The H bomb in Wanganui

[jeffs]

A referendum is a vote by all enrolled electors on a question.

A binding referendum requires the result to be acted upon or implemented.

An indicative referendum does not require the result to be acted upon or implemented. Citizens initiated referenda are indicative or non-binding.

There is only one question.

1. Can anyone tell me if in NZ there has ever been a "Indicative Referendum" that has ever changed the law or a political decision ?

Based on the answer to question 1, Why did people even bother voting in a local referendum in, XXXXXXX, (name removed to stop the shouting ) as the only people with a real vote, were the New Zealand Geographic Board. The people of XXXXX where never part of the equation.

Popular opinion in NZ has never changed anything. I vote in elections because I can, not because I think it will make a difference.

[candor]

Laws would be challenged keeping up with the IQ of a hedgehog. He is like some left over from Jo'annesburg. Hard to believe the puffed up cretin is Kiwi.

To imagine that it was even defensible to have every Wanganuite vote on the towns name was plain racist.

Erm Wanganui is a Maori name therefore leave the spellcheck up to Maori to correct if need be - doh! And hello, their way of deciding may not even involve British innovations like voting either. Such decisions I guess usually fall to the chiefs and cheiftainesses with mana whenua. So that means not all those outsider Maori or Tokelauans that cruised on in.

I think the new definition for outrageously OTT impertinent in the Oxford concise might just be "Mikey Laws". It is quite easy to imagine exactly how he would perform if ever accused of murder. It'd be pot kettle and yes but....

[jeffs]

Only you can decide in this non-binding vote. Please feel free to vote as many time as you like it wont make a difference to the outcome. The vote is rigged as usual.

1. We lobbied the NZGB to correcting an injustice, because we always said the name was wrong and no one listened to us ?
2. We lobbied the NZGB because we wanted racial harmony in your town, and we know by changing the name it could be reached ?
3. We understand that buy changing the name of our town, the cost of changing all signs, maps, letterheads .... Would be over looked by the people of our town, because its fare that we correct the injustice done by spelling out towns name wrong ?
4. If we kick up this storm, people will over look the real problems our town is suffering from ?
5. If we stair up Laws, he will implode under his own steam, and every one outside XXXX will hate him, not us ?
6. The NZGB should have agreed to have two spellings, so we could all live in harmony, we get what we want and it does not cost the town anything ?

BTW I don't like Laws, but the job Scapegoat can be added to his CV now.

[Forest]

1. Can anyone tell me if in NZ there has ever been a "Indicative Referendum" that has ever changed the law or a political decision ?

Is this a trick question?

Have you forgotten how we ended up with MMP?

[SixPackBack]

He's English...just can't help himself.

Can't be having the peasants getting all uppity,it just won't do old bean.

Great line of defence. Unfortunately the last time this 'pom' lived in the UK was 1972

You and headbanger share the same parochial traits-find out if the opponent is from somewhere other than Wanganui and attack the man not the ball. If your attitudes are representative of the red neck wonderland you both live in I an see how someone as shallow and self serving as Law's has rallied the 'tobacco chewers'........

REAL leadership encompasses ALL of the community, it binds the populace [not divides].

As for the 77% who voted headbanger, that number comes from only 60% of the population-hardly earth shattering!

[SixPackBack]

..........Moutua gardens is just one possible reason local Iwi are marginilised, and in all likleyhood took little part in the 'H' referendum. What was the point?.....No one listens!

A notice on a kitchen tent at Moutoa Gardens, Wanganui, New Zealand, during occupation by members of Whanganui iwi, 14 March 1995.
In February 1995 Te Runanga Pakaitore began a 79-day occupation of Moutoa Gardens. The occupation was an attempt to restore the mana of the Whanganui people over the site. The gardens had been established on the site of an ancient pa, Pakaitore. This had been a traditional place for trade before European settlement. Te Runanga Pakaitore claimed that it had been set aside from the purchase of Wanganui. The city denied these claims.
Those protesting saw the gardens as the symbol of past grievances. It had become a memorial to kupapa Maori - those perceived to be loyal to the Crown. As well as the statue in memory of those who fell at Moutoa ‘in defence of law and order against fanaticism and barbarism’, a statue dedicated to the Putiki chief Te Rangihiwinui Kepa ('Major Kemp') celebrated his successes against Te Kooti, the ‘murderer of women and children’.
This dispute highlighted the way in which historic issues dating back to the initial European settlement of the area remained unresolved. These issues have come to the fore again in recent debates over whether the city of Wanganui should be renamed Whanganui. Early translators missed the silent ‘h’ in the local Maori dialect and spelt the town - and the river - Wanganui. In 1991 the New Zealand Geographic Board responded to calls from some local Maori by officially changing the name of the river to Whanganui. In 2009 public consultation began to consider whether or not this name change should be extended to the town itself. Opponents, including the Mayor, Michael Laws, argue that in the intervening years Wanganui and its people have created ‘its own identity, its own history, its own pride, its own mana’.

[Headbanger]

Ignorant,deluded,and hypocritical.

you sir have been attacking laws on a personal level from the get go, Nearly everything you have posted has been a fallacy and delusional. And now your trying to attack a democratic process. All the while knowing fuck all of nothing.

[Swoop]

Ah, so after having the highest yet reply for a referendum and receiving massive support for the direction taken we should instead count all the people who didn't bother to contribute and just imagine they opposed it strongly and we should do what we imagine all these imaginary votes would have said in your imagination?

