Tag: New Zealand

National’s Road to Redemption

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Long, slow and painful but can be done

 

Disclaimer: I am a member of the National Party and have been since 2003.

 

And so on the back of the Prime Minister’s disastrous interview on Radio NZ this morning (Listen to the full interview with John Key on Morning Report) (also see my Muldoon quip below) which got even worse after contradicting claims some 90mins later on TVNZ one would think how National would up right itself and get going again. Oh John Key insinuating the All Blacks would look at the Wallabies Game Plan (we have the next Bledisole Match at Eden Park this weekend) if the coach left it on the table is rather off-key!

 

The situation we have in relation to the Colmar Brunton poll shows the following (which is of high note):

  1. 12% said they are more likely to vote in this years election (so we could see an increased voter turn out from the predicted 74%)
  2. 4% said the Hager revelations would be giving National a more positive outlook
  3. 9% said the Hager revelations would give National a more negative outlook

Now an increased voter turnout is more likely to hurt National and benefit the Centre Left in any means. But a net 5% negative swing against National (especially if this translates out on election day) is fatal to the Party wanting its third term. I have theorised that even a negative 2% swing against National (so minus the revelations) would be harmful especially if the Conservatives get around 4% and not into Parliament (so that 4% is a wasted vote that could have gone to National).

It is yet to be seen if the negative 2% or 5% swing will happen, or whether voter turn out gets above the predicted 74%.

 

Now then in light of the Hager revelations and the Prime Minister’s double shocker today the question is can National redeem itself in the eyes of the electorate? The answer is technically yes but some stuff will need to be done including some blood-letting.

Before I go on these are my own thoughts and opinions

Road and Train to redemption

  1. Demote Judith Collins to the back bench if National wins a third term and “retire her” at the 2017 elections. Now this is going to cause a spat and some serious bloodletting in National between the Tea Party faction and the combined Liberal and Conservative factions. However, it should be short, sharp and fast with long damage negligible to the Party in the long-term (post 2017). Once the Tea Party faction has been “retired” from the Party the Liberal and traditional Conservative factions will band together with mops, and buckets full of water and chlorine bleach. to clean up the mess. Sure it will take three years but nothing of great benefit was achieved overnight.
  2. Have the candidates, incumbent MP’s, the Young Nats and Steven Joyce continue running the lines as they are now (whether you agree with them or not). There is a reason behind this I shall explain in a moment
  3. Tell Bill English to open the cheque book and spread some pork around. Everyone loves a bit of pork and National is going to need just a little bit of the wonder stuff to lend some assistance. Now nothing too fancy with the pork and I see National have been busy with the pork spreading in the last few hours as I write this post. It is the pork I will be referring to.
    1. The Urban Cycleways announcement is a nice piece of “pork.” Not as bold as The Greens but remember National are trying to be touted as ‘Fiscal Conservatives’ here
    2. AMETI Stage II (the Bus way from Panmure Interchange (where Stage 1 is) to Pakuranga Town Centre got a $29m boost from NZTA and Auckland Transport to advance design concepts for the bus way. Now I was talking on Twitter today about AMETI Stages One and Two stalling and National needing to give it a tickle. Well National just did with Stage II
    3. Continue to play up the significance of the Southern Motorway upgrade which is well received in Southern Auckland. The BCR alone was going above 4 (think it was 6.3 from memory) so it is deemed a worthy investment on the BCR side alone. Now I know I have sent an email on the bus lanes for the Takanini Interchange but for the moment this is about National not me
    4. DO NOT fast track the City Rail Link any earlier than 2017. Council has not got itself sorted (recent blog posts picked that up) and the recent research paper commissioned by the Ministry of Transport (that I am covering in a series) also raises some issues with the Auckland Plan (which influences the CRL). From my own analysis (as a Geographer) I would review the Auckland Plan with a fine tooth comb before advancing the City Rail Link around the 2017/18 date. However, if National wants to play the Fiscal Muppetry card and bring the CRL forward to immediate then they might as well do the full works and build both the North Shore Line and Airport Line at the same time.
    5. Upgrade a rail line whether it be the North Auckland Line to Northland or the East Main Trunk Line from Port of Tauranga to Hamilton. Quick win here and will keep businesses and electorates happy
  4. Find a better Media Trainer for the PM NOW
  5. C&R need a full gut out and rebuilt if it either wants to contest Auckland Council elections properly again (most likely 2019 at this rate). The Hager revelations are too damaging on Guilty by Association charges at the minimum.
  6. Most of all stay on message

 

So the question is why the above especially in relation to bullet points two and three?

