A commentary by Bill Demeter
An American politician was once asked her opinion of another politician and she quickly replied; “You can’t make a thoroughbred horse out of 2000 pounds of horseshit”.
Thank you Brendon
commentary by Bill Demeter
Brendon Burns lost his seat in Parliament in an extremely close races with Nicky Wagner. Brendon also announced he would not seek re-election in the future but return to his profession as a journalist.
I just finished re-reading a book that I thought might help me gain insight into how many of our current City Councillors and Mayor think and work.
Youth suicide rates will rise over the next two to four years, as a result of shockingly high youth unemployment rates, Progressive Wigram MP Jim Anderton is warning.
By Rachael Dunningham, Partner, Buddle Findlay
What is CERA?
CERA is a body established by Parliament under the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Act 2011 to lead and coordinate the recovery effort following the September and February earthquakes. CERA will exist for five years at which time it is anticipated that the recovery will be sufficiently advanced to end its role.
It has a chief executive (Roger Sutton) and a responsible Minister, (Gerry Brownlee). They each have a number of functions and powers given to them by the Act.
A commentary by Bill Demeter, Chair of It’s Our City, Inc.
In the aftermath of the latest earthquake, everything has centred on one major theme. That theme is always talking about the “Economic Recovery”. There is far more than just economic recovery to be discussed. We need to deal with human recovery and all that is implied by that term.
By Bill Demeter
EARTHQUAKE: We are so fortunate that the earthquake occurred when it did and all of us have many stories to tell. The true reflection of this city is how well we pick up the pieces, help each other, and then plan for the future with vision, patience, and relying on the ideas of many versus a few. We are in a unique position of re-building this city in the right manner to last generations or we can squander it away by reacting versus acting.
by Ann Brower
Senior Lecturer of Public Policy, Lincoln University
Of the recent changes at ECan, sacking the council is the least offensive. The ECan Act shows a breathtaking use of parliamentary power, and could be a game"changer in New Zealand environmental law.
by Grant Nelson
In the past Christchurch has been renowned for its abundant supply of extremely pure, safe and inexpensive water. This water was regarded as being one of the city's greatest assets but now this asset is being gradually turned into one of the city's greatest liabilities.
The idea for It's Our City, Inc. was started about three and a half years ago when I had coffee with two people who have been involved and followed local politics for over thirty years. Our conversation dealt with how Christchurch had changed and how it appeared to be moving more and more away from public participation and rapidly towards some kind of corporate model where participation was being replaced by dictatorial edits from a handful of people at the top.
