The below was written on April 22, 2013, in response to an article in The Dominion Post. It was offered to the newspaper as an op–ed, then to The Wellingtonian, but it was eventually declined. The Dominion Post’s headline on April 22 confirmed what many of us knew after numerous friends and colleagues left Wellington […]
Tag: Paul Callaghan
Wellington isn’t ‘dying’, but we’re going to have to prove our mettle
That didn’t take long, John. I know, the economic statistics aren’t pleasant. Wellington’s economy is stagnant and our population growth lags behind Auckland’s and Christchurch’s. I did predict this in 2010. The difference is that I don’t give up on us quite so quickly. I don’t think political leaders should. […]
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A farewell to Sir Paul Callaghan, and the next step for our innovators
When I attended Sir Paul Callaghan’s talk at the Wellington Town Hall last September, I felt vindicated. Here was a man who was much better qualified than me to talk about economic development, effectively endorsing the policies I ran on in 2010. But not being political, he was a great deal more persuasive. Since then, […]
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Optimism marks out the Indian decade
Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication I’ve had a wonderful time in Pune and Mumbai, two cities to which I had wanted to go for some years. Like some New Agers say: be careful what you put out into the universe. It can come true. My main reason for going was to address the […]
Innovation is the way forward for New Zealand, says Prof Sir Paul Callaghan in Chancellor’s lecture
Prof Sir Paul Callaghan’s address for the Chancellor of Victoria University, Ian McKinnon, held at a packed-out the Wellington Town Hall, was inspirational, and I felt that he confirmed a lot of my thinking for this city. It’s great we have free wifi in certain parts of Wellington now, and in our libraries, because […]