A Non-sequitur

A few weeks ago the Hutt News ran an article about Murray Smith stating that the election for Hutt South is a two horse race - between himself and Trevor Mallard. Not being impressed by Mr Smith, I sent the following letter to the Hutt News:



Sir,

I was interested by your article about United Future MP Murray Smith. I only moved to the area 18 months ago and despite having an interest in politics I was surprised to learn after many months that Hutt South had more than one MP living in the electorate. I am sure many people would be surprised to learn this, too.

If Mr Smith wants to be a credible candidate for my vote in the Hutt South electorate he'll need to more than just talk about how he can be a better MP than the incumbent - He'll actually need to prove that he is a competent representative for the area in our Parliament.

"Meetings" with councils and mayors may be Mr Smith's idea of achievement as an MP, but as far as I can tell he has failed to make any solid contribution in the Hutt Valley or in Parliament. No wonder the Trans Tasman Political newsletter gave Mr Smith a dismal 3 out of 10 for his performance last year and commented that he "pursued lost causes, usually several days too late".



Fair enough, but the response I got caught me a little by surprise - someone wrote in and accused me of being a Trevor Mallard loving Labourite.

If it wasn't so funny I think it would be the worst insult I've ever received in my life!

Still searching for the Question ...

We all know that the answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything is 42, but what is the question?

Chaucey and I went to see "Hitchhikers Guide to the Universe" tonight - my worst fear was giving Hitchhikers to Hollywood would destroy the zany wit of the story. No fear, the story is pretty much retold as it is in the book, although some bits are missing, other bits are expanded, and other bits are completely missing. (If that makes any sense!)

It does follow the book more closely than the TV series. (Watch out for the cameos!) It's franticly told, but those not familiar with the story may fall behind.

We both enjoyed it, and recommend it to every existing fan. And to all non-fans.

P.S. Don't leave when the credits start, wait until the end!

Going to the chapel, and we're gonna get married

Just 19 days to go - and if you're tuning in late go here for the full story.

Bloody Brilliant

Lefties are all in a lather over National's new billboard in Auckland:



Last year Labour had billboards: "You're better off with Labour"



So here is a quote from Parliament's question time on 7 December 2004:

RODNEY HIDE (Leader—ACT) to the Minister of Finance: "By how much has the average household income after tax increased in the 4 years since the 1999-2000 financial year, and what does this after-tax increase equate to when adjusted for inflation?"

Hon Dr MICHAEL CULLEN (Minister of Finance): "It is 10.1 percent, the same as the increase in the consumer price index."

So how am I better off? I can apply for a hip-hop tour, but grandad waits longer for a hip-op?

About half the Petrol tax goes to the Consolidated Fund, which is used for Hip Hop tours, welfare, compensating prisoners, funding low quality polytech courses like sing-a-long to radio, inquiries into taniwha before roads can be built, bureaucrats, education, the Waitangi Tribunal etc? What's factually wrong with that.

The worlds full of dreamers ...

First there was the nice hug. (Which incidently was sold for $405 to a married man from Auckland.)

Then there was the not nice hug (which was the funniest thing I'd read in ages! - Why did Trade Me stop it?)

Then there was the slap.

Now we have the 'Buy me a Porsche'

But complete madness has overtaken Trade Me - you can now buy ... a smile.

Okay - I give in

Due to popular demand I've updated my photo - enjoy.

Important Information or Government Propaganda?

Regular readers will not be surprised that I am a fan of National MP Judith Collins.

Today I have watched in amusement as the Steve Maharey, scolded Judith Collins to put up or shut up over her claim yesterday that the Families Commission is electioneering on behalf of the Government.

Steve Maharey said ,"I seriously wonder whether Ms Collins has bothered to read any of the material produced by the Families Commission, or indeed anything relevant to her portfolio."

Talk about a red rag to a bull - Judith Collins response was brilliant and ever so slightly vitriolic. She put out a press release "Smarmy Steve Maharey loses the plot" and challenges Steve Maharey to reveal why Claire Austin left the Families Commission after three months, how big was her reported golden handshake, and what was the commission is spending on travel and accommodation.

But underlying all of this is the amount of money spent promoting Government schemes to the public - $17 million on promoting Working for Familes, $750,000 promoting the Families Commission, and the on-going spending promoting Primary Health Organisations. I understand the government informing us that changes are being made in health, education, etc but I can't comprehend why three years after PHO's were started we still get advertisements telling about how great they are! You do have to wonder if all the advertising in an election year is just a little too coincidental.

