Blog Bits
November 24th, 2008 at 9:52 am by David FarrarIdiot/Savant looks at what would happen if the Foreshore and Seabed Act was repealed. I tend to favour repeal of the Act, but also would like the Court of Appeal ruling to have been tested by appeal to the Privy Council or the Supreme Court. Maybe one can repeal the Act, legislate to allow the Supreme Court to hear an appeal from the Court of Appeal ruling, and then whatever the Supreme Court decides, forms the basis of negotiations between Crown and Iwi.
Adam Smith at The Inquiring Mind links to an article in The Times on the huge number of subtitling mashups done of the bunker scene from Downfall. Over 150 mashups have been done, including three by Whale Oil. They are Winston’s Downfall, Helen’s Downfall and Judith’s Downfall.
Aaron Bhatnagar blogs on how Waiheke Island and Great Barrier Island residents will be polled on whetehr they want to remain part of Auckland City, or transfer to the Thames-Coromandel District Council. I don’t think many do want to change but as 10% o residents signed a petition, the Local Government Commission is obliged to run a poll.
Paul Walker retires from blogging. A real pity – I enjoy all the economist blogs, even though they are not high traffic. Maybe if they all combined together?
Bryce Edwards has done a series of posts on the party that shall not be named. They are a fascinating background read. One day he should publish them as children’s horror stories 
Finally Adam Smith scans in and blogs every day a good Letter to the Editor. Have a look at this one from the Co-vice-president of the Maori Party responding to Chris Trotter.
Tags: Aaron Bhatnagar, Bryce Edwards, Chris Trotter, Downfall, Great Barrier Island, Idiot/Savant, Maori Party, No Right Turn, Paul Walker, seabed & foreshore, The Inquiring Mind, Waiheke Island, Winston First
November 24th, 2008 at 9:56 am
The loonie green fringe from the Hauraki Gulf Islands will vote to go with Thames Coromandel but given the amount of cash Auckland City pumps into the area they’d be insane to move. You certainly wouldn’t see rates go down if TCDC picked up the Islands.
Vote:November 24th, 2008 at 10:04 am
Why respond to Chri Trotter at all?
Do you reason with a yapping poodle or just reach for a rolled up newspaper?
Vote:November 24th, 2008 at 10:06 am
Trotter, I imagine is struggling to remain relevant in the new political and social world that is NZ post the lezbefriendlylayboring party.
As you say Murray, best to ignore.
Vote:November 24th, 2008 at 10:31 am
All of the Judges who sat in the Court of Appeal on the Ngati Apa case became Supreme Court judges, and a couple of them still sit there. One of the other Justices now in the Supreme Court was a lawyer in the case. You’d need at least three alternates, and given that those tend to be recently retired judges, those would be mostly the other judges who sat in the Court of Appeal. At best, you’d probably need to make two special appointments just to get a coram.
Vote:November 24th, 2008 at 10:35 am
Nothing wrong with due process. The arguments against Nobilangelo’s methods amount to condescension, emotionalism and outrage that the system can actually be used. What the community board (and the publisher of the local right leaning newspaper ) would prefer is that they could change the rules to suit themselves. They attempted to exclude him from his elected responsiblities because they didn’t like him. They ran slur campaigns against him, (which had to be publicly retracted) and still do. Sounds awfully democratic doesn’t it?
Earlier this year Ray Ericson admitted, after being given the hard word from Bhatnagar, that the Community Board exists only to rubber stamp the wishes of Auckland City Council. The Community board here are nothing but professional busibodies with vested interests. Nobilangelo isn’t mainstream in his apperance or manner but he does have the attitude to get things done and he does actually have some good cost cutting ideas – which are usually refused owing to his appearance and manner. Best of all he has a knack of exposing the hypocrisy and lies of popular local politicans everywhere he goes. That’s what pisses them off the most – that he can get things done by using the system they should follow themselves and without their unofficial politics and cliques.
Aaron Bhatnagar is just a stirrer with his own vested interests. If nobilangelo is a naturist that gets things done by due process, he’s a fat windbag that gets not much done through “unofficial” channels. It’s ironic that on an island that trumpets tolerance of every possible way of living and thinking outside of the mainstream, they won’t Nobilangelo.
Now I did in fact vote for Nobilangelo, but do not support his proposal to cede from Auckland City and I’ve told him so. There are several obvious practical concerns that make going to Thames-Coro not a good choice. And just to correct Aaron here, Thames Coro have expereesed some interest in the idea, not a total rejection. Nobilangelo’s overall approach is like a breath of fresh air into the political scene here, which is perpetually run by communists, socialists and anti-development greenies. Nobilangelo would also like to see some RMA reform – even though he supports some enviromental ideas. I wouldn’t call him right wing at all (135 people voted ACT here, 2 of them from my household) but he doesn’t go in for that particular version of popular socialism NZ is drowned in. Overall I think our political scene needs more people like him to force a transitionary stage away from the anti-growth, navel gazing, incestuous, communist tinge this place seems to attract. I’d vote for him again for that reason alone.
