Hard News: More Wikipedia Scanning
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Out of interest, is Swney one to watch because he is neither Banks nor Hubbard?
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Out of interest, is Swney one to watch because he is neither Banks nor Hubbard?
Yes. The theory is that he'd take votes away from Banks' pantomime candidacy, but if Hubbard struggles, it's not unthinkable that some of the Hubbard vote would go to him.
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I think Alex Swney will be worth watching.
Certainly - but who is going to be doing it? Sorry for sounding like a broken record, but Auckland's sole daily newspaper is giving me little hope that their local body election coverage this time is going to reach the dizzying heights of superficial mediocrity.
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The Auckland mayoralty makes me want to cry. A mayoralty with no real power with a title that doesn't fit the common perception of "Auckland" (i.e. the connurbation from Orewa to Bombay) has as it's two highest profile contenders two fundamentalist christians who have absolutely no understanding of how to run a modern city. And who is lurking in the wings? The crackpot crystal waving Christine Rankin. God save us all.
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The Auckland mayoralty makes me want to cry.
The whole thing's messed up. The right is too far right and the left is a messy mix of Labour/Greens/Alliance. I have to rely on the burghers of Hobson ward to return Richard Simpson to council when I'd cheerfully vote for him if I had the chance. STV would have been a good thing.
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The Auckland mayoralty makes me want to cry.
So, I'm in Nelson on holiday at the moment, and the local morning paper is The Press. In the Saturday edition there was an article that basically said "Auckland's local body politics are screwing up the city, but let's not just laugh at them - let's learn from it so Christchurch doesn't go the same way."
Oh, man!
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I have to rely on the burghers of Hobson ward to return Richard Simpson to council when I'd cheerfully vote for him if I had the chance. STV would have been a good thing.
And I had to rely on the voters of the Lambton Ward to elect my favoured candidate at the last Wellington Council election - STV doesn't solve this problem (unless you enjoyed the "rank the following 40 names" election at large of the last DHB elections).
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Its all so extremely frustrating. The C&R block, who should be not just discredited but driven en masse from the council after so completely fucking up Auckland under Les Mills and John Banks might regain power. The Herald seems to regard itself as the standard bearer of of speculators and property sharks who make up C&R and it seems almost impossible to get any serious or contextualised discussion about the candidates and issues that face the city in its flagship newspaper. The left seems a combination of single issue candidates, flakes and ineffectual professional time servers.
And I agree about Richard Simpson - he should rename his "Action Hobson" to "Action Auckland," I'd vote for him.
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the left is a messy mix of Labour/Greens/Alliance.
I don't perceive City Vision as being as messy as the alternatives, namely a divided left in Auckland City, allowing Cits and Rats to win by default every time. Certainly they are good at running campaigns and are out of the blocks well before their opposition this time around. They have some good candidates too - a high level of diversity, and they've had fortunate retirements from some of those more interested in being councillors than being centre-left. (I should of course disclose that I am a supporter of CV, help out with stuff, and have friends and relations who are candidates.)
Craig pointed to the appalling coverage the Herald makes of local body politics in Auckland and I have to agree. They are totally focused on the Auckland City mayoralty, and seem to forget that there are other cities, and indeed whole councils, community boards and district health boards, to be elected in their circulation area.
But it is slightly better than the community newspapers who basically refuse to cover anything about the actual elections. Yes they will cover fights at community boards or on council (very rarely) but in terms of the actual democratic election of these positions you would be forgiven for thinking that they weren't happening in a few months, if you relied on The Aucklander or the Central Leader stable for your local body news.
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TomS:
Well, I guess "a A mayoralty with no real power" is pretty tough on people whose school reports were full of phrases like 'does not play well with others', but I can live with that. And I guess that's the big question mark I have about Swiney. Does he have any better grasp of the difference between being a mayor and a lobbyist, than Hubbard had adjusting to the notion that he was no longer CEO of a closely-held private company? Remains to be seen.
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Russell... thanks for the Salon sub-prime primer... its cleared things up substantially for me...
As to the local election coverage...
I've recently just moved outside of Auckland City to Waitakere City (by moving 2km to the adjacent suburb). Even though it does have a large effect on greater Auckland, I'm glad I dont have to choose between Hubbard, Banks, et al. But who do I have to choose from? The only thing I've seen in the media regarding the upcoming local body elections thats NOT auckland city is that Barry Curtiss is stepping down in Manakau.
Whether my own mayor is standing un-contested, or if there alternative candidates, I have no idea. I dont even know if C&R and CV compete in the west at all, of if there are other organizations based upon similar lines.
I guess it gives me a glimpse of what it must feel like in the provinces with your nightly news dominated by Auck/Well centred TV news?
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Craig are you using the old joke about Sociologists have no friends & extending it to politicians - I like it.
Of course you get the democracy you deserve.
Is anyone here standing?
