Posts Tagged ‘len brown’

Auckland Council Mayoral candidates – Mark Thomas

Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, September 24th, 2015 - 21 comments

Mark Thomas who has close ties with the National Party has announced that he is going to run for the Auckland Mayoralty next year.

Why is it Len’s fault?

Written By: - Date published: 10:45 pm, December 10th, 2014 - 36 comments

Various Tory voices, fresh from finding Len Brown guilty of needing a wee; now find he’s to blame for failing to get his visionary Central Rail Loop started on time, with its delayed start to 2018. But surely the blame lies not with him, but squarely with National and Key for refusing to pay their share until 2020.

ImperatorFish: A statement from the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union

Written By: - Date published: 2:23 pm, December 9th, 2014 - 22 comments

The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is outraged at the scandalous behaviour of Auckland mayor Len Brown. The people of Auckland deserve better than a mayor who spends public money discharging his bodily wastes.

NZ Herald: Disgrace to democracy

Written By: - Date published: 11:03 am, December 18th, 2013 - 246 comments

The  right wing NZ Herald editors, have misused their position in the news mediascape to  produce some shameless, highly partisan and manipulative propaganda. They do not have the interest of all Aucklanders at heart. More considered analysis needed. Let’s wait for tomorrow’s public meeting.

National’s civil war continues

Written By: - Date published: 8:39 am, October 28th, 2013 - 140 comments

Matthew Hooton said this week that Cameron Slater should put up or shut up.  Slater then promised explosive new revelations in the SST and the Herald today.  As detailed by Karol in her post The Blame Game the revelations were, but I suspect not in the way that Slater had hoped for.  Because he has succeeded beyond what I thought would be possible in converting a story about a a philandering mayor into a story of how forces on the right tried to usurp the democratic choice of Aucklanders.

The Blame Game

Written By: - Date published: 7:51 am, October 27th, 2013 - 107 comments

And so it continues.  Inside the Palino-Wewege-Cook-Slater camp, every one is pointing the finger at everyone else and putting the blame elsewhere for the clumsily executed smear campaign against Len Brown.  Got to wonder who is in the shadows frantically pulling various levers?

Playing dirty: The politics of contradiction

Written By: - Date published: 8:03 pm, October 19th, 2013 - 169 comments

Slater’s track record speaks for itself. As the Brown-Chuang-Wewege-Palino story unfolds, his angle on the story shifts, and the contradictions abound. On The Nation this morning,  Slater lays it out: politics is a dirty game, and that’s the game he’s playing.

Palino and Slater have to be joking

Written By: - Date published: 9:23 pm, October 18th, 2013 - 261 comments

Of course John Palino did not know about the Len Brown Bevan Chuang relationship despite Chuang’s boyfriend who knew of the relationship being on his campaign team and despite Cameron Slater’s father being Palino’s campaign manager. Update: The Herald this morning has reported that Chuang claims to have met Palino for 90 minutes two days before the news of the affair was made public where the disclosing to Brown of the news was discussed.

The NBR and Editorial Independence

Written By: - Date published: 8:24 am, October 18th, 2013 - 21 comments

The NBR has fired long time senior reporter Jock Anderson for writing a sympathetic Len Brown editorial.  This apparently was against instructions even though the comments appeared to be balanced and fair.  This raises concerning issues about NBR’s editorial independence and the control over content that management has.

In defence of Bevan Chuang

Written By: - Date published: 8:11 am, October 17th, 2013 - 283 comments

We have two politicians in trouble in New Zealand.  One is facing two years jail.  The other is facing opprobrium for inappropriate moral behaviour.  Of course the politician who breached the moral code is facing the most examination.  The character of the other woman has also been heavily scrutinised and commented on and she has gone into hiding.  Perhaps it is time that her wish for privacy is respected.

The attack on Auckland’s Democracy

Written By: - Date published: 9:06 am, October 16th, 2013 - 172 comments

With Tea Party type zeal Cameron Slater is trying to bring down Len Brown’s mayoralty.  What has happened is a tragedy for Len’s family and himself.  But as Mayor of the super city we need him to move on from this.

Len is standing again

Written By: - Date published: 7:33 am, July 16th, 2013 - 40 comments

len-brownLen Brown has announced that he will again seek Auckland Super City’s mayoralty.  I know this will provoke a mixture of views but style wise I think he is great and substance wise he has had successes but should have done more with MUNZ, the living wage project and Sky City.

Political vision?

Written By: - Date published: 9:27 am, May 3rd, 2013 - 61 comments

Today’s NZ Herald editorial on Auckland’s up-coming mayoral election campaign, says Brown has vision, but Minto and Williamson lack it. What sort of vision should the left provide in the up-coming local authority elections around NZ, and in NZ’s parliamentary elections in 2014?

The NZ Herald – advancing Auckland backwards

Written By: - Date published: 10:52 am, May 1st, 2013 - 32 comments

To the Herald the Fourth Estate must be a greenfield development on the outer margins of Auckland: a Dickensian space, hiding the poor from the upper middle-classes. The Herald lacks critical balance & equal weighting for diverse views: it scaremongers about the Akl Unitary Plan & undermines public transport.

Akl Unitary Plan: the good, the bad & the debatable

Written By: - Date published: 10:44 am, March 17th, 2013 - 39 comments

The Draft Auckland Unitary Plan has much to commend it.  It focuses on resource management, responds to the reality of climate change & aims for a more dense but ‘liveable’ city.  It has weaknesses, embraces destructive “growth” and raises questions: e.g. about affordable housing & environmental management.

