The One New Zealand Party

The need for unity and equality in New Zealand has been brought into sharp focus by the tragic events in Christchurch on Friday.  Equal rights, regardless of people’s culture or ethnic background, is a key element of the new party,

by Andy Oakley

Putting all New Zealanders first

I am the leader of a new fledgling party, the One New Zealand Party.

• We are for a more focused sovereignty, no external pacts or treaties, no internal co-governance deals
• We are for a more responsible government attitude to property rights, New Zealand’s resources belong to New Zealanders
• We are for a stronger protection for New Zealand citizens, not just our defence force but also economic protection from a government intent on taxing too much and investing too little in infrastructure.
• We are for equal rights

It’s no coincidence that these are exactly the same things promised in the Treaty of Waitangi. Our government have reinterpreted it and are slowly moving back to the chaos we had before all these promises were made to the people of New Zealand.

We are in set up faze now, we are an incorporated society with a bank account, aboard, a leader, a Facebook page with nearly 1000 followers. On that Facebook page people can get a membership form to join the party for $10.

https://www.facebook.com/1NZParty/

Which is what the street must have been named after.  But, it doesn’t look as healthy as it did in the photo of it we posted 4 years ago: Jeremy Seamark says that usually what is going on with a tree has something to do with roots and soil, roots getting hit with lawn mowers and the like.  There looks to have been recent digging in the bottom of the photo.

Update

The tree has now been removed.

The idea that 15 March or “the ides of March” is unlucky goes back to ancient traditions and superstitions. Most people have probably heard the phrase quoted from a famous line in Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar: “Beware the ides of March.” (source)

In commenting on yesterday’s mass shootings in Christchurch, this article on the Whale Oil blog states:

…[main perpetrator Brenton Tarrant] claims to have planned the attack for roughly two years and said he chose the location in Christchurch three months in advance. He said that he chose to use firearms deliberately because of the media storm it would create. He could have just as easily used a truck, he said, or a range of other terrorist methods.

His goal is to create political carnage, as he knows that left-wing governments will crack down on freedom of speech in reaction to his attack, and he wants to polarise the left and the right to cause an uprising. If Ardern’s government takes the bait and introduces hate speech laws, it will be playing into his hands, as that is exactly what he wants to happen.

It is certain that one of Jacinda’s reactions will be banning semi-automatic rifles, which was considered but not done after the Howard government in Australia did that following the Port Arthur massacre of April 1996.

It will be symbolic, but will make no practical difference as assault rifles are used in very few crimes, even in America.  This 2017 report by California’s Office of the Attorney General on the use of firearms in crimes states:

The 329 qualifying firearms examined by Department of Justice and SFPD during the reporting period included 306 handguns (93.0 percent), 14 rifles (4.3 percent), and nine shotguns (2.7 percent) (see Figure 1). No firearms were assault weapons (as defined in Pen. Code §§ 30510 and 30515) and one firearm (less than 1 percent) was classified as a short-barreled shotgun or rifle. The most commonly encountered calibers were 9 mm Luger and .40 Smith & Wesson (S&W), followed by .45 Automatic Colt Pistol (ACP)

And nationally in the U.S.:-

“…a 2004 study commissioned by the Department of Justice found that the federal ban [on assault rifles] didn’t lead to any decrease in gun crime or gun deaths. For starters, rifles, assault or otherwise, are rarely used in gun crime,” Adam Winkler, a constitutional law professor at UCLA Law School, wrote in a 2015 Los Angeles Times op-ed.

For those that own AR’s, they are symbolic too, a way of saying to potentially tyrannical governments that massively abuse their power: “we can fight back”.  The despotic Chairman Mao of China said, “all political power grows out of the barrel of a gun”; which is literally true when you think about it; the reason the right of citizens to bear arms was included in the American constitution.

Former teacher and Kapiti deputy-mayor Roger Booth has recently co-authored a book on legendary entertainer Ray Woolf. In the article below he explains the interest in famous New Zealand cultural figures.

by Roger Booth

The importance of books

I now have had three books out on iconic New Zealand arts identities — Bruno Lawrence, Sir Jon Trimmer, and now Ray Woolf.  Why?

Firstly and mainly, because the books need to be out there to recall details about key figures in our arts history.  Books will be around for a long-time yet, and certainly will be around as long as you and I are around.  Libraries will continue to be the place to go, and earlier history (pre-web) will only be on the web if particular written texts are copied onto the web.

Having done a lot of research in both the arts and sport I know that the web’s memory is very thin, and you have to, from not many years back, find stuff in books, newspapers and people’s mementos and memories.

Secondly, my three subjects had/have a lot of arts skill to pass on to future generations, and a book is one way to do that.  In the New Zealand arts world you can start with your development of basic arts skills, but you then need to reinvent and develop arts survivors skills.

Important stories to tell

These legends each had a story to tell, and in that respect Bruno was streaks ahead of the others with a fund of stories generated through the life of a very skilled but hard-case guy. And when that was published, back in 2000, a lot of people were still buying lots of books.

Not so today. Why buy a book on Sir Jon or Ray?  Many are close enough to buy one mainly out of respect.  But the reinvention and development of survival skills is now important in selling books about my sort of subjects.

A good number of people have bought Jon’s book for their children and their grandchildren pursuing their arts interests. (Why Dance, on Sir Jon Trimmer, is available from good bookshops.)

