Copyright © 1998 Brian Harmer
Copyright © 1999 Brian Harmer
Of course, just as I was feeling smug about the visual beauty of my hometown, a Southerly blast came in, and what a doozy! Hail carpeted the city, and the Rimutaka Hill road was on the verge of closure as Transit NZ staff struggled to clear the snow. The aftermath is always rewarding, with snow on the Orongorongos and the Tararuas. Shops further up the line at Ohakune have scraped the rather desperate "SALE" signs off their windows and their owners are hoping for the first decent North Island ski-season in four, or is it five years. I hope that mountain behaves itself.
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Monday,26 July
A Hastings Court depositions hearing has heard how a mother's defacto partner allegedly bashed her four year old son because the boy had made him feel bad in front of other people. James Whakaruru died in Hawkes Bay Hospital in April. 21 year old Benny Haerewa is charged with murder, as well as breaching a protection order. Terangi Whakaruru broke down in tears when she told the court she had used a vacuum cleaner pipe on her son and split his lip a week before his death. She described the severe bashings allegedly carried out by Haerewa the weekend her son died from internal injuries. The 21 year old says she saw the accused strike her son with a vacuum cleaner pipe. She heard him being hit with a hammer and jug cord while she was in the kitchen. Terangi Whakaruru says she was afraid if she stepped in her son would get a worse beating. The hearing has been adjourned until Wednesday.
Invercargill police have arrested a 28 year old man in connection with alleged threats on last night's 60 Minutes television show. The Mongrel Mob member has been accused of threatening to cause grievous bodily harm to members of Invercargill's Lawton family. The family is in hiding, after giving evidence at a court case which led to the jailing of the local Mongrel Mob president. The 28 year old accused has appeared in court this afternoon where he was refused bail, and he is due back in court tomorrow morning.
New Zealand First has been given the balance of power in a TV3 CM research poll, canvassing the views of one thousand voters. According to the poll, National's Party vote is up four to 37 per cent, while Labour has lost ground, down eight to 38 per cent. The Alliance has clawed up one to eight per cent, while New Zealand First is up fractionally to 4.7 per cent. On the presumption that New Zealand First wins one or possibly two electorate seats at the election, it would then gain six seats, holding the balance of power.
Thirty seven package plant workers in Hamilton have been told their jobs are gone. Carter Holt Harvey is scaling down its Frankton-based plant so it can centralise its packaging business to just two factories in the North Island. Carter Holt Harvey spokesman, Rhys Jones, says those being laid off can apply for up to 10 jobs at the Levin and Auckland plants. They are also being offered jobs in other divisions of Carter Holt Harvey. Mr Jones says the company used to have a policy of regional development, with factories around the country, but it is just not cost effective these days.
Defence Minister Max Bradford says the deal to lease 28 F-16 jets from the United States is excellent value for money - even though there has been a significant budget blowout. Cabinet has given its final agreement to the deal - despite a $38 million jump in the cost of refurbishment, pilot training and spare parts compared to the figures quoted in December last year. All up the planes - including training, parts and overhauls, will cost $363 million for ten years. Mr Bradford says that is still "the deal of the century" for replacing our 34 year old Skyhawks. Cabinet has also approved the purchase of a fifth navy helicopter - at an all-up cost of $63 million.
Armourguard is investigating how it can improve security for its staff, following yet another attack on one of its officers. It has had five attacks on staff this month. The latest happened at west Auckland's Waitakere Plaza at midday, when a guard was shot in the groin. The gunman then made off with a sum of money and is still on the run. Armourguard general manager Gary Morrison says staff go through an intensive robbery training programme, and the company is looking at what else can be done to make them feel safe on the job.
