Tag Archives: private sector

SuPPPer School for Aranui – ‘devil beast’ for all of us

Yet another brick in the wall? The Education Ministry’s $41 million proposed year 1-13 super school for Christchurch is set to be funded by the private sector, a document reveals. The document, obtained by APNZ, outlines advice given to Education … Continue reading

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And to the victors, the spoils – ‘business as usual’ in Christchurch

[Warning: Very Long Post] The strangely mis-named Christchurch and Canterbury ‘recovery’ continues to unfold in highly predictable ways. Even Christchurch’s arsonists appear to have aligned their activity with the interests of the ‘recovery’ – or at least with the plans … Continue reading

Posted in Earthquakes, Economics, Free Market | Tagged , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Coming up for air in the New Jerusalem

The grand plan for New Zealand’s own ‘New Jerusalem’ has been revealed. The excited assurances that, indeed, the Promised Land has been glimpsed have been echoing around the media ( e.g., here, here, here, here, here and here) – fired in perfect sequence, like a 21 gun salute. … Continue reading

Posted in Democracy, Earthquakes, Economics, Freedom, New Zealand Politics | Tagged , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

A rainy Christmas Day in Christchurch

Monday night last week was like Christmas Eve in Christchurch. As the evening darkened, the presents – carefully wrapped and prettily presented by the best PR Christmas wrappers CERA could buy – were lain beneath the brightly lit Christmas Tree … Continue reading

Posted in Democracy, Earthquakes, Economics, Fascism, Freedom, New Zealand Politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 25 Comments

City in a box

It was meant to be the ‘City in a Park’. But, according to a Press editorial, a lot of people in Christchurch have taken a look at the future and they don’t like what they see: The artists’ impressions of … Continue reading

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California dreaming

If the future form of Christchurch’s central city now hangs in the balance, the outcome will depend upon the weightings given to two quite distinct sets of ‘instincts’ about how to create a vibrant, sustainable, thriving city centre. One set … Continue reading

Posted in Earthquakes, Economics, Free Market, Freedom, Human Wellbeing, New Zealand Politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Christchurch’s Second Coming

“And what rough beast, its hour come round at last Slouches toward [Christchurch] to be born?” The ground is now being prepared for the future incarnation of Christchurch. What comes our way will bear the marks and influences of the … Continue reading

Posted in Earthquakes, Economics, Fascism, Freedom, Human Wellbeing, New Zealand Politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Out of control

Sometimes, you just can’t keep things under control in politics. You know how it goes –  somehow Treasury documents get accidentally posted on websites; somehow the government’s majority ‘control’ over partially privatised state assets just isn’t what you thought it … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Free Market, New Zealand Politics | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Offers we can’t refuse; commitments we can’t trust – and other conditions for growing mushrooms

Now that the government has unveiled a multi-coloured map of Christchurch, that represents its current thinking on ‘retiring land’, compensation packages and mass internal migration it’s a good time to reflect on the state of play and highlight a few … Continue reading

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Working hard for the ‘unearned increment’

In the spirit of How Many Elephants in a Blue Whale?, I thought I’d do a quick calculation of how much hard work was in Bill Gates (variously estimated) fortune. At one point, Bill Gates was said to be worth … Continue reading

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