Left Field and Beyond

waves goodbye

2005-11-07T18:01:00.000+13:00

It's official: after a period of stagnation I'm shutting up shop. the quality and frequency of my blogging has got to the stage where I now choose not to inflict myself on others.

Time for new challenges: A new job - my first as a solicitor - starts in a couple of days and I don't expect anything to be easy. Kayaking the manawatu gorge, and the Abel Tasman. Still learning to rollerblade. Giving enough time to my beautiful girlfriend, and moving in with her in February.

Lots to do, and some things have to go. But I'm not disappearing entirely - I will make occasional appearances on the VUWSA Has-Beens bench, the new blog by interfering old bats that can be found at http://thehasbeensbench.blogspot.com

I've got as much to say as always, just limited time (and opportunity, without a computer at home) to say it. If you're looking for me, I can always be found on a number of email addresses, or at Sonja Cooper Law on the Terrace just above Liquidate.

Come visit, and buy me a coffee;)

Ciao,
Amanda

Form letter to TEC

2005-10-13T16:26:00.000+13:00

Ok, I said I'd do this and here 'tis. Below is a form letter asking the Tertiary Education Commision not to approve a ten percent increase in domestic tuition fees at Victoria University. After the PR-disaster for VUW that was the injunction, I'm not sure they will even ask for it but better safe than sorry.

Note that my technologically-redundant self can't figure out how to put this on another page, or anything flash like that, so either copy and paste it into Word or do whatever it is technologically able people do with these things.

The letter below is a form one, so please change it to reflect your own style and so they don't tune out immediately:)

Contact details for the Tertiary Education Commission can be found here. Sadly, the Chair of the Commission is Russell Marshall, former Chancellor of VUW. There are nine other Comissioners, feel free to send only one letter or address them individually. Information on the Commissioners can be found here.

Dear Commissioners/[insert name]

I am writing in regard to a possible request by the Victoria University of Wellington Council to the Commission to allow a fee increase above the five percent prescribed in the Fee Maxima Scheme: that is, a fee increase for domestic students up to ten percent.

I strongly oppose any move by the TEC to grant such a request. I believe it would be contrary to the Tertiary Education Strategy, statements by the Minister of Education and the goals of TEC to allow such a request by Victoria.

Requests for increases above the Maxima are only supposed to be granted in extraordinary circumstances. Victoria University is not in dire financial need, nor is it likely to be. It has consistently posted healthy surpluses, which are expanded when related bodies such as VicLink are included in the cumulative surplus. There are no circumstances in the situation of Victoria University that could be considered extraordinary.

One of the key changes identified in the Tertiary Education Strategy is to "Increase responsiveness to the needs of, and wider access for, learners". Allowing further increases in domestic tuition fees restrict access to tertiary education as is not at all responsive to the needs of learners. At a time when student debt has reached $8 billion, and not all students receive a student allowance, it is unduly harsh to allow such large increases in tuition fees.

Subsequent to the increase of domestic fees at Victoria in 2004 (an increase of 4.7%) the Minister of Education, the Hon Trevor Mallard, stated that fees should not be increasing. For the TEC to then grant the request of Victoria University for a large increase would go against the public statements of the Minister responsible for the Commission.

TEC are focused on providing a high quality knowledge economy. However, regular increases in domestic tuition fees are making tertiary education, and therefore a knowledge economy, increasingly difficult to achieve.

For all these reasons, and many more, I would ask that any request by Victoria University for the TEC to allow a fee increase above the Maxima be denied.

Yours Sincerely,
etc etc.

Change it how you will, but send it soon - VUW fee setting is on October 31st.

Tackling the big issues

2005-10-11T11:12:00.000+13:00

It's good to see the Nats keeping it in perspective. Tens of thousands of people have died in Pakistan, we have yet to form a government, global warming is reaching crisis point, and oil is due to run out. Those issues must have just been too mainstream however, because Eric Roy has gone for the jungular.

He's looking after our moose.

I have to admit, I didn't know we had moose. (Mooseses? Moosi? Meece?) Apparently they live in Fiordland and are in danger of being culled by DOC. If DOC can find them anyway - Mr Roy is relying on DNA evidence to support the existence of the moose, which were released in the Fiords in 1910. He wants to get them an exemption under the National Parks Act.

