Bill Dalton

It is now abundantly clear that the election year silly season is upon us.

In Hastings, Lawrence Yule has decided that 2010 is the year to very publicly call for a ban on dangerous dogs and dear old Henare O’Keefe has taken the opportunity to tell us in the press, how much he loves his wife.

In Napier, Mayor Barbara has had her picture taken with a bike stand and a statue or two and a couple of her councillors have had their picture taken with the new roadside welcome signs.

The Napier City Council Corporate Business committee made the first stupid decision I have seen made since I’ve been a councillor when it voted against the Remuneration Authority’s recommendation to increase Councillor’s wages. I’ve argued for and against things and lost, but this was plain silly. To go against the very strong recommendation of the Authority suggests election year political posturing and a lack of understanding of the Authority’s role. The Remuneration Authority said they were concerned that remuneration would become a matter of political contention at election time. And guess what – it has.

And the nutters are re-surfacing too. One emailed me with the number of times I had posted to my blog and the number of responses my postings had evoked. What this poor demented soul doesn’t realise, is that it is the number of hits that is important to me – not responses. He should realise by now that none of his vitriolic rubbish gets through the system and on to my blog. To have a blog such as mine costs money, requires something intelligent to say and needs a reasonable understanding of the English language with which to convey the message.

All of these attributes would be foreign to my correspondent.

There is no way I’m going to spend my money and energy to provide a forum for the fruit loops of our society.

So the media will not be short of material and invitations to events in 2010. It is sad but true, that often it is those who know how to play the “game” of politics that poll better, than very capable people who don’t.

All I hope is that people get involved in this election. It has always disappointed me that there is such a lack of interest in local body politics.

It is your town folks and your money we are spending so get involved. You might just find it interesting and enjoyable.

I am delighted that the government has announced that there will be a referendum on MMP although it appears to me that the long drawn out process is planned to fail.

No one likes change and the whole MMP process has been managed to give it time to be accepted before the question of its future as an electoral system is challenged.

But whilst I appear to be increasingly in the minority, I am still of the opinion that MMP is a ridiculous system.

Take the Napier electorate as an example – and I stress I am not critical of the people involved – I am strongly critical of the system.

We had an elected Labour MP – Russell Fairbrother. Along came the National candidate, Chris Tremain and he beat Russell fair and square. The people of Napier said “We want Chris Tremain to be our representative in the House of Representatives”. So off Chris went to Wellington but so did Russell. He was high enough on the list to get back in.

Then in to town on his big red charger rode Stuart Nash. He challenged Russell Fairbrother for the Labour nomination and lost. The Labour party said we don’t want you Stuart, we want Russell, so Stuart went off and began the restructure of the Art Deco Trust.

At the next election Chris Tremain trounced Russell Fairbrother and Russell went back to the private sector feeling like the lucky lion who had escaped from the zoo.

Then the odd Labour member decided to go and do something else and a vacancy occurred in Wellington. So they rang Stuart and said “How would you like a seat in the House of Representatives?”, and off Stuart went to Wellington.

Who is he representing? Chris Tremain is our elected representative – the Labour Party rejected Stuart – how can we possibly accept a system that has people sitting in our House of Representatives who represent no-one?

And what does an opposition list MP do all day? They’ve got no constituents, can achieve nothing in Wellington – frankly they are just a spare part – a spare part in an electoral machine that needs a full overhaul.

It is a matter of record that I have real concerns about the formation of an “Auckland Super-City”. The current situation is clearly untenable and therefore change is required. But to move from an extremely fragmented system to one where all the power is concentrated into so few hands, seems to me to be almost undemocratic. It is going from one extreme to another and generally that is anything but positive.

Regular listeners will have often heard me say, that if I led a political party, it would be the SMG – the sensible middle ground party. The party where common sense prevails. It is my view that there is not too much common sense or sensible middle ground in Rodney Hide’s proposals for Auckland’s governance.

And neither is there any sense in the attitude of the Maori Party. I watched Hone Harawira on Q&A on Sunday morning – the most inappropriately scheduled programme on New Zealand TV - and frankly I was disgusted. This fellow clearly has no interest in a united New Zealand where we are one people – albeit from different racial backgrounds.

