I find David Seymour decision on food in schools just disgusting. John MacDonald John MacDonald: This is a terrible thing to say, but it's true wrote on NewstalkZB this superb piece of analysis: It’s because of us. Those of us who aren’t living in poverty and aren’t one of those … [Read more...]
Central Government does not understand (or care about?) Local Government
1. Rosemary Neave's letter in Press this week: I support four year terms. However the present proposal to have the option of central government extending for a year is madness.Have they even considered the implications for local government?? I suspect not. If both local and central … [Read more...]
CCC must rejoin LGNZ
I’m not sure why a small majority of the Mayor and Councillors experienced a brain drain and decided to leave Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) last year. When in office I played an active role in that organisation as has most Christchurch Mayors. We achieved a lot for our city by being involved … [Read more...]
4 March – Simon Kingham on Transport Planning
5.30 Tuesday 4 March at Smash Palace - gather from 5pm in back room The space is not large, first in first served, but we will livestream on Facebook Simon was the Chief Science advisor at Ministry of Transport and has a special focus on health and wellbeing and urban design. From Simon's … [Read more...]
Garry Writes – Its election year…
In this, an election year, let’s consider what sort of qualities we want the people to have around our council tables. Let's ensure there are good people standing, that they have the support of others, have strong community networks and values and will add to the quality of debates around the … [Read more...]
An Open Letter from Bernard Hickey
Dear New Zealanders, your victory is pyrrhic’ Dear home-owning older voter, You have successfully blocked the taxation of capital gains on leveraged residential land values for nearly 15 years and now both major political parties are so afraid of you doing it again they won’t even talk about … [Read more...]
American Politics…
The world order is being rewritten by the President of USA and his billionaire mates. As we shake our heads and wonder when this madness will dry up let us pause and reflect on Franklin D Roosevelt’s re-election speech in 1936 when he said: “We had to struggle with the old enemies of peace – … [Read more...]
South Island Priorities and The Ferry!
The government has finally realised that many of us, across political boundaries, are fed up with all the focus of politics being mainly on the North Island and especially on Auckland, Hamilton and Tauranga. The Government has recently appointed a Minister for the South Island (outside cabinet), … [Read more...]
AI – Feb 2025 – there will be more :)
Garry recently had a debate with a good mate about the pros and cons of AI. The next day he sent this analysis to me to demonstrate that AI demonstrated conclusively how poorly Christchurch City Council was performing compared to the Wellington and Auckland Councils. Here’s what he sent me: To … [Read more...]
Garry writes to round off 2024
What a year this has been for us all. This government has continued to make decisions which has widened the gap between the haves and the have-nots. The South Island has been put on the back burner. Personally, Rosemary and I have both had health challenges, but are completing the year in a … [Read more...]