Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand

When Ken Shirley was first elected to Parliament in 1984, replacing former Prime Minister Bill Rowling in the Tasman seat, he said he couldn't fill Rowling's shoes….but he would try to follow in his footsteps.
The boot is now on my foot – so to speak – as I replace Ken as chief executive of the Road Transport Forum. Ken is synonymous with the RTF in the minds of many and so to immediately step into his shoes would be a very big task.
However, I do wish to follow in his footsteps – and, while I will be different to Ken in many ways, like him, I have a deep appreciation for the road transport industry and the critical role it plays in the New Zealand...
Most people outside the tech sector have never heard of the name Satoshi Nakamoto. The reality however is that he could well become one of the most influential names of the 21st Century.
Nakamoto is credited as the inventor of cryptocurrency Bitcoin, which through its implementation is also the invention of the transaction ledger process called blockchain.
Interestingly, Satoshi Nakamoto is a completely fictitious person. He is merely a pseudonym for an anonymous person or group that in 2009 developed Bitcoin.
While the value of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin has become extremely volatile in recent times, the blockchain process at their heart is threatening to complet...
Most people outside the tech sector have never heard of the name Satoshi Nakamoto. The reality however is that he could well become one of the most influential names of the 21st Century.
Nakamoto is credited as the inventor of cryptocurrency Bitcoin, which through its implementation is also the invention of the transaction ledger process called blockchain.
Interestingly, Satoshi Nakamoto is a completely fictitious person. He is merely a pseudonym for an anonymous person or group that in 2009 developed Bitcoin.
While the value of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin has become extremely volatile in recent times, the blockchain process at their heart is threatening to complet...
Over the next year or so New Zealand will experience the biggest changes in industrial relations since the passing of the Employment Contracts Act in 1991.
While it's not yet clear how much these will affect the road transport industry, it is worth getting our heads around what the Government's intentions are anyway.
The Government's big-ticket item is the establishment of a sector-wide bargaining system that would result in the development of Fair Pay Agreements.
These are really just a cute new name for industry or national awards that are being designed to set minimum terms and conditions for all workers in an entire indust...
THIS GOVERNMENT, AS SOON AS IT WAS elected, promised to be a government of change. Following a fairly slow first few months, we are now beginning to see what it meant by that – and for the road transport industry there are certainly going to be some challenging times ahead.
Now, don't for one minute think that I'm anti-change, as I'm not and – and, as a rule, neither should our industry be: The right kind of change can be a very good thing – and for incoming governments, especially after nine years in opposition, it's perfectly understandable that they want to come in and shake things up a little.
Having political parties enter Government looking to diffe...