Nick Smith Auckland Nat meeting open to public

[Mrs Busa Pete]

So she a Nat member? Name her.


I hope it actually happens to her and that Nat member above so they learn what it's all about....too bad karma is'nt that selective.

This makes me wish I had taken the night off just to have a word to those arrogant yarpies.

As someone that has been there i would not wish this on my worst enamy.

[Mrs Busa Pete]

We are. Problem is he seems to have bugger all of them.

So when he does we need to make sure we are hurd and seen. Do you hear that kb no excuse's

[Reckless]

As someone that has been there i would not wish this on my worst enemy.

There where quite a few angry Rumbles in the crowd when that started happening and it was pretty soon knocked on the head. The young lady ended up having a very good say and they presented the banner to nick smith well, made a good political statement and got all her views across against ACC in the end!

[MSTRS:Me]

As someone that has been there i would not wish this on my worst enamy.

I hear you. But sometimes, a sledgehammer is the best tool for the job.

[Max Headroom]

The Herald reporter's email address is at the bottom of the article. If you view it on-line, you can link to it directly. I sent him a response this morning too:

An excerpt from your article:
"Meanwhile, a speech by ACC Minister Nick Smith to party faithful in
Auckland last night was gatecrashed by about 100 angry bikers.

Mr Smith was giving a speech on the environment when the bikers turned up
at the Royal Akarana Yacht Club on Tamaki Drive.

They wanted to know why riders of the 600cc-plus bikes were being hardest
hit by the proposed new levies.

Dressed in fluoro vests, the bikers shouted Mr Smith down as he attempted
to answer their questions."

Matthew, I was one of the "angry bikers" you referred to in your article.
You published a slanted and factually incorrect picture of the event. We
didn't gatecrash the meeting - it was open to the public and we were
welcomed by Alan Peachey at the beginning of the meeting at 7:30pm. Nick
Smith wasn't giving a speech about the environment when we arrived at
7:15pm - the meeting hadn't begun yet.

You attempt to portray motorcyclists in a negative light, and have yet to
do any useful investigative journalism to establish the reasons for many
to attend the meeting last night. This is poor reporting.

If you wish to discuss this further, you're welcome to ring me on 021 XXX
XXX.

[MSTRS:Me]

Keep your phone charged and close to hand....
yea right

[DidJit]

... Because the media haven't developed the story to get to the real issue and keep repeating the same titbits, it seems to me, that marginalizes us, writes us off, makes us seem... a minor irritant. The real message — the destruction of ACC which affects all NZers — needs to be covered and hammered home again and again.

Synchronicity... of sorts. Hopefully 'tis the beginning of some real digging by some real journalists.

[Katman]

I hear you. But sometimes, a sledgehammer is the best tool for the job.

Amen.

[Chisanga]

So she a Nat member? Name her.

Obviously I cannot name her, it was an assumption on my part, informed by her being rather buddy-buddy before and after the meeting with some people wearing blue rosettes.

[Chisanga]

John Judge "The question I would have is whether the [regularly changing] Government is a good owner of a long-tail insurance scheme."

Hmmmm.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/n...ectid=10612629

Edit: Noticed Hanne has already mentioned this in a new topic.

[White trash]

I'm amazed at the ammount of utter drible in the media regarding this meeting.

I listen to Big FM here at work (don't ask) and was intrigued by the young chicky reporting at great lengths about "the group of 100 angry motorcyclists who gate crashed the meeting and abused Nick Smith while he attempted to answer their questions"

TV3 report I saw on TV shows none of that and I'm pretty sure they'd be more interested in reporting the juicy stuff.

[MSTRS:Me]

The perennial problem with the media is that their idea of 'juicy' is so far out of whack, it's not funny. Did we get to see Nick the Prick's eye-rolling response to the woman who stood up and announced she was a rape victim? Nope. The milage that would have generated if aired would be incalculable. But...nothing.

[FastBikeGear]

Thanks to all those speakers on the night who prepared questions; some were excellent and in particular the guy who ambushed him as a cyclist AND motorcyclist

Thanks mate!

[Dodgyiti]

There's still plenty more work to do. Everyone will have an opportunity to take part.
The key thing is for the momentum to keep going probably right up to election time.

I would have to disagree with that. If the people in power are going to have a holiday, then we should too. Come back refreshed when they do rather than get burnt out doing a heap of protesting that they simply will not care about over Christmas.. unless it is something major and that is hard to organise around that time of year anyway.

[Winston001]

Nick Smith openly declared ACC to be an Insurance Scheme! Oh really? I am sure others will be keen to hear about that.

Great turnout for the meeting and well done to everyone who attended. Nick Smith is getting the message even if he doesn't like it.

I'm not sure that the use of the word "insurance" by ACC will capture public attention. It is a type of insurance after all - you make a payment to cover yourself for an unknown future event. We don't like to think of ACC as insurance but it meets the definition.

As I've said before, in US states, people pay for unemployment insurance with their taxes and no-one objects. Lose your job and you get a weekly payment. No law suits, no no-claims bonuses etc.