Copyright © 1995 Brian Harmer
OK, OK! I tried a new method of production with cut and paste last week, and unfortunately most of the "smart quotes" were unprintable on many newsreaders. Sorry, I'll go back to the old way.
The Endeavour replica sailed from Wellington last evening, but in the haze and drizzle was invisible from the Hutt Valley.
Completed my first full week as a full-time academic, although the students are not yet with us. Seems OK so far :-)
I noticed in looking back at the archives on Akiko, that WYSIWYG has just passed its second birthday.
On with the news:
The anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi was observed in a low key way when compared with last year's tumultuous scenes. The official governmental function was held in the grounds of Government House in Wellington. The ceremonies lasted twenty minutes and was followed by a garden party. Attendance was limited to seven hundred selected and invited guests. Seventy people demonstrated, somewhat unseen, at the gates.
(I must confess that I find offensive, the idea of a party at the public expense for seven hundred people who could be relied on to follow the Government line - BH)
In Waitangi itself, Deputy Prime Minister, Don McKinnon attended the traditional ceremonies at the treaty house and the national marae. The event was conducted in a more or less orderly fashion for most of the day. The radical elements were gathered at the lower marae, a short distance from the main events, and after a day of discussions and oratory, eventually marched towards the upper marae. What happened next depends on who you talk to. The police decided that the protesters were not going to disrupt the official ceremonies, and stopped them at the bridge. Angry protesters threw stones at the police, and two constables were injured. Several protesters were arrested.
In subsequent statements to the media, the police said they were acting according to the wishes of the organising committee. In one statement, the chairman of the committee said that the protesters were invited to be present at the official speeches in the morning, but at the time they chose to march, the concert party items were in progress. It would have been unfair, he said, for people who had been practising for months to be cut off by the protesters. Other statements to the media from Maori sources imply that the police acted in a heavy handed way on their own initiative.
The Government reaction to it all was that they were right to stay away from Waitangi, and that it would be unlikely that they would consider going back there before the year 2000.
Not for the first time, the Wellington City Council appears to have been defrauded by an employee. Mayor Mark Blumsky and acting chief executive Dawn Brook called a press conference to reveal the loss of $300,000. The statement said the council believed it knew who had taken the money and how. It alleged that the person concerned was a former senior manager now residing in Australia. Steps would be taken to retrieve the money which, it was said, was sitting in an Australian bank account. Police were less keen to be sure of who the perpetrator was, and this stance proved to be wise, as the person referred to took legal advice and vehemently protested her innocence. Mayor Blumsky had to engage in some hasty back-pedalling, saying that they had not positively identified an individual as the culprit.
A New Zealander who flew home from Australia on Kiwi Air, ignored the line's smoking ban, and was abusive to flight crew when challenged. The man was charged with a breach of NZ aviation regulations, and fined $300. The airline added their own penalty by refusing to carry the man back to Australia, declaring his return ticket to be void.
Fire danger in Canterbury reached its customary critical level after a protracted period of warm dry Nor'westers with no significant rain. Despite total fire bans in the region, firefighters were kept busy fighting a number of serious fires which are believed to have been set by arsonists.
Former Labour Party cabinet minister Richard Prebble, unseated at the last election by the Alliance's deputy leader, Sandra Lee has written a book which is apparently guaranteed to have something to offend everyone. Most reviews have focused on the revelations of mind-boggling inefficiencies in the pre-corporatisation government departments. He reveals the costs involved in the Post Office's truck body-building workshop, originally set up as a wartime measure to avoid the need to import truck bodies, and provide a trade training facility.
Stewart Murray Wilson, 49, is on trial in Wellington on 25 charges involving abuse of various partners, rape, and stupefaction (the administration of a drug to achieve compliance), and many other charges. Sixteen complainants will give evidence. Wilson is alleged to have preyed on weak and depressed women, and to have forced their children to watch the assaults.
(I don't intend to report on this rather disgusting case in any detail ... suffice to say that it is in progress. I will report a verdict if and when one is reached - BH)
The rarely used charge of criminal nuisance is being defended by Tranz Rail in Wellington. The charge arises from the incident in which a defective hand rail on the platform between carriages allowed six year old Morgan Jones to fall to the track where he sustained severe injuries resulting in blindness and amputation of a leg.
Various experts are being summoned by both sides in the case.
