Is it April already?

Posted Sun, 15/01/2012 - 2:52pm by John Bishop

Looking back at the very miserable summer Wellington and New Zealand have experienced weather wise (and sporting wise in the case of Wellington) it has to be asked; are we in autumn already?

Certainly the howling winds, sometimes accompanied by driving rain, that we have had over the past few weeks encourage the view that autumn and winter are close at hand, if not already present.

The sooner the Firebirds stop playing cricket the better it will be for them and for whatever fans they might have left. Rarely has a team so disgraced Wellington and so belied their name. The only team to do worse than the current Firebirds was last year's Firebirds.

Great to be back in Wellington

Posted Wed, 04/01/2012 - 12:09pm by John Bishop

It's great to be back home. Out of town can be unreliable and I don't just mean the weather.

Order a latte and it used to be that you never could be sure what you would get. Happily I can report that my recent travels have shown that the coffee culture is alive and thriving in many parts of the country.  Which is not to say that there weren't some interesting moments.

Like the owner of the tearooms in Sanson who went round and personally thanked each of his guests for coming to his place. (We were there because our usual place was closed). It was a gracious act which went someway to compensate for all his sandwiches being made with white bread - excitement city - oh yeah.

Is there a way back for Labour?

Posted Tue, 13/12/2011 - 11:57am by John Bishop

This was the heading on an article I wrote shortly after the 2008 election. It is still relevant today and that is a commentary in itself on what the Labour Party has and hasn't done in the last three years.

David Shearer, who is now the new leader, agrees with his opponent David Cunliffe on one very important thing: the party in future cannot be the party it was in the past.

Cynics will say that Labour's MPs have finally realised that the Helen Clark era is over; they have finally rejected what the country rejected three years ago, and again in 2011.

Shearer is a clean break from the past, although he lacks experience in Parliament. He looks like a six year investment, as it will take time to shape a new team and find serious weaknesses in National.

Is this the election everyone lost?

Posted Tue, 29/11/2011 - 2:24pm by John Bishop

John Key didn't get an outright majority and has to deal with three other parties to be safe. Labour lost massively and now has to find a new leader and a new direction.

The Greens can cheer having more MPs, and may well be the new urban cool, now that the radicals, the recyclers of human waste, and the morris dancers have gone. But they are still well away from power, and would need to swallow some very big rats indeed to work with National.

The challenge for the Greens will be to maintain their vote if and when Labour starts to revive itself. They should not kid themselves that all of their vote is green; some of it is Labour having a short break elsewhere, because their usual political home is uninhabitable at the moment.

Des Britten honoured as Wellingtonian of the Year

Posted Fri, 18/11/2011 - 8:10am by John Bishop

Awards are wonderful and awards that recognise people who have made Wellington a better place are even better. On Thursday night at the Amora Hotel Father Des Britten, chef, fundraiser, city missioner, champion of good food and organiser of feeding the poor won the 2011 Wellingtonian of Year award.

It was a popular choice and follows last year's honour which went to long serving councillor Ruth Gottleib. Both awards recognise a life time of worthy achievement and service.

Previous winners like Marco Zeeman and Chris Parkin got theirs for spectacular achievements in a particular year. There is a difference and the respective merits can be debated. Des Britten stood out in a field of achievers however achievement is calculated.

Is this a boring election?

Posted Thu, 10/11/2011 - 9:46am by John Bishop

Is this New Zealand's most boring election ever? It must come close.  I've attended three election meetings and the exchanges have been bland, unexciting and completely lacking in passion or fireworks.

I have been following elections since 1963 (I recall that one was particularly dull). There have been titanic struggles: Clark vs Key in 2008, Lange and Muldoon in 1984, Kirk and Marshall in 1972. All of those led to changes of government. This one is not even shaping up to be close - if the polls are to be believed.

It seems that we have expended our passion on the rugby and are hanging out for Xmas, summer, the beach and a spell away from work. Elections? 'Who cares, National will win', seems to be the mood, followed by "That's ok, I like John Key."

Is Labour going to do a France on John Key?

Posted Mon, 31/10/2011 - 10:59pm by John Bishop

On paper National ought to romp home in the election on 26 November, at least that's what the polls have been telling us for three years now.

The All Blacks were supposed to trounce a divided and poorly performing French team in the final. Someone forgot to tell the French who fronted up serious big time.

Labour is doing the same. Their television opening was stylish and reconnected with the heritage of the labour movement. We care, it said, and we aren't going to sell state assets. National looked like a one man band.

We won: now move on

Posted Mon, 24/10/2011 - 2:31pm by John Bishop

Now that the world cup is over, there is some danger that we might have to return to our normal lives.

Of course it is great that we won the cup, and that everyone has had a good time, except the French, the English, the Aussies and the South Africans, but who cares about any of them.

Of course we can pretend that the euphoria of the cup will last forever, but it won't, even if we put the Wallabies All Blacks match on continuous play on a new channel called Channel Victory. Adding the (few) highlights of the final and a montage of appearances by John Key at the games wouldn't help much.

On the positive side the cult of Piri must surely be dead and buried. Who would have thought we'd say thank goodness for Stephen Donald.

Loony tunes at council over basin reserve flyover

Posted Fri, 07/10/2011 - 11:39am by John Bishop

What a travesty is the decision by the Wellington City Council about the Basin Reserve flyover.

Asked about two options, (with a third in the wings) the council manages to conjure up a fourth option, and to support it even though it is by far the most expensive, the least certain and has the backing of nobody other than the few councillors who voted for it.

Neither of the flyover options put forward by the NZTA are particularly attractive, but both would do the job of easing congestion round the Basin and forming part of the Ngarunga to airport through road. A flyover of any nature was always going to attractive criticism that it would be unsightly, but it would have worked and preserved the Basin Reserve at a cost of less than $100 million.

Brave Dave Crampton

Posted Sun, 28/08/2011 - 2:30pm by John Bishop

Once again it took the actions of a determined individual to expose the shameful nature of the city council’s parking policies. 181 tickets worth $10 000 have been waived after one motorist, Dave Crampton, incorrectly received a ticket for parking in a clearway, and wouldn’t just lie down and take it.