Local Opinion

Every now and then, an eruption in Indonesia captures global headlines—and for good reason. One of the most recent is Lewotobi Laki-laki, but it won’t be long before another volcano makes the news. Indonesia has…

As a past president of the National Fieldays Society – and still a loyal volunteer –  I continue to take a great interest in the organisation’s success. Having been suggested by the late John Kneebone…

After arriving in Cambridge as a ‘refugee’ from Auckland almost 25 years ago, I set about learning what I could about the history of Waikato and environs – my new home. Hours in our local…

A lot of the time on social media when there’s an incident involving the police I see myriad comments from the public about there being no police. For the next few weeks I thought I’d…

Tomorrow for the third year, we’ll celebrate our very own unique national holiday. Marking Matariki on the calendar with a public holiday began in Aotearoa New Zealand three years ago – on June 24, 2022….

A few years ago, I stood at the summit of Vesuvius, gazing into its steep-sided crater—almost perfectly cylindrical—and feeling the awe that comes with being atop one of the world’s most famous volcanoes. But the…

A Depositor Compensation Scheme will come into effect in New Zealand on 1 July, 2025. With this, New Zealand will finally join most of the other countries in the world in having a formal system…

Dead fish Recent reports of dead carp (goldfish) in Lake Te Koo Utu, are not surprising, and of the observation that no native fish were found dead –  that is because there are no native…

After five intense rounds of revision, Waipā District Council’s Draft Long Term Plan has taken shape and it’s now $198 million leaner than when we began in May 2024. Despite those significant cuts, I recently…

Fieldays is over for another year. It was good to have such a positive vibe and to get to talk to so many people – all while getting in a lot of steps. Despite the…