(You can purchase Hey Woolfie: Welcome to the World by Ray Woolf and Roger Booth from the website https://www.raywoolf.com/)

This year’s local council elections timetable from the government website —

9 July 2019
Nominations open for candidates. Nominations have to be sent to the electoral officer for the council, district health board or licensing trust. Rolls open for inspection at council offices and other sites locally.
16 August
Nominations close at 12 noon. Rolls close. After this date, anyone who is entitled to vote and who is not enrolled as an elector, or whose details are incorrectly recorded on the roll, will have to cast a ‘special vote’.
21 August
Election date and candidates’ names publicised by electoral officers.
20-25 September
Voting documents delivered to households. Electors can post the documents back to electoral officers as soon as they have voted.
12 October
Polling day — The voting documents must be at the council before voting closes at 12 noon. Preliminary results (i.e. once all ‘ordinary’ votes are counted) will be available as soon as possible afterwards.
17-23 October (or as soon as practicable)
Official results (including all valid ordinary and special votes) declared.

How many existing Kapiti councilors intend to seek re-election isn’t yet known, although Mayor Guru, as well as Michael Scott and Jackie Elliott have publicly said they are.

In 2016, columnist Elizabeth Hughes wrote a piece in the Local Government Magazine on the subject of running for a council seat in which she asked those contemplating it:-

• What would you be standing for? (As opposed to standing against.)
• Who are you standing for? (While you probably already know a group of people who would love for you to represent them, will you also be able to represent people whose views are different?)
• What specifically do you want to achieve for the city / district / region? (Your vision.)
• What are your bottom lines / non-negotiables? (Not just the things that make your blood boil, but also the things that might limit your ability to maintain an open mind.)

If successful, you are going to be viewed by the council’s top bureaucrats, if not as an irritation, then at least as someone they’ve no choice but to tolerate in their attempts to have you rubber stamp what they want.

There should in fact be uneasy tension; that doesn’t mean animosity, but a relationship that is civil but frosty: making friends with staff members is a mistake.

Although they often consider themselves as infallible, rightful rulers of the District, the senior bureaucrats are public servants with very narrow vision, and in Kapiti’s case, people who only care about themselves and their interests, not about the Ratepayers.

As well as regular council meetings, there are also committee meetings and briefings. You will get about 500 pages a week to read on council affairs, of which about a quarter are on orange paper meaning “this is secret — you are not to tell anyone about it.” (And if you do they’ll set Simpson Grierson on you).

It’s likely that 25 hours a week or more will be involved — how is your business/homelife going to cope with that?

The bureaucrats will browbeat you with their knowledge of the 21 statutes which control local government delivery, services and activities.  Of the 21, the two most important are the Local Government Act and the Resource Management Act —  the latter is as turgid as legislation gets, but should still be read.

Elizabeth Hughes recommended meeting with at least two sitting elected councillors – ones you wouldn’t normally talk to – and asking them: “What have you achieved since you were elected?”  That’s actually a good question that should be also be asked of councilors at candidate meetings.

She painted this picture of life as a councilor:-

You’re in a meeting around the table with 14 people who are nothing like you.

A half-hour Powerpoint presentation has been delivered about installing new public toilets at the park. You’ll have already received and read a report about 20 pages long. The report and presentation cover the following context: global tourism trends, regional economic development, the Public Facilities Strategy, sustainability, investment comparisons, land ownership, debt management, future water supply, size of sewage pipes, waste management, depreciation, parking, health and safety installations, colour schemes, signage and (conflicting) views from the community.

You have formed your view. A debate ensues giving everyone five minutes (that’s five times 14) to speak.

An alternative perspective on ‘availability of parking’ is introduced (one of your colleagues was elected because of parking issues). You have your own view on this, and so will everyone else (none are informed views – just views) and another five minutes each is allocated.

A vote is eventually taken on the parking availability issue (probably asking for more information) and you get back to debating the public toilet project.

A decision (vote) may now need to be 
delayed awaiting the additional information.

Then, a few weeks later, you’ll have another report and Powerpoint presentation with some new information added and then debate the public toilets again. You’ll need to remember what you said in all previous debates so you don’t contradict yourself. (There’ll be video or audio footage in case you forget.)

This can go on for several months until the majority are happy one way or the other.

Elizabeth Hughes also wrote about desirable personal qualities and some of her self-evaluation questions were :

• What is your usual response when faced with stupidity, bullying, arrogance and / or extreme earnestness?
• Do you think it more important to be ‘likeable’ or ‘effective’ as a community leader?
• Are you someone who values ‘evidence-based’ decision-making or ‘weight of public opinion’ decision-making?
• Where do you think you sit on a ‘tedium to excitement’ continuum?
• How will you react on learning that something you expected to do is “just not possible” and, on the face of it, looks like “bureaucracy gone mad”? (Honest answers please.)

“You want cycle lane, so we give you cycle lane.” 🙂

What would our ‘Lycra brigade’ make of this?

Massey University’s invitation to activist Tame Iti as a ‘resident activist’ shows the university’s leadership has turned to facilitating controversial speech and this is welcomed by the Free Speech Coalition.

“Massey University should be commended for its change of heart this week by inviting Mr Iti to be its newest activist in residence. This follows an illiberal period at the University during which it has instituted censorship.”

In August last year, Massey University banned Dr Don Brash from speaking about his experiences as the National Party’s leader at a student-led event. Information released under the Official Information Act revealed that Vice-Chancellor Jan Thomas disapproved of Dr Brash’s political views and actively sought ways of disinviting him.

Full article

Whether or not top bureaucrats like what people have to say, they should be allowed to say it!  —Eds

An impressive, less usual view with late afternoon sun by Brian Campbell.

In fact it couldn’t get much shorter: an Ab class steam locomotive hauls a solitary passenger car somewhere; a photo from the book New Zealand 1950s Steam in Colour (Derek Cross).

This shows that a (or perhaps the main) river channel was beside the southern bridge pier at that time — today this is full of gravel with a layer of soil and vegetation, see this post.