Stadium: Accountability, paper trail leads unavoidably to NEWS

Stadium under construction [photo via espnscrum.com]

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Comments received.

Bev Butler
Submitted on 2013/07/30 at 2:25 pm

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/8981153/Phone-records-given-to-inquiry
Parliament’s speaker, David Carter:
“I view any actions that may put at risk journalists’ ability to report very seriously.”

Both Sir Eion Edgar and Sir Julian Smith have some explaining to do as to their “actions” in preventing the reporting of the information contained in the press release below which one of the ODT reporters contacted me about on 3 July 2013, asked me questions, then nothing being published in the ODT.

PRESS RELEASE
“Philanthropist” reneges on promised $1m donation
Full independent enquiry sought

The deceptions surrounding the Forsyth Barr Stadium continue to be revealed by official documents released on 11 June 2013.

The public, on many occasions raised doubts that the promises of private funding for construction of the stadium, had been met, but were assured by Mr Malcolm Farry, Chair of the Carisbrook Stadium Trust as reported in NBR and ODT 2007 that in fact several substantial donations had been promised. Indeed he went so far to tell the public that he had promises of three individual donations of $1 million each to be put to the costs of construction. Sir Eion Edgar also confirmed in DScene in 2009 that he would be making a donation of $1m.

That, as has now been revealed officially, was untrue.

It was also untrue as Mr Farry claimed when leading the project, that advance ticket or product sales revenue could be counted as construction capital. This was nothing other, as many ratepayers pointed out, simply advance operational revenue which could not be charged in the future. While Mr Farry denied this, the PricewaterhouseCoopers investigation found that there was little or no capital raised from ‘private funding’ for construction.

The relevance of this should not be lost when the evidence supplied to the High Court in Christchurch by the Carisbrook Stadium Trust through the DCC also stated that substantial private donations had been made for construction. At the time of the Stop The Stadium court case in April 2009, Mr Farry had stated publicly that more than $30m of the required $45m had already been contracted in private funding for construction of the stadium. It appears that evidence in the High Court case was also not truthful.

The role played by Forsyth Barr and its Chair, Sir Eion Edgar also come directly under a brighter spotlight from the release of the documentation. Sir Eion Edgar promised a substantial donation of $1m as reported in DScene 2009, but again this has proven not to be true. But this lack of philanthropy also extended to an obscuring of the facts surrounding the naming rights of the stadium. Despite Sir Eion Edgar claiming in the National Business Review (29/01/09) that a “substantial cheque” had been written for these rights, and The Marketing Bureau commissioned by the CST reporting to council the naming rights were worth $10m, the fact was that instead the stadium was named after his company for a period of two and a half years before any revenue was received. It has already been reported in the media that the naming rights were no more than $5m. An upfront substantial sum in advance reported in PwC peer reviews was somehow altered to a much lesser sum in monthly arrears payments which didn’t begin until late 2011.

Sir Edgar also had a significant role as President in his connections with the Otago Rugby Football Union when a fundraising function for the ORFU in August 2011 at the new Forsyth Barr Stadium defaulted in its payments to the Dunedin City Council leaving ratepayers to pick up the tab for booze, food, hireage and cleaning while the ORFU pocketed the gross income less a substantial organisational fee paid to the wife of the Deputy Chair of the ORFU, Laurie Mains.

While the PwC investigation was not intended to be a forensic audit of all financial matters surrounding the stadium, sufficient grounds now exist for such a full independent investigation to be carried out, and it is difficult to see just why this should be resisted unless some have got matters to try and continue to conceal. Doubts have also been expressed over the laxity of the billing and payment processes whereby blanket monthly CST accounts with no detail were passed for payment by the then CEO of the Dunedin City Council, Jim Harland, and there remains uncertainty over the validity of many of the expenses and other monies claimed for and paid by the ratepayers of the City.

[Response 1]

Elizabeth
Submitted on 2013/07/30 at 2:46 pm

Bev, quite apart from the content of the Press Release, are you saying the ODT journalist who contacted you about the release was lined up to do a story based on the content of the press release? Or that the editorial team did not support the reporter and canned the story as filed? Or for the newspaper’s own reasons there was never a story?! In other words, something of a spying mission took place?

Media can choose whether or not to cite the content of press releases in whole or in part.

Should a newspaper decline to reference a press release in its general news coverage, surely that leaves the writers of the release free to pay for an advertising statement. This is exactly what has been required with The Press in Christchurch over the fight to restore the Christ Church Cathedral – paid advertising by Cathedral advocates tied to education of the Press editor underlining the editorial bias which has run to the benefit of the Bishop and the CPT. We consider The Press’s stance deliberate to force use of paid advertising. The Press has softened since being SPOKEN TO.

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[Response 2]

Russell Garbutt
Submitted on 2013/07/30 at 8:25 pm

Bev’s post needs as wide a circulation as possible and I would urge any readers to pass on the URL of this post to as many of their friends as possible, but it is as sure as God made little green apples, that the ODT will neither investigate nor publish anything that is detrimental to the interests of those that have certain influence and connections. I wonder if Sir Julian would be willing to show his phone records? Particularly those from the Central Otago region?

All of the material that Bev mentions regarding the naming rights is backed up by documentation – in fact so much of what Bev is talking about is now being played out in National politics with the Henry inquiry and Vance’s phone records. The story has to be dragged out before it is grudgingly admitted that a great wrong was done. And even then the perpetrators can’t get their story straight.

This is what I mean by accountability in many ways. Many have claimed that deceit, lies and obfuscation were just part of the normal business around the CST, DCC, ORFU and associated parties and it has also been suggested that this culture of deceit and lies extended to the High Court. Who am I to argue that this was not the case? But the same people’s names turn up time and time again. Reported are Farry, who continues to harangue from the side-lines, Edgar promising much and apparently confused between what is a donation and what is part of a payment for a sweetheart deal with the organisation of which he was part, or Harland, in the middle authorising payments on behalf of the ratepayers to the CST – a private Trust that remains a closed window.

And who is going to push for exposure of all the facts? We should be forever grateful for Bev’s assiduous work in prying out the necessary documentation and proof of what many have alleged for years. I can only hope that Bev Butler is, within the near future, able to ensure that any serious wrong-doing by those connected with the greatest waste of ratepayer funds, is put forward in a high profile way.

And if it can be shown in a separate jurisdiction that the allegations are well-founded – and I’m sure it can by the documentation that exists in private and on public record, then hopefully these people will be made accountable. But I’m not holding my breath.

