Over 40 years in the making

Ran out of steam this morning, and deferred my run until this evening after work. In a street near here, on the grass verge outside a small house on a typically small inner city section, were a whole lot of rings of a recently felled pine tree. Looking at the bark it is/was a pinus radiata, and counting the rings it was 41 or 42 years old.

Sad to see the end of what must have been a very large tree. But it would have dominated the property, shading house and garden, and dropping needles in the guttering. It was in the wrong place, I guess, and New Zealand's removal of blanket protection of all trees above 6 m high (without resource consent) ended its life.

Last night the New Zealand Parliament had the third reading debate on The Marriage Amendment Bill. This was a private member's bill, and had stimulated a great deal of debate. The Bill was passed with a substantial majority (a non-partisan vote).

This afternoon S showed me a video clip of Maurice Williamson's speech. It is worth a look. He was witty. He was sensible. and he was convincing. A conservative minister in a Tory type government.

After the vote was declared and while various people were moving around in the chamber, the public gallery (which was packed) burst into song, singing Po Kare Kare Ana. The politicians joined in.

Can there be anything more reassuring about the healthy state of our democracy?