So, just to recap - the new Member for Invercargill has committed to protecting moose that no-one has seen from a cull that no-one has mentioned. To back up his new conservation drive, he uses the example of his friend in Wyoming:

“A friend of mine in Wyoming knows there are moose on his property, because he finds their antlers quite often. Yet he has never seen one. They are very shy animals. Therefore, if DoC wanted to go into Fiordland to exterminate our local moose, the cost in man hours and resources such as helicopters to find an animal that actively avoids humans would far exceed the resources needed to sign an exemption under the Act,” he said.

I'm sure if the bulk of New Zealanders knew we had moose, they would probably agree with Mr Roy. Problem is, most 0f them don't. Pity there could be no DOC-instigated cull of conservaties tories - I'm sure that would garner much more support than our local moose population.

I wonder if they would be any good as pets? The moose, not the tories.

Meanwhile, on a larger scale, the union movement in NZ are breathing a sigh of relief - they don't have to deal with Howard's new employment legislation. The part that surprised me the most was the exemption of businesses of under a hundred employees from the rules of unjustified dismissal regulations. Job security just went out the window for most businesses in Australia, which usually affects productivity in the workplace. Small businesses can now sack their employees at will, and in many cases employees will have to negotiate many terms of their employment that used to be taken for granted, such as annual leave and bonuses/penal rates.

Rather them than us...

VUW v VUWSA: Injunction lifted

2005-10-06T11:07:00.000+13:00

Well, events have overtaken me .. Vic lifted the injunction last night, and a very boring "no comment" on the whole shebang has been issued by VUWSA and VUW jointly. More interesting are the details of the suppressed article, the proposed fee increases by the new VC (credit to No Right Turn):

According to the leaked documents, Vice-Chancellor Pat Walsh presented four options for fee increases in 2006 (for undergraduate and Honours courses):

1. 5% increase across-the-board
2. 10% increase for Humanities and Education; 5% increase for everyone else
3. 10% increase for Law, Humanities and Education; 5% increase for everyone else
4. 10% increase across-the-board
Under all four options, all postgraduate fees will increase by $500 per Equivalent Full-Time Student (EFTS).

But it also looks like Pat Walsh has been taking lessons from Auckland University, inserting a comment relating to the level of fees impacting on the perceived quality of the institution. In other words, if you charge more, people think you are better and want to attend. (NRT referred to this as 'snob value').

Options 2 - 4 will require permission from the Tertiary Education Commission as they go over the 5% threshold. I'll be posting a form letter here to them in the next few days as people need to show TEC that permission should not be granted.

ASPA in support of Salient

2005-10-05T11:04:00.000+13:00

The Aotearoa Student Press Association have come out in support of Salient - an unsurprising move, since the ASPA President is Holly Walker, editor of Critic in Otago and one of the first publishers of the gagged story.

It's been interesting to follow the media treatment of this - initially the story revolved around the injunction, but has since widened to fee setting and the use of TEC exemptions. Nobody seems to have noticed that Massey are intending to do the same thing, although they have also put their hand up in the media today to join the party.

The full hearing is at 10am tomorrow in the High Court - get along to it and support freedom of the media if you get a chance!

Further Salient News..

2005-10-04T16:52:00.000+13:00

Keith Ng has just posted a letter received in his capacity as News Editor of Salient. The ramifications are mind-boggling.

Check it out here.

Salient also need dosh to finance their legal challenges - email salient@vuwsa.org.nz if you can help.

Not for me, thanks..

2005-10-04T12:18:00.000+13:00

Just out - Marian Hobbs, George Hawkins and Paul Swain will not be seeking Cabinet posts this term. While Paul Swain wants to spend more time with his family, Marian has hit it on the head, stepping aside to allow fresh ideas and faces through. There has been much talk about succession in both Labour and National, and a recognition that new blood was needed in the former.

Hawkins was one of the ones I picked as dead wood, and I'm glad he's going. Marian, despite a few slips has been an effective Minister but I think enjoys her constituency duties more. Swain has always been considered a safe pair of hands so it will be interesting to see who takes his place.

My picks (laced with eternal optimism) - the return of Lianne Dalziel, maybe something for Tim Barnett, Darren Hughes, and David Benson-Pope.

