Unholy wedding on the rocks...

Why does the Ratana Movement issue an invitation to the National Party for their yearly gathering? The Nats, as we all know, plan to chop the Maori seats; the Nats are in partnership with the death-bed Act Party well known for its racist leadership. Remember what John Banks said about Maori youth in Auckland. They and the Act party don’t even put up candidates in the Maori seats.

I know that Maori are very polite and inclusive and have no desire to offend, but continuing to invite the very people who would remove what political gains Maori have made would seem to be over generous to me. Maori have proven their commitment to New Zealand in two World Wars, Korea, Malaysia and Vietnam and other combat zones. How the Maori Party’s three MP’s can get into bed with the Nats and Act simply is beyond understanding.

Breaking News: Maori Party will [may] walk if John Key’s mob removes Treaty obligations for State asset sales. In a last ditch effort to stitch up its massive fall out in the Maori seats the Maori party needed to make a public relations hit so it could pull out of the ‘Rich boys club’ [National / Act / Dunne] with a hint of pride. Convincing their ever declining membership that they don’t simply represent wealthy Maori…will be made a little easier if they go ahead with their threat to seek a divorce from their unholy marriage. I hope they find the backbone to do so.

Local Government CEO's may form Industrial Union...



Who said Pigs can't swim. 



The following was sent to me by a most unhappy CEO, I can not name him or her for obvious reasons. This use of the power of the market place process makes for interesting possibilities in future salary setting processes. What it means is that services of CEO’s will be driven down ward rather than upward.

Dear X,

X City Council is planning to advertise for a new Chief Executive Officer under this process:

Our new policy and process of using the market to decide the rewards for a new Chief Executive Officer position is as follows:

• We will be calling for tenders from individuals who believe they have the skills required and are willing to accept a figure less than that stated below.

• The key entry point will be based on an individuals’ tender figure which must be below the present salary level of $535000.00 per year.  
• Applicants need to clearly state a figure below that stated above to be considered for an in depth interview.
• Those who state a figure below that listed above will automatically have a head start on those who tendered a higher figure than yours.
• Applicants will be listed in interview order from the lowest tender up.
• No tender will be considered if the figure suggested is below the government minimum legal figure which is currently $13.24 per hour x 40 x 52 per year. This figure is considered by the government as a livable salary.

We believe that by using this tender process we will over a short period of time lower the massive salaries being paid to local government CEO’s and thereby reduce the strain on rate payers who are required to foot the huge salaries being paid at present.

It will also save ratepayers from the huge fees that are being paid to various search organisations which are paid on the bases of a percentage of the salary agreed to.

We also believe that this is the way the market should work for all those who receive rewards for standard tasks in the management field. Of course it is presently used for the purchase of all service and we consider that the role of a CEO is a service role.

If CEO’s are willing to register themselves as a collective [Union] our council is willing to accept negotiations on their behalf by their elected representatives so long as they comply with the Industrial Relations Act and the requirements listed above.

This policy will come into effect once the Government appointed watch dog has agreed and confirmed his agreement. Once introduced the ability of councillors via their councils to offer salaries to their one employee [the CEO] will cease.

CEO’s will be expected to follow this process for all positions outside of those presently regulated by agreed collective agreements.

   

Chinese buy farms but can we buy theirs?



Chinese Aid Worker 2012 



The government has agreed to sell Crafar Farms to the Chinese. Their reasons for doing so really don’t stand up to scrutiny but what else can we expect from a Government that puts their mates before the rest of NZ.

While every other political party was apposed the Nat’s went ahead with the deal, The Mana Party, The Greens and the New Zealand First spoke out against such a deal. The Labour Party strange as it may sound was apposed to selling to the Chinese but was happy to see a Sir Michael Fay deal go ahead, this was doubly strange when you consider how Michael Fay ripped off the country in a set of dodgy deals via his mates Roger Douglas and co. They brought NZ Rail and sold it off to a crowd who asset stripped it, ran it into the ground only to have the government buy it back, so as to keep a rail service active. It has still not recovered.

Fay / Richwhite, whom combined, also made a massive financial killing via a shady deal over the sale of the BNZ and then ran off overseas to avoid paying tax. It fact at the time they almost bankrupted the country.

