Very good point by a columnist in the Sunday Star Times today - couldn’t have said it better myself!

Ministers are allocating billions and billions on new state highways, including some kind of multi-billion dollar tunnel to Wellington Airport, all in the name of productivity. But what assessments have Ministers made of the relative productivity gains from a proper Dunedin Hospital?

If, as the Infrastructure Minister says, the govt is facing the reality of the fiscal situation despite its past promises, there’s no need to ditch Dunedin’s Hospital build or pit it against work on other hospitals when the massive highways budget is clearly not facing reality.

The things that are unaffordable and the things that aren’t

$3 billion for a new hospital? Unaffordable. $3 billion for a new motorway? Now we’re talking.

The Infrastructure Commission CE made *the crucial point* about the cost of roads, water, energy being “significantly higher building out” this week on RNZ, saying we “don’t need marginal additions to the network on the edge of the city if we can get more capacity inside the city.”

GNS have confirmed they are cutting over forty science roles including in areas like risk modelling and geohazards, in service of “improved” profits. This is what a commercial model for public good science does. The damage to our capability and reputation will be long-lasting.

‘Huge blow’: GNS Science confirms move to cut 10% of its workforce

Hazard-focused roles among dozens of jobs to be cut in confirmed GNS Science restructure.

In Wellington’s morning peak, buses are only 3% of the vehicles on Thorndon Quay but carry 60% of the people. On Adelaide Road buses are 1% of the traffic, but 40% of the people. Want more people in the city without more congestion? Fund more bus lanes, and higher capacity, higher frequency buses.

Bemoaning working from home while promoting costly urban sprawl and expensive new highways is incoherent. Focus housing policy on new homes close to the centre, focus transport spend on public transport, focus infrastructure spend on renewals and the city will thrive. www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/3504...

THIS IS A HUGE ACHIEVEMENT: The EU now generates more electricity from wind and solar than from fossil fuels. Graph from Nat Bullard and data from Ember.

We put together a careful $270m 3-year plan for new regional public transport investments and last week the government decided to contribute zero dollars towards it. Instead they redirected NZTA funding away from public transport to roads. Many basic projects are now at risk. 1/

Here is my writeup of the story of the takeover of the refresh of the New Zealand curriculum refresh.

How a special interest group took over the refresh of the New Zealand curriculum

This is a scandal. I have spent the last week diving into the documents released through an OIA request made by the New Zealand Association for Teachers of English. Attached is my write up. Please sha...