Copyright © 1998 Brian Harmer
Now and then Nature displays herself in unexpected ways. One morning last week, just before sunrise, I happened to look from our back window that faces just a little to the North of West, towards the Maungaraki ridge. The moon was setting, and whenever it is low enough ... say within one diameter of the horizon, the eye is fooled into making it look bigger than it appears when it is higher in the sky. I have long forgotten why this is so, but believe me, it happens.
Not only was the moon setting, but just behind the ridge, a bank of clouds propelled by a very stiff Nor'Wester was racing from Right to left, and impinging on the otherwise perfect very large circle of the moon. As the sun crept closer to daybreak, the clouds assumed a wonderful "stagey" light ... and the windows of the houses on the ridge began to glitter. It was a scene that demanded a witch on a broomstick fleeing before the light of day, but only the distant stumpy profile of a Boeing 737 with its beacons flashing spoiled the illusion. In just a few minutes the clouds had banked up sufficiently to obscure the setting moon, but it was wonderful while it lasted.
Thanks to the many readers who wrote letters of support after my moments of doubt last week. I should say that the letter which provoked my musing was not at all confrontational, and I know the person concerned was inquiring in good faith.
On with the news *************** All news items are reproduced by kind permission of copyright owner, IRN Ltd whose current news listing can be found at http://www.xtra.co.nz/news/.
A cold night in freezing conditions for any survivors from a light plane which has gone down in the Southern Alps. The Cardinal Cessna 177 was reported overdue from a scenic flight near Mount Cook at midday. Foul weather has closed in and two helicopters have been forced to abandon the search until first light. On board the missing plane ... two Japanese tourists and a pilot from the Air Safari Company based in Lake Tekapo. Speaking from Mount Cook ... senior constable Bill Apes remains hopeful the experienced pilot has been able to put the plane down in one piece, but says even if he has ... the trio face a miserable night above the snow line.
Carbon monoxide has been blamed for the deaths of four people in a horror crash on a remote Marlborough road. Tracy McCallum and her three children lost their lives in June, when their car rolled and erupted in flames after hitting a bank. At today's inquest into the crash, Blenheim coroner, Peter Radich, says evidence points to the victims being overcome by carbon monoxide before the car crashed. The inquest also reveals a faulty battery terminal probably sparked a second fire as petrol seeped from the vehicle's tank. Peter Radich says the accident was a dreadful tragedy.
(This case has been the subject of a few TV stories, mostly involving the husband of the deceased woman who seems to be alleging that he warned social welfare that one of the children would be hurt if they didn't intervene. He claims they believed everything she said, and doubted everything he said. It is very hard to discern the truth and it may never be known - BH)
Commonwealth Games officials are downplaying the threat our team faces from dengue fever, even though one of their number has been admitted to hospital with the disease. New Zealand team doctor Nick Chamberlain is expected to be laid low for most of the week, but is over the worst of it. Dengue fever is transferred by mosquitoes, and New Zealand chef de mission Les Mills says when the team arrived at the village, their rooms were full of the insects. An Australian official has also been infected.
(Oh. That makes it all right then. - BH)
An end to a 26-day hunger strike by sex offender Bert Potter. 73 year old Potter, leader of the Centrepoint community north of Auckland, stopped eating when computer privileges for Paremoremo prison inmates were removed. Prison manager Bret Bestic says Potter has now decided to accept a basic word processor for use in his cell. He says the word processor has limited memory capabilities and no floppy drive. Mr Bestic says Potter will be returned to his normal cell in the prison's medium security unit as soon as he is well enough.
(What to make of demands by a prisoner for computers? I would hate to see us back to the days when such impudence might have been rewarded by a thrashing, but on the other hand, he was convicted of serious crimes and is not in Paremoremo for a rest - BH)
The government's drug buying agency says people with herpes are not being disadvantaged by a change in subsidies that has seen one treatment taken off the market. The manufacturer of Valtrex is no longer selling the drug because Pharmac has cut the subsidy from 100 to 25 per cent. Pharmac believes there are cheaper remedies around, which will save taxpayers six million dollars a year. Spokesman Dr Win Bennett says people with herpes won't have their health compromised, as all the drugs used to treat the disease do the same thing.
(I am no pharmacist, but I sincerely hop that's a journalist's interpretation of what was said, because I don't believe it - BH)
No comment from the Corrections Minister on claims about a series of sexual affairs between officers and inmates at Arohata Women's Prison near Wellington. Nick Smith is refusing to respond to claims made on last night's 20/20 current affairs show, which alleged at least five inappropriate relationships since 1987. The report also claimed evidence of a liaison between a high profile Corrections Department official and a former inmate. Today the man at the centre of the latest claim has dismissed the allegation as a total fabrication. The Corrections Department has already said it doesn't believe an inquiry is warranted.
