The Bikers Political Party

[Bassmatt]

And why would we vote for a party that was only ever going to get 1 or 2% of the vote and was never going to get in, when bikers could be the voters that determined whether our chosen party got into parliament or got an extra seat or 2

Becuase you have to start somewhere and I dont think anybody is under the illusion that a new or minor party is going to get into parliament first time round.
Good things take time
Our "chosen parties" havent done anything for us yet. Im sure they will be happy to take the votes and continue shafting us. They have done it to larger groups than ours in the past.

[shrub]

Becuase you have to start somewhere and I dont think anybody is under the illusion that a new or minor party is going to get into parliament first time round.
Good things take time
Our "chosen parties" havent done anything for us yet. Im sure they will be happy to take the votes and continue shafting us. They have done it to larger groups than ours in the past.

OK, so what does the biker party stand for? Personally I am only really in biker parties that involve booze, loud music and fires.

And if you don't like what the political parties you choose do, choose more carefully or get involved. I am very happy with how the party I usually support (The Greens) behaves, and I have personally met several of the MPs and I have been involved in the process of formulating policies on how they approach business (my area of primary expertise/interest).

MMP is an awesome concept because it means parliament isn't confined to the two big catch-all parties, and a group of bikers with a cohesive and carefully planned platform can influence the minor parties, and they in turn have a voice in parliament.

[Bassmatt]

OK, so what does the biker party stand for? Personally I am only really in biker parties that involve booze, loud music and fires.

And if you don't like what the political parties you choose do, choose more carefully or get involved. I am very happy with how the party I usually support (The Greens) behaves, and I have personally met several of the MPs and I have been involved in the process of formulating policies on how they approach business (my area of primary expertise/interest).

MMP is an awesome concept because it means parliament isn't confined to the two big catch-all parties, and a group of bikers with a cohesive and carefully planned platform can influence the minor parties, and they in turn have a voice in parliament.

Generally the political parties i vote for dont reach the threshold. I have voted Greens in the past i wont bother going into why I wont vote for them anymore.
I guess what the bikers party would stand for is being discussed in this thread. As i posted earlier I would like to see it encompass a larger group of road users than just bikers.

[shrub]

I guess what the bikers party would stand for is being discussed in this thread. As i posted earlier I would like to see it encompass a larger group of road users than just bikers.

The OP said:

We would be up front re that we don't have an opinion re mining, free trade, GST etc.
But we would clearly state that we do have a clear standpoint re wirecutters, ACC levies on bikes, rider training, drink drivers, import taxes on bike parts and so on.

I'm kind of resigned to ACC levies, and I think most of us are because at the end of the day it's a few hundred dollars, and my groceries, petrol etc are all bigger bills.

Wirecutters I don't really have an opinion on - one person has been killed because of them and they are confined to Auckland. I'm more concerned about ice grit, but then Aucklanders don't care about that.

Drink drivers - so you're suggesting that drink driving should be made illegal? Actually it is already illegal and I think successive governments have been making a priority of it.

Rider training is already available in most main centres and ACC sponsor a lot of it. What would you suggest? Make it compulsory? Who would pay for it? And where would we get the suitably qualified instructors?

Import tax on bike parts - actually they are currently duty free - http://www.customs.govt.nz/importers...and+levies.htm

Personally I don't really have anything to complain about as a motorcyclist, except too much traffic on the windy roads and 100 kmh speed limits, and I work around them by finding quiet back country roads (where I have a new problem - cyclists). What I really want is an economic environment that is business-friendly, good schooling, more jobs, police spending more time dealing with crimes, the maintenance of our health system (which is pretty good overall), and the recognition that the environment is not just a pretty thing to use but is fundamental to maintaining my bloody good lifestyle.

And more trains and buses so less people drive trucks and cars on my roads.

[MSTRS:Me]

Wirecutters... are confined to Auckland.

You need to get out more.

[shrub]

You need to get out more.

What, and leave my computer? MAD FOOL!!!!

I haven't seen any down here and I had only ever heard of them in Auckland, so i take it back - where else are they? They certainly don't have them on the back country roads I enjoy, but they do have campervans. I'd be keen to see them banned.

[Bassmatt]

I took the liberty of seeing the OP as a starting of point for a discussion of the ideas rather than a page from the bikers party manifesto.

[ellipsis]

...how many bikers are dyed in the wool tories, a few I'd say...how many are staunch labour voters, a few I'd say...how many support the greens, a lot I'd say...how many dont own a pen, even more I'd say...how many dont vote because of the fucked in the brain attitude that politics are for other types of people, a lot I'd say...how many cant, wont or dont think about anything more than the next rally, ride, new tyre, next bottle of jd and wild talk of their anarchic lifestyle...it all sounds wonderful and if only we could band together as one group...it sounds a lot like pushing shit uphill with a pointy stick...my wife has similar attitudes to what we want from our govt...she is a 'biker'...she has often nullified my vote on the pollys big day out...must be because Im a non waving tasselled tit on a bike that wont go round corners and she's a homo on a honda...

[MSTRS:Me]

- where else are they?

They are all over...collectively, there's quite a few hundred kms of the shit now.

