Auckland must be prepared to avoid the serious threats confronting our future

We must not expect that our future will be more of the same. With the rapid advances in nanotechnology, biotechnology, computerisation, and robotology and with a range of international crises our future will be very different.

If elected Mayor, John Hinchcliff will consult with both local community and international experts to carefully plot a path to enable us to both benefit from the significant technological advances becoming available to us, but also be prepared for the crises that are emerging.

Discussions and debates concerning the Mayoralty are focussed on present or the immediate future issues. These are important but we must raise our sights to prepare for the huge challenges such as global warming, pollution, terrorism, family breakdown, changing values, genetic modification of crops preventing germination, the collapse of key ecological features such as the dying of bees in the USA, the decline of fossil fuel supply, a billion people without access to clean water, 30,000 children dying daily of poverty and the growth in types of weapons of mass destruction. These are just a few of the huge challenges facing us directly or indirectly.

For example, such international threats will see thousands of people wanting to immigrate to New Zealand, and especially Auckland. How many people can our narrow isthmus accommodate?

Some candidates, commentators and voters insist Council should focus on rates, rubbish, rats and roads. The advice given to candidates is KISS - Keep It Simple, Stupid. Focus on three topics facing the electorate and constantly repeat answers as slogans. This, it is alleged, will enhance a campaign.

But a primary responsibility for city governance is to ensure our children and grand children have a good community in which to live in our complex future.

We should realise our future will not merely be more of the same. The reduction of governance to simplicity and the failure to face up to the huge challenges of our future, will mean we will be seriously unprepared and incapable of preventing some potentially disastrous challenges.

Ostrich-like we are forgetting the words of people like Einstein who said: "Everything has changed but our way of thinking and thus we drift toward unparalleled catastrophe".

Our head in the sand approach to our future is frightening. The Auckland City Council could lead the way in being prepared to meet a very different future.

ENDS

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