Public Address | Cafe | Hard News: Down in the Park? https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/ en-us Copyright (c) 2026 Public Address Don Christie https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/hard-news-down-in-the-park/?p=4438#post4438 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/hard-news-down-in-the-park/?p=4438#post4438

I still know it's wrong to support race based dictatorships. That the racists happen to be brown themselves changes nothing.

Ben, totally agree. The thing is, NZ and Australia have been supporting racist and pretty undemocratic governments in Fiji since 1989 and this last one was just about the worst.…

]]> Wed, 13 Dec 2006 08:12:19 +1300 Matt Jeffs https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/hard-news-down-in-the-park/?p=4435#post4435 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/hard-news-down-in-the-park/?p=4435#post4435 Wed, 13 Dec 2006 02:02:54 +1300 Matt Jeffs https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/hard-news-down-in-the-park/?p=4434#post4434 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/hard-news-down-in-the-park/?p=4434#post4434 I agree with Craig's earlier post. It would've been better to have seen the Govt make some sort of attempt to enforce sporting snactions on the Fijian RFU than to have caved in to the souless beaurocrats at the IRB.

I understand the IRB are the 'administrators' of the international…

]]> Wed, 13 Dec 2006 02:00:28 +1300 Matt Jeffs https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/hard-news-down-in-the-park/?p=4433#post4433 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/hard-news-down-in-the-park/?p=4433#post4433 I agree with Craig's earlier post. It would've been better to have seen the Govt make some sort of attempt to enforce sporting snactions on the Fijian RFU than to have caved in to the souless beaurocrats at the IRB.

I understand the IRB are the 'administrators' of the international…

]]> Wed, 13 Dec 2006 02:00:06 +1300 Bart Janssen https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/hard-news-down-in-the-park/?p=4357#post4357 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/hard-news-down-in-the-park/?p=4357#post4357 Hi

After 25 year my ideas have changed. Back in 1981 I was convinced a ban on sprots would never sway a government and hence sports and politics should not be mixed.

I was wrong

It is absolutely clear sporting bans have an effect, how large depends on the country…

]]> Tue, 12 Dec 2006 13:24:06 +1300 BenWilson https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/hard-news-down-in-the-park/?p=4354#post4354 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/hard-news-down-in-the-park/?p=4354#post4354 Tue, 12 Dec 2006 13:09:16 +1300 Craig Ranapia https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/hard-news-down-in-the-park/?p=4316#post4316 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/hard-news-down-in-the-park/?p=4316#post4316 I'm so anti Eden Park that I would probably support the demolition of several orphanges for a new stadium at the moment.

Don't tease, Yamis, that's just cruel. :)

]]> Tue, 12 Dec 2006 00:05:43 +1300 Yamis https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/hard-news-down-in-the-park/?p=4314#post4314 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/hard-news-down-in-the-park/?p=4314#post4314 Carlaw Park would hinge on accessibility obviously but could potentially work if the developers are very clever.

A rail station at the back of the existing wooden stand could provide a nice entry point to that stand or around the entire venue if they had a concourse? or whatever the…

]]> Mon, 11 Dec 2006 23:33:48 +1300 Kyle Matthews https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/hard-news-down-in-the-park/?p=4294#post4294 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/hard-news-down-in-the-park/?p=4294#post4294 I'm always amused by the bizarre impression that people have of sanctions, that they're a great thing until they start to actually impact upon the world, and then we shouldn't do it.

