I guess the other side of that coin is when rich white guys steal from us through tax avoidance and wage theft.
If we let them sit around tables and make anonymous donations to political parties, they’ll always be planning a new way to take money from the rest of us.
1. Received remuneration as an executive director of Hujlich but knew nothing of the CEOs operating or his fiddling the books ( not an executive director is different from a director. An ED is more hands on)
2. Did not read a crucial form relating to transparency and corruption in politics before signing it
Neither of these attributes is of ANY use in a Mayor in our biggest city.
Don’t forget his foot n mouth about sth akld folk on the eve of one mayorlty election that cost him dear, then there was the one he lost to Hubbard cos jaffa’s seemed utterly sick of the man.
Ok Tracey, maybe the CRL will sort out your transport issues for you in the central auckland area, but it aint going to solve squat in the outer Akl suburbs. Especially around the manufacturing hubs. Maybe you are the one who needs to understand the issue fully.
The CRL will increase property values everywhere within 10 minutes walking time of any station in the system and will dramatically increase the value of the CBD properties close to the new stations on the CRL. The main failure of the Council is not to explain this and also to not plan the capture of this increase in value to pay for the loans required to build the structure. The main failure of the government on this issue is to try to stab Auckland in the CRL heart in the same way a former National government decided to reduce the planned 8 lane Harbour Bridge down to 4 lanes, forcing the later and much more expensive installation of the Nippon Clip-Ons. The CRL will be part of the national rail system. It should be fully funded by government and it should have been started yesterday.
And THAT fundamental misunderstanding of the loop is exactly why people like you need to stop forming your opinions from soundbites. Actually go to transport blog and gen zero sites and read their proposals. Then you will understand the loop is a means to an end not the end.
The loop will enable easier transition from different directions, it will free up britomart making it possible to run trains from the outer suburbs more frequently.
Perhaps Rob the one thing we can agree is that more roads isnt the answer for the outer suburbs?
My view is that Brown is too impatient in wanting the CRL to go ahead at ‘his’ time frame. Auckland was always going to get it, just as it was always going to get electrification.
Personally I think he should have stuck to consolidating and tweaking the existing network (including the new trains) and getting that working right — that includes, buses, ferries, roads and cycleways, then perhaps in 2020-25, build the CRL. Also, dedicated busways (future proofed for light rail) should have replaced rail to the airport and north shore.
That said, the CRL is not a new idea — that socialist green Marxist, Gordon Coates, railways minister in the far left communist United-Reform coalition government supported both electrification AND the CBD tunnel, back in the 1920’s.
You haven’t bothered:
1. Following the structure of Auckland Council that Rodney Hide set up in contradiction to Royal Commission recommendations for amalgamation, that has caused myriad transparency and accountability issues and included the complete separation of Auckland Transport from Auckland Council,
2. Recognised that the National government (without credible evidence) ensured the focus of the NZTA to roading, roading, roading which impacted on local government budgets,
3. Have any kind of idea on planning and the benefits of access to alternative transport methods in terms of social, community, environmental and financial wellbeing for NZers,
4. Given any consideration to the impact climate change transitions (planned or catastrophic) will have on our quality of life and how good public transport systems put in place will go some way to alleviating that impact…
There’s more but you seem unlikely to read anything that shows how simple answers to complex questions often cause further problems.
Public transport access – if only considered in the short term financial aspect will never be profitable. But that is a fool’s paradise in a parking lot.
We need to do better than that, despite all attempts of National to make it about Len Brown (one vote on a council) and dismissal of any other means of funding it.
Not more fud about the trains. Would you rater pay for a train-set that will cost you less in the long term and actually start making its money back while fixing the cities traffic problems or pay for the NActs complicated road system that will do little to reduce traffic congestion in the long term and just rack up the rates to help produce more traffic congestion and in city pollution?
The original Auckland city rail system was called a white elephant that will hardly be used by anyone by National when it was proposed and built. Within a very short time it has in fact become to popular and is getting closer and closer to reaching maximum capability without the rail upgrades.
None except thats what its looking like however if I’m wrong you can point out to me I’m wrong, if i’m proven right well then there’ll be some crowing from me
Fuck, I’ve always assumed Pucks and The Gormless Fool were one and the same operative (same “sense of humour”, same rhetorical strategies, rarely if ever turn up on the same thread) but hadn’t realised Chris73 was yet another of his personas.
Given that I know what the rates rises under Len will be for, and that something is actually going to help all Auckland yes I am OK with it. Also Len didn’t lie about rate rises, he did foolishly think that a tory-hack government might actually pay for stuff that Aucklanders want, now he is saying he wants to do it without the government and is asking us how we want to do that.
I know that there will be similar rate rises if banks got in (albeit maybe 0.5% lower) but it won’t be going to pay for anything useful; probably only his own salary/perks.
There has never been a tory hack who hasn’t seen rates/taxes and not wanted to take them all for themselves
Actually under Banks you might find your RATES don’t increase so much, but you will almost certainly find water BILLS, road CHARGES and TICKET PRICES will skyrocket. These increases will of course hit the poorer parts of our community harder than the richer parts.
Ahh yes, the rates rises. One of the major justifications for creating the super city was of course so the council could save costs and reduce rates, fat chance of that ever working. Still its surprising how many people in other potential super city regions want to amalgamate councils to try to lower rates!
Of course I could not think of a nicer city to experiment on – cheers for the lesson from Wellington.
Some Aucklanders will end up with lower rates.
All the poor areas will end up paying higher rates, but those in the well off areas will find that their rates will now most likely go down.
After all the council revaluations and the rates ceiling being thrown out? You have got to be joking! Most peoples rates will be going up in Auckland, and they are clearly taking in more money this year.
Proportionally values are going up more in the poorer areas than the well off ones.
As a result a higher proportion of rates will now be paid by poorer people who can least afford it.
And yep there’ll be some poor old superannuant who has lived all their life in what is now a well off area who won’t be able to afford it but at least she’ll have a choice to sell her now highly valued property and move to a lower cost area with some money in the bank.
Those in the poorer areas don’t really have the option to move to an even poorer area.
Banks wouldn’t have run it if he’d won. He would have had the puppet master Joyce’s arm up his arse, selling off holdings in assets like AIAL and PoAL etc, essentially doing NAct Govt’s bidding of emasculating local representation as they originally planned for in creating the SuperCity to start with.
Can you explain how and why Banks would be a good mayor for auckland, regardless of whether len brown runs, with direct reference to…
1. Banks received remuneration as an executive director of Hujlich but knew nothing of the CEOs operating or his fiddling the books ( not an executive director is different from a director. An ED is more hands on)
2. Did not read a crucial form relating to transparency and corruption in politics before signing it.
Penfold was a good guy so I don’t see him as a John Banks kind of character.
