock,

    Goff could do a lot worse right now than turn up on the beaches and make the appropriate noises.

    The sound of waves? Seagull impressions? A one-man, karaoke version of "Pet Sounds"? Considering his position in the polls right now, I guess anything's worth a shot.

    London SE16 • Since Mar 2008 • 482 posts Report Reply

  • hamishm, in reply to Caleb D'Anvers,

    The sound of waves? Seagull impressions? A one-man, karaoke version of "Pet Sounds"?

    Classic.

    Since Nov 2006 • 357 posts Report Reply

  • merc,

    "There's been too much hui, not enough do-ey. The oil should have come out when it was calm."
    http://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/rena-crisis/5783001/Islanders-count-cost-of-disaster
    When told food would be flown to the island for them one man said "don't worry about food for us. We can look after ourselves. Look after the moana [sea]. That needs all the attention".

    Since Dec 2006 • 2471 posts Report Reply

  • merc,

    http://www.parliament.nz/en-NZ/PB/Debates/Debates/3/a/a/49HansD_20110504_00000001-Questions-for-Oral-Answer-Questions-to-Ministers.htm
    see, Anadarko Petroleum Corporation—Petroleum Exploration Permit
    Sly, and reading to get to that point was painful.

    Since Dec 2006 • 2471 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia, in reply to Caleb D'Anvers,

    Considering his position in the polls right now, I guess anything’s worth a shot.

    You might want to ask how getting smacked around for charity worked for Bill English. :)

    How the hell did we wind up here via Tauranga?

    Free association that would make Herr Doktor Freud drop his pencil pretty much covers the waterfront.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    “There’s been too much hui, not enough do-ey.

    The first being someone from MNZ (I think) saying that they needed to establish if all the oil appearing around the striken ship was actually coming from said ship. That took about 24 hours or more.
    Yes, I think emergency teams for emergencies need to be on the job immediately. Not waiting for an office to open or 9am starts.Declining offers for help such as booms and barges seems ridiculous when having these at the scene on stand by would be beneficial to say the least. There is a boom sitting in a warehouse on Auckland Wharf somewhere and I still see nothing around the ship now. Even a boom along the coastline could help. surely?

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report Reply

  • BenWilson, in reply to Craig Ranapia,

    You might want to ask how getting smacked around for charity worked for Bill English. :)

    It made him Minister of Finance. It just took 6 years longer than he'd hoped.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 10657 posts Report Reply

  • hamishm, in reply to merc,

    Sounds like Mr. Joyce shared the "Special Book of Stuff We Just Know", Merc.

    Since Nov 2006 • 357 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Dalziel, in reply to merc,

    More Stephen King than Jody Lloyd :- )

    Anadarko Petroleum Corporation

    I love that their head office is Andarko Tower
    a cookie-cutter insta-villain corporate address,
    if ever I saw one...

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    Key is trying to be like Goff and his caucus, experienced, professional and capable.

    Man, those are some good drugs you're on.

    FFS, Paul, and if he hasn’t been briefed yet should he just pull something out of his arse?

    Why would the PM go on Morning Report to talk about a disaster if he hasn't been briefed? If he doesn't know anything, shouldn't he say so and get the media to talk to someone who does?

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to peterpeasant,

    How the hell did we wind up here via Tauranga?

    If a new thread is not started as news develops, old ones get re-purposed. Or something.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to Sofie Bribiesca,

    having these at the scene on stand by would be beneficial to say the least. There is a boom sitting in a warehouse on Auckland Wharf somewhere and I still see nothing around the ship now. Even a boom along the coastline could help. surely?

    Apparently they don't work with waves. Or something.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Barnes, in reply to Kyle Matthews,

    Man, those are some good drugs you’re on.

    Why thank you. ;-)
    My point was that Key is not a seasoned Politician and it shows, the gaffes, the playground phraseology and the rejection of facts does not look good in my book. Goff may be "Old Fashioned" but he is still a far better statesman than Key.

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Barnes, in reply to Sacha,

    If a new thread is not started as news develops, old ones get re-purposed. Or something.

    You mean we shouldn't wait for a report or have an enquiry or something before we do anything?. What a radical idea.

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Dalziel,

    By the Cords of Billroth!

    This post opened with Bradbury’s banning.
    How the hell did we wind up here via Tauranga?

    I suggest that it is a sequence of events that appears to prove the interconnectedness of everything… here is is my casual causal chain:
    Bradbury vent his spleen (creating a monoblast ); this then caused a rupture in the nation’s psychic spleen, resulting in monocyte (white cell) flight from the perceived red pulp to the aid of a nonexistent inflammation; thus depleting the reserve of emergency immune response ability; the Monocytes finding nothing to fix and confused by the panic signals broadcast from Radio New Zealand’s cell towers have morphed into macrophages and mistakenly attacked one of the nearest organs; the kidney – causing Renal failure* and allowing toxins into the surrounding environment!

