Tuesday, 20 December 2022 13:45

Shotgun alley?

Written by The Hound

font size decrease font size increase font size

OPINION: The Hound reckons the decision by Fieldays to hold the event in summer turned out to be a bit of a fizzer.

Not only were the number of exhibitors down on the amount who were usually there, but so was attendance.

This year’s total crowd size was estimated to be only around 75,000 – compared to the 130,000 or so who normally turn up to Fieldays in June.

In fact, one exhibitor reckoned the crowd was so sparse they could have fired a shotgun down one of the roads and not hit anybody!

However, according to Fieldays CEO Peter Nation, the low number of attendees meant it was all about “quality not quantity”.

One wag told your old mate that Mr Nation appeared to be channelling the hapless lawyer Denis Denuto from the Aussie cult movie ‘The Castle’, claiming it was all about the ‘vibe’ rather than facing the reality!

More like this

Fieldays hold out the begging bowl

OPINION: When someone says “we don’t want a handout, we need a hand up” it usually means they have both palms out and they want your money.

Wrong focus

OPINION: Your old mate reckons townie Brooke van Velden, the Minister of Workplace (or is it Woke Place) Relations is now showing how underemployed she is as a minister by initiating an investigation into whether young children should be banned from collecting eggs on farms and feeding animals.

Burn the village

OPINION: There's an infamous term coined by a US general during the Vietnam war, specifically in reference to the battle of Ben Tre: "We had to burn the village to save it."

Purist problem

OPINION: The sudden departure of Jim Ward, manager of Molesworth Station for 24 years, highlighted some major dysfunction in the way conservation estate is managed in this country - the biggest problem, as the Hound sees it, being idealogues who harp on about "taonga" and use all means possible to block sensible commercial operations on conservation land.

Drill baby, drill!

OPINION: While the destruction of NZ's oil and gas industry by Jacinda Ardern's band of merry vandals was virtue signalling on a heroic scale - producing no environmental benefit whatsoever - the politician vowing to make that industry whole again, Shane Jones, is not above a bit of virtue signalling of his own.