Auckland housing: Brown vs Smith

Written By: - Date published: 10:54 am, March 7th, 2013 - 53 comments

Nick Smith, of the forked tongue, is challenging Auckland council’s plan for affordable compact housing. It will do nothing for housing affordability, transport, the environment. It is undemocratic, over-rides the council, and will enrich developers.

The bill arrives for the “supercity”

Written By: - Date published: 1:52 pm, August 1st, 2012 - 37 comments

The bill for the Nats’ Auckland “supercity” is arriving in ratepayers’ letterboxes. Some are in for a nasty shock…

Better write those cheques, Len & John

Written By: - Date published: 6:31 am, April 5th, 2012 - 81 comments

Update: Labour had accused Banks of not declaring the $15,000 donation from SkyCity as required under local government electoral law. The law is strict. If he is charged and convicted he’ll be kicked out of Parliament. Key will have to take his portfolios if Banks didn’t declare the money.

It’s safe to get off the fence now, Len

Written By: - Date published: 9:54 am, March 31st, 2012 - 50 comments

The PoAL management looks as incompetent and divided as the Nats after their ‘bullet-proof’ contracting out plans were shot down by the Employment Court and a director resigned publicly admonishment management’s strategy. Time to use that bully pulpit, Len. Say you have no confidence in Pearson and Gibson, demand they drop their plans, and get the port back to work.

PoAL’s illegal lockout adds to Auckland’s losses

Written By: - Date published: 9:02 am, March 23rd, 2012 - 178 comments

The Port of Auckland’s refusal to let the stevedores return to work now that they have lifted their strike notice is a lock-out. There are specific legal requirements around strikes and lock-outs at ports and other essential services – notice must be given in writing and with 14 days’ notice. The Port’s lock-out is illegal. And it’s costing Auckland millions.

What next at PoAL?

Written By: - Date published: 8:02 am, March 22nd, 2012 - 167 comments

Despite the court making them return to the bargaining table, PoAL Chair Richard Pearson seems to fail to understand some basic principles of employment law.

His comments on morning report suggest he’s either ignorant of some basic legal issues or still has no regard for good faith bargaining.

I’d suggest that either case indicates there’s a need for the council to step in and put some responsible adults in charge of this company.

The press release Len Brown should be issuing

Written By: - Date published: 12:25 pm, March 9th, 2012 - 35 comments

A contrite Mayor Len Brown today offered his apology to Port workers for causing their redundancies by demanding higher port profits then giving them the cold shoulder. “I turned my back on the working class. That ‘we’re on a journey’ BS on RNZ was the final straw. I am donating to the workers the $2,000 they gave my election campaign, and the $270,000 3-year payrise they helped me get when I became Auckland mayor.”

A Dear Len letter

Written By: - Date published: 11:20 am, March 8th, 2012 - 103 comments

Len Brown gets a Dear Len over his performance over the Ports of Auckland dispute.
“I delivered your leaflets in the rain. I erected your hoardings across Auckland. I phoned and canvassed support for you. I encouraged my friends to vote for you. But it’s over. Frankly, I find your protestations that you could not help the 292 sacked wharfies asking to be able to work to live and not live to work offensive. Don’t play the victim: your salary is too big.”

 

Maori seats for Auckland?

Written By: - Date published: 3:10 pm, November 16th, 2010 - 8 comments

National’s handling of the Auckland SuperCity process was profoundly undemocratic in a multitude of ways.  Thank goodness, and the common sense of Aucklanders, that a “Labour Mayor from South Auckland” was elected to sort out at least some of the resulting mess.  Len Brown has pledged to hold talks on dedicated Maori seats on the Council.  It’s great to see that Brown is open to correcting National’s injustice on this matter.

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…

Gordon Campbell: Central vs Local Government

Written By: - Date published: 7:02 am, October 21st, 2010 - 12 comments

Gordon Campbell on central government’s reaction to the local government elections.  Campbell argues that National has a vested interest in the failure of both Len Brown in Auckland and Celia Wade-Brown in Wellington, and that voters have rejected the “1980s model of political leadership”.

Caption competition

Written By: - Date published: 4:44 pm, October 11th, 2010 - 37 comments

Be captivating…

Auckland Moves Left

Written By: - Date published: 11:03 pm, October 9th, 2010 - 13 comments

Len’s in in Auckland, but it’s not just the man at the top the left can be happy with. Auckland may have provided a few new seats to National at the last general election, and Hide may have done his best to set up the SuperCity for his mates to win – but the Council doesn’t look so bad either. Add in the Local Boards, and it wasn’t a big day of celebration for the right.

Congratulations to Len Brown

Written By: - Date published: 1:30 pm, October 9th, 2010 - 121 comments

It’s official, Len Brown is the first ever super city mayor. My congratulations to him and to his team who have worked so hard to get this result. It’s a great victory for the people. The Right thought they had stitched up Auckland very nicely with their undemocratic supercity but the people have rejected them […]

Banks desperate

Written By: - Date published: 12:54 pm, October 6th, 2010 - 60 comments

As it goes down to the wire in Auckland, John Banks’ desperation is on full display.  It’s not a pretty sight.  Banks seem to have nothing to offer but negative campaigning, personal attacks, and South Auckland dogwhistles.  He deserves to lose.

Desperation from Banks team

Written By: - Date published: 12:29 pm, September 14th, 2010 - 32 comments

John Banks’ team really jumped the shark yesterday with their bizarre ‘poll tax’ attack on Len Brown. Banks claimed Brown was proposing a Thatcher-style poll tax to fund the Supercity instead of rates. Of course, Brown is proposing no such thing – he is saying we should look at replacing rates with income tax. Desperate, Banksie, desperate.