Copyright © 1995 Brian Harmer
A photograph in the Evening Post on Tuesday characterizes the weather at the start of this week. It shows the Interisland ferry Arahura, all 12,000 Tonnes of her butting out into the Cook Strait. Her stern is up, her head is down, and the spray from the impact with the first big roller outside the heads is soaring twice the height of the ships bridge. The swell in the strait was reported at six metres, and that was the last trip the ferry did for two days. The photographer was lucky to capture the ferry as he did, since driving Southerly rain has obscured the view for a few days. Snow is reported as low as 600 metres, and when the storm has passed, there will be one of those spells of picture postcard calm with snow along the Orongorongo tops, and the Tararuas will look majestic against perfectly blue skies. I'll happily put up with the odd Southerly storm as the price to be paid for living in this terrific city.
On with the news
All news items are reproduced by kind permission of copyright owner, IRN Ltd.
Tears of joy and relief from the Northland judge acquitted on fraud charges. A jury last night found him not guilty on 45 charges linked to travel expense claims made between 1992 and 1996. There was a tense atmosphere at the Auckland High Court as the 45 verdicts were read out by the jury foreman. Afterwards Judge Beattie was clearly elated at the decision... saying he was completely overwhelmed. His defence lawyer Paul Davison QC says the verdicts speak for themselves. Last night there was a joint statement by The Chief Justice Sir Thomas Eichelbaum and Chief District Court Judge, Judge Ron Young. They said Judge Young and Justice Minister Doug Graham would meet with Judge Beattie to discuss his future but in the meantime Judge Beattie would not be resuming his duties.
(The great paradox left by the verdict is the fate of Judge Hesketh, who acted on the advice of Judge Beattie and made his expense claims on the same basis. Unwilling to put his family through the trauma of a protracted trial, he pleaded guilty. He was convicted, was sentenced, and his career went down the toilet. In most eyes, his offence, if any, was less than that of Judge Beattie who is now cleared at least in the legal sense - BH)
The family of an elderly Christchurch woman severely bashed in an attack last month says the ten year jail term given to her attacker is not enough. Harry Goulding Houkamau pleaded guilty to the attack on 70 year old Anne Withers while she minded her son's shop. Mrs Withers was beaten over the head with a metal bar during the attack, and now suffers trauma and epileptic seizures. Her family members say the trauma is so severe they're selling their store to start a new life.
(The pictures on our TV of the frail little lady battered, bruised, and stitched, were heartbreaking. Houkamu is apparently deaf, but that excuse may not serve him if in prison he encounters someone who reckons that beating up little old ladies with an iron bar is a dingo trick - BH)
The editor of Otago University's student magazine says he ran an article on how to grow marijuana as an experiment. Gavin Bertram said the article in "Critic" was to show how the media focuses on drug issues in student publications. Auckland University magazine Craccum ran a guide to drug use earlier this month. Mr Bertram says the article was meant as entertainment. He says it ran with a disclaimer stating it wasn't an instructional guide and shouldn't be acted on.
The public gets its first chance today to enjoy the view from Auckland's Sky Tower. The 75 million dollar tower's being formally blessed by local Maori this morning, before the first sightseers take the lift more than 300 metres above Auckland's skyline. The official opening ceremony's set to end with a bang tonight, with more than 44 tonnes of pyrotechnics strategically placed around Auckland.
A claim our tea breaks are under threat. The National Distribution Union fears that attempts by the Australian owners of two kiwi textile firms to cut back on smokos may spread. The owners of Godfrey Hirst in Auckland and Canterbury Spinners in Christchurch want to do away with tea breaks... and their employees are going on strike. Union National Secretary Mike Jackson says breaks are important to relieve stress.
No rift between the Prime Minister and Transport Minister Jenny Shipley. Jim Bolger has closed the National Party Annual Conference in Christchurch saying despite speculation to the contrary, he and Ms Shipley are sticking together. Mr Bolger says he won't let the media drive a wedge between them. He says they've worked well together for many years and will continue to do so in the interests of the National Party and good government.
(A cartoon in the Evening post shows two backbenchers asking in a whisper if he realizes it's his shoulder blades they want to drive a wedge through - BH)
The Young Nationals are backing a "no" vote in September's referendum on compulsory super. Tim Hurdle was voted in as the new president of the young nationals at this weekend's annual conference in Christchurch. Mr Hurdle believes young people are the losers from the retirement savings scheme. He says they have to save for themselves and must still pay extra, to support people already receiving national super.
