Copyright © 1995 Brian Harmer
A technical problem with the mailing list means that most of you did not receive the last edition of WYSIWYG News when I posted it last Saturday, 14 December. Akiko's friendly staff have been working desperately to resolve the problem, and I hope you all get both last week's and this week's news before Christmas.
*****
An extra long pre-Christmas travelogue this week so if you prefer your news plain, skip ahead to "on with the news" now :-)
For the first time in some while, I took a trip to Auckland City. I visited a corporate office situated on the 24th floor in one of the big tower blocks which has sprung up on Albert Street since I have been away from the city. From this splendid vantage point I looked out on the fabulous blue waters of the harbour and gulf. Brown's Island, Rangitoto, Motuihe and Waiheke were a familiar foreground to the distant hazy blue of the Coromandel Peninsula. Further round to the North, the Whangaparaoa Peninsula and Tiritiri was visible, and Little Barrier was quite clear.
Closer in, Mt Victoria and the naval base at Devonport looked terrific in the warm sun. Ferries and tugs and the occasional yacht left white churning wakes on the blue water, while in the foreground the container port busily shuffled boxes of imports and exports.
Waiting for my host, I walked to another corner of the room, and looked out and up, up, up, to the dizzy heights of Auckland's one fingered salute to the world. The Skytower is not a pretty structure, but it is an impressive one. Even as I watched, the crane at its top was hoisting two nonchalant passengers skywards in a basket which looked about the size of a supermarket trolley. Squeamish, I turned away.
When the business appointment was over, my brother picked me up and we drove North to his home in Whangaparaoa. We spent a pleasant afternoon in a local "boutique" hostelry, and then went back to his house for a barbecue dinner. For all my love of Wellington's dramatic landscape, I have to concede that he has a stunning view. From the chair on the balcony, I looked across the gorgeous blue jacaranda, and the fruit trees which cover his section, to Orewa and the Mahurangi Heads, Kawau Island and Cape Rodney. Contentedly, we ate our steaks in the open air and dealt with another can or two as the setting sun slowly turned the scene a hazy pink, then mauve, and finally a warm, star studded black.
Next morning early, I set out to drive home to Wellington. There's just too much scenery to describe it all, so a few of the highlights will suffice.
While still in the North, I encountered one of my favourite Auckland views as the East Coast Road arrives at Browns Bay. There is a lovely view across the landscape of the East Coast Bays to Rangitoto. This was open rolling farmland when I was growing up in Auckland. Now it is a multi-hued sea of roofs and houses for mile upon mile of tidily laid out subdivisions.
Crossing the Harbour Bridge, I was taken by the view of the harbour and city and at the same time kept a wary eye on the smart cream and black Birkenhead bus thundering along eighteen inches to my right, and the truck and trailer unit swaying menacingly just ahead. The close-up view of the Kenworth grille in my rearview mirror had to take care of itself.
When my parents first brought the family to New Zealand in 1954, our first home for six months was with my great uncle who was the custodian of the Shelly Beach Baths. In those days before the bridge, there was a beach at the bottom of Shelly Beach Road. It was located between the site of the present Curran St on-ramp and the Shelly Beach flyover, and it had a charming, if slightly ramshackle public swimming baths which had accommodation for the custodian attached. From the beach at that time, the tallest, most visible structure on the skyline to the East was the Farmers Trading Company premises on Hobson Street. Sadly, it is now a hollow shell, with broken windows, and boarded doors, but is in the process of restoration as yet another set of downtown apartments.
Today, the old department store is a veritable pygmy among the elegant structures which leap skyward along the ridges and gullies of the city. But towering above them all is the slightly vulgar tower which adjoins the casino. (But don't take my word for it, if you have web access, go to Paul Bourke's excellent archive at http://www.mhri.edu.au/~pdb/Internet/skytower/)
Of course to see the city from this angle you have to take notice of the "in your face" affluence of the city with its forest of masts in the Westhaven marina. Thousands of idle boats all bobbing quietly at their docks, and you know that this is only one of many such marinas in the region. The "City of Sails" indeed!
