Reefton

Sorry to hear that Mumbles. I don't think my father was involved in the front lines but I believe he saw plenty of horrific sights. Tragically from my perspective he died long before I could talk to him about his experiences (I was four and the other family member on the other channel eleven or twelve I think). It does make me laugh how Kiwis fought for Britain in two wars but when the EEC came along the Poms forgot about Kiwis and our dependence on agricultural trade. And as for Anzac Day well they make a huge fuss now but when those guys came home they hardly wanted to know them. But I am not wanting to dwell on that just pointing out that (comparatively) people don't know they are alive today and people like Bill Rosenberg mouthing off - well those still in the union movement are paying his wages and getting piss poor value in my opinion.

As opposition leader, an elected constituent MP and leader of comfortably the largest party in Parliament Simon deserves a limo. As a bloke who knowingly defrauded the NZ taxpayer over many years Winston deserves jail.

Rosenberg is another economist but even worse a leftie economist - most economists preach doom and gloom and leftie ones are the worst of the lot. You only need to look at the unions - years ago you had to be in one to stop bosses walking all over you. Now hardly anyone is and the boss has to look after you because it is impossible to find decent staff. But let me ask you a question(as an example) - how many people do you know who have not got TV and have never had an international trip? Of how many familes you know who do not own at least one less than ten year old car(and generally at least two)? Cast your mind back 40 years and ask yourself the same question. The issue in this world is that TV and social media shoves in our faces the vast gap between the really really rich and the rest of us. Jealousy is a natural reaction and I am prone to it too but I suggest you read a book called 'The subtle art of not giving a f*#k' which talks about the fact that wherever you are in life and whatever the perceived (invariably in your own mind) inequities that afflict you just get on with it and accept life as it is. My Father has been dead for 51 years but he went to the second World War and served in Egypt Crete and Italy. When he arrived back in NZ do you think there was counselling, social support services and an MSD that fell over itself to help him get back to a decent life back here in NZ? Not bloody likely! It was get back to work! When he married and produced a tribe of kids then got crook do you think MSD(or Social Welfare as it was then) rushed to his aid? Not effing likely! No he was left to struggle with a wife and seven kids to feed, no job because he could no longer work as a mechanic and what must have been an incredibly bleak outlook. He even said to Mum 'you would be better off if I was dead'. Soon enough he did die and Mum was treated like a criminal by the aforementioned Social Welfare - being the wonderful and diligent money manager she was Mum would knit someone a jersey and put the $2 she received in the bank - the next day Social Welfare would ring and ask where the money came from! Imagine the outrage today. The bastards treated Mum and my Father before her like shit! And yet their kids have gone on to repay whatever pittance they got ten thousand times over (and I do not exaggerate there - I reckon the various taxes my siblings and my businesses would have paid would be in the $30-40m range and they ain't finished yet). Mum always used to say 'They talk about the good old days - I only remember the bad old days!'. Ironically my mothers only job prior to marriage was in the Mines Office in Blackball - the birthplace of the NZ Labour Party no less. In those days if you didn't vote Labour and you lived in Blackball you certainly didn't make use of the Blackball polling booth at election time - they would burn your bloody house down! I am not looking for sympathy here - theirs would have been a story shared by hundreds of couples but please don't tell me people are worse off today. When I was at school nobody seemed particularly rich to me but in my view the difference today is TV and having the wealthy shoved fair in your face. Rosenberg and his unionist ilk's trouble is not being worse off - it is that they are becoming less and less relevant and people are paying less and less attention to them - and that problem mirrors the more that NZ racing finds itself in in this day and age.

