Well said Paula

No, I haven't gone soft, but the top of Sainsbury's meme tonight had an article with Madam Welfare who had been cornered by some parents whose kids were buggering off from home onto a benefit.

She actually gave a good account of the problem, what action has been taken and apologised. Yes, apologised on prime time telly. Sincerely, I thought. Not like the under duress apologies delivered by a certain ex-Labour minister.

So, all kudos to Paula Bennett tonight. It is a sage lesson in fronting the issue, without fear or favour, which all politicians could do well to learn. Instead of sitting in the headlights grimacing at every question and lying as is the norm. I could happily vote for a politician like her.

As I said dear readers, I have not gone soft. Normal transmissions of shouting into the void will resume forthwith.

Dreams of 'milk and honey'

Maori needed to realise they were not tangata whenua in Australia and therefore not entitled to most of the services there

I wonder how long before the entitled manage an accommodation to have welfare paid directly in $AUD?

Our people must do the proper checks with the Australian authorities before making the decision to move over

And nothing like being up front about being there for "our people".

I'd say within the year, the separatists enabler, John Boy Key will have caved in another sordid backroom deal without a mandate as he looks to broker continued power at any price with Hone Hatfields's bosses.

Cutting the cake...

$690 million dollars of Karma Cake.

Tosser going for traction

As normal, be seen to be doing something. Anything.

As the bottom falls out of his world, a tosser tries to retain a firm grip.

See all the slippery detail here.

And???

celebrating red-neckism, gun rights, locking away crims and putting the boot into Maori whenever they get too uppity

Indeed, something we could do with a lot more of...

Community notice for the confussed...

Backward or forward?

Daylight Saving Time

Daylight Saving commences on the last Sunday in September, when 2.00am becomes 3.00am, and ends on the first Sunday in April the following year, when 3.00am becomes 2.00am.

• Daylight Saving begins again on Sunday 26 September 2010 (when clocks go forward one hour)
• It ends on Sunday 3 April 2011 (when clocks go back one hour)

Tonight is the night.

The fix is in

Initial inquiries into the Stadium Southland collapse show it was built when roof weight-bearing requirements were lower than they are now, Building and Construction Minister Maurice Williamson says.

Gee, that was quick. It is only Tuesday and the fix is already in. John Boy's fix-it man on the spot has had a squiz and got the low down from those in the know.

The snowfall was a "spectacularly unusual" weather event

Not so say the local weather people. A normal event to be expected.

some calculations had been done using information from Niwa about how much snow was likely to have been on the roof and found the weight would have been between 0.380kPa and 0.470kPa

At the time the stadium was built in 2000, the building code for buildings of the stadium's nature sitting at sea-level was 0.323 kilopascals and that it was in fact designed to withstand 0.400kPa

Mr Williamson said in 2006 a severe snow storm which damaged roofs in Canterbury had led to weight bearing requirements in the Building Code to be lifted to 0.630kPa for structures of Stadium Southland's stature.

So knowing that, why wasn't immediate strengthening work done on Southland's stadium? As they are required to do so in the guidelines as below.

Existing installations
Design engineers who are aware of eccentric cleat connections which may be deficient because they have been designed using flawed methods or assumptions and are a critical part of the structural system carrying gravity loading with no redundancy, should as soon as possible advise the building owner accordingly and recommend the connections be assessed for structural integrity.

Some involved these processes have failed in their duty of care, IMNSHO. I wonder if that line of questioning will be taken, Mr Fix-it?

I'm from the Council and only here to help...

Speaking of Mayor Bob, the eco-dinosaur, here is his local government election message. Some candidates would do well to take note, as he takes a parting swipe at the offerings.

It's election season again. The faces of candidates are grinning out of signs on roadsides and street corners around the city. I'm an old hand with a hammer. In the many hours I've spent battering in those hoardings in the last 18 years, I've always made an effort to take note of the signs put up by my fellow hopefuls. They've given me a good idea of whether there's going to be a good crop of people leading the city.

This year's Council candidates look good. There seems to be a mix of contenders with experience, energy and creativity. Many of them are new to local government. Others are respected, hard working veterans with a vision for the future of Auckland. They have a good chance of navigating the political minefield that is likely to be the first term of the Auckland Council.

It's a different story when it comes to those standing for local board. Our great new community representatives are looking like the same tired, recycled faces that have for so long acted as a roadblock to any hint of change. They're easy to spot. Most were unable to muster a smile, even a decade ago when their election photo was shot. Their slogans are short and angry. And they are mainly known for stopping things happening rather than making them happen. These candidates are potential kryptonite to democracy and vision in the new Council.

