Posts by Russell Brown
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Hard News: Angry and thrilled about Arie, in reply to Joe Wylie,
If Doc Newbold had gone back for a sabbatical in the form of experience that once underpinned his academic credibility, he might have been better placed to provide some form of citation for his anecdotal allegations.
Newbold: "It was just a loose comment I made. I've got no evidence of it but everyone knows it took place, but I've got no evidence of it.''
Sheesh.
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Hard News: The Politics of Absence, in reply to BenWilson,
Yes, there is always the chance that one of these 60 people serving the entire country might be able to help you in some random way. I just don’t see how that should give them half of the executive power.
Well, executive power rests with Cabinet, for a start.
And while local representation is a legacy, it's not a legacy that should be easily discarded -- if only because the electorate simply won't let you do that. The idea of all representation being divorced from place is slightly scary. I'm not sure if you understand how much good local MPs actually do. Even the touchy-feely stuff is important -- turning up to local community groups and the like.
National politics does not and should not all happen all in Wellington. That's why good list MPs have adopted electorates and opened local offices. And as Joe notes, the people of Christchurch have had every reason to feel glad of their local MPs in the past year.
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Meola Road hoarding update:
Greens' "richer future" hoarding now in place.
Nikki Kaye's sign has been vandalised (sigh) but is still standing.
No sign of Act, Maori Party, Mana, United Future, NZ First, etc.
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Hard News: The Politics of Absence, in reply to Stephen R,
That’s why I support the Greens.
And fair enough too. Like most of us, I didn’t have a lot of time for Sue Kedgley, but in general, I respect and admire the Green MPs. But I’m impatient with the idea that they’re the alpha and omega of representation, or offer a model that would solve Labour’s problems.
I really like Nandor, but he was bloody lazy when he stood in Auckland Central. He had a constituency there that could have been developed in a way that boosted the party vote – and maybe, just maybe, gave him a shot at a seat eventually. At the least, a sound local effort would provide a focus and some continuity for Green volunteers – and help the party get its vote out so it delivered polling into actual votes.
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Hard News: The Politics of Absence, in reply to BenWilson,
It seems to me that people go to their MP because they can, and if they couldn’t, they’d find some other way.
Hmmm. Big call.
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Hard News: The Politics of Absence, in reply to JLM,
From my experience in a town with at least four MPs (5 for a while if you count Hilary) only two of whom have electorate seats, all the MPs have offices and do constituent work. I’m not sure that citizens distinguish between who holds the electorate or not, they go to who can help
That's really encouraging to hear. I think the practice of list MPs effectively adopting an electorate is a good one.
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Hard News: The Politics of Absence, in reply to Carol Stewart,
Quite. Say what you like about Nick Smith, he’s done that very well in Nelson.
Sometimes to a fault, but yes.
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Hard News: The Politics of Absence, in reply to Joe Wylie,
When you have a burning local issue, as is happening with Canterbury’s rolled-over red zone residents, the Greens’ lack of interest certainly makes it look that way. Six years ago the party’s Christchurch Central candidate did letter box drops stressing her connection with local issues. Currently they seem bent on projecting themselves as being too shiny too get involved.
I was talking to someone yesterday -- not involved with any political party -- who remarked on how motivated and organised young local Labour activists in Christchurch seem to be. You could certainly put some of that down to the remarkable work the Christchurch Labour MPs have done since the earthquakes -- it's a holding-to-account role where an Opposition MP is actually of more use than a government one -- but my friend also had the impression there was something similar going on in Dunedin.
I think this touches on the urban-rural divide Tom noted upthread.
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Hard News: The Politics of Absence, in reply to Sacha,
I’d avoid words like “actual”.
Whatever. Representing a place, then. There is a real and genuine duty in representing a community of varied interests. It's what we expect any MP from any party to do.
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Hard News: The price is that they get to…, in reply to Rich Lock,
Seems a bit dodgy to me – I reckon it’s probably one of those Nigerian 419 scams.
Now you mention it, I do have a remarkable business opportunity for you.