Posts by Sacha
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Russell, I see you tweeted that one a few hours ago #catchupmode
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Seems we may have missed Lhaws angling for attention as Paul Henry hogged the racist limelight.
Radio host Michael Laws has come under fire for calling Governor-General Sir Anand Satyanand a "large, fat man" who has "never left" the buffet table.
His bosses at RadioLive have also been slammed - for saying they are comfortable with the remarks.
My, there's a lot of comfort and relaxation in broadcasting circles..
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Doesn't the Ministry of Economic Development handle spectrum management, etc?
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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 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):
"You can't think of any other Prime Minister who would have just sat there lamely smiling. You know, David Lange would have eviscerated Paul Henry..."
Len Brown spoke about improving Maori representation but without pre-empting discussion and over-committing to particular solutions (some of which will require central government law changes). Good to see the discussion on Marae Investigates too.
You have to wonder why it's so scary to some folk to honour our nation's Treaty partnership at local level where decisions are made deeply affecting both people and land, tangata and whenua. It offers tremendous opportunities for us all.
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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.
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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 morning (a rare viewing for me and worth checking out when they post it online later). As Joshua notes, what's required from here is negotiation with central government about prioriites, and Brown explicitly checked off infrstructure bonds and PPPs alongside rates and tax as the 4 funding options.
But mainly his positivity made me proud to be an Aucklander again.
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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 believe that's an accurate characterisation of the story. McCarten was talking predominantly about derailed privatisation prospects. And how about linking to the story so people can make up their own mind.
Yesterday was a great day for the left in Auckland. Len Brown decisively defeated John Banks for the Supercity mayoralty; the progressives' senior leaders Mike Lee and Richard Northey won handsomely; and there's a solid 12:8 anti-corporate agenda majority on the new council.
...The third and probably the most important factor was Rodney Hide's role. His arrogance during the creation of the new city and his appointment of political and corporate cronies on to the council-controlled organisations didn't fool anyone about what his agenda was.
His actions terrified enough Aucklanders to come out in huge numbers to vote against Banks and the Act and National Party-aligned candidates.
The election of Brown and a centre-left dominated new council spells the end of Hide's corporate privatisation agenda.
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The future for the conservatives is with the likes of Cameron Brewer.
Unlike the old C&R fossils, the new councillors will be less ideological and will work co-operatively across the political aisle.
That should make for a harmonious and successful council.
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Both established factions short of overall majorities, C&R down to 5. Seen nothing very authoritative yet, Orsman seems bit light on detail and others have painted a far closer left/right balance.
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the emergency powers given to the CCC CEO, why he's on holiday, and passed them onto the Acting CEO, who passed them onto the Councilors
link for that?
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Feeling annoyed. Close Up ran a poll tonight asking viewers whether the NZ government "should have apologised" to the Indian government (because we're all experts in international diplomacy, right).
Exemplified the smug, self-serving organisational culture that must change.