Hamilton City Councillor Garry Mallett is the subject of a formal complaint over allegations he used the words ‘fags’ and ‘homos’ while on council business. But he has defended any use of such terms, and warned the Spinoff against getting ‘sucked into this politically correct vortex’, reports Angela Cuming. A Hamilton City councillor accused of … Read more
If the government won’t do something about housing, then Queenstown mayor Jim Boult will – or at least, that’s the plan. Peter Newport finds out how he proposes to fix the town’s affordable housing crisis – now officially worse than Auckland’s – and why he’s calling on Wellington to loosen its iron grip on local … Read more
The super city is broken, says eminent sociologist Ian Shirley – but it doesn’t need another review. It needs the government to fix the problems we already know about. Recently the NZ Herald published an article by Terry Dunleavy, a member of the National Party, under the headline: National’s ‘super city’ for Auckland is not … Read more
The first manifesto of the election has been declared and it doesn’t even belong to a political party. ‘Manifesto 2017: What the next New Zealand government should do’ is the work of think tank the New Zealand Initiative. Simon Wilson, worried as ever about Auckland, searches for some goodness within. They’ve got well organised minds … Read more