B01 001 **[045 TEXT B01**]
B01 002 *<*4What hope is there for South Africa?*>
B01 003 |^*6T*2HE *0New Zealand rugby rebels have been lucky to
B01 004 complete their tour of South Africa without incidents casting
B01 005 doubts on their claim it had nothing to do with politics.
B01 006 ^Another fortnight and they would have been caught up in South
B01 007 Africa's unprecedented nation-wide state of emergency which was
B01 008 declared yesterday.
B01 009    |^This was imposed four days before the 10th anniversary of
B01 010 the Soweto riots which the Government said would spark
B01 011 widespread unrest.
B01 012    |^Unfortunately, it is well past the stage where a state of
B01 013 emergency will contribute much to solving South Africa's
B01 014 problems.  ^The majority of whites now realise they cannot hold
B01 015 the black threequarters of the population in subjection
B01 016 forever.  ^However, the reforms of the Botha government are
B01 017 anathema to a minority of whites, and they are not radical or
B01 018 rapid enough for the blacks.
B01 019    |^What this means is that it could be impossible to solve
B01 020 the problems by constitutional means.  ^A bloodbath seems
B01 021 inevitable.
B01 022    |^President Botha is insisting that the gradual transition
B01 023 of power can only be made under law and order imposed by a
B01 024 white-dominated army and police force, otherwise anarchy would
B01 025 quickly result.
B01 026    |^This is unacceptable to the blacks and any change at all
B01 027 is resented and will be resisted by the reactionary Right-wing
B01 028 whites.  ^The power of this group should not be
B01 029 under**[ARB**]-estimated; nor should the possibility of a white
B01 030 military coup be discounted.
B01 031    |^The Commonwealth is on the point of applying economic
B01 032 sanctions on South Africa.  ^These would make its internal
B01 033 situation worse and, as always, it is the blacks who will
B01 034 suffer most.
B01 035    |^The outside world, with the possible exception of rugby
B01 036 players, their officials and supporters, can only look at South
B01 037 Africa in despair.
B01 038 *<*4Restrictions on judges*>
B01 039    |^*0Should a judge have to watch his Ps and Qs in his own
B01 040 court?
B01 041    |^South Auckland probation officers think so and are
B01 042 considering asking the Governor-General to investigate
B01 043 complaints about an Otahuhu District Court judge.
B01 044    |^This judge held a probation officer in contempt of court
B01 045 for remarks he made after the judge had sentenced a Maori woman
B01 046 to a term of imprisonment.
B01 047    |^The probation officers now apparently think they have a
B01 048 right to express an opinion about a judge's attitude and to
B01 049 have him reprimanded if he expresses an opinion with which they
B01 050 do not agree.
B01 051    |^Considering the relative positions of judges and probation
B01 052 officers, this seems very much a case of the tail trying to wag
B01 053 the dog.
B01 054    |^The privilege that judges have in court means that not
B01 055 only can they act without fear of favour but also they are not
B01 056 inhibited in saying what they think should be said.
B01 057    |^Take this privilege from them, or put curbs on it, and
B01 058 judges will become puppets, with probation officers, among
B01 059 others, pulling the strings.
B01 060 *<*4National era ends*>
B01 061    |^*6T*2HE *0departure of \0Mr Barrie Leay marks the end of
B01 062 an important phase in the history of the National Party.  ^The
B01 063 Muldoonist faction welcomes his resignation, needless to say.
B01 064 ^Sir Robert, who has been fiercely critical of the 
B01 065 secretary-general ever since the election defeat of 1984, says he will
B01 066 not be attending the wake.  ^The Sunday Club no doubt views it
B01 067 as the final downfall of the triumvirate which it had fought
B01 068 against so hard.  ^\0Mrs Wood is stepping down from the
B01 069 presidency, \0Mr McLay is no longer leader, and \0Mr Leay is to
B01 070 hand over the reins of party administration.  ^Despite the
B01 071 obvious glee of \0Mr Bert Walker and others, however, it would
B01 072 be wrong to see \0Mr Leay's departure as simply a victory for
B01 073 Muldoonism.
B01 074    |^Sir Robert, stung by the overwhelming election defeat, was
B01 075 quick to criticise the party hierarchy, and \0Mr Leay in
B01 076 particular.  ^It is true that the campaign was lame and
B01 077 unconvincing.  ^Labour appeared to have, quite simply, a more
B01 078 efficient party machine than National *- a most unusual state
B01 079 of affairs.  ^But no one person or even group of people was
B01 080 responsible for this situation, so it is unfair to seize on a
B01 081 scapegoat.  ^The party hierarchy was clearly unhappy with the
B01 082 decision to call the snap election, and in the event their
B01 083 judgment was far sounder than the leader's.  ^The electorate
B01 084 was not convinced by the stated reasons for dissolving
B01 085 Parliament, and neither was it ready to re-elect the National
B01 086 Party.
B01 087    |^One of the abiding images of the 1984 campaign was the
B01 088 disastrous National advertisement of Sir Robert with the
B01 089 caption: ^Who Needs Him?  ^But it remains unclear, in fact,
B01 090 just who was responsible for this particular gaffe.  ^In any
B01 091 case, the individual most responsible for the most disastrous
B01 092 defeat in the party's history was, of course, Sir Robert
B01 093 himself.  ^He made the decision to call the election and he
B01 094 chose to make his leadership the main issue of the campaign.
B01 095 ^The result was a resounding personal defeat.  ^\0Mr Leay and
B01 096 his colleagues were merely aides-de-camp, staff officers of a
B01 097 general who led his troops to destruction.
B01 098    |^One of the iron laws of New Zealand politics, it seems is
B01 099 that governments waste away over time.  ^With a one-seat
B01 100 majority, the long-serving National Government was in any event
B01 101 staring defeat in the face.  ^When the loss occurred, the other
B01 102 iron law of politics *- that defeated parties divide into
B01 103 warring camps *- then took effect.  ^Finally, however, the
B01 104 bloodletting ceases, and this process is far more important
B01 105 than the individual fortunes of \0Mr Leay or Sir Robert.
B01 106 ^There have been changes to the party organisation, and the
B01 107 lame duck leadership of \0Mr McLay has been replaced.
B01 108    |^Sir Robert remains on the front bench, while \0Mrs Wood,
B01 109 \0Mr McLay and \0Mr Leay fade from centre stage.  ^But this is
B01 110 not a victory for Muldoonism, or at the most it is a pyrrhic
B01 111 one.  ^\0Mr Bolger may not be the marketeer \0Mr McLay was, but
B01 112 he is most unlikely to return to the drastic economic
B01 113 interventions of Sir Robert.  ^Nor, it seems, will he practise
B01 114 personality politics.  ^Sir Robert no longer leads or controls
B01 115 the party, even though some of his main adversaries within it
B01 116 are departing.  ^The victory lies with the party itself.  ^It,
B01 117 and \0Mr Bolger, still have problems, as the latest polls show,
B01 118 but there is now a solid base on which to build afresh.
B01 119 *<*2ALSO A CHANGE WITHIN*>
B01 120    |^*0On Tuesday \0Mr Merwyn Norrish, the Secretary of Foreign
B01 121 Affairs, told a Takapuna audience that New Zealand's 
B01 122 self-confidence and sense of identity keep growing stronger as more
B01 123 of the postwar generation move into places of power.
B01 124    |^The next day, Wellington saw on display another shift in
B01 125 attitudes.  ^A flock of farmers marched on Parliament to
B01 126 protest at the way things are going against them.  ^Some expect
B01 127 their incomes to be halved; some fear they will lose their
B01 128 land; some say that the dole is their only future.
B01 129    |^In the circumstances their minds were probably focused
B01 130 firmly on their angers and their fears and on the adventure of
B01 131 putting themselves in the front line.  ^Yet they must have
B01 132 noticed something of their surroundings: the polish and finish
B01 133 of Wellington's expensive new office blocks, the marks of style
B01 134 and ease among people on the footpath, the signs of comfort
B01 135 everywhere and of money.
B01 136    |^Most of all they must have noticed the confident bearing
B01 137 of townspeople and their strange indifference as if thousands
B01 138 of marching country feet were of little more interest than some
B01 139 fire engine wailing its way through town.
B01 140    |^As with \0Mr Norrish's shift in the way of looking
B01 141 outwards, so there has been a move within.  ^Simply because the
B01 142 whole country now earns its living in more various ways than it
B01 143 used to, its centres of power have spread.
B01 144    |^One result *- and this was noticeable even before
B01 145 farming's present troubles *- is that no longer does an
B01 146 ineffable aura of rightness cling to money made by selling wool
B01 147 or cattle.  ^And how could it, farmers would ask, when the
B01 148 money they make is so slight that even scents cannot settle on
B01 149 it?
B01 150    |^Instead the cities now seem to be living in a separate
B01 151 economy.  ^The crash may yet move into town but even if it does
B01 152 it will still remain true that the cities have become less
B01 153 dependent on the countryside.  ^The Wairarapa, Hawkes Bay and
B01 154 Rangitikei graziers nowadays walk a little more diffidently in
B01 155 the capital.
B01 156    |^Such a shift in economic power is not necessarily a good
B01 157 thing nor bad.  ^It is simply something that is happening.
B01 158    |^And the farmers themselves underlined it when, talking on
B01 159 the radio on Wednesday morning, they declared that they would
B01 160 not be spending one avoidable cent in Wellington.  ^Instead on
B01 161 this pilgrimage of anger, grief and defiance they would all,
B01 162 they said, be taking their own cut lunches.
B01 163 *<*4Compromise Reaches New Peak*>
B01 164    |^*0In a decision bearing the hallmarks of Solomon, the
B01 165 Government has resolved the controversy over the renaming of
B01 166 Taranaki's famous landmark by giving it two official names.
B01 167 ^Henceforth the province will be dominated by *"\0Mt Taranaki
B01 168 or \0Mt Egmont**" in official maps and publications.
B01 169 ^Elsewhere, individuals and organisations can take their pick.
B01 170    |^While the solution may be amusingly regarded as one of the
B01 171 less subtle examples of compromise, it mirrors almost exactly
B01 172 popular feeling on the issue, as well as having a certain
B01 173 historical logic.  ^Having been gifted to the nation by the
B01 174 Maori people, the mountain has historical and spiritual
B01 175 significance inviting recognition with a restoration of its
B01 176 original name.
B01 177    |^That debt is duly honoured with the official precedence
B01 178 given to Taranaki.  ^The strength of feeling for preserving the
B01 179 current name may not be readily understood outside the former
B01 180 province, given that the second Earl of Egmont was of
B01 181 tangential historical importance to the country.  ^However, the
B01 182 familiar European name recognises the impact of non-Maori
B01 183 settlement and the multi-racial nature of communities girding
B01 184 the mountain.
B01 185    |^There are precedents for official dual place names, and
B01 186 some instincts for *"unofficial**" Maori alternatives.
B01 187 ^However, it would be confusing, and disturbing, if use of such
B01 188 compromises became widespread.
B01 189 *<*4Disquieting Sheep Shipments*>
B01 190    |^*0Disquiet about shipments of live sheep is heightened
B01 191 with the news that 2565 sheep died in a shipment to Saudi
B01 192 Arabia last month, or about 3.6 per cent of the total.  ^That
B01 193 proportion is significantly higher than occurred with shipments
B01 194 to Mexico in January and March, when deaths amounted to about
B01 195 2.5 and 2.9 per cent respectively.
B01 196    |^After the January shipment to Mexico the Government
B01 197 insisted on improvements to the feed and to the ventilation
B01 198 system in the Merino Express.  ^On the March voyage the
B01 199 dispatching company blamed feed lacking in roughage for many of
B01 200 the deaths and said it would take further action.  ^The cause
B01 201 of the deaths in the Saudi Arabia shipment, in a different
B01 202 ship, has apparently not yet been reported.
B01 203    |^So far, shipments amount to only about 14 per cent of the
B01 204 Government's 750,000 quota for this year.  ^The country should
B01 205 be given assurances that future travelling conditions will
B01 206 contain deaths to lesser proportions.  ^And there should be
B01 207 more official concern about the fate of the animals on arrival.
B01 208 ^New Zealand raised the animals for its purposes and has a
B01 209 moral obligation not to ship them to an overseas reception that
B01 210 could be reckoned cruel by New Zealand standards.
B01 211 *<*4Prelude to war?*>
B01 212    |^*6T*2HE WAR *0of nerves between Washington and Tripoli is
B01 213 building into a dangerous escalation.  ^The tension, sparked by
B01 214 last month's terrorist attacks in Europe, has heightened with
B01 215 reinforcements to the United States Mediterranean fleet and a
B01 216 predictable Soviet response with two combat ships leaving the
B01 217 Black Sea for the area.
B01 218    |^Already the {0US} has launched two F18 jets to intercept
B01 219 two sight-seeing Libyan Mig 25 jets.  ^It is all a familiar
B01 220 replay of the 1981 incident over the Gulf of Sidra when the
B01 221 United States shot down two Libyan jets.  ^Even the rhetoric is
B01 222 the same, with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi threatening to
B01 223 take the fight to the American streets.
B01 224    |^Now Colonel Gaddafi has said thousands of Tripoli youths
B01 225 will be trained for terrorist and suicide missions.  ^Colonel
B01 226 Gaddafi is dangerous enough to do something so stupid.
B01 227    |^In the short term the practical response to terrorism is
B01 228 greater international co-operation to enhance security and
B01 229 improve policing.  ^In the long term, we reiterate that the
B01 230 solution to Middle East terrorism is Middle East peace.
B01 231    |^The present military-style response to Colonel Gaddafi is
B01 232 feeding an ego that is out of proportion to his role and
B01 233 influence.  ^He has delusions of grandeur, with Libya as *"the
B01 234 base for the Liberation of Palestine**".
B01 235    |^In that wider political battle, Libya is insignificant and
B01 236 Colonel Gaddafi an irritant to the more powerful and
B01 237 influential Arab leaders.  ^But they must welcome the
B01 238 distraction he provides from the more alarming development that
B01 239 is going on in the Middle East.
B01 240    |^Over the last two months there has been a major
B01 241 realignment within the Arab world, with moderate Jordan and
B01 242 radical Syria resuming friendly relations.
B01 243    |^Jordan has shown a genuine interest in a peaceful
B01 244 political resolution of the conflict.  ^But Syria is Israel's
B01 245 most resolute enemy, dedicated to armed struggle.  ^Syria is
B01 246 spending 30 per cent of its gross national product preparing
B01 247 for war, with President Hafez Assad pledged to achieve military
B01 248 parity with Israel.  ^It also has a strong alliance with Egypt
B01 249 and Saudi Arabia, which includes intensive military 
B01 250 co-operation.
B01 251    |^With Jordan, these Arab countries are reportedly spending
B01 252 close on *+${0US}25 billion a year on their armed forces
B01 253 compared with, Israel's *+${0US}2.6 billion.  ^There is growing
B01 254 concern that this is a prelude to war.
B01 255    |^For now, Jordan and particularly Egypt, the leading Arab
B01 256 country and the only one with a peace treaty negotiated with
B01 257 Israel, have the initiative.  ^But if the political process
B01 258 fails then the more radical countries and Islamic
B01 259 fundamentalists, who reject political compromise, could
B01 260 prevail.  ^While proclaiming peace, Jordan's new friendship
B01 261 with its old foe, Syria, is an alarming indication that King
B01 262 Hussein feels he must placate his neighbour.
B01 263    |^For its part, the friendship aids Syria's attempts to
B01 264 undermine political initiatives and exert greater pressure on
B01 265 the Arab world for a military solution.  ^This makes it all the
B01 266 more important for the Western world to remain even-handed in
B01 267 its response to terrorism, and apply urgent pressure for a
B01 268 peaceful, political solution in the Middle East.
B01 269 *#
B02 001 **[046 TEXT B02**]
B02 002 *<*4Ease up on taxpayers, \0Mr Douglas*>
B02 003    |^*6I*2T *0is going to cost 40\0c instead of 30\0c to post a
B02 004 letter.  ^The Opposition spokesman on the Post Office, \0Mr
B02 005 Robert Maxwell, has hit the nail on the head with his comment
B02 006 that taxing the consumer has been developed by the Government
B02 007 into a state of the art.
B02 008    |^The news about the postal service keeps getting worse.
B02 009 ^The Post Office reported in October that last year it lost
B02 010 *+$23.7\0m before tax.  ^It warned of the forthcoming increase
B02 011 by saying the mail had to be priced to reflect the cost.
B02 012    |^For several years there have been frequent and hefty
B02 013 increases in postal charges in spite of enormous profits made
B02 014 by other divisions of the Post Office.  ^The postal service has
B02 015 become a cost-plus operation with the Government seemingly
B02 016 unable to do anything to put it on a profitable basis except
B02 017 increase charges.
B02 018    |^A point to remember is that the Government has a monopoly
B02 019 of the mail.  ^The Minister of Finance, \0Mr Douglas, is always
B02 020 saying that competition will bring down or at least hold
B02 021 prices.  ^However, competition has no place in his scheme of
B02 022 things when it comes to protecting government monopolies.  ^It
B02 023 is far easier to put up charges and say it still costs less to
B02 024 post a letter in New Zealand than in other countries.
B02 025    |^The point is irrelevant without making a comparison of
B02 026 taxes and the enormous sums the Government is now taking from
B02 027 taxpayers.  ^\0Mr Douglas should not need reminding that {0GST}
B02 028 means tax is paid on hundreds of new items, such as rates.  ^He
B02 029 is certainly not doing taxpayers a favour by raising postal
B02 030 rates by 33 1/3 per cent.
B02 031    |^\0Mr Douglas is desperate for money and things are going
B02 032 seriously wrong with his financial policies.  ^The 1986-87
B02 033 Budget deficit is now forecast at *+$2.9 billion, up *+$460\0m
B02 034 on its original estimates.  ^Somehow the Government is going to
B02 035 find *+$400\0m to pin the deficit back.
B02 036    |^What means will be used to find the money?  ^The one thing
B02 037 that seems certain is that taxpayers will be slugged again in
B02 038 one form or another.
B02 039    |^Everyone knows the Government inherited big problems but
B02 040 it cannot go on forever blaming all the flaws in its financial
B02 041 management on them.
B02 042    |^What \0Mr Douglas should remember is that there is an
B02 043 election next year and it is time to start making decisions on
B02 044 a political as well as a financial basis.
B02 045    |^If all people remember at the ballot box is that Roger
B02 046 Douglas was the man who made it too expensive to post letters,
B02 047 then his cause is lost, and the election with it.
B02 048 *<*4User-pays education*>
B02 049    |^*6T*2HE *0Government's decision to increase dramatically
B02 050 the fees for School Certificate and bursary examinations has
B02 051 been widely condemned, and with reason.  ^The Top Tier group of
B02 052 private enterprise interests does not always or even often
B02 053 agree with the education lobby over matters of schooling.  ^The
B02 054 Government has managed in this case to unite both groups in
B02 055 opposition.  ^Top Tier spokesman Duncan Hamilton can hardly be
B02 056 written off as just another state-funded liberal lobbyist eager
B02 057 to protect his own patch.  ^He says his group supports the
B02 058 Government's attempt to inject economic realism into the public
B02 059 sector, *"but this is taking the user-pays principle too
B02 060 far**".  ^We agree.
B02 061    |^Education Minister Russell Marshall has said a reduction
B02 062 in the controversial fee is now likely.  ^That is not good
B02 063 enough.  ^The Government should rescind its decision.
B02 064    |^The rise in fees, taken by itself, might not appear
B02 065 excessive to some.  ^It is steep in percentage terms *- a 57
B02 066 per cent rise for the School Certificate fee and a rise of more
B02 067 than 80 per cent for the bursary examination.  ^But in dollar
B02 068 terms, some might not think the fees too outlandish: a student
B02 069 taking five School Certificate subjects will have to pay *+$66
B02 070 instead of *+$42, and the bursary student *+$105 instead of
B02 071 *+$57.  ^For some families, however, these will be increases
B02 072 which break an already-stretched household budget.  ^One of the
B02 073 problems is that parents are already required to pay
B02 074 substantial sums to the schools for quite basic educational
B02 075 requirements.  ^Nobody believes that education is provided free
B02 076 in this country, despite the official myth.  ^These fee
B02 077 increases just make it even more expensive than it already was.
B02 078    |^There are areas of state activity where the user can be
B02 079 fairly required to pay.  ^This is not one of them.  ^The ideal
B02 080 of state education in New Zealand has always been equal
B02 081 opportunity for all to reach their fullest potential.  ^The
B02 082 ideal has never been attained, of course.  ^But the fee
B02 083 increases will make this economic skewing of education even
B02 084 more marked.  ^Already some principals are talking about
B02 085 advising certain pupils not to waste their money.  ^Others are
B02 086 suggesting degrading *"lay-by**" schemes to enable families to
B02 087 save up for School \0C.
B02 088    |^It is not good enough for the Department of Social Welfare
B02 089 to offer special help for families struggling to pay the exam
B02 090 fees.  ^This is a demeaning and in any case ineffective means
B02 091 of providing aid.  ^These selective and only-given-on-application 
B02 092 types of subsidy invariably fail to reach all those
B02 093 who need them.  ^In any case there is an important principle at
B02 094 stake.  ^As long as national examinations are treated as
B02 095 integral and important parts of the education system, then
B02 096 access to them should be as of right, and no economic barriers
B02 097 should be put in the way.
B02 098    |^If this principle is accepted, it follows that there is a
B02 099 strong argument for abolishing the examination fees altogether.
B02 100 ^This would cost the Government *- and therefore the taxpayer
B02 101 *- about another *+$5 million a year, hardly an astronomical
B02 102 sum.  ^Unfortunately, the community has become so inured to the
B02 103 economic squeeze on education that a proposal to abolish
B02 104 examination fees will be seen by some as irresponsible and
B02 105 spineless:  ^So far down the road have we gone to 
B02 106 *"user-pays**" education.  ^It's time to stop.
B02 107 *<*4Chasing unenrolled voters*>
B02 108    |^*0A time surely must come when lazy or forgetful people no
B02 109 longer can expect to be spoon-fed.  ^A Labour Party critic of
B02 110 the electoral system, \0Mr Jack Palmer, was reported this week
B02 111 as saying that the names of as many as a quarter of a million
B02 112 voters might be removed from the rolls before the next General
B02 113 Election.  ^These are people who have failed to return
B02 114 electoral roll revision cards, or who have shifted from their
B02 115 last voting address and have not taken the trouble to give
B02 116 notice of the change.  ^The electoral roll control centre in
B02 117 Wellington cannot confirm \0Mr Palmer's figures; but it does
B02 118 not dispute them; the final figures will be known later.
B02 119    |^Whatever the actual number of people who have failed to
B02 120 register, \0Mr Palmer is concerned that *"thousands of voters
B02 121 are potentially disenfranchised.**" ^They are nothing of the
B02 122 sort, of course.  ^Thousands of voters *- indeed, perhaps as
B02 123 many as \0Mr Palmer's quarter of a million *- might be in
B02 124 danger of disqualifying themselves from voting by their
B02 125 laziness or forgetfulness, but they will have only themselves
B02 126 to blame.  ^The people for whom \0Mr Palmer campaigns, and they
B02 127 alone, will be depriving themselves of a vote by their
B02 128 negligence; no-one else is defrauding them of the right.
B02 129    |^On the contrary, a great deal has been done to make it as
B02 130 simple as possible for voters to comply with their obligation
B02 131 to register.  ^Millions of revision cards have been sent to the
B02 132 last known addresses of voters.  ^The details on the cards
B02 133 require only a few seconds to confirm, and no expense
B02 134 whatsoever to return.  ^In conjunction with this exercise, an
B02 135 extensive, and expensive, advertising campaign has alerted
B02 136 voters from every quarter that the time to check their
B02 137 enrolment is now.  ^Few voters, adult and supposedly
B02 138 intelligent, could be unaware of the obligation to register, or
B02 139 of their duty to notify changes of address, even within the
B02 140 same electorate.
B02 141    |^In spite of these efforts, it seems clear that about 10
B02 142 per cent of the voters whose names appeared on the general roll
B02 143 at the last election, and about 25 per cent of those who should
B02 144 be on the Maori roll, have not registered.  ^Barring a foul-up
B02 145 of monumental proportions when returns were tallied in the
B02 146 electoral roll control centre, apathy and negligence are the
B02 147 only plausible reasons for such a large number of outstanding
B02 148 registrations.
B02 149    |^Voting may be a right in a democratic New Zealand, but New
B02 150 Zealand law imposes the associated obligation to register.  ^It
B02 151 is not too much to require of the voters who have not yet
B02 152 registered that they do so in the time remaining to them.
B02 153 *<*4Australia's economy*>
B02 154    |^*0If the annual conference of the Australian Labour Party
B02 155 next month is anything like the annual conference of the
B02 156 Victorian Labour Party last week, the Hawke Government is in
B02 157 for a trying time.  ^The Victorian Labour Party overwhelmingly
B02 158 rejected the thrust of the policies set out in the speech by
B02 159 the Prime Minister, \0Mr Hawke, when he attempted to rally
B02 160 Australians to the process of tightening their belts and
B02 161 turning their attention to manufacturing.  ^\0Mr Hawke wanted
B02 162 some wage discounting, that is, not increasing wages by the
B02 163 full amount dictated by the index system established by the
B02 164 accord between the Government and the unions.  ^The Australian
B02 165 Budget to be delivered soon will be an austerity Budget.
B02 166    |^Like New Zealanders, Australians are suffering high
B02 167 interest rates and high inflation.  ^Gloom has been spread
B02 168 throughout Australia by a series of reports on the economy,
B02 169 some of them Government reports, from a bank and manufacturers,
B02 170 and one from an economics research organisation.  ^All predict
B02 171 a slowing of the economy, a worsening internal Government
B02 172 deficit, and a worsening balance of payments problem.  ^The
B02 173 call for wage discounting is part of the attempt to do
B02 174 something about the balance of payments.  ^The belief is that
B02 175 if Australian wage rates continue as they are running,
B02 176 Australia's competitiveness will be further reduced.
B02 177 ^Australian growth is likely to be low.  ^The economy may even
B02 178 shrink.  ^The Australian dollar has been falling markedly.
B02 179    |^All of this has some severe implications for New Zealand.
B02 180 ^The New Zealand economy has become far more closely linked to
B02 181 the Australian economy than it used to be.  ^While Australia's
B02 182 economy was growing this had considerable advantage.  ^Now that
B02 183 Australia's economy has slowed, adverse effects will be felt in
B02 184 New Zealand.  ^New Zealand cannot escape the consequences of a
B02 185 decline in the value of the Australian dollar, which is going
B02 186 down against the New Zealand dollar; and New Zealand will not
B02 187 escape the consequences of slower growth in the Australian
B02 188 economy.
B02 189    |^\0Mr Hawke established himself as a man who has a
B02 190 tremendous capacity to communicate with the Australian people.
B02 191 ^He is going to need all his great powers to persuade
B02 192 Australians to accept the austerity measures that the
B02 193 Australian Government sees are needed.  ^Persuading the
B02 194 {0A.L.P.} of the necessity of the austerity measures will test
B02 195 his capacity even more.
B02 196 *<*4What Others Say*>
B02 197    |^*0The Minister of Internal Affairs insults the integrity
B02 198 of the Broadcasting Tribunal when he suggests that Aotearoa
B02 199 Broadcasting Systems has no hope of being able to advance its
B02 200 case for a third television channel fairly without government
B02 201 help.
B02 202    |^Furthermore, \0Mr Tapsell seems to misunderstand the
B02 203 purpose of the hearing before the tribunal, which is to select,
B02 204 from a number of applicants including the Maori Council-backed
B02 205 Aotearoa, a private contender to supplement and compete with
B02 206 the present state-owned two-channel monopoly.
B02 207    |^The tribunal itself can be relied upon to guarantee that
B02 208 Aotearoa will get, in \0Mr Tapsell's term, *"a fair go.**"
B02 209 ^But how fair would it be to other applicants *- and how
B02 210 *"private**" would Aotearoa's proposal be *- if the Government
B02 211 helped to pay for its application?  ^Who, except for the
B02 212 minister, says that {0ABS} will have to have state aid?
B02 213    |^Many people may agree with \0Mr Tapsell's often-voiced
B02 214 contention that television, and specifically the Broadcasting
B02 215 Corporation, has performed poorly in presenting Maori culture.
B02 216    |^A certain cynicism, therefore, attaches to the
B02 217 corporation's backing of the Aotearoa application, perhaps to
B02 218 the tune of many millions of dollars.  ^Yet these are matters
B02 219 for the tribunal, and nobody else, to sort out; it will  reach
B02 220 its decision on the evidence before it.
B02 221    |^In the meantime, the Government should keep its nose out
B02 222 of the proceedings.  *- *4*"{0NZ} Herald**".
B02 223    |^*0In a short time Watties has emerged as the major force
B02 224 in the New Zealand meat industry.  ^With the deal it has worked
B02 225 out with its subsidiary, Waitaki {0NZR}, it now directly owns
B02 226 13 freezing works.
B02 227    |^There will be fears over the monopolistic nature of the
B02 228 venture and understandable nervousness in communities from
B02 229 Wairoa to Balclutha where the lives of thousands of people
B02 230 could be affected by boardroom deals.
B02 231    |^Watties has a duty and a responsibility to those people to
B02 232 spell out quickly and clearly what the future holds for them.
B02 233 *- *4*"Hawkes Bay Herald Tribune.**"
B02 234 *#
B03 001 **[047 TEXT B03**]
B03 002 *<*4Today's jobless tomorrow's voters*>
B03 003 |^*2RISING UNEMPLOYMENT HITTING *0hard in the provincial
B03 004 marginal electorates is bad news for the people and regions
B03 005 involved, and it is worse news for the Government.
B03 006    |^Forecasts show unemployment will be at least 20 percent
B03 007 worse next year approaching the election than when Labour came
B03 008 to power.
B03 009    |^Latest official figures on the registered unemployed show
B03 010 the provinces to be worst hit.  ^Gisborne has 2340 registered
B03 011 unemployed.  ^They represent 12.6 percent of the district's
B03 012 labour force.  ^Hastings, before closure of the Whakatu meat
B03 013 works has 2868 registered unemployed, representing 10.4 percent
B03 014 of the district's workforce.  ^Whangarei has 11.3 percent of
B03 015 its workers unemployed; Rotorua 9 percent; Napier 9.5 percent.
B03 016    |^South Island provincial centres also reflect a worse
B03 017 unemployment problem than in the larger cities.  ^Compare the
B03 018 above figures with, say, Auckland's Takapuna where 766 are
B03 019 registered unemployed.  ^They represent 1.1 percent of the
B03 020 district's labour force.  ^Lower Hutt has 1200 unemployed,
B03 021 representing 2 percent of the labour force there.
B03 022 ^Wellington's 2845 or 2.9 percent registered unemployed is
B03 023 lower than the total for a much smaller centre like Hastings.
B03 024    |^Rising unemployment and uncertainty about some existing
B03 025 jobs must have some electoral impact, specially when combined
B03 026 with the dramatic economic downturn for much of agriculture and
B03 027 its servicing industries.  ^It is a situation made to order for
B03 028 National to exploit.
B03 029    |^If sufficient rural and semi-rural electorates and
B03 030 associated provincial cities vote out Labour {0MP}s, replace
B03 031 them with National candidates, and continue to support sitting
B03 032 National {0MP}s then Labour is in grave risk of losing power.
B03 033 ^Labour's July, 1984, election strength in urban electorates is
B03 034 not necessarily iron clad for the next election.
B03 035    |^High and rising unemployment generates other problems for
B03 036 the Government.  ^Increased payments for the dole and increased
B03 037 support for worker training schemes, combines with reduced
B03 038 taxation revenue from the unemployed and the enterprises that
B03 039 used to give them work.  ^This combination increases the
B03 040 Government's internal deficit before borrowing.  ^That larger
B03 041 gap between what the Government earns and what it spends
B03 042 restricts policy options and helps to fuel inflation.  ^These
B03 043 things further irritate voters.
B03 044    |^The Government and Rogernomics will get the blame for what
B03 045 is happening but some of that blame will be unfair.  ^What is
B03 046 happening in agriculture and its servicing industries has an
B03 047 inevitability about it regardless of which party holds power.
B03 048 ^Change can be deferred but cannot be stopped.  ^External
B03 049 events beyond the control of industry and government here have
B03 050 compounded with deregulation, subsidy removal and release of
B03 051 pent-up distortions.  ^This has happened in such a short time
B03 052 there has been shock and ill-preparedness.
B03 053    |^Whakatu is a dramatic victim of a long-standing 
B03 054 over-capacity within the livestock killing and processing industry.
B03 055    Over-capacity, deferral of new technology, slowness in
B03 056 adapting to changing market preferences, and allowing
B03 057 uneconomic work practices have been contributing to an
B03 058 accumulation of problems within the industry.
B03 059    |^Any corrective changes or closures are going to have huge
B03 060 economic and human costs in communities so dependent upon a
B03 061 meat works.  ^The historic and practical justification for what
B03 062 is happening is unlikely to be given much weight by people who
B03 063 have lost security and livelihood.  ^It is the same with
B03 064 removal of the huge taxpayer subsidies from farming and
B03 065 bringing that sector back to market realities.  ^The need to
B03 066 remove those distortions will be overwhelmed by the anger and
B03 067 the pain of adjustment.
B03 068    |^The Government is bravely refusing to promise a poultice
B03 069 of borrowed and taxpayer money.  ^Election year possibilities
B03 070 of winning votes by being seen to act generously are being put
B03 071 aside.  ^Somebody at or near the top has determined that it is
B03 072 better to be consistent and to hold to medium and long term
B03 073 goals than to be seen to give away all that has been argued
B03 074 against trying to defy reality.
B03 075    |^That is such a change  in New Zealand politics it just has
B03 076 to be acknowledged, even if through gritted teeth.
B03 077 *<*6NO NEED TO PASS BUCK BACK TO VOTERS*>
B03 078    |^*0By appointment or in a by-election?  ^This is the
B03 079 question facing the City Council as it considers the vacancy
B03 080 caused by \0Mr Peter Corrin's resignation.
B03 081    |^The fairest way is always to hold a by-election and if the
B03 082 council decides accordingly, there's not much argument about
B03 083 it.
B03 084    |^But we have given the councillors the responsibility of
B03 085 running the city as they see fit for the next three years and
B03 086 this is going to entail much harder decisions than this one.
B03 087    |^The simplest and least costly solution is for the council
B03 088 to fill the vacancy by appointment.
B03 089    |^In view of the weighty decisions the council faces in so
B03 090 many aspects of civic affairs in the year ahead, the filling of
B03 091 one seat does not loom as something which threatens to bring
B03 092 the democratic system crashing down around us.
B03 093    |^By dealing with the issue themselves, the council saves us
B03 094 the one thing we need most...money.
B03 095    |^There is no need to pass the buck back to the voters.
B03 096    |^The matter has already been discussed at some length by
B03 097 the council and we commend councillor Margaret Thorpe for her
B03 098 willingness to push for an appointment and that \0Mr Corrin be
B03 099 appointed.
B03 100    |^Maybe \0Mr Corrin is firm in his decision, but at least
B03 101 \0Mrs Thorpe showed she was willing to back him if he should
B03 102 have a change of heart.
B03 103    |^That's the kind of action which can only be beneficial to
B03 104 the council.
B03 105    |^Tuesday night's meeting gave us all an indication of the
B03 106 problems facing the city.
B03 107    |^Councillors were divided on the wisdom of spending
B03 108 *+$40,000 on another water supply study at a time when the city
B03 109 is already facing an unexpected *+$266,000 deficit this year.
B03 110    |^This concern is understandable but it is better to find
B03 111 out now whether a lower-cost water supply option is a feasible
B03 112 proposition.
B03 113    |^And finance committee chairman Brian Crawshaw reminds us
B03 114 that it's not all doom and gloom.
B03 115    |^He praised the effort of staff in getting the financial
B03 116 report prepared.  ^It took seven months work to reach the point
B03 117 where everything was clearer.
B03 118    |^From now on he was hoping to be able to keep an eye on the
B03 119 financial situation on a month to month basis.
B03 120    |^We also commend the council staff for the catch-up and
B03 121 clarification.  ^We are not particularly happy with what they
B03 122 have found.  ^We don't think it should ever have been allowed
B03 123 to reach the stage where nobody really knew the true financial
B03 124 situation.  ^But we can at least be thankful for the much
B03 125 clearer picture now available.
B03 126 *<*6CHANGE FOR THE WORSE?*>
B03 127    |^*0When a tape was run through a Databank computer twice
B03 128 this week, *+$32.5 million was paid into pensioners' bank
B03 129 accounts by mistake.  ^That means that 157,000 superannuitants
B03 130 received an average of about *+$200 more than they were
B03 131 entitled to *- enough for a modest meal in town, several skeins
B03 132 of wool for a cardigan, and a few beers at the bowling club on
B03 133 Saturday afternoon.  ^Thank goodness the error was detected
B03 134 before it had a chance to change someone's lifestyle.
B03 135    |^The steps taken to ensure that such a thing does not
B03 136 happen again should save everyone a lot of worry and trouble.
B03 137 ^Agonising over what to do with money *- especially money that
B03 138 arrives unexpectedly *- seems to be one of life's great
B03 139 tribulations for those who have the stuff.  ^Those who do not
B03 140 have it, of course, worry about getting enough of it to worry
B03 141 about.
B03 142    |^A few years ago an Englishman won the pools *- thousands
B03 143 and thousands of pounds sterling.  ^Lovely.  ^When he was asked
B03 144 what he intended to do with it, he said he would change it all
B03 145 into five-pound notes, shovel them into the bathtub and wallow
B03 146 in them.
B03 147    |^But he was exceptional.  ^By and large, ordinary people
B03 148 who through inheritance, lottery or any other arm of luck have
B03 149 suddenly come into great wealth in the past three or four years
B03 150 have reacted extraordinarily ordinarily.
B03 151    |^Take, for instance, the New York carpenter who won
B03 152 *+${0US}20 million.  ^He said he would visit Australia, and
B03 153 then return home and continue to grow tomatoes in his backyard.
B03 154 ^A Chicago printer who won double that amount said he would pay
B03 155 some bills and return to his job.
