It does seem that Banks received approx 20,000 more votes in this election in the old Auckland than he did in 2007, but Brown still won in the old Akl.

Hmmm, a 5 hour commercial break. I think we've broken Craig.

Nah... Brown's got to do something stupid before I harsh on him. Otherwise, I might as well go sell my soul to Kiwibog or the Sub-standard, and that's the very definition of sub-prime mortgage.

So, the Manukau City Council made a unanimous decision that was not greeted with…

Band together is alcohol free, except for his VIP tent.

I'll be packing a hip-flask of Bushmills in protest.

http://bethere.co.nz/community/2010/5109-band-together

Brown is a Labour mayor, Celia is a Green mayor, Parker is a National mayor.

Has it occurred to the parties that if they got behind local politicians…

Shove the smiley, Russell — It was, IMO, a stupid and tone-deaf move to be effusing at a party political conference less than a week after being elected.

Fair enough, but I suspect you're in a minority in thinking so.

It strikes me that Brown is now a significant influence…

I'm thinking of opening a sweepstake on how long it'll be before you think of something neutral-to-positive to say about Len Brown ;-)

Shove the smiley, Russell — It was, IMO, a stupid and tone-deaf move to be effusing at a party political conference less than a week after being…

We've jumped the Olympic hurdle for most of the day. Polls are still good. Tonight we're off to a swanky hotel for an evening with two Johns – Banks and Key (shh, don't tell anyone…

We haven't seen such shameless behaviour since John Banks at the National Party conference three months ago.

Whose partisan tone I wasn't awfully impressed by either — and I happen to know a fair few out of town delegates who were unamused by the conference opening being jacked into a…

Fran O'Sullivan about Brown's engagement with the business community.

One of the great untold stories of Len Brown's mayoralty campaign is the series of private lunches he held at Tony Astle's superb Antoine's restaurant to woo some of Auckland's most influential business people.…

We haven't seen such shameless behaviour since John Banks at the National Party conference three months ago.

Whose partisan tone I wasn't awfully impressed by either — and I happen to know a fair few out of town delegates who were unamused by the conference opening being jacked into a…

Have I missed some news?

The "Mayor of ALL Aucklanders", who ran as an independent, might want to think twice about being the warm up act at any party political conference in future. I'd also advise him to politely but firmly tell Phil Goff not to call him a "Labour…

Auckland mayor-elect Len Brown has opened Labour's annual conference in Auckland to cheers and a standing ovation as the party prepares to debate radical changes to its economic…

I say this with love, but could Kerry Prendergast please shut the fuck up.

The reports I saw yesterday were embarassing. "STV cost me this election."

Which is nonsense. There's no way you can take the first choices of an STV election (or the results of an STV election before…

If the Hun can deal with STV at local, state and federal elections, I think poor dumb Wellywooders can elect a mayor without suffering from brain bleeds.

It's not an "unfair and undemocratic" system that exploits…

I seem to recall that when Banks defeated Hubbard in the 2007 election his number of votes didn't increase by much compared to the2004 election, rather people didn't vote for Hubbard.

Indeed. Banks got almost exactly the same number of votes when he was dumped as when he was re-elected.…

I…

My first stap at a visualisation of the D.C.C. is a Frienemy graph made with GraphViz.

Clear as... I got nothing.

Assume that 100 votes are needed to get someone elected. One candidate -…

HOORAY for the Wellington special votes! Hooray for Celia! Hooray! Wellington just went a little bit greener!

It's nice that the people of Auckland voted ...
It'd be better if ...

I'd say having a similar number of voters per councillor should be pretty high on the list of things that'd be nice to have.

How about the govt's repeal in one of the supercity enabling acts of the part of the Local Government Act that required a referendum of voters before any amalgamation?

That didn't happen.

The requirement to hold a referendum under the Local Government Act has only ever applied to non-Parliamentary amalgamations…

we will do everything within our power

very important who gets to define what those powers are

Thanks for the extras – I particularly like the quote from Kiley.