Do you remember John Keys campaigning in 2008 and stating that he wouldn’t allow New Zealanders to becomes tenants in their own country”, yeah right! Still our Hobbits elected him so they only have themselves to blame. Just like Mr. Dotcom was required to buy bonds and make donations the Chinese owners are required to run a farm training school and allow public access to a tiny part of their sixteen farms. Unlike Mr. Dotcom they may also be protected from a US raid, the US has already stated that the Chinese don’t do business according to US law. So maybe we should watch this space. But there is one thing key for all his big talk and blog site PR won’t guarantee and that is that we can buy land in China, like they can buy ours, so much for equality.

Dumped Mayor John Banks Dines with Dotcom...why?



We don't know Mr. Dotcom...really...truly says latest FBI agent.



Why did National /Act’s lone MP dumped Auckland Mayor John Banks dine at Dotcom’s mansion…This is especially interesting since Dotcom lives in the Prime Ministers electorate and not John Banks.

Was John Banks seeking funding for his doomed party Act, or was he seeking backdoor funding for his real party National, or was he just there for a cup of tea? [Its funny don't you think, how the rich seem to know all the rich crooks]

These are questions that may well be answered sometime in the future, that is so long as the US, FBI, CIA don’t bump off Mr. Dotcom after naming him a 'terrorist at large' and therefore open legally to being assassinated at the pleasure of the US.

Prime Minister [and possible acting FBI Agent] John Key said officials were reviewing the file ''to check that they appropriately applied the rules'' but he had no plans to change the law”. It could be that in many respects this is government double-talk for adding or removing bits of the file that could prove embarrassing.

Key said he had been to the house when it was being built and he was a backbencher. But the first he knew about Dotcom living there was when he was briefed by the Solicitor General the day before last week's raids. Is this believable, Dotcom dines with Banks who then has a cup of tea with Keys where the conversation is recorded, Keys uses the police to shut down discussion about his conversation. Could it be that Dotcom was a part of that conversation?

''To be honest it will be no different to a number of New Zealanders who've had residency in countries overseas, and who've previously had convictions here.'' John Key said to the media…but he never named names, was he talking about some of those who ripped off investors and fled overseas to various tax-havens. And does this mean that because others accept our criminals, we have to accept theirs?

Key said Dotcom had ''fully disclosed his history'' and under German law, because of the clean slate provisions, effectively had a clean record”. This is simply incorrect the clean record only comes after a set period of time and in the case of Mr. Dotcom that time had not been reached.

Without doubt we’ll hear more about this strange take over by the FBI of our justice system as the US spins its web of intrigue on behalf of US corporate big business. Don’t be surprised if we have more Helicopter raids on those the US FBI and CIA consider their enemies.  

"Ugly truth or pretty lies...you decide.



Cr. Chris Teo-Sherrell. 



It is said, “That the ugliest truth is still better than the prettiest of lies”

 “Twenty-one thousand dollars for photo-copying”, that is simply hum-bug! Chris Teo-Sherrell has a duty and a right to demand information regarding breaches of the discharge agreement between the PNCC of which he is a councillor and Horizons. To suggest that the cost is twenty one thousand dollars is simply an expensive blunt exercise in shutting down a very damaging episode in our council history.

This kind of heavy handed behaviour was expected from our last dictatorial CEO [Paul Wylie] but in this day and age surely his replacement CEO can to better than follow in Wylie’s shadowy footsteps. At 3 to 5 cents a page it would take hundreds of thousands of pages to equal 21 thousand dollars. Surely the council is not including staff costs, since we pay them regardless. No let’s cut the crap and release the information. Or should some one organise a protest outside the council chamber…pitch a tent or two maybe. It would be interesting to find out which councillors support Chris in his desire to seek the truth and which councillors prefer to hide behind the CEO…I don’t suppose we’ll ever find out for that would mean that some councillors would have to open their mouths…and gosh that would be unusual.

Kim Dotcom's possible NZ Citizenship goes down the drain

New FBI Agent hands over Crim...

The latest bit of news is the fact that the Nats let into the country [in 2010] a multi millionaire ex con who had been found guilty of insider trading and other financial crimes. Why, was it because he took out ten million dollars in NZ Government bonds and donated to the Christchurch earthquake fund and to Starship hospital…was this Keys answer to poverty in New Zealand and did he donate to the Nats election campaign? Its great what money can do.

