Bowalley Road

Reflections of a Seasoned New Zealander

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What Are We Defending?

Feb 24, 2025 | bowalleyroad.blogspot.com | Chris Trotter

A SMALL FORCE, just three ships, but its impact in a week of geopolitical transformation was devastating. Chinese naval vessels had sailed past Sydney at a distance of just 150 nautical miles. A clearer message to Australia and New Zealand could not have been sent by the Chinese Government: The Pacific is no longer an American lake. The question to be answered, now, is: How should New Zealand respond? It’s armed forces are in a state of deplorable disrepair.
This One's Just For You, Martyn.

Nov 6, 2024 | bowalleyroad.blogspot.com | Chris Trotter

VIDEOHard Hat & A HammerAlan JacksonVideo courtesy of YouTubePosted on Bowalley Road on Thursday, 7 November 2024.
Bowalley Road: Judge Not.

Sep 12, 2024 | bowalleyroad.blogspot.com | Chris Trotter

FOUR HUNDRED AND FORTY men and women professing the Christian faith would appear to have imperilled their immortal souls. The second of the Ten Commandments could hardly be clearer: Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image. And yet, in their open letter to the nation’s legislators, these 440 clerics have made it equally clear that, by their adoration of te Tiriti o Waitangi, idolatry is precisely what they are guilty of.
The Buggers Who Complain.

Jun 20, 2024 | bowalleyroad.blogspot.com | Chris Trotter

THE BEST GUESS I can offer as to the author of the line is William Brandt. He wrote scripts for the 1990s New Zealand television crime series “Duggan”, starring John Bach as an introverted police inspector brooding morosely over the Marlborough Sounds. What was the line?
The Illusion of Power: How Local Government Bureaucrats Overawe Democratically-Elected Councillors..

Jun 12, 2024 | bowalleyroad.blogspot.com | Chris Trotter

A DISINTEGRATION OF LOYALTIES on the Wellington City Council has left Mayor Tory Whanau without a reliable majority. The cause of this disintegration has been identified by those whose loyalty has been tested to destruction as Council Staff. Not only do WCC employees and consultants stand accused of pushing aggressively for the sale of the Council’s shares in Wellington Airport, but also of intimidating and threatening Councillors opposed to the proposed divestment.
Bowalley Road: Numbers Game.

Jun 9, 2024 | bowalleyroad.blogspot.com | Chris Trotter

IN THE ERA OF DRONES and Artificial Intelligence, how hard can it be to provide an accurate count of protesters? Knowing how many Aucklanders were willing to make the effort and join the Greenpeace-organised “March For Nature” on Saturday afternoon (8/6/24) would make the calculation of its significance so much easier. If the figure of 20,000 offered by some participants is correct, then the turnout was good, but not spectacular.
Māori Cannot Re-Write New Zealand’s Constitution By Stealth.

Jun 6, 2024 | bowalleyroad.blogspot.com | Chris Trotter

THE DEMAND for a “Māori Parliament” needs to be carefully unpicked. Some Pakeha, thoroughly alarmed by the incendiary rhetoric surrounding the proposition have taken to muttering darkly about “sedition” and “treason”. This is not a helpful line of reasoning to pursue since a threat, if it is to be counted real, requires a credible means of delivery, and, as far as we know, Te Pāti Māori has little to put in the field beyond the thousands of peaceful protesters it has already deployed.
Winding Back The Hands Of History’s Clock.

Apr 28, 2024 | bowalleyroad.blogspot.com | Chris Trotter

IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge number of citizens who’d cast their votes against her party? Surely, in a nation governed by political parties, strengthening one’s own, and advantaging its most loyal supporters, would be the two top priorities?
Something Important: The Curious Death of the School Strike 4 Climate Movement.

Apr 7, 2024 | bowalleyroad.blogspot.com | Chris Trotter

THE YOUNG MAN is every centimetre the twenty-first century revolutionary: youthful, indigenous, and draped in the keffiyeh of martyred Palestine. Like so many of his generation, raised with-on-by the smart-phone, he communicates faultlessly with his audience. And what he says is every bit as revolutionary as his looks.
Bowalley Road: Fair Enough!

Mar 31, 2024 | bowalleyroad.blogspot.com | Chris Trotter

Sounds About Right: It would seem that the realities of practical politics makes utilitarians of us all. DOING THE GREATEST GOOD for the greatest number has long been the ethical rule-of-thumb for New Zealand politicians. At least, that is how they would argue if challenged to justify their own, or their government’s, actions.