Where was Franks?

Davey links to the Salient review of the NZBR’s election discussion on policy at which it sounds like an extensive list of modern approaches to the business of the state were considered.

The Salient review identifies that Rod Deane was there in some capacity, as were the ACT and Labour Party candidates but there was no Nat?

Was Deane there in lieu of Franks?

Is Franks wary of being associated with the NZBR, the major funders of the party he previously represented? What would he have said if asked, as was Labour’s Grant Robertson, for a position on the sale of assets? Would his answer have squared with that of the party’s leadership?

Franks has a difficult race in Wellington Central, possibly made more so by his choice of advisers, but does he intend to face up to the electorate or simply bash out blog-posts? He’s deluding himself however, if he thinks he can pretend he’s not an advocate of the kind of policies being advocated by Roger Douglas, Rod Deane and the NZBR.

Apalling sexism within Western Australian Liberal Party

Recently, we’ve been giving Stephen Franks and David Farrar a hard time for their stupid school-boy attempt at humour. The point was to expose to scrutiny the kind of foolish behaviour that can and does diminish the appeal of political parties to different cohorts of voters. National has a problem with its image with women. It’s pretty clear they know this and are trying to remedy it (which makes Franks error all the more significant). However, the New Zealand National Party can thank themselves that they don’t have this guy on their team.

West Australian Opposition Leader Troy Buswell has broken down at a press conference and admitted he sniffed the chair of a female Liberal Party staffer.

Good god! All the more remarkable, Buswell is saying he’ll not stand-down as leader! And it’s not the first time.

Mr Buswell has previously admitted to snapping a Labor staffer’s bra as a drunken party trick and has been accused by retiring Liberal MP Katie Hodson-Thomas of making sexist remarks to her.

Similar sexist acts cost the former NSW Liberal Leader, John Brogden, his job back in 2005.

This is not to suggest that National Party in NZ are guilty of this level of sexism. It does, however, suggest the importance of setting a very low threshold, over which indiscretions are dealt with swiftly.

The federal Liberal party will be aghast at this. They’ve got the Labor government in some strife - West Australia was the only state that didn’t have a swing against the Liberal/National coalition at the last federal election. There was even talk that the current deputy leader of the federal party, Julie Bishop, who’s the federal member for the seat of Curtin in WA may depart the Canberra scene to start the rebuilding at the state-level (WA is the next state to go to the polls).

Update: The SMH reports that federal Liberal leader, Nelson, supports Buswell’s continuing leadership because he’s remorseful. Ridiculous.

Credit to Gerry

On this blog we’ve often lamented how pathetic Opposition can be in their constant naysaying about government performance.  OK, we know it’s part of the job of an Opposition to be critical of the incumbent government - but the continual, trivial and sometimes misleading carping can get on one’s nerves.  That’s why I was pleased to see Gerry Brownlee in his recent address to the Wind Energy Conference describing the government’s target of 90 percent of energy from renewables as being “laudable”. Gerry, the man who not so long ago described coal as being “sexy”, seems to have been taking trips to Damascus because he’s now onboard with reducing greenhouse emissions by a full 50 percent by 2050.  OK, the timeline is pretty cruddy - but at least National now recognises and accepts the need to reduce carbon emissions.  Gerry focused his comments on the continued reliance on thermal power generation and the need to move to non-polluting alternatives and how the RMA should be amended to help this process.  I don’t want to critique Gerry’s speech because this is a post giving some credit for the Opposition trying to be a bit more constructive than its usual negativity.  But I couldn’t help notice that energy only creates 42 percent of emissions.  Given seemingly benign power generation like hydro-electric generation can actually produce some greenhouse gases (e.g. from methane producing plants on the edge of lacks), the upshot will mean New Zealand will need to confront its single largest emissions producer - the agricultural industry.  We all know that this is a fight over the horizon that will need to be had - but I am just a little suprised the National party is moving into that space. Anyway, to get back to the point of this post - I thought it was nice to see Gerry giving some credit to the government and to see National meaningfully moving beyond its earlier  climate change denialism. 

John, Coldplay will give you your next song for free…

Poor old John’s relaunch last year was blighted by the Coldplay song scandal. Now Coldplay are giving their next single away for free. I wonder if John could redistribute a remix of his Ambitious DVD?