B03 156    |^A Brooklyn labourer who won *+${0US}3 million also said he
B03 157 would stick to his job, and that he hoped his windfall would
B03 158 not change his lifestyle.  ^A Canadian couple who won nearly
B03 159 *+$\0C14 million said they would buy a new house, travel and
B03 160 invest the rest of their winnings.  ^*"Our lifestyles won't
B03 161 change that much.**"
B03 162    |^Then there was the Rotorua couple who won *+$100,000 in
B03 163 the Golden Kiwi.  ^The husband said he doubted whether the
B03 164 money would change their lifestyle.  ^*"I will probably put it
B03 165 in the bank.**"
B03 166    |^If none of these windfalls changed the recipient's
B03 167 lifestyle, there is probably not much risk that a *+$200
B03 168 pension overpayment would suddenly inflate the demand for
B03 169 luxury yachts or villas on the French Riviera.  ^Which is a
B03 170 shame.  ^A change of lifestyle seems an irrational fear among
B03 171 those with lots of new money.  ^Among those without lots of new
B03 172 money it is a wholly reasonable aspiration.
B03 173 *<*4Lake Law Needs Rapid Repair*>
B03 174    |^*0That the law, under scrutiny or challenge, may prove
B03 175 inadequate for the job intended, or cause deleterious
B03 176 repercussions elsewhere, is reasonably commonplace.  ^If 
B03 177 ass-like qualities may be fairly ascribed to such legislation it is
B03 178 when, having been tested legally and found deficient, it is not
B03 179 re-designed and put to rights immediately.
B03 180    |^The latest case in need of speedy repair is surely the
B03 181 discovery that the margins of Lake Taupo do not have the
B03 182 protection from development that they were thought to have.
B03 183 ^Some 12,000\0ha have lost their proposed lakeshore reserve
B03 184 designation through an amendment to the Town and Country
B03 185 Planning Act.
B03 186    |^Relevant Government departments are unhappy at the
B03 187 discovery.  ^The Taupo County Council, which has fought for two
B03 188 decades to protect its lakeshore, is horrified.  ^Landowners
B03 189 may not be too happy, either, now that a previous rate immunity
B03 190 seems invalid.  ^And New Zealanders at large, who consider the
B03 191 lake a national asset, will be disturbed.
B03 192    |^With such unanimity it should not be beyond the wit of the
B03 193 legislators promptly to give the land the temporary protection
B03 194 it was mistakenly thought to have.  ^At the same time the
B03 195 Government should demonstrate a greater commitment to making
B03 196 the proposed reserve designation a reality than successive
B03 197 governments have shown in the past.  ^The foreshore of Lake
B03 198 Taupo deserves nothing less.
B03 199 *<*4Rising Heat in the Kitchen*>
B03 200    |^*0A thick skin may be an admirable human quality, or it
B03 201 may not.  ^It is, however, generally considered to be an
B03 202 essential attribute for any politician who wishes to spend his
B03 203 nights in more or less peaceful repose.
B03 204    |^The Prime Minister does not appear to have a thick skin.
B03 205 ^While waiting this week to open an agricultural centre at
B03 206 Invermay, near Dunedin, he had to endure a stinging attack on
B03 207 the Government by the president of the Otago Federated Farmers.
B03 208    |^When \0Mr Lange's turn to speak came, he simply opened the
B03 209 centre and sat down.
B03 210    |^Later, as he left the scene, angry farmers mobbed his car
B03 211 and tore a flag off the bonnet.  ^Yesterday, believing that a
B03 212 further protest rally could only heighten tension, he called
B03 213 off a meeting with farmers at Kaikohe and sent an agricultural
B03 214 adviser instead.
B03 215    |^\0Mr Lange's sensitivity to delicate situations could be
B03 216 considered an engaging personal characteristic, the sign of
B03 217 someone perhaps a cut above the run-of-the-mill politician.
B03 218    |^But in February, in Auckland, a demonstrator threw an egg
B03 219 at the Queen, spattering her dress, and she carried on with her
B03 220 job as though nothing had happened.  ^No one could say her skin
B03 221 was thick.
B03 222 *<*6TAXES ON THE WINGDING*>
B03 223    |^*0It is an odd fact that some people are always taking the
B03 224 joy out of life.  ^It is an even more curious circumstance that
B03 225 most of them seem to work in the Inland Revenue Department.
B03 226    |^So if any New Zealanders smiled when they read this week
B03 227 of the tax-collectors' whooping it up at a seminar on {0GST}
B03 228 held in an Invercargill hotel, they probably did so
B03 229 sardonically, and certainly less than indulgently.  ^After all,
B03 230 for many taxpayers yesterday was a nominal deadline for
B03 231 settlement with the Inland Revenue Department.
B03 232    |^Yet taxpayers may be a little unfair.  ^Everyone knows
B03 233 that tax-collectors are not much different from the rest of us.
B03 234 ^They, too, have wives, children, mortgages and ageing cars to
B03 235 maintain, bugs drilling into their tomatoes, and paspalum
B03 236 waist-high in the lawn.
B03 237    |^Surely no one would deny them a little fling occasionally
B03 238 at someone else's expense.  ^Anyway, who but Inland Revenue
B03 239 staff could get much of a kick out of learning about the
B03 240 complexities of {0GST}, unless the seminar identified easy ways
B03 241 to avoid paying it?
B03 242    |^No, not for ordinary folk an inspirational address with
B03 243 the fish course on the fate of the rock oyster, mussel,
B03 244 freshwater fish, sea-cage salmon and scallop farmers' 
B03 245 income-equalisation scheme after October; or, with the main dish,
B03 246 exchanges of witty repartee on the future treatment of
B03 247 consumable aids in the meat-freezing industry; or, with the
B03 248 dessert, an original paper on the outlook for non-residential
B03 249 theatrical artists subject to withholding tax; all followed by,
B03 250 with coffee, informed speculation on pre-incorporation
B03 251 contracts under the {0GST} act.  ^Not for us.  ^No, sir.
B03 252 *#
B04 001 **[048 TEXT B04**]
B04 002 pA8 *<*4Starview*>
B04 003 *<*5Fall guy role for Palmer*>
B04 004 |^*6O*2N *0television last night was the spectacle of Justice
B04 005 Minister Geoffrey Palmer being subjected to arrogant bullying
B04 006 from an opinionated Australian named Mike Willesee.  ^It was
B04 007 hardly an interview because the self-righteous \0Mr Willesee
B04 008 had little interest in anything \0Mr Palmer had to say.  ^It
B04 009 was a one-sided exercise in point scoring.
B04 010    |^What it showed, however, is why it is \0Mr Palmer *- not
B04 011 Prime Minister David Lange *- who has accepted (under orders?)
B04 012 the impossible mission of defending the indefensible, the
B04 013 selling of the two French agents.
B04 014    |^In Parliament, on television and in newspapers, \0Mr
B04 015 Palmer is trying to convince the nation the justice system has
B04 016 not been undermined.  ^It is hard not to feel sympathy for him,
B04 017 the more so after he managed to stay calm in the face of the
B04 018 worst of what passes for Australian current affairs television.
B04 019    |^The Government obviously cannot put up \0Mr Lange to
B04 020 justify its stand.  ^He has lost all credibility on this issue.
B04 021 ^\0Mr Palmer is a good choice, because not only has he built
B04 022 his reputation on belief in constitutional purity and the rule
B04 023 of law, he usually sounds as if he believes what he says.
B04 024    |^Yet given \0Mr Palmer's background, it is difficult to
B04 025 believe he is happy with the selling of Dominique Prieur and
B04 026 Alain Mafart.  ^The fact he is defending it so unequivocally is
B04 027 a measure of the strength he gives to the Cabinet.
B04 028    |^\0Mr Palmer says the agents are being freed because New
B04 029 Zealand submitted to international arbitration and the
B04 030 arbitrator ordered them sent to Hao atoll.  ^That is true, but
B04 031 it overlooks the fact the two agents pleaded guilty to
B04 032 manslaughter and chose not to appeal against their prison
B04 033 sentence.
B04 034    |^The general public might not know much about international
B04 035 law and \0Mr Palmer may be able to bamboozle most people with
B04 036 his line about having to obey international law.  ^But he can
B04 037 hardly bamboozle himself.  ^He of all people knows
B04 038 international law has no effect over domestic law unless
B04 039 incorporated into domestic statute law.
B04 040    |^It was France which broke all standards of international
B04 041 law.  ^\0Mr Palmer himself said last night the Rainbow Warrior
B04 042 bombing was an act of war.  ^New Zealand committed no crime.
B04 043    |^The bald fact is, and \0Mr Palmer knows it, that New
B04 044 Zealand law has been overridden and two confessed criminals are
B04 045 being freed to enable politicians to get out of a political
B04 046 hole.
B04 047    |^In hindsight, the hole might not have been so deep if the
B04 048 Government had not thrashed the Rainbow Warrior affair for all
B04 049 the capital it could get from it.  ^But the hole was self-dug.
B04 050 ^\0Mr Lange took the moral high road by pledging New Zealand
B04 051 justice was not for sale.  ^That stand was both morally and
B04 052 legally right.
B04 053    |^Now the Government must live with its actions.  ^If \0Mr
B04 054 Palmer can somehow convince the public the right decision was
B04 055 made, he will show himself to be a consummate politician, but
B04 056 that is all.  ^It will not undo the harm which has been done to
B04 057 the rule of law in this country.
B04 058 *<*5The artful dodgers*>
B04 059 |^*6T*2AX *0dodges will always be with us, and they tend to
B04 060 grow in sophistication as the taxmen become more rigorous.
B04 061    |^The lurk increasingly in vogue is the so-called special
B04 062 partnership, outlined by Warren Berryman in the latest *1Sunday
B04 063 Star.
B04 064    |^*0The system of special partnerships has its uses.  ^As a
B04 065 means of raising capital for worthwhile risk ventures, it can
B04 066 be a value **[SIC**] in a healthy commercial world.
B04 067    |^But when it is blatantly used to write off taxable income
B04 068 by people who can afford to juggle with thousands of dollars of
B04 069 surplus cash, it becomes an inequity we can all do without.
B04 070    |^Like most good tax dodges, the use of special partnerships
B04 071 combines simplicity with ingenuity.  ^The partnership is formed
B04 072 by as many who choose to get together *- unlikely **[SIC**] 
B04 073 ordinary partnerships, there is no limit on numbers.
B04 074    |^As the end of the financial year approaches, the members
B04 075 draw out personal cash invested in other undertakings, and put
B04 076 the money into the partnership.
B04 077    |^On the strength of this cash pool, they are able to borrow
B04 078 more from other sources in order to promote a stated venture.
B04 079 ^When used for tax avoidance, care has to be taken that this
B04 080 venture is loss-making.
B04 081    |^The result is that the partners are able to write off not
B04 082 only their personal investment against income tax, but also the
B04 083 borrowed cash.
B04 084    |^As Berryman pointed out, for *+$10,000, an investor
B04 085 playing the system can wind up with an extra *+$23,000 in his
B04 086 back pocket when the tax rebate comes in.
B04 087    |^The opportunity for disguising the source and the true
B04 088 amount (if any) of the borrowing opens the way for fraud.
B04 089    |^The ruse is almost attractive in its cleverness.  ^The
B04 090 evader who chooses to play the system to its limits can tap new
B04 091 dimensions of criminal dishonesty.
B04 092    |^In the long run, it is the honest taxpayer who feels the
B04 093 rip-off.  ^So all power to Finance Under-Secretary Trevor de
B04 094 Cleene in his attempts to stamp it out.
B04 095 *<*4Waterfront plan: it can be ours*>
B04 096 |^*2THERE IS AN *0exciting look about what we know of the draft
B04 097 plans for redeveloping Wellington's priceless waterfront.
B04 098    |^At last, here is something which seems destined not to
B04 099 gather dust.  ^With the will, it can succeed.  ^It must.
B04 100    |^What started largely as a competition by the Wellington
B04 101 Civic Trust to secure for the Capital a grand frontage *- the
B04 102 harmonious blending of city and harbour *- has obviously
B04 103 acquired the impetus to move confidently from dream to reality.
B04 104    |^The details as revealed in our published sketch are both
B04 105 practical and innovative.  ^For example, there is parking for
B04 106 some 3000 cars *- and a novel tramway.  ^And much, much more.
B04 107    |^Above all, the design group's concept envisages maximum
B04 108 public utilisation of the waterfront.  ^Being able to walk
B04 109 along the wharves is something we take for granted.  ^Few other
B04 110 cities around the world, with comparable harbours, offer the
B04 111 public safe wharf access, the likes of which we enjoy.
B04 112    |^This is all the more reason why what is finally approved
B04 113 is the best that can be devised.  ^Once implemented, it will be
B04 114 with us for a long time.
B04 115    |^The design group's approach has been bold.  ^It stirs the
B04 116 imagination, but it is not so grandiose as to make it 
B04 117 pie-in-the-sky.  ^Wellington has had enough of schemes, which, after
B04 118 the fanfare, are pigeon-holed in dust.
B04 119    |^What is particularly heartening at this stage of the
B04 120 project is an obvious measure of co-operation between the
B04 121 Wellington City Council and the Wellington Harbour Board.  ^The
B04 122 full extent of this should be evident when the two key bodies
B04 123 meet next month to consider the final plans.
B04 124    |^The progress achieved so far reflects credit on the
B04 125 Wellington Civic Trust for its initiative and perseverance.
B04 126 ^As well, the harbour board has shown itself willing to listen
B04 127 to representations made on the city's behalf.
B04 128    |^The aesthetic appeal of the waterfront is enormous.  ^At
B04 129 the same time, it has to be borne in mind that the Port of
B04 130 Wellington is a business and the wharves are part of that
B04 131 business.  ^Therefore, developing the waterfront for the
B04 132 benefit of all is a matter demanding the utmost co-operation
B04 133 between those representing the leisure/ pleasure interests of
B04 134 the public and the practical requirements of commerce.
B04 135    |^Mayor Ian Lawrence has noted his pleasure that the plan
B04 136 provides scope for commercial involvement.  ^Similarly, \0Mr
B04 137 Robert Batty, the head of the design group, makes much of the
B04 138 fact that an important part of the consultants' brief had been
B04 139 to ensure the economic viability of any proposals.
B04 140    |^However, now that the public has some grasp of the
B04 141 thinking behind the waterfront plan, and just what will be
B04 142 involved, there is a good foundation on which to base
B04 143 constructive talk.  ^This the parties directly involved must
B04 144 ensure happens.
B04 145    |^The waterfront's transformation will not come about
B04 146 overnight.  ^Mayor Lawrence says it will take a decade to
B04 147 implement.  ^We would mention the national museum complex as
B04 148 just one challenge to be met.
B04 149    |^But what we see evolving is the promise of something great
B04 150 to come *- not a pipe-dream but a definite plan of action.
B04 151    |^Let's keep the momentum going.
B04 152 *<*4The deficit mystery*>
B04 153 |^*2IT IS *0the politics of gesture that requires members of
B04 154 the Government, two years after National's defeat, to try and
B04 155 blame the previous administration's Think Big gamble for the
B04 156 newly announced risk of a deficit blowout.
B04 157    |^The broad costs of Think Big have been known since the
B04 158 Government held the opening of the books exercise in its first
B04 159 months of office.  ^The mystery about the missing *+$1 billion
B04 160 is rather why \0Mr Douglas should have apparently been taken by
B04 161 surprise at its discovery.  ^This mystery is deepened by the
B04 162 Prime Minister saying that his Government knew at the time it
B04 163 announced its first cuts that they would not be enough to
B04 164 contain the deficit.
B04 165    |^Such gaps between ministerial statements pose a risk to
B04 166 the credibility of the Government's financial management which
B04 167 hitherto *- with the exception of the tax on superannuitants *-
B04 168 has been unchallenged.
B04 169    |^While it may be difficult in the short term to find out
B04 170 what accounts for most of the extra *+$1 billion, it is
B04 171 reasonable to suppose that the Higher Salaries Commission's
B04 172 determinations, the hiring of thousands of extra civil
B04 173 servants, the setting up of two new ministries, the
B04 174 establishment of a post in Africa and the replacement of 
B04 175 part-time law reform committees with that Rolls Royce of quangos,
B04 176 the Law Commission, all played their part in adding millions to
B04 177 the sum.
B04 178    |^There was widespread political support for the new
B04 179 ministries and the post in Africa and limitations on salary
B04 180 were widely understood to be responsible for recruitment and
B04 181 retention problems in some sections of the public service.
B04 182 ^But given the known state of our economy should more public
B04 183 debate have been encouraged before all these costs came to
B04 184 charge?
B04 185    |^The revelation that it was politicians who resisted advice
B04 186 from Post Office managers and thus caused last year's loan
B04 187 fiasco is just one reminder of how difficult it is for
B04 188 Government to resist the expectations of its supporters in a
B04 189 society which is moulded by pressure group politics.
B04 190 *<*6NATIONAL ALBATROSS*>
B04 191    |^*0Part of the now widely-accepted prescription for curing
B04 192 the New Zealand economy is the imperative for the Government to
B04 193 back out of investment decisions which are more soundly made by
B04 194 those who stand to lose financially if they are foolish.  ^The
B04 195 Government, in its own favoured phrase, should not try to
B04 196 *"pick winners**" because without the discipline of financial
B04 197 risk its choices will probably be losers.
B04 198    |^That is so elementary it should no longer need restatement
B04 199 *- except that it is not apparently accepted by the finance
B04 200 spokesman for the National Party, the \0Hon Bill Birch.
B04 201    |^One of the more troubling aspects of the recent political
B04 202 argument accompanying the Government rescue of New Zealand
B04 203 Steel was \0Mr Birch's reaction to a Treasury estimate.  ^That
B04 204 department had figured that the *+$2.6 billion expansion
B04 205 project approved by National now offers *+$590 million a year
B04 206 less than a desirable return on investment.
B04 207    |^\0Mr Birch countered that the Treasury does not specify
B04 208 what alternative spheres of investment could have achieved its
B04 209 definition of an adequate return.  ^But the department is not
B04 210 in the business of identifying industrial investment
B04 211 opportunities and it rightly holds that no other arm of the
B04 212 state should be either.
B04 213    |^That principle is not just economic theology, though \0Mr
B04 214 Birch is not alone in his party in appearing to regard it as
B04 215 such.  ^It is, rather, a realistic means of improving the
B04 216 country's poor return on investment over the past 15 years.
B04 217    |^The erstwhile minister most associated with the Muldoon
B04 218 Government's predilection for state-led investment now occupies
B04 219 an invidious role as the foremost voice for the party's new
B04 220 market-led economic strategies.  ^It will be difficult for him
B04 221 to avoid a blush when he advocates less Government command of
B04 222 the finite financial resources available to business.
B04 223    |^To defend the project, \0Mr Birch has unavoidably reminded
B04 224 the public that its viability depended on an artificial
B04 225 exchange rate, underpriced coal and electricity and massive
B04 226 protection against imports which would otherwise have provided
B04 227 a cheaper supply of steel to New Zealand industry.
B04 228    |^The future of the project could be even more inglorious in
B04 229 the coming months as the Government attempts to sell it off.
B04 230 ^It will remain a political albatross around the neck of \0Mr
B04 231 Birch; that may be high in the mind of the Opposition leader if
B04 232 he contemplates a reshuffle of shadow portfolios this year.
B04 233 *#
B05 001 **[049 TEXT B05**]
B05 002 *<*5Brave words, but there it is*>
B05 003    |^*0Finance Minister \0Mr Douglas puts a brave
B05 004 interpretation on the latest {0CPI} rise, but the facts are
B05 005 inescapable. ^An inflation level of 11% before any impact
B05 006 from {0GST} is a setback for the Government's planning.  ^All
B05 007 sorts of rationalisation can be indulged in.  ^Non-smokers, for
B05 008 example, would actually have experienced a decline in the rate
B05 009 of increase in living costs.  ^It might as well be argued that
B05 010 anyone living off the land in a bush hut and doing without any
B05 011 of the luxuries now taken for granted, would also have been
B05 012 free of inflation worries.
B05 013    |^For those who benefit from being non-smokers or 
B05 014 non-drinkers there are thousands who still feel the pinch.
B05 015 ^Families know that food is dearer, clothes cost more,
B05 016 electricity, gas and telephone bills are higher.  ^If an
B05 017 increase from 10.4% to 11% seems minor to \0Mr Douglas, it
B05 018 still cannot be described as a downward trend.  ^The whole
B05 019 purpose of the index is to give an across-the-board picture of
B05 020 living costs.  ^That picture is distorted by attempts to pluck
B05 021 out items that are seasonal or do not affect everyone.
B05 022    |^Rather than trying to obscure the realities of inflation,
B05 023 \0Mr Douglas would be better to argue that even with {0GST} to
B05 024 come, most New Zealanders should be better off in the immediate
B05 025 future as a result of changes in tax rates and the increase in
B05 026 family support payments.  ^These changes have meant substantial
B05 027 gains for middle and upper income earners.  ^With very few
B05 028 exceptions *- single folk and childless couples on low incomes
B05 029 for example *- even the lower paid should, at the very least,
B05 030 be compensated for {0GST}-fired inflation.
B05 031    |^That is a point to be considered by wage round
B05 032 negotiators.  ^Already claims are made that yesterday's {0CPI}
B05 033 figures justify higher wage settlements than previously
B05 034 considered reasonable.  ^Reason, however, does not seem to be
B05 035 part of the philosophy of some leading trade unionists.  ^The
B05 036 yard**[ARB**]-stick was set by the drivers' assessors in
B05 037 recognising the realities within their industry.  ^A six per
B05 038 cent increase was seen as inadequate, yet recognised also as
B05 039 the most employers could afford to pay.  ^That sort of
B05 040 commonsense applied to all awards could yet ensure continued
B05 041 economic progress.
B05 042    |^The Government is committed to non-intervention.  ^It must
B05 043 then, sit back and let employers fight the battle to control
B05 044 wage increases.  ^It also faces the prospect of added
B05 045 inflationary pressure from a falling exchange rate and/or
B05 046 increasing interest rates.  ^The next few months will provide
B05 047 an interesting test of the Government's nerve.  ^\0Mr Douglas
B05 048 is tough enough, but how many of his colleagues are prepared to
B05 049 gamble on a 16% to 20% inflation rate less than a year before
B05 050 an election?
B05 051 *<*4Fighting drug trafficking*>
B05 052 |^*6T*2HE *0Malaysian Government faces a moral and a political
B05 053 problem in deciding the fate of two Australians sentenced to
B05 054 death for drug trafficking.  ^The political problem is complex.
B05 055 ^Thirty-six people have been hanged under Malaysia's tough drug
B05 056 laws, including not only Malaysians but Thais and Singaporeans
B05 057 as well.  ^There are also 25 foreigners on death row: the two
B05 058 Australian men and citizens of Hong Kong, the Philippines,
B05 059 Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore.  ^Kevin Barlow and Brian
B05 060 Chambers, however, would be the first Westerners to be hanged.
B05 061 ^If their lives were spared, some would no doubt claim that
B05 062 Malaysia was operating a double standard: one law for
B05 063 Westerners and a very much crueller one for all other
B05 064 foreigners.
B05 065    |^The problem is not new.  ^The first Westerner to receive
B05 066 the death sentence for drug trafficking, it has been reported,
B05 067 was a French woman.  ^Her sentence was commuted.  ^But the
B05 068 Malaysians' reluctance to hang either women or Europeans
B05 069 appears to be changing.  ^Three years ago a 49-year-old
B05 070 grandmother was executed for trafficking.  ^And the severity
B05 071 with which the Australians' case has so far been treated
B05 072 suggest that attitudes have hardened over Western offenders as
B05 073 well.
B05 074    |^The Malaysian Government is now besieged with appeals from
B05 075 foreign governments seeking clemency for Barlow and Chambers.
B05 076 ^Clearly the Government would prefer not to offend these
B05 077 powerful neighbours and partners unless it was absolutely
B05 078 necessary.  ^But the Government also courts disfavour among its
B05 079 own people if it pardons the Westerners: why should Malaysian
B05 080 citizens have gone to the gallows if foreigners are to be
B05 081 allowed to escape with their lives?  ^There is also a difficult
B05 082 problem of Malaysian race relations.  ^Most of the Malaysians
B05 083 who have been executed were Chinese.  ^This has brought to the
B05 084 surface some of the tensions which were always present between
B05 085 the Chinese and the Malays.  ^Some suggest that hanging the
B05 086 Australians would be one way the Government could seek to quell
B05 087 resentments about a judicial double standard.
B05 088    |^The answer is not for the Malaysian Government to allow
B05 089 the two Australians to hang.  ^That would enable it to escape
B05 090 the charge of inconsistency and, perhaps, to avoid political
B05 091 embarrassment at home.  ^But the price would be a breach of
B05 092 fundamental human values.  ^No state has the right to kill its
B05 093 citizens for crimes they have committed.  ^This is so even when
B05 094 the crime is such a severe one as trafficking in heroin.  ^That
B05 095 obscene trade in death and suffering has brought misery to
B05 096 Malaysia as to other countries, and the Malaysian Government is
B05 097 justified in its extreme concern about it.  ^However it is not
B05 098 justified in killing the traffickers.
B05 099    |^Some will say that convicted drug traffickers in Malaysia
B05 100 cannot expect to avoid the rope when they had been so
B05 101 graphically forewarned of the punishment for committing such a
B05 102 crime.  ^But this is virtually to admit that the death sentence
B05 103 is not an effective deterrent.  ^Every foreigner who goes to
B05 104 Malaysia is made aware that drug trafficking, if detected, is
B05 105 likely to lead to the gallows.  ^But the trade goes on.
B05 106 ^Abandoning the death sentence does not mean giving up the
B05 107 fight against drugs.  ^It does mean turning to more effective
B05 108 if less spectacular means of control, and ones which do not
B05 109 offend against humanitarian principles.
B05 110 *<*6DECLINE IN FERTILISER APPLICATION WILL HIT EXPORT INCOME*>
B05 111    |^*0The bite of recession is something we hear a great deal
B05 112 about these days.  ^And we are getting first hand evidence of
B05 113 what it is all about in sectors such as the agricultural
B05 114 servicing industries.
B05 115    |^Even the fertiliser industry which, not so long ago,
B05 116 entertained bold plans for this area has been hard-hit.
B05 117    |^The trouble is that when farmers are forced, because of
B05 118 the economic situation, to cut down on fertiliser application,
B05 119 our agricultural production is affected, and the next domino to
B05 120 fall is inevitably our export income.
B05 121    |^Because farmers are applying less fertiliser to pastures
B05 122 around the country our export income will continue to be
B05 123 drastically reduced.
B05 124    |^It has been estimated that fertiliser and lime
B05 125 applications on hill country farms are down 78 percent in the
B05 126 year ended April 1986.
B05 127    |^Under present economic conditions it appears this trend
B05 128 could continue.  ^It would confirm that we are on our way to a
B05 129 disastrous drop in farm production.
B05 130    |^And that could cost the nation millions of export dollars.
B05 131    |^If farmers don't apply fertiliser to their hill country
B05 132 farms for three years, it is generally believed that stocking
B05 133 rates will decline by one stock unit a hectare each year.
B05 134 ^That, in fact, amounts to an estimated decline in production
B05 135 of about 30 percent at the end of those three years, as a
B05 136 decline of one stock unit a year equals a 10 percent drop in
B05 137 production a year.
B05 138    |^Around 60 percent of sheep and beef livestock units are
B05 139 run on the hill country farms of New Zealand.  ^They produce
B05 140 meat and wool exports to the value of *+$2.5 billion and if
B05 141 there is no fertiliser applied to the hill country farms for
B05 142 three years, the situation could be disastrous.
B05 143    |^The cost to the nation in terms of lost export income will
B05 144 be about *+$850 million.
B05 145    |^We can't afford to lose this valuable income at a time
B05 146 when the outlook for wool is buoyant and the meat industry is
B05 147 coming to grips with rationalisation.
B05 148    |^With fertiliser application at the lowest level since
B05 149 1954, it will take years to build the fertility levels up
B05 150 again.
B05 151    |^In the meantime, there are increasing job losses in the
B05 152 farm servicing sector and it could take years to get the
B05 153 industry back on an even keel again.
B05 154 *<*4Unpaid fines*>
B05 155 |^*6C*2RIME *0does not pay the Justice Department enough.  ^The
B05 156 amount outstanding in unpaid fines is almost *+$17 million.
B05 157 ^The police have neither the time nor the men to pursue the
B05 158 thousands of warrants that have been issued for the arrest of
B05 159 people who owe money for fines.  ^In the face of increasing
B05 160 levels of serious crime, the police assessment of an unpaid
B05 161 fine as pretty small beer is fair enough, but at stake is the
B05 162 integrity of the criminal justice system.
B05 163    |^When court-imposed penalties are treated as a joke, and
B05 164 ignored with impunity, the rule of law is flouted.  ^The
B05 165 acknowledgement that the police are unable to act will
B05 166 encourage more offenders to treat with contempt the fines
B05 167 imposed on them by the courts.  ^This will serve only to
B05 168 increase the work of Justice Department staff in tracing unpaid
B05 169 fines and issuing warrants.  ^These warrants serve little
B05 170 purpose until the offenders named in them are apprehended on
B05 171 some other matter.
B05 172    |^In many instances of unpaid fines the police know, or
B05 173 could readily discover, the whereabouts of the offender, if
B05 174 only the manpower was available.  ^What could be a better
B05 175 encouragement to the police to mount a blitz on unpaid fines
B05 176 and follow up those thousands of warrants than the promise of
B05 177 more staff?  ^The Government's enthusiasm for making the user
B05 178 pay for services, and the suggestion of the Minister of Police,
B05 179 Ann Hercus, that the police should charge for some of the
B05 180 service they provide, suggest a way of paying for the extra
B05 181 numbers the police want.
B05 182    |^\0Mrs Hercus should sit down with her colleague the
B05 183 Minister of Justice, Geoffrey Palmer, and set a bounty on 
B05 184 fine-dodgers.  ^The outstanding *+$16.7 million in unpaid fines is
B05 185 lost to the Justice Department under the present arrangement
B05 186 anyway.  ^This sum could provide salaries for a few hundred
B05 187 extra policemen, depending on how much went to the police from
B05 188 every dollar in unpaid fines that they collected.  ^\0Mr Palmer
B05 189 could afford to be generous with money he does not have.  ^Even
B05 190 if most of it went to the police the greater certainty that
B05 191 fine-dodgers would be caught should be bonus enough for the
B05 192 proper administration of justice.
B05 193    |^While the great hunt for unpaid fines was on the police
B05 194 might well ignore the pursuit of any new offenders.  ^There is
B05 195 little point in bringing more people before the courts if the
B05 196 result is going to be more unpaid fines, and more money lost to
B05 197 the community for law enforcement.  ^By definition people who
B05 198 do not pay fines have a contempt for the law.  ^They have all
B05 199 committed at least two offences *- one for which they were
B05 200 fined, and another by the refusal to pay the fine.  ^Collar
B05 201 them all for a time and the remainder of the community might
B05 202 turn out to be surprisingly safe and law-abiding.
B05 203    |^The police would surely feel a good deal happier about
B05 204 their lot if they were out collecting funds to swell their own
B05 205 numbers rather than parading through the courts offenders who
B05 206 have no intention of meeting the punishments imposed on them.
B05 207 *<*4Anzus trade*>
B05 208    |^*6T*2HE *0claimed importance of the Anzus agreement to New
B05 209 Zealand's trade has, in the past week, been seriously
B05 210 diminished by the fate of defence-loyal Australia *- which has
B05 211 had to watch the Americans announce cut-price selling campaigns
B05 212 of wheat and sugar to two of Australia's biggest markets,
B05 213 Russia and China.  ^Just who was primarily to blame for the
B05 214 latest round of cut-throat selling is unclear.
B05 215    |^It is probably truer to say that the real cause of the
B05 216 trouble is not so much political as scientific.  ^Cereal
B05 217 production has been boosted so much by recent technological
B05 218 improvements that the supply of grain enormously exceeds the
B05 219 demand and reserve stocks are at totally unrealistic levels.
B05 220 ^The Russian harvest *- always a major factor in world grain
B05 221 trading *- has been reasonably good in recent years, many other
B05 222 former importers are self-supporting, and the poor nations
B05 223 which need additional grains, cannot afford it.  ^Middle
B05 224 Eastern countries have been benefiting from lower prices while
B05 225 the Russians, as usual have been waiting patiently to buy in
B05 226 wheat at as cheap a price as possible.
B05 227    |^Politics apart, the American actions are a reminder that
B05 228 primary food producers are still caught in a nightmare of 
B05 229 over-production and the world markets will take a long time to
B05 230 settle down.
B05 231 *#
B06 001 **[050 TEXT B06**]
B06 002 *<*4{0N.Z.}-Australian trade*>
B06 003 |^*0The meeting of the Australia-New Zealand Business Council,
B06 004 held in Auckland at the end of last week, was notable for the
B06 005 absence of the kind of friction which used to characterise
B06 006 trade relations between New Zealand and Australia in the days
B06 007 of the old New Zealand-Australia Free Trade Agreement.  ^The
B06 008 meeting was concerned largely with Closer Economic Relations,
B06 009 the trade agreement that came into force in 1983, replacing
B06 010 {0N.A.F.T.A.} ^Judging from the meeting, {0C.E.R.} is
B06 011 developing well and both countries see it to their advantage to
B06 012 keep the development going.  ^The new trade treaty will have
B06 013 its first major review during 1988.  ^The Auckland meeting
B06 014 suggests that few significant differences will emerge at that
B06 015 time.
B06 016    |^The trade balance between New Zealand and Australia always
B06 017 used to be in Australia's favour.  ^In the year ended June,
B06 018 1986, New Zealand exports to Australia were worth *+$10 million
B06 019 more than Australian exports to New Zealand.  ^The shift over
B06 020 20 years, and especially in the last few years, has been
B06 021 remarkable.  ^In 1966, the value of New Zealand's exports to
B06 022 Australia was *+$33 million, compared with New Zealand imports
B06 023 from Australia of *+$135 million.  ^In 1976, New Zealand's
B06 024 exports were valued at *+$238 million and its imports from
B06 025 Australia were worth *+$519 million.  ^In 1986 the provisional
B06 026 figure for exports was *+$1735 million and the provisional
B06 027 figure for imports from Australia was *+$1725 million.  ^The
B06 028 nature of the trade has been of great importance.  ^Both
B06 029 countries present the other with the largest market for
B06 030 manufactured goods.  ^Both countries are thus strategically
B06 031 significant to the other in efforts to move from being
B06 032 producers of raw materials.
B06 033    |^About three times as many New Zealanders as Australians
B06 034 attended the Auckland meeting.  ^Because the meeting was being
B06 035 held in New Zealand it could be expected that more New
B06 036 Zealanders would attend than Australians but the difference in
B06 037 numbers probably reveals more than the influence of the venue.
B06 038 ^Australian businesses have been berated, both by the
B06 039 Australian Senate and also by the Australian Minister for
B06 040 Trade, \0Mr Dawkins, for being slower than New Zealand
B06 041 businesses to take advantage of {0C.E.R.} ^In their defence,
B06 042 Australian business people argue that because of the greater
B06 043 size of the Australian market, New Zealand businesses saw
B06 044 greater opportunities for expansion than did Australian
B06 045 businesses.
B06 046    |^The retention in New Zealand of import licensing also gave
B06 047 Australian businesses the impression of a closed market in
B06 048 which there were few opportunities.  ^But it is an interesting
B06 049 development that Australian businesses are now being blamed for
B06 050 not trying harder in the New Zealand market instead of New
B06 051 Zealand's being blamed for taking measures to protect its
B06 052 market.
B06 053    |^The two main trade issues on which there are strong
B06 054 differences between New Zealand and Australia are the
B06 055 Australian system of subsidies, known as bounties, and the
B06 056 question of intermediate goods; that is, exported goods with
B06 057 substantial imported content.  ^Both the Minister of Trade and
B06 058 Industry, \0Mr Caygill, and the Prime Minister, \0Mr Lange,
B06 059 addressed the subject of bounties.  ^\0Mr Lange dwelt at some
B06 060 length on the subject, which was something of a surprise
B06 061 considering that \0Mr Caygill had already talked about them.
B06 062    |^A recent meeting in Canberra between New Zealand and
B06 063 Australian officials had decided on the establishment of a
B06 064 working party to examine the subject.  ^Australia favours the
B06 065 bounty system, which is also used to a more limited extent
B06 066 within New Zealand, partly because the bounties can be clearly
B06 067 seen as a subsidy and the cost to the taxpayer is well known.
B06 068 ^The present Australian attitude is that it is up to the New
B06 069 Zealand manufacturers and officials to demonstrate that the
B06 070 bounties actually put New Zealand manufacturers at a
B06 071 disadvantage.  ^Once this is quantified, some further steps
B06 072 will be taken.  ^It is very clear that Australia is not simply
B06 073 going to drop the bounties because New Zealand manufactures,
B06 074 and Cabinet Ministers, do not like them.
B06 075    |^The question of intermediate goods is mainly a matter of
B06 076 definition: at what point should an item be said to be of New
B06 077 Zealand or Australian manufacture and not simply a re-export?
B06 078 ^New Zealand and Australia favour one another in trade.  ^They
B06 079 have protected themselves against exports from many other
B06 080 countries and do not want to find themselves importing, for
B06 081 instance, what is in effect a Taiwanese electric motor, under
B06 082 {0C.E.R.}
B06 083    |^The Auckland meeting considered the possibilities of
B06 084 extending {0C.E.R.} to other countries.  ^Canada was the
B06 085 favourite.  ^Nothing serious has been proposed.  ^New Zealand
B06 086 and Australia are likely to continue to deal with {0C.E.R.} as
B06 087 a trade agreement between them.  ^A host of developments are
B06 088 still possible, including resolving questions of investment,
B06 089 trade in services, and tax laws.  ^These have become known as
B06 090 second-generation issues.  ^Late in 1986 {0C.E.R.} looks as if
B06 091 it will comfortably survive to examine these questions and that
B06 092 both countries will benefit from finding the answers.
B06 093 *<*4Death of a tyrant*>
B06 094 |^*6V*2YACHESLAV *0Molotov was a mass murderer who died at the
B06 095 ripe old age of 96.  ^He endured as one of history's great
B06 096 survivors.  ^Stalin's right-hand man helped administer a reign
B06 097 of terror in the 1930s.  ^At the height of the purges, a
B06 098 macabre joke was doing the rounds among the executioners: ^Your
B06 099 turn today, mine tomorrow.  ^But Molotov's turn never came.
