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Simon Wilson

@simonbwilson.bsky.social
331 followers 5 following 62 posts

Politics / climate / urban issues / culture // Hopetown substack @simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com // City Desk column NZ Listener

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Simon Wilson @simonbwilson.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I love how the world keeps finding ways to say fuck you to Trump while asserting the values of generosity and inclusiveness
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Simon Wilson @simonbwilson.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
My Listener column on rough sleepers, move-on orders and the wonderful Helen Robinson at the Akl City Mission is now online ($) but you can also read it in the magazine in shops this week www.nzherald.co.nz/the-listener...
nzherald.co.nz
Simon Wilson: Wider Auckland needs about 1000 emergency beds. Move-on orders won’t fix that
Why aren't we listening to those with solutions to NZ's rough-sleeping crisis?
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Reposted by Simon Wilson
Russell Brown @publicaddress.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Along with others, I've had a bit to say about Simeon Brown's deranged 2024 Transport GPS. But this is actually shocking. It was altered *after the consultation period* to make the books look better – in a way that wrecks the National Land Transport Fund. www.greaterauckland.org.nz/2026/09/29/t...
greaterauckland.org.nz
Transport borrowing comes back to bite - Greater Auckland
Today, Treasury is releasing the Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update (or PREFU) ahead of the election. So I figured it was worth looking at a significant recent change to the way transport expendi...
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Reposted by Simon Wilson
Le Monde in English @english.lemonde.fr · 26/09/2026
How Paris, New York and Tokyo are all moving away from car-centric urban planning
lemonde.fr
How Paris, New York and Tokyo are all moving away from car-centric urban planning
In a study presented on September 9, the Paris Urban Planning Workshop analyzed how residents in seven major cities have been getting around over the past 20 years. The profound transformation of public space has given rise to new practices: residents walk, cycle and take public transport more.
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Reposted by Simon Wilson
Simon Wilson @simonbwilson.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
At the heart of Nicky Hager’s book is a tale of how a group of cynical hard-right ideologues made racism a winning political platform, not because they’re white supremacists, but because it suited their interests. My Hopetown post is here #nzpol simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com/p/dirty-work...
simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com
Dirty work and the disinfecting sunshine it deserves
Nicky Hager’s new book ‘Dirty Work’ reminds us how much we’ve lost in the last three years
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Simon Wilson @simonbwilson.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
At the heart of Nicky Hager’s book is a tale of how a group of cynical hard-right ideologues made racism a winning political platform, not because they’re white supremacists, but because it suited their interests. My Hopetown post is here #nzpol simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com/p/dirty-work...
simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com
Dirty work and the disinfecting sunshine it deserves
Nicky Hager’s new book ‘Dirty Work’ reminds us how much we’ve lost in the last three years
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Reposted by Simon Wilson
Michael Warburton @michaelwarburton.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
The best sign in the history of everything.
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Simon Wilson @simonbwilson.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com/p/dirty-work...
simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com
Dirty work and the disinfecting sunshine it deserves
Nicky Hager’s new book ‘Dirty Work’ reminds us how much we’ve lost in the last three years
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Jolisa Gracewood @nzdodo.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
“Ruby Tui belted out Tūtira Mai Ngā Iwi at Eden Park, and 40,000 fans sang with her. Four months later, Harry Styles sang the first line of the song at his concert in Auckland and the crowd sang the rest back to him. This was who we were. And this is what Jordan Williams set out to destroy.” #nzpol
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Simon Wilson @simonbwilson.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
The new book #DirtyWork by #NickyHager is the story of how Jordan Williams and the Taxpayers' Union orchestrated the use of racism in the 2023 election. Here's my take on what we lost as a result, free to all on my Hopetown substack now simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com/p/dirty-work...
simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com
Dirty work and the disinfecting sunshine it deserves
Nicky Hager’s new book ‘Dirty Work’ reminds us how much we’ve lost in the last three years
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Simon Wilson @simonbwilson.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
The new book #DirtyWork by #NickyHager is the story of how Jordan Williams and the Taxpayers' Union orchestrated the use of racism in the 2023 election. Here's my take on what we lost as a result, free to all on my Hopetown substack now simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com/p/dirty-work...
simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com
Dirty work and the disinfecting sunshine it deserves
Nicky Hager’s new book ‘Dirty Work’ reminds us how much we’ve lost in the last three years
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Reposted by Simon Wilson
Andy @andydruid.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
This is some super impressive investigative writing
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Simon Wilson @simonbwilson.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Is it panicky? Yep. Is it the AI companies boosting their own interests at our expense? Yep. But those things don’t mean the threat to humanity isn’t real. Here’s my analysis of the dangers of AI + what it suggests for NZ, at my Hopetown substack now simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com/p/why-arent-...
simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com
Why aren’t our politicians worried about AI?