More Law and Order Nonsense from National

Intrigued by John Key’s fibs about violent crime being out of control in New Zealand, I thought I would have a prowl about National’s site and see if I could find other Tory Law and Order nonsense. I didn’t have to look far. One look at National’s most recent releases and I alighted upon Chester Burrows’ release about Police confidence. The gist of Burrows’ argument is that Labour’s “focus on getting 1,000 new police has distracted them [sic] from improving conditions for existing officers”.

Burrows’ cheap attempt to deal himself into the “engagement survey” results is bizarre. For a start, if you look at the Police Association’s media releases for the past five to six years you will see a consistent theme about the need for more Police - particularly in Auckland. This message abruptly changed in December 2005 when the Police Association celebrated the Labour-led government’s decision to add another 1000 Police. As the President of the Association said at the time,

“The Association been stressing the need for more frontline police for sometime, to build and maintain public confidence and meet their understandably high expectations of service. We see the commitment today as a real step towards the new Government’s pledge to achieve sworn police to population ratios comparable with that of Australia by 2010″

The Association has not resiled from this position. The only caveat to this is the Association’s concern about the possible reduction in recruiting standards and, as any good union should, then link this to the need to increase pay (see O’Connor’s 30 June 06 release).

So it would seem the Police - or at least the Police Association - would disagree with Mr Burrows’ characterisation of the focus on implementing 1000 additional Police as being a distraction.

What else would Burrows do - if he thinks adding more Police is just a distraction? Is he going to now champion Police salaries? Is that National’s policy?  I think he will find the Police wanting both - more cops and more money. The Labour-led government is providing more Police and, as the incumbent government, has unfortunately been a little less forthcoming about lifting pay rates for Police. But I am surprised, if not pleased, to see National potentially going into the Election with a promise to increase the pay rates of least one group of public servants.

Yet another own-goal by Davey

Davey’s on a run. First he shops his mate Stephen Franks for his infantile sense of humour, now he’s inadvertently drawn attention to Franks’ failure to comply with the EFA.

Yesterday, Davey announced that Grant Robertson, Labour’s candidate for Wellington Central, still had himself as authorising his blog which was incorrect because it should have been his recently appointed electoral agent.

Conservator Occidentalis notes that Grant Robertson may be breaching the Electoral Finance Act. How? His website is authorised by him, not by his financial agent. Now a candidate is his or her own financial agent until he or she appoints one, but Grant appears to now have one, as their details have appeared on other material.

Fair enough, I’m sure Robertson will correct it in a timely manner - in fact it looks like he has (see the bottom of this page).

So what about Franks - he has absolutely no statement about the authorisation of his site - neither he, nor his electoral agent authorised the site. What gives? Did Davey not check the log in his mate’s eye before he pointed out the speck in Robertson’s? Surely he thought this through? Surely? Clearly not.

Although when challenged Farrar declares Franks’ site exempt because it is a “blog”. What then is Robertson’s? They follow almost exactly the same format - mixing commentary with party material and encouraging support - iF Franks’ site is a blog, surely so too is Robertson’s?

Think first, type later Davey.

More “creative” spin (read fibs) from Key

Nice to see Key warming to his “1000 reasons why I hate New Zealand and New Zealanders” campaign in his recent speech to the Sensible Sentencing Trust. This time the theme appears to be that New Zealand is overwhelmed with violent crime. We’re all going to hell in a violent, p-induced frenzy of handbaskets - apparently.

I perused the speech expecting the usual inward groan associated when reading Key’s platitudinous drivel - but the figures he trotted out to pump up his scaremongering seemed, well, completely out-of-whack. I suddenly got interested and decided to check them myself. He said, as a matter of fact, violent offences were now 17,000 higher than they were in 1999. He also said:

• a violent crime every nine-and-a-half minutes;
• a sexual attack every three-and-a-half hours;
• a robbery every three-and-a-half hours.