B06 100 ^The closest he got to the scaffold was probably in 1947, when
B06 101 Stalin's anti-Semitic obsessions led to the arrest of Molotov's
B06 102 Jewish wife.  ^Stalin suspected his lieutenant of being a
B06 103 closet Zionist, a charge which in other cases led to
B06 104 imprisonment or death.  ^Yet Molotov outlived the tyrant he had
B06 105 served so well.
B06 106    |^The two men had long enjoyed a special relationship.
B06 107 Stalin, whose real name was Djugashvili, adopted the pseudonym
B06 108 based on the Russian word for steel; Molotov, born Vyacheslav
B06 109 Scriabin, took a pseudonym deriving from the word for hammer.
B06 110 ^These changes were appropriate.  ^Stalin was the strategist;
B06 111 Molotov was the meticulous bureaucrat who carried out his
B06 112 orders.  ^As the equivalent of Prime Minister in the 1930s, he
B06 113 was chief administrator of a regime which decided as a matter
B06 114 of policy to starve the Ukrainian peasantry into submission.
B06 115    |^Molotov applied a similar ruthlessness to Russia's
B06 116 external policy after switching to foreign minister in 1939.
B06 117 ^In that role he negotiated the notorious non-aggression pact
B06 118 with Hitler, who was said to have been impressed by the
B06 119 Russian's icy skill as a negotiator.  ^At the allied summit
B06 120 conferences at Tehran and Yalta, Churchill was also impressed:
B06 121 he likened Molotov's smile to the Siberian winter.  ^Even the
B06 122 master of Realpolitik, however, could not manoeuvre his way
B06 123 through the internal cold war conducted by Khrushchev after the
B06 124 death of Stalin.  ^Molotov was frozen out, then made a 
B06 125 non-person, absent from official memory.
B06 126    |^Still the survivor returned.  ^In March 1984, on his 94th
B06 127 birthday, he was readmitted to the Communist Party, a
B06 128 spectacular rehabilitation apparently masterminded by his
B06 129 former deputy, Andrei Gromyko.  ^The gesture had a certain
B06 130 logic.  ^In many ways the Soviet state remains recognisably the
B06 131 same entity which Stalin built.  ^Famine is no longer a
B06 132 government policy; wholesale slaughter of political opponents,
B06 133 or those suspected of being so, is no longer practised.  ^But
B06 134 these are, after all, no longer required: the police state is
B06 135 secure.  ^The gulag is large, efficiently run, and quite strong
B06 136 enough to contain the dissidents.
B06 137    |^Molotov and his contemporary Rudolf Hess lived on as
B06 138 dinosaurs from the age of European dictators.  ^A kind of
B06 139 symmetry exists.  ^The Russians were angered recently when
B06 140 Chancellor Kohl compared \0Mr Gorbachev with the Nazi
B06 141 propagandist Joseph Goebbels.  ^This was bound to cause offence
B06 142 in a country which lost 20 million in the war against Hitler.
B06 143 ^But the comparison has some point.  ^\0Mr Gorbachev seeks, as
B06 144 Goebbels did, to put an acceptable face on an inhuman system.
B06 145    |^Molotov's death should remind us of the fate which western
B06 146 Europe escaped, if eastern Europe did not: the death of freedom
B06 147 and democracy.  ^Tyrants like Molotov *- the man who died
B06 148 peacefully in old age after giving his name to a petrol bomb *-
B06 149 should not be forgotten.
B06 150 *<*4Quango appears a curious caprice*>
B06 151 |^*2SETTING UP A *0new quango and making it hunt down quangos
B06 152 and red tape as a first assignment is not the only element of
B06 153 caprice in announcing an Economic Development Commission.
B06 154    |^The move is in accord with the Labour Party's 1984
B06 155 manifesto promise to set up an industrial development board,
B06 156 says Associate Finance Minister David Caygill.
B06 157    |^That seems to be an Alice in Wonderland interpretation.
B06 158 ^Details about the powers and functions of the proposed
B06 159 commission are vague at this stage but what has been announced
B06 160 is different from the industrial development board promised in
B06 161 Labour's 1984 economic policy.  ^That board was to advise on
B06 162 selection of industries to receive financial and other
B06 163 assistance from an industry investment and assistance fund
B06 164 financed from a number of sources including tax, loan revenue,
B06 165 superannuation investments, government-guaranteed loans, and
B06 166 industry levies.
B06 167    |^Recommending dollops of taxpayer funds and taxpayer-supported 
B06 168 loan capital to industry which cannot attract market
B06 169 place investor support is anathema to the realism of
B06 170 Rogernomics.
B06 171    |^Exit that role for the proposed commission, and goodbye to
B06 172 the title of industrial development board.
B06 173    |^The man chosen to head the new commission is New Zealand's
B06 174 senior departmental head, Treasury secretary Bernie Galvin.
B06 175    |^In a Capital City which takes such an interest in
B06 176 positions of power and influence a lot of people must find it
B06 177 odd that 53-year-old \0Mr Galvin would change from the top of
B06 178 the tree to head just another toothless advisory body which so
B06 179 far has indistinct terms of reference still-to-be decided
B06 180 resources, and an uncertain life if Labour should lose the
B06 181 election.
B06 182    |^The Leader of the Opposition, Jim Bolger, says he cannot
B06 183 see any place for it; it just seems to be another quango.
B06 184 ^Quite so.  ^It brings back musty memories of National's own
B06 185 Commission for the Future *- yawn.
B06 186    |^\0Mr Galvin complains about a Treasury brain drain to the
B06 187 private sector at such a rate in the first quarter of this year
B06 188 that if it continued the department would disappear within
B06 189 12-18 months.  ^Pay classification negotiations to try to stem
B06 191 joining the exodus.
B06 192    |^Asked if the Government had indicated to him it was
B06 193 unhappy with the time taken to assemble the farm relief
B06 194 package, \0Mr Galvin replied, *"No.**" ^He then added that
B06 195 governments always want things done far more quickly than is
B06 196 possible.
B06 197    |^The Treasury secretary denies any current problem over
B06 198 health but says one's effectiveness starts to drop a little
B06 199 after being 11 years at the top of Government institutions.
B06 200 ^Among the triumphs there has to be a lot of rejection and
B06 201 dejection at that level.
B06 202    |^The proposed commission with broad overview of the economy
B06 203 and headed by such a high flyer is not going to have the field
B06 204 to itself.  ^The Planning Council and its economic monitoring
B06 205 group already play a part.
B06 206    |^The Government has available to it economic advice from
B06 207 Treasury, the Reserve Bank, other specialised departments, and
B06 208 the Prime Minister's advisory group.  ^It can also call upon
B06 209 sector groups, consultants, academics and bodies like the
B06 210 Planning Council and the {0NZ} Institute of Economic Research.
B06 211    |^When the new commission starts hunting quangos it should
B06 212 begin by questioning its own existence.
B06 213 *<*4Curbing the din*>
B06 214 |^*2NOISE, IT *0has been said, rates among our most potent
B06 215 pollutants.  ^A related problem, the loss of hearing, is the
B06 216 major health risk in the New Zealand work environment, the
B06 217 Health Department said last year.
B06 218    |^The Wellington City Council's recent decision to extend
B06 219 the curfew over aircraft engine testing at Wellington Airport
B06 220 from 11{0pm} to 8{0am} is, therefore, a welcome move.
B06 221    |^It is, as Strathmore Residents' Action Committee
B06 222 chairwoman Maxine Harris says, final acknowledgment that there
B06 223 has been a noise problem at the airport.  ^What part the
B06 224 forthcoming local body elections in October had to play in the
B06 225 relatively speedy action on the matter *- the committee was
B06 226 formed just two months ago *- is immaterial now.
B06 227    |^Aircraft engines may still be tested in emergencies
B06 228 between the curfew hours of 8{0pm} and 6{0am}.
B06 229    |^The residents' determination not to be *"bluffed**" by
B06 230 promises of action, and their stated intention to keep a close
B06 231 eye on the situation is wise.  ^After all, claims they made in
B06 232 May that the curfew had been broken 12 times during a 13-day
B06 233 period they monitored were disputed.
B06 234    |^For its part, Air New Zealand said then that it was well
B06 235 aware of the problem but sometimes needed to test aircraft
B06 236 engines outside curfew hours in order to solve problems arising
B06 237 from disruptions and emergencies.
B06 238 *#
B07 001 **[051 TEXT B07**]
B07 002 *<*2THE ARBORETUM, BEACHES, THE OLYMPIC POOL...AND THEN WHAT?*>
B07 003    |^*0Gisborne the Golden...the Sunshine City really has been
B07 004 living up to its reputation recently.  ^While some parts of the
B07 005 country had far too much rain, we just had enough to keep
B07 006 things damp and plenty of sunshine hours to make the beaches
B07 007 and swimming pools a big attraction.
B07 008    |^But is it enough?  ^For those born and brought up in the
B07 009 comparative quiet of the Gisborne-East Coast there is no place
B07 010 like home.  ^For many visitors looking for some peace and
B07 011 quiet, it provides the ideal holiday.
B07 012    |^And some major attractions have been developed in recent
B07 013 years.  ^The Olympic Pool and the new water slide have been a
B07 014 tremendous asset.
B07 015    |^The Eastwoodhill Arboretum is a must for tourists who can
B07 016 see about 350 family groups of trees, shrubs and climbers in a
B07 017 splendid array of nature in its most bountiful mood.
B07 018    |^Eastwoodhill is about 35 kilometres from Gisborne on the
B07 019 road to Rere and is a credit to all those who have worked so
B07 020 hard to make it the attraction it is today.
B07 021    |^We have also been fortunate in our recent sporting
B07 022 fixtures with harrier races, the marathon clinic, the world
B07 023 jubilee speedway series and top class cricket all attracting
B07 024 visitors.
B07 025    |^Other attractions?  ^The Wainui Lions' annual beach dig
B07 026 was great fun.  ^There are still surf lifesaving carnivals and
B07 027 the North Island Saloon Car Championships to come.
B07 028    |^The national Maori tennis tournament, with local star
B07 029 Kelly Evernden, gave us a sporting highlight to remember.
B07 030    |^All of these events and quite a few others have done much
B07 031 to keep Gisborne moving in recent weeks.  ^And that is
B07 032 important because tourism is generating jobs nobody in New
B07 033 Zealand dreamed about a decade ago.
B07 034    |^But we still have a fair way to go to get a greater share
B07 035 of the New Zealand dollar.  ^And we are learning more about our
B07 036 international visitors.
B07 037    |^For instance: *-
B07 038    |^Australians clamour for pubs and clubs, with emphasis on
B07 039 entertainment.
B07 040    |^Japanese love sheepskin products and New Zealand
B07 041 souvenirs.
B07 042    |^Americans are inclined to make use of self-drive options
B07 043 and coach tours.
B07 044    |^Big winners in this mix are the wholesale and retail
B07 045 trades.
B07 046    |^These details emerge from a survey of 1984 international
B07 047 visitor expenditure, conducted by the Tourist and Publicity
B07 048 Department.
B07 049    |^But it is only the start of the tourism boom.  ^By the
B07 050 year 1990, tourism is expected to create 4800 new jobs in the
B07 051 wholesale and retail sectors, to cope with the work generated
B07 052 by international visitors.
B07 053    |^Similarly, building and construction work will employ an
B07 054 extra 2100 people to create facilities required to service
B07 055 tourism.
B07 056    |^There are obviously jobs in hotels and motels, in the ski
B07 057 fields and in our shops which depend to a large degree on
B07 058 holiday trade.  ^But it is also becoming apparent that
B07 059 identifiable jobs include the clothing industry.  ^Among
B07 060 Japanese visitors, 23 percent of their optional spending goes
B07 061 on clothing...about *+$3.3 million in 1984.
B07 062    |^Over the total visitor field, 20 percent spent on clothing
B07 063 represents a *+$24 million injection into our economy last
B07 064 year.  ^Of this, Australians gave us *+$9.5 million...the most
B07 065 they spent on any category.
B07 066    |^It is certainly worth thinking about.
B07 067    |^We still suffer in comparison to many holiday
B07 068 resorts...but we can still claim to be one of the friendliest
B07 069 cities in the country.  ^Probably our greatest asset is that
B07 070 this is one of the few areas where a smile is not met with
B07 071 suspicion and a friendly greeting is still regarded as normal
B07 072 behaviour.
B07 073 *<Starview*> *<*5No certain cure in shakeup*>
B07 074 |^*2THE *0biggest upheaval yet in New Zealand's public services
B07 075 is not intended as a mirror exercise, says Finance Minister
B07 076 Roger Douglas.
B07 077    |^The Government's intention, announced yesterday, can be
B07 078 boiled down simply to this: a whole raft of expensive
B07 079 government agencies are suddenly to find themselves operating
B07 080 in a completely commercial environment *- dependent on their
B07 081 own efforts for paying their way and making profits for their
B07 082 own development.
B07 083    |^They will forego the perk of having the taxpayer make up
B07 084 for shortfalls.
B07 085    |^They range through such agencies as the Housing
B07 086 Corporation and the Rural Bank to Trade and Industry, Energy,
B07 087 the Post Office and the civil aviation sector of Transport.
B07 088    |^More than 60,000 people are employed in these areas.
B07 089 ^They will feel the reverberations, and the changes will call
B07 090 for considerable adjustment in attitudes and will.
B07 091    |^The move is bold and breathtaking in its suddenness, and
B07 092 tremendously exciting.  ^Two years ago, before the arrival of
B07 093 the present Government and the word *"Rogernomics**" loomed
B07 094 large, it would have seemed inconceivable that a Labour
B07 095 Government would have considered the step.
B07 096    |^However \0Mr Douglas' concern that the exercise should not
B07 097 be seen as some sort of mirror trick is warranted.
B07 098    |^The move is to make the public service leaner, sharper and
B07 099 more efficient.  ^In putting the agencies on to a commercial
B07 100 footing the Government estimates a saving in the first year of
B07 101 *+$900 million of taxpayers' money, rising to *+$1.4 billion in
B07 102 the third year.
B07 103    |^These savings will become apparent in the tax take.  ^But,
B07 104 inevitably, taxpayers will find themselves forking out more
B07 105 heavily for other services.
B07 106    |^The cost of electricity and gas will rise, together with
B07 107 telephone and postal rates.  ^Farmers, already squeezed, will
B07 108 pay more for Rural Bank loans, and increases will flow through
B07 109 to airline tickets, state house rentals and Customs charges.
B07 110    |^Only time will tell if restructured household budgets work
B07 111 in favour of families.
B07 112    |^One of the Government's major worries must be whether
B07 113 there is sufficient will and expertise within the public
B07 114 service to operate efficiently in the commercial chill.
B07 115    |^Corporation and agency boards will be stiffened with
B07 116 business minds from outside.  ^But the need for management
B07 117 training and re**[ARB**]-orientation must be a priority.
B07 118    |^Another care is the possibility of widespread job loss as
B07 119 some departments home down.  ^The Government has refused to
B07 120 spell out the job implications *- some departments may well
B07 121 need extra staff, while normal attrition may work away surplus
B07 122 fat in others.
B07 123    |^Finally, what of those agencies who have always been
B07 124 trading bodies and monopolies?  ^Typical of these is the Post
B07 125 Office.
B07 126    |^The old cost-plus mentality which allows monopolies *-
B07 127 Government and private *- to grow fat and slothful needs to be
B07 128 watched with special care.  ^Restructuring is no guarantee of a
B07 129 cure in itself.
B07 130 *<*5Electoral risks*>
B07 131 |^*2THE *0proposed restructuring of Government departments
B07 132 suggests the Lange Administration remains firmly committed to
B07 133 leaving its permanent stamp on the New Zealand economy, even at
B07 134 the cost of losing office through alienating most of its
B07 135 traditional supporters.
B07 136    |^Entrenched bureaucracies, whether of the public service,
B07 137 trade union or private sector kind, are rarely enthused with
B07 138 the idea of being forced rapidly to change their ways.
B07 139    |^In going for broke, by attempting to change the course of
B07 140 the public service as well as the farming, manufacturing and
B07 141 service industries, the Government must know it risks electoral
B07 142 peril.
B07 143    |^The Government may be counting on the electorate being
B07 144 well informed enough about the pressing need for its actions to
B07 145 re**[ARB**]-elect it in September next year despite the pain
B07 146 voters have suffered.  ^If so, it may be politically naive,
B07 147 because voters as a whole vote by the feel of their wallets.
B07 148 ^When their wallets feel empty they vote out the government.
B07 149 ^It has been like that for 100 years.
B07 150    |^Perhaps the Government thinks it can upset unions, public
B07 151 servants and low-income earners because such groups will vote
B07 152 Labour no matter what.  ^But that would be equally naive; the
B07 153 1975 election proved the Labour vote will stay at home on
B07 154 polling day if unhappy with a Labour Government.
B07 155    |^Or maybe, like \0Mr Micawber, the Government is simply
B07 156 hoping something will turn up by election time.  ^If that were
B07 157 the case, it would not be much of a way to run the country.
B07 158    |^But, on the face of it, and on the record of this very
B07 159 non-traditional Labour Government, it seems most likely the
B07 160 Government really believes it is acting in the country's best
B07 161 interests by exposing one sector of the economy after another
B07 162 to the chill winds of change, efficiency and market forces.
B07 163    |^Time will tell whether the experts who are applauding
B07 164 Rogernomics, or the experts who decry it, are correct.  ^It
B07 165 would be hard to argue this Government lacked political
B07 166 courage.
B07 167 *<Starview*>
B07 168 *<*5Ensuring justice is done*>
B07 169 |^*2AN *0Official Information Amendment Bill before Parliament
B07 170 since July has a clause which has serious ramifications for
B07 171 people convicted of crimes but who nonetheless maintain their
B07 172 innocence.  ^The clause seeks to bar prisoners access under the
B07 173 Official Information Act to the police and Crown documents used
B07 174 to convict them.  ^Parliament should not pass this lightly.
B07 175    |^This measure has been dubbed the *"Wickliffe Clause**" and
B07 176 with good reason.
B07 177    |^Dean Wickliffe shot a Wellington jeweller in a robbery in
B07 178 1972.  ^He claimed the shot was unintentional and happened when
B07 179 the unfortunate victim jumped at him.  ^He was convicted of
B07 180 murder but continued to protest his crime was manslaughter.
B07 181    |^Last year Wickliffe used the Official Information Act to
B07 182 get the police files on his 1972 case.  ^Among them he found a
B07 183 job sheet which recorded a witness as backing his claim the
B07 184 jeweller had jumped at him.  ^The witness had not said this in
B07 185 evidence at the trial and nor was Wickcliffe's lawyer told of
B07 186 the job sheet at the time, despite the obligation of the Crown
B07 187 to bring such conflicting evidence to the defence's attention.
B07 188    |^Eventually Attorney-General Geoffrey Palmer was prompted
B07 189 to *"advise**" the Governor-General to approve a fresh appeal
B07 190 for Wickliffe.
B07 191    |^Subsequently, the full bench of the Court of Appeal
B07 192 quashed Wickliffe's murder conviction and replaced it with one
B07 193 of manslaughter, though leaving the life sentence intact.  ^The
B07 194 court had asked the original trial judge (Sir Clinton Roper) if
B07 195 the job sheet could have altered the trial's outcome.  ^Sir
B07 196 Clinton had replied to the effect it could have prompted him to
B07 197 change his direction to the jury.
B07 198    |^Wickliffe's present lawyers claim the Official Information
B07 199 Amendment is in retaliation for Wickliffe's successful
B07 200 discovery of the job sheet.  ^\0Mr Palmer rejects this and says
B07 201 the clause has nothing to do with Wickliffe.
B07 202    |^\0Mr Palmer may be correct.  ^On the other hand he may
B07 203 merely believe he is correct.  ^He may not know of the police
B07 204 concern *- expressed in the *1Star *0last March 12 *- about
B07 205 Wickliffe's use of the information act.  ^A senior police legal
B07 206 adviser was quoted as saying the police would seek Justice
B07 207 Department support to have the act changed by exempting prison
B07 208 inmates from its provisions.  ^Four months later in comes a
B07 209 bill with just such an exemption.
B07 210    |^Whatever the reason for the clause, \0Mr Palmer says
B07 211 criminal defendants will soon be protected by a new bill which
B07 212 will require the Crown and police to disclose all documents to
B07 213 the defence lawyers.
B07 214    |^This does not sound like much of a safeguard.  ^This
B07 215 *"discovery**" is already supposed to happen by convention; it
B07 216 did not in Wickliffe's case.  ^Nor would it help people already
B07 217 in prison *- their trials are over but their right to use the
B07 218 information act is about to be taken away.
B07 219    |^The interest of justice is best served by accused having
B07 220 access to all the evidence against them.  ^Better 10 guilty
B07 221 people go free than one innocent person go to jail.  ^The
B07 222 *"Wickliffe Clause**" has the potential for future miscarriages
B07 223 of justice.
B07 224 *<*5Great educator*>
B07 225 |^*2DAME *0Marie Clay thoroughly deserves the New Year Honour
B07 226 announced today.
B07 227    |^The Auckland University professor of education is a world
B07 228 leader in research on early learning, particularly reading
B07 229 acquisition and the prevention of learning disorders.
B07 230    |^One of her most notable achievements was the reading
B07 231 recovery programme widely used in New Zealand primary schools,
B07 232 and some in Australia and the United States.
B07 233    |^Dame Marie is highly respected internationally and her
B07 234 books are used in universities around the world.
B07 235    |^The title of dame is just recognition for a distinguished
B07 236 career that has helped thousands of young people along the path
B07 237 of education.
B07 238 *<*4Selecting teachers on the marae*>
B07 239    |^*0To make studies in Maori language and culture compulsory
B07 240 in schools would be neither generally acceptable nor wise.
B07 241 ^But there has in recent times been the realisation that the
B07 242 Maori language ought at least to be available to students.
B07 243 ^Pressure for change, from the Maori community in particular,
B07 244 has grown.  ^In response the Department of Education and the
B07 245 Post Primary Teachers' Association is working on a scheme under
B07 246 which Maori teachers will be nominated from maraes.  ^Those
B07 247 selected, on the basis of their knowledge of the Maori language
B07 248 and culture, will be regarded as having the equivalent of a
B07 249 university degree in the Maori language.
B07 250 *#
B08 001 **[052 TEXT B08**]
B08 002 *<*4Banners of hope*>
B08 003 |^*6O*2NE OF THE *0more touching sights marking the opening of the
B08 004 {0UN} International Year of Peace was the 3.5\0km ribbon which linked
B08 005 the embassies in New Zealand of the {0US} and the {0USSR} on Sunday,
B08 006 October 19.  ^The *"ribbon**", made of some 4000 small banners
B08 007 contributed from all parts of New Zealand, together with 50 from Japan
B08 008 and smaller numbers from the {0US} and Australia, extended from the
B08 009 Wellington suburb of Karori to that of Thorndon and was modelled on a
B08 010 15\0km peace ribbon which {0US} citizens tied around the Pentagon last
B08 011 year.
B08 012    |^According to the organisers a good half of the thousands who
B08 013 put careful and often exquisite artistry into making the banners had
B08 014 not taken part in any peace demonstration before. ^Certainly the
B08 015 messages of their banners were low-key and non-threatening, suffused
B08 016 with what Albert Schweitzer called reverence for life.  ^They
B08 017 symbolically tied together with love the two powers which pose the
B08 018 most immediate threat to life on this planet.
B08 019    |^Those powers, of course, refused to be tied.  ^Nobody who has
B08 020 observed the comportment of the {0US} and the Soviet Union over the
B08 021 past three decades would have been surprised that *1they *0marked the
B08 022 onset of the International Year of Peace by stomping away from their
B08 023 meeting in Reykjavik blaming each other for a continuation of the arms
B08 024 race.  ^The stumbling block this time was the Strategic Defence
B08 025 Initiative, more commonly designated Star Wars, a project of such
B08 026 unexampled silliness that nobody would take it seriously if it were
B08 027 not proposed with apparent conviction by somebody as powerful as the
B08 028 President of the United States.
B08 029    |^Nevertheless the so-called mini-summit may not have been a
B08 030 total loss to the cause of peace.  ^Immediately after Reagan and
B08 031 Gorbachev left Iceland various subordinates began reassuring us that
B08 032 arms controls might go ahead anyway. ^Gorbachev himself was quoted as
B08 033 saying that Reagan had proved he knew how to bargain *- a politician
B08 034 could work with such a man.  ^Also, by agreeing *- however momentarily
B08 035 *- that all medium-range missiles in Europe and half of all
B08 036 intercontinental missiles in the {0US} and {0USSR} could be quickly
B08 037 dismantled, the two super**[ARB**]-powers discredited forever their
B08 038 reasons for having them in the first place.
B08 039    |^One could have wished that Reagan and Gorbachev were listening
B08 040 when New Zealand's distinguished *- and mightily impressive *- visitor
B08 041 Rajiv Gandhi spoke about nuclear arms. ^He quietly disposed of the
B08 042 idea that because a nation could make them it should.  ^Yes, he said
B08 043 on *1The Crosbie Report, *0India was able to make nuclear weapons, had
B08 044 indeed come to that point 12 years ago.  ^But India had decided not to
B08 045 arm itself with them *- even though its neighbour China has them and
B08 046 its other neighbour Pakistan seems to want them.  ^His message seemed 
B08 047 **[PLATE**]
B08 048 to be that freedom can be maintained (India is both the largest and
B08 049 one of the more enduring democracies) outside of military alliances
B08 050 and nuclear threats *- provided one is self-confident.
B08 051    |^Of course it helps to be large.  ^As the British discovered,
B08 052 India's millions (780 at last count) are not easy to push around. 
B08 053 ^New Zealand lacks that advantage.  ^But we have others.  ^The
B08 054 Secretary of Foreign Affairs asserted as recently as April, ^*"There
B08 055 is no present military threat to the region nor to any of its member
B08 056 countries.**" ^And, as the people-power needed to link the embassies
B08 057 indicates, we appear to have a growing confidence in our right to live
B08 058 free from nuclear terrorism.
B08 059    |^Some indicators of that confidence appear as sponsors of a
B08 060 peace-issues pamphlet recently received in this office: _{0AANA}
B08 061 (Architects Against Nuclear Arms), {0ESR} (Engineers for Social
B08 062 Responsibility), {0IPPNW} (International Physicians for the Prevention
B08 063 of Nuclear War), {0NZLND} ({0NZ} Lawyers for Nuclear Disarmament),
B08 064 {0PANA} (Pharmacists Against Nuclear Arms), {0PPNW} (Psychologists for
B08 065 the Prevention of Nuclear War), {0SANA} (Scientists Against Nuclear
B08 066 Arms), {0VAANA} (Visual Artists Against Nuclear Arms).  ^Such a
B08 067 line-up would have been unthinkable even 10 years ago.
B08 068    |^At first glimpse the peace ribbon was touching and forlorn,
B08 069 like a child's band-aid on an irreparably broken doll. ^But it was
B08 070 made by a great many people, with the backing of many more.  ^We have
B08 071 to hope that its message proves stronger than fear.
B08 072 *<*4Alexander Fry *6ASSISTANT EDITOR*>
B08 073 *<*4Not for sale*>
B08 074 |^*6E*2VERYTHING *0repeats itself if only you wait long enough, and
B08 075 the turn of laisser-faire economics seems to have come. ^The
B08 076 Government has opened the country up to the brute forces of the free
B08 077 market, 19th-century style, the Opposition has added an occasional
B08 078 *"we too**", and the rest of us wait worriedly to see whether
B08 079 laisser-faire works any better this time round.
B08 080    |^We can forget about the subsidy for West Coast coal.  ^One
B08 081 swallow does not make a summer, and one subsidy does not make an
B08 082 interventionist policy.  ^Even Adam Smith, the virtual inventor of
B08 083 laisser-faire economics, allowed room for exceptions to his general
B08 084 view that it was *"the highest impertinence and presumption for kings
B08 085 and ministers to watch over the economy of private people**".  ^He
B08 086 conceded that civil governments might undertake such public works as
B08 087 roads, bridges, canals and harbours; he would surely have included
B08 088 railways but for the fact that they were still waiting to be invented.
B08 089    |^No, the *+$1.9 billion (at the time of going to press) question
B08 090 has been how much public property the Government might sell to private
B08 091 business in order to balance the books and satisfy its philosophical
B08 092 yearning for a return to laissez-faire.  ^Privatisation is more than
B08 093 just an ugly word; it is being practised in the raw *- most notably
B08 094 perhaps in the Thatcher Government's disposal of such state properties
B08 095 as British Telecoms**[SIC**] (*"the sale of the century**") and North
B08 096 Sea Oil.
B08 097    |^The New Zealand taxpayer owns some comparably valuable
B08 098 properties.  ^Indeed, the previous Government had just announced a
B08 099 partial sale of the successful Petrocorp when it was defeated at the
B08 100 polls in 1984.  ^A Labour {0MP} at the time described the intended
B08 101 action in sentimental terms as like selling off part of the family
B08 102 farm *- not quite such a moving metaphor today.  ^Even so, the *"free
B08 103 market**" victory in the 1984 election made it possible that the new
B08 104 Government would go ahead with the sale.  ^It has not done so, and in
B08 105 his November *1Economic Statement *0the Finance Minister, Roger
B08 106 Douglas, confirmed the decision by describing privatisation as a red
B08 107 herring.  ^His chosen compromise is to retain public ownership of
B08 108 state enterprises, while running their trading departments in a
B08 109 private-enterprise way.
B08 110    |^Given that the Government deficit must be reduced *1somehow,
B08 111 *0the policy seems sensible.  ^Obviously the sale of such competitive
B08 112 and profitable businesses as Air New Zealand and Petrocorp would
B08 113 increase rather than lessen the deficit, except in the very short
B08 114 term.  ^Only the purest of laisser-faire ideologues would want it to
B08 115 happen now.  ^And at the other extreme, money could undoubtedly be
B08 116 saved, as one businessman has wryly suggested, by selling off some
B08 117 publicly-owned coal mines or bus services, or the Stewart Island
B08 118 ferry. ^Funny thing is, nobody seems to want them.  ^As politicians
B08 119 have always known, governments are like parents *- they get all the
B08 120 thankless and unrewarding jobs.
B08 121    |^As the state would score only a one-off advantage from selling
B08 122 profitable enterprises, and as nobody will buy the big losers, \0Mr
B08 123 Douglas has wisely decided to aim for small improvements in the
B08 124 efficiency of some of the larger state trading enterprises, such as
B08 125 Energy and Forestry, which because of their scale could significantly
B08 126 reduce the Government's deficit.  ^He will need to remember, however,
B08 127 that in this country there is no necessary connection between
B08 128 efficiency and free enterprise.  ^Indeed, New Zealand business has a
B08 129 talent for protecting itself from competition, including a tendency
B08 130 towards monopoly, and at the same time a record of entrepreneurial
B08 131 cowardice which dates from well back in our history and explains why
B08 132 so much large-scale enterprise had to be undertaken by governments. 
B08 133 ^We should not expect too much from an injection of commercial
B08 134 managers, or even methods, into the public sector.
B08 135    |^The reassuring thing about \0Mr Douglas's compromise is that it
B08 136 preserves public ownership *- and therefore control *- of enterprises
B08 137 which have in the past been found, and may in the future be found,
B08 138 necessary to the public good.  ^The present deficit is apparently
B08 139 being dealt with by conventional means, and may well be a short-term
B08 140 problem.  ^We shall see. ^Likewise, correcting distortions in the
B08 141 economy with a dose of free market could well be successful *- short
B08 142 term.  ^But we know beyond doubt that unbridled free-market economies
B08 143 have a long and lamentable record of boom and slump, of looting scarce
B08 144 resources and despoiling the landscape, of causing human indignity and
B08 145 want.  ^We know also that *"mixed economies**" such as New Zealand's
B08 146 have proved to be good ways of exploiting free-market productivity
B08 147 while leavening free-market inhumanity.  ^\0Mr Douglas is right to
B08 148 leave the structure of that economy intact. 
B08 149 *<*4Alexander Fry *6ASSISTANT EDITOR*>
B08 150 *<*4Gear bags of grief*>
B08 151 |^*2MOST *0people were surprised when the 1985 All Black tour to South
B08 152 Africa was stopped in its tracks in the Wellington high court. ^The
B08 153 players were stunned. ^They grieved.
B08 154    |^The result of that grieving process can now be seen in the
B08 155 hush-hush plans for an unofficial tour this April.
B08 156    |^To grieve for the loss of the 1985 tour, particularly when
B08 157 civil war was developing in South Africa, may seem a perversion of
B08 158 human values but the process and depth of feeling should not be
B08 159 underestimated.
B08 160    |^An indication of this depth of feeling can be seen in the views
B08 161 of Rugby News editor Bob Howitt, writing after the high court
B08 162 decision.
B08 163    |^*"Asked whether he felt any sadness for the All Blacks
B08 164 involved, (Prime Minister) Lange said he had a lot of feelings for the
B08 165 320 blacks killed in South Africa recently. *'^My feelings for
B08 166 disappointed rugby players do come second to those,**' he said.
B08 167    |^*"It's a sad day when a prime minister professes greater
B08 168 concern for people in other countries than his own citizens,**" opined
B08 169 Howitt.
B08 170    |^There have been further *"sad days**" for the rugby-fascinated
B08 171 public with the cancellation of the official Lions and France rugby
B08 172 tours. ^These decisions have added momentum to the organisation of
B08 173 unofficial tours. ^Other things have also changed. ^For every sad day
B08 174 down at the clubrooms there have been countless apartheid-engendered
B08 175 tragedies as violence has spread to communities throughout South
B08 176 Africa.
B08 177    |^The 1985 tour was wrong because of the support it lent to a
B08 178 violent and immoral regime. ^Events in South Africa since the tour was
B08 179 cancelled have made this double clear. ^The players can choose to
B08 180 ignore recent events in the republic. ^They can clutch on to their
B08 181 gear bags of personal hurt and focus only on this second-best sporting
B08 182 trip of a lifetime.
B08 183    |^We hope they stop and take a wider view. ^The invited players
B08 184 could start by considering why a rugby trip to South Africa is such a
B08 185 big event for them.
B08 186    |^Many players have spoken of matches between the countries as
B08 187 the pinnacle of rugby achievement. ^All Black coach Brian Lochore told
B08 188 the New Zealand Times, shortly after his appointment, ^*"It will take
B08 189 determination and a feeling of national pride beyond anything players
B08 190 have known and expressed before to win a series in South Africa.**"
B08 191    |^Lochore spoke of the *"extreme nationalism of South African
B08 192 crowds**" and Springbok players *"incredibly hyped up by that same
B08 193 nationalistic fervour**". ^Rugby is a basic element of the national
B08 194 identity of the white South African regime. ^This is the link between
B08 195 the sport and the politics of apartheid.
B08 196    |^The very reasons a tour of South Africa is such a big event in
B08 197 a rugby player's career are also reasons he shouldn't tour.
B08 198    |^It is now de rigeur for players and administrators, among many
B08 199 others, to voice opposition to apartheid. ^The players invited on this
B08 200 latest tour find themselves in the special position of being able to
B08 201 do something about this opposition; to decline their invitations and
B08 202 to say why.
B08 203    |^Unrealistic? ^Perhaps. ^But the future image of the game is
B08 204 again at stake. ^The reasons for not touring South Africa come
B08 205 increasingly into starker contrast. ^Organising or assisting with
B08 206 official or unofficial tours to the veldt will again bring the
B08 207 selfishness of rugby into stark relief.
B08 208 *# 
B09 001 **[053 TEXT B09**] 
B09 002 *<*4White fright, black flight*> 
B09 003 |^*2WHITE FLIGHT *0has worked its way into our vocabulary with
B09 004 surprising speed since Race Relations Conciliator Walter Hirsh used
B09 005 the term to describe the practice of some Pakeha parents who avoid
B09 006 sending their children to schools with a high concentration of Maori
B09 007 and Polynesian pupils. ^Hirsh calls white flight a blatant expression
B09 008 of racism and prejudice.
B09 009    |^Hirsh has it all wrong, according to Wellington Education Board
B09 010 general manager John Lelliott. ^Lelliott says parents are moving their
B09 011 children from schools because the recent emphasis on taha Maori *- the
B09 012 Maori dimension *- is eating into time that should be spent on basic
B09 013 education.
B09 014    |^Both critics seem to be part right, part wrong. ^If Lelliott had
B09 015 been an education board manager in Auckland, he would know that white
B09 016 flight has been in existence far longer than the taha Maori programme.
B09 017 ^The problem comes to prominence now because the schools which have
B09 018 been accommodating the white flight can no longer cope with the
B09 019 influx. ^On the other hand, if Hirsh examines the real motives of the
B09 020 parents, he might find that reasons other than racism and prejudice
B09 021 have shaped their decision to send their children out of the local
B09 022 school zone.
B09 023    |^To get the question of white flight into some perspective, we
B09 024 must also consider the reality of black flight. ^Maori and Polynesian
B09 025 parents are also sending their children to schools which they believe
B09 026 are more sensitive to their cultures. ^Calls for separate Maori
B09 027 schools surfaced at a recent national hui on education at Ngaruawahia.
B09 028 ^An executive of the New Zealand Educational Institute, Peter Singh,
B09 029 believes parents should have the option of having their children
B09 030 taught completely in Maori.
B09 031    |^At Matawai, in Northland, a group of parents has been defying
B09 032 the Auckland Education Board by refusing to send their children on to
B09 033 intermediate from their small bi-lingual local primary school.
B09 034 ^Supporting the parents' stand, the chairperson of the Auckland
B09 035 District Maori Council, Dr Ranginui Walker, states the case starkly:
B09 036 ^*"Existing schools fail 70 percent of Maori children... ^Forcing
B09 037 Maori children to attend schools which fail them is disvaluing their
B09 038 culture unnecessarily when Maori people are willing to support an
B09 039 alternative.**"
B09 040    |^The statistics sustain the concern of Maori parents. ^Maori
B09 041 pupils are twice as likely as others to leave school with no
B09 042 qualifications at all. ^Their pass rate in school certificate exams in
B09 043 1984 was nearly 43 percent lower than the average. ^Only 25 in every
B09 044 1000 Maori third-formers are likely to reach form seven, compared to
B09 045 125 in every 1000 non-Maori students. ^Maori parents complain that an
B09 046 unsatisfactory school system is branding their children as failures.