Of course, the only way to change this would be to get the politicians to change the rules and that's like asking burglars about where the police patrols should be.

One last thing, Judith Collins finishes off the press release with this great quote about why she won't go to the auditor general - "It is also hard to take seriously Mr Maharey's invitation for me to complain to the auditor-general. I actually [complained successfully] against Helen Clark over a desk calendar and she still hasn't paid back the money."

Labours List

Continuing on from last night post, Labour new MPs would be:

Wayne Harpur - winning Invercargill
Maryan Street - list
Steven Ching - list
Sue Moroney - list
Darien Fenton - list
Charles Chauvel - list
Louisa Wall - list
S'ua William Sio - list
Brendan Burns - list
Hamish McCraken - list
Denise MacKenzie - list

Max Purnell misses out as Wayne Harpur (who is ranked lower than him) wins Invercargill.

The only Labour MP who will not be elected is John Tamihere.

Of course, this is all conjecture as polls invariably are different before the election. Most minor parties pick up support in the month before the election to the detriment of Labour and National.

TVNZ Poll - how it looks

According to the latest TVNZ Poll, Labour are on 45% Support and National are on 38%. Using the raw statistics I show:

Labour retains:

Aoraki, Auckland Central, Banks Peninsula, Chch Central, Chch East, Dunedin North, Dunedin South, East Coast, Hamilton West, Hutt South, Invercargill, Mana, Mangere, Manukau East, Manurewa, Maungakiekie, Mt Albert, Mt Roskill, Napier, New Lynn, New Plymouth, Northcote, Otaki, Palmerston North, Rimutaka, Rongotai, Rotorua, Taupo, Te Atutu, Tukituki, Waimakariri, Wairarapa, Waitakere, Wellington Central, West Coast-Tasman.

National will win off Labour:

Hamilton East, Otago

National to retain:

Bay of Plenty, Clevedon, Clutha-Southland, Coromandel, East Coast Bays, Epsom, Helensville, Ilam, Kaikoura, Nelson, North Shore, Northland, Pakuranga, Piako, Port Waikato, Rakaia, Rangitikei, Rodney, Tamaki, Taranaki-King Country, Whangarei

Labour will win off National:

None

Too close to call

Whanganui (Labour leads by less than 1%)

Incumbent Third Parties to win:

Wigram (Jim Anderton, Progressive)
Ohariu-Belmont (Peter Dunne, United Future)
Tauranga (Winston Peters, NZ First)

Maori Seats results (according to TVNZ Marae Poll):

Maori Party
Te Tai Hauauru (Tariana Turia, Maori Party)
Tamaki-Makurau
Te Tai Tokerau
Te Tai Tonga
Waiariki

Labour
Ikaroa-Rawhiti
Tainui

Party List Results:


Total 125 MPs - Labour and NZ First or Labour and Maori Party to form Government.

Wedding and Honeymoon countdown

Okay - 27 days to go.

Wedding
Spent the afternoon scouting locations for the photographs. Decided on the botanic gardens, Lady Norwood gardens and War Memorial and Dominion Museum. Haven't worked out a wet weather plan just yet, will have to think about that one.

If any regular readers want to come to the wedding ceremony it's on Friday 13th May at 5.30pm, St Johns in the City Church, Cnr Willis and Dixon Streets, Wellington. Please dress semi-formal. (even semi-semi-formal will be tolerated, but no jeans and t-shirts, please.)

Honeymoon
Almost all the bookings are done. Still need to find a place to stay in York but I think if I had to have one place I didn't have accomodation sorted I would choose York.

Other
Okay, this is not related to weddings at all - I thought it was rather amusing. I was at work talking to an American supplier by phone on Friday and gave her my email address. I said "... at bee en zed dot co dot en zed." She didn't understand it at all - wanted me to spell it out for her. Just how do you spell out an acronym! Had to modify it and say "... at bee en zee dot see oh dot en zee." Really weird, but I got the information shortly afterwards.

You're terrible, Muriel!

I'm al little upset at Muriel Newman's latest newsletter. Muriel has received documents, released under the Official Information Act, that detail how a working group has been set up at the Ministry of Social Development to promote community acceptance of gay, lesbian, Bisexual and transgender people.

