Hi and welcome to the second anniversary
issue of Werewolf – two years of journalism, red in tooth
and claw! This month’s cover story is a special report from
Hillside workshops in Dunedin, and tackles the pros and
cons of outsourcing rail’s major new locomotives,
electrical units and rolling stock to foreign suppliers. In
microcosm, it is a pretty good example of how short term
thinking and bean counting is helping to destroy New Zealand
skills and employment base in manufacturing, in the
(mistaken) belief that a modern service economy can somehow
spring up on its own, without any input at all from a
skilled manufacturing sector. As we enter the era of peak
oil, other countries are investing in rail. With more faith
from Kiwirail and its political masters, Hillside could have
become a hub for wealth generation and skills upgrading.
Instead, its work force seems caught in a classic Catch 22
: where government won’t invest in it, because its not
competitive, and its not competitive because government
won’t invest in it.
Thanks again, to David McLellan for helping
me post this online. Werewolf is a thank you to Scoop
readers and is intended as an outlet for local writers and
artists. If you want to be involved, contact me at
gordon@scoop.co.nz and let's talk story ideas.
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