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Sunday, September 25, 2011

Brash arrives at conference with announcement



11 comments:

Armchair Critic said...

Was the announcement that the guest speaker was Willie Nelson? And that ACT are proposing a space program?

robertguyton said...

That No. 3 on the Act Party list was Lithium.

Suz said...

Kudos to Brash for having the sufficiently-sized kahunas to announce this policy.

Anonymous said...

no doubt it is just lip service, as Key wld not follow the new Brash policy idea (I saw new but the idea is not new, just new to Act).

robertguyton said...

Suz - though I say 'policy', Brash says, 'thinking aloud'. Banks says Huff, Puff! Not on my watch!!
The kahunas of Brash...don't bear thinking about.
Anonymous - yes, you are correct. Key will dismiss it with a limp-wristed wave that will ripple like the Mexican through his crowd of followers.

Suz said...

Whether Don with the Bong (no I shouldn't jest), is merely thinking aloud, or more likely thinking with his bean-counter brain, I still applaud him for venturing into the too-hard basket that sooooo many other Conservative politicians avoid. Just don't get, in my self-confessed ignorance of all things political, why he doesn't emphatically get across, that pro-decriminalisation does not equate to pro-cannabis, and thus not alienate the many high-brow alcoholics of Epsom?

robertguyton said...

'Getting something across', and 'something getting across' are two very different things. The Greens were thrying to 'get across' the same message for years. Mostly, they were torpedoed by the likes of Peter Dunhill and Winston Peters, Bill English etc, who immediately threw their toys and screamed 'REEFER MADNESS!'

Suz said...

Is that why the Greens are so muted on the issue now as Phil Ure so eloquently points out...It's merely something in the back of my mind that this is a Green Party policy...the fact that Brash is prepared to even put it out there, astounds and shocks me. I hate to say it, but I believe there is a general perception out there that the Greens are all dope-smoking, tree-hugging hippies of old, so for the likes of Brash to bring it into the here and now, from some-one such as him, can only be a positive .

robertguyton said...

It does seem great that Brash has floated the idea again Suz but I have not faith at all in his sincerity and depth of understanding of the issue. I wonder why he didn't talk about the medicinal cannabis aspect - surely that's where movement will take place first. I think he has other motivations for saying he's a supporter of decriminalisation.
As for the silence of the Greens - having been battered about the dreadlocked head for years and years over this issue, they'd be foolish to go all 'i told you so' or 'hey, that's our policy, this close to the election. It wasn't in their plan and I believe they're right to let it lie. Phil is sharp on many things, but as a strategist, he's crap :-)

Suz said...

Nek minnit, a whole lotta people might be voting ACT instead of Green...ya neva know! Can you enlighten/update me on the Green's stance on decriminilisation?

robertguyton said...

I don't quite know where they stand Suz, but it'll be on their website. I think they support decriminalization with the driver being that cannabis use should be a health issue, rather than a legal one and treated as such. They argue for harm minimization, always have, and I note Brash says the same, sort of, but with far less knowledge and experience.
I think the number of pro-cannabis voters moving from Green to Act will be zero. One look at the Act line-up and it's history's enough to solidify your resolve to vote for Meyt and Russ.