Muriel slams this MSD group - and I agree. It's not the job of government to promote any particular lifestyle. Government's duty is to allow anyone who cases no harm to make their own choices.

But where Muriel and I would disagree is that I don't see any duty on government to promote same-sex marriages over any other relationship. ACT is all about supporting the right to live without the government interfering in our lives. This is an excerpt from ACT's constitution:

3.1 The principal object of the Party is to promote an open, progressive and benevolent society in which individual New Zealanders are free to achieve their full potential. To this end the Party upholds the following principles:
(a) that individuals are the rightful owners of their own lives and therefore have inherent rights and responsibilities; and
(b) that the proper purpose of government is to protect such rights and not to assume such responsibilities.

So Muriel's belief in the government promoting marriage is just as wrong as the current governments belief in promoting acceptance of homosexuality.

Temporary change of focus on this blog next month

As you can imagine, getting married is a big thing. And doing it for the second time means you really want to get it right.

For our honeymoon, Chaucey and I will be in Europe. Yes, we will blow our life savings on a two month journey to the romantic cities of the world. Because that's the right thing to do when you get married.

(Barry Burgler please note - housesitters have been arranged.)

Hence this blog will lose it's political focus, and become more of a newsletter for family and friends - a chance for them to see where we are and what we're doing. Because most of my family are not politically aligned with me and being 12000 miles away makes it more difficult to be aware of what the issues are, I'll try to refain from politics until July. (Although complete moments of madness will be commented on)

On 4th July, to quote Gov. Arnold, "I'll be back".

But in the meantime, bits and bobs of information are dribbling in. More to follow soon.

It's been quiet ... too quiet

The posting has slowed down on this site:

Is it because in 29 days I get married and 32 days until I go away for two months?
Is it because my work is keeping me occupied?
Is it because I've got wrapped up in the first stages of the campaign?

Well, yes - it's been a mix of all three. But you would be disappointed if I hadn't being doing some research in those minutes I grab here and there.

Yes, I will have some interesting information ... soon.

In the meantime, did you know that there are 2,910,717 licensed drivers in New Zealand? (as at 1st April 2005, according to the LTSA.)

From Parliament's Standing Orders

Last night, Dr Michael Cullen walked out of Parliament to take advantage of the standing order that requires a Minister to be present.

38: Minister to be present
A Minister must be present during all sitting hours of the House. If a Minister is not present, the Speaker interrupts proceedings and the bell is rung for up to five minutes. Where no Minister appears, the Speaker adjourns the House until the time for its next sitting.

What I hope happened today is that an MP lodge a complaint with the Speaker under the following Standing Order:

394: Contempt of House
The House may treat as comtempt any act or omission which -
(a) obstructs or impedes the House in the performance of it's instructions, or
(b) obstructs or impedes any member or officer of the House in the discharge of the member's or officer's duty, or
(c) has a tendency, directly or indirectly , to produce such a result.

Clearly Dr Michael Cullen has shown contempt of Parliament by walking out. He impeded every other Member of Parliament from enacting (or defeating the enactment) of laws - a duty of every MP.

I just hope someone has the balls to write that letter.

Still Unbeatable

The BNZ 'Unbeatable' campaign has taken a new twist with Kiwibank undercutting BNZ's 2-year fixed rate by 0.1%. It's new advertising specificly mentions that this rate is to beat the 'Unbeatable' rate - showing how experienced competition is squeezing Kiwibank in the mortgage market.

But before you rush out and change your mortgage to Kiwibank, consider this - Kiwibank is a low-cost provider who use non-bankers on its frontline. It doesn't offer many services that you would consider to be standard for most banks. So, if all you want is a mortgage and a chequebook, Kiwibank may be alright for you.

But if you want expertise, experience and every service you think a bank should provide (plus plenty more you didn't know existed) then don't rush in just yet.


Disclaimer: Yes, I am an employee of BNZ. Don't use my advise as your sole source of information about your financial situation - I recommend you talk to bankers about pros and cons of any offer before signing on the dotted line. If unsure, your lawyer will be able to help.

My two cents on Tamihere

I've refrained from commenting on John Tamihere's extraordinary interview because I haven't been able to comprehend them. The only reason I can get

David Farrer has published who he says he has on good authority is the "Tamihere Ten".