I followed the motorway across Victoria Park and Freeman's Bay, under Karangahape Road and past old St Benedicts Church on the right, now thoroughly surrounded and dwarfed by tacky light commercial warehouses. On past Khyber Pass road, and between St Peters College on the Left, Auckland Grammar and Mt Eden Prison on the right, and across the Newmarket Viaduct, I left the city through its industrial Southern suburbs. As I made my way down the Southern escape route, I couldn't help shuddering at the three lanes of stationary traffic facing the other way.
After the long climb up slope from Ramarama I came to the superb viewpoint at the top of the hill from which I could see South to the Maramarua Forest, the lakes at Rangiriri, the remnants of Meremere power station, and at the very limits of visibility, the massive twin stacks of the Huntly power station. This was the point, South of which no significant life exists, according to old regional rivalries. Southerners conversely tend to believe that civilisation and culture are completely absent North of here, though there is rumour of pockets being rediscovered North of Wellsford. :-)
At the foot of the Bombay hills, I was surprised to discover a nearly completed extension to the Southern Motorway which completely bypasses Pokeno and goes almost to Mercer. It was still early when I passed this area, and the Waikato River had a thin surface mist. The River moves slowly and with majesty this far down, and only the eddies in its brown surface hint at its power. Meremere Power station on the left is a forlorn, deserted rusting relic, with just the outermost two of its six stacks still standing.
On through Te Kauwhata and Huntly, through the gap in the Hakarimata Range to Taupiri, where stands the sacred mountain on which the kings of Maoridom are buried. I will remember forever the funeral service of the late King Koroki. In steady rain, his coffin was borne by eight strong men across the railway line, and up that mystical hill to his final resting place. It lacked many of the material trappings of other state funerals but none of the grandeur, dignity, or spiritual significance.
Through Ngauruawahia at the confluence of the Waikato and Waipa rivers, past the Turangawaewae Marae and around the bypass to the West of Hamilton, the road took me to Cambridge, still one of the prettiest towns in the country. Its beautiful trees, graceful churches, and wide avenues are set in the midst of lovely farmland, with the white fences associated with prosperous horse breeding operations. This is also some of the most productive dairy country in the world, and I was reminded of this by the frequency with which I met milk tankers from New Zealand Co-op Dairy Company going to Hautapu or Tirau. I drove on until I rejoined the river at Lake Karapiro and turned Southwards at Tirau to Putaruru. The land here is less easily farmed, with its history of cobalt deficiency and its scattering of volcanic rocks and pumice from Tarawera's mighty blast.
The volcanic plateau seems well suited to the forestry which
occupies so much of it. I went quickly through Tokoroa where
I spent the first five years of my working life, and past the
Kinleith pulp, paper and timber complex on the right with its
tall buildings shrouded in clouds of swirling steam. The
pungent rotten cabbage odour of the chemical pulp process
reminded me that methyl mercaptan is the most easily detected
(least parts per million) smell in the world. I just thought
you'd like to know that.
Tar hill, to the South of Tokoroa, was notorious as a winding, icy, fog-shrouded death trap in winter, with road fatalities being a monthly if not weekly occurrence. They seem to have tamed the hill now with a long straight three lane road from the top of the hill all the way down to Upper Atiamuri. On through dark pine plantations, with periodic clear-felled slopes, past the sentinel hill of Pohaturoa which looks down on the Atiamuri dam.
Climbing again through yet more pines and then down to Wairakei where geothermal steam drifted across the road, I caught the occasional whiff of sulphur which reminded me of Rotorua. Soon the road looked over sunny Lake Taupo with the town nestled cosily in its Northern corner. Far to the South, the giants of the Tongariro national park stood tall and clear above the cold blue of the lake. Ruapehu still had its cloak of ice, but Ngauruhoe and Tongariro were bare. The faintest hint of vapour at Ruapehu's summit was all that remained of the activity that destroyed the ski season. Time for a comfort stop, and morning tea.
On my way out of Taupo township, I gave a ride to a tourist hitchhiker who turned out to be a young Israeli soldier on his way to do some trekking in the region of National Park. Turangi will do fine he says. He must have been living the good life for he was soon fast asleep, missing the lovely views around the shores of the lake, and across to the steaming geothermal activity at Waihi Village. Leaving my passenger at Turangi, I began the climb up to Rangipo and the Northern end of the desert road.
