Winston is obviously not getting paid

Winston First leader today apparently surprised his coalition partner with "an absolute waste!".

Luxo thought his caucus was "United, I tell ya!", but it obvious Winnie is not getting a cut of the action.

Anyway that to one side, some more about Point Chev route.  I remember reading detailed write ups published in local librariy books about the lava flow from Mount Albert to near on Kauri Point when I was a whippersnapper attending school many years ago in Jafaland.  No need for expensive new reports, just dust off the old ones

Apparently the lava flow was well surveyed half a century or more ago, the lava flow is not very deep and the subsoils are soft harbour muds and sandstones.  deeper narrow channel at Kauri Point / Shark Bay northern side of the harbour, "crossing the T" so to speak.. The area would have been closely surveyed when Auckland Harbour bridge was mooted.  I believe the zoo made extensive usage of that same lava flow by mining it to create fences and animal enclosures.

Now further on, the southern side on what now looks like dry land was once something else.  Currently nicely planted and groomed, a nice outlook for Motat planes.  Unfortunately the southern end right up to the zoo and including Meola Road and the planes was once Auckland's main tip.  And via Meola Creek, the zoo's cesspit.

Once they start digging into that area for a new bridge all manner of Jafaland's past toxic sins like asbestos will surface.  And these toxic items will be buried in another tip somewhere.  Nimby's to action!

It will be fun to watch the contortions as the consultants engage to have a piece of this large pie.  And to watch how much Winnie extracts from Luxo for future confidence and supply.  Beware Nats, any C&S terminates 90 days before the next election about this time in 2029.

Virtue signalling continues at Electoral Commission

Received voting check papers yesterday.  For the correct roll.  Shades of "Ziegen Sie uns Ihre Papiere, ja?". 

Good that the title has been changed iaw recent government missives to reduce the size of native wording in title logos.

But some hold-out at the Electoral Commission couldn't resist virtue-signalling by leaving a 'tena koe' remnant in the letter opener.

No sign of the not unusual hardworking interdepartmental a Mr. nga mihi at the end (letter appears to be unsigned - maybe it is a scam?).  Otherwise completely written in English.  Maybe it should be Mrs., maybe a Miss?  One would have to check with our leading light on the gender definitions,  one 'is it a woman?' Mr. C. Hipkins. //

At least it isn't the totally presumptive 'kia ora' present as an opener in so many communications these days.  Thank God, not even a mention of a whanau or a motu whatever they are in this letter.  I live in a country formally named as New Zealand, not in some figment of one's imagination.

What happened to Dear Sir or Dear Madam for a formal letter?  And a signature at the end?

Come on Electoral Commission sort out your virtue-signallers and formally communicate in English.

National is "United" ? - updated

100% not!  Spineless bastards continuing to prove totally unable to complete simple tasks.

You only had a few small jobs like for a start removing maorification, separatist division of New Zealand, purging economy wrecking climate nonsense and gutting activists from the public service.

Couldn't even complete a simple coup.  For the second time.

You'll not get my vote to try a third time.

Update:

A sacrificial lamb has been found.  Possibly the only person with actual skills in that line up of no-hopers has been relieved of his post as Defence Minister.  This will not end well for Luxon - he is a dead man walking as the polls continue downward whilst voter morale further declines over lost chances. 

Yip, that's it

In the news of the day:

The Nats award the South Island tribe of grifters a massive back-country station free of charge. 

On the ever level playing field of real commercial bids versus tax-free charity competition, a nice addition to their portfolio.  Not!

and from a Kiwiblog comment today:

There are a lot of people who would say the National party isn't “right” at all

Yip, that's definitely it!

Connecting the dots...

In today's news:

It seems that a "high profile" sportsman has today been before the beak to account for his ungentlemanly actions over the weekend.  Seems that also Mr. Plod's dog took an unlike to him and dined on some of his body parts.

Read as: Conduct unbecoming off field (on paddock thuggery is usually well rewarded), such a good boy, no doubt needs full name suppression to continue his dazzling career trajectory to stardom.

And in other news:

The captain of the All Black on-paddock thugs is suddenly not available for a current tour.  No reasons tabled.

There are many connected dots that could be joined when reading between news lines.

The tribal factor

Government concedes it can’t deliver on coalition commitment to repeal controversial law

The headline of the day shows the government of the day does not govern.

