Posts by Sacha
-
The choice is not tv panellist or ambassador, it's dickhead or ambassador.
As usual, our brave leaders are just focusing on the appearance - the reported speech - rather than the intent it reveals (much as they prefer to focus on the process of leaks rather than their content). Haden is an unacceptable public representative because of his expressed beliefs, not merely because of the manner in which he expressed them.
He's already an embarrassing dinosaur, but then so is McCully so I guess it might take him a little longer to do the right thing.
-
Haden will be gone by the end of the day
-
Gasp, there might be more than one place where people could gather!
-
Some RWC answers for Auckland region:
http://www.auckland2011.com/ -
OK, before going to do actual work, here's Rudman explaining his own change of heart after earlier supporting the proposed big new cruise terminal structure.
But in April, when the Government and the ARC agreed, subject to consultation with the Historic Places Trust, to spend $9.6 million building a temporary "party central" on the wharf which involved knocking down both old sheds for no good reason, that was just vandalism.
...
If there's an upside, it's that without the hysteria surrounding the provision of a World Cup party venue, Aucklanders now have the chance for a more considered debate into the future of Queens Wharf. We can go back to square one, unpressured by the needs to accommodate party central.
-
Dear Auckland,
Thanks for the LOLZ!
Luv
the rest of NZThat's how it's being played, for sure. When it comes to national interference in your local government, though, you guys are next. Of course, you might find it harder to spot, with the national govt being so close by and all. Like an episode of V, perhaps?
-
John Banks discovers the astonishing idea of having a RWC party area within an existing party area.
So they have noticed the new Viaduct events centre. It's impressive, on the waterfront, being built in time, already paid for - and what do you know, designed to host events. Sketches at link. Have seen detailed plans, and they're good.
-
Oh, and awesome poem, Ian
-
There just needs to be a few hay bales thrown around, name the sheds the "shearing shed" or the "wool barn", and wheel in a few kegs.
I like that. I've discussed a scaled up bbq theme with some. Widespread Pakeha culture, easy for many hosts to feel comfortable with, etc. Rewoven if you like.
What crowd do our civic and national leaders think they are catering to?
That's part of the problem - they've been told it's cruise ship tourists as well as rugby fans. The cruise ship industry has its hand out for corporate welfare in paying for their shore facilities and Key, McCully, et al are lining up to kiss their arses.
It's annointed as an "economic development" activity. Much like the major events industry, there's a pervasive assumption that public money just ought to be provided, without any real comparison of the impact of other (especially foreign revenue earning) industries on national economic wellbeing. I understand when people get annoyed about that. I'm sure there are industries we could invest in with higher revenue/cost margins, appealing careers to keep talent at home, lower environmental and social impacts - and a future after peak oil bites hard.
The public needs to be shown what cruise ship docks look like in other parts of the world. Just like the RWC experience not depending on some silly nominated 'party' spot, I doubt most pasengers will base their opinion of the trip on the place where their passport was stamped. There's a certain inferiority complex at play about wanting to have something flash.
instead of party central money should be spent on making public transport free for the period of the games.
Great idea - and it would also speed up the boarding process. As it is, RWC ticketholders won't be paying a fare partly for that reason. Extending that to all our visitors during the tournament would make a better impression in one of our weakest and hardest to fix areas - getting people places.
I don't know the capacity of Aotea Square but I'll find out.
Thanks, Christopher. I think it's about 20-25k, but I'm also interested in whether the demand modelling took into account exisiting hospitality venues within the surrounding area. Maybe there are more down the bottom of town? Or maybe the tourism promotion aspect of our (largely inaccessible) waterfront was considered a compelling factor? Media sure aren't saying much.
-
I presume this might have been in some of the briefing papers available to elected reps. What was the logic offered for proposing another fan zone in the cbd when there was already a freshly redeveloped one with budget allocated for a big screen? Is the total capacity too small when the hospitality venues are added in?