I suspect the point of sanctions is that having a real impact upon the world is precisely when…

]]> Mon, 11 Dec 2006 16:15:56 +1300 Gary Hutchings https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/hard-news-down-in-the-park/?p=4277#post4277 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/hard-news-down-in-the-park/?p=4277#post4277 I understand that the NZ Rugby Union are on the Board of the IRB, along with whole bunch of other countries,

And... Given that the Rugby Union are wanting a not insignificant chunk of change from the Govt to be spent on an event dear to their heart up Auckland…

]]> Mon, 11 Dec 2006 14:37:14 +1300 Craig Ranapia https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/hard-news-down-in-the-park/?p=4272#post4272 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/hard-news-down-in-the-park/?p=4272#post4272 Russell:

Well, yes – especially considering this situation is hardly without precedent. And much as I hate to agree with Lila Harre on anything, she made a perfectly fair point on Nine to Noon__'s Politics segment today, that the International Netball Federation was (pardon the pun) on the ball in…

]]> Mon, 11 Dec 2006 13:46:00 +1300 Russell Brown https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/hard-news-down-in-the-park/?p=4270#post4270 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/hard-news-down-in-the-park/?p=4270#post4270 tried to take some firm action on sporting contacts. ]]> Mon, 11 Dec 2006 13:23:01 +1300 Craig Ranapia https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/hard-news-down-in-the-park/?p=4268#post4268 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/hard-news-down-in-the-park/?p=4268#post4268 Paul:

I've changed my views on all kinds of things over the last twenty five years from the trivial (I no longer agree with my ten year old self that Star Wars is the best movie ever) to the essential (being gay isn't the worse thing in creation). But I'd…

]]> Mon, 11 Dec 2006 13:18:46 +1300 Graeme Edgeler https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/hard-news-down-in-the-park/?p=4261#post4261 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/hard-news-down-in-the-park/?p=4261#post4261 Rich – certainly an entire contract isn't necessarily voided by a failure to perform all of it – what is needed generally (and it would depend whether the contract was subject to NZ law, or some other law) is a fundamental breach.

The IRB will have very thorough lawyers and…

]]> Mon, 11 Dec 2006 12:10:26 +1300 Paul Rowe https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/hard-news-down-in-the-park/?p=4260#post4260 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/hard-news-down-in-the-park/?p=4260#post4260

What's changed over the last twenty five years, apart from the view out of his office window and access to a few more corporate boxes?

Craig, you've not changed your opinion on anything in 25 years?

]]> Mon, 11 Dec 2006 11:43:25 +1300 Rich of Observationz https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/hard-news-down-in-the-park/?p=4259#post4259 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/hard-news-down-in-the-park/?p=4259#post4259 Now I'm no lawyer, but one thing I have been told by lawyers in the past is that if you have a contract, and you can't execute part of that contract due to a statutory ban, then you aren't obliged to and it doesn't generally void the whole contract.

So…

]]> Mon, 11 Dec 2006 11:41:15 +1300 Craig Ranapia https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/hard-news-down-in-the-park/?p=4258#post4258 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/hard-news-down-in-the-park/?p=4258#post4258 Mon, 11 Dec 2006 11:33:09 +1300 nzlemming https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/hard-news-down-in-the-park/?p=4254#post4254 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/hard-news-down-in-the-park/?p=4254#post4254 Mon, 11 Dec 2006 11:16:15 +1300 Craig Ranapia https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/hard-news-down-in-the-park/?p=4250#post4250 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/hard-news-down-in-the-park/?p=4250#post4250 Oh, and to be fair, was Murray McCully hit with the same stupid stick as Mallard?

Judging from this (in the linked Herald story), it seems highly probable.

National's sport spokesman, Murray McCully, yesterday said he also understood tournament hosting rights could be lost if the Fijians were banned.

"In…

]]> Mon, 11 Dec 2006 10:30:34 +1300 Craig Ranapia https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/hard-news-down-in-the-park/?p=4245#post4245 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/hard-news-down-in-the-park/?p=4245#post4245 So New Zealand would lose the entire tournament if the government banned Fiji from playing in the Wellington sevens? Really? Could we hear that from the IRB itself?

And even if it was true, then I think we've got to ask whether the IRB in effect dictates the foreign policy…

]]> Mon, 11 Dec 2006 10:17:19 +1300 Public Address https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/hard-news-down-in-the-park/?p=4244#post4244 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/hard-news-down-in-the-park/?p=4244#post4244 Discussion from blog post.

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