Open mike 03/08/2021

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, August 3rd, 2021 - 57 comments
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57 comments on “Open mike 03/08/2021 ”

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  1. Sacha 1
    3 August 2021 at 6:59 am

    Auckland Council sells its park workers' jobs. Good discussion by Todd Niall. https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/local-government/125927769/for-sale-320-auckland-council-workers-jobs–but-why

    Amenities and Infrastructure Maintenance Services (AIMS) is the last council-owned company in a decreasing number of firms which do council work such as cleaning public toilets and mowing public parks.

    If the price is right, the council will sell it without needing to consult with the public. The firm is now no longer a big enough player to trigger the “significance” criteria. Except for the significance to its 320 workers and their loved ones.

    In short, it is being sold to cut costs. Somewhere. But that is not the language the council uses in the latest step in its “Shaping our future programme”, under the subheading “Optimise our service outcomes”.

    • Cricklewood 1.1
      3 August 2021 at 7:43 am

      I don't get it, We're already using Australian and 1 Christchurch owned firm.

      They are in business to make profit and said profits represent money sucked out of our communities.

      I guess the mayor always was a Rogernome so no real suprise.

    • mickysavage 1.2
      3 August 2021 at 7:53 am

      Dang that is crazy. This cult thinking that only private enterprise can deliver quality services is so wrong.

      • pat 1.2.1
        3 August 2021 at 8:08 am

        Quality has nothing to do with it, removing public pressures however….

      • Sabine 1.2.2
        3 August 2021 at 8:13 am

        the Auckland Council is a cult?

        The council, in a self-written article in the general news section of its Our Auckland website said: “AIMS is performing well but lacks scale to realise its full potential and a new owner could develop and grow the business while providing career opportunities for AIMS staff.”

        • Incognito 1.2.2.1
          3 August 2021 at 8:19 am

          Are you an illiterate or just acting like one?

          You did fall spectacularly for that spin too.

          SSDD

          • Sabine 1.2.2.1.1
            3 August 2021 at 8:29 am

            i must be all of that, hence why i asked.

            Good morning Incognito, i truly hope that you have a blessed day.

            • Rosemary McDonald 1.2.2.1.1.1
              3 August 2021 at 8:42 am

              …a blessed day. Under His Eye wink

            • Incognito 1.2.2.1.1.2
              3 August 2021 at 8:44 am

              A person drives a car on the M-way and listens to the traffic report that warns of a km-long queue of very slow and crawling traffic on the exact some stretch of road going in the exact same direction. The driver exclaims “LOL!” and shakes their head in disbelief at the stupidity and ignorance of the traffic reporters because the road in front of them has been clear all the way and friendly oncoming cars have been flashing their lights warning the driver of hidden speed cameras and cops ahead. The driver thinks that they’ll never be caught for speeding because they’re going extra slow as precaution.

          • Sacha 1.2.2.1.2
            3 August 2021 at 1:06 pm

            Maybe in the fatherland, the cults are all ISO-accredited?

  2. weka 2
    3 August 2021 at 9:31 am

    Just so we’re clear, cooling the housing market isn’t an actual solution to the housing crisis. Labour want investment housing to continue just not as fast. We will never catch up via building houses or increasing minimum wages.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/448328/govt-and-reserve-bank-agree-on-new-moves-to-tighten-mortgage-lending

    • pat 2.1
      3 August 2021 at 9:40 am

      The devil will be in the detail….what level of DTI, how and to who it applies, and when, but this has potential to have real impact on affordability (over time)….the fear is palpable.

      • weka 2.1.1
        3 August 2021 at 9:53 am

        Affordability for the investor classes. How will it help homeless people, those on social housing waiting lists, low income renters?

        Do you think it will drop house prices?

        • pat 2.1.1.1
          3 August 2021 at 10:45 am

          Affordability in general…potentially. as stated the devil is in the detail.

          The DTIs are likely to come in at a still unaffordable rate but I expect over time they will decrease….whether that forestalls a crash is unknown.