Or that age limit of being under 50yrs and therefore don't give a crap about the biddies on council (& doesn't AKL have a few councils) expressing our true apathy to local politics. -
I've recently just moved outside of Auckland City to Waitakere City (by moving 2km to the adjacent suburb). Even though it does have a large effect on greater Auckland, I'm glad I dont have to choose between Hubbard, Banks, et al. But who do I have to choose from?
McCarten reckons Harvey will face a significant challenge from John Tamihere, who will leverage his broadcasting presence. But does anyone think Tamihere would actually make a good mayor in west Auckland? I think he'd be a disaster.
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The Tamihere & Banks show would be so much fun to watch from the south.
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"Auckland's local body politics are screwing up the city, but let's not just laugh at them - let's learn from it so Christchurch doesn't go the same way."
Now watch us elect Bob bloody Parker because people recognise his name. Once he's in, he can be Mayor in Perpetuity for as long as he feels like it - like the last three.
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Christchurch has only voted one mayor out (in anyones living memory) - the guy who actually did what he said.
Built QEII for the commonwealth games and his greatest folly try and get a motorway from Riccarton Road to Bealy Ave cutting out the heart of Hagley Park. Massed protest stopped it & he was out on his ass at the next election.
Vote Dr Megan Wood for Christchurch Mayor.
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Would also be mildly amusing from the north as well - after this debacle
I'd vote for any non-incumbent with voluntary bowel and bladder control. I'm sure it seems a real parish pump niggle to most PA readers, but is mere competence an unreasonable expectation? -
The Tamihere & Banks show would be so much fun to watch from the south.
Oh, don't ...
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Word on Facebook is that Martyn Bradbury, aka Bomber, is running for the Auckland mayoralty...
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But does anyone think Tamihere would actually make a good mayor in west Auckland? I think he'd be a disaster.
Hard to say.... he could be a disaster? But he also did quite well with the Waiparera Trust for many years (before spectacular falling out), and thats a sort-of-local-body-type operation isnt it?
He's certainly got good name recognition, and in local body politics I cant help but feel thats even more important than in national level elections? (where the party you are standing for will help even if no-one knows you)
I mean, Hubbard was definitely voted in on the anyone-but-banks vote.... but he had name recognition that Swney could only dream of.
The fact Banks is doing so well in the polls can only be due to large numbers of "not-hubbard" voters forgetting why they voted him in in the first place? Its name recognition being more important than WHY you recognise it. (he did so well last time- NOT). Does anyone who doesnt actively follow local politics even know who Swney (or any of the other candidates than Steve Crow is?)Like I said... glad I dont have to choose.
Tamihere/Harvey- I'll have to do more research before I decide.
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merc,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Tamihere
Good old wikipedia, the cats haven't been edited out...
Here's a quote from Mr Swney
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/story.cfm?c_id=139&objectid=10457581
Also Brian Rudman does heaps of Auckland City centric articles in the Herald, read the whole Urban Design section and weep,
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/story.cfm?c_id=139&objectid=10457360Clean and safe how hard is it?
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Word on Facebook is that Martyn Bradbury, aka Bomber, is running for the Auckland mayoralty...
i saw a chap walking along courtney place the other day wearing a bowler hat, and i thought to myself, "bomber was 10 years ahead of this time."
and reading span's comment, i found myself having a deja vue.
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merc,
Oh and this is topical, some would say the defining issue, or should be,
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10458737
I'm in Rodney now, but Auckland City is important to Rodney, (not just for sand), choose well. -
The Tamihere & Banks show would be so much fun to watch from the south.
Where's your ambition? I'd go for the trifecta, get Michael Laws to stand out west.
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I'll endorse the Salon article too. In answer to the last question it poses "what will happen next?' -- the Fed will intervene in the market by lowering interest rates to prop up the share market. Everyone was bailing on their shares because no-one knew how bad it was going to get. And bank deposits were looking more attractive. So the Fed lowers interest rates, making bank deposits look less attractive - driving people back to the share market.
I bought a new house the day before the market 'crashed'. Bummer. A large part of the settlement was meant to be my share portfolio. Whereas 2 months ago my portfolio was 30k ahead, last week I found myself 12k DOWN. But I refused to panic and held on for 10 days as the global markets incl NZ continued to slide. And I did lots of research, and everyone seemed to think this was the big long overdue correction and nothing would get better soon, certainly not before I settle on the new house. So last Thursday I had to make a crunch decision, bite the bullet, and sell. So my paper loss of 12k became an actual loss.
Then on Friday the market started to rise, on the back of the US Fed intervention that no-one predicted. If I'd sold this morning, I'd only be 4k down, and probably even better off if I waited til tomorrow when the US market re-opens and they take off again too.
My point?
'Little people' have no control over 'the market' and it really is a crap shoot. And it's not a 'free market' at all. If it was the Fed wouldn't intervene (and every country's Fed has been doing it). NZ is probably one of the few countries where we really do 'let the market decide'. What suckers we are. (BTW- Another NZ finance company just hit the wall today, Nathan Finance).
Oh yeah, and now the housing market is supposedly in decline, meaning I'm going to get less for my current house. Bummer. That's another 75k down.
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