Copyright © 1995 Brian Harmer
Queensland is much bigger and more diverse than the bits I was able to see, but what I did see was really very pleasant. On the Saturday after my conference ended, my hosts packed up a great big chilly bin full of excellent food including home grown mangoes and bananas. We set out and drove through several of the Northern suburbs, especially Sandgate and Shorncliffe, and admired the great variety of architecture in the houses. Of course the huge old "Queenslander" style is especially delightful to look at though I can imagine that it must be ruinous to keep them in good order in the blazing heat of those Australian summers. And everywhere the vivid colour of the magnificent flame trees. It occurred to me that the difference between the Flame tree and the Pohutukawa is not unlike the difference between the two peoples. The Pohutukawa is magnificent, though less flamboyant than its Trans-Tasman rival. But soon, we were out on the freeway, in the direction of Noosa, and it was some while before I noticed the apparent lack of livestock on a land that was, at this particular time anyway, quite green. Out to the West, the strange shapes of the Glasshouse Mountains. We were heading for places with names which sounded strange to my ears ...Caloundra, Maroochydore, and Mooloolaba ... these places were a delight in many ways, though in much the same way as the once bucolic seaside holiday spots such as Paraparaumu and Waikanae have become mere extensions to greater Wellington, so these pretty places seem to be getting over- developed. Nevertheless, it was very pleasant to sit under the shade of a huge tree by an estuary, and watch people pottering about in boats. At one stage as we ate our lunch, I saw a dolphin leap right out of the water. Various birds including the amazing pelican came and went. From there we moved back South (if my internal compass serves me) to Mooloolaba, where for the first time in months if not years, I was persuaded to go swimming. To my relief, no one attempted to refloat me as I splashed about in the shallows, but I was made conscious of the shark danger by the repeated passes of patrolling helicopters. The water was magnificent, and the waves were big enough to have fun, and small enough no to be too intimidating. Since I retain "pommy skin" which burns easily despite my 47 years in New Zealand, I got out of the water perhaps sooner than a local might have done. I enjoyed every bit of my stay in Brisbane, and have to agree with those who term Australia "the lucky country".
On with the news:
All news items (except where noted otherwise) are reproduced by kind permission of copyright owner, IRN Ltd whose current news listing can be found at http://www.xtramsn.co.nz/news/
All material in parentheses, and concluded with the initials "BH" is the personal opinion of Brian Harmer as editor of this newsletter, or occasionally "HH" will indicate an opinion from Helen.
29 people have been taken to Timaru and Oamaru hospitals after this morning's collision between the Southerner Express and a cattle truck and trailer at Makikihi in South Canterbury. The St John Ambulance says 16 people went to Timaru with varying degrees of injury and 13 went to Oamaru, all with minor injuries. They included two of the three train crew. The truck driver did not need hospital treatment. The St John Ambulance says it called in seven ambulances and two helicopters. There were 65 passengers on board the train. Both Tranz Rail and the police have begun investigations into the collision which occurred on a level crossing not protected by lights or bells.
(As I understand it, it is the absolute responsibility of the truck driver at an uncontrolled rail crossing, not to get hit by a train. The locomotive was sent tumbling of the track and looked battered and crushed. The passenger cars were also derailed, but despite the breakage of the big picture windows, remained mostly intact. - BH)
An Air Force Orion is transporting a seriously injured New Zealand girl home from the Pacific Island nation of Kiribati for medical treatment. Ten-year-old Morita Bell of Whangarei was injured in a car crash which killed two other people, including the vehicle's driver. The Orion is also carrying another girl who was seriously hurt in the accident. Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Emma Rylie says the girls need medical treatment that is not available on Kiribati. She says Morita was in Kiribati on holiday and is being accompanied on the Orion by her mother. The girl's father will meet the plane when it arrives at Whenuapai Airfield this evening.
A 51-year-old unemployed man who lit up a cannabis cigarette while being interviewed by police has pleaded guilty in the Christchurch District Court today to illegal possession of the drug. The court was told that it was not a case of defiance, but that stupidity prompted James William Lewis to pull out a cannabis cigarette while police were talking to him about another matter. He thought it was one of his roll-your-own tobacco cigarettes. Lewis was sentenced to four months periodic detention.
