Recently I was at Auckland airport’s Koru lounge, and I saw that our new Deputy Prime Minister, David Seymour, was sitting nearby. On impulse, I went over, shook his hand, and said that I very much hoped he would withdraw the Regulatory Standards Bill. His smile faded and he asked why. I began to answer,…
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It seems like caring and respect for people and planet have been sidelined, while greed and aggression are taking centre stage. I see little caring and respect for people and planet in the policies and legislation of our current coalition government here in Aotearoa NZ, with their focus on supporting corporations, undermining Te Tiriti o…
Continue reading →Many if not most of us tangata Tiriti understand that Te Tiriti o Waitangi is our founding document which provides aframework for us all to belong here – see why Te Tiriti is important to me here. And, many if not most of us tangata Tiriti are also unhappy about the many backward steps currently…
Continue reading →Have you read “Thunder”, the glorious, bitter-sweet short story by acclaimed author Patricia Grace? If not, make yourself a cuppa and click the link above to have a read – it will take less than 10 minutes. Then come back for a discussion about what this story tells us about the bubbles we live in,…
Continue reading →If we are lucky enough to live comfortably, why wouldn’t we share some of what we have? Two key ways of sharing financial resources are through philanthropy and taxation, and I frequently blog about philanthropy, but this time let’s talk about tax. Personally I see tax as a good thing, and I am willing to…
Continue reading →Ending Homelessness – we thought it couldn’t be done. Then along came COVID-19, and, thanks to a significant collaborative effort, a large proportion of the homeless population had some kind of roof over their head at last. It wasn’t perfect, and it isn’t a permanent solution, but it happened. So how do we build from…
Continue reading →How can we best respond to online racism and hate? Social media is the “new village square,” and is increasingly the place where everyday racism is amplified. In extreme cases, it is also where white-supremacist-leaning people are radicalised and turn to violence, as we saw with the horrific murders of 51 people in Christchurch mosques…
Continue reading →The Philanthropy Summit, held in Wellington from May 15 – 17 and created by Philanthropy New Zealand, was one of the best learning opportunities I have had in a long time. Here are the top four things I learned: There is a curious and delightful parallel between dental health and a racism-free world. One of…
Continue reading →Weird story number 1: Last week I was in Los Angeles visiting family. Walking back from the beach there was a strong smell of burning plastic – on the steps of the overbridge was a young couple, apparently homeless, trying to barbecue pig trotters inside a plastic-coated supermarket trolley. I considered pointing out the carcinogenic…
Continue reading →When someone, particularly a politician, does something wrong, why is it that we sometimes judge their actions harshly, and sometimes leniently? It seems to me that passing judgement implicitly involves considering questions like “is the action legal?”, “is the action socially acceptable?” and “is the action fair and morally justifiable?” And then we overlay an…
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