John Bishop

Published in the NBR 7 May 2004
Did the Lange/Douglas alliance break down because neither could walk between the seventh and ninth floors of the Beehive to talk face to face?

This was the intriguing possibility dangled in front of the reunion bash of the major players in the Fourth Labour Government at Parliament last weekend.

Absent was the one person who might have answered the question posed by Roger Douglas about the 1986 break up time. "We should have talked to each other, but we didn't. If we had it might have been different."

(published in the New Zealand Herald 29 April 2004)
After speaking in public, talking to the media is one of people's greatest fears. Many otherwise well performing managers and professionals stumble and fail, but success is easier if you follow some simple rules.

The first and greatest mistake is to think that you have to talk to a reporter because one calls you for comment, or asks you to appear on a programme.

Flattered - perhaps. Obliged? No.

Published in the National Business review of 23 Jan 2004

What are we prepared to sacrifice in order to get a higher standard of living in New Zealand? The depressing answer would seem to be: not much, if anything.
The pre New Year UMR poll showed a very high level of contentment with the ways things are. " New Zealanders are basking in the golden weather of national optimism, topping off a three year high in the country's mood", the Sunday StarTimes reported.

The issues this conference is considering - social welfare, health, living standards, generate a wide range of views, as these quotations illustrate

New Zealanders' life expectancy, education and living standards have slipped compared to other countries. (At 20th) compared with 19th last year, the ranking is the same as 1990, but seven places down from 1975.

United Nations 2003 Human Development Report in the Dominion Post 9 July