Light the fuse

Not the great New Zealand mobilisation novel

An early work-in-progress dedicated to helping,
circuitously, precipitate the Great Mobilisation

Dare to be wise!
Kant

Appendix 2

Buy Waiwera plan b or End child hunger in Aotearoa, now !

Contents
author Cimino
published 20231005–

Aerial view of the greater Mahurangi Regional Park from above Waiwera

Buy Waiwera plan b: An end-to-end Mahurangi Coastal Path would instantly unlock private-light-vehicle-free access to 1000 hectares of regional parkland, and Te Araroa—the national walkway—from Waiwera. image ImageShack

Myriad reasons make it preferable for Buy Waiwera plan b, to instead be: Buy Waiwera – phase 2. That said, should the Buy Waiwera moonshot fail to make it to the launch pad, an end-to-end Mahurangi Coastal Path would make for a stunningly salubrious plan b.

Buy Waiwera, in this context, is the proposition that the former Waiwera Pools property be purchased and redeveloped in the genteel style of the spa’s family-friendlyfriendly fiscally, not just physically and emotionally pre-hydroslideNew Zealand vernacular: water slide era. Purchased through a novel, social-networked public subscription, state-and-corporate leveraging process, the new ‘old Waiwera Pools’ would be operated as a self-funding park. A major point of difference would be that the prime real estate, adjacent the beach, would not be occupied by a public bar and beer garden, but would see the public pools in pride of place.

Back at the Mahurangi Coastal Path, end-to-end, would be end-to-ends, given that the Waiwera end of the coastal path would connect to Pūhoi in the west, and Algies Bay in the north. Connecting to Pūhoi also means connecting to Te Araroa, the national walkway. And not merely connecting to it, but providing it with a world-class, stupendously scenic, first great link from coastal suburbia to rural pastureland and indigenous forest, via the splendid isolation of Te Muri. Such a link would introduce more young New Zealanders to the magnificence of backcountry Aotearoa than any other imaginable measure, and help build pride in what desperately needs to be embraced…and commensurately invested in as New Zealanders’ big low-carbon oe.

Appropriately funded, Te Araroa must represent New Zealand’s single greatest societal and economic opportunity. The overall cost-benefit, both in societal and economic terms, would be through the roof. Aotearoa wallows amongst the worst Western-world social equity rankings, demanding that, after the immediate elimination of child hunger, strenuous work must begin on ensuring that young New Zealanders have equitable access to backcountry experiences. Making Waiwera the gateway to Te Araroa, and adding the appropriate trail infrastructure to allow groups of secondary school pupils to readily experience the loop to Pākiri and back along the coast via the Leigh Marine Laboratory and the Ōkakari marine reserveWhy anybody believed naming a marine reserve Cape Rodney-Okakari Point Marine Reserve, with or without the addition of (Goat Island), had utility … for crying George-Bridges-Rodney-1st-Baron-Rodney out loud! would represent Outward Bound for the proletariat—100% of young Aucklanders, as opposed to the lucky mayberoughly calculated literal percentage 1% who currently get to experience the real thing.

Beach Candy: Because is will only ever be accessed by foot or by boat, Te Muri Beach will always retain its sense of splendid isolation—the just reward for a little walking. image Chris Eady

As marvellous as a Buy Waiwera plan b might be, its inherent challenge is that it isn’t Buy Waiwera. Generations of New Zealanders know and love Waiwera. Few, on the other hand, will begin to imagine the magnificence of the Mahurangi Coastal Path until they have experienced it. When they do, chances are they will assume that such an obviously sublime coastal walk always existed. If, however, somebody known and respected by pretty well everyone was to tell the world about it, Waiwera’s acquisition as a public-good, charitable-trust-owned self-funding park would not be an utter prerequisite. The likelihood of discovering that the Mahurangi was Will Smith’s special place and coastal walks were his thing, of course, is remote. Having said that, the 6.6 degrees of separationmathematically: collaboration distance phenomenon, and a world-famous-in-Aotearoa name, could turn the first phase of the campaign into a Find the faces of Buy Waiwera plan b. Then, if that recruited the faces capable of convincing New Zealanders to support an Auckland-scale project, all bets would be off. With Buy Waiwera forming part of the background narrative, and boosted like billy-oh by Will—or by Tom, Brad, or Leonardo—there is every reason to suppose that Buy Waiwera plan b could inexorably morph into Buy Waiwera plan a and b—provided the unique Waiwera properties had not already been irrevocably consigned to apartment building.

