Posts by Joe Wylie
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Speaker: 11 ways the Opposition has…, in reply to Leigh Russell,
In October of 2012 I wrote an article outlining the post-earthquake loss of democratic process in Christchurch and critiqued the power structures that replaced it. It’s frightening.
A memorable article, thanks for the reminder.
It's edifying to be reminded that in May 2012 Lianne Dalziel denied having any mayoral ambitrions. Instead she was making it plain that she intended to take over Brownlee's job after a Labour victory.These days, Dalziel has reinvented herself to the point where sometimes she works in concert with Labour, while perhaps just as often she definitely doesn't. So far it's a strategy that appears to have won significant concessions from her former arch-enemy Brownlee, but we'll see.
With the benefit of hindsight though, Labour's resolve on the Canterbury earthquakes appears to have been squandered in early 2013, when the Anyone But Cunliffes decided that a tilt at power via the hapless Shearer was way more important. Dalziel had the ground cut from under her, and "the whole front bench would work on Christchurch issues". Except, of course, it didn't. And there are still people here wondering why Labour's local vote appeared to collapse
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Speaker: 11 ways the Opposition has…, in reply to Katharine Moody,
the cancellation of democracy at ECan (how many terms is it now?)
Councillors were sacked in May 2010. As elections were previously held every three years, that's 1.76 or thereabouts terms.
For the record, the Central Plains Water scheme was one of the issues that Megan Woods campaigned against when she stood for the Chch mayoralty against the then-unstoppable Bob Parker. Eugenie Sage was one of the opposing ECAN councillors fired in May 2010.
Dennis O'Rourke's chairmanship of the CPW oversight trust dates from the year before the mass sacking of ECAN. I don't know if he was ever called upon to justify why he remained in the role after 2010. In retrospect, resigning in support of the sacked councillors would seem to have been the honourable course for someone who hasn't been shy of boasting about his own claimed integrity. Surely the kindest assessment that can be made now is that he spent the last four years asleep at the CPW trust wheel.
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Speaker: 11 ways the Opposition has…, in reply to Katharine Moody,
Williams set up a special event for coastal communities on that hazard issue and Denis O'Rourke too was lobbying hard on that score - I know of Parliamentary questions he was researching/submitting.
Nice to know O'Rourke's keeping busy with something other than his long-running personal skirmish with local media. Apart from having been an NZ First MP since 2011, the former Chch City Councillor also happens to be chairman of the trust overseeing the Central Plains Water irrigation scheme:
When he took over as trust leader in 2009 O'Rourke said CPW consents were held by the trust and licensed back to CPW. The trust was to "monitor the mandatory sustainable farming protocol and undertake environmental enhancement with funding from the company".
Trust-held water consents would become the template for sustainable farming in New Zealand, he said.
According to Tim Fulton in yesterday's Press, operating consents for the Canterbury Councils-owned scheme have since been hocked to major banks as a condition of funding. In case of default, they'll own the water. Having long since burnt his bridges with the media, "CPW Trust chairman Denis O'Rourke did not respond to a request for comment."
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Speaker: Rugby, Racing and Emotions, in reply to Kyle MacDonald,
I only recently learned that New Zealand's tour to South Africa in 1976 caused African nations to boycott the 1976 Montreal Olympics.
When the All Blacks were tear gassed. While I'm unable to find a mention of it online, I'm pretty sure that the Muldoon Government held a send-off function for the team at parliament, which kind of undercut Muldoon's mantra about sport and politics not mixing.
An uncomfortable side note is that the absence of those nations (arguably) made possible John Walkers 1500 m gold medal...
Walker was very forthcoming about that. Although an avowed critic of Muldoon, he once revealed in an interview that he didn't let that stand in the way of accepting a lift home from a public event from the old horror. When Muldoon dropped him off he opened the boot of his car to reveal crates of fruit, offering "Help yourself, son", which prompted Walker to reflect on how someone who in his view had done so much public evil could still manifest a common one-to-one charm.
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Speaker: 11 ways the Opposition has…, in reply to Katharine Moody,
"this confirms we're doing a good job in Christchurch" .. and that's how the rest of NZ read it.
And a large part of the relatively unscathed Chch.
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What Hebe and Marion said. Great work Barnaby.
Katharine Moody:
Thanks, though I'd add Clayton Cosgrove to that list - for around a year after the first quake he was very much on the case. Unfortunately he's mostly missing in action these days.As Ian Dalziel pointed out here some time ago, giving former Chch Central MP Brendon Burns a low list ranking was a major own goal for Labour. The final post-quake year of his term, before losing to Nicky Wagner by the narrowest of margins, he performed as the kind of opposition MP that I only wish we'd had more of.
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Speaker: 11 ways the Opposition has…, in reply to Katharine Moody,
so many local Labour MPs have worked tirelessly as advocates
Examples?
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Speaker: Rugby, Racing and Emotions, in reply to Hilary Stace,
I remember the early morning news in 1999 when the NZ team lost to France.
Would that be when there was talk of a special counseling hotline to help rugby tragics deal with their grief? Delivering a Mark "Chopper" Read "harden the fuck up" message would have been fun for a while I'd imagine.
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Hard News: The positive option of Red Peak, in reply to Sofie Bribiesca,
Shit stirring is soo much better in the Herald.
From the Herald's recent fawning editorial:
"But at least John Key had a twinkle in his eye when he did an about-face on Red Peak"
Someone appears to have substituted "twinkle in his eye" for "hair up his arse". -
Polity: Political strategy and Canada’s NDP, in reply to B Jones,
Certainly the long term outcome of the Brash effort has been bad for the racist right, who no longer have a powerful political advocate.
Brash always dissembled when pressed to substantiate the racist implications of the Orewa speech. Hardly surprising once it was revealed that Michael Bassett was the author. As the recent Chinese surnames fiasco has demonstrated, the Labour Party continues to attract cynical opportunists.