Posts by Russell Brown
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Hard News: Political Idol, or whatever…, in reply to llew40,
But who gets to decide what is a ‘good’ deal or not, and what would unintended consequences be on future corporate interest in investing in NZ when deals or regulations (e.g. auckland airport and OIO rules) might get reneged on or changed with the political wind?
On the other hand, it’s not just any old contract. I can’t think of another commercial deal that commits every elected government for the next 35 years on a whole area of social legislation. Treasury strongly warned the government against doing so.
And more to the point, Stephen Franks, who was deftly retained by the Green Party, says the government doesn’t have the power to sell the law:
The Government’s pokies for convention centre deal cannot bind future governments to compensate SkyCity if the deal is revoked, leading constitutional lawyer Stephen Franks says.
Mr Franks’ law firm Franks & Ogilvie was asked by the Green Party to advise on the constitutional implications of the deal.
In his report, Mr Franks said it was not possible for SkyCity and the current Government “to exclude the ability of the NZ Parliament to revoke the contract in whole or in part”.
He also said the current Government could not prevent a future government from acting to “negate Government liability to SkyCity including under the compensation provisions”.
SkyCity could seek compensation under arbitration for actual losses suffered, but it couldn’t simply assert its contract over and above the sovereignty of Parliament.
Franks concluded:
Mr Franks’ analysis also suggested the preliminary deal or “heads of agreement” signed by the Government and SkyCity last month “exhibits an approach to procurement that skirts important constitutional safeguards.”
The Government was in effect selling dispensations from the Gambling Act to SkyCity which were not available to others in return for the convention centre.
“The ability to “purchase” a dispensation from regulation sits uncomfortably with the rule of law”, Mr Franks said.
So it’s not just a commercial deal. It’s an undertaking the government didn’t have constitutional power to make.
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Hard News: In the red zone, in reply to Hebe,
Words commissar says the term “tar baby” is loaded for Maori, so I must not use it. Okay, sorry for any offence that I may have caused. Substitute “big problem”.
I was doubtful, but then found this:
Is tar baby a racist term? Like most elements of language, that depends on context. Calling the Big Dig a tar baby is a lot different than calling a person one. But sensitivity is not unwarranted. Among etymologists, a slur's validity hangs heavily on history. The concept of tar baby goes way back, according to Words@Random from Random House: "The tar baby is a form of a character widespread in African folklore. In various folktales, gum, wax or other sticky material is used to trap a person." The term itself was popularized by the 19th-century Uncle Remus stories by Joel Chandler Harris, in which the character Br'er Fox makes a doll out of tar to ensnare his nemesis Br'er Rabbit. The Oxford American Dictionary defines tar baby much like Romney used it, "a difficult problem, that is only aggravated by attempts to solve it." But the term also has had racial implications. In his book Coup, John Updike says of a white woman who prefers the company of black men, "some questing chromosome within holds her sexually fast to the tar baby." The Oxford English Dictionary (but not the print version of its American counterpart) says that tar baby is a derogatory term used for "a black or a Maori."
It still seems a shame to surrender such a rich concept on the basis of an obscure usage -- which seems only to be supported by one version version of the OED. Does Greg know any more?
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Meanwhile, things are turning bad again in Iraq. 44 people in mainly Shia neihgbourhoods killed in coordinated bombings.
And: 4000 civilians killed and and more than 10,000 injured this year. 1000+ last month alone. This is 10 years after the invasion.
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Hard News: In the red zone, in reply to Hebe,
Gerry Brownlee says today he can’t tell them the dcisions on the land due to yesterday’s Quake Outcasts decision.
It starts to look like collective punishment.
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One occupied-and-vandalised house on Avonside Drive. Depressing.
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This one seemed to suit monochrome.
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Hard News: Political Idol, or whatever…, in reply to Matthew Poole,
Precisely. If the deal is only worth doing by way of an “unconstitutional” (inasmuch as such is possible in this country) attempt to bind future parliaments, the deal is probably not worth doing.
It was also, as the deputy auditor-general's report noted, done via a deeply unsatisfactory process in which the successful party was given knowledge not available to other tenderers. It does quite quickly become difficult to feel sympathy for SkyCity.
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And meanwhile, the Prime Minister apologises. Sorta:
Key apologised today, saying he was sorry if any offence was caused, but his comments needed to be taken in context.
"Look, that's the expression people use when there's a breakdown in things, so it's got to be seen in the context of that sort of situation," he said.
"But yeah, if people are offended by that, look, of course I'm sorry.
Got that? Its not his fault. It's just something people say. And who is people? Us. We should be jolly well ashamed of ourselves.
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Hard News: In the red zone, in reply to Marion Ogier,
The red zone is at the end of my street. I seldom go there – it is too depressing. An film reel plays in my head – x lived here, my kids played with y there, that house had the cute dogs, that house there I coveted to live in and so on.
I can understand that. I realised a diversion had taken me around the place where David and Jen's place used to be and thought about going back, but I figured it would make me sad looking at the empty space.
As I noted, most of my Christchurch friends don't go there either.
I do encourage the rest of Christchurch (and any visiting peeps) to go and have a look around though – you’ll understand the tragic past better and may be get inspired about the possibilities for the future – parks, nature zones etc Something good has to come out of it all.
I hope so. And I'm relieved that this post has been universally well-received. I didn't want to be Earthquake Tourism Guy from Auckland.
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Hard News: This time it's Syria, in reply to bob daktari,
according to this report its the rebels
That report's based on a Washington Times report from May -- it's both dated and from a very ropey source.
But that hasn't stopped it being taken up by the conspiracy sites. Ditto this insane Daily Mail story, which claimed proof that the US was setting up a false-flag chemical weapons attack to provide a pretext for invading Syria.
Actually, the emails were faked and the Mail paid out a tidy settlement to the people it defamed in the story. If someone directs you to this story, feel free to set them right.
