Archive
Letter to the Editor: Simon Bridges is a very naughty little boy!
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FROM: "f.macskasy" SUBJECT: Letters to the editor DATE: Tue, 18 Feb 2014 15:54:16 +1300 TO: "Sunday News" <editor@sunday-news.co.nz>.
The Editor The Sunday News . National's Energy Minister, Simon Bridges, continues to rant that the Green Party is somehow planning to print "magic money" with their recently announced policy to install solar panels on 30,000 New Zealand homes. He said, "I have news for the Greens - if it's a lower interest rate than normal, it must involve a government subsidy." Really? Is this the same kind of subsidy that National gave away to home owners to install $1 billion worth of insulation in cold and damp houses? Or is it the same kind of subsidy that National handed out to Rio Tinto, Warner Bros, and other private companies? Was the $30 million of our taxes that John Key kindly gifted to the Tiwai Aluminium smelter not a subsidy? Or the cheaper power which National re-negotiated last year? Ironically, the Green Party is not suggesting subsidies at all, but allowing access to cheap loans that the government already has access to. All loans would be paid back by home owners - not tax payers. The same cannot be said for the $30 million gifted to Rio Tinto or the $160 million-plus to Warner Bros for the "Lord of the Rings" and another $60 million for "The Hobbit". We won't be seeing that money back again any time soon. -Frank Macskasy (address and phone number supplied)
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References
TV3: How The Hobbit came to stay in NZ
Beehive.govt.nz: $100m for investing in warmer, healthier homes
Fairfax media: $1b Budget warmup
TV3: Labour backs Greens’ solar panel policy
Dominion Post: Greens’ solar pledge would ‘push up prices’ – Key
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Above image acknowledgment: Francis Owen
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Letter to the Editor: John Key dazzles them with bullsh*t
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The Editor Sunday Star Times . FROM: "f.macskasy" SUBJECT: Letters to the Editor DATE: Tue, 18 Feb 2014 15:17:26 +1300 TO: "Sunday Star Times" <letters@star-times.co.nz> . Almost in a knee-jerk reaction, John Key is derisory of the recently announced Green Party policy to offer low-interest loans to home owners to install solar panels on their properties. Key said, "If you look at the big emissions at the moment in New Zealand, it's Genesis through Huntly where they have coal fired power plants, and the plan that [the Greens] have got is going to reduce all competition and in my view, put up power costs to consumers, not reduce it, actually locks that in." How the use of solar energy is going to "reduce competition" and "put up power costs to consumers" is not only unclear - but bizarre in the extreme. Key appears to be floundering to create the flimsiest possible excuse to dismiss the Green's policy initiative. That is despite; (a) solar panels reducing our reliance on hydro-dams, which in drought conditions can interrupt power supply and push up prices, (b) National having invested - in concert with the Green Party - $1 billion dollars to insulate thousands of homes around New Zealand. The later home insulation plan involved non-recoverable grants of up to $1,500 per household. By contrast, the Green's plan involves loans, not grants. National seems wedded to giving our money away. This was evidenced by Key's keenness to giving away $30 million to Rio Tinto, and over $90 million to Warner Bros for 'The Hobbit'. Those were our taxes given to private companies and both subsequently made billions in profits. Perhaps Mr Key can answer a simple question; why does he think the Green Party solar panel initiative will "push up power prices", but National's home insulation programme would not? -Frank Macskasy (address and phone number supplied)
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References
TV3: How The Hobbit came to stay in NZ
Beehive.govt.nz: $100m for investing in warmer, healthier homes
Fairfax media: $1b Budget warmup
TV3: Labour backs Greens’ solar panel policy
Dominion Post: Greens’ solar pledge would ‘push up prices’ – Key
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Above image acknowledgment: Francis Owen
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Letter to the editor: Shane Taurima and Maggie Barry
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FROM: "f.macskasy" SUBJECT: Letters to the editor DATE: Tue, 18 Feb 2014 13:24:12 +1300 TO: "Dominion Post" letters@dompost.co.nz.
The Editor Dominion Post . The witch-hunt against former TVNZ presenter, Shane Taurima, can best be described as hypocrisy on a National scale. It is a bit rich for the likes of National MPs, Tau Henare, Judith Collins, and Paula Bennett to be crying into their beersies and alleging bias in Taurima's interviews when amongst them sits their colleague, former radio presenter, MP Maggie Barry. On 5 March 2011 she stood as an unsuccessful National Party candidate in the Botany Bay by-election. That was only three months after leaving her position as radio host at Radio Live. For six years prior to that, Barry worked as a host and interviewer at Radio NZ, interviewing many left-wing politicians, political figures, activists, etc. In 2011, she became a National Party member of Parliament. There are other examples of journalists, television and radio hosts, and other media personalities entering politics - many working for the National Party. Did anyone complain of undue bias from Maggie Barry or indeed Richard Griffin - one time Radio NZ political editor, and subsequent Chief Press Officer and Media Adviser to Prime Minister and National Party leader, Jim Bolger? Not a squeak. The stench of hypocrisy is over-powering. -Frank Macskasy (address & phone number supplied)
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References
Dominion Post: Labour links at TVNZ revealed
Wikipedia: Maggie Barry
Radio NZ: Richard Griffin
NZ Herald: TVNZ manager resigns after Labour Party revelations
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Above image acknowledgment: Francis Owen
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Kiwiblog – still happily fomenting mischief…
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Sometimes, being a mischief-maker can have it’s pit-falls…
Case in point – Kiwiblog administrator, David Farrar, who at the end of January, posted a story on a “leaked” Green Party draft Party List for this year’s election. David wrote,
“I’ve been leaked a copy of
the draftan unoffical Green Party List.This is the version done by the hierarchy and leadership. The initial draft list is done by the hierarchy and then members then get to vote on this, and tweak it. They often do make some changes, but the bulk of the rankings don’t change much.” [sic]
David Farrar then published the List rankings, complete with promotions and demotions. (Though his blogpost wasn’t entitled “Two Greens MPs facing demotion with Green Party List”. The more sensationalist, oily heading of “Two Greens MPs facing sacking with Green Party List” was used instead.)
