Hard News: The Letter
443 Responses
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linger, in reply to
Awesome. That’s a greater Auckland city vision by far than the names now on the map. (& what most non-JAFAs have always thought about it!)
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John Armstrong on National's worries about complacency and the "missing million".
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Steve Barnes, in reply to
it’s … Auckwood
’Tell you come from Cripescrutch
Up here we call our supburps by their proper names…
Moaningsnide,
Manurewa (pronounced Manure waa)
Poncybay
As for your burbs…Merisnail
Papanubie
Ricecarton
Fondalton
Bumside
Bryndwr (thats Welsh for “itsquitenicehereomasunnydayyoucanseethehillsanshit”
Belfarts (ding dung)
New Brighton, a place without pier.
Avonside (now partly known as Underavon)
Mairehau (and how)
Shirley (might as well call it Brian)
Edgewhere?
Burntwood
Heathcliffe (not far from Wuthering heights I guess)
Hoon Hay needs no change whatsoever…
Halswell, that ends well?
Horny
Spreydon (see Hoon Hay)
Cashmore
Addledtown
:-] -
Ian Dalziel, in reply to
a Grater Auckland city vision
fixed that for you!
how else would you get 'zest' in a city
but by grating a lemon...:- )
</recycled pun - save the wails!>
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Joe Wylie, in reply to
You appear to have overlooked the most dynamic part of Chchch.
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Steve Barnes, in reply to
You appear to have overlooked
Hei Hei, I missed that. :-)
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linger, in reply to
how else would you get ‘zest’ in a city
By taking the pith?
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Steve Barnes, in reply to
the most dynamic part of Chchch.
Surely that would be.
Damn you Joe with your Photoshopfoo
I now have a headache and achieved nothing but an ugly mess trying to edit this to say Kaiapoi. -
Steve Barnes, in reply to
the pith?
That's the bit inside the lemon Hide eh?
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When life gives you lemons, you make Lemonhide.
Grate. -
Ooooh, is there now something to get excited about? Well, almost, perhaps. It's nice to see somebody actually looking at the really obvious Labour MP to target re: Donghua Liu. Finally. But something big is still missing here: Motive. Why did Damian O'Connor intervene in Donghua Liu's application for residence? Three times? For what?
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He was probably offering to log native forest and create jobs on the west coast in double figures. Maybe dig up a national park to mine coal as well.
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At a glance, this doesn't quite seem the smoking gun either.
What O'Connor waived was the English-language requirement. He still made it clear Liu had to pass the character test. And he pointedly stepped back when there was some weirdness with the incorrect photo being supplied.
The real story here may well be the fact that wealthy would-be immigrants can hire experienced and persistent agents -- a former National minister, in this case -- to pursue their applications. And that's still a story.
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Chris Waugh, in reply to
No, but there still seems to be a whiff of smoke floating about:
There is no explanation of the "previous intervention" of Mr O'Connor,
Also, that English language requirement for his category of visa is not exactly strict or strenuous or tough. I find it very hard to believe that he could not have afforded the minimal time and fees (IELTS is expensive for ordinary mortals like us, but if he's got Investor category-sized nest eggs stashed away... ) needed to get an IELTS 3.
And I'm a little confused, I thought Liu had failed the good character requirement. Or was there some other reason Immigration advised against his being granted residence that I missed?
So no, no smoking gun, but this certainly looks to me like a more likely tree to be barking up.
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Russell Brown, in reply to
So no, no smoking gun, but this certainly looks to me like a more likely tree to be barking up.
You may well be correct.
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An Associate Immigration Minister making immigration decisions versus a Minter advising the police a sexual crime suspect may be a politically sensitive subject will, my pessimism says, be lost on the those just attuning to politics ahead oh election. I would loved to be proved wrong. But I do appreciate both parties dealings are coming to light.
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Rich of Observationz, in reply to
Sounds like the equivalent of my fairly non-existent skills in German, and way below my not-particularly good French.
Why would you want to live in a country where you can't converse with most of the population? Or is "residence" about having a bolthole and a convenient way to dodge Chinese taxes by claiming to live overseas?
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Chris Waugh, in reply to
Why would you want to live in a country where you can’t converse with most of the population? Or is “residence” about having a bolthole and a convenient way to dodge Chinese taxes by claiming to live overseas?
Two very good questions.
1: Beats me, but plenty of people do. Just pop down to Sanlitun on any given evening and you'll see the Beijing edition of people who move to a far off land and make no effort to learn the language or fit in to the local society.
2: Can't comment on Donghua Liu's case, of course, cos I don't know the guy, but there's no shortage of Chinese people who can afford it getting out, or at least, getting their families out of China. There are many reasons for that, having a convenient little bolthole is one. There are worse reasons (fleeing likely arrest for actual crimes) and better reasons (preferring the better environment or more relaxed pace of life). Liu's involvement in a corruption case in Chongqing has been reported, though it should be noted he was a witness and wasn't prosecuted. So let's give him the benefit of the doubt for now and assume he just finds NZ a more pleasant place to live than Chongqing.
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