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[Response 3]

Bev Butler
Submitted on 2013/07/30 at 10:11 pm

Elizabeth, to now answer your questions – just briefly for now.
“The Edgar Story” was first published on Stuff News on Wednesday 3 July 2013. About an hour later the story was “pulled”.
Rarely does a story get “pulled” – it is generally due to major factual errors or a threat of defamation. As I know the information was correct then I assumed the latter.
I wrote to Fairfax management then emailed Forsyth Barr/Edgar’s lawyers. Two days later the story was published in The Mirror – a Central Otago Fairfax publication.
Interestingly, also on Wednesday 3 July an ODT reporter contacted me, questioning me about the Stuff News item. The reporter wanted to know who else I had sent the press release to. At the time I thought this was unusual – what did that have to do with reporting the news? I suspected that someone was wanting to do damage control behind the scenes. A week later I then heard from a good source that this was the case.
What really concerns me, apart from the serious issues in the press release, is the behind-the-scenes manipulation of ‘freedom of the press’. Dunedin citizens are no longer able to rely on the local media for local news. The damage done by this behind-the-scenes manipulation is dangerous. How this can be allowed to happen in a democratic society should be a concern for all in Dunedin. I don’t blame the reporter as he/she would have been instructed to question me.

[ends]

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Related Posts and Comments:
18.7.13 ODT won’t touch Fairfax story
3.7.13 [Pulled!] Call for Dunedin stadium cash
24.12.12 A Christmas Tale
7.6.12 Stadium: Forsyth Barr naming rights
6.7.09 Eion Edgar on ‘stadium haters’

ODT Online:
11.5.12 $100m hotel for Dunedin waterfront [Edgar support]
11.5.12 Harbour hotel proposed for Dunedin

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

GCSB: National Party websites hacked

Anon NZ | Published on 28 Jul 2013

Websites down:
johnkey.co.nz | billenglish.co.nz | gerrybrownlee.com | michaelwoodhouse.co.nz | bluegreens.co.nz | judithcollins.co.nz | bluelibs.org.nz | nikkikaye.co.nz | bluegreens.org.nz | simonbridges.co.nz | maggiebarry.co.nz | national.org.nz | davidcarter.co.nz | nickywagner.co.nz
and many more

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### stuff.co.nz Last updated 10:31 30/07/2013:
Dotcom tells hackers of National sites to stop
“It has come to our attention that the thousands that have marched against this bill has still not been enough to send John Key and Peter Dunne a message.” –Anon NZ

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### ODT Online Tue, 30 Jul 2013 APNZ
Doctom tells National Party hackers to back off
Hackers claimed to have taken down more than a dozen National Party websites overnight – but their actions have drawn the ire of internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom. The group calling itself Anonymous New Zealand said in a video it had taken “direct action” against the GCSB spy bill.
The video said the websites would remain down until their servers were patched or the bill was withdrawn and Prime Minister John Key has apologised to all New Zealanders and internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom.
The video was posted to YouTube on Sunday, the same day thousands of protesters marched against the GCSB bill. Among the sites that remained down this morning were Mr Key’s site, johnkey.co.nz, and Deputy Prime Minister Bill English’s site, billenglish.co.nz as well as a handful of sites belonging to other Cabinet ministers. However, the National Party website, which the group claims to have taken down, was live this morning at national.org.nz. APNZ
Read more

The global Anonymous group is best known for takedowns of US government and corporation websites, with its members recognised for wearing Guy Fawkes masks.

### nzherald.co.nz 09:09 Tue Jul 30 2013
National trying to restore websites
IT experts are trying to restore National Party websites after an attack by activist group Anonymous over the controversial Government Communications Security Bureau Bill.
In a video message posted online, Anonymous NZ calls the legislation – which will make it legal for the GCSB to spy on New Zealanders on behalf of other agencies – “despicable”.
The group has taken more than a dozen National websites offline, including those of Prime Minister John Key and Speaker David Carter, and a number of other MPs, but the main National Party website “survived” the attack.
Anonymous says the sites will stay offline until National patches its servers, or apologises to internet piracy accused Kim Dotcom – who was illegally spied on by the GCSB – and all New Zealanders. AAP
Read more

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Related Post and Comments:
7.6.13 Peter Dunne, undone

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Stadium: Leonard Cohen not coming

Leonard Cohen plans to visit New Zealand in December. Photo / AP

### nzherald.co.nz 6:45 AM Tuesday Jul 30, 2013
Tour news: Leonard Cohen to play three NZ shows
Leonard Cohen has announced a full New Zealand tour in December, taking in the country’s three major cities. Cohen – who last played here in October, 2010 to packed venues – will perform in Christchurch on December 14, Wellington on December 17, and Auckland on December 21. Cohen will be performing with his nine-piece band that includes Sharon Robinson, the Webb Sisters and musical director Roscoe Beck.
Read more

ODT 30.7.13 Leonard Cohen announces NZ dates

NZH 28.1.12 Leonard Cohen: In his own good time
NZH 21.8.10 Essence of Leonard Cohen

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Dunedin Cable Car Trust – Public Meetings SUNDAY 28 July

The trust will hold two public meetings to provide information on the High Street Cable Car project, including details on how people can help, and a question and answer session.

WHERE Hutton Theatre, Otago Museum
WHEN Sunday 28 July
SESSIONS 1pm – 3pm or 3pm – 5pm

Entry by gold coin donation

ALL WELCOME

Website: http://dunedincablecars.co.nz/

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Related Post and Comments:
14.2.13 Phil Cole on the High Street Cable Car [most recent comments]
15.1.13 Return of High Street cable car
23.12.11 High Street cable car update
27.8.10 Invitation to ALL #High St Cable Car
25.11.09 High Street cable car
23.11.09 High Street Cable Car a possibility
19.10.09 Cable Car Meeting @Dunedin

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Heritage: Old BNZ, Dunedin —restored

Work on the historic bank included strengthening the structure from 67% of building code requirements to 100% and installing a full fire sprinkler system.

