Bear's Blog New Zealand (Beta)

Labour Party list announced

Chinese candidate, Raymond Huo(霍建强)is ranked 21st. Quite good for a first timer, I have to say. It is almost certain now that we'll see at least two Chinese MPs in the next parliament, well, unless Labour falls in a huge landslide.

It would still be interesting to see who will be able to get his/her hands on the Howick seat.

It is also glad to see more ethnic minorities on the list.

Here's the whole list.

Ha-ha!

... the only way to describe how I feel about the resignation of Foreign Minister Winston Peters. Oh, and I prefer to laugh in the Nelson Muntz style.

I actually like Winnie quite a bit. As a politician, he got skills and personalities that allowed New Zealand First to become one of the most successful minor parties since the MMP.

But on suspicion of lying to the House and New Zealand public is just too much for a politician, given that the general election is less than 3 month away.

I think it's a kind of retribution and he deserves it though.  This was the man who always like to shout in the Parliament, claiming that he got somebody's dirt and making all sorts of threats.  Now finally he's being hurt by his own dirts.

And no, I don't think Mr Peters will ever need the help of the unemployment benefit after the election.  bezdomny ex patria has kindly offered him a teaching job in Beijing; and if Mr Peters does not want a change in his career direction, I think every private security firm in New Zealand would be very pleased to have him on board as a private detective.

No, seriously, Peters' priority is to get rid of the SFO investigation as soon as possible. The election is coming and there's no way that he can win a place in the House with the charges pending.

Wonder how the other corrupted guy Mr Field is doing at the moment...

Deep, deep trouble.

The chance for Peters to go back to the Parliament after the election is getting slimmer and slimmer. Owen Glenn gave conflicting evidences to Privileges Committee, and now it is revealed that Helen Clark knew that $100,000 donation right back before this whole saga happened.

So who lied?

I don't know really. The only thing I'm quite sure is, Mr Peters is now unfit for his foreign minister duty before he's either cleared or go doomed.

This came at a very interesting time. The emission trading scheme needs New Zealand First, and since Key has ruled out the possibility of any dealings with Peters after the election - in other words, Peters and Helen are now on the same boat.

The problem is, Helen's boat is sinking too. And since Peters has become a sort of "ballot poison", I have to say Mr Key has made a smart move by left Aunty Helen with the poison.

Finally...

Just got rid of all the assignments at the moment, great.

Lots of interesting stuffs happened while I’m away, including the latest transport policy from National – a user pay system that charges around $5 for some sections of Motorway in Auckland. It is likely to increase the cost of an average Auckland commuter by $50 a week.

I usually refer people to this clip every time when National announces something. The user-pay system should nicely fit into that category too.

The system sounds fair, but it’s not, it only seeks fairness in the economic sense.

From a planning point of view, I’m more concerned about the accessibility issues, how to ensure that the low income people have the maximum accessibility to the opportunities provided by the CBD? Motorway is tolled; Dominion Road and Great North/South road are all in a miserable state and you cannot see a bus for half an hour in some area - well people need a way to move around a city?

Sure there’s no such thing as a free lunch, but you cannot force people to take one type of lunch or get them unfairly disadvantaged. The toll just shouldn’t go ahead without viable alternatives to people.

Earthquake

Location of the epicentre(Source:USGS, under public domain.)(click to enlarge)

Most people should know it by now ... This one's quite big, the quake happened around 23.25NZST, Geonet measured it as magnitude 5.9 , or Mw 5.4 according to USGS. just 10km south-west of Hastings.

Still have no news on any damages. The MMI is around 6, which may result some light damages but it is very unlikely to directly cause any injuries or death.

Preliminary details showed that the quake is felt across the lower part of North Island, from Taupo to Wellington. Not felt in Auckland.

At the moment one aftershock is recorded and I do expect at least another one or two around M 3.0. And I suspect the M 3.0 event recorded Monday morning is a foreshock.

That's all I can tell from the information avaialble, going back to sleep now ...

Go New Zealand!

What a great night it was! 2 gold, one silver and 2 bronze, 16 August 2008 is truly a historical day for New Zealand Sports.

My congratulations to all the medalists, and all the antheles who represented the country in the games.A special congratulation to Mahe Drysdale. To us, you've just won a gold medal.

New Zealand a small country in the world, but we are sure big in the sporting world.