          State/social housing will still need to be expanded.

    • AB 2.2
      3 August 2021 at 1:20 pm

      The Reserve Bank is most concerned about the stability of the financial system and the over-exposure of banks to risky lending. That's the problem they're trying to solve – not housing affordability for everyone. Everyone has pretty much given up on the latter point because it can't be solved with existing tools. Nor will it be solved by an uncontrolled crash in house prices – as investors will 'buy the dip' and cream it even more excessively as prices claw their way back up again.

      Time to see housing as an essential service or piece of social infrastructure that has to be taken out of the market altogether (or at least partially so) – like justice, police, education and health. That won't happen though.

      • weka 2.2.1
        3 August 2021 at 1:38 pm

        thanks. I was talking about Labour more than the RB. Labour have the tools (eg political capital and the hands on government), but as you say, they won't use them.

      • pat 2.2.2
        3 August 2021 at 4:53 pm

        Stability and affordability are linked….especially with the level of bank credit that is tied up in one asset class.

        While it is true the RBNZs primary function is the stability of the financial system they are also required to have consideration of the Govs policy intentions.

  3. Ad 3
    3 August 2021 at 2:33 pm

    Minister of Finance Grant Robertson just cast serious shade over the Auckland cycle bridge, and wants the full harbour crossing tunnel accelerated.

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/auckland-traffic-grant-robertson-wants-to-speed-up-second-harbour-crossing-considers-scrapping-cycle-bridge/ANVSK25QIRMQGXOOEHZSW3BDZM/

    Why would anyone think that 2 hours of cyclists revolting over the bridge was worth the political price of the massive nationwide blowback the government got from the decision?

    The tenor of Robertson's comments tell me that the 9% poll fall has hurt them, and they are reacting.

    • Jimmy 3.1
      3 August 2021 at 2:50 pm

      Of course they are concerned about the latest poll. We are now suddenly able to let workers in from the islands, it's now looking like the bike bridge will not go ahead. What next? No light rail now that Michael Cullen has said they shouldn't do it?

      • Ad 3.1.1
        3 August 2021 at 3:03 pm

        The government needs to reposition itself: now that it has lost tens of thousands of centre voters, it has to figure how to get some of them back.

        They will be fully aware that they have a brace of massive policy proposals, and will have to dump some of them.

        Remember too that in the next year they will be opening the fully Hamilton bypass, and Transmission Gully.

        • DukeEll 3.1.1.1
          3 August 2021 at 3:18 pm

          But cyclists are the best people in the world and what they do is the answer to all the worlds problems? how could the government move away from supporting that position?

          • Ad 3.1.1.1.1
            3 August 2021 at 3:23 pm

            Roughly, they already have the cyclist vote in the bag, and they need to get the driver vote back. And there's a lot more of the driver vote than the cyclist vote (though they of course mostly intersect).

  4. Jenny How to get there 4
    3 August 2021 at 3:08 pm

    If you, or I, publicly stated, 'people are wanting to "bottle" the leader of the opposition, Judith Collins'. How could it possibly be misunderstood what we meant?

    National leader Judith Collins says a comment she made about people wanting to "bottle" Police Minister Poto Williams has been taken out of context in a "nasty" way……

    …..”I think a lot of people want to bottle her,” Collins said

    Collins dismisses 'nasty' interpretation of comment she made about Police Minister (msn.com)

    • gsays 4.1
      3 August 2021 at 3:22 pm

      Clearly, like summer peaches, Collins thinks Williams is so desirable she needs to be bottled so can be enjoyed in the off-season.

      Or… Collins shot her mouth off, in front of a non critical crowd and now has to make shit up because a filthy journalist had the gall to report her words. Not the first lapse of judgement from Collins, maybe she will be preying for forgiveness in the near future.

    • alwyn 4.2
      3 August 2021 at 3:22 pm

      I, at least, would assume you meant it in exactly the way Collins says. I don't see how anyone could misinterpret you.