Salient gagged over fee setting

2005-10-03T17:08:00.000+13:00

Victoria University obtained an injunction on Friday to prevent Salient publishing details of domestic fee setting for 2006. The injunction was carried over until Thursday by Justice Ron Young in the High Court, scraping the final publishing deadline of the last Salient of the year.

Why an injunction? Because Victoria intend to ask the Tertiary Education Commission for an exemption, following the recent move of Massey and the habits of Otago. With permission, they could lift domestic fees by up to ten percent.

It's a pity Victoria forgot about syndication. While both sides spend thousands of dollars on lawyers and filing fees, bloggers and syndicated student newspapers like Critic are happily publishing what Salient cannot.

And so am I - check out Critic's story here. The dissemination of information via the net and blogosphere is even quicker when it is being dragged through the courts..

By seeking an injunction, VUW are drawing far more attention to the issue than a day's worth of lecture speaking. Domestic fee setting is always in the public forum, but this time VUW sought to keep secret, for as long as possibly, their desire to squeeze more money out of students through the TEC back door. Thursday will be interesting indeed.

In other, more irritating news, child protection agencies in New South Wales are encouraging same-sex couples to be foster parents - despite being unable to formerly adopt children in their own right. It was acknowledged by the agencies that there were a shortage of foster parents, and same-sex couples provided a stable environment for troubled children.

Double standards, anyone?

Disarmament in Northern Ireland

2005-09-28T17:20:00.000+12:00

The IRA has destroyed its arsenal. In the 200 years the Irish Republicans have existed, they have never gone to such lengths to find peace in Ireland. The man in charge of ensuring it is done was retired Canadian General John de Chastelain, and he claims that all weapons were now beyond use. This isn't quite good enough for Democratic Unionist Ian Paisley, who is demanding photographic evidence and is showing signs of refusing to sit around the table with Sinn Fein. The General stated that much of the ammunition was in belts or bags, suggesting they had been collected from individuals over time. Some loyal paramilitaries and splinter groups were no doubt still in action, but could be "cleaned up" by security forces.

And what an arsenal!

650 Kalashnikov assault rifles
40 Armalite assault rifles, smuggled from America, often stolen from US army stores
50 heavy and general purpose machine guns
60 Webley revolvers
2 Barret high-powered American sniper rifles
40 rocket launchers
6 flame throwers
1 SAM-7 surface-to-air missile
600 bomb detonators
3 tonnes of Semtex plastic explosive, the undetectable variety
An unknown number of mortars
Hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition

I have always wanted a united Ireland, and have been engaged in that discussion ever since I can remember with the Irish culture being so strong in our family. (Note to readers - it takes a considerable amount of alcohol to get a jig out of me these days). I used to think, too, that the IRA were right - that the guerilla tactics they used for the Cause were just and the only way against the might of the British Army. I'd read abou the atrocities in Ireland and Scotland and the independance movements there.

I don't know what actually happened - whether the organisation changed, or just my perception of them. But the IRA no longer have a cause. It exists in the form of bands of thugs who patrol areas, using violence and fear to control the people they were supposed to fight for.

Hopefully now we can see the end of the gun and the bomb in Irish politics, and hopefully Paisley and his cohorts will sit down, shut up and listen. Before the Good Friday agreement, some children had never known a cease fire, let alone peace, in their life time. Hopefully they will now see a united Ireland in that time.

Election fatigue

2005-09-26T17:08:00.001+12:00

Well, I've barely taken part in election-post-mortems since the big night, but I'm over it until the specials come in. New job (well, a shift within the organisation to the legal team proper) has meant less time for blogs (and no computer at home) so less information flowing in. I'm also making a determined effort to get outstanding tasks done and some new goals achieved.

Number 1: learn to rollerblade. I'm ten years behind everybody else in wanting to look that skilled and cool. I had the first lesson on the sun-washed waterfront on Saturday and managed not to fall over. (This is not the same as not looking like an ass). My efforts are still closer to stomping on wheels, but never mind. I'm sure the wind-mill like arms and the slamming into walls will cease with practise - maybe.

Number 2: Get new transport and get a license. With the old scooter written off, I need me some wheels. I actually prefer a scooter, but also need to get my restricted as I can't travel at 45kms forever.

