A Better Hawke’s Bay Today

Posted on December 9, 2015 by Andrew Frame

In recent years New Zealand’s news media has taken a bit of a hiding.

Sure, people aren’t consuming news like they used to – Papers are still read, but web-based news is being read more.

People still listen to the radio – But what used to be interactive “news” and “talkback” has devolved into getting the most sensationalist sound-bite (the audio version of “click-baiting”) and “commentators” (rather than “journalists”) blurting their unqualified opinions over top of experts and members of the public who have been actively encouraged to “join the debate”.

Even those supposedly at the helm of New Zealand’s handful of television networks seem hell-bent on steering the nation away from the calm, measured waters of current affairs and investigative journalism and running what is left at flank speed onto the rocks of rotten hyper-reality television.

It’s very grim stuff if all you want is informed discussion and the truth.

Even my local paper – the Hawke’s Bay Today doesn’t appear immune to lessening standards.

In June this article aroused both my interest and ire when it appeared on Hawke’s Bay Today’s website.

Being familiar with most Hawke’s Bay reporters and not recognising the name of this article’s author I clicked on the link to learn more.

It turned out this wasn’t a local article at all. The author appears specialises in commercial real estate articles around New Zealand.

Essentially this was a real estate advertisement masquerading as news.

Not “officially” being news apparently meant the opinions of those featured in the article – the two agents trying to sell the property which is the focus of the piece were quoted:

“The retail centre of Taradale is about 1.5 kilometres away, so a new neighbourhood café here would have a virtually unrivalled trade catchment area. There is no other real local alternative for grabbing a barista-made flat white and a plate of eggs benedict.

“There’s a pie ‘n’ cake bakery down the road and a small cafe within the New World premises but that outlet is more an adjunct to shopping rather than a hospitality destination location in its own right.”

Whether it was just sales pitch, or mere spin, but facts in this piece were a bit thin on the ground, as this map of nearby food outlets shows:

But it didn’t stop there:

“Video Ezy, as with most DVD rental outlets, has been finding trading increasingly harder as greater numbers of New Zealanders move away from hiring out DVDs on a nightly basis, to watching films through legal downloading providers such as Lightbox, Quickflix, and Netflix,”

This article was followed up a couple of weeks later by a counter-piece, this time written by a local reporter, as the proprietor of the Video Ezy store that is part of the building up for sale had to reassure his customers, who were concerned he was in the throes of closing down, that he had no plans to shut up shop, or awareness of the new nature of his reduced lease terms.

In August, while Hawke’s Bay’s amalgamation debate was reaching a heated climax, someone at Hawke’s Bay Today chose to allow the pro-amalgamation group, “A Better Hawke’s Bay” to buy a four page wrap-around advertisement on one edition of the paper’s regional and community issues.

While the actual front page and rest of the paper was untouched inside this wrap-around, the “faux-front (and back) page” included the paper’s title banner, giving the appearance of an authentic front page and leading some readers to perceive that the paper supported amalgamation.

Now let me be clear – Editorially, throughout the amalgamation debate and voting process, Hawke’s Bay Today did indeed maintain a fair balance in giving voice to both the anti and pro-amalgamation sides, so this appears to be a commercial decision.

Given the sheer cost of such a large, wrap-around advertisement; it could be very hard to turn down that sort of money.

But, as some pointed out, when the paper was doing its best to remain neutral, surely such an advert would have been better suited as an internal lift-out, rather than an audacious wrap-around.

Putting this advertisement on the outside damaged people’s perception of the paper’s neutrality and for many perception is reality.

Speaking of perception, I thought mine was failing me when I read this article online one morning in July, then happened to read the same article in the print edition the same day.

Something was missing – it was Napier’s mayor!

The article centres around Ngati Kahungunu chairman, Ngahiwi Tomoana, who is pictured online in a file photo next to the Mayor of Napier, Bill Dalton.

But in the version of the photo that went to physical print, Mayor Dalton ceases to exist – he (except for his hands – see the red circle) and the background has been rather badly photo-shopped out.

Why?

Mr Dalton doesn’t feature in the article’s text, so didn’t need to be in the picture. Why not just crop the photo around Mr Tomoana? Why the bad photo-shop job instead?