205 Princes St – Old BNZ c.1888 (photo by FA Coxhead re-imaged)

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With Silver Fern [Farms] also moving into the old chief post office, it will give the Exchange momentum. The shops will do better and it will give the whole area more impetus. –Michael van Aart

### ODT Online Sat, 27 Jul 2013
Refurbished bank building ready for law firm
By Nigel Benson
Dunedin’s former commercial heart – the Exchange – will pulsate with new life next week. With scaffolding removed and tradesmen gone, the 130-year-old Bank of New Zealand building in Princes St will become the new home to commercial law firm Van Aart Sycamore Lawyers on Wednesday. The occupation of the building, which is considered architect William Barnett Armson’s (1834-1883) masterpiece, follows an 18-month restoration project.
“We’re really looking forward to moving in,” firm director Michael van Aart said yesterday. “The building is dramatic and one of a kind. We have to celebrate the unique features we have here in Dunedin and heritage is certainly one of them. The Exchange was the heart of New Zealand’s economy when it was built.”
The building had been untenanted for the past 13 years. Van Aart Sycamore Lawyers had been based in Radio House for the past six years and the move would be good for the Exchange, Mr van Aart believed.
Read more

Armson drawing no. 10, Princes St facade with secondary doorway

Readings:
New Zealand Historic Places Trust – Category 1 Historic Place
(No. 7299) Registration Report – the history and significance

[wikipedia] Princes Street, Dunedin
[wikipedia] Bank of New Zealand

Book: John Barsby, The BNZ Building, Princes Street Dunedin (Southern Heritage Trust, 2011)

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Related Post and Comments:
26.2.13 Bank of New Zealand Building, 205 Princes St (cnr Rattray)
[more images]

The banking desk designed by architect Robert A Lawson is held by Otago Settlers Museum; and an original ornamental fire surround from the bank is installed at Antrim House (NZHPT National Office) in Wellington (photographs in Barsby). It is thought one more fire surround went to another Wellington residence.

RA Lawson, Drawing for write-up desk, Old BNZ

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Art in public places: The Fourth Plinth

‘Hahn/Cock’ surveys London’s Trafalgar Square [AAP]

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### 3news.co.nz Fri, 26 Jul 2013 2:53p.m.
Giant blue rooster ruffles London feathers
By Jill Lawless
This might ruffle a few feathers. A giant blue rooster has been unveiled next to the sombre military monuments in London’s Trafalgar Square. German artist Katharina Fritsch’s 4.7 metre ultramarine bird, titled ‘Hahn/Cock’, is intended as a playful counterpoint to the statues of martial heroes in the square. Both ultramarine blue and the rooster are symbols of France, whose defeat by Britain at the battle of Trafalgar in 1805 gave the square its name.
“It’s a nice humorous side-effect to have something French in a place that celebrates victory over Napoleon,” Fritsch told The Guardian newspaper. Fritsch also said she hoped the double meaning in the work’s name would appeal to the British sense of humour. “I know they like to play games with language,” she said.
London Mayor Boris Johnson said it would be a “talking point for Londoners and tourists alike.” It is the latest in a series of artworks to adorn the square’s vacant “Fourth Plinth”.
One of London’s main tourist attractions, the square was named for Horatio Nelson’s victory over the French and Spanish fleets. A statue of the one-armed admiral stands atop Nelson’s Column at the centre of the square, and statues of other 19th-century military leaders are nearby.
The fourth plinth was erected in 1841 for an equestrian statue that was never completed. It remained empty for a century and a half, and since 1999 has been occupied by artworks erected for 18 months at a time. Previous works have included a giant ship in a bottle and 2,400 members of the public who stood atop the plinth for an hour at a time. AP
3News Link

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Related Post and Comments:
15.7.13 Art in public places: Dunedin worms and wyrms #snakesinthegrass
3.1.12 Art in public places #Dunedin

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Tauranga: Office leases to cover potential losses from hotel

OH WOW, another $100M baby!!!!!!

This council carpark on Durham St could be home to a long-awaited $100 million hotel and commercial building development.

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### ODT Online Wed, 24 Jul 2013
$100m hotel plan for city
By John Cousins – Bay of Plenty Times
A massive $100 million building is proposed for council-owned land in Tauranga’s downtown after plans for an international hotel escalated into a combined hotel and commercial office development.
Mayor Stuart Crosby announced that negotiations between the council and Tainui Holdings, the Waikato iwi’s investment arm, had seen a substantial high-end office development added to the original plans for a $40 million hotel. The council’s ambitions for the block of land on Durham St are now only a week away from a firm direction being given on whether the project went ahead.
Tainui Holdings and its hotel operator partner, Accor group, had until July 17 to carry out due diligence and had kept the council abreast of progress.
Mr Crosby said the much larger project had been driven by the opportunity that the income from office leases would cover potential losses from the hotel: “Hotels are notorious for not making profits in their early years.” APNZ
Read more

Tauranga downtown’s emerging skyline

Recent Additions
$30m ANZ Building on the corner of Cameron Rd & Elizabeth St
$14m Sharpe Tudhope Building on the corner of Devonport Rd & 1st Ave
$21m police station, Monmouth St

Planned Additions
$1m-plus 3-storey retail & office building on The Strand’s Grumpy Mole site
$10m office building on the corner of Willow St & Harington St
$30m TrustPower head office
$67m tertiary and research campus
$100m international hotel and office development

PS. Dunedin is SO not Tauranga. The Bay is poised to boom as the fruit bowl of Asia. Meanwhile on the Taieri, Dunedin City Council lets a councillor and friends build speculative housing and a plant nursery turn into a gravelled ‘destination hub’ (without a legal water connection?) on high class soils, with impunity.

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Recent Post and Comments:
25.6.13 Hotel/Apartment Tower decision to be appealed

For information on the proposed $100M ‘Dunedin Hotel’, enter *hotel* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

University: Leith flood protection scheme and landscaping

Proposed landscaping within the university’s heritage precinct. The St David St footbridge will be extended. [graphic via ODT]

### ODT Online Wed, 24 Jul 2013
Registry stretch of Leith set for summer revamp
By Rebecca Fox
The stretch of the Water of Leith in front of the University of Otago’s registry building looks set to get a multimillion-dollar makeover this summer. Students, staff and visitors could soon be able to walk along grassy verges next to lowered banks of the river, from the St David St footbridge to the Union St bridge, if a design plan is approved at an Otago Regional Council committee meeting tomorrow.
It has been about seven years since the council and the university signed an agreement to work together to produce a plan to suit the council’s need for flood protection and the university’s need for an aesthetic look in front of its historic registry building.
The council had budgeted $5.4 million over the next 12 months for the work. The university and the council are each to fund half the cost of the aesthetic work.
Among the work to be endorsed by the committee is the lowering of most of the concrete wall on the east bank, extending the footbridge, cutting down the west bank and landscaping and footpath redevelopment.
Read more

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Related Posts and Comments:
27.5.13 Carisbrook and Leith flood protection
17.11.10 Leith Lindsay Flood Protection Scheme
17.5.10 Campus Master Plan
28.1.10 University of Otago Campus Master Plan

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

DCC / DCHL shake up !!!

