I was at the Centenary of the opening of the Otira Rail Tunnel recently. The Construction cost was apparently £1.5 million. Using the reserve bank inflation calculator from around 1919 (centre date of the 10-year project) and taking it to today's prices gives us $180 million. That's an 8km … [Read more...]
Retirement Villages – Wealth Tax by Stealth?
No Happy Residents means no Industry - of course John Collyns as executive director of Retirement Villages would be expected to have such an answer to hand. Of course it is in their business interests to keep residents happy. Published letter in The Press 5 May 2023 My friend Patricia Allan … [Read more...]
The public and private sectors have different roles after disasters
When we had our hour of need after the earthquakes we received considerable assistance from other councils. Before central government drove everybody away and took over through agencies like Cera. I will forever mourn how Roger Sutton was treated by the Wellington brigade. When Roger “left” … [Read more...]
Last week Raf Manji
Can Raf Manji lead TOP into Parliament? | RNZ It was great to see our old mate Raf Manji in another role other than as a City Councillor. This role suits Raf’s huge knowledge in finance and macro-economics. We had a good turnout on Zoom and Facebook for his talk. Raf followed on from the … [Read more...]
A challenging article on bread and how we need to change what food we eat
Newsroom recently published an article on the energy needed to produce a loaf of bread. This got me thinking. I spend my time wondering how or what I need to do to reduce my carbon footprint. I found this article fascinating. Here’s a few parts of the article: More fossil fuel energy goes into … [Read more...]
Limits to Growth workshop
You are invited to join an important public workshop hosted by the School of Government, Victoria University: Are there biophysical limits to growth?If so, how should public policy respond?” Economic growth has become culturally, politically and institutionally engrained at a global scale. … [Read more...]
We’re importing coal as we lay off miners on the West Coast
I sat with two friends last week discussing issues about our economy and South Island politics in general. One said “why doesn’t the Government ban coal usage by a certain date, and, until that date continues to mine in New Zealand”. I hadn’t realised that we were importing coal. But here are some … [Read more...]
Will we experience the end of Malls?
In Newsroom this week was this article: Mall owner Washington Prime Group has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, saying the "COVID-19 pandemic proved insurmountable." Our thought bubble, via Axios' Aja Whitaker-Moore: Malls have been on the decline for years due to consumer demand … [Read more...]
Here’s a wonderful example of the greed of banks
The six-month mortgage holiday and the $6000 in extra baggage... I received this email this week. It focused on the greed exhibited by the banks of our country: I'm reminded of the Tuesday club stories you did on banks last year. While everyone is focused on blaming govt with who wins/loses in … [Read more...]
Garry Writes 11 May 2021
I’m not sure what game the Government is playing right now in its attitude towards Public Servants and their pay. Remember the talk of “a team of 5 million” during Covid 19 last year. Well, it was only possible to make a great fist of this incredible challenge because of the nurses, Doctors, health … [Read more...]
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