Public Housing Plan a letdown

Fixing New Zealand's housing crisis is a priority, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said yesterday as the Government revealed a Public Housing Plan that...

Multiple Maori wards likely

Updated electoral population figures from the Local Government Commission continue the council's guidance last year that if the number of GDC...

Considering a new GDC ward structure

Uncertainty over implications for our District Council ward structure from the introduction of Maori wards is a legitimate concern for rural residents...

Pompeo: one landmine a day

When defeated armies are retreating, they always lay mines behind them if they have time. The mines slow pursuit, they may inflict casualties on the...

‘Driving a wedge on basis of race’

Some things are plain. Under our current system, good candidates for council get elected. Poor candidates do not. If you are broadly supported and...

Balancing scales tilted for so long

Our columnist today starts out with the apparent premise that the “scales” of local politics are equal for Maori and Pakeha; they are not. Maori...

Vaccine triage against new strain

Triage is always crude and messy, and there are always mistakes, but the goal is to save as many lives as possible in an emergency where there are not...

Defences bolstered but is it enough?

The Government has responded to the heightened pandemic dangers posed by new, faster-spreading strains of Covid-19 by bolstering pre-departure and...

America on edge as Trump’s exit nears

The political and social upheaval in the United States as it prepares for the transition to a new president in eight days would be unfathomable if we...

Mythology of ‘American’ democracy

If I have to read one more hand-wringing article about the “crisis of American democracy” and what it means for the world, I'm going to retch....

Not what a peaceful transition looks like

The circus in the Capitol building of the United States today is a tragic situation for the nation that has been a beacon for democracy worldwide,...

Georgia on their minds

In November, Joe Biden became the first Democratic presidential candidate to win the state of Georgia since 1992 — by two-tenths of a percent. It...

Salvation in a vat . . .

Looking forward to a better year

A largely stay-at-home world has turned the page on 2020 with made-for-television New Year's Eve celebrations, and a weary eye on the Covid-19 pain...

Wonderful honour for Dame Anne

Eminent writer and social scientist Distinguished Professor Dame Anne Salmond has received the ultimate accolade to join her many others over the past...

The European Union: Free at last!

As Britain finally leaves the European Union, 1651 days after the Brexit referendum of 2016, we should try to remember that 48 percent of the turkeys...

Celebrating end of a challenging year

The spirit of summer-holiday fun and festivities is with us, minus the sun we're normally basking in about now . . . more importantly, unlike almost...

Underpants, beards and consonants

Surely you don’t want to read about the new, faster-spreading variant of the coronavirus today, or the fourth Israeli election in two years, and I...

Last-minute Brexit trade deal a relief

Thousands of trucks jamming highways in Kent this week, as the border with France was slammed shut temporarily over fears related to a new coronavirus...

Have fun and be safe, considerate

As the clock ticks down to Christmas, most Kiwis look set for a surprisingly normal and traditional summer holiday. After a year knocked wildly off...

‘We do not think about him . . .’

The lying narcissist who murdered British backpacker Grace Millane on the eve of her 22nd birthday has been officially named, and the two years of...

Santa over the centuries

The ubiquitous image of December is that rotund and jovial bloke who hurtles round the entire globe in a single night to indulge the mostly...

Petition organised from Hastings . . .

This week’s webpoll on whether people would sign a petition against Maori wards has shown there is sentiment out there to try to block the...

Prepare for 6.5 . . . to catch up

Gisborne District Council has a lot of infrastructure investment under way, planned and expected, so ratepayers can forget the “5 to thrive”...

Opening up travel with Australia . . .

An Australian holiday in Easter, that is the Christmas present announced by the Government yesterday and it is one that could hardly be more welcome...

Eyeing next bubble — with Australia

The announcement of plans for a “travel bubble” between New Zealand and the Cook Islands is going to increase pressure on the Government to do the...

Problems with screen use in education

The Ministry of Education (MoE) has recently published a study showing that computer or tablet-based learning in Year 5 students reduces reading...

Turning bold vision into reality . . .

“Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.” Leaving aside the immense distance further out in space stars are than our...

Facing up to our truancy epidemic

Move over Covid-19, New Zealand is facing a different kind of epidemic. New data released by the Ministry of Education points to a freefall in...

Wage subsidy for The Herald larger

It was good to be able to report this week that Eastland Group Ltd has repaid in full the $358,509 it received from the Government's Covid-19 wage...

Sports facilities on GDC agenda today

The business case to develop sport and recreation facilities and opportunities in Tairawhiti has come before the council, sitting as Sustainable...

Sports facilities on GDC agenda today

The business case to develop sport and recreation facilities and opportunities in Tairawhiti has come before the council, sitting as Sustainable...

Emergencies require urgent action

Re: Small majority disagree with climate emergency declaration, December 5 webpoll story. I respond to this plus your Thursday editorial on the...

Apologies and 44 recommendations

New Zealand's security agencies had an “inappropriate concentration of resources” on probing Islamic extremism, police “did not meet required...

Permanent solution to seasonal issues

by Julian Wood In February this year, Maxim Institute called for a shift away from New Zealand’s over-reliance on temporary workers towards...

Honeymoon at home for Labour

The first polling verdict is in since New Zealanders delivered a majority government for the first time in the 24-year-long MMP era, and it shows we...

‘War on Drugs’ based on Nixon-era lie

As a 79 year-old who has never used any “recreational” drug other than alcohol and caffeine, I found the so-called “debate” on cannabis...

Needed to address our housing crisis

The building programme Kainga Ora has signalled this week for Gisborne City is welcome news, as a housing crisis here deepens and with the waiting...

Local govt has held fast to colonial roots

by Meredith Akuhata-Brown When you talk about Maori sovereignty and Te Tiriti o Waitangi at a governance table it is expected that you will get some...

Divide people, you invite division

by Craig Bauld Aw gee Gisborne, can we lighten up and stop with the “racist, racist” rhetoric about different views on Maori wards? Reminds me of...

Driving speed limits on the way down

New speed limits of 80kmh on rural roads, 40kmh on most urban roads and 30kmh in the city centre are being proposed in a new speed management approach...

I fear for this country: final column

by Clive Bibby My guess is that my critics will have a field day if this final contribution to our local conversations makes it into print. Some will...

Responding to the climate emergency

The New Zealand Government has joined many of its international peers in declaring a climate emergency, and backed it up in Parliament yesterday by...

Selfless service and kindness impressive

It has been a whirlwind two weeks in our region — I started to list every function I have attended but realised I would use all my 600 words if I...

Update on GDC’s DrainWise project

A recent update for councillors on the DrainWise programme aimed at reducing wastewater overflows during heavy rain said work this financial year was...

We think and see things differently

by Bob Hughes Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will declare a climate emergency this week and The Gisborne Herald is running an online poll on whether we...

Honoured for his new life course

There were few dry eyes in the packed wharenui at Te Wananga o Aotearoa’s Whirikoka campus when Wiremu Witana was honoured as the Tauawhi man of the...

Pool project needs independent review

The Government's poverty problem

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is sitting on a shiny mountain of political capital that would, as one editorial pointed out, make Disney’s Scrooge...