Number 3: Get a tan. Having legs that could be used as night beacons at the airport is not attractive, to anyone.

Number 4: Get fitter. After a few weeks off due to ill health it's time to get the fitness back - preferably before I have to get onstage as my drag alter ego Stevie Mac on Saturday night.

Keeling over from exhaustion after a five minute dance routine is not cool. If you want to have a laugh (mainly at me, but I'm used to that) turn up at the Big Kumera on Saturday around 11pm for an extensive freak show. (I'm not kidding, that's what it is called).

Anderton. Jim Anderton...

2005-09-23T12:44:00.000+12:00

Move over 007, Mr 1.23 is in the House. Jim leapt to the aid of a homeless man who had cut an artery, administering first aid to the seriously injured man. The level of detail in the article is commendable:

"The Progressive Party leader leapt from the car and applied a tourniquet to the man's arm, using his wife's possum fur-merino wool scarf and his silk tie..."

Good to see Jim isn't letting his low polling hinder his fashion sense - and the tux really does give off the aroma of aged Bond.

Only one question - if he had done this before the election, would Matt Robson have made it back in? One will never know...

The Lull before the Storm

2005-09-21T13:30:00.000+12:00

The newspapers have little new to report election-wise so they are starting to recycle election night numbers and possible combinations for a coalition government. Rather boring really, although Taito Philip Field probably wants them to go away altogether.

The time before the final count is released is providing some self-reflection for the Labour Party, and no doubt the Nats as well. Because Labour shouldn't have come so close to losing this election. Time, featuring Clark and Brash on the cover, wondered how a PM in charge of a booming economy, low unemployment and general lack of disasters could be so threatened by Brash. Time, such a right-wing publication, wondering how the Left managed to do so well, and how the novice Brash was looking so good.

Jordan has noted that Labour accepts that the Nats bested them, and they will be looking at what went wrong and what went right. Although the centre-left vote held, and the Nats gained by hoovering up smaller parties, they may not be so lucky in 2008.

Opposition doesn't win elections - Governments lose them.

3 more years...

2005-09-19T16:48:00.001+12:00

Er, apologies for the last post .. rather excruciating really.

It's all over bar the horsetrading, which will be interesting. Don Brash seems to be putting an awful lot of emphasis on those special votes, even though history isn't in his favour. Fingers crossed for the Greens to get Nandor back into Parliament...

I spent most of election day in Masterton, with my sisters white middle-class farming in-laws. (In-bred is probably a little unkind, although the males in the family DO have webbed toes..)

Huia and I were a definite minority (should be used to that) among people (primarily men) who, while they had a lot of respect for Helen, felt that "it was time for a change" and "there were too many women in Parliament."

Damn the suffragettes...

They couldn't actually tell me WHY they needed a change, but could produce some examples. Much of their complaint centred around the Resource Management Act (consent to put up a shelter belt, a thousand dollar exercise etc) and tax. The arguments were pretty slim - just like the Nats policy really - but they were grimly determined. It showed on Election night as well, as all of provincial NZ turned blue. I was surprised and a little sad to see Rick Barker go, along with Russell Fairbrother and Janet Mackey. The former Labour seats right up my home coast have turned blue, especially since there is a lot more money sloshing around in those areas now and they want a lot more of it in their pockets. In terms of sheer numbers though, the cities will always have far greater influence - thanks South Auckland!!

There are a number of people I'm quite happy are out of Parliament, although they are replaced with some unknowns from the Nats.

John Tamihere - he should have jumped ship after Investigate. If he hates so much about the Labour party, he shouldn't ride on it's coattails. I won't be surprised if he is standing for the Nats in a few years time.

Larry Baldock and Paul Adams - Parliament's resident fundies. Between them, they wanted to publicly identify and quarantine AIDS victims, cut funding to Family Planning until they promoted marriage and abstinence, and a raft of other horrific ideas.

Dail Jones and Bill Gudgeon - these two delivered hellfire-and-brimstone speeches during the Civil Union Debate and I'm glad they are gone. 'Haters and Wreckers' the both of them.

And some people I'll watch with interest:

Don Brash: he wields a great deal more power now, and I will be interested to see how he uses it, and whether he keeps the leadership until 2008.

