Opinion piece by Frank Newman: LAUGHS AND LIES FROM THE CANDIDATES PROFILES

The Candidate Information that went out with the voting papers is more amusing than it is informative.

The loudest laugh goes to Fiona Green with this comment. “My preference is for an all-male team with me supporting my team. I have found working with men – energizing because they are logical, straight up, and don't harbour grudges for a lifetime”.

What a hoot. So, women are illogical, not straight up, and harbour grudges for a lifetime? I guess Fiona is not chasing the women’s vote then(!) but she will be a hit with the menfolk who will be silently nodding approval (when their partner is not looking)! Fiona has since made a public statement to the effect that the version appearing in the profile was sent in error, but even so, it is priceless and deserves to be in print.

300 local jobs lost due to tribal infighting

by Frank Newman (this article first appeared in nzcpr.com) 

Chief of War is an action drama set in 18th-century Hawaii. The storyline is about four warring tribes uniting against a much more powerful colonial invader. Presumably, the plot will be along the lines of a heroic chief using super-human qualities to unite the proud and virtuous tribal folk in order to defeat the imperial evil to establish the utopian happily-ever-after Kingdom of Hawaii. It is actually based on some truth in that the Kingdom of Hawaii was formed in the late 18th century. The rest is fiction. The actual history following tribal unification was one of decline until Hawaii was annexed to the United States 100 years later. Needless to say, a sequel is unlikely to feature this aspect of history.  

That aside, Chief of War appears to be a good yarn commercially suited to a woke audience and Harvard University academics.

It has been billed as “the biggest Indigenous series ever made”. There is no question it is a big deal financially, with a production budget of US$340 million for the nine episodes.

Frank Newman: Misconduct at the Whangarei District Council

Things are getting pretty bizarre at the Whangarei District Council.

The Northern Advocate has provided an update on a Code of Conduct complaint against councillor Jayne Golightly. (see article HERE >>>)

The Code of Conduct complaint was made by Whangarei activist Terry Burkhardt. The Advocate says,

 “Burkhardt alleged Golightly breached council confidentiality by including information from confidential council meeting discussions in her on-air Sean Plunket interview [on The Platform].”

Frank Newman. Straight Talk: Crime wave continues.

 This morning's press is again full of crime stories, two screaming out with messages of what's so wrong with our justice system and our government's pathetically soft approach to crime that borders on condoning the actions of criminals. The first is from the NZ Herald.