Posts Tagged ‘auckland’

Oh dear – National’s “white elephant” is still growing?

Written By: - Date published: 4:56 pm, November 23rd, 2014 - 44 comments

Public transport traffic in Auckland keeps growing by large 7.7% per year. Car traffic despite all of the motorway and roading improvements grew by just 2.3% in the whole period of 2006 and 2013 amongst commuters. But our current idiotic National transport minister wants  more roads? And won’t let Aucklanders decide what they should do despite them voting with their AT Hop cards.

Auckland power outages

Written By: - Date published: 1:46 pm, October 6th, 2014 - 22 comments

Well the power just went out at work at 1315. Looks like the Auckland is getting the rolling outages as they repair the Penrose systems. The main TS server in Grey Lynn appears to be unaffected at present, as does the subsidiary one that doesn’t have a UPS. I may (like many others) will be […]

Petition for congestion free network

Written By: - Date published: 10:35 am, July 25th, 2013 - 17 comments

Generation Zero are running petition targeting the Auckland transport system. You can sign it here.

John Key re-announces Len’s plan

Written By: - Date published: 3:57 pm, June 28th, 2013 - 42 comments

So John Key has today re-announced the Auckland plan, albeit delayed. So the Central Rail Link is on.  There’ll be a 2nd Harbour crossing that’s tunnels. Combine it with Christchurch and Key’s spent about $10 billion this week.  Bill English will be having a heart attack… but then, it’s all spending in the distant future […]

Last day to submit on Auckland plan

Written By: - Date published: 7:31 am, May 31st, 2013 - 13 comments

Today – by 5pm – is the last day to submit on the draft of Auckland’s Unitary Plan. Generation Zero have made it easy for you with a quick submission form.

Nats sign up for KiwiBuild?

Written By: - Date published: 6:16 pm, May 10th, 2013 - 26 comments

KiwiBuild has already been a success, scaring the Nats in to producing, in conjunction with Len Brown’s Auckland, a more significant housing policy. The “Unitary Plan” is woefully short on detail, but it concedes that KiwiBuild’s target of 10,000 new homes a year is easily achievable (I guess it’s only impossible when Labour propose it).

Shitcast

Written By: - Date published: 6:48 am, December 11th, 2012 - 10 comments

Auckland City Council is developing a computational model of the predicted sewage-related pollution at its beaches. A forecast for sewage, a Shitcast if you will. I’m not protesting the idea of forecasting pollution. I’m protesting the sad fact that it is necessary in “100% Pure” NZ. I think John Key needs to find himself some different advisors to tell him it isn’t so.

The Auckland property market

Written By: - Date published: 7:29 am, November 26th, 2012 - 195 comments

The Auckland property market is back through the roof again, as well covered in The Herald this weekend. Labour’s solution is to build more houses. National’s “solution” is to complain about Labour’s solution.

Cost of the Ports of Auckland fiasco

Written By: - Date published: 11:03 am, March 29th, 2012 - 9 comments

Apparently the Auckland Council doesn’t know how much the POAL fiasco is costing. Rough estimates suggest that the cost is at least $400,000 a day, probably significantly more.  No wonder the Council doesn’t want to know.

Dumbarse ports management and owners

Written By: - Date published: 11:24 am, March 7th, 2012 - 278 comments

Today Ports of Auckland  sacked 292 employees in the pursuit of the unobtainable by the idiotic. The Ports of Auckland from the start intended to provide a conflict with the intent of sacking all the workers and rehiring them on worse conditions, saving $6m (20%) in wages a year. The amount of money saved was a pittance compared to the underlying problems the port needs to fix.

Auckland’s election result was not so bad

Written By: - Date published: 2:55 pm, December 14th, 2011 - 50 comments

micky savage writes about Labour’s results in Auckland. There were some stunning results, particularly in South Auckland where Labour’s share of the vote increased by 10.2% in Mangere, 7.3% in Manukau East and 5.2% in Manurewa.  And in Phil Goff’s Mount Roskill it increased by 1%.  These were very good results in an election where the tide was going out.

