André Brett

Guest writer

Dr André Brett is a historian at Curtin University, Perth and the author of several books including his latest, Can't Get There from Here: New Zealand's Shrinking Passenger Rail Network, 1920–2020, with mapmaker Sam van der Weerden (Otago University Press, 2021).

Image: Archi Banal

Just how hopeless is KiwiRail?

This week's Wellington disruptions are the latest episode in an epic saga of rail network inadequacy.

By André Brett | 4th May, 2023

An early ship to arrive in Wellington; an A&P show; and William Hobson – a selection of what our anniversaries commemorate (Photos: Alexander Turnbull Library/Getty Images/Tina Tiller)

It’s time to ditch New Zealand’s outdated regional anniversary days

Some are based on obsolete provincial borders. One celebrates an A&P show. And none of them have any meaning to the vast majority of us.

By André Brett | 30th January, 2023

(Photo: André Brett / Image design: Archi Banal)

Decades of bad decisions have led Auckland rail to its current sorry state

This does not happen to entire transport networks in other cities. It's a disaster for rail in Auckland.

By André Brett | 6th October, 2022

An early ship to arrive in Wellington; an A&P show; and William Hobson – a selection of what our anniversaries commemorate (Photos: Alexander Turnbull Library/Getty Images/Tina Tiller)

Why NZ’s outdated regional anniversaries should be ditched

Some are based on obsolete provincial borders. One celebrates an A&P show. And none of them have any meaning to the vast majority of us.

By André Brett | 1st February, 2021

Objectively good branding opportunities such as this will not be available should Victoria be removed from the university name

Why deleting Victoria from the name of Wellington’s university is a terrible idea

To grasp why the push to change has caused such a fuss, and to appreciate why it’s so muddle-minded, we need to consider how the university got its name, and what names mean to the university community

By André Brett | 6th August, 2018