Nevertheless, we will do everything within our power to hold the infrastructure companies to account on those Tube improvements they have promised to deliver.

Substitute water, other infrastructure etc. A litany perhaps ?

Legally, they are accountable to the Minister, not to us. If they advocate on behalf of their electors, they can be sacked. And their decision-making power is mostly an illusion. Both their strategic and annual…

You know very well what I mean.

Since I don't list troll-fishing among my recreations, assume I wasn't entirely clear on what you meant. Thanks for the clarification.

Neil is insisting that anyone who protested the way the amalgamation was pursued — and in particular the original bill — is now somehow a hypocrite for participating.

No, not anyone, Labour. It's their rhetoric I had a problem with. I thought they would have been better off with "Hide…

Yes, Russell, because that's how democracy works – not how it dies.

You know very well what I mean. Neil is insisting that anyone who protested the way the amalgamation was pursued — and in particular the original bill — is now somehow a hypocrite for participating.

Many Aucklanders did…

Changes were made during the public consultation process – which was always going to happen. I can't see how any of that was anti-democratic.

How about the govt's repeal in one of the supercity enabling acts of the part of the Local Government Act that required a referendum of voters…

It'd be better if the newly elected representatives could have decided the level of staffing for the new council and influenced key purchasing decisions.

And if they could decide to run some services directly instead of…

“The day Thatcher is no longer Prime Minister of this country, complete strangers will make love on the underground

Me neither. Especially seeing as raising merry hell about it did actually result in some significant changes.

Yes, Russell, because that's how democracy works – not how it dies. Personally, I don't want to hear Penny Hulse saying "many of us didn't support the Super City" ever again because it's…

First they came for Russell, and I did not speak up because I don’t own an iPad . . .

Made me LOL.

And while we're talking about Red Ken:

He ran for mayor of London in 2000, and won, primarily because he was an 'up yours, tony' candidate (similar…

Neil: the structure initially proposed by Hide was anti-democratic, and to some extent still is. I don't see the hypocrisy in pointing that out.

Me neither. Especially seeing as raising merry hell about it did actually result in some significant changes.

*fingers crossed*

So in other words, doing the Greater London Council thing would do the Govt no favours? Then again, Len Brown doesn't seem to come across as the bolshie 'Red Ken' Livingstone type.

If it were only that simple....

Ken Livingstone in the…

But Labour in opposition chose to play a negative role and try and stir up discontent.

Compact flourescent bulbs are burning down our houses!

For the sake of completeness, Neil, you might wish to add that Labour also established the Royal Commission that led to the super city.

I was being cute. The Clark govt did set this all in motion and I agreed with that. But Labour in opposition chose to play a…

If her name is standard Hindi it would probably be दीक्षित and the closest way to represent it in English would be "Di-kshit". It could be the way the name is separated in syllables that makes the difference in how it sounds.

You learn something new and of limited utility…

Their whole sense of identity is tied up in victimhood.

And then the pot said to the kettle, "Hello!"

Their sense of victimhood is more akin to old boys' network entitlement.

And just for fun, Russell: you've been Kiwibuggered! (h/t Danyl)

You didn't quote the best bit Craig (by Danyl on his site):

First they came for Russell, and I did not speak up because I don’t own an iPad . . .

And it took me all of five seconds on Google to find out the correct pronunciation of the surname of the Chief Minister of Delhi. Dix-it not Dick-shit. Doesn't TVNZ have internet access on Sunday morning?

If her name is standard Hindi it would probably be दीक्षित and the closest…

And me all of perusing my facebook news feed to find a different answer

I'm sorry I don't speak Australian. :) Anyway, Aussie breakfast television hosts should stick to their knitting like slut-shaming rape victims (apparently, girls, if you get raped by a football player more fool you for being…

If the KCC (Kiwiblog Commenters' Club) weren't so deadly serious they'd be clowns. Blaming the opposing team for an own goal, eh?

Nooo! Please think of another acronym! The KCC are the blameless junior branch of Forest and Bird.

