Campaign finance reform
Without which bought-and-paid-for government swamps democracy
Open-ground indigenous plant project so far
Three small open-ground plots containing a total of around a thousand plants were established in the spring of 2006. The conditions at the Jones Road nursery proved to be very conducive for most of the indigenous species planted. From…
Mahurangi punt – one of two icons
Punts are an absolutely integral, and unique, element of the settler history of Mahurangi. The centrality of these craft is graphically captured in the 1903 photograph of Willie Hamilton rowing a fully laden Mahurangi punt past the cement works established…
The 2007 yearbook: Where the bloody hell
I keep doing this. Bashing out an editorial for a Friends of the Mahurangi publication only to rewrite it, having missed the bleedin’ obvious. My prematurely written editorial had been inspired by last year’s commemoration of the World War Two heroism of Charles Upham...
Publisher’s tribute to Mont of the Mahurangi
Professor Sir Graham (Mont) Liggins 1926–2010 First published in print in 2007, in the Mahurangi Magazine Sometimes the Mahurangi is blessed by the contribution made by part-time residents. One such couple has been Professor Sir Graham “Mont” Liggins and Lady...
Open-ground indigenous plant kick-start
It was right there, in the Sustainable Farming Fund criteria: “…the project will make a positive difference by actively addressing the problem/opportunity (e.g. it involves an innovative proposal and/or will kick-start something that has stalled…
Soon-to-be 175-year search for an indigenous flag
Failure to embrace a new flag in the past bought Aotearoa a power of trouble. When the Treaty of Waitangi was signed, by default the national flag became the Union Jack. Eight years earlier, in 1832, the group of northern tribes that became known as the…
Mahurangi Regatta 2006 photographic gallery
Fairburn and his Mahurangi friends in the wilderness
And up to Mahurangi—always to Mahurangi… Jocelyn Fairburn Not only was Mahurangi the charismatic ‘ARD’ Fairburn’s special place, it was also that for a good number of the 29 exceptionally talented friends featured in the anthology Fairburn and Friends including the...
Should Rodney District Council become a unitary authority?
As quoted in an internal report for the Christchurch City Council titled Procedural Requirements for Creation of a Unitary Authority The regional and district plans required by the Resource Management Act 1991 can be developed and combined into a single plan. This...
mg parts manufacturer as Mahurangi West farmer
Liverpudlian Mike Neil did not become a New Zealander by accident. Nor did he come to live in the Mahurangi by accident. Becoming a Mahurangi West farmer was accidental—owning another farm was something he and his partner, Norma Neil, had…
World-first for Aotearoa – Meek’s method implemented
Stephen Todd played a pivotal role in the introduction of single transferable voting to Aotearoa. The road to local body electoral reform was long, hard and heroic, but New Zealanders and their district and regional councils—and even, staggeringly, the Royal…
Origins of Auckland’s regional parks
I was a member of the Auckland Regional Planning Authority from 1960 until 1962. Each territorial local authority in the region appointed a member of the planning authority and I had been appointed by the Mt Albert Borough Council. The function…
Portland cement maker Nathaniel Wilson
Of all the entrepreneurs of the Mahurangi, Nathaniel Wilson was the most notable. He showed, to a high degree, the initiative and versatility that life in the colony brought out in so many of its immigrants. Lack of education, or an inappropriate one, seemed…
Mahurangi vessels by tonnage, by builder
First published 2001. Published online 2014– This online edition is a work in progress… Part 5 A maritime communityMahurangi vessels, by tonnage, by builderFollowing are are vessels known to...
Mahurangi vessels, by vessel name, by builder
First published 2001. Published online 2014– This online edition is a work in progress… Part 5 A maritime communityMahurangi vessels, by vessel name, by builderFollowing are are vessels...
Mahurangi vessels by builder, by year built
First published 2001. Published online 2014– This online edition is a work in progress… Part 5 A maritime communityMahurangi vessels, by builder, by year builtFollowing are vessels known to...
Climate and the economy when green turns to grey
Everything that began with Marx, the Paris Commune, the Russian Revolution, 1917 and all that, petered out. Even World War II became just history. The choice facing western Europeans was no longer one of capitalism or…
Mahurangi Action – The beginnings
For me, at any rate, it began with a luncheon discussion, on our house deck at Scotts Landing, with David Thom, Auckland consulting engineer and member of planning and environmental bodies. A few of us had enlisted him to give advice on salvaging the…
To the General Assembly of the United Nations
As I see it, this is the way for the nations of the world to break the vicious circle which threatens the continued existence of mankind, as no other situation in human history has ever done. We are caught in a situation in which every citizen of every country, his...
Grasp opportunity for Climate Action Party of Aotearoa
A green economy won’t ward off an unsurvivable climate. In fairness, there is no longer any guarantee that it’s not already too late for any human intervention to prevent the onset of Hothouse Earth. Every additional day wasted increases the chance that…
For feck sake fix mixed-member proportional
Evidence-based voter-turnout-decline interventions Ordered by urgency of deployment Year-7–15 voting as curtain-raiser Universal year-7–15 voting in schools—extended Kids Voting Election Day enrol-and-vote Concurrent elections, which will quickly recoup the...
Convincing solutions convince the climate-action averse
J Barry Ferguson Fund 2021 gallery
Referendums crude instruments if used crudely or cravenly
Had the party campaigned in favour of capital gains tax, guaranteed minimum income, and legalisation of cannabis, Labour would be staring down the barrel of a one-year term. Courage is not rewarded when a political party’s policy proposals face a significant popular...
John Spencer-plan Idle-Along free to good Mahurangi home
Notice Tree and the road to Pūhoi
Whichever way you go to Pūhoi, you want to take care that at the outset your heart is young and your appetite becoming keen; for Pūhoi lies over yonder on the edge of the world where still the gods breathe low amid the dusk. If you go by coach, you have a long tumble…
Mahurangi Heads regatta a successful affair
Favoured by beautiful weather, and a steady breeze came up from the south at midday. The Mahurangi Regatta Committee and its energetic secretary—Mr W J Wilson—are to be highly congratulated upon the satisfactory results. The ‘Heads’ is one of the…
New vessels
First published 2001. Published online 2014—this online edition is a work in progress… Part x Part name New list[dvmd_table_maker tbl_column_footer_count="1" tbl_row_header_count="0"...
Editor’s forebear
as a foreigner
Salvatore Cimino’s letter-to-editor has nothing whatsoever to do with the Mahurangi Regatta. The editor’s excuse for publishing it here is that it was written by his great-great-grandfather, and, at the time, was not otherwise returned by an internet search for “Salvatore Cimino”…