We Can Make this Budget Work
Auckland Council staff share information to the community on stream health in Waitemata. There are indeed fish in the Symonds Street cemetery.
How do you deal with a crisis if you are in a position of power? Do you feel impelled to find and impose a solution as quickly as possible? Or do you support those beneath you to find the solutions that work best for their unique circumstances. There are so many talented people working in this country, in the civil service, in the private sector, in the academic field, in the arts. We have the knowledge and the skills to come out of COVID with a stronger and lovelier New Zealand. But no one mind or group of minds can or will determine the solution. At a local board level we want to empower the community to come up with solutions, share knowledge and to help them do the work that needs to be done.
There are so many decisions to come.
The message we are getting from government is this is a time for investment into infrastructure, into people, and into improving the environment. this may not be the clear direction, a climate budget, that many of us want but we can work with this because the devil is in the detail, in the how. Let us all apply our minds within our own areas that gets us to a future that we want and pivot. As the climate change commissioner said yesterday, if you need new ferries, make them electric. A few weeks ago a notice of motion Jessica Rose and I developed to develop a climate change resilient water strategy was passed by the Waitemata Local Board and was taken up at Governing Body level. They will work with Watercare to do this. The notice of motion was based on a lot of Watercare’s own thinking - they are a smart bunch - and reading up on what is possible based on experiences and projects from around the world. We can do this, if we have the will, and keep climate change front of mind.
If a new suburb is planned, make it mixed use, mid-rise and walkable so people don't need to use too much transport to get to what they need. Make sure that the buildings are good quality and that the earthworks don't spill into the harbour, but are resourced usefully. Better still, let us build in the gaps around existing town centres that are already walkable and where the infrastructure is there.
For the film industry entertainment is low carbon. Let's support it. It takes a darn sight fewer emissions to enjoy Fjordland through Lord of the Rings than by flying there. Let's enrich our towns so that they are vibrant and interesting. My grandparents in Lower Hutt in the thirties put on dance shows, played in an orchestra, went tramping, bicycling, horseriding, they knitted socks and played tennis. Are we putting enough into community facilities and the grassroots arts sector to ensure that we can get together and have fun in a variety of ways?
On a personal level, what do we spend our money on? I needed new sheets, I bought decent quality ones that will last and am looking into rainwater storage. I just bought some 100% wool knitwear - both spotted while cycling by the shops (you go slower on a bike, more time to windowshop). I need them, they are warm and beautiful and pretty classic. They’ll last. I have mended some other clothes so the budget doesn’t burst. I want more music in the house - is this the time to learn the guitar? Or get back to my couch choir? On that couch you meet people, share ideas, feel happier and inspired. These are good things. Don’t hunker down alone.
We need courage to be bold, because jobs are uncertain and it may be tempting to play it safe. But the world is changing whether we like it or not. We have stayed homes to save lives, particularly the lives of those who are older, and hurrah fingers crossed we have done well in this regard, now we need to get out there,, and make the decisions that need to be made and do the things that need to be done to save our kids.