Ten years ago TVNZ ‘celebrated’ its first 50 years.
A Light Entertainment programme was hosted by Jason Gunn in front of an Auckland rent-a-crowd at the the Casino Theatre, and long term Television staff were incensed at what they saw.
What should an Oranga Tamariki social worker do (when uplifting a Maori child) to help the child’s parents feel better about themselves? I pose this question after reading the Commissioner for Children’s report on the practice of ‘uplifting’ children and failing to make the parents feel better about themselves.
Here’s why we should all feel particularly glad to live in New Zealand at this time, and not only because Covid-19 has gone.
First, because we have no natural predators, and secondly the three rapacious leaders of America, China and Russia don’t think we are worth bothering with. And just in case they do happen to look our way, they will be confused by our headlines.
Labour wants it, sort of. Aucklanders deserve it. New Zealand First at this stage at least, has blocked it. As a result, Auckland’s roads are quite simply, constipated. It could be the increase in car commuting but also rapid population growth.
I’m a baby-boomer – and proud of it. So why is our generation, the first crop of boomers (born 1946), being attacked for simply reaching our age. After all we protested against Nuclear testing at Mururoa – and eventually won.
I don’t share the wishful thinking of those who believe the Corona pandemic will somehow lead us to a more enlightened way of thinking. As if the blight of dirty dairying, unsustainable tourism and no-tax housing investment is going to be less inviting after alert level one has come and gone.
Negative stories abound about our once much-vaunted Resource Management Act. It’s hard to meet a property-owner in my community who doesn’t have a gripe about it.
In my case, it’s personal. My brother and I went through three very expensive, time-consuming resource consents, after we knocked over a rat-infested bach and replaced it with a spacious holiday home.
When it comes to air pollution, we’re good. And now , so is India where people – especially in the Punjab can see the Himalayas –for the first time in decades. Researchers believe that the dramatic improvement in the country’s air pollution was caused by the COVID-19 lockdowns see https://www.iqair.com/world-most-polluted-countries.
Mt Eden Rd, Three Kings, Auckland
This was the day people had been waiting for, the day that might end the boredom, anxieties, the frustrations and loneliness of life lived under lockdown. When Monday finally dawned, a mild sunlight filtered through the trees in a leafy suburb devoid of cars, but full of birdsong. It really seemed as if something new lay ahead…