### ODT Online Wed, 24 Jul 2013
Top job to go at DCHL
By Chris Morris
Dunedin City Holdings Ltd chief executive Bevan Dodds is to lose his job as the Dunedin City Council tightens its grip on the financial affairs of its companies. The change – and the recruitment of a new group chief financial officer to oversee both organisations’ finances – was part of management restructuring unveiled yesterday by council chief executive Paul Orders. The new recruit would be part of the council’s executive management team, but would work closely with the council and DCHL to ensure a ”unified” understanding of the finances of both, Mr Orders said.
The change would help avoid surprises like the multimillion-dollar shortfall in dividend payments from DCHL to the council, which sent shockwaves through the council in 2011. It would also mean Mr Dodds’ role would be disestablished later this year, DCHL chairman Denham Shale confirmed. Mr Dodds would continue in his role in the meantime, but would not comment yesterday or say whether he planned to apply for the new role.
Mr Orders said the changes also represented a move away from an older ”silo-based approach to financial management” that split the council from its companies.
Read more

DCC corporate management structure: (via ODT)

Chief executive Paul Orders

Infrastructure and networks general manager Tony Avery, overseeing:
• Economic development and property (group manager Robert Clark)
• Water and waste (group manager [name removed 27.12.15])
• Transportation (acting group manager Graeme Hamilton)
• Parks, recreation and aquatics (group manager Mick Reece)

Services and development general manager Sue Bidrose, overseeing:
• Community and planning (group manager Nicola Pinfold)
• Arts and culture (group manager Bernie Hawke)
• Regulatory services (group manager Kevin Thompson)
• Customer Services Agency (manager Adrian Blair)

Corporate services group manager Sandy Graham, overseeing:
• ICT, communications, governance

Group chief financial officer (vacant)

Organisational development and performance manager (vacant)

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Dunedin City Council – Media Release
New Management Structure Announced

This item was published on 23 Jul 2013.

The Dunedin City Council has put in place a new senior management structure to help strengthen the organisation so it is better equipped to face future challenges.

DCC Chief Executive Paul Orders says, “Following consultation with affected staff, the General Managers and I have set out a new structure we believe will address some of the ongoing challenges facing the organisation in the years ahead.”

A key change is the introduction of a new position of Group Chief Financial Officer (GCFO). This will replace the Council’s Chief Financial Officer (currently a vacant post), with the role expanded to include the provision of financial advice and support to the Board of DCHL. As part of that process, the position of Chief Executive of DCHL will be disestablished and the GCFO post will be publicly advertised.

Mr Orders says the management restructuring will mean little change for staff roles, but will change some reporting lines.

“My primary objective with this structure is to ensure a set of management arrangements which are fit for purpose. But they will also deliver a net saving of about $100,000 for the DCC. This is over and above the managerial savings previously delivered.”

The new structure includes a streamlining of functional areas and Group Managers reporting through to General Managers. To achieve this, a team of eight Group Managers has been established and will mostly be filled from existing activity managers from within Council.

The new structure also includes a new Organisational Development and Performance Manager. This will give more focus to the work being done on staff performance and development, and to enhance the reputation of the DCC as an employer of choice.

The new structure is designed to strengthen the co-ordination of financial management between the DCC and Dunedin City Holdings Limited (DCHL) and improve the DCC’s ability to respond in the areas of change management, performance management and organisational development.

A public recruitment process for new posts will begin shortly.

Contact Communications and Marketing Manager on 477 4000.

DCC Link

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Related Posts and Comments:
12.7.13 Hudson, DCC (ex DCHL)
7.7.13 DCHL changes lack transparency —where’s the report, Shale?
30.10.12 DCHL ‘run by a bunch of fools’ -agreed
13.8.11 Ridding DCHL of conflicts of interest, Otago business monopoly ‘by director’, and other ghouls

For more, enter *dchl* or *dcc* in the search box at right.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Image: odt.co.nz – Bevan Dodds

158 Rattray Street (Tai Ping), suspicious fire?

Google Street View

### ODT Online Tue, 23 Jul 2013
Tai Ping badly damaged by fire
By Rebecca Fox
Well-known Rattray St food bar and restaurant, the Tai Ping, has been extensively damaged by fire. Smoke from the central Dunedin blaze, which was reported about 9.24pm, was so thick it set off smoke alarms in about six other buildings, some as far away as Moray Pl. Fire appliances had to be called in from Ravensbourne and Port Chalmers to help clear those buildings, while crews from three appliances and a turntable ladder truck put out the fire. Tai Ping owner Henry Chin said his wife was at the back of the premises, preparing food, when the fryer at the front of the shop overheated and caught fire. “She didn’t realise until it caught hold.” If there had been customers in the shop it would have been caught before it got to that stage, he said. He had gone home to pick up their children for tea.
Read more

We’ve been keeping a watching brief on the buildings at 150-170 Rattray Street in past months, for good reason, now this. The old fryer trick when no-one’s about much . . .

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

World economy explained with two cows

[Almost no-one dares mention the name of the former CFO in the definition of Venture Capitalism for reasons that the bovine defendant “has a fiduciary duty to his fellow members of council” and the council has been required all the while to collect higher taxes.]

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Received.
Monday, 22 July 2013 9:46 p.m.

SOCIALISM
You have 2 cows.
You give one to your neighbour.

COMMUNISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and gives you some milk.

FASCISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and sells you some milk.

BUREAUCRATISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both, shoots one, milks the other and then throws the milk away.

TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM
You have two cows.
You sell one and buy a bull.
Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows.
You sell them and retire on the income.

VENTURE CAPITALISM
You have two cows.
You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using letters of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute a debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so that you get all four cows back, with a tax exemption for five cows.
The milk rights of the six cows are transferred via an intermediary to a Cayman Island Company secretly owned by the majority shareholder who sells the rights to all seven cows back to your listed company.
The annual report says the company owns eight cows, with an option on one more.

AN AMERICAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows.
Later, you hire a consultant to analyse why the cow has died.

A FRENCH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You go on strike, organize a riot, and block the roads, because you want three cows.

AN ITALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows, but you do not know where they are.
You decide to have lunch.

A SWISS CORPORATION
You have 5,000 cows. None of them belong to you.
You charge the owners for storing them.

A CHINESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You have 300 people milking them.
You claim that you have full employment and high bovine productivity.
You arrest the newsman who reported the real situation.

AN INDIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You worship them.

A BRITISH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
Both are mad.

AN IRAQI CORPORATION
Everyone thinks you have lots of cows.
You tell them that you have none.
Nobody believes you, so they bomb the crap out of you and invade your country.
You still have no cows but at least you are now a Democracy.

AN AUSTRALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
Business seems pretty good.
You close the office and go for a few beers to celebrate.

