Posts by Tom Semmens
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We won! We won! I was there, and I can tell you all that the last ten minutes were amazing, the assembled will of our people was almost a physical presence. It was certainly worth one point, and that is all they All Blacks needed.
I will never, ever, forget the urgent desire of our countrymen and women in that stadium in the last twenty minutes. And I am so pleased that a group of athletes and coaches who so wanted something were granted what they sought.
Yay to be us today.
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Australia was so dominated, and we forgot to tell them the safe word.
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And the symbolism of Key's empty promises are coming thick and fast
The one-off John Key hour on RadioLive suited him perfectly - a place where he can say what he likes with guests fed to him by the Prime Minister's office.
On that radio show Key pronounced himself a great fan of Coronation Street.
"Who's home at 5.30?" Key said. "It's got to be moved" and he would talk to "someone important enough to see whether that can happen".
I asked one of Key's press secretaries Lesley Hamilton if he had made such an approach to TVNZ. But Hamilton said absolutely not - and he was never serious about making such an approach.
That was never explained when he was on air. It was just something to say.
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"No government department can do its job without adequate resourcing. In my opinion, it is up to governments to ensure that departments charged with carrying out statutory functions for the benefit of the community are provided with sufficient resources to enable them to do so. Here, the evidence is clear that the Department of Conservation lacked, and continues to lack those resources. For futur...e safety that must change." - Report into Cave Creek disaster, 1995 - Minister of Finance Bill Birch, deputy Minister of Finance Bill English.
"...National froze Maritime NZ's Crown budget in 2008, intending to keep it at $5.7m till 2014... ...Ernst & Young's December 2010 report warned of "high risk" to the Crown agency's "sustainability in the medium term". The risk would "either stop or erode the improvements to date or impact on its ability to deliver the core services required to ensure the maritime industry operates safely"..." - Minister of Finance, Bill English.
Two National governments, one Bill English, same results.
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What a great example of the the 99% versus the 1%.
And a great example of the osmosis of the ruling elites, who model their behaviour on an organised crime gang.
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The staging of Diwali festivities in Aotea Square was an absolute winner this past weekend, as was the closure of the adjacent stretch of Queen Street for the food stalls. If nothing else, we’ve learned that closing roads for public events isn’t only possible in Auckland – it’s highly desirable.
i don't want to rain on my Indian friend's parade, but yet another free festival with street food with low to no overheads competing with the cafe/restaurant trade? Can no one else see the problem of trying to operate a full cost comercial business when every bloody weekend there is a free festival on?
It seems to me that the correct balance between providing tournament only entertainment and the needs of business to turn a buck has not been struck in Auckland. The RWC was sold to local businesses (you know, the ones whose rates and tax are actually subsidising the tournament) as a chance to make some extra coin from locals and tourists alike.
The government and RWC organisers then proceeded to strip all that extra money from them - and more besides - by setting up dedicated fan zones.It is simply outrageous, the equivalent of allowing a street vendor to set up a subsidised sausage sizzle outside the takeaway bar every Saturday morning in the winter when the ground across the road is packed.
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…“RNZ hadn’t been advised that he’d be airing such strong personal criticism of the prime minister’s character…”
I believe Richard Griffin has finally penned the epitaph for RNZ’s gravestone.
Oh and did anyone else notice this little doozie from the HOS practically ordering Epsom voters to come their senses and vote for ACT? John Banks clearly still has some personal friends in important places within the Auckland establishment.
The two items above, taken in isolation, are extraordinary enough. Taken in combination, and the polls start to make sense.
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I wonder if the workers at Foxconn will get a half-day holiday to attend a memorial service?
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forcing the smaller parties to redirect vast amounts of effort ensuring they have the required number of members will achieve that nicely.
And I am afraid that for me, this is the exact encapsulation of everything that is wrong with the mindset of our current elite political cadres.
No one should be elected who thinks that party membership is a tiresome chore that distracts from the business of government. It is an exactly upside down argument.
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nd you somehow think that all current membership fees paid to parties are reserved solely for an election campaign?
No. But 2.25 million is kinda the bottom end. If you had 100,000 members with a $25 fee then you would have $7,500,000 - more than enough to fund a party machine for three years and contest an election! One of the purposes of these constraints on funding would put a halt to the deleterious impact of our current continual three year election campaign model. Steven Joyce wouldn't be able to afford to pay David Farrar to poll and focus group for him twice a week.
The elction campaign would hopefully last six weeks only, and we would have to spend the rest of the time arguing about policy. Surely that would be a good thing!