*he's on the same Kool…

What is this groan that you mention? I just wish that for all you down there, your home, roads, sewer and land were considered more important than a friggin "community" convention centre but as is…

It is a sore point with many down here that the government has…

Excellent point.

See you on the ark.

Whoope-de-do. The new convention centre will be bland dreary shite, supported by the casino monopoly granted to Skycity.

As long as no political party is talking about stripping the monopoly from Skycity, it is all political BS.

Me & my golf buddies reject your portrayal of golf. None of us would run the country in as authoritarian and right-of-centre manner.

Besides, you'd get shot for taking your…

Skycity is the highly visible face of gambling. Skycity is a crony corporation that has been cronying up successfully to governments since its conception. It is a state granted monopoly that runs a typically monopolistic enterprise – a cavernous, dreary and disappointing service. And it has been…

I don't think many people would disagree that a convention centre would probably be of benefit to NZ and Auckland in particular. It's possible to stuff it up and it's also worth noting that NZ is a long way from the rest of the…

You're right there is a long history of gambling in NZ. I paid for my degrees by working at the races selling tickets to punters. But there appears to be a specific problem with pokie machines. They have been designed specifically to stimulate and reward…

A town cauldron*
As soon as you come over the Bombay Hills you can’t miss it, seething and hissing on the plain below, I pulled over to watch this portentous sky, as the 2013 Budget…

On the convention centre debate, I think there are a number of issues.

On problem gambling, I would be interested to see any available data which…

The absence of references would seem to suggest bias and/or spin.

In fact, given the sway of this site, wont ever come back.
Bad cess to those huddling wee – closed minds.
Thanks Russell, for being-
byebye to all the people I…

The problem, IMHO only occurs, if the name calling takes place instead of advancing an opinion, position or argument – then it is purely a personal attack and unreasonable.

I find the – ARE MUCH MORE FUCKING CULPABLE closes things off as a measure of culpability and is unwarranted…

you'd think

I hope so.

ETA:

Giovanni Tiso has come up with a practical solution to this problem.

the Christchurch rebuild ... the third winter out of sorts and with out a settlement or certainty for many people – a matter of priority?
Not…

There are a lot of things that a government can do in the pursuit of economic growth, jobs and the well being of the nation – in the long run this "deal" is not one…

Except a drunk driver can kill other road users...

"disasterous life-wrecking gambling" is emphatically harmful but seldom results in death,

I buy Lotto…

Gosh...who would have "predicted" that happening. Wow!! it will head down for the next 6 months.....proof CO2 is dropping.....

Sorry. 400ppm will be reached on the next cycle and will probably drop below it for a few cycles and then......whoa..... it will stay above 400pmm…

Quite. Lawyers have clients in their areas of expertise. I can't even see where there's a relevant conflict, tbh.

How about stringent pro-worker labour laws where trade unions get paid massive compensations if a subsequent government changes them? Or environmental policies with multi-billion dollar pay-outs to Greenpeace if a future National government wants to open new coal mines or offshore oil platforms?

The deal includes, first, a predictive modelling tool that analyses data to identify players at risk of problem gambling. To be of use, that will have to be acted on effectively. Secondly, under a voluntary pre-commitment system, pokie players can elect to restrict the…

Last night Mary Wilson had an interesting interview with the Aussie dude who heads Sky City. 230 was a political number, symbolically no more than the number agreed under the Clark government. However, it was clear that…

"Give me…

And she may be right, but I wish National Radio would find a "constitutional expert" whose name isn't above the door of a firm of lawyers with a long roster of public…

http://www.pc.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/95691/08-chapter5.pdf

Fascinating discussion…

Mai Chen…

Joyce has now confirmed in interviews that the 230 is a negotiated figure, not a logistical one. Even claimed credit…

I don't see how facilitating people to practice holding a plate and a glass of cheap wine one-handed while swapping business cards is essential infrastructure.

It seems unlikely. But TVNZ's building was on the table long before the TVNZ board read about it in the paper.

The ETS schemes of Europe are non-robust and unworkable. They fail because their authors ask too much of other people and do not ask enough of themselves.

The biggest threat to the planet is unchecked consumerism, the readers of Monbiot are almost all first world consumers. An ETS deflects…

I read that as 1 table = 1 substitute Auto Goodie.…

Fixed

Because they couldn't. The CCA is a quasi-judicial body that acts under statute. Ministers can't just tell it…

I think my explanation is considerably more likely.

Which was a good thing. It would have been better if they had acted to force the authority to delay the decision until it could be reconsidered by government, but they didn't. As a result that decision was made…

And I'll gladly accept any evidence of either of those answers. But for now it seems a bit suspect.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/georgemonbiot/2013/may/10/carbon-dioxide-milestone-climate-change

Anyone notice that the 400ppm reading happened the other day? Thought not.

And this new facility helps how?

Addiction of any kind is worrisome, but the outcome of a gambling addiction is particularly severe. Because the illusion is that you can actually win back money lost, it…

I hate the bloody things – and I’ve had one…

Public transport, for example? Seriously, don't go there – there's an endless range of publicly owned or subsidised commercial activity that most of us wouldn't want to do…

Not sure about that. It could be viable to be handed a business, even if…

Maybe 230 is the level at which you get a good bulk purchasing discount? Or that will fit in a certain area of casino floor that will be made available?

I do. If a commercial enterprise is genuinely viable, then it should be able to happen at a profit within our existing legal framework. If it requires taxpayer funding and legal facilitation it isn't viable.

We don't have…

It’s also weirdly beside the point if you believe, as a non-trivial number of people do, that any pokie machines are a very bad thing on…

So the actual number of machines for the new larger centre is 560

For this particular government nothing matters but doing the big deal. That isn't a comment about The National Party it's about…