I can never pass this part of the country without a thought for the late Hugo Schut, Managing Director of Philips New Zealand and Janine Robinson, an executive of the company, who, with their pilot were killed in 1985 (?) when their chartered light aircraft crashed into the Kaimanawas in filthy weather. The pilot apparently made the old mistake of trying to follow the power wires at low altitude and was caught in rising country with nowhere to turn. I worked for the company at the time, and we were all shaken by the event. As I recall, Philips made a substantial contribution in their memory to the establishment of a search and rescue helicopter for the region.
The twisting and turning sections of road near Ngauruhoe were made doubly tiresome by roadworks to repair the ravages of last winter. They were soon past, and the long straight stretches of the Desert Road took me beside the Mountain. The sky was without blemish and the temperature was surprisingly warm. There is something about Ruapehu which always catches me. It is smaller than most in the Cook group, but rising as it does out of the flatness of the Rangipo desert, this mountain conveys a sense of massiveness and grandeur. It is less perfect than Taranaki, but to compare the two is like comparing a sprinter with a weightlifter. This is a serious heavyweight of a mountain.
The road descended at last into Waiouru, home of the NZ Army Training group. There I'll leave the story because we already did that journey just a month or so ago.
On with the news, at last
(The following is directly from a post to soc.culture.new- zealand by Lin Nah. Lin kindly permitted me to use her post which I have reformatted slightly, but left her commentary intact - BH)
National Ministers in Cabinet National has 15 ministers in cabinet. Some of them have new portfolios e.g Jenny Shipley Here's the list of [ranking] names (age) and portfolios
[1] Jim Bolger (61) Prime Minister, Minister in charge of NZ Security Intelligence Services. [3] Don McKinnon (57) Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Disarmament and Arms Control, Pacific Island Affairs. [4] Bill Birch (62) Minister of Finance, Revenue [5] Jenny Shipley (44) Minister of State Services, Transport, ACC (accident Rehabilitation and Compensation Insurance), State Owned Enterprises, Minister in charge of Radio NZ. [6] Doug Graham (54) Minister of Justice, Minister in charge of Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations, Courts [8] Paul East (50) Attorney-General, Corrections, Defence, Minister in charge of War Pensions [9] Lockwood Smith (48) Minister of Agriculture, International Trade, Minister responsible for Contact Energy Ltd. (says here he used to be a TV presenter - rotfl -guess that's where that plastic grin came from Lin) [11] Wyatt Creech (50) Minister of Education, Leader of the house [12] Simon Upton (38) Minister for CRIs, Environment, Bio-security (eh?) Associate Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. [14] Bill English (34) Minister of Health [15] John Luxton (50) Minister of Commerce, Industry, Land, Fisheries, Associate Minister of Agriculture [16] Maurice Williamson(45) Minister of Information Technology; Statistics; Communications; Research, Science and Technology. (that's one I'm personally pleased with - I think he knows what he's talking about - BH) [18] Murray McCully (43) Minister of Sport, Leisure And fitness, Tourism, Housing. [19] Max Bradford (54) Minister of Labour, Energy,Business Development, Immigration. [20] Roger Sowry (37) Minister of Social Welfare.
National Ministers out of cabinet [22] Chris Fletcher (41) Minister of Women's Affairs, Cultural Affairs, Local govt. [23] Nick Smith (31) Minister of Conservation, Associate Minister of Social Welfare, Associate Minister of Education.
NZ First Ministers in Cabinet NZ first has 5 ministers in cabinet as well as a couple out of cabinet. Only one of them (Winston Peters) has been in cabinet before. The others are very green.
As for the ministers in or out of cabinet, with the exception of Winston Peters, the others were a bit of a surprise for NZ first. It seems none of those expected to be chosen were and those who did not expect it, were.
[2] Winston Peters (51) Deputy PM, Treasurer. MP since 1978 [7] Tau Henare (36) Minister of Maori Affairs, Racing and Associate Minister of Sport, Fitness and Leisure. MP since 1993 [10] Peter McCardle(41) Minister of Employment. MP since 1990 [13] Jack Elder (47) Minister of Police, Civil Defence, Internal Affairs. MP Since 1984. [17] John Delamere (45) Associate Treasurer, Minister in charge of Valuation Department, in charge of Public Trust office. New MP. {first new MP to become cabinet minister in 70 yrs}
NZ First Ministers out of cabinet The youngest minister is Deborah Morris who is 26 yrs old. She has the Youth affairs portfolio (minister outside cabinet).
