Red Alert
Posts Tagged ‘John Campbell’
A tale of two interviews
Posted by Phil Twyford on March 9th, 2010Last night Minister of Local Government Rodney Hide appeared on Close Up to answer questions from host Mark Sainsbury about the super city, and claims on the front page of yesterday’s Herald that Hide’s CCOs lack transparency and accountability.
The interview was a big disappointment. Mark Sainsbury failed to ask the hard questions and repeatedly gave Hide an opportunity to spin his lines. Have a look at it here. (The interview kicks in about halfway through the item.)
In contrast, John Campbell also recorded an interview with Hide on the same subject yesterday. I am not sure that it actually went to air but you can watch it on the TV3 website. Campbell doesn’t let Hide off the hook.
What do you think?
Is the super city a cover for privatisation?
Posted by Phil Twyford on August 19th, 2009Campbell Live covered my member’s bill and the super city privatisation issue last night. Rodney Hide first tried to say that John Key had ruled out asset sales but Campbell picked him up on the fact that Key was only talking about state assets, not local ones. Then Hide objected to my bill on the grounds that it applied only to Auckland! He did say he would like to make the case for the privatisation of the ports of Auckland. Good to see three Auckland mayors expressing their support, but strange that Auckland City Mayor John Banks claimed not to even know about the bill.
My bill gets its first reading tonight, possibly as early as 5pm. For details on how to tune in, click here.
Labour, Greens, Maori Party and Progressive are all voting for the bill. It’s Rodney Hide and the Government’s big chance to prove they are listening to Aucklanders. Let’s see if they take it.