Given the timing, I thought it might be part of the paper’s neutral amalgamation stance, but that just didn’t stack up – a rather odd move all round.

Now given my criticisms above, you may think I don’t like the Hawke’s Bay Today.

But you’re wrong – I love it!

I love that it gives a voice to Hawke’s Bay’s people, its events and news.

I love that our region still has its own printed newspaper over a hundred years after the launch of the Daily Telegraph and Herald Tribune.

But like things you care about, your love often has to be “tough love”.

When you see it doing something wrong, you need to tell it to change its ways, to help it grow and improve.

In the changing world of modern media, that’s what its staff and readers want and deserve –

A better Hawke’s Bay Today!

Volunteers are Worth More!

Posted on December 8, 2015 by Andrew Frame

Four years ago New Zealand was the hosts of what would become a legendary Rugby World Cup.

I volunteered as a “Flash Quote Reporter” at McLean Park’s two games and got to meet and interview All Black legends John Kirwan, Kieran Crowley and current international players.

Hundreds of others volunteered too.

In return for our participation we got trained, clothed and fed. Being volunteers, naturally, we didn’t get paid, but we had fun experiencing something we usually didn’t get to do in our normal daily lives, which kind of made up for it.

This year New Zealand co-hosted and equally epic Cricket World Cup and once again I and hundreds of others, the majority of whom were the same ones who had taken part in 2011, took days off our regular jobs and lives.

Once again, got clothed, fed and for a few long days in March volunteered to help showcase McLean Park and Hawke’s Bay to the world.

But this time something felt a bit different.

Our shifts were much longer this time – often up to twelve hours at a time – so got quite arduous on occasions. But as cricket players and fans we got to watch some of the world’s best players in action which sped the time up a bit.

Maybe it was the longer shifts, or financial conditions being a bit tighter than four years ago, but some of the volunteers seemed less keen or able to be as involved as they would have liked, too.

Maybe it was because we had gotten past the “experience” buzz of doing the same sort of thing for the Rugby World Cup that took the shine off of volunteering in such roles for long “days off.”

Or maybe it was because the experience gained working at the 2011 World Cup meant we felt like there was more value to our taking part than doing it for free.

You see, the problem with volunteering is it doesn’t pay the bills.

I’m no stranger to volunteering. To date I have:

• Volunteered for the HB Cancer Society working as a Smokefree ambassador from 1996-1998.
• Been a volunteer radio announcer on Radio Kidnappers.
• Helped Stage Challenge really establish a foot-hold in Hawke’s Bay in 1998.
• Played for, managed teams and been secretary for Napier Old Boys’ Marist Cricket Club for almost a decade.
• Dressed up as a Duck for the Georgie Pie #SuperSmash at McLean Park last year.
• Written this blog – 127 posts of inspiring, (mainly) though and debate-provoking writing. Asking questions and shedding light on local issues.
• Promoting as many local events, ideas, products and thoughts as I can on social media.

But volunteering has worn a bit thin on me recently.

While most people will happily volunteer to do something for a charity, community group or the like for a few hours or days every once and a while, the feel-good factor of helping out can only last so long before the cold, hard realities of a modern, money-driven life creep back in.

There are bills to pay, mouths to feed and mortgages / rents to keep up with.

Working for free won’t help cover those realities.

Does thinking that make me a bad person? I don’t think so – I like to think it means I put the needs of my family above my own interests or those of others.

Recently I’ve become more and more concerned at how the good work of people volunteering seems to be getting taken for granted, taken advantage of, or even used so others can make a profit, while the volunteers are often left unrecognised, out of pocket for their work, or even worse.

Hawke’s Bay seems to have become a bit of a target for this type of thing.

There was an article in the newspaper just after Napier’s last Cricket World Cup match that stated the obvious – That while a small minority of the organisers and managers got paid for their roles

“The Cricket World Cup in Napier would have been impossible without the volunteers”

The article went on to outline the concept one of the event’s (surely not a voluntary position) coordinators had – a “Volunteer Army” to help run and attract such big events to Hawke’s Bay in the future.

