Bob Edlin: Let’s listen to Dame Lynda on the matter of Defence spending....

Let’s listen to Dame Lynda on the matter of Defence spending – Bob Jones (who contributed to NZ Ballet) was dismissive, too

Bob Jones created his libertarian New Zealand Party in 1983 out of disgust with the Muldoon-led National Government’s policies, such as wage and price freezes. And Supplementary Minimum Prices (SMPs), the government-funded agricultural subsidy scheme introduced in 1978 to guarantee floor prices for pastoral products like meat and wool.

Karl du Fresne: Bob Jones, Sitiveni Rabuka and me

The Newsroom website this morning has a long, affectionate tribute to Bob Jones, written by Tom Scott. One great character writing about another. It’s very entertaining. How could it not be?

It also served as a reminder of an era when Wellington was a far livelier and more stimulating place than it is now – a city full of rumbustious, convention-defying individuals who lived life at 100 miles an hour and didn't bother with seat belts, metaphorically speaking.

Bob Jones: The solution to our housing crisis

In our desire to build state rental homes we’re instead largely creating Coronation Street style future slums which hardly fit the bill for family homes.

When the first Labour government embarked on this programme back in the late 1930s they built homes, each different from their neighbours and all sitting on large plots allowing space for front and back lawns plus decent sized vegetable gardens. I know as I grew up in one.

Bob Jones: Stuff hypocrisy

Readers will have noticed Stuff's ludicrous practice whenever mentioning any actual or pretend maori, of listing the subject’s tribal ancestry in brackets after their name.

Two questions arise, both about consistency.

Bob Jones: University degrees

The degradation of university degrees over my life-time, is tragic. Readers familiar with my novel of 20 years back, “Degrees For Everyone” will understand. Consider this.

A regular contributor in the NZ Herald is a Canterbury University sociologist, (a bogus subject lacking any intellectual element) namely a Dr Jarrod Gilbert. In a recent Herald article he wrote, “… I told you how me and a mate bought shares in a couple of racehorses”.

Bob Jones: Stuff and nonsense

A recent lengthy article in Wellington’s Post newspaper by Julie Jacobson headed “Council offers rich-lister’s support to secure tenants” left me incredulous.

Julie babbled on about the Wellington City Council’s efforts to woo tenants into my company’s central Lambton Quay large retail block, formerly occupied by the David Jones department store. Almost every assertion she wrote was wrong.

Bob Jones: Coneland

The election campaign grinds boringly on notwithstanding the ultimate outcome is not in doubt, namely a change of government.

What’s puzzled me about the electioneering to date is the failure by Opposition parties to raise a problem not only unique to New Zealand but at any time in world history anywhere.

Bob Jones: The Debate

I tuned in to TV One on Tuesday night for the debate, that in itself a rare event, indeed probably the first time this year that I’ve viewed TVNZ. But not for long. I lasted 10 minutes.

The appalling moderator Jessica Mulch or Muck or some such name, screeching and bellowing Barbarian while Hipkins simultaneously babbled at 100 words a minute, saw me quickly tune out and pick up my book.

Bob Jones: The Winston dilemma

The incoming government will have such a huge majority as not to need New Zealand First.

I believe New Zealand First will easily crack the 5% mark as Winston, being half maori, alone feels safe addressing the big issue upsetting New Zealanders, namely outrageous co-government propositions, maori favouritism and the like.

Bob Jones: Ministry of Pacific Affairs

The recently reported scandal re the Ministry of Pacific Affairs living it up at taxpayers expense, shocked me when I read this outfit has 128 staff. This is a typical example of the appalling mismanagement by the current government.

Apparently it’s brief is to monitor the welfare of Auckland’s Island community, who as an aside number a third of Auckland’s Chinese community, so why not a corresponding outfit for the Chinese? We know the answer, specifically, there’s no need. Rather they get stuck in and look after themselves.

But the report resonated with me for another reason.

Bob Jones: Political Donations

STUFF reports today a Radio NZ account that the last time business made any meaningful donations to the Labour Party since the start of 2020 was $25,000 by Mainfreight, which company name they typically mis-spelt, and $25,000 from “two companies linked to Greg Loveridge”, my company’s managing director. Here are the facts about that.

First, both Greg and I gave $25,000 each to the Labour Party six months before the 2017 election.

Bob Jones: Taxation

A recent poll claimed 60% of New Zealanders support a wealth tax.

That’s no surprise. My lifelong observation on people’s attitude to taxation is they’re all for taxes so long as they affect someone else and not them.

Bob Jones: Political Journalists

The most futile job in New Zealand right now is that of a political columnist. With four weeks to go to the election, they pretend the outcome is uncertain when they know full well the election is done and dusted. That’s because this is easily the most unpopular post-war government and they’re about to pay the price and be decimated, as I forecast on this Blog 18 months ago. But instead of saying so and writing about relevant things such as likely cabinet position allocations, or policy issues instead they moan that Luxon is boring and such-like trivia.

Bob Jones: Small country self-consciousness

A recent Herald issue ran a guest article by a tourist operator, a Gavin Oliver, in which he referred to “Aotearoa as one of the world’s most desirable tourist locations”.

Putting aside the reality that no-one anywhere in the world will have heard of Aotearoa, Gavin is talking world-class tosh.

Bob Jones: The increasingly desperate Hipkins

The increasingly desperate Labour leader is making a bloody fool of himself, announcing fresh unresearched policies on the hoof almost daily. Did he learn nothing from the fruit and vegetable GST fiasco, heavily condemned by every economist and his own colleagues (when it was mooted earlier this year)?

His nonsensical announcement to teach “financial literacy” in schools, is I’m informed backed by National. No surprise there if so, the Nats not noted for innovative or deep thought.

Bob Jones: Laughable job title glorifications

Few industries match mine (Commercial Property) when it comes to bullsh*t job titles.

A recent newspaper display advert by Bayleys under the heading

“Strategic Appointment”. Introduced an employee as,

“The National Head of Occupier Strategy and Solutions”

Bob Jones: The decline (collapse?) of meaningful University degrees

Two decades back I wrote “Degrees For Everyone”, a comic novel on the collapse of universities as centres of academia. Instead, I claimed, they were now commercial ventures, dishing out nonsense degrees in non-academic topics. Since then university degrees (excluding the sciences, philosophy et al) have become an even bigger joke.

Bob Jones: Police called to Stuff office

The sound of lashing followed by piercing screams saw the Police crash into Stuff’s Wellington offices yesterday.

Bob Jones: Our bloated bureacracy

I don’t know Nick Mowbray although I’m obviously aware of him.

Recently a lawyer friend sent me a copy of his observations on bureaucratic growth, which I reproduce below.

Thoughts of Nick Mowbray founder of Zuru.

Its time NZ looked at our return on bureaucrats.

Bob Jones: An answer to our hospital crisis

I was interested to read that breast reduction surgery is available from Medicare in Australia. This made the news when women complained they were at the back of the queue, apparently some surgeons viewing it as a cosmetic issue.

That’s nonsense. Overly large breasts are a hellish problem and just as much an impediment to a physically comfortable life and thus needing surgery, as say hip surgery. But offering this operation in New Zealand (outside of the private sector) would be a pipe-dream, due to the appalling shortage of medical professionals here.