      But then I don't have quite the fervid, (or should it be fetid?) imagination of some commenters on sundry political commentary sites on this "inter-web thingy" as I've heard it referred to.

      • Gypsy 4.3.1
        3 August 2021 at 4:49 pm

        Isn't language (or at least slang) an odd beast. I've always thought 'bottle' meant courage.

        • Drowsy M. Kram 4.3.1.1
          3 August 2021 at 5:08 pm

          I've always thought 'bottle' meant courage.

          A 'courageous' interpretation of Collins' intent; there's much fortune in your future.

          Plenty of people want to bottle the Gypsy – a ‘top’ vintage, by some accounts.

        • Jester 4.3.1.2
          3 August 2021 at 9:56 pm

          Yes I have heard it used as meaning courage before.

    • Jimmy 4.4
      3 August 2021 at 4:17 pm

      Poto Williams daughter is not going to get far in this world if she is this fragile……"feels unsafe after hearing the National Party leader say her mother needed to be "bottled"."

      Talk about making a mountain out of a mole hill.

      https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/police-minister-poto-williams-family-distressed-over-judith-collins-bottled-comment/AO6MV3KRHPWQXSGHA4EIUYM5IY/

      [Many people would like snarky little trolls to be kicked back under their bridge. It appears that you haven’t read your own link, which is characteristic of trolls. In your next comment in this thread below, you berate the press of bringing the MP’s family into it, which is exactly what you did in your stupid troll move and most likely because the MP mentioned it. I lose patience fast with dickhead trolls such as you and I can’t wait till kick you back under your bridge – Incognito]

      • bwaghorn 4.4.1
        3 August 2021 at 4:47 pm

        You really are a pathetic little apologist for the least fit for leader that national have had, .

        • Jimmy 4.4.1.1
          3 August 2021 at 5:00 pm

          It's so obviously twisted and blown out of proportion it's not funny. Press should not even bring MP's family in to things like this.

          Lucky I'm not as fragile as them and can take your insults on the chin and move on. I'm sure you feel better now!

          • Gabby 4.4.1.1.1
            3 August 2021 at 5:43 pm

            Collins should be taken out the back and shot shouldn't she Jimmy. Pregnant pause. In close up of course, to capture her radiant smile.

            • Jenny how to get there 4.4.1.1.1.1
              3 August 2021 at 6:38 pm

              Personally speaking, I find it terribly offensive, for anyone to suggest violence be committed against anyone, even as a joke.
              Suggesting violence be committed against a democratically elected representative, is an attack on our democracy, and therefore an attack on all of us.

              Urban Dictionary "bottled" top definition

              https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=bottled

          • bwaghorn 4.4.1.1.2
            3 August 2021 at 5:48 pm

            Hand on heart( if you've got one) do you think collins is fit to lead a country, she comes across as slightly deranged when ever I see her on the tv .

      • mac1 4.4.2
        3 August 2021 at 5:21 pm

        Bottled can mean put into a bottle such as when perserving fruit. Collins did not mean that.

        Bottle is another word for courage but is not used for this meaning in the past tense 'bottled' so Collins did not mean that.

        Bottled can mean being hit with a bottle. In the context especially of discussing gangs this meaning is definitely available for interpretation as such.

        I have never heard of someone needing to be bottled like a 'genie' in this or any context except that of folk lore. Genies are taken out of bottles, not put into them in colloquial speech, meaning to allow actions with unalterable consequences.

        Collins may have intended to create a new usage of 'bottled'. I doubt it. She would have enlarged on her new usage to be clear.

        She is trained as a lawyer, and should know how to use language clearly.

        This, to my mind, is a fudging of an attack upon the Minister of Police to say it referred to a genie. That is her attempt to weasel out of a most inappropriate use of language.

        At best, it has a double meaning should we allow the genie bottling explanation. The meaning it doubles with is to assault someone with a deadly weapon.

        A double meaning word play with this degree of violent interpretation is plain wrong in any context.

        Collins has crushed herself with this one in a vice of her own making.