Whilst I have very real reservations about the “Auckland Super City” - if it is to happen - I can see no justification for seats being allocated on a racial basis. Auckland is the largest Polynesian city in the world – many of those Polynesians are Maori. Surely the answer is for Maori to stand worthy candidates and to rally support behind those candidates to ensure they are elected.

That, Mr Harawira, is democracy.

I have long been a supporter of the sensible settlement of Maori grievances. Where land was illegally confiscated, Maori should be compensated. Where there has been injustice – justice must prevail

But surely we have moved beyond the situation where we have to reserve seats on a city council representing one of the most multi-racial cities in the world, for members of any one race.

We live in a time of incredible change.

Politically New Zealand has moved right, America left and Fiji down the toilet.

On the investment front, the share market has gone from the flavour of the month to last weeks sour taste which of course is when clever investors are accumulating stocks.

Finance companies have gone from the chosen investment vehicle of many because of promised high incomes – to a sector which become populated by so many rip-off merchants that it now only exists due to government guarantees.

Our climate is changing – ask the poor cockies who are suffering with drought. Hawke’s Bay has received just 60% of its normal autumn rains and that means going into the winter without enough grass.

But one thing never changes.  And that’s New Zealanders love of knocking those with the guts to express an opinion.

As you know I have suggested that our current local body electoral system – the way we elect our councillors – is wrong.  I have suggested that there is a better way.  I have made these suggestions because a).  I believe the current system is nothing short of stupid and b).  I want to start a debate on the matter.  I want ratepayers to have their say.

And what has been the result – personal abuse.

I am told that I’m a Prima Donna because I have questioned the need for Wards.  I am accused of slagging ward councillor Maxine Boag when I’m on record as saying she does a good job in her ward.

Don’t get me wrong – the abuse is like water off a ducks back but what is disappointing, is that people, rather than giving their opinion on the wards/no wards debate, simply choose to abuse someone who is keen to see the best electoral system possible for Napier.

I say to these people – abusing me is a waste of your breath and will do nothing for Napier.

If you have a considered opinion on the matter of how your councillors are elected – have your say.  Let’s debate the merits of your views and my views.  Let’s debate the message not waste our energies slagging the messenger.

Dare I even suggest it – let’s be positive and get the best outcome for Napier.

I am absolutely intrigued to find that supporters of Napier’s partial ward system, are now saying that the Napier City Council has failed to make it work.
 
Sorry - am I missing something here? The Napier City council is not making the system work? The Napier City Council never wanted the system in the first place. In the 2004/2007 council, only Robin Gwynn supported a ward system. Robin Gwynn was the only councillor to lose his seat.

A tiny but determined minority ended up putting enough pressure on the electoral commission to convince them, in Wellington, that wards would somehow benefit Napier. Surely if this determined minority wants to prove to the city that wards are good for Napier, it is up to them to prove it.

There is nothing at all stopping them from calling a meeting in their ward. I am sure their ward Councillors would attend as would most city wide Councillors.

To have a situation where a vocal minority inflicts a system on the majority who are against it - and then for that vocal minority to suggest it is someone elses job to make their system work beggars belief.

For similar reasons I believe the proposed system for local body governance in Auckland is fraught with difficulty.

The Lord Mayor of Auckland and his 20 Councillors will be governing - in a local body sense - 1.4 million people. That is one third of New Zealand’s population.
 
The 20 Councillors will, no doubt, be elected on a party vote basis. So a Mayor and a simple majority of say, 11 Councillors, could be running a city made up of one third of New Zealand’s population.

For my dough that’s  getting up  the pointy end of the democratic process.

Surely such a system opens up all sorts of doors we simply don’t want to go through. Just imagine the resources the Government of the day could pour into the Auckland City Council to try and court favour with one third of our population.

Do you ever feel we change things for changes sake?

During the 2007 Local Body election campaign, I thought that the unsuccessful candidate, Caroline Lampp, was one of the better performers. I didn’t necessarily agree with her politics, but I thought she presented well. However the comments attributed to her in the Hawkes Bay Today on Friday the 3rd April would now suggest to me, that she is at best naïve and frankly – well - I don’t want to go into the alternatives.

The Hawkes Bay Today quotes her as saying “When councillors are elected at large, they do not necessarily have any understanding of their local community and more importantly, have little knowledge of those communities they don’t live in”

How does this recent import to Napier dare to question my understanding of my local community?

My local community is Napier and I have lived here for well over half a century.

If we are going to take the petty view that you need to live in a street to represent that street, how come my good friend Maxine Boag – a staunch supporter of wards – lives on Napier’s hill, represents The Nelson Park ward - and represents them well.

Simply put – Caroline Lampp is talking garbage. I expected better of her.

When councillors are sworn in, they swear to represent the interests of the city. That is the whole city and all its constituents. I took that oath in total sincerity.

My family has been in this town since 1867, Members of my family have served countless organizations across the whole spectrum of community endeavours. There would be very few sporting codes, community or artistic organizations in the city that have not benefited from Dalton family support.

And Ms Lampp – dares to question my understanding of my community.

What next!

I have lived, been educated and worked in the fair city of Napier for

55 of my 57 years. I think I have as good a knowledge of the broader community of Napier as anyone in the city. And I don’t need to live next door to my friends in Maraenui or Marewa or Pirimai or Westshore or Taradale to understand their problems.

So the suggestion that councillors elected on a city wide basis do not represent a “community of interest” is simply bollocks.

What Napier needs is the best team possible to represent the interests of all its citizens.

To suggest anything else is just nonsense.

We are now nearing the halfway point of our term as City Councillors and it is probably a good time to reflect on how things have gone.

Frankly the Napier City Councillors have worked pretty well as a team. There has been none of that petty squabbling that characterized previous councils – we have simply got on with the job in a good working atmosphere.

There are some things however, that we need to be considering right now, with a view to elections in 2010.

Do we need a ward system – of course we don’t. It has offered absolutely nothing in terms of the governance of the city – the ward system is a total waste of time in Napier. Napier is one of the most compact local body electorates in the country – you can drive across it in ten minutes – why do we want wards? And don’t start me on the ridiculous system of half ward and half city wide. Our present system is a typical compromise – it pleases no one – it is a complete nonsense and must be replaced.

What we want is to elect the best team of councillors we can from those who make themselves available.

And how big should the team be? Do we need a Mayor and twelve councillors – of course we don’t. A Mayor, a Deputy Mayor and seven Councillors would cope with the work-load well.

At the moment we have a Mayor, a deputy Mayor, seven committee chairs and 4 hangers on – the three first termers and the longest serving councillor, Harry Lawson. All councillors serve on all committees so a total team of nine would handle the job admirably.

What would cutting down the numbers achieve? For a start efficiency would improve. I’m not saying we are currently inefficient but a smaller team would be more efficient. There would be all sorts of savings in stationery, printing, communications etc.

We could pay Napier City Councillors more which means their stipends would edge a little closer to those of the Hastings District and Hawkes Bay Regional councillors and over time we would attract more people to offer their services, giving voters greater choice.

In the mean time we have a good team and the city is in good heart despite the recession and – I don’t know about you - but I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.

Regular readers will know I am a fierce opponent of MMP and yet even a bad electoral system can produce a good result.

Winston Peters is gone.
 
The man, who used to be a lightweight entertainer – who was one of the real characters of politics but became a nasty vindictive negative influence, is gone.
 
Well done.
 
Proponents of MMP claim that the party vote means we get the party we want – that the voice of the nation is heard.  How come then, the New Zealand First Party gained 4.2% of the party vote and is not represented in Parliament and ACT gained 3.7% of the vote, has 5 MP’s and is able to box well above that weight.  Great system eh!

Stuart Nash here in Napier – rejected by his own party as a candidate but may possibly, depending on special votes, just wander in to Parliament.  Great system eh!

Much is being made by a number of very silly commentators that New Zealand has changed to a “Far Right” government and that of course is unmitigated rubbish.  Labour and National are both parties of the centre – in fact if you look at their policies they both flop from side to side of each other.  Phil Goff for instance would be right of John Key on many issues.  The difference between the parties is the team they can put up. 
For those poor silly commentators that somehow have come to the conclusion that Labour was the party of the people and that National is some far right uncaring mob, let me explain what happened on Saturday.

We stopped the cart and took a tired old horse out from between the shafts.  The tired old horse had been reliable but its vision was not that good and we decided a fresh horse with better vision was required.
The horses are pulling the same cart – we are on the same journey but we decided a different horse suited the road ahead.  We made that decision to avoid problems ahead not to create them.

So despite the extremely rough economic road ahead, we should be celebrating the fact that we have a fresh horse that will hopefully pick its way through the difficult terrain.

My great hope is that, whatever your political persuasion, you will get behind this government.
Times are tough and they are going to need all the help we can offer.

Let’s get positive.

I have been keen on politics as long as I can remember and I can not recall a more boring or pathetic election.

I mean – it’s just bizarre when the most exciting question of the week – just days from polling day – is whether Rodney Hide should be displaying an authorisation on his yellow jacket or not.

Who cares!  The electoral finance act that demands such things is a nonsense and must go.

The TV 3 debate on Monday night was also pathetic.  How people watch that John Campbell I just don’t know.  After the so called debate, the panel of experts were disappointed that neither Helen Clark nor John Key had addressed the financial crisis that is affecting the world.

Of course they didn’t.  They were trying to answer the silly bloody questions put by Campbell.  If answers on specific topics were required – why weren’t questions on these topics asked?

I watched Agenda on Sunday morning – the best programme of the week on at the silliest time.  Winston Peters was simply an embarrassment apart from the fact that what he was saying was completely untrue.

Winston Peters used to be an entertaining lightweight but he has become so arrogant (God knows what he has got to be arrogant about) that he now lets every politician or aspiring politician down.  He has become a caricature of a politician.

Frankly the American election has been far more interesting and more and more New Zealanders have turned off from our boring little soap opera and tuned in to the Presidential race.

New Zealand politics seems to be lacking characters.  David Lange – Big Norm -  dare I say it Rob Muldoon.  Guys like Norman Jones from Invercargill were always fun.  Election campaigns in those days were informative and entertaining.

Now candidates are all controlled by the party machine – they all trumpet the party line and the whole process has lost its colour.

The only colour in this year’s election is Rodney Hide’s jacket and even that is under threat.

Frankly – I guess like you – I will be pleased when it’s all over.

It will come as no surprise to you that I have been involved in some pretty fiery political debates recently – mainly with the poor demented souls who still believe that MMP is good for New Zealand.

The basis of the pro MMP argument seems to be that minority views now have a voice.  That view – of course – completely ignores the fact that these groups have always had a voice within the main stream political parties.  Both Labour and National had their environmental lobbyists – their champions of all things Maori – their right or left wing rumps.  The sort of totally ridiculous nonsense we are now hearing from the Greens about New Zealand becoming totally organic would be noted but not become policy.  These views were heard within a balanced framework.

Just look at the bizarre scenarios that are being suggested as being possible after this election.

National – only able to govern with the support of the Maori Party.  The Maori Party has made it clear that they are not prepared to simply support on supply and demand – they want to be equal partners.  So a party with 7 seats or less could be an equal governing party with a party that gains say 55 or 56 seats.

The Greens have nailed their colours to Labour’s mast.  Doesn’t that prove what a nonsense MMP is?  Surely if they were really subscribing to the MMP myth, they would have left their options open so they could have environmental influence on whichever party is in power.

So the polls suggest that it is just possible that Labour might be able to stitch a government together with support from the Greens, Jim Anderton’s so called political party, perhaps the Maori Party and God forbid, Winston Peters.  The only way that could work is if they all agreed to do nothing.

Can you imagine the likes of Sue Bradford, Winston Peters, Hone Harawera – making collective decisions in New Zealand’s best interests.

I have said so often – I will vote for the party that promises a binding referendum on MMP and for that reason National will get my vote.