Posts by Russell Brown
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Hard News: Any excuse for a party, in reply to anth,
There has been at least one survey where most of the tourists said they’d have visited those castles etc regardless of whether the royal family were still treated as such. For at least some of those sites getting rid of the royals would be an improvement from a tourist point of view, allowing greater access.
You'd still have to maintain Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace, though.The £37m Civil List is basically the cost of running the royal households.
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Hard News: Any excuse for a party, in reply to Robert Fox,
I won’t be watching tonight as my lukewarm republicanism overrides my desire to consume royal kitsch or watch British eccentricity mediated by the terrible presenters on TV1 and 3.
Fortunately, the actual coverage will be direct from the BBC (on TVNZ) and ITV (TV3).
Seeing Springtime London in glorious Hi Def certainly has appeal though so I may take a sneak peek between sporting events.
The proper coverage doesn't start until after the sport finishes. It's all terribly convenient.
As far as NZ becoming republic goes, whose side would you be on in battle between Good King William and the prospect of the Evil President Brash/Banks etc
You're freaking me out now.
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Hard News: Any excuse for a party, in reply to James Butler,
A relevant question would be what fraction of that money would still be spent in the absence of the monarchy? People still visit the palace at Versailles, after all.
Correct, and they'd still visit the Tower of London. But look at the ubiquity of the British royal family in the media. Having a living monarchy is good for the franchise.
This isn't an argument for keeping the monarchy in Britain, just noting that the public investment in running it is relatively modest when you take into account the commercial return -- and thus isn't, in itself, a great argument for abolishing the monarchy.
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Hard News: Any excuse for a party, in reply to Ethan Tucker,
I’d go into town for the spectacle, if only I wasn’t allergic to bunting. Oh well.
To the pub with you then, sir!
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Hard News: Any excuse for a party, in reply to Rich of Observationz,
I realize that that kind of economics … is a bit of an article of faith here, but there are those that disagree.
The Herald seems (unusually) to have uncovered a few slight overestimates around the Rugby World Cup (TM) for instance.
It’s not a projection. A VisitBritain study found that tourists spent more than £500 million visiting attractions associated with the British monarchy and its history in 2009. There were nearly a million visits to Windsor Castle alone. I don’t think there’s any doubt that royal tourism is a major earner for Britain.
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Cracker: RIght On., in reply to Sacha,
I’d take that with a sack of salt. All depends on how much of the vote they get – and what the shady backers of both parties tell their boy Key to do
Could someone just ask Brash about this?
It seems such a bloody obvious question. There's even been a reference from the Brash camp to the Epsom polls being bankrolled by a "longstanding admirer of Brash". Well, who_?
It would also be perfectly appropriate to simply ask Brash what contact he's had with the party's key funders, and which ones backed him. Even if he didn't answer, there's nothing wrong with asking about something that's being alluded to by both friend and foe.
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The Media7 show is available for viewing online.
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Cracker: RIght On., in reply to Steve Parks,
Bravo, sir. Shot.
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Cracker: RIght On., in reply to Damian Christie,
@Tim – With respect (and I’m prepared to be wrong) I’m not sure if you do remember rightly, I think ACT has always had this dilemma. I don’t think Douglas is exactly a dyed in the wool libertarian. The focus has always been far more about economic liberalism (Unfinished Business), and as much as the party’s manifesto makes lots of libertarian noises, there’s always been this Conservative/Libertarian split. It pisses a lot of the young people off.
Indeed -- the internal contradictions have been there right from the very beginning. I remember Act's first public meeting -- I think it was still a lobby group and not a political party at the time -- and there were libertarians and economic liberals standing uncomfortably next to string-'em-up types and social conservatives.
There's also the other key faction: the loonies. I don't think any Parliamentary party has had a senior official as crazy as Act's former VP -- and now full-time Obama-hunting conspiracy nut -- Trevor Loudon. Not in my lifetime anyway.
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Media7 tonight, TVNZ 7, 9.05pm, with Jon Stephenson and Simon Wilson.
Best show we've done.