Damn, I thought, if Key’s right, New Zealand must be in some kind of trouble. Hell, I almost rushed out to buy new locks for my doors! Of course, I needn’t have worried: Key wasn’t actually quoting facts. That would be too boring. No - Key was being “creative” with the truth for maximum effect. No doubt his creativity was well received and accompanied by the usual Cro-Magnon chest beating that follows any gathering of the Sensible Sentencing Lynch Mob Trust. But let’s look at the facts. Something, it seems, the Spotty Dicks in the Tory “Research” Unit seem incapable of doing.

Charges over APEC stunt dropped

The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting that the DPP have dropped charges against the Chaser. The charges relate to an incident during last year’s APEC meeting when the Chaser team impersonated an official motorcade and managed to progress almost to the “Red Zone” close to where many many Heads of State were accommodated.

The controversial event can be viewed here.

A victory for commonsense methinks.

Farrar advocates new big band-aid but no solution

Farrar’s had a go at the Standard for not recognising the significance of migration to Australia. As always, David talks up the situation as a crisis and condemns the government for not doing more. This doesn’t stop him, however, acknowledging that the current situation is a function of circumstances largely beyond the NZ government’s control (this, presumably, is his excuse for the fact that National still have no policy):

Is it all the fault of the Government of the day? No, of course not. But should the Government be exhibiting a determined focus to implement policies that will lift NZ’s overall national income, that will make people want to stay or at least return to NZ? Hell, yes. And have the current Government’s policies been working? Hell, no.

I guess this ignores the development of new markets, increasing wages and employment. But what is Davey’s solution? What additiona or amended policies would he advocate to stem the tide?

More migration to NZ.

If the Govt wanted to, it could have 150,000 or even 200,000 migrants a year coming here. As a non third world country there is almost no limit to how many people would move here if they could.

Of course Davey notes that there’s likely to be some loss of productivity associated with swapping domestic for migrant workers but he offers no new or amended policies - he doesn’t even mention tax for a change.

In effect Davey avoids the issue altogether. His commentary is solely and exclusively focused on simply back-filling the gap. Perhaps his problem is that National have been so confused about wages and productivity that it’s simply too difficult to comment.

This is the perfect example of National’s election strategy. Berate the government, if necessary through exaggeration and/or for matters outside their control, but offer no meaningful alternative position.

Girlies and the World’s youngest college professor

I go overseas for a couple weeks to attend to business and come back to a political storm about the kind of behaviour I naively thought we might have grown out of or, at least, avoid during this election year - and that’s the sexist objectification and trivialisation of women.

The National Party must be exasperated with Farrar and Franks. Their schoolboy sniggering about sexist depictions of women cuts a little uncomfortably close to revealing National’s dirty little secret: It’s appalling attitude to women. An attitude which may cost National electorally.

Women form just over half of this country’s population and, as such, form an important constituency and, putting it crudely, a vast pool of potential votes. When women voters see brave, intelligent women MPs like Katherine Rich leaving parliament and wonder about her motivations these voters must also wonder whether National takes women seriously. When women voters survey National’s front bench and find it stuffed to the gunwales with men, they must wonder whether National takes them seriously. When women voters look at the insidious links of between the Catholic Church’s ultra-conservative, anti-women dogma and some of National’s leading MPs they must wonder whether National takes them seriously. When women voters read blogs like Farrar’s and his buddies and are shocked by the heinous misogyny being directed at Helen Clark and other women MPs they must wonder whether National takes them seriously.

All’s not lost for women voters though.  While National might be happy to dismiss the relevance and importance of women it’s not the same in other parties. The Greens, Labour and the Maori Party all have  women in prominent leadership roles. Moreover, under successive Labour-led governments, women have found their way to the highest positions across nearly all branches of government and are represented strongly in Cabinet.  For women voters there are alternatives to the barely concealed contempt being directed at them by the National party.

And to counter Franks’ and Farrar’s woeful sexism - here’s an uplifting story about the World’s youngest university professor: A young woman called Alia. She became a college professor three days before her 19th birthday - which according to the Guinness Book of Records makes here the youngest college professor since 1717. This remarkable young woman also excels in music and martial arts.

I guess while Farrar and his mates believe the only interesting thing about a blond 19 year old women is her mammary glands - it’s nice to know that women like Alia - despite her youth, blonde tresses and breasts - manages to get on and do important stuff.