But alas the FBI put a bit of pressure on, just as Warner Brothers did over the hobbits, and in a flash NZ handed Kim Dotcom over on a plate. They even used helicopters, but without thank God US Navy Seals to murder all and sundry. So much for the financial friends of John K and Bill E the Nats financial whiz kids.

So now we will be Very -very-very-very good friend of the US. I wonder if that will get us an upgrade to double A plus…what do you reckon Bill.

Strange as it may sound nowhere in the Fairfax item published in the Manawatu Standard did they explain just how Kim Dotcom got into the country, they wrote heaps about flash cars, TV sets etc. Yet they failed to ask the key but simple question "how did this criminal get permission to set up here in NZ…it would seem that they simply published what was given to them via a press release.

What can we do...anything is possible

According to the latest news everything is fine, just keep shopping and all your worries will fade away, don’t worry about your wages being cut, or the US invading Iran, or Israel bumping off a few Palestine citizens, or the US jailing people without trials or murdering ones enemies, just keep shopping and using your credit cards and all will be just dandy.

Sell off your state assets to the highest bidder and keep giving bonuses to those who rip you off and all will be fine…at least according to John Key that is. While he gets a sun tan in Hawaii at your expense don’t worry he has your interest at heart. The fact that he attempted to stop a programme on TV 3 about Child Poverty because he thought it would upset his Hobbits…is neither here nor there…

Now if you believe that rubbish you are living on a different planet to me. So what can we do about the crisis happening all around us?

So lets take some action to put things right. Here are some actions you might like to think about taking to help bring about some meaningful change, I know you are only one but others may follow in your footsteps:

·         When ever a politician enters a room you are in or an event you are at…stand up and walkout firstly making sure you tell those around you why you are taking this action.

·         Tell local Government to give contracts only to locally owned NZ contractors who employ union labour via the media etc.

·         Transfer all your bank accounts to Kiwi Bank. Remember that Bill English is making plans to freeze your accounts if any of the private banks get into trouble and go belly-up, so don’t delay.

·         Bring your tent down to the Square and pitch it slap bang in the middle and erect a sign and simply wait and see what happens…others may join you and within a day or two we could have a Occupy Palmerston North.

Key's campaign manager gets kick in the bum!

This from Radio NZ:

"It is not appropriate for New Zealand on Air to stop programmes from being broadcast during an election campaign.

The broadcast funding agency is considering the move and has received legal advice after a programme about child poverty which it funded was broadcast days before the election on 26 November last year.

NZ on Air says it has been accused of political bias following the airing of Inside Child Poverty: A Special Report on TV3 on 22 November.

NZ on Air chairperson Neil Walter has said the agency only found out a couple of days before the programme was screened that it would be broadcast so close to polling day.

Mr Walter said the agency has to protect its reputation for political impartiality. "Personally, I don't believe the New Zealand public would expect or want to see their funding put into a politically charged scenario like that."

Radio New Zealand's Checkpoint programme on Wednesday that poverty is not a particularly politically-charged issue.

"We should never afraid to talk about what is the reality for some of our families and the situations they are in.

"Poverty has been an issue that all governments - and I mean all political parties that have been in government - have shied away from." Said Mrs. Turia [Maori Party Co-Leader]

Labour Party broadcasting spokesperson Clare Curran has questioned whether the National Party is interfering in NZ on Air. Ms Curran says Prime Minister John Key's electorate chairman is on the agency's board and was the one who first raised concerns about the poverty documentary. "Surely it's a good thing that during an election campaign for there to be robust political discussion about issues." Broadcasting Minister Craig Foss has declined to comment, saying it would be inappropriate to get involved. [Why]

The Screen Directors Guild says broadcasters could be deterred from screening documentaries that are political if NZ on Air interferes with what can be aired during election periods. The guild's acting executive director, Janette Howe, says the screening of the child poverty documentary was excellent timing because it received maximum viewer-ship and sparked a healthy debate on the issue.

Ms Howe says it is the role of the Broadcasting Standards Authority to look at when a particular programme is aired and whether it is politically biased.

Electoral law specialist Graeme Edgeler believes NZ on Air should steer clear of this issue if it wants to be politically impartial. Mr Edgeler says the agency risks losing its political impartiality by getting involved and should remain at arms-length when it comes to programme scheduling during an election campaign.