If, on the other hand, a brace of compelling faces could readily be rounded up to front Buy Waiwera, and a serviceable prototype moonbeams platform was cobbled together, Buy Waiwera, or even Buy Waiwera plan b, could ultimately be instrumental in having the foodbank and school breakfast stalwarts realistically envisaging End child hunger in Aotearoa, now ! First order of business: finding the first compelling face.

Waiwera ki Mahurangi—Waiwera to Mahurangi, aka plan b—would compete with Waiwera in appeal. The opportunities for grand, day- and overnight- loop walks abound. These and a rich range of other opportunities are detailed in the joint submission to the Auckland Regional Parks management plan made by Mahurangi Action and the Mahurangi Coastal Path Trust, and in that made by Ngāti Maraeariki emphasising the cultural opportunities. Many of the paths already exist, but currently can only be accessed piecemeal, or, famously in the case of Te Araroa—in any sort of safety—by the brutally well-equipped and exactingly well-equipped. plan b, primarily, involves connecting the bounteous Mahurangi so it may be enjoyed on foot, and by public transport. This is meaningful, equitable low-carbon infrastructure, not the pervading, ankle-deep, ev-charging-station-equals-problem-solved policy response.

Million Miles from Metropolis: One thousand hectares of regional parkland coastline affords splendid isolation in spades. This map requires updating to display the compelling, future-proofed Pūhoi Estuary crossing now entirely possible. map Mahurangi Magazine

The beyond-urgent imperative of meaningful climate action self-evidently trumps pretty much every other consideration. While Hippocrates never actually said first do no harmPrimum non nocere is first recorded in 1847, he certainly did caution the limitation of it. A modern maxim would counsel that climate exacerbation must be considered in every action. This necessity applies even in the supreme human imperative to instantly intervene to stop child abuse in all its hideous manifestations, but particularly the starvation resulting from poverty. Irrespective of that inescapable imperative, a starving child needs food now. Now, not when dutifully low-carbon delivery mechanisms can be devised. Firstly, by ensuring school breakfasts and lunches are appealing and accessible in every school, and by stocking and maximising access to foodbanks. Of course it is prima facie a parental responsibility. Collectively, though, child hunger is the state and society’s failure; it is patently not the child who is hungry’s fault.

Buy Waiwera and/or plan b were always totally dependent upon establishing a novel, game-changing public-good campaign management platform. Game-changing, in regard to providing the public with the means of convincing government and its corporate backers to back a project which governments would otherwise studiously ignore or politicise to a standstill. A positive, put-your-money-where-your-mouth-is alternative to nobbled-democracy defeatism is not just desirable, but critical to survival. Were most of the world’s leaders to declare MarshallMarshall Plan, à la George Catlett Marshall Jr., not, of course, Chief Justice Marshall law, and the masses obediently complied to sharply curtail greenhouse-gas emissions and bulwark the murderous impacts of the global heating and sea-level rise already locked in, that would be one thing. But building a fit-for-purpose global democracy on the fly, peacefully, is infinitely better than precipitating another world war, over climate.

Neither climate nor child hunger can wait for global reform. Ending child hunger in Aotearoa certainly can’t wait for campaign finance reform, nor for the raft of reforms needed that neither National nor Labour would ever otherwise acquiesce to. Aotearoa has everything to gain by ending child hunger now. As its first truly democratic action since Labour cheer-led them into the swamp of neoliberalism, New Zealanders could shame their country’s parliament, and the corporations active in their country, into comprehensive action. The mechanism that mobilised that achievement, would then be available to be targeted upon the next big thing. If it were Buy Waiwera, partly as a kind of paying the favour forward, so be it—by that time, most people pledging to End child hunger in Aotearoa, now ! would have also recorded their preferences for the next moonshot. Not the final vote, of course, which would only come when contending launch-ready campaigns had had a chance to have been evaluated—a process that would include recruiting the potential faces to front the specific campaigns.

