Speaker by Various Artists

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Speaker: The Democracy-Free Zone

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  • Rob Stowell,

    Another great post from Political Scientist on what's happening to Chch schools- and how it fits the Govt's 'business plan' for NZ.

    Whakaraupo • Since Nov 2006 • 2120 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Barnes, in reply to Matthew Poole,

    So that would make it a National Standard.

    National standards by the few, for the many. That sounds like... wait for it.... COMMUNISM!!!

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Dalziel,

    Let's start this sucker up again...
    Gimme those paddles...
    Clear!
    <Kzzzzzzzcchhchch-ch-chzt>

    I feel soiled...
    High plains grifters and the best democracy money can buy...
    are sacred cows the reason for the ongoing government-commissariat at ECan?

    The Government suspended democracy and restricted legal action in Canterbury to protect an agriculture boom potentially worth more than $5 billion to the national economy, documents reveal.
    It feared the economic boom promised by Canterbury irrigation could be in jeopardy unless Environment Canterbury (ECan) was "stable, effective and efficient", says a Government report on August 27.

    ...

    A separate Government document, disclosed to The Press under the Official Information Act, says the protection of Canterbury's economic contribution and its future growth were a "key consideration" for suspending democracy.
    Irrigation New Zealand chief executive Andrew Curtis said irrigation and the environment would have been threatened if the commissioners' terms had not been extended. The Canterbury Water Management Strategy has an end target of 850,000ha within the next 50 years.

    Words almost fail me...
    No one seems to be talking about cropping, or dairy specifically, and all this for $5 billion, over 50 years, while increasing irrigated land from 450,000ha to 850,000ha, (as I understand it) - they'll end up paying way more than that just to replace the top soil that will just blow away, or to mitigate the effects of chemicals used in lieu - such narrow, short term thinking shouldn't be credible, or acceptable, when terraforming on this scale.
    In Chchch they putting more subdivisions on the dwindling areas of good market garden land, I'm not sure where our bulk supplies of "local" food will come from in the future - Australia?

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • Rob Stowell,

    Water Thieves.
    It’s scary in many ways:- too many eggs in the milk-can basket; degradation of the alluvial water; short-term economic benefits to some, while others ahem, get zip, or less than zip, as the environment is degraded; and when the major droughts arrive, there’ll be enormous pressure to take more water ‘just to tide us over’.
    NZ Inc. Let’s let a corporate model take over every aspect of our lives…
    ETA, off topic :) Another post from 'the political scientist' examining JK, his character and how our perceptions of it are changing.

    Whakaraupo • Since Nov 2006 • 2120 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic, in reply to Ian Dalziel,

    Just as suspected, it's Suva-on-the-Avon all right.

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report Reply

  • Steve Barnes,

    Hardly surprising for the cynical amongst us. One of the many pieces of Government propaganda touted as "interviews" with Ministers, or their minions, I have heard recently
    was on the subject of Charter Schools. This little gem seemed to slip out "Well if a Charter School does not live up to an acceptable standard then we can shut them down, the same as we can with state schools". This only means one thing to me, a total failure of the Ministry's governance of the state sector. If schools were given the resources they need there would be far less problems. Schools tend to be run by people who know what they are doing, unlike Ministries who seem, these day, to be far better at whitewashing than actually getting shit done.

    Peria • Since Dec 2006 • 5521 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic, in reply to Steve Barnes,

    unlike Ministries who seem, these day, to be far better at whitewashing than actually getting shit done.

    And when subpar executives are pushed or otherwise jump, they walk away with a fancy golden handshake. Roger Estall and the Tourism NZ board come to mind, and Christine Rankin refused to go quietly.

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report Reply

  • mark taslov, in reply to Ian Dalziel,

    You're on the pulse!

    Te Ika-a-Māui • Since Mar 2008 • 2281 posts Report Reply

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