Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: How many children with cancer would an editor's salary cure?

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  • Kracklite,

    D'you reckon, what with the Bailey Kurariki beat-up, that "luxury" is this year's word?

    I feel the Four Yorkshiremen sketch coming on. It would suit perfectly the posturing fatuity of those exemplars of frugality and clear-sighted common sense, APN.

    In any case, I must admit that I'd be prone to side with the "bureaucrats" purely out of the principle of solidarity alone as the word "academic" gets the same almost exclusively pejorative use from demagogues looking for cheap headlines.

    There's a cure for cancer?

    Sort of. There are treatments so that you go into remission long enough to die of something else.

    The Library of Babel • Since Nov 2007 • 982 posts Report Reply

  • Rex Widerstrom,

    shep suggests:

    ...facetime is important.

    So you're saying this was a conference with plenty of facetime to synergise about repurposing the Mission Statement so as to improve deliverables to key stakeholders? ;-P

    Yep, sounds like damn near every conference I've attended (including those I've spoken at, and yes, almost always drew the 1st spot, 2nd morning and had to contend with a hangover).

    From living in Christchurch & the centre of anything is in Wellington or Auckland, it is really good to meet the boss, et al.

    Well I guess that depends on who your boss is. I could have gone a long, long time without having to encounter most of the people I've ever worked for.

    But point taken. However, wouldn't it be cheaper to fly the boss, or even several bosses, round the country (economy fares, of course) to meet the workers, then let bosses and workers interact on line? Seriously - I'm presuming someone has done the figures on both options at some point and they're out there somewhere?

    Perth, Western Australia • Since Nov 2006 • 157 posts Report Reply

  • Yamis,

    We just had 35 teachers and students down at Tongariro for 2 nights and it cost us about $9,000 for transport, food and accomodation. About 3,500 of it was on the bus.

    Make them bunk together next time.

    Since Nov 2006 • 903 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz,

    And was this over a weekend?
    if it was the public service got 2 days of work from their staff for free ;)

    You wouldn't catch me giving up my weekend to drive to Taupo and watch powerpoints. That's a bus that would be getting seriously missed. I'd tell them my granny died and miss out the "in 1984" bit.

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • simon g,

    As every skoolboy know, history happens in luxury retreats. Bretton Woods. Gleneagles. Camp David. Versailles. Kyoto. Er, Dayton Ohio (OK, the Balkan folks missed out there). I've no idea who picked up the tab, being more interested in the decisions made and consequences thereof, but then I don't have the Herald's vision.

    I wasn't around at the time, but I imagine when the rest of the world was reading about the fate of millions being decided in post-war Europe, the headlines in New Zealand would have been:

    "Yalta: how much did it cost?"

    Meaning of course, air fares, not lives.

    (This just in: David Lange goes to Oxford on "junket").

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1333 posts Report Reply

  • Leigh Kennaway,

    I worked for HNZC close on nine years. We went on these under Labour, and we went on these under National. No difference!

    The first retreat under Labour was a god-awful budget job, set in a wind-swept motel in Snells Beach. Possibly a nice place in summer, but dull as dish-water in the off-season at this time of year. The cheapness was emphasised by having four of us per motel room.....

    Western Bays • Since Feb 2007 • 79 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz,

    Dayton was deliberately chosen as a place where the various leaders would not wish to linger.

    (Yalta, Potsdam and Tehran were all held in places sufficiently close to the USSR for Stalin, who didn't believe in foreign junketing. NZ PM Fraser didn't attend Yalta, preferring to remain in his electorate and address the important issue of the type of paving slabs to be laid on Lambton Quay).

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    When at HNZC, on the odd occasion we were out on the town on a post event piss up, if anyone asked, we worked for MSD.

    ...

    as in, "my tax cuts will finally give me that luxurient lifestyle i've been dreaming of"

    My humour for the evening, since the Daily Show seems to be on rerun mode.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Dot .,

    But wait, there's more....

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/4563424a10.html

    Kupe St, Orakei • Since May 2008 • 2 posts Report Reply

  • simon g,

    Lost your way, "Dot"?. You want Kiwiblog (do a U-turn and it's last on the right).

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1333 posts Report Reply

  • Che Tibby,

    dot actually links to an interesting post.

    i'm thinking that some agencies might not be realising that it is election year...

    the back of an envelope • Since Nov 2006 • 2042 posts Report Reply

  • simon g,

    2003 wasn't an election year.

    And if you believe John Key, any views held or actions taken back then are, in his own words, "fish and chip paper".

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1333 posts Report Reply

  • simon g,

    "If they are going to continue to flog a dead horse with Iraq, what it shows is that they are not focusing on what has happened since I have been leader and they are so desperate, they have nothing else to debate."

    John Key, August 16 2007.

    I'd suggest that of the horses which died 5 years ago, invading Iraq was - and is - rather more offensive and consequential than an overpriced HNZ conference held between Hamilton and Auckland, but that's just my warped values.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1333 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    ,quote>But wait, there's more....
    http://www.stuff.co.nz/4563424a10.html</qiote>

    Actually, that one, a "one night retreat" under a different CEO five years ago, does look like somebody taking the piss.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    6. Maryan Street didn't throw HNZC's CEO under the bus and loudly sound off about demanding explanations, having accepted that there wasn't much to explain.