And it took me all of five seconds on Google to find out the correct pronunciation of the surname of the Chief Minister of Delhi. Dix-it not Dick-shit. Doesn't TVNZ have internet access on Sunday morning?

And me all of perusing my facebook news feed to find a different answer:…

so I don't think you can assume anyone who pronounces it that way is ignorant or hasn't done their research.

I personally wouldn't mind someone who pronounces it as it is written, and even tries to suppress a wee giggle. Not particularly professional, but I couldn't get up in arms…

so I don't think you can assume anyone who pronounces it that way is ignorant or hasn't done their research.

Fair enough, but not what I'm hearing here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TXg_SYyy_4

And Peter Williams seemed to do a decent job of avoiding being a total dick-shit himself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6av6G3jx9I

If the KCC (Kiwiblog Commenters' Club) weren't so deadly serious they'd be clowns. Blaming the opposing team for an own goal, eh?

Their whole sense of identity is tied up in victimhood.

a centre left mayor, record voter turn out and a considerable empowerment of South Auckland.
Just the destruction of democracy Labour predicted.
There were quiet a few centre-left people who thought that the amalgamation was a good idea and it has turned out to be so. Pity Labour opposed it.

…

And it took me all of five seconds on Google to find out the correct pronunciation of the surname of the Chief Minister of Delhi. Dix-it not Dick-shit. Doesn't TVNZ have internet access on Sunday morning?

Actually, I was listening to Coast FM news (it was on the bus, I…

And just for fun, Russell: you've been Kiwibuggered! (h/t Danyl)

If the KCC (Kiwiblog Commenters' Club) weren't so deadly serious they'd be clowns. Blaming the opposing team for an own goal, eh?

'Guy Smiley' on DimPost summed it up neatly:

To be fair to the guy making the useful suggestion…

this isn’t about left or right politics but about offensive comments that outraged many

I just hope that our new Auckland Council doesn't think in such polarised left/right terms as the Kiwibog commentators.

did any politician react to Henry's comments about the Chief Minister of Delhi's name at the time?

Don't think so, but would be ecstatic to be proved wrong.

OECD rank 22 kiwi (2,290) Says:
October 10th, 2010 at 11:10 pm

big bruv says at 8:01 pm:

__We on the right should really start to fight fire with fire, we should pick a left wing media target and flood…

If John Key's crime was not objecting strenuously enough, can't others be guilty of that in similar situations?

Indeed – and Matt's not only had a lot to say about racism over the years, but I hope Unite — a union that represents a lot of low-income minority workers --…

Perhaps I'm missing something, but I can't see what McCarten's crime was in that exchange.

And if one were to be quoted what John Key said, the same response would apply.

If John Key's crime was not objecting strenuously enough, can't others be guilty of that in similar situations?

Craig, John Key isn't going to die if someone says that his handling of that interview with Paul Henry was poor.

Quite right, Miss Key is a big girl and had worse said about her.

But I kind of hope that one positive that will come out of this is…

Certainly not, Sacha. But central government isn't a no-limit ATM either, and it seems to me that Greater Auckland is going to have to cash that reality cheque like everyone else.

That was me, actually.

And it's evident that neither central or local government has unlimited resources. But there has…

'Fran' and 'Matt' are Fran O'Sullivan and Matt McCarten, BTW. And I did have to turn it off, because I'd like a senior journalist and a union leader to do a little better than sniggering over silly foreign names.

Perhaps I'm missing something, but I can't see what McCarten's crime…

Much like the Electoral Finance Act was never going to be the end of democracy either.

That's actually a pretty good comparison, Neil. Did I think the EFA was an appalling piece of legislation? Yes — but New Zealand's own Ermächtigungsgesetz? Well... no.

What happens next is going to depend…

What happens next is going to depend quite a lot on central government, but I don't think government can afford to ignore the wishes of the people entirely. Steven Joyce will be taking account of the vote, I'm sure.

So in other words, doing the Greater London Council thing would…

I might have an idea of whether it was good or bad in maybe five years time at the earliest?

