Rob Hosking uses his politics column in the print edition of last week’s NBR to suggest it’s time the term the beltway to be killed off.
It’s an American import, reflecting the beltway (or motorway, we would call it) which rings the political centre of Washington DC . . . But as a metaphor for New Zealand politics it is about as relevant as calling Parliament Westminster.
Here’s a suggested replacement: The Bowen Triangle.
First the Parliamentary precincts are roughly the right shape, if you include the large public service towers behind the building.
Secondly, it is evocative of the Bermuda Triangle, that mysterious accident-prone quarter of the Caribbean.
The Bowen Triangle is where reality is different from the rest of the world. It is where whole formations of common sense fly into the blue and are never seen again.
And it is full of people seeking the political equivalent of the lost city of Atlantis.
That’s a very persuasive argument and gets my vote.
Homepaddock 
Meh. While Washington’s beltway is a motorway, Wellington’s is a Green Belt. Apart from the Thorndon hills framing the main buildings, you’ll find some damned powerful hobbits biking along the bushline in the weekends.
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Ahh, seems Hosking has everything wrong here as Bermuda is not in the Caribbean, it’s in the North Atlantic some distance off the coast of from the Carolinas.
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I’ve always found the expression offensive in terms of New Zealand politics because….well
First, it’s just plain wrong. There is no beltway in Wellington.
Second, Wellington politics is not like American politics.
Third, someone reading the term from outside New Zealand might quickly be confused about points one and two. If we keep on using the term, locals will get confused.
Fourth, there’s an implication that we don’t have a local culture so we just have to borrow one.
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love it ! I think that I am now the missing in the sea of public sector dispair, handcuffed to the mast of a sinking ship by the risk adverse,and tossed about by the waves of process.
Woe is me …
I want to be a pirate again
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BB – would a large bottle of champers make a life bouy? – You might have to drink the contents first.
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I like the parallels with the Bowen Triangle of Relationships, (refer http://www.thebowencenter.org/pages/concepttri.html) and with the principle that power is distributed across three branches of government — Parliament, the Executive, and the Judiciary.
Except a triangle can not have parallels.
Hmmm.
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