The tribal factor usurps the supposed government of New Zealand having implemented tribal rule based upon your ancestry in co-governance at local council level.  Seems Luxon and co are doing the level best not to correct this country's course.

And Nats continue to watch polls plummet as tribal interests infest governance at all levels.

Looking forward to cheaper house builds.

So Luxo has signed us up to trading with the sub-continent.

Recent investigations on my part shows that their building code (IS 875) evolved from the British Standard (India was all British in the days of the Raj, speaking and understanding English very well).  

Very similar in intent and application to our building standard of AS/NZS 1170 series (we've partnered with Oz).  And tried to have both the British standard and the Yank ASCE series for content.

So they understand the standards-based processes involved, have a similar range of climate extremes and have been doing the build business for 300+ years.

So, hopefully in this now tariff-free nirvana of the near future, one could expect that engineers, architects and others that seriously inflate our build costs might hang their shingles at much reduced in providing services to NZ.

One wonders how that might go down in the totally risk-averse closed-shop MBIE / BRANZ / local council / Worksafe ticket-clipping world?  Or "for your own good" would more road cones be required?

And one for Mr. Penk - Housing Minister.  Would there still be room for DIY builds using such engineering services from the sub-continent?  Although I believe there is a DIY avenue in law, but the utterly risk-averse councils do everything possible to stop such a train of thought.

I sincerely hope that in the long-term such competition does arrive via the FTA and reduce build costs.

The dragon flexes

The dragon flexes yet again.

Xi warns the South Pacific that he soon aims to lob a nuke-capable brick south of the Equator.

Just showing Luxo, Albo and Modi his tentative reach.  Doesn't need to take his flotillas down to visit or lay siege to their respective ports.   

A couple of dirty bombs into Oz or NZ cities would light up our 'benign region'* and render all manner of defence intentions thereof utterly useless.  Our so-called allies being USA and the EU would do nothing, too scared to respond and initiate Apocalypse Now.

Like his tanks in Tienanmen Square displayed a year or two ago, the world knows he's the real boss.

* a past utterance from the Sandringham harridan long proven otherwise to be totally false

More virtue-signalling for Mr. Luxon to fix

Not so long ago when Mr. Luxon was selling his vision for your vote he said National would excise the pidgin infesting government literature.  Understood by many to be along the lines of "English language first" in all public-facing documentation.  

After all, English is the language of the real world.

Recently I've had cause to interact with the IRD website as tax return filing day fast approaches this week.  It is a hotchpot of English and virtue signalling pidgin.  Every label has to be read twice to ensure that we're on the correct section.  And the front page is awash with the emboldened pidgin above the small-fonted English labelling.

They've provided an "English only" button.  Good one might think, only it does not work.  The pidgin remains embedded, infesting every page.  An easily fixed, but total implementation failure.

Meanwhile my local council (FNDC) follows the same process.  One might think we live in a country called Hairy Rower and we all utter pidgin in our daily lives.  Maybe is is because of a government directive or as is suspected, a lack thereof.

As promised in the pre-election pitches, when are you going to fix such websites, Mr. Luxon?

idea from a Good Oil General Debate comment today

Co-governance works in Far North. Not!

arrangements and practices that the department itself should have managed better over a sustained period

the review confirmed that, since at least 2021, the booking systems for the campgrounds had operated outside department-controlled systems and the revenue collected from campers had been retained by Ngāti Kuri, rather than being paid into a Crown bank account

issues are now the subject of an external investigation, with DoC estimating the Ngāti Kuri Trust Board owes $1.8 million in “campsite revenue”

Department of Conservation (DoC) has acknowledged it failed to properly oversee the management of three Far North campgrounds for years

Co-governance on steroids.  A fine example!

Like past actions in the Urerewa, it means we will do the governance, keep the cash readies.  You, the ever-suffering coloniser taxpayer can maintain and pay for any upkeep.

Obscene how this DOC/iwi rort has been going on for five years or more.  No doubt the local FNDC and NRC councils also contribute my hard-earnt property taxes to enable this operation.

via Granny

Worth voting for

New Zealand needs a smaller, more efficient government if we are going to balance the books, lift wages, restore trust in democracy, and unlock New Zealand’s potential

he told supporters there should be just 19 departments - down from the current 43. and he said there should only be 18 ministers, down from 28

And for the bonus. 

