Posts by Matthew Poole
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Len Brown has ordered an immediate update to Auckland's quake-prone building list, to be released once it's updated.
One imagines it'll take a month or so, so I hope our ADD-afflicted goldfi^Wjournalists remember to chase him about its release. -
Hard News: The digital switch-off, in reply to Steve Barnes,
So, you think my opinion is of no import
Not unless you have many millions of taxpayer dollars under your bed with which to fund this marvellous-sounding TV station. Sorry.
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Hard News: What Now?, in reply to Christopher Dempsey,
Just noticed Aaron Keown is a councillor for the Shirley-Papanui ward. Hope local voters with power back on are noting his recent attitude.
Which seems remarkably, errr, what’s a good word to describe this… oh this’ll have to do – stupid.
Shirley-Papanui is "eastern suburbs" and he's demonstrating that he's completely out of touch with his constituents? Or is it the equivalent of Cameron Brewer sneering at the burghers of Mangere Bridge?
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Hard News: What Now?, in reply to Sacha,
This should gladden hearts everywhere – government to set up all-powerful agency to manage quake recovery.
Good thing I know you're being sarcastic, or I'd have to jump down the tubes and beat you with a clue-by-four!
It was bad enough when we got presented with Darth Brownlee, Lord Uber-Fuhrer of Canterbury, and now we have to look forward to ECan being repeated with CCC and Gerry at the helm.Been nice knowing you, Christchurch. Enjoy it while it lasts.
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Hard News: The digital switch-off, in reply to Steve Barnes,
Who would be up for that?
Lots of people, I suspect, but unfortunately none of the men whose opinion matters most is amongst the number.
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Hard News: What Now?, in reply to Sacha,
If the folk at the top have been totally focused on the cbd USAR work, that might explain how Key conflates the two functions (given that we know he has seen little on the ground). That’s being generous.
Two major quakes and 12 days of international USAR effort don't let Key play that card. He doesn't have to know the details of how the USAR teams are pulling apart the rubble piles, but he damned well ought to know the difference between USAR rescue and CD welfare. I'd have let him get away with that one for two or three days, but it's now been so long that if he's not familiar with the welfare effort as well as the rescue effort he's demonstrating that he doesn't give a shit about the day-to-day caring but only about the "glamour" work done by the USAR crews.
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Hard News: What Now?, in reply to Sacha,
Also fits with what Lianne Dalziel says:
Do you know how they allocated the portaloos? It was who rang their 0800 number the most.
She's pretty furious, and rightly so given that she's one of the residents of Refugee City.
I think it's pretty trite to say that someone who's actually living in the same conditions as her constituents is "politicising" anything, especially since those who're levelling that particular accusation probably had a shower before speaking, have a home that's not likely to be condemned, can use a flush toilet at their leisure, and aren't subsisting on sausage sizzles. -
Hard News: What Now?, in reply to Sacha,
Someone from the Council engineers, I believe. Imminent threat to human life is an acceptable trump of heritage values, IMO.
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Hard News: What Now?, in reply to Sacha,
And if it turns out to have been a generally-expressed objection, then a very public “You’re disgusting” from the HDC is in order.
The Office of the Health and Disability Commissioner has no jurisdiction over services beyond the traditionally-defined health or disability sectors (which don’t include CDEM, other local government or police).
Whether it's the HDC or the HRC, someone needs to do a very loud, very public denunciation of the suggestion that it's an inconvenience to support an official national language and interfere with the transmission of essential information to a segment of the community. Especially when the justification of that "inconvenience" is as bullshit as "We don't want him in the shot."
I don't want them to get all officially telly-offy, I just want them to make a public proclamation that, if this story is true, the outlet(s) involved are right up there with looters.
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Hard News: What Now?, in reply to Scott A,
Yes, I’ll agree with needing a “reasonable and evidence-based” decision process about what buildings survive, both in Christchurch and elsewhere, but I think this is a good reminder that, sometimes “old” just means “old,” when it comes to buildings.
We don’t get to demand a “reasonable and evidence-based” decision process, however. Brownlee can order whatever he chooses, and nobody’s entirely sure what they can challenge. They certainly can’t challenge the order to demolish a building, because the law is explicit on that point, and getting to challenge the process is a hollow victory when the courts will likely uphold the ruling even in the presence of a flawed process. The consequence of rushed, poorly-considered, poorly-debated legislation.