A NEW ZEALAND CORPORATION
You have two cows.
The one on the left looks very attractive.

A GREEK CORPORATION
You have two cows borrowed from French and German banks.
You eat both of them.
The banks call to collect their milk, but you cannot deliver so you call the IMF.
The IMF loans you two cows.
You eat both of them.
The banks and the IMF call to collect their cows/milk.
You are out getting a haircut.

AN IRISH CORPORATION
You have two cows
One of them’s a horse!

[ends]

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Dunedin: New £300m fund

Folks, we’ve reached Nirvana – through partnership.
Mayor Dave’s been working our (Hidden Dunedin) sister-city relationships with great success. The council’s consolidated debt is CANCELLED, pending further notices!!
Disaster AVERTED.

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Received.
Monday, 22 July 2013 12:38 p.m.

### telegraph.co.uk 6:19PM BST 21 Jul 2013
Dunedin bucks investment trend with new £300m fund
By James Quinn
Dunedin, the London-based private equity firm, has closed its third fund at £300m, it can be disclosed. The total is approximately £50m higher than the £250m Dunedin had initially been aiming to raise, and bucks the trend in an otherwise lacklustre private equity and venture capital fundraising market. Approximately 60% of the funds have come from outside the UK, as overseas investors want to benefit from Dunedin’s focus in the small and mid-sized company market.
The proportion of international backers is three times that from Dunedin’s previous fund, when foreign money made up just 20% of the total invested.
The new fund, the closing of which is expected to be announced as early as today, is understood to have been particularly popular among north American and Scandinavian investors. There also has been increased interest from backers in Germany and France, it is believed.
The Dunedin Buyout Fund III, as it is formally known, is understood to have received investments from sovereign wealth funds, state and private pension funds, insurance companies, foundations and so-called “fund of fund” specialists. In addition, some £60m of the new fund is understood to have been committed by the Dunedin Enterprise Investment Trust, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange. The fundraising was led by Shaun Middleton, Dunedin’s managing partner.
Read more

HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Earthquake —Stuff tells you what to do #EQNZ

Stuff (Fairfax): Large quake rocks central New Zealand
Last updated 20:48 21/07/2013
A severe magnitude 6.5 earthquake has hit central New Zealand this evening, damaging buildings, cutting power, trapping people in lifts and injuring at least two people.
GeoNet said it was centred in the Cook Strait, 20 kilometres east of Seddon at a depth of 17 kilometres. It struck at 5.09pm.
The Pacific Tsunami Centre in Hawaii said the quake did not generate a tsunami, but a number of smaller quakes have struck since – the latest, a 4.4 magnitude 25km east of Seddon at 8.27pm, followed closely by a 5.1 magnitude near Hanmer Springs.
The 6.5 magnitude quake was likely linked to a fault in the Cook Strait capable of generating far more severe shaking, GNS Science said.
If there were a sequence of events, as in Canterbury, EQC would have up to $6.5bn in cover. A spokesman for EQC minister Gerry Brownlee said EQC had “ample to cover any future event.”
Read more

(via Stuff)
What to do in an earthquake | Photos | Video: Powerful quake hits | What you need to know | Video: As the quake hit | Regional round up | Map: Recent quakes

Wellington Maritime Police senior launch master Barry Hart said a piece of previously reclaimed land along the industrial part of the waterfront had subsided into the sea, taking with it at least one shipping container. “The land has actually subsided at least a couple of metres… into the sea. One shipping container has gone into the water.”

● 3 News
More quakes shake North Island
Civil Defence: What to do after an earthquake

What you need to know:
• Magnitude 6.5 quake struck around 5:09pm Sunday
• Centred 20km east of Seddon, 17km deep
• GeoNet lists quake’s intensity as “severe”
• 4 injured in series of aftershocks
• Mercure on Willis St evacuated, believed to be slumping
• Featherston, Wakefield, Bolton, Willis and Webb streets closed
• All KiwiRail services suspended
• Wellington workers advised not to travel to work until at least midday Monday
• Victoria Uni, Whitireia polytech both closed until at least Tuesday

● ONE News
At least one injured as severe quake strikes
Wellington’s emergency offices have been activated and USAR is on standby after a powerful earthquake shook central NZ.

GeoNet Quakes Map 21.7.13 (click on link for updates)

#eqnz
As Wellington assesses itself and keeps people out of the CBD for safety reasons according to its Civil Defence Plan now in force following today’s significant earthquakes and tremors, readers have been hitting these links . . .

[older posts]
27.6.11 You keep asking: does Dunedin get earthquakes?
9.3.11 Dunedin earthquake proneness
4.9.10 Earthquake

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

RMA and Key’s right-wing slashers

BACKWARD STEP: Our environment is at risk if the Resource Management act is watered down.

### stuff.co.nz Last updated 05:00 21/07/2013
Gutting the RMA – it’s time to be concerned
By Anton Oliver
Source: Sunday Star-Times
OPINION | The Resource Management Act (RMA) has sadly become a much maligned and misunderstood piece of legislation: a kind of universal public punching bag – if mentioned in conversation, it is almost obligatory to put the slipper in. To most Kiwis it represents bureaucracy and inefficiency – pen-pushing do-gooders and paper shufflers who engage us in excessively long and costly processes that get in the way of us Kiwis doing stuff.
In fact the RMA – passed in 1991 – was a means of rectifying mistakes and providing at least some environmental and social integrity to development and planning process. It was recognised by legal minds to be a world-leading piece of legislation. It protected our environment and our economy based on the premise of sustainable resource management. What’s more, it was politically robust in that it received the blessing of both major parties.
It also gave New Zealanders a chance to be heard and it facilitated local decisions made by local people. While the country’s environmental indicators such as water quality and biodiversity loss have still gone backwards – the RMA has stemmed what would otherwise have been fatal haemorrhaging.
Similarly, the RMA has protected a set of fundamental Kiwi values: the notion of fairness and equity in regard to everyone having a right to their say; industry and other activities being required to take responsibility for avoiding, remedying or mitigating adverse environmental impacts; and developments being required to have regard to effects on such things as recreation, scenic values, private property rights, and the public’s access to rivers, lakes and beaches.
That’s all about to change.
The Government plans to alter the Act to give greater weight to economic development over environmental considerations, granting to itself the right to veto any issue. You don’t have to be legal-minded to see the impact of subtle word changes. While the consideration for the “benefits” of a project remains, gone are any references to the “costs”, making a cost-benefit analysis redundant because environmental “cost” is out of the equation.
Gone, too, are the words: “maintenance and enhancement of amenity values”. That’s basically any recreational activity – walking, running, swimming, fishing, kayaking. Who likes doing that stuff anyway? Thankfully the “importance and value of historic heritage” stays. But its cobber, “protection from inappropriate subdivision and development” gets the boot – making the first clause meaningless. And my personal favourite, “maintenance and enhancement of the quality of the environment” has been politely asked to leave. Clearly such an unruly clause has no place in a legal act that’s trying to protect the environment.