He says NZ on Air would be better off making sure the programmes it funds are balanced.

The programmes maker says the documentary was relevant and important and did not support any party. Bryan Bruce says moves to restrict when programmes are played are an affront on democracy and a dangerous step towards a very controlled environment. [In other words a dictatorship]

The Perils of 2012...Stiglitz

I just had to share this...if only John Key and his Hobbits would take note...

The Perils of 2012
By Joseph E. Stiglitz
January 13, 2012 "Project Syndicate" --  KOLKATA – The year 2011 will be remembered as the time when many ever-optimistic Americans began to give up hope. President John F. Kennedy once said that a rising tide lifts all boats. But now, in the receding tide, Americans are beginning to see not only that those with taller masts had been lifted far higher, but also that many of the smaller boats had been dashed to pieces in their wake.

In that brief moment when the rising tide was indeed rising, millions of people believed that they might have a fair chance of realizing the “American Dream.” Now those dreams, too, are receding. By 2011, the savings of those who had lost their jobs in 2008 or 2009 had been spent. Unemployment checks had run out. Headlines announcing new hiring – still not enough to keep pace with the number of those who would normally have entered the labor force – meant little to the 50 year olds with little hope of ever holding a job again.
Indeed, middle-aged people who thought that they would be unemployed for a few months have now realized that they were, in fact, forcibly retired. Young people who graduated from college with tens of thousands of dollars of education debt cannot find any jobs at all. People who moved in with friends and relatives have become homeless. Houses bought during the property boom are still on the market or have been sold at a loss. More than seven million American families have lost their homes.
The dark underbelly of the previous decade’s financial boom has been fully exposed in Europe as well. Dithering over Greece and key national governments’ devotion to austerity began to exact a heavy toll last year. Contagion spread to Italy. Spain’s unemployment, which had been near 20% since the beginning of the recession, crept even higher. The unthinkable – the end of the euro – began to seem like a real possibility.
This year is set to be even worse. It is possible, of course, that the United States will solve its political problems and finally adopt the stimulus measures that it needs to bring down unemployment to 6% or 7% (the pre-crisis level of 4% or 5% is too much to hope for). But this is as unlikely as it is that Europe will figure out that austerity alone will not solve its problems.   On the contrary, austerity will only exacerbate the economic slowdown. Without growth, the debt crisis – and the euro crisis – will only worsen. And the long crisis that began with the collapse of the housing bubble in 2007 and the subsequent recession will continue. 
Moreover, the major emerging-market countries, which steered successfully through the storms of 2008 and 2009, may not cope as well with the problems looming on the horizon. Brazil’s growth has already stalled, fueling anxiety among its neighbors in Latin America.
Meanwhile, long-term problems – including climate change and other environmental threats, and increasing inequality in most countries around the world – have not gone away. Some have grown more severe. For example, high unemployment has depressed wages and increased poverty.
The good news is that addressing these long-term problems would actually help to solve the short-term problems. Increased investment to retrofit the economy for global warming would help to stimulate economic activity, growth, and job creation. More progressive taxation, in effect redistributing income from the top to the middle and bottom, would simultaneously reduce inequality and increase employment by boosting total demand. Higher taxes at the top could generate revenues to finance needed public investment, and to provide some social protection for those at the bottom, including the unemployed.
Even without widening the fiscal deficit, such “balanced budget” increases in taxes and spending would lower unemployment and increase output. The worry, however, is that politics and ideology on both sides of the Atlantic, but especially in the US, will not allow any of this to occur. Fixation on the deficit will induce cutbacks in social spending, worsening inequality. Likewise, the enduring attraction of supply-side economics, despite all of the evidence against it (especially in a period in which there is high unemployment), will prevent raising taxes at the top.
Even before the crisis, there was a rebalancing of economic power – in fact, a correction of a 200-year historical anomaly, in which Asia’s share of global GDP fell from nearly 50% to, at one point, below 10%. The pragmatic commitment to growth that one sees in Asia and other emerging markets today stands in contrast to the West’s misguided policies, which, driven by a combination of ideology and vested interests, almost seem to reflect a commitment not to grow.
As a result, global economic rebalancing is likely to accelerate, almost inevitably giving rise to political tensions. With all of the problems confronting the global economy, we will be lucky if these strains do not begin to manifest themselves within the next twelve months.