Winston: He will be HELL bitter about losing his seat, and it will be interesting to watch his conduct toward the Nats in the House.

Tau Henare: I don't believe the staunchness is gone, and we will see how he mixes with his less, er, cultural colleagues.

Hone Harawira: potentially explosive.

Pita Sharples: a relaxed, confident speaker who will do a lot more for the MP than Tariana.

Maryan Street: Previously outspoken newbie.

Shane Jones: Corporate Maori and a little unknown.

Twas the Night Before Election...

2005-09-16T16:39:00.000+12:00

..and all through the unions,
People were praying, and taking communion.

All was so quiet, the racket had stopped,
The Nats settled down with a round gentle plop.

Young Labour kicked back with a nice Chardonnay,
Assessing the polls leading up to the Day.

In front or behind, nobody knew,
The left wing tinged with a lovely Green hue..

The Maoris were restless and should get some seats,
Unlike ACT's Rodney, who is playing for keeps.

The Brethren are restless, and gave loads of bread
Maybe they're mainstream, at least in their heads.

As the House settled down, awaiting new members
We think back on MMP, on '96, and remember
How Winston the Kingmaker jumped into bed
With Bolger and crew, he was happily led.

Keep in mind, that awful boat
and this election - GIVE THE LEFT WING YOUR VOTE.

Diet Blog

2005-09-12T16:59:00.000+12:00

I have been a bit light lately, due to a variety of things. I spent a lovely few hours in a Seatoun awash with sunlight on Saturday, delivering leaflets for the Greens and the CTU. Although, considering the very obviously displayed wealth of the area, possibly made off the backs of the workers, I'm not sure how many will actually hit home - but one must try.

I took part in a different type of leafletting this morning. Although it was still bastardly early, I was up at VUWSA helping Maddy Drew and Nick Kelly with their respective campaigns. Maddy will make an awesome Welfare VP as she has a good balance of empathy and pragmatism, combined with a ulcer-giving work ethic. Nick Kelly is running for President and I know he will lead VUWSA with a thoughtful and steady hand without compromising the ideology he has held for so long.

If you are a student, and reading this, go here to vote this Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Whose community?

2005-09-07T16:56:00.000+12:00

The Society for the Promotion of Community Standards has put out a press release giving poor old Charles Chauvel a hard time. They have slammed the "feminist and gay cabal" in the Labour Party and Chauvel's previous work for the Aids Foundation and Human Rights Commission (which they virtually re-label the gay rights commission).

They keep quoting the word gay - as in "gay" - which I don't understand. Is the term still so new to them? The seem to prefer the term sodomy.

They also get in behind (scuse the pun) Peter Dunne in Ohariu-Belmont, so it's good to see that community standards lodge themselves in a political party.

And, surprise surprise, Winston will sit on the cross benches after the election. Which means every decision will be a haggle to see how much he can get, not so much in terms of policy, but more likely media attention.

Eat the Poor

2005-09-05T11:14:00.000+12:00

The pictures and stories coming out of the Gulf Coast are horrific. New Orleans may never be rebuilt and the body count is unknown. Even more horrific than the natural disaster is the environment created by federal and local government both before and after the hurricane. With disaster prevention spending cut, and a third of the Louisiana National Guard in Iraq, the Federal government have been criminally negligent towards the people of the Mississippi, Biloxi, New Orleans and greater Louisiana. Even the Cubans have offered to help but I somehow doubt Bush will accept help from such lowly neighbours.

The cries of racism grow louder in America - if anything will topple Bush, it will be this. That is, if they count the black votes this time around. I wonder what would have happened if Utah had flooded. It's pretty white, and pretty Right, and pretty Christian up that way. Truth is, they would have moved a hell of a lot faster. Every face you see on the news is black. In the initial stages of the evacuation, those most in need were ignored while they evacuated the Hyatt. Not a bastion of the lower classes, I assure you. If you're poor in America, life is hard; if you're poor and black, well, you're quite fucked.

We saw the tsunami on Boxing Day, and saw an area with a high degree of poverty facing something they were totally unprepared for. Indonesia and Thailand lacked a high-tech early warning system that would have given them maybe 5 or 10 hours warning of a tsunami.

