National - FFS!

[Balance]

Nationals Top politicians these days are a sad bunch. Collins is a bully and Brownlee proved his incompetence beyond doubt in the Christchurch re-build.

Let's deal with your assertions, one at a time.

On what basis do you assert that Brownlee was incompetent in the Christchurch rebuild?

He took on what was undeniably NZ's biggest natural disaster and delivered on many fronts.

It was inevitable that there would be many unhappy property owners who wanted a whole heap more - like free handouts, especially when they could not be bothered insuring their homes. And as usual in NZ, just as we have seen in the case of Pike River, we have certain politicians and gravy train riders who pander to the 'aggrieved' - the fact that they shout out loudest does not make them right.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/pol...ontrary-figure

Summation of positives & negatives - floor is yours, BlackPeter.

[BlackPeter]

Let's deal with your assertions, one at a time.

On what basis do you assert that Brownlee was incompetent in the Christchurch rebuild?

He took on what was undeniably NZ's biggest natural disaster and delivered on many fronts.

It was inevitable that there would be many unhappy property owners who wanted a whole heap more - like free handouts, especially when they could not be bothered insuring their homes. And as usual in NZ, just as we have seen in the case of Pike River, we have certain politicians and gravy train riders who pander to the 'aggrieved' - the fact that they shout out loudest does not make them right.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/pol...ontrary-figure

Summation of positives & negatives - floor is yours, BlackPeter.

I suppose you are either blind or not from Christchurch ...

Well, this is sort of personal for me - and a number of my friends had their homes trashed in the earth quake and are still waiting for a resolution to their home problems. Maybe you would be less arrogant if it would be your life on halt. Brownlee did nothing for these people, and he was as well sitting over the decision to make FBU the Earthquake repairer resulting in thousands of insufficient repairs and botched job, I never ever have seen that much incompetence combined with that much arrogance in one single person.

And if you look into the CBD - the privately owned part is after ten years now sort of rebuild. In the publicly owned part (for which Brownlee was ultimately responsible) there are even after a decade still huge gaps in the landscape. Brownlee might have been good in breeching airport security for his personal benefit, but he did nothing to speed up Christchurch's repairs. Useless and inept.

We are (10 years down the track) still waiting for the repairs of our cathedral, for the completion of our convention centre, for the completion of our stadium, and for so many other things which have been destroyed in the earth quake ... 10 years down the track - that's half a generation!

Did he add value as well? Not sure, I suppose he warmed the chair he was sitting in, which may or may not have been good for the chair - but if you are after a different view, here is what stuff wrote about him:

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/pol...ontrary-figure

BROWNLEE'S HIGHS AND LOWS IN CHRISTCHURCH:

HIGHS:

- The Canterbury Home Repair Programme: The job was unprecedented and needed structure.

- The central city blueprint: A clear roadmap to recovery delivered in short order, subsequent delays notwithstanding.

- The Land Use Recovery Plan: Freed up space to build thousands of new homes around Christchurch. Perhaps Brownlee's best use of his powers under the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Act.

- Keeping his mouth shut: Brownlee could have bitten back at his countless detractors. To his credit, he never did.

LOWS:

- Anchor projects: the convention centre and metro sports facility are still years away. There is no sign of a new stadium.

- The Quake Outcasts: Brownlee went all the way to the Supreme Court insisting in a losing argument that the Government was right to offer these red-zoners less compensation. The minister at his most intractable.

- The brain fades: Along with the "clown" and the "carping and moaning", there was, among others, bursting through security at Christchurch Airport and insulting most of the nation of Finland.

- The red zone: Many residents were able to move on but the minority who were delayed and low-balled by insurers needed more support.

Needless to mention - I have a different view on most of Brownlees "High's" they are listing, but let them stand there in the interest of a balanced post (btw - something I can't ever remember coming from you ... balance );

[Bjauck]

I thought I would check out the websites of the Labour and National Parties for their Covid policies. The National site says there will be policy announcements to come. However currently no separate policy heading for their current Covid policy despite its having been the over-riding issue for months. They do have a general intro statement saying that we are facing one of the biggest economic challenge In 160 years but no specific mention as to the cause. So I would like to know how they would approach travel, borders, quarantine, targeted Covid assistance etc. There is not much info on their website.

