Posts by simon g
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Up Front: The Up-Front Guides: The…, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
So basically, Biden opened his mouth, and pushed Obama, who pushed Key, then Shearer, then more and more MPs, and now nobody can stop the madness. It's The Gay Domino Theory.
Joe Biden: officially worth more than "a pitcher of warm piss".
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First, a great post by Emma. My "shouting at TV" reaction, put into much better words. Thanks.
Second, isn't it a sad reflection on MPs - on our system, or political culture? - that it takes a random ballot for something to (probably) become law, because most MPs (probably) will support it. So it could have been law before, only we didn't want to talk about it? Oh dear, now we have to. It seems that the toughest obstacle isn't finding a Parliamentary majority, it was a roulette wheel.
That's not just a dig at National, incidentally. I haven't forgotten Shearer's uninspiring reaction when Obama "came out". Glad he's found a spine (or read a poll) since then.
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Oh great, another Electorate Wanted (Lonely Hearts) ad. It seems the first thing pollies ask themselves is not "what do we stand for?" but "where can we stand?". Seat first, values follow.
Those all-important life-giving Electorate Seats, under MMP:
Coromandel - lost.
Wellington Central - lost.
Tauranga - lost.
Ohariu-Belmont - MP still there, party lost.
Wigram - MP still there, party lost.
Epsom - MP still there, party disappearing.At this rate, by about 2020 voters in every seat in the country will have been manipulated one way or another, for the "greater good" - of National and Labour. The two major parties are getting the biggest share of the vote they've had in decades. Only the Greens buck the trend, not least because their fortunes, their very identity, don't rest on the fate of one MP.
Keep MMP, change this single-seat rule. Please.
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Tim, I wouldn't have been at all surprised if Trevor Mallard (as Minister for various Cups and Movies) had done the same thing, if he'd been in power.
It would have been every bit as wrong. Rushing the CERRA through in a day was wrong, and this is wrong for the same reason.
@Dexter
If you're going to cut and paste en bloc from Kiwiblog, please credit your source.
Once more: it doesn't matter who does it. It's our Parliament. Not theirs.
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It is ugly but it is a solution that works.
Did you really just say that?
What was the alternative?
PM says to WB: "Gov't will introduce legislation. I'm confident we have the numbers. ACT will support us. We will proceed as usual, in our parliamentary democracy. If that is unacceptable to you, I'm sorry. But that's how laws are passed."
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It's almost amusing to me that the people worrying about ceding New Zealand sovereignty to an American film company were quite relaxed about ceding it to an Australian union. Ah, doublethink...
Single think for me. Laws being written in one day and passed on the next = very bad.
And very bad when Labour and the Greens say "Thanks for the precedent, guys!" next time they're in power.
And if it's such bad law-making process - why was there not the same hand-wringing over the equally bad law that is the Earthquake bill?
There was plenty, Tim. Long threads on here for a start.
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John Armstrong gets to the heart of the matter (and then backs off):
Parliamentary democracy, for sale.
What depresses me is not just that this is being rushed through, but that there are so few voices like Armstrong's being raised. A principled defence of the democratic process is hard enough in the wake of earthquakes or terrorist attacks, but New Zealanders' threshold seems much lower.
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So Parliament will rush through emergency legislation, again. Last time, all parties voted for it, but plenty of voices (not least here on Public Address) spoke out against the steamroller. But ... there had been an earthquake. An emergency. So although both the haste and extent of powers was disturbing, it was defended as a very, very rare exception.
This is not an earthquake. This is a movie. OK, two movies.
The law changes may be less draconian than the King Gerry Act, but it will be the same method. There will be only fleeting scrutiny. And even the CERRA has a sunset clause.
How is this good law-making?
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If this legislation is pushed through in a day, CERRA-style, I'll reserve my right not to be happy at all, thanks.
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"pushed through the House" ... "No surprises"?
Presumably ACT have said yes. Wonder what Rodney wanted in exchange?