(According to a TV item on this, the young Nats, once endemic throughout both islands are almost at the point of extinction with less than fifty of them known to exist. Rumours that DOC will attempt a breeding programme are being denied - BH)
Around five thousand people have already been up the southern hemisphere's tallest viewing tower and it's only been open for a day. At the opening of the Auckland Sky Tower yesterday, tourism minister Murray McCully praised Sky City's bold investment in tourism. It cost 75 million dollars and is taller than the Eiffel Tower and Sydney's Centrepoint. Members of the public found the outdoor viewing platform at 210 metres very cold but worth it for the awesome view.
(The Sunday Star Times described it as the best place from which to look down on Aucklanders - :-) - BH)
Overwhelming support in Christchurch for rugby playing school pupils on the benefit. The group at Aranui High School have caused a furore because they're members of a sports academy and receiving social welfare. Other teams want them banned and a decision's due out any day from the Secondary School Sports Council. Education Ministry spokesman John Mather says the students are entitled to the payments and the city's message is...play on.
An Auckland primary school is threatening to close if Telecom goes ahead with a cell-phone tower next door. Green Bay Primary School spokesman Toby Easton says there's no money to appeal a planning decision, so closure's the only option. Mr Easton says the board of trustees is right behind the move, as are the majority of teachers and the lion's share of parents. Mr Easton admits re-locating the four hundred students will be a nightmare.
(The Education Department says this would be illegal. Scientists are saying that the concerns are overdone. For those interested in the question of low level radiation see http://www.mcw.edu/gcrc/cop/cell-phone-health-FAQ/toc.html - BH)
The increasing crime rate is hitting Aucklanders in the pocketbooks. A survey released today shows that Aucklanders pay - on average - a third more for insurance premiums on their houses and cars. Insurance Council CEO David Sargeant says high crime rates are to blame... Nearly 70 percent of insurance claims for theft or burglary are for crimes committed in Auckland.
(We Southerners already knew that - BH)
A leaked Ministry of Education document suggests replacing the current system of funding tertiary education with vouchers. Student groups claim the paper suggests moving university and polytech funding towards a corporate model similar to the health reforms. The document raises the possibility of each student being given vouchers which they can use buy an education from tertiary institutions. The student groups have condemned the leaked paper, and say fees would rise if its recommendations were implemented.
The site for the national centre for treating teenage sex offenders will be announced today. The unit will be built on one of three sites near Christchurch. A committee of community leaders will name its choice today. Residents from the three sites at Belfast, Lincoln and Paparua are outraged at the plans. It's thought land adjoining Paparua Prison is considered the most likely choice.
(The Yaldhurst site near the prison is it. Officials are optimistic that the public will see the centre as a good thing - BH)
The wrong people being treated the wrong way.. but filling up vitally needed beds all the same. That's one of the conclusions of a just-released review on mental health. The review group's psychiatric adviser, Dr Peter McGeorge, says many mentally ill people end up in the acute ward... because doctors have nowhere else to treat them... Dr McGeorge says that sometimes means the acutely mentally ill can't get a bed. Health Minister Bill English says the inadequacies need to be put right.
(Could we have a report on the sanity of people who commission a report on the state of the mental health industry when they haven't actioned the last one yet? The Minister seized on the aspects of the report which suggest that practitioners could make some minor improvement, while brushing past the report's major recommendations which actually involve giving the practitioners the resources to do the job - BH)
North Health says its clamp-down on new doctor's practices follows a budget blowout on pharmaceuticals and lab tests. It says the northern region overspent by about twelve million in both areas in the past year. So it's banning new practices unless it can be proven they are needed. North Health says there's a direct link between the number of doctors per head of population and the amount of prescriptions written and lab tests done.
(I wonder why they don't see that the real correlation, and the one with a causative link, is between the number of sick people and the amount of treatment required. Perhaps they could clamp down on sickness. No new sickness allowed! - BH)
A gnome lineup will be held at Timaru police station today. Police executed a search warrant on a house after routine inquiries overnight. 38 stolen garden gnomes ranging in size were recovered. Police say the explanation was that the occupants wanted to improve their back yard. A 21 year old man and a 22 year old man will appear in court today on theft charges. Anyone who wants to claim their gnome can get it from the police station.