New Orleans had five YEARS of warning. They had reports, they had technicians. They had levees that were not maintained, they had a Superdome (the allocated disaster area) without any water - and the Governor turned off the drinking water to force people to evacuate.

Initially, I found it hard to be sympathetic to a nation that flouts international law at every turn and has created so much destruction in other countries. But the people who are suffering there are the ones who always suffer. Low education, low income - low priority.

It would have been so easy to evacuate the ill and the young before the storm struck - at the very least, clear out the hospitals and assist the elderly. But nobody moved because nobody could pay. And nobody really cared.

Michael Moore has written an open letter to George Bush that pretty much sums it up. Looking at the news coming out of the States, the actions of the federal government go beyond a blunder to being a willing accomplice to wholesale murder.

politics by stealth?

2005-09-02T12:24:00.000+12:00

I have been musing for many months on whether to have further political involvement, and if so, how. I was against Labour party membership - simply because I would feel like a sellout after fighting their education policy for several years. The Greens don't really appeal as I disagree on issues like cannabis and some ecnomic policy - but agree on issues like the full support of the Kyoto agreement. I'm interested in the machination of Matt McCarten, but nothing significant has happened thus far.

Surfing the different sights, I was surprised to discover that by virtue of my membership of the Service and Food Workers Union, I was automatically a member of the Labour Party.

*Definite* freedom of association issues there, I think..

The press secretaries of God

2005-09-02T11:10:00.000+12:00

Well, the small Christian parties are starting to cannabalise each other now. Destiny have called United Future hypocrites after Gordon Copeland ostensibly supported income splitting for gay couples with dependent children. United Future's tax analysis is equivocal, just referring to 'couples with dependent children'. Could Gordon Copeland have finally seen the light?

In other news - god bless scoop - Christian Heritage are promising to introduce the Values in Sex Education Act which would promote the benefits of marriage and abstinence before marriage. Instead of providing contraceptive advice and education on the dangers of sexually transmitted diseases, McQueen wants to affirm "our young people in what they really are - romantic idealists looking for something noble to aspire to.”

I wonder if McQueen thinks there is something noble about those dying of AIDS?

The Herald Digipoll has finally said what everybody knows - the polls are too volatile to be useful. National got another bump in the polls after beating the race drum again, halving the lead Labour had over them in the last Herald poll. NZF are around the 6.6 mark, and the Greens scrape into Parliament on five. But really, all these polls tell us is that nobody knows a bloody thing, but have a lot of fun guessing.

ACT's purchase of Don Brash as Gnat leader has been the subject of controversy, but it has been a mystery as to why no outgoing emails from Brash have been revealed. Russell Brown has found one.

..and another..

2005-09-01T12:02:00.000+12:00

A new billboard..

2005-09-01T10:59:00.000+12:00

Books, Books, Books

2005-08-30T13:00:00.000+12:00

My Life, David Lange

Yes, I'm sentimental, and yes, I was child who had little understanding of the Fourth Labour Government. I adored Lange for his ability to speak with cunning and wit, and for what I perceived as a staunch and uncomplicated stand on the nuclear free issue. It is only in the last year or two that I have come to have any understanding of either the FLG or Lange as a man, but it has been hard to avoid the topic since his death. His autobiography concentrated on his youth and upbringing, his travels and adventures in, and disillusionment with, the law. He seemed to take a great deal more pleasure in his Mangere constituency than he did as PM, but that isn't surprising considering the Rogernomics of the time. The part of the book dedicated to those years is surprisingly light - those looking for salacious gossip, look elsewhere. He placed a great deal of faith in Douglas, and took a long time to shake that off. I was surprised at his reasoning for staying in politics after resigning the leadership - simple economic need. He refused a diplomatic position in India, but could have done so much more - and it is to our shame that we didn't use such a huge personality in so many areas. My favourite Lange lines are to do with food - at a Parliament shindig, a person near him refused the offer of food, saying their body was a temple. Lange piped up, saying "Pass it down - my body is a warehouse!"

Political Animals - Jane Clifton

I really enjoy Jane Clifton's columns, and I was looking forward to her book. Generally speaking, it didn't disappoint, with some very funny pieces of writing, particularly on easy topics like Winston Peters and Ruth Richardson. Bolger came in for a bit of flack as not too bright, and Michael Laws as someone who perpetually blew up any chances he had of promotion.