(If the stories presented were true, the running of this prison is shocking. - BH)
Defence chiefs are currently digesting a $75,000 Human Rights Commission gender audit of the armed services. The 300 page report is due to be made public next month after MPs Max Bradford, Georgina Te Heuheu and Prime Minister Jenny Shipley are briefed. The gender audit follows 11 recent cases of alleged sexual abuse in the Navy. All the charges were thrown out, dismissed or dropped.
The Prime Ministerial Task force report on the Millennium Computer problem doesn't answer one of the most commonly asked questions....would you be willing to get on a plane on New Years Day 2000? Some airlines... and passengers... are nervous that the Y2K problem might affect the safety of flights. Prime Minister Jenny Shipley says she would need to think about whether she would be willing to fly on the fateful day... but she has no plans to. Information Technology Minister Maurice Williamson says he has no plans to fly either... as New Years Day is a time of celebrations and sore heads... But Mr Williamson says airlines seem to be well prepared... and if they cancel flights on the day it will be more of a public relations exercise.
(The report as represented at the press conference is terrifying. It indicates that we haven't a clue and we hope market forces will fix it. I rather resent the PM telling us in best Corporal Jones style, to "not panic" - BH)
Praise for the company which has lost a plane in the Southern Alps... The Air Safaris Cessna with a Tekapo pilot and two Japanese tourists on board, has been missing since Monday lunchtime. The plane's emergency locator beacon has been picked up near the Rudolf Glacier. A National Rescue Co-ordination Centre spokeswoman says support for the search has been incredible. Emma Peel says local guides and pilots from Air Safaris have boosted numbers. She says it is hoped a successful rescue attempt can be made today. Meanwhile, relatives of the missing tourists have arrived in Mount Cook.
The AIDS Foundation maintains the clamour to have African musician Peter Mwai removed from New Zealand was misguided.. The 33 year old has died of AIDS in Uganda - three months after being thrown out and being jailed for sleeping with New Zealand women when he knew he was HIV positive. AIDS Foundation spokesman Kevin Hague says the widespread call to deport Mwai, appeared to be based on the assumption that much of the AIDS threat would disappear with his absence when that is not the case.
(I rather thought the widespread call to deport this man was based on the fact that he had knowingly committed a serious act against these women, and that furthermore he was in New Zealand on a false passport. He certainly should not have been deported for having AIDS, and I doubt that he was. He was treated the same way as other convicted aliens - BH)
New Zealand's Southern Right Whale, on the brink of extinction at the end of last century, is making a comeback. Scientists have just returned from a ten week winter-over on the Auckland Islands where they have been gathering information on the whale population. Auckland University's Nathalie Patenaude says they sighted around 250 of the whales on this trip, almost three times the number seen in 1994. She says the whale doesn't seem to have been affected by the mysterious disease that almost wiped out the island's sea lion population earlier this year.
Out of pocket workers from a south Auckland upholstery factory are upping the ante today in their battle to win redundancy and holiday pay-outs. Union reps say the the staff from the Kenson plant are still owed more than half a million dollars after the firm went into voluntary liquidation last month. Earlier this week a sit-in at the factory cafeteria was called off when liquidators threatened legal action. Union spokesman Ted Thornton says the protests are set to continue with pickets at the parent company's central Auckland head office today. Mr Thornton believes the law surrounding company liquidations is loaded against employees.
(I have often thought that wages ought to be amongst the highest priority charges against a company's assets. The people who gave their labour did so in the fundamental process of earning a living. -BH)
Crown Public Health staff will be strapping on their skis in the search of yellow snow. Following complaints over toilet facilities provided at Canterbury ski fields the region's public health service provider is embarking on a project to look at the water supplies, toilets and sewage at nine ski fields. Project manager Andrea Johnson says they want to establish whether sewage disposal facilities are sufficient. She says in the past they have investigated outbreaks of disease caused by contaminated drinking water which has sometimes been linked to sewage facilities on ski fields.
(As my younger daughter might say ... eeeeuuuwwwwww! - BH)
Two days after it went down on a scenic flight in the Southern Alps, rescuers have found the crashed Air Safaris Cessna. A helicopter crew has spotted the plane in the upper regions of the Rudolf Glacier... but there's no sign of life at the crash site. The National Rescue Coordination Centre says the plane appears to be intact, but is buried in snow, with only the tail visible. The serious threat of avalanche has stopped helicopters landing at the crash site - searchers are now back at base planning their next move. On board the plane, were the 28-year-old pilot and two Japanese tourists.
