Announce protest actions, general chit chat or give your opinion on issues we haven’t covered for the day.
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Peter Boshier chief Ombudsman should be congratulated by relieving results from his investigation of councils lack of giving community’s their rights under the OIA to get documents from councils.
We at our NGO CEAC have a similar complaint also before the Ombudsman Peter Boshier on the same lack of OIA respect given us by NZTA.
HISTORY OF COMMUNITY GIVEN RESPECT UNDER OIA REQUESTS FROM NZTA.
Our community NGO in August 2019 requested documents from NZTA activities and we have refused our request for information under the OIA from NZTA using the same ‘blocking tactics’ FROM TOP OFFICIALS AT NZTA ; and we hope the Obudsman also rules against NZTA officials lack of action to “ensure an approach is adopted that is consistent with openness and transparency.”
We had also suggested a number of actions to help achieve this, starting at the top.’
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1911/S00186/chief-ombudsman-new-report-wakeup-call-for-council-leaders.htm
His investigation showed councils were deliberately blocking the requests by community’s for information under the OIA.
QUOTE; Peter Boshier today released Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act compliance and practice at Christchurch City Council. He began his investigation during the tenure of former Chief Executive Dr Karleen Edwards, who left the Council in June this year.
Mr Boshier says his investigation identified serious concerns among Council staff about the behaviour of some members of the Executive Leadership Team to keep negative information from elected members and the public.
‘During my investigation, a number of staff from different parts of Council raised concerns with me about the behaviour of some members of the leadership team. I found the CE’s failure to take adequate action in response to these concerns was unreasonable.’
‘I have made the formal recommendation that Christchurch City Council immediately review the leadership team’s involvement in controlling the flow of information to the public and elected officials, to ensure an approach is adopted that is consistent with openness and transparency. I have suggested a number of actions to help achieve this, starting at the top.’
‘The Council has acted swiftly in response, providing me with a thorough improvement plan and already putting several of its points into action.’
This arises from the government contracting out its business to private companies or agencies run as Not for profit entities similar to businesses. The government loses its opportunity to monitor what goes on under the division of operational business from the funder contractor. Councillors can’t have a full say in how councils are run. Sometimes the heads get into virtual fist fights. The responsibility for outcomes is waived by the funder in the docs they sign and agreements they come to it seems to me. This is caused by accepting business style as being more efficient and cost beneficial.
Our problems here, of business practices hollowing out our democracy, are evidenced by the statement of a UK Brexit Party cultist:
Derek Abram on the business of politics –
The Brexit Party’s candidate for Hull North has potentially been misled by the corporate structure of the Brexit Party Ltd – thinking this is how all of politics operates.
He said: “In my view, the House of Commons is the most high profile boardroom in the country”, which is an interesting interpretation of Parliamentary democracy.
https://scramnews.com/bizarre-things-happened-brexit-party-rally-hull/
+1 CLEANGREEN
Public information should be available to the community. It’s not rocket science!
Neoliberals love to hide information so they keep keep their noses in the trough!
I see national are at it again trying to get dirt and discredit Winstone again before the next election. There is plenty of dirt on national. Didn’t they give a mental health contract to an organisation mary english was involved with and just before the election. And they said they got it on their own merit yeah right ! bullshit. If NZ First have a wee look they will see more favours national did for their mates that benefit them not our county. And what about the private meeting at a motel with the national minister of trade is this good or best practise nah!
+1 Michelle
Winston seems to be the go-to political whipping boy for the nation, gee it must have hurt these people when he announced the coalition arrangement in the last election. One particular report stood out for me this week when RNZ’s Guyon Espiner engaged Andrew Geddis to suggest some sort of dodgy dealing by Winston’s inner circle (RNZ, 2019). They clarified their argument by saying (paraphrasing) “There are no indications of legal wrongdoing but…” In other words they ran this attack piece to question/draw attention to the morals and ethics of NZ First (their ‘transparency’, via innuendo), rather than provide evidence of illegality. The optics of having a Law professor raise suspicion of someone acting legally could be seen to be provocative.
RNZ. (2019). Mysterious foundation loaning New Zealand First money. Retrieved from
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/in-depth/403141/mysterious-foundation-loaning-new-zealand-first-money
Brexit how goes it? There could be a spelling and word contest about it. What meaningful words does Brexit lead to? Try – Boofheads Reeking Egregious Xenophobic Idiotic Takeover?
Forage and his Partly had a meeting: https://scramnews.com/bizarre-things-happened-brexit-party-rally-hull/
European Council President Donald Tusk has urged British voters not to “give up” on stopping Brexit.
