Sounds good in writing

have you turned on the tv or read a paper lately.

I also know that the UN aid is pretty uncertain and normally through orgs like UNESCO – ie normally disaster relief, or through the World Bank, in which case its cheap loans or technical assistance. These are now more focused on Africa, which suggests that the value of NZ’s contribution is likely higher than the uncertain alternative assistance.

If Tokelau was hoping to keep NZs support and double dip into new sources of funding, then i wish upon them the future of “donor harmonisation” that will open up before them.

Japan’s aid is more than our’s on a per GDP scale.

Not by much thou,
According to this 2005 OECD report, Japan’s ODA/GNI was 0.28, while NZ was 0.27, Aust was 0.25

http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/52/18/37790990.pdf

Can anyone elaborate on that, because I thought it was one of the main reasons for the referendum, as opposed to the decolonialisation idea put forward by the deity formerly known as nigel6888.

I’m a bit light on the details but from what I recall, there’s a whole lot of help out there (to counter the corruption problems, and assist them setting up a form of governance, and so-on) that they’ve turned down.

It would probably be cheaper to rehouse them all in NZ and NZ take over full title so we could claim fishing rights. The same with Niue; these places are not self sustainable, likewise Kibati. If it wasn’t for the jockeying for influence by the Chinese and Japanese in the area we would probably have dumped them years ago. The UN are professional busybodies whose experts come and go.

Funny old thing for equally important constitutional issues in NZ, like the change to MMP she always states that 51% is a significant majority and we can’t be trusted to review it at the polls.

One has to ask the same question of most of africa – all those countires were never better off than when they were colonies (and Im thinking of Zimbabwe, angola, somalia, congo, nigeria, mozambique, ethiopia, Ivery coast, etc, etc) Independance has turn africa into a mess of killing and torture – actually mostly tribal based.

You know, there is definately someting in what that guy Watson said a few days ago ie:”we have all tried to believe that people of all cultures are equally intelligent but the proof from africa is that this is not true”

This is all about us and the UN and nothing at all about Tokelau.

Arguably its also dead stupid from a NZ perspective, do we really need another failed state playing off influence bids between the Chinese, the Taiwanese and the Triads for UN votes or locations for illegals or international crime?

You can count the successful Pacific island states since independence on one hand. In fact on one finger. And the only reason Samoa is successful is that they have rights of residence here, and American Samoa next door is a bit porous. Every, and I mean every other Pacific Island “nation” has gone backwards in all of the key economic, social and quality of life indicators since independence.

anti-colonialism doesnt look so hot when the infrastructure crumbles, endemic corruption kicks in, life expectancy reduces, standard of living reduces and we have to wait hand out for the “international donor community” to throw a few crumbs, for which we have to pretend to be grateful.

Oh hang on that was NZ wasnt it, anyway, its considerably worse out in the Pacific.

I hope the pomo progressives are proud of themselves.

I’ve been wasting my time, you’re a student …aren’t you sweetie.

Stick with it until you’re poor in middle life…when you’ll hear the dogs of reality barking in the distance.
It’s never pretty.

You called me on nothing. I did not say OZ was a mineral based dingo eating economy I said what would you do without the minerals – then eat the dingos. Minerals are finite, and unlike the rest of the farm economy dingos might survive droughts. But accuracy is not your game is it?

But your delusion of superiority or even relevance is truly extreme even for an Australian. Why don’t they allow you on grown up boards in Oz?

You have spent some time here talking down anyone not Australian, unless they share in some prejudice, yet the basis of Australia’s success as a lucky country is the minerals assets.

Where would your arrogance be without it. Minerals are a finitre resourse – Arabs have chosen to invest some of the proceeds from their finite resource oil in investment funds. What has Oz done, taken a course in vanity but your descandants may regret it when the minerals run out.

You made the risible claim that Aust. is a mineral based dingo eating economy. I called you on it……now I’m left with the 12:39 gibberish.

You always know when your talking to a Kiwi socialist……

So earnest, so stupid.

If they didn’t, we would nationalise their assets in Enzed. Either way, as the British determined decades ago, the Kiwis were the only ones in the South Pacific who could be both trusted and capable of leadership.

Look at Oz, goes into East Timor and then demands half the oil, and the world notes only the sheriff going into Iraq as occupying to gain access to oil. What the sheriff does with power, deputy dog is sure to follow.