JOHN RAINE: It is Time to Resist a New Totalitarianism

[Gordon]

https://www.bassettbrashandhide.com/post/john-raine-it-is-time-to-resist-a-new-totalitarianism?postId=e8e1b4bb-782e-4bf0-977e-51847bf2229c&utm_campaign=71cec4d7-3e9f-459b-a4a5-312e234f6605&utm_source=so&utm_medium=mail&utm_content=a220d291-88f4-4ddb-af9e-3379324ed9e3&cid=e36bcf60-913f-4e26-ab99-fdcae136e8c9

A very good article and explnantion of the decay we are facing.

[Tony]

Gordon <Gor...@leaf.net.nz> wrote:
>https://www.bassettbrashandhide.com/post/john-raine-it-is-time-to-resist-a-new-totalitarianism?postId=e8e1b4bb-782e-4bf0-977e-51847bf2229c&utm_campaign=71cec4d7-3e9f-459b-a4a5-312e234f6605&utm_source=so&utm_medium=mail&utm_content=a220d291-88f4-4ddb-af9e-3379324ed9e3&cid=e36bcf60-913f-4e26-ab99-fdcae136e8c9
>
>A very good article and explnantion of the decay we are facing.

Yes thank you. In my time universities were strongly supportive of freedom of
speech and opposed to political interference. But at the same time were open to
politiical opinion being expressed freely (consistent with their support of
freedom of speech). Now we have an unqualified political person with limited
achievement running Otako University - what nonsense.

[Rich80105]

On 21 Feb 2024 21:17:14 GMT, Gordon <Gor...@leaf.net.nz> wrote:

>https://www.bassettbrashandhide.com/post/john-raine-it-is-time-to-resist-a-new-totalitarianism?postId=e8e1b4bb-782e-4bf0-977e-51847bf2229c&utm_campaign=71cec4d7-3e9f-459b-a4a5-312e234f6605&utm_source=so&utm_medium=mail&utm_content=a220d291-88f4-4ddb-af9e-3379324ed9e3&cid=e36bcf60-913f-4e26-ab99-fdcae136e8c9
>
>A very good article and explnantion of the decay we are facing.

I'm not sure that it does explain the decay we are facing. Much is
made of the politics of diversity, equity and inclusion in the
article, but espousal of those values has been a feature of a number
of governments in New Zealand. David Lange may not have referred to
the principles in that form, but they were certainly espouses as an
alternative to the somewhat unprincipled "one man deciding everything'
government of Robert Muldoon. Unfortunately, those sentiments were in
conflict the extreme financial decisions that Roger Douglas believed
had to be made in the desperation of those times for economic
survival, but even Roger Douglas, in being part of the establishment
of the ACT party, believed in some of those values. The principles
were openly espoused by Jim Bolger - most particularly through seeking
"equal opportunity" - although again the economic policies of Ruth
Richardson acted directly contrary to those principles, and Jenny
Shipley moved away from that direction. Helen Clark's governments
brought back those principles, and John Key paid lip service to them,
but in reality again used economics to reward the wealthy and reduce
opportunities for less well advantaged children. The Ardern
governments with Robertson were possibly the first government to have
a united policy front, seeking to reduce poverty and to provide the
ideals expressed by Bolger, and including well being as a core
principle. The Luxon government is a return to pandering to political
donors and a new acceptance of extremist policies espoused by the
Atlas Foundation - we are seeing now that concern for cost of living
is secondary to rewarding landlords and the wealthy.

The article refers to views of Rob McCullough who wrote:
https://www.bassettbrashandhide.com/post/rob-macculloch-vice-chancellor-grant-robertson-he-s-not-qualified-does-not-deserve-the-job-what

He is correct that the appointment of Grant Robertson who does not
have a doctorate is a surprise, but it is

See this article just published by Rob McCullough
https://www.downtoearth.kiwi/post/its-the-world-wrestling-federation-two-big-fat-monopolies-slug-it-out-auckland-airport-vs-air-nz
and in particular:
"Many years ago when Bill English was Finance Minister and had an
"Academic Advisory Group" for awhile that I used to attend, he turned
to me once and asked, "Oh, so you're from Auckland University - is
that a University or a property development company?". I thought it
was a hilarious line - then started thinking maybe he had a point. The
reason was that a decade ago the University was doing huge property
developments & the bosses were pre-occupied tearing down buildings,
buying and selling land, like in Newmarket, Auckland, and building new
stuff, all to enhance the on-campus experience. Not a bad aim. But
that was before Covid, before students were told to go off and study
online. The reason for this diversion is that we should be asking the
same question about Auckland Airport - is the company actually running
an Airport, or is it in the mall, parking & property development
businesses, which are way more profitable than helping passengers get
on and off planes?"

As has been pointed out by government, Otago University does have some
financial issues - and some of those relate to buildings, and to the
need for increased production of more graduates, perhaps particularly
from their medical School - with possible new competition from Waikato
where Neil Quigley (perhaps also not the most academically qualified,
although he does have a doctorate) made a clearly partisan political
approach to National to support a new medical school in Hamilton.

Robertson is well qualified to deal with conflicting financial
desires, while keeping in mind the people elements of the job -
turning out as many graduates as possible across a range of
disciplines. He is also well able to manage conflicting demands for
more money now, and to be aware of the political issues where
universities, like local government, are seeing that the current
government wants to make more decisions from Wellington, rather than
Labours policy of supporting local democracy.

We do not train medical doctors to be Chief Executives of Hospitals,
although some do obtain those positions similarly a Doctorate in other
disciplines does not necessary give organisation development
understanding, personal management skills for large and diverse teams,
or financial acumen.

I suspect Grant Robertson will do well in the role, but it may not be
long-lasting purely because there are silly prejudices about
qualifications - most who become Vice-Chancellor have been many years
away from getting that qualification. I have not tried to find other
previous examples of politicians taking on such a job but here is a
recent one:
https://www.massey.ac.nz/about/news/former-vice-chancellor-receives-honorary-doctorate/

[Tony]

Maharey has a MA in Sociology - it was not honorary and he used it for year
while teaching at university. His is nowhere near the same as Robertson.
Your obsession with qualifications means that you miss the point.
Robertson is not qualified, Maharey was and still is, the elapsed time since
qualifiying is irrelevant. Robertson cannot do any good at the job because he
is not fit for it. Just like you.

[Rich80105]

On Thu, 22 Feb 2024 02:26:15 GMT, Tony <lizan...@orcon.net.nz>
wrote:

So you accept that an MA (assisted by Lecturing experience) is
adequate, but you appear to believe a BA with Honours degree plus 28
years experience at very senior political levels is not. The selection
has been made within current rules for such appointments, whatever we
think we will find out whether it was a good appointment as time goes
on.

One of the surprising facts that this has disclosed is the disparity
in remuneration for the role of Vice-Chancellor compared with senior
politicians:
PM $471,049
Deputy PM $334734
Cabinet Minister $296007 (So that is what David Seymour gets
compared with the higher amount for Winston Peters)
Leader of Opposition 296,007
Member of {Parliament $163,961
Vice-Chancellor Otago University $629,000
Vice-Chancellor Auckland University $755,000

Sure there are perks available to senior politicians - their
superannuation is very generous, and a lot of expenses are paid, but
it is a surprising difference.