I think Auckland has a better chance at least of solving some long standing problems with the greater co-ordination now possible across the region.

And the elections certainly were not…

Craig, your link did NOT give us 'Wodger of the Waj."

Oh, buggery snot. Here.

There have been a few changes around the place that might be good.

The Health Board will be interesting. I'm aware they looking at the same position Wellington has = no money.

I just hope the council can control Sideshow and his radio…

Has he sat there and chuckled along while Holmes has made racist comments? I don't recall it.

No he didn't — but where the fuck was the panel challenging Paul on this kind of crap?

PAUL They should have gone about Mrs Dikshit.

MATT And, yeah, and they should have…

Why would anyone think you were racist? That's your opinion, Craig.

No it's not — it's the opinion of people who say shit like "of course you'd say that, you're a racist"; it just seems to rapidly turn into one of those things where you can play merry hell with…

I'm quite open to arguments about reserved seats vs other methods.

I'm not even going to bother with a discussion where it's presumed I'm a racist because I think reserved Maori representation is a very bad idea indeed.

I believe the word I used was "scared". Feel free to address that one instead.

I really thought Johansson needs a big spanking with the two-faced fuck-wit stick. He's done a certain amount of cringe-inducing "abetting" of a certain cheeky whitey on Q&A. But I guess the acceptable face of racism and xenophobia in this country is always going to be sports-related.

Has he sat there…

I'm thinking your deciding the amalgamation has turned out well are a little premature.... I might have an idea of whether it was good or bad in maybe five years time at the earliest?

Oh, but whatever happened to the brutal [ETA: original redacted for extreme bad taste] death of…

Jon Johansson on Q&A (again worth checking when they post the clip) gave Key an unusually firm spanking over his abetting of Paul Henry rather than sticking up for the diverse people he is supposedly the leader of (and not "regretting" the matter only because it became a diplomatic incident)

I…

let's not assume the Ak result was quite such a swing away from the right.

Indeed, the people controlling Manukau are now much more centre-rightish than they were.

And if my grandfather had wheels, he'd be a wheelbarrow, as we say in the old country.

Boris Johnson's version: "Well, if we had some ham, we could have ham and eggs – if we had any eggs".

Or, to put it another way: just think of what the split would have been if Obama had been the candidate for the Left!

Before anyone gets too carried away thinking about this as a turning red of AK think about this: What if Don McKinnon or Sir Douglas Graham or Ray Avery or Paul Holmes…

There were quiet a few centre-left people who thought that the amalgamation was a good idea and it has turned out to be so.

While I'm not unhappy with the results of the election...

I'm thinking your deciding the amalgamation has turned out well are a little premature.... I might…

I know that there were plans afoot to have Maori seats on the Council, and since that bid failed with Hide threatening to quit (why did that not happen?)

Because it was convenient for some who share Hide's proudly ignorant beliefs to prioritise keeping him on.

Jon Johansson on Q&A (again…

Reading this reminded me.

I liked this observation from Oscar Kightley:

Still, I knew I would always come back to Auckland. You can wear a lavalava to the petrol station late at night here and you don't get looked at funny.

Not so sure he hasn't let his mouth write a lot of cheques (and very publicly committed to timetables) his arse can't cover. I'm just hoping there are going to be cooler heads around to get a lot more reality in the room.

Len Brown seemed pretty realistic on Q&A this…

McCarten today on the Herald seems to think that the left-leaning council (which he accounts for much in the way one would a Parliament) will form a block behind the Mayor and bugger everybody else.

As Craig says, some leftie cheerleading is to be expected – but I really don't…

Why doesn't he just fuck off?

Because some other city would have him inflicted on it. At least Whanganui is a long way from anywhere and doesn't have scheduled air service.

By the way Louisa Wall was very impressive on the Q and A panel this morning…

As fhar as his tanty over the mandate goes, I'm curious, what was Laws whineing margin in his previous elections?
My google skills have failed me, Anyone know?