Labour’s website is of more help in finding out their approach to Covid. The Covid response is first in their list of policy areas.

https://www.labour.org.nz/policy

https://www.national.org.nz/policy

[Balance]

I thought I would check out the websites of the Labour and National Parties for their Covid policies. The National site says there will be policy announcements to come. However currently no separate policy heading for their current Covid policy despite its having been the over-riding issue for months. They do have a general intro statement saying that we are facing one of the biggest economic challenge In 160 years but no specific mention as to the cause. So I would like to know how they would approach travel, borders, quarantine, targeted Covid assistance etc. There is not much info on their website.

Labour’s website is of more help in finding out their approach to Covid. The Covid response is first in their list of policy areas.

https://www.labour.org.nz/policy

https://www.national.org.nz/policy

You mean like Labour’s Kiwibuild policy on their website?

Posted to get the gullible public to vote for them with Labour having no clue as to how to deliver.

Same with Covid response - lockdown and more lockdowns.

[artemis]

Thought I heard Ms Collins say they will be publishing their border policy this week. That was before the change in election date. There is a big difference between government policy and opposition policy, especially wrt timing. Any party can choose what they release and when, and will have their reasons, but voters are particularly interested in government policy in a crisis situation that is hitting their pockets.

Otherwise it's jam tomorrow, jam yesterday but never jam today.

[Bjauck]

Thought I heard Ms Collins say they will be publishing their border policy this week. That was before the change in election date. There is a big difference between government policy and opposition policy, especially wrt timing. Any party can choose what they release and when, and will have their reasons, but voters are particularly interested in government policy in a crisis situation that is hitting their pockets.

Otherwise it's jam tomorrow, jam yesterday but never jam today.

You can still be an opposition Party and have actual policies especially for the serious issues that have been facing us for months. I would have thought that with an upcoming election the opposition cannot just rely for so long on attacking and criticising, they need to come up with actual policies. Just a couple of months to put forward whatever policies they decide upon, they will have their work cut out to put themselves forward as a Party for constructive engagement with the issues as opposed to destructive negativity.

[artemis]

You can still be an opposition Party and have actual policies especially for the serious issues that have been facing us for months. I would have thought that with an upcoming election the opposition cannot just rely for so long on attacking and criticising, they need to come up with actual policies. Just a couple of months to put forward whatever policies they decide upon, they will have their work cut out to put themselves forward as a Party for constructive engagement with the issues as opposed to destructive negativity.

National for one had a whole raft of detailed policy proposals on their website, and many called for input from the public through comprehensive specific questions plus plenty of room for unstructured feedback. I gave feedback on three that I have an interest in.

I just looked at the website and there are a whole lot of policies published already.

[Bjauck]

National for one had a whole raft of detailed policy proposals on their website, and many called for input from the public through comprehensive specific questions plus plenty of room for unstructured feedback. I gave feedback on three that I have an interest in.

I just looked at the website and there are a whole lot of policies published already.

It was their Policies in relation to tackling the Covid epidemic I was seeking.

[Balance]

It was their Policies in relation to tackling the Covid epidemic I was seeking.

Chill, Bjauck - election is two months away so we will all have enough time to read & assess National or Greens or NZF policies on tackling the pandemic when they are released.

Meanwhile, this is interesting reading, isn't it?

https://www.labour.org.nz/kiwibuild-2017

"KiwiBuild will deliver 100,000 affordable houses over ten years for first home buyers. Half of these will be built in Auckland. That is a ten-fold increase in the number of affordable houses being built in Auckland each year, from 500 to 5,000."

[Bjauck]

Chill, Bjauck - election is two months away so we will all have enough time to read & assess National or Greens or NZF policies on tackling the pandemic when they are released.

Meanwhile, this is interesting reading, isn't it?

https://www.labour.org.nz/kiwibuild-2017

"KiwiBuild will deliver 100,000 affordable houses over ten years for first home buyers. Half of these will be built in Auckland. That is a ten-fold increase in the number of affordable houses being built in Auckland each year, from 500 to 5,000."

Nothing to do with my question on what is National’s Covid policy.