Copyright © 1995 Brian Harmer
Apologies for lateness this week. Much is happening at home and work.
Crimson pohutukawas linger on here and there, and indeed some late blooming varieties are just coming into their full glory. The weather continues its fickle behaviour with days of winds gusting to 120 km/h followed by placid blue days of golden sun and flat calm. Northerlies which buffet the house, burn the roses and cause chaos are suddenly replaced by the eeriness of no wind at all, or the chill of a Southerly which sends the thermometers plunging.
The yacht crews in the BT round the world race must be wondering what they have struck. They managed to arrived at the peak of the Northerly blow and spent 16 or so hours battling the worst weather so far in their circumnavigation. Those who were a day or two behind, encountered none of it.
I have little to say this week for various reasons, however, I do want to pause to pay tribute to the Reverend Ray Oppenheim, Anglican vicar of St James's parish, Lower Hutt. Ray was a frequent radio speaker on religious matters and a thorough scholar and pastoral man. Born in the USA, he was a naturalised New Zealander who greatly loved his adopted country. His long battle with cancer finally ended this week, and I extend my sympathy to his wife and family, and to the parishioners of St James, who will all greatly miss this very good man.
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.
Two young children have been found alive and well after spending nearly 24 hours in the bush, south of Auckland, in poor conditions. The six-year-old girl and five-year-old boy were found by a search and rescue team in the Hunua Ranges about quarter past four on Monday. Senior Sergeant Steve Neill says the pair were found off one of the tracks, about a kilometre and a half away from where they went missing. Police say the children are no worse-for-wear after their night and day in the bush, but are absolutely starving. The two children went missing while walking to the falls with their families about five o'clock on Sunday. The father of the six-year-old girl who was missing says he is overjoyed to have her back. Over 140 people took part in the search at first light on Monday morning in terrible conditions. Rajesh Trivedi says he never gave up hope, and was quite confident they would be found.
The 31-year-old man charged with murdering an Upper Hutt woman at the Kaitoke Regional Park during the weekend has been remanded in custody for two weeks. Richard Wayne Gorrie entered no plea and did not seek name suppression. The self-employed landscape gardener is charged with killing 34-year-old Tracey Patmore at the park on Saturday afternoon, while she was picnicking with her partner and four children.
(I am certain that at some stage in the past, I have talked about the regional park at Kaitoke. It is a lovely area. The sense of unreality is heightened for me, not just by my familiarity with a delightful bush area, but also by the fact that this young woman was at the same school as my elder daughter, just two years ahead of her. - BH)
The Commissioner of Children is slamming the Health Ministry because he says it refused to reimburse his office $18,000 for the treatment of a young drug addict. Roger McClay has told a Lions Club meeting in Hamilton his office covered the cost of the 14- year-old's care at Queen Mary Hospital at Hanmer Springs when he heard the family needed urgent help last year. Roger McClay says the boy is doing brilliantly, but could have died if his office had not stepped in. Mr McClay says at the age of 12, the boy was already a drug addict and alcoholic. He says his office should now be reimbursed by the Health Ministry
A man has been arrested following an armed offenders squad call out in Hamilton on Monday afternoon. Police say a man entered the Henry Bennett Centre at Waikato Hospital at around four o'clock, carrying an imitation firearm. Acting Inspector Peter Devoy says the man pointed the air pistol at staff members at the centre. He says cordons were erected around the hospital and the Armed Offenders Squad was called to the scene. The man is currently being interviewed by police. The man will appear in the Hamilton District Court on Tuesday.
Six of the eight people accused of one of New Zealand's biggest robberies have appeared in court again on Monday. Five men and one woman are all charged with aggravated robbery. They have been remanded in custody for two weeks. Almost one million dollars was taken, when two Chubb security guards were attacked in Central Wellington just before Christmas, as they were re-filling an ATM machine. The robbers escaped in their van, which was found burnt out two days later. Two others arrested in connection with the robbery will appear in court at the end of the week.
Staff at the State Owned Enterprise Terralink, have been sent home for the day while receivers assess the future viability of the business. Finance Minister Michael Cullen says Terralink has been put into receivership, after suffering substantial cost overruns. He says Terralink's problems stem from a contract it entered into in June last year, with computer data company EDS. Dr Cullen says the move is the best option for the SOE, which despite its problems, remains profitable. He says putting Terralink into receivership offers the best opportunity to ensure that the valuable parts of the company are protected. Michael Cullen says Terralink has suffered substantial cost over-runs but he will not reveal the amount.