B09 047 ^Professionals in education stress the theme that the present
B09 048 education system is not meeting Maori needs.
B09 049    |^Not only are the Maori children being branded as failures, but
B09 050 so *- rightly or wrongly *- are the schools where they predominate.
B09 051 ^Both white and black flights have their roots in a common concern.
B09 052 ^Both Maori and Pakeha parents want their children to attend schools
B09 053 where they will experience the kind of education that will give them
B09 054 the best possible start in life.
B09 055    |^The separatist tendencies we are seeing will not be countered by
B09 056 daubing them with Hirsh's simple slogan of *"racism**" or by
B09 057 Lelliott's call for taha Maori to be confined to social study lessons.
B09 058 ^What needs to be recognised is that the problem is *"school flight**"
B09 059 *- not black or white flight. ^The reality is that some schools *- not
B09 060 necessarily through any fault of their own *- are failing to serve
B09 061 members of their local communities, Pakeha and Maori alike. ^They must
B09 062 be given the resources to provide all their pupils *- regardless of
B09 063 racial, cultural or lingual differences *- with a level of educational
B09 064 achievement which is generally perceived to be satisfactory.
B09 065    |^In itself, the taha Maori programme is an essential step. ^It is
B09 066 a simple process. ^Normal reading, writing, spelling and maths lessons
B09 067 are supplemented with Maori language and Maori concepts. ^Pupils will
B09 068 gain an understanding of Maori values *- aroha, wairua,
B09 069 whanaungatanga, manaaki tangata *- of sharing, caring and concern for
B09 070 each other, of hospitality, and of working together to develop good
B09 071 family and group multi-cultural relationships. ^All these objectives,
B09 072 if explained and understood, can meet with few objections.
B09 073    |^It is but a small step on the way to recognising that we live in
B09 074 a multi-racial, multi-lingual world. ^If we cannot begin to practise
B09 075 that in our schools and in our own society, there is little hope for
B09 076 our future as citizens of planet Earth. 
B09 077 *<*4David Beatson *6EDITOR*> 
B09 078 *<*4Sick and tired and waiting*>
B09 079    |^*2MARGERY DAW *0rides her see-saw, Simple Simon meets his pieman
B09 080 and the cow jumps over the moon on the walls of the King Edward *=VII
B09 081 Memorial Hospital, Wellington's crumbling public facility for sick
B09 082 children. ^They are part of a series of 18 Royal Doulton tile panels,
B09 083 fixed to the hospital walls early in the century. ^They cost *+800
B09 084 then, and are now museum pieces, virtually priceless.
B09 085    |^In March 1985 Royal Doulton's chief executive, visiting
B09 086 Wellington, learned of the tiles' threatened future *- a new hospital
B09 087 was planned, the old one to be demolished. ^In May 1985 the company's
B09 088 Far East manager flew from Singapore to discuss the tiles at a
B09 089 Wellington Hospital Board committee meeting, promising financial
B09 090 support for an expert opinion on their transferral to a new home. ^In
B09 091 April 1986 a contractor began trial removal of one panel.
B09 092    |^Such speed is rare in matters concerning the children's
B09 093 hospital. ^It is more than 70 years old and from the outside has a
B09 094 picturesque charm. ^Inside, the charm is replaced by cockroaches,
B09 095 peeling walls, overcrowding and the wailing of children. ^The
B09 096 priceless Royal Doulton panels are a bitter joke when they look down
B09 097 on, say, a small cubicle containing two hydrocephalic babies, one
B09 098 fretful, the other quiet; a fortnight-old baby recovering from
B09 099 emergency surgery, his tiny arm bandaged to an intravenous drip; and
B09 100 an alert infant suffering from little more than parental incompetence.
B09 101 ^In the next cubicle, hard up against the asthmatic toddlers in oxygen
B09 102 tents, there might be a four-year-old with a brain tumour. ^On a bad
B09 103 day one ward might hold more than 25 children.
B09 104    |^All over the place there are parents, usually mothers, washing
B09 105 their children, changing them, feeding them, struggling to keep them
B09 106 amused or to soothe them to sleep. ^At night, the parents lie on
B09 107 mattresses on the cubicle floors with the cockroaches, or on fold-up
B09 108 beds jammed against lockers or under washbasins, anywhere there is
B09 109 space. ^They doze, awakened by every child's cry, every late-night
B09 110 admission. ^Before seven they are up, putting their beds away,
B09 111 snatching a wash or beginning the trek through the main hospital
B09 112 corridors in search of breakfast.
B09 113    |^In November 1981 Wellington's *1Evening Post *0reported on a
B09 114 letter to the board from parents whose two sons had died of a rare
B09 115 liver disease in the hospital. ^The elder, given 10 days to live, was
B09 116 moved to *"the most private area available within the ward *- a
B09 117 cubicle containing only three other children and their parents**".
B09 118 ^The only redeeming factor, they said, was the staff: ^*"In conditions
B09 119 entirely unsuited to effective performance the doctors and nurses are
B09 120 truly remarkable.**" ^This was echoed in May 1986 by another couple,
B09 121 who said that critically ill children faced conditions *"similar to
B09 122 those reported in the Third World**", but that the nursing care for
B09 123 their child had been *"superb**".
B09 124    |^Plans to replace the disgraceful facilities have been in train
B09 125 all that time *- and longer. ^In 1981 the Health Department rejected a
B09 126 board proposal for a new children's hospital, suggesting that it seek
B09 127 alternative accommodation. ^In 1982 the Minister of Health put the
B09 128 planning process on a *"fast track**", but it was not until 1985 that
B09 129 the new Government approved preparation of final working drawings for
B09 130 a new building. ^Along the way were diversions, feasibility studies
B09 131 and a stage-by-stage approval process which, in the words of one
B09 132 department official, involved *"two Christmas breaks when little
B09 133 progress could be expected**".
B09 134    |^Staff, who are expected to get the children better *- Christmas
B09 135 breaks notwithstanding *- and parents, who visibly move from shock
B09 136 through indignation to resignation during their children's stay, have
B09 137 learned to expect *"little progress**" on the new hospital.
B09 138    |^But hope is now possible. ^The board has approved a final quote
B09 139 from the contractors. ^The Hospital Works Committee, comprising
B09 140 representatives from Treasury, the Health Department and the Ministry
B09 141 of Works and Development, was reviewing the board's submission at the
B09 142 time of writing. ^The building proposal would then go to the Minister
B09 143 of Health for approval, then to a Cabinet committee, then to Cabinet.
B09 144 ^Then the turning of the first sod would be in sight.
B09 145    |^The delays so far have been appalling; one wonders if they would
B09 146 have been tolerated by health service consumers more powerful than
B09 147 little children and their distraught mothers. ^If any more delays
B09 148 occur it would be hard to condemn anyone *- nurse, doctor, parent *-
B09 149 who suggested collaring those responsible and forcing them to spend a
B09 150 day and a night caring for a sick child in the old hospital. ^After
B09 151 that, all the king's horses and all the king's men could scarcely
B09 152 prevent them from seizing a concrete mixer and personally pouring the
B09 153 foundations for the new one. 
B09 154 *<*4Helen Paske *6ASSISTANT EDITOR*> 
B09 155 *<*6THE NEWS SAYS:*> 
B09 156 |^*2*"I'M *0stunned,**" said husband Michael Chamberlain on the news
B09 157 of the release of wife Lindy, in Australia's baby and the dingo case.
B09 158    |^Stunning may be an understatement. ^This sensational case
B09 159 reveals once again the frailty of the Westminster style of justice.
B09 160    |^Lindy Chamberlain is probably a more potent symbol of the
B09 161 fragility of that justice system than Arthur Allan Thomas.
B09 162    |^For the court battle which preceded her conviction for murder of
B09 163 tiny baby Azaria at Ayers Rock was, like the Thomas case marked by a
B09 164 courtroom battle of experts. ^A bitter drag out between forensic
B09 165 scientists.
B09 166    |^And yet after they had put away their test tubes, after the
B09 167 Australian High Court reviewed the tests and opted for the status quo,
B09 168 after Northern Territory solicitor general Brian Martin turned down
B09 169 claims of the Chamberlain Innocence Committee, the whole case
B09 170 foundered on the discovery of a simple child's cardigan.
B09 171    |^Whatever the outcome of the Chamberlain case, Lindy, her husband
B09 172 Michael, and their children, will never be allowed to live normal
B09 173 lives, to do as Arthur Allen Thomas did and go back to the farm and
B09 174 relative obscurity.
B09 175    |^The baby and the dingo case, with its sensational elements of
B09 176 religion, wilderness sacrifice, the scissors theory, whether a dingo
B09 177 did it, have ensured the media regards the case as the crime of the
B09 178 decade. ^And the media is merely feeding an insatiable public appetite
B09 179 for the weird and salacious.
B09 180    |^The ultimate tragedy for the Chamberlains is that they have
B09 181 become part of Australia's mythology. 
B09 182 *<*4Execution no answer*> 
B09 183    |^*6T*0HE lives of two Australian men, convicted in Malaysia of
B09 184 drug trafficking, rest on the success or otherwise of last-minute
B09 185 legal actions to prevent their executions. ^A New Zealand mother and
B09 186 her son, imprisoned in Malaysia, also face mandatory death sentences
B09 187 if they are convicted of drug trafficking charges. ^They were arrested
B09 188 in February last year at Penang airport after police said they had
B09 189 been found in possession of more than 400 grams of heroin.
B09 190    |^Australian sympathy for their jailed countrymen appears limited.
B09 191 ^A Sydney opinion poll is reported to show that 60 per cent of those
B09 192 asked favoured the hanging. ^Will New Zealanders favour the hanging of
B09 193 their compatriots if they too are convicted?  ^Quite probably.
B09 194    |^A Wellington bus driver, Joe Cherian, who mounted a solo protest
B09 195 against Malaysia's death penalty outside its Wellington high
B09 196 commission on Wednesday, was the subject of abuse and ridicule.
B09 197 ^*"This has been a real eye-opener,**" he said. ^*"I have been amazed
B09 198 by people's bloodlust.**"
B09 199    |^Not all of the public's enthusiasm for hanging can be dismissed
B09 200 as bloodlust. ^There is understandable public horror at the operations
B09 201 of the heroin trade and the ravages it causes. ^Those who direct and
B09 202 finance the business show no respect for human lives, neither the
B09 203 lives of their addict consumers nor those of their underlings. ^The
B09 204 people in this latter group, with its over-representation of the naive
B09 205 and greedy, are usually the ones who get caught. ^In Malaysia they
B09 206 face death if convicted but they cannot claim they were not
B09 207 forewarned. ^The death penalty is extensively publicised within
B09 208 Malaysia and travellers arriving in the country are also told about
B09 209 it. 
B09 210 *# 
B10 001 **[054 TEXT B10**] 
B10 002 *<*4Talking the dollar down*> 
B10 003 |^*6T*2HERE *0is no evidence that the Labour Government wants to cause
B10 004 the collapse of New Zealand farming.  ^It is just trying to make
B10 005 agriculture more efficient.
B10 006    |^This week's news of a substantial cut in the payout to dairy
B10 007 farmers spreads the pall of rural gloom from woolshed to cowshed.  ^It
B10 008 is tempting to suggest that, while not intending to do long-term harm
B10 009 to farming, Roger Douglas has slipped with the knife.
B10 010    |^Many of the causes of the rural depression stem from events well
B10 011 beyond the Minister of Finance's control; it is more a case of the
B10 012 patient's body shifting on the operating table than a surgical fumble.
B10 013 ^\0Mr Douglas had no say in the dramatic drops in international
B10 014 commodity prices. ^The shifts in prices for dairy products and sheep
B10 015 meats have amplified the impact of government decisions and increased
B10 016 the pressures on farmers and their families.
B10 017    |^The Government can legitimately avoid much of the blame for the
B10 018 situation, but it cannot avoid the responsibility. ^There is real
B10 019 danger of permanent damage to competent and experienced farmers.
B10 020 ^There are steps the Government can take to limit this damage.
B10 021    |^New Zealand's real exchange rate is now higher than its level
B10 022 before the 1984 devaluation. ^The real exchange rate is governed by
B10 023 two factors: New Zealand's rate of inflation relative to the inflation
B10 024 rates of its trading partners, and the value of the New Zealand
B10 025 dollar.
B10 026    |^The Government has been concentrating on reducing the inflation
B10 027 rate. ^It has had some success. ^Inflation has fallen but overseas
B10 028 inflation rates are still much lower.
B10 029    |^Because of this continuing disparity in inflation rates there is
B10 030 a need to take action to lower the value of the New Zealand dollar.
B10 031    |^A withholding tax on overseas investors has been suggested.
B10 032 ^This would dissuade many overseas investors from buying New Zealand
B10 033 dollars to take advantage of our higher interest rates. ^With less
B10 034 demand for our dollar its value could be expected to fall.
B10 035    |^Talking the dollar down has also been suggested. ^The foreign
B10 036 exchange market is apparently a sensitive flower that responds to
B10 037 rough talk about what the Government wants or is planning to do, or
B10 038 why investing in New Zealand is not the wonderful idea it once was.
B10 039 ^Mere talk of the Government seriously considering a measure such as a
B10 040 withholding tax is likely to start to move the value of the dollar
B10 041 downward.
B10 042    |^Measures such as these run counter to the Government's
B10 043 determination to have the foreign exchange market set the value of the
B10 044 kiwi. ^But the market has its limitations. ^Only about 10 per cent of
B10 045 its transactions involve payments for goods and services. ^Most of the
B10 046 remainder are the kind of speculative transactions that have supported
B10 047 a high value for the dollar.
B10 048    |^Paradoxically if the Government chooses to maintain its
B10 049 hands-off stance, the producer groups and exporters may be able to
B10 050 talk the dollar down on their own. ^A concerted campaign to bad-mouth
B10 051 New Zealand's investment prospects may dent the confidence of overseas
B10 052 investors sufficiently to have the desired result. ^Then the farmers
B10 053 would be happier and the Government could claim the market works, with
B10 054 a little help from some friends.
B10 055 *<*6POSH LETTER PAPER A SCANDAL*>
B10 056    |^*0Scandalous!
B10 057    |^At a time when the Government is telling us times are tough
B10 058 Women's Affairs Minister Ann Hercus is using pretty official writing
B10 059 paper. ^And it's pretty expensive, too *- 24 cents a sheet.
B10 060    |^That's scandalous, \0Mrs Hercus!
B10 061    |^What's wrong with ordinary Government issue paper for your
B10 062 correspondence?
B10 063    |^There are many many New Zealanders out there who are suffering
B10 064 under the current economic conditions.
B10 065    |^They're prepared to take the tough going for a while in the
B10 066 interests of a better New Zealand in years to come.
B10 067    |^They'll be finding it very hard to understand how you can be
B10 068 spending their tax money in such a frivolous fashion.
B10 069    |^Twenty-four cents a sheet writing paper indeed!
B10 070 *<*6PUBLIC MONEY *- VIGILANCE KEY*>
B10 071    |^*0Crazy!
B10 072    |^That's the only way to describe a law which allowed the Accident
B10 073 Compensation Corporation to make a payout of nearly *+$20,000 to a
B10 074 convicted murderer who was hurt while trying to escape from jail.
B10 075    |^Parliamentary Under Secretary in charge of the Corporation,
B10 076 Eddie Isbey, says the law will be changed.
B10 077    |^So it should be! ^And quickly!
B10 078    |^The sad aspect of this payout is that it would have been made
B10 079 without comment had it not been for Truth's expose of the situation.
B10 080    |^Our story shows the need to be ever vigilant where the spending
B10 081 of public money is concerned.
B10 082    |^Truth will spearhead the charge.
B10 083 *<*7DON'T FIGHT, CO-OPERATE ON SUPER*>
B10 084    |*0National superannuation shouldn't become a political football.
B10 085    |^Life's tough enough for the hundreds of thousands of New
B10 086 Zealanders in retirement.
B10 087    |^They certainly don't need the added insecurity caused by the
B10 088 current speculation and uncertainty.
B10 089    |^Yet superannuation will surely be a major issue at the next
B10 090 election.
B10 091    |^The Government has already lost credibility on the matter by
B10 092 slapping a hefty surtax on many superannuitants' earnings, thereby
B10 093 breaking a 1984 election promise.
B10 094    |^Now it says there won't be more changes before the next
B10 095 election.
B10 096    |^Peter Tapsell's injudicious comments last week, however make it
B10 097 clear the superannuation rules will be changed before long.
B10 098    |^Any Opposition glee at the Government's discomfort, though, will
B10 099 be tempered by the knowledge that National, too, will have to promise
B10 100 a tamper-proof scheme.
B10 101    |^There's a good case for the main parties co-operating in the
B10 102 creation of a national superannuation plan that won't be subject to
B10 103 change.
B10 104    |^It would have to ensure that people weren't penalised for
B10 105 providing for their retirement and that it didn't favour those who
B10 106 made no effort to help themselves.
B10 107    |^Above all, though, it would have to provide stability and
B10 108 security for people in their old age.
B10 109 *<*6THINK BEFORE FAG BAN*>
B10 110 |^*0Medical evidence has established beyond any reasonable doubt that
B10 111 smoking kills people.
B10 112    |^It's also offensive and a health hazard to non-smokers.
B10 113    |^But the Toxic Substances Board's recommendations that all
B10 114 tobacco advertising should be banned and tobacco company sponsorship
B10 115 of sport abolished don't provide convincing answers to the problem.
B10 116    |^In fact, the loss of sponsorship could be costly for the
B10 117 Government.
B10 118    |^The board talks glibly about sports bodies finding new sponsors.
B10 119 ^Sports administrators know only too well that there will be very few
B10 120 businesses prepared to put up the sort of money tobacco interests
B10 121 provide.
B10 122    |^So there would be a lot of open hands stretching towards the
B10 123 state coffers.
B10 124    |^Smoking is best tackled by a continuous education campaign aimed
B10 125 mainly at the young people who are supposedly susceptible to cigarette
B10 126 advertising.
B10 127    |^If youngsters aren't deterred by the sight of tar-laden lungs
B10 128 and accounts of horrific death by cancer, then nothing's going to stop
B10 129 them smoking.
B10 130 *<*4When the term ends*>
B10 131 |^*2ON BASTILLE DAY, 1984, *0a jubilant David Lange swept his Labour
B10 132 team into power. ^July 14, 1986, saw Prime Minister Lange ushering two
B10 133 French spies prematurely out of prison and his colleagues into their
B10 134 third year in office. ^It seems a fair bet that the three years Mafart
B10 135 and Prieur are to spend on a remote island will be more pleasant than
B10 136 the three-year term of the current Government of New Zealand. ^At
B10 137 least at the end of their three-year term Mafart and Prieur are home
B10 138 free, but the Labour Government's prospects for similar success in the
B10 139 election due sometime in the next 12 months look dubious now.
B10 140    |^For the last two years the Labour Government has largely been a
B10 141 model of discipline, determined to hold the line that it is necessary
B10 142 to put the country in a state to make some money before anyone starts
B10 143 arguing about how to spend it. ^Any flaws in the facade have largely
B10 144 escaped the attention of the opposing political parties who have been
B10 145 too busy neutering themselves to inflict any damage on anyone else.
B10 146    |^The monetarist lobby of Roger Douglas, Richard Prebble and David
B10 147 Caygill has held Cabinet in thrall, while collective responsibility
B10 148 and sheer weight of numbers has meant that a team of Cabinet ministers
B10 149 and their under**[ARB**]-secretaries, aided by two party whips, could
B10 150 head off any tendency to rebellion among the other 27 members of
B10 151 Labour's parliamentary caucus.
B10 152    |^The discipline shows signs of fraying. ^The anguish of Minister
B10 153 of Education Russell Marshall over plans to close the railways
B10 154 workshops in his Wanganui electorate is a demonstration of discontent
B10 155 with the remorseless commitment to tight monetarist policies. ^This
B10 156 discontent must grow as other ministers face the consequences of
B10 157 cutting another billion dollars out of budgets they had already
B10 158 trimmed by some *+$840 million earlier this year.
B10 159    |^Douglas is issuing a tall order when he demands these extra cuts
B10 160 to cover what he calls *"unexpected costs**" arising from the Think
B10 161 Big projects initiated by the former National Government. ^After all
B10 162 the book-opening, one can but wonder why it took him so long to
B10 163 discover this particular time bomb. ^If his colleagues succeed in
B10 164 delivering what Douglas wants, it will be at the cost of more pain in
B10 165 the electorate. ^If they fail, Labour will lose face with the one
B10 166 sector that is happiest with it *- the financial community. ^At the
B10 167 moment, the Government's firm adherence to more-market and user-pays
B10 168 economics seems designed to achieve victory in Remuera rather than
B10 169 hold Wanganui.
B10 170    |^Since taking office, the Lange Government has certainly been
B10 171 prepared to risk the affections of many of its supporters from 1984.
B10 172 ^Superannuitants with private incomes were first to be angered when
B10 173 they learnt their benefits would be taxed despite a Labour promise not
B10 174 to tamper with the basic scheme.
B10 175    |^Farmers are not regarded as Labour's natural allies, but many of
B10 176 the workers who live in provincial towns and cities are, and they are
B10 177 feeling the pinch since the Government scaled down its support for
B10 178 agriculture.
B10 179    |^The Labour left *- held at bay by the non-nuclear defence and
B10 180 foreign policies *- will now be restive after the cave-in to French
B10 181 pressure over the *1Rainbow Warrior *0affair and at David Lange's
B10 182 latest expressions of concern about the Soviet presence in the
B10 183 Pacific.
B10 184    |^Trade unionists did win back unqualified preference rights for
B10 185 their members, but seem to have gained precious little else except a
B10 186 few seats on government boards and a clear warning that the Government
B10 187 could come off its non-interventionist perch if wage settlements move
B10 188 too high. ^They may wonder why the same policy has not been applied to
B10 189 high exchange and interest rates, or to stem projected increases in
B10 190 unemployment. ^But rather than bucking their party head-on, they are
B10 191 starting the long march through it, as demonstrated by their
B10 192 involvement in candidate selections in Island Bay, Papatoetoe and
B10 193 Avon.
B10 194    |^Support for the Lange Government, as measured in public opinion
B10 195 polls, has continued at surprisingly high levels. ^However, it is far
B10 196 easier to vote in a poll that comes to you than it is to make the
B10 197 effort to get out and vote on election day. ^Non-voters can defeat a
B10 198 government as effectively as those who switch allegiance, and a
B10 199 nationwide poll is not necessarily an effective indicator of the mood
B10 200 in the marginal electorates where the Treasury benches will be won or
B10 201 lost.
B10 202    |^The Labour Government knows it is running a high-risk economic
B10 203 policy. ^It is too soon to say it will lose, but it probably needs a
B10 204 miracle to achieve more than a narrow victory. ^A slim majority and a
B10 205 number of new {0MP}s with fresh trade union roots would produce a
B10 206 second-term Labour Government of quite a different hue to the one
B10 207 currently entering its last year in office.
B10 208 *<*4David Beatson*>
B10 209 *<*2THE NEWS SAYS:*>
B10 210 |^*2HAVE *0a heart!
B10 211    |^The sudden withdrawal of financial support for heart patient Des
B10 212 Tucker's life-saving operation across the Tasman by the Belinda
B10 213 Trainor trust smacks of man playing God.
B10 214    |^Interim injunctions banning news media coverage have been
B10 215 obtained by \0Mr Tucker's Wellington lawyer from \0Mr Justice
B10 216 Jeffries. ^The information in the hands of all the media is much the
B10 217 same as that given to the Belinda Trainor Trust.
B10 218    |^Some of the media are fighting the injunction and one newspaper
B10 219 has pontificated on the public's right to know.
B10 220    |^Sunday News believes the public's right to know must be balanced
B10 221 against other rights most importantly, the inviolable right to life.
B10 222    |^Des Tucker is a human being. ^He has as much right to a new
B10 223 heart as anyone else, if you believe in the sanctity of man.
B10 224    |^Our message to those who believe he deserves less is simply this
B10 225 *- you are heartless.
B10 226 *#
B11 001 **[055 TEXT B11**]
B11 002 *<*6JACK McCLENAGHAN*>
B11 003 *<*4Let's take an adult approach*>
B11 004    |^One of the things that puzzles me is why some people think
B11 005 18 is too tender an age for a person to have a drink in a pub.
B11 006    |^*0It is about the only thing you are not legally entitled
B11 007 to do then.  ^You can get married, vote, serve in the armed
B11 008 forces *- you name it you can do it.
B11 009    |^In fact I think the 21st birthday party, celebrating the
B11 010 attainment of adulthood, is an anachronism.
B11 011    |^To all intents and purposes you are an adult when you are
B11 012 18.
B11 013    |^It is also a fact that if no one under 20 went to a pub,
B11 014 half of them would be out of business.  ^Young people these
B11 015 days, more mature and independent than ever they were, scorn
B11 016 laws they think are stupid.
B11 017    |^And even if things get heavy they will still drink if they
B11 018 want to, if not in pubs then anywhere they won't be harassed.
B11 019    |^Everyone knows this, but some prefer to turn a blind eye
B11 020 to it.  ^Isn't that so typical of New Zealand, especially when
B11 021 it comes to booze?
B11 022    |^Before the days of later closing there was hardly a place
B11 023 in New Zealand where you couldn't get a drink after hours.
B11 024 ^The front doors of pubs might have been shut, but three knocks
B11 025 on the back doors soon saw them opened.
B11 026    |^Every politician knew this and had the Government insisted
B11 027 on the law being observed, the police would have seen to it
B11 028 there was no after-hours trading.  ^However, the way of doing
B11 029 things in this country is to do nothing, and that continued
B11 030 until the late Ralph Hanan, {0MP} for Invercargill and Minister
B11 031 of Justice, took a hand.
B11 032    |^Hanan, who was a neighbour of mine, was one of the most
B11 033 determined men I have ever met.  ^He had a mind to reform the
B11 034 liquor laws for years but he didn't have a real chance to do so
B11 035 until he got the Justice portfolio.
B11 036    |^He told me one day how he was going to go about it.  ^He
B11 037 was going to allow licensed restaurants.
B11 038    |^It didn't seem a very big deal to me but he said the key
B11 039 to success was to move slowly.  ^His licensed restaurants were
B11 040 going to be the thin edge of the wedge, and so they proved to
B11 041 be.
B11 042    |^I wonder what Ralph Hanan would think if he surveyed the
B11 043 scene today, with a government committee proposing to scrap
B11 044 most of the multifarious liquor laws that have grown like Topsy
B11 045 this century, in an effort to give us a fresh start.
B11 046    |^Probably he would regard the proposals as the culmination
B11 047 of the modest reforms he began over 30 years ago.  ^He would
B11 048 also find as far as some people are concerned, little has
B11 049 changed in that time.  ^The arguments against reform being
B11 050 advanced now are very similar to those he had to listen to.
B11 051 ^It seems to me that there are more self-appointed experts on
B11 052 the subject of liquor than anything else, most of them wanting
B11 053 to add to, or at least retain, the restrictions that Ralph
B11 054 Hanan was trying to get rid of.
B11 055    |^I think I am right in saying that his fundamental
B11 056 philosophy was that people could be trusted to respond
B11 057 accordingly to an improved environment, especially as far as
B11 058 the consumption of liquor was concerned.
B11 059    |^What he was trying to do was change the drinking
B11 060 environment for the better in the hope that our attitudes to
B11 061 alcohol would change likewise.
B11 062    |^I am sure that it has.  ^The conditions we have today are
B11 063 infinitely preferable to those prevailing at the time of the
B11 064 six o'clock swill.
B11 065 *<*4Helen Brown*>
B11 066 *<Bed buying *- a tiring business*>
B11 067 |^*6E*2ITHER *0we were getting bigger or the bed was getting
B11 068 smaller.
B11 069    |^Those midnight collisions that used to seem so intimate in
B11 070 the early years of marriage are just a damn nuisance when
B11 071 you're both exhausted and trying to get some sleep.
B11 072    |^As time went by and our innerspring got more
B11 073 uncomfortable, our friends became like religious salesmen.
B11 074 ^They invented endless excuses to make us lie on their
B11 075 waterbeds.
B11 076    |^I had to agree the things had improved since they'd
B11 077 brought out waveless models.  ^You could actually sit on one
B11 078 side without catapulting your partner across the room.
B11 079    |^I dragged my husband and the baby to one of those
B11 080 emporiums that sells waterbeds.  ^Beds en masse are seedy
B11 081 enough.  ^But when you visit a showroom full of purple draylon
B11 082 and significantly-shaped bed-ends, you begin to feel 
B11 083 self-conscious and more than a little inadequate.
B11 084    |^An unusual woman slithered out from behind the counter.
B11 085    |^*"Would you like to try one?**"
B11 086    |^My husband blushed.  ^Any moment, he'd turn and run out
B11 087 the door.
B11 088    |^*"Yes please,**" I said.
B11 089    |^She nudged us toward something that looked as if it had
B11 090 belonged to Henry the Eighth.  ^There was room for him and
B11 091 several of his wives.  ^I peered around the edge of the
B11 092 headboard, half-expecting to find a pair of handcuffs.
B11 093    |^*"Haven't you got something a little plainer?**"
B11 094    |^She pointed to a colonial masterpiece with cotton reels
B11 095 reaching for the sky.
B11 096    |^*"We call it Gone With The Wind.**"
B11 097    |^She readjusted her sequin-spangled belt as I tried to
B11 098 explain we wanted something *2MUCH *0plainer.
B11 099    |^Setting her mouth in a sullen pout, she led us to the
B11 100 Scandinavian section.  ^All pine and rolling in the snow.
B11 101    |^I began to feel tired.  ^None of them looked as if they
B11 102 were for sleeping.
B11 103    |^She placed a small rubber mat on a model called Erik the
B11 104 Red and urged me to lie on it.  ^The mat, I discovered, was to
B11 105 put my feet on.
B11 106    |^The bed gurgled with indigestion.  ^I stared up at the
B11 107 shop ceiling and prayed no customers would arrive.
B11 108    |^*"He has to lie on it too,**" she said, glaring at my
B11 109 husband who was holding the baby in self defence.
B11 110    |^He put the baby in her pushchair and obliged.
B11 111    |^*"What do you think?**" I muttered.
B11 112    |^*"It's a bit... ostentatious?**"
B11 113    |^The woman rattled her bangles and leaned over us.
B11 114    |^*"You can have a 14-day free home trial,**" she said,
B11 115 slitting her eyes.
B11 116    |^*"I don't think so,**" he said, sitting bolt upright and
B11 117 making the bed belch.
B11 118    |^*"We've got a hydraulic version out the back.**"
B11 119    |^My mind boggled.
B11 120    |^A small group of people had gathered outside the shop
B11 121 window.  ^They gazed at us with the same blank expression
B11 122 people have when they're watching television.
B11 123    |^*"Let's go,**" he said.
B11 124    |^*"We'll think about it,**" I said to the waterbed woman.
B11 125    |^And we did.  ^We decided to go to a family department
B11 126 store that would understand the more respectable aspects of
B11 127 bedding.
B11 128    |^An elderly man in a grey cardigan and spectacles sailed
B11 129 toward us like a bird of prey.
B11 130    |^We found a waterbed that looked like a conventional one.
B11 131 ^We said we'd take it because we didn't want to drag ourselves
B11 132 around any more shops.  ^His beady eye roamed over us both.
B11 133    |^*"Do you want it tonight?**"
B11 134    |^*"That would be nice.**"
B11 135    |^He tried to repress an evil cackle.  ^I wanted to say we'd
B11 136 been married for 100 years and simply wanted some sleep.  ^But
B11 137 that, I suspected, would destroy his fantasy.  ^Going by the
B11 138 delightful flush on his face he'd always dreamed of a couple
B11 139 marching in and demanding a bed immediately.  ^At last, it had
B11 140 come true.
B11 141    |^With an operatic gesture he called the delivery boys out
B11 142 the back.
B11 143    |^*"These people need a bed tonight!**" he announced so the
B11 144 whole shop could hear.
B11 145    |^The delivery men looked at my husband with respect verging
B11 146 on awe.  ^Their imagination had already transformed the
B11 147 pushchair into a double deluxe.
B11 148    |^Dream on.
B11 149 *<*6MOREOVER... *4by Miles Kington*>
B11 150 *<Alice through the cricket coverage*>
B11 151 |^*6D*2ONALD WOODS *0has called for a return of the great
B11 152 writers to the world of cricket, and the Moreover computer
B11 153 obliges with gripping test match coverage by the late, great
B11 154 Lewis Carroll.
B11 155    |^Humpty Dumpty was sitting with his legs crossed on a very
B11 156 high wall, so narrow that she wondered how he could keep his
B11 157 balance at all.  ^His eyes were so fixed on what was happening
B11 158 on the far side of the wall that for a moment she thought he
B11 159 was fast asleep.
B11 160    |^*"Perhaps I should wake him up before he falls off,**"
B11 161 thought Alice to herself, when suddenly she was startled by a
B11 162 remark he made into thin air.
B11 163    |^*"And I think there's going to be a change of field!**"
B11 164    |^*"It must be very difficult to change a field,**" said
B11 165 Alice, out loud.  ^*"All that digging and ploughing, and
B11 166 remembering where everything went.**"
B11 167    |^Humpty Dumpty turned to look at her very slowly and stared
B11 168 at her as if her contribution was quite beneath contempt.  ^*"I
B11 169 am trying,**" he said at last, *"I am trying *- as hard as I
B11 170 can *- to provide a commentary on this match for the television
B11 171 viewers.**"
B11 172    |^This statement made so little sense to Alice that she
B11 173 could not even think of an answer.  ^*"At the moment, child,**"
B11 174 he said , *"the English side have their backs to the wall.**"
B11 175    |^Alice looked at the wall and tried to imagine all the
B11 176 English players cowering just beyond.  ^*"Can they hear what
B11 177 you are saying?**"
B11 178    |^*"Of course not.  ^They are in the middle of the field.**"
B11 179 ^*"But I thought you were going to change the field.**"
B11 180    |^This provoked such a long stare from Humpty Dumpty that she
B11 181 feared she had offended him.  ^*"The question is,**" said
B11 182 Humpty Dumpty, *"the only question is, the only possible
B11 183 question is, who is going to do the lunchtime summary with
B11 184 Peter West, and miss his sandwiches.**"
B11 185    |^*"I like sandwiches,**" Alice said bravely.  ^*"I like egg
B11 186 and cress, egg mayonnaise, egg and tomato...**"
B11 187    |^Here Humpty Dumpty started swaying so violently that Alice
B11 188 began to wonder if she could catch him, should he fall.  ^*"It
B11 189 is very provoking *- very *- to be called the contents of a
B11 190 sandwich.  ^Don't forget, by the way, that there is 
B11 191 ball-by-ball commentary on Radio Three.**"
B11 192    |^*"What is a commentary, sir?**"
B11 193    |^*"A commentary, child, is telling the viewers what they
B11 194 can perfectly well see for themselves.  ^A commentary is a
B11 195 bunch of grown men laughing about Bill Frindall's beard.  ^A
B11 196 commentary is just what I want to mean and no more.  ^And the
B11 197 Indians are now in a very comfortable position.**"
B11 198    |^Alice tried to imagine the Indians, perhaps having a
B11 199 splendid picnic among their wigwams, but could not quite
B11 200 visualise it.
B11 201    |^*"As you seem so good with words, sir,**" she tried,
B11 202 *"perhaps you could explain some poetry which I ...**"
B11 203    |^*"I can recite poetry as well as the next man,**" Humpty
B11 204 Dumpty said.  ^*"Here is one which I call The Ballad Of The
B11 205 Commentators.
B11 206 **[POEM**]
B11 207 |^*1In winter, when there's ice and snow,
B11 208 See us all to India go.
B11 209 ^In spring, when birds are giving voice,
B11 210 We criticise the selectors' choice.
B11 211 ^In summer, as the rainfall soaks,
B11 212 Fred Truman tells some well-known jokes.
B11 213    |^*0*"Do you do anything in autumn, sir?**" she inquired
B11 214 politely, but he had started swaying excitedly again.  ^*"Oh my
B11 215 goodness,**" he said.  ^*"I do believe he's going to go around
B11 216 the wicket!  ^What do you make of that, Ray?**"
B11 217    |^Alice sensed that the conversation was over and started to
B11 218 drift away, but as she left his presence, she could hear him
B11 219 musing:
B11 220 **[POEM**]
B11 221 ^*1In autumn, when the football starts,
B11 222 We live on listeners' cakes and tarts.
B11 223 *<*0To whom it concerns*>
B11 224 *<*4Southern View*> *<by Ross White*>
B11 225 |^*6T*2HANK *0you for your letter, postmarked Auckland,
B11 226 enclosing both your invoice and your sincere good wishes.
B11 227    |^May I say that your expression of goodwill may have been
B11 228 treated with rather more respect, had not the envelope in which
B11 229 your missive arrived been addressed to *"{0PO} Box Nnn,
B11 230 Dunedin, *2CHRISTCHURCH.**"
B11 231    |^*0I have always suspected that you Aucklanders think of us
B11 232 in the South as living in another, foreign, country; I confess
B11 233 that I had not expected to have my prejudices confirmed in so
B11 234 tangible a manner.
B11 235    |^I find it interesting that the damn thing got here at all.
B11 236 ^The envelope bore the signs of having been opened in
B11 237 Canterbury, and I'm frankly astounded that it arrived at my
B11 238 office, rather than being redirected northwards bearing the
B11 239 legend, *"Address Unknown.**"
B11 240    |^Either the Christchurch branch of the post office has
B11 241 employed, presumably unknowingly, a downwardly mobile lateral
B11 242 thinker, or they employ an ex-Dunediner who has fallen into the
B11 243 trap of thinking that the grass is greener on the far side of
B11 244 the Waitaki.
B11 245 *#
B12 001 **[056 TEXT B12**]
B12 002 *<*5Not so charming*>
B12 003 *<*4The Week with Harold Angel*>
B12 004    |^*2EDITORIAL executives of the influential *1Economist
B12 005 *0magazine must be squirming a little. ^The front page of the
B12 006 magazine just a month ago featured a nuclear power plant under
B12 007 the banner, *"The Charm of Nuclear Power.**"
B12 008    |^Articles inside extolled the advantages of nuclear power
B12 009 generation.
