Posts by George Darroch
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I suspect the National Party also wanted to reward their friends. Stephen Joyce, after all, is Minister for the Road Transport Forum.
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And why wouldn't you address that tendency up front if you were running a campaign? Marketing fail, even with all the resources of incumbent govt on their side.
Well, there is the energy star rating. The last Government initiated a plan to put fuel efficiency ratings on cars, but the Nats and ACT were furious about that. How dare they! Telling the customer upfront how much fuel and pollution it requires.
Yup. Developed in response to a new energy efficiency standard in California.
California's standards have pulled along the rest of the world. Manufacturers aren't going to make seperate products for California (1/5 US population), so they make them that good for the entire US. And since they make them that way for the US...
Japan actually has a rolling efficiency standard, continually moving upwards. What was best practice 5 years ago is middle of the pack now. -
Um, you do know that National haven't manage to impose FPP yet, and we're still on MMP. Which means that even if Labour carry off all the trophy seats, their majority still depends on the party vote.
I'm absolutely aware of this. But it's also a fact that people identify with their local MPs, and that you neglect electorates at the peril of your party vote. Electorates with a strong local candidate receive much higher party votes in my experience. A smaller party might decide to put all or most of their resources into the party vote, but a larger one has the option, and I'd argue they should take it.
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And further to my last point, Labour needs to grow these candidates well before they're needed, or work with genuine local heroes. I don't know who Labour have planned in Mana or Manurewa, but I'll bet they're people unknown to the great majority of the community.
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Back to the central idea that Russell floated, I think some hard localism would do well.
Labour would also do well to remember not to patronise communities too heavily by parachuting in untested aparatniks into safe seats, but instead use people with well established public mana and integrity. Shearer was sufficiently the latter to underline himself.
The Greens could also do well to learn from this - their Australian counterparts have put up a former Australian of the Year in a close senate race. It's not out of the question to win an electorate seat if they do it right.
People want people they can trust and believe in. I want people I can trust and believe in.
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I was thinking yesterday, after reading NoRightTurn's description of National's attempts to destroy the welfare state - that if Labour don't fight this shit with the savagery it deserves, I'll come back, and personally force Grant Robertson and Phil Goff to do so. Using whatever means it takes.
It's their job, and if they want to be all Mike Moore about it, well I'm not going to abide by that. Once in my life was enough.
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It's much like the debate around the low-flow shower-head policy. Labour successfully failed to penetrate the public's consciousness with the message that mandating low-flow heads was the last resort after any number of other energy-consumption-reduction measures had not been implemented, including such radical ideas as wrapping hot water cylinders and pipes. What people got was "The council's going to be coming to make sure you've got a low-flow head in the shower of your newly-constructed house" not "The council's going to make sure you've got a low-flow head in the shower of your newly-constructed house if you haven't done a single one of these other things, all of which will save you money if you do them!"
That is because the New Zealand media think it is their job to teach the controversy, and nothing more.
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David and I don't do the disco round, because he's partially deaf (he finds it impossible to follow conversations in large crowded rooms) and large crowds just freak me out.
I'm almost with you. If I wasn't single, and loud, crowded, drunken venues didn't offer the opportunity of fraternising with attractive people, I'd be staying home too.
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Yeah, I think we're still on the thin end of visual media. The tubes are still too slow and narrow for most of us in this part of the world, and the devices not yet optimised to make the most of it. All this will change. The iPad may not be a perfect device, but like Apple products before it, it will force other manufacturers to up their game and make truly image orientated products.
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Okay, ew, I just made myself be a little bit sick in my mouth. Back to not thinking about political fan fic.
Just as well you didn't involve any members I actually know.