This morning, I attended a committee briefing on a report issued by the Auditor General titled, Sustainable Development : Implementing the Programme of Action. Without having had a chance to read the report prior to the briefing, I assumed that it covered topics of development in the Pacific or Southeast Asia. I was pleasantly surprised to realize that the report addressed sustainability in NEW ZEALAND! With a focus on the energy and water sectors, the report looks at the New Zealand government's response to the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. Although one key finding is that the government has lacked accountability on this front, I found it refreshing that the whole notion of sustainability is being considered in a country that many would prize for its pristine state and its environmental awareness.
After work I went for a run and happened to pass Katherine Mansfield's birthplace, Te Puakitanga. Although she didn't live or write for long in New Zealand (she found life in Wellington to be boring and complained that people in New Zealand “…do not know their alphabet”), she is considered New Zealand's most accomplished writer. (She redeemed herself somewhat with the Kiwis by writing fondly about New Zealand in her journals and in letters to her father; but she never returned after having moved to England as a young woman).
4 comments:
hi, just wanted to say, thanks for posting :-) it's cool to read about your time over there as it happens. miss you here. t
J, what up dawg?
We miss ya in the east
uhm i mean west, do they have armadillos there in NZ
No, there are no armadillos in New Zealand, GB... only tuataras, kiwis and other oddities of the animal kingdom. Is there any reason for your particular interest in armadillos?
Post a Comment