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Resource Recovery : A Far North Vision
What follows is the vision of our ‘Far North Citizens Waste Minimisation Group’ and our request for support – that I gave via FNDC Annual Plan hearing video link on 6 May 2020 – to our Far North District Mayor and Councillors. I know that 4 pilot resource recovery projects will add hugely to this year’s Annual Plan. I’m…
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‘How Did We Get So Lucky Grandma’? Far North Holdings 2040
“How did we get so lucky here in Tai Tokerau, Grandma?” a child in 2040 asks one of the community elders. “It all started,’ she explains, “when five local groups came together after the Covid19 crisis….. The Local Government Amendment Act 2019 gives Councils responsibility to ‘Promote the social, economic, environmental and cultural wellbeing of…
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Ocean Plastic: Choices for Cruising Yachties
(Pre-Covid19, this article was scheduled for publication inOpua Yacht Club’s ‘Tell Tales’ : April 2020 issue.) The challenge of plastic in our oceans is confronting. It’d be hard to find a beach anywhere in the world these days free of plastic flotsam so perhaps we as yachties can be part of the solution? What if we…
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Universal Basic Income – get the facts right
Dear Editor (letter to New Zealand Herald 1 May 2020) While Mathew Hooten’s recent article purports to be an overview of the concept of Universal Basic Income, it is factually incorrect. These untruths distort the picture and devalue the concept. Hooten’s statement that UBI ‘ would need to be set somewhere just below the current dole’ misleads…
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WHY WE NEED SINGLE TRANSFERABLE VOTES!
By September this year, the Far North District council must decide between 2 alternative processes for the next local government elections in 2022. Do they vote to keep the status quo, the current First-Past-the-Post electoral ‘race’ or follow the lead of 11 progressive councils last year, and adopt the ‘Single-Transferable-Vote system? ‘STV’ stands for ‘Simple To Vote’! It’s a fairer…
Connecting Cheerfully 