Only trouble is – none of it was true. Someone was either playing silly-buggers or David Farrar was telling porkies.
My ten cents plus 15% GST is on the former; this was someone playing David Farrar for their unknown agenda. Why do I believe that the Kiwiblog editor wasn’t deliberately spreading lies (despite the mis-leading headline to the original blogpost)?
Because David Farrar is no Cameron Slater.
When a right wing blogger publishes a damning piece demolishing another right wing activist’s (Luigi Wewege) reputation for telling outright lies;
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– then that speaks well for his credibility. (That’s not to say David won’t present a story biased according to his own experiences, beliefs, and worldview – but then, what right or left wing blogger doesn’t? And yes, that includes me.)
On 10 February, David Farrar published an updated blogpost on this story, stating,
“I published last week a draft Green Party list. The Greens said it was an entirely unofficial list, and was not the list that the hierarchy and electorate delegates put together for members to vote on. That is correct, as that list is yet to be drawn up. But in political parties it is not unusual for different factions to start circulating what they see as their desired list.”
This bit is pretty much on the nail. I recall my own participation in Alliance List Ranking meetings. Various factions would draw up their own lists; discuss them; pass them around; lobby for support… Until the day of Regional List Ranking selection and it came down to delegates voting according to their electorate wishes. Some of the “pre-determined” list rankings were successful – but most were not. (After all, only one person can sit in each ranked slot.)
David Farrar should have known this because the Green Party selection is even more direct, transparent, and democratic than the Alliance. Or the new Labour Party voting process for leadership contests.
In fact, the Green Party is probably the most open and democratic of this country’s political parties. At the other end of the spectrum is ACT, where Leaders and candidates are selected by the Party’s Board of Directors. ACT members have zero say in the selection process.
So it was hardly surprising that David Farrar offered up this explanation,
“A manager with the parliamentary party has said on the record that the parliamentary leadership and senior staff have not had any involvement with the unofficial list that was sent to me. They can’t rule out that someone at Parliament hasn’t compiled their own wish list, and been pushing it – but they are unaware of any activity like that and do not sanction it. I believe those assurances.”
Indeed.
The Green Party confirmed to me, in writing that “pre-selected lists” do not exist,
"Our party is proud of our committment to our internal democracy. Appropriate decision-making is one of the pillars our our party's charter. We take this committment seriously as Co-Convenors and elected representatives of the party. Recently a blog site, and reports by the mainstream media, claimed to have a copy of our draft list - the ranked list of MP's that the party devises that informs which candidates are elected into parliament once the party vote is counted after the election. The draft list is a fiction - the party list formation has not yet begun. Our party uses a participatory approach to develop our party list. [...] We can expect an unprecedented level of scrutiny, interest, and, from some, attack on our internal democracy and the party in general this year. The media, commentators, bloggers, and other political parties are all interested in our party list. Given this interest, we can expect some misreporting of our party processes and list-ranking processes..."
One part of that statement leaps out at me; “We can expect an unprecedented level of scrutiny, interest, and, from some, attack on our internal democracy and the party in general this year…”
What an odd world we live in when the political Party with the most democratic and transparent candidate selection process is heavily scrutinised (and often criticised) – whilst other Parties – where a culture of transparency and democratic involvement by rank-and-file members is not so well developed – do not suffer the same level of scrutiny and criticism.
In fact, this blogger has not read one single MSM story or commentatory criticising ACT’s closed candidate selection process. It seems almost an accepted feature of our political system that this kind of secretiveness is “the norm” and the Green’s willingness to be open is “unnatural“.
If such be the case, and I have to choose between “the norm” and “unnatural” – I’ll take “unnatural“, any day.
David Farrar concluded by stating,
“I have no reason however to doubt the source [of the leaked “draft Party List] has said anything untrue, and that they did not receive the list from someone in Parliament. I won’t print anything I believe to be untrue. The source has been reliable in the past. Also I do apply my own judgement to a degree and the rankings in the unofficial list do meld with general consensus around the beltway around individual MPs.”
David Farrar may insist that he will not “print anything I believe to be untrue”.
But he certainly didn’t bother checking the facts first and foremost with the Green Party prior to committing to publication.
If anyone should understand the Green’s almost fetish-like observance for democratic and transparent participation, it should be David Farrar. God knows he’s been around “the beltway” long enough.
Perhaps Mr Farrar should start questioning “ the source” of the leaked “draft”. Because it looks like he’s been ‘played’ by someone with their own agenda.
Yup, it must be election year…
[Disclosure: this blogger supported the Green Party at the 2011 Election]
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References
Radio NZ: ACT Party elects new leader
Kiwiblog: Not in a relationship! (5 Nov 2013)
Kiwiblog: Two Greens MPs facing sacking with Green Party List (31 Jan 2014)
Kiwiblog: More on the Greens list (10 Feb 2014)
Previous related blogpost
2013 – The Year that Was (Scroll down to: Honest Blogging by a Rightwing Blogger Award)
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Above image acknowledgment: Francis Owen
This blogpost was first published on The Daily Blog on 11 February 2014.
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