Month: May 2016
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The trouble with the Government’s National Policy Statement proposal
Housing is raging as an issue right now. And the Government is feeling the heat. Ordinary kiwis are becoming upset that in the land of milk and honey more and more are without access to shelter, that most basic of human needs. The Government’s approach has varied. For a long time it refused to accept that there…
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Labour’s Rural Urban Boundary announcement
The housing crisis has been at the centre of political attention for some time. It is clear that we have a crisis. There are too many people sleeping rough or living in their cars for it to be otherwise. This is not the New Zealand that we all aspire to live in. As David Slack elegantly…
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Commissioners for Auckland Council if the Unitary Plan is mucked up?
The politics of this has been simmering away for a while. There is a concerted battle between Central and Local Government to apportion blame for Auckland’s housing problems which are now a full blown crisis. The Unitary Plan debate is central. Whoever designed the system and the timeline was cruel. The job is immense, having to shoehorn eight district…
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Andrew Judd – a principled politician
Photo (c) Glenn Jeffrey New Plymouth mayor Andrew Judd’s reign has strangely attracted a lot of controversy. Not because of evidence of incompetence or corruption or inappropriate behaviour. But because he favours Māori representation at the Local Government level. He has served his first and only term as Mayor. He previously served two terms as…
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Climate change – this needs to change everything
As a fundraiser/campaign event I am showing the film “This changes Everything” at Lopdell Theatre this Saturday. Entry is free although a Koha to cover expenses and to help fund my campaign is asked for. The film is by the irreplaceable Naomi Klein and covers how different communities throughout the world have dealt with climate…