The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Jan Wright, has a different interpretation. She thinks the changes “muddy the overwhelming focus of the RMA, to protect the environment, and risk turning it into an Economic Development Act”. Similarly alarmed, the architect of the RMA, Sir Geoffrey Palmer, concludes: “The [proposed changes] will significantly and seriously weaken the ability of the RMA to protect the natural environment and its recreational enjoyment by all New Zealanders.”

The changes also grant considerable new powers to central government, giving it the ability to take individual consent decisions away from local councils and place them in a new national body. The changes go further still, by allowing government the right to insert provisions in local council plans without any consultation.
Read more

● Former All Black Anton Oliver is an ambassador for Water Conservation Order NZ.

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Related Posts and Comments:
21.4.13 *fashionable* Heritage Dunedin and the RMA holocaust
17.3.13 RMA Bill: Public meeting 21 March
6.7.12 Recommended changes to RMA explode environmental protection

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Image: stuff.co.nz – Anton Oliver

ODT won’t touch Fairfax story

Supposing Sir E rang Sir J. What did they talk about. Parties?

#bookmark page 1
#bookmark page 2

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### DScene 13 May 2009
The Insider: Big questions answered
Mr Generous isn’t slowing down
Winter Games NZ chairman Eion Edgar | Interviewed by Ryan Keen
COMMUNITY-MINDED Queenstown-based businessman Eion Edgar, who retired as New Zealand Olympic Committee president last week and left a $1 million donation, on his support for knighthoods, backing Blis and why he’s not slowing down. #bookmark page 9

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Related Posts and Comments:
10.7.13 Stadium: Edgar will honour $1M personal pledge to project
3.7.13 [Pulled!] Call for Dunedin stadium cash
24.12.12 A Christmas Tale
7.6.12 Stadium: Forsyth Barr naming rights
6.7.09 Eion Edgar on ‘stadium haters’

ODT Online:
11.5.12 $100m hotel for Dunedin waterfront [Edgar support]
11.5.12 Harbour hotel proposed for Dunedin

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Dear DCC: Dunedin’s [choke] $47M cycle network

Received from Lee Vandervis
Thursday, 18 July 2013 7:16 a.m.

—— Forwarded Message
From: Lee Vandervis
Date: Thu, 18 Jul 2013 07:09:10 +1200
To: Dave Cull, Mayor Cull, Kate Wilson, Colin Weatherall, Richard Thomson, Chris Staynes, Teresa Stevenson, Andrew Noone, Paul Hudson, Jinty MacTavish, Neil Collins, Fliss Butcher, Syd Brown, John Bezett, Bill Acklin, Lee Vandervis
Cc: Paul Orders, Sue Bidrose, Sandy Graham
Conversation: An inspiration for Cycling in Dunedin
Subject: Re: An inspiration for Cycling in Dunedin

Dear Councillors

This video link below to the Indianapolis new Cultural Cycle Trail has been sent to us by Mayor Cull as “an inspiration for Cycling In Dunedin”.

The salient points if you do not have 8 minutes to watch the whole video are:

1 – NO RATES OR TAX MONEY WAS USED TO PAY FOR IT! The whole US$63MILLION for the Indianapolis cultural trail was DONATED by philanthropy. [Like Eion Edgar’s $1 million donation to the stadium, but more so. – It actually happened, and 63 times.]

2 – It looks great with the ADDITION OF US$2MILLION of donated Art.

3 – From Wikipedia, – “Indianapolis’ population is 829,718. It is the 13th largest city in the United States, and one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the United States.”

4 – It is catering to only a few of their 800,000+, entirely financed by a much fewer hyper-rich philanthropists.

What does the Indianapolis Cycle Trail have in common with Dunedin’s proposed $47 million cycle network that our Mayor is getting all inspired about??

In short, nothing.
Absolutely nothing – a far removed and totally rich American dream.

Please do not be inspired to spend us even further into $600,000,000+ plus interest worth of debt for this ‘inspiration’.
The time to stop digging into more ratepayer debt was at least 3 years ago.

Cheers
Lee

—————

On 17/07/13 10:25 AM, “Dave Cull” wrote:

FYI
Spokes, and Hank and Robert in particular have been working very constructively with staff on the network plan. A great example of partnering up with the community. We are doing the same with the business people around Robert St to work out a win-win there too.

Dave

—————

From: Hank Weiss
Sent: Tuesday, 16 July 2013 4:58 p.m.
To: Dave Cull
Cc: Jinty MacTavish; Teresa Stevenson; Richard Thomson; Kate Wilson; Andrew Noone; Fliss Butcher
Subject: An inspiration for Cycling in Dunedin

Dave:

Here’s an 8 minute video, I hope you will consider sharing it with the rest of the Council. http://www.streetfilms.org/the-indianapolis-cultural-trail/

It’s a great idea and implementation success story from an unexpected U.S. City – Indianapolis. They turned the vision of an urban cycle track into a unique cultural celebration.

The best line: “We didn’t talk about this as an infrastructure project, we talked about it as a quality of life and an economic development project” (Brian Payne).

As you know very well, it’s not about catering to a few. With stories like this we might just swing and inspire all the Councillors along (well almost all)!

Thanks for being an inspiration yourself today, Dave. I am proud of the leadership on display from you and your colleagues.

—
Cordially,

Hank Weiss

—— End of Forwarded Message

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Related Posts and Comments:
8.7.13 Bloody $tupid cycleways and Cull’s electioneering . . .
28.3.13 DCC DAP 2013/14: Portobello Harington Point Road Improvements
26.2.13 DCC binge spending alert: Proposed South Dunedin cycle network
22.2.13 DCC: Council meeting agenda and reports for 25 February 2013
31.1.13 Who? 2010 electioneering

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Dunedin, ‘small government’ —Calvert

Previous exploits, Hilary Calvert with ACT’s Rodney Hide [Photo: Stuff]

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### ODT Online Wed, 17 Jul 2013
City where the real world meets the hypothetical
By Hilary Calvert
OPINION We heard through the Otago Daily Times that Dunedin must prepare for life in a changing world through an energy plan. Apparently, according to the Dunedin City Council, we need a plan to boost our ability to adapt to future change and to take advantage of economic opportunities in a changing energy context. We also must save costs and enhance quality of life resulting from energy-efficient improvements and reduce our climate change and environmental effects.
Currently, our debt is unsustainable, and it is likely, with the good job Paul Orders has been doing, we have reduced spending as much as we usefully can without making some hard decisions. We have high debt, rates running at much more than the CPI increase, which funds many households, and little understanding, it would appear, of the economic reality within which we are operating.

