Copyright © 1995 Brian Harmer
Meanwhile, the long range forecast is still anticipating fine weather for all of the country except Fiordland and South Westland until at least Thursday. This will suit me as I have a trip to Taumarunui this week. You might be interested to know that the Internet has become so popular in that remote little town that it has become impossible to make toll calls to or from that town between about 3 pm and midnight most days as people hook up to their ISP via 0800 numbers. Telecom are mildly embarrassed, and say the number of lines into the town will be increased in August.
On with the news
Strong rumours have been circulating that Jenny Shipley has ambitions to replace the Prime Minister as leader of the parliamentary National Party. Although Ms Shipley denied any such ambition, the rumour was enhanced when Winston Peters alleged that her opposition to his compulsory superannuation proposals was for the purpose of "short term political gain".
At the launch of Te Mana, the second of the two Anzac frigates, the Prime Minister's speech contained a statement that the government was committed to the idea of a "blue water navy". This has been interpreted as an encouraging sign for those who hope there will be at least one more frigate. Although each of the first two cost in excess of $1 billion, it is understood that additional vessels will cost only (!) $500 million. Spending of such magnitude faces a number of hurdles even within the coalition, where it is understood that considerably more of their social goals would need to be met before they would consider another frigate. Additionally, there are those who believe that the run down state of the New Zealand Army is much more urgent than a third frigate.
Last Saturday, the great waka taua (war canoe), Teremoe was being moved with due reverence and ceremony from the old Dominion Museum site in Wellington to the New Museum of New Zealand. Streets were blocked off and in the pre-dawn light amid much singing and chanting, the waka began its slow procession through the streets to its new home. Warriors brandishing taiaha (the long fighting spear) pranced beside it. Press were warned to retain a respectful distance from Teremoe. Cameraman Grant Atkinson apparently failed to do so, and was struck a heavy blow to the head which shattered the taiaha, and inflicted a wound which required multiple stitches. Although the parade continued until Teremoe was in its new resting place, great anguish ensued, with tear-stained elders and officials apologising to Mr Atkinson. The "warrior" concerned, Timothy Thomas Takapua, 37, of Levin was later arrested and charged with injuring Grant Atkinson with reckless disregard for the safety of others. Ironically, a few days later, he was lecturing to the local polytechnic on Marae protocol.
Responding to criticisms of his role in the ATN spending debacle, Minister of Communications, Maurice Williamson has revealed that he asked for powers of control over the funding agency, Te Mangai Paho, but was not given them as it would be seen as patronising and insulting.
(I find myself in sympathy with the Hon. Minister, not that he should have been given the authority over Te Mangai Paho, but because he has borne a lot of flak for events which are legally and morally beyond his control. Besides, any minister of the crown who accepts an invitation to address a class of university students is OK by me :-) - BH)
A sudden rise in the number of abortions from 13,652 in 1995 to 14,807 in 1997 has caused Education Minister, Wyatt Creech, and Women's Affairs Minister, Christine Fletcher to call for improved sex education.
The International Energy Agency has criticised New Zealand as having among the highest pre-tax prices in the OECD. Mx Bradford, the Energy Minister says he is concerned about it. Even allowing for the notorious tax which goes into the consolidated fund, petrol in New Zealand is still cheaper at the pump than Japan, Britain, Ireland, Germany, France and Norway.
Supermarket salad bars which contain great varieties of pre- made salads have increased in popularity in recent years, but Consumers Institute magazine "Consumer" has said that bacteria are also a growth industry. Almost 13% of the salad bars tested had traces of listeria monocytogenes, and another 10% had unacceptably high traces of faecal coliforms.
(Having observed the behaviour of the general public around the salad bars I wouldn't touch the products with long tongs. I have seen people dip their fingers in the product to taste it. I have seen uncontrolled kids playing in it. Given the best preparation in the world, the concept of customer self help from a bowl of pre-made salad is fundamentally flawed - :-P - BH)
The Court of Appeal has rejected the attempt by heart-lung surgeon Keith Ramstead to overturn his conviction for manslaughter in respect of the death of Nancie Muncie on his operating table in 1992. The appeal was based on a cautionary rider in the note from the jury to the judge prior to the verdict in the original trial. In the note, the jury said that although Ramstead breached the necessary standards of care skill and knowledge, they were unable to establish these breaches as an essential cause of the deaths. The Appeal Court ruled that since the note was made public in open court the concern for transparency and fairness was eventually met.
The Wellington Regional Council is pushing a number of "toll" ideas to pay for its wish lists of transport projects. Among the alternates it is pushing are a 10 cents per vehicle toll at the bottom of the Ngauranga Gorge, a $1 per day levy on all private car parks, or a 1 cent/litre levy on petrol. According to Councillor McDavitt "commuters are ready and willing to pay more to support transport improvements".
