New Zealand’s favourite grandmother, Maggie Barry, has had a go at long standing right wing council stalwart George Wood, who the halfwitted Auckland Future have decided to run two candidates against.
You may fault George for being a bit boring, but he votes the right way and is a sure vote for the right, so why is Auckland Future and Maggie Barry trying to shaft him?
“I don’t want to be restricted from giving citizens of North Shore the focused attention they deserve and need. Also, I am concerned that we must first review the range and standards of service council is providing for our citizens,” Mr Wood said.
On Monday, Auckland Future announced it had selected former Takapuna community board member Fay Freeman and Kaipatiki Local Board member Danielle Grant to contest the two North Shore ward seats.
As much at home writing editorials as being the subject of them, Cam has won awards, including the Canon Media Award for his work on the Len Brown/Bevan Chuang story. When he’s not creating the news, he tends to be in it, with protagonists using the courts, media and social media to deliver financial as well as death threats.
They say that news is something that someone, somewhere, wants kept quiet. Cam Slater doesn’t do quiet and, as a result, he is a polarising, controversial but highly effective journalist who takes no prisoners.
He is fearless in his pursuit of a story.
Love him or loathe him, you can’t ignore him.
To read Cam’s previous articles click on his name in blue.
The disinfectant of sunlight on those responsible for forcing kids from Takapuna Grammar School Rowing Club to potentially man sausage sizzles for the next decade has not only flushed out Auckland Councillor Chris Darby, but former Alliance MP and double dipper trougher Grant Gillon.
Gillon thinks it’s quite ok to tuck Auckland ratepayers twice for serving troughing on both the Devonport-Takapuna and Kaipatiki local boards, while the kids from the local rowing club have to stand outside supermarkets in the hope someone buys a sausage and a piece of white bread in order to raise funds towards a new clubroom.
Gillon likes to grand-stand on behalf of “the community”. Problem is it’s not the community he’s representing, it’s the NIMBYS. Let’s look at the NIMBYS he’s supporting who are against the Takapuna Grammar School Rowing Club getting a new clubroom. Read more »
As much at home writing editorials as being the subject of them, Cam has won awards, including the Canon Media Award for his work on the Len Brown/Bevan Chuang story. When he’s not creating the news, he tends to be in it, with protagonists using the courts, media and social media to deliver financial as well as death threats.
They say that news is something that someone, somewhere, wants kept quiet. Cam Slater doesn’t do quiet and, as a result, he is a polarising, controversial but highly effective journalist who takes no prisoners.
He is fearless in his pursuit of a story.
Love him or loathe him, you can’t ignore him.
To read Cam’s previous articles click on his name in blue.
Yesterday I posted about how some NIMBYS on the North Shore are trying to stop the kids from Takapuna Grammar School from getting a new rowing club.
That post resulted in a number of concerned parents getting in touch via the tip-line. They’re not happy with the local board and the Auckland Councillors who are forgetting that they’re meant to be representing their views.
So who are these NIMBYS local politicians forcing kids to sell sausages for the next 10 years instead of training to become future Olympic rowing stars?
By all accounts Councillor Chris Darby leads the charge against the Takapuna Grammar Rowing Club. He’s quite happy to sit there in council while the kids have to use an old tin shed owned by his Council.
It does make you wonder why Chris Darby does this. Maybe this photo will shed some light on why he’s so opposed to the kids getting a new clubroom.
There’s the Bayswater Marina on the left. But what’s this on the right? Low and behold is Chris Darby’s place. Read more »
As much at home writing editorials as being the subject of them, Cam has won awards, including the Canon Media Award for his work on the Len Brown/Bevan Chuang story. When he’s not creating the news, he tends to be in it, with protagonists using the courts, media and social media to deliver financial as well as death threats.
They say that news is something that someone, somewhere, wants kept quiet. Cam Slater doesn’t do quiet and, as a result, he is a polarising, controversial but highly effective journalist who takes no prisoners.
