Posts by Graeme Edgeler
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I think if we want Parliament to be able to act more like a legislature rather than just a rubberstamp for the executive, then we need to go further, and have members days happening every week, not just every two.
I agree. The major problem with that is getting sufficient support. I wanted as a concrete proposal something difficult to argue against. I suspect our every second Wednesday, members able to force a vote on their bills system is reasonably generous by international standards.
Other thoughts along that line were moving the general debate to a Tuesday, and changing the timing of local and private business (every second Thursday?).
I should point out that ... members bills are not the only way of advancing your party's interests through legislation
Absolutely, but amendments to bills will only get you so far - major change (e.g. the 90 day bill), or public debate (e.g. through a select committee) is only going to happen this way. And sometimes, building that coaltion (National's opposition to the aspects of the Criminal Procedure Bill abolishing oral depositions, or their opposition to the Party Jumping legislation, just result in the bill not getting a vote at all).
Sometimes, of course, a private bill is exactly what you need ... but nobody was listening to me :-(
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How would you propose that all those duplicated bills be disposed of?
One of two ways - it doesn't really matter which:
1. Remove them before the second or subsequent bill is drawn from the ballot.
2. Have the ballot anyway, and if one gets picked, then simply ignore it and take another one.
And would a member then be subject to some kind of stand-down if their bill wasn't the one drawn but was one of the duplicates?
Members who are successful in the ballot aren't subject to a ballot stand-down now, I see no reason to introduce one.
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Andrew E. You can embed a YouTube video in PA system by putting the link to it in the comment - make sure it includes the "www" bit and doesn't just start http://youtube.com ... You can check that you've got it right by clicking on "preview": if there's no writing at all where you'd think the link should appear, it's probably working.
For example:
Try it. Go to youtube, find a video you like, copy the url and paste and post it here.
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Why is is SIR Allen Stanford ? I thought that he was an american. Did he buy a title?
According to wikipedia (which references The Times) he's a Knight of The Most Distinguished Order of the Nation of Antigua and Barbuda. He has been a citizen for over 10 years and [quoting The Times]:
was knighted in 2006 for services to the community and helping the economic development of the island
having been described earlier in the article thus:
He was born in Mexia, Texas, but became a citizen of Antigua and Barbuda in 1999. Since then his investment in the Caribbean and involvement in the region’s affairs has grown steadily. Outside the government, he is the largest employer in Antigua.
The Caribbean has benefited hugely from his philanthropy. His self-declared mission is to halt the migration of talent to more affluent areas of the world, bolster tourism and protect the region’s culture.
I fairly confident a few of ours have been less well earned.
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Lewis Hamilton becomes the first person to make coming fifth exciting! He passes the Toyota driver, Timo Glock, in the final lap to get the minimum points he needed to win the F1 championship.
I didn't watch it, but saw the story on Breakfast this morning.
Overtake, last corner to win the championship etc. Was thinking - I hate when they do that (e.g.stunning matchwinning try when they're already a few points ahead, or when they get two tries after it) - just because he passed someone late to win the race doesn't mean he needed it to win the championship - stupid news trying to make it sound more thrilling than it was etc.
Oh wait. It wasn't hyperbole. I always liked that Peter Williams :-)
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He’ll probably merge it with Sky Watch.
And this is one of those occasions where we need a kiwiblog-esque comment rating thing.
I suppose it would be returning to its roots.
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this is one Phil Kitchin lead story that David Farrar appears to have forgotten to ... blog about at all ...
And except for this post you'd be right.
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Santos was not a senator.
Should there be a reform of the justice system placing greater emphasis on the needs of victims, providing restitution and compensation for them and imposing minimum sentences and hard labour for all serious violent offences?"
I didn't support hard labour so I voted "no". Was it that difficult?
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It’s the fact that he always gets caught.
How would you know?
=)
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Hands up who knows what a "sham foreign exchange transaction" is.