The council does not have capital sitting around looking for inspirational or aspirational projects to back.

Throughout New Zealand, a new group has been formed called Affordablecity. The basic idea of Affordablecity is that each candidate, or each local party with these ideas, agrees to support five core principles:

1. Lower rates.
2. Balanced budgets.
3. Making housing affordable.
4. Spending only on the basics.
5. Restoring private property rights.

They are also focused on core activities of councils, as described in section 11A of the Local Government Act; namely infrastructure, public transport, sewage, avoidance or mitigation of natural hazards, and libraries, museums reserves etc.
Read more

● Hilary Calvert is a Dunedin resident with an interest in small government.

[Does she mean ‘local government’? But hey! there’s nothing small about Dunedin, right? We’re “punching above our weight”, say the Old Boys.]

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Dunedin Museums: WigleyNews

Leave Otago white collar criminals ALONE, and other unfairness

Ministers: Anne Tolley & Paula Bennett

### ODT Online Mon, 15 Jul 2013
Proceeds of crime forfeited
By Hamish McNeilly
Police have seized millions of dollars worth of assets – including almost $1 million from criminals in Otago and Southland – since a tough new law came into force. The Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act took effect on December 1, 2009. Assets worth an estimated $29 million have been forfeited, including cash ($10.48 million), properties ($13.67 million) and vehicles ($2 million). […] Figures released to the ODT under the Official Information Act show 14 assets with an estimated value of $862,105.22 have been forfeited in the Southern district.
Read more

● Whereabouts of Michael Swann assets?
People can contact Dunedin police on (03) 471-4800 or via the anonymous Crimestoppers line, 0800-555-111.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Images: 3news.co.nz – Anne Tolley, zimbio.com – Paula Bennett

Delta, Carisbrook, Fubar Stadium —Councillors “weak”, or worse

ODT Letter to the editor 15.7.13 (page 8)

—

Related Posts and Comments:
13.7.13 New Zealand: Salmond on democracy
12.7.13 Hudson, DCC (ex DCHL)
12.7.13 Delta Utility Services Ltd, missing column . . .
10.7.13 Stadium: Edgar will honour $1M personal pledge to project
9.7.13 Delta Utility Services Ltd, full investigation needed
7.7.13 DCHL changes lack transparency —where’s the report, Shale?
4.7.13 Carisbrook: DCC losses
3.7.13 [Pulled!] Call for Dunedin stadium cash
29.6.13 Audit NZ and OAG clean bill of health —Suspicious!
27.6.13 State of the City —DCC or Dunedin?
20.6.13 Stadium: DVML, DVL miserable losers! #grandtheftdebt
8.6.13 Stadium: Insurmountable debt but gosh, look at our numbers!
28.5.13 Carisbrook: Auditor-General #fails Dunedin residents and ratepayers
27.5.13 Carisbrook and Leith flood protection
23.5.13 Carisbrook: Calder Stewart to demo Dunedin’s historic stadium
11.5.13 Stadium: Truth, usual whitewash or prosecution ?

*Use search box at right to find out more.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Art in public places: Dunedin worms and wyrms #snakesinthegrass

Updated post Monday, 2 Feb 2015 at 4:07 p.m.

### ODT Online Mon, 15 Jul 2013
Editorial: How the worm turns
It seems there is nothing quite like the issue of public art to stimulate debate. Whether it be form, function, meaning, materials, longevity, cost, location, the work’s title, or the artist’s “qualifications”, the works inevitably prompt a great outpouring of comments from the public. When it comes to publicly-funded art in the outdoor public arena, it is understandable some ratepayers want to have their say. After all, they have to see it and they have to pay for it. One of the most-debated issues is often the cost, with many projects being deemed expensive.
In a city rich with educational institutions, heritage, and a strong artistic legacy, such projects have been deemed worthy of funding by the council for many years, and frequently indicated as important by the public in the likes of residents opinion surveys. There is no doubt striking the right balance is no easy task, particularly given art, by its very nature, is subjective, and cannot necessarily “please” everyone.
Given that the response to art works is the huge unknown – it is all the more important the areas that can be calculated are done so – and done so clearly: the artist, the artist’s brief, the art work’s purpose, visual expectations including height and size, suitability for its location, and of course, cost. And, sadly, it is in these fundamental areas in which the latest controversial public art proposal appears to have fallen down.
Read more

Related ODT stories:
8.7.13 [Opinion] Art Beat: More than just a muddle
3.7.13 Council rejects artwork criticism
2.7.13 Sculptors question selection process
1.7.13 Botanic Garden to get huge worm
30.6.13 Botanic Garden marks 150th
30.6.13 [Magazine] Putting down some roots

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Related Posts and Comments:
15.1.14 Botanic Garden: Visitor-vandals caught by DCC webcam
30.12.13 Botanic Garden: Ouroboros
3.1.12 Art in public places #Dunedin

—

Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Images via ODT [screenshots]

Cities: Organic renewal

St Joseph, Missouri

### Citiwire.net Fri, July 5, 2013
Organic Renewal: St Joe’s Story
By Roberta Brandes Gratz
In the mid- and late 1960s, while many cities and towns were still tearing their hearts out for the false promises of urban renewal, all sorts of people, young and old, saw the beauty, value and promise of gracious living in historic buildings in the places left behind by suburban development. From San Francisco to Louisville to Providence to Brooklyn to St Louis and beyond, urban pioneers stripped, cleaned and restored the irreplaceable artifacts of bygone eras of quality and taste.
Those pioneers were the vanguard of the regeneration of neighbourhoods and cities that, today, many people do not remember were considered a blighted lost cause. Washington’s Georgetown. Park Slope in Brooklyn. King William in San Antonio. The Garden District in New Orleans. The Victorian Districts of San Francisco and Savannah. Who remembers that those neighbourhoods were once considered “blighted,” over, finished?

Surely, this is the most compelling storyline of the second half of the last century. The rebirth of today’s thriving cities started with the rediscovery of yesterday’s discards. That, as they say, is history. But history has a funny way of repeating itself. Today, one finds examples of that organic renewal process re-emerging.