He is fearless in his pursuit of a story.
Love him or loathe him, you can’t ignore him.
To read Cam’s previous articles click on his name in blue.
All is not well for a few of Auckland’s local body politicians. The team at WOBH has been hearing rumours from concerned parents increasingly frustrated by busy-bodies like ex-Alliance MP Grant Gillon and holier than thou Chris Darby.
Seems the parents and teachers of boys and girls at the Takapuna Grammar School Rowing are getting all fired up that certain NIMBYS are preventing the kids from getting a new rowing club.
The rowing club is currently housed in a building owned by Auckland Council. The problem they have is that it’s a building Auckland Transport is planning to bulldoze for a carpark for its new ferry building at Bayswater.
So the kids at the rowing club need a new home. Auckland Council actually has a bit of land that could be used nearby, but they (the kids/parents) will have to pony up with a truckload of cash to build a new building/clubroom costing hundreds of thousands.
As much at home writing editorials as being the subject of them, Cam has won awards, including the Canon Media Award for his work on the Len Brown/Bevan Chuang story. When he’s not creating the news, he tends to be in it, with protagonists using the courts, media and social media to deliver financial as well as death threats.
They say that news is something that someone, somewhere, wants kept quiet. Cam Slater doesn’t do quiet and, as a result, he is a polarising, controversial but highly effective journalist who takes no prisoners.
He is fearless in his pursuit of a story.
Love him or loathe him, you can’t ignore him.
To read Cam’s previous articles click on his name in blue.
As much at home writing editorials as being the subject of them, Cam has won awards, including the Canon Media Award for his work on the Len Brown/Bevan Chuang story. When he’s not creating the news, he tends to be in it, with protagonists using the courts, media and social media to deliver financial as well as death threats.
They say that news is something that someone, somewhere, wants kept quiet. Cam Slater doesn’t do quiet and, as a result, he is a polarising, controversial but highly effective journalist who takes no prisoners.
He is fearless in his pursuit of a story.
Love him or loathe him, you can’t ignore him.
To read Cam’s previous articles click on his name in blue.
Behold – 28 loons challenge MUNZ for King Idiot status.
Well well well, three holes in the ground, what do we have here by a press release co-signed by 28 left wing local board loons of Auckland.
Just when we thought that MUNZ had a monopoly on self-immolating stupidity, the Auckland political left rises up to challenge for King Idiot status.
“In an unprecedented move, 28 Auckland Local Board members from 10 different Boards are uniting to call for Ports of Auckland to return to good faith bargaining and drop plans to outsource jobs at the port.”
The idiots are:
Shale Chambers (Goff mate)
Michael Woods (Goff mate and penis lolly defeatist)
Denise Roche (now a Green MP, hopelessly conflicted in her political hat wearing, shouldn’t she have resigned – November 27 was 7 weeks ago?)
Pippa Cooms (Greenie cyclist action fruit)
Leila Boyle (ex Labour candidate)
Greg Presland (taking the Mickey out of politics as per usual)
Josephine Bartley (ex Labour candidate)
Grant Gillon (ex Alliance MP)
Grame Easte (the left wing Gnome of Mt Albert)
So then, a number of questions for the media to consider:
Have the 28 local board loons run out of local issues to consider, and must know apply their considerable business skills to solving the Ports crisis?
Did Len Brown know about his army of 28 loons launching into the Ports of Auckland in advance? if yes, did he try and counsel them against stickybeaking? If no, does that mean that Len has been marginalised by his comrades?
Does Len Brown approve of the stance of the 28, or does he continue to “back both sides”?
If Len disagrees with the 28, will he tell them to shut up and get back to local issues instead of stickybeaking into a council CCO that is tasked by the Mayor and Council to get on with their work?
If he won’t condemn them for stickybeaking, does that then mean this is now an official matter to discuss at future council meetings?