A family law expert believes there is little more that can be done to improve the system of protection orders. It has been confirmed the woman killed in a stabbing attack at an Upper Hutt park had taken a protection order out against a former partner. 34-year-old Tracey Patmore was killed after being stabbed repeatedly, while picnicking with her partner and her four children at Kaitoke Regional Park on Saturday afternoon Her attacker then escaped in his vehicle, taking with him one of her children, a three-year-old boy. A police chase ended with the arrest of a man, and the safe release of the boy. Women's Refuge boss Merepeka Raukawa-Tait says there needs to be an investigation into protection orders. However family law expert Stewart Henderson disagrees. He says the order is only a piece of paper and you cannot lock up someone on the suspicion that they are going to turn violent. Meanwhile, police are appealing to the public for any amateur video that may have been taken in the area where the stabbing occurred and any film of the police car chase which followed the attack on Saturday. Inspector Lindsay Duncan of Upper Hutt police says the video film could hold important information about the case.
A teacher facing 20 sex charges involving boys has been further remanded after appearing in the North Shore District Court this morning. Kaperiere Petera Leef, aged 44, faces 18 charges of indecent assault, one of sexual violation and one of attempted sexual violation. The charges relate to boys aged 13 to 16. At today's appearance he was remanded on bail until the 16th of February for a preliminary hearing. At that hearing the evidence of the prosecution witnesses will be recorded.
A house is on fire in the area of last month's devastating Marlborough fires. Just before five o'clock two pumps and three tankers were deployed to a house fire on the Redwood Pass Road, six kilometres north-west of Seddon. They are still fighting the blaze, which is spreading onto grassland as it heads towards the coastline. The Fire Communications Centre says they have more fire crews on standby. More than two thousand sheep and nearly seven thousand hectares of grazing was destroyed south of Blenheim when two large fires broke out on Boxing Day.
(Everyone was relieved to know that the fire did not spread on this occasion - BH)
A dramatic sea rescue in Golden Bay near Nelson this afternoon has left a man in hospital. Emergency services were alerted by a cellphone call from a mussel barge saying it was taking on water, about a nautical mile offshore from Collingwood about half past one. Constable Stuart Chalmers says the vessel had finished harvesting mussels and was returning to port in strong winds and high seas when it sank. He says three men spent about half an hour in the water before other boats could take them to shore to be met by a rescue helicopter. A 54-year-old man was flown to Nelson Hospital suffering suspected hypothermia. Constable Chalmers says the weather conditions mean the sunken boat has not yet been recovered.
Police have arrested a second person for trying to kill Levin panel beater Brendon Nuku. Mr Nuku was critically wounded in a drive-by shooting in the Horowhenua town ten days ago. Police say the shooting is linked to other attacks on Mr Nuku, including an incident in July last year in which he was shot in the face. Yesterday they arrested 35-year-old Conway Winiata and charged him with attempted murder in relation to the July attack. Last week a 32-year -old man was charged with attempted murder and firearms offences in relation to the latest attempt on Mr Nuku's life. Winiata appeared in the Levin District Court this morning where he was denied bail. He has been remanded in custody until January 25.
(Mr Nuku appears to have severely irritated someone, and he has to be either very brave or else a slow learner to hang around. - BH)
Students have issued a warning to Work and Income New Zealand that they must get student loan processing right this year. WINZ is the government department responsible for processing loans and allowances, and students say last year was a complete disaster. The New Zealand Universities Students Association is hopeful WINZ will be able to process the loans and allowances a lot better this year. Co-president Andrew Campbell says a lot of changes have been made, and everything is in place for smooth running. However, he says if WINZ do not get it right this year, they never will, and they should not be doing the job.
(Some of us are of the view that they never should have been given the job in the first place. - BH)
The ANZ bank says its move to close ANZ House in downtown Auckland after the discovery of legionella bacteria is a precautionary measure. The bank has temporarily closed its premises on the corner of Queen and Victoria Streets after a low level of the bacteria that causes legionnaires disease was found in the ventilation system. Head of corporate relations, Mark Thomas, says health officials have advised the bank that the risk of an outbreak of the disease is small. But he says there are still test results to come, and in the interests of being a good employer the bank has decided to do more than is required of it. Mark Thomas says it is not uncommon to find legionella bacteria during building checks.
(Later in the week, no trace of the bacterium was found. The truth is out there .... - BH)
An accused murderer who breached his bail conditions by writing to his alleged victim's parents has been granted bail again, but with a warning. 46 year old Kevin Lionel Harmer is awaiting trial for the murder of his wife Jillian Faye Thomas, who was burned to death in their Land Rover in October 1999. Judge Graeme Noble accepted submissions today in the Christchurch District Court that Harmer's letter to his wife's parents was just an emotional outpouring, and he posed no real threat to them or other witnesses. He released Harmer on bail to a pre depositions conference in February, but warned him any further breach would result in him being held in custody. The judge has suppressed the contents of the letter.