As campaigning ramps up ahead of next month’s general election, he warned that leaving the EU would leave the UK a “second-rate player”. In a speech, he also said Brexit would likely mark the “real end of the British Empire”.
https://www.bbc.com/news/election-2019-50413638
Latest on brexit –
Voting tactically in the December UK election. The Telegraph have set up a system which has to be subscribed for. But they explain the background to it. It would be interesting to have an idea of it and whether it can be applied here.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/11/15/does-tactical-voting-actually-work-use-tool-realist-view-vote/
One Telegraph writer William Hague posits this interesting headline in https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/11/11/course-lib-dems-would-put-corbyn-no-10-stop-brexit/?WT.mc_id=e_DM1139466&WT.tsrc=email&etype=Edi_Edi_New_Reg&utmsource=email&utm_medium=Edi_Edi_New_Reg20191114&utm_campaign=DM1139466
‘Of course the Lib Dems would put Corbyn in No 10 to stop Brexit’ though another headline by someone
else says ‘Labour is on the brink of the most seismic wipeout in British election history’. I don’t know if you will be able to read these though. They say they are free to read and then ask for payment. So sorry.
Good news at least some sectors are getting more ‘value add’ and technological and there is a rise in manufacturing in NZ!
“It might come as a shock to some we even have a space industry, but it’s apparently worth $1.69 billion to the New Zealand economy, a new report has found.”
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/money/2019/11/nz-s-infant-space-industry-already-worth-1-69-billion-report.html
Phil Goff has come out swinging about the port, saying “we bloody own the land “well Phil what about Ihumatao as we blooded owned that land and we bloody owned most of Auckland. So what is you council doing Mr Goff sitting on their chuff on your stolen and confiscated land. Now what does it feel like to be on the receiving end when your land is being taken by someone more powerful than you. Its not nice is it,it makes you angry.
RNZ neoliberal pro immigration at all costs and get back the Natz, political agenda.
Outdid themselves today!
‘Oversubscribed’ residence category 12k under lowered target
Partnership visa change: Confusion over singling out arranged marriages
New visa process in place for culturally arranged marriages
Forever home: Why immigrants choose New Zealand
Manus Island refugee Behrouz Boochani not seeking NZ asylum – for now
A dose of identity politics
The anger behind the OK Boomer
Bad local Maori
Former inspector repeatedly abused power – IPCA
And the anti NZ First campaign
NZ First-linked forestry company pushed for govt funds
Mysterious foundation loaning New Zealand First money
Compulsory Shamubeel Eaqub intellectual-yet-idiot economist views and solutions (his lack of insight and previously stupidity and predictions aka much talked about housing crash, not a barrier to his credibility at RNZ!)
Transparency and capacity key to Infrastructure Commission success
New Zealand’s dying towns
And they wonder why MSM is dying, propaganda alive and well in NZ and it just ain’t the usual suspects of Granny and Woke Spinoff !!!
Clearly balanced reporting is an issue in NZ which speaks for 1% industry and 2% woke and ‘donations’ are a plenty not just to the National party for list MP seats .
U.S involvement in Bolivia’s right wing coup.
https://www.thecanary.co/global/world-analysis/2019/11/14/the-clear-us-role-in-bolivias-tragic-hard-right-coup/
Sorry to swear, but Fuck Me, the officials seem to be planning in the next few years of closing down public transport and increasing congestion and less ease and opportunities for public transport travel, and still increasing the amount of people coming to NZ @circa 300,000 per year!
Four-year closure of Mt Eden train station during City Rail Link build
Puhinui Station is closing on 28 September for construction of the new Puhinui Station Interchange.
Are those cafe and telecom administration and the low paid jobs and aged migrant parents and arranged marriages, so important to the government can’t wait a few years until we sort out the infrastructure instead of adding petrol to the fire in terms of new people living here!
Another reason why foreign students and all the other people on temp visas, should not be encouraged to come with spouses and start having kids in NZ. Often they have no way to pay back medical expenses when things go wrong! Genetic conditions are not covered by medical insurance and our maternity and hospitals are already full and the Kiwis are having kids in carparks and stretched services.
Migrants’ medical bill mounts after baby born with rare illness
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/migrants-medical-bill-mounts-after-baby-born-rare-illness
Perhaps make vasectomy a condition for immigration, is that what would solve it?
@Marc, Or some condoms… since…
The rise of syphilis in NZ: The worst STI hot-spots as disease make a comeback
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/well-good/teach-me/116130877/the-rise-of-syphilis-in-nz-the-worst-sti-hotspots-as-disease-make-a-comeback
Or kill two birds with one stone, only have genuine students and workers here who understand it’s a temporary situation on 1 year permits – and can’t bring the spouse, relatives etc – just like our UK working visas that people in NZ use to go to Europe!
