Nactional calls filibuster bluff - Über City enabling law runs past midnight
It's this masochistic, political telethon cum iron man endurance test that is running past midnight - an extrordinary sitting of parliamentat in urgency to pass Hide's super city bill into law. It's bordering on insane at this point - it has become a test of wills in the House. Sir Roger Douglas is at the vanguard too - relishing the ramming process. But Labour are finding friends among the other parties and this solidarity amongst the left is spouting amendments and votes by the dozen at this committee stage.
He's got the hackles up from the opposition who are all fighting this now. The Maori Party and the Greens and Labour - against Act and National. Nazional in this situation. But the left will not just sit by and let them ram it through without some sort of consultation. There is no need for the right to push this through in this way.They are trying to pass it all before anyone can read it. Why?
The biggest aspect of the bill and the amalgamation is the automatic inclusion of the two rural district councils, north and south of the city - Rodney and Franklin - into the Auckland Council. This annexation - or anchluss in the context of the über city - is a unilateral per-emption and prejudice of the reorganisation process because it denies those two distinct communities of interest their councils when the boundaries have not been drawn. Isn't the legislation pre-determining to a large extent those boundaries?
And what of the Transitional Agency's role in drawing up ballot papers? The decision to make the at-large councillors ordered on a ticket/list system or ordered on an individual and/or alphabetical system is important to get right. Yes, I know. And as for the other things in the bill, I haven't had time to read them.
OK, it's now 12:41am and they are still voting - the same voting pattern again, and again. Cunliffe threatened that they can keep this up for a week.A week. What they want is a week's worth of select committee consideration to stop the filibustering.How long can Rodney and Gerry keep this up? Bill English was in the House earlier. It's trench warfare - it's grueling stuff.
12:58AM: Still voting. Keep it up. They are challenging them all the way. The Greens refused to filibuster when Labour pushed through the Foreshore and Seabed bill in 2004 - I rang Metiria that day and she said the orders were they couldn't and that is not the way they play politics. Well that's all changed now, hasn't it. This is 'bustering all right.
1:04AM: OK, they've wound up. They will return at 9am next (sitting?) day.
Labels: Auckland/Tamaki
posted by Tim Selwyn @ 12:22 am
9 comments
9 Comments:
Thanks for posting the progress on this!
You`ll probably find that Labour does not have too many other parties supporting filibustering amendments like calling the council sons and daughters of Maui etc. If Labour does not like it they should have thought about that before they lost the election.
FFS Tim
Equating genocidal Nazism with National's moves to amalgamate councils shows just how far you and bomber have lost the plot.
Why not moderate you own posting so that it doesn't make you look completely insane.
Anon 2:29. No - when Nactional decides to ram something through parliament using urgency for no good reason I describe that tactic as "Nazional" and when National and Act do this they become what I call "Nazional".
The Nazis turned the Reichstag into a one-party tool where they could ram through any legislation they wanted by their bloc vote - that's what I'm alluding to - your use of "genocidal" in that context (trying to say I'm "equating" it to "genocide") is wrong. You are the one doing that, not me. I'm describing a parliamentary process here - that's what that image is - of the German parliament when the Nazis ran the show.
"The Nazis turned the Reichstag into a one-party tool where they could ram through any legislation they wanted by their bloc vote"
It's also a power given by the westminster system of democracy. To suddenly claim that it's an 'abuse of power' shows how ignorant you are of our political system. Govnt always had this ability as long as they had a parlimentry majority.
anon 2:22 - Ignorant? - if you had searched this blog for "westminster system" you would not have said that.
It's also a power given by the westminster system of democracy. To suddenly claim that it's an 'abuse of power' shows how ignorant you are of our political system. Govnt always had this ability as long as they had a parlimentry majority.But anon, the Westminster system of democracy also creates checks and balances within it so the tyranny of the majority doesn't become the norm, by mis-using urgency as a tactic, National are pack raping the select committee process with this annexation of Auckland. Denying the input and consultation any law requires by ramming legislation through in the manner National are doing is outragous - if Labour had pulled shit like this, read into law bills in the space of a couple of hours, the right wing bloggers would be screaming bloody murder! Labour were rightfully damned for mis-using urgency by passing the 3rd reading of the EFA under urgency, but National goes well beyond that and does the entire process under urgency and you turn a blind eye declaring 'that's the westminster system' - that's bullshit Anon, utter bullshit! What National are doing is denying due process and they deserve crucifixtion for it! You would need to go back to their first hundred days, then Ruth Richardsons mother of all budgets and Rodger Douglas's use of urgency before that to force through his changes to have another example of such a misuse of urgency.
It was unaccepltable when Labour did it for the 3rd reading of the EFA, it is totally unacceptable to pass the entire process under urgency, history will be far more damning of this than the weak msm are.
"But anon, the Westminster system of democracy also creates checks and balances within it so the tyranny of the majority doesn't become the norm,"
And specifically what checks and balances are you talking about? What Act or judgement are you referring to?
Ever heard of Parliamentry sovereignty which the courts have continued to uphold as a perogative of parliaments right to make whatever laws it sees fit?
For someone with a degree in politics bomber you're pretty weak on the basics. I'll find the judgement if I can fucked tomorrow for you.
I'm well aware of Parliamentry sovereignty anon just as you must ne aware of the select committee process, public submissions, scrutiny of legislation, that sort of thing Anon. I'm surprised for someone lecturing me on politics that you are so much more weaker on the basics, but then again you're just an anonymous poster who won't even put their name to their post, so I won't hold your thoughts that high. Your 'Parliamentry sovereignty arguement was the exact one that Labour tried to use when they were confiscating through legislation of Maori land, if Labour had pulled a stunt like this there would be screams from the msm.
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