B12 010 *<*4Minorities*>
B12 011 *|^*2The *0legislation in the House this week on the status of
B12 012 the Maori language recalls our reference a week or two ago to
B12 013 the Birmingham City Council's difficulties in reconciling its
B12 014 help for ethnic minorities with the demands of perhaps the
B12 015 smallest of its minorities *- the Scots.
B12 016    |^Birmingham, as you may remember, got the Gaels a bit
B12 017 excited by giving its attention to almost everyone but them.
B12 018    |^Now correspondents have suggested to the council, the
B12 019 newspapers and anyone else who can read, that urgency should
B12 020 be given to establishing evening classes and sandwich courses
B12 021 in the Gaelic language.
B12 022    |^But the classes should not stop there, they say.
B12 023 ^Cultural pride dictates that courses should be introduced for
B12 024 caber-making and tossing, malt whisky home brewing and tartan
B12 025 tweed weaving. ^Harold refrains from drawing any antipodean
B12 026 conclusions.
B12 027 *<*4Reunion*>
B12 028    |^*2THE NAME *0of a warship *- {0HMS} (later {0HMNZS})
B12 029 Achilles *- once rang triumphant bells all over New Zealand.
B12 030    |^A total of nearly 3000 New Zealanders served in Achilles
B12 031 from her arrival on the New Zealand naval station in 1936
B12 032 until she was sold to the Indian Navy 10 years later.
B12 033 ^Thereafter, as {0INS} Delhi, she served for a further 30
B12 034 years before finally being scrapped.
B12 035    |^Of those 3000 New Zealanders,  *- many of whom joined as
B12 036 boy seamen in this country *- were on board the Achilles
B12 037 during the memorable Battle of the River Plate in December,
B12 038 1939.
B12 039    |^The the Achilles, with two other British cruisers, the
B12 040 Ajax and Exeter, fought and crippled the more heavily armed
B12 041 German pocket battleship Graf Spee and drove her to seek
B12 042 shelter in Montevideo harbour. ^Later the German captain
B12 043 scuttled the Graf Spee and shot himself.
B12 044    |^But where are all those ex-Achilles men today? ^Ask Ivan
B12 045 Sainty and Jack Harker, former Achilles men who are trying to
B12 046 round up old shipmates for this reunion.
B12 047    |^*"There must still be very many of them around New
B12 048 Zealand,**" says Harker. ^*"Their former ranks would range
B12 049 from ordinary seamen to rear-admiral and their ages from
B12 050 mid-50s to late-70s.
B12 051    |^*"But we're having a lot of trouble tracing some and
B12 052 enthusing others.**"
B12 053 *<*4Amiria's Hat*>
B12 054    |^*2ANGEL *0followers with long memories may recall
B12 055 Harold's memorial tribute a couple of years ago to that lovely
B12 056 gentle woman of Herne Bay, Amiria Stirling.
B12 057    |^The lady who spread her aura of love from the inner city
B12 058 lives on in the memory with a Herne Bay street named in her
B12 059 honour, but her tender spirit will also guide youngsters in
B12 060 the future.
B12 061    |^When she died Harold recalled the touching story of the
B12 062 pigeon which landed on her hat one day in the city.
B12 063    |^She refused to disturb the tired bird *- not for the town
B12 064 hall doorman, nor the bus driver, nor the taxi driver who
B12 065 would not let her pass carrying *"her**" bird. ^Her gentle
B12 066 nature won them all over.
B12 067    |^Now the story of Amiria's hat has been told again.
B12 068 ^Children's author Lois Burleigh began work on a book after
B12 069 reading the tribute.
B12 070    |^The book is published with illustrations by Christine
B12 071 Ross and a translation by Arapera Blank.
B12 072    |^The simply told story should win the hearts of the young
B12 073 readers it is aimed at, as it did when it was first told,
B12 074 prompting the five-year-olds from one Auckland school to pen
B12 075 protests about unfeeling doormen, bus and taxi drivers.
B12 076    |^The bilingual book, *1Amiria's Hat *0or *1Te Pootae o
B12 077 Amiria, *0should be particularly popular in the kohanga reo
B12 078 and primary schools.
B12 079 *<*4Chinks Seen*>
B12 080    |^*2DEFENCE *0talks between Australia and New Zealand in
B12 081 the past few days have exposed a few chinks in the Anzus
B12 082 armour. ^Australia is prepared to defend its southeastern
B12 083 flank after all.
B12 084    |^And from the Australian press comes a little moral
B12 085 support for our Rainbow Warrior position.
B12 086    |^The *1National Times, *0published from Canberra, in its
B12 087 comment on President Reagan's Libyan exercises, asked the
B12 088 other day: *"since *'irrefutable evidence**' of state
B12 089 terrorism seems to be the sine qua non of exemplary
B12 090 retaliatory bombardment, who holds the most irrefutable hand
B12 091 of them all?
B12 092    |^*"The New Zealanders, of course. ^With a guilty plea on
B12 093 record from those responsible for the death of a member of the
B12 094 Rainbow Warrior's crew, New Zealand's course is now clear,**"
B12 095 said a *1Times *0Column.
B12 096    |^*"Margaret Thatcher will surely acquiesce to a bomb-laden
B12 097 helicopter being dispatched from New Zealand House in London
B12 098 to drop its load on Mitterrand's Elysee Palace. ^It is to be
B12 099 hoped there will be no bombardier inaccuracy which might
B12 100 inadvertently visit collateral damage on the United States
B12 101 Embassy in Paris.**"
B12 102    *|^*2OUR *0farmers, when they get home from their
B12 103 budget-priced holidays in the capital, might pay closer
B12 104 attention to the cushioning European farmers get from the
B12 105 Common Agricultural Policy and reports from an advertising
B12 106 agency that new tractors in Europe now include radios as
B12 107 standard equipment.
B12 108 *<*6Standoff*>
B12 109 *<*4{0WP} Reeves*>
B12 110    |^*6T*2HE MOST *0charitable thing to be said about those
B12 111 rebel Cavaliers is that they tried to administer the comfort
B12 112 of last rites to their beleaguered and intransigent hosts: one
B12 113 final taste of intoxicating rugby fever to the doctrinaire
B12 114 sinners before the holocaust.
B12 115    |^This week, freed of all pretences about the virtues of
B12 116 sport as bridge-builder, we have been hearing the ominous
B12 117 ticking of South Africa's doomsday clock.
B12 118    |^I have never been one to attribute much intelligence to
B12 119 the rugby mind. ^It is a one-track phenomenon. ^The
B12 120 interesting and portentous situation which arose when those
B12 121 renegade All Blacks took off was that two rugby forces now
B12 122 travel the single track *- in opposite directions. ^Collision
B12 123 is inevitable.
B12 124    |^If we set aside for the moment the far graver human
B12 125 tragedy being acted out in the republic and in which the
B12 126 footballers chose to meddle in a dangerously partisan and
B12 127 inflammatory way, we can examine the crisis into which rugby
B12 128 orthodoxy is plunged by its soft rebuke of officials and
B12 129 players who defy its will.
B12 130    |^The players who sneaked off were lured, if not by gold,
B12 131 then by dreams of dealing humiliatingly with their ancient
B12 132 rivals on their own patch. ^They went, they saw (largely what
B12 133 as guests they were encouraged by their blinkered hosts to
B12 134 see), but, shame, shame, they didn't conquer.
B12 135    |^The trip was also meant to assuage hurt and anger at
B12 136 having been denied at the last moment all those months ago the
B12 137 right to proceed to South Africa with the blessing of their
B12 138 union and in uniforms emblazoned with the proud silver fern.
B12 139    |^Boys being boys, who could blame them for finding a way
B12 140 around the court's injunction and proceeding, as the Prime
B12 141 Minister opined they were entitled to do, as individuals?
B12 142 ^Though the country was again divided, the weight of opinion
B12 143 lay narrowly with the naughty.
B12 144    |^But why should they be rebels? ^Who turned them into
B12 145 mutineers? ^Who denied them the status many felt was filched
B12 146 from them? ^After all, the union had sanctioned last year's
B12 147 aborted trip. ^Had \0Mr Blazey and his men suddenly been
B12 148 struck by the conscience which troubled almost half the
B12 149 country?
B12 150    |^Were moral and political factors, previously brushed
B12 151 aside as irrelevant to the union's central commitment to the
B12 152 pursuit of rugby interests, threatening like flood waters to
B12 153 undermine the foundations of its resolution? ^Such a
B12 154 turn-around was never a prospect. ^Suddenly the union found
B12 155 itself struggling to maintain its authority and control of the
B12 156 game.
B12 157    |^The reason we were staggered to find the rugby fraternity
B12 158 so surprisingly at odds, had nothing therefore to do with what
B12 159 was going on in South Africa. ^If the honour of All Black
B12 160 status was withdrawn from \0Mr Dalton's men *- at least for
B12 161 the duration of the tour plus one test *- it was not because
B12 162 the rugby union council was at last convinced that our
B12 163 presence in South Africa gave comfort to a frightened regime
B12 164 that uses the full panoply of its army and police to herd,
B12 165 deny and savage its majority people.
B12 166 *<*4Authority*>
B12 167    |^*0Nor had it miraculously been persuaded to have regard
B12 168 for New Zealand's good name abroad. ^The relationship between
B12 169 playing apartheid's game and the sharpening focus of racial
B12 170 issues at home found no cogent part in determining the union's
B12 171 stance.
B12 172    |^Inhibited by law from dispatching a team of its own, the
B12 173 union would discourage sides going to South Africa under their
B12 174 own steam. ^It had to do so if it were to retain its eminence
B12 175 and authority. ^These were dangerous times for the rugby
B12 176 hierarchy anyway. ^The spectre of professionalism was rising.
B12 177 ^Defenders of the amateur code had seen what had happened to
B12 178 cricket.
B12 179    |^That example, and the skinflint practices the rugby
B12 180 authorities had pursued from time immemorial, had bred
B12 181 dissatisfactions among many leading players. ^To the citadels
B12 182 of rugby, South Africa's ploy of welcoming unofficial teams
B12 183 seemed too much like the thin end of a very damaging wedge.
B12 184 ^This was why the International Rugby Board was so vehement in
B12 185 its opposition to the tour and roundly condemned the South
B12 186 Africans for arranging it.
B12 187    |^So we see that there has really been no change of heart
B12 188 on the part of the rugby orthodoxy. ^It continues to put rugby
B12 189 first and believes that that interest is best served by the
B12 190 retention of the amateur standard.
B12 191 *<*4McLean on Sport*>
B12 192 *<*4Farm Panacea In Horse Breeding*>
B12 193    |^Would it be paradoxical for New Zealand sheep, dairy and
B12 194 cattle farmers to trade their way out of current problems by
B12 195 breeding a horse, or horses, for showjumping?
B12 196    |^*0Decidedly not, according to one of the great American
B12 197 experts in equestrianism, Bernie Traurig, of San Diego,
B12 198 California.
B12 199    |^*"The Dutch do it, the West Germans do it,**" says
B12 200 41-year-old Traurig. ^*"Why shouldn't Kiwis?**"
B12 201    |^Traurig, who will end a 10-day tour of the North Island
B12 202 today and whose pleasures in his visit have been modified by
B12 203 the bug he picked up on the flight from Los Angeles, speaks as
B12 204 an expert on the three disciplines of showjumping, dressage
B12 205 and three-day eventing trials.
B12 206    |^In his late teens, he represented the United States for
B12 207 three years in three-day horse trials. ^Later, he was a member
B12 208 of the United States showjumping team on four occasions,
B12 209 including the 1982 world championships. ^He was an alternate
B12 210 on United States dressage teams.
B12 211    |^Based in Pennsylvania for 10 years and Wisconsin for
B12 212 seven, he moved to the balmy southern Californian climate
B12 213 eight months ago.
B12 214 *<*4Illness*>
B12 215    |^*0Now established as one of the first two or three
B12 216 coaches in the States and reputed to have hands which are like
B12 217 liquid, he tours his own country extensively to stage training
B12 218 classes for riders and horses.
B12 219    |^Despite his brief but unpleasant illness in New Zealand,
B12 220 he staged several clinics and was a special guest at the Bell
B12 221 Tea grand prix World Cup and other events which were held at
B12 222 the Isola equestrian centre at the weekend.
B12 223    |^He lives, by New Zealand standards, in the stratospheric
B12 224 world of showjumping (now, apparently, his chief interest).
B12 225 ^Sales of *+${0US}200,000 to *+$US400,000 are commonplace for
B12 226 quality horses. ^One horse, The Natural, recently sold for
B12 227 *+${0US}1 million and as far back as 1974, one of his horses,
B12 228 Jet Run, was sold to the Mexicans for *+${0US}300,000.
B12 229    |^Traurig claims to have been impressed by the qualities,
B12 230 actual and latent, of both Kiwi horses and riders. ^He
B12 231 foresees no difficulty in New Zealand's fielding a showjumping
B12 232 team at the Seoul Olympics, with such as Harvey Wilson and
B12 233 Crosby, John Cottle and two promising young horses, Colin
B12 234 McIntosh, who also has a couple of good 'uns, and David
B12 235 Murdoch, whose Gallipoli is, he believes, in world class.
B12 236    |^But Traurig's real concern is that Kiwi farmers latch on
B12 237 to the possibilities of horse breeding for showjumping rather
B12 238 than racing.
B12 239 *<*4Foal*>
B12 240    |^*0Scores of farmers in Holland and West Germany who
B12 241 mainly raise cows, goats and pigs vary this routine, Traurig
B12 242 says, by each raising a horse on their small properties. ^The
B12 243 basic requirement is a good brood mare which can be covered by
B12 244 a stallion for about *+$500.
B12 245    |^The foal is raised for about three years, cheaply *-
B12 246 perhaps for about *+$1000 a year in New Zealand terms *- and
B12 247 is then put to one of the numerous auctions at which a good
B12 248 average price is *+${0US}10,000.
B12 249 *#
B13 001 **[057 TEXT B13**]
B13 002 *<*4When moaning is not enough*>
B13 003 *<By *6MILES KINGTON*>
B13 004 |^*6O*2NE of *0my outstanding memories of 1985 is the sight of
B13 005 diners in a restaurant rising in near mutiny against the
B13 006 standard of cooking.
B13 007    |^It is a sight I had never thought to see in Britain and
B13 008 don't suppose I will see again, as the British do not like to
B13 009 complain about food.  ^We are, in fact, looked down on by
B13 010 Continentals for not complaining; an eminent Italian
B13 011 restaurateur once told me that the only method of protest we
B13 012 had was not coming back again, so the poor restaurant owner
B13 013 never found out what he was doing wrong.  ^Complain, he told
B13 014 me.
B13 015    |^There is a school of thought which says that we don't
B13 016 complain because we don't know there is anything wrong with the
B13 017 food.  ^Jonathan Green has just put out a sparkling anthology
B13 018 of writing about food and drink (*1Consuming Passion, *0Sphere)
B13 019 in which an American, Waverley Root, is quoted as follows:
B13 020 ^*"Every country possesses, it seems, the sort of cuisine it
B13 021 deserves... ^I used to think that the notoriously bad cooking of
B13 022 the English was an example to the contrary, and that the
B13 023 English cook the way they do because, through sheer technical
B13 024 deficiency, they had not been able to master the art of
B13 025 cooking.  ^I have discovered to my stupefaction that the
B13 026 English cook that way because that is the way they like it.**"
B13 027    |^In answer to criticisms like these (which contain a large
B13 028 ration of truth) it is normal to point out that things have got
B13 029 a lot better recently, that Elizabeth David created a 
B13 030 middle-class revolution in cooking, that brilliant young English chefs
B13 031 are springing up all over the place and so on.
B13 032    |^The sort of cooking Waverley Root is talking about, we are
B13 033 given to understand, is confined to roadside cafes and official
B13 034 banquets.  ^Yet the restaurant in which I witnessed this near
B13 035 mutiny was a very posh, nouvelle-influenced restaurant in an
B13 036 old town house in a northern cathedral city *- the menu was
B13 037 freely sprinkled with words like mousseline and veloute, which
B13 038 shows the chef had certainly read the right books.
B13 039    |^I started off with a platter of smoked fish (has anyone
B13 040 ever heard anyone saying the word *"platter**" in real life?)
B13 041 which was fine.  ^My friend had a special chef's salad, which
B13 042 was terrible, smothered in tomatoey salad cream.  ^She followed
B13 043 it with venison, which was lumpy and disagreeable.  ^I followed
B13 044 it with rack of lamb, which was rotten.  ^I mean literally
B13 045 rotten *- the meat had gone off, and the cooking and sauce
B13 046 could not disguise the smell of putrefaction.  ^It was so bad
B13 047 that even the head waiter had to agree that it was off.
B13 048    |^Five minutes later I noticed that two women dining by
B13 049 themselves at the next table were also expostulating to the
B13 050 waiter.  ^I leant over and asked them if they had had an
B13 051 unfortunate meal.
B13 052    |^*"Unfortunate?**" said one.  ^*"It's been terrible!  ^What
B13 053 they served us hardly resembled the description on the menu.
B13 054 ^I'm asking for my bill to be reduced by half.  ^And the couple
B13 055 who have just gone out, they actually left without paying.**"
B13 056    |^There was only one other couple still eating, an elderly
B13 057 industrialist and his mistress.  ^(Their loud conversation had
B13 058 left no doubt on this score.)  ^One of the women called over to
B13 059 ask them if they were enjoying their meal.
B13 060    |^*"My chicken's lovely,**" the mistress said startled.
B13 061    |^*"You're eating veal, dear,**" her companion said.  ^We
B13 062 discounted them as serious witnesses and went back to the
B13 063 enjoyable task of complaining about the food, which was
B13 064 something of a novel experience for us.  ^Because the truth is
B13 065 that the British are very good at grumbling, and very bad at
B13 066 complaining.
B13 067    |^We whinge and moan and grumble among ourselves, but we
B13 068 simply won't go to the management and complain.  ^How often
B13 069 have you sat in a cinema watching a film which was slightly out
B13 070 of focus, or slightly inaudible, or suffering from bad reel
B13 071 changes?  ^And how often has anyone gone to find the manager to
B13 072 complain?
B13 073    |^How often have we found a train withdrawn, or a buffet
B13 074 service withdrawn from a train, and actually written to
B13 075 complain about it?
B13 076    |^How many people have spent their lives grumbling at bus
B13 077 stops, waiting for buses that came four at a time very
B13 078 occasionally, without once writing to complain about it?
B13 079    |^Well, having tried complaining, if only in a restaurant, I
B13 080 can recommend it.  ^Not only does it bring results, you get to
B13 081 meet new people.
B13 082    |^So this year I'm giving up grumbling and taking up
B13 083 complaining.  ^Think of all those new people I'm going to meet
B13 084 the fun I'm going to have.  ^It might even raise standards as
B13 085 well.
B13 086 *<*4The lepers of the travel world*>
B13 087 *<Helen Brown*>
B13 088    |^*6T*2HE *0woman behind sat hunched over a paper bag.
B13 089    |^I quickly averted my eyes in case it was infectious, like
B13 090 yawning.
B13 091    |^At least there's something good about flying.  ^It's over
B13 092 fast.  ^I figured it was worth the vast fare to reduce five
B13 093 hours struggling with the baby in the car to one hour of this.
B13 094    |^Women with babies are the lepers of the travel world.  ^We
B13 095 were bunched together at the front of the plane so we wouldn't
B13 096 remind other passengers of the messiness of humanity in the
B13 097 raw.
B13 098    |^The woman across the aisle with a six-week-old at her
B13 099 breast spoke to her two pre-schoolers in a voice that was
B13 100 terrifyingly calm.
B13 101    |^*"If you don't shut up the lady will growl and she won't
B13 102 give you a lolly.**"
B13 103    |^We were due to land when the loudspeaker crackled and the
B13 104 pilot announced he would have to divert to another airport due
B13 105 to bad weather.  ^A bus would take us the rest of the way *- a
B13 106 journey I knew would take at least 2 1/2 hours.
B13 107    |^The woman behind looked no better after we had landed.  ^I
B13 108 shuffled down the aisle to the air hostess, who was waiting to
B13 109 issue bright farewells.
B13 110    |^*"Where can I get milk for the baby?**" I said.
B13 111    |^She looked vague and restless.
B13 112    |^*"Oh, there's a cafeteria...**" she said, almost shoving
B13 113 me down the steps.
B13 114    |^My faith in humanity was renewed when two bustling 
B13 115 middle-aged men welcomed me into their kitchen.
B13 116    |^*"Milk, dear?  ^Help yourself.  ^And let me get you a high
B13 117 chair.**"
B13 118    |^The atmosphere was frantic as they slapped egg sandwiches
B13 119 and salad rolls together.  ^It was a feast provided free by the
B13 120 airline to pacify the passengers.
B13 121    |^*"They only gave us 10 minutes warning,**" one said,
B13 122 wiping his hands on a cream-coloured pinny.  ^*"Hurry up with
B13 123 those custard tarts!**"
B13 124    |^I met the other mother outside at the luggage trolley.
B13 125 ^Like me, she was rustling through her suitcase for napkins and
B13 126 bibs.
B13 127    |^*"Guess what?**" she said heartily.  ^*"She pooed all over
B13 128 me!**"
B13 129    |^The sick woman was carried away in an ambulance.  ^For a
B13 130 fleeting moment, I wished I could have gone with her.
B13 131    |^The bus was nearly full.  ^All the go-getters had grabbed
B13 132 the window seats.  ^Mouths were set in cold, uncharitable
B13 133 lines.  ^I searched for a face that was kind.
B13 134    |^Babies tend to get on well with people who look like
B13 135 babies.  ^With profuse apologies we sat next to a man without a
B13 136 single hair on his head.
B13 137    |^As the road unravelled, he revealed every detail of his
B13 138 job to do with circuits.  ^He occasionally dipped into his
B13 139 paperback about life after the nuclear explosion.  ^But it
B13 140 wasn't long before he'd emerge to lecture me about his other
B13 141 obsession.  ^Science fiction.
B13 142    |^The baby grew restless.  ^I carried her to the back of the
B13 143 bus.  ^There on the back seat sat the other mother with her
B13 144 baby, who wouldn't stop howling.
B13 145    |^*"Are you pleased it's a girl?**" I said in a desperate
B13 146 attempt to cheer things up a bit.
B13 147    |^*"Oh yes, I really wanted one.**"
B13 148    |^*"Girls are nice,**" I said.
B13 149    |^*"Much better than boys,**" the mother said.
B13 150    |^*"Yes, much better!**" her pre-school daughter piped up.
B13 151 ^*"Boys are made of slugs and snails and puppy dogs' tails.**"
B13 152    |^Her brother kicked the seat in front of him and muttered
B13 153 to himself in a way that seemed habitual.
B13 154    |^*"But boys are nice, too,**" I said, appalled at the
B13 155 situation I'd created.
B13 156    |^*"No, they're not,**" the daughter snapped.  ^*"And guess
B13 157 what mothers are made of?  ^Nothing at all!**"
B13 158    |^The journey seemed to have no end.  ^Several times, I
B13 159 contemplated flinging myself and the baby out into the rain.
B13 160 ^I thought about the air hostess tucked up in some swanky hotel
B13 161 drinking gin and tonics.
B13 162    |^My nerve endings had shut down when we finally arrived.
B13 163 ^Our flight had begun a little more than five hours before.
B13 164 ^We should have hit Honolulu by now.
B13 165 *<*4Politics with Simon Collins*>
B13 166 *<*4Once-powerful Lobby Groups Have Lost Some Clout*>
B13 167    |^With barely a whimper of effective opposition, the
B13 168 Government has adopted one of the most left-wing foreign
B13 169 policies, and one of the most right-wing economic policies, in
B13 170 the Western world.
B13 171    |^*0New Zealand participation in the Anzus Pact, the basis
B13 172 of its security for a generation, has been effectively
B13 173 suspended.  ^Efforts by \0Dr Jim Sprott and the National Party
B13 174 to oppose this turnaround have been lost in the wind.
B13 175    |^\0Mr Roger Douglas has introduced a harder-line monetarist
B13 176 policy than \0Mrs Margaret Thatcher ever dared, and pushed
B13 177 through a tax reform which \0Mr Paul Keating had to retreat
B13 178 from in the face of opposition from Australian unions.  ^In
B13 179 this country, union and Labour Party critics have been voices
B13 180 in the wilderness.
B13 181    |^Yet a bill to decriminalise homosexuality, already well
B13 182 accepted overseas, has run into such a storm of protest,
B13 183 including a petition signed by a quarter of the population,
B13 184 that it is now in real danger of being lost.
B13 185    |^On Wednesday, within hours of each other, \0Dr Sprott and
B13 186 6000 farmers again challenged the Government's foreign and
B13 187 economic policies on the steps of Parliament.
B13 188 *<*5Well-organised Lobbying*>
B13 189    |^*0Their presence posed the question: why tweak the tail of
B13 190 politicians running scared before the Moral Majority?
B13 191    |^Their failure is certainly not for lack of well-organised
B13 192 lobby groups.  ^\0Dr Sprott and his pro-Anzus band have tried
B13 193 their own petition to Parliament, drawing 70,000 signatures.
B13 194    |^Under \0Mr Jim McLay the National Party, with its
B13 195 unrivalled nationwide party membership, made Anzus its chief
B13 196 cause.
B13 197    |^Equally, Federated Farmers has been marching and rallying
B13 198 against Government economic policies around the provinces for
B13 199 more than six months now.
B13 200    |^The Government responded with soothing noises, and knows
B13 201 that it will need to help refinance the most desperate farmers
B13 202 to avert a collapse of the financial system which has funded
B13 203 higher livestock numbers in the last few years.
B13 204    |^But farmers hoping for handouts will be disappointed for
B13 205 it is clear that, notwithstanding well-organised lobby groups,
B13 206 urban opinion has swung, if anything, behind Labour's 
B13 207 anti-nuclear policy and against complaining farmers.
B13 208 *<*5Neutralised Opposition*>
B13 209    |^*0With the exception of the latest blip in the opinion
B13 210 polls following the election of \0Mr Jim Bolger as National
B13 211 leader, public support has been solidly for Labour.  ^\0Mr
B13 212 David Lange  remains easily the most popular politician in the
B13 213 country.
B13 214    |^There are at least two reasons for this.
B13 215    |^First, Labour has, perhaps more by accident than design,
B13 216 assembled a bizarre collection of policies from both Left and
B13 217 Right which has effectively neutralised opposition from both
B13 218 ends of the spectrum.
B13 219    |^The right-wing business sector, which would normally be
B13 220 the most vigorous defender of the American connection, has
B13 221 cold-shouldered \0Dr Sprott and \0Mr McLay because it is happy
B13 222 with \0Mr Douglas' *"free-market**" economic policy.
B13 223    |^And the left-wing unions, though likely to confirm at the
B13 224 Federation of Labour conference next week that they are wholly
B13 225 opposed to *"Rogernomics,**" have been hamstrung by their
B13 226 dependence on the Labour Government to protect compulsory
B13 227 unionism and the national award system.  ^They also support its
B13 228 foreign policy.
B13 229 *<*5Fair Share Of Market*>
B13 230    |^*0National, under \0Mr Bolger, still represents
B13 231 conservative, or *"realist,**" opinion on moral issues, foreign
B13 232 policy, law and order and industrial relations, and in a
B13 233 general suspicion of the welfare state.
B13 234    |^Labour still represents radical, or *"idealist,**" opinion
B13 235 in its foreign policy, in its social reforms such as the
B13 236 Ministry of Women's Affairs and Maori language legislation, and
B13 237 in an economic policy, which actually combines the free market
B13 238 for goods with a redistribution of income through family
B13 239 support and the guaranteed minimum family income to ensure that
B13 240 everyone has a fair share of that market.
B13 241 *#
B14 001 **[058 TEXT B14**]
B14 002 *<*4{0PM} aims to satisfy honour*> *<*5Mediator for Rainbow
B14 003 affair?*> *<*4By *6BERNARD LAGAN*> *<*4Political
B14 004 correspondent*>
B14 005    |^*0Barely 11 months since French saboteurs blasted the
B14 006 Rainbow Warrior to the sea bottom at Auckland's Marsden Wharf,
B14 007 Prime Minister David Lange will next week put to his Cabinet
B14 008 serious proposals designed to satisfy French and New Zealand
B14 009 honour in the affair.
B14 010    |^Dutch Prime Minister Ruud Lubbers' proposal that an
B14 011 independent mediator be called in to arbitrate between New
B14 012 Zealand and France will be put before the Cabinet by \0Mr Lange
B14 013 *- four days after his return from Europe this week.
B14 014    |^The initiative, when it was put to \0Mr Lange by \0Mr
B14 015 Lubbers in The Hague last weekend, appeared to be received more
B14 016 positively by \0Mr Lange than any other proposal yet put
B14 017 forward to rescue the soured French-New Zealand relationship.
B14 018    |^It was, said \0Mr Lange, a proposal that *"had the seeds
B14 019 of credibility**".
B14 020    |^The Dutch Prime Minister did not fly kites, he noted.
B14 021    |^The Dutch proposal was not, according to informed sources,
B14 022 telegraphed in advance to \0Mr Lange before his visit to The
B14 023 Hague but it has become readily apparent during the week that a
B14 024 substantive amount of work had been done by \0Mr Lubbers and
B14 025 the new French Prime Minister, \0Mr Chirac.
B14 026    |^The pair, who have had a long personal friendship, first
B14 027 discussed it at the Tokyo summit of Western leaders in April.
B14 028 ^Shortly after \0Mr Lange left \0Mr Lubbers' office, \0Mr
B14 029 Lubbers called \0Mr Chirac to tell him of \0Mr Lange's
B14 030 reaction.
B14 031    |^An official statement was issued from Paris almost
B14 032 immediately:
B14 033    |^*"The French authorities receive the appeal which has just
B14 034 been made (by \0Mr Lubbers) with interest and with an open
B14 035 mind.  ^At this point no further commentary will be given.**"
B14 036    |^Just what caused the Dutch Prime Minister to intervene in
B14 037 the affair remains unclear.  ^But the consensus in Wellington
B14 038 is that the Dutch, who presently chair the Council of Ministers
B14 039 in the {0EC} community, may have been persuaded to take the
B14 040 initiative by senior {0EC} officials, known as the {0EC}
B14 041 commission, who foresee the damage that could be caused within
B14 042 the {0EC} by France's sanctions and threats directed toward New
B14 043 Zealand.
B14 044    |^The most important of these considerations is that the
B14 045 threatened French veto to block New Zealand exports to the
B14 046 {0EC} has the potential to seriously split the {0EC} member
B14 047 countries.  ^Britain, in particular would stand to be seriously
B14 048 embarrassed because of its commitment to go in to bat for new
B14 049 Zealand within the {0EC}.
B14 050    |^At a time when the {0EC} member countries are attempting
B14 051 to present a united and strong front toward the United States
B14 052 *- in the face of a threatened trade war *- there is little
B14 053 room for divisions inside the {0EC}.
B14 054    |^And it just so happened that a few days after the Dutch
B14 055 proposal was put to \0Mr Lange, the Dairy Board announced grim
B14 056 news for New Zealand's dairy farmers; because of the rising
B14 057 Kiwi dollar and low world dairy prices, dairy farmers were told
B14 058 to expect returns from milk products to drop by nearly half
B14 059 this year.  ^The average dairy farmers' gross income is set to
B14 060 crash by nearly *+$36,000.
B14 061    |^Overseas Trade Minister Mike Moore leaves Wellington this
B14 062 week on a save the butter exports campaign in the knowledge
B14 063 that decisions on how much butter New Zealand can export to
B14 064 Britain will be made in August.  ^The {0EC} has 1.1 million
B14 065 tonnes of butter in storage.  ^The impetus, therefore, from New
B14 066 Zealand's point of view to resolve the matter with France is
B14 067 great.
B14 068    |^It will be amid this background that \0Mr Lange puts the
B14 069 Lubbers' **[SIC**] proposal before Cabinet.
B14 070    |^However over the course of last week and the weekend, \0Mr
B14 071 Lange's early enthusiasm for the Dutch proposal seemed to wane.
B14 072    |^On Saturday he told reporters travelling with him that
B14 073 there could be no advancement on the mediation proposal while
B14 074 France continued with unofficial blockages of New Zealand
B14 075 imports.  ^The one in existence concerns the non-renewal of
B14 076 licences to French importers to buy New Zealand lambs' brains.
B14 077    |^This, according to those who have been close to the recent
B14 078 dealings with France, reflects a careful assessment by \0Mr
B14 079 Lange and some of his key Ministers back home *- notably Acting
B14 080 Prime Minister and Attorney General, Geoffrey Palmer *- of the
B14 081 real implications of accepting an outside mediator to solve the
B14 082 row.
B14 083    |^It is certain that the key issue on which a mediator would
B14 084 have to decide is the future of the two French agents, Alain
B14 085 Mafart and Dominique Prieur who are serving 10 year jail terms
B14 086 in New Zealand prisons for their role in the sinking of the
B14 087 Rainbow Warrior.
B14 088    |^The key question is whether the Lange Government could
B14 089 allow itself to be bound by a mediator's decision to transfer
B14 090 the agents out of New Zealand.
B14 091    |^The Government is currently in real doubt over the
B14 092 strength of the political backlash that such a decision might
B14 093 bring.
B14 094    |^Are New Zealanders ready to trade off the two agents to
B14 095 restore goodwill in the vital European butter markets?
B14 096    |^And in a Cabinet sprinkled with lawyers including the
B14 097 former law professor, \0Mr Palmer, what could be said of
B14 098 acceptance of such a decision in the light of the Chief
B14 099 Justice's statement when sentencing Mafart and Prieur that they
B14 100 should not expect a short holiday before leaving New Zealand.
B14 101    |^While \0Mr Lange has maintained there will be no early
B14 102 *"return to freedom**" for the two agents, what would
B14 103 constitute their *"custody**" outside of New Zealand is very
B14 104 much a matter for negotiation.
B14 105    |^To an extent \0Mr Palmer last week in Parliament attempted
B14 106 to gauge answers to some of these questions prior to \0Mr
B14 107 Lange's return.
B14 108    |^\0Mr Palmer took the unexpected step of making a Ministerial 
B14 109 statement to parliament on the Lubbers' **[SIC**] proposal,
B14 110 which, as Opposition leader Jim Bolger noted, said nothing
B14 111 substantially new upon what \0Mr Lange had already said.
B14 112    |^The Palmer statement was also an attempt *- although it
B14 113 would not be admitted *- to seek both public and Opposition
B14 114 feedback on the mediation proposal.
B14 115    |^But \0Mr Bolger was not forthcoming in Parliament.
B14 116    |^However at a press conference on Thursday he responded in
B14 117 a manner which signalled caution for the Government.
B14 118    |^*"Is the third party mediator going to be given an open
B14 119 hand on the future of the two agents.  ^If they (the
B14 120 Government) are going to somehow circumvent the law, then I'm
B14 121 sure most New Zealanders will oppose it,**" said \0Mr Bolger.
B14 122    |^\0Mr Bolger took the view that the judiciary must remain
B14 123 separate from the political process.
B14 124    |^If the Government judges that it is now moving too far
B14 125 ahead of current feeling in New Zealand toward the two agents
B14 126 *- in the light of the state of the dairy industry *- then one
B14 127 strategy under consideration will be to move quietly on the
B14 128 Lubbers' proposal but apply pressure on the National Party by
B14 129 accusing it of not putting farmers' interests first.
B14 130    |^In the meantime it will continue to assess the public
B14 131 reaction on mediation with France *- and the implications that
B14 132 has for the transfer out of New Zealand for Mafart and Prieur
B14 133 *- and make a decision on the principle of mediation upon \0Mr
B14 134 Lange's return to the Cabinet table next week.
B14 135 *<*4Waitangi Ceremony Shift Interim Measure*>
B14 136 *<Politics with Mike Munro*>
B14 137    |^*4Holding the official Waitangi Day ceremony in the
B14 138 Beehive banquet hall this week was clearly only an interim
B14 139 solution to a thorny problem.
B14 140    |^*0The shift to Wellington was prompted, largely, by a wish
B14 141 to avoid the angry scenes of confrontation that have marked in
B14 142 recent years the commemoration in Waitangi of the treaty's
B14 143 signing.
B14 144    |^But the decision also reflected the concern of the
B14 145 Government at the widespread unease in New Zealand over race
B14 146 relations.
B14 147    |^It is an unease which some attribute to resistance in the
B14 148 community to the amount of sympathy the Government is showing
B14 149 to the Maori cause.
B14 150    |^Others say it is simply intolerance, an inability to
B14 151 adjust to changing times.
B14 152 *<*5Pressure By Marxists*>
B14 153    |^*0And it is an unease that is fuelled by statements like
B14 154 that from the Opposition spokesman on Maori affairs, \0Mr
B14 155 Winston Peters, who says New Zealand faces bloodshed unless
B14 156 Moscow and Cuba-trained marxists promoting Maori grievances are
B14 157 countered.
B14 158    |^The reception at the Beehive on Thursday involved many
B14 159 cultures and people of many ages.  ^It was a departure from the
B14 160 divisive, unseemly scenes which have marred Waitangi.
B14 161    |^That was in spite of the efforts of rowdy protesters
B14 162 outside the Beehive and a handful who briefly interrupted
B14 163 proceedings inside.
B14 164    |^But, while the Minister of Maori Affairs, \0Mr Wetere,
B14 165 wants Maori and Pakeha to carry on debating the ceremony
B14 166 question, he says he has *"no doubt**" that Waitangi will be
B14 167 the official venue for the 1990 ceremony, when the 150th
B14 168 anniversary is commemorated.
B14 169    |^It is clear that much emotion and prejudice has crept into
B14 170 the debate over Maori grievances and the honouring of the
B14 171 treaty.
B14 172    |^On the one hand, the Prime Minister, \0Mr Lange, speaks of
B14 173 the sense of uneasiness that many have with the higher Maori
B14 174 profile, and laments that *"too many Pakeha people are too
B14 175 quick to condemn the public use of the Maori language.**"
B14 176    |^On the other hand, a group calling itself the Pakeha
B14 177 Coalition accused the Government this week of ignoring the
B14 178 needs of the Maori people.
B14 179 *<*5Confirmed By Record*>
B14 180    |^*0The group labelled Thursday's reception at Parliament
B14 181 *"a sham**" and claimed the Government was trying to divert
B14 182 attention away from the vexed issue of honouring the treaty.
B14 183    |^But its assessment would seem to be patently astray.
