Why do we put up with recivitist drunken drivers?

OK--- he has been caught about 26 times drinking and driving and now he has to go to prison for 3 years—that means less than half that of course. The guy has also been indefinitely forbidden to drive again--- we have seen that before too.

Is it a lack of resources for locking up people who repeatedly drink and drive or are the judges hampered in some way that the rest of us don’t get? Please enlighten me someone.

Do we need to look at the Scandinavians nations to come up with a model that seems to work? Are we somehow different in NZ? Do we have a culture that ‘allows’ and even admires someone e who can ‘hold’ their drink?  Question after question--- I know--- I’m just bloody frustrated with it all.

I am sure that a previous blog or two that I have written about the ‘Queen Street’ behaviours is linked in that, yes we do have an unhealthy drinking culture. Will our politicians ever grasp this nettle and take a few pricks and then finally act. Read into that what you wish! I am well past being ‘decent’ about this issue.

Come on ‘older farts like myself and younger people who care about the safety of their kids on the roads or footpaths--- get our collective acts together and support politician who are brave enough to ‘cross the floor’ in Parliament or go against their Party Whips.

Private Members bills would be the way to go, if only some of our MPs would do what we put them in Parliament to do---- to make NZ a better and safer place.

Private/Government partnerships in our prisons, schools and hospitals

Who is going to save our kids, our elderly, sick and ----Mmmm our prisoners from the ideology of this dammed national Government? It doesn’t matter that research and experience from overseas continually lends weight against such practices, this Government is hell-bent on following the Private or Private/Government model for our schools, hospitals and prisons. The result--- decreased opportunities for our kids and degrading service for our sick and elderly. More about the prisons later.

I feel like I am on a rollercoaster whereby the Government seems intent on undoing so many issues we have fought for and taken for granted. Many battles have been struggled for in Parliament in the past to lift up people from poverty, exploitation and lack of equal access to education.

We are now seeing the true colours of the National Party. Their first term was one of setting the scene for what is about to come. They are looking at the Conservatives in the UK with envy as they scream out their plans for the British public. If you think that beneficiary bashing is bad here--- watch this space in England in particular.

Today’s announcement about the private prison in Auckland is one that we better get used to. It seems that the operators only met about half of their goals. Is this what we will come to see as a common occurrence as the National Party hoists yet more of this odious model on NZ schools and hospitals. By the time we finally get around to actually challenging the Government where it counts--- at the election box--- it will be that we are in a position of having to once again fight to retrieve what we have lost.

John Key won’t care. He will be living it up at some resort spending the money he has made over the years as an investment banker. We all know what is happening on that scene (Barclays just for one).

So we must make it clear that we don’t want to wait for another election cycle. Will the vast majority of NZers ever wake up? At the moment we have our heads in the sand in a big way.

Do we really care?