I was disappointed in the ending, as it descended into a long winded explanation of her fight with the local council over the town belt - so, a disappointing end to a good, rambling yet unstructured yarn through parliamentary experiences.

Oh baby, Oh baby.

2005-08-30T11:11:00.000+12:00

I'm back, finally.
Interesting times on the political scene, with the Don's BRT backers falling out of the closet, and with the son of Orewa falling out of the womb.
The Gnats vision of "one nation, one people" reeks of the fish and chip racism of Pauline Hanson. The reiterated Treaty policy reeks of Winston, especially in terms of removing all references to the Treaty from our legislation. Winston tried to push this via a private members bill last year, and failed. However, Brash goes further than NZF. He claimed on National Radio this morning that the Treaty did not give any special rights to Maori as the tangata whenua, and did not denote partnership between Maori and the Crown. He wants to abolish Te Puni Kokiri, Te Mangai Paho, and (just for good measure) the Ministry of Womens Affairs. Putting that last issue aside, I'd like to go back to the issue of partnership. Brash concentrated on the fact that the Treaty gave Maori all the rights and privileges of British citizens, and he uses this as the basis of the 'one people' argument. The last twenty years of academia, both Maori and Pakeha, on the interpretational issues around the Treaty, the legal precedent of the NZ Maori Council case, and screeds of writing on the matter don't seem to be on his horizon: He is appealing, once again, to the 'mainstream', the white middle class who grew up with the ignorance of the Elsdon Best version of history, where the Maori came to New Zealand and ate the Moriori. He speaks to people like my father, who think that a traditional fishing quota should still be caught with a sharpened bone. And he speaks to the people who feel that Maori don't help themselves, who see them as a class of welfare dependants and part of the Treaty gravy train.

In short, he speaks to his own narrow mainstream.

There is an underlying assumption in the Nats policy: that we *want* to be one people. I for one am quite happy as part of a multicultural society with all the cutural and linguistic differences that entails. We are an island; without immigrants many of us would never broaden our minds. And what would we be without the Maori? The mainstream are happy for the All Blacks to have a new haka, incorporating Pacific island influences and a less war-like lyric; but not happy for a powhiri to be performed in schools. They are happy for the tourist attractions in Rotorua to perpetuate Maori culture and dance, because it earns money. If it's done in schools and official occasions, it is seen by some as an embarrassment and a waste of money.

A double standard perpetuates our treatment of Maori culture which is driven by ignorance and racism.

And an end in sight to Treaty claims? Fair enough. But for once, I have to agree with Mr Peters to an extent - it is a gravy train. However, that gravy is not going to the claimants, but to the lawyers. The Crown Forestry Rental Trust, a rather large plot of foresty that funds the legal aid for claims, puts more in the pockets of certain law firms that many other areas of law. The process is incredibly drawn out; not just by the claimants tracking oral history or generations, but by the lawyers filing papers, delaying, and ducking to preserve their income.

If they want to stop the gravy train, crack down on the lawyers, and hire more Tribunal members. That's the only way to wind up the claims.

Diary of a technophobe

2005-08-29T15:44:00.000+12:00

Day the First
Jeremy has deleted my blog while trying to help me do something else. A years writing goes into the cyber trash.

Day the Second
Try to reinstate blog. Host won't let me because the name is taken. It is taken by me but that doesn't seem to matter. Many attempts to restart weblog finally succeed, but I have to delete the nine other weblogs on my account that have no template and effectively do not work. Exhausted by effort, leave the rest for another day.

Day the Third
Gareth informs me that he has my entire weblog Somewhere. Fail to understand how he could stash entire deleted weblog anywhere, when he would have time to do it and why on earth he would do it anyway.

Day the Fourth
Launch myself at weblog with new enthusiasm. Template looks unfamiliar, and I can't find the place to put links to other weblogs. As number of attempts grow, template grows out of control. Text of weblog grows to immense size, title is obliterated. The text of links that go nowhere insert themselves into the post.

Consider an IT position with Royal Foundatino for the Blind.

Day the Fifth
Delete blog and start again. Cautiously try to list links, with no success. Forsee an isolated future for the left field. Start thumping computer and cursing.
Damn the technology.
Damn the technology.