B14 184    |^The Minister of Internal Affairs and Eastern Maori {0MP},
B14 185 \0Mr Tapsell, declared this week:  ^*"We have probably gone
B14 186 faster and further in Maori affairs than any other
B14 187 government.**"
B14 188    |^The Waitangi Tribunal has been expanded from three to
B14 189 seven members and given the power to investigate Maori
B14 190 grievances dating as far back as 1840.
B14 191    |^Legislation widening the tribunal's powers is aimed at
B14 192 crown land, and not privately owned property.
B14 193    |^In other areas, legislation is to be introduced this year
B14 194 making Maori an official language, Maori fishing rights are
B14 195 being comprehensively reviewed and the Government has unveiled
B14 196 a *+$1 million Maori unemployment package.
B14 197    |^Following the hui taumata (Maori economic summit) in 1984
B14 198 the Maori Economic Development Commission has ensured there
B14 199 have been *"real moves**" to cater for Maori needs, says \0Mr
B14 200 Wetere.
B14 201    |^And the proposed bill of rights will give legal backing to
B14 202 the rights of Maoris under the Treaty of Waitangi, a point
B14 203 which is expected to be widely discussed when the select
B14 204 committee on the bill of rights starts hearing submissions in
B14 205 Auckland on Tuesday.
B14 206    |^So, while some believe the Government has neglected Maori
B14 207 grievances and development, there has also emerged the
B14 208 criticism that it has devoted excessive time and resources to
B14 209 taha Maori.
B14 210    |^\0Mr Tapsell says there is *"real danger of a backlash**"
B14 211 from large numbers of Europeans who feel the Government has
B14 212 been over-sympathetic to the Maori cause.
B14 213    |^*"The Government is not supporting a wild and irrational
B14 214 Maori cause.  ^It clearly understands and sets out that there
B14 215 are some injustices and we are trying to overcome them.**"
B14 216 *<*5Widened Powers*>
B14 217    |^*0The Opposition has been critical of the pace and nature
B14 218 of its reforms in the race relations area.
B14 219    |^National {0MP}s claim the widening of the Waitangi
B14 220 Tribunal's powers will lead to a reopening of every past
B14 221 dispute between Maori and Pakeha over land *- and
B14 222 institutionalise racism.
B14 223    |^And they say the shifting of the Waitangi Day ceremony to
B14 224 the capital is symptomatic of the way the Labour Government is
B14 225 putting the country's traditions under siege.
B14 226    |^But the Government contends that the ceremony can be
B14 227 returned to Waitangi once the Maori people have a greater
B14 228 understanding of what Labour is trying to do.
B14 229    |^Perceived inequalities are not going to disappear in the
B14 230 short-term though.
B14 231    |^\0Mr Tapsell said: ^*"I think people are going to be
B14 232 satisfied once they see that the Government is at least moving
B14 233 in the right direction and that there is real commitment to
B14 234 change.**"
B14 235    |^\0Mr Wetere believes people today are feeling more
B14 236 confident about speaking Maori without fear of criticism and
B14 237 that stems from reforms brought in by this Administration.
B14 238    |^*"Sayings like kia ora seem to be more acceptable today.
B14 239 ^That acceptance, I like to think, has been a result of our
B14 240 approach and method of implementation.
B14 241    |^*"We do not want to do things compulsorily.
B14 242 *<*5Nothing To Hide*>
B14 243    |^*"*0If they want to know about us, why not?  ^We have
B14 244 nothing to hide.  ^We just want to share in the economy of this
B14 245 country and be part of it, and add to it like all other
B14 246 cultures.
B14 247    |^*"I think that is what makes us rich.**"
B14 248    |^\0Mr Lange, when speaking to Whakatane Rotarians last
B14 249 month, said the Government had a capacity to help the economic
B14 250 and social development of the Maori people, and reflect on
B14 251 injustices they had suffered.
B14 252    |^But, ultimately, the crux of good race relations came down
B14 253 to our capacity for tolerance.
B14 254    |^*"In the end it is all of us as individuals who must make
B14 255 the choice between prejudice or avoidance of prejudice,**" he
B14 256 said.  ^*"It does us no harm to have a lesson in treating
B14 257 others as we would like to be treated ourselves.
B14 258    |^*"Too many Pakeha people are too quick to condemn the
B14 259 public use of the Maori language, yet they would be vehement in
B14 260 their outrage if anything as important to them as language is
B14 261 to the Maori was set aside like that.**"
B14 262 *#
B15 001 **[059 TEXT B15**]
B15 002 *<*4Heroin abuse myths*>
B15 003 *<From \0Dr George Hanbury for the Royal New Zealand College of
B15 004 General Practitioners*>
B15 005 *<Family Doctor*>
B15 006    |^*0If we want a health education message to be received and
B15 007 acted upon, the message must be true in all respects.
B15 008    |^Obvious, you say?  ^Perhaps not always.  ^The 
B15 009 over-enthusiastic health educator may be tempted, with the best
B15 010 intentions in the world, to tell a smoker that he or she will
B15 011 surely die of the habit, only to be told about George Bernard
B15 012 Shaw, or any number of octogenarian forty-a-day smokers.
B15 013    |^After that, there will be little the health educator can
B15 014 do to regain the attention of the smoker: in the latter's eyes,
B15 015 he or she is already untrustworthy.
B15 016    |^A recent study of heroin abuse in the north of England,
B15 017 reported in the *"British Medical Journal,**" has shown that
B15 018 the problem is surrounded by myths that can prevent effective
B15 019 solutions.
B15 020    |^For instance, aiming anti-heroin education at teenagers
B15 021 may be largely a waste because the idea that young adolescents
B15 022 are most at risk of becoming heroin users is wrong; the groups
B15 023 at highest risk are in their late teenage and early twenties.
B15 024    |^School heroin users are the rare exceptions, even in areas
B15 025 where the general drug problem is great.  ^In such places, the
B15 026 school children are more likely to use solvents, tobacco and
B15 027 alcohol.
B15 028    |^Furthermore, the idea that heroin is instantly addictive
B15 029 is fallacious.  ^Occasional users know it is untrue, and will
B15 030 be likely to ignore heroin education that contains that
B15 031 message.
B15 032    |^The advice to beware of strangers offering heroin
B15 033 contradicts the evidence that most people who try it are
B15 034 supplied by friends and neighbours who use the drug.
B15 035    |^More useful than the usual drug education messages might
B15 036 be those that tell the occasional recreational user how to
B15 037 limit his or her drug use, and those that help people learn to
B15 038 say *"^No**" to a friend.
B15 039    |^Professor Geoffrey Pearson, of the Middlesex Polytechnic,
B15 040 performed the survey at the request of the United Kingdom
B15 041 Health Education Council.
B15 042    |^He says that the terrifying reports of heroin withdrawal
B15 043 are much exaggerated.  ^Many users say that coming off heroin
B15 044 is really no worse than having a dose of the flu.
B15 045    |^The problem is in staying off the drug, and the reason
B15 046 that that is a problem is as much social as anything.  ^Heroin
B15 047 gives pleasure and reassurance to the user, who builds a whole
B15 048 lifestyle around the attempt to obtain a reliable supply;
B15 049 staying off the drug leaves the user without the usual familiar
B15 050 social contacts, lonely and isolated.
B15 051    |^Health educators should forget the scare tactics, the
B15 052 horror stories of *"doing cold turkey**" *- they are unlikely
B15 053 to influence the potential user, and they may prevent the
B15 054 established user from stopping.
B15 055    |^Effective health educators should be aware that there are
B15 056 different degrees of heroin use, and should target their health
B15 057 messages accordingly.  ^They should recognise that not all
B15 058 heroin users are hopeless addicts at the *"drop-out**" level in
B15 059 the social scale.
B15 060 *<*4Inside sport*>
B15 061 *<with Peter Devlin*>
B15 062 *<Champion Armit is yachting original*>
B15 063    |^Leith Armit may be the prototype for the real New Zealand
B15 064 yachtie.  ^Maybe even sportsman.
B15 065    |^To start with, he will next week defend his world \0OK
B15 066 dinghy championship off Takapuna Beach.
B15 067    |^He won it in Holland last northern summer, a repeat of the
B15 068 victory he scored in the same event in Torquay, England in
B15 069 1983.
B15 070    |^At 25, single and completely devoted to his sport, he
B15 071 brings a vast amount of experience to his quest for a third,
B15 072 unique win.
B15 073    |^Aucklander Armit actually sailed in his first worlds, also
B15 074 in Holland, at the age of 17 and came second.  ^At the same
B15 075 regatta he took out the world junior \0OKs.
B15 076    |^He doesn't, however shout his successes from the top of
B15 077 his lightweight aluminium mast.
B15 078    |^He is quiet, reticent even in talking about his career.
B15 079 ^He doesn't make one complaint about the money he has earned as
B15 080 a boatbuilder nearly all going towards his sport.
B15 081    |^He has had some help from the {0NZ} Yachting Federation,
B15 082 but nothing like the money poured into the other watersport
B15 083 champions, such as the canoeists, by the {0NZ} Sports
B15 084 Foundation.
B15 085    *|^Like the 30 or so overseas yachties here for the worlds,
B15 086 which start next Tuesday, he has been using the national titles
B15 087 this week as a springboard for the major event.
B15 088    |^The \0OKs are not an Olympic class and it appears
B15 089 surprising that Armit has not shown greater keenness to move
B15 090 into a 470 or Finn.
B15 091    |^Then he tells you he did try for the Los Angeles in a
B15 092 Finn, missed out because Russell Coutts was first in the
B15 093 Olympic Sail.  ^And Coutts, you will recall, won the gold
B15 094 medal.  ^Says Armit:
B15 095 |**[LONG QUOTATION**]
B15 096    |^The \0OK Armit is sailing this week and will use for the
B15 097 worlds next week is mostly his own work.
B15 098 |**[LONG QUOTATION**]
B15 099    |^\0OKs weigh 72 kilos, are 4.3 \0m in length and carry just
B15 100 the one main**[ARB**]-sail.  ^They are very manoeuvrable and to
B15 101 watch 10 or so of them trying to round a mark at the same time
B15 102 is an eye**[ARB**]-opening experience.
B15 103    |^The sturdily built Armit has trained hard for these
B15 104 championships, finishing second to fellow Aucklander Mark Croad
B15 105 in the national event.
B15 106    |^His form in the seven races through this week brought a
B15 107 return of 1-3-17-2-22-1-7.  ^He may need better than that for
B15 108 the worlds and a third title.
B15 109    |^Out watching the fifth race on Tuesday morning *- that was
B15 110 the race Armit came home 22nd, his worst performance *- the
B15 111 massed start progress around the marks were **[SIC**] yachting 
B15 112 at its chaotic best, or worst.
B15 113    |^Armit, though, goes out with no hard and fast plan and
B15 114 next week he will be competing in a fleet of 52 when he had 84
B15 115 opponents in both his world championship-winning regattas.
B15 116 |**[LONG QUOTATION**]
B15 117    |^Armit keeps an open mind on his yachting future, but
B15 118 besides his \0OK successes and tryout for Los Angeles, he has
B15 119 packed in a fair chunk of big boat sailing.
B15 120    |^That includes crewing on Canterbury Export in the
B15 121 Admiral's Cup and One Ton Cup contests last year in Britain and
B15 122 on Exador in the last Southern Cross Cup in Sydney.
B15 123    |^Can he win a third worlds?  *"^I'll tell you at the end of
B15 124 the series.  ^I'll be trying hard.  ^Wouldn't you?**"
B15 125    *|^*2THE WATERS *0off Takapuna or a few points north are
B15 126 ideal for staging such important championships.  ^And as a
B15 127 backdrop to them is a super-smooth organisation.
B15 128    |^Bev Roberts is in easy control at shore \0HQ and on four
B15 129 days of the fortnight-long event, has her volunteer women on
B15 130 the job making 100 lunches that are delivered to the
B15 131 competitors and officials offshore.
B15 132    |^Two days this week and two next, two races are held.
B15 133 ^It's easier to hold the boats out there.  ^So officials whip
B15 134 these tasty affairs on to hungry young yachties.
B15 135    |^This writer was aboard the yacht Arran for a close-up of
B15 136 the fifth race, its skipper Roy McIntosh typical of the
B15 137 volunteers that form the back-up brigade.
B15 138    |^Also on board his Jim Young 34 were Rudi Hitz from Bad
B15 139 Segeberg near Hamburg and father of West German entrant Karsten
B15 140 Hitz (24), plus Lynn and Christine, wives of {0NZ} competitors
B15 141 Hamish Dawson and Peter Kempkers respectively.
B15 142    |^Alas Hitz, who had brought out his own boat at much
B15 143 expense, finished 34th in race five, collided with another \0OK
B15 144 in the sixth in the afternoon and was put right out of the
B15 145 contest and the worlds next week.
B15 146    |^Dawson and Kempkers were eager to make the top 20 New
B15 147 Zealanders to finish and get into the {0NZ} team next week.
B15 148    |^Kempkers finished 10th New Zealander in race five for 20th
B15 149 overall then improved dramatically in the final races for 10th
B15 150 New Zealander and easily into the side for the worlds.
B15 151    |^Dawson wasn't as fortunate but, in the final count, he
B15 152 secured a very creditable 23rd placing of the New Zealanders
B15 153 competing.
B15 154    |^One last word for two more key men who do as much as
B15 155 anybody to see that all goes without hitches at sea *- Takapuna
B15 156 Boating Club commodore Peter Page and officer of the day Colin
B15 157 Thompson.
B15 158    |^Page lays the Olympic courses without frills or fuss, an
B15 159 eye forever on the switching winds to keep it as true as
B15 160 possible.
B15 161    |^*"It has to be true to get a fair test of
B15 162 sportsmanship,**" says Page.
B15 163 *<*2YOUR FOOD STYLE*>
B15 164 *<*6JANICE BREMER*>
B15 165 *<*2DIETITIAN*>
B15 166 *<*7Dieting decisions...*>
B15 167 *<*4Transition from losing to maintaining weight*>
B15 168    |^*0Permanent weight loss is a very individual process.  ^No
B15 169 diet magazine, nor club or doctor is giving personal dietary
B15 170 advice if their information is standardised, such as *"^Four
B15 171 slices of bread for lunch.**"
B15 172    |^The transition from losing weight, to maintaining weight,
B15 173 is the real test of whether an individual has any idea of how
B15 174 much food he or she can eat without gaining weight.  ^This is
B15 175 why any weight loss strategy must have at its core, the
B15 176 maintenance diet.
B15 177    |^In my last column I gave you the ten don'ts for successful
B15 178 weight loss.  ^Here are the ten do's.
B15 179 |*4(1) ^Do the work yourself.
B15 180    |^*0No single diet works for everyone and no successful
B15 181 dieter can instruct other individuals.  ^The most successful
B15 182 eating pattern is home-built.  ^Originally the notion of
B15 183 prescribing a diet for weight reduction seems to have grown
B15 184 from the assumption that knowledge about the caloric value of
B15 185 foods was all that is needed.  ^If this were so there would be
B15 186 no overweight doctors, dietitians or nurses!  ^Personal
B15 187 motivation, individual behaviour and life occupations are
B15 188 essential ingredients of the change process.
B15 189 |*4(2) ^Do elect an interested checkmate.
B15 190    |^*0This is most important especially if you want to lose
B15 191 more than 15 kilograms or your weight has been going up and
B15 192 down for some time.
B15 193    |^The *"checkmate**" might be your doctor, a group club, a
B15 194 counsellor or dietitian.
B15 195    |^Check in for a weekly or fortnightly weighing to see the
B15 196 results of your effort.  ^You also need support in managing a
B15 197 lower energy intake.
B15 198    |^Without your *"checkmate**" it is difficult to find the
B15 199 eating behaviour best suited to you.
B15 200 |*4(3) ^Do eat regular meals.
B15 201    |^*0This is step one in finding your own *"diet.**" ^People
B15 202 who skip breakfast often have a metabolism that not only does
B15 203 well in starvation (*"^I'm not hungry at breakfast**") but also
B15 204 in feasting.  ^That large meal at night is used very
B15 205 efficiently and neatly stored as fat in case you starve
B15 206 tomorrow.
B15 207    |^Those who say, *"^I can't have lunch or I'll be drowsy in
B15 208 the afternoon**" should have a good breakfast and a light
B15 209 lunch.
B15 210    |^Recent studies on soup consumption to slow down eating and
B15 211 help fill the stomach, are encouraging for weight loss.  ^Soup
B15 212 with bread and fruit to follow is an ideal lunch.  ^In summer
B15 213 the soup can be replaced with salad or extra fruit.
B15 214 |*4(4) ^Do eat all types of foods.
B15 215    |^*0People who binge may need to avoid their binge foods at
B15 216 first.  ^But under supervision, these foods must be
B15 217 reintroduced in controlled amounts at predetermined times, if
B15 218 they are still desired foods.
B15 219    |^Absolute exclusion of loved foods leads to cravings,
B15 220 controlled inclusion serves to *"inoculate**" against binge
B15 221 eating.  ^Each person has to find their own level of energy
B15 222 dense or high calorie food versus low calorie or energy dilute
B15 223 foods.
B15 224 |*4(5) ^Do keep a food diary.
B15 225    |^*0Other life experiences can also be kept on this
B15 226 inventory of eating habits.  ^Gradually you make changes until
B15 227 a steady weight loss is achieved.  ^At any other time when
B15 228 change is needed or a check on eating made, the recordings
B15 229 should be resumed.
B15 230    |^Food information and physical activity are essential
B15 231 adjuncts to the records which become the *"personal diet.**"
B15 232    |^Behavioural techniques can be devised from the recorded
B15 233 eating style.  ^Ideas to slow down eating and to solve any
B15 234 other problems connected with wanting to eat can be born out of
B15 235 observing one's own behaviour.
B15 236    |^Most of all the food diary helps you recognise how weight
B15 237 loss is achieved in your own particular case.
B15 238 |*4(6) ^Do evolve your own eating style.
B15 239    |^*0It must accommodate situations like holidays, having
B15 240 people to stay, going out, guests for dinner... and all the
B15 241 other excuses the true *"dieter**" finds to put weight control
B15 242 *"on hold.**" ^The object is to come to a state of being able
B15 243 to say *"my lunch is usually... my dinner usually
B15 244 comprises...**"
B15 245 *#
B16 001 **[060 TEXT B16**]
B16 002 *<*5Oh, for the confidence of youth!*> *<*4Rosaleen McCarroll*>
B16 003    |^*0*"We're starting pottery tomorrow,**" said my
B16 004 intermediate school daughter, ^*"I'm making a dinner set.**"
B16 005    |^When she was eight years old, and long before she had any
B16 006 music lessons, she was busking on the streets of Sydney.  ^She
B16 007 found she could earn at least *+$20 an hour and decided to
B16 008 continue her flourishing show biz career without benefit of
B16 009 formal tuition.
B16 010    |^Like me, and my mother before me, my second daughter has
B16 011 no sense of direction.  ^But she who, earlier this year, got
B16 012 lost not once but twice on the way home from school,
B16 013 confidently flew to Sydney and back just after her tenth
B16 014 birthday.  ^Even though she had to change planes, she refused
B16 015 to wear a {0UM} (Unaccompanied Minor) sticker because *"it was
B16 016 dumb.**"
B16 017    |^This particular child has been learning ballet for years
B16 018 and has barely mastered the basic steps.  ^But she still sees
B16 019 herself as an inspired choreographer.
B16 020    |^Starting at the top comes naturally to my two elder
B16 021 daughters.  ^Their incompetence is simply no bar to their
B16 022 dazzling self-confidence.
B16 023    |^Although plenty have tried, nobody can squash them.  ^They
B16 024 bounce along from one dazzling non-success to another because
B16 025 some poor bunny (usually me or their father) rescues them.
B16 026    |^The two of them, budding Mary Quants though they are not,
B16 027 set about designing their own clothes before they could sew on
B16 028 a name tag.
B16 029    |^When my second daughter wanted me to make her a skirt for
B16 030 her school social, I said I didn't have time.
B16 031    |^*"Well, I'll make one myself,**" said she, who couldn't
B16 032 sew on a button.
B16 033    |^She brought home two pieces of cotton.  ^One piece,
B16 034 measuring 12\0cm by one metre (enough to make three to four
B16 035 men's handkerchiefs) was pink with white spots.  ^The other,
B16 036 white with pink spots was a square metre or, about enough for
B16 037 eight or nine more handkerchiefs.
B16 038    |^*"What sort of skirt are you making?**" I asked.
B16 039    |^*"Well, I'll have a big wide waistband with pink spots,
B16 040 then a V-shaped piece with pink spots, then a very full skirt
B16 041 (probably a circle) with the rest of the white spots.  ^And big
B16 042 round pockets.**"
B16 043    |^I pointed out the material was barely enough to cover her
B16 044 nakedness, let alone the elaborate creation she proposed.
B16 045    |^*"Did you tell the assistant what you were buying the
B16 046 material for?**"
B16 047    |^*"No, why?**"
B16 048    |^*"Do you have a pattern?**" ^*"No.  ^I'm making my own.**"
B16 049    |^Further cross examination revealed she and her friend Em
B16 050 had each withdrawn *+$10 from their savings accounts, bought
B16 051 themselves an ice-cream and a packet of chips, and then gone to
B16 052 a fabric shop to buy as much material as they could with the
B16 053 change.
B16 054    |^Confidently, second daughter, set about making a pattern
B16 055 while I thought gleefully...the kid has overreached herself
B16 056 this time.  ^Let her stew in her own juice.  ^Might teach her a
B16 057 lesson!
B16 058    |^But, of course, this was too much to hope for.  ^She
B16 059 managed to get around her father, a practical engineer, to
B16 060 design (and make) a skirt from those few squares of cloth.
B16 061    |^She desperately needed the skirt for the school social the
B16 062 day after next, so she hurried her father to the sewing
B16 063 machine.  ^But I was mad.  ^I read the riot act.
B16 064    |^*"Your father is a very busy man with onerous
B16 065 responsibilities going far beyond home dressmaking.  ^You take
B16 066 advantage of his competence (which I regret to say is not
B16 067 hereditary) and his good nature, which has also skipped a
B16 068 generation.  ^If I had my way, this would be a lesson to you.
B16 069 ^Then maybe next time you wouldn't leap in at the deep end
B16 070 without thinking...**"
B16 071    |^But don't imagine she was chastened.  ^She listened
B16 072 patiently enough, but I could tell her mind was racing.  ^She
B16 073 didn't even have the decency to wait until I was out of earshot
B16 074 before she rushed to the phone.  ^Her sheer gall took my breath
B16 075 away.
B16 076    |^*"Hi Em!  ^Dad's making mine.  ^Do you want him to make
B16 077 yours too?**"
B16 078 *<*4Manila thriller is a call to qualms*>
B16 079 *<Tom Scott*>
B16 080    |^The world, said {0T.S.} Eliot, would end not with a bang
B16 081 but with a whimper.  ^It was almost like that for the long
B16 082 running {0ANZUS} saga.
B16 083    |^*0To be more precise, phase one of the dispute, which has
B16 084 concentrated the mind of this Government for the last two
B16 085 years, finally rolled to a halt on Wednesday evening not so
B16 086 much with a whimper as a self-conscious giggle.
B16 087    |^It happened at the special news conference called to mark
B16 088 the Prime Minister's return from the {0ASEAN} meeting in the
B16 089 Philippines.
B16 090    |^Inspired by the heady drama that had taken place, someone
B16 091 in the Television New Zealand newsroom boldly decided it would
B16 092 be a good idea to break out of the 6.30 news and cross live to
B16 093 the Beehive theatrette to take in the action.
B16 094    |^Unfortunately there wasn't any.  ^For what seemed like an
B16 095 eternity but in reality was less than two minutes, \0Mr Lange
B16 096 sat somewhat uncomfortably at his desk waiting for a question.
B16 097    |^*"Who is sponsoring this newscast?**" he smiled above the
B16 098 laughter.
B16 099    |^*"This is bizarre...**" he mused.  ^*"I'm the Minister in
B16 100 charge of Security Intelligence Service and I don't know what
B16 101 is happening...**"
B16 102    |^\0Mr Lange had been tipped off that some of the news
B16 103 conference would be telecast live, but neither he nor the press
B16 104 gallery had counted on John Bishop's introduction.
B16 105 *<*4Whisper*>
B16 106    |^*0From the back of theatre, in a breathless stage whisper
B16 107 that could be heard right around the room, John solemnly listed
B16 108 the grave affairs of state that were certain to be canvassed.
B16 109    |^It was too much for the media, who immediately started to
B16 110 crack up.  ^Poor Bill Huston, who was the other half of the
B16 111 double act, missed all of this.  ^He was listening intently for
B16 112 his cue, but the only sound coming through his earplug was that
B16 113 of a 747 coming in to land.
B16 114    |^Questions were eventually asked, but the news conference
B16 115 never really recovered.  ^In spite of the importance of the
B16 116 {0ANZUS} issue to New Zealand, and the serious consequences of
B16 117 any permanent deterioration in our relations with the United
B16 118 States, a substratum of barely-controlled hysteria permeated
B16 119 the whole affair.
B16 120    |^Later, it was safe to give vent to these feelings, and the
B16 121 corridors rang with guilty laughter.
B16 122    |^Going overseas, as the {0PM} has just discovered, doesn't
B16 123 of itself solve anything.  ^What should have been a routine
B16 124 attendance at the recent {0ASEAN} meeting in the Philippines
B16 125 turned out to be yet another Thriller in Manila.
B16 126    |^In an unscheduled bout lasting about 25 minutes, our top
B16 127 heavy weight went the distance with the United States Secretary
B16 128 of State, George Shultz.
B16 129    |^The New Zealand officials who were present say \0Mr Shultz
B16 130 put the {0U.S.} case forcefully and persuasively but that \0Mr
B16 131 Lange narrowly won the bruising exchange on points.
B16 132    |^They were stunned later however, when, after the final
B16 133 bell had gone and both men had touched gloves and moved out
B16 134 into the corridor to meet the media, \0Mr Shultz delivered a
B16 135 killer punch with the revelation: ^*"It is essential from the
B16 136 standpoint of the {0U.S.} that the policy of neither confirm
B16 137 nor deny be preserved.  ^It is something the Government of New
B16 138 Zealand doesn't feel it can live with, so we part company as
B16 139 friends, but we part company.**"
B16 140    |^This had been suggested earlier, but \0Mr Lange's team
B16 141 expected the formal announcement to be made in San Francisco in
B16 142 August, when the {0ANZUS} Council next met.
B16 143    |^Still groggy, but remaining on his feet, \0Mr Lange
B16 144 interrupted the Secretary to say ^*"Let it be clear that the
B16 145 New Zealand Government does not challenge the neither confirm
B16 146 nor deny policy...**"
B16 147    |^According to those who were there the Secretary of State
B16 148 slowly swivelled his head at this point and fixed \0Mr Lange
B16 149 with a withering stare.  ^The joint interview came to an abrupt
B16 150 end.
B16 151    |^The New Zealand delegation would have been content to
B16 152 leave matters there, but at the main news conference at the
B16 153 close of the {0ASEAN} meeting, \0Mr Shultz had more to say and
B16 154 he didn't pussyfoot around.
B16 155    |^When {0ANZUS} was raised the Secretary of State dispensed
B16 156 with diplomatic niceties and bluntly accused New Zealand of
B16 157 walking away from the treaty.  ^As a consequence, explained
B16 158 \0Mr Shultz the {0U.S.} would withdraw all security guarantees
B16 159 to New Zealand.
B16 160    |^The treaty would remain in place minus one partner, and
B16 161 New Zealand had no one to blame but itself.
B16 162    |^\0Mr Lange, just a few metres away on the same podium, is
B16 163 said to have found this public caning a devastating experience.
B16 164    |^This feeling did not last long and embarrassment is said
B16 165 to have been gradually overtaken by relief.  ^For months they
B16 166 had been waiting for the worst to happen and now that it had it
B16 167 didn't seem so bad after all.  ^The pressure over the last two
B16 168 years has been intense, and the Prime Minister as Minister of
B16 169 Foreign Affairs has felt it most keenly.
B16 170    |^Every day, every second of the day, somewhere in the
B16 171 world, you'll find diplomats proposing toasts to each other.
B16 172 ^At these cocktail parties and receptions, if New Zealand is
B16 173 represented at all, our ambassador will be the apprehensive
B16 174 looking person hiding behind the potted palm hoping to avoid
B16 175 the American Ambassador.
B16 176    |^The cry of *"Howdy pardner!**" has become every bit as
B16 177 disconcerting as a shout of *"Greetings Comrade!**" ^Towering
B16 178 Texans with silver hair, and smooth-talking Californians, have
B16 179 pinned our chaps against the wall and in the nicest way
B16 180 possible given them a hard time.
B16 181    |^The upshot of this is that first thing in the morning they
B16 182 get on to the teleprinter and tell Wellington that they sort of
B16 183 half-promised the Yanks that the {0ANZUS} impasse would be
B16 184 resolved soon, and could someone tell the Prime Minister that
B16 185 while everyone admires his strong stand, now that he's made his
B16 186 point and is standing tall, maybe the time is right to
B16 187 discreetly chuck in the towel.
B16 188    |^Having reached the crunch point \0Mr Lange no longer has
B16 189 to go around the world, disappointing his followers both here
B16 190 and abroad by making conciliatory speeches about how other
B16 191 people had different defence perceptions from us and maybe from
B16 192 their point of view nuclear weapons made some sort of sense.
B16 193 ^It would bring to an end also, all the hollow talk about
B16 194 searching for a solution to the impasse.
B16 195    |^The Americans, as the Minister of Justice, \0Mr Palmer,
B16 196 found last year when he tried to acquaint them with the nuances
B16 197 of his Government's proposed anti-nuclear bill, are just not
B16 198 interested in fine print.
B16 199    |^They don't have to be.  ^They're not sitting an exam or
B16 200 anything.  ^They are interested only in the bottom line.
B16 201    |^And the bottom line in this instance is that a superpower
B16 202 can't afford to be seen being pushed around by a small
B16 203 unimportant nation at the bottom of the world.
B16 204    |^If crunch point brought relief to the \0Mr Lange's team at
B16 205 the {0ASEAN} meeting, the political trick would be to ensure
B16 206 that the folks back home were similarly relieved when they
B16 207 heard the news.
B16 208    |^This would take some doing as no one likes the idea of
B16 209 being cast adrift in the South Pacific and left to fend for
B16 210 themselves.  ^It happened to Captain Bligh once and the sunburn
B16 211 alone was horrendous.
B16 212    |^\0Mr Lange went on the offensive at a news conference in
B16 213 Bangkok.  ^He challenged \0Mr Schultz's claim that we had
B16 214 walked away from our treaty obligations.  ^\0Mr Lange charged
B16 215 the Americans with not being interested in negotiations and
B16 216 consistently misunderstanding New Zealand's position.  ^He said
B16 217 his Government did not want to undermine the American *"Neither
B16 218 confirm or deny**" policy.
B16 219    |^Indeed, they were prepared to keep secret the names of the
B16 220 warships it considered unsuitable for port visits, but \0Mr
B16 221 Shultz had refused this offer on the grounds that it wouldn't
B16 222 remain secret for long, as the {0U.S.} system leaked like a
B16 223 sieve.  ^\0Mr Lange also wanted to know why the Americans could
B16 224 make an exception for the Danes but were unwilling to do so for
B16 225 New Zealand.
B16 226    |^The short answer to that I guess, is that among other
B16 227 things, the Danish Prime Minister has never debated the
B16 228 morality of nuclear weapons with the \0Rev Jerry Falwell in a
B16 229 televised Oxford Union debate.
B16 230 *#
B17 001 **[061 TEXT B17**]
B17 002 *<*4Administration at its worst*>
B17 003 *<Joseph Romanos*> *<*2LOOKING AT SPORT*>
B17 004    |^*6T*2HERE *0have been some stunningly bad examples of
B17 005 sports administration over the past few weeks, but surely
B17 006 nothing worse than the Wellington Lawn Tennis Association's
B17 007 decision to abandon the provincial championships because it
B17 008 rained last Sunday.
B17 009    |^An association think-tank met at the Miramar club, looked
B17 010 out on the wet courts and decided that the championships would
B17 011 be abandoned.  ^Never mind there was a free weekend coming up,
B17 012 that the tournament had reached semi-finals stage, that
B17 013 Harcourts had poured extensive sponsorship into the event and
B17 014 that there were still more than two months of the season to go.
B17 015    |^Not surprisingly the association had scorn heaped on them
B17 016 from all sides, not least from the players.
B17 017    |^The championships are now back on, but not, as one would
B17 018 imagine, through the efforts of administrators who realised
B17 019 they had slipped up.
B17 020    |^No.  ^The initiative came from the players themselves and
B17 021 the association was left with no choice but to okay resuming
B17 022 the previously abandoned event after the details had been
B17 023 worked out for them.
B17 024    |^Sanity prevailed.  ^There will be Wellington tennis
B17 025 champions after all, but no credit to the Wellington
B17 026 association over this.
B17 027    |^Don't think tennis have a mortgage on poor administrators
B17 028 though.
B17 029    |^The national women's bowls championships have just been
B17 030 completed.  ^But they lost much of their gloss because the
B17 031 seven women's bowlers to represent New Zealand at the
B17 032 Commonwealth Games were named more than five months ago.
B17 033    |^That meant instead of New Zealand's top bowlers competing
B17 034 in a national championship under the pressure of winning
B17 035 Commonwealth Game selection, the whole issue was already
B17 036 decided.
B17 037    |^I just cannot understand why.  ^The best I can do is
B17 038 reason that the early naming of the team allowed the lucky
B17 039 bowlers more time to save for their shopping expenses in
B17 040 Edinburgh.
B17 041    |^I mean no disrespect to Rhoda Ryan, Denise Page, Joyce
B17 042 Osborne, Margaret Cole, Judy Howat, Anne Katavich and Millie
B17 043 Khan.
B17 044    |^All must be fine bowlers and they have been chosen because
B17 045 of their performances over the past five years.
B17 046    |^But here's a case in point.  ^Vera Bindon of Auckland was
B17 047 named a non-travelling reserve for the Games team.  ^Blow me
B17 048 down if she didn't win the national singles title.  ^I could
B17 049 understand her disappointment at not winning a trip to
B17 050 Edinburgh.
B17 051    |^The country's strongest basketball area, Auckland, is
B17 052 currently tearing itself apart.  ^Auckland have lost their
B17 053 coaches, their sponsor, the president is under fire and there
B17 054 is talk of a disputed annual meeting (was it or wasn't it?)
B17 055 ^That's another example of administration gone wrong.
B17 056    |^The New Zealand Netball Association, who are usually one
B17 057 of the best-run sports bodies around, appear to have slipped up
B17 058 in the choice of their team to tour Canada this month.
B17 059    |^A Young Internationals team is representing New Zealand in
B17 060 Canada, but this team is winning matches by scores like 132-2,
B17 061 68-4 and so on.  ^This is doing the New Zealanders no good.
B17 062    |^They are not being prepared for the next step up, to full
B17 063 senior international level.  ^And it can hardly be doing the
B17 064 Canadians' enthusiasm much good to be thrashed like that.  ^The
B17 065 trip is supposed to boost netball in its developing areas.
B17 066    |^Why not have a national lower grades selection, chosen
B17 067 from third and fourth grades at national tournament?
B17 068    |^A Young Internationals team toured the Pacific Islands
B17 069 last year and won some pretty one-sided matches.  ^There was
B17 070 talk then that perhaps the mis-matches had not helped netball.
B17 071    |^This Canadian business merely emphasises the point.
B17 072    |^Of course not all administrators make wrong decisions.
B17 073 ^Even those who do can be largely excused if they are amateurs,
B17 074 giving of their time to help their sport.
B17 075    |^The trouble is that today sport is so professional that
B17 076 the participants demand the same level of competency from the
B17 077 administration.
B17 078    |^One man who was always competent was Christchurch's
B17 079 Havllah Down, who died recently aged 96.
B17 080    |^\0Mr Down was really the man responsible for most of the
B17 081 major developments of the game in this country.  ^He invited an
B17 082 Indian team to tour here in 1926 at a time when the Indians
B17 083 were masters of the game.  ^He negotiated New Zealand's entry
B17 084 into Olympic hockey, in 1956 in Melbourne.
B17 085    |^He was secretary of the national association for 36 years
B17 086 and did a marvellous job for the game.  ^Happily his influence
B17 087 will live on through his grandchildren, for five of them, Peter
B17 088 and Brent Miskimmin, Selwyn, Barry and Chris Maister, have
B17 089 represented New Zealand at hockey.
B17 090    |^Another administrator who had performed great deeds for
B17 091 her sport is Wellingtonian Nancy Fleming.
B17 092    |^Miss Fleming has performed virtually every role in New
B17 093 Zealand badminton, except being men's champion.  ^It was only
B17 094 fitting that she be granted a Merit Service Award from the
B17 095 International Badminton Federation recently.  ^This is the
B17 096 first time the Merit award has been presented and it could not
B17 097 have gone to a more deserving recipient. 
B17 098 *<*4Breaking men's silence*>
B17 099 |^*2SUE KEDGLEY *0replies to Alastair Morrison, who last week
B17 100 reviewed her book The Sexual Wilderness and several other books
B17 101 by women about men.
B17 102 |^*6A*2LASTAIR MORRISON *0had some withering words in your
B17 103 pages last week for women like myself who have the temerity to
B17 104 write about men.
B17 105    |^Reviewing a spate of recently issued books by women about
B17 106 men (including my own book The Sexual Wilderness) he decided it
B17 107 was time feminists asked themselves *"whether they really
B17 108 ought to be writing books about men for men**" and drew on
B17 109 apparent parallels about Pakehas writing about Maoris to
B17 110 support his argument that they should not.
B17 111    |^First of all, let me set the record straight.  ^The Sexual
B17 112 Wilderness is not a book *"for men about men**".  ^It is an
B17 113 attempt to find out what effect feminism and women's emerging
B17 114 independence is having on relationships between the sexes.  ^It
B17 115 contains as many interviews with women as it does with men, and
B17 116 is as much aimed at giving women an insight into what is going
B17 117 on inside men's minds as it is in giving men some idea of what
B17 118 women think about them.
