Wednesday, August 21, 2013

David Shearer steps down. Sad---but perhaps the best. Now what?

It came as no surprise today that David Shearer stepped down as Leader of the Opposition Labour Party. Very few people would have said that David is not a ‘good and honest man,’ but many may have thought that he didn’t have that ‘killer instinct’ that a leader of a party should have, especially when confronted with the likes (I almost said lies!) of John Key. Labour needs a person to lead who can build on the work of David and bring the party together to be ‘Government in waiting,’ one that we can believe in.
The next few days are a ‘make or break’ time for Labour. If they stuff up the leadership transition, they will consign themselves to the ‘wastelands of politics.’ Now is not the time for nasty scheming. The selection process needs to be transparent and processed with dignity. I am not going to suggest who should follow David. There are quite a few candidates in waiting, some obvious and others, perhaps a little in the shadows.
If Labour gets this right and support for the new leader is widespread, then Labour has a real chance to bring about a brighter future for all of NZ; a future that is not based on divisive politics and the rule of a party that does not listen. Surely Labour has learnt a lesson from past leadership struggles. Will they now forge ahead and bring back one thing New Zealanders all crave for----Hope?!

Please drive us safely, bus drivers!

If today’s report in the NZ Herald is to believed then we should keep a careful watch on the bus drivers who are taking our lives in their hands. That ‘some’ of them are said to be texting or reading documents while they are driving is disturbing to say the least. One would expect more of them; after all they are supposed to be professional drivers, not the dopey people we see texting and god knows what else driving cars. I am sure we have all seen examples of plain stupidity and outright dangerous driving from our fellow car drivers. Perhaps some of us are flushed with guilt as we read this as we recall those times we have sneaked a look at our cell phones or worse, answered the damn things.
At a time when the ‘authorities’ are extolling us to take public transport in order to ‘save the planet’ and avoid unnecessary expenditure on massive motorway extensions, one would think that we jump on a bus and expect total safety in the way we are bussed about town. Sure, bus drivers are human and can be subjected to the same temptations as the rest of us, but the difference is that they hold the lives of far more people I their capable hands.
So Mr and Ms bus drivers; please be careful and keep that trust you have built up with us over the years and may your numbers increase as more of us take up the services you provide and that indeed more of us contemplate making your acquaintances as we approach that magic time in which we can take advantage of the wonderful ‘Gold Card.’ (For my dear overseas readers, we have free public transport in our cities for those over 65!)