McCully needs to front up

Written By: - Date published: 10:24 am, September 11th, 2011 - 92 comments

McCully  is Minister for the RWC.  He claimed the government had done “their best” and assured Auckland that the transport systems were ready to go.  He was wrong in every respect. In the aftermath of the fiasco McCully now needs to front up and get three things right…

Auckland transport shambles

Written By: - Date published: 1:27 pm, September 10th, 2011 - 111 comments

The RWC public transport fiasco was not a good look for our biggest city, and not a great advertisement to the world.

Australia bound?

Written By: - Date published: 10:11 am, August 31st, 2011 - 20 comments

Some advice if you are planning on joining the many kiwi’s that have left the country to go to Australia since National made it their aspiration to do something about that migration trend. They certainly have massively increased the outflow – one of their few success stories. But where to go to in aussie?

Campaign for MMP Quiz Night

Written By: - Date published: 3:48 pm, April 27th, 2011 - Comments Off on Campaign for MMP Quiz Night

Quiz Night. Food and prizes provided. Friday 13 May, 7pm.
Fickling Convention Centre, Auckland.

Happy birthday Auckland

Written By: - Date published: 12:01 am, November 1st, 2010 - 8 comments

Happy Birthday Auckland!  The new Supercity is now in effect, with Mayor Len Brown at the helm.  How is the tension between a left wing mayor representing a third of the country, and a right wing central government, going to play out?  The Nats can’t afford to let Auckland fail…

Radicals are a pain

Written By: - Date published: 10:31 am, March 12th, 2010 - 28 comments

Looking at the leaders for the Fabians seminar on Sunday, it looks to me like it is going to be quite interesting because it is likely to focus more on incremental rather than radical methods. One of the major issues to me with the existing ‘debate’ on economic matters has been the level at which it is ideologically driven rather than based on the actual economy. The main problem with the ‘debate’ are impatient radicals from all sides.

Reminder: Drinking Liberally – Auckland

Written By: - Date published: 3:30 pm, October 20th, 2009 - Comments Off on Reminder: Drinking Liberally – Auckland

Drinking Liberally is returning to the London Bar for a session with Greenpeace Executive Director Bunny McDiarmid. When: 7pm WEDNESDAY 21 October Where: The London Bar, upstairs cnr Queen and Wellesley Streets, Auckland CBD Who: You and like-minded left-wingers. All welcome. What: The climate change debate is heating up. World leaders will soon gather at […]

Drinking Liberally – Auckland

Written By: - Date published: 1:25 pm, October 15th, 2009 - 1 comment

Drinking Liberally is returning to the London Bar for a session with Greenpeace Executive Director Bunny McDiarmid. When: 7pm WEDNESDAY 21 October Where: The London Bar, upstairs cnr Queen and Wellesley Streets, Auckland CBD Who: You and like-minded left-wingers. All welcome. What: The climate change debate is heating up. World leaders will soon gather at […]

Samoa Relief Concert

Written By: - Date published: 10:56 pm, October 6th, 2009 - 4 comments

Brash and Banks try to profit off vulnerable

Written By: - Date published: 2:13 pm, September 10th, 2009 - 31 comments

Former National Party leader Dr Don Brash and Auckland Mayor John Banks love making the big bucks. And what better way to do it than hitting the most vulnerable in society. Today the National Party stalwarts are after mental patients. The Herald notes: KiwiSaver targets mental patient An Auckland woman is dismayed her 25-year-old son […]

Drinking Liberally Auckland

Written By: - Date published: 9:49 pm, May 18th, 2009 - Comments Off on Drinking Liberally Auckland

