FOR GOFF

Yeah Phil , Helen made the mistakes - you guys were the bloody sheep that obeyed her every command - You contributed to the tyranny .

Sorry might not cut it...

MOTEL ASSOCIATION TAINTED BY LABOUR NANNY STATE

Motella is a relatively new blog but his latest post makes for interesting reading. It appears that after nine years of a nanny state the public has become conditioned to looking to regulation to solve problems.
It appears that the Motel Association of NZ wants to geat heavy with the ma's and pa's around the country offering B and B's and short term accomodation.
Motella is right - if this idea is instituted, then it will mean more fusspotting by local authorities. Shame on them. And good boy Motella for rooting out this silliness.

KEY TREATING PEOPLE LIKE ADULTS.

We are happy to lead by example. Times are tough - its time to get tough so we are more than happy for all Public servants to miss out on a pay rise this year. And amongst the Roarprawn ranks is more than one public servant. So good on Key for raising the thorny issue. That's what we like to see - balls. And we heard Goff wittering on RNZ this morning about the fact that Key should legislate to stop pay rises among the top echelons of the public service and MP's. That's the difference between National and Labour - National charts the direction and expects people to act like responsible grown ups. Labour wants to be in charge and doesn't trust people to be grown up - the Nanny state.

MORE WACKY EXPENSIVE INTERVENTIONIST CRAP FROM LABOUR

We blogged on this issue a couple of weeks ago - more nanny state crap from Labour .

And today the story is in the Herald

The Transport Agency wants to ban people from parking on grass verges in built-up areas.

A proposed law change would make it illegal to park a vehicle on grass or garden areas bordering any urban road.

The Transport Agency said the ban would help keep paths clear for pedestrians and stop cars damaging grass and underground pipes.

The agency said motorists who parked on verges often thought they were keeping out of the way of traffic so as not to slow cars down.

But slower traffic was "not an undesirable outcome" for the safety of road users.

If the rule goes ahead, local councils will be able to make exceptions by putting up signs.

AA policy analyst Mark Stockdale said banning parking on verges would penalise people in small towns and parts of cities where a ban was not needed.

People would not be able to keep trailers out of the way of traffic and would not be able to park outside sports stadiums and homes of friends and relatives.

Parking on the verge was sometimes the safest thing to do.

"There are some towns where they might not even have footpaths. All they might have is a grass verge alongside the road."

Some city councils - including Auckland, Manukau, North Shore and Hamilton - already have bylaws banning parking on verges.

But the Transport Agency said councils were having trouble enforcing their bylaws because drivers could be ticketed only in places where warning signs were in place.

Waitakere Mayor Bob Harvey said the proposed ban was a "wacky, stupid idea" and he "wouldn't lose one hour's sleep over people parking on verges".

interesting to see that old Labour stalwart Harvey thinks its a crap policy. Now what joe and mary voter wont realise is how much it will cost to institute a change like this.

It will have taken about four policy people - probably a lawyer and a communications troll and a project manager to work on this - probably for about six months and it will require consultation with a number of bodies - so my rough estimate is you wont get much change for $750k all up.Now that's a lot of Herceptin.

HOW NANNY STATE IS THIS?????

Cullen is telling Fonterra what it needs. A rail head - Fonterra doesnt want it but Cullen says if they are elected they will get it anyway.

Fonterra would have done the numbers and worked out that its not a goer for them but no, old Mr Nanny Cullen has told them they need it .

He's a patronising dork.

This from the Timaru Herald

FONTERRA does not want it but Finance Minister Michael Cullen is keen on plans for a railway link to Fonterra's Clandeboye dairy plant to be brought forward.

Dr Cullen passed through Timaru yesterday with Labour's Waitaki candidate David Parker and Rangitata candidate Julian Blanchard.

He was in town just long enough to spot a KiwiRail train.

The Government bought the railways back from Toll in July and renamed the network KiwiRail.

Dr Cullen said the Government is committed to jointly funding rail access to Clandeboye and wants to see the plan brought forward.

"There's a lot to be said for taking it there."

Both the economy and the environment would benefit.

Last month Fonterra Clandeboye hub manager Alan Bennett said the site was not looking at rail at all.

LABOUR GOING TO SPEND BETWEEN $8M AND $10 M TO GET YOU TO CHANGE YOUR LIGHTBULBS

We could not believe our eyes when this rolled into our in box. It is an RFP from GETS which is the Govt tender process. Big PR firms and other government suppliers subscribe to it . In fact it sat in our in box for a while. And out of curiosity we opened it - and as we say often - bugger me.

It was a 54 page tender document for some campaigns for energy efficiency being run by the Electricity Commission - some of of it will be around subsidisation for commercial energy efficiency - which we have a philosophical issue with - but the stunner was by our reckoning between $8 - $10 million over two years to get you and me to change our bloody light bulbs. Yes - $8-10m. to - change- to - energy - efficient - light - bulbs.

Basically one of those big PR campaigns loved by the Nanny State to get you to change your behaviours that is often referred to as " Social Marketing."

We think this is bloody outrageous. Actually its more than outrageous its bloody near criminal.

This money could be better used in so many ways - That would buy a lot of herceptin.


Here is the estimate that the Commission gives the tenderers for the contract in the document

For the year ending 30 June 2009, the Commission has an appropriation of $12 million for electricity efficiency initiatives in the commercial and industrial sectors and for efficient lighting programmes.

The Commission currently estimates that up to $3.5 million will be available in 2008/09 for programmes arising out of this RFP and an RFP that was recently released for Industrial Motors Programmes.

Proposals submitted in response to this RFP will be assessed in conjunction with responses to the Industrial Motors RFP and the available funding will be applied to the proposals considered to best utilise the available funds.

For programmes that are anticipate to run beyond the current financial year, the Commission’s anticipated appropriation for electricity efficiency programmes for 2009/10 is $15 million across the three areas of commercial, industrial and lighting.

We think that this tender should be withdrawn immediately. It is quite simply an insult to the nations collective intelligence and the type of frivolous government spending that lurks in so many departments that the public never gets a chance to see.

LEFTY DRIPS

The left are coming to a shower near you soon -

This was all anyone was talking about in the Wairarapa today - That the Left was thinking of regulating showers so you can only use six litres of water a minute..

Look Here to see what will happen