Re: Tory Whanau

I think that she was the victim of a rather negative campaign from some people that had some influence within the media. Compared to Winston, she's doing fine. I personally think that she's become a suprisingly conservative mayor. That's like 1980's Labour; she's constrained by the truly awful state of Wellington's finances. Despite that, I think that Tory and Wayne Brown are beginning to represent a real shift in how local body politics is done. - There's a focus on how to minimise debt and minimise rates increases, and that's something which reflects the people who own houses being NIMBY's. I think the long-term plan has survived fairly intact, though I wonder what the associated health costs are if substandard cycleways are built, rather than scrapping elements of the current LGWM program. There isn't enough money to build them as they were originally intended, so this is something that I'd wager the Welly Council has fought hard for. - That's my opinion... I haven't been to a Council meeting, so that's a guess. - I honestly am baffled by the fuss. A lot of politicians are heavy drinkers; that's something that most Wellingtonians would know. I probably drink a similar amount to Tory. Roughly 6-9 drinks on average per day. For a rocker, though, that's totally accepted. That's a privilege that I exploit. 👋

- I'm sure that when she was merely chief of staff for the Greens - a huge responsibilitiy -that her drinking was considered normal. - The M.J. Savage bio mentions that, despite their awful salaries, they had free meals at Bellamys. So, yeah, literally many of those famous MPs of that early era of NZ politics were living in other people's garages. I'm stronger on post-WWII NZ History. - I wonder if Joe Savage was ace. There's no suggestion that he was sexual, and I'm well over one hundred pages into Gustafson's book. Like, the guy was a moderate drinker and was a keen dancer and singer. It's somewhat akin to reading about Brahms; if you've seen Mr. Turner, I reckon that's probably fairly accurate for how many of those artists lived (ie through whores). They thought Gaugain was 'in-between' when he migrated to Tahiti.😂 - As a nerd who has a knack for satire: I think there's an old-school element of NZ politics that relates to music. It's to do with oratory, which is a really important skill within our Parliamentary system. I attended Theatresports, but I wasn't that keen on it. My own style is improvisatory, but it's related to jazz and riffs. Emanuel's from Philadelphia, so that's why that sound is an influence on my music. - Tonga's constitutional arrangements aren't my aspiration for Aotearoa, but I feel like me suggesting ideas on how a Māori Parliament 'should' be set up is sorta stilly... I think that any hereditary system is probably not ideal, so as long as those are elected members, I think that's a very viable idea for future Parliamentary arrangements. The Māori King as Head of State, with some kind of constitutionally separate Paremata Māori is the vision that I'd attempt to pitch for 2026. - That's what AMPP is good for: pie-in-the-sky policy stuff that's futuristic and aspirational. - However, I think that asexuality is a modern concept; 'bachelor' wasn't necessarily gay, but it was a class of people who weren't bearing children (generally, but not universally).

'Confirmed bachelor' is more likely a homosexual referent; I'm not an expert on Victorian English. - I have a book on Wilde's trial and the emergent mass media that I purchased a while ago, but I've only read a few chapters of it. 'In The Nineties' by John Stokes. I think my style of politics is resolutely old-school. I made my name with audiences on the streets, with my version of soap boxes. 👋 - Regarding books or documentaries: I think there's a long history of transvestites in NZ history, and that's an area that's worthy of future research. I'm not really thinking re: WWII concert parties. That's an interesting element, but to me that's ancillary. The post-WWII scene that Carmen emerged from is particularly interesting to me. That means research trips to Auckland. That's an important scene which I'm not an expert on. There's only a few people who know Wellington's gay history like me. 😂