Police say they used minimal force in an early morning confrontation with protesting wharfies at the Port of Nelson today. Waterfront workers demonstrating against what they say is the casualisation of their industry, formed picket lines to stop North Island stevedores arriving at the port for work. Inspector Jim Wilson says police then formed a human shield around the van transporting the non-union workers. Inspector Wilson says scuffles broke out and three arrests were made, but he denies union claims of excess force. He says the protesters were unlawfully blocking a public road and it was clear they were not going to move. Inspector Wilson says police were prepared for trouble. The Waterfront Workers Union is accusing timber giant carter Holt Harvey of casualising jobs by using Mainland Stevedores as its loading contractors. Further confrontation looms tonight, when Mainland Stevedoring change the shift at around seven.
The clean up is underway in parts of the Wairarapa following a hailstorm which may have caused serious damage to the region's fruit crops. The storm hit Masterton just after six o'clock last night, and lasted about 20 minutes. Locals report seeing hail the size of golf balls. Police have had reports of some minor damage in the town, with at least one building flooded. However there are fears that the storm has caused major damage to nearby fruit orchards. And the unusual weather pattern which brought the hail and thunder storms to many parts of the country yesterday is likely to be activated again today. MetService duty forecaster Mark Pascoe says a high at sea level is letting plenty of sun and heating through while cold air in the middle and upper levels is creating some turbulent weather. He says a north westerly flow is creating a bit of cloud in the Wairarapa lessening its chance of further heavy downpours and hail. However he says clear skies above Canterbury and Otago make both those regions good candidates for the full brunt of the storms today.
(The extent to which harvest-ready crops of stone fruit and pip fruit were wiped out, might have been surprising, if it were not such a frequent occurrence. This raises the question as to which other industries depend on the taxpayer for relief when predictable misfortunes occur. - BH)
Investigators for the Transport Accident Investigation Commission will today look for clues into yesterday's collision between the Southerner Express and a truck and trailer in South Canterbury. Nearly half of the 65 train passengers and crew sustained minor or moderate injuries when the train hit a trailer at an unprotected level crossing at Makikihi. Rail accident investigator Dennis Bevin said it is too early to speculate on the cause of the crash. He says the investigation will include interviews with witnesses and examination of the train's black box. Dennis Bevin is amazed the truck driver was not seriously injured in the accident. Meanwhile, Tranz Rail is urging motorists to show extreme caution when approaching level crossings, in the wake of the collision that derailed the Southerner near Timaru. Tranz Rail spokeswoman Nicola McFaull says people need to treat level crossings like they would treat a busy motorway. She says people should not try to race the train, or go through barrier arms. Tranz Rail says the affected stretch of track has been cleared and passenger services are back to normal.
New statistics show a concerning increase in the number of cases of the sexually transmitted infection, Chlamydia. The number of cases has jumped by 23 per cent in the Ministry of Health's latest quarterly survey of sexually transmitted infections. 1,343 cases of Chlamydia were reported in the three months from July to September 2000, compared with 1,091 cases over the same period in 1999. Ministry of Health spokeswoman Dr Alison Roberts says the figures show people are not having safe sex. In most areas of New Zealand, the number of cases of gonorrhoea continued to rise with an increase of 40 per cent in the number of cases in the central region.
MetService is predicting some bursts of very heavy rain may hit Northland, Auckland and the Coromandel peninsula on Wednesday and Thursday. At this stage, forecasters say it is hard to determine whether the low-pressure system which will produce the rain will come towards us or move away. Spokesman Bob McDavitt says if the rain does head our way, it could be drop in cloudbursts at rates of more than 25 or more millimetres per an hour. He says that can quickly bring a river, creek or stream into flood. Bob McDavitt says the worst scenario would be a cloudburst coinciding with one of the exceptionally high tides the country's currently experiencing.
The Health Ministry says there is bound to be confusion over the new ban on European beef products. On Friday the Ministry extended the ban on imports of beef and beef products from Britain - in place since 1996 - to other European countries. The move follows the discovery of BSE or mad cow disease in European herds. Supermarket operators are having trouble working out what to take off the shelves. Chief medical adviser Colin Feek says the Health Ministry does not hold lists of what is imported and a lot of products are not clearly labelled as to where they come from. He says there was the same confusion in 1996 and it will be resolved in time. Dr Feek says the ban will continue until the authorities can gain assurances from individual European countries that their products are safe.