In case people are not aware we already have multiple crisis in NZ so adding more people to the housing, health, education and more cars on the road on the basis of a crap degree or job ain’t helping the people who already live here and no end in sight!
Looks like the OPCW is yet another international body to come under the sway of American bully tactics, but the team members are fighting back.
We expect rigorous attempts to find the truth from these organisations, it can make the difference between life and death, peace or war. They should be beyond political interference
Here’s Jonathan Steele , his journalistic accomplishments can’t be disputed
https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/11/15/the-opcw-and-douma-chemical-weapons-watchdog-accused-of-evidence-tampering-by-its-own-inspectors/
I don’t know what is worse, that you can just remove responsibility for building work by changing the name of a company, or that the council doesn’t track the engineers of a build by name so that defective work is allowed to continue, or that the council IT systems are so uselessly designed they can’t find out and track companies and people who are doing substandard construction work and keep signing off the same problems!
Council unable to identify possible defective buildings in capital
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/403417/council-unable-to-identify-possible-defective-buildings-in-capital
You’d think it would be a priority since the CTV building killed 115 people when the building collapsed during the Christchurch earthquakes. The CTV building deaths made up about 60% of the CHCH earthquake’s total fatalities. But no lessons learned obviously.
As for Wellington councils pathetic IT, have they not every heard of a proper records management information architecture before, which is like pre school for IT?
Looking at the pyramids – they seem to have lasted a long time! They didn’t even have IT and a register of engineers and builders that today learn everything there is to be known! And how to avoid responsibility. In
the olden days there was an attempt to do everything right, and that is why huge stone edifices still thrust to the sky after centuries. If they didn’t do everything right they would probably be killed, even perhaps, if they were related to the ruler. Now, what the heck, take the money and run to Australia, or Venezuela.
Man wins the right to give his political party a compassionate end of life
In a touching and heartfelt parliamentary hugfest today, David Seymour, surrounded by death-obsessed politicians, confirmed that his political party is ready to go. “I’ve made mistakes” he said, his political party now bed ridden and gravely ill, murmuring softly that his one big mistake was subjecting the New Zealand public to his career. The once healthy sidekick who now has no friends to speak of in parliament reflected further, “I did everything I could to get the public to vote for me; ridiculing myself on a waste of TV space, conning the people into thinking I was one of them, being one of the biggest welfare bludgers of our time”. And so it goes that this man’s party of rednecks, who care more about making money, their careers, protecting their monopolies and being white religious non-LGBTQIA+ gun owners, rather than what a politician really should be about (fairness, compassion, equality, opportunity, efficiency, innovation, planning, future), and who fetishise more about the people dying than living, is now about to pass. Good riddance ACT, you malignant arse tumour. PS: Palliative, end-of-life care and the right to die with dignity has always been with us you moron.
Sorry Popeye, you are one-eyed about euthanasia. That Bill was a good initiative from David Seymour in the face of a faceless group of citizenry who prate on about all sorts of reasons why a dying person shouldn’t be able to decide when to go – themselves! Oh shock, horror someone over-riding all the people comfortable in their various roles of being saintly and helpful, in theory, about the dying person. If they are in pain, why that is historic, people before you have died in pain and survived it – that is the sort of thought that passes for one in the brains of such people.
Giving people plenty of time, asking Are you sure? – discussing it with the person by special JPs who can testify that the patient, while everyone else was out of the room has testified to their wish to die, then repeat that in a week’s time, then bring all the prescribed documents and actions to the fore, the will, the wishes as to who gets what, what to be done after death.
All this should be done and there should be a ritual with a chosen specially designated person like a Marriage Celebrant but with an appropriate name say Life Celebrant would be good. It should be planned and careful, but not just treated as a passing thought to be brushed aside because ‘we, whoever’ know better.
Scary Stuff
Climate Change Is Breaking Open America’s Nuclear Tomb
The Marshall Islands say that plutonium is leaking into the Pacific Ocean from the concrete dome the U.S. built to dispose of nuclear waste.
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/3kxmav/climate-change-is-breaking-open-americas-nuclear-tomb?fbclid=IwAR34SRogR2gssn37ssKbZ-1jYQye0-OerVFU6A7t2v69vRYP04YnJvPq_6s
Yep, I commented on this some time ago, but people slumber in their sleep of indifference and ignorance.
So much for NZ’s ‘anti nuclear’ stance, it means nothing, once the Plutonium from Marshall Islands ends up on our shores and in the fish we catch and eat.
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