In his seminal Environment Court decision, Marlborough Ridge v Marlborough District Council, Judge Jackson said “there is a distinct thread in the RMA which takes an economic approach to sustainable management of natural and physical...
Owen McShane
Followers or Leaders
Our leaders have long been enthusiastic promoters of New Zealand as a leader in world opinion. But they normally refer to political opinion. We may well be trend-setters in giving the vote to women, cradle to grave welfare, and even in rejecting nuclear weapons, but...
We’re all paying a terrible price for outrageously unaffordable housing – and it’s entirely unnecessary
“Relative to incomes, housing in major New Zealand cities is now some of the most expensive in the world,” Don Brash, chairman of the Centre for Resource Management Studies, told the Parliamentary select committee looking into the affordability of housing today. “And...
“We looked up to the Environment and when we looked down the land was gone!”
Text Goes Here
Featured News
The Swedish Response to Covid-19 versus Canada
In a recent New York Times article, David Wallace Wells asked, “How did No-Mandate Sweden End up with such an average pandemic”. Let’s be clear. This admission from the New York Times, who tried to destroy the response to Covid-19, starting in April 2020 and...
Draconian, Anti-Science Measures During the Pandemic Has Led to Loss of Trust in Our Institutions
Candida Auris is a fungus that, unlike most fungi, can survive in a human body. It is capable of spreading within the body, resulting in an agonizing death. For unknown reasons the fungus is spreading at a rather alarming rate. So far, cases have been confined to long...
The Selfish Generation gets Greedier by the Day
We Greedy Oldies should be ashamed of ourselves. And the old boys and girls on our councils should be the most ashamed. These Councillors want to expand their empires, build their monuments, and save the planet. But they don’t want to send the bill to their ratepayers...
The Permitted Baseline Test
Several of you have responded asking why the Permitted Baseline Test is so important,� or have asked for more information as to what it is and how it works. It seems to me that the permitted baseline test provides a useful "litmus" test as to whether a planning...
Comments on the draft of “Powering Our Future”
Introduction This is only a brief commentary as it would take many days to work through the strategy and comment comprehensivly on it. I have therefore concentrated on what I believe to be the major shortcoming in the strategy and then on various aspects on which I...
Rodney’s Ravings – A Response and Expansion
Rodney Dickens, writes the “Rodney’s Ravings” newsletter, one of which was reprinted in the Mangawhai Memo of 22nd February. Rodney is a highly competent analyst and his “Ravings” provide useful commentaries which are highly valued by those of us who consume such data...
Climate Change and its impact on the Investment Climate in New Zealand
First, I should briefly state my position on the theory of Anthropogenic Global Warming. Climate change is natural and has been going on since the earth was first formed. Rapid change in climate represents a genuine threat along with pandemics, nuclear war, tsunamis...
An Obituary for a Man – and for Times Past
Bryan Southcombe died on 7th March, aged 69, and my wife and I attended his funeral and the après funeral on March 14th. While much of the day focused on personal memories I found myself pondering the way the world had changed during the expansive and remarkable “Life...
Climate Change, and the Policy Dilemma
New Zealand has a long history of taking leading edge positions on public policy issues, and has a proud tradition of leading political and social change. More recently, especially during the term of the fourth Labour Government, New Zealand was a world leader in...
Public Transport in Auckland
Auckland has a long tradition of making wrong decisions about public transport and several recent announcements indicate we are maintaining this tradition. Auckland is not entering new or unknown territory. A multitude of cities overseas have explored diverse...
Applying “Systems Intelligence” to Transport
Part A of a three part written presentation to the Annual Land Transport Summit, 2007