I think he is more like the slimy Baron Silas Greenback the toad with a wheezy voice.
On RT (Russian Television) news last night it was announced that Kim Dotcom said that he is about to launch the Internet Party in America to provided an alternative to the Democrats and Republicans and he described himself as ‘Hilary’s worst nightmare.
‘
It was a serious news item so I assume he is planning to go to the USA voluntarily.
For much of my adult life this sack of tory filth arrayed in suit clad mockery of the human form–Archibald Banks–has been on the political stage.
His record as Nat MP, Minister, co-opted ACToid and Auckland Mayor speaks for itself, selling off pensioner housing, threatening ‘boy racers’ while securing prime carparks for his Bentley and Harley at Council HQ, gay bashing till he needed the gay vote, racist beyond compare, reactionary host of subterranean talk back radio.
He holds grudges, still miffed he did not win the Supercity first time round. He must be denied a further opportunity at all costs.
” still miffed he did not win the Supercity first time round”
They really thought they had it in the bag.
I remember watching a presentation on television where John Key introduced John Banks as “the first mayor of Auckland Supercity” before the first elections were held.
The fact that Len Brown won has had two outcomes.
1. They have hated him ever since.
2. They have also hated “those” they think voted him in. Policies reflect this disdain.
If the Left can’t put up a candidate who can beat Banks* we’ve got problems. For one thing his attempt to muddy the evidential waters has to succeed first.
If the Cabbage Boat Caesar is the best the Right can come up with, so have they.
* imagine a tone of derisive contempt when you say the word.
Banks is a dinosaur. If it’s a stretch to call him “vile”, it’s not a stretch to say he’s manifestly unfit to hold high public office in the 21st century.
The new evidence that Bank’s wife got the court to consider that got the charges dismissed is also very shonky.
Dot Com says the two guys she tracked down to testify they never heard anything mentioned about the donation where not there at the time of the donation discussion meeting but at a different time during another meeting between banks and Dot Com.
It is my understanding that Banks has not been exonerated and could still face a retrial. They should send him back to trial for this so the new so called evidence can under cross examination be weighed up.
Is anyone local willing to unbundle Auckland and come up with a more effective and efficient city management system?
Is there any political party with the will to modify Mr Hide’s fantasy in, say, 2017 and onwards.
Not a week passes without grumpy Aucklanders raling (rattles in the breathing) about the forever rates rises, useless transport systems, hysterical house prices, and other indicators that They Have Arrived as a Real International City! woohoo.
How about co-leaders/mayors – one of each political persuasion – who are willing to work together for the greater good of all? (It happens! No need to gnash!) And have the background experience to actually bring this off. Preferably NOT old hacks from the local government brigade.
I wonder if Dame Margaret has repented – and might know a few possibles. Time to be asking, perhaps. We can’t have Auckland flailing around for much longer.
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It's been another week of creating jobs, supporting local businesses, and investing in infrastructure up and down the country - all of which are helping to keep our economy moving post-COVID-19. ...
Transitional housing provides much needed support for Taumarunui whānau New emergency and transitional homes will help ease a housing shortage in Taumarunui and provide whānau with much needed support, say Māori Development Minister, Nanaia Mahuta and Whānau Ora Minister, Peeni Henare. The Ministers officially opened five two-bedroom units ...
Following the success of the phase out of single-use plastic shopping bags, the Government now has plans to phase out more single-use and problem plastics to reduce waste and protect the environment announced Associate Minister for the Environment Eugenie Sage. The proposals are to phase-out: some hard-to-recycle PVC and polystyrene ...
After 102 days we have our first cases of Covid-19 outside of a Managed Isolation or Quarantine facility in New Zealand. Shortly I will ask Dr Bloomfield to set out the details of the case. While we have all worked incredibly hard to prevent this scenario, we have also planned ...
An iwi-Crown approach programme to restore the Raukūmara forest on the East Coast of the North Island and boost employment opportunities for whānau, particularly rangatahi/young people, will receive $34 million funding, Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage has announced. “Raukūmara Pae Maunga is a partnership with Te Whānau-ā-Apanui, Ngāti Porou, and ...
Government agencies and partners are working closer together to provide more Māori Housing through the Te MAIHI o te Whare Māori – the Māori and Iwi Housing Innovation Framework for Action (MAIHI). MAIHI is a kaupapa Māori approach that drives a system change to give effect and impact on Māori ...
Site work is soon to begin on Te Ahu a Turanga: Manawatū Tararua Highway, the project to replace the former SH3 route through the Manawatū Gorge, Transport Minister Phil Twyford said today. Phil Twyford was today in Woodville at the signing of a formal agreement by members of the Alliance ...
The Pacific Islands Forum Economic Ministers Meeting (FEMM) begins today and will focus on the major economic and social impacts of COVID-19 on the Pacific. FEMM is an important congregation of Economic Ministers and senior officials from around the region, and for the first time, the annual meeting will be ...
Cabinet has approved a formal apology and ex gratia payment to former soldier George Nepata, announced Defence Minister Ron Mark. This payment is to recognise the New Zealand Defence Force’s failure to provide Mr Nepata with a safe system of work in April 1989 when, as a result of an ...
A report undertaken by Ministerial Services into Iain Lees-Galloway’s ministerial expenditure has found no evidence of any inappropriate transactions or spending. Ministerial Services undertook a line by line review of all his expenditure, including staff and spouse expenses for the period 1 January 2019 to 30 June 2020. “I commissioned ...
Managed isolation charges for returnees will come into force from 12.01am Tuesday 11th August, after they passed their last cabinet milestone today, Housing Minister Megan Woods said. “The new charging system balances the rights of New Zealanders to return home and helps reduce pressure on the managed isolation and quarantine ...
The Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern and the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands Henry Puna have welcomed the completion of phase one in the establishment of a travel bubble between New Zealand and the Cook Island. Negotiations on the text of an ‘Arrangement to Facilitate Quarantine-Free Travel ...
The Government has launched a new online, phone and onsite service to help New Zealanders connect to a range of employment support and products for workers and businesses affected by COVID-19, announced Minister of Education Chris Hipkins and Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni. Connected.govt.nz is a one-stop-shop for jobseekers, ...
Security guards contracted to the Ministry of Social Development will be paid at least the Living Wage from next month supporting the Government’s commitment towards fair pay and employment conditions, announced Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni. “MSD was among the first government agencies to pay its employees the living ...
The Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage today launched Te Mana o te Taiao, the Aotearoa New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy - a way forward that envisions Aotearoa New Zealand as a place where ecosystems are healthy and resilient, and people embrace the natural world. “Many of New Zealand’s plants and wildlife species ...
“Pacific languages, cultures and identity are essential to the health, wellbeing and lifetime success of our Pacific peoples and their communities in Aotearoa. The strength and resilience of Pacific Aotearoa is not only vital to their own prosperity but integral to the prosperity of all New Zealanders, and is particularly ...
· $38 million to help schools cover unexpected costs related to COVID-19 · $69 million upgrade for online learning · $107 million contingency funding to support school construction suppliers facing additional costs due to the lockdown. The Government is releasing $214 million from the COVID-19 response and recovery fund to ...
Despite the Government installing safety upgrades around the country, people should still take care around rail crossings, said Transport Minister Phil Twyford launching Rail Safety Week. Phil Twyford said installing safety infrastructure is crucial, but we are encouraging people to be more careful around trains too. “We’re making good progress ...
The Government is providing a cash injection to help Palmerston North City Council complete a programme to provide 78 social housing units for vulnerable tenants. The $4.7 million to build 28 units in the Papaioea Place redevelopment comes from the $3 billion set aside for infrastructure in the Government’s COVID-19 ...
A pest free Banks Peninsula/Te Pātaka o Rākaihautū is one step closer with a $5.11 million boost to accelerate this project and create jobs, announced Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage in Canterbury today. “This is a game changer for this ambitious project to restore the native wildlife and plants on Ōtautahi/Christchurch’s doorstep ...
A Government grant of $6.4 million will expand the Pettigrew Arena in Taradale with new indoor courts of national standard. “The project is likely to take 18 months with approximately 300 people employed through the process,” Grant Robertson said. “The expansion will increase the indoor court space up to 11 ...
The Far North tourist destination of Mangonui is to receive Government funding to improve waterfront infrastructure, open up access to the harbour and improve water quality, Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones has announced. A total of $6.5 million from the $3 billion set aside in the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund ...
The Government has re-affirmed its commitment to supporting the hosting of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup, which the ICC has delayed from 2021 to 2022. “This is obviously a disappointing decision for cricket players and fans around the world and for the White Ferns and their supporters here at ...
Cyclists and walkers will now have a safer way to get around Taupō, Tūrangi, and between Hamilton and Cambridge, with funding for shared paths and Te Awa River Ride, Associate Minister of Transport Julie Anne Genter announced today. “The Te Awa River Ride is the latest part of massive growth ...
Six major cycle routes will be completed in Christchurch thanks to funding from the Government’s investment in shovel-ready infrastructure as part of the COVID-19 recovery Associate Minister of Transport Julie Anne Genter announced today. $125 million will be invested to kick-start construction and fund the completion of the following cycleway ...
Plans are underway for a brand new state-of-the-art hub for Whanganui’s justice and social agencies, following confirmation the ageing Whanganui Central Police Station is to be replaced. Police Minister Stuart Nash has announced $25 million in new infrastructure spending to improve facilities for the wider community, and for staff who ...
An adjustment payment has been made to Waikato-Tainui and Ngāi Tahu under the relativity mechanisms in their 1995 and 1997 Treaty of Waitangi settlements, Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Andrew Little announced today. The latest payments to Waikato-Tainui and Ngāi Tahu are $2,700,000 and $2,600,000 respectively to ensure the ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Transport Minister Phil Twyford today kicked off the start of the Auckland NZ Upgrade Programme rail projects which will support over 400 jobs and help unlock our biggest city. Both ministers marked the start of enabling works on the third main rail line project ...
The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) investment of $3.78 million in Wairoa will create much needed economic stimulus and jobs, Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. PGF projects announced today include: $200,000 loan to Nuhaka Kiwifruit Holdings Ltd (operated by Pine Valley Orchard Ltd) to increase the productivity ...
Tenants in public and Māori housing may be benefiting from their own affordable renewable energy in future – a fund to trial renewable energy technology for public and Māori housing has today been announced by Energy and Resources Minister Megan Woods and Associate Minister for Housing (Māori Housing) Nanaia Mahuta. ...
Hokianga will receive $2.7 million to redevelop four of its wharves and upgrade its water supply, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. Far North District Council will receive $1.8 million from the Provincial Growth Fund for the work on the wharves. “The work will include the construction of ...
A $350 million Residential Development Response Fund is being established to support the residential construction sector and to minimise the economic impact from COVID-19, the Housing Minister Dr Megan Woods has announced. “The Residential Development Response Fund will help to progress stalled or at-risk developments that support our broader housing ...
As part of a broader plan to divert waste from landfill, the Government today announced $10.67 million for new infrastructure as part of the Resource Recovery Network across the Auckland region. “This key investment in Auckland’s community recycling network is part of the Government’s Infrastructure Reference Group ‘shovel ready’ projects ...
The Government is investing $45 million in the first stage of an ambitious urban development project for Tauranga that will employ up to 250 people and help the region grow, Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford announced today. Phil Twyford says the funding has been allocated out of the $3 billion ...
Getting low-emission trucks on the road is a step closer with investment in infrastructure to support hydrogen vehicles, the Energy and Resources Minister Megan Woods has announced. The Infrastructure Reference Group has provisionally approved $20 million for New Plymouth company Hiringa Energy to establish a nationwide network of hydrogen-fuelling stations. ...
A new trades training centre to upskill the local workforce will be built in the South Waikato town of Tokoroa through funding from the Government’s COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund, Education Minister Chris Hipkins and Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones have announced. The Government will contribute $10.84 million from ...
The Government has agreed to repeal part of the Oranga Tamariki Act subsequent children provisions, Minister for Children Tracey Martin announced today. “There are times when children need to go into care for their safety – the safety and care of children must always be paramount,” Minister Martin said. “But ...
A $1.5 million boost to grow primary mental health and addiction services for Pacific peoples in Auckland, Hamilton and Canterbury will lead to better outcomes for Pacific communities, Associate Health Minister Jenny Salesa says. Pasifika Futures has received funding to expand services through The Fono, Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest by ...
Twenty-two projects to boost the sustainability and climate resilience of New Zealand’s food and fibres sector have been announced today by Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. The $18m funding will deliver practical knowledge to help farmers and growers use their land more sustainably, meet environmental targets, remain prosperous, and better understand ...
Employment Minister Willie Jackson welcomes an initiative that assists employers to get mature workers into New Zealand small businesses. The disadvantages that older people face in the workplace was highlighted in the whole of Government Employment Strategy. In order to address this, a Mature Workers Toolkit has been developed and ...
