Speaker: Party Central, structures and silos
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It suits the rhetoric of the right to focus on one person as a 'leader'. I'm never sure why people from the left - and especially the organised political opposition - want to buy into that and perpetuate the myth of Key by focusing attention on him.
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Chris Trotter describes the longer historic background since the 1940s about why Auckland has built motorways rather than rail.
The debacle that was Auckland's public transport system last Friday night was more than 60 years in the making. That's how long it's been since a group of brilliant urban planners, based in the Ministry of Works, sent their blueprint for post-war Auckland to Parliament.
Had the Labour Party won just 50,000 more votes in the 1949 general election, that blueprint would have become reality, and Auckland would now be a very different city.
Joshua Arbury delves into that history in some detail, with cool old maps of what might have been.
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3410,
Chris Trotter describes the longer historic background since the 1940s about why Auckland has built motorways rather than rail.
And how do you rate this bit for honesty of interpretation?
Had the Labour Party won just 50,000 more votes in the 1949 general election, that blueprint would have become reality, and Auckland would now be a very different city.
The guy's an embarrassment, IMO.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_general_election,_1949 -
A Herald story links a personal story of a mother and daughter using the rail network into Britomart with its design flaw in pretty basic terms.
One week on, it's still difficult to match the details of people's experiences with the official timeline provided by train operator Veolia. For instance there's confusion over how many trains were held up for how long at the biggest flashpoints, Newmarket and Britomart - passenger accounts suggest several trains held up for hours in the late afternoon - and Veolia said they were too busy preparing for this weekend to provide a more detailed explanation.
But it is clear that Britomart's faulty set-up, already criticised after previous rail network breakdowns, played an important part. The station has five platforms but there are only two tracks through the Britomart tunnel for trains from three lines, the Eastern, Western and Southern lines. This leads to a bottleneck which can mean long delays and frustrated passengers, even on a normal day.
Arriving trains have to leave the terminus the same way they came in - through the tunnel - to create platform space for incoming trains. These new arrivals often have to queue outside the tunnel for lengthy periods while the terminus is emptied out.
The central rail loop that doubles the entire rail network's capacity would never have been built in time for this tournament. However the experience last week should provide motivation to avoid what will otherwise be daily chaos as Auckland's population grows hugely over the next few decades. Britomart station's tunnels hit full capacity in 2 years time, not 20.
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Sacha, in reply to
I normally wouldn't rely on Trotter's opinion but you'll note it broadly matches Arbury's account - and the maps.
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BenWilson, in reply to
I'm never sure why people from the left - and especially the organised political opposition - want to buy into that and perpetuate the myth of Key by focusing attention on him.
Good point. The best strategy for dealing with National might be to ignore Key altogether. To neither ask nor answer any questions to or from him, addressing them always to the people who are technically responsible for everything, the ministers. And the questions should probably not come from Goff either, since he lacks charisma, but rather from the shadow of each minister.
In sporting terms, this is a full court press. It's what you do against a weak team, especially if they have a small number of strong players. This leads to a "bunny" scenario, where every player gets a chance to stand off against a weak player and make mincemeat out of them.
It might also solve the issue of the inevitable leadership crisis that Labour will face when they lose this year, if there have been some strong performances by other characters.
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Another part of the picture about why the waterfront was chosen as a focus: a detailed article about the huge Wynyard Quarter waterfront development and its proposed place in the city and nation's economic future. The final precinct is the same size as the existing CBD around Queen St. Shame it wasn't where they put the party..
Peter Gomm, chief executive of Mainzeal Property & Construction which built the new sheds, said his firm had worked at Wynyard for a decade, "undertaking in the first instance the strengthening works to North Wharf which was the precursor to the commercial redevelopment of the area".
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"With ASB [relocated head office] under construction, the proposed hotel plus other significant developments in the pipeline this is one of the last opportunities for Auckland to establish a world-class precinct.