Joseph E. Stiglitz is University Professor at Columbia University, a Nobel laureate in economics, and the author of Freefall: Free Markets and the Sinking of the Global Economy.

Are 20% wage cuts now the norm?

First we saw it in the Manawatu at Marton with the attempt to cut wages by twenty percent, and now its Auckland’s turn to feel the heat in regard to cutting wage rates. Who is next? The evidence here in Palmerston North is clear, wage rates are being lowered in the Defence sector and other government departments.

If Tony Gibson APA CEO had one ounce of backbone and a belief in the so-called market system, he would instantly resign and allow the Auckland City Council to put his CEO's job up for tender, Tony Gibson is the man who collects $750,000 per year from the rate payers to break the union and slash wages by twenty percent. Naturally he won't resign because he has no more interest in the Ports of Auckland for New Zealanders as he proves by his non-acceptance of a settlement offer from the union. Len Brown should sack him anyway, but that would take actions rather than words, not the stuff Len Brown is made of. I would not be surprised if Tony Gibson has been already been made an offer via the government wheelers and dealers to be the CEO of a privatised port at a larger salary. Key of course is too busy on his three monthly holiday in Hawaii to concern himself with his governments plan to sell off publicly owned assets like the Ports of Auckland. We should never forget that the good hobbits elected him...but Tony Gibson was never elected and can be sacked, the thing is has anyone the guts to do it...Len Brown it would appear has little stomach to be brave.

Tony Gibson CEO flunks yet again.

 

If Tony Gibson had one ounce of backbone and a belief in the so-called market system, he would instantly resign and allow the Auckland City Council to put his CEO's job up for tender, but naturally he won't because at heart he has no more interest in the Ports of Auckland for New Zealanders  as he proves by his non-acceptance of a offer from the union. Len Brown should sack him anyway, but that would take actions rather than words, not the stuff Len Brown is made of. I would not be surprised if Tony Gibson has been already been made an offer via the government wheelers and dealers to be the CEO of a privatised port at a larger salary. Key of course is too busy on his three monthly holiday in Hawaii to concern himself with a government plan to sell off publicly owned assets like the Ports of Auckland. We must never forget that the good hobits elected him...but Tony Gibson was never elected and can be sacked, the thing is has anyone the guts to do it... 

 

This from the CTU 13th Jan 2012 

Port and Government support for privatisation of  Port of Auckland made clearer

The admission today on radio by Ports of Auckland CEO Tony Gibson that he is not opposed to the privatisation of the Port of Auckland regardless of the views of the Mayor and the people of Auckland, completes the puzzle on the reasons why settlement of the Port agreement was not achieved yesterday, CTU President Helen Kelly said.

“When the Port was clear yesterday that the union position tabled at the negotiations would resolve the issues of labour utilisation and would be “big” in terms of costs savings to the Port but that it did not want a settlement of this dispute, many people would have been left wondering why given the risk to the Council owned asset of an escalation of the dispute.”

“Yesterday the Government commissioned its mates on the Productivity Commission to promote privatisation and casualisation of the workforce and now the Government needs a dispute like this to raise doubts in the public mind about the current model if it is to put through legislation. Today we have heard Tony Gibson’s support for that agenda despite working for a Council elected to retain the Port,” said Helen Kelly.

“With the Council now looking like it will have to fight to retain its ownership of the Port, having the Board and CEO working against it is like having a fox in the chicken coup” Helen Kelly said.  “The Government is also wanting to have a go at removing workers rights and the Port are co-operating with that agenda by spreading myths about work practices at the Port and allowing an unnecessary dispute to occur.”

“Workers in New Zealand are already having a hard time getting by week to week.  Increased casualisation and removal of security, pressure on them to accept any terms and conditions in the name of business and the scramble by the already wealthy to strip public assets is the theme of this Government.   The CTU will be providing all the support it can to the Martime union members and the people of Auckland to retain decent working conditions at the Port and the right to retain ownership of the Port in the hands of the citizens,” Helen Kelly said.

The New Year is with US...

The New Year has arrived with a gust of wind and a lashing of rain, and it would seem that nothing has changed; our council continues to wade in trivia about motor-less Christmas parades and Feilding’s negative view of us.