(The aircraft was inverted, and largely buried in snow. The occupants were still strapped in, which leads the authorities to believe they died in the crash rather than of the cold at a later time - BH)
Doctors say the Government's new Hospital Services Plan is long on rhetoric but short on detail. Health Minister Bill English has released the plan this morning, giving an assurance that there will be no hospital closures for at least the next three years. But Medical Association Chairman Anton Wiles says the plan is simply a political statement, full of generalisations and ambiguities. He says it takes more than reassuring words and good intentions to solve complex health problems, and that the Hospital Services Plan doesn't supply a detailed blueprint for the future. The plan promises up to one billion dollars extra spending over the next three years, but the Medical Association says the document provides very little solid information.
(The most serious criticism I heard was that the plan defines the range but not the quantum of services to be offered at each hospital. There is no guarantee that particular procedures will be offered in sufficient quantity to meet local demand at any particular hospital - BH)
Auckland Healthcare is confident it can still go ahead with major extension plans despite the Health Minister's rejection of "super" hospitals. Bill English's hospital services plan released today shows there are no plans within the next three years to shut down any of the smaller rural hospitals to focus on two super hospitals as predicted. Auckland Healthcare has a proposal before the minister at the moment to build new facilities at the Auckland Hospital site to deal with complex and acute care, leaving Greenlane as a walk-in day surgery facility. The Minister's office says the Auckland Healthcare project will continue to be looked at.
The Waikato town of Te Awamutu is honouring its most famous sons. The town museum has put together an exhibition which includes original Split Enz costumes, archive television footage and the family piano, to recognise the life of Tim and Neil Finn. The international musicians grew up in the Waikato town. The exhibition called "Together Alone" will initially be on display for six months and will then be down sized to a permanent collection. Museum director David Woodings says it took three years to put together and will cost about $85,000.
(Talk about a cultural divide ... this goes straight over my head - BH)
Tranz Rail is stressing that its major review of services is not just about slashing jobs. Up to ten per cent of Tranz Rail's workforce is facing redundancy before Christmas, as the company takes a serious look at the services it provides. Tranz Rail spokesman Fred Cockram says as a transport company, it has to respond quickly to changes in its customers' needs, in light of the economic downturn. The Rail and Maritime Union says it has seen proposals to shed as many as 400 staff across the country.
Concerns have been raised about the level of staff turnover at the Department of Social Welfare. Labour MP Steve Maharey has released figures showing nearly half the department's staff with between five and ten years experience have left during the past financial year. Steve Maharey says the loss of experienced staff puts Social Welfare in a poor position to service some of the most vulnerable members of society. He says the case of a Thames man, who recently had his benefit accidentally suspended, highlights the problem. The error has made Kevin Beesley liable for penalty payments for rent and hire purchase agreements.
The end is coming for free admission to the country's most visited tourist attraction, the Auckland War Memorial Museum. The Museum plans to charge tour groups and overseas tourists five dollars a head from January.... and will ask New Zealanders to make a similar donation. Museum Trust Board Chairman, Barry Turley says children, Maori, and people visiting the War Memorial won't have to pay ... and he says museum staff won't get into confrontation with anyone else who refuses to pay.
A petition by residents of the Auckland suburb of East Tamaki has been presented in parliament, calling for an inquiry into the dumping of asbestos. The asbestos uncovered is believed to have been used as landfill by a farmer in the sixties and seventies. Manukau East MP Ross Robertson, who presented the petition, says Manukau City Council has let the people down. He says a Select Committee inquiry will hold the council accountable to its people. Meanwhile, an investigation is underway after allegations Auckland City Council workers were exposed to asbestos dust.
The best hotels, restaurants and cafes have been singled out at the Hospitality Association awards in Dunedin overnight. South Island establishments took out three of the five top awards....the Honest Lawyer in Nelson for outstanding customer service, Tuscany's in Blenheim was voted best re-developed business, and Timaru's Richard Pearse Family Tavern was recognised for excellence in gaming. Best marketed business was the R'Toto Pub and Cafe on Auckland's North Shore, and the Rose and Crown Tavern in Wellington won the outstanding host responsibility award.
