Pandas for everyone

Written By: - Date published: 1:25 pm, September 22nd, 2015 - 56 comments
Categories: john key, national, spin, the praiseworthy and the pitiful, you couldn't make this shit up - Tags: ,

pandas and cycleways

John Key must be desperate to divert attention away from flags and other things. He is talking about Pandas again.

The Herald reports:

Taxpayer money will be put up to help bring giant pandas to Wellington if a deal can be worked out, Prime Minister John Key says.

Wellington City Council is to look at a business case for bringing the animals from China to Wellington Zoo, but one councillor who is opposed believes the project could cost up to $100 million.

Mr Key said he believed the cost would be less than that, but would still be considerable. If the council came up with a proposal the Government would likely commit funds to help out.

“The Government would make some contribution, but not necessarily massive,” Mr Key said. “I don’t know how much support, and the process is long and slow.”

So Key is prepared to spend a considerable part of $100 million for a photo op with a panda?

56 comments on “Pandas for everyone ”

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  1. Detrie 1
    22 September 2015 at 1:31 pm

    Ponytails, pandas, flags… What other john key fetish [distraction] waits us?

  2. David Scott 2
    22 September 2015 at 1:34 pm

    If he wants pandas let him pay for them out of his own wallet.
    Start dealing with the real issues John.

  3. Sabine 3
    22 September 2015 at 1:44 pm

    what else is he getting other then a panda or two. and do we really still need zoos?

    • dukeofurl 3.1
      22 September 2015 at 2:04 pm

      Thats a very good question. Surely they can have all the conservation they like in their natural habitat.

      Bringing at least 2 ?to Wellington is just a throwback to the old chimpanzees tea party.
      I cant see how the Wellington zoo professionals would have a bar of this ?

    • Clemgeopin 3.2
      22 September 2015 at 10:18 pm

      NO

      Unjust, unfair and uncivilised.

  4. Barbara 4
    22 September 2015 at 2:05 pm

    What has NZ ever done to deserve this prize idiot running the country – my old Granny used to say when life was going to the dogs “I must have killed a Chinaman” – pandas are the last straw – a large chunk of this country are in total denial and ignorance to keep voting him in, I just can’t believe so many people are so stupid. It used to be a nice feeling to admit to being a New Zealander, now I feel shamed at what is happening to this lovely country.

    Start doing your job Key and forget the distractions of flags and now pandas.

    • Draco T Bastard 4.1
      22 September 2015 at 2:45 pm

      As far as I can make out, Key sees the distractions as his job.

    • Grey Area 4.2
      22 September 2015 at 5:40 pm

      “A large chunk of this country are in total denial and ignorance to keep voting him in, I just can’t believe so many people are so stupid”. Denial (yes), ignorance (yes) but especially fear and/or greed. And distractions like flags and pandas help.

  5. weka 5
    22 September 2015 at 2:09 pm

    I do hope that panda isn’t riding a commie bike.

  6. Dazzer 6
    22 September 2015 at 2:17 pm

    Kind of ironic when it’s normally Labour that is accusing of panda-ering to minorities and special interest groups …

  7. dv 7
    22 September 2015 at 3:13 pm

    Eeeegh
    Stop Pleeeeeease

  8. katipo 8
    22 September 2015 at 3:16 pm

    From the Gaurdian…

    http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/13/edinburgh-zoo-pandas-tian-tian-china-pandanomics-birth-cub

    …..However, the costs are rising and experience from other zoos suggests that the numbers will tail off if no cub is born. The pandas are rented from the Chinese government for 10 years and the contract stipulates that Edinburgh must pay £600,000 a year for the pair. Any cub that is born must be returned to China after two years. Should one die because of human error, it is understood that the zoo must pay £300,000.

    But that is just the start. The zoo had to spend nearly £300,000 to house its pandas and has now been hit by rising bamboo costs. When the pair arrived in 2011, it cost around £70,000 a year to import fresh shoots from France, but this has risen to £100,000, said Valentine. To offset the costs, the zoo has now planted 3,000 clumps.

    Having a panda can be ruinous, say some zoos, and could even take money away from other conservation work. Washington, Atlanta, Memphis and San Diego zoos are said to have spent $33m more on pandas from 2000-03 than they received from showing them.

    During the cold war, Mao gave pandas away as a sign of diplomatic friendship. But World Resources Institute researcher Kathleen Buckingham, with a team at Oxford University, last year studied China’s recent panda loans and concluded that all were linked to trade……

    China’s new phase of panda diplomacy…
    http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-24161385

    • Rosie 8.1
      22 September 2015 at 4:20 pm

      Very interesting katipo

      • mickysavage 8.1.1
        22 September 2015 at 8:27 pm

        After this week’s tragedy in Hamilton I really think that we should allow exotic animals to live in their natural habitat and we should tune into National Geographic (if it still functions) if we have an urge to look at them.

        • Grindlebottom 8.1.1.1
          22 September 2015 at 9:58 pm

          Sumatran tigers are classified as a “critically” endangered species in their current natural habitat. About 400 are estimated to be left and the population is declining due to deforestation for agriculture and poaching. I don’t really like animals being kept in zoos but it may be that’s the only way some species will survive humanity’s habit of monopolising the planet’s resources.

  9. One Anonymous Bloke 9
    22 September 2015 at 3:36 pm

    Pandas yes (they’re important for trade).
    Dolphins no (they compete with fossil fuel extraction).

    It’s all about priorities.

  10. NZJester 10
    22 September 2015 at 3:39 pm

    Our Hospitals, Police and Education system to name but a few are under funded and yet John wants to waist more money on things we can not afford.