New Zealand and Australia reaffirmed today the need for the closest possible collaboration as they tackle a global environment shaped by COVID-19, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters said. “In these challenging times, our close collaboration with Australia is more vital than ever,” said Mr Peters. Mr Peters and his Australian ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nick Wilson, Professor of Public Health, University of Otago As New Zealand enters its second day at heightened alert levels to contain a community outbreak of COVID-19, we expect that it should only be a temporary setback. Four cases with no direct ...
Greens co-leader James Shaw has accused National of calling for the election to be delayed out of concern for their own self-interest, not democracy. ...
Māori are particularly vulnerable to conspiracy theories – especially ones that relate to the eradication of people – because that has been the reality for indigenous people. But if we’re going to protect our whānau from Covid-19, we need to engage, not block.If you’re Māori and on Facebook, chances are ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bain Munro Attwood, Professor of History, Monash University The Conversation is running a series of explainers on key figures in Australian political history, looking at the way they changed the nature of debate, its impact then, and it relevance to politics today. ...
Confirmed cases of Covid-19 will now be sent straight to a managed quarantine facility by order of the Director-General of Health Thirteen new confirmed cases of Covid-19 have been identified - all linked to the four cases of community transmission that triggered a lockdown of Auckland this week. Under a new ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thomas McGee, PhD researcher, Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness, University of Melbourne No child should be denied her rights because her parents are LGBTIQ+, and no family should have to endure the indignity we did. These are the words of ...
The Minister of Conservation has appointed five new councillors and a new Chair to the New Zealand Game Animal Council. “Grant Dodson has been appointed Chair of the Game Animal Council and takes over from Don Hammond who has been Chair since ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Varela, Research Fellow, Tax and Transfer Policy Institute, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Many economists think that earnings in super funds should be taxed at a relatively low rate, compared to labour earnings and other types of earnings ...
What the deputy leader of the opposition has been implying lately is more than “nonsense” – it represents a threat to one of New Zealand’s most powerful and undervalued assets, writes Duncan Greive.Things started getting interesting last Friday. National’s deputy leader Gerry Brownlee appeared on RNZ’s Morning Report to discuss ...
Latest from the Beehive We drew a blank, when we paid our morning visit to the Beehive website. Nothing had been posted since Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage announced the Government’s plans to phase out more single-use and problem plastics to reduce waste and protect the environment. Hmm. Let’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nick Wilson, Professor of Public Health, University of Otago As New Zealand enters its second day at heightened alert levels to contain a community outbreak of COVID-19, we expect that it should only be a temporary setback. Four cases with no direct ...
By Patricia Kamo in Port Moresby A bus driver in Papua New Guinea’s capital Port Moresby says it is hard to force passengers to wear masks when they walk in. It is one of the measures put in place after the lifting of the country’s 14-day restrictions. Driver Mark Duma, ...
By RNZ News Senior Labour MP Grant Robertson has rejected opposition National’s suggestion that Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern step back from announcements on covid-19 alert levels so close to a New Zealand election. National Party leader Judith Collins says it should be health officials, not the Labour leader, announcing changes ...
In the second episode of Alice Snedden’s Bad News, Alice goes to an event at parliament to try to talk with a group of ‘gender critical’ feminists – but things don’t go quite as planned.You’ve probably heard the term used in relation to high-profile people like JK Rowling, but what ...
Evening Report Video: This week in A View from Afar with Paul G. Buchanan and Selwyn Manning, we continue with our debate of how leaders around the world are embracing authoritarianism, isolationism, and in some cases, an abandonment of the rule of international law. A View from Afar is ...
The government has failed to meet its target of increasing the total number of police by 1800 officers in three years. But there are 1280 more officers than this time three years ago. ...
Greens co-leader James Shaw is isolating at home after a Covid-19 test following a campaign trip to the location of New Zealand's latest community cases Climate Change Minister and Green Party co-leader James Shaw has undergone a precautionary Covid-19 test after developing "minor cold symptoms" following a trip to South Auckland ...
A new New Zealand-made drama about life in lockdown was dropped from Prime’s schedule, just days before it was due to start. What’s going on? Peter Salmon reckons the perfect time to watch a New Zealand drama about a second-wave Covid lockdown is during a second-wave Covid lockdown. Prime disagrees, having ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin Jacinda Ardern is Prime Minister for a good reason. She is an excellent communicator. She got the message about mask-wearing almost bang-on in her speech yesterday. She was correctly reported as saying:Aucklanders should use a mask if they leave the house to access essential ...
In this Herald Premium article, the NZ Herald’s Matt Nippert and Keith Ng pick through forecasts and data to find an economy doing better than anyone predicted. As Auckland confronts a second round of community transmission, the gap between predictions and reality might hold clues which can help government and ...
Labour's Grant Robertson has called National's claims on Covid-19 "ridiculous nonsense" while its leader Judith Collins tells Morning Report his accusations are "outrageous". ...
Epidemiologist Simon Thornley says the new virus outbreaks and lockdown responses are proof that New Zealand must, as the WHO has recently said, learn to live with the virus. “An outbreak was inevitable, and therefore lockdowns were never a viable ...
The return to lockdowns is devastating news, on a variety of fronts. From the health perspective there must now be the deep worry that despite all the steps taken during the earlier lockdowns and the border restrictions and quarantines, there is community ...