"The relocation of the tank farm will create an iconic waterfront re-development site that can be developed for mixed use and be available for international Pacific regional headquarters.
"The development should be used to position Auckland as a vibrant, confident international city. This will attract growing numbers of overseas investors and visitors which can then provide a legacy that the people of Auckland can be proud of.
"You can see that it really is a unique opportunity for Auckland/New Zealand to push up to the next level in many different ways."
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Sacha, in reply to
You'd think. Interesting when you read John Armstrong fawningly second-guessing McCully's reactions and motivations from within the Thorndon bubble.
He overstates the Minister's powers and understates his reponsibilities, but overall Armstrong's looking frantically for the single person to pin this on rather than being able to conceive of shared responsibility.
Such assurances go to the heart of the blame-game and the crucial question of ministerial responsibility. Who should take the wrap [sic] for what went wrong - McCully, Brown, Transport Minister Steven Joyce, Ateed, Auckland Transport or Veolia?
Labour, not surprisingly, went for McCully and Joyce. However, the lack of any direct chain of accountability - for example, between Joyce and the incidents which created the rail snafu - saw Parliament's Speaker Lockwood Smith decline Phil Goff's request for a snap debate on Tuesday.
The next day Goff narrowed the focus by accusing the two ministers of "an absolute failure of ministerial oversight".
According to briefing papers, the Minister for the Rugby World Cup is responsible "for leading co-ordination across all the government agencies involved in supporting a successful tournament".
There have been no obvious failures of co-ordination between government agencies.
There have been failures of oversight with regard to non-governmental agencies. But McCully - and for that matter, Joyce - were given assurances, for example, that the trains would run as promised, that Auckland Transport had the arrangements for the cup peer-reviewed by an independent body and that there were contingency plans.
Without the power to intervene in the day-to-day operations of Auckland Transport, McCully and Joyce had no means of checking the validity of such assurances.
The vexed question of ministerial responsibility has been answered by McCully's invoking of emergency powers.
Also remember how the Minister's colleagues avoided even mentioning his name during the parliamentary snap debate.
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DexterX, in reply to
It suits the rhetoric of the right to focus on one person as a 'leader'. I'm never sure why people from the left - and especially the organised political opposition - want to buy into that and perpetuate the myth of Key by focusing attention on him.
A focus on leader ship is not the sole preserve of either the left or the right. It suits the political rhetoric of either side of the centre left/right divide that is NZ politics to focus on leadership. Leaders do tend to be the dominant focus in the political process, Y'all remember Helen Clark.
The point of my earlier post was not a focus on Key's leadership but on his stupidity, immaturity and ability to deliver not much.
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BenWilson, in reply to
You'd think. Interesting when you read John Armstrong fawningly second-guessing McCully's reactions and motivations from within the Thorndon bubble.
I don't know what the Thorndon bubble is. I'm happy to just agree or disagree with Armstrong on what he writes without caring to psychoanalyze him. I've often agreed. At the moment, not so much.
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Dave Patrick, in reply to
The point of my earlier post was not a focus on Key's leadership but on his stupidity, immaturity and ability to deliver not much.
I cringed too when he came out with that big dopey "look at me, I'm important" grin on his face at the All Black - Japan game last night, and the wave to the crowd. Add to that the "Go the mighty All Blacks" at the end of his speech at the opening ceremony, and he doesn't really come across as a statesman, more a big kid in a lolly shop.
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Sacha, in reply to
Thorndon bubble
Our equivalent of Washington's "beltway" - the hermetic world of those who spend too much time near the corridors o power.
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Paul Williams, in reply to
Dave, although I agree that Key is a crap PM, I actually think he picks the mood well for the majority of people. I was disappointed that he used no Te Reo in his speech, it was a glaring omission, however I thought the speech was otherwise fine. He seems genuinely enthusiastic and that's not a bad thing at all. Pity he's a policy lightweight and is doing nothing to lead the country on matters of long term importance.
