My recent writing is brought to you by the letter “F”:
Fast-Track Foolishness
The current Government is determined to crush opposition from local communities, iwi and environmental groups to their plans to cover the country in mines and motorways. (OK, that’s a slight exaggeration – but there are a lot of environmentally destructive projects they plan to fast-track). That’s why they have just passed the Fast-Track Approvals Act.
But we’ve been somewhere similar before – John Key’s Government tried to fast-track a similar range of projects. I was involved in stopping one of those projects, a motorway flyover the Government intended to build at the Basin Reserve cricket ground in Wellington.
For 350 Aotearoa, I wrote about how we defeated that flyover proposal, and lessons we learned along the way. The key point is that, with determination and cunning, these projects can be defeated!
Flash Frontier Is On The Ball
It’s been a while since I’ve written any flash fiction, so I’m especially pleased to have my short-short story A Long Ball published in the Circle | Porowhita issue (December 2024) of Flash Frontier. Check them out!
The Fight for Freshwater reviewed
I reviewed Mike Joy’s memoir The Fight for Freshwater for takahē 112. I knew a bit about Mike’s tireless work to prevent the sharp decline of our rivers, but there were so many other aspects to his life I knew nothing about. The Fight for Freshwater is a great, tightly written read – check out my review if you want to know more.
Something we should all be writing
Submissions on the Government’s odious Treaty Principles Bill close at 11.59pm on Tuesday 7 January. The Government recognises that Te Tiriti o Waitangi is a barrier to the resource expropriation they want to carry out – which is why Christopher Luxon has let ACT off the leash on this one.
If you, like me, think that this Bill is a betrayal of the fundamental basis on which our nation was established, please submit against the Bill. There are many excellent submission guides out there – Together for Te Tiriti has a good one. I know it’s the holidays (and I’m enjoying my break!), but this is too important to let slide.
