TIME TO PAY THE RATES BILL AND COUNT THE COST OF NOT VOTING

Site of the old Maritime building and

Victoria St market

In place of a beautiful stone heritage building this steel and glass high-rise arose. It is a celebration of Wellington's developer driven success, a victory over common sense and a defiance of people friendliness. This week you will be paying your rates bill and for many that will squeeze the budget just a few weeks before Christmas.

Now that the Council elections are over civic affairs will drop below the radar of most Wellingtonians. The rates bill will bring Council back into sharp relief. For those who rent, the consequences of Council elections will not be noticeable till the next rent review. For many tenants the relationship between Council and their landlord and its implications will be vague.

The landlord will understand the relationship clearly and will in most cases be passing on to tenants the increase in rates that will come as a consequence of the policy of the elected Council. It will be a business decision for landlords and monetary pain for the tenant and home owner who have no way of passing on costs.

I'm not sure what the tipping point is to make people cast a vote in Council elections but I suspect over the next three years it will become a topic of cafe conversation and the subject of more than a few pub speeches mixed with vitriol. A massive shift in wealth from residents to business will be complete at the end of the current triennium.

Petone's Adzuki Bean Cafe is a wonderful place to visit

 

Owners Jack and Sisi have a wonderful mix of European and Asian food of the highest standard with service to please. After a bicycle ride around Petone, pay them a visit. You will be pleasantly surprised at what they can do for you and your friends. Best food, best service.

Oil prices resume march to 100 US Dollars a barrel

Bryan Pepperell registers in the Climate Change bus

 

THE CLIMATE CHANGE BUS ?

 

Maria Van der Meel visits the climate change bus in Civic Square.

The man I cannot forget in the City of Prague

Stained Glass window in a the city of Prague

Photographed by Bryan Pepperell while in Prague 2006.

My First British Motor Cycle was a Triumph 350 twin

Triumph 3TA Speed twin

Photography by Bryan Pepperell

Conflict New Zealand November 14 2007

Valerie Morse / Radical Activist
and in the back ground, Maria Van der Meel
at a protest outside Parliament grounds today
14 -11-2007

New Zealand has always been in a state of conflict. It is the lot of any country where there is rich and poor. Perhaps it is a fundamental truth about human society that has been observed by all great philosophers and religious leaders. It was Jesus that said the poor will be with you always... . Having said that I understood from an early age in my life that I had nothing better to do than battle for a more fair and just society. It is a perennial struggle that must be relearned by each new generation. Nothing changes and so the rich continue to do anything for the poor except get off their backs.

What we have witnessed in New Zealand over the last few months is the State in action when confronted with an economic crisis. It so happens that it has occurred under the watch of a Labour Government but it could easily have been National or some other coalition and the script would have remained the same. Economic crisis causes the state to shift into a more coercive gear. Moral panic is the instrument for such a shift. In New Zealand it was the scare of terrorists. I'm just sorry that so many innocent people get caught up in such events.

Postscript.

Not all economic crises are obvious but there has been a global crisis since the nineteen seventies that for many vested interests has remained an inconvenient truth. It is generally recognised amongst peak oil commentators that global oil production peaked in 2005. The war on terror is a mask for the more fundamental problem of oil depletion. Naturally New Zealand, as part of a global community dominated by one military super power that is threatened by such an energy crisis, must be seen to be doing its part. This is really much bigger than you think.