Another particular
nasty issue of late is Dutton’s propensity for picking on Kiwis
whom he labels a risk to the Australian community, despite them having
lived longer (in some cases only ever) in Australia.
This latest event followed a really spiteful go at Brownlow medalist
Dusty Martin’s dad Shane, whom Dutton decided needed to be prevented
from attending a family Christmas get-together on Bali because, even
though Shane was going nowhere near Australia, getting Indonesia to
refuse him entry allows Dutton to deny him an Australian visa (this
story, behind a paywall unfortunately, provides details of the legal
shenanigans). If nothing else this is a very vindictive individual
and, as The Age piece referred to above alerts readers to, even the
legal fraternity considers Dutton a liability. If I was invited to
evaluate the risk potential of individuals to the Australian community
I’d have Dutton near to top mainly because some see him as PM
potential and that isn’t a pretty prospect for trans-Tasman
relations given his track record to date.
On a lighter note…Aotearoa-New Zealand has recently asserted
it has a place as a player in the ‘space race’ https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/348744/nz-space-industry-reaching-for-the-stars.
Although started in NZ, Rocket Lab is now a US company with a ‘wholly
owned New Zealand subsidiary’ – whatever that means (US
wholly owned...?) And there’s big competition in the space biz
as billionaire futurists and Homo Deus contenders seek means to lay
claim to the heavens and personal immortality (we’ve even got
ourselves one of those Homo
Deus prospects too: the previous National government having elided
its strict immigration criteria, on the grounds of potential investment
opportunities, to secretly fast track citizenship for billionaire
‘PayPal’ and Trump aficionado Peter Theil) http://www.nzherald.co.nz/indepth/national/how-peter-thiel-got-new-zealand-citizenship/
Anyhoo, we do know that competition inspires the desire for promotion
– if you’re going to be one of the 0.001% that owns 99.99%
of the universe you want to be the shining star right? Well Rocket
Lab man Peter Beck’s promotional angle is just that and he’s
launched his very own shining
star.
Beck says ‘the satellite was launched to encourage people to
consider their place in the universe, and to reflect on their own
lives and the lives of humanity as a species.’ which calls on
a need for that well know kiwi checksum ‘yeah right!’
I mean, where do we begin: is it a bird? Is it a duck? Does it quack?
Oh right it’s really shiny, it’s for ‘humanity’
and no one will ever believe we’ve packed it full of all sorts
of nefarious spy shit...Sorry, that’s pure speculation on my
part. Nevertheless, the ‘Humanity Star’ has attracted
more critics than fans, especially critics who care about the heavens,
who climbed into Beck after he claimed “The night sky is full
of stars, this is just one other star ... It's not like we're polluting
out the night sky with a whole bunch of stuff.” A claim even
the esteemed Scientific American took issue with https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/life-unbounded/twinkle-twinkle-satellite-vermin/.
In sum, it’s this sort of attention-seeking carry on that Aotearoa-New
Zealand can well do without. We already have quite enough Astronomical
net worth tossers setting up their post apocalyptic bolt holes on
the shores of lakes Wanaka and Wakitipu thanks very much, we don’t
need to attract anymore! Furthermore, Queenstown’s mayor has
proposed slapping down Airbnb and shutting out freedom campers, so
if you’re after a few nights accommodation while you tour the
Central Otago estate agents, tough luck pal, maybe give Pete Theil
a bell. |
|