Local Opinion

Why I voted ‘no’

Waikato Regional Council has just voted to retain its two Māori constituencies for another six years. Only councillor Chris Hughes and I voted against the retention of the constituencies, stating that we believed they were…

Preparing for a bigger town

The current ridiculous promises being made – and posturing apparent – by all politicians tells me that the hustings have reach the looney stage. Many such promises are not achievable and with no intent of…

Way better than we imagined…

Recently my youngest had his 17th birthday. As part of his ‘day’ I told him I’d pick him up to go somewhere as a surprise before heading off for a burger together. The surprise was…

A violent past

“There was a violent roaring, lasting four or five minutes at a time… we saw a cloud gradually rising, black as ink… it was flashing with lightning in every direction, while occasionally fireballs, like rockets,…

Fancy a coffee?

First off, this week, I want to let you know about an upcoming event next week. If you are wanting the chance to catch up, we invite you to join us at “Coffee with a…

The sound of freedom

It took a while to arrive here, but Kiwi audiences have had the option of viewing the movie, Sound of Freedom in local cinemas. I watched it within days of its New Zealand release, having…

It’s when, not if

New Zealand has experienced many more eruptions in our relatively recent history than most of us remember. Many may have memories of the Ruapehu 1995 and 1996 eruptions, some may remember the many eruptions of…

It’s our own fault

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has recently published its latest report on the New Zealand economy. The IMF does these reviews on their member countries about every 18 months. The report was not very flattering….

Focus on young winners

Last Sunday Youth Aid Constable Dani Hibdige and I took the lucky winners in the recent Bluelight Colouring Competition up to Rainbow’s End for the National Bluelight Fun Day. There were a lot of excited…

Detecting warning signs

The ability to monitor volcanoes comes from a solid mix of technology, research, time, and experience. Thankfully, here in New Zealand we have these things. Before an eruption occurs – which is where magmatic material…

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