(After extensive publicity, 11 of the gnomes were still orphaned at last report - BH)
Cabinet minister Jenny Shipley is continuing to push for a no vote in the September compulsory super referendum. The Todd Report released last week said the current national superannuation system is sustainable. Mrs Shipley says economic analysis and statistics that suggest otherwise are overstated. She is the most senior cabinet minister to publicly condemn the scheme - which is the pet project of Treasurer Winston Peters and Prime Minister Jim Bolger.
Associate Health Minister Neil Kirton is defiant this morning ahead of a call up before party leaders. Prime Minister Jim Bolger and deputy Winston Peters will meet with Mr Kirton and Health Minister Bill English today to work out their crackly relationship. A meeting between Mr Bolger and Mr Peters last night failed to make any headway. National is unhappy that ex-MP Michael Laws is a staffer in Mr Kirton's office, as well as Mr Kirton's refusal to toe his bosses line. However Mr Kirton says MMP is about partnership. He says it does not behove anybody to stand up and dominate anybody else, and it would be foolhardy to do so.
It's back to work today for almost 300 Devonport naval dockyard staff in Auckland. They had been locked out after refusing to sign a single employment contract. Union officials have agreed to go back to the negotiating table on Monday and so the company, Babcock, has agreed to lift the lock out this morning. However, there is not expected to be a quick resolution .. pay talks began in November 1996.
The Solicitor General will decide whether Dunedin surgeon Tony Guy has to appear in court a third time. He's charged with indecently touching five young women under the pretext of medical examinations. Last night a Christchurch District Court jury was discharged after failing to reach a verdict. An earlier Dunedin trial found Mr Guy guilty of three charges, but the ruling was overturned on appeal. Mr Guy is bailed to reappear next month for a new trial date unless the Solicitor General intervenes.
(No less than three cases have produced a hung jury twice recently. One went to a third trial, one was dismissed ... this one hangs in the balance, but I think there are some knives being sharpened for this fellow - BH)
A just-completed feasibility study says moving parliament's "Beehive" building is a realistic possibility. The study looks at alternatives to the proposed Parliamentary Palace. One option is to move the beehive... and extend the old parliament building. Parliament's speaker, Doug Kidd, says the study shows moving the Beehive is a practical option. But he says it's up to the government to decide whether it's cost-effective.
(Just because you can is insufficient cause to say you should, and considering that the question was raised in response to public concern that the previous plan was too expensive, I have to wonder if our parliamentarians have lost the plot entirely. Have they forgotten that there is another election in two years? - BH)
(For reasons yet unknown to me, IRN's news has not altered for two days, so to all intents and purposes thing happened today. In fact the political system was in an uproar because Winston Peters abruptly fired Neil Kirton from the position of Associate Minister of Health. The alleged offence was that Kirton disregarded an instruction from Winston to stay off the media while the simmering row with Bill English was smoothed over. Kirton appeared on Morning report and Winston lowered the boom. Kirton denies that he was told of any such prohibition. The details will probably reappear when IRN resume service for next week. On the sports front, Beatrice Faumuina captured the headlines with a gold medal in the discus at the Word Athletic Championships in Athens. Everybody was pleased, especially Les Mills, Mayor of Auckland, and ex Commonwealth Games Discus medallist who coached her. The new Cook Strait Ferry due in 1998 is to be named "Aratere". This weekend the All Blacks and the Springboks clash. Should be a riot. Well that's it - BH)
Date: 7 August 1997
Brian Dooley
Wellington, NZ
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 0.6462
AUD 0.8743
GBP 0.4034
JPY 76.89
CAD 0.8966
FRF 4.1148
DEM 1.2191
HKD 5.0149
SGD 0.9535
ZAR 3.0290
CHF 0.9927
INTEREST RATES (%)
Call : 8.15
90 Day: 8.22
The prices below are given in cents.
To buy NZ Investment Trust:
21 June 1993 409
Today 570
To buy TeNZ:
1 June 1996 103.7
Today 127
SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION
To subscribe to, or unsubscribe from the WYSIWYG News E-mail list visit:
WYSIWYG Subscriptions
To find it on the WWW go to the WYSIWYG Archives
Text Copyright © 1998 Brian Harmer,
Formatting Copyright © 2003 OneSquared
OneSquared bears no responsibility for the contents of this page.