What these local boards need is vitality and enthusiasm. That's why I've come up with my own list of signs you shouldn't be standing for a local board. There's going to be exceptions, but here are some rules of thumb:

1. You're over 70. If there's one thing we need more than people that are excited about the future of Auckland, it's people who are going to live to see it.
2. You find yourself pining for the good old days. Auckland's future is going to be radically different from the past whether we like it or not. Being involved in the new council means committing to making it work, not bringing it down.
3. You just want to oppose things. One of the great problems of politics is that you can fill a rugby field with people wanting to oppose an idea, but only a phone booth with those wanting to cheer something on. Let's vote for people who are about we can do for this city, rather than what we can't.
4. You're a technophobe. If you can't use email, text or even master a hands free car phone, don't think about standing for what will be a very modern and community focussed role.
5. You can't work with what you've got. Hide, Key, Twyford and Banks/Brown are names you'd better get used to, because they sure aren't going away soon.
6. You're an aging Che Guevara. You're not going to be leading a revolt against the Auckland Council. No-ones going to follow you on your march to Wellington to complain about decisions.

So there's your checklist. If any or all of the above applies to you, it's probably a better idea to be booking a spot for recreational fishing in Kaitaia than standing for office. That will only cause stress and increase your heart attack risk. Don't blame me if your life turns to custard. After all, I'm from the Council and only here to help.

That's the bad news. The truth is if I had come up with a list of reasons why you should stand for local government, they would fill the rest of this report. That's why I remain optimistic for the future. I still believe we will get people with good ideas and the ability to make them a reality. But the naysaying, small mindedness and patch protection needs to go. This new Auckland Council will be bigger than that. It's going to be about the next 100 years of this city, not the last 20. Our local representatives should be as well.

I for one will glad to see the backside of said Mayor having had to endure his small minded, patch protecting offerings ever since he was elected. As well as the never ending increases in rates and reductions in services.

Plastic hingeing and other things

But in a letter to Mr Shadbolt, structural engineering expert John Scarry, of Auckland, said a modern design should not need structural strengthening at all.

In 2002, Mr Scarry wrote an "open letter" in which he exposed "the parlous state of the structural engineering profession and the construction industry in New Zealand".

He told Mr Shadbolt several major stadia had been on the verge of collapse during or immediately after construction, under no snow loading at all.

"These include the Waitakere Trusts Stadium, which was overstressed 900 per cent at its main support points, and the Vector Arena which had, I believe, three major defects, two of which almost caused total collapse."

Mr Scarry claims one of the major defects related to eccentric steel cleat connections which, until recently and almost universally, had been under-designed in New Zealand, causing several to fail as a result.

To a layman like me, with an engineering bent, seems like an awful lot of the "Don'ts" associated with eccentric steel cleat connections may have been ticked when under normal load. A light snow loading was the straw that broke the camel's back. And the council knew about it at least eight years ago.

Now we are watching the council and associated engineers becoming unhinged, like the building did a few days ago.

ps Hasn't Mayor Bob hidden the Waitakere Stadium's failure/overstressing well? I would wager the ratepayers never knew that. Or that it would show on a LIM report!

Failing to deliver - if only

villagers have taken democracy to a new level when they set upon their local MP with stones and sticks for failing to deliver the area basic services

lying and failing his electorate during the three years he had been in Parliament

The people have shown their frustration on the member for continuously lying to them and not even visiting them or providing a single project or development for the area

If only those in our local and central government had such outcomes for their normal world-class standard of failing to deliver.

The truth is surfacing

This is a modern building that's collapsed in under a very small amount of snow, relative to what the building code would indicate is acceptable and it should be able to withstand. So something has seriously gone wrong there and we need to be able to understand that.

Exactly.

during construction, there were problems with the roof when several of the huge steel trusses across the community courts - the area where it collapsed at the weekend - had sagged following installation.

At the time, trust chairman Ray Harper said the movement was slight - less than 10cm in the worst case - and was not unusual in such a large project. He said there were no safety concerns because the problem was not serious and it had been detected early.

"It will be perfect when the job is finished; it has to be to have certification, anyway."

Meanwhile, the running for cover, excuse the pun, continues as the desired level of 'perfection' has been found to be wanting.

The bottom line

No intention to mislead, says Parker

Parker has claimed the council rejected housing schemes on land vulnerable to quakes but developers overturned the decisions in the Environment Court

Cr Chrissie Williams said Parker's claims were "blatant lies", but Parker said he did not intend to mislead anyone

Williams said: "I have asked council to give me a list of these cases and they have said there are none.

"It bewilders me. There are other examples where Bob comes out with these very simple statements and he repeats them so much they become urban myth. They become fact, and that worries me.

"It is almost like

he is saying it to take the responsibility away from council."

The real story behind the quake starts to unfold as the man of the moment loses his lustre and is put on the spot.

Parker told Radio New Zealand at least twice that the Environment Court had overruled council decisions opposing development on certain soils.