Mobil says it is holding off increasing its petrol prices despite an announcement from Shell that all its prices are going up three cents a litre from tomorrow night. Shell says the price of crude oil from Dubai has jumped from $20 in January to more $35 dollars now and it can not absorb the increased costs. Mobil spokesman Robin McCrae says it is unsure whether it will follow suit. But she says fuel companies are being forced to bear the increase costs of petrol prices of around nine cents a litre. Meanwhile Caltex and BP says they are still making a decision on whether they will match Shell's prices
The plans of new charter airline, K 2000, to operate international flights out of Tauranga will have quite a few hurdles to clear. The airline says it will operate over the Summer months.. offering flights from Auckland, Hamilton and Dunedin to Australia and Rarotonga. It also plans flights from Tauranga - but mayor, and airport chairman, Noel Pope, says there are many issues to be settled first. He says there is more to opening the service than just finding a runway that suits K-2000's requirement....
(Not least of its hurdles is the intensity of the spotlight the media is putting on the presence of Ewan Wilson of Kiwi Air fame as a consultant. - BH)
The MetService has issued a new warning to residents in Southland and Otago to be prepared for fifteen to twenty centimetres above three hundred metres in Southland and the Catlins. AA highway reporter Alan Thompson says motorists should be wary on the roads. A large number of rural schools in Southland have already been closed.
Labour's Trevor Mallard says the abolition of bulk funding will leave 80 percent of schools financially better off. The change is one of the cornerstones of Labour's election year policy on schools - unveiled today. Mr Mallard says dumping bulk funding will free up an extra $145 per student - and that can be put to good use on extra staff and technology. Another plank of Labour's school policy is the development of scholarships or other incentives for teacher trainees who agree to work in rural areas, or other hard-to-staff schools, once they graduate.
A man has been awarded more than $50,000 in costs and damages after he was injured in police custody. Lee Anthony Harris received his injuries in March 1996 when police ushered him from Masterton District Court and threw him in a holding cell. His lawyer Chris Hodson says his client's jaw was broken and his tongue was partially severed. Justice Durie has now awarded Mr Harris $30,000 in exemplary damages and $25,000 in costs. Mr Hodson says the amount of damages was high - but reflects how badly the man was injured. He says the case is very rare as police do not normally conduct themselves in a way that results in such damages being awarded.
The top prize in this year's Montana Book Awards has gone to Elizabeth Knox, for her novel "The Vintner's Luck". The book also won the Reader's Choice award, voted for by more than 3,500 New Zealanders. Runners up in the fiction section were Vincent O'Sullivan and Shonagh Koea. The Montana medal for non-fiction has been awarded to Heather Nicholson for "The Loving Stitch: A History of Knitting and Spinning in New Zealand".
Ski operators all over the country are revelling in the cold conditions. Whakapapa ski area looks to open this weekend after 25 to 30 centimetres of snow fell on its upper slopes. And further south, Queenstown and Wanaka ski-fields have received big dumps of new snow, offering skiers excellent conditions. Ken Mitchell from Alpine Motel in Wanaka says the weather is all good news for the town. He says the South Island skifields have been struggling for really good snow for about four years - but this year's shaping up be one of the best ski seasons they have had.
The Crown Law Office warns Telecom's plans to charge internet users for local calls probably breaches provisions of the Kiwi share. The Kiwi share was an agreement made when Telecom was privatised, that prevents the company charging for local calls. The company wants to make internet users ring a special number, otherwise they will be charged two cents an hour. The Crown Law Office has told Communications Minister Maurice Williamson that the Telecom proposal probably breaches the company's Kiwi share obligations, if it is implemented without government approval.
Hokitika-based air company WestAir has surrendered its aircraft operators certificate , following an investigation by the Civil Aviation Authority. The airline's licence to carry passengers was suspended two weeks ago while the CAA investigated the company, and its management and supervision of two other operators. The suspension followed an audit by the Authority which showed a lack of good management practices, supervision and maintenance control.