Unfortunately in 2007, Laws got more than 50% of the vote . . .
he got 10459, and the total combined vote…

]]> Sun, 10 Oct 2010 11:46:41 +1300 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/voting-local-2010/?p=184541#post184541 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/voting-local-2010/?p=184541#post184541 Craig, I agree with you in many respects that Brown has given himself transport goals that are nigh on impossible to achieve. And others which are a bit pointless (like rail to North Shore, which has a shiny new busway).

My main point though is that clearly rail plans win…

]]> Sun, 10 Oct 2010 11:41:35 +1300 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/voting-local-2010/?p=184540#post184540 https://publicaddress.net/system/cafe/voting-local-2010/?p=184540#post184540

On a different track, there is no place around here to talk rugby. Where I can plug the case for Stephen Donald's return to the ABs, after his superb game against Otago?

We're not allowed to talk about rugby since Canterbury beat Southland in the DisasterBowl.

Anyways ... look on the bright side, peoples ... we have a new convert to STV!

Yes, we do appreciate it. . . . but minus a Guest and Walls, and plus a Vandervis feels somewhat of a disappointment.

Great that Cull won the mayoralty, but his council still looks far too familiar- with notable exceptions (Jinty…

Why doesn't he just fuck off?

That's Fhuck off, Russell. The particularly classy (drop the first two letters) passage from the linked story is this:

He had not contacted Main about the result: "[It is] her job to ring me. She's the mayor-elect, albeit without a mandate, with just over…

Readers will doubtless appreciate that Laws himself polled a blinding fifth amongst councillors, and his protege was beaten in the mayoral race. Why doesn't he just fuck off?

McCarten today on the Herald seems to think that the left-leaning council (which he accounts for much in the way one would a Parliament) will form a block behind the Mayor and bugger everybody else.

Just this once, I think we can forgive Matt letting post-victory euphoria (or a nascent…

Hope that makes sense, sorry if it doesn't,

You've earned the right to get your babble on, but I do get exactly what you're saying. :)

My point, and perhaps I didn't make it entirely clear, is that of course I wanted the Council to work constructively with whoever won.…

Len Brown's job will be to harness the leadership in his council without being bullied by it.

Um, let's be fair here Russell — there are twenty councillors who have a democratic mandate too and none of them were elected on a Len Brown ticket. Certainly not the two I…

Locally while we have had our best result ever for the local…

Just the destruction of democracy Labour predicted.

There were quiet a few centre-left people who thought that the amalgamation was a good idea and it has turned out to be so. Pity Labour opposed it.

Len Brown gets Christine Fletcher to be Deputy Mayor. Cross the left-right divide, gets a male-female mix and also seeks to link together Central and South Auckland.

Seems reasonably likely? I'd prefer he went for Christine than Penny "holiday highway cheerleader" Webster from Rodney.

The electoral officer is required by law to announce a preliminary result, including those preliminarily elected.

OK fair enough – but nowhere on that elections2010 page does it actually say that – each set of preliminary results is headed "Results", not "Preliminary results" – and there's nothing on the page…

Isn't that a little premature?

No.

The electoral officer is required by law to announce a preliminary result, including those preliminarily elected.

and

Wellington City Council already tweeted that Kerry has won ("based on preliminary results")

Isn't that a little…

If Celia hadn't backed the Manners Mall redevelopment on…

But for all their wailing this is hardly a far-left council. It looks quite centrist if anything. Again, I'm feeling quite optimistic about the ground available for consensus.

Feeling sick about the too-close-to-call in Welli. Prendergast can't win by 40 votes, she just can't! GO CELIA!

Can't someone just find a hitherto-uncounted stack of 100 Pro-Celia votes that fell down the back of the sofa or something?

Len Brown's job…

Not happy at all....

Neither is Jim Anderton, whose performance on One News was spectacularly churlish. Here's an FYI: When you're being outclassed by John Banks you've scored the mother of all #epicfail.

