Lead on, Macduff
Martin Doyle
WE live in very interesting times. And Wellington itself appears to have drawn a special card from the pack that says “Manic Titanic”. But when you think about it, danger doesn’t have to spell the end. Danger can add spice to life and bring out the finest qualities we’ve got. We’ve all seen the tragedy that has beset Christchurch and how they’re bravely (and collectively) working to rethink, and rebuild, their city. That effort will require massive injection of finance.
But Wellington itself is not exactly on sure ground. We have been forewarned that in the next short while the government is going to, as it must, reduce spending in the public sector by a billion dollars. Have you ever had a close look at the Beehive end of Wellington? Just about every single building is dedicated to bureaucracy, government, the study of government, lawmakers in parliament, the law school, district court, family court, high court, court of appeal, and even a supreme court...
Every corridor in Wellington is swarming with little grey men and women in stiff suits and thick glasses. We can’t afford them any more. I think everyone understands that. The challenge now is identifying how to meet this challenge. Many have responded by lurching towards the airport and going to Australia. Others, like the Mayor and Professor Paul Callaghan, have advocated moving to high-tech industry producing things like respiratory humidifiers, crystal-controlled oscillators, and magnetic resonance sensors.
OK, but will our terrified bureaucrats instantly morph into fast-breeding computer nerds? Can they stop being sheep and get into science and IT? Left to their own devices, no. Right now they’re lost. What they desperately need is leadership.
What kind of leadership does Wellington need right now? I think the right initial signals have been given by Minister Steven Joyce, Mayor Celia Wade-Brown, and WRC chair Fran Wilde. But what’s still missing is a clear plan, structural changes, incentives to students to study and stay, investment in the youthful IT sector, and new mechanisms to involve the unemployed in high-tech industry. Simply building up the IT component of all existing businesses would do a lot of good.
Rather than building a $2.4 billion highway to the airport at this precise moment, the money should go into Wellington’s industrial makeover. Always in the past, significant change in New Zealand has been poorly explained, barely discussed, and never understood by the Great Unwashed. This is a time when we don’t need ‘spin’ from our leaders. Pathetic party politics be damned! We need leadership. Strong, visible leadership. Almost in the style of Christchurch, there’s a need in Wellington for concerted teamwork between central and local government. Give us dramatic new arrangements and, above all, tell us clearly what you’re doing. [We can take it.]
The alternative is mass depression in the grey corridors of bureaucracy, fighting in the rat cages, and wasted ‘human potential’ sleeping in plastic underneath a towering Flyover heading to Anywhere Else.
But Wellington itself is not exactly on sure ground. We have been forewarned that in the next short while the government is going to, as it must, reduce spending in the public sector by a billion dollars. Have you ever had a close look at the Beehive end of Wellington? Just about every single building is dedicated to bureaucracy, government, the study of government, lawmakers in parliament, the law school, district court, family court, high court, court of appeal, and even a supreme court...
Every corridor in Wellington is swarming with little grey men and women in stiff suits and thick glasses. We can’t afford them any more. I think everyone understands that. The challenge now is identifying how to meet this challenge. Many have responded by lurching towards the airport and going to Australia. Others, like the Mayor and Professor Paul Callaghan, have advocated moving to high-tech industry producing things like respiratory humidifiers, crystal-controlled oscillators, and magnetic resonance sensors.
OK, but will our terrified bureaucrats instantly morph into fast-breeding computer nerds? Can they stop being sheep and get into science and IT? Left to their own devices, no. Right now they’re lost. What they desperately need is leadership.
What kind of leadership does Wellington need right now? I think the right initial signals have been given by Minister Steven Joyce, Mayor Celia Wade-Brown, and WRC chair Fran Wilde. But what’s still missing is a clear plan, structural changes, incentives to students to study and stay, investment in the youthful IT sector, and new mechanisms to involve the unemployed in high-tech industry. Simply building up the IT component of all existing businesses would do a lot of good.
Rather than building a $2.4 billion highway to the airport at this precise moment, the money should go into Wellington’s industrial makeover. Always in the past, significant change in New Zealand has been poorly explained, barely discussed, and never understood by the Great Unwashed. This is a time when we don’t need ‘spin’ from our leaders. Pathetic party politics be damned! We need leadership. Strong, visible leadership. Almost in the style of Christchurch, there’s a need in Wellington for concerted teamwork between central and local government. Give us dramatic new arrangements and, above all, tell us clearly what you’re doing. [We can take it.]
The alternative is mass depression in the grey corridors of bureaucracy, fighting in the rat cages, and wasted ‘human potential’ sleeping in plastic underneath a towering Flyover heading to Anywhere Else.
Have Your Say
1 Comment
Lovelocks Sid at 4:31 p.m. on 20 July said
A boorish load of insulting rancour. Obviously as the capital city, Wellington will contain a significant amount of Government departments, services and staff.
Wellington does not need 'Leadership' - something that is never defined. This city won't get back on its feet until the working people of Wellington are given a living wage, a break from exhorbitant rates and a slowdown in prices increases. Then you might see some revival.