  11. gsays 11
    22 September 2015 at 3:55 pm

    another example of stealing policy from another party.
    wasnt the civilian party offering pandas for the poor?

  12. alwyn 12
    22 September 2015 at 5:45 pm

    The main proponent of this idea is Wellington’s crazy mayor.
    She is, of course a Green, so common sense is not exactly her forte.
    I think John Key is just to polite to tell Celia Wade-Brown that she is nuts.

    • Paul 12.1
      22 September 2015 at 6:03 pm

      Alwyn, As per grey Area at 4.2 , why do you support Key?

      Are you :
      In denial
      Fearful
      greedy
      Ignorant
      distracted by flags and pandas?

    • Grindlebottom 12.2
      22 September 2015 at 6:09 pm

      Doubt it alwyn. Key usually makes it clear when he doesn’t agree with something someone is proposing. (Subject of course to change in some circumstances when polling or public reaction indicates his stance is hugely unpopular.)

    • One Anonymous Bloke 12.3
      22 September 2015 at 6:45 pm

      Celia Wade-Brown invented Panda diplomacy? Well I never!

    • dv 12.4
      22 September 2015 at 8:58 pm

      The main proponent of this idea is Wellington’s crazy mayor.
      She is, of course a Green, so common sense is not exactly her forte.
      I think John Key is just to polite to tell Celia Wade-Brown that she is nuts.

      Well Alwyn not according to

      http://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=81885

      Press Release – Justin Lester
      Wellington City Council Deputy Mayor Justin Lester is launching an investigation of the business case for Giant Pandas being housed at the Wellington zoo.

      • Rosie 12.4.1
        22 September 2015 at 9:37 pm

        Indeed, Justin Lester, on 3 news tonight seemed to be feeling absolutely positively pantastic about the idea.

        Interesting, as he came in to his position on the Labour ticket. In the meantime Andrew Little, when interviewed on 3news, thought the idea was ridiculous, so they clearly have different views, in the Labour camp, about panda’s.

        In fact, I sometimes wonder about Justin Lester’s Labour values. He doesn’t exactly appear to be a cheerleader for Labour in the local government sense, (although not anywhere near where as bad as right ring plant Nick Leggett, mayor or Porirua) and has been completely unconcerned about the very serious issues we have with cowboy developers, in the northern suburbs, his turf. I am strongly suspecting there is some cosy deal, but I won’t go into that now.

        CeCe, despite her Green credentials is all about the money honey. Her gatekeepers won’t let me near her to discuss these issues with the developers and she was fact in China a few weeks ago when I, for the third time requested a response from her.

        I wouldn’t be surprised if she was complicit in stitching up a deal re panda’s, in conjunction with key, while she was there.

        So far from “jk being too polite to tell Celia she is nuts”, he was probably in on it all along.

        I mean, you did see him on the news right, talking about pandas? He thought the whole thing was fantastic, I mean, pantastic.

  13. Foreign waka 13
    22 September 2015 at 6:16 pm

    I read an article that Mr English is working on an overhaul of the social welfare system by implementing a computer program that collects large data pools to allows “prediction of behavior” in order to intervene before costs on welfare is incurred. Privacy is an issue with the collection of such data and thus the privacy act will be reviewed. On the same handle (welfare) but on a different occasion the Productivity Commission has suggested privatization of welfare. What audacity, a forum of self appointed people have a say in structural political matters that need to be voted on by the people of NZ. Is this a dictatorship?
    And while we were watching Rugby and getting upset about a flag and getting now a Panda story, this is going on behind the scenes. Has anybody else heard something about this?

    • Sacha 13.1
      22 September 2015 at 10:02 pm

      “a forum of self appointed people have a say in structural political matters that need to be voted on by the people of NZ”

      The current government appointed them. New Zealanders re-elected that govt, twice. Opposition parties chose to fail to credibly compete for votes, twice.

      Citizens allowed them to do this. Our fault, either way, nobody else’s.

  14. Psycho Milt 14
    22 September 2015 at 7:00 pm

    So Key is prepared to spend a considerable part of $100 million for a photo op with a panda?

    Why not? Think how much he’ll save not paying all those useless Agresearch scientists – that should leave plenty available for more productive purposes like buying cute furry animals.

  15. weka 15
    22 September 2015 at 7:58 pm

    It’s the new form of government, pandamocracy.

  16. Jenny Kirk 16
    22 September 2015 at 8:27 pm

    Ye gods ! will the populace fall for this one ? ? wait and see …..

    (Thanks Standard for bringing me the latest news on ShonKey’s latest distraction
    politics – I’ve given up on watching TV News ….. and barely glance at the Herald …
    MSM has had its day !)

  17. Clemgeopin 17
    22 September 2015 at 10:00 pm

    Key says panda in a zoo will be very cute. I think Key in there will do even better!

  18. cogito 18
    23 September 2015 at 8:55 am

    Key’s approach: “I have diversions. If you don’t like these, I have others”.

  19. Stuart Munro 19
    23 September 2015 at 8:57 am

    It’s very simple really – astute financial superpower leases Pandas for a substantial sum. Even panda offspring remain their property.

    Galloping colonial clot sells farms, swamp kauri, a shrivelled nothing that was once his soul and New Zealanders into debt and misery. And leases pandas.

    This is cargo cult capitalism – it didn’t work out very well for New Guinea either.

  20. Smilin 20
    25 September 2015 at 12:35 am

    I know im late to the game but could this be another result of Keys stolen thunder I mean Baffle them with Bullshit just about suits his ability to hang on to what he alone perceives as leadership