Coronavirus is back in our community, bringing with it anxiety, fear and uncertainty. If you’re feeling like you can’t face going through it all over again, here are some coping strategies. Aucklanders are once again being asked to dig deep, emotionally speaking, in preparation for another lockdown and the accompanying uncertainty. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Chris Turney, Professor, Earth Science and Climate Change, UNSW Geological and archaeological records offer important insights into what seems to be an increasingly uncertain future. The better we understand what conditions Earth has already experienced, the better we can predict (and potentially ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Grant Duncan, Associate Professor for the School of People, Environment and Planning, Massey University If we can do our grocery shopping under lockdown, we can vote under lockdown too. As much as supermarkets and pharmacies, the general election is an essential service ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Lindsey, Malcolm Smith Professor of Asian Law and Director of the Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society, University of Melbourne Indonesia is still struggling to manage the COVID-19 pandemic. Its fatalities are the worst in Southeast Asia, but so far ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Marschner, Professor of Biostatistics, NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre, University of Sydney It’s hard to recall a time when we didn’t nervously await the announcement of Victoria’s daily COVID-19 case numbers each morning. It was certainly disconcerting when the state recorded more ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Marshall, Academic, Landscape Architecture and Urban Ecology, University of Melbourne Volcanic plains stretching from Melbourne’s west to the South Australian border were once home to native grasslands strewn with wildflowers and a vast diversity of animals. Today, this grassland ecosystem is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sally Larsen, PhD candidate, Education & Psychology, University of New England Whether to hold a child back from starting school when they are first eligible is a question faced by many parents in Australia each year. If you start a child at ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Morris, Professor, Institute of Public Policy and Governance, University of Technology Sydney Many international students in private rental housing in Sydney and Melbourne were struggling before COVID-19 hit. Our surveys of these students before and during the pandemic show it has ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dallas Rogers, School of Architecture, Design and Planning, University of Sydney Public housing estate redevelopments that displace residents to other suburbs are highly disruptive whereas projects that allow them to remain are suggested to be better. We tested this assumption through two ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Bell, Executive Director, The Conexus Institute; Associate Investigator, CEPAR, UNSW The past financial year has been one of the most volatile on record for stock markets, yet almost every Australian super fund has delivered similar returns. This not only demonstrates that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thomas Suddendorf, Professor, School of Psychology, The University of Queensland Today, bags are everywhere — from cheap canvas ones at the supermarket to designer handbags costing up to US$2,000,000. But archaeological evidence shows we have been using mobile containers — bags and ...
Overly cautious politicians and bankers are forcing the Reserve Bank to look at even more extreme ways to stimulate our Covid-hit economy and revive inflation ...
Ardern: Newsroom social. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's warm and informal use of Facebook Live has helped convey vital COVID-19 messages in a clear and relatable way, according to a new academic study. Communication experts claim the honesty and ...
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for August 13, bringing you the latest on New Zealand news and Covid-19 as it returns to the community. Auckland is now in alert level three and the rest of NZ level two. More details here. Official information here. Get ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Collins calls for a delay in the election, an update on community transmission and testing, and businesses fearing the fallout of another lockdown.At this stage, the election is still scheduled to take place on September 19. But with the country’s largest ...
More than 50 people are in managed isolation at New Zealand's border facilities so they can attend the sentencing of the Christchurch gunman in person. ...
It looks like the dream finale of the Super Rugby Aotearoa season before a sellout Eden Park crowd will be off-limits for fans this Sunday, leaving Jim Kayes unfulfilled. It’s not the news a bunch of middle aged, success-starved Blues fans were hoping for. “Hi Richard,” began the note from the ...
Criticism of the Government's Covid-19 response is far from new, and has often had merit. But the new National leadership's dark mutterings of a cover-up are taking New Zealand politics in a dangerous direction, Sam Sachdeva writes."We are all sufferers from history, but the paranoid is a double sufferer, ...
Legendary press gallery doyen Ian Templeton assesses two new studies of former Prime Ministers Jim Bolger and Mike Moore As the 2020 election looms, Fridays with Jim by Wellington writer David Cohen is a timely book. Three-time Prime Minister Jim Bolger's reflections on leadership are insightful. More controversial may be those ...
An announcement on wage subsidies might be needed to avoid job losses - but not everybody agrees the Government should signal its intentions sooner rather than later, writes Dileepa Fonseka Crowds of people spilled out onto the street in Mangere East as the midday deadline for Auckland's entry into Level 3 ...
What’s the science behind the changed position on mask use? Farah Hancock reports. Auckland’s Level 3 lockdown will look different to the last lockdown. This time there will be masks. They’re mandatory for people on domestic flights leaving Auckland and “strongly urged” for everyone else when in public. The Government ...
In the first of a series on Muslim girls and women in sport in New Zealand, Ashley Stanley speaks to Noha Nasef, an ocean swimmer comfortable competing under full cover, who wants women wearing a hijab to be a normal sight in sport. Noha Nasef chose to take up open water swimming because ...
The health workers and contact tracers are out on the front lines, but in the backrooms teams of mathematicians are running scenarios to figure out exactly what needs to be done, and how bad things could get. In big picture terms, fighting a pandemic is a numbers game, but with real ...
Yesterday’s announcement by the Reserve Bank that it will increase its money creation by an extra $40 billion dollars up to $100 billion over the next two years to buy government IOU’s off banks and rich investors sets an all-time record for money ...
The peerless Policy tool returns for its third edition, and it’s better than ever – fully geared to easily compare both parties and candidates across all the important issues.Campaigning might have been suspended for the rest of the week, along with much of normal life, but don’t let that stop ...
The novel coronavirus mutates as it travels between people and around the world. By sequencing the genome, we can try to work out which case is linked with another.As Aotearoa confronted its first cases of Covid-19 community transmission in more than 100 days, the director general of health, Ashley Bloomfield, ...
Ambiguity, uncertainty and unpredictability are three key indicators for stress, and Aucklanders in particular are going through all of those right now The late-night announcement by the Prime Minister was a blow to the pit of the stomach of many. We thought we had this, and maybe some of ...
Wellington company EightyOne has been banned from Twitter for its 'Trumbers' campaign criticising Donald Trump. To date more than 600,000 people have viewed 'Trumbers' on Twitter and it has been shared with the Republican Party and Donald Trump. As ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Royal Commission into Aged Care put the Secretary of the Federal Health Department, Brendan Murphy, firmly in his place when he tried to make an opening statement to attack claims by the senior counsel ...
“Your post goes against our community standards on nudity or sexual activity” was the terse message that Professor David Robie, director of the Auckland-based Pacific Media Centre, RSF’s Oceania partner, received from Facebook whenever he tried to share an article about press freedom in Melanesia, especially the Indonesian provinces of ...
And is he about to launch a coup against Judith Collins? Just asking questions here.Jacindamania was meek by comparison. Just as Ardern captured a nation from the role of deputy leader of the opposition in 2017, so it is with Gerry Brownlee in 2020. Relentless grouchy, Gerrymania is in full ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kylie Quinn, Vice-Chancellor’s Research Fellow, School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, RMIT University On Tuesday, Vladimir Putin announced Russia was the first country to register a vaccine offering “sustainable immunity” against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Developed by the Gamaleya Research ...
Power Play - Warnings another outbreak was bound to happen were not enough to prepare New Zealanders for the shock of seeing the country's largest city put back into level 3 lockdown. ...
Power Play - Warnings another outbreak was bound to happen were not enough to prepare New Zealanders for the shock of seeing the country's largest city put back into level 3 lockdown. ...
At lunchtime yesterday, Jacinda Ardern was easing into full campaign mode on the main street of Whanganui. Just a few hours later, news from Auckland turned her plans, and an election campaign, on its head. Justin Giovannetti reports from Whanganui and Wellington.Jacinda Ardern’s first day on the campaign trail outside ...
