Aotearoa Runs Aground
A week of Cap'n C-Lux & his coalition D-Listers.
Your face has fallen sad now
For you know the time is nigh
When I must remove your wings
And you, you must try to fly
Come sail your ships around me
And burn your bridges down
We make a little history, baby
Every time you come around
When I went to bed last night I thought the image of a pylon down, the power out in Northland was a good representation of the coalition’s week. That was before I saw the ones this morning of the InterIslander Aratere run aground, surely the perfect metaphor for this government after another disastrous week.
A week that left many asking…
In the past I’ve begun these weekly wraps with a look at Mike Hosking’s ratings of the week, so let’s begin with one he scored. My scores this week are in confectionary.
C-Lux, the C-List PM, goes to Japan - 1 sticky boiled sweet found down the back of a carseat.
The mood from the boardroom is generally positive with National in power, yet this week rather than praising the PM for watering down worker’s rights many of our titans of industry, Luxon’s so-called C-listers, will be asking themselves how on earth he ever got beyond middle management.
I wrote yesterday about how disastrous his trip had been, and I don’t mean the plane breakdown. Needless to say Hosking had a different take on things…
“C-listers: 7/10 - Burn of the week. I love people who call it like it is.”
In his Fox-news like role Hosking trumpets Luxon’s buffoonery as strength. In the same way that station celebrates Trump’s appalling behaviour as being what the country needs.
In response to that newsletter a number of people commented at how embarrassing they find the Prime Minister’s behaviour overseas. The way he constantly puts his hands on foreign dignitaries like they’re old mates, or puffs out his chest to show his importance. It just looks silly.
A fact not lost on the chaps at BHN in this clip, which is well worth a watch:
Sad Loses - no rating 😢
Yesterday we lost Donald Sutherland, such a fabulous actor and a good man. Then later in the day came the news that Keith Locke had passed away. I feel pretty emotional writing about it now, these last six months have been such a sad and hard time for those who care about Green issues.
On my page people who’d known Keith outside of politics spoke generously of the man, as did former colleagues who respected that he focussed on issues and not personalities or parties. I think of him most as being a strong voice for peace, a very sad loss for our country and those who love him.
There was a sad loss for me too this week. My best friend through Primary and Intermediate was a lad called Paul Mowbray and his dad, Bob, passed this week. I hadn’t seen Bob, or Paul’s mum Margaret, in the best part of forty years but for a decade Paul and I were inseparable, living in and out of each other’s houses.
When I write about the good old days, pre Rogernomics, of quarter acre dreams with vegetable gardens, a BBQ, and backyard cricket I think of their backyard and the wonderful times I had as a child. Paul and I wandering down the road to the reserve to catch tadpoles. Over Edmund Rd at the football club - I remember the bags of crisps and lemonades, Bob playing for the over 40s and also helping to coach Paul and I.
My deepest sympathies to the Mowbray family, and to readers Trish and Norm who knew them well and let me know the sad news.
Simeon Brown, “a pylon should not just fall down” - one melted ice cream that has fallen on the road and contains gravel.
My apologies up front for making light of a situation that I’m sure has been a great hardship to many, and at making any sort of joke after the last section.
When I saw those images of Simeon Brown with the gigantic pylon fallen to the ground and the Minister for Fewer Cones and Potholes looking utterly useless proclaiming, “a pylon should not just fall down”, the first thing that came to mind was John Clarke talking about the front of the boat falling off.
You’re probably familiar with the clip but even if you’ve seen it before, and I have a vague memory of including it but it might’ve been a different one, it’s worth a watch.
That routine sounds as fresh and relevant today as it did then, a truly great comedian with timeless insights.
At his Press Conference Simeon said he’d visited the site of the fallen pylon and “getting answers to what happened is a top priority”. I’m not sure you need much of an enquiry Simeon, it’s pretty obvious what happened - the pylon fell over, and as you so perceptively point out - it’s not supposed to do that. He continued…
“It is completely unacceptable what happened yesterday, a pylon should not just fall down, that is something that should not happen in New Zealand outside of a major type of event.
We need to get to the bottom of what happened, understand the facts. There needs to be accountability for that and appropriate actions to follow those reviews.
It should not happen and we need to make sure it does not happen again.”
At some point do you think some of these ministers might realise that the accountability sits with them?
The Minister of Conservation says, “no more room on the Ark” - one rare and endangered chocolate frog (melted).
Conservation Minister, Tama Potaka, suggested at a select committee that it might not be cost effective to save all species, essentially declaring himself unfit and unsuited for the role.
“Whilst there may be a view – and that’s a very strong view and I get it on a regular basis, especially from some of our comrades in the environmental space – that we have to save every single species, I think that that actually is a very aspirational and ambitious objective, and it’s one that we may not be able to deliver on,” said Potaka.
Seriously dude, if you don’t aspire to save every single species you should not be the Conservation Minister. And don’t think for a moment we don’t know what you’re doing by calling those who care “comrades”, we get it. The narrative is that they’re all tree-hugging socialists - how bloody original.
“There is a cost with maintaining species and ensuring that they don’t become extinct. And I don’t think anyone in the history of the Department of Conservation has costed that in a [meaningful], defensible and credible way – and if they have, please tell me,” said the Minister. A similar pragmatic outlook to that of Dr Reti, Minister of Health.
Nicola Toki, chief executive of Forest & Bird, who spoke so well at the recent March for Nature, said “It’s incredibly concerning to hear the conservation minister say that avoiding species extinction is ‘very aspirational’ and that we need to somehow put a price on saving species that are only found here in Aotearoa New Zealand.”
“New Zealanders have an incredibly deep affinity with our natural environment and it’s fundamental to our national identity. We expect governments to act as stewards for future generations and actively protect the unique biodiversity that is left in this country. The minister of conservation needs to commit to no extinctions on his watch and fight for the funding to ensure that this is the case.”
She’s bloody right. We might love our All Blacks and our Edmund Hillarys but we also love our natural environment. Not just we lefties with our wacky ideas of how spiritually important this place is but regular every day Kiwis who love our bush, our rivers, and coastline, and believe 100% pure should be more than a marketing slogan.
Aratere runs aground, where’s a 2nd hand Corolla when you need one? Candy, taken from a baby.
This morning we woke to scenes of a Cook Strait ferry run aground, because the steering failed. In case you missed it that was the metaphor for the coalition, mentioned earlier.
The Aratere departed Picton at quarter to ten last evening and shortly afterwards went aground. Stranding 47 passengers overnight, without even the prospect of a Greg Forlan rescue mission.
Earlier in the week Transport Minister Brown had been moaning about the state of the fleet, somewhat surprisingly considering there were no roads involved.
That of course is on the back of Nicola Willis cancelling the order for replacement ferries as she needed the money for tax cuts and said we’d have to make do with a second hand Corolla instead.
This is so typical of the attitude and response of this government. Moaning that things are not good enough, even though they’re in charge, while turning down desperately needed funding to improve things.
What a joke! Anybody laughing yet?
One of my favourite songs, love Nick Cave.
Tweet from Helen Clark...
Just saying: Didn’t someone cancel the order for badly needed new NZ inter-island ferries ⛴️ ⛴️. Are we at risk of losing the vital link connecting the North & South Islands? “Interislander ferry Aratere runs aground near Picton, passengers in lifejackets”
The failure to invest in infrastructure in general is yet another example of a government that is only interested in what its donors and their lobbyist want and not what our country needs.
An integrated transport strategy costs but that investment pays huge dividends in increased employment, new businesses and productivity.
This government & Luxon in particular bang on about these very subjects but it’s all hot air. They are landlords at heart so their aims are clear.