Originally posted by xpert11

On another matter do you support MMP ?
I do and I think its time that we settled on our electoral system . I also think that the unicameral Parliament works well .

I always thought that we vote out a MP via there electorate seat then they come back into parlaiment via the LIST what a load of bollocks.....

Not a Kiwi, but have visited there and worked with NZSAS. Great bunch of guys.

And for the poster that asked if Kiwis didn't like tourists; when I was there (South Island), I was treated great. Very friendly bunch of people and would go back there in a second.

Havalon I regard List MPs as representing the wider electorate rather then just a specific geographical area . Plus I like the voting flexibility that comes with MMP after all my party vote and electoral vote don't have to be for the same party . If New Zealand adopted STV we would end up with a two party system which is really a one party system and undemocratic. I am open to improving MMP just not to playing hot potato with our electoral system every five minutes . Also I have had the opposite thought about MMP due to the fact that I think it reflects the way our small population voted well .

One thing that I defiantly don't like is that the Attorney General is a sitting government MP . The Attorney General should be appointed on a ten year basis and not a sitting MP . The idea of forming a joint NZDF service has merit . My main fear is that Labour and co would use the concept to further reduce investment in the defence forces .

I'm all for reducing government. I must admit that I'm ignorant to how our political system works. Can you give me an outline?

I always thought NZ's Armed Forces should be based along the lines of the US Marine Corp. Highly trained, mobile reactionary force.

I cant say that I have met any MPs but the up coming election should present me with an opportunity to do so. As for your 2nd question I should have worded my statement better to reflect that it was my impression of what would likely happen at some stage sorry about that . Anyway while it is impossible to say without calculations concerning preferences the following would happen in part if the party vote was taken away at the last election . The Greens would vanish , Winston Peters would have been voted out of office , Rodney Hide would be ACT sole MP and. Peter Dunne would also be United Future only MP .

The Maori party would be the only smaller or third party of note and the only party that could prevent National or Labour from governing alone . As for how list MP or rather the party vote came about my guess would be they were designed to reflect the way the electorate voted over a wider area . From a practical stand point as I have said list MP make up the difference between the party vote and the number electoral seats a party gains .
If you can find a better answer please post it . I agree with you concerning the Speaker of the House .

I like the idea of a home grown defence industry but two things are against it . The first is that the government seems to prefer to upgrade older equipment rather then replace it . Just look how the government chose to upgrade the C-130s rather then buying new aircraft . Also it is probably cheaper to buy equipment from our allies . Also any home grown defence industry would be very reliant on exports because of the small size of the NZDF .

Hello all - I'll bite, I'm from Auckland.

You added a link to the The Kaimanawa Wall - which is cool, but there is a much more interesting story lurking in the West Coast of the South Island.

Let me explain; In or around 1982, there was a TV news report on TV One which talked about the discovery of an old bridge, pottery, graves, and some carvings.

These were found in the area (I think) between Westport and Karamea. If you know the land you will know its hard yakka to walk through and very rough.

Anyhow, the discovery was made. Filmed. Then broadcast.

Then, mysteriously, a 'slip' occurred at the site of the discovery, and all trace of it was 'washed away'.

A decade later, an effort was made to find the original film footage - and the accompanying news report - from TVNZ Archives.

Incredibly, the footage had disappeared. There was no record of it being signed out either.

Why did this happen?

Because the film revealed artifacts not made from the hands of Maori - the style of the pottery, position of the graves, and the style of the bridge, were all of Celtic origin.

I was young when I saw this news clip. But my sister and I remember it vividly.

Since then, I've since worked extensively with TVNZ and Iwi organisations up and down NZ. TVNZ never loses footage. Never. Even back as far as 1991, it was a thorough government department that prided itself on its internal structures.

My experience with iwi organisations (and on a personal level, with those whom represent their tribe at Waitangi Treaty Settlement level) has taught me that there is too much at stake for this piece of footage to be seen again - let alone the topic in general.

If the Celtic bridge was found again and carbon dated, what would happen to all Treaty Claims?

What would happen if the Crown asked for all the land handed to Maori to be handed back?

Who knows. But it wouldn't be pretty.

NOW SOMETHING FOR THE AMERICAN ATS READERS...

Another NZ conspiracy concerns the gaping hole in our No Nukes policy: The policy states that no nuclear ship is allowed on NZ waters.

True.

But you can go under it. This is allowed. Just don't surface. Then you're in breach.

As of for the state of the country - we will have a common currency with Australia within 5 years. This has been talked about, and even initial drawings made of what the currency would look like - The Hollow Men details this. The political party the book talks about will be in power come mid-october.

My opinion on the state of the country?

Well, I think we're lucky. Lucky because our agricultural sector will save our asses. Again.

Lucky, because we're getting to grips with better supporting new businesses, ideas, invention, and being able to leverage them overseas.