(What Councillor McDavitt means is that commuters are willing to have someone else pay more for transport improvements. The proposed annual $2 million per annum revenue generated by each of the schemes would scarcely pay for the depreciation on upgraded railway carriages, and would not go anywhere near an increase in capacity. It's time that the theft by government of the tax on petrol went back to paying for transport rather than just into the consolidated fund. - BH)
Many senior politicians of all political stripes are going public in their opposition to the NZ First Compulsory Superannuation scheme. Jenny Shipley has dealt what many believe to be a fatal blow by pointing out that only one tenth of New Zealand women would be able to save the target $160,000 by retirement, and one half of men. Winston Peters responded by proposing a government top-up to address the shortfall.
FoodTown and Countdown, Pak'n'Save, New World, Write Price,
and Four Square Supermarket chains have all made it plain to
the Meat Board that they will not stock any meat from cattle
dosed with artificial hormone growth promotant
(HGP)supplements. The Meat Board was proposing to allow such
beef to have its new quality mark.
(The New Zealand Dairy Industry has long been aware of the public reaction to hormone treated products and has a strictly enforced ban on the use of Bovine Somatotropin (BST)as a potential productivity enhancer. It seems the Meat Board needs to be as heedful of public sensitivities, regardless of what it regards as the objective science at the base. - BH)
New Zealand First has made it clear that if there was a leadership crisis in the National party and Jim Bolger was to lose his position, the coalition would be open for renegotiation. It seems that Jenny Shipley's attack on the NZ First Superannuation proposal has so annoyed the smaller party, that they wish to ensure that she does not become leader of the National Party.
(If nothing else, their reaction has added fuel to the speculation that a leadership challenge is a possibility - BH)
The Privileges Committee of Parliament has released its finding in respect of the alleged assault on John Banks by Winston Peters. It has ruled that although an assault did indeed take place, no contempt of the house could be proven because there was no evidence linking the assault to happenings in the chamber. The committee invited Mr Peters to apologise.
Mr Peters in turn reacted with fury and accused the committee of being a kangaroo court. He alleges that it is improper for the committee to find him guilty of assault when he was in fact charged with contempt. If he had been charged with assault, he would have been able to prepare a defence, he says. He is adamant that no apology will be forthcoming.
(Stunning! He was charged on the basis that the assault constituted an act of contempt. He conceded that he "restrained" Mr Banks. There were witnesses who saw the assault, including Messrs Banks and Anderton. He is engaging in sophistry and should now just make the apology and get on with the business of trying to restore shredded credibility. Interestingly, he had just persuaded the Minister of Consumer Affairs, Robyn McDonald to apologise to an electorate meeting in Tauranga for the extravagance of her trip to Paris. - BH)
To the immense annoyance of the Australia fruit industry, a New Zealand botanist has produced confirmed evidence of the viral disease "Fireblight" in trees in Melbourne's Botanical gardens. A search is now under way to find out to what extent it has spread. No relaxation of the prohibition on NZ apples entering Australia will occur unless it proves to be widespread.
Ugly rumours of Kiwi sabotage have been circulated in Australia, and Lockwood Smith has seen fit to apologise to his Australian counterpart for the actions of the New Zealand scientist.
(Who will apologise to the scientist for the actions of Lockwood Smith? - BH)
The six month sentence imposed on former auditor general, Jeffrey Chapman has been overturned on appeal and replaced by a sentence of 18 months. The crown argued that the original sentence was manifestly inadequate. The case for a review was boosted by the total lack of any remorse for the actions which led to his prosecution
The Police Complaints Authority has released a report which finds that the police investigation into a fatal car accident was "bungled". Three young women were driving home on Good Friday 1995, along SH6, when they were involved in a head on collision with another car driven by Invercargill jeweller, Trevor McLeay. Megan Hamilton, 22, Bridget Horgan, 19, both of Winton, and Virginia Armstrong, 21, of New Plymouth, all died in the crash. Police initial investigations revealed that McLeay was driving while under the influence of alcohol, but that the crash was not his fault. Having satisfied themselves, the police then disposed of the car on the local tip where it was buried. Relatives were outraged and got an independent consultant to examine the death scene. It was proved that McLeay's car had crossed the centre line into the path of the women, and that he was indeed the cause of the fatalities. After the evidence was presented to a coroner's court, police were forced to reopen the case, and McLeay was jailed on three counts of manslaughter as a result. Police are now treating all road fatalities with the same urgency as any other serious crime.
Date: 15 May 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 0.7032
AUD 0.9025
GBP 0.4271
JPY 82.58
CAD 0.9778
FRF 4.0230
DEM 1.1945
HKD 5.4537
SGD 1.0102
CHF 1.0123
INTEREST RATES (%)
Call : 6.50
90 Day: 7.00
The prices below are given in cents.
To buy NZ Investment Trust:
21 June 1993 409
Today 558
To buy TeNZ:
1 June 1996 103.7
Today 113.2
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Text Copyright © 1998 Brian Harmer,
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