First the man's name is Cameron Bagrie not Bagbrie you idiot. If you want to take part in the conversation at least try to be coherent and accurate in your contribution. Bagrie came down here once when he was ANZ economist - stood there with a look an his face as if to say 'look at me I'm Cameron Bagrie'. A frigging showoff and like most economists talked utter piffle and plenty of it - a trait they share with weather forecasters. If he (and I hear that Adrian Orr another economist and Reserve Bank Governor saying this the other day as well) does not know the link between business confidence and economic fortunes then they didn't listen too well when they were at Varsity. Business confidence is EVERYTHING if you want your country to go well. The businessmen, large and small, are the risk takers who drive the economy forward by doing exactly that - identifying opportunities and employing people to take advantage of them(and by definition taking risk). That is how the economy grows not by Teethcinda and her silly public servant and politician mates spending up large on money we haven't got. As for calling me Muldoonist - well let me say the racing industry was in an effing lot better shape when Muldoon was PM and your friend Peters unashamedly admired Muldoon immensely. What ultimately brought Muldoon down incidentally was a huge dive in business confidence. They had no idea what he was going to do next with the consequent uncertainty. Having said that you are like a lot of Muldoon critics(mainly journalists) in that you bag him when he is not around to defend himself. Had you talked like that in his heyday you would have been swatted like an errant sandfly(which would be good for all of us incidentally). As for that imbecile Cullen well he leaves Parliament and gets onto Tranz Rail and the NZ Post Boards(and makes a - predictable - mess of them). English and Key are immediately snapped up onto the huge private sector boards Air NZ, ANZ and Westfarmers. Big companies that know quality when they see it. Jenny Shipley, Bolger and Ruth Richardson the same. That's the difference between your mob and the Nats - they always have something else to do and usually a hell of a lot more lucrative that politics whereas Cullen and co swim around in the same public service cesspool they always have swum around in due to their no hoper outlooks and lack of skills.

Destroying business confidence will do a lot to increase the entertainment dollar as well. She ought to get back to packing fish and chips. The other day she had no idea about her own industrial relations law. tonight she repeatedly called one of her MP's McNulty when his name is McAnulty(even he lost patience eventually), she is apparently trying to do a deal that will see Ron Mark step aside in the Wairarapa(you do the deal so the minor party wins you stupid girl!) and her deputy is apparently in failing health. The wheels are falling off!

And what long term effect did those funding changes have? Agree with you re the Labour Party though - it was formed in Blackball and those poor pricks working their guts out down the mine would turn in their graves at the way the party has abandoned mining. Too many Lawyers, school, teachers, political scientists(and wankers) in the Labour Party today. My own ancestors would have been fervent Labour supporters(being essentially working or small businessmen) but the Labour party they supported disappeared long long ago. Why oh why would any political party worry about racing?(except Winnie so he can suck on free drinks and ride around in the Vela helicopter) . There are not enough votes in the game. Just like the West Coast - the Greens and Labour can drive their boot fair into our guts knowing there are only 30,000 of us and our votes don't count. Much as Nathan Guy annoyed the shit out of me I am not turning to the other side just because of racing. No politician thinks of anyone but themselves I think it is more the way life is changing - have a look at the pubs or the local sports ground on a Saturday afternoon. Between drink driving, Sky TV, the consumer society(easy trips to Aussie and flat screen TV's for instance) and a devotion to our children there are an awful lot of other things to do and the social structure of life has changed dramatically in the last forty years. People are FAR better off than they used to be(whatever the real wage might have done)but their priorities have changed.

I guess keeping up on the toilet paper issue is important when you produce as much s#*t as you do T

Fair comment

Doubt Simon will be turning up to many racing events Hesi.

Ain't that the truth! The National government had an economic development study done on the West Coast last year. I have seen about fifteen of them in my time. The major difference being that the first time the consultants rode up on a pushbike and now they roll up in a Mercedes Benz.

I agree 100% in both cases. The Nats never do or did anything to help racing but at least they do something to help the country not just drive the boot into the long suffering businessman in the belief that anyone who is in Business is making a dead set killing(much as would like it to be true it unfortunately is not - we are not all Graeme Hart or Eric Watson). I have a bad feeling NZ racing is rooted in any case. NZers are simply not racing people

They(the Nats) are more popular than either of your two favourites(in fact probably more popular than the pair of them put together). Your friend Jacinda got caught out the other day not even knowing the provisions of her own Industrial Relations Act for Gods sake! Think you better get back to fantasizing about TV presenters and woman jockeys(and probably woman Prime Ministers for all we know) and leave the serious conversation about the future of the industry to those with a bit of common sense.

Whatever Winston might do for racing it will not save him and his mob from political oblivion. And in fact if he does do something for racing it will likely reduce his 3% rating further. Enjoy your limelight Winnie because that big light is actually on an electoral train coming to run you over (again!) Difference between Winston and Simon is that (1) Simon leads a party with 45% poll ratings(despite his own inadequacies) (2)Simon was actually elected(giving Winston a couple of fearful hidings in the Tauranga electorate an election or two ago I might add) and(3)in two or so years time Simon will still be there and will still have his marbles and Winston will not. From a racing perspective Simon and National are a disaster but from New Zealand's perspective(in terms of business confidence, competence and straight out common sense) that mob is the only hope we have got. Having said that I reckon the country thrived while there was no government for six weeks last year(while the confused one made his mind up) so another dose of impotence for ALL politicians would do them and more importantly the country no harm at all.

Told ya he couldn't read very fast. He has had the thing for weeks. In horse speak it is time for the pet food factory for silly old Winston.

Reading between the lines I suspect Winnie has fallen out with at least one of his major racing backers so that may be a reason why he is keeping us in suspence. Just letting everyone know who is boss I would say. Alternately he may be a slow reader. He is slow at everything else(apart from accepting free tucker and drinks and claiming things that he is not entitled to) so that adds up. Isn't Messara supposed to have done this job for nothing? If so I see no reason why he should be silenced while we wait for the bewildered one to decide when he is going to release the report.

If you are relying on Winston to be the 'key to our future' you haven't got much of a future sunshine

Don't worry about whether anyone does like you Scooby worry about those who purport to like you but will turn like a rattlesnake when the time comes. History is littered with people who go out of their way to help then get promptly shat upon. Your time will come make no error.

Probably fair comment re the racing where the horses are Curious but don't say it too loud round here. Having said that you clearly trade off on course attendance with racing near the horses in that scenario

Indeed a great watch Pitty. Second time in two weeks Wayne Hawkes has had something interesting to say. This time his mention of the fact that whenever they renovate turf tracls over there they cock it up as well. On the synthetic tracks question there was a very relevant thing to be garnered and considered in making those calls. Specifically the maintenance requirements of those tracks and following on the costs involved. They noted the average turnovers on weekday meetings in Victoria in the range of $7.5m. That strikes me as being able to fund a lot of track maintenance(as well as a lot of stakes!). That is a terrible long way away from the NZ situation - I doubt there are many racedays in NZ that get within coo ee of that turnover let alone beat it. Clearly this has to be handled bloody carefully. I am not saying don't do it just be careful how you do it what you do it with and how you look after it.

Not that i go there(Riccarton) terribly often but when I do i reckon the food in the Balmerino room is excellent. Overall the catering at Riccarton is excellent I believe.

Judging from what is being said on the dark side I think NZ First's leading racing backers might be pretty pissed with Winston so I don't know whether he will get much of a reception with them regardless. And I don't know that Messara would be that keen for radical change to his report anyway would he? If NZ Racing ignores his recommendations then I do not see it as any skin off his nose. Winston is just being his usual plonker self keeping us in suspence

You were right Kopia Winnie is going to hold it and hold it to retain everyone's attention on him just like he did last year with the election result. And if he had said that in parliament yesterday about a woman MP they would be screeching their guts out. It is pretty clear the rumours about his mental state are close to the mark

Accepted but the last thing I would do is listen to any TV commentator's views regardless. I can(and do) lose my money on my own without help from those mugs(whether they be Dufficy or whoever)

isn't disclosure of treatments the main reason why the Singapore Turf Club pays all vet bills?

My understanding is lasix is a banned substance in NZ and Aussie? Isn't that the reason bleeders are sent to the USA so they can use lasix on them? Of is it legal here so long as it is not in the system at race time?