Crucial, to the novel fund-raising concept, is that the all-important pledger community grows, and grows exponentially exceeding the 76.2% who voted2023, down 1.2 percentage points from 2020 in this general election. Buy Waiwera could provide the trebuchet from which End child hunger in Aotearoa, now ! was launched. This, to a large degree, is dependent upon finding the face of Buy Waiwera. A seriouslydouble entendre intended famous face, coupled with Waiwera’s world-famous-in-Aotearoa appeal, could conceivably attract more pledgers than the distressing presence of child hunger. It is not a question, of course, as to which cause is the worthiest—that, hands down, is ending child hunger, now! The valid question is: Can Buy Waiwera help ensure that Professor Richie Poulton’s last-reported words…

This election is not going to be focused on children in poverty, because we’re bored of that. We’re tired of that. We’re sick of that. We’ve tried that, haven’t we? Have we tried that?

…were not wasted?

One thing is for sure, the Find the face of Buy Waiwera has not been tried. Generically, it could be called, Find the Face of Your Moonbeamsvernacular possibly peculiar to Aotearoa–Australia: stratospherically costly Moonshot—an end-to-end campaign strategy, and the online platform to launch and manage it. The genesis of the concept was the need to address the next 50 years of regional-parkland acquisition, following the 2010 demise of the Auckland Regional Council. (Without the regional council’s new-regional-park-every-other-year momentum, and with Auckland’s population likely to at least treble, access to uncrowded coastline is set to become problematic, particularly if accessed predominantly as at present: per private light vehicle.)

In-motion-charging trolleybus wireless section, Vossloh Kiepe

Best Current Thinking: Equitable, low-carbon access to regional parks is best delivered via in-motion-charging trolleybuses. In-motion charging minimises battery economic and environmental costs, and—in this context—prioritises precious parkland for people, not parking. Meanwhile, inviolate villages such as Waiwera and Pūhoi, and destinations such as Wenderholm, are spared the catenary hurrah’s nestshad mariners not so consummately cornered the market on the term crow’s nest, and had the magpie’s nest not be known principally for its kleptomania, an unidentifiable, possibly imaginary, bird name would not have been needed to describe messy situations such the unsightly web of wires needed, post lead-acid batteries, to power trams and trolleybuses through intersections that blighted the intersections of old-school trolleybus routes. cartoon Vossloh Kiepe

At the heart of the concept is the pledger community, which would be treated intelligently and respectfully, and not badgered. Pledgers would find it easy to share, and would see, in real time, what their sharing leveraged, in cash and in kind. And because of the moonbeamsvernacular possibly peculiar to Aotearoa–Australia: stratospherically costly–moonshot distinction, the campaigns would be few, bold, and invariably successful. Campaigns would also be fee-free, with every cent pledged going to the cause.

To permit pledges to be fee-free in perpetuity, however, would require a platform maintenance contribution of perhaps 0.5% of total funds raised, from each subsequent campaign. In the example of the Community Chest of Hong Kong—which partly inspired the moonbeams moonshot campaign concept—the administration costs are donated by the Hong Kong Jockey Club. While transparency should always be the byword with charitable causes, in any End child hunger in Aotearoa, now ! campaign, the entire cost of the campaign would have to be donated, one way or another. The inviolate principle is that every cent pledged—when the campaign target is reached, and the pledgers make good on pledges—goes to the cause, and is not syphoned off for administration, appearance fees, and especially not for consultants.

Critically, however, the moonbeams-moonshot platform is key to putting voters in the driving seat of the world’s first, full, deliberative democracy. Without practicable deliberative democracy, no country’s government will ever earn the rolling-mandate imperative for mounting, locally, examples capable of initiating the Great Mobilisation.

Whether Buy Waiwera or End Child Hunger in Aotearoa, now ! is the first cab off a moonbeams-moonshot-campaign rank is probably, back to the challenge of recruiting a first, compelling face. If that face is up for the mother-of-all moonbeams moonshots, then, indubitably, ending child hunger has the potential of being supported by every sentient New Zealander of school age and over. Certainly, building the moonbeams-moonshot platform would be a mammoth undertaking. A masterful, philanthropically inclined platform builder may be more likely to be convinced and recruited for the mega end-child-hunger-now cause that would instantly make the platform a household name, than for a more modest project.

