I met Chester Burrows when Pam and I went to New Plymouth for the ceremony when Peter Beck was inaugurated as the Dean of New Plymouth. A guy stood up and welcomed Peter, and spoke with great passion about the area and the responsibility to address Maori injustice issues. It was a wonderful, … [Read more...]
I was asked by a mate “what is the Global Settlement?”
The other night I was asked by somebody who had been at the meeting with Megan Woods “what is the Global Settlement?” I have been so deeply engrossed in the document I just made an assumption. That everybody had read it. Silly me. It is a 59-page document which is about as exciting as watching … [Read more...]
EQC has been plundered by successive Governments and this needs analysis:
Cam Preston writes:The 4th Labour Government, and others before it for political reasons, have been removing funds from EQC, which left it financially weakened at the time the earthquakes stuck.To record the immediate requirement of the Crown to return the money they plundered from the NZ public … [Read more...]
How much did the Government really spend in Canterbury?
In the Global Settlement document, the Crown claimed to have spent $14b in Canterbury. (Remember these figures aren’t just for Christchurch.) This appears to have been accepted by the negotiating team as correct. The CCC negotiator, Brendan Anstiss, supplied to us the Treasury document to show … [Read more...]
Excellent new policy announcement on “as-is” houses:
This week the Government announced a support package for the families trapped in the “as-is” nightmare. This issue promises to be the next “leaky homes” debacle for this City. This Press article covered the issue quite … [Read more...]
20 August Alistair Humphrey on Water
We are now starting discussing the topics which need to be properly discussed before the Local Body election. The first topic is the difficult issue of water. Recently the Minister of Local Government, Nanaia Mahuta, announced some fundamental changes to our water management in New … [Read more...]
Megan Woods – 13 August
Last week we had the Minister for Earthquake Recovery, Megan Woods. It was a very civil gathering and everybody was being polite. Especially Cam Preston, who asked a question of Megan about the level of Crown spending in Canterbury. Megan neatly sidestepped the question, but, significantly, did not … [Read more...]
20 August 2019 Comment
I’ve always felt that radio talkback is a useful pressure relief valve in society. I have enjoyed an excellent relationship with some radio talkback people. Generally, the ones who could listen to a logical discussion. I like Chris Lynch, the current guy at Newstalk ZB. I had an on-off relationship … [Read more...]