(For reasons that I have never understood, my nearest and dearest likes this evil black goo which is spread on bread ... Bovril ... of course this has immediately been withdrawn from supermarket shelves and the odd bottle in the cupboards must have committed suicide, or at least that's what I said when she went looking. - BH)
Auckland police hope a second post-mortem examination on the body of a woman who died during an exorcism will provide further clues to her death. The 37-year-old Korean woman known as Joanna is believed to have died on or about the ninth of December last year at a house in the suburb of Mt Roskill. The woman's decomposing body was found six days later by police, who are investigating whether or not charges should be laid. Police spokeswoman Noreen Hegarty says a second post-mortem examination was conducted on Monday and they hope to have the results late this week or early next week. She says they are unable to release the woman's name as they have not yet been able to contact her relatives in Korea.
The official 2000 road toll has now risen to 465 following the deaths of three people involved in crashes in December. The victims are included in the road toll because they died within 30 days of the crash. This means the holiday road toll has also increased by two as two crashes fell within the time frame. The holiday road toll now stands at 19. The Land Transport Safety Authority says this does not change the fact that last year's toll was the lowest since 1964.
A Christchurch hotel manager has filed a defamation claim against Government MP Janet Mackey. Ms Mackey questioned the evidence Grand Chancellor Hotel manager Tim Stonehill gave to the parliamentary inquiry into how police handled protests during the visit of Chinese president Jiang Zemin. Police had to move protestors before the Chinese leader would attend a state banquet at the Grand Chancellor in 1999. As hotel manager, Mr Stonehill was with then-prime minister Jenny Shipley when she talked to a senior police officer about what could be done about the protestors. Mr Stonehill's evidence to the parliamentary inquiry was crucial in deciding whether Mrs Shipley told police to move the demonstrators. In comments following the release of the inquiry's findings, Ms Mackey suggested his written and oral evidence differed. Mr Stonehill has confirmed that defamation proceedings have been filed in the Lower Hutt District Court, but will make no further comment.
A woman whose husband developed a near-fatal blood clot on a long- haul flight says he has not changed his plans to sue Air New Zealand. The airline announced yesterday it will place stamps on tickets, itineraries and timetables, advising passengers how to minimise the risks of developing deep vein thrombosis. It follows a similar move by British Airways. Rebecca Cerecke says her husband, Harry, noticed pains in his legs after his flight to Germany in October last year and went to a doctor, who found he had thrombosis. Mr Cerecke spent several weeks in hospital before he was able to fly back to New Zealand. He has joined a class action being brought by a Melbourne law firm against airlines. Rebecca Cerecke believes people who flew before the warnings were issued still have a case. Air New Zealand announced it is putting health advice on its tickets regarding what is known as "economy class syndrome", or deep vein thrombosis. They will advise passengers that sitting for long periods may cause circulation to become sluggish, increasing the risk of blood clots. Air New Zealand spokesman Cameron Hill says health advice will be put on tickets, timetables and travel itineraries. He says the airline wants to put out the warnings as soon as possible.
Thousands of bursary students have had their maths calculus exam results scaled-up by between 10 and 15%. The Qualifications Authority has increased the results after complaints from teachers and students that the paper was badly written and unfair. NZQA spokesman Bill Lennox says there are a number of checks in place to ensure the exam paper is acceptable but more will be incorporated this year. He says the paper is set by up to three people, moderated by another person and checked by another, all of whom are maths experts. However he says this year more checks will be added to the process.
The country's meat producers say New Zealand is streets ahead of Australia when it comes to taking preventative measures against BSE or mad cow disease. Australia has just introduced tough new rules stop producers feeding cattle with protein derived from pigs and horses. New Zealand's President of Federated Farmers Meat and Fibre Producers, Chris Lester says measures were taken in this country some years ago to prevent this happening. He says the a voluntary ban was agreed on feeding animal protein back to cattle, and that was consolidated in legislation last year.