Our local editor waxes eloquently about why the Occupy movement in NZ should pack it in, yet in the same breath via his editorial says that he agrees with their causes, yet offers no hope for achieving their worthy goals unless they become like other political parties…for Gods sake, that is what they are trying to change. If the main-stream media would actually listen to what they are saying and not continue to publish what those who oppose them pretend they are saying then maybe we’d get to the meat of the matter. While the Christchurch city council chief took a 14% wage increase taking his salary to over a half a million dollars [$536.000], he claims that’s the market rate, and that’s simply crap. If he believes his own PR then why won’t he and the CCC actually test the market…by seeking nominations from those who would do the job for less…then the council could select the lowest offer…that’s how the so-called market system works…now that would be really testing the market. CEO’s salaries might fall but we can’t have that happening that only happens to the little guys, you know the ones who do the real work.

Take our own council CEO, he gets well over three hundred thousand and now that the Christchurch CEO has had an increase of 14% we can all expect our CEO’s salary to move accordingly simply because a new top level has been established…and to give it some credence or legality the council pushes it off to some private salary advice type firm [experts?] to agree. It’s just bloody stupid, and its one of the reasons the country is broke, and the wealth gap has sky-rocketed.

There is only one market rate for wages and that’s $13.00 an hour as laid down by law and it’s even lower for youth workers and even that starvation figure is to be lowered even further later in the year to please the hard-right members of the Nats and Acts 0.45% sole member. Could you live on $13.00 per hour? Still this is what Kiwi Hobbits voted for.

When there are no jobs the market rate is in reality the dole. And that’s a fact. There are tens of thousands of people presently testing the market right at this very moment so I’m sure that if CEO’s jobs were put up for tender there would be plenty of bidders.

2.

A political analyst says the US military and/or law enforcement must arrest the current war criminals to prevent Washington from launching another “lie-started and unlawful war” on Iran.

“The basis of law provides US military and all with Oaths to defend the US Constitution to refuse unlawful orders and act to arrest those who issue them,” Carl Herman wrote on Global Research.  “If not, it will repeat by mass-murdering Iranians, and more ignorant/gullible US soldiers.”
Washington and Tel Aviv have repeatedly threatened Tehran with the "option" of a military strike, based on the allegation that Iran's nuclear work may consist of a covert military aspect. Iran, however, has refuted the allegations, saying that as a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has the right to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
Herman said the pretexts that Washington is putting forward to launch a military strike on Iran are “as false as the 'reasons' for war with Iraq,” where the US failed to find any Weapons of Mass Destruction, the cornerstone of its argument for the invasion of Iraq in 2003. “'All of Iran's nuclear material is fully accounted for peaceful and legal use for energy and medicine,” he stressed.
On December 26, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey said the US military is ready to launch a military strike against Iran, if occasion necessitates.
"We are examining a range of options. I'm satisfied that the options that we are developing are evolving to a point that they would be executable if necessary," Dempsey said.
Dempsey's warmongering tirades came hot on the heels of the equally aggressive remarks by US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta that "no options were off the table" regarding Iran's nuclear program.
Meanwhile, the Israeli officials have also recently stepped up their war rhetoric against Iran. On November 21, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned the "time has come" to deal with Iran.
Israeli President Shimon Peres also threatened on November 6 that an attack against Iran is becoming "more and more likely."
Iranian officials have promised a crushing response to any military strike against the country, warning that any such measure could result in a war that would spread beyond the Middle East. “Beware a false flag attack by the US or Israel to blame on Iran as pretext for another 'defensive' war,” Herman concluded.

3.

Heaps of predictions have been made about 2012, according to John Key a hundred thousand new jobs will be created and at the same time three thousand jobs will be cut from the public service, how’s that for contradiction. The Christchurch rebuild will get underway [If the ground stops shaking]. Palmerston North’s declining wage rates will be reversed and suddenly the military will start paying their people a livable wage, Child labour wage rates will be lowered so more youth can share the pain of not earning enough to live on. Oh it’s going to be a big year for those on low or fixed incomes. Manawatu District Council will buy back its own land by gifting rate payer’s money to the charitable trust that isn’t charitable in any sense of the word [The Manfeild Trust Board] so that it can pretend it’s a success.

Palmerston North will become a ward of greater Wellington super council, with three ward councillors and a chairperson [pictured].

Now all, or some or none of these predictions may come to pass, but they are worth thinking about for a moment or two