First of all bullet point two is for keeping Party Members and traditional voters from swinging. Remember we have a net 5% negative swing potential already and we don’t need traditional supporters or Party Members going for a swing because they are seriously pissed off with this entire affair (and believe me they are pissed off). So what Joyce and co are doing is soothing the traditionalists which is needed for if they bail well yeah we don’t need a repeat of Labour’s factionalisation.

Bullet point three is about the Pork. At the end of the day we all like the Pork when sprinkled our way. Now overdoing the pork will blow out of the water National’s fiscal conservative mantra that Bill English has nurtured (whether it be reality or perception). Overdoing the pork would also seem overtly cynical in vote-buying. But just a wee bit of pork there and there (the $212m regional roads package was an example of NOT HOW to do the pork)  would keep the traditional voters happy as well as the swinging voters as well. It would go some distance in negating that 5% negative swing that is threatening at the moment.

 

Now this is not a comprehensive list and most likely that I have mentioned it someone in the opposition would negate it 😛

But at the end of the day National does not need another performance like it received this morning from the PM. Performances it does need to receive were like universal reception on the Urban Cycleways policy announcement. Sure not as far as some would like but most were pretty happy that it is something (of worth).

Thoughts and comments are welcome. Trolls are not.

 

That Colmar Brunton poll

 

“Development Contributions Commissioners appointed”

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Part of the recent raft of changes brought through in the latest Local Government Act Amendments

 

From Scoop

Development Contributions Commissioners appointed

8 August 2014

Associate Local Government Minister Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga today announced a further step in the Government’s drive to reduce the cost of building new homes with the appointment of 26 commissioners to the Register of Development Contributions Commissioners.

“These commissioners will serve as a panel to ensure transparency and accountability in the charging of development contributions,” says Mr Lotu-Iiga.

“We are committed to making sure development contributions do not unnecessarily impact housing affordability.”

The appointments follow the passing of the Local Government Act 2002 Amendment Act (No 3) 2014.
“The Act which comes into force today includes improvements to the development contributions regime, making them fairer and more transparent. This is part of a suite of housing affordability initiatives like increasing land supply, establishing Special Housing Areas, removing tariffs on building materials and reforming the Resource Management Act 1991,” says Mr Lotu-Iiga.
He adds that the development contributions commissioners will make sure that councils can only charge developers for infrastructure related directly to their developments. He says the commissioners will manage the new objections process as the law now allows developers to object to a council’s imposition of a development contribution charge.

“I am pleased with the calibre of people who put their names forward for the register. I am confident that the appointed commissioners possess the relevant knowledge, skills and expertise to serve on the panel.”

All the commissioners are appointed for a three-year term.

For more information about the development contributions objections process visitwww.dia.govt.nz/better-local-government
Commissioner biographies:

  • Stephen Abley is currently the Managing Director of Abley Transportation Consultants. Stephen has extensive engineering experience and has assisted two councils with work that later informed their development contributions policies.
  • Mark Apeldoorn is currently a Director of the Traffic Design Group. Mark has extensive experience in civil engineering with particular expertise in traffic engineering design, urban design in the transport environment, city centre revitalisation and transport supply and demand management.
  • Helen Atkins is currently an environmental and local government law specialist at the Atkins Holm Majurey law firm. Helen is a RMA commissioner, a current board member of the Environmental Risk Management Authority and has previously chaired the Wellington Branch of the New Zealand Planning Institute.
  • Simon Berry is one of the founding partners of Berry Simons law firm and specialises in environmental law. He has been in practice as a specialist environmental law barrister and prior to that spent many years as a partner in two law firms.
  • Alan Bickers is a professional engineer and former Chief Executive of Tauranga City Council. Allan is a Distinguished Fellow of the Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand and a RMA commissioner.
  • Fraser Campbell is the current Director of Campbell Consulting Limited, an engineering consultancy, and a RMA commissioner. Prior to this, Fraser worked at Palmerston North District Council in several managerial roles.
  • Andy Carr is currently the Director of Carriageway Consulting, a transport engineering consultancy, as well as a RMA commissioner. He is a member of the National Committee of the Resource Management Law Association and is the immediate past Chair of the Canterbury branch of the Association.
  • Paul Cooney is the Partner of law firm CooneyLeesMorgan and acts as Senior Legal Advisor to several territorial authorities. Paul is a RMA commissioner and prior to this was a member of the Casino Control Authority.
  • Alan Dormer is lawyer at Shortland Chambers law firm and specialises in public, environmental and local government law. He also teaches the “Making Good Decisions” programme for RMA commissioners.
  • Tauiliili Fatu Fuatavai is currently the Director and Owner of the Airport Garden Inn Hotel, Trident Tavern and Gordys Bar. He is a commercial and residential property investor. Prior to this he was a Site Engineer working on various high rise buildings and civil engineering projects.
  • Harriet Fraser is currently an Independent Consultant at Harriet Fraser Traffic Engineering and Transportation Planning. Harriet has extensive engineering experience with particular focus on traffic engineering and transportation planning.
  • Brian Hasell is an Engineer, and the current Director of Hasell Consulting Limited. He has also been the Wellington Regional Manager for Transit New Zealand and the Chief Executive of Ashburton District Council.
  • David Hutchison is currently the Chief Civil Engineer at Downer New Zealand, a role he has held since 2008. He has extensive experience as a civil engineer.
  • Susan Jackson is experienced both as a civil engineer and local government councillor. She is currently a RMA commissioner, self-employed and in her final year of study for a Graduate Diploma in Business (Dispute Resolution).
  • Steven Kerr is currently a Principal Planner at Montgomery Watson Harza New Zealand. He also has planning experience from his time at CPG/Spiire, Telecom New Zealand Limited, BECA and at several New Zealand territorial authorities, including Upper Hutt City Council, Taupo District Council and Tauranga City Council. Steven is also a RMA commissioner.
  • David McLernon is currently a Director, Project Manager and Project Director at Octa Associates Limited. David has specialist knowledge in engineering.
  • Philip Milne is a lawyer with many years’ experience in the local government and environmental law field. He is currently a practicing Barrister at Waterfront Chambers in Wellington.
  • Graham Nielsen is currently a Management Consultant for SPM Consultants Limited. Graham has extensive experience in mechanical engineering, and has local government knowledge from years working for various councils in the Auckland region.
  • Pamela Peters is currently a consultant based in Auckland and a RMA commissioner. Pamela was the Mayor of Whangarei from 2004 to 2007 and was Deputy Mayor and a councillor for nine years prior to that.
  • Gary Rae is currently a planning consultant based in Nelson and a RMA commissioner. Gary Rae was a regional planner for Transit New Zealand, Principal Planner at Works Consultancy Services, and prior to that an Area Planner at Christchurch City Council.
  • Cindy Robinson specialises in law and is currently the Director of a resource management consultancy firm. She has experience as a board member and chairman of Arts Centre of Christchurch Trust and was previously a partner at Duncan Cotterill law firm.
  • Gregory Shaw is currently the Chief Executive of both Dalian Blue Sea Marina Design Company Limited and the Trade China Group Limited. Gregory also owns an engineering consultancy called The Consulting Group 2006 Limited. Gregory has specialist knowledge in engineering, both civil and structural, and also has experience in negotiation and problem solving.
  • Craig Shearer has specialist knowledge in planning, and local government knowledge from experience working for regional councils, including many years at Auckland Regional Council. He is currently the owner of Shearer Consulting Limited, providing input in to resource management processes.
  • Darrell Statham is currently the Principal of Statham Consulting Limited. He has extensive civil engineering experience and specialises in civil design, economic evaluation and project management.
  • Mark St Clair is a Principal and Co-Director of Hill Young Cooper Limited, a strategic resource management and environmental policy and planning consultancy. He is also a RMA commissioner, a member of the New Zealand Planning Institute and the Resource Management Law Association. Mark has worked previously as both a Senior Planning Consultant at GHD and has held policy and planning positions at Manukau City and Hutt City Councils.
  • Gina Sweetman is a RMA commissioner. She is also an experienced planner, currently working at Sweetman Planning Services. She is familiar with local government and Māori issues through work as a RMA commissioner, and planning and policy advisor for both the public and private sector.

