It certainly has been a busy time for those who have been following NZ politics. What with every overlooked party piping up regarding the recent raids and Trevor's little bust up with Tau Henare in the corridors of parliament - it would be enough to keep anyone busy with rumour and speculation. So is it any wonder that Helen Clark's new Cabinet reshuffle has been a cautious and down-played affair.
There are some interesting decisions - Making Minister of Police also Minister of Justice, which is an indicator to the forces that the Government is wanting to clean house regarding procedures and structures.
Mallard's clearly been put in his place, but gets to keep his job - which I think is a wise action. Too many people are baying for blood over a schoolboy scuffle. It's a bit sad, really. As usual the desire to punish has nothing to do with the event and everything to do with self-serving politics. Mallard has clearly been given a warning, and this has been set up for him to fail or succeed. Labour has had a history of giving MPs another chance - but there is the classic sense of "screw up again and you're out."
All in all, Labour is making a clear statement that they are focusing on policy not politics. The choices have been people who have shown ability and skill doing their jobs rather than picking scraps in the chamber. Which is something I have come to expect from Labour's leadership.
In other news there I was interested in the constant struggle for the development of renewable energy. It is interesting that so many people are against the use of fossil fuels to provide electricity, but then will fight any attempt at developing renewable energy sources. New Zealand is in a fairly unique position in that we have plenty of wind and water - two of the greatest sources for renewable energy that don't rely on nuclear power.
Yet, while most NZers want a clean green country, they want it to happen 'elsewhere' in the country. Now I haven't done all the research into the pros and cons of Wind Farms, but I do know for a fact that our power demands are rising, and the current sources are strained. The father of a friend of mine worked in the main research panel into the future of NZ's power, and it was decided about five years ago that unless new sources were found soon, Nuclear Stations in NZ would become an inevitability.
The Government has fought that decision, and experts have come from overseas and suggested all manner of potential solutions. We, as a country, need to face up to the fact that some sacrifices will have to be made. I, personally, don't see windmill turbines as particularly ugly - especially when compared to the smaller but nastier looking nuclear plants.
I may just do some more research into this to see what else I can learn and find out.
Finally, a note on NZ's increasing violence. A recent study found that violence in the classroom was indicative of the drop in values throughout the country. This has been attributed to the collapse of a number of families. I do find this a concern about the number of people who are teaching their children that violence is alright and the suggestion has been made for schools to pick up the slack.
I'm not really sure what can be done. The collapse of values is something that happens at home. It isn't the government or our laws that effect values - it's how we as individuals choose to interact with each other. I have noticed a definite decline in respect and common courtesy amongst New Zealanders. This idea that you must be tough and self-sufficient is a breeding ground for ill-will. There is a distinct lack of understanding how to deal with things.
But I'm still trying to figure out how you would get through to these people...
Conan
Currently Reading: Sidereals
Currently Playing: Nothing at the moment
Mood: Concerned for the future of our nation...
There are some interesting decisions - Making Minister of Police also Minister of Justice, which is an indicator to the forces that the Government is wanting to clean house regarding procedures and structures.
Mallard's clearly been put in his place, but gets to keep his job - which I think is a wise action. Too many people are baying for blood over a schoolboy scuffle. It's a bit sad, really. As usual the desire to punish has nothing to do with the event and everything to do with self-serving politics. Mallard has clearly been given a warning, and this has been set up for him to fail or succeed. Labour has had a history of giving MPs another chance - but there is the classic sense of "screw up again and you're out."
All in all, Labour is making a clear statement that they are focusing on policy not politics. The choices have been people who have shown ability and skill doing their jobs rather than picking scraps in the chamber. Which is something I have come to expect from Labour's leadership.
In other news there I was interested in the constant struggle for the development of renewable energy. It is interesting that so many people are against the use of fossil fuels to provide electricity, but then will fight any attempt at developing renewable energy sources. New Zealand is in a fairly unique position in that we have plenty of wind and water - two of the greatest sources for renewable energy that don't rely on nuclear power.
Yet, while most NZers want a clean green country, they want it to happen 'elsewhere' in the country. Now I haven't done all the research into the pros and cons of Wind Farms, but I do know for a fact that our power demands are rising, and the current sources are strained. The father of a friend of mine worked in the main research panel into the future of NZ's power, and it was decided about five years ago that unless new sources were found soon, Nuclear Stations in NZ would become an inevitability.
The Government has fought that decision, and experts have come from overseas and suggested all manner of potential solutions. We, as a country, need to face up to the fact that some sacrifices will have to be made. I, personally, don't see windmill turbines as particularly ugly - especially when compared to the smaller but nastier looking nuclear plants.
I may just do some more research into this to see what else I can learn and find out.
Finally, a note on NZ's increasing violence. A recent study found that violence in the classroom was indicative of the drop in values throughout the country. This has been attributed to the collapse of a number of families. I do find this a concern about the number of people who are teaching their children that violence is alright and the suggestion has been made for schools to pick up the slack.
I'm not really sure what can be done. The collapse of values is something that happens at home. It isn't the government or our laws that effect values - it's how we as individuals choose to interact with each other. I have noticed a definite decline in respect and common courtesy amongst New Zealanders. This idea that you must be tough and self-sufficient is a breeding ground for ill-will. There is a distinct lack of understanding how to deal with things.
But I'm still trying to figure out how you would get through to these people...
Conan
Currently Reading: Sidereals
Currently Playing: Nothing at the moment
Mood: Concerned for the future of our nation...
2 comments:
I know there are two usual reason to reject the deployment of wind farms around my neck of the woods.
a) being the the look, people seriously referring to the farms as visual pollution,
b) danger to wild life. Turns out almost regardless of location there is some endangered fool of a bird that insists on flying smack bang into these spinning blades of death.
And yet people do not want nuclear power either...
I don't get that 'visual pollution' argument either. A whole hill of windmills ? That looks AWESOME ! I could understand the noise argument more ( they do sound kinda freaky ). Any bird stupid enough not to be able to avoid things THAT big deserves all it gets.
I was hoping Mallard would be out on his butt ( I've loathed that jerk ever since he was minister of education - freaking idiot ... ) but I can't say I was surprised with the 'punishment' he got. Personally I thought a bit better of him when he laid the smack-down on Henare ... ;)
There will have to come a day soon when a parenting license is required to have children. A screening process similar to the steps you need to take in order to ADOPT a child. It would have to be backed with suitable incentives for compliance, and suitable punishments ( mandatory confication of the child on the first offense - along with harsh fines and/or 're-education', full organ harvest of both offending 'parents' on the second perhaps ? ). Yeah yeah - I know there are so-called 'human rights' issues there - but with the state of the planet now, some extreme measures have got to be put in place for the good of society!
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