"Council has resisted development in some of these areas. It has gone to the Environment Court and the ruling has gone against the advice of council," he said on September 13.

"I am saying we have over the years seen development take place on some soils that council would have preferred not to have seen development take place on," he said on September 10.

Planning documents show the residential rezoning that allowed Pacific Park was not opposed by the council.

In fact, the former Planning Tribunal reduced the area for housing development outlined by the council when environmental groups appealed against the decision.

As with any cornered politician, resorting to form, lying is the bottom line. "Only guilty of repeating ..." sounds just like "only guilty of helping..."

The cover-up starts [update]

Invercargill mayor Tim Shadbolt will call an emergency meeting of council staff this morning to discuss the Stadium Southland roof collapse.

"My view is that we will have to meet first thing (Monday) because, although it's not a council-owned building – it's owned by a charitable trust – council would still be involved in terms of issuing building permits and things like that."

Mr Shadbolt has questioned whether the stadium had been built strong enough to withstand weather extremes.

"It will take a few days, I would imagine, before the dust settles and we find out what happened and why."

The cover-up begins. By mid-week the fix will be in. You know the one where the council 'engineers' had nothing to do with giving the OK to a 10 year old stadium. BTW, Tim, although things are heating up real fast, you won't see any dust, another normal weather event is on its way in...

Does whitewash work in such a normal weather event?

[update]
Radio Pravada reports further:

Invercargill Mayor Tim Shadbolt says the truss design was controversial from the start and caused friction between the engineers and insurance underwriters.

He says he can recall people saying on numerous occasions that the stadium's roof could collapse in a major snowstorm.

Mr Shadbolt says the council relied on engineers' reports which were peer reviewed when it signed off on the city's stadium, but concedes the council's building codes may have to be looked at.

But Acton Smith, who chairs the charitable trust that owns the stadium, says there were never any shortcuts in its design, nor have insurers ever had any problems with it.

How many councils are checking their codes this morning?

Stadium soundly built, says former trust chairman

One of the key figures in the building of the stadium in Invercargill says there was no fault in its construction.

Ray Harper, former chairman of the Invercargill licensing trust, which spearheaded the building of the stadium, says the incident is an act of God.

"This is freak a circumstance," he says. "Never in my life, in 80 years, have I seen Invercargill with so much snow."

Mr Harper, who's also had 33 years experience as a master builder, says the project used the best engineers and architects, and everybody in Southland was proud of the building.

He says it's a shock, but the venue is insured and will be rebuilt as good as new.

Obviously built soundly enough to stand up to a 'normal' New Zealand weather event.

Invercargill gets a snowfall of this weekend's magnitude every 10 to 15 years, but he would not class it as a freak event.

the city is prone to watery snow because it's close to the coast, unlike inland areas which get lighter snow

Wonder who is ducking for cover?

A building no doubt expertly over-analysed to the nth degree at build and certificated to withstand 100 year plus events by council engineers, with the appropriate extortion paid. But as usual, found to be wanting in the face of normal New Zealand weather.

The owners of Stadium Southland insist they had every confidence in the safety of the building before it collapsed under the weight of snow yesterday.

Investigations are now underway after part of the roof caved in while children played tennis inside.

Invercargill mayor Tim Shadbolt claims the buildings owner and local authorities were well aware of the danger.

Nice. I would wager that meetings might not be public. Others also have doubts.

All of a sudden I get a few anonymous emails that cryptically involve:

• $1 million
• Insurance companies
• a large well-known building
• and some names I’m not so stupid as to print without checking.

This story might just have more legs than a centipede…

I wonder if that Kiwi architect involved in the 'soundly built' Polish stadium that collapsed a couple of years ago is out of jail yet?

Too easy

As one of the landed gentry that gets up the nose of Idiot/Savant, I received my second set of local election voting papers this arvo.

The one is for the Super City. The Westie option. The number one vote in the country. Nothing else matters.

The Lord Mayor, only one required: There's the corporate minded John Banks and the social engineer Lying Len. Also Whale Oil's nemesis along with a whole heap of nobodies. Easy choice there.

Councillors, two required: 2x CitRats being offered. A couple of Labour offerings under Best for West looking to continue at the trough and some others pushing their weirdly filled wheelbarrows. You know, things like greenwash and public transport. No contest there either.

Local board, eight required: 3x CitRats. Heaps of would-be troughers looking to get into the local government gravy train via the red team's Future West ticket. The balance are independents and females. And this thing from the crypt, that doesn't like rod chip seal, but was the she-beast's party president in a previous incarnation. I've seen better quality mug shots on passports. Not overly difficult to select 8x here.

9 October cannot come fast enough.

Auckland, It's our time! Time to lance the festering red boil from our councils.