Is that presser a sign that Labour and the Greens are testing the waters for a plunge into the Ports crisis?
Is this just Michael Wood jockeying for position to take over from Phil Goff in Mt Roskill
I wonder what answers might come back after a bit of digging?
As much at home writing editorials as being the subject of them, Cam has won awards, including the Canon Media Award for his work on the Len Brown/Bevan Chuang story. When he’s not creating the news, he tends to be in it, with protagonists using the courts, media and social media to deliver financial as well as death threats.
They say that news is something that someone, somewhere, wants kept quiet. Cam Slater doesn’t do quiet and, as a result, he is a polarising, controversial but highly effective journalist who takes no prisoners.
He is fearless in his pursuit of a story.
Love him or loathe him, you can’t ignore him.
To read Cam’s previous articles click on his name in blue.
Here is the list of possible suspects in the case of the rorting ex-MP. I think it is unlikely it is a one termer. Possibly a two termer but likely to be one, either with form, or a confusing set of services. Therefore I have eliminated the one termers (except those with form) from the list.
I encourage the innocent to use the tip line to eliminate themselves.
As much at home writing editorials as being the subject of them, Cam has won awards, including the Canon Media Award for his work on the Len Brown/Bevan Chuang story. When he’s not creating the news, he tends to be in it, with protagonists using the courts, media and social media to deliver financial as well as death threats.
They say that news is something that someone, somewhere, wants kept quiet. Cam Slater doesn’t do quiet and, as a result, he is a polarising, controversial but highly effective journalist who takes no prisoners.
He is fearless in his pursuit of a story.
Love him or loathe him, you can’t ignore him.
To read Cam’s previous articles click on his name in blue.
People ahve been banging on in public meetings in Albany about green this and green that and green jobs. It’s all just too confusing so I thought I’d do some research so voters in Albany can understand what is meant by “Green Jobs”.
“Green Jobs” is another of those weasel phrases that people like Grant Gillon and Andrew Williams spout ad nauseam. It is definitely something that other people should always be doing, and certainly not what they about. But still it is a vexing issue.
Fact : No standard definition of a “green job” exists.
Myth: Creating green jobs will boost productive employment.
Fact 2: Green jobs estimates in these oft-quoted studies include huge numbers of clerical, bureaucratic, and administrative positions that do not produce goods and services for consumption.
Myth: Green jobs promote employment growth.
Fact 4: By promoting more jobs instead of more productivity, the green jobs described in the literature actually encourage low paying jobs in less desirable conditions. Economic growth cannot be ordered by national governments or by the United Nations (UN). Government interference in the economy – such as restricting successful technologies in favor of speculative technologies favored by special interests – will generate
stagnation.
Myth: Government mandates are a substitute for free markets.
Fact : Companies react more swiftly and efficiently to the demands of their customers/markets, than to cumbersome government mandates.
Still confused, I sure am, so let’s see a short little video that succinctly explains what “Green Jobs” are all about, or not as the case maybe. This’ll explain it properly.
This video also explains how bio-fuels work. Just when you think you have found the solution you find yourself un-plugged. Green jobs, no one wants them, no one needs them, tell anyone who mentions green jobs to take a bus.
As much at home writing editorials as being the subject of them, Cam has won awards, including the Canon Media Award for his work on the Len Brown/Bevan Chuang story. When he’s not creating the news, he tends to be in it, with protagonists using the courts, media and social media to deliver financial as well as death threats.
They say that news is something that someone, somewhere, wants kept quiet. Cam Slater doesn’t do quiet and, as a result, he is a polarising, controversial but highly effective journalist who takes no prisoners.
He is fearless in his pursuit of a story.
Love him or loathe him, you can’t ignore him.
To read Cam’s previous articles click on his name in blue.
Given yesterday’s meeting was about social policy and plenty of people had ideas about how to spend ratepayers money on things such as “affordable housing” it is timely then to issue my policy.
