Daily review 15/08/2022

Written By: - Date published: 5:30 pm, August 15th, 2022 - 24 comments
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24 comments on “Daily review 15/08/2022 ”

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  1. Robert Guyton 1
    15 August 2022 at 6:41 pm

    "A white supremacist who was jailed for sharing footage of the March 15 terror attack, is standing for the board at one of Christchurch’s most multicultural schools.

    Philip Arps was sentenced to 21 months’ imprisonment in 2019after he sent a video of the mosque killings to 30 people and asked a friend to modify it by adding cross-hairs and a “kill count”.

    He is one of nine people contesting five parent trustee roles at Te Aratai College, which is 850m from Linwood Islamic Centre where worshippers were killed and injured in a mass terror shooting on March 15, 2019.

    Arps’ attempt to join the school board has prompted calls for the rules to be changed, as they provide “no safeguards against extremist parents”."

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/129574109/white-supremacist-formerly-jailed-for-sharing-terror-attack-footage-standing-for-board-at-multicultural-christchurch-school

    • pat 1.1
      15 August 2022 at 6:59 pm

      “no safeguards against extremist parents”."

      Isnt that what an election is…a safeguard against extremist views?

      Arps wont be elected, but if by some miracle he was then he will have a negligible impact on the way the school is run.

      • Incognito 1.1.1
        15 August 2022 at 7:03 pm

        what are the odds @ 5/9?

        • pat 1.1.1.1
          15 August 2022 at 7:32 pm

          very low i would imagine….if anything is going to engage a school community to vote in a board election this is it,

      • Robert Guyton 1.1.2
        15 August 2022 at 7:07 pm

        I agree with you, pat. That miraculous outcome; that Arps or some other of his ilk, should be elected, and find themselves entirely boxed-in, neutralised and impotent, seems not to have occurred to any of them. Their stated aim is to make the place 'ungovernable" but what will happen in reality, is they'll be shown the door.

    • Nic the NZer 1.2
      15 August 2022 at 7:06 pm

      One would think thats 3 more candidates than needed to keep Arps off the board. Good on him for incentivising turn-out.

      • Robert Guyton 1.3.1
        15 August 2022 at 10:05 pm

        Another pathology for us to address. They're coming thick and fast now. Biologists will have suggestions on how to best manage pathologies, as will medical people, IT experts – smart people from all manner of industries and fields – we need to collate this information and put the known methods into play. If we don't we will fail on every level. As a forest-gardener, I've learned that containment, following recognition, is the step to take, then reduction of the ill-ness, using methods that don't cause collateral harm. Total eradication is a pointless aim, as vestiges have to remain to keep the "mother" organism on her toes.

  2. Sacha 2
    15 August 2022 at 8:02 pm

    Aucklanders need to halve our driving in the next 8 years.

    https://twitter.com/stateless/status/1559086667495264258

    • Belladonna 2.1
      15 August 2022 at 9:38 pm

      Well, I've read the link, and the document that that links to, and I'm still at sea over what, practically, the plan is.

      Taking a random example – from the TERP summary document p. 7 point 4, under "The transformation we need to make together"

      "Wherever possible we need to reduce the trips we take by for example going online for services (banking, GP appointments, etc.) and mixing working from home with commuting into the office. To make the network efficient we need to use new tools like congestion charging"

      So, what does that mean in practice?

      The online services examples are poorly chosen.

      Online banking is driven by banks (not individuals or local government), and is highly exclusionary – poor people, people without English as a first language, older people, people who are not IT literate – all struggle with online-only services. And it's becoming more and more difficult – and you have to travel a lot further – to actually get a face-to-face meeting in a bank. It's the reverse of the 'local services in your neighbourhood' that they're promoting.

      Online appointments with your GP. Again this tends to be driven by the GP – and a phone consultation is frequently offered first. But face-to-face consultation is often necessary – and sometimes essential (the doctor spots something in person, that would never have come out over the phone). However, even if all consultation was in person -this is hardly likely to be a significant 'driver' (pardon the pun) of even local trips – visiting your GP is not an every-day, every-week or even, every-month activity for the vast majority of people.

      Mixing working from home with visits to the office. Can we say white-collar, middle-class. The vast majority of Aucklanders don't work in an office (certainly not one in the CBD). And do not have an option to work from home. How does this policy affect them? Or doesn't it? In any case, apart from the office-workers directly employed by the Council – this is not something that the Council has any control over. Working from home is something negotiated between an employer and employee – Council have zip influence over this.

      Finally, congestion charging. This is the biggie. Finally a tool that the Council can actually use, rather than pious wishes. But no details. Where is the statement that congestion charging to enter Auckland CBD will be X dollars, from 5 am to 10 am. (examples for illustration, only – I have no idea what they are actually planning).

      The wording is so vague, that we don't know if they're planning congestion charging on all roads, all of the time.

      If it's a pathway – I'd actually like to see some concrete way-points, rather than fluffy PR bureaucratese.

      • Belladonna 2.1.1
        15 August 2022 at 10:12 pm

        And, just to make it clear that I'm not against changes, here are some more practical (and radical) changes that the Council could signpost:

        • CBD congestion pricing entry (5-10) exit (3-7).
        • CBD parking levy (flat rate charge on every carpark in the CBD – exemptions for people with disability passes, etc.)
        • Flat rate per-desk charge on office-space in all office buildings (make it financially worthwhile for businesses to encourage work from home)
        • Flat rate charge on all supermarket, big box store and local mall parking spaces. The more you have, the more you pay.
        • Fee partially rebated for those who offer a free e-vehicle drop off service (so you can bus or walk to the local supermarket, and be dropped at home with your groceries)
        • Free delivery and/or pick up of books from your library (often driving is the only way to get there during opening hours). Surely it's better for the environment for 1 e-van to deliver to multiple people, rather than dozens of people drive to the library. [Mind you, the frequency of the service would have to be good – or I would not be a happy user]
        • Multi-user rebates on public transport (frequent users get free additional trips) – like your coffee card rebate – but more frequent. The more you use, the more you save. Automatically calculated and/or rebated onto your Hop card balance.
        • Hop cards attract rebates on other services (half price coffee, or ice-cream at the zoo; 30% off Auckland Live events) [Have to think how to do this – but I'm sure it's achievable]
        • All PT drivers get the living wage+. Council mandates base conditions as part of the contract. Make being a PT driver an attractive career.
        • Sort out the reliability of PT. I know it's covid. But constant cancellations of services is seriously bad news. Trains constantly down for maintenance in the summer – more bad news. No wonder people drive.
        • Plan for the difference between weekday and weekend PT needs. On a summer weekend, there should be a service to and from Takapuna beach (and other North Shore beaches) every 10 minutes – rather than 1 per hour… The zoo, Auckland Museum, Kelly Tarletons, Motat, etc. all need dedicated bus services – making it realistic for families to use PT, rather than drive.
        • If PT service is cancelled, offer free uber to the nearest PT hub. Customers should never be left stranded. Cost falls on the outsourcing company (incentive for them to staff adequately, and ensure maintenance is up to scratch)
        • Look at innovative PT solutions: driverless cars, tiny buses for off-peak trips, hop-on, hop-off endless road up Queen St (be creative)
  4. observer 4
    15 August 2022 at 8:31 pm

    Here is the 2023 NZ election result:

    65% beats 25%

    And this is from the same poll (i.e. same respondents) released last week, which gave National and ACT a predicted majority.

    Clear lesson here. Voters will not switch to National/ACT for economic policy, but only to the "opposition" for being "other".

    Labour take note.

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