Posts by BenWilson
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Hard News: Democracy Night, in reply to Richard Grevers,
Yes, I didn't put a ton of caveats on that, which I should have. I meant that few people are opposed to something gifted to them that costs them nothing more than it costs the rest of the nation, takes up only the space required for a few stations, that they can use whenever they desire. Whether that use is actually very seldom or not, which for most city dwellers, and people living in the extremely expensive inner suburbs with one car per head, probably actually is the case. Our rail network is for churning commuters into the city. For most other purposes, it's not extensive enough, whether you add a city loop or not. Residents of Ponsonby, Freemans Bay, St Mary's Bay, Herne Bay, Westmere, Grey Lynn, Parnell, and Waiheke are not going to get a single station that they could use for anything useful, with the sole exception, perhaps, people from Waiheke who are resigned to six trips on public transport per day (for which there are already hundreds of buses waiting conveniently in the terminal right next to Britomart Station, going to hundreds more destinations than K Rd and Albert St (if they can't be arsed to bloody walk to Albert St, which begins at the Ferry terminal and isn't exactly steep)). The benefit to them is just the general reduction in pressure on roads that they will still have no choice but to use.
While the project's benefits are felt all around Auckland, they are felt most strongly in the city centre as without the project all the streets will be flooded with buses and cars by 2025 at the latest. We're literally talking wall to wall buses on Albert, Fanshawe & Symonds streets at peak times.
No, that means they feel it the most weakly. Everyone will have to deal with that without rail, but the people in Central don't also have to deal with the long weary approach to the city on buses and in cars, which are also slowly worsening. And people living in the CBD tend to walk, so traffic means nothing to them.
Again, I think rail is a fine thing. I'm just responding to the concept that the big beneficiary of it would be the people whose commute is the least burden to them in the whole city (well, barring people like me who commute on foot for about 10 seconds) or from Waiheke which is pretty well sorted on the commuting front. It's downright pleasant, in fact, to ride in a ferry sipping a coffee and cruising at a 100% predictable pace through a glorious harbour.
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The main benefit of the extra rail link is to double network capacity across the whole region.
Don't get me wrong, you or Slarty, I think a loop is a great idea. I was just countering the idea that Auckland Central should have been all woody about it out of self interest. They're the electorate that will benefit least from it because they already live in the city, so commuting just isn't much of a hassle for them. I imagine most of them would want it anyway, though, who is ever against massive infrastructure spending right in their neighborhood?
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Hard News: Democracy Night, in reply to Bart Janssen,
I don't think that demands Labour rethink policy, but what it does suggest is that Labour somehow must define more precisely why you would vote Labour and not Green without attacking the Green party.
Yup. If they sought to differentiate more clearly, in marketing speak. I thought they were onto something with their idea of subsidized apprenticeships - that might have reached out really strongly to the massively un(der)employed youth vote. That's reaching straight out to their top two concerns (how to get an education, and how to get some goddamned money), with a very strong cost/benefit built in. It also reaches straight at small businesses that can't afford to hire, but would very much like to have extra hands. It's a hundred times better idea than youth rates, which every kid I've met just shakes their heads at, wondering why they should have to do adult work, but get paid kids wages.
ETA: Also, who else is going to rebuild Christchurch, if not tradespeople?
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Hard News: Democracy Night, in reply to martinb,
Yeah, there's some cases. Pretty few, I'd have thought. Once you've caught the bus to the ferry, and then the ferry, and then another form of public transport, all before you've got to work in the morning, you've got to ask yourself what the actual advantage of living on Waiheke really is*. If you use the train, and it doesn't actually stop at an easy walk from your workplace, you're talking about 8 trips on public transport every working day.
*because it sure isn't to avoid the rat race.
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Hard News: Democracy Night, in reply to Conrad Lake,
NZ First too might have been a small factor as to why the Mana party didn't attract more votes.
It's tricky to be sure, would love to see real stats on it at some point. It's an unusual angle they chose, aiming both inside and outside of Maori, off the strength of a Maori electorate candidate. That may have caused very crossed signals. It's possible that non-Maori were largely unaware of this, and voting for Mana just never crossed their minds. Also, I think that Bradford might alienate more people than she attracts. I still think the anti-smacking saga made a big dent in the left. Minto is a mixed bag. There's a lot of goodwill over the HART work, but when you protest against practically everything, I do think people end up wondering if you're really *for* anything. Which is unfair, it's pretty clear what he's for is world peace and social justice, and we happen to live in a violent and unjust world. But a big chunk of NZers would think he's just a whinger.
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Hard News: Democracy Night, in reply to Conrad Lake,
Mana either needs to be a Maori or if it wants to represent more than Maori it has got to look at where the swing vote is usually from. I suggest its not West Auckland low income earners or South Aucklanders.
I presumed it was actually beneficiaries they were appealing to.
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Hard News: Democracy Night, in reply to ,
And I don't agree the Mana did well. I would have liked to have seen four MPs. I don't think the one MP alone, can represent the diverse underclass.
Yes, I was disappointed there too. I guess it's on Hone to keep plugging away at what his policy is, so that it's not all new and unknown by the next election.
It seems to me that Labour would do well to hold out an olive branch in that direction too. My gut feeling is that Mana appeals to just the kind of people who didn't turn up to vote, and if those people felt there was a strong option to the left of Labour that isn't about middle class environmentalism, it could pick up an alienated segment that is highly likely to ally naturally with Labour. With the Green move on capturing the center, Labour does need an ally that appeals to the poor, every bit as much as National needed ACT on the hard right.
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Hard News: Democracy Night, in reply to hamishm,
Laugh, I nearly started. He was going overboard on how it was a bad win for them and they had better watch out.
He's right. It is, and they had better.
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Hard News: Democracy Night, in reply to Keir Leslie,
Eh, I think the idea that the left (really Labour) needs to indulge in broad soul searching is wrong.
Interesting thoughts, although I don't think that's really what was meant by:
The left needs to talk, listen, argue and develop an alternative, more collective and communal vision for the country.
A soul search is by definition virtually the opposite of this process - soul searching is looking inside for your own deep convictions. Talk/listen/argue is an engagement process that reaches out. I think they've done enough soul searching, agreed.
I have to say that I don't agree that the left broadly failed in this 3 years. If they had managed to oust National after only one term, after a landslide victory to Key, it would have been an incredible achievement. As it was, the election is held by a matter of a few votes, that's a remarkable accomplishment too, although I think most of that was an own-goal by Key giving Winston his resurrection.
I'm not actually sure whether Goff's head on a plate would be quite the thing Labour need now. I got the impression he's finally learning how to land blows on Key. If there's anyone who really is natural at that, though, let them come forth!
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Legal Beagle: Referendum '11: counting…, in reply to Emma Hart,
Just to nit-pick, they bloody do not. They're allowed to write down the page and line number of the voter on the electoral roll. They're certainly not entitled to know the number of your ballot paper.
Can I then ask how it could possibly be feasible to challenge anyone's vote? If it is not possible to work out who I voted for, wouldn't it be in my interests in a close election to go "Oh, yes, I guess I do spend more time in New Lynn than Waitakere, technically. Oh, and I voted National, I guess you better strike off one vote for them, eh?"
ETA: I don't know exactly what the mechanism is, by which votes can be challenged, I simply posited that possibility as the most obvious one. Please enlighten me, if you do know the mechanism. That's gotta tap into some nit-picky karmatic goodness?
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