(And speaking of One News, perhaps this wasn't the occasion for a cheap and stupid attempt to…

Meanwhile, Prendergast leading Wade-Brown by 40 votes. Go Ceila!

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/local-elections-2010/4215814/Wellington-too-close-to-call

Bob Parker's just won Christchurch, too.

Not happy at all....

"Fuck it, that does it. We're moving to Dunedin."

Sideshow Bob – worse than the earthquake...

Does anyone know how the Auckland Council results breakdown by left/right?

Cit/Rats and City Vision?

Don't actually think that's a very useful way of looking at it. Whoever won the headline race, I thought they'd need some pretty strong people, from both left and right, to provide a reality check…

Cit/Rats and City Vision?

A digression I know, but .. how do you pronounce this, Judy?

Slow rhyming with cow?
Slow rhyming with, well, slow?
Slew?
Sluff?
Sloff?

I go with the "cow" version, myself Carol, not that I know for sure – one of the hazards of being a reader before a listener.…

Bob Parker's just won Christchurch, too.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooo.......
....aaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrggggggghhhhHHHHH!

the election poster

the result!

I don't think I can take another
3 years of this Joker....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKEfvhKZf4g

From: Judy Martin's southern slough

A digression I know, but .. how do you pronounce this, Judy?

Slow rhyming with cow?
Slow rhyming with, well, slow?
Slew?
Sluff?
Sloff?

Any idea when we can expect the Wellington results?

I'm told around six.

Albany ward
Michael Goudie 8538
Wayne Walker 8007

North Shore ward
George Wood 14,116
Ann Hartley 12,767

Waitakere ward
Penny Hulse 16,875
Sandra Coney 12,567

Waitemata…

Mr Brown polled 221,167 votes, compared to 161,167 votes for Mr Banks, a victory by 60,198 votes, according to the first progress result declared after the polls closed at midday.

Businessman Colin Craig was in third place with 60,198 votes.

…

can someone tell me what they mean – are both names elected?

Yes.

It does look like there has been a small gain in the left on council. But a lot of unknown quantities out there.

As the Mayor has one vote that might work to hold…

Rodney ward:
Penny Webster 8063
Christine Rose 5553

Albany ward
Michael Goudie 8538
Wayne Walker 8007

North Shore ward
George Wood 14,116
Ann Hartley 12,767

Waitakere ward
Penny Hulse 16,875
Sandra Coney…

YAY! indeed for Auckland, but yah boo sucks for the CHCH result.

The real probem was it was just so dumb. 45 people in a 2/3 bedroom house.

Nothing that a suitably brutal execution wouldn't cure.

Apparently the guy is a real estate agent. How the fuck did he get selected for Labour?

Is there a list of approved occupations for being a Labour candidate?

What kind of a question is that?

A snarky one, I think. :)

Sadly that's been well covered:

And another occasional table staggers into the light, beyond which lies Furniture Heaven. :(

BTW, I'm not warming up for some Kiwibogian conspiracy theory

Sadly that's been well covered:

Am I reading that right? There’s a secret organisation running in the sikh community for over 120 years (they make it sound like the Asian Triad Gangs)

Sikhs are very Industrious, but they can be…

Does put spotlight back on suppression laws though

Definitely, but to be entirely fair Daljit Singh instructed his lawyer to exercise a perfectly legitimate appeal of Judge Simpson's decision, and it's hard to argue that the Auckland High Court dragged its feet.

...is that my coat?
I'll be off then!

Super-city vote scam-accused named

And I guess it's just one of those fibre-rich "what if?" questions whether this would have had an impact if it had happened earlier. (BTW, I'm not warming up for some Kiwibogian conspiracy theory – as far as I'm concerned the Police investigation and the conduct…

Super-city vote scam-accused named

Thanks for the update...

But from the same article...

Last month 306 people were removed from the electoral roll after an electoral enrolment centre audit found they were living at addresses they had given in Papatoetoe, South Auckland.

You know... I'm pretty sure thats exactly what…

I live in Christchurch and choose to so do

Vote Yoda.