I support anyone who will support and use the system that has been created and will bring options for change to the table, and I will always look past social prejuedice to examine the idea, and I will always reject those candidates and encumbents that wish to corrupt the democratic process- whether they are from the from the left or the right. They should be ashamed.
Bring on the democratic, and legal, poll.
Vote:November 24th, 2008 at 10:36 am
Maybe then we give one final case to the Privy Council
The reason this whole mess started was because Labour did not let the legal process conclude. They should have appealed to the Privy Council but as they had just announced they were abolishing appeals, they thought it would look bad politically to then appeal. It was a classic case of putting politics ahead of the law.
Having then decided not to appeal, they had to be seen to do something – so they knee jerk announced they would legislate to over-ride the decision.
Vote:November 24th, 2008 at 10:56 am
Trotters managed what no one else has done before Hes pissed off the left the right the centre the Maoris you name it with that column.
Ive never seen anyone get such a pasting . Hes rendered himself totally irrevelevant in the space of one single column.
Hes now comic book material just there for a good laugh.
Vote:November 24th, 2008 at 10:56 am
I wouldn’t have thought a republican would have been in favor of a monarchist institution like the privy council David.
Next you’ll be raising corgis.
Vote:November 24th, 2008 at 11:04 am
“I enjoy all the economist blogs, even though they are not high traffic. Maybe if they all combined together?”
Us economists aren’t really group oriented
. I will miss Paul’s stuff as well – I hope he comes back soon.
Vote:November 24th, 2008 at 11:04 am
Maybe.
But what they should have done was not apply to strike-out the claim in the first place.
[simplifying]
Ngati Apa made a claim with the Maori Land Court for ownership of some foreshoreand/or seabed.
The Government applied to have the case struck-out before hearing, because it did not believe Maori could own the foreshore.
They lost on the strikeout, with the various courts saying it was possible that some Maori might own some foreshore, which would have to be decided on a case-by-case basis.
What they should have done was let the case proceed to “trial” to see, even if Ngati Apa was right that the law meant it was pssible that some Maori might have some control over some of the foreshore, whether Ngati Apa would in fact, get anywhere on their particular facts, and if they did, exactly what it would mean in practice (they might have had a right to certain shellfish beds, or to launch waka from a certain place, or complete and total ownership).
If the final result of this case went too far for the Government they should then have appealed that. We’d have some idea of the factual hurdles claimants might face, and would know the likely results (if we don’t have an F&S Act what might happen is that local government may be precluded from limiting certain activities on land previously considered fully public, certain Maori might have this or that right etc.). We would have avoided [some of] the fearmongering that resulted from having the legal questions determined outside their factual context – the result of the full case might have been that it was technically possible that someone might establish full ownership, but that Ngati Apa hadn’t, and the factual hurdles were so great that they’d be practically insurmountable for anyone else either.
Vote:November 24th, 2008 at 11:58 am
In just one foolish column, Trotter has done more to ensure Maori stick with National than anyone else could have done in a month of hui or Sundays
Vote:November 24th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
DPF, I am interested that you like the economist blogs.
I’d like to see a few more discussions on here, of some of the crunchier economic information like overseas debt per capita and mortgage to income ratios and so on. There is a tragic disconnect between the sort of realities discussed on the economist blogs, and the MSM, and I think Kiwiblog should be doing more in the way of an intermediary role. Many of the visitors to Kiwiblog who might not have time to visit economist blogs, would nevertheless be bright enough and interested enough to get a handle on things via Kiwiblog.
Vote:November 24th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
it’d be good if bhatnagar wd blog about this..
http://whoar.co.nz/2008/commentwhile-shit-pours-onto-other-local-beachesand-funding-for-the-poorest-areas-of-auckland-are-slashedcut-back-to-nothingthe-beach-that-millionaires-row-overlooksis-to-get-a-5-million-dollar-upgrad/
(apologies for also posting on general thread..yr opening of threads seems somewhat random..)
phil(whoar.co.nz)
Vote:November 24th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
I think Trotter, like the Labour Party shakers and movers of the last Labour Government, needs to be put to pasture, and it is time for new blood to revitalise the op-ed columnists of this nation. Trotter can turn into a ego-centric mind wank like Perigo and be a legend in his own sandbox.
Vote:November 24th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
Am I the only one who can’t get to Bryces website anymore?
Vote:November 24th, 2008 at 6:03 pm
Possibly
Vote:November 24th, 2008 at 8:18 pm
As we economists know, specialisation is the root of prosperity. See Smith (1776) somewhere right up the front.
While the degree of specialisation is determined by the size of the market, I think that New Zealand can support some specialist economics blogs.
Come over the the Visible Hand (http://tvhe.wordpress.com/) and join the fun.
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