—-ends—-

Source: http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1408/S00153/development-contributions-commissioners-appointed.htm

Something to ponder over before your next development

 

Campaign Strategy?

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There is a reason why I don’t like the term Non Partisan

 

Mainly because when it is used in the USA it will usually refer to some Neo Conservative Think tank with strong ties one way or the other to the Republican Party.

Well it seems (after someone forgot to make a shared Google Document private rather than open for the World to see) we could have an issue with the Non Partisan term here in New Zealand as we draw close to the 20th September national elections.

I stumbled across this early this which comes from the Rock Enrol campaign team:

 

The Rock Enrol campaign is designed to get the youth vote maximised as it is stubbornly low in New Zealand.

 

I do not have issues with third parties getting out there advocating and giving people a nudge in doing their civic duties. I do it in a round about way with the blog on Auckland issues.

What I do take issue to is when the Non Partisan term is used but could be very clouded owing to where support or resources are coming from. Put it this way to be non-partisan to the point actually being Bi-Partisan (which the Americans are good at) Rock Enrol should have asked for help from (and as an example) the Employers and Manufacturers Association. At the end of the day the EMA represents business that hire youth and are no doubt keen to offer their insight as well as a low voter turn out is not that great for business (let alone Unions and so on).

As for my own political affiliations? I have had it always in the open and it is on my LinkedIn profile. Yes since 2003 I have been member of the National Party.

 

I will leave the rest to your interpretations.

 

Lest We Forget

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100 Years Since World War One Started

 

Today we mark 100 years since World War One – The Great War started, and 99 years since the disastrous landings at Gallipoli in Turkey. We all have our own ways in marking both events as well as other wars New Zealand and Australia fought in.

For me personally I had family involved one way or the other in both World Wars One and Two on both the Allied or German sides. Whether it was on my German and Prussian side members of the family serving as Imperial Officers in World War One, or living in Nazi Germany during it tyrannical regime from 1933 until 1945 constantly not only facing the threat from the regime itself but also the Soviets and the Allies who were at war with Germany back then (1939-1945). Whether it also be on the British side my late grandfather in the Merchant Navy running the Atlantic U-Boat Blockades not knowing when that next torpedo would hit your ship next. And after the conclusion of the War he was sent as an Engineer to a devastated Germany to begin the rebuilding process. In his time in Germany he would meet my Omi and bring her back to an equally devastated England where they got married and would eventually have three daughters (the youngest being my mum who was actually born in New Zealand). A Brit and a German getting married so soon after the War would have been unthinkable but it happened. In the early 1950’s my grandparents (so my mum’s side) would set sail on a one of the Government sponsored migrant ships. Their destination? Well pretty much the southern Colonies who escaped the most savage aspects of World War Two (but who had still lost so much in the way of men). And so they landed in New Zealand where they lived (one of my Aunties would return to England to live later on) right up until this day (although my grandfather passed away in 2005).

And it is where I live today – in a free and democratic New Zealand.

 

I do not forget the sacrifices made both men and women, and the Country made in a series of events that started arguably back in 1870 and would not conclude until 1945.

 

But I also do not forget the history either.

 

For example there is this:

A man we held in such great esteem in World War Two was also personally responsible for the disaster that was Gallipoli in World War One. That person being Sir Winston Churchill. Yes he lead the British Empire with success against Hitler in World War Two and even saw the threat Stalin would become. But as First Sea Lord of the Admiralty in World War One Churchill was charged in sending the Navy through the narrow strait (where Gallipoli is situated) to prevent the Ottoman Naval Fleets from reaching the Mediterranean and harassing the Allied naval and supply lines.  As history would tell us April 25 1915 which we now remember as ANZAC DAY would be the day the Australian and New Zealand troops would land on the wrong landing spot with little or no naval back up. The rest and its consequences you should know from the botched landings. As history would also teach us much later on those botched landings in the end were blamed on Churchill who I believe was later relieved of his command.

 

So yes as remember our War Dead who sacrificed so much so we can enjoy what we enjoy today, let us also not forget the events that lead up to April 25 1915, as well as the consequences of the World Wars that still continue to this very day.

He who is ignorant of history is doomed to repeat it. 

Lest We Forget