His list is:

"The Tamihere Ten"

1. John Tamihere
2. Clayton Cosgrove
3. George Hawkins
4. Ross Robertson
5. Damien O’Connor
6. Mark Peck
7. Dover Samuels
8. Paul Swain
9. Janet Mackey
10. Harry Duynhoven

Other Possibilities …

Taito Phillip Field
Mahara Okeroa
Martin Gallagher
Nanaia Mahuta
Rick Barker
David Parker

Obviously on an optimistic day this list would also include Parekura Horomia, Moana Mackey and Phil Goff - although I would see Goff as more likely to lead a coup with JT (or Cosgrove)as his deputy.

I have on good authority knowledge of Phil Goff's coup of 1995 which ended in failure. It lost by one vote when a Goff supporter switched sides after being offered the posts of Finance Spokesman and Deputy Leader. (Those who know where I worked and who I worked with will know that this information is ironclad.)

The only reason I can see that Phil Goff hasn't mounted his challenge because he hasn't had the numbers since all the key 'Rogernomics' players have now retired (or joined ACT). Most of his supporters from 1995 have now retired.

Another likely supporter would be Leslie Soper (and maybe others below 35 on the list) who would also be likely to vote for him as a new leadership would mean the existing party list would be shredded and then would need to be redone from scratch.

Rod Donald is gracious and humble - Yeah Right

This afternoon, Parliament passed a motion of condolence on the passing of Pope John Paul II. Of all the leaders who spoke to the motion, Tariana Turia was far more eloquent and heartfelt than any other.

What concerned me was Green co-leader Rod Donald's contribution. He offered a thinly veiled critiscm of Pope John Paul's conservative beleifs and urged Cardinal Thomas Williams (New Zealand's only Cardinal) to vote for a 'liberal' candidate.

While I too would favour a more liberal Pope I want to know when Rod Donald was asked to speak for New Zealand Catholics? Cardinal Williams should vote for who he believes is the best candidate for Pope, who after all is the spiritual leader of the Catholic Church - not the Greens.

Hello to you all out there

Monthly website stats show:

Have have twice as many Senegalese visitors than I have German visitors.
I have twice as many Lithuanian visitors than Senegalese visitors.
I have four times as many British visitors than Lithuanian visitors.

But Kiwis are still number 1 vistiors to this site.

Once again, the most popular search that returns my site is "hippie hairstyles". Weird!

Pope John Paul II has died

One of the worlds most influential people of the past 25 years has passed away this morning.

Reaction from world leaders, ordinary people and ex-communists has been varied. My favourite quote is from Stanislaw Witek, 56, an electician in the Pope's hometown of Wadowice:

"I have work waiting for me in Belgium, but I think I’ll be going to Rome. I cannot explain it. I’ve never met him, but he is someone who simply radiates a force. There has never been such a Pole as him and there will never be."

Pope John Paul II

I have just heard that the Pope has suffered a heart attack and is gravely ill. Last week, when Sydney Archbishop Cardinal Geroge Pell asked Catholics to pray for the Pope in his 'final illness' I didn't realise it would be so sudden.

I remember being at St Francis Xavier Primary School in Tawa when Pope John Paul was elected, then his death a few days later. On the election of Pope John Paul II we all prayed for him.

Then when he was shot in 1981 we all prayed for him again.

Tonight, I will pray for the Pope again. He has been an devout servant of God and of all humanity all his life and if this is the end on earth then he can be proud of what he achieved for us all.

Go in Peace.

Thoughts on Graham Caphill, Christian Heritage and Bigots

I've thought about this - my sympathy goes to the victim and I'm relieved that Caphill pleaded guilty to prevent the trauma of a trial being inflicted on her.

I hope Caphill doesn't like prison, cause that's where he now belongs.

I also feel sorry for Christian Heritage. I would never give them my vote and practically disagree with everything they say about enforcing morality. But in the blogsphere most people have jumped to the conclusion that because one member of CHP is a child molester then the party must be full of paedophiles.

Would they immediately say that the Labour Party is the fraudsters party because one electorate chairman has been charged with fraud? Or ACT is full of fraudsters because one (former) MP has been charged? Of course not.

For Christian Heritage to be tarred with the same brush as Caphill is just anti-Christian bigotry.

Bigotry sucks. (But not as much as child molestation.)