Auckland motorway, north and south of the bridge
SH1 - sides and centre - between Akld and Ohinewai
SH2 small amount between Maramarua and the Tauranga turnoff
SH3 south of Wanganui
A small amount just north of Giborne towards East Cape
SH30? between Atiamuri and Whakamaru
SH2 UH side at the beginning of the Rimutakas
SH2 River Road, Upper Hutt
SH? Haywards Hill
SH2 motorway from Haywards to Petone
SH1 north of Waikanae at Peka Peka
SH1 from Paraparaumu south to Johnsonville

There'll be more, but those areas I can think of off the top of my head.
Generally speaking, down the middle isn't a big issue. At least not on motorways. It's the installation on roadsides, outside of curves that really shits me. Or around Ohinewai were it's middle and both sides. Or down the middle of narrowish main roads, like around Te Kawhata or the coast south of Paekakariki.

[NighthawkNZ:Me]

What, and leave my computer? MAD FOOL!!!!

I haven't seen any down here and I had only ever heard of them in Auckland, so i take it back - where else are they? They certainly don't have them on the back country roads I enjoy, but they do have campervans. I'd be keen to see them banned.

Bloody heaps of them int he south... they are every where...

the are quite a few in central otago. dunedin southern motorway and more poping up all the time...

[Conquiztador]

I took the liberty of seeing the OP as a starting of point for a discussion of the ideas rather than a page from the bikers party manifesto.

Yep. That was the intention. And I think it is working...

[StoneY]

What, and leave my computer? MAD FOOL!!!!

I haven't seen any down here and I had only ever heard of them in Auckland, so i take it back - where else are they? They certainly don't have them on the back country roads I enjoy, but they do have campervans. I'd be keen to see them banned.

There is a huge length of WRB on the new highway section near Nelson I have been told, and the man who told me credits them with saving his daughters life.

I had a WRB save my fiance and I from a drunken biatch who lost control of her Commodore on River Road.
Like em or not they save more of us than they kill, and while we dont LIKE them, they seem to work.
I agree they should be swapped for a more friendly option and my fellow councillors on the MSL council will be looking into suitable modifications.

I have read the coronors report on the one fatality we 'credit' to the WRB, fact is, sad to say it was rider behaviour and error that resulted in that death.

Now, back to how we create a Political Party - and who would we want in it?

[Bald Eagle]

Now, back to how we create a Political Party - and who would we want in it?

What does a political party need to have to apply for and maintain registration?

1) An acceptable party name (and any abbreviation).
2) Satisfactory evidence of at least 500 eligible members.
3) Statutory declarations from its party secretary concerning membership, intention to contest general elections, and advising of any component parties.
4) Party membership rules showing what is required for current financial membership, and candidate selection rules which provide for the democratic involvement of members in the process.
5) An auditor (or person who has agreed to be auditor when the party is registered).
6) A party secretary with a postal address (and ideally phone, fax and e-mail contact details).
7) Either the secretary, or a sitting MP who is a current financial member of the party, to make the application.
The party should also understand and be prepared to meet the ongoing compliance requirements of being a registered political party.

- and who would we want in it?

That's the hard question the other stuffs just process.

[StoneY]

Define politician?

Can smile at you while looking you in the face and lie very convincingly ( too many to name)

Then you get the odd well meaning type who enters the feild trying to change the world for utopian reasons, then finds its a sham and eventually quits or joins in the feeding, and forgets what they initially became an MP for. (Pointing at Paula Bennet there)

And then again I am sure there are plenty in the middle

My roles in BRONZ require a lot of political manouvering, even at the lobbying group level....sigh
Its the one unpallatable aspect of the work we do, some call it compromising, some call it selling out.... cant please em all

ACC meeting tomorrow, Ulysses forum group meeting on Saturday...... it never ends!

[Genestho]

There is a huge length of WRB on the new highway section near Nelson I have been told, and the man who told me credits them with saving his daughters life.

I had a WRB save my fiance and I from a drunken biatch who lost control of her Commodore on River Road.
Like em or not they save more of us than they kill, and while we dont LIKE them, they seem to work.
I agree they should be swapped for a more friendly option and my fellow councillors on the MSL council will be looking into suitable modifications.

I have read the coronors report on the one fatality we 'credit' to the WRB, fact is, sad to say it was rider behaviour and error that resulted in that death.

Now, back to how we create a Political Party - and who would we want in it?

Had a quiet chat with an unamed source who's said they're looking at better post options for WRB's to absorb the energy from impact better, it was said it was thought better through risk assessments for motorcyclists to hit a WRB at speed than a concrete wall.

The question put back to me was "How do we stop cars/trucks/motorbikes from crossing centrelines with minimal impact and absorb that energy"..

Have also heard "Anecdotally there is only one Motorcyclist that's been killed by WRB's" It was offered, but I declined to read the coroners report.

On asking how to find NZ specific data on WRB's, and if a WRB was a contributor to Motorcycle fatalities, how would it be logged in the CAS report, it was said as 'object' but it wasn't recalled if 'object' was broken down..someone else may know this..?

sorry to take off topic...