This is New Zealand. The small, vocal minority, is always pandered to here, instead of the majority.

[davereid]

The Story of New Zealand Place Names (AW Reed, 1952)

"The maori of this district have been called the cockneys of the Maori people, as their dialect contains the sound "w" instead of the usual "wh"

(Hat tip to Robin Insull)

It would appear the correct spelling (at least for the locals) is Wanganui...

[MSTRS:Me]

Since Europeans 'decided' that the F sound in Maori should be spelled WH, and with the insistence of a vocal few that 170 years of Wanganui (no H) is to be set aside, I think it only fair that all WH places be changed to F, so as to address the 170 years of bad spelling. Europeans 'gave' the Maori writing, so have the right to take it away or change it. Nor should they stop with WH. We all know the ad on TV with teh Aussies saying 'Wackatain"?? Think of the confusion that would be avoided, by simply spelling Maori how it sounds.
This message brought to you by the BDOTGNZA (who are not averse to using phonetics when it suits).

You and headbanger share the same parochial traits-find out if the opponent is from somewhere other than Wanganui and attack the man not the ball.

I just had to point out the irony contained herein...

[SixPackBack]

PHIL REID/The Dominion Post
WALKED FREE: Mongrel Mob member Brett Beamsley, who was wearing a beanie with a logo similar to the one inset, told police the bulldog was a Georgia University logo, and not Mob insignia.




A Mongrel Mob member arrested under Wanganui's gang patch ban bylaw has walked free from court, but a senior police officer admits that dropping the charge was a mistake
At least one police staff member decided to withdraw the charge against Brett Beamsley, 45, after accepting his argument that a bulldog on his beanie was a Georgia University logo, and not Mongrel Mob insignia.
Central area commander Superintendent Russell Gibson said he was disappointed by the decision, which was made without adequate consultation.
"I am concerned that the decision will be used to bait us, which is the very behaviour that the legislation was brought in to curb. It is for that reason I want to make it very clear to all gang members and associates in Wanganui that if a similar situation arises it is highly likely we will proceed with a prosecution and allow that prosecution to be tested in a court of law."
Matters were being dealt with internally, and he would not comment on potential repercussions for staff members involved.
Mr Beamsley was pulled over by police while driving near his Aramoho home on September 2, a day after the bylaw came into force.
The charge was dropped during an appearance in Wanganui District Court yesterday.
Mr Gibson said there were some circumstances under which a withdrawn charge could be reinstated and these were under consideration.
If the case is not reopened, police will have to return the confiscated beanie to Mr Beamsley, who said he would continue to wear it.
"As soon as I get it back again I'm straight to town to see if they arrest me again."
Wanganui Mayor Michael Laws said Mr Gibson contacted him yesterday to explain the situation. "[The logo] obviously is gang insignia. It's just a simple error and I've been assured it won't happen again and I've accepted that assurance."
Whanganui MP Chester Borrows, who sponsored the supporting legislation through Parliament, said it was a shame the charge was dropped, but the outcome could not be considered a win by gangs.
"Further charges will give the court the opportunity to make a decision and set a precedent."
Speaking outside court, Mr Beamsley said he was surprised the charges were dropped.
"It's quite funny. I was expecting to be putting my plea in, so it's funny they let me go."
If arrested for wearing the hat again, he said he would plead not guilty because the bulldog logo was not Mongrel Mob insignia.
Victoria University associate law professor Elisabeth McDonald said the key issue for the court to determine would be whether the Georgia University bulldog was "commonly displayed" to represent the Mongrel Mob.
Four men were charged in the week after the patch ban came into force on September 1, but no more arrests had been made since.
Only one of the men Mongrel Mob Whanganui president Peter Randal Nahona has pleaded guilty.
Tribesman member John Ratana, 21, who is accused of wearing gang insignia while riding his motorbike on September 1, was excused from appearing in court yesterday and remanded until October 6.


Poor bugger being persecuted by the filth, give the man some self respect and put the 'H' into Wanganui.

[fire eyes]

They need to get on with the real issues instead of wasting our taxpayer money over H.

Take in both and keep all parties happy like few other parts in NZ.

Mt Egmont, Taranaki.

Taranaki sounds so much more prettier I laughed when one of my aussie mates thought Taranaki was a Japanese Sauce ... wonder what he would have made of Egmont

[MSTRS:Me]

Poor bugger being persecuted by the filth, give the man some self respect and put the 'H' into Wanganui.

Oh yeah...poor wee poppet. That H is obviously of critical importance to his self-esteem

[fire eyes]

PHIL REID/The Dominion Post
WALKED FREE: Mongrel Mob member Brett Beamsley, who was wearing a beanie with a logo similar to the one inset, told police the bulldog was a Georgia University logo, and not Mob insignia.

Poor bugger being persecuted by the filth, give the man some self respect and put the 'H' into Wanganui.

A hat?? excuse me while I fall off my seat laughing ..

[T.W.R]

The Story of New Zealand Place Names (AW Reed, 1952)

"The maori of this district have been called the cockneys of the Maori people, as their dialect contains the sound "w" instead of the usual "wh"

(Hat tip to Robin Insull)

It would appear the correct spelling (at least for the locals) is Wanganui...

That'd be the river maori they've been there longer than most; pretty feral though compared to but respected by the imports. They just get on with their shit and can't be bothered with the stirrers.

The town & surrounding area are great, it's just the residents

Gonville & Aramoho are