Geographical spread of Honours
Brian Rudman calculates that Wellingtonians have a two to three times better chance than Aucklanders at receiving Honours from the Queen.
I’ll resist suggesting that is to be expected on grounds of ability to say that Rudman is right that there is a problem here. Not as bad as he makes out, but a problem.
Firstly a capital will always get more honours. It is often where the senior most people in an industry are. Many charities have head offices in Wellington. The judges of the top two courts are in Wellington. The top of the police and the military are here. Almost all Govt Depts have head offices here. I doubt there is a capital in the world which does not receive more honours due to the nature of the jobs in a capital.
But there is one industry where most head offices are not in Wellington. And that is that of business. Most of our business leaders are in Auckland, and in my opinion these wealth creators are woefully under represented in the Honours.
January 18th, 2007 at 11:50 am
And business leaders will continue to under represented whilst we have a Socialist government who hates business with a vengeance and sees them as capitalist pigs.Wealth creators are viewed as one step up from pond life by these cretins who are happy to take their taxes in order to redistribute it to their hangeron mates.
January 18th, 2007 at 1:53 pm
Well, that was a more than usually stupid column from Mr Rudman – which is truly saying something. Still, I’d like to know where his “one mathematically inclined non-recipient” placed someone like Sam Neil? A good whack of our honours in the arts have gone to people who’ve spent much of their lives in Los Angeles, London and Sydney – so what? Dump the parochialism, Rudders, it’s sooo tired.
January 18th, 2007 at 2:00 pm
But why do so many honours go to people who have just done the jobs they were paid very well to do?
January 18th, 2007 at 2:17 pm
From the Queen? Would that it were so..
But no, we’ve gone all ‘banana republic’ and started bestowing honours on ourselves.
The Knighthoods are a great loss in my opinion.
‘New Zealand Order of Merit’ has that same kind of feeling as a kid who misses out on a certificate at Calf Club Day and whose parents feel that he was more deserving (“his flower saucer was *much* better than the child who got first prize”) and so make a certificate themselves for their child.
It’s just not the same, is it? Kind of meaningless – not that I want to disparage any recipients of the NZOOM, but they deserve the *real* award.
Lets hope National can bring back Knighthoods when they win the 2008 election.
If not, then the only consolation I have is the Helen Clark will never be a Dame.
January 18th, 2007 at 2:22 pm
People that like to rely on the Government tit like to base themselves in Wellington. I also include things like the orchestra, ballet opera and all those goody goody things. And in return they get given gongs to keep quiet and not cause too many problems. I assume business has no interest in gongs especially since they got rid of knighthoods. But I am surprised how many academics get gongs. These very obscure people which have spent their lives spending public money researching this or that get a gong. But who the hell cares really, the system is just rubbish aimed getting bits of tin and paper.
January 18th, 2007 at 4:32 pm
Well Bob Jones and Ron Brierly didn’t do too bad out of Lange’s Labour Goverment. It is a pity though she did away with knighhoods, you could generally be assured that if there was a knight in the board-room the company would turn out a dog.Now-adays you can only eliminate the companies witha former politician in the boardroom.
January 18th, 2007 at 11:20 pm
I think the old xy-generation Wanker of the week award was fantastic, like knighthoods, NZOOM’s and gongs (WTF ?) it also seemed to be given out regularly to politicians and senior public servants.
Just proves the point, the bright ones will excel in any environment against multiple judgments.
January 19th, 2007 at 8:18 am
Speaking of Wanker of the Week – I see the asshole who cut down the tree on On Tree Hill is auctioning his chainsaw on Trade Me.