Dedicated to democracy, enjoying and restoring the Mahurangi, meaningful climate action, and curiosity—
primarily pre-pandemic content accessible from this page. Go to lastest content…
How Savage would have salvaged a survivable climate
There is an alternative to you-first-no-you-first. Aotearoa, like pretty much every other country, is fearful of getting too far ahead of the pack in respect to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions. Much of the fear, paranoia even, is of becoming…
Dogma dictates it’s okay for corporations, but not for governments to plan
Despite predictably shirking population, the pope’s heroic climate encyclical will surely ratchet up resolve for meaningful global action. Crucially, Pope Francis calls out cap and trade, which, until recently, few dared question, it being the crux of the sacrosanct,...
Supporter opportunity to spark VP’s potential
Twenty-year-old Tessa Berger is Mahurangi Action’s best hope for the future. And that is good news for the Mahurangi, if the society’s achievements to date can be considered ‘good for the Mahurangi’. Major achievements include: causing Mahurangi Peninsula wastewater...
William Jackson and family
Pages 270–272
William Jackson was born in Dublin. Nothing more survives in the family recollection of his origins or early years in Aotearoa. He may have been the flax-trader, probably from Sydney, who traded out of Onehunga to Kāwhia. Two land claims appear in the New Zealand…
Beautiful bequeathing friends of the Mahurangi
Possibly the only thing they shared was their love for the Mahurangi. One was a British-born immigrant and bomber navigator. The other, a 34th, or thereabouts, generation New Zealander, and Pukapuka postmistress. Wilfred ‘Wilf’…
William Sullivan and family
Pages 267–270
John Sullivan’s only son, William, was educated in Auckland. He then became a hand on the cutter Mahurangi. The family story is that John took William from this apprenticeship in sail to put him in command of his brand new schooner Rosella. It was an…
Foreword to online edition of history of the Mahurangi
That he wrote, and beautifully wrote, the foreword for his own book, was utterly typical of Dr Ronald H Locker. After all, he wrote his own funeral service, complete with eulogy. But rather than egocentricity, it reflected the exceptional self-reliance that was the hallmark…
Web Magna Carta and better democracy for half the price
It is possible to put a price on better democracy. At least to the extent that combining local and general elections would nearly halve the cost of holding them, and massively improve local-body turnout to boot. Extensive experience elsewhere suggests that…