Category: imported_guest
It’s great to be back in Auckland. I studied economics here in the ‘80s and I’m grateful to Auckland University for sparking my interest in how markets and institutions really work. The windsurfing was pretty good as well. As a newly minted economist I lived in Wellington for eight years working at the Treasury...
The government is to blame for the high numbers of Maori in jail, according to a Treaty of Waitangi claim filed by retired probation officer Tom Hemopo. An urgent Waitangi Tribunal hearing was held in Wellington through the last week of July, to investigate Hemopo's claim.
The Independent Hearings Panel has presented its recommendations for the Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan to Auckland Council. The Panel loosened the strait jacket, but the patient remains tethered. Indeed, we may come to regret the additional credibility that the Panel has given the plan.
The headlines are relentless about homelessness and the cost of housing. Nowadays $2,500 a square metre is not unusual even for a relatively straight forward build. Given the average home is about 200m2, the building cost alone is likely to be +$500k (plus land cost). So why does it cost so much to build a house? There are many reasons, but mostly the cause ends up at the doorstep of local and central government.
The feeling of having been totally out-manoeuvred has become a common sensation amongst Auckland regional ratepayers – and they don’t know half of what is going on. This powerlessness extends to some of the well-meaning City Councillors who thought they were being elected to work for the people; they now see themselves as fall guys, taking the rap for conniving bureaucrats, greedy iwi and unscrupulous politicians.
Many articles in the Herald have emphasised the dangers of man-made global warming and warned us that extreme measures are needed to save us from this imminent climatic disaster. Almost without exception, the authors have assumed that man-made carbon dioxide causes dangerous global warming, rapid sea level rise and more floods, droughts, cyclones and so on.
The recent referendum on the whether or not Britain should leave the EU has captured the imagination of those with an interest in public affairs. It is being cited as a part of a pattern of international events, including the rise of Donald Trump in United States, and the failure of the Liberal Coalition to secure an election night majority in Australia.
No matter what happens next, last week’s stunning “LEAVE” vote on Brexit has permanently disrupted the status quo ante. Both the Conservative and Labour parties are facing major leadership changes; conservative Prime Minister David Cameron has resigned, and Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn has been besieged by his shadow cabinet for his tepid support of the REMAIN option.
I’ve always thought democracy is a pretty good sort of system. Not perfect, of course, but as Winston Churchill said: “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.”
On the back of last month's budget, opposition politicians, academics and other advocates once again expressed outrage at the incidence of child poverty. The culprits routinely blamed are unemployment, high housing costs and insufficient benefit payments. But another factor is constantly overlooked - the rapid change in family structure.
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