(No relation, as far as I know - BH)
Principals say they warned the government when they re-introduced zoning laws, that it would cause problems with enrolments. Popular schools up and down the country are being inundated with enrolments, and some schools have already exceeded their maximum roll projections for this year. Last year the government introduced a law giving pupils the right to attend school in the area where they live. Auckland Grammar Principal John Morris says his classroom numbers will have to increase - something he is not happy about. He says he warned the select committee about this very problem when the bill was being debated. John Morris says the Ministry refuses to provide the school with extra resources because other schools in Auckland do not have full rolls.
Due to public apathy, there was no Wednesday this week.
Health Waikato expects its new radiotherapy machine to slash waiting lists for cancer treatment. The $4.2 million state-of-the- art machine will be commissioned early next month. Health Waikato spokeswoman Karen Bennett says the extra machine will mean a number of cancer patients will no longer need to go to Australia for treatment. Since October last year 19 patients from the Waikato region have been flown to Australia for six weeks of treatment. Karen Bennett says the new machine will double the hospital's radiation capacity overnight.
A case of a four year old child left alone at a Christchurch beach has prompted the city's chief lifeguard to speak out. Regional Lifeguard Manager Nigel Cox says they have had lots of problems with children who are left at the beach without parental supervision. However, he says the recent case at Sumner beach was the worst he has heard of. Mr Cox says the four-year-old had to be cared for by lifeguards for an hour until parents turned up.
No date has been set for the trial of a militia man, accused of killing a New Zealand soldier in East Timor. 29-year-old Yakobus Bere has been detained by Indonesian authorities in connection with the death of Private Leonard Manning last July. New Zealand's ambassador in Jakarta, Michael Green, says at this stage, it is a case for the Indonesian authorities and the United Nations. But Mr Green says the New Zealand Embassy will be keeping a close watch on the situation. He describes the circumstances surrounding the surrender and arrest of Yakobus Bere as confusing.
The farming community is renewing pressure on Telecom for a fair deal for rural areas. It comes as competition intensifies in Wellington and Christchurch between the communications giant and Australian rival Telstra Saturn. Telecom's line rentals in both cities have been slashed by almost 20 per cent, as each company tries to attract customers. Federated Farmers Vice President Tom Lambie is concerned this will mean a poor deal for those in the country areas. He says a particular concern is the difficulty of people in rural communities getting a new telephone connection or a second line.
ENZA is moving its head office from Wellington to Hawke's Bay. Chairman Tony Gibbs says it is imperative the company moves closer to its supply base and reduces its costs. He says the move is a sign ENZA is improving both its efficiency and returns to its grower customers. The head office function will be downsized from its current operation in Wellington.
(The Wellington head office is an externally pleasing white building in lower Bolton Street. I say externally pleasing, because the architects designed it for natural ventilation and did not originally include any air conditioning. Now I predict that the gurus of soc.culture.new-zealand will say it doesn't get hot enough in Wellington to need air conditioning. Technically that may be true, but in practical terms a lot of people breathing in a closed space produce an atmosphere which is at best, unpleasant. Some air-conditioning was retrofitted - BH)
Hamilton SPCA staff are facing a torrent of abuse from people they are turning away because their shelter is full. The Hamilton shelter is overflowing with homeless animals and no cats are being accepted at the moment. Waikato SPCA chairwoman Gwen Garrick says many people turn-up without ringing. She says the volunteers who are being abused say they are considering quitting the SPCA.
Customs is concerned that the designer-drug Ecstasy is now being brought into New Zealand from a larger number of countries than in the past. Customs spokesman Phil Chitty says today's record haul of 25,000 tablets of the Class B drug, seized at Auckland International Airport, came in from Belgium. He says Ecstasy used to be brought in mainly from Amsterdam and the United Kingdom. Phil Chitty says the latest haul is the single biggest seizure of the drug in New Zealand's history. He says at about $80 a tablet, it is worth at least $2 million. The tablets were concealed in a motor vehicle gearbox. Three men have been arrested in connection with the seizure.
Police have recovered the red Mazda utility believed to have been used as the getaway vehicle in this morning's ram-raid in Bulls. The ute was found in nearby Sanson. Thieves removed an ATM machine from the wall at the Westpac Trust Bank and loaded it onto a dump truck using a front end loader. However, their efforts to escape with the money were thwarted by police and they had to leave their booty behind. Police have not yet located the offenders.
