I don't think it's Winston doing this, it's the council?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...ectid=11422431
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I don't think it's Winston doing this, it's the council?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...ectid=11422431
Ah Well! After Saturday I should have a bit more in my Punting fund. I might even see Winnie at the races - if he can still afford to go after his defeat by 2,500 votes (my estimation) If there's a horse called "Wishful thinking" or similar, all you lefties and anti-righties should back it. I only made $25 on my last saturday"s bets and I blew that on a Dennis Marsh show which was a fizzer. So three more loads of wood to deliver this week to restore normality to my affairs.
I give to you that this by-election has some entertainment value, but otherwise it is a really sad game to watch.
I guess in a way it shapes up similar (just smaller) to the last national election. We have a quite unconvincing and (politically) weak candidate on the right opposed by a very colourful political con man on the - actually not sure, on whose side is Winston, actually? Different con man, though - and this time it is one with more experience and less ideological baggage.
I guess the election might give people the opportunity to let up steam, but has anybody considered which of the candidates (if any) would be good for the electorate? Obviously - a continuation of Nationals reign would deliver more of the same, and if Northland is not happy with that (as it sounds, they are), than they just have Winston. But what exactly would Winston do better after the election?
Remember the choice we had last year - an unconvincing team on the right against a coalition of irresponsible con men (and women) on the left?
Are there really that little good people left in New Zealand politics?
Iceman, I agree it does seem to be being blown out of proportion in regards an investigation. However this is an asset that Mark Osbourne was chairman of as asset manager & its been bleeding money in quite substantial amounts, so its definitely fair political game , after Osbourne has claimed & promoting himself to be a business man, which he's not & that he's an astute asset manager. The news was actually originally broken by Radio NZ I believe, not the NZF campaign. I have nothing against Osbourne other than he is prone to exaggeration to beef up his profile. He has claimed a lot of quite incredible local community feats in my home town, but no one had heard of him. And then there are the 10 bridges, which everyone I know up here think is such a BS policy when so much more needs doing as a priority for our roads, such as flood proofing, making them safe & built to a much better standard in the first place.
They had all three candidates on National Radio again this morning & again Osbourne sounded like a whining child who hadn't got his fair share.
Either way its going to be close & I can't call it.
Key is visiting in the next day or two after cutting short his trip to Japan, so expect some massive lolly scramble at the last minute.
Lets hope as that will really backfire!
BlackPeter, why do you have to be on a side? That mode is so outdated & prevents good policy and ambition being implemented. Both sides of politics have good things to offer. Peters is a centrist and he may not be perfect, but he is NZs longest standing MP by some margin & that's some mean feat in itself. He stands up for things, whether you or like them or not, but that's not how I describe a conman. He's a canny politician I give you that, but he's not a liar as we have leading this government right now. John Key has no integrity, lied over our troops in Iraq, lied over the GCSB mass surveillance of all NZ citizens communications & its neighbours. Has abused his power & used the GCSB on multiple occasions as his own personal security & intelligence service in matters that have nothing to do with national security. Now he wants to sell social housing to private property developers after the Salvos their banner partner embarrassed them. Lastly they got this country into hock, graph to follow. Its shocking.
Below is a graph of NZ government foreign debt over the last 20 years. Since John Key took power NZ government foreign debt has exploded higher from around $20Bln to around $50Bln. This figure excludes domestic government debt, which I think is around another $10Bln and also excludes the billions they made from asset sales. Net of asset sales you are talking of a figure around $40Bln increase! Of which around $10Bln has gone into CHC recovery, so no one is criticizing that. But what has happened to the other $30Bln? Where has it gone? This government claims to be great fiscal managers, they are nothing like it & getting this country into hock at an unprecedented rate. And this is after a dairy export boom like this country has never seen before & cutting budgets to things like DOC & disabled funding. We now face an economy that will weaken due to lower export prices, we are yet to feel this, however we have accrued debt of higher asset prices & that becomes a lot harder to service of lower asset prices. The GST take is about to take a massive hit as farmers stop spending. This is going to get ugly.
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Sorry Iceman, you are quite correct he was general manager of the center that is now under a governance review.
I agree that the left / right view on the political spectrum might be outdated, maybe you should tell this your friends on the so called green and "progressive back into the past", than we could move on.
I certainly wouldn't hold it against Winston if he would be a man of the centre, but I hold it against him that he changes his principles according to political convenience. I hold it against him that he pulls the race card basically every election just to get these extra votes from white and brown racists, and I hold it against him that he tends to change his principles according to political convenience (remember the boobles of power?).
But hey - who am I to comment on the potentially (likely?) future member of the North? Member anyway. If Winston is the man of your political dreams, than I am sure you know where to place your tick. I do sincerely hope that you get in this election the member you want and deserve.
Re - John Key - I hear what you are saying and understand where you are coming from. Pity, you can't vote for both, given that much beauty on all sides - isn't it?