    No, Maryan Street got fed to the Omnibus of Doom by the Minister of State Services and the Prime Minister.

    And I wonder if there's any truth in the report I saw on Three News tonight that HCNZ's chief exeutive is going to facing a financial penalty (which means, I assume, someone isn't going to be getting their full performance pay this year)?

    craig, you seem to be arguing on one hand that you'd like better services (i.e. the dhb), but on the other hand you want them delivered by the kinds of people who work for a pittance, have no job satisfaction whatsoever, are generally willing to be treated like sheep.

    Che: I'm arguing that conforming to the OIA and other statutory obligations isn't up for negotiation. Ever.

    And if we're talking about 'job satisfaction', I'd like to think public sector unions might have a little more on the table regarding pay and conditions than the possibility of two days in Taupo. Perfectly charming town if you like that sort of thing, but really... Don't think this is the front anyone wants to die in a ditch on.

    BTW, Che, since Housing New Zealand sounds like such a well-oiled hive of efficient industry, I expect to hear that they're all going to be getting performance bonuses, pay bumps and new contracts of Babylonian opulence.

    It's certainly going to be interesting to see how the better half's contract re-negotations go under the new owners.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Idiot Savant,

    Rich

    If information is available on a website or in an annual report, etc, can a department answer OIA requests or Parliamentary questions by telling the questioner to go look at the website or whatever?

    Yes, at least for the OIA. Section 18(d) allows them to refuse requests on the grounds that the information is already publicly available. Interestingly, such a refusal (and pointer to the cabinet paper being on the web) is how I found out about the government's plans to let the police make the law up as they go...

    Palmerston North • Since Nov 2006 • 1717 posts Report Reply

  • dc_red,

    I'm beginning to wonder if one of the reasons this kind of story "has legs" in NZ is a sustained sense of grievance among much of the population, which holds that others are enjoying easy, "luxurious" lifestyles, while they toil for little reward.

    I've long thought this kind of sentiment helped to explain part of the appeal of Orewa I ("Yes, I skimp and save, while those 'bloody Maaris' have it handed to them on a plate by the government at my expense"), and now of course the luxury of a new pair of shoes for the paroled manslaughterer, and a weekend workshop in Taupo for 'bloody bureaucrats'.

    Oil Patch, Alberta • Since Nov 2006 • 706 posts Report Reply

  • Jackie Clark,

    It's certainly going to be interesting to see how the better half's contract re-negotations go under the new owners.

    Now you're getting waspish, Craig. Funny, but waspish.

    Mt Eden, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 3136 posts Report Reply

  • Che Tibby,

    I'm beginning to wonder if one of the reasons this kind of story "has legs" in NZ is a sustained sense of grievance among much of the population,

    i'm inclined to think that's exactly it. luxurience is something a great number of new zealanders seem to think they're entitled to.

    hence the purchase of massive houses they can't afford to meet the costs of. they're "entitled to live in a house like this" seems to quickly shift into, "it's the gubbermint/'maoris'/asians keeping me down" when they can't afford the repayments.

    the back of an envelope • Since Nov 2006 • 2042 posts Report Reply

  • Che Tibby,

    Now you're getting waspish, Craig.

    true.

    i'll admit to failing to see how that moveable feast of an argument relates back to the issue of the herald not doing its research...

    the back of an envelope • Since Nov 2006 • 2042 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    No, Maryan Street got fed to the Omnibus of Doom by the Minister of State Services and the Prime Minister.

    She sure did. Brutal.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    Now you're getting waspish, Craig. Funny, but waspish.

    Not waspish at all. I'm talking about my better half, and come July 1st I'm not anticipating the new proprietors of the Company Formerly Known As Toll New Zealand having their re-orientation briefings held any where other than in-house. Roll on the user-pays Christmas party. :)

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • Craig Ranapia,

    She sure did. Brutal.

    Then again, there's part of me that has to give Street and Wilkinson Priscilla snaps up for fronting in the House, rather than finding a blank Sudoku in their desk drawer requiring urgent attention.

    North Shore, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 12370 posts Report Reply

  • andrew llewellyn,

    I think a lot of people from HNZC who do not work for the Maintenance crew will be pretty pissed off about the "luxury soiree" at the Spa de Vin. (great name).

    Since Nov 2006 • 2075 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Rowe,

    i'll admit to failing to see how that moveable feast of an argument relates back to the issue of the herald not doing its research...

    The Herald appear to have been stung by this criticism and have added some research-like components to their story:

    Nestled in the Mangatawhiri Valley, the hotel markets itself as a "spa sanctuary", surrounded by "expansive native bush, vines and gardens".

    As well as the spa treatment facilities and a "fine dining" restaurant with an award winning selection of wines, it offers clay bird shooting, archery and a range of team-building activities that include paintball, an "Ugly Betty Boot Camp" and a "Final Destination" survivor camp.

    Room rates on its website range from $190 to $300 a night depending on date.

    The interweb is a marvelous resource if you've got the nous for Google.

    Lake Roxburgh, Central Ot… • Since Nov 2006 • 574 posts Report Reply

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