Name suppression has been lifted on the 21-year-old Stratford woman accused of murdering 13-month-old Daniel Marshall. The case was back before the New Plymouth District Court this morning. The woman is Evelyn Marshall, who did not appear in court, as she has been given permission to stay at the Henry Bennett Ward in Hamilton. Judge Christopher Harding has granted a defence request that Marshall be remanded to February 8 for a further psychiatric assessment. Daniel Marshall's body was found in the boot of a car in Stratford earlier this month.
Big Day Out In Full Swing
The Big Day Out is now in full swing with thousands of fans cramming Ericsson Stadium for the annual music celebration. Over 60,000 music lovers are expected at the all-day concert which wraps up around midnight tonight. One fan, Sophie Baird has joined the masses at the centre stage. She says the crowds have covered up for the sun and are spread out around the site enjoying the different bands available. Police are also out in force with around 100 officers patrolling the concert throughout the day.
Auckland police have arrested more than ten people at the Big Day Out at Ericsson Stadium. Inspector Derek Davison says eight have been charged with possession of class A drugs including Speed, Ecstasy, and LSD. He says the arrests clearly indicate people have attempted to bring a variety of drugs into the event. Inspector Davison says there have been other arrests including one other person being charged with assault, and another with being drunk and disorderly. Although crowd numbers have not been confirmed, police expected around 60,000 people to turn out to hear the music acts.
Youthline says more students are seeking support for stress this year, after opening their exam results. National spokesman Stephen Bell says as well as a significant rise in calls around exam result time, there has been a 40% increase in calls over the last year. He says the community is failing young people, and more must be done. Mr Bell says Youthline can only deal with between 30 and 40% of the calls it receives, and admits the odds need to be improved. He says Youthline wants to be able to offer a support service to young people all over the country, 24 hours a day.
The man accused of attempting to murder two women in the Tauranga Warehouse store last year has been committed for trial. The 24- year-old Ethiopian, Fantahun Molla, is pleading not guilty. It is alleged that Molla stabbed 55-year-old Laraine Horscroft, and her 32-year-old daughter Tracey Brindhaban on the October 24 last year. Molla is to appear in court on March 7, for a trial date to be set.
It has emerged that another group of Government employees received performance bonuses last year. The Ministry of Transport has confirmed that $369,000 was paid out in performance-based staff bonuses in 2000. The Ministry has a total of 65 staff, and if each staff member were to get the same amount the payments would come to around $5,600 each. However a Ministry spokeswoman says not all staff were eligible for the payouts. The spokeswoman says employees may only receive bonuses worth up to 15 percent of their total pay. The news follows controversy over $2000 bonuses paid to Qualification Authority staff, and extra holidays given to Housing New Zealand employees.
The man accused of setting fire to a colleague's grass skirt costume at an office Christmas party has made an appearance in the Auckland District Court. Twenty-six-year-old Matthew Schofield is accused of the manslaughter of Gareth MacFadyen and recklessly disfiguring Angela Offwood. The incident happened at the Merrill Lynch Christmas party. Counsel for Schofield said the serious nature of the charges and the possible consequences are the reason his client has not yet entered a plea. He asked that Schofield be remanded with continued bail until next month.
An Auckland laboratory is conducting internal assessments before reapplying for accreditation, after it failed to make the grade at the end of last year. International Accreditation New Zealand suspended the accreditation for two of the Auckland District Health Board's nine units. Labplus spokeswoman Fiona Ritsma says staff numbers have been increased to improve specimen turnaround times, and says more effective documentation systems have been put in place. She says Labplus needs to be satisfied its services are running smoothly before calling in external assessors.
A Hastings recycling firm wants action taken against those who leave car bodies full of rubbish outside their business. For more than two years, car bodies full of rubbish have been dumped unlawfully outside Hawke's Bay Vehicle Recyclers in Orchard Road. Company spokesman Gary Stirling says their business is predominantly selling used car parts and recycling car bodies, not clearing away rubbish. He says staff have arrived to find cars dumped outside full of clothes, lawnmower clippings, fish heads and at times live animals. Gary Stirling says the Hastings District Council has been working to alleviate the problem and introducing a fine is the latest measure to be tried as a deterrent.
(Meanwhile the citizens of Wanganui want action against the company whose employees have been picking up the carefully and conscientiously sorted recyclable rubbish and throwing it in the back of the truck with the rest of the rotten fruit and other household rubbish. The city pays the company many thousands extra to handle recycling separately. They seem to be being robbed. - BH)
Date: 18 January 2001 Brian Dooley
Wellington New Zealand
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 0.4484
AUD 0.8111
GBP 0.3044
JPY 53.34
CAD 0.6780
EURO 0.4821
FRF 3.1608
DEM 0.9429
HKD 3.5065
SGD 0.7797
ZAR 3.5271
CHF 0.7420
INTEREST RATES (%)
Call : 6.50
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