Lucky because we have a fertile land that will never suffer from drought - we're a maritime country - never further than 140ks from the sea (in Southland).

Lucky, because of our isolation from the rest of the world. It has the effect of making you think harder, try harder, and be smarter - the old punch above our weight cliche.

What are the downsides?

A fluctuating dollar that makes it hard for export businesses to plan. Look at the Greenback versus the $NZ in recent months.

Our weakened defense force. I had a bit of a rant on the NZHerald website last week on this issue.
Army: Well, once again it's the man on the ground whom will suffer the most.
Navy: We need more ships - our small maritime patrol vessels are a joke.
Air Force: Our Air Force is in a bad way. I have a friend whom has been contracted on the fix up the C-130's. The underside of the aircraft was put on badly - it's going to fall off. Titanium will be welded on to the bottom of the aircraft. They are not resistant to ground fire.

There was previous talk about NZ's high teen pregnancy rate. This is very problematic. I have an ex-girfriend of mine, a nurse whom volunteered to work in the Termination Section of a local hospital.

Her observation?

Lack of role models, dependance on welfare, and plain ignorance are the main reason - but that's just the parents.

It's the generational dependance upon government welfare that lets NZ down time and time again.

As for the political scene...

A few months back I helped out a mate whom is running for office at the next election. I worked with him and other party officials (I'm not naming the party - you know them) on formulation a plan of attack for the next election.

After one week I was dismayed. After two weeks, and being a tad bit bloody minded, I rethought the plan and presented it to the exec. After three weeks I was relieved of the job. And thank-goodness too.

NZ is a two party state. The left and the right. On paper, they are the same. However, on closer inspection, it has been my observation that if National get in, then it is my fear the NZ will be worse off. I personally, will be better off, the country will lose.

I Labour get in, then NZ will stagnate. They're exhausted.

Right now, 2008 feels like 1992.

Originally posted by Mr Gunter

Because the film revealed artifacts not made from the hands of Maori - the style of the pottery, position of the graves, and the style of the bridge, were all of Celtic origin. If the Celtic bridge was found again and carbon dated, what would happen to all Treaty Claims?

What would happen if the Crown asked for all the land handed to Maori to be handed back?

If it helps, I remember that, too, and I'm in the US. I saw or read something about the find and that it was questioning the Maori treaties, since it looked like Europeans had settled there before them.

Kia ora nga hoa,
Ke te pehea koe?

Firstly, I'm a Pakeha living in Christchurch, which (for non-Kiwi) is the largest city in the South Island (but really, it's just a glorified farm-supply town with delusions of grandeur).

I've lived in the South Island my whole life, I love its majesty, though I don't like the rascism which seems to be more and more entrenched the further south one goes...though this is a generalisation and my perception can be wrong!

I don't like how people are really against Asians, and how they make knee-jerk comments about them without realising that there were Asians in Aotearoa/New Zealand before the majority of Europeans arrived. I also don't like how there is such a racial divide seeing as we are all of the same stock (being that of Homo sapiens sapiens and we really should make more effort to get along rather than just pay lip service to it and then crawl back intop our caves of prejudice (and this applies globally, not just with New Zealanders).

I firmly believe that we do not need a defence force and that we should put more money into education. I believe that we have a real 'calling' as diplomats and that we should put our efforts to creating discourse and acceptance rather than war and the associated murder that comes with it and that this applies globally as well. I realise I am idealistic, but I stand by my statement.

I wish the public was more knowledgeable about the realities of global warming and that the media portrayed it correctly rather than as something that is sexy and makes news. Global warming is a natural cycle that we, as humans are exacerbating. We have the ability to monitor our actions so that we have less impact, but no, we are in denial and scientifically ignorant, on the whole, so we get a skewed (mis)representation of it.

Maori have only been in Aotearoa for just over 150 years because before then they went by their tribal name, such as Ngati Porou, or Kai Tahu.
However, there are some interesting 'mysteries' such as the Waipoua Forest Archealogical Site, which has been surveyed but is under embargo until, I think, 2050.
Also, in pers.comm. with a researcher I was told of a conversation with Roger Duff, then of the Canterbury Museum who, when asked about the Pit dwelling sites around the South Island (one of which I have visited in the MacKenzie Country) said "We know about those, and we don't want to" and it seems that they have been academically ridiculed purposefully to allay any further investigation on them.

....not to mention the canal systems of Marlborough and Northland, nor the erasure of any mention of the Patupaiarehe, Urukehu, and Turehu from the latest version of the Encyclopaedia of Maori folklore....

...nor the lack of mention of watercourse maps on caves that have been traced back to pre-BCE China...

...nor the ongoing investigation into rat bones found beneath the Taupo tephra of 180CE, with no evidence of any bioturbation, thus implying at least a transient visitation by humans....

...the list goes on...


I love living in New Zealand. I don't feel I miss out on anything due to our geographical isolation.