(I am intrigued by the inclusion of the Rose and Crown. Architecturally, I find it repulsive. It occupies an otherwise unusable space around the base of an escalator in the BNZ underground shopping precinct. It is a rather ordinary pub with bistro meals, in other respects, and I had thought it to be closed in the evenings ... I hope someone will tell us how it won the award ... I don't doubt the judges, I just wonder what I am missing - BH)
New Zealanders have taken advantage of tax cuts and the AMP demutualisation to bring an increase of nearly one per cent in retail sales for July Food retail sales contributed most of the increase. Department store sales recorded the highest growth - up 6 per cent on July 1997. The Retail and Wholesale Association says it was an expected jump and it believes spending levels will stay fairly constant up to Christmas. Hardware stores recorded the biggest percentage fall from the previous year down 5.3 per cent.
The head of our Commonwealth Games swim team says the medal tally at KL doesn't tell the whole story. It has been Australia all the way in the pool, shutting Kiwi stars such as Danyon Loader and Trent Bray out of the medals. New Zealand swimming coach Mark Bone admits the team hasn't come up to the expectations of people back home. But he says some of our swimmers have improved their world rankings during the games, yet still haven't been able to get their hands on a medal.
(Yeah right! There is probably not an unplucked chicken in town nor any tar to be had for miles. The crowning disaster came after the NZ cricket team who were very pleased with themselves for beating Scotland --- I ask you --- Scotland! ... then faced Australia and were dismissed in a little over two hours in 23 overs for the grand total of 58 runs ... Steve Rixon leads a charmed life ... BH)
Convicted paedophile Bert Potter has been hospitalised. The Centrepoint Commune guru was admitted to hospital after falling ill at Auckland's Paremoremo Prison, where he's serving time for sexually abusing children. Prison authorities say his admission to hospital is not related to the hunger strike he recently carried out. Potter refused to eat for a month after his computer was taken from him, but has ended his fast after being allowed to buy a word processor.
The Department of Courts has signed a deal to future-proof its computer system against the possible impacts of the Year 2000 computer problem. The department has 12 hundred computers and 300 laptops... and will add 300 new computers to its system next March when the Maori Land Court becomes operational. Minister Georgina te Heuheu says the contract signed today will ensure the system is future-proofed by the end of March 1999.
A man has appeared in the Wanganui District Court charged with manslaughter following a hit and run accident. 63 year old Bella Hemi Tainui died after she was struck by a car and dragged almost half a kilometre along the road last night. The 26-year-old accused appeared in the Wanganui District Court this afternoon. He was remanded in custody to reappear on Tuesday.
(How can any human being drag another 500 metres along a road and not stop? - BH)
The government is fending off criticism over its decision not to sell Television New Zealand. State Owned Enterprises Minister Tony Ryall has told Parliament that TVNZ won't be sold, but he concedes it's an issue future governments will have to look at. ACT claims that because of rapidly changing technology and the expected explosion in the number of TV channels, that by the time it is sold....TVNZ won't be worth much. But Mr Ryall says they're monitoring the situation carefully and the information they've received shows it would be better to wait.
(Government speak with forked ministers! Apparently Bill Birch is still keen to sell TVNZ - BH)
A merger for two social welfare departments. The government is integrating the Children and Young Persons Service with the Community Funding Agency. CYPS employs 19 hundred and 50 staff and has a budget of 220 million. The much smaller Community Funding Agency provides money for places like Barnados and hires just over 100 people. Social Welfare Minister Roger Sowry says he doesn't anticipate any redundancies. Mr Sowry says by integrating the two agencies they'll be able to solely focus on children and at risk families, with less bureaucracy.
A heavy lifting helicopter is to be used to remove the wreckage of the Air Safaris Cessna from the Rudolf Glacier crash site. Two Japanese tourists and a local pilot died when the plane crashed on Monday. Air accident inspectors say alpine experts will dig the plane free of the snow and secure it for removal, hopefully on Sunday. The families of the Japanese tourists killed are now in Timaru, waiting for the bodies to be released so they can fly them back to Japan. A memorial service will be held on the Lake Tekapo foreshore on Sunday, for local pilot Bjorn van Kessel.
The Automobile Association is calling for an urgent law change to sort out the confusion over pedestrian platforms on urban roads. Several local councils have introduced the raised coloured brick or paving platforms - which those on foot mistakenly believe are legal crossings. AA Secretary-General George Fairbairn says the situation is a complete shambles, as motorists and pedestrians both assume they have right of way. Mr Fairbairn says he fears it will take a serious accident, before any action is taken.