What are we supposed to do when the smartest guys in the room tell us they’ve invented machines that might be about to kill us all?
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Simon Wilson @simonbwilson.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Techbros, fossil fuels, investment banking and the military: “Thanks to recursive self-improvement, the four horsemen of the apocalypse now ride among us.” My explainer and analysis of the big fuss about AI, up now on Substack at Hopetown simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com/p/why-arent-...
simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com
Why aren’t our politicians worried about AI?
What are we supposed to do when the smartest guys in the room tell us they’ve invented machines that might be about to kill us all?
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Simon Wilson @simonbwilson.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Techbros, fossil fuels, investment banking and the military: “Thanks to recursive self-improvement, the four horsemen of the apocalypse now ride among us.” My explainer and analysis of the big fuss about AI, up now on Substack at Hopetown simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com/p/why-arent-...
simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com
Why aren’t our politicians worried about AI?
What are we supposed to do when the smartest guys in the room tell us they’ve invented machines that might be about to kill us all?
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Reposted by Simon Wilson
Simon Wilson @simonbwilson.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Up to speed on recursive self-improvement and exponential growth? Even if it isn't the end of the world, AI demands a lot more attention than we give it in this country. Explainer and analysis: new Substack post at Hopetown up now simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com/p/why-arent-...
simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com
Why aren’t our politicians worried about AI?
What are we supposed to do when the smartest guys in the room tell us they’ve invented machines that might be about to kill us all?
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Simon Wilson @simonbwilson.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Up to speed on recursive self-improvement and exponential growth? Even if it isn't the end of the world, AI demands a lot more attention than we give it in this country. Explainer and analysis: new Substack post at Hopetown up now simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com/p/why-arent-...
simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com
Why aren’t our politicians worried about AI?
What are we supposed to do when the smartest guys in the room tell us they’ve invented machines that might be about to kill us all?
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Reposted by Simon Wilson
Jessica de Heij @jdeheij.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
“He didn’t mention that less driving also means fewer emissions and better road safety and public health. But he did grasp that the CRL will qualitatively improve the whole Auckland transport network, which is why it has enormous potential for the city.”
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Simon Wilson @simonbwilson.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Chris Luxon seemed genuinely to recognise the value of better public transport last week, despite everything else his party gets wrong, while Labour remain frozen by its lack of policy. New Hopetown post on Substack up now simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com/p/cheering-t...
simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com
Cheering the CRL: “People are living like this all round the world”
National knows the Overton Window on urban development is changing, but is Labour keeping up?
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Katya @nzkatya.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Simon Wilson's article is excellent, as always. His question to Quilae Wong is one I would also like an answer to #nzpol
By the way, how good that Qiulae Wong says Opportunity will not join a government in which Winston Peters is foreign minister.

But why stop there? How about a government in which Simeon Brown is energy minister, reinforcing our dependence on fossil fuels? Chris Bishop is fast-tracking the ruination of elite soils and efficient council planning? Louise Upston is the welfare overlord? Shane Jones runs amok in minerals and fisheries? Tama Potaka cancels emergency housing? Nicole McKee oversees the gun laws? Casey Costello protects the tobacco industry? David Seymour tells infectious children to go to school and feeds them abominable school lunches? Paul Goldsmith orders rough sleepers away, even when they’re minding their own business and have nowhere else to go? Where not a single one of them has a decent thing to say about Israel and Gaza?

Or, for that matter, given Opportunity’s clear climate commitments, why support a prime minister who presides over the undoing of climate progress and deliberately, disgracefully, shabbily, greenwashes the whole process?
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Simon Wilson @simonbwilson.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Luxon’s performative “support” for the Paris Accord, the horror of Nepal, the data-centre fightback sweeping America, a question for Qiulae and musical hope on a train. Different ways to look at the climate: my Substack post this weekend #nzpol simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com/p/well-alway...
simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com
We’ll always have Paris, or will we?
Horror in Nepal, performative nonsense about the Paris Accord and the good cheer of the AI fightback
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Simon Wilson @simonbwilson.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Horror in Nepal, the astonishing fightback against AI data centres and performative climate action nonsense from Luxon: new Hopetown post on Substack today simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com/p/well-alway...
simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com
We’ll always have Paris, or will we?