One bright spot amid the grimness of the Covid resurgence: the return of our series of charts, graphics and data visualisations of the pandemic by Chris McDowall.Over one hundred days, Covid-19 slowly slipped from my attention. I was aware of new cases reaching Aotearoa’s border, managed isolation breaches, relapses in ...
By RNZ News QR app codes are now mandatory for businesses and services, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield have revealed, as they announced new covid-19 cases in New Zealand. Dr Bloomfield said there was just one new confirmed case in managed isolation recorded today, ...
Justin Latif takes the temperature of his community in South Auckland, ground zero for the latest Covid-19 outbreak.Following the prime minister’s announcement on Tuesday evening, my messenger app began pinging with pictures and videos of people at the supermarket. But it wasn’t panic buying that I was seeing, rather there ...
Odessa To’o on Selina Tusitala Marsh’s picture book Mophead, which was just named the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year. I almost didn’t read this book because of the title. Mophead. Instantly recognisable as an insult for anyone with big hair, even though I’ve never been called it myself. The kids ...
Announcing the winners of the 2020 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults. The supreme prize of the night, the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year Award, goes to Selina Tusitala Marsh for her super-personal picture book, Mophead.Mophead is memoir and clapback and wild doodle; it’s the story of ...
Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk Human rights activist and lawyer Veronica Koman says the Indonesian government has asked her to return scholarship money amounting to 773 million rupiah (about US$70,000) which she received to undergo her master’s degree in Australia in 2016, reports CNN Indonesia. According to Vero – as she ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By C Raina MacIntyre, Professor of Global Biosecurity, NHMRC Principal Research Fellow, Head, Biosecurity Program, Kirby Institute, UNSW With mask wearing in public compulsory in Victoria and recommended in New South Wales, many Australians are buying, wearing or making face masks for the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bruce Webber, Principal Research Scientist, CSIRO Scientists have been interested in the flora of New Guinea since the 17th century, but formal knowledge of the tropical island’s diversity has remained limited. To solve this mystery, our global team of 99 scientists from ...
Photographers John Sefton, in Auckland, and Lynn Grieveson in Wellington watched the return of Level 3 lockdown and Level 2 restrictions on Wednesday, a day of masks, businesses shutting or setting themselves up for limited access, supermarket queues and people exercising their relative freedoms. As the clock ticked down, Bunnings ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alison Taylor, Teaching Fellow, Bond University The Melbourne International Film Festival is currently running online, but one movie announced at their program launch won’t be streaming. At the end of July, Sandra Wollner’s The Trouble With Being Born was withdrawn after the ...
Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield says the Government will sequence the genomes of yesterday's four Covid-19 cases to help identify how the outbreak started. What does that mean? New Zealand has found itself suddenly plunged into a dire situation: Four new cases of Covid-19 in the community with no obvious link ...
Why John Banks must never be the Super City Mayor 
The Waikato Regional Council is actually enforcing the RMA for once: Three Waikato farmers have been fined a total of $116,100 for illegally discharging farm effluent. [...] Gerard Wolvers from South Waikato, who has farmed for nearly 50 years, was convicted on three charges after an unknown amount of ...2 hours ago
The return of COVID-19 community transmission, with Auckland back in a level 3 lockdown and the rest of New Zealand at level 2, raises real questions about New Zealand’s upcoming general election.Polling day is scheduled for September 19 but the planned election process would actually start far earlier. All candidates were to be ...4 hours ago
Conspiracy theorist - Gerry BrownleeWhat on earth is going on with the National Party? Now that Crusher Collins is in charge, it seems like it’s their policy to say really dumb things just to get attention. Unfortunately it’s working, with most of the mainstream media bending over backwards to provide ...4 hours ago
The novel coronavirus mutates as it travels between people and around the world. By sequencing the genome, we can try to work out which case is linked with another. As Aotearoa confronted its first cases of Covid-19 community transmission in more than 100 days, the director general of health, Ashley ...5 hours ago
INT: ILAM ELECTORATE OFFICES – TUESDAY GERRY: Morning everybody. ADVISORS 1, 2, AND 3: Morning Gerry. GERRY: Now… this is a bit of a crisis meeting. Several rogue polls have come out putting the National Party on or around 40% ADVISOR 2: 26? ADVISOR 1: 12? ADVISOR 3: 29? GERRY: ...21 hours ago
Respecting the journal editorial process Each week we scan between 450 and 650 articles for relevance to Skeptical Science's remit: communication of the science of climate change itself the many affected branches of scientific inquiry by climate change. The 100+ journals we cover encompass a galaxy of expertise we cannot ...22 hours ago
Today’s content Community transmission Ben Thomas (Spinoff): What the Covid resurgence means for the election campaign Luke Malpass (Stuff): In this new lockdown, Labour competence will be key Sam Sachdeva (Newsroom): NZ’s bubble bursts as Covid returns Jason Walls (Herald): ‘Extremely disappointed’: National Party leader Judith Collins blasts Govt; says it let Covid-19 back ...1 day ago
What to do to improve the public perception of the newly elected National party leader, when her performance so far has no doubt disappointed the expectations of her supporters? The answer is to get a National-supporting newspaper (the Herald) to organise a poll that could be guaranteed to provide an ...2 days ago
There are only a few days left to make a submission on Statistics New Zealand's consultation on sex and gender identity statistical standards. This represents a really important step for recognising the very real diversity of gender, including people with no gender, and ensuring everyone has the option to see ...3 days ago
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From some quarters, incessant scaremongering. From others, it’s a full-on tilt into touching the alarmist buttons a little too readily (uncertain times make for very captive audiences with this angle of attack). The (so-called) Opposition (and merely regarding them as that seems to be a far looser term now ...5 days ago
The attempts to sabotage Corbyn's leadership seems likely to do more damage than Corbyn supposedly ever could have done, even if all the stories about him were true: I was reluctant to say anything but this is too important, the full story needs to be told.Don’t let anyone ever tell ...5 days ago
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by Don Franks This talk was given to the Wellington Anti Capitalist Alliance, fifteen years ago. The ultimate weapons of mass destruction so far seen on this planet have been used just twice, 60 years ago this month. August 6 and August 9 1945 witnessed the US atomic bombing ...1 week ago
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I guess the other side of that coin is when rich white guys steal from us through tax avoidance and wage theft.
If we let them sit around tables and make anonymous donations to political parties, they’ll always be planning a new way to take money from the rest of us.