ACT Party, focusing on cutting Wellington’s bureaucracy and limiting what beneficiaries can spend money on

ACT is definitely worth your two ticks.

Another to add to the Kiwi lexicon

Most would know of the report on the Erebus disaster.

an orchestrated litany of lies

Here's another from MP Erica Stanford re the unfolding saga at MBIE as her staff look for bucket loads of whitewash .

provided with advice that was diametrically opposed to the truth

Add that one to the Kiwi lexicon.

What next for DJT?

Now he's sorted the Strait of Trump and the Reflecting Pool has turned green yet again, what might pique DJT's interest in the near future?   250th celebrations, when is that or has it happened?   Is that the next item on the bucket list?

Venezuela's oil to China has supposedly been sorted along with more than a few would be narco-couriers and their ever so necessary high speed fishing vessels joining Davy Jones locker.  Diminishing cheap oil supply will give China pause to think.  

Failing communist state Cuba has long been an interest due to their proximity to the US via Florida, they'll be there in the mix.  Unfortunately by themselves they're doing a pretty good job of economy wrecking without Donald's involvement.

In other news today, Germany now says tonight they're ready to take on Vlad's empire.  Funny that, withdrawal of US troops has that effect.

Even Great Britain found the cojones to take on one of Vlad's shadowy sanctioning-breaking ships in the Channel.  But, how the once mighty have fallen.   How are those now absolutely useless anchors once named as pride of the fleet aircraft carriers doing?  Are they still at sea or laid up by non-functional bogs?

Bibi is getting his chain shortened by the Iran deal, Vlod in the steppes is just an effing nuisance in the ointment.  Bomb Boy above the 38th parallel is yet another with a destructive future.   All yet to be fully dealt with, but events may overtake that.

Maybe when any Iran art-of-the-deal celebrations and 80th birthday festivities afterglow fades later this month, I'd bet on Vlad getting more than a close tune-up.  

The world's policeman is guaranteed to come calling at your trouble spot.  

Most of the trouble-makers of this planet are gaming that their empires will run the clock on DJT.  particularly Xi, Bomb Boy and Vlad.  Somehow I don't think so, when he goes in a couple of years most will have been sorted.  

Bring on a TDS epidemic as DJT completes some outstanding deals.  

Mentioned in dispatches

Aardvark has made Te News!

In the long-standing arm's length Mayor vs. local Mr Bruce Simpson war on the right to independently film public meetings, there is a public notice from the SWDC ivory tower.

Seems a councillor has earned himself a censure causing a walkout.  All in support of Mr. Simpson.  SWDC seems to want to be the sole (read censored) source of 'truth' emanating as the public record.

Bruce runs an oft-read fine blog at Aardvark.co.nz which has long detailed the ongoing stoush.

I look forward to reading the fine detail which will no doubt continue to not favourably show the Mayor and his cohorts over coming days.  Time for a Commissioner to sort?

Public notice at herald, showing $34K of ratepayer taxes wasted just in legal fees over this censure.  That'll get you votes Mr. Mayor.

The question is when, Minister? [Updated]

The Minister has finally acknowledged the message following months of dithering.

The Government will stop unelected individuals from voting on council committees, a move an Act MP has characterised as closing an “anti-democratic loophole”

Meanwhile the head honcho at FNDC says he'll ignore such missives and continue on unabated.  At least I think that is what his word salad in Manglish says.

“So I say to those that want to try and detract or to put focus on us on whether or not the instruments that we’re implementing in here to include Māori at the final district council are right or wrong, that argument and that debate needs to go to central government who have legislated that it’s absolutely fine and we are carrying on with our mahi.”

Congratulations to Councillor Ms Davina Smolders for standing her ground and initially raising the issue months ago.

So Minister Watts, when?  Today would be preferable, under urgency!

[update]

From further reading:

Watts said on Tuesday that once the law is passed councils will have six months to review their appointments before the law change takes effect

This cornered prick is really taking the piss.  Any such appointments should be axed immediately.  It will be unlikely that the necessary law change will be implemented before the election.  Only being seen to be doing something to chase votes.  Potaka and Luxon will be watching closely that nothing more is promised.

Now, what about Maori Wards?