Horror in Nepal, performative nonsense about Paris and the good cheer of the AI fightback
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Simon Wilson @simonbwilson.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Horror in Nepal, the astonishing fightback against AI data centres and performative climate action nonsense from Luxon: new Hopetown post on Substack today simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com/p/well-alway...
simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com
We’ll always have Paris, or will we?
Horror in Nepal, performative nonsense about Paris and the good cheer of the AI fightback
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Reposted by Simon Wilson
Gerard @groverxv.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
If you’re a Kiwi, read this. It’s just bloody common sense.
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Simon Wilson @simonbwilson.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Credit where it’s due. Political leadership of a kind we don’t see so often. My feature in this week’s Listener on Len Brown, channelling Robbie, in his campaign to bring us the CRL. www.nzherald.co.nz/the-listener...
nzherald.co.nz
Slow train coming: the arduous route to Auckland’s City Rail Link
Now Auckland’s CRL is about to open, will credit fall where it's due?
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Froggie24 @froggie24.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Love this article - great insight into the short term thinking that seems to permeate NZ politics right now.
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Simon Wilson @simonbwilson.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
My Listener column on the govt/NZTA’s ridiculous thinking about a new Akl harbour crossing (and the mayor’s own crazy plan), and a much better, cheaper, easier and faster to buildi and more beautiful alternative, is online now www.nzherald.co.nz/the-listener...
nzherald.co.nz
Simon Wilson: Who really wants to cross Auckland's beautiful Waitematā Harbour in a tunnel?
The promising new proposal for Auckland’s harbour bridge.
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Simon Wilson @simonbwilson.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
“No new taxes” means our health system will collapse and public assets will be turned into profit centres for private operators. It’s happening now. New Substack post on the war on Auckland, which is a war on the whole country but in Akl it bites deep simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com/p/the-war-ag...
simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com
The war against Auckland
An ideological war is being waged against the city: I’m calling it Simeonism
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Simon Wilson @simonbwilson.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Go for the politics, stay for the people and absolutely stay for the food! I posted at my substack Hopetown today on the fabulous Ōtaki Summer Camp simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com/p/happy-camp...
simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com
Happy campers: Politics and composting toilets
Go for the politics, stay for the people and absolutely stay for the food! Welcome to the Ōtaki Summer Camp
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Simon Wilson @simonbwilson.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Go for the politics, stay for the people and absolutely stay for the food! I posted at my substack Hopetown today on the fabulous Ōtaki Summer Camp simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com/p/happy-camp...
simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com
Happy campers: Politics and composting toilets
Go for the politics, stay for the people and absolutely stay for the food! Welcome to the Ōtaki Summer Camp
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Reposted by Simon Wilson
Leonie Morris @leoniemorris.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
@simonbwilson.bsky.social "I’m not unhappy at the prospect of Opportunity entering parliament, although I really hope it’s Labour they work with. But they might not. If you want a change of government, it’s crazy to vote Opportunity because they are not committed to that."
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Cool Hand Fluke @nzrossvideo.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
@simonbwilson.bsky.social on fire. Suggest you subscribe simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com/p/opportunit...
simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com
Opportunities lost: Learnings from a big political week
Luxon and Stanford both still standing, Opportunity up, Paul Henry up, but the parties that learned all the wrong lessons from Keir Starmer are struggling
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Simon Wilson @simonbwilson.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
The farcical inability of the National caucus to organise a coup was only one of two very consequential things to happen in our politics this week. The other was the Opportunity Party climbing to 8% in the 1News-Verian poll… new post today at Hopetown simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com/p/opportunit...
simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com
Opportunities lost: Learnings from a big political week
Luxon and Stanford both still standing, Opportunity up, Paul Henry up, but the parties that learned all the wrong lessons from Keir Starmer are struggling
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Simon Wilson @simonbwilson.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Now the coup is dead and the scapegoat has walked the plank (Friday afternoon metaphor mixup!), let’s get back to real politics. Here’s my post from last weekend on why this is the worst govt of my lifetime, and what we can do about it substack.com/@simonbwilso...
substack.com
Simon Wilson (@simonbwilson)
My post over the weekend on the worst govt of my lifetime and what we can do about it https://simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com/p/everything-everywhere-all-at-once
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Anneleise @anneleise.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
really good piece from Simon
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Simon Wilson @simonbwilson.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
ICYMI yesterday I posted a talk I gave over summer about the worst government of my lifetime and how to get rid of it. Happy reading! simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com/p/everything...
simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com
Everything everywhere all at once
How to deal with the worst government in my lifetime
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Simon Wilson @simonbwilson.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
In January I gave a talk at the Ōtaki Summer Camp, an annual gathering for young progressives. The organisers suggested the topic: the worst government of my lifetime. I had to think about that. Is it? Why? Here's the talk, at my Substack, Hopetown simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com/p/everything...
simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com
Everything everywhere all at once
How to deal with the worst government in my lifetime
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Simon Wilson @simonbwilson.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
Bring it on, Brent Eccles and Campbell Smith
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Simon Wilson @simonbwilson.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
In January I gave a talk at the Ōtaki Summer Camp, an annual gathering for young progressives. The organisers suggested the topic: the worst government of my lifetime. I had to think about that. Is it? Why? Here's the talk, at my Substack, Hopetown simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com/p/everything...
simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com
Everything everywhere all at once
How to deal with the worst government in my lifetime
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Simon Wilson @simonbwilson.bsky.social · 02/08/2026
ICYMI, my Substack yesterday on gas. The fossil giants have always minimised the harm to respiratory health done by “natural” gas. Now they pitch it as the perfect “transition fuel”, when their real purpose is to tie us to fossil fuels. Free to read simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com/p/gaslightin...
simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com
Gaslighting with gas
What made the NZ government fall for the great gas scam?
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Simon Wilson @simonbwilson.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
With bonus Glen Hansard songs, because my substack is called Hopetown
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Simon Wilson @simonbwilson.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Gaslighting with natural gas: what made the govt fall for the great gas scam? New Substack post today, free for all simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com/p/gaslightin...
simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com
Gaslighting with gas
What made the NZ government fall for the great gas scam?
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Simon Wilson @simonbwilson.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
The politics of swords and sandals: The Odyssey through an Aotearoan lens (and a shout out to a wonderful play in Akl right now). Today’s Hopetown post on Substack is here: simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com/p/damn-the-o...
simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com
Damn, The Odyssey seems familiar
The hospitality law of Zeus has another name in this part of the world, and it can be just as powerful
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Simon Wilson @simonbwilson.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
The politics of swords and sandals: The Odyssey through an Aotearoan lens (and a shout out to a wonderful play in Akl right now). Today’s Hopetown post on Substack is here: simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com/p/damn-the-o...
simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com
Damn, The Odyssey seems familiar
The hospitality law of Zeus has another name in this part of the world, and it can be just as powerful
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Simon Wilson @simonbwilson.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Elon Musk and his keyboard army of the underworld got upset that Lupita Nyong’o was cast in #TheOdyssey. That will fade to nothing compared to the wrath of Hobson’s Pledge when they find out about this movie. It runs on manaakitanga. New Substack post simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com/p/damn-the-o...
simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com
Damn, The Odyssey seems familiar
It's only three hours of manaakitanga being abused in the Mediterranean
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Simon Wilson @simonbwilson.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
ICYMI over the weekend I posted on Substack about Auckland Council’s new housing density plan, agricultural emissions, the cement bailout and the thing that has characterised them all: predatory delay on climate action by the powerful. Free to read simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com/p/housing-fo...
simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com
Housing, Fonterra, cement: the crisis of predatory delay
The tactic that holds back the progress we know we need.
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Simon Wilson @simonbwilson.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Predatory delay, housing and climate action: new Substack post up now simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com/p/housing-fo...
simonwilsonhopetown.substack.com
Housing, Fonterra, cement: the crisis of predatory delay
The tactic that holds back the progress we know we need.
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Simon Wilson @simonbwilson.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Ghost roads: My latest @nzlistener column, on the RoNS debacle, is now online (and in shops) www.nzherald.co.nz/the-listener...
nzherald.co.nz
Simon Wilson: Govt ambitions are being haunted by ghost roads
Various transport programmes have been abandoned as Chris Bishop admits ambitious goals.
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NinjaKitty 忍者キティ🥷🐈‍⬛ @ninjakitty.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
A very worthy read #nzpol
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Simon Wilson @simonbwilson.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
In search of a decent mayor: my @nzlistener column this week (fortnightly column, on sale in shops or see the really good deal you can get by subscribing) … www.nzherald.co.nz/the-listener...
nzherald.co.nz
Simon Wilson: Wayne Brown, Andrew Little and the mayoral leadership NZ's cities are missing
Good mayors can make a real difference to their community but two of ours fail to inspire.
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