(What I fail to understand here, is why this is the basis for any form of competition, or why anyone can take satisfaction from such a bizarre comparison. - BH)
International sporting bans on Fiji will help restore democracy to the country according to a group of Wellington-based expatriates. As February's scheduled Brisbane Sevens tournament approaches, Australia has decided to uphold its ban on Fiji players. It now risks forfeiting the right to host the world series event. Salim Singh from the Fiji Democracy Support Group rejects the notion that sports and politics are separate. He claims that in upholding the ban, Australia will help bring democracy back to Fiji. Mr Singh claims Fijian apartheid is no different from South African apartheid.
A frightened bank teller has handed over money to a robber although he did not have any weapons. Auckland police say the man went into the BNZ in Ponsonby and passed a note over to the teller demanding money. He then ran off with the cash. The incident happened at about 3.30 this afternoon.
Last year's weather backs up suggestions that global warming is occurring. The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research has released its climate figures showing 2000 was a year of extremes with temperatures slightly higher than usual. The winter was the second warmest since records began in the 1850s. NIWA Climate Scientist Dr Jim Salinger says last decade was also the warmest worldwide, for the whole millennium. He says the climate now is six-tenths of a degree warmer than what it was in the 1850s, and the Southern Alps in the South Island have lost 40 per cent of its ice mass. Jim Salinger expects the extreme weather patterns and warmer temperatures to continue.
The Department of Child Youth and Family Services is being urged to fast-track its inquiry into the death of 13-month-old Daniel Marshall. The little boy was found dead in a car boot in Stratford on Sunday, and a woman has been charged with murder. ACT party Social Welfare Spokeswoman Dr Muriel Newman says CYFS should quickly clarify its involvement with Daniel. She says it is a matter of public confidence. Dr Newman also wants the Government to hurry up and release the findings of Judge Mick Brown's inquiry into the Agency.
A seventh arrest has been made in connection with the Chubb security van robbery. A 25-year-old man handed himself into Wellington police station this morning. Detective Senior Sergeant Steve Vaughan says the man was formally charged with aggravated robbery in the Wellington court last week, although police had not talked to him. He says the man became aware police wanted to speak to him as they had talked to some of his friends. The man will appear in the Wellington District Court tomorrow. Meanwhile police are looking for one other person in connection with the robbery in which nearly a million dollars in cash was stolen on Christmas eve.
Charges are being laid against the driver of a stock truck involved in Monday's collision with the Southerner train. The accident occurred late Monday morning at a rail crossing in Makikihi, just south of Timaru, leaving 29-passengers with minor to moderate injuries. Police have arrested a 29-year-old Timaru man and charged him on six counts of careless use of a motor vehicle. He has been released on bail and will appear in the Timaru District Court on January 16th.
A Coromandel man fears he may have been the victim of a bogus Canadian lottery scheme. The Commerce Commission is warning people to beware of letters from a company telling them they have won a lottery and asking them to send money to claim their prize. Brian Baillie of Whitianga says he has not had such a letter, but he did receive a phone call around 6.30 this morning from Canada saying he had won 400,000 pesos. Before Christmas Mr Baillie responded to a mailout offering the chance to win multi-million dollar prizes in a lottery raising money for charity. He sent the organisation $NZ55 via his credit card. He is reportedly the second person in Whitianga to receive such a phone call from Canada in the last few days.
Holiday makers can put their umbrellas away as MetService expects to lift its heavy rain warnings on Friday. On Wednesday the Met Service issued heavy rain warnings for Northland and the Coromandel. Both regions received around 70 millimetres on Thursday. Gisborne can expect a downpour of around 100 millimetres on Thursday night. The Northland Regional Council is urging motorists to take care over flooding on roads near the Kaihu Valley. However, the council says it has not received any reports of major problems.