[21] Brian Donnelly Minister responsible for Education Review office. Associate Minister of Education. New MP [24] Deborah Morris(26) Minister of Youth Affairs, Associate Minister of ACC, Associate minister for environment. New MP [25] Neil Kirton (40) Minister of Customs, Associate Minister of Health. New MP [26] Robyn MacDonald(46) Minister for Senior Citizens, Consumer Affairs, New MP
With Winston Peters as Treasurer, and John Delamere as Associate Treasurer, looks like the budget that is to be written by Winston Peters will be NZ First policy driven.
The National MPs who missed their chance from cabinet are being offered other jobs like chairing select committees etc. They are Denis Marshall, Roger Maxwell, Peter Gresham, Katherine O'Regan, Warren Kyd. Peter Dunne (United) lost his cabinet post.
Doug Kidd is the Speaker of the House, Ian Revell is Deputy Speaker.
Women in Parliament Despite the relatively higher proportion of female MPs this time round, the number (in terms of ministers in cabinet) do not reflect that representation. While I am philosophical, in that the best person for the job should get it, I do wonder at this imbalance.
Unfortunately we only have 1 woman in cabinet. That is Jenny Shipley. There will be 3 female ministers outside cabinet. The woman's affairs portfolio is now outside cabinet.
A crop of genetically engineered canola rapeseed was planted in a supposedly secret location near Oamaru. Greenpeace and other protesters discovered its whereabouts, and staged a protest at the site. Monsanto say the trial is to test the plant's resistance to its own Roundup product, with a view to allowing growers to spray weeds without damaging the crop.
The Office of Film and Literature Classification (aka the censor) has decided that anti-homosexual videos being used by some Pentecostal churches are offensive, and may only be shown to people over 18 years of age. The two videos are entitled "Aids - What You Haven't Been Told" and "Gay Rights Special Rights" were ruled to be so discriminatory and unbalanced that they were injurious to the public good if shown to younger people.
Police were called to investigate persistent baby crying by neighbours in Wellington's Kilbirnie. They were appalled to discover two infants aged 5 months and 14 months had been left alone for many hours while their mothers went drinking at a local tavern. At 2 am the police attempted to contact the department's Children and Yong Person's emergency phone number, and said they were greatly angered to reach an answerphone. The mothers aged 21 and 17 returned home at 3:15 pm, and the police were left with no alternative but to leave the babies with their mothers. The women both faced charges of failing to provide reasonable care.
Police later had to eat some humble pie when it was revealed that they had reached, not an answerphone, but an active answering service which contacted the duty officer who was available 14 minutes after being called. Police told the man not to bother. In response to a frosty complaint from the Department of Social Welfare, Wellington District Commander, Gerry Cuneen apologised to the department for the misrepresentation.
Australia has lifted the quarantine restrictions which were imposed on New Zealand fruit after an outbreak of Mediterranean fruit fly in the Mount Roskill area, in May this year. The US and Japan are waiting until the equivalent of three generations of fruitfly had elapsed prior to reviewing the situation.
(Driving through Auckland, I was intrigued at the number of locations at which there were quarantine amnesty bins, and large notices prohibiting the transportation of vegetable matter between areas. - BH)
Arisara Sangraksa, 19, a Thai student at Hutt Polytechnic was found guilty on charges of importing 800 gm of heroin stitched into the hollowed out soles of a pair of shoes. In passing sentence on the young woman, Justice Gendall observed that the term would be hard, but much less severe than if she had taken the same amount into Thailand.
Jim Gerard, a National list MP who had entertained the expectation of being appointed speaker of the house after his previous experience as deputy was bitterly disappointed to be passed over in favour of Doug Kidd. He has been offered the position of High Commissioner to Canada by way of consolation. He has tendered his resignation from parliament to accept the job, and in a first for the new electoral system, Annabel Young, the highest unplaced list member for National now comes into parliament to replace him. Ms Young is the daughter of former Miramar MP, Bill Young.
Mr Gerard replaces Maurice McTigue who was given the Canadian post after losing his Timaru seat in 1993.