The Government is under attack over its leasing of American F16 fighter jets with a snap debate being granted on the matter in Parliament. There has been a thirty eight million dollar increase in the final cost of New Zealand's lease of twenty eight jets with an option to then buy them. Labour leader Helen Clark says the understanding was that the issue would be put on the back-burner until after the election. She says cabinet's decision to give the approval now locks whoever is the next Government into a deal which she says is expensive and would be very costly to get out of.
(The minister says it's the deal of the century. I think something is only a bargain if you need it. I can think of no use for the F16 in the New Zealand context except as a means of giving fighter pilots something to do. I am not being anti-military here ... I just think the F16 is the wrong aircraft for any legitimate defence requirement that we might have. - BH)
Scarves made in China have been given to delegates attending this week's Tourism Industry Association conference in Queenstown - and this country's manufacturers are furious. The chief executive of New Zealand Made, Dalton Kelly says there are dozens of manufacturers in this country who could have provided better scarves at competitive prices. Mr Kelly says these days the Government and those who support it could not give a hoot about supporting and promoting locally made products.
Napier police have closed the beach at Marine Parade following a MetService warning of a four metre swell. The situation will be reassessed tomorrow but police do not expect to reopen the beach until Thursday morning. The swell is not expected to start easing until later Wednesday evening.
Supermarkets will now be able to sell beer as well as wine. Parliament has voted 58 to 53 to widen the range of alcohol sold by Supermarkets, but has knocked back the option of allowing them to sell spirits as well. Earlier today the House voted to lower the legal drinking age from 20 to 18. Originally this was by a margin of six votes, but a flurry of corrections due to miscast votes and proxies not counted at the time, has reduced this to four.
The country's politicians have voted in favour of reducing the legal drinking age from 20 to 18. MPs passed the motion in a conscience vote less than an hour ago. However it was only a six vote majority in favour of the change. In addition, people younger than 18 will be permitted to go onto licensed premises and may be supplied or sold alcohol if they are accompanied by a parent or guardian. Tonight's vote comes as MPs debate the Sale of Liquor Amendment Act.
(So, the whole package as I understand it is drinking age down to 18, pubs and other outlets can open every day except Easter Sunday and Christmas, Good Friday and Anzac Day. Supermarkets can now sell beer as well as wine, but no spirits. There has been a huge appalled reaction to the lowered drinking age by opponents of the policy and a vow to campaign for a reversal - BH)
A small group of Dunedin tertiary students have staged a peaceful sit-in at the city's Inland Revenue office as part of a protest on student debt. Otago University Students Association vice-president Chris Laing says 25 students managed to enter the student loans area while several hundred other students chanted outside. Police say there were no arrests. Chris Laing says students now owe a total of three billion dollars and it takes an average female graduate 51 years to pay off a student loan.
Tauranga Hospital has begun making plans to cope with a strike by nurses and other health workers. Nurses, midwives and other workers have voted unanimously in favour of a two-day strike next month -- in support of their five percent pay claim. Human resources Lynda Wallace says they HAD hoped that the nurses organisation would agree to skeleton staffing over the two days. She says the Nurses Organisation has decided not to provide skeleton staff during the strike, though some nurses will be available for emergencies on an 'on-call' basis. Lynda Wallace says they do not yet have details on when the strike is to take place -- or how many people it will involve.
The Government has side-stepped questions in Parliament about public service departments attending a ritzy $675 a head seminar last May... Claims have been made the seminar was attended by WINZ, ACC, the Maori Development Ministry, Transfund, TVNZ, the army and the navy. State Services Minister Simon Upton says spending of that sort would be the responsibility of either Chief Executives or boards and not the State services Commission. The seminar was addressed by former Soviet President Michael Gorbachev, Norman Schwarzkopf and American corporate downsizer Al "Chainsaw" Dunlap.