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You know, I try not in indulge in MSM-bashing, but in the case of Tracey Watkins' pathetic, spoon-fed regurgitation of ministerial spin in the Dom Post it's really hard to stay civil.
She's supposed to be a professional journalist -- a political journalist -- and she can't even get the name of the Auckland Council right. The contrast with Sacha's thoughtful, informed analysis could hardly be more pronounced.
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recordari, in reply to
The contrast with Sacha's thoughtful, informed analysis could hardly be more pronounced.
I concur. Well done Sacha. I feel informed, instead of talked down to, past, or at while shaking a pointy finger.
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Thanks. There's so much more to say about how this reflects the tension between local and central government that has so long affected Auckland's development. Canterbury folk may also have some observations on that score, what with ECan and CERA.
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Just found Goff's parliamentary speech about this the other day, focusing on the govt's responsibility but letting the local agencies off the hook.
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National Party pollster and communication conduit David Farrar comes down more on the side of local govt being responsible, but seems confused whether willfully or otherwise about who the 'Rugby World Cup organisers' are - a mixture of central and local govt agencies.
He specifically wonders why Auckland Council's online surveying panel wasn't used in forecasting waterfront demand. I'm not sure that the separate ATEED CCO even have access to it, would be the short answer. The Auckland Transport CCO has its own online panel.
As the owner of a market research company I am of course always thinking market research is a good idea, but it does stagger me that the Council's planning scenario of 50,000 was not based on any research.
Sure there can be factors, such as the wonderful weather that day, which will make turnout hard to predict, but asking Aucklanders what they plan to do is much more sensible than just making an assumption. The Auckland Council has to bear the brunt of the criticism over the waterfront, but I think you can also legitimately criticise the Rugby World Cup organisers for never asking the Council on what basis did they decide to plan for 50,000.
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Sacha, in reply to
who the 'Rugby World Cup organisers' are
Unless perhaps he's talking about the joint venture company Rugby World Cup 2011 Ltd. I hope someone has drawn a picture of all the entities involved.
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Kumara Republic, in reply to
She’s supposed to be a professional journalist – a political journalist – and she can’t even get the name of the Auckland Council right. The contrast with Sacha’s thoughtful, informed analysis could hardly be more pronounced.
So that makes her the John Armstrong of Fairfax, right? In both cases, how many scotch fillets and bottles of cab-sav are involved, if any?
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Sacha, in reply to
I guess someone has to make Farrar seem lucid. :)
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In case it comes up, here's a little about the Auckland region's local RWC coordination group, which as noted works operationally with the government's various RWC efforts coordinated through the Ministry of Economic Development.
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Russell Brown, in reply to
So that makes her the John Armstrong of Fairfax, right? In both cases, how many scotch fillets and bottles of cab-sav are involved, if any?
Nah. Even given John's recent love affair with the matchless political skills of the Prime Minister, he's hugely experienced and a much better writer and thinker than Watkins. She's sometimes just a bit embarrassing.
They may both be prone to the eternal peril of the press gallery -- to maintain access to power you have to be careful about when you piss power off and when you don't. The current crowd aren't shy about withdrawing their patronage from media organisations that they don't see as useful to them.
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Kumara Republic, in reply to
The current crowd aren't shy about withdrawing their patronage from media organisations that they don't see as useful to them.
As Jim Salinger found out the hard way. And it's not a new issue - Muldoon infamously banned Tom Scott from the Gallery, but that didn't stop Scott unleashing both pen-barrels in kind. And of course, Simon Walker's televised clash in 1976 - no one seems to have the guts to do that anymore in this neck of the woods, unless they're with the BBC.
We've seen what happens when media and politicos can get a bit too intimate.
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Ian Dalziel, in reply to
Cosy fans tooting...
We've seen what happens when media and politicos can get a bit too intimate.
well at least Jane Clifton is now listed as Murray McCully's "former partner" on Facebook and Wikipedia - so that'll free her up to write truth to power, right?
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