(Must have been a slow news day - nothing caught my eye - BH)
The Wellington Rugby Union has been warned that no more tests will be held at Athletic park unless the facilities are seriously upgraded. A request to the Wellington City Council for a loan of $340,000 was declined when the councillors voted 11-7 against the request. Mayor Blumsky is irritated by the outcome, and is working with the Rugby union to find other ways to raise the necessary funds. The New Zealand Rugby Union gave the Wellington Union until March 10 1997 to find the necessary funding.
Grant O'Neill was the manager of Victoria University's Student Union until restructuring took place and the position was abolished. The Employment Court has awarded him $30,000 for lost wages, $11,000 as compensation for unjustified dismissal, on top of $4,000 paid in an earlier judgement.
Staff cuts announced by the chief executive of the Open Polytechnic of New Zealand have spoiled Christmas for 40 staff. Voluntary redundancy was announced for 14 staff and 26 jobs were axed.
Bryan Michael McKay, 49, a Marist teaching brother of Auckland has pleaded guilty to a number of charges related to sexual abuse of boys in his care in 1979 and 1980. The offences are said to have taken places on school camps with the Marist Intermediate School in Hamilton. The school is now defunct.
(I have to say I went to St Pauls College, a Marist Brothers' secondary boys school in Auckland. The men who taught me, though prone to the eccentricities and personal foibles which all school kids attribute to teachers, were fine and honourable men who I am proud to have known. They encouraged learning, and fostered the faith which was the reason for their existence. I am sorry that the name of the Marist Brothers is dragged in the mud by the actions of this man - BH)
Allan Richard Collier, 45, of Paeroa was convicted of raping a woman 16 years ago and was sentenced to five years. Throughout the trial, he maintained that he never knew the woman, far less raped her. His wife and two friends began investigating the allegations made by the complainant, and uncovered a series of glaring discrepancies which thoroughly discredited her story. On taking the new evidence to appeal, the conviction was quashed.
Although he is investigating the possibility of compensation for the six months he spent in jail, present New Zealand Law appears to offer no avenue for compensation, nor even the recovery of legal costs. Mr Collier says that it is almost impossible for anyone to mount a credible defence to a charge made in respect of some arbitrary date 16 years ago. In such circumstances, he said, the odds were stacked in favour of the complainant. Fortunately for him, his wife and friends uncovered evidence which among other things, proved he was at work at the time and date of the alleged rape.
Treasurer Winston Peters has asserted that there is still room to trim the costs of the Public Service. He sees cutting costs in low priority areas as a way of funding some of the expensive promises made as part of the coalition arrangement.
(I seriously doubt that many departments have serious room to save the kinds of money he talks of. The public service has been under continuous scrutiny since 1984 or earlier. Unless all the earlier eagle eyed cost cutters were totally inept, a further round of this will lead to the equivalent of more Cave Creeks - BH)
Conservationists trying to save the elegant plane trees which line Palmerston North's Fitzherbert Avenue failed to persuade the Environment Court to intervene in what was their last ditch attempt. The trees will be cut down from January 6.
Date: 12 December 1996
Brian Dooley
Wellington
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 0.7027
AUD 0.8864
GBP 0.4239
JPY 79.60
CAD 0.9550
FRF 3.6602
DEM 1.0834
HKD 5.4488
SGD 0.9855
CHF 0.9221
INTEREST RATES (%)
Call : 8.20
90 Day: 8.00
The prices below are given in cents.
To buy NZ Investment Trust:
21 June 1993 409
Today 873
To buy TeNZ:
1 June 1996 103.7
Today 118.4
I'll take this opportunity to send my greetings to all WYSIWYG readers at this Christmas season. I look forward to getting together with my family, and I hope many of you can do likewise. Thanks to all those readers who sent messages of thanks and encouragement. Your feedback is much appreciated. On your behalf, I want to acknowledge Dr Michael Witbrock, of Akiko Geoff Coplon of Akiko for their splendid work in managing the distribution of the email to 2,600 subscribers. Special thanks to Brian Dooley for faithfully submitting financial news each week. And I think I can thank my wife, Mary, on behalf of us all for putting up with my weekly absence while I deal with the news.
May 1997 be a much better year for you than any which has gone before.
Warmest wishes to you all
Brian M Harmer email brian.harmer@vuw.ac.nz http://www.vuw.ac.nz/~bharmer Thou shalt not sit with statisticians nor commit a social science - W.H. Auden
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