Posts by Sacha
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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 before any amalgamation? Or removing voters' right to ask for STV as all other council elections have? Or exempting Watercare from certain official information requirements, which coincided nicely with timing of potential privatisation. Or the secret torpedoing of dedicated Maori seats while a sham consultation process proceeded.
Personally, I don't want to hear Penny Hulse saying "many of us didn't support the Super City" ever again because it's her bloody job to make it work.
Penny Hulse is speaking to strong community views (especially led from Waitakere) that the decisive election result now mandates certain humility and responsiveness from the government in light of its manifest bad faith during the establishment process like the examples I've mentioned.
It's a valid negotiating position and an expression of good faith to many of those who supported her campaign. However Hulse is a seasoned and very competent councillor and I doubt she expects an outbreak of three-bags-full from Hide, Joyce, Key et al.
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And while you're at it, please don't conflate the Treaty with ethnic representation - you should know better, Craig.
I'm quite open to arguments about reserved seats vs other methods.
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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.
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I was struck by how forceful Johansson was.
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And still Henry can't muster a real apology.
"I again apologise to all those who were genuinely hurt by what I said"
- as opposed to all those people who were just faking it.
I walk the finest of lines and accept that I have inadvertently crossed it from time to time.
Anyone who believes this prick's behaviour was accidental is more stupid than he is. Cowardly lack of responsiblity to the end.
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Compare the BBC's response to - off air - behaviour by similarly recalcitrant racist Carol Thatcher (yes, the one with the infamous mum). Apparently not every state-owned media organisation has trouble understanding what to do.
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his puerile giggling about a name
It wasn't just that (as so many media stories have portrayed), it was his remark about the name being appropriate because she was Indian that I imagine would have aroused that culture's ire.
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Simon Pound says let's not assume the Ak result was quite such a swing away from the right.
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 or even Paul Henry (pre GG slur) had stood for the right?
I think that it would be difficult to be confident of the same vote split. Colin Craig benefited a lot from the lack of a strong conservative candidate. And perhaps Brown did too?
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straining under the weight of absurdity
My first instinct was it must be satire, yes