B17 119    |^But the wider issue he raises *- whether women *1should
B17 120 *0be writing books about men *- is an interesting one.  ^Men
B17 121 have been writing books about women and telling them how *1they
B17 122 *0should view the world since time immemorial.  ^Alistair
B17 123 Morrison seems to imply that it is inappropriate for women to
B17 124 turn the tables on men and suggest to them how they should view
B17 125 the world.  ^I disagree.  ^I see it rather as a way of helping
B17 126 to break down the male-centred view of the universe we have
B17 127 lived with for centuries *- and of giving men the opportunity
B17 128 to see what the world looks like when viewed from an
B17 129 alternative, female perspective.
B17 130    |^Besides, many women like myself have been waiting
B17 131 hopefully for 15 years now for New Zealand men to start
B17 132 wondering aloud, in books and elsewhere, about the male role,
B17 133 what it means to be a man, and how men have been faring amid
B17 134 all the challenges feminism has posed to the traditional male
B17 135 role.  ^But there has been almost a conspiracy of silence about
B17 136 these issues among New Zealand men.  ^And this silence, which
B17 137 has contributed to the growing gap between the sexes, has
B17 138 created problems for women as well as for men *- as was so
B17 139 clearly revealed in the frustrations so many of the women I
B17 140 interviewed expressed about the failure of men to communicate
B17 141 with, or grow and change alongside, women.
B17 142    |^Faced with men's silence and their apparent resistance to
B17 143 change, what are women supposed to do?  ^Simmer with
B17 144 frustration?  ^Turn our backs on men?  ^I decided instead to
B17 145 take the rather audacious step of trying to break men's silence
B17 146 and find out for myself what was going on inside men's heads as
B17 147 they wrestled in their everyday lives with the effect of 15
B17 148 years of feminism.
B17 149    |^In so doing, Alastair Morrison accuses me of *"only being
B17 150 able to see the men's movement within the contest of my brand
B17 151 of feminist ideology**" and says my conclusions, as a result,
B17 152 are *"patronising and simplistic**".
B17 153    |^That is interesting, because I found his review
B17 154 patronising and simplistic as well *- and even naive.
B17 155 ^Patronising in his incessant use of typically male put-down
B17 156 adjectives like *"silly**" and *"shallow**" to dismiss my
B17 157 conclusions *- for example, that men seem almost incapable of
B17 158 changing of their own accord.
B17 159    |^Simplistic in his citing of one incident in 1984 in
B17 160 Wellington *"when hundreds of men concerned about sexual
B17 161 violence marched through the streets of Wellington**" as if it
B17 162 were an overwhelming rebuttal of my argument that men, in
B17 163 comparison with women during the past 15 years, have barely
B17 164 begun to change.
B17 165    |^Naive in his argument that men's silence is not evidence
B17 166 of their lack of thinking about feminism, but rather their
B17 167 *"entirely appropriate**" realisation that they need *"to
B17 168 take the back seat (to women) for a while**".
B17 169    |^Overall, I found Alastair Morrison's review defensive and
B17 170 a trifle hostile.  ^Perhaps his irritation with The Sexual
B17 171 Wilderness stems in part from the unconscious and often hostile
B17 172 reactions that feminism appears to trigger in so many men.
B17 173    |^On the other hand I welcome the fact that he has taken to
B17 174 debating my views, because that means one more male who has
B17 175 broken through the conspiracy of silence about the effect of
B17 176 feminism on New Zealand men.
B17 177 *<*4Room to move in Rainbow dispute*> *<*5By *7JEROME \0B.
B17 178 ELKIND, *5lecturer in international law*>
B17 179 |^*6O*2VER *0the past few weeks, press reports have been quite
B17 180 hazy about the means which France and New Zealand have chosen
B17 181 to settle their dispute.  ^The terms *"mediation**" and
B17 182 *"arbitration**" have been used interchangeably.  ^In reality
B17 183 they are quite different modes of settlement.
B17 184    |^Mediation involves friendly intervention by a third party.
B17 185 ^The function of a mediator is to assist in what is essentially
B17 186 a negotiated settlement, but as a neutral participant rather
B17 187 than as an adjudicator.
B17 188    |^A mediator sits at the table with the negotiating parties.
B17 189 ^He may suggest possible settlements, sum up the arguments for
B17 190 both sides, and perhaps represent them more objectively than
B17 191 the disputants.  ^But a mediator does not render a decision
B17 192 binding upon the parties.
B17 193    |^Arbitration, on the other hand, is like a judicial
B17 194 proceeding.  ^Arbitration involves the settlement of disputes
B17 195 between states by judges or arbitrators chosen by the parties
B17 196 and according to terms of reference previously negotiated by
B17 197 them.  ^An arbitration usually involves questions of
B17 198 international law and the arbitrators render an award binding
B17 199 upon the parties.
B17 200    |^A third method of settlement mentioned by the Prime
B17 201 Minister, adjudication, resembles arbitration in that it
B17 202 involves settlement according to legal principles and the
B17 203 decisions or judgements of the tribunal are binding upon the
B17 204 parties.
B17 205    |^The chief difference between arbitration and adjudication
B17 206 is that arbitration involves submission of the dispute to an ad
B17 207 hoc tribunal chosen to settle the one dispute.
B17 208    |^Adjudication involves submission to a permanent tribunal
B17 209 such as the International Court of Justice, which operates
B17 210 according to a permanent statute and fixed rules of procedure,
B17 211 and exists to settle any dispute which may be submitted to it
B17 212 and over which it has jurisdiction.
B17 213    |^The two main issues outstanding between New Zealand and
B17 214 France have strong legal elements, although there is some room
B17 215 for political manoeuvre.  ^One of them involves the measure of
B17 216 compensation which France owes to New Zealand.  ^The other one
B17 217 involves our right under international law to continue to
B17 218 detain the French agents who have been convicted under our law.
B17 219 |^*6I *2AM *0not privy to the terms of reference, but the
B17 220 damages might involve, among other things, costs of
B17 221 investigation of the incident and capture of the agents, the
B17 222 costs of putting them on trial, damages at large for the
B17 223 invasion of our sovereignty, and moral damages.
B17 224    |^The terms of reference might even involve damages caused
B17 225 by the French trade boycotts which have compounded the wrong
B17 226 originally done to New Zealand.
B17 227    |^As to our right to detain the agents, I have some idea of
B17 228 the arguments that the French might make.  ^I do not wish to be
B17 229 seen as forecasting a *"victory**" for New Zealand as I was
B17 230 reported to have done, but I do not think that their potential
B17 231 arguments are very strong.
B17 232    |^I am sure that they will argue with all the skill they have
B17 233 at their command that we have no right to detain the agents.
B17 234    |^The Secretary-General of the United Nations is a skilled
B17 235 political negotiator.  ^He is not a judge or a lawyer.
B17 236 ^Undoubtedly he will have a legal staff assisting him.  ^But he
B17 237 is probably not restricted to deciding the matter solely on the
B17 238 basis of legal issues.
B17 239 *#
B18 001 **[062 TEXT B18**]
B18 002 *<*4The tide of violence *- no simple solution*> *<*6JIM ANDERTON*>
B18 003    |^*6O*2N ONE *0of the inevitable plane journeys {0MP}s make each
B18 004 week I sat next to a young mother and her four-year-old daughter. 
B18 005 ^She told me with a mixture of amusement and concern about the
B18 006 reaction of her daughter on being told that her grandfather had died. 
B18 007 ^She asked, ^*"Who shot him?**"
B18 008    |^Her question shows vividly enough where many children get their
B18 009 perception of death and the way people die.
B18 010    |^The Mental Health Foundation noted that a survey carried out last
B18 011 year in New Zealand showed that in one week, on both television One
B18 012 and Two, over 800 violent events were shown. 
B18 013    |^One nine-year-old boy who had been displaying aggressive
B18 014 tendencies in the classroom was found to be watching 32 hours of
B18 015 television each week during which he would observe, on average, eight
B18 016 killings and 195 other episodes of violence. ^His viewing rate was
B18 017 shared by between 20-30 per cent of all nine-year-old boys.
B18 018    |^We can't, of course, lay all the blame for increasing violence in
B18 019 our country solely at the door of television. ^Things are never that
B18 020 simple.
B18 021    |^Ezra Solomon, Professor of Finance at Stanford University, has
B18 022 commented that, ^*"The only function of economic forecasting is to
B18 023 make astrology look respectable.**" ^If that can be said about
B18 024 economics or even *"Rogernomics**", it can certainly be said about the
B18 025 uncertain arena of social behaviour.
B18 026    |^The Task Force on Economic and Social Planning in 1976 noted the
B18 027 contradictory nature of city life for many people, both bringing them
B18 028 together and yet, at the same time, increasing the distance between
B18 029 them.
B18 030    |^It noted then, that among the possible consequences of these
B18 031 pressures would be an increase in the level of crime, particularly
B18 032 violent crime, the alienation of youth, the rate of marriage breakdown
B18 033 and the abuse of alcohol and other drugs. 
B18 034    |^Though the crime rate has certainly increased in recent years,
B18 035 New Zealand still has a long way to go to equal the situation, even in
B18 036 societies with similar social structures to our own.
B18 037    |^The murder rate in our worst recorded year of 1981 (76 murders
B18 038 reported) was 2.39 per 100,000 population compared with 2.7 in
B18 039 Australia and 6.56 in Canada.  ^For serious assaults the rate was
B18 040 97.27 in New Zealand compared to 157.94 in Canada and 214.24 in
B18 041 England.
B18 042    |^There is no room for complacency but we must keep our problems in
B18 043 perspective and react intelligently rather than hysterically to the
B18 044 often spectacular headlines that scream at us from newspapers, radio
B18 045 and television.
B18 046    |^A Christchurch justice of the peace recently advocated birching,
B18 047 castration and longer prison sentences for *"bashers, rapists and
B18 048 burglars**".  ^The sensational news coverage he got for his
B18 049 *"solutions**" might have made him and others *"feel better**" but
B18 050 they deal with the symptoms rather than the causes.  ^Physical or even
B18 051 capital punishment has not worked before as an effective deterrent and
B18 052 there is no evidence to suggest that it will work any better now.
B18 053    |^New Zealand already has a high rate of imprisonment compared to
B18 054 countries with similar social backgrounds.  ^Ninety people per 100,000
B18 055 population are behind bars in New Zealand compared to 61 in Australia,
B18 056 50 in Canada and 45 in Japan. 
B18 057    |^Imprisonment is not a solution to a rising crime rate. ^The one
B18 058 certain thing we know about eight out of every 10 people who get put
B18 059 into prison is that they will return there again.
B18 060    |^Prison is also a waste of both human and financial resources. 
B18 061 ^Running New Zealand's prisons cost *+$55 million per year at an
B18 062 average cost of *+$16,000 for each prisoner *- more than the average
B18 063 wage of the majority of New Zealanders. 
B18 064    |^And if anyone thinks that prisons are luxurious hotels providing
B18 065 *"featherbed comforts**" they should, like I have, visit a few.  ^It
B18 066 would be difficult for any *"normal**" person not to be brutalised by
B18 067 a long period in prison.  ^If your answer to that is that *"normal**"
B18 068 people don't end up in prison then consider that for 300 male inmates
B18 069 in the Christchurch prison system there are only 3 1/2 hours of
B18 070 psychiatric counselling available each week!
B18 071    |^Gang violence has been in the news lately and the *"smart**"
B18 072 political move is to jump on the *"bash the gangs**" bandwagon.  ^That
B18 073 would be easy and it would be wrong.
B18 074    |^My neighbours in Wellington are gang members.  ^In 18 months of
B18 075 walking home at midnight or later and meeting them on the street I
B18 076 must say that in an odd sort of way they appear to feel more insecure
B18 077 and fearful of me than I do of them.
B18 078    |^What we have to be careful about is that we neither under nor
B18 079 over**[ARB**]-estimate the seriousness of the situation.  ^The recent
B18 080 suggestion by undercover policemen, that gangs in New Zealand have
B18 081 *"international underworld links**" should either be substantiated
B18 082 publicly or abandoned as an allegation which inflates both the
B18 083 importance and the organisational ability of most gangs.
B18 084    |^Gang crime seems to be of an *"ad hoc**" kind.  ^It certainly
B18 085 doesn't appear to be very well planned. ^Perpetrators of *"white
B18 086 collar fraud**" seem to get away with it *- gang members who commit
B18 087 crimes get arrested.
B18 088    |^Only a fraction of a per cent of the general population belong to
B18 089 gangs yet 20 per cent of the prison population are gang members, 80 
B18 090 per cent of them Maoris.
B18 091    |^So are we dealing with criminality or a wider social problem? 
B18 092 ^Clearly, I believe, the latter.
B18 093    |^What we need, therefore, is more positive structures and
B18 094 processes which remove or reduce alienation rather than increase it. 
B18 095 ^These may range from football or indoor cricket teams to work
B18 096 co-operatives.
B18 097    |^We must recognise that these young people *- many of them Maoris
B18 098 *- have a deep feeling of being dealt with harshly by our social and
B18 099 economic system.
B18 100    |^Every one of them has something unique to offer in his or her own
B18 101 right.  ^Our society has often failed to either accept or encourage
B18 102 this.
B18 103    |^We must be careful that gang violence does not become a
B18 104 self-fulfilling prophecy, fed by the media, leading to a higher
B18 105 profile for gang activity than it deserves.
B18 106    |^One of my major concerns with the winding down of the present
B18 107 work skills and PEP schemes is that the group of workers most affected
B18 108 will be those who are already on the fringe of society, hanging on by
B18 109 their fingertips.
B18 110    |^Removing financial support in this area may save some money in
B18 111 the *"short-medium term**" but the ultimate social cost in the *"long
B18 112 term**" may be extraordinarily high.
B18 113    |^And a final word has to be said about the double standards which
B18 114 society presents to our young people in so many ways. ^We don't have
B18 115 to go any further than the reported *+$7 million increase in a
B18 116 personal fortune in just 20 minutes on the stock exchange recently to
B18 117 have some understanding of how it must feel to be viewing that while
B18 118 struggling to earn enough for simple economic survival.
B18 119 *<*4Scary attack of intuition when you flow with the sap*> 
B18 120 *<Down the Sounds*>
B18 121    |^*2THE *0trouble with keeping an open mind is that so much rubbish
B18 122 blows in off the street.
B18 123    |^I've always tried to keep an open mind about para-psychic
B18 124 phenomena and the like, but I finally closed the doors a couple of
B18 125 years ago, after my interview with a well-known Wellington
B18 126 clairvoyant.
B18 127    |^She told me I should sit in a tree and flow with the sap. ^I'm
B18 128 not kidding.  ^My loved ones in spirit were very worried about me, she
B18 129 said.  ^I told her that my loved ones in Auckland were tearing their
B18 130 hair out as well.
B18 131    |^Did I realise, she said, that I was being guided in spirit by a
B18 132 medieval monk?  ^Apparently, this monk was the source of all my most
B18 133 creative thought.  ^The link was coming through to her very strongly.
B18 134    |^*"While you've got him on the line,**" I said, *"tell him that if
B18 135 he's thinking my latest thoughts, he'll get kicked out of that
B18 136 monastery.**"
B18 137    |^The session ended abruptly.
B18 138    |^Even so, there are more things in heaven and earth, as what's
B18 139 'is name said.  ^A few weeks ago I had a bad attack of intuition.
B18 140    |^My friend Ann had come into town from Arapawa Island to go to the
B18 141 dentist.  ^She was staying with me at Whatamongo Bay. ^We planned to
B18 142 take Nelsonia out to Resolution Bay for the weekend.  ^Ann would go
B18 143 home to Arapawa Island via Resolution. 
B18 144    |^On the morning of the trip I woke with the jitters.  ^I did not
B18 145 want to go.  ^Not to Resolution Bay.  ^Not out of the Marina.  ^Not
B18 146 anywhere.  ^I began to think of reasons to stay home.  ^I had pins and
B18 147 needles in my driving arm; I'd lost my glasses and could feel a
B18 148 migraine coming on.
B18 149    |^It was a perfect morning.  ^A light southerly of 10 to 15 knots
B18 150 for the sea-area of Cook Strait, the marine forecast said.  ^There was
B18 151 nothing to justify such procrastination.  ^I put it to the vote and
B18 152 the intuitive voice lost.
B18 153    |^We set out at about 10{0am}.  ^By the time we passed the Snout I
B18 154 was beginning to relax.  ^Until I glanced at the temperature gauge
B18 155 which had shot up to 200*@\0C.  ^The water cooling system was blocked.
B18 156    |^We stopped and pondered the situation while the engine cooled
B18 157 down.  ^When we started up again a whole lot of weed blew out of the
B18 158 exhaust.  ^We decided it was safe to continue and then ran into fog
B18 159 lying very thick down the length of Queen Charlotte Sound.
B18 160    |^Theoretically fog is okay.  ^You're supposed to operate on
B18 161 compass and blow your horn.  ^I could hear the Arahura and the Aratika
B18 162 talking their way through it on {0VHF}.  ^I decided that without radar
B18 163 I could hit something; like a ferry for example.
B18 164    |^We turned back into Waikawa Bay to wait for the fog to lift.  ^By
B18 165 midday it had cleared.  ^In the process of getting under way again, I
B18 166 slipped on the deck and dislocated my shoulder.  ^It's always been
B18 167 unreliable.  ^Ann put it back in the socket and we had a cup of tea.
B18 168    |^*"There's a message in all this,**" Ann
B18 169 **[PLATE**]
B18 170 said gloomily.  ^*"We're not meant to go.  ^I know it.  ^The dentist
B18 171 had pulled out one of her wisdom teeth and left her with a jaundiced
B18 172 view of life.
B18 173    |^In these situations I get stubborn.  ^*"We've come this far,**" I
B18 174 said.  ^*"We're going to Resolution.  ^Let's get on with it.**"
B18 175    |^We passed Luke's Rock and reached the Bay of Many Coves without
B18 176 incident.
B18 177    |^*"Why aren't there any dolphins?**" said Ann suddenly.
B18 178    |^Ann takes dolphins for granted.  ^Whenever she's with me on
B18 179 Nelsonia the dolphins come around.  ^Even when I haven't seen one for
B18 180 months, they turn up when Ann's on board and stay with us.
B18 181    |^*"How would I know,**" I said.  ^*"They're busy.  ^Probably
B18 182 rescuing somebody or ganging up on a killer whale or something.
B18 183 ^Dolphins have a tight schedule.**"
B18 184    |^*"They always come,**" she said.
B18 185    |^Shortly after this the engine began to wheeze.  ^We pretended not
B18 186 to notice.  ^Halfway across the mouth of Endeavour Inlet, it had a
B18 187 coughing fit and passed out.
B18 188    |^There was no point in railing and fretting.  ^Maybe we should
B18 189 have sacrificed a couple of sheep before we started out, but it's 
B18 190 always easy to be wise after the event.
B18 191    |^*"All we need now is a storm,**" I said.  ^*"That'll be the next
B18 192 thing.  ^Look what happened to Ulysses.**"
B18 193    |^We got out the medicinal rum and I called Cape Jackson shore
B18 194 station on the {0VHF}.  ^Betty and Tony Baker maintain an almost 
B18 195 constant radio watch out there.  ^I asked Betty to ring John at
B18 196 Resolution and tell him we had no power.  ^Tony called back on Channel
B18 197 63:
B18 198    |^*"John's coming out to you from Resolution,**" he said.
B18 199 *"^Shouldn't be too long.  ^What's the problem?**"
B18 200    |^I took a stab.  ^*"Could be water in the fuel,**" I said.
B18 201 ^*"Filters must be crook.  ^The engine kept losing revs and then just
B18 202 packed it in.**"
B18 203    |^*"Sounds like fuel,**" Tony said.  ^*"John will sort it out.**"
B18 204    |^It was half an hour or so before John arrived.  ^In the meantime
B18 205 we had offers of help from two other launches in the vicinity.  ^We are
B18 206 not alone, I said to Ann.
B18 207 *#
B19 001 **[063 TEXT B19**]
B19 002 *<*6POLITICAL DIARY*> *<*2DENIS WELCH*>
B19 003 *<*4Mixed blessings*>
B19 004 |^*6I*2T'S IMPORTANT *0to get out and about with ministers, I
B19 005 find, but opening state houses with *4Phil Goff *0on a wet
B19 006 Wednesday morning is possibly not my idea of a good time.
B19 007 ^Duty calls, however, and powering the {0BCNZ} carpool 
B19 008 Alfa-Romeo down the motorway I arrive in good time at the site on
B19 009 Upper Hutt's fabled Fergusson Drive.  ^It's pouring with rain
B19 010 and people are perched under porches, but inclement weather
B19 011 cannot cloud the natural beauty of the eight-house complex with
B19 012 white picket fences and interlocking garages.  ^There's not a
B19 013 hint of inferiority about this complex; as Goff proudly says,
B19 014 people driving by would never guess that these were *1state
B19 015 houses.
B19 016    |^*"*0State houses**" *- the words have a Kiwi magic.  ^They
B19 017 evoke images of days when governments still had the quaint idea
B19 018 that it was their job to look after people.  ^A nation grew up
B19 019 on the notion of *4Savage, Semple *0and *4Lee *- *0immortalised
B19 020 in a famous photograph *- carrying furniture into the first
B19 021 state house in 1937.  ^Redefining their own myth they rolled up
B19 022 their sleeves, or sleeve in Lee's case, and humped tables and
B19 023 chairs into history.
B19 024    |^Naturally any self-respecting Housing Minister will want
B19 025 to emulate them sooner or later, and the publicity-conscious
B19 026 Goff is seizing his chance today.  ^One of the houses, to be
B19 027 occupied by *4Rongohaere *0and *4Lucy Brightwell, *0is the
B19 028 3000th state rental unit to be acquired by the Labour
B19 029 Government.  ^It's a great excuse for more media attention, and
B19 030 makes a change from the usual run of Philanthropy *- Phil
B19 031 posing with grateful young homebuyers, Phil launching *"Sweat
B19 032 Equity**" schemes, Phil hustling defenceless widows into granny
B19 033 flats.  ^The next move is probably a Sweat Granny scheme,
B19 034 whereby 80-year-olds get mortgage discounts for doing their own
B19 035 gibbing.
B19 036    |^The historic re-enactment draws near.  ^The complex is
B19 037 blessed on the inside by a priest sprinkling holy water and on
B19 038 the outside by the *4Lord *- ^*"*0Rain is a sign of
B19 039 blessing,**" they say.  ^Jockeying for umbrella space with
B19 040 local {0MP} *4Bill Jeffries, *0Goff mutters, ^*"Lee carried the
B19 041 table in upside down *- I think I'll put it over my head.**"
B19 042    |^A Hertz van pulls up on cue, and it's two chairs for Goff,
B19 043 and a sideboard, with help, for Jeffries.  ^Luckily the
B19 044 Brightwells are not piano players.  ^Jeffries, playing the Lee
B19 045 role, refuses to do it with one arm tied behind his back, but
B19 046 sighs, ^*"I must admit that one of the attractions of politics
B19 047 for me was that there was no heavy lifting involved.**"
B19 048    |^Well pleased with his morning's work, Goff sums up,
B19 049 ^*"See, we *1do *0work for a living,**" but his sleeves stay
B19 050 resolutely unrolled, the rain continues to bless down, and
B19 051 somehow it just doesn't have that 1937 ambience.  ^But who
B19 052 knows *- by 2037 they'll probably honour this day.  ^The first
B19 053 state house has already been classified by the Historic Places
B19 054 Trust; soon guides will be taking tour parties through them,
B19 055 and selling weatherboard souvenirs.
B19 056 |^*2IT TOOK US *0150 years to do it, but we've finally got our
B19 057 own nouveau riche.  ^Creamy and cool, they materialise en masse
B19 058 at a swank hotel opening in downtown Wellington.  ^Far from
B19 059 state housing country *- possibly not on the same planet at all
B19 060 *- the Plimmer Towers Hotel is the kind of place Internal
B19 061 Affairs Minister *4Peter Tapsell *0is grateful to help launch,
B19 062 because, as he says, ^*"I could never afford to stay here**".
B19 063 ^The rooms are pastel-pale, and the guests are dressed to match
B19 064 *- people who seem to be doing rather well out of Rogernomics.
B19 065 ^This is their natural habitat, the new pink-and-white
B19 066 terraces.  ^The Lange Government might just as well have
B19 067 carried the furniture in here.
B19 068    |^A bishop, no less, does the blessing on this occasion, and
B19 069 *4Mike Moore *0performs the political equivalent when he tops
B19 070 off the Plaza Hotel on Wednesday afternoon.  ^Rain having
B19 071 forced the function inside, the tireless Tourism Minister says
B19 072 dryly, ^*"It's not the first topping-off ceremony I've been to,
B19 073 but it's the first on the ground floor.**"
B19 074    |^He enthuses about the 216 rooms being built, but laments
B19 075 the lack of things for visitors to do in Wellington.  ^Even he
B19 076 with his global vision hasn't grasped the full potential of
B19 077 state house villages and fun parks, and I haven't time to
B19 078 enlighten him, because I must dash away to the big event of the
B19 079 day *- the Brierley Investments Limited annual general meeting.
B19 080    |^Through the mighty doors of the Michael Fowler Centre they
B19 081 flock *- the young, the old, the halt, the infirm, *4Paul East,
B19 082 *0all of them Brierley investors, and looking for all the world
B19 083 like ordinary New Zealanders.  ^Their lives used to be drab;
B19 084 they knew no greater thrill than subsidising the {0TAB} every
B19 085 Saturday.  ^Even sex was more fun than playing the sharemarket.
B19 086 ^Then along came {0BIL} *- a beacon of hope and healthy
B19 087 dividends.  ^Was true happiness attainable on this Earth after
B19 088 all?  ^Investors came out of the closet.  ^*"Portfolio**",
B19 089 previously something associated with cabinet ministers, ceased
B19 090 to be a dirty word.  ^Money was made, and money made more
B19 091 money.  ^Twenty-five years after humble beginnings, the company
B19 092 has become a business giant, and 3500 shareholders are here to
B19 093 hail that achievement *- and to worship the *4Blessed Ron
B19 094 *0himself.
B19 095    |^It's hard to dislike someone who makes a great deal of
B19 096 money for you, and one elderly gent seems to speak for most of
B19 097 the congregation when he says, ^*"Thank you for making
B19 098 available to us some of the better things in life*".  ^Brierley
B19 099 in turn is suitably self-effacing: ^*"It's the board's role,**"
B19 100 he says demurely, *"to respond to what we feel the
B19 101 shareholders and the public are looking for.**" ^He speaks of
B19 102 {0BIL}'s *"unchanging philosophic integrity**" and summons
B19 103 followers to the one true cause, saying, ^*"Every New Zealander
B19 104 who can afford to do so owes it to himself or herself to hold a
B19 105 stake in {0BIL}.**" ^One half expects people to come forward
B19 106 and rededicate their dollars to Ron.
B19 107    |^With nine executives lined up on stage, like the top table
B19 108 at a party conference, the meeting is conducted in a 
B19 109 para-democratic way.  ^Brierley proposes adding *+$1500 million to
B19 110 nominal capital by slapping on another 3000 million 50\0c
B19 111 shares, and everyone votes accordingly.  ^Small shareholders do
B19 112 have a certain power, as companies connected with South Africa
B19 113 have discovered, but no one's seriously about to challenge the
B19 114 board.  ^One woman wonders whether {0BIL} pays enough tax, but
B19 115 to hear Ron reply, you'd think a charity had been accused of
B19 116 not giving to orphan children.
B19 117    |^He's not a flamboyant man or a dynamic speaker, but his
B19 118 self-composure is striking.  ^Sooner or later, in any walk of
B19 119 life, serenity will get you, and Brierley seems to have
B19 120 achieved it by setting himself to do one thing in life *- make
B19 121 money *- and do it supremely well.  ^That he makes it for
B19 122 others as well is probably just an accident.  ^But nobody's
B19 123 sending for the ambulance.
B19 124 |^*2THE YEAR *0is winding down, fatigue is clouding the
B19 125 judgment, and the {0PM}'s doing his Christmas cards in the
B19 126 House.  ^For the first time the Government looks like any other
B19 127 government: not a skilfully packaged product but a swill of
B19 128 excuses, evasions and *- on their better days *- downright
B19 129 equivocation.  ^At this precise moment the Opposition chooses
B19 130 to strike with panther-like cunning, and target certain
B19 131 ministers at question time.  ^It's a daringly conceived
B19 132 strategy that might just work.
B19 133    |^On Tuesday they go for the grizzly jugular of Employment
B19 134 Minister *4Kerry Burke; *0on Wednesday they mercilessly pound
B19 135 Finance Minister *4Roger Douglas, *0except he's not there, so
B19 136 *4David Caygill *0has to do instead; and on Thursday their
B19 137 heavy guns swivel onto the massive earthworks of *4Koro Wetere.
B19 138 ^*0Government {0MP}s in their turn take aim at Opposition
B19 139 leader *4Jim Bolger, *0but he's not there half the time either.
B19 140    |^Burke, a man liable to outbursts of uncontrollable
B19 141 moderation, counters all questions on provincial unemployment
B19 142 by promising a *"Package of measures to facilitate structural
B19 143 adjustment**".  ^He has been doing this for some time, so
B19 144 there's widespread shock this week when he actually releases
B19 145 the package.  ^He had no choice, I'm advised: the alternatives
B19 146 were to close down Wanganui or relocate Gisborne north of the
B19 147 Bombay Hills.
B19 148    |^Caygill is conspicuously unhelpful.  ^Asked by *4Bill
B19 149 Birch *0to reconcile severe unemployment with a 1984 Roger
B19 150 Douglas statement that the Government's short-term goal is
B19 151 employment, Caygill replies, ^*"Easy.  ^One relates to
B19 152 employment, the other to unemployment.**" ^He's similarly
B19 153 evasive on inflation and interest rates, claiming that both
B19 154 have fallen *"significantly**" *- a word politicians prefer
B19 155 when figures don't fit their forecasts.
B19 156    |^Wetere, who's having difficulty getting his own Forest
B19 157 Service staff to supply him with information, appears to be
B19 158 making it up as he goes along.
B19 159    |^The Opposition scores some points, but more like a playful
B19 160 kitten than a panther.  ^Follow-up questions are ill-contrived,
B19 161 and co-ordination and concentration are not of the highest
B19 162 order.  ^With Burke on the ropes, Birch overlooks the fact that
B19 163 it's his turn to ask the next question.  ^Anxious calls of
B19 164 ^*"Bill! ^Bill!**" from colleagues startle the Franklin fireball
B19 165 into action, and the public galleries gaze in awe at the sight.
B19 166 |^*2WEDNESDAY NIGHT *0used to be private members' night, and
B19 167 was dominated for months by *4Fran Wilde'*0s Homosexual Law
B19 168 Reform Bill; which reminds me, where's the tide of sin and
B19 169 shame *4Norman Jones *0promised if the bill was passed?  ^The
B19 170 Sodom, the Gomorrah, the upsurge of gay bars, clubs, street
B19 171 appeals?  ^The earthquake is over, but the post-bill landscape
B19 172 isn't noticeably different.
B19 173    |^But though Wednesday night has been reclaimed for
B19 174 Government legislation, moral outrage still has an outlet.
B19 175 ^When the bill introducing Lotto is brought in, conservative
B19 176 {0MP}s get onto their moral high horses and go for a gallop
B19 177 again.  ^Gamblers, it seems, are not much better than gays.
B19 178    |^*"We could be breaking down the very fabric of what New
B19 179 Zealand families are made of,**" wails Opposition junior whip
B19 180 *4Robin Gray.  ^*0Colleague *4Venn Young *0declares himself
B19 181 *"opposed to the extension of this form of gambling into New
B19 182 Zealand households**".  ^Someone else talks of *"incestuous
B19 183 high jinks**".  ^No one claims that Lotto actually causes Aids,
B19 184 but someone's bound to think of it sooner or later.
B19 185    |^If only Norman, sadly ill in the south, were here *- he'd
B19 186 insist, at the very least, that the age of consent for Lotto be
B19 187 21.  ^Or he might say, ^*"Bless this House.**"
B19 188 *<Politics with Miles Wallace*>
B19 189 *<Ocker knocker not neighbourly*>
B19 190 |^*2INVITE an Aussie to stay for a couple of days, and what
B19 191 happens?
B19 192    |^Bodgie Bill Hayden, the Oz Foreign Affairs Minister, had
B19 193 barely finished saying *"Gidday Digger**" before he started
B19 194 kneecapping his hosts over Anzus and {0CER}.
B19 195    |^Prime Minister Big Dave Lange had asked Bill over for a
B19 196 nice neighbourly yarn, but no sooner had he stepped off the
B19 197 plane than he was expressing disapproval about the anti-nuclear
B19 198 goings-on on this side of the fence.
B19 199    |^And he warned that, back home, the Aussies were
B19 200 increasingly miffed that New Zealand business people were doing
B19 201 well out of {0CER}.
B19 202    |^At the heart of both these rows is a growing sense of
B19 203 irritation in the land of Fosters and galahs that the Kiwis
B19 204 refuse to keep their garden nice and neat, the way the Yanks
B19 205 like it *- and that when they come to play in the Aussies'
B19 206 garden, they have too nice a time.
B19 207    |^Big Dave would have to admit that Bill's got a point.
B19 208 ^Since the Yanks have declared the Anzus treaty inoperative
B19 209 because of New Zealand's anti-nuclear policy, the Aussies have
B19 210 had to spend significantly more on their own defence budget
B19 211 just to maintain duel **[SIC**] exercises with New Zealand.
B19 212    |^Big Dave and Defence Minister, Fearless Frank O'Flynn,
B19 213 have been working behind the scenes to strengthen the defence
B19 214 relationship even further *- though publicly they're being a
B19 215 bit coy about it.
B19 216    |^However, the clear message from Bodgie Bill this week was
B19 217 we like you *- but not that much.
B19 218    |^Australia is never going to replace the Yanks as a
B19 219 security guarantee *- and why should Bodgie Bill and his mates
B19 220 spend even more money on exercises with New Zealand when they
B19 221 don't even agree with its anti-nuclear policy?
B19 222    |^On {0CER} *- at which the Aussies used to be fond of
B19 223 scoffing *"never heard of it**" *- the message was, don't be
B19 224 greedy.
B19 225    |^Bodgie Bill said manufacturers were getting toey about the
B19 226 free trade agreement; if New Zealand pushed too hard to score
B19 227 better access to tricky, jealously-guarded markets like steel,
B19 228 textiles and shipping, there might just be a big push to call
B19 229 the whole thing off.
B19 230    |^But to get back to Anzus for a minute...
B19 231    |^This time last year, this column was marvelling at Big
B19 232 Dave's claim that he had a way of telling, without help from
B19 233 the Yanks, Brits or any other nuclear power, whether a ship was
B19 234 nuclear-armed or not.
B19 235    |^He wouldn't say what this mysterious test was that he had
B19 236 up his sleeve but it came to be known in Wellington circles as
B19 237 the magic dipstick.  ^Big Dave hasn't had a chance to use the
B19 238 dipstick, because, of course, no-one will send any warships
B19 239 here.
B19 240    |^However, he seems to have given Finance Minister Roger the
B19 241 Dodger Douglas a lend of it.
B19 242    |^Rodge's internal deficit has got out of hand *- *+$2.9
B19 243 billion instead of the *+$2.5 billion he promised last Budget.
B19 244 ^Raising taxes and cutting government spending is what the
B19 245 economists prescribe.
B19 246    |^But Rodge's got an election to win, so instead he said he
B19 247 had a mystery plan that would produce *+$450 million.
B19 248    |^The popular guess is he'll flog off a public asset or two.
B19 249 ^But with this government, anything's possible.
B19 250    |^Big Dave's magic dipstick ought to be worth a bob or two,
B19 251 and since he isn't likely to need it, perhaps Roger the Dodger
B19 252 has been negotiating to sell it to Bodgie Bill, to take back to
B19 253 Oz and keep his bolshie anti-nuke left wing amused.
B19 254 *#
B20 001 **[TEXT B20**]
B20 002 *<*5Politics with Miles Wallace*>
B20 003 *<*4Geoff shines under spotlight*>
B20 004 |^*2JEEPERS, *0Geoffrey, I think you've got it.*>
B20 005    |^Yep, Gentle Geoffrey, the loyal Deputy Prime Minister, may be
B20 006 the man we're looking for as the successor to Big David Lange *- when
B20 007 and if the time comes, of course.
B20 008    |^Our Geoffrey has never been much in the limelight.  ^He's kept
B20 009 very much to the backrooms, straightening out the Government problems
B20 010 and keeping the ship of state going.
B20 011    |^But of late he has been taking the spotlight when our David has
B20 012 been absent or reluctant.
B20 013    |^And the formerly shy and retiring law professor has been making
B20 014 an increasingly good fist of it.
B20 015    |^Previously, he had a name for getting terribly precious and
B20 016 sometimes even pompous when his word had been challenged.
B20 017    |^That's a problem that law professors have.  ^They seem to think
B20 018 they have the right to lay down the law, without this being
B20 019 questioned.
B20 020    |^But Geoffrey has now developed to the point where he can take
B20 021 all the rough passes and hold them.
B20 022    |^He can keep his cool, even under severe provocation.
B20 023    |^A classic case was when the Australians gave him a hard time
B20 024 last week over the Rainbow Warrior settlement, involving the release
B20 025 this week of the jailed French agents.
B20 026    |^Australian television interviewer and toughboy Mike Willisee, in
B20 027 an interview with our Geoffrey, kept asserting that the settlement was
B20 028 a sell-out, a deal.
B20 029    |^Geoffrey's government, he continually asserted, had sold the
B20 030 agents for the equivalent of 13 pieces of silver *- the *+$13 million
B20 031 which the Frogs are paying in compensation for the Rainbow Warrior
B20 032 sabotage.
B20 033    |^Most politicians would have been so incensed with this treatment
B20 034 that they would have walked off. ^This would have rebounded against
B20 035 them as it would have given the impression that they could not take
B20 036 the heat.
B20 037    |^But not our Geoffrey. ^He sat it out and kept putting up the
B20 038 best front possible on what was, in effect, a government sell-out.
B20 039    |^The result later in the week was a flood of support for the way
B20 040 he handled himself. ^It was a sort of public rallying to the flag
B20 041 against the rude Aussies.
B20 042    |^Our media is pretty tame compared with Australia's, particularly
B20 043 our television.
B20 044    |^The Aussies go for the jugular, especially in cases where the
B20 045 government has made a huge about face on everything it has said or
B20 046 done.
B20 047    |^But while some in Kiwiland may have thought that Geoffrey had a
B20 048 rough job of the defence of the empire, he actually did a bit better
B20 049 than we saw on screen.
