This was the first 'formal' meeting of the year so, as usual, it was opened by President David. 

 

There were sixteen members present together with four guests. If the club really wants to survive and grow members need to invite guests to events where there are well known speakers. We welcomed back Greg from the States and Marion who we hadn't seen forever. 

 

There are now signs of the school side of Gladstone Rd restricting parking after 8.30 am to five minutes. That means that members who park there will have to remove their vehicles by 8.35 or make a serious donation to the incompetents at AT 

 

Apologies had been received from Peter B, Rosemary (who has a broken hip) Sue, Don C (in the UK) and Max ('doing' Australia)

 

David covered all the bases, twitter, shortage of eggs, cricket, etc. "Those of you who love the smell of books should learn to read". "Staying at an AirBnB is like staying with an uptight friend". 

 

Phill bought a visual aid! Literally - it was a mirror. He reminded us how it turns left to right but not top to bottom - it is not an accurate image That gave us something to reflect upon. 

 

 The speaker: Simon Bridges, CEO of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce

Simon claimed to be a "True Westie". YHC is not certain that that's something to boast about but each to his own! He now lives in Newmarket.

The Ak CofC is 167 years old, has eight staff and is the largest business association in New Zealand. 

Simon stated that it was a 'medium sized octopus' insofar as it is  involved in lots of things including the annual Santa Parade and teaching people to drive in south Auckland.  Its main thrust is to make it easier to do business in Auckland.

From regular surveys of members Simon told us that businesses were concerned about the lack of staff, crime, increasing costs and general lack of confidence in the short term.

He expressed personal views; that there would not be a recession in NZ in the next six months, that people who thought that Northport would replace Ports of Auckland were dreaming,  Luxon would find it much harder dealing with Hipkins than it was dealing with Adern, that if National have any answers they haven't told anybody, that ACT will get over 10% of the vote and that Winston will 'probably' be back.  

Finally he made the point that Auckland is different from the rest of New Zealand, not only is it much bigger than other urban centres but that it is multicultural.

All together an interesting tour de force of contemporary issues