tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post3007786307255222738..comments2024-03-29T15:01:27.866+13:00Comments on Bowalley Road: No Place for Democratic-Socialists in the Undemocratic Neoliberal Government of the Auckland Supercity.Chris Trotterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09081613281183460899noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-497468939741608342021-04-17T00:25:54.606+12:002021-04-17T00:25:54.606+12:00Funny how you don't mention the largest scheme...Funny how you don't mention the largest scheme of the Auckland City Council: the vastly over-budget, over-promised and over-delayed train loop in the CBD.<br /><br />Of course such huge public transport boondoggles are not exactly "neo-liberal" territory. In fact they're a classic example of Big Government Solutions, in this case one from the past: trains that will ferry people to and from the Auckland CBD. Have you walked up Queen street lately?Tom Hunterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17840988228699338463noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-7351693860254120972021-04-16T12:22:47.056+12:002021-04-16T12:22:47.056+12:00All you need to qualify to be a councillor is; to ...All you need to qualify to be a councillor is; to have worked at or have been 'educated' in, 'Rubber-Stamping'.<br />Secondly learned the words to kumbaya, and third, learned to say 'Aye!<br /><br />Score this set of unique skill set and you don't need to know how to read, think critically or even know how to write!<br /><br />You get to sit at the big table and say 'Aye' or 'Ae' and take home $100k and join the talkfest circuit.<br /><br />Neoliberalism embedded.Jasperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11766669717058289383noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-21048659988116792922021-04-16T09:33:39.939+12:002021-04-16T09:33:39.939+12:00"since its formation in 2010, the Auckland “S..."since its formation in 2010, the Auckland “Supercity” has transferred roughly $10 billion from the pockets of residents and ratepayers into the bank accounts of mostly foreign-owned corporations."<br /><br />How does this work? When an asset is sold off, the seller, not the buyer, gets the cash. So I interpreted the quote to mean that $10 billion has been transferred from the bank accounts of mostly foreigners into the bank account of Auckland supercity. No doubt it has since been spent, and perhaps wasted, but to say that the money has been transferred to the buyers is not correct. What has been transferred is control of various assets; whether that is good for Auckland will depend on how well the new owners run those assets and whether they provide better services to Aucklanders at a lower cost than happened under council ownership. That is certainly debatable, and no doubt the answer is different for different cases.<br /><br />Of course, it is possible that Auckland council had actually written cheques to hand ratepayers' money over to foreigners for no reason. Such things happen in some countries. But if so, it would be flatly illegal under existing law and would greatly interest the Serious Fraud Office. That seems the plain meaning of the words, but perhaps is not what was intended.<br /><br />Or perhaps Mike Lee means something else entirely. Perhaps Auckland supercity sold these assets and received fair value in exchange, and the $10 billion is the profit (or even the revenue!) that the businesses have earned since they were sold. If it is the profit, then Auckland was basically selling this future profit stream for cash now; either the city or the foreigners may have misjudged how much cash now was fair value, but the exchange is not intrinsically a rip-off. If it is the revenue, that represents the value (to Auckland residents) of the services that these privatised businesses have supplied. (When I buy a Japanese car for $30,000, I do so because I judge that the car is worth at least $30,000 to me - otherwise I would keep my money in my pocket. The car maker's revenue is not a transfer of wealth from me to a foreigner, but a measure of the value to me of the service that the foreigner has provided to me.)<br /><br />Your column is refreshing because it presents, from a broadly traditional democratic-socialist viewpoint, sensible and non-tribal analyses of modern NZ society. But the assumption that every economic transaction is always and only exploitative means that it is sometime hard to understand what you are actually saying.PaulVDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08679228723470978488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-69429093588114012962021-04-15T21:41:54.991+12:002021-04-15T21:41:54.991+12:00a hundred councillors to represent a city you say....a hundred councillors to represent a city you say.<br />Examples please.<br /><br />Just over the ditch, Sydney has a Lord Mayor and 9 Councillors.<br />Seems a reasonable number to me<br />https://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/lord-mayor-and-councillors<br /><br />oneblokesviewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11747665460845683295noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-59879028947377293142021-04-15T15:34:21.926+12:002021-04-15T15:34:21.926+12:00Could the Supercity Council be any worse than it a...Could the Supercity Council be any worse than it already is? Yes, of course it could. But it could also be a hell of a lot better.Jack Scrivanonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-86743401251594571062021-04-15T15:13:52.584+12:002021-04-15T15:13:52.584+12:00I get a Joe Hill feeling, and apologise for gettin...I get a Joe Hill feeling, and apologise for getting him to step aside a moment.<br /><br />I dreamed I saw Mike Lee last night,<br />Alive as you and me.<br />Says I "But Mike, they've thumped your head!"<br />"I never died" said he,<br />"I never died" said he...<br /><br />And standing there as big as life<br />And smiling with his eyes.<br />Says Mike "What they can never kill<br />Went on to organize,<br />Went on to organize"..<br /><br />Mike's own words:<br />Aug/20/ http://www.mikelee.co.nz/2020/11/the-super-city-must-die-thoughts-on-auckland-local-government-amalgamation-10-years-on-my-talk-to-waiheke-rebus/<br />Oct/19 http://www.mikelee.co.nz/2019/10/the-election-of-paradoxes-how-the-insider-was-really-the-outsider-and-vice-versa<br /><br />Mike's views on altering the Auckland Port primacy to include Whangarei.<br />Jan/20 http://www.mikelee.co.nz/2020/01/stop-stealing-our-port/<br />And on the value of trains to the airport.<br />Oct/19-Mar/20 http://www.mikelee.co.nz/2019/10/video-presentation-to-the-ptua-september-19/greywarblernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3753486518085091399.post-25146800962015081642021-04-15T15:01:14.014+12:002021-04-15T15:01:14.014+12:00We need someone like Katie Porter. Woman has guts ...We need someone like Katie Porter. Woman has guts and actually knows stuff.<br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WLuuCM6Ej0<br /><br />Of course, we also need a system which allows them to operate properly. Good luck with that.Guerilla Surgeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03427876447124021423noreply@blogger.com