    *this coupled with the nation’s almost singleminded focus on the groin fear that we may lose the Rugby World Cup has morphicly resonated the mixed signals into the ether, resulting in a nation’s beaches back in black, a noted ex-all black Jonah Lomu’s renal problems and a ship called Rena beached and breached like a whale – it has to be inter-related doesn’t it?

    or…
    …it could just be about an unwieldy ship of state heading right instead of left, hitting interference and the panels taking a beating….

    or…
    …it could be because of the multipurpose use of existing threads, resulting from the dearth of new and relevant blogs probably due to the moderators and blog-writers being busy elsewhere, as happens in modern life – though it does raise the idea of a few general topic-centric threads being created to keep it all together or summat similar….

    [as noted by others above...]
    ;- )

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • Tom Semmens,

    "No government department can do its job without adequate resourcing. In my opinion, it is up to governments to ensure that departments charged with carrying out statutory functions for the benefit of the community are provided with sufficient resources to enable them to do so. Here, the evidence is clear that the Department of Conservation lacked, and continues to lack those resources. For futur...e safety that must change." - Report into Cave Creek disaster, 1995 - Minister of Finance Bill Birch, deputy Minister of Finance Bill English.

    "...National froze Maritime NZ's Crown budget in 2008, intending to keep it at $5.7m till 2014... ...Ernst & Young's December 2010 report warned of "high risk" to the Crown agency's "sustainability in the medium term". The risk would "either stop or erode the improvements to date or impact on its ability to deliver the core services required to ensure the maritime industry operates safely"..." - Minister of Finance, Bill English.

    Two National governments, one Bill English, same results.

    Sevilla, Espana • Since Nov 2006 • 2217 posts Report Reply

  • merc,

    Time for a national safety review.

    Since Dec 2006 • 2471 posts Report Reply

  • Tom Semmens,

    And the symbolism of Key's empty promises are coming thick and fast

    The one-off John Key hour on RadioLive suited him perfectly - a place where he can say what he likes with guests fed to him by the Prime Minister's office.

    On that radio show Key pronounced himself a great fan of Coronation Street.

    "Who's home at 5.30?" Key said. "It's got to be moved" and he would talk to "someone important enough to see whether that can happen".

    I asked one of Key's press secretaries Lesley Hamilton if he had made such an approach to TVNZ. But Hamilton said absolutely not - and he was never serious about making such an approach.

    That was never explained when he was on air. It was just something to say.

    Sevilla, Espana • Since Nov 2006 • 2217 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    Maritime NZ funding for oil spill response is not from frozen budget, says Transport Minister Joyce - it's the maritime industry falling short.

    "The funding has been frozen at the same level it was when Labour left office. But that funding is not the operational funding that's paid for by industry. That funding is for policy and the development of new laws."

    Mr Joyce said extra policy and new laws would not have made a difference to the Rena oil spill.

    Maritime NZ director Catherine Taylor agreed, saying the oil response was funded from the oil pollution fund. "The funding that they were referring to related to other core activities of Maritime NZ, so they are not related. It's the safety regulatory side of the organisation that is being subject for a value-for-money and a funding review, not the oil pollution fund."

    A Maritime NZ statement also said the maritime-industry funded marine pollution response unit's oil pollution fund was shrinking, with spending over-running funding by $1m annually.

    Under the current system, Maritime NZ recoups about $3m from marine industry oil pollution levy payers but spends more than $4m on maintaining response capability. Maritime NZ has consulted with the industry on proposals to amend the levy so reserves do not fall below the fund's $2m threshold. A new levy regime is expected to be in place by July next year.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Barnes, in reply to Ian Dalziel,

    …it could just be about an unwieldy ship of state heading right instead of left, hitting interference and the panels taking a beating….

    Panel Beaters to the Rescue
    Meanwhile, after shooting the rapids down Pike River and laying Christchurch to rest, Sub-Prime Minister John pours oil onto troubled waters to calm the Country down before applying bog to fill the holes in his promises before a bent election.

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report Reply

  • merc,

    Duck and cover.

    Since Dec 2006 • 2471 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha,

    The Energy Minister earlier reassured parliament in the aftermath of the Gulf of Mexico spill that Maritime NZ had expertise and resources.

    On 13 April, Hekia Parata said:

    Maritime New Zealand is responsible for ensuring New Zealand is prepared for, and able to respond to, marine oil spills. The Marine Pollution Response Service consists of internationally respected experts who manage and train a team of around 400 local government and Maritime New Zealand responders. New Zealand has equipment and other stores strategically located around New Zealand. In addition, the Marine Pollution Response Service assists regional councils with exercise and oil spill equipment. The plan is responsive and is regularly evaluated to ensure it meets changing risk profiles.

    Somebody should question Parata about why the internationally respected experts have to be flown in from overseas and she effectively misled the house?

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to Sacha,

    Mr Joyce said extra policy and new laws would not have made a difference to the Rena oil spill.

    Note the framing of regulatory arrangements as "extra". The man shows little grasp of proper governance. Like most of his business chums, sadly for our economy.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to Sacha,

    The Greens' David Clendon also discusses Parata's reply to the parliamentary question he was asking.

    I didn’t find that particularly reassuring at the time, and find it much less so now given what is happening off Tauranga. We know some smart and dedicated people, both professionals and volunteers, are working desperately hard trying to avert a major disaster, but so far we have seen just how little capacity we have to manage an accident.

    ...

    How much worse would the situation be if we were to allow deepwater off shore drilling, which the Energy Minister and her government are so eager to do, and an accident occurred a long way offshore in foul weather.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

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