(These things are neither use nor ornament. They seem to have become a fashion accessory for every well dressed shopping precinct ... give the pedestrians a false sense of security and the motorists an uncomfortable ride - BH)
Animal rights activists have called on the mayor of Napier to close one of the city's main attractions, Marineland, following the death of a dolphin there. Six members of the group Save Animals From Exploitation carried a coffin symbolising the animal's death into the Napier Council buildings Mayor Alan Dick told them the other three dolphins at Marineland will live out their natural life at Marineland, but won't be replaced.
A Taranaki man is safe and well after swimming to shore when his boat overturned at the Mokau River mouth. Search and rescue co-ordinator Noel Watson says police were notified of the situation when the man was still in the water and activated a rescue operation. However he says the rescue helicopter, Coast Guard aircraft and Surf Club inflatable boats were stood down when police were told the man had made it to shore. Sergeant Watson says police are quite upset about the incident as its the third or fourth time this year that the same man has run into problems with his boat - either through mechanical failure or grounding on sand bars.
The search for two brothers and their 17-year-old friend missing at sea off the North Island's West Coast has proved fruitless. Their fishing vessel, Hunter Two, capsized early this morning, but a fourth crewmember managed to swim ashore and alert police. Sergeant Fiona Prestidge says a fixed wing aircraft, two rescue helicopters and two inflatable rescue boats have been scouring the area all day. She says a liferaft, engine cover, fishing boxes, plastic containers and two rescue rings have been found, but there is no sign of the men or their fishing vessel. The search will resume tomorrow.
A senior Southern Air pilot admits he is using 20/20 hindsight with his claim of life-threatening delays in the Cessna crash rescue off Bluff last month. Five people died when the plane ditched into the sea 13 miles off the coast - initial reports said it was 30 miles out. However, Southern Air Chief pilot Phil Kean who was first to fly over the crash scene, says he put officials straight and they should have believed him. Both the Police and Airways Corporation have credited rescue staff for a sterling effort in trying conditions.
The Health Minister has revealed 920 million dollars has been spent on hospitals over the past five years.... while another billion dollars will be invested over the next three years. Bill English says it is an unprecedented investment programme over such a short period of time. It includes 149 million dollars for Palmerston North, Sunnyside, Balclutha, Nelson, Hutt and Hawkes Bay hospitals and 30 million for the South Auckland super clinics. Several hospitals already have capital investment projects underway, including 250 million dollars being earmarked for a new hospital in Auckland.
The Prime Minister says Foreign Affairs Minister Don McKinnon is a more than worthy candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize. Mr McKinnon has been put forward for this year's prize by Maori Affairs minister Tau Henare, for his work in brokering a peace deal in Bougainville. Jenny Shipley says she is delighted at the nomination, as Mr McKinnon's work in Bougainville is held in high regard around the world. Former winners of the Nobel peace prize include Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa and the Dalai Lama.
(I have no great enthusiasm for Mr McKinnon, Minister in charge of demolishing historic buildings and putting beehives on wheels, but in this at least, he deserves an accolade of some sort for his undoubted role in bringing the peace talks into being. - BH)
An assurance from the Ministry of Agriculture that a strange side effect of the rabbit-killing RCD virus doesn't mean the virus is mutating. Ministry spokesman Doctor Peter Kettle says the ears of around 5 per cent of adult rabbits in some areas of the country are withering and dropping off. He says the phenomenon seems to be exclusive to New Zealand, but investigating it further would be a waste of taxpayers' money. Doctor Kettle says the deformities don't mean the virus is changing, or that it may transfer to other species. And he says it doesn't appear the affected rabbits are in any pain.
A controversial series of advertisements asked people to dob in benefit fraudsters is paying multi-million dollar dividends for the Department of Social Welfare. Figures released by Social Welfare show their detection rate for benefit fraud increased by 56 per cent over the year to June. By the end of May more than 11 thousand calls had been received on the anonymous tip-off line. That has resulted in six thousand allegations... which are under investigation. In the year to June Social Welfare identified more than 100 million dollars worth of debt relating to benefit fraud.
A public commitment today from Napier's Mayor that the surviving dolphins at the city's Marineland won't be replaced. Animal rights activists say last week's dolphin death was the 70th since Marineland opened in the early 1970s. Mayor Alan Dick agrees it is no longer acceptable to keep dolphins in captivity and says none of the mammals will be housed in the new National Aquarium of New Zealand planned for Napier. Mr Dick defends Marineland's record ..saying the last death before last week was in 1982.
Date: 17 September 1998 Brian Dooley
Wellington New Zealand
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To Buy NZD 1.00
USD 0.5125
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*****
Brian Harmer
http://www.vuw.ac.nz/~bharmer/
I may not be disgruntled but I am far from gruntled
P G Wodehouse
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