A supporter of a child anti-abuse charity says she found out only last week that the frontperson for a planned advertisement is an abuser himself. Children First Foundation has now pulled the television ad featuring Rangi Whakaruru, the uncle of child abuse victim James Whakaruru, after he admitted his past. Media personality, Liz Gunn, says he is a courageous man who is trying to deal with the effects of his own abusive childhood and who wants to help break the cycle. She admits that if the foundation had known he was also involved in abuse of children he would have been told his advice and work is appreciated, but that he was not the right person to front the campaign. Liz Gunn says in hindsight the charity should have pushed Mr Whakaruru for more details of his background. The head of Women's Refuge says there was no option but to take a television anti-child abuse campaign fronted by an abuser off the air. Merepeka Raukawa-Tait of Women's Refuge says her organisation supports Children First, but says the message should not be diluted. She says if the credibility of the messenger is in question then the ad serves no purpose. Ms Raukawa-Tait says even although Mr Whakaruru has admitted his past, people do not want to hear from someone with a history of abuse.
A Christchurch District court judge has again blocked attempts by a 30 year-old homeless man to plead guilty to stabbing three fellow residents of the city's emergency shelter last year. Jack Taane Emery faced three counts of aggravated wounding following a bizarre midnight knife attack on three sleeping men at the Christchurch City Mission. In his first court appearance Police had opposed Emery being allowed to plea on the grounds of being unfit and he was remanded for a psychiatric assessment. When he again insisted on pleading guilty today the judge refused to accept his plea and instead ordered an experienced lawyer be assigned to represent him when he appears in court next week.
A million dollar bonus payout to social services staff has been defended by those who made the decision. The 800 Child Youth and Family Services staff collected the payout as part of their performance based salaries for last year. ACT MP Rodney Hide has described the payments as obscene but CYFS acting chief executive Mike Doolan says the extra payment is not a bonus. He says CYFS has a collective employment contract with its staff which gives them an expected level of earnings if they perform fully to CYFS expectations. Commissioner for Children Roger McClay says the extra payments should go and a decent salary should be paid instead to Child Youth and Family Workers and Mike Doolan agrees. He agrees that salary levels are not what they should be and he has spoken to Government about that as he believes CYFS staff are undervalued and underpaid. Roger McClay says the majority of Child Youth and Family do a very good job in very difficult circumstances and he would like to see them being paid up front with a good wage rather than a performance based salary. He says then staff would know what they could earn by doing a good job and they would be retained. He says that could attract more people to work for the service.
Police investigating the armed robbery of a Chubb security van in Wellington just before Christmas have made an eighth arrest. Operation Chubb head Steve Vaughan says a person they were seeking in relation to the inquiry turned himself in at around ten o'clock on Friday morning. He has been charged with aggravated robbery and will appear in the Wellington District Court on Saturday morning. Detective Senior Sergeant Vaughan says he is satisfied police have now spoken to everyone they need to in connection with the heist on December 22nd. Nearly a million dollars in cash was stolen in the robbery. Police have recovered a portion of the money but will not say how much.
War veterans are being urged by Minister Mark Burton to contact the Office of Veterans' Affairs over any gratuity pay-out queries. IRN News revealed last week that some veterans from World War Two and the Korean War may be entitled to a payment they did not know about. Minister for Veterans' Affairs, Mark Burton says the topic has attracted a lot of talkback attention with ex-troops unsure of their entitlements. Mr Burton says any veteran needing clarification on their pay-outs should contact the Office of Veterans' Affairs for an application form.
Students are being told not to panic if the NZQA 0900 line says they scored zero for science; it is just a processing glitch. The Qualification Authority was swamped by calls from panicked students after School Certificate results became available on Friday morning. NZQA Communications Manager, Bill Lennox says it appears seven schools using internal assessment for some subjects have not been registered on-line. He says those schools used internal assessment for maths, English, and in one case, science. Bill Lennox says the problem should be fixed by Friday afternoon, with all results available from Friday evening.
The Waterfront Workers Union says the gloves are off in its fight with Carter Holt Harvey over the use of what the union terms casual labour at South Island ports. The union has been protesting at a number of South Island ports in recent weeks after Carter Holt contracted a North Island stevedoring firm to load logs. Carter Holt regards the firm's procedures as more efficient, but the union believes permanent jobs will be lost on the wharves. General secretary Trevor Hansen says the union takes exception to comments today from the company. He says the chief of Carter Holt Harvey has said that casualisation is a fact of life and the path for the future.
Date: 11 January 2001 Brian Dooley
Wellington New Zealand
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