I thought there were local government agencies that got paid to do that?

Two months later another article appeared in the paper. This time a Massey University professor (another non-voluntary role, we must assume) espousing his “educated” belief that:

“An ageing population is an opportunity if Hawke’s Bay can take advantage of its retirees’ wealth and skills.”

Translation: “Use retirees living on the pension as volunteer (i.e. “FREE“) labour to do tasks that younger generations would / could be paid to do, further deepening Hawke’s Bay’s economic and employment doldrums”.

Reading genius stuff like that really makes me glad I never went to university…

Now volunteering is, well, a voluntary choice – you have to choose to do it and having worked, earned their money and paid their taxes for most of their lives HB’s elder generations are entitled to their retirement – to take it easier and to do what they want.

But merely using them as free labour? That’s just not right – especially when it also takes the opportunity for paid work away from others, like the younger generations struggling to get a foothold in our region’s depressed job market.

It’s not just the retired that are being taken advantage of when it comes to working for free.

Those in the final stages of tertiary education often face the increasing prospect of applying for the job they set out studying for, only to be told while they have the right qualification, their lack of real-world experience means they aren’t successful in getting the position.

Fortunately for a select well-heeled, or well-connected few, the chance of an unpaid internship during the university breaks mean they can get that much needed experience, but as the name suggests, it comes VERY cheaply for their “employer”.

Unless it is included as part of their curriculum, students aren’t eligible for the study / living allowance while on internships, so unless they or their parents are well-off enough to cover the living costs during this time many miss out on the opportunity.

Worse still are companies that get in multiple inters to “fight it out”, as it were, for one paid position. The “winning” intern being the one who puts in the longest hours, does the most work or makes the biggest profit for the company – all for FREE.

That is just not right.

Surely, if you’re good enough to do the job, you’re good enough to be PAID to do the job!

Even those already in work – particularly creative and design roles are expected to work for free for new clients – it’s called doing stuff “On Spec”.

Hours, days or weeks of time, effort and creativity to try and get a prospective client on board, only for them to say no, or just get ignored.

That’s gratitude for you.

It’s like going into a new café and asking the barista, having never had their coffee before, to make you a free sample in case you like it and come back again. See how far that gets you in real life.

And that’s not all!

Thanks to grey areas in perception and New Zealand laws, your rights and safety while volunteering often aren’t guaranteed, either!

When I put my earn-as-you-learn submission to the Napier City Council – trying to encourage Hawke’s Bay youth to stay in the region and be paid to learn, rather than working for free, or even worse, incurring crippling debt, one councillor chose to point out the number of local voluntary community groups in our community.

The irony of such a statement would have put any Alanis Morissette song to shame.

These VOLUNTARY groups get out in the community and do good stuff, while city councillors are PAID to sit around a table and gas-bag!

I believe the expression is “All Hui and no Do-ey!”

New Zealand NEEDS volunteers.

The likes of St John’s Ambulance, the Cancer Society and other life-saving and changing organisations couldn’t do the brilliant work they do without them.

But we must be careful not to abuse the good faith of volunteers – They need to be respected, recognised and often times they don’t actually need to be volunteers – they deserve to be paid, because working for free can do more economic harm than good.

Volunteers deserve better – They are more than worth it!

But what would I know – I only write voluntarily! 😉

No Such Thing as a Free Car Park

Posted on November 24, 2015 by Andrew Frame

Central business districts around New Zealand are suffering.

Shops that thrived for generations now lie empty due to drops in customer numbers, increases in rents and the rise of internet trading and ill-conceived council planning allowing giant malls to be built on city peripheries.

Currently the most popular panacea to injecting life into central cities seems to be offering free parking.

All the cool North Island cities are doing it – Rotorua, Hastings, Tauranga, Hamilton, Palmerston North…

And now Napier is joining in on the fun, with our city council deciding to provide free on-street parking in Central Napier on Saturday November 28 for its (VERY EARLY) Christmas festival and in Taradale on December 5th for their festive fair.

There’s no such thing as a free car park, however, and NCC estimates “losses of (parking) revenue to the council of about $4200 in the city and $700 in Taradale) for these days.

