Dear Labour I’m not asking for socialism, just basic regulated capitalism – the post Cyclone Gabrielle regulation list
As we struggle to comprehend the impact of climate change in front of us, it is clear we are in desperate need of legislative regulation.
Here are some ideas:
REGULATE 2DEGREES, VODAFONE, SPARK:
The Government must immediately look an an omnibus of legislative change as we rapidly move to adaptation and one of those new focuses should be on the Telecommunications industry and force them to spend to upgrade the resilience of our communications network.
They managed to build a cheap network, addicted us to their services and then failed completely at our most critical time.
Instead of building resilience into their systems, they have a mere 4-8hours battery system.
Not one Radio tower was knocked out. Not one!
2Degrees was making $30million in profit in 2020 before the made a Billion dollar merger with Orcon!
Vodafone turns over $2billion a year while Spark tuns over almost $4billlion, yet these greedy fucks can’t build resilience into a telecommunications network they have addicted us to!
They all pay lip service to resilience but have built their empires off the back of the cheapest network possible and it has had real life real world consequences.
Regulate them now!
STOP COUNCILS FROM BUILDING ON FLOODPLAINS:
The Greedy Developers and the lazy Councils have sold tens of the thousands down the drain!
This was the following statement from National Party Candidate and former Auckland Councillor Cameron Brewer in the wake of the Auckland Floods:
Last decade some Special Housing Areas were built in pretty marginal places, but it seems to have got worse since the 2016 Auckland Unitary Plan and the latest residential building boom,”
“We were all promised the Unitary Plan was more about going up than out, but in the past few years it has been mostly ‘greenfields’ development on the outskirts of Auckland, and some of it in totally unsuitable locations.
“We got rid of the Auckland Regional Council in 2010 because many thought they were too litigious and a drag on development. Much of their work and warnings, however, are now being borne out.
“In 2009 the regional council published some amazing fine-tooth mapping of the entire region identifying rapid flood hazard areas. Alarmingly in the intervening years, some well identified risk areas have been built on and in this latest event many sadly endured flash flooding.
…Auckland councillor Shane Henderson, representing West Auckland where there was a lot of flood damage, says “We have locked out people from building on the best land in the city. We have to confront this.”
He is right.
We can no longer allow intensification to be dominated by those with the wealth to keep the poor out.
Bypass this nonsense, cease the golf courses under the Public Works ACT and build State Housing and owner occupier affordable housing on them while building the infrastructure to them.
New Drainage rules for small companies:
Chippy needs to refocus 3 Waters on drains and promote more work to be done by small drain layer companies by ensuring 15% of drain contract procurements go to independent/small Drain companies.
Currently the large players choke off the small companies and the work doesn’t get done!
Once again the under regulated drainage industry is allowing price gouging and that means we won’t get the repairs done.
FORESTRY SLASH:
The Greedy Forest owners have had it too good for too long. Not only do they get to kill workers while paying them remarkably cheap rates, not only did they get the weight lifted on trucks to damage our road so they can hock logs off to China but they also get to destroy our infrastructure with slash!
It’s time to get medieval on these pricks with vast new costs to clean up their mess!
Emergency Management Bill:
Right now, the Emergency Management Bill is stalled in Parliament because the Labour Government are concerned the co-governance elements in the Bill that will enable and resource Marae will be seized upon by National and ACT as another dog whistle to spook the electorate…
Emergency management generally garners cross-party consensus in Parliament, but the Government’s effort to legislate for Māori participation in emergency management governance in the bill promises to be politically fraught. The Opposition has routinely attacked Labour’s work on co-governance between the Crown and Māori.
…this concern for political narrative may be strategic, but tactically it has left Marae without the agency to face the very challenges they are now enduring.
Many Marae are located in places because of very specific culturally important factors. Moving them would be traumatic. Where we can, Marae should stay where they are and get repaired with extra resourcing to ensure they are points of resilience in those communities.
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‘We can more imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.’
‘If we can’t describe the world we want how can we expect transformative change.’
Not my words but surely food for thought. Keep up the good work MB.
If socialism doesn’t mean taking from those who work hard and giving it to those who don’t, why do all socialist parties promote and implement such policies?
Windfall tax on those companies who have benefited from Covid, such as banks, supermarkets and power companies.
Also stop lowering wages by having slaves easily come into NZ which is a Ponzi. There are plenty of workers available in NZ when the job is fair and transparent.
Cash bonus and a free lunch – Wellington job ad pulls the punters
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/131233038/cash-bonus-and-a-free-lunch–wellington-job-ad-pulls-the-punters
All good points.
Surely this Cyclone has demonstrated even for the blockhead brigade that power generation and supply, and teleco infrastructure need to be under full public ownership. No power for a week in some parts of the East Coast, no cash, no direct credits…hello…
You know when Martyn does his thing I can get white girl wasted.