All social housing (usually described by weasel words as “Affordable Housing”) should be built in the immediate vicinity of social housing advocate Grant Gillon’s property.
As usual do gooders are running with some cause that involves them feeling good about imposing a social cost on other people. The Whaleoil Election Platform is about clearly identifying other people, in this case Grant Gillon, who is definitely other people, and making sure that he gets the full impact of the policy he is advocating.
Grant Gillon also qualifies as “Other People” when it comes to public transport. He strongly advocates for public transport but deliberately shuns using it himself. If elected I will ensure that a council by-law is passed than compels advocates of these sorts of policies to eat their own dog food so to speak.
So Grant Gillon will have to live amongst “affordable housing” and move about only on “public transport”.
The easiest way to make housing more affordable is to have more of it. In order to do that we must remove firstly, the silly Metropolitan Urban Limit, imposed on Auckland. In fact I would make that the first priority to getting Auckland moving forward.
As much at home writing editorials as being the subject of them, Cam has won awards, including the Canon Media Award for his work on the Len Brown/Bevan Chuang story. When he’s not creating the news, he tends to be in it, with protagonists using the courts, media and social media to deliver financial as well as death threats.
They say that news is something that someone, somewhere, wants kept quiet. Cam Slater doesn’t do quiet and, as a result, he is a polarising, controversial but highly effective journalist who takes no prisoners.
He is fearless in his pursuit of a story.
Love him or loathe him, you can’t ignore him.
To read Cam’s previous articles click on his name in blue.
Today was the first candidates meeting I attended, hosted by the nice people of the North Shore Community & Social Services Inc. Here were their four questions that you had 3 minutes to answer.
What do you see is the role of the new Council in Social Policy?
Can you give us two specific examples of what you would champion?
What do you bring to the role?
How will you ensure the voices of local communities are heard in the new Auckland Council?
There then ensued a long list of has-beens and never was losers who have a combined experience of local body governance measured in millenium and yet they have achieved precisely nothing during their tenure and now have the temerity to be wanting to continue to foist their non-solutions ont he rest of Auckland.
With the exceptions of Linda Cooper and Michael Goudie the rest were a bunch of florid, strange troughers looking for another crack at the trough.
My answers were along the lines of:
1) What do you see is the role of the new Council in Social Policy?
Social policy is the preserve of central government, and it should remain that way. Councils business is to provide affordable infrastructure to allow Auckland to grow, and to leave money in the pockets of rate payers, rather than tax them to fund luxuries.
The best way to help the poor in Auckland is to create a vibrant economy that has high, well paid employment, rather than giving them hand outs.
I do not think it is the role of council to get involved in social engineering, and I will not vote for any motion promoting social engineering.
2) Can you give us two specific examples of what you would champion?
Better roads (this received a cheer from the audience) and lower rates. Both of these would have a massive economic impact, with roads improving productivity and economic growth by reducing travel times. Lower rates mean more money for people to spend or save, which will have a positive effect on the economy.
3) What do you bring to the role?
A clear understanding that ratepayers money is to be treated with respect, and not wasted on causes or liberal elite hobbies that few ratepayers want.
I favour a referendum on rates, similar to Proposition 13, where ratepayers get a chance to choose whether council funds non core services.
4) How will you ensure the voices of local communities are heard in the new Auckland Council?
Through social media. I have more than five years of experience in the social media field, and I believe social media is far more effective than turning up to meetings where a very few people attend, so you tend to get the views of the minority. Social media allows those who are too busy to turn up to meetings to communicate their views without having to listen to the vocal few.
The strange and bewildered kept interjecting, as they did to Nick Kearney. One old biddy also accosted me before the meeting and told me off for the terrible thing I did on the weekend. When I asked which one (there are many), she refused to discuss it. I eventually found out it was the photo of Kate Sutton’s email. The bewildered old bag accused me of stealing it.
Now onto the substantive nature of all these greedy old people standing there wringing their hands about various different weasel words. Weasel words like “Sustainable living”, “Public transport”,”Affordable Housing”.
What all these weasel words are though is simply waffle wrapped around a supposed issue that a council should spend money on, how much depending on the particular fancy of the speaker.
But it is always a solution for “other people”. Take George Wood for example, I have stuck up for him ove the years, and the first thing I am greeted with is a jibe about crossing over to their side of the harbour. FFS George, the Supercity is about dropping all this bullshit about us and them and working together. But no, Florid George just had to keep on sniping. He stupidly abused a few people at the start until I pointed out that we were going alphabetical and W was a long way down the line and what goes around comes around, especially where I’m involved.
Then there was some mad old bat called Jan O’Connor who wanted “mental people” put in institutions instead of in the community, in other words NIMBY. Oh and “other people” should pay for keeping these “mentals” from her backyard.
Grant Gillon, dear pinko loser that he is, wanted “Affordable Housing” built on council land. This of course is weasel words. His description was of a slum, small, cheap housing all lumped together on “council land”. What he really means is small, cheap housing on “other peoples” land, not close to him.
I was hoping Julia Parfitt would show up, but no, she was obviously too busy baking or something to bother with the trifle of a public meeting. Andrew Williams showed up an hour late, and sat at the back. He didn’t even speak, didn’t ask any questions, or utter a word. He must have been at some “important council business” at a bar somewhere beforehand and didn’t want to get up and let everyone know he was pickled. Actually he is a chicken and a coward.
He busily sends out press releases accusing John Banks of not fronting public meetings and debates yet when given the opportunity, several times today, he declined to even utter a word. Some commitment he has for the people of Albany Ward. His press release, again sent out via his Council email in contravention of the Auditor-General guidelines says;
Both “no-shows” by John Banks are a clear indication that he is not prepared to face public scrutiny up against experienced knowledgeable candidates such as myself. This follows comments that a number of candidates out performed him at a several recent community and business meetings.
Well today, he was a “no-show”. He wouldn’t speak despite given the opportunity, he refused to face public scrutiny himself. The man is a little tosser full of pis and wind. The Whale fronted and Williams wilted.
Andrew Williams continues to flout electoral rules and guidelines, today again fluting them with a press release about his Family First rating. I think it is time for a complaint to the CEO of North Shore City and the Auditor-General. Any survey that put Williams at the top of the list for family values is highly suspect. I wonder if it occured to Bob McCoskrie that he was lied to, or whether there was a test for hypocrisy.
The Clown of Campbells Bay gave himself a smiley face for his attitude to liquor outlets. Obviously no points off for public urination. Which flies in the face of his stated position to “lobby the government to clarify offensive behaviour under the Crimes Act in order to prevent parades involving nudity and/or offensive behaviour eg boobs on bikes, beach nudity.” Looks like he will lobby government to ban himself.
I note too that he is willing to “R18 exhibitions”. I hope that includes “Little Andy”.
The meeting confirmed for me just how poorly residents of Albany war have been served by their previous councillors and what a bunch of completely ineffectual tosser they mostly are.
You won’t catch me using weasel words or talking about spending other peoples money with gay abandon. I call things how I see them, and as the new councillor for Albany Ward will continue to do so without fear or favour.
Vote Slater – Albany Ward
The signs arrived, email me if you'd like one for your fence, I'll come around and install it myself
As much at home writing editorials as being the subject of them, Cam has won awards, including the Canon Media Award for his work on the Len Brown/Bevan Chuang story. When he’s not creating the news, he tends to be in it, with protagonists using the courts, media and social media to deliver financial as well as death threats.
They say that news is something that someone, somewhere, wants kept quiet. Cam Slater doesn’t do quiet and, as a result, he is a polarising, controversial but highly effective journalist who takes no prisoners.
He is fearless in his pursuit of a story.
Love him or loathe him, you can’t ignore him.
To read Cam’s previous articles click on his name in blue.