Back to the Beehive

Posted on 20th Feb 2012 08:30 | By Anonymous Author

Simon BridgesNational MP simonbridges.co.nz Parliament has now been going for a fortnight and I have enjoyed being back in Wellington where I have a new role as chairman of the Finance and Expenditure Select Committee. This committee occupies a significant place within Parliament as it takes a lead in the legislature’s role of approving...

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Telling council where to go

Posted on 17th Feb 2012 11:18 | By Anonymous Author

Brian AndersonThe Western Frontwww.sunlive.co.nz We will soon be asked to offer submissions to the WBOPDC’s Long Term Plan. I have had a wonderful idea already. It is totally simplistic, but then common sense always seems simple. We need more engineers and fewer managers. Engineers have a different approach to problem solving. When something...

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Social Media – a tool for local government

Posted on 17th Feb 2012 11:14 | By Anonymous Author

Jane NeesBOP Regional Councillorwww.janenees.co.nz A recent American study estimated that 66 per cent of online adults use social media like Facebook, Twitter or Linkedin.   If Facebook was a country, it would be the world’s third largest. Twitter generates more than 40 million tweets per day. The attraction of social media is...

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Affordable is not cheap

Posted on 17th Feb 2012 11:11 | By Anonymous Author

Ian McLean 2011 Green candidate for Tauranga Affordable housing has hit the headlines again, with the annual report by Demographia railing against housing costs in the western world. And Bob Clarkson has discovered a social conscience that was not conspicuous during his term as MP, offering to build cheap houses on the far-flung fringe of Tauranga....

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To reform or not to reform

Posted on 17th Feb 2012 11:10 | By Anonymous Author

Paula ThompsonBOP Regional Councillorwww.envbop.govt.nz There are 78 councils in New Zealand. In 1989, there were 700 bodies doing the work the 78 now do. Of the current 78, there is one Super Auckland City Council that provides local government for 1.5 million people. That leaves the rest of New Zealand to be governed locally by 77 councils....

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Vengeance or rehab – our choice

Posted on 10th Feb 2012 11:20 | By Anonymous Author

Ian McLean 2011 Green candidate for Tauranga Are we being properly served by our legal system? The guy gets out of his car, and the cyclist dies. It took three expensive court days to decide that the notion of a car door as an offensive weapon was absurd. If he didn’t see her, how could he attack her using the door? The case was a joke. We...

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A mirror on waste management

Posted on 10th Feb 2012 11:19 | By Anonymous Author

Brian Anderson The Western Front www.sunlive.co.nz From the Davos conference, we learned that with our new hyperconnectivity, leaders appear slow and stupid, while the people appear fast and chaotic. This dislocation between the rich and poor, the leaders and the peasants, could be read another way. Whatever happened to the middle class? For...

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Priorities for the next term

Posted on 7th Feb 2012 13:25 | By Anonymous Author

Simon Bridges National MP simonbridges.co.nz Last weekend was a magic one in the Bay, with some first class events that were as good as anything you could see anywhere. On Saturday night, my wife and I loved going to hear Creedence Clearwater Revisited at Mills Reef Winery. Before the concert I wouldn’t have said I was a big fan, but I...

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Cooperate to win

Posted on 3rd Feb 2012 10:50 | By Anonymous Author

Ian McLean 2011 Green candidate for Tauranga Cooperation is a basic human behaviour, essential to the survival of the earliest humans. Today, we see it all around us. Fonterra, NZ’s largest listed company, is a cooperative, owned by members who vigorously defend their membership status. Zespri is organised on similar lines, and many point...

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Leadership job applications now open

Posted on 3rd Feb 2012 10:43 | By Anonymous Author

Brian Anderson The Western Front www.sunlive.co.nz Leadership positions are available, not just in the Bay, but all over the world. I listened to the Davos conference last night – they were discussing currency and economic policy, but they decided political change and lack of leadership was causing the most concern throughout the world....

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