+11111
😈
we now have two situations with Banks,
1. Received remuneration as an executive director of Hujlich but knew nothing of the CEOs operating or his fiddling the books ( not an executive director is different from a director. An ED is more hands on)
2. Did not read a crucial form relating to transparency and corruption in politics before signing it
Neither of these attributes is of ANY use in a Mayor in our biggest city.
Well he won’t be as bad Len Brown and hes going to be cleared of charges so theres that
Did you watch the video? Banks is a hateful bigot.
Do you remember what he said about homosexuals needing 6 inches of barbed wire shoved up their arses?
Do you remember the recording of him lying through his teeth about Dotcom? Here you go: http://www.radiolive.co.nz/VIDEO-Hes-a-married-man—John-Banks/tabid/504/articleID/27689/Default.aspx
He also has some serious shortcomings around finances and governance, as Tracey notes above.
On the other hand Len Brown banged an Asian chick, so you’re probably right. 🙄
Don’t forget his foot n mouth about sth akld folk on the eve of one mayorlty election that cost him dear, then there was the one he lost to Hubbard cos jaffa’s seemed utterly sick of the man.
Wonder what Michelle thinks.
“Do you remember what he said about homosexuals needing 6 inches of barbed wire shoved up their arses?”
That’s an appalling thing to say have you got a link as it needs to be brought up at election time if he ever does decide to run again.
Yep he’s a truly awful little man. http://www.google.co.nz/search?q=john+banks+barbed+wire
I’d be more concerned about the rates rises Aucklands getting to pay for Lens train set
You wouldnt be if you bothered to read up about our transport problems rather than regurgitate myth laden lines
Ok Tracey, maybe the CRL will sort out your transport issues for you in the central auckland area, but it aint going to solve squat in the outer Akl suburbs. Especially around the manufacturing hubs. Maybe you are the one who needs to understand the issue fully.
Can you explain how increasing the capacity of the rail network to be able to carry more trains more frequently only affects one part of the network?
The CRL will increase property values everywhere within 10 minutes walking time of any station in the system and will dramatically increase the value of the CBD properties close to the new stations on the CRL. The main failure of the Council is not to explain this and also to not plan the capture of this increase in value to pay for the loans required to build the structure. The main failure of the government on this issue is to try to stab Auckland in the CRL heart in the same way a former National government decided to reduce the planned 8 lane Harbour Bridge down to 4 lanes, forcing the later and much more expensive installation of the Nippon Clip-Ons. The CRL will be part of the national rail system. It should be fully funded by government and it should have been started yesterday.
And THAT fundamental misunderstanding of the loop is exactly why people like you need to stop forming your opinions from soundbites. Actually go to transport blog and gen zero sites and read their proposals. Then you will understand the loop is a means to an end not the end.
The loop will enable easier transition from different directions, it will free up britomart making it possible to run trains from the outer suburbs more frequently.
Perhaps Rob the one thing we can agree is that more roads isnt the answer for the outer suburbs?
My view is that Brown is too impatient in wanting the CRL to go ahead at ‘his’ time frame. Auckland was always going to get it, just as it was always going to get electrification.
Personally I think he should have stuck to consolidating and tweaking the existing network (including the new trains) and getting that working right — that includes, buses, ferries, roads and cycleways, then perhaps in 2020-25, build the CRL. Also, dedicated busways (future proofed for light rail) should have replaced rail to the airport and north shore.
That said, the CRL is not a new idea — that socialist green Marxist, Gordon Coates, railways minister in the far left communist United-Reform coalition government supported both electrification AND the CBD tunnel, back in the 1920’s.
you mean rates rises due to the way act deliberately mucked up the super city
nearly all the rates money goes to CCOs
still waiting for a thank you from the rich parts of auckland for their rates subsidy from the poor parts as well
Of course you are.
You haven’t bothered:
1. Following the structure of Auckland Council that Rodney Hide set up in contradiction to Royal Commission recommendations for amalgamation, that has caused myriad transparency and accountability issues and included the complete separation of Auckland Transport from Auckland Council,
2. Recognised that the National government (without credible evidence) ensured the focus of the NZTA to roading, roading, roading which impacted on local government budgets,
3. Have any kind of idea on planning and the benefits of access to alternative transport methods in terms of social, community, environmental and financial wellbeing for NZers,
4. Given any consideration to the impact climate change transitions (planned or catastrophic) will have on our quality of life and how good public transport systems put in place will go some way to alleviating that impact…
There’s more but you seem unlikely to read anything that shows how simple answers to complex questions often cause further problems.
Public transport access – if only considered in the short term financial aspect will never be profitable. But that is a fool’s paradise in a parking lot.
We need to do better than that, despite all attempts of National to make it about Len Brown (one vote on a council) and dismissal of any other means of funding it.
Not more fud about the trains. Would you rater pay for a train-set that will cost you less in the long term and actually start making its money back while fixing the cities traffic problems or pay for the NActs complicated road system that will do little to reduce traffic congestion in the long term and just rack up the rates to help produce more traffic congestion and in city pollution?
The original Auckland city rail system was called a white elephant that will hardly be used by anyone by National when it was proposed and built. Within a very short time it has in fact become to popular and is getting closer and closer to reaching maximum capability without the rail upgrades.
I think it’s cruel and bigoted to be judgemental when conservative politicians inadvertently reveal their secret fetishes.
By cleared of charges you mean “Has enough money to lawyer his way out of appropriate punishment for his actions.”
And it’s not even true.
He’s being re-tried. That means he is charged.
going to be cleared eh PR, care to provide evidence of this prediction or inside knowledge of a done deal.
None except thats what its looking like however if I’m wrong you can point out to me I’m wrong, if i’m proven right well then there’ll be some crowing from me
Being found not guilty will not change that he did this
. Did not read a crucial form relating to transparency and corruption in politics before signing it
Coupled with his hujlich incompetence you want him in charge of rates!?? Is that you Michelle?
A good rule of thumb is that if you’re posting right wing stuff, you’re generally going to be wrong.
Hey PR, weren’t you just banned for 3 years on another thread?
Think you’ve got the wrong guy there buddy
Nah, it’s here. Check it out: http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-03122014/#comment-934865
3 years, fuck me.
Yep definately got the wrong guy
Eh? I don’t understand. Did you check the link? 3 years.
Fuck, I’ve always assumed Pucks and The Gormless Fool were one and the same operative (same “sense of humour”, same rhetorical strategies, rarely if ever turn up on the same thread) but hadn’t realised Chris73 was yet another of his personas.
??!???
but he has no skills. Refer my post above, and the video…
Cmon Puck
Banks is snide as f*#K , even a mug like you must be able to see that ?
hes a weasely little bugger who reminds me of penfold from danger mouse
I wouldnt let him near my kids , let alone run a city !
