Posts by Hilary Stace
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Hard News: Big Night Outage, in reply to Nick Russell,
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A little bit of a gale and the lights on my road go out - this happens quite regularly and it usually takes a few days to fix them. But not power generally. Can't remember the last power outage in Wellington but it would have been since the Wahine storm (which at three days was the longest I can recall experiencing).
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Legal Beagle: Voting disqualifications (updated), in reply to Ben Austin,
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I remember it as I was there at the time but I'm not sure whether any of this has been formally written up. There have been pieces written about Martyn Finlay as he was a long time Labour Party social justice activist and made a significant contribution to the Kirk Government's reforms.
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Access: Hawking radiation and the…,
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Thank you Paul. Hopefully Stephen Hawking will be quoted and remembered for a long time. I particularly like the comments on special schools and diversity.
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Legal Beagle: Voting disqualifications (updated),
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The Holyoake/Marshall Government arrested people and put them in prison just so they couldn't vote in marginal seats. This happened in 1972 in Wellington Central when people could be jailed for protesting against compulsory military training, and the seat was narrowly won by National.
It took Martyn Finlay to bring some rights and real justice into the system (and of course Kirk got rid of CMT an lowered the voting age). Finlay's reforms were later overturned by another National Government. I see Andrew Little as a potential Finlay so I think Arthur Taylor will win this but maybe by legislation rather than through the court. None of your groups listed will be denied the vote.
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Hard News: The Unitec project: Something…,
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Some is going to be state housing. Wellington City Council has several high rise council housing blocks so maybe they are going to be like that. If you look around other areas of (former) council housing like some in Freemans Bay there are well designed high density models. Just depends on clever design.
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Access: Don’t tell me stories about the…,
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Thanks for this Wendi
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Hard News: 1984, Cambridge Analytica and…,
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Thanks Russell. This explains why this story has taken such a long time to become an international one. Over a year ago there were some stories about Cambridge Analytica and what they were doing but I suppose it seemed so implausible that they weren't taken seriously.
It also seems similar tactics were used by the Liberals in last weekend's South Australian election.
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Access: The Family Carers case – here we…,
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The family who has won their claim is one of those featured by ally Mike Wesley Smith in his TV3 (the Nation I think) report last year. He followed up on TV tonight.
Julie Anne Genter has been delegated Assoc Minister responsibility for Disability Support Services by Health Minister David Clark. I'm not sure how up to speed she is yet but considering it was Catherine Delahunty of the Greens spearheading opposition to FFC I hope she will do something before long. It was a vindictive act by the then Government after they lost the court case and we have 'moved on' since then so it could easily be overturned.
By the way there is also a 'System Transformation' going on which is likely to be a complete overhaul of the NASC system. Seems to have considerable input from actual disabled people. Manawatu will be first for the roll out. So we shall see.
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Hard News: Waitangi: Just enjoy the day,
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One of the most significant things Jacinda said - in my opinion, and I can't remember how she phrased it - is that disagreement, protest and vigorous discussion is valuable and healthy, particularly on Waitangi Day. She and the government are not scared of it. She was also there for several days, listened and sought accountability. I think all those things signal a new approach. I don't recall any Prime Minister doing that since, perhaps, Kirk and Fraser.
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Hard News: Public Address Word of the…,
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Jacindalove
Maori snowflake