Posts by Steve Reeves
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Priceless from stuff.co.nz:
Deputy Prime Minister Bill English was returning to Wellington from his home in Dipton to deal with the situation. He was expected to update media this afternoon.
He is trying to behave now, though, isn't he? Unfortunately, a bit late. I think we can all see through this ruse!
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If the waves come from the north, why do the arrival times in Auckland come after those in Wellington?
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Whatever happened to the sacrosanct "user pays" "principle" when you need it (speaking as a cycling, non-dairy-consuming, non-meat-consuming, heatpump-owning, about-to-get-double-glazing (and therefore plotting the undermining of our state) nerd)????
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Looks nice...but (sorry to rain on your verandah), it will only protect us from the rain if there's *also* no wind. Standing in bus shelters (roof much nearer the ground that this sail seems to be) teaches me that rain with even a little wind equals wet quite soon.
Is Auckland ever windy and rainy at the same time?
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...or indeed "why not?"
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@ Russell
All this "trust" business (isn't "trust" an odd term for something which often seems to come down to tax avoidance?) is confusing (as intended?), but, can Bill English at some time in the future become a beneficiary of the trust once more?
And at that point does something happen to get back the money he's currently taking due to the shenanigans being uncovered?
And if not, why hot?
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A campaign to get this "entitlement" dropped would be a good thing---and what better time?: hard times, economy under stress, everyone doing their bit, hard-working New Zealanders, middle New Zealand, tighten our belts, all in this together.....all those phrases we've heard rather a lot of lately.
And I still can't believe Roger Douglas using words like "entitlement" and "right" when it comes to getting to taxpayer to pay for his holidays! How can he be serious?
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I find it especially disgusting that Douglas, with all the historical baggage he's carrying around, feels such a strong entitlement to have the taxpayer pay for his (and his wife's) travels to the UK on holiday.
What the UK MPs found (and I hope ours will find the same) is that working within the rules and doing the right thing are not always the same. And it's not as though he's paid so little that he couldn't afford to pay for his own travel, is it? Also, did he charge the taxpayer just economy class for his holiday travel, or what?
That the word "entitlement" should cross Douglas's lips as a reason for his spending shows such a tenuous grasp on ethics and history that it is almost unbelievable.
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@ Jolisa and Tom...
and the polytechs are being loosened-up for something too
The unis can't be far behind!
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I can't think of any British migrants I've met who don't scoff at "how we give it all away to the Maoris" and no longer feel at home in the UK.
And you've not met me and my family (and about a dozen of the immigrant people I work with...) either, obviously.
In fact, my view is that it is amazing that so many NZers (aren't stereotypes annoying??) have such a nasty, lazy, relaxed racist view *against* "Maoris" (though the "culture" gets trotted out when there's money to made or an overseas embassy to impress, so let's add hypocrisy to the list).
One thing that stands out to me from my first year in NZ: I mooted that I'd like to learn Maori---my co-workers were incredulous that I'd waste my time in that way.
So, *this* British immigrant sees things differently from what the quote implies: I despair at the racism in my new-found home and how people have taken so much away from "the Maoris", and I sometimes wonder if I can feel at home here.