        • Drowsy M. Kram 4.4.2.1
          3 August 2021 at 5:50 pm

          This, to my mind, is a fudging of an attack upon the Minister of Police to say it referred to a genie. That is her attempt to weasel out of a most inappropriate use of language.

          You're on to it I reckon – the 'genie defense' sounds like something Woodhouse might have dreamed up; have they found his homeless mystery man yet?

          And what would Collins wish for, I wonder, if a genie was to grant her three wishes? An little outbreak of Covid-19 (preferably the Delta variant), or maybe some personal strife in the PM's life, à la Lees-Galloway.

          Yes, they're busy little (and big) bees, those opposition National party MPs – fomenting trouble and strife for the benefit of all NZers.

          Btw, wasn't that an excellent apology speech by PM Ardern on Sunday – showed some bottle I reckon.

          https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/02/jacinda-ardern-apologises-for-new-zealand-dawn-raids-on-pasifika-people-in-1970s

          • mac1 4.4.2.1.1
            3 August 2021 at 6:50 pm

            I haven't read the speech. Drowsy M Kram, but her use of the offended culture's processes of apology to make amends is outstanding. Not 'cultural appropriation' but appropriate deference to another cultural symbolism. To respect and defer to another cultural tradition is truly meaningful and even game-changing behaviour.

      • Incognito 4.4.3
        3 August 2021 at 7:14 pm

        See my kind Moderation note @ 4:17 pm.

    • Drowsy M. Kram 4.5
      3 August 2021 at 4:48 pm

      Vintage Collins really.

      In unrelated news, Sky TV have canned their 'Vintage' movies channel – about time?

    • pat 4.6
      3 August 2021 at 6:35 pm

      We need better politicians

  5. McFlock 5
    3 August 2021 at 3:30 pm

    On a different not, I think I discovered the nerdiest way to watch sports. The Olympic weightlifting scorebord had live updates just to the numbers (declared, and then the outcome).

    Absolutely fascinating: getting three tries to achieved declared weights obviously introduces a massive headgame into things – e.g.Li Wenwen declared 175kg, then when the closest competitor finished at 161 the declaration immediately popped down to 162kg. She finished with an Olympic record 180, but how much of the original 175 was a realistic start-out as opposed to making everyone else go "oh, shiiiiit…".

    So, yeah, deducing tactics and tension by watching the scoreboard get updated and swapped. lol

    • Mickey D 5.1
      3 August 2021 at 5:30 pm

      I saw that and thought much the same thing, there's some serious mind-games going on there. I wonder if a subtle rule change would make it more interesting – whatever your stated lift weight is, that's where you start. No going down in weight if you've psyched the others out – you said you could lift that weight – please proceed!

      • mac1 5.1.1
        3 August 2021 at 5:56 pm

        Realistically, how many lifts, even at weights below their maximum, can a lifter make without affecting their performance at the top of the range/end of the contest weights?

      • McFlock 5.1.2
        3 August 2021 at 9:25 pm

        Part of the fun of it, I guess. She did finish higher than that weight, and the reduction to 162 might have been automatic (just to confirm she could beat it).

        Hubbard failing 120 and then going up to 125 looked like a tactical decision, too.

        I feel a bit sorry for the smaller lifters in that class, though. The gold medallist was lifting twice their bodyweight (I think a couple of them were only 90-odd kg). How often does someone beat an opponent 30-50kg bigger?

  6. Ad 6
    3 August 2021 at 4:20 pm

    Lisa Carrington and the women's paddlers are awesome.

  7. Morrissey 7
    3 August 2021 at 9:17 pm

    The grim yet hilarious sight of a fertile mind fertilising at full capacity

    Yes, "Sir" Robert Jones is at it again.

    Funniest quote from this masterpiece:

    One of my best mates is maori.

    https://nopunchespulled.com/2021/07/20/colonialism-nonsense/

    More hilarity involving Sir Robert Jones:

    https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-18072013/#comment-664471