Join all your favourite lefty liberal drinkers at Drinking Liberally Auckland When: 7pm, Wednesday 20 May Where: Galatos, 17 Galatos Street, Newton (just off K road) Who: you and like-minded left-wingers. All welcome. NOTE: THE CHANGE OF VENUE WE’VE MOVED TO GALATOS – more room, more time, more parking, free entry, food nearby, etcetera. Click […]

Not my Leaders

Written By: - Date published: 1:14 pm, May 6th, 2009 - 2 comments

Hide and Banks do not strike me as the kind of men you feel safe about having too much power. They never have been and they never will be. Yet so far the ongoing review of the so called ‘Supercity Plan’ has suggested it’s only weakness is that the Lord Mayor wouldn’t have enough power. Instead, […]

When is the required referendum?

Written By: - Date published: 3:21 pm, April 20th, 2009 - 19 comments

I agree with the title of the Herald’s editoral today: “Let citizens have say on Super City“. Unfortunately, the editoral itself is wishy-washy. Aucklanders do deserve to have a say on the super city proposal. They should get to vote yes or no on the supercity in referenda before anything is set in stone. In […]

The fightback begins

Written By: - Date published: 7:33 am, April 18th, 2009 - 22 comments

This morning I picked up the local newspaper out of the mailbox – Harbour News. On the front page was this extraordinary editorial – “Who stole our Voice“.  The editor of the Harbour News tears Rodney Hide and the NACT government a new excretory orifice. This is what is coming from the ground up all […]

Creating venal politics

Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, April 11th, 2009 - 13 comments

It appears that John Key and Rodney Hide are participating in an old political action in Auckland – the gerrymander. From a general desire from politically aware Aucklanders to get a more coherent local government for the city, they have constructed a political system for business to completely dominate the city. Democratic and public spirited […]

How to approach Auckland

Written By: - Date published: 5:30 pm, April 4th, 2009 - 12 comments

No Right Turn and David Farrar have written posts on the massive lack of proportionality in the suggested voting regime by the Royal Commission report on Auckland governance. Shades of a rotten borough of 18th century England, it seems to be designed to make some voters far more ‘equal’ than others. Unlike the evolution of […]

Pasifika Festival going ahead

Written By: - Date published: 11:30 am, March 11th, 2009 - 5 comments

The opening night of the Pasifika festival at Western Springs in Auckland will be proceeding. After a funding shortfall the Auckland City Council cancelled the traditional Pasifika opening night. But the Pacific Islands Board Auckland City (PIBAC) and the Pacific community rallied together and last week announced that they would be funding the opening night […]

Drinking Liberally Auckland: Reminder.

Written By: - Date published: 11:29 am, August 27th, 2008 - 5 comments

A reminder – Drinking Liberally is on in Auckland tonight with Laila Harre as the speaker. These are always fun to listen to the speaker and you get to do some networking. WHAT: Drinking Liberally Auckland City WHO: You and any of your left-leaning companeros WHEN: 7.30pm, Wednesday 27th August WHERE: London Bar, cnr Wellesley […]

Reminder: Drinking Liberally Auckland

Written By: - Date published: 2:36 pm, July 1st, 2008 - Comments Off on Reminder: Drinking Liberally Auckland

Remember that Drinking Liberally Auckland is having its inaugural session tomorrow with David Slack. Note it in your schedules and tell your left-leaning and green friends where the action is. In fact phone a techno-phobe friend now! WHAT Drinking Liberally Auckland WHEN 7:30pm, Wed 2 July WHERE London Bar, corner Queen and Wellesley Streets, Auckland […]

Drinking Liberally – Auckland

Written By: - Date published: 9:45 am, June 25th, 2008 - 14 comments

You’re invited to the first Auckland Drinking Liberally event – 7.30pm next Wednesday night (2 July) at the London Bar with special guest speaker David Slack. Drinking Liberally brings together people from across the left-leaning wing of the political spectrum for discussion, debate and, well, drinking. The first Auckland event will take place from 7.30pm […]

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