Posts by Hilary Stace

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  • Cracker: Heroes and Villains,

    Nobody seems to have taken up my idea of acknowledging the great work that some politicians do on our behalf. It is easy to criticise them, particularly at election time, but our politicians are our ultimate public servants and some of them work incredibly hard on our behalf. I know my local MP Marian Hobbs has done so for the last few years and mostly on the little things that others never hear about -for example helping with housing issues, supporting families with disabled kids to access education, sorting problems that immigrants and refugees face settling into a new country etc etc.

    I would like to hear about some other good deeds politicians have done for us citizens.

    Wgtn • Since Jun 2008 • 3229 posts Report Reply

  • Cracker: Heroes and Villains,

    There is obviously some great customer service out there provided by those people who do more than just their job description. In particular I would like to acknowledge those helpful people who work for our government agencies - our public servants - including that mythical but threatened species the backroom bureaucrat.

    But how about making this more of a challenge - thanking Members of Parliament. Some causes that politicians champion actually do change lives for the better. So to start I would like to thank:
    Sue Bradford for the Child Discipline Act;
    Ruth Dyson for all her work on Disability issues up to and including NZ's Ratification of the UN convention of the Rights of Persons with Disability last week;
    Marian Hobbs for saving and securing the future of the National Library and Archives New Zealand;
    Jim Anderton for Kiwibank ( a bank with great customer service by the way).

    And others too numerous to mention...

    Wgtn • Since Jun 2008 • 3229 posts Report Reply

  • Cracker: Heroes and Villains,

    And Russell at the workshop at Shell Crofton Downs. He and his staff have been fixing my cars (two in that time) for almost 20 years. Workshops can be intimidating places but Russell is never patronising and explains clearly what the problem is and what is required. He helped me dispose of/recycle my last car after it was no longer repairable and found me a new one that has been incredibly reliable. He puts up with a lot from some difficult people. I really trust his professionalism, and hope he never retires.

    Wgtn • Since Jun 2008 • 3229 posts Report Reply

  • Cracker: Heroes and Villains,

    What a great idea to recognise kind and thoughtful 'customer service'. There is actually a lot of it around. For shops like Unity Books in Wellington or Vic Books in Rutherford House it is the norm (which as a mild shop phobic I really appreciate).

    But I would like to mention an incident a couple of years ago that seems trivial but meant such a lot at a particularly stressful time. My elderly mother was terminally ill in hospital and I seemed to spent a lot of time driving around Wellington and parking on various errands. This required an endless stream of coins for parking money (and money machines only give out $20 notes), but many shops and cafes are reluctant to provide these coins. But at Thorndon Pharmacy in Molesworth Street the cheerful 'of course' to my request (I never mentioned my mother) helped so much and just lightened my day. Actually I shouldn't have been surprised as the pharmacist and his staff are invariably polite and helpful.

    Wgtn • Since Jun 2008 • 3229 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Loving your dog and owning…,

    Re Chris Auchinvole and the debate on the Disabilities Bill it went on in that vein through the committee stages and third reading - there was talk of trout fishing being good therapy for mental illness and other such patronising rubbish. Eventually Charles Chauvel got up and reminded the House that the bill was about rights, human rights, and got a big cheer from the Gallery. Incidentally, all parties eventually supported the Bill which allows NZ's now imminent ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, although Act was nowhere to be seen.

    Re Grant's 'near autistic' knowledge about Otago rugby. I am seeing him tomorrow night and will get my son to quiz him to see if he is worthy of that accolade.

    Wgtn • Since Jun 2008 • 3229 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Loving your dog and owning…,

    Chris Auchinvole (Nat, List) gave the worst most embarrassing and patronising speeches I have ever heard in the House the other night - reminded me of some of those dreadful Nats from the 1970s. Why anyone would vote for him is beyond me.

    Wgtn • Since Jun 2008 • 3229 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Loving your dog and owning…,

    Sorry - Don Franks is the workers' rights candidate.

    Wgtn • Since Jun 2008 • 3229 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Loving your dog and owning…,

    Getting back to candidate Stephen Franks (not to be confused with worker's rights candidate Don Franks also in Wgtn Central but from the other end of the political spectrum). We recently received electioneering material from Stephen F disguised as a survey. The questions seem to have an agenda of attacking public servants and the public service, which seems a strange thing to do in Wellington.

    One question is particularly revealing of his attitude - he asks whether 'political correctness' underlies the public service. He then defines political correctness as 'factors other than how you can do the work - like keeping true opinions to yourself'.

    I disagree strongly with his definition of political correctness. PC is instead about challenging prejudices, assumptions and fears you might have about people who are different from you - for example by gender, ethnicity, socio-economic background, sexual orientation or disability. The public service serves New Zealand's diverse population so effective public servants should always be challenging any negative stereotypical opinions they might hold about the people they serve. They might then find their 'true opinions' are not actually true.

    I am not a public servant, but it would be nice to see those who aspire be our local elected politicians supporting our public servants and the work they do in upholding our civil society.

    Wgtn • Since Jun 2008 • 3229 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Telling Stories for Change,

    Jackie - I'm reading it at the moment. I was at the American Psychological Society conference last month where he was a keynote speaker. Just like Steven Shore and Matt Frost at our Autism NZ conference last weekend, he had many parents and professionals queuing up to question him about aspects of his life experience. By the way Temple Grandin has a new book out called 'The Way I see it', which is a collection of some of her articles on various aspects of autism.

    Wgtn • Since Jun 2008 • 3229 posts Report Reply

  • Hard News: Telling Stories for Change,

    Thanks, Russell, for coming to our Autism NZ conference. Your session was really well received and there were people from various government agencies there who heard your message.

    I agree with you about Matt. He gave an inspiring speech to the conference on the first day linking the personal and the political. He was soon dubbed ' the Minister for Autism', a title which I hope is prophetic.

    Wgtn • Since Jun 2008 • 3229 posts Report Reply

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