Posts by Matthew Poole
Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First
-
Hard News: Media 2011, in reply to andin,
You mean other that scaring the crap outta people with disaster pawn.
Leave chess out of this!
-
Hard News: Media 2011, in reply to Simon Grigg,
I'd imagine Assange is reasonably safe from rendition or anything of that sort until Jan 20, 2013 at least.
I wouldn't count on that. With or without presidential sanction there are ways to get Assange before a US federal judge that don't incriminate any identifiable individual. Once he's in front of said judge, how he got there is immaterial.
Should some part of the US national security apparatus decide that he's a PITA for sufficiently significant values of P, rendition becomes a purely mechanical question. It's not like the US is lacking in people with the requisite skills and capabilities to have Assange miraculously appear on the doorstep of the office of a US Marshall with no evidence as to how he arrived.
-
Speaker: It's called "planning" for a reason, in reply to Sacha,
I think it’s fair for them to be worried about a unified Auckland having a louder voice now
See, I don't think it's at all fair. If it worries them, and Auckland has historically not been well-treated by Wellington, then that says that they're worried that about Auckland getting something that looks more like "fair" treatment.
-
Speaker: It's called "planning" for a reason, in reply to Kyle Matthews,
Kyle, the problem is that for many people any money going to Auckland is a cause for complaint, whether or not it's "fair". Witness the oft-repeated comment that Auckland leaches off the rest of the country, for example, made all the more galling when it comes from regions that rely heavily on Auckland's excess of payment-over-return to give them healthcare, schools and roads. Cue the reaction from Mainland mayors to the arrival of Megatropolis, which looks as much as anything like terror at the prospect of Auckland getting back a larger chunk of the tax that is generated in Auckland.
The only way to pry the purse open in the face of such bigotry and ignorance is to justify it in terms of "It's important for the economy." Anything else is "It's just those fucking Aucklanders taking more of my hard-earned money!"
-
Speaker: It's called "planning" for a reason, in reply to tussock,
Also, all those dairy cows? Totally just shitting everywhere out in the open like a bunch of animals. If the farmers didn’t concentrate it in ponds that flood into local streams now and then it wouldn’t hurt either.
The reason those ponds exist is to catch all the shit that has to be washed out of milking sheds. Hundreds of cows corralled into a concrete yard twice daily means lots of poo to wash away if you're not to end up neck-deep in crap within a month.
The effluent ponds collect the run-off from the sheds. The effluent has to go somewhere, and better ponds than just running off into the paddocks. -
Speaker: It's called "planning" for a reason, in reply to Islander,
Your point being...? We're talking about taxes, not rates.
-
Speaker: It's called "planning" for a reason, in reply to Islander,
Can’t speak to your rates, but y’all have state-funded roads, and hospitals, and schools, don’t ya? Who do you think pays for those?
Not trying to get into an argument about this, but Auckland has the biggest gap between taxes paid and taxes returned and that’s down to the density benefits that make it more cost-effective to build roads, hospitals, schools and all those other things that are provided by the state in this country.
-
Speaker: It's called "planning" for a reason, in reply to Kyle Matthews,
Kyle, when the country's biggest region, and biggest economic contributor (Auckland's GDP in 2009 was over $48b), is described as "an anchor" by the PM, that's pretty serious. That says that whatever can reasonably be done to lift that drag from the national economy should be done. Ignoring that Auckland's contribution to the national economy is actually in line with its size, and is consistent with other cities of similar size overseas, what's good for our economy is good for the nation because we contribute so much tax income.
Auckland doesn't get back what it puts in, and never has. In general tax take, and road tax, more goes out than comes back. Mostly we don't complain, except when accused by cockies from down the line of "bludging" off the productive teat of the nation, but when there are projects that will help grow our economy and deal with detrimental factors such as congestion it would be nice if money from central government was as readily available to us as it is to, say, Wellington's train set: 90% taxpayer-funded, and you won't hear Aucklanders complaining except when told that we only get a loan for our trains.
-
Speaker: It's called "planning" for a reason, in reply to Joshua Arbury,
Pressure from on high, perhaps? The National Party line is very definitely hostile to rail, and Kaye won't want to rock the boat. Which is, of course, potential suicide in an electorate that will benefit from the tunnel and which only barely swung her way in '08. It's National's electorate to lose, and they're doing a pretty good job so far of alienating the Chardonnay Socialist set resident in the central Bays.
Hopefully Jacinda's taken some of the comments on your posts and fed them into the Labour apparatus, and we'll start seeing something resembling an effective opposition in the new year. Not holding my breath, but it could happen.
-
Speaker: It's called "planning" for a reason, in reply to Sam F,
Apologies accepted, comrade. I hope those good, socialist electrons you used weren't too inconvenienced by all the to'ing-and-fro'ing.
I'm still baffled that Angus portrays this is a corporate welfare issue.
I understand people from other regions resenting money being spent on Auckland, though there are plenty out there who can get beyond their bigotry and recognise that it's good for the country as a whole if Auckland's economy performs to best possible effect. That, however, is a long way from seeing the tunnel as corporate welfare for the fat cats of Queen Street.