(I find the whole media manufactured uproar to be bizarre. The government has specifically required the organization to be more business like. Private organizations attend seminars like this because they get value from them. WINZ and others should do likewise with the same expectation. The state sector organizations cannot be as effective as the private ones if they don't have the same freedom to get on with it without puritanical wowsers ripping into them at every opportunity. I feel sorry for the beneficiaries too, but they are not helped by having a third rate untrained organization backing them up. - BH)
A serious allegation has been made against Police Commissioner Peter Doone in Parliament today. Labour's Phil Goff has accused Commissioner Doone of lying over the INCIS computer project... The commissioner has denied money intended for cracking down on gangs has instead been used on INCIS... Mr Goff has produced a letter, written by Mr Doone last year to the audit office, admitting that had in fact happened... Mr Goff says it is unacceptable those in the police responsible for the failed INCIS project have not been held accountable by the government...
Boys' performance at school has come under scrutiny in an Education Review office report which shows girls consistently outperform them at all levels of schooling. The ERO report has found only one quarter of boys' School Certificate results are at grades A or B, compared with one third of girls' results. It says such a skewed outcome is unacceptable. ERO says to improve achievement levels for all boys, smaller schools may need to restructure their curriculum so they can offer courses which interest and motivate boys as well as girls. The report also says as many teachers are female, they may not fully appreciate the specific needs of male students.
A Paeroa farmer has been found guilty of manslaughter following a jet ski crash which left a Cambridge man dead. 36 year old Howard Jonathan Hare is the second person to be charged following a jet ski related death. It took the jury around four hours to find Hare guilty at the High Court in Hamilton tonight. Hare's jet ski crashed into 52 year old Errol Nelson's dinghy off the Whitianga coast in January 1998. Mr Nelson died of head injuries three days later. Hare has been released on bail until sentencing next month.
The clamour of concern in the past 24 hours about the impact of teenage drinkers on the road toll is being dismissed by police, who say the statistics do not back up the rhetoric. The Automobile Association and others opposed to the legislation which lowers the drinking age to 18, say it flies in the face of overseas research and will lead to more road crashes. The man who heads police road safety Superintendent Neil Gyde says road toll gains in the last year have been made in the under-20 age group, and the losses have been in an older age group. That suggests to him that it is older people who need to come to grips with drink driving.
An understandably positive reaction from supermarket operators to news they will soon be allowed to sell wine and beer every day of the week. Woolworths chief executive Andrew Davidson believes the move is strongly supported by most people. He says customers will appreciate the added convenience. Foodstuffs CEO Hugh Perrett says history will prove Parliament has made the right choice, and he is confident the introduction of photo ID will give them an extra tool to prevent underage customers buying liquor.
State-owned coal producer Solid Energy is closing its Mount Davy mine, north of Greymouth. The company blames safety and economic issues for the decision. Production at the Mount Davy mine was postponed in May while a study of the operation was carried. Solid Energy says it may reopen the mine at a later date.
One staff member at Auckland Prison at Paremoremo has been fired following the escape of inmate Dion Matthews in June. Five staff were originally suspended pending an investigation into the escape of the convicted rapist Prison manager Brett Bestic says two have received written warnings, while another two have been reinstated, and face no disciplinary action. Dion Matthews broke out of the medium security wing on the 25th of June, tricking his jailers with a dummy he placed in his cell bed.
Labour leader Helen Clark says the Tourism board has failed to adequately consult the industry in the preparation of its global marketing strategy. Ms Clark has sharply criticised the board at the opening of the annual tourism conference in Queenstown. The board's global strategy will be announced tomorrow, nine months behind schedule, but Ms Clark has seen an advanced copy and is not very impressed. She says we are not going to get a national tourism strategy that can work unless a new working arrangement is worked out between the government agency and the private sector. Ms Clark says even if the industry does not like it will be reluctant to criticise - because it has taken so much flak.
Another planned robbery of an Armourguard van has been averted following the efforts of two Auckland men. The pair tipped off police after noticing a suspicious looking van in the Mangere town centre, just before security guards were about to service an automatic teller machine. Police investigated and after a short chase arrested three men, finding two sawn off shotguns and ammunition, masks and clothing in the back of the van. Detective Senior Sergeant Neil Grimstone says the robbery looked to be very well planned and subsequent inquiries found two stolen cars which were to be used as getaway vehicles.