But is there really a loss of revenue?

If having to pay for parking is such a turn-off to central city visitors, or the parking is too expensive, no one will park there, so no income will come from that parking space regardless of cost.

It’s like airline flights being too expensive.

If a seat on a certain flight isn’t sold – no matter how expensive of cheap the price may be, the moment the doors close and that plane takes off, the airline will NEVER recoup the money for that unfilled seat on that particular flight.

So is the cost of parking the actual problem?

Go into Napier’s CBD on any particular weekday when you have to pay for parking and the closer you get to the centre of town, the harder it will be to find an empty car park.

Having to pay for parking isn’t stopping people parking in town.

Heck, go to Wellington, where parking costs in the centre of town are ridiculously high and viciously enforced and you will have an even harder time finding an available car park.

To put it bluntly, price is no barrier to laziness. The closer people can drive to their destination and the shorter the distance they have to walk, the better.

Fifty cents or a dollar or two isn’t a great inhibitor to that.

The parking fines for over-staying your allotted time, however, might be.

When compared to other centres’ parking fines and fees, Napier’s are actually quite reasonable.

Putting a dollar in a central Napier parking meter buys you the right to keep your car there for, say, an hour.

But get way-laid and return fifteen minutes to just over an hour late and you run the risk of facing an additional $12-$21 parking fine (the time examples given being merely a reasonable representation of how long an appointment or lunch with friends might over-run their anticipated time).

Is the equivalent of twelve hours’ worth of parking time a fair penalty for being a quarter of an hour late?

How does 25c worth of time justifiably manifest itself into a fee forty-eight times that value?

Worse still, fail or forget to display one of the tickets from a parking-lot machine on your dashboard and you’re in for a fine closer to $40.

For some that’s a week’s worth of petrol and they just can’t afford to take that risk.

Parking fines that better reflect the value of the park that is being over-stayed in might be a better idea.

Lower fines would likely be more easily and promptly paid too.

If all else fails you can just do what I usually do – park at one of the hundreds of one and two hour “free parking” spaces that ring Napier’s CBD – Along parts of Marine Parade, next to the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council building, up Shakespeare Road and down Munroe Street – soak up the wonderful Napier weather and enjoy the very short stroll from these already ratepayer-funded car parks into town.

Ultimately, there has to be something in town worth paying to stay and visit, too.

Rows of empty shops, vacated when landlords’ income expectations far exceed their current worth won’t attract people into city centres.

Neither will a lack of events or activities that enhance or compliment the CBD.

Bringing vibrancy and vitality back to our CBDs is what is needed to re-enliven our city centres.

If city councillors, or those tasked with looking after the heartbeat of our main business and shopping areas seriously think that a dollar or two is the only thing inhibiting our city centres from thriving, it’s beyond time they stood aside.

Why should a CBD’s vitality be fined for their over-staying?

Hawke’s Bay’s (and New Zealand’s) inner cities deserve better!

May The Fourth Be With You!

Posted on November 19, 2015 by Andrew Frame

I was born the same year as Star Wars.

A good chunk of my formative years involved helping make George Lucas INCREDIBLY rich by playing with Star Wars toys, watching the original trilogy at Napier’s grand old State Cinema (with the “tangy fruit” spheres coming out of the wall), re-enacting all the major battles with my friends in the school playground (everyone wanted to be Han Solo – he was the coolest by far!), wanting to make my own epic space movies and dreaming of going places “a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away”

I remember seeing a “behind the scenes” documentary on TV one weekend showing how they did the special effects for Return of the Jedi and in particular the Endor speeder-bike chase.

Here I was – young and impressionable, watching how the most awesome movies ever made were created using what they called “models”, but to all intents and purposes for a five year old were TOYS!!!

My. Mind. Was. Blown!

I got older and the pull of The Force dwindled. I still have some of my original Star Wars toys and a souvenir Return of the Jedi cup from either the movie theatre or Pizza Hutt and the dream of making epic movies is still there but, I fear the opportunity and timing has passed me by.

The prequels came and went. I saw them all, but they were aimed at a much younger, even more commercial audience than even I could stomach.

Like Yoda, my love for Star Wars found its own nice, quiet corner of the Dagobah System and kept to itself for many, many years.

Hope still stuck with me. I lost some – it was my Dad’s middle, and Granddad’s first name and it was something I hung onto tightly when we were going through IVF.

But then the Force awakened.

Watching the trailers, I got chills.

J.J. Abrams did a fantastic job reinvigorating the Star Trek franchise. New cast members breathing a younger life into characters that first “boldly went” almost half a century ago.

In the trailers for The Force Awakens, while still managing to reveal very little of the movie’s actual plot, Abrams has brought a similarly fresh breath of air to the Star Wars universe by returning to some original themes as well as new aspects for old favourites.

We see the character of Rey taking a moment from her job at hand to stare at a distant craft launching into the sky.

It’s very much like Luke Skywalker gazing across the sands of Tatooine as its setting twin suns sink slowly to the horizon.

That same wistful wanderlust. The dream there must be something bigger and better out there. If only we could depart our current situations and get there.

And while Rebel X-Wings and Imperial Tie Fighters were usually only seen battling it out in the depths of space in the original trilogy, in the new episode trailers we see Tie Fighters attacking a desert camp out of the setting sun and X-Wings skimming the surface of a lake in an attack run – much more fighter planes than spaceships.

Throw in the Millennium Falcon being pursued across a planet’s surface and into the hulk of crash-landed Star Destroyer, light sabre battles, the latest evolution of the iconic, white Imperial Stormtrooper suit, Han, Chewie, R2D2 and that magnificent score by John Williams and the London Symphony Orchestra and suddenly it feels like I’m a little kid all over again!

Even Toddler in Frame is getting hyped up for it – she wanted me to play the trailers I showed her again and again and again… or she might have just wanted to play with my phone…

But the best reaction I found was that of Daisy Ridley, who plays Rey in the new movie.

She watches the latest trailer wide-eyed, before sobbing “..It looks amazing!”

The fact someone involved in the making of a movie can be so blown away by it speaks volumes of the power of the movies.

I can’t wait until December to become a kid again, The Force is strong in this one!

Who’s Looking After Napier CBD’s Vibrancy?

Posted on November 16, 2015 by Andrew Frame

After decades of under-use, Napier’s Soundshell is finally getting some much needed action.

A recurring event, called the “Napier Night Fiesta” will be held at the Soundshell on Marine Parade beginning this Friday, 20 November.

Events are set to run for around three hours, one Friday each month and along with entertainment, food and drink the event is aimed at being child and family friendly.

Food stalls at the inaugural event are to include Pipi Pizza, Paella a Go Go, Indigo, Berry Tub Ice Cream and Design Cuisine, with Craggy Range and other local wineries, craft breweries and other vendors set to take part in future Fiestas.

“When we look at what happens in the city throughout the year, and city spaces, you can see the Soundshell is an under-utilised venue. We think it really does lend itself to being used a lot more for events.”

“The Fiesta is one way of making Napier’s centre more lively and encouraging people to use it in a positive way.”

Napier City Council Planner Fleur Lincoln.

Napier City Council says its “City Vision” project was set up to look at “opportunities for creating more vibrancy in the city centre and surrounding areas”. WIFI connected “Chill-out Areas / Urban Oasis” and a “child-friendly Pop N Play” playground on Emerson Street are both City Vision concepts.

I’m a bit conflicted by this new “Fiesta” idea.

Napier has been in dire need of events and attractions for locals like this for years, so it’s great to see some action FINALLY happening!

It’s the sort of event I have been calling for for years and years. All too often, it felt, for nought.

So what took them so long?

In their announcement even the council themselves note it is something that has been missing in the city.

So why wait?

And isn’t this sort of event, rather than being the domain of the council itself, supposed to be something more suited to an organisation like Napier Inner City Marketing?

NICM’s goals, according to their Mission Statement, include:
• A people-centred city – a welcoming destination for tourists and locals to enjoy
• Uniqueness, vibrancy and prosperity
• Creativity and innovation
• Celebrating beauty – vibrant, attracting artistic and creative talent

NICM currently runs a handful of events each year including a city-wide sale in the slowest winter months and a “Random Acts of Kindness Day”, so you’d think something like this Fiesta would fit in nicely and attract more people into town, especially through the CBD and up Emerson Street on the way to the Soundshell.

So why didn’t NICM seize the initiative and take the lead with a project like this years ago?

Or did Napier City Council’s “City Vision” get sick of waiting and steal their thunder?

I have heard from CBD retailers that in recent times the council has organised and gone ahead with a number of decorative and activity-type things in the inner city without consulting NICM members first.

It looks like City Vision’s Chill-out Areas / Urban Oasis is one such development.

One of Inner City Marketing’s other mission goals is “A smart ‘I-city’. Napier City Council already operates free Wifi in parts of the CBD, but City Vision’s Chill-out Areas / Urban Oasis also act as Wifi Hotspots thanks to local telecommunications providers NOW.

Regardless of who is doing it, it’s great to see more activity in Napier’s CBD, especially heading into the summer months.

But you still have to still ask:

Who is really looking after Napier CBD’s vibrancy?

And what took them so long?

P.S.:

The night after Friday Fiesta, Hawke’s Bay’s Indian community will be celebrating Diwali at the Soundshell.

With music dancing and food, it has become one of Napier’s great cultural events and well worth attending!

FINALLY – A Roundabout for HB’s Worst Black-spot!

Posted on October 1, 2015 by Andrew Frame

Black-spot: The intersection of Meeanee Quay and State Highway 2B – Looks innocent enough, eh?

Yesterday one of Hawke’s Bay’s most notorious intersections – the junction of State Highway 2B and Meeanee Quay in Westshore – claimed another life.

This intersection is in the top five for serious and fatal crashes in New Zealand. That is not a chart we want to feature on.

It is the latest in a number of fatalities, several serious crashes and countless fender-benders and near-misses that this intersection has been the site of since its creation.

The entrance to HB Airport (top) and the SH2B / Meeanee Quay intersection (bottom) – Two of HB’s worst traffic black-spots.

It seems rather illogical that this intersection should be the location of so much carnage, as the site is a large, open space with clear visibility for hundreds of meters in several directions.

Drivers being unable to judge the speed of oncoming traffic were identified as a key factor in a number of crashes, so a stretch of around a kilometre, including this intersection and the entrance to Hawke’s Bay Airport (also a black spot) was reduced from 100kph to 80kph.

Yet the accidents keep happening.

Plastic delineators were also installed along the stretch of road with the intention of marking out lanes, but they have merely added confusion for some and certainly give little physical protection from the traffic rushing past

There have long been calls from the public for the intersection to be replaced with a roundabout that would both slow traffic and ease the confluence of these busy roads.

Other publically proposed plans included closing off the current entrance to the Hawke’s Bay Airport 500 meters from the Meeanee Quay intersection, upgrading Watchman Road, which also joins onto SH2B at this point and redirecting the airport traffic through this proposed roundabout and along Watchman Road.

An artist’s impression of the proposed changes to SH2B

It appears that common sense has finally sunken in and NZTA – the New Zealand Transport Agency is planning to build a roundabout at this intersection, which will also include a new access point for the airport, in 2016-2017.

I have been told negotiations for the purchase of or access to the required land is currently underway.

In today’s Hawke’s Bay Today Mark Story pointed the finger at human error, rather than the intersection itself, being at fault – and he’s absolutely right!

Human error is to blame for the number of accidents on this intersection – but on more levels than Mark suggests:

It’s human error that misjudges the speed or distance of oncoming traffic.

It’s human error that stops impatient drivers from waiting 10-30 seconds for a clear break in the traffic.

It’s human error that causes indicators, brake pedals, accelerators and road rules to be used improperly, or completely ignored going through such intersections.

But when the human errors of individual drivers like those listed above just can’t be altered and the number of accidents, injuries and deaths at intersections like State Highway 2B and Meeanee Quay start to mount, it’s the human error of authorities overseeing such intersections and the safety of those who use them not taking drastic action sooner that must be brought into question and accounted for.

This junction is a known accident black spot and has been so for years. In its current state it continues to injure, maim and kill.

So why wait?

How did the unnecessary four-laning of Prebensen Drive get priority over properly fixing this fatally flawed black-spot once and for all?

With lives at stake and so many already tragically effected, what took them so long?

Hawke’s Bay road users deserved better!

Miracles Happen!

Posted on October 1, 2015 by Andrew Frame

I wonder why I bother sometimes.

There is no point in writing if no one is reading.

You can verbally plead a case until you’re blue in the face, but unless someone is listening it’s nothing but wasted breath.

But occasionally miracles happen.

You may remember how I made a written submission and a presentation to Napier City Council’s ten year plan a few months ago.

You may also remember the total lack of reaction it got.

Well, it might not have been total.

A month or so after my presentation I checked in upon the NCC website and, lo and behold, there were changes!

The outdated youth page had been given some attention and there was a note saying the council’s Youth Policy was to be updated in 2015 – that’s this year!

I also had a look at the Youth Council of Napier (YCoN) Facebook page and discovered that just before my submission was made Napier city councilors had met with YCoN, and I believe there may have been another meeting since.

One of the leaders of the youth group that now oversees YCoN even made contact to suggest we meet up to discuss what can be done for youth in Napier.

My concept was also taken up by Baybuzz’s magazine and blog who asked to video an interview of me and my idea and printed a condensed version in their latest magazine.

It’s nice to know people are listening and taking notice occasionally.

Now onto the next step – Turn more of my words into actions!

Miracles do happen!

P.S.: I could have also suggested that my posts on amalgamation and the lack of airline competition harming Hawke’s Bay’s economy also helped recent positive outcomes in both cases, but there’s a fine line between miracles and delusion! 😉

It’s 2010 All Over Again – A Panda Paradox!

Posted on October 1, 2015 by Andrew Frame

“Minister, have you changed your hairstyle?”

If you think all the current Panda-monium over a couple of Chinese residents possibly getting preferential treatment and $10mill of taxpayer money is new then you’re barking up the wrong bamboo tree!.

One of the saddest aspects of New Zealand’s current media standards is that they seem utterly unable to remember anything.

This used to be the realm of editors and sub-editors, who would spell and fact-check items before publication. With media cost cutting and profit making, these positions were outsourced, disestablished, automated, or just plain forgotten – and with it went our media’s memory.

Because, had these “Sub-eds” still been in place today, they would have gladly informed us that pandas were all the rage way back in 2010!

Former Wellington Mayor Kerry Prendergast discussed bringing pandas to our capital’s zoo when she met with the mayor of Beijing on a visit to China in June 2010.

That same month newly minted Prime Minister John Key said he had not ruled out acquiring a giant panda for Auckland Zoo.

“Mr Key yesterday told TVNZ’s Breakfast programme he would suggest trading two pandas for two kiwi as a cost-saving measure.
“My idea was, I know people pay $10 million but we’re a special friend of China, why couldn’t we give them some kiwis. Two for two, kiwis are worth a lot.”
He later said the aim was to determine the value of the panda “versus the value of a kiwi”.
“The argument is really to say, look, this is a forming of a strong bond with China and one way is to exchange animals that are of national significance to each country.”
Mr Key said any zoo that took on the pandas would to pay costs, including building enclosures and supplying food. The animals would also require specialist staff.”

John Key, NZ Herald article, June 29 2010

Even Napier was having a go – In July that year local man Max Patmoy proposed the empty Marineland site as a potentially perfect panda playground.

Napier’s concept even made it onto TV3’s Campbell Live! (please tell me you remember that marvellous show?)

None of these bids amounted to anything, of course.

But here we are, five years later, panda-ing to yet another distraction, going through the same hoopla and rigmarole yet again.

If only someone had the cranial fortitude to remind the nation we’ve been here before.

I bet the pandas remember…

…And Be Counted!

Posted on September 1, 2015 by Andrew Frame

“The ultimate rulers of our democracy are… the voters.” Sir Richard Branson

If there was an election held today on voter participation in Hawke’s Bay apathy would win in a landslide.

If anyone bothered to vote, that is…

I did a bit of research and found for the last four local body elections – coming up on 14 years now, less than 50 percent of registered Napier voters have exercised their democratic right.

I could only trace records for the Hastings District Council elections back three elections, but they were even worse!

That’s pretty stink.

As a result of voter apathy, elected rulers of our region have largely attained or kept their positions of power thanks to the majority of a minority.

That’s not good enough.

But voter apathy could cause even more harm to our region if such a trend continues.

The vote on whether to keep Hawke’s Bay’s current governance system, or amalgamate the region’s five councils can’t have escaped many people’s attention – even more so in recent weeks with the mailing out of election papers and the ramping up of rhetoric from both sides.

Rather than being a shining example of how local body politics and an electoral system SHOULD work, it has steadily degenerated into an embarrassing farce for our region as the debate wore on.

There have been empty promises and even emptier slogans. Claims and counterclaims of cooperation and competition. Heck, both sides have even resorted to name-calling.

All that’s left is spitting, scratching and biting.

It’s basically become one big Taylor Swift song, just without the teenaged boys’ fantasy of music video.

Had all the money that’s been spent on placards, postcards and pushing different points of view (just how much does buying a front page wrap-around “advertisement” on multiple local newspapers cost these days?) been put to better use, many of the problems our region currently faces – and many of the reasons for the big-spending side’s existence could have been dealt with!

All this could have been avoided by one simple action – a MAJORITY of the population voting!

So here is your chance – Do some research, make an informed decision, tick a box and VOTE!

This is OUR region and WE get ultimate say in how it is governed!

Is “Smith’s Dream” Becoming NZ’s Real-life Nightmare?

Posted on August 17, 2015 by Andrew Frame

NZ Author C.K. Stead was made NZ’s Poet Laureate last week and the timing could not have been more perfect.

I remember seeing the headline online and thinking “I must read that”, but I got distracted by another headline, concerning a Christchurch man who had been visited by police and warned they had “opened a file” and “were keeping an eye” on him because he was sending an email each day to Christchurch insurance company Southern Response.

Cameron Preston, a vocal Christchurch earthquakes insurance claims campaigner, said he sent emails daily “because they never respond” (hugely ironic, considering the company’s name).

The fact that today, more than four years after New Zealand’s most recent, costliest and deadliest earthquake in 80 years people are still homeless and fighting their insurers for pay-outs would indicate that daily emails and reminders would be more of a necessity – especially from local and national media, or whichever government department or minister is supposed to be overseeing the process.

But, no. That task falls to an accountant from Christchurch and he gets put on a police watch-list for his troubles.

Hardly seems fair, really.

Within 24 hours, I read a tweet from blogger Martyn Bradbury saying the police wanted to have a word with him over a post on his site.

Two cases of police intervention within a reasonably short space of time seemed a bit unusual. But then I remembered the story about C.K. Stead and that, in turn, reminded me about a story of his – “Smith’s Dream” and a few pennies dropped.

I first read “Smith’s Dream” and saw “Sleeping Dogs” – its film adaption in high school and, as a teenage male, was quite taken with its Action / Thriller plot and storyline – made even cooler by the fact it was set in New Zealand.

For those who haven’t read or seen it – the story follows a man named Smith amidst an alternative New Zealand timeline of political, social and military upheaval and makes just as gripping reading today as it did back then – maybe even more-so, when you consider these aspects of the book:

– New Zealand is led by a seemingly charismatic leader, whose image is everywhere and whose work is never questioned.
– The nation’s economy is suffering – especially its dairy industry.
– “Tens of thousands” are unemployed.
– “(Asian) eyes were fixed on fertile acres we no longer knew what to do with”.
– Auckland has taken over as the capital of New Zealand.
– As a result of internal and external threats, New Zealand cosies up to America, even allowing US armed forces into the country to help out with “security”.
– And like all such dystopian tales, Smith’s Dream features a special police force (called the “Special X” in this case) whose job it is to silence dissent.

It could almost be taken as a reasonably accurate commentary on New Zealand today – Not too bad for a work of fiction written in 1971!

Stead certainly deserves the prestigious title for his creative fore-sight!

Napier In Frame

Tag Archives: Politics