So you’re ok with Lens broken promises on rates rises or in some cases massive rates rises?
What it boils down to is running a city and Banks would be better than Brown having said that i’m sure there’re better candidates then either of them
WTF do i care about rates rises ?
I DO care about banks gaming the justice system, being a homophobe, and just being plain creepy..
Lens a bad boy its true and there are better candidates out there, just not at the banks place..
Given that I know what the rates rises under Len will be for, and that something is actually going to help all Auckland yes I am OK with it. Also Len didn’t lie about rate rises, he did foolishly think that a tory-hack government might actually pay for stuff that Aucklanders want, now he is saying he wants to do it without the government and is asking us how we want to do that.
I know that there will be similar rate rises if banks got in (albeit maybe 0.5% lower) but it won’t be going to pay for anything useful; probably only his own salary/perks.
There has never been a tory hack who hasn’t seen rates/taxes and not wanted to take them all for themselves
Actually under Banks you might find your RATES don’t increase so much, but you will almost certainly find water BILLS, road CHARGES and TICKET PRICES will skyrocket. These increases will of course hit the poorer parts of our community harder than the richer parts.
Ahh yes, the rates rises. One of the major justifications for creating the super city was of course so the council could save costs and reduce rates, fat chance of that ever working. Still its surprising how many people in other potential super city regions want to amalgamate councils to try to lower rates!
Of course I could not think of a nicer city to experiment on – cheers for the lesson from Wellington.
Some Aucklanders will end up with lower rates.
All the poor areas will end up paying higher rates, but those in the well off areas will find that their rates will now most likely go down.
After all the council revaluations and the rates ceiling being thrown out? You have got to be joking! Most peoples rates will be going up in Auckland, and they are clearly taking in more money this year.
Proportionally values are going up more in the poorer areas than the well off ones.
As a result a higher proportion of rates will now be paid by poorer people who can least afford it.
And yep there’ll be some poor old superannuant who has lived all their life in what is now a well off area who won’t be able to afford it but at least she’ll have a choice to sell her now highly valued property and move to a lower cost area with some money in the bank.
Those in the poorer areas don’t really have the option to move to an even poorer area.
Banks wouldn’t have run it if he’d won. He would have had the puppet master Joyce’s arm up his arse, selling off holdings in assets like AIAL and PoAL etc, essentially doing NAct Govt’s bidding of emasculating local representation as they originally planned for in creating the SuperCity to start with.
Interesting pr turns up the moment c73 is banned for 3 years.
Just another persona of the same tr***
Can you explain how and why Banks would be a good mayor for auckland, regardless of whether len brown runs, with direct reference to…
1. Banks received remuneration as an executive director of Hujlich but knew nothing of the CEOs operating or his fiddling the books ( not an executive director is different from a director. An ED is more hands on)
2. Did not read a crucial form relating to transparency and corruption in politics before signing it.
Penfold was a good guy so I don’t see him as a John Banks kind of character.
I think he is more like the slimy Baron Silas Greenback the toad with a wheezy voice.
If Banks truely has nothing to fear, nothing to hide, then he will testify from the witness box in his upcoming retrial.
Last time he hid behind the skirts of various women who went into the witness box.
I think the video of him eating his own ear-wax is a more powerful statement as to why he should never hold power.
Yeah not a good look really
Mr Banks won’t be bothered by Dotcom again.
On RT (Russian Television) news last night it was announced that Kim Dotcom said that he is about to launch the Internet Party in America to provided an alternative to the Democrats and Republicans and he described himself as ‘Hilary’s worst nightmare.
‘
It was a serious news item so I assume he is planning to go to the USA voluntarily.
“It was a serious news item so I assume he is planning to go to the USA voluntarily.”
ahhhh i don’t think that’s actually necessary
you know being the “internet” party and all..
set up, not stand for president.
Like alan gibbs created rodney hide, bank rolls ACT but doesnt run for parliament.
For much of my adult life this sack of tory filth arrayed in suit clad mockery of the human form–Archibald Banks–has been on the political stage.
His record as Nat MP, Minister, co-opted ACToid and Auckland Mayor speaks for itself, selling off pensioner housing, threatening ‘boy racers’ while securing prime carparks for his Bentley and Harley at Council HQ, gay bashing till he needed the gay vote, racist beyond compare, reactionary host of subterranean talk back radio.
He holds grudges, still miffed he did not win the Supercity first time round. He must be denied a further opportunity at all costs.
” still miffed he did not win the Supercity first time round”
They really thought they had it in the bag.
I remember watching a presentation on television where John Key introduced John Banks as “the first mayor of Auckland Supercity” before the first elections were held.
The fact that Len Brown won has had two outcomes.
1. They have hated him ever since.
2. They have also hated “those” they think voted him in. Policies reflect this disdain.
If the Left can’t put up a candidate who can beat Banks* we’ve got problems. For one thing his attempt to muddy the evidential waters has to succeed first.
If the Cabbage Boat Caesar is the best the Right can come up with, so have they.
* imagine a tone of derisive contempt when you say the word.
Banks is a dinosaur. If it’s a stretch to call him “vile”, it’s not a stretch to say he’s manifestly unfit to hold high public office in the 21st century.
The new evidence that Bank’s wife got the court to consider that got the charges dismissed is also very shonky.
Dot Com says the two guys she tracked down to testify they never heard anything mentioned about the donation where not there at the time of the donation discussion meeting but at a different time during another meeting between banks and Dot Com.
It is my understanding that Banks has not been exonerated and could still face a retrial. They should send him back to trial for this so the new so called evidence can under cross examination be weighed up.
seriously put a picture of banks and penfold together,
its uncanny !
Without the glasses he looks more like Baron Silas Greenback though.
Oh my god is John Banks Clark Kenting us?
Is he the real Baron Silas Greenback.
Is anyone local willing to unbundle Auckland and come up with a more effective and efficient city management system?
Is there any political party with the will to modify Mr Hide’s fantasy in, say, 2017 and onwards.
Not a week passes without grumpy Aucklanders raling (rattles in the breathing) about the forever rates rises, useless transport systems, hysterical house prices, and other indicators that They Have Arrived as a Real International City! woohoo.
How about co-leaders/mayors – one of each political persuasion – who are willing to work together for the greater good of all? (It happens! No need to gnash!) And have the background experience to actually bring this off. Preferably NOT old hacks from the local government brigade.
I wonder if Dame Margaret has repented – and might know a few possibles. Time to be asking, perhaps. We can’t have Auckland flailing around for much longer.