Posts by Rich of Observationz
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Anything that turns those eyesores of car laden wharves into usable public property has got to be a good thing
I'm guessing that most of the Aucklanders on here own cars, right? (I suppose there might be such a thing as a carless Aucklander, but am yet to meet one). So the car you drive (unless it's an NZ-built model from the dark past) will have been loaded across Queens Wharf or an equivalent facility on somebody else's waterfront.
And the wharves *are* usable public property. They belong to Ports of Auckland who return $30mln a year to the council, money which pays for services that would otherwise be funded out of rates.
I'd agree that right by the city centre isn't an ideal place for a working port, but then nor is having the city carved up by motorways.
I guess having some sort of cruise ship terminal and bar area is reasonable. It's certainly more of a public open space than a stadium, which is no more than a commercial building for the sport industry (How much public access do current stadia have? None at all?)
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Wasn't the Viaduct basin built as "party central" for a previous publically subsidised sporting defeat? Is it not suitable for the RWC for some reason?
And I don't think converting Queens Wharf into a public open space is neccesarily a bad idea. I'm not sure on converting it into a duplicated area of bars for North Shore kids to vomit in is that good a use of public cash, though. Building a billion dollar stadium would have been a terrible idea, though.
(Especially when public spending is being *cut*. If it were being increased, then putting some of that towards improving the cityspace would be a good plan. But we're told we can't afford the basics, so why can we afford fripperies?)
Also, my idea of party central would be K Rd. But that's now being renamed as Upper Commerce St, allegedly.
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Let's do absolutely nothing with Auckland's waterfront, ever
I think it's in use for the traditional function of unloading stuff we need from ships, and loading stuff we export back onto them.
I realise that's more boring than providing a fibre-optic enabled twittering lounge, or whatever. But it does actually earn money and employ people, you know.
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..endless negativity about any kind of development in Auckland rather wearying.
So can you explain why building "grands projets" is a better use of public money than insulating homes and improving the public transport network for people to get to work and school?
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I'm pretty glad that Mike Lee and the ARC had the foresight *not* to sucker us into a billion dollar waterfront rugby park that would have had zero success in attracting sponsorship in the current economic climate.
I have some sympathy for the idea that any kind of public spending project is a good idea to try and reflate the economy, but it would seem that doing useful things for everyone is more useful than "digging holes and filling them in again".
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complaint upheld against TVNZ for lack of balance.
Maybe the BSA is starting to twig that National TV doesn't meet the Broadcasting Acts requirements for balance. Having a former National candidate as the presenter would seem to require some sort of balancing per se, really. (Spot the difference between the Wikipedia biog of Paul Henry and the TVNZ version).
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Personally I think Anderton, like Dunne, is a good argument for a reverse threshold.
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According to Russell's new sponsor, the zombie apocalypse is not coming.
Instead, this Star heralds the imminent emergence of Maitreya, the World Teacher, and the beginning phase of the total transformation of every aspect of our lives.
And there was me thinking it was a streetlight in that new subdivision out by Wainui...
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I shot the prick
but I didn't shoot the testicles
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distinguishing between allegations and proven offences?
I strongly suspect that the allegations about Worth will turn out to allege non-criminal behaviour. Being a sleaze isn't an offence. In fact, although it's illegal for Ministers to take actual dollars in bribes, I'm not sure that a bit of nookie counts as valuable consideration.
If the allegations don't reveal an offence, the police won't investigate further and the matters will never come before a court. So it'll be for future generations to speculate idly on Worth's guilt. Or not.