Despite the hasty turnaround of the Dunedin TV station on the same issue, the Nelson area TV station will not screen the new gay-oriented "Express Report". The news, current affairs and magazine style programme is expected to air in most regions soon. Station co-owner Bob Hansell believes that the gay community in Nelson is too small for the programme to generate enough revenue to offset the negative reaction from conservative factions. The station was the subject of a successful complaint to the Broadcasting Standards Authority after it screened a homophobic "documentary" last year.
A man who threatened Blenheim police with a knife was shot in the leg and stomach. His injuries are apparently survivable. As always, the incident is being investigated by the Police Complaints Authority.
The company which suffered the loss of one of its Cessna Caravan aircraft on Mt. Robertson in cloud last week, is attempting to use the incident to press its argument for a change of flight rules. According to the company, the single engined turboprop aircraft should be permitted to operate on Instrument Flight Rules above cloud. The Airways Corporation is unwilling to consider the proposal, having strong views on the risks which would ensue if such a flight should suffer an engine failure.
The price of support for National Policies in parliament is a seat in cabinet according to United NZ Party. The broadly centrist group lead by Clive Matthewson was formed when seven members of parliament from National and Labour defected to form their own party.
QUACK! QUACK!
In the heaviest rainstorm since the 1977 Hutt Valley floods, Wellington caught 41 mm of rain in just three hours. Many roads were flooded, just on the evening rush hour causing chaos for commuters.
(I got caught in this, and counted myself lucky to cover the 16 km to home in 1 hour and 45 minutes. The rain was so heavy that vision was barely a car length ahead of the bonnet (or hood). I live reasonably well up the Western Hills, nevertheless I had to drive through six inches of water flowing down the steep hills from creeks overflowing from culverts inadequate to the task. - BH)
Dr. Rajen Prasad, Director of the Department of Social Policy and Social Work at Massey's Albany Campus is the new Race relations Conciliator. Almost the first decision he will make is the relocation of the office back to Auckland where it was prior to the arrival of the outgoing and controversial present conciliator, John Clarke. Dr. Prasad is a Fijian Indian, and has been active in many aspects of community work for many years.
Mount Cook's Hawker Siddeley 748 twin turboprop aircraft have finally been retired from service after 27 years on provincial routes in this country. Their place has been taken by French built ATR 72s.
The New Zealand Rugby Union sold the TV rights to first class rugby games to Sky TV, a Murdoch operation as part of the deal which allowed players to go professional. This means that any games between NZ, Australia, and South Africa, or the Super 12 provincial series will no longer be free to air. Many public figures have expressed outrage that only Sky subscribers will be able to see live rugby on TV. The government has ruled out any idea of intervention despite a similar intervention in Britain. Many areas of NZ, even in the major cities are unable to receive Sky transmissions.
Auckland's new casino has attracted a deal of unwelcome publicity as a number of people have been so eager to gamble that they have left their children unattended in cars or in the atrium of the building for hours at a time. Police and welfare agencies are clamping down on people who offend in this way. The casino is cooperating, not wanting to be associated with this sort of behaviour, and has banned children from all casino spaces except the restaurants when accompanied by adults.
The casino was further in the news today (13 February) when a person being evicted in the early hours of this morning decided to demonstrate his high spirits by leaping up on to the handrail of an escalator. He overbalanced, and fell eight metres to his death. Video footage of the incident reveals that the man was not touched or pushed in any way by the security people at the time of his act of bravado.
Date: 8 February 1996 - Brian Dooley, Wellington CURRENCIES To Buy NZD 1.00 US 0.6777 UK 0.4409 AU 0.8974 CD 0.9260 JP 71.94 DM 1.0034 FR 3.4460 INTEREST RATES Call : 8.45 90 Day: 7.50 To buy NZ Investment Trust: 21 June 1993 $4.09 Today $5.56
OMIGOSH! Typing the date above reminds me that tomorrow is Valentine's day and I am in deep doodoo! Too late now. I'll think of something to rescue this situation tomorrow, but if you don't hear from me next week, suspect retribution :-(
Have a happy week unless you have other plans
Brian M Harmer - Department of Communication Studies
Victoria University of Wellington, New
Zealand
email brian.harmer@vuw.ac.nz http://www.vuw.ac.nz/~bharmer
How can I be sure I succeeded
if I can't remember what I was trying to do? - Ashleigh Brilliant
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