Channel Magazine Columns
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New medical school will deliver more doctors
Simon Watts 
August 14, 2023
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We all know we don't have enough doctors in New Zealand, so I'm glad that Chris Luxon and Dr Shane Reti have announced a new medical school at the University of Waikato will happen if there is a change in government after October.
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Putting gangs on notice
Simon Watts July 10, 2023
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This softly, softly approach to gangs has fuelled crime and fear too long, and Chris luxon has made it a priority to restore law and order in New Zealand.
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Let’s deliver more nurses and midwives
Simon Watts June 12, 2023
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New Zealand’s health system is in crisis, with a severe shortage of nurses and midwives contributing to ballooning waitlists, delays accessing treatment, and dangerously overcrowded emergency departments. Nurses on the frontline are bearing the brunt, and working long shifts is causing stress, anxiety, and burnout.
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Time to take on our cities hidden challenges
Simon Watts February 24, 2023
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Unless you’re a geotechnical engineer or one of the other professionals that focuses on a city’s hidden challenges there’s a good chance that February’s floods looked like a news story from another country.
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Are you ready for change?
Simon Watts December 30, 2022
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As National’s Associate Spokesperson for Local Government, I’ve had the good fortune to meet people throughout New Zealand. I have discovered that communities generally have an excellent grasp of the challenges they face and the opportunities they want to take advantage of.
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Crime and the growing social crisis
Simon Watts November 11, 2022
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Everyone should feel safe in our communities, but due to a huge increase in crime and no clear plan to address it, people on the North Shore are rightly concerned about their safety.
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An economy out of balance
Simon Watts October 14, 2022
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Reserve Bank Governor, Adrian Orr, has said: “Inflation is the thief in the pocket.” He’s not wrong; the crippling cost-of-living crisis is robbing cash from practically every household in the country. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
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New Zealand is in danger of missing out
Simon Watts September 09, 2022
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The weather has been nasty lately, but there’s no mistaking a change of seasons is imminent: the daffodils are coming up and Auckland has welcomed its first cruise ship in two and a half years!
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Much of the economic pain you are suffering is home-grown
Simon Watts August 12, 2022
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Every New Zealander who is struggling through the cost of living crisis needs to understand one vital truth: overseas events cannot be blamed for all of the pain you are suffering.
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New Zealanders need confidence and hope
Simon Watts July 29, 2022
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Whether I’m out and about visiting councils around the country or talking to people in my local community, I’m hearing that the impacts of inflation and increasing living costs are squeezing middle New Zealand. The economic pain people are feeling as prices keep rising is real and it’s compounded by a sense that there’s no clear pathway beyond here.