Kitchen staff from one the country's prisons are making a bid to win the top prize at the Bakels Supreme Pie Awards in Auckland. The judging begins today for the awards. Waikeria Prison has entered the competition, with the ten strong inmate kitchen crew regularly baking 900 pies a week. Prison spokeswoman Jenny Torr says mince, and bacon and egg are definite favourites of the inmates. She says they were once taken off the menu and were missed so much they were bought back to much approval.
Alliance leader Jim Anderton says his party would push to broaden the tax base if it became part of the next government. He says a background study done by the Alliance shows too much of the tax burden is on middle to low income earners. Mr Anderton says top end tax rates and wealth taxes such as estate duties and capital gains tax are options for broadening the base. And he says casinos "get away with murder" in this country. He says Australia charges casinos fifty million dollars just for a licence to operate while no such fee exists here.
An advocate for children's right says it is important to teach boys that doing well at school is not "sissy" behaviour. An Education Review Office report shows girls are outstripping boys in just about every academic area. Ian Hassall, a former Childrens' Commissioner and chairman of the organisation Children's Agenda, says it is hard to pinpoint the exact reasons for the disparity. But he says some boys do work at maintaining the macho image of not trying too hard, because they do not want to be seen as swots or nerds. Ian Hassall says teaching methods need to be more diverse, so that individual children's needs are met.
A Christchurch company has developed technology which it says could revolutionise the world's construction industry. Trimble New Zealand has developed a new satellite guidance system, called Site Vision GPS. It allows a bulldozer to carry out accurate work without the need for surveyors' stakes. Trimble spokesman Ian Viney says they have been testing the technology over the last three months at the Clearwater Golf Resort in Christchurch. He says trials indicate efficiency gains of up to 30 per cent. Mr Viney says the savings on a multi-million dollar roading or large scale construction project would be enormous.
Whiteware manufacturer Fisher and Paykel is under threat of a strike by its New Zealand staff, who the company says want pay parity with the firm's workers in Australia. Seventeen hundred members of combined unions at Fisher and Paykel have given notice of strike action on Monday. The Auckland-based company says the strike is prompted by a breakdown in negotiations over a collective contract. Fisher and Paykel says combined unions have indicated their justification for a 5.3 per cent across the board pay increase is parity with company workers in Australia. They were recently given a 3.5 per cent pay rise.
A South Canterbury couple has become the toast of the berry industry with their range of diabetic jams and sauces. John and Allison Howie of Orari in South Canterbury started producing their own jams and sauces after John was diagnosed with diabetes. And earlier this week they won the New Zealand Berryfruit federation Award in recognition of the growth of their Joknal range. It is available throughout the country, the US and from next month, Australia.
Paeroa dairy farmer Howard Hare has been released on bail after being found guilty of manslaughter by a High Court jury in Hamilton overnight. Hare's jetski crashed into the dinghy of Errol Nelson near Whitianga last year. Speaking outside the court afterward the dead man's son, Boyd Nelson, says the verdict sends an important message to people to take more care on the water. Hare will be sentenced next month.
Date: 29 July 1999 Brian Dooley Wellington New Zealand CURRENCIES The currency codes given below conform to ISO 4217, which can be found at http://www.xe.net/currency/iso_4217.htm. The rates given are for telegraphic transfer and are as given in the Wellington Evening Post today. To Buy NZD 1.00 USD 0.5297 AUD 0.8171 GBP 0.3317 JPY 61.65 CAD 0.7985 EURO 0.4979 FRF 3.2647 DEM 0.9738 HKD 4.1212 SGD 0.8915 ZAR 3.2638 CHF 0.7959 INTEREST RATES (%) Call : 4.50 90 Day: 4.75SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
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