Democracy Disgraced: Close ally Australia and closest neighbours Canada and Mexico, and most European countries—led by Sweden—are the foremost in having a poor-or-somewhat-poor view of the flawed democracysince 2016, the Economist Intelligence Unit has indexed the United States as a Flawed Democracy of the United States. chart Pew Research Center, Spring 2025 Global Attitudes Survey note Those who did not answer are not shown. | chart compaction Mahurangi Magazine

Democracy from day one Growing a community of moonbeamsvernacular, possibly peculiar to Aotearoa–Australia: stratospherically costly-moonshot pledgers to match or better the 76.2%2023, down 1.2 percentage points from 2020 of general-election voters is far from far-fetched. Not only would every pledgerassuming of course that they ranked the winning cause as either their favourite or one or other of their less-preferred options have the satisfaction of voting for the winner—the cause—pledgers would be eligible to ‘vote’ from the time they started school—adding about 852 000 young people to the cohort that currently enjoys only the slimmest odds of participation in a voting-in-schools programme.
To be continued…
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End child hunger and kick-start Great Mobilisation While it is entirely practicable—not to mention morally imperative—to End child hunger in Aotearoa, now !, the same can’t be said for child hunger globally. At least, Aotearoa can’t singlehandedly end global child hunger. The country could, however, precipitate the beginning of the end of global child hunger. While it wouldn’t need to be Aotearoa that sparked the global action, New Zealand would be as good as any nation to lead the revolution—it wasn’t the world’s first full democracy for nothing. For New Zealanders to fancy they can lead the democratic world is far less preposterous than President Joe Biden’s tone-deaf 20 October 2023 pronouncement:

American leadership is what holds the world together.

Former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, while in office, kicked off the Christchurch Call initiative, the impact of which has unquestionably been transformative in instigating a global content-incident protocol. It can only be hoped that the Christchurch Call will be the social-media-pollution equivalent of the ozone-layer-hole-healing Montreal Protocol, but meantime it does indicate that Aotearoa could lead, globally.

Some may argue that ending the child hunger that has been permitted to persist beyond the Third1940–1970 Agricultural Revolution has completely missed the boat, given the starvation that global heating will precipitate unless unprecedentedly extraordinary levels of surgically targeted mobilisation mitigate its impacts and rescue its victims. One team of five million, however, if it demonstrated emphatically that child hunger was an imminently eradicable scourge, could readily become the showcase for global, practicable climate-action mobilisation. Wretchedly, that demonstration may be far from convincing unless Winstonhis opportunity to expose the paucity of Green Party policy supporting Lake Onslow? Petershis opportunity to expose the paucity of Green Party policy supporting Lake Onslow? deigns to take time out from his viciously disinforming conspiracy-baiting to coerce the coalition-leading National Party into revisiting its free-market-pandering, egregiously carbon-illiterate axing of the heroic Lake Onslow pumped hydro storage project. The failure of both the government and the mainstream media to respond to the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment’s call for a national discussion on future electricity pathways vividly illustrates the urgent need for deep democratisationre-democratisation, arguably.
To be continued…
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Failure to deliberate sinks democracy index and low-carbon electrification Without deep democratisation, powerful, narrow sectional interests were effortlessly able to scuttle New Zealand’s most economic pathway to deep decarbonisation. Aotearoa should be the deliberative democratisation world leader, not languishing at 33rd in that liberal-democracy component index. New Zealand’s once-healthy egalitarianism was put to the Rogernomics sword by the 1984–1988 Labour government gifted the commencement to its two-term rampage. It remains to be seen whether some principled politician can yet do what neither Cunliffe nor Ardern could: prevail over their party’s unrepentant hierarchy sufficiently for Labour to begin to atone for the four decades of harm its unbridled neoliberalism unleashed.

Country scores for the liberal democracy index (ldi) and all component indices, 2022

What We Got Here: Is a failure to deliberate, or to egalitise, in desultory contrast with index-acing Denmark. Ending child hunger in Aotearoa, deliberatively and decisively, would represent—for the world’s first full democracy—a wondrously humane redemption. chart V-Dem Institute

To be continued…
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‹ Appendix 1 | Appendix 3 ›

Return to top of page | Endnotes

Disclosure The author of this novel modello is no longer the secretary of Mahurangi Action Incorporated or the Mahurangi Coastal Path Trust. The content published here, however, is that of the editorially independent, independently funded Mahurangi Magazine.