HOW MUCH OF A HYPOCRITE IS RAF MANJI?

Raf Manji is doing to Christchurch what the Troika are doing to Greece...

RAF MANJI HAS BEEN tweeting quite a bit about the situation in Greece. It seems that the Christchurch City councillor is concerned - in fact, opposed - to the harshness of the austerity package imposed on the Greek people by the Troika.

That austerity package, of course, includes tax hikes and the privatisation of public assets. It was agreed to by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras who went against the expressed wishes of the Greek people, who voted against more austerity in the national referendum.

But while opposing tax hikes and privatisation over in Greece, Manji is supporting them in Christchurch. He voted for a massive rates hike (28 percent over four years) and the privatisation of council assets.

And he also did a Tsipras and ignored the expressed wishes of the people of Christchurch. The over 3000 submissions to the Christchurch City Council's proposed long term plan were overwhelmingly opposed to the massive rates hike and privatisation. Manji who has pontificated on several occasions about the importance of  local democracy, demonstrated that he is more than willing to ignore what the people say when it gets in the way of his polItical and economic agenda.

Manji is quite happy to burden already struggling Christchurch folk with an increase rates bill and allow corporate interests to pillage council assets, the same kind of neoliberal inspired policies he claims to oppose in Greece.