Armageddon it yet?

While not everyone agrees with our assessment of Ms Baker-Hogan's motives for entering the Buy-Election race, we're not even going to begin to speculate on those of one of the latest entrants, former MP Rana Waitai.

There are few people who know so well the way the Diva plays politics as a former member of the NZ First caucus. In fact even before he was elected, Waitai and the other Maori seat MPs, led by Tau Henare, were awake to the Diva's ways and determined to rid themselves and the caucus of his influence.

At the first caucus meeting following the 1996 election and they walked in to find the Diva seated at the table, expecting to pull the strings. After all, the majority of MPs owed their list placings, and thus their place at that table, to his machinations. People like Deborah Morris, Anne Batten and Robyn McDonald - unknown in the party till their list rank catapauled them into Parliament - knew the bargain they'd struck was to implement the Diva's whim in return for his gerrymandering the party list.

But Waitai, along with Henare, Tu Wyllie, Tuku Morgan and Tuariki Delamere had won their electorate seats and were beholden to no one. Cue the first of many confrontations with Winston Peters, during which the "Tight Five", as they'd later become known, demanded anyone not in the caucus be ejected from caucus meetings. Partly because that played to Peters' innate belief that constituency MPs were a cut above list MPs (an opinion we bet he's busily revising now), they won. The Diva left the meeting and, seeing the Te Reo on the wall, shortly thereafter decided a career writing books might be more to his liking.

While Waitai's association with the "Tight Five" - and in particular some of their more immature antics - damaged his reputation (Russell Brown, somewhat unfairly we think, called him both "dimwitted" and a "dickhead"), Waitai's pre- and post-Parliamentary reputations (as a police district commander and a barrister respectively) have shown him to be a man of some substance.

So what does he think he's doing, seeking a seat at a Council table controlled by the Diva and around which sit a majority of people who are prepared to do as Morris et al did and sing the Diva's tune? It will be interesting to see whether Waitai's pre-NZ First popularity with the blue rinse set - for many of the same reasons they once loved Winston - and with local Maori is enough to get him over the line in a crowded field. If it is, watch for fireworks next year.

Meanwhile, Rural Community Board candidate Greg Cox may be the best qualified yet. His business skills equip him to deal with the Diva's financial trainwreck and he's a muffler and exhaust specialist, which, considering the Diva needs muffling but it's a somewhat exhausting task, equips him perfectly.

His rival Alan Taylor, standing on the Vision ticket, is up there with Bob Walker in his mastery of the diVision policies of abusing doubters and sucking up to the Diva. And he actually managed to achieve last in the rural ward election behind the stellar line up of McGregor and Stevens - and even placed below Higgie.

So there's nine in the race for Council, an interesting field about which we'll have more to say later. They are (in no particular order):

• Rana Waitai
• Margaret Campion
• Bren Sinclair
• Philippa Baker-Hogan (Vision)
• Chandra Osborne
• Heather Marion Smith
• Mark Simmonds
• Allan Anderson
• Morgan Hunter-Bell

And now that nominations have closed, let us say we agree wholeheartedly with the Diva on one thing. The candidates - all of them - deserve praise for putting their names forward and thus ensuring that democracy flourishes. Throughout the lead-up to today, however, he's made his desperation for an "arts candidate" obvious. Wanganui needs an "arts candidate" like it needs a "sports candidate" or a "business candidate" - in other words, not at all. Councillors are elected to represent us all, and the ideal Councillor should have a broad range of interests and an ability to fairly balance competing needs.

We'd point out yet again that LawsWatch, for its part, isn't run by artists. True some Watchers are artists, but some are culturally ignorant philistines and damn proud of it. Others merely stroll around the occasional gallery and, like most people, don't know much about art but know what we like. Much as he and his two subsidised staff try to make this about art, or the Sarjeant, or any other mist they can generate on the day, it's about Michael Laws and his performance as Mayor, and the performance of those who support and oppose him in elected and politically appointed office.

For instance, the whiff of hypocrisy in his remarks - the latest being his letter to the editor in the Chron - praising those who would stand for election as showing "real community spirit and personal enterprise".

This from the man who has spent the last year slagging off anyone who gets involved with local government (including several Sunday Star-Times columns and most recently at the Federated Farmers dump) now turn round and tell the world they're imbued with "a mix of courage and passion - and those are exactlythe qualities that council is looking for".

Local government entices fringe activists, conspiracy theorists, the unrequited ambitious and busybodies like no other aspect of human endeavour. Knew that before I stood for mayor, and haven't been disappointed. Which explains a number of things;

1. The 'gliding on' mentality that pervades local govt bureaucracy
2. A disincentive for the intelligent and able to stand for office

Of course none of this may matter if another letter writer is correct. Denis Anderson seems to be implying we're all about to be hit by a comet hurtling towards earth. Sounds to us like the scriptwriter of Armageddon was remarkably prescient. Or that the editor will publish any mad rant on his letters page. But that can't be right - Anderson's prediction is right next to a letter from the Diva.

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