Many cities have lost more than what remains of the authentic architecture on which to build a new momentum. Miraculously, one that survives with an amazing rich legacy to work with is St Joseph, Mo.
Set on a bend in the Missouri River and almost equidistant from Kansas City and Omaha, St Joseph was a railroad, lumber and banking centre and, most importantly, the last full provisioning point for the Westward Expansion in the mid-nineteenth century. It’s the birthplace of the Pony Express, the site of Jesse James’ demise, home of Stetson Hat, Saltine crackers and Aunt Jemima.
St Joseph is still home to a diverse assortment of agriculture-related industry. The past and present combine to offer new opportunities, and a small but growing group of adventurous entrepreneurs appear to be present to lead the way, like the urban pioneers of 50 years ago.
Read more

● Roberta Brandes Gratz is an urban critic and author of The Battle For Gotham: New York In the Shadow of Robert Moses and Jane Jacobs, 2010, Nation Books.

****

Dunedin City Council – Media Release
Grants Scheme for Central City Heritage Buildings

This item was published on 05 Jul 2013.

The DCC now has $90,000 available in grants for heritage building re-use projects in Princes Street and areas adjoining the Warehouse Precinct. Like the Warehouse Precinct scheme, this new grant scheme is focused on a specific geographic area to facilitate and expand the regeneration occurring there already. There has been good success with targeted incentive schemes in the Warehouse Precinct. Expanding into the areas around it recognises that the precinct is not an island, but is integrated with the areas around in and with the central city as a whole.

There is already some great work stirring regeneration in the area and it is important we are also poised to assist and encourage others to participate in this regeneration of the area south of the Octagon.

Applications can be made for support for a range of activities, from earthquake strengthening and facade restoration to assistance for businesses and creative industries in the area. The scheme allows building owners to build on the growing positive private sector re-use and investment in the area, such as the Chief Post Office, former BNZ and Standard Building restoration projects already or soon to be underway.

The scheme is supported by Resene Paints which is offering discounts on paint and free colour advice. Resene Otago Trade Representative Henry Van Turnhout says, “We are proud to be offering our support to another DCC area-based project, as we have for King Edward St and the Warehouse Precinct. We are also offering free assistance with colour selection as we recognise how greatly appropriate colour choice can influence the way a building – and an area – looks.”

Taking an area-based approach to regeneration and incentives encourages businesses and building owners to work together and to recognise the benefits for the entire area of re-using or improving their building.

Applications are open immediately, on a first come first served basis. Application forms will be sent to building owners, residents and businesses owners in the next week and are at www.dunedin.govt.nz/heritage

Last year’s Warehouse Precinct grants scheme supported 11 re-use projects in the area. Information about these is available at here.

Contact Glen Hazelton, DCC Policy Planner on 477 4000.

DCC Link
ODT: DCC boost for Princes St regeneration

—

Dunedin. In future years, the council plans to use this approach in other parts of the central city and beyond.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Images: (from top) commons.wikimedia.org Tim Kiser – St Joseph, Missouri (2006): Buchanan County Courthouse, Downtown cnr Francis St and North 4th St, Downtown viewed from the east near cnr 10th and Charles. Dunedin: South Princes St (2007 watercolour by Elizabeth Gorden-Werner), former Gresham Hotel at Queens Gardens, Speight’s (Lion Breweries) on Rattray St; commons.wikimedia.org Benchill – Dunedin Central Fire Station, Castle St.

New Zealand: Salmond on democracy

Dame Anne Salmond says it is imperative that New Zealanders stand up for democratic freedoms … A quiet, obedient, and docile population; a culture of passivity and apathy; a meek acceptance of what politicians say and do – these things are not consistent with democracy.

### NZ Herald Online 5:30 AM Sat, 13 Jul 2013
Dame Anne Salmond: A warning to New Zealanders keep hold of democracy
By Dame Anne Salmond
In 2007, John Key, then Leader of the Opposition, gave a powerful speech to the New Zealand Press Club against the Electoral Finance Bill. He declared: “Here in New Zealand we often take our democratic freedoms for granted. We think they will always be there. We have a Bill of Rights which is supposed to protect our right to freedom of expression. What on earth could go wrong?”
I have a different view. I believe what Thomas Jefferson said – that the price of freedom is eternal vigilance. There are times when we have to stand up for our rights, and the rights of our neighbours and friends, and indeed the rights of people we totally disagree with, or else these rights will begin to erode away.
I agree with these sentiments, absolutely. New Zealanders must stand up for their democratic rights when they are threatened, or they’ll lose them.
Who could have imagined that in 2013, this same political leader would be presiding over an assault upon the democratic rights of New Zealanders? This is a matter of such gravity that last month, the Law Society felt impelled to report to the United Nations that in New Zealand “a number of recent legislative measures are fundamentally in conflict with the rule of law”.

When a body as authoritative and dispassionate as the Law Society feels forced to report to the United Nations that the Government in New Zealand is acting in conflict with the rule of law, all New Zealanders should be very worried.

Extraordinary though it may seem, this statement is no more than the truth. In its report to the United Nations, the Law Society lists a series of recent acts that have allowed the Executive to use regulation to override Parliament, that deny citizens the right to legal representation and cancel their right to appeal to the courts to uphold their rights under the law.
The Law Society also draws attention to the use of Supplementary Order Papers and urgency to avoid proper Parliamentary scrutiny of legislation. They express their concern that a number of bills formally declared by the Attorney-General to be in breach of the Bill of Rights have recently been enacted.
This report does not mention other key defects in the law-making process in New Zealand at present. These include the willingness of a minority government to pass laws that impinge on the rights and wellbeing of New Zealanders at the request of foreign corporations – Warner Brothers, for instance, or SkyCity and various oil companies. None of these deals, which amount to “legislation for sale”, can claim a democratic mandate.
Read more

● Anthropologist and author Dame Anne Salmond is the current New Zealander of the Year.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Image: tepapa.govt.nz – Dame Anne Salmond

Hudson, DCC (ex DCHL)

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Postscript: A selection of ODT articles.–
2.11.11 Council dumps directors
20.9.11 City council’s golden geese [editorial]
17.9.11 Hudson’s head still on block
3.8.11 Opinion: Duplication cost for council companies [Hudson earns total of $116,026 from five boards]
1.8.11 Oh what a tangled web they wove… [Opinion: Russell Garbutt]
31.5.11 Councillor badly hurt stopping runaway shopping trolley
30.4.10 Restaurant lease cost council $360,000

Delta Utility Services Ltd, missing column . . .

Received from Hype O’Thermia
Friday, 12 July 2013 10:37 a.m.

What we earned, what we made, what we own.
Where’s the What we owe column?

Delta webpage as at 12.7.13 (detail)

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Related Post and Comments:
9.7.12 Delta Utility Services Ltd, full investigation needed

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr