My rise and fall as an AT director
On 27 July on the motion of mayor Wayne Brown I was removed as a director of Auckland Transport (AT) and replaced with Cr Chris Darby. I can’t say the move was unexpected. I...
Farewell to a great Aucklander – Judge Arnold Turner CMG, founder of Auckland’s regional parks network
I was honoured to be asked to deliver a eulogy at the funeral of Judge Arnold Turner who passed away recently at the age of 96. Apart from grieving family and friends the funeral...
The airport debate and why selling robs Auckland’s future generations
Edmund Burke once described society as a “contract between three interested parties, the living, the dead and the unborn.” I was reminded of this during the recent debate on the sale of Auckland Council’s...
Council’s airport share privatisation will disinherit future generations of Aucklanders
Auckland councillors are about to make a decision on the centrepiece of this year’s council budget – the sale of publicly-owned shares in Auckland International Airport (AIAL). The $2.3 billion plus privatisation would be...
ANZAC Day address Waiheke Dawn Service: Ormond Burton and his lifelong struggle for peace
We gather here on this ANZAC morning as is our custom every year, to remember those men and women who served their country, especially those who made the ultimate sacrifice. We do in a...
ANZAC DAY and what it means to New Zealand
It is a truism that it is ANZAC Day rather than Waitangi Day that most New Zealanders now consider our true national day. I suppose it is understandable that a day commemorating national sacrifice...
Auckland’s Light Rail saga
(How a sensible project with no funding was flipped to become the opposite) The Minister of Transport, rather like a desperate gambler having a bad night at the casino is reportedly ‘doubling down’ on...
Auckland’s Light Rail saga
How a sensible project with no funding was flipped to become the opposite The Minister of Transport, rather like a desperate gambler having a bad night at the casino is reportedly ‘doubling down’ on...
Electorate matters in the last days of Jacinda Ardern as our local MP
On St Patricks Day I was invited by local MP Jacinda Ardern to share a briefing from Auckland Council’s ‘Healthy Waters’ officers on how they are planning to respond to the impacts of the...
In the face of adversity – the spirit of old Grey Lynn endures
The massive floods which deluged the city on the evening of 27 January and the tropical cyclone which smashed into the region and much of the North Island two weeks later, were a devastating...