B20 050    |^At one stage, when interviewer Willisee alleged that there was
B20 051 no provision under international law for the Government to act the way
B20 052 it did, our Geoffrey drew on his legal knowledge and quoted to him
B20 053 verbatim the terms of the United Nations Charter.
B20 054    |^It was under this that the arbitration was taken.
B20 055    |^It just so happens that this part of the original interview was
B20 056 not shown on screen. ^Obviously, the Aussie television boys decided it
B20 057 was a bit wordy, so they cut that segment.
B20 058    |^But that was an example of what Geoffrey can do when he has to.
B20 059    |^Once Geoffrey was prepared to stay in the background doing all
B20 060 the work. ^He only reluctantly emerged to stand in for David Lange
B20 061 when the Prime Minister was overseas.
B20 062    |^But gradually Palmer has relaxed in the job, and you get the
B20 063 impression that he is now starting to enjoy himself. ^Certainly he can
B20 064 cope with the task.
B20 065    |^After the Anzus crisis and the Rainbow Warrior set back, it's
B20 066 not too surprising that Big David wants to lower his public profile a
B20 067 bit.
B20 068    |^He can do this quite safely now, in the knowledge that Gentle
B20 069 Geoffrey has become a sort of gentle giant in his absence.
B20 070    |^In fact in Parliament Geoffrey is, if anything, even louder than
B20 071 David. ^He is in grave danger, when in full flight, of splitting
B20 072 eardrums.
B20 073    |^That's handy for David Lange and it's also handy for the Labour
B20 074 Party. ^It means that if David Lange decides to chuck things in at
B20 075 some stage, and go back to being a bush lawyer, then they have someone
B20 076 who can step into his shoes.
B20 077    |^Frankly, Geoffrey is looking very much like a future prime
B20 078 minister.
B20 079 *<*4*'Open**' government, closed ranks*>
B20 080 *<Keith Johnston*>
B20 081 |^*2IT'S *0an open and shut case; Labour is the promised open
B20 082 government, and a closed one.
B20 083    |^With one hand the Government is extending the Official
B20 084 Information Act to cover education and hospital boards and, in future,
B20 085 local government. ^The other hand is a closed fist. ^Key information
B20 086 is held in a bureaucratic black hole, beyond the effective reach of
B20 087 the Official Information Act. ^In addition, the plans to make
B20 088 departments more commercial increase the secrecy surrounding some
B20 089 information and increase the cost of obtaining other data.
B20 090    |^The black hole is no specific place; no filing cabinet drawer
B20 091 marked *"our eyes only**" or *"deep six**". ^It's a tactic.
B20 092    |^The tactic is simple. ^When sensitive information is requested,
B20 093 the officials or the minister will dally and, when pushed, refuse to
B20 094 release it. ^If the Ombudsman is asked to review the decision, the
B20 095 delaying begins. ^First the Ombudsman has to be provided with the
B20 096 information to recommend whether or not it should be released. ^In
B20 097 some cases this process has taken up to a year. ^And, even then, the
B20 098 process of negotiation between Ombudsman and department can in extreme
B20 099 cases take many months.
B20 100    |^To suggest there is a tactical intent in all this to-ing and
B20 101 fro-ing is not to underestimate the realities of working in the public
B20 102 service.  ^There is a lot of work and not many staff to do it. ^But
B20 103 some departments are quicker than others and Treasury seems to be
B20 104 slowest of them all.
B20 105    |^As Trade and Industry under**[ARB**]-secretary Peter Nielsen
B20 106 pointed out recently, getting information on time *"is equally
B20 107 important as the content of the material itself**". ^In many cases the
B20 108 information arrives so late as to be useless.
B20 109    |^Information is useful when people and organisations affected by
B20 110 decisions, or with specialist knowledge, can scrutinise the
B20 111 Government's plans. ^It's a scrutiny governments naturally prefer to
B20 112 avoid.
B20 113    |^On May 15, the Bank Officers' Union asked the Minister of
B20 114 Finance for information on proposals to increase the capital base of
B20 115 the Bank of New Zealand. ^The union said it wanted the information
B20 116 urgently because a decision to sell shares in the bank was imminent.
B20 117    |^*"It is important that members of this union who are employed by
B20 118 the {0BNZ}, are able to make informed judgments, and that the union is
B20 119 able to make a constructive contribution to the
B20 120 decision**[ARB**]-making process,**" said union secretary Don Aimer in
B20 121 a letter to the minister.
B20 122    |^A week later the union phoned the minister's office and was told
B20 123 the request had been passed to Treasury, and the minister's staff
B20 124 could give no response date.
B20 125    |^The union asked for the Ombudsman's help and, after inquiries by
B20 126 his office, he decided on June 26 that there had been undue delay on
B20 127 the part of the minister and he would investigate the refusal to
B20 128 release the information. ^Chief Ombudsman Lester Castle, acknowledged
B20 129 *"the desirability of completing my investigation prior to any final
B20 130 decision being made**" on the financing of the bank but *"^I cannot of
B20 131 course guarantee that this will be achieved**".
B20 132    |^On July 10 the Labour caucus approved Cabinet plans to sell
B20 133 shares in the bank. ^The Ombudsman's investigation is still
B20 134 continuing.  ^Round one to the minister and the Treasury.
B20 135    |^For John Lush, Waikato regional secretary for the Public Service
B20 136 Association, it has been a similar story, only longer. ^On August 1,
B20 137 1985, he asked the Minister of Finance for a copy of Treasury
B20 138 proposals for the establishment of energy corporations. ^The request
B20 139 was refused twice (on September 10 and October 2) because *"the
B20 140 Government consideration of the issue was not yet completed**" *-
B20 141 which was the very reason John Lush and the {0PSA}'s electricity
B20 142 sub-group wanted the information in the first place.
B20 143    |^Lush called in the Ombudsman on October 15. ^The Ombudsman
B20 144 received a report from the department on December 20 but sought
B20 145 further information. ^By March 5 he still had not received this
B20 146 information.
B20 147    |^On July 10, more than 11 months after his initial request, Lush
B20 148 received the report. ^What was particularly galling was the report
B20 149 being discussed at a Central Waikato Electric Power Board meeting
B20 150 during October 1985.
B20 151    |^*"The power board can discuss the matter,**" says Lush, *"but
B20 152 the {0PSA}. which represents the people involved whose jobs are at
B20 153 risk, know nothing about it.**" ^Round two to the minister and the
B20 154 Treasury, on points.
B20 155    |^The desire of governments to control the flow of information is
B20 156 overwhelmingly strong. ^But it is contrary to Labour's open government
B20 157 policy and limits scrutiny of its decisions. ^Greater scrutiny makes
B20 158 the Government's immediate job more difficult but it is an effective
B20 159 check on the type of full-steam-ahead decisionmaking that lumbered the
B20 160 taxpayer with the Think Big projects. ^This government heaps much
B20 161 abuse on Think Big while building its own 
B20 162 **[PLATE**] 
B20 163 head of steam for a different course.
B20 164    |^Scrutinising that course is difficult. ^New Zealand Times
B20 165 political reporter Murray McLaughlin wants information on how each of
B20 166 the 30 government departments plan to achieve the *+$840 million in
B20 167 savings, targeted in the Minister of Finance's briefing on May 19.
B20 168 ^McLaughlin asked the minister's office for the information on May 20.
B20 169 ^He's still waiting. ^He hasn't been refused. ^These things take time.
B20 170 ^First Treasury had to compile the information. ^Then after Douglas
B20 171 had the information for about three weeks, there was uncertainty
B20 172 because some of the material may be declared commercially confidential
B20 173 and kept secret.
B20 174    |^Round three is undecided but leaning Treasury and the minister's
B20 175 way.
B20 176    |^A long time ago, early March 1984, I asked Treasury for a copy
B20 177 of its history of the New Zealand Steel project and for access to
B20 178 information on the expansion of the steel mill, prepared for Cabinet
B20 179 by officials between June 1981 and November 1981, the key period when
B20 180 decisions were made on the expansion project.
B20 181    |^For a while there was silence. ^Six weeks later, I asked again,
B20 182 pointing out I needed the information urgently because I was
B20 183 presenting a seminar paper on the project. ^On May 21 1984, both
B20 184 requests were refused, for a clutch of reasons: the information
B20 185 related to New Zealand Steel's competitive commercial activities, some
B20 186 of it was supplied in confidence, other information was the advice and
B20 187 opinions of officials.
B20 188    |^I disputed this decision and asked the Ombudsman to review it. 
B20 189 ^That was June 22, 1984. ^The next step was for the Treasury to report
B20 190 to the Ombudsman on why it made the decision. ^There is no power in
B20 191 the Official Information Act to require a department to respond to the
B20 192 Ombudsman's request within a set deadline. ^Nor is there any such
B20 193 power in the amending legislation before Parliament.
B20 194    |^I have six letters from the Ombudsman saying he is still waiting
B20 195 for a report from Treasury. ^The first is dated October 10, 1984; a
B20 196 seventh, dated October 23, 1985, says *"I have now received the papers
B20 197 relevant to your request**".
B20 198    |^An abridged history of the steel project was released in
B20 199 November 1985. ^After further negotiation by the Ombudsman, the 1981
B20 200 reports to Cabinet were released in January 1986 after the Government
B20 201 had announced a rescue package for the project.
B20 202    |^Another round to the Treasury and the minister.
B20 203    |^They are not alone. ^Other departments and ministers are also
B20 204 responsible for excessive delays. ^But Treasury's position is special. 
B20 205 ^For a start, it is the department in the middle; most major decisions
B20 206 have a contribution from Treasury.
B20 207    |^Treasury is seriously under**[ARB**]-staffed and it is uneasy
B20 208 about the release of its opinion and advice. ^These factors have a
B20 209 combined effect. ^When the official information legislation was first
B20 210 considered by a select committee in 1982, Treasury secretary Bernard
B20 211 Galvin was strongly opposed to the release of officials' advice. ^He
B20 212 said the confidentiality of advice to a minister was at the heart of
B20 213 an independent and non-political civil service.
B20 214    |^Opposition to the release of Treasury advice has meant requests
B20 215 for information have to be handled by senior staff, who delete
B20 216 sensitive material. ^There are not staff available so there are
B20 217 lengthy delays.
B20 218    |^The combination of staff shortages, opposition to the release of
B20 219 advice and opinion, and the political advantages in keeping this
B20 220 information secret, combine to undermine the operation of the Official
B20 221 Information Act and the Government's open government policy.
B20 222 *#
B21 001 **[065 TEXT B21**]
B21 002 *<*4Letters to the Editor*>
B21 003 *<Kiwano let-down*>
B21 004    |*0Sir, *- ^My tastebuds have been vindicated.  ^For years I
B21 005 have drooled over pawpaws, mangoes and rock melon, savouring to
B21 006 the last remnant the taste delight *- on the few occasions that
B21 007 my bank balance could run to such ambrosial foods.  ^Then came
B21 008 *- sound the trumpets *- our very own tropical fruit, a delight
B21 009 to the eyes with its autumnal colours and hedgehog
B21 010 configuration.  ^What a let-down.  ^I see this kiwano fruit has
B21 011 been forbidden entry to America (where it was selling for
B21 012 *+${0US}9.50) and has had its genealogy traced to Africa: *"a
B21 013 cucumber, which people will only eat during famine *- a
B21 014 weed,**" (June 25).  ^So who's been having who on?  *-Yours,
B21 015 \0etc.,
B21 016 *2JILL WILCOX.
B21 017 *0June 25, 1986.
B21 018 *<*4East and West*>
B21 019    |*0Sir, *- ^The first time President Reagan said a good word
B21 020 about Mikhail Gorbachev was as a preliminary ploy to the
B21 021 treacherous announcement that the United States would
B21 022 proliferate a new generation of airborne cruise missiles before
B21 023 abandoning {0S.A.L.T.} Two.  ^This generated not one letter of
B21 024 protest from pro-Pentagon Christian correspondents.  ^Under the
B21 025 headline *"Reagan hails Gorbachev offer,**" we learn that
B21 026 Congress directed \0Mr Reagan to cool it and abide by
B21 027 {0S.A.L.T.} Two.  ^Superficially, it would appear that
B21 028 America's conscience has finally outvoted the Pentagon hawks,
B21 029 but let us not forget that it is probably the first time for
B21 030 the Reagan Administration, hence the conciliatory words that
B21 031 \0Mr Reagan has been forced to use for domestic political
B21 032 purposes.  ^Now his millions of Christian supporters have a
B21 033 unique opportunity to reverse their own hitherto hawkish
B21 034 attitudes and resurrect their much-vaunted edict, *"love thine
B21 035 enemies,**" particularly as they are chosen for ridiculous
B21 036 reasons.  *-^Yours, \0etc.,
B21 037 *2ARTHUR MAY
B21 038 *0June 21, 1986.
B21 039    |*0Sir, *- ^John Canham (June 25) is wrong.  ^The only valid
B21 040 Christian approach to communism includes understanding its
B21 041 economics, to see in world context its actual Christ-like
B21 042 practice and to separate it from its traditional Russian
B21 043 practices.  ^He should be less respectful to *"nominal**"
B21 044 Christianity, which has slaughtered and tortured millions in
B21 045 its quest for gold and control.  ^Most of the world's most
B21 046 grievous poverty and most obscene contrasts between such and
B21 047 immense wealth are in nominally Christian countries, many of
B21 048 which are neither free nor prosperous.  ^The Soviet Union is
B21 049 not an aggressor to be feared.  ^It has policed five bordering
B21 050 countries only (horribly unpleasant for some).  ^America does
B21 051 not defend the *"free**" world; it exploits it economically
B21 052 (though Japan is now exploiting America) and has
B21 053 undemocratically installed and-or maintained vicious, minority,
B21 054 military dictatorships in at least 30 countries.  *-Yours,
B21 055 \0etc.,
B21 056 *2SUSAN TAYLOR
B21 057 *0June 25, 1986.
B21 058 *<*4East and West*>
B21 059    |*0Sir, *- ^Replying to John Canham (June 25), I maintain
B21 060 that America has relentlessly continued its 1832 Monroe
B21 061 Doctrine of military-economic expansion.  ^{0J. F.} Dulles
B21 062 confirmed this in 1954, declaring: ^*"There are two ways of
B21 063 conquering a foreign nation: gain control by force of arms, or
B21 064 gain control of its economy.**" ^Cuba and Nicaragua have each
B21 065 suffered American military invasion three times this century.
B21 066 ^The American economic stranglehold on Cuba was broken by
B21 067 Castro in 1960 and by Nicaragua in 1979.  ^Both have since
B21 068 endured unremitting American hostility *- total trade
B21 069 embargoes, their enemies armed and financed, shipping and
B21 070 customers harassed, harbours mined, assassination attempts,
B21 071 forced, unwanted military bases (Guatanamo, Cuba), blockades,
B21 072 intimidation and invasion threats.  ^The resultant setbacks are
B21 073 exaggerated as proof that socialism is *"unworkable.**"
B21 074 ^Meanwhile, America still has firm control of half the Western
B21 075 world's productive capacity and 60 per cent of its finance.
B21 076 ^John Canham should look at the other side of the coin.  *-
B21 077 Yours \0etc.,
B21 078 *2{0M.T.} MOORE.
B21 079 *0June 25, 1986.
B21 080 *<*4{0S.A.L.T.}Two*>
B21 081    |*0Sir, *- ^An intemperate vehemence of assertion cannot
B21 082 conceal the total absence of facts in Lloyd Habgood's letter
B21 083 (June 24) to support his claim of *"an awesome history of
B21 084 Russian transgressions against humanity (including their own
B21 085 countrymen).**" ^Russian history up to November 7, 1917, showed
B21 086 no more *"awesome transgressions against humanity**" than that
B21 087 of any other European Power and the United States.  ^Which of
B21 088 these colonial Powers had a less *"awesome history of
B21 089 transgressions against humanity**" than Russia?  ^Britain,
B21 090 France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, the Netherlands?
B21 091 ^Not one of them.  ^The United States itself was built on
B21 092 slavery and the slaughter of the indigenous North American
B21 093 Indians.  ^The Russian Revolution purged that country of its
B21 094 autocratic, feudal, barbarous, imperialistic past.  *-Yours,
B21 095 \0etc.,
B21 096 *<*2\0M. CREEL*>
B21 097 *0June 24, 1986.
B21 098 *<*4Police calendar*>
B21 099 |*0Sir, *- ^I hope \0Mr Jamieson's reply to my letter (June 23)
B21 100 is not representative of a police response to a complaint or a
B21 101 call for help.  ^He has totally avoided the issue raised in my
B21 102 letter.  ^Does the flagrant showing of a *"girlie**" calendar
B21 103 depicting a nude woman represent the attitude of the police
B21 104 force towards women?  ^Responding to his reply I am sure
B21 105 everyone is aware that very little of the inside of the Police
B21 106 Station is visible from the footpath.  ^I referred specifically
B21 107 to the gatehouse, by which I mean the small wooden building in
B21 108 Hereford Street behind the corrugated iron fence.  ^The inside
B21 109 of this building is clearly visible from the footpath and the
B21 110 calendar referred to has been sighted by a number of persons.
B21 111 *-Yours, \0etc.,
B21 112 *2{0G.P.} BEAUMONT.
B21 113 *0Oxford,
B21 114 June 24, 1986.
B21 115 *<*4Pronunciation*>
B21 116    |*0Sir, *- ^What a pity the female singer of *"Sailing
B21 117 Away,**" was not taught to pronounce the Maori language
B21 118 correctly.  ^The opening words of the song should be: ^*"Po
B21 119 kare kare ana, nga wai...**" referring to turbulent waters; not
B21 120 *"Po kari kari ana, nga wai...**" for which I have no
B21 121 interpretation.  ^As the song will receive a lot of airing and
B21 122 probably be heard world-wide, it is sad that this mistake was
B21 123 not picked up.  *-Yours,\0etc.,
B21 124 *2RICHARD AATA
B21 125 *0June 23, 1986.
B21 126 *<*4Pastoral lands*>
B21 127    |*0Sir, *- ^I question the benefit of having high country
B21 128 pastoral land under a Land Development Corporation.  ^How can
B21 129 these vast areas of essentially non-commercial land be made
B21 130 profitable?  ^Are pastoral lease rentals to increase?  ^Is land
B21 131 to be sold and lost from Crown control?  ^Continued extensive
B21 132 grazing of high country is essential to protect tussock lands.
B21 133 ^The high country's unique heritage and beauty warrant
B21 134 protection and wise management.  ^I doubt whether this can be
B21 135 achieved if a conservation body of the Crown is not the
B21 136 caretaker.  ^The Land Settlement Board is showing good sense in
B21 137 developing a policy of preventing further deterioration of high
B21 138 country values.  ^The exclusion of severely eroded lands from
B21 139 leases, and the prevention of key natural and recreational
B21 140 areas from being freeholded, are sound policies and have
B21 141 received Government support.  ^This Government support would
B21 142 seem inconsistent if a Land Development Corporation is allowed
B21 143 to manage the high country.  *-Yours, \0etc.,
B21 144 *2{0J.G.} ANDERSON.
B21 145 *0June 24, 1986.
B21 146 *<*4Palestinians*>
B21 147    |*0Sir, *- ^It is mischievous to label me as partisan (June
B21 148 5) simply on the basis of what United Nations Security Council
B21 149 Resolutions 242 and 338 provide as the basis for a peace
B21 150 settlement.  ^Those resolutions provide for the implemention of
B21 151 a two-fold principle (May 27).  ^Egypt, by following that 
B21 152 two-fold principle, has obtained territory and has recognised the
B21 153 right of Israel to exist as a State.  ^The issue now is whether
B21 154 the Palestinian Arabs are prepared to accept Israel's right to
B21 155 exist as a State if she withdrew to the lines Alistair Pringle
B21 156 (June 5) suggests.  ^It is only logical that the Palestinian
B21 157 Arabs or their leadership, if any, should recognise the entity
B21 158 from which they seek territorial concessions.  ^This assumes
B21 159 they comply with the above-stated resolutions.  ^If not, the
B21 160 seeds which have sown conflict in that area perpetually thrive
B21 161 and the cycle of hostility viciously repeats itself.  *-Yours,
B21 162 \0etc.,
B21 163 *2JOEL MANYAM.
B21 164 *0June 24, 1986.
B21 165 *<*4Air pollution*>
B21 166    |*0Sir, *- ^I am a little weary of the many letters
B21 167 complaining about pollution from the harmless wood fire.  ^From
B21 168 time immemorial, wood fires have been used for cooking and
B21 169 heating, and have had no bad effect.  ^The coal and coke fires
B21 170 are a different matter.  ^They, of course, can be made
B21 171 smokeless, but to do so is expensive and it is a matter of
B21 172 getting priorities right.  ^Long may the wood fire continue to
B21 173 burn.  *-Yours, \0etc.,
B21 174 *2JOAN CAMPBELL.  *0June 25, 1986.
B21 175 *<*4School protests*>
B21 176    |*0Sir, *- ^The regrettable student protests against good,
B21 177 popular teachers, Warwick Taylor and John Mills, and the
B21 178 childish cancellation of Craig Green's well-merited University
B21 179 Blue, should at last alert us to the dangers of a ruthless,
B21 180 insidious influence which is using the anti-apartheid movement
B21 181 to cause sharp division, acrimony and physical coercion among
B21 182 us.  ^Unbelievably, even before they left here, harsher
B21 183 punishment was demanded for these exemplary sportsmen than for
B21 184 rapists, sodomists and murderers.  ^Most Kiwis, like me, abhor
B21 185 apartheid, but would prefer to tackle the responsible Afrikaner
B21 186 Government over there than to break our strong tradition of
B21 187 minding our own business and leaving our neighbours to make
B21 188 their own moral decisions unquestioned.  ^Few countries are
B21 189 free from severe racial problems and deep injustices.  ^We are
B21 190 not really helping black South Africans by venting our 
B21 191 self-righteousness on fellow citizens.  *-Yours, \0etc.,
B21 192 *2TED MULCOCK.
B21 193 *0June 25, 1986.
B21 194 *<*4Use of letter*>
B21 195    |*0Sir, *- ^{0R.F.} and {0G.B.} Harre (June 24) are mistaken
B21 196 in the assumption that I condoned Sir Robert Muldoon's use of
B21 197 the *"letter.**" ^I made no evaluation whatsoever of his
B21 198 actions in my letter of June 18.  ^In this I merely quoted the
B21 199 reported remarks of \0Mr Lange and added a personal opinion of
B21 200 these.  ^As \0Mr Lange also said that it was one of the best
B21 201 letters he had ever written (June 13), I have no hesitation in
B21 202 repeating my personal opinion that *"alas, it equally shows
B21 203 what sort of person we have as Prime Minister at present.**"
B21 204 *-Yours, \0etc.,
B21 205 (Ms) *2SHIRLEY \0R. DAVEY.
B21 206 *0June 25, 1986.
B21 207 *<*4Prudential's *'man**'*>
B21 208    |*0Sir, *- ^There is a ready answer to {0E.P.} Steciurenko's
B21 209 question (June 25) of what to do with words like mankind,
B21 210 manmade, maneater, \0etc. *- the addition of *"hu**" as a
B21 211 prefix, giving humankind, humanmade, humaneater,
B21 212 humanslaughter.  ^Simple?  *-Yours, \0etc.,
B21 213 *2DENISE ANKER.
B21 214 *0June 25, 1986.
B21 215 *<*4Goods, services tax*>
B21 216    |*0Sir, *- ^There is quiet resignation to the forthcoming
B21 217 introduction of {0GST}.  ^That such a measure can be inflicted
B21 218 on a population without widespread reaction of outrage is
B21 219 frightening.  ^In the rural community the assistance farmers
B21 220 offer one another in their business activity will be subject to
B21 221 {0GST}, as will the barter of farm produce.  ^The monetary
B21 222 value of this neighbourly interdependence is enormous; the
B21 223 taxable liability of like proportion.  ^Many will ignore the
B21 224 liability, others unwittingly overlook it.  ^Almost all, at
B21 225 some stage, will be open to tax avoidance charges.  ^The degree
B21 226 of subservience to the State that {0GST} will bring, for all
B21 227 business activity, is of totalitarian proportion.  ^Meanwhile,
B21 228 on television, Sharon Crosbie soothingly tells us that {0GST}
B21 229 is a *"fairer**" tax.  ^Have we been so lulled into quiescence
B21 230 as to accept such an obvious attempt at Government-funded,
B21 231 national indoctrination?  *-Yours, \0etc.,
B21 232 *2{0D.A.} CARTER.
B21 233 *0June 25, 1986.
B21 234 *<*4Railways service*>
B21 235    |*0Sir, *- ^We read from time to time of people knocking and
B21 236 criticising New Zealand Railways for its inefficiency.  ^I must
B21 237 bring to notice an instance where I have found just the
B21 238 opposite to obtain.  ^I consigned a lounge chair from Blenheim
B21 239 to Christchurch; uplifted from the door at 3 {0p.m.} on Tuesday
B21 240 and delivered to the door of recipient at 11.15 {0a.m.} the
B21 241 following day.  ^I congratulate the Railways on its performance
B21 242 and give credit where it is due.  *-Yours, \0etc., *2{0A.I.L.}
B21 243 PETRIE.
B21 244 *0Blenheim, June 24, 1986.
B21 245 *<*4Lotto funds*>
B21 246    |*0Sir, *- ^The Minister of Internal Affairs, \0Mr Tapsell,
B21 247 has indicated that Lotto funds will be distributed throughout
B21 248 the community in exactly the same way as Golden Kiwi funds are
B21 249 now, by the Lotteries Board.  ^I support this method of
B21 250 voluntary, national fund-raising.  ^A very wide variety of
B21 251 museum, historical, heritage and preservation interests are at
B21 252 present grossly under-funded.  ^The reality, of course, is (and
B21 253 correctly so) that they do not fall into the bracket of an
B21 254 essential service.  ^I recommend that the Minister give serious
B21 255 consideration to affording far greater support for our
B21 256 historical-heritage interests, in terms of dollars, via the
B21 257 additional moneys from Lotto and other gaming devices.
B21 258 *-Yours, \0etc.,
B21 259 *2STEPHEN \0H. RICE.
B21 260 *0June 25, 1986.
B21 261 Letters *<*4Justice is served*>
B21 262    |^*0The decision by the Rugby Football Union *- effectively
B21 263 not to punish the *"Cavalier**" rugby players for their South
B21 264 African tour *- was some consolation for the way last year's
B21 265 proposed tour was halted.
B21 266    |^The rugby union's decision demonstrated two things.
B21 267    |^It showed New Zealanders are still free to do and go as
B21 268 they wish.
B21 269    |^The players were obviously only punished for not following
B21 270 union rules regarding playing overseas.
B21 271    |^It also showed the nation and the world that an
B21 272 organisation was not prepared to be dictated to or humiliated
B21 273 by some Left-wing radical pressure.
B21 274    |^Last year the anti-tour sector used the New Zealand
B21 275 judiciary system to stop the All Blacks going about their
B21 276 lawful business.
B21 277    |^Although no decision has ever been made, the timing of the
B21 278 case was a means to stop the tour.
B21 279    |^This time justice has been done.
B21 280    |^It is a shame, however, the New Zealanders were not
B21 281 wearing the black jersey with the silver fern and called
B21 282 themselves the All Blacks while in South Africa.  *-*2{0I.S.}
B21 283 WALLIS.
B21 284 *#
B22 001 **[066 TEXT B22**]
B22 002 *<*4Letters*>
B22 003 *<*4{0NZRFU} rules*>
B22 004    |*0Sir *- ^Perhaps the Rugby Football Union could publish a
B22 005 list of its rules, thereby making it even easier for players,
B22 006 coaches and selectors to circumvent them.
B22 007    |^It would also be a great encouragement to young players to
B22 008 learn how to cheat and lie and to become infamous in one's
B22 009 lifetime, without fear of punishment.
B22 010    |^Long may dirty play live.  *- *2\0R. BARCOCK.
B22 011 *<*4Anti-smoking campaign*>
B22 012    |*0Sir *- ^The hate session against smoking is under way.
B22 013 ^Opened by \0Dr Bassett, who is not a medical doctor, I hope it
B22 014 is a nine-day wonder like the Billy Graham crusade many years
B22 015 ago.
B22 016    |^If these anti-smoking people would channel their energies
B22 017 into lead in petrol, diesel fumes, rubbish fires, and certain
B22 018 elements used in the growing of vegetables, it would be
B22 019 laudable.
B22 020    |^Recently the Auckland City Council rejected a proposal for
B22 021 a by-law which would have restricted smoking in public places.
B22 022 ^It was defeated 11 to nine and that is too close for comfort.
B22 023    |^What right have 20 people to speak for others?  ^Surely
B22 024 that must be an infringement of human rights.
B22 025    |^This concern for the young people will not wear while they
B22 026 are glue sniffing and taking drugs.
B22 027    |^The danger to the smoker is that in the next few weeks out
B22 028 will come the Budget.  ^If this Government has its way smokers
B22 029 will be paying double for tobacco and cigarettes.
B22 030    |^For years sport was sponsored by tobacco companies.
B22 031    |^While tobacco companies are unable to advertise their
B22 032 wares it seems to be all right for the anti-smokers to peddle
B22 033 theirs.  *- *2{0J.J.} CONLEY.
B22 034 *<*4Brezhnev quote*>
B22 035    |*0Sir *- ^There is something very fishy about Bert Walker's
B22 036 alleged Brezhnev quote.  ^This same quote is also alleged to
B22 037 have been made by Brezhnev to Somalian President Mohammed Siad
B22 038 Barre in 1973, the same year of Brezhnev's supposed *"Prague
B22 039 speech.**"
B22 040    |^A {0U.S.} Air Force captain at the Pentagon citing a
B22 041 *"Military Science and Technology**" article makes this claim
B22 042 in the journal *"Foreign Policy**" (\0No. 49, 1982-83, \0p173).
B22 043    |^This reference can be immediately checked whereas no
B22 044 library in the country holds a copy of the 1981 publication
B22 045 cited by \0Mr Walker.
B22 046    |^In fact, the whole issue reeks of a South African
B22 047 disinformation campaign since any communists would have to be
B22 048 silly indeed to attribute in published form such a quote to
B22 049 Brezhnev.  *- *2{0D.K.} SMALL.  (*0Abridged)
B22 050 *<*4Court sentences*>
B22 051    |*0Sir *- ^Throw eggs at the Queen and you may go to jail.
B22 052 ^Be a drunken driver and kill someone and all you may get is a
B22 053 fine and a loss of licence.  *- *2ANN SMITH.
B22 054 *<*4Quality not quantity*>
B22 055    |*0Sir *- ^Christchurch is a nice city as long as we stay
B22 056 with quality, not quantity.
B22 057    |^We think the Christchurch City Council should get its own
B22 058 backyard in order before it tries to take on a lot more area.
B22 059    |^If it is out poking round in remote country areas they
B22 060 will never fix up our street.
B22 061    |^Let's trim our sails and do a good job on what we've got.
B22 062 *- \0M. and *2\0H. BROWN.
B22 063 *<*4Overstayers*>
B22 064    |*0Sir *- ^Why should 10,000 overstayers be allowed to stay
B22 065 in New Zealand?
B22 066    |^The Maori and pakeha made this country what it is today,
B22 067 and fought in two world wars.
B22 068    |^I lost my brother in the last war, and I was overseas
B22 069 fighting as well.
B22 070    |^The public will be up in arms if they let more in.  ^God
B22 071 only knows what this country will be like in a few years to
B22 072 come.
B22 073    |^The Government gives them permits for three months, and
B22 074 they stay three years and longer.  *- *2{0J.B.} MARSHALL.
B22 075 *<*4{0GST} and families*>
B22 076    |*0Sir *- ^Generally, families with two parents sharing one
B22 077 income, spend their total income on basic essentials.  ^When
B22 078 {0GST} comes into effect they will not benefit from the
B22 079 reduction in sales tax.
B22 080    |^Compared to the single-parent family and to the two-income
B22 081 family, the two-parent-one-income family will be paying a much
B22 082 larger proportion of their income in {0GST} unless a tax
B22 083 adjustment is made which acknowledges the dependent adult.  *-
B22 084 *2MARGARET O'BRIEN.
B22 085 *<*4No mercy from ministry*>
B22 086    |*0Sir *- ^As these are times when the only way to get any
B22 087 justice seems to be to protest this is what this letter is all
B22 088 about.
B22 089    |^On Queen's Birthday I was driving up for a day at Hanmer.
B22 090 ^I was stopped by two traffic officers in a car in Amberley and
B22 091 told that this was a restricted speed area, and that I was
B22 092 exceeding the speed limit.
B22 093    |^I was not aware that I was in a restricted area, was
B22 094 curtly asked for my licence, asked if it were mine, a ticket
B22 095 was thrust at me, and in a like manner told the fine was
B22 096 *+$200, to be paid within a month.
B22 097    |^I was so stunned by this colossal sum I'm writing this as
B22 098 a warning to future unsuspecting drivers who happen to be
B22 099 travelling north.
B22 100    |^I am a widow and a national superannuitant and this huge
B22 101 fine is so staggering I am still reeling from the impact.
B22 102 ^This was not on my part a deliberate infringement of the law.
B22 103 ^I have called to see the supervisor of the Ministry of
B22 104 Transport, but gained no mercy or leniency.  ^I have been
B22 105 battling alone for 15 years and it's been hard going all the
B22 106 way.  ^If one has a man to lean on, I find one gets a much
B22 107 better deal in life and much more respect.
B22 108    |^I write this that some others may benefit from my temerity
B22 109 in exposing the rake-off this department must be getting from
B22 110 unsuspecting motorists.
B22 111    |^Surely there is a large enough profit from the increase in
B22 112 registration, with {0GST} included.
B22 113    |^A fine is probably justified, but not to the tune of
B22 114 *+$200.
B22 115    |^I also use my car for voluntary community work.  ^Cannot
B22 116 humanity be used in this respect?  ^I give my services and my
B22 117 car for the benefit of others.  ^Surely it is not much to ask
B22 118 for a little in return?  *- (\0Mrs) *2{0M.R.} ADAMSON.
B22 119 *<*4Rights of the common man*>
B22 120    |*0Sir *- ^{0W.J.} Collins (June 7) asks my opinion on
B22 121 Australian plans to force all Australians to carry an \0ID
B22 122 card.
B22 123    |^I think the idea stinks just as much in Australia as it
B22 124 does in the Soviet Union.
B22 125    |^The history of human liberty has been a constant battle
B22 126 between the rights of the common man and the tyranny of state
B22 127 power.
B22 128    |^Every single time the State has been given power to
B22 129 monitor the movements, personal life and business dealings of
B22 130 its citizens, it has eventually used that power to destroy
B22 131 liberty.
B22 132    |^The Australia card is supposedly designed to crack down on
B22 133 tax evasion and welfare fraud.
B22 134    |^This is simply a case of socialism being used to justify
B22 135 more socialism being used to justify more socialism.
B22 136    |^Rather than impose such controls, Australia should abolish
B22 137 social welfare and introduce a fair tax system, such as
B22 138 turnover tax which would virtually eliminate the incentive to
B22 139 evade.
B22 140    |^{0W.J.} Collins has every right to surrender his own
B22 141 liberty, but he has no right to advocate policies which would
B22 142 deprive others of theirs.  *- *2{0T.R.} LOUDEN.
B22 143 *<*4When works are closed*>
B22 144    |*0Sir *- ^The country can no longer afford the luxury of
B22 145 paying meat inspectors when the works are closed.
B22 146    |^They should be employed solely as seasonal workers.
B22 147    |^They should also receive a margin for skill payment *-
B22 148 above the meat graders.
B22 149    |^Over the years when meat workers have been on strike meat
B22 150 inspectors have been paid but their stoppages have resulted in
B22 151 no payments for the meat workers.
B22 152    |^This blows the myth of British justice.
B22 153    |^You do not make fish of one and fowl of the other.  *-
B22 154 *2\0V. HORTON-WILSON.
B22 155 Letters
B22 156 *<*4Fluoridated water*>
B22 157    |*0Sir *- ^\0Mr David Fergusson, of the Christchurch School
B22 158 of Medicine's child development study, together with others who
B22 159 favour fluoridation of drinking water for dental purposes,
B22 160 appears to see no considerations in the issue other than the
B22 161 benefits to teeth, particularly those of children.
B22 162    |^Few people, I agree, would dispute there is a lower
B22 163 incidence of dental cavities, but what does concern many of us
B22 164 are the possible effects of fluoride on other aspects of our
B22 165 health, as well as the imposition on the public of a chemical
B22 166 they may not wish to ingest.
B22 167    |^Until it has been clarified by extensive world-wide
B22 168 research that fluoride is not a danger to anyone's health I
B22 169 would find it unacceptable in public drinking water.
B22 170    |^Incidentally, my son is one of the participants in \0Mr
B22 171 Fergusson's survey who is completely untypical of the overall
B22 172 results, having lived all his nine years with an unfluoridated
B22 173 water supply, taken fluoride tablets somewhat erratically for
B22 174 less than a year, and not having had a single filling.
B22 175    |^He likes sweets and icecream as much as all children, but
B22 176 does brush his teeth with fluoride-containing toothpaste.  *-
B22 177 *2SARAH CLARKSON.
B22 178 *<*4Entitled to post office*>
B22 179    |*0Sir *- ^Every district is entitled to its own post
B22 180 office.  ^Some people would find it very inconvenient to have
B22 181 to travel further, especially the ones who do not have a car.
B22 182    |^As far as the Opawa one is concerned, you could park
B22 183 either side of it for years but now it has yellow lines and a
B22 184 bus stop on one side.
B22 185    |^A considerable amount of money has been spent on it and it
B22 186 is a very good building.  *- (\0Mrs) *2\0N. DICK.
B22 187 *<*4Economic systems*>
B22 188    |*0Sir *- ^I find {0T.R.}Loudon's political naivety very
B22 189 irritating.  ^His letter (December 5) implies the Soviet Union
B22 190 is a *"fascist state**" which, of course, it is not.  ^Nor is
B22 191 it a *"communist state**" (communism can only be said to occur
B22 192 after the state has atrophied).  ^The Soviet Union can at best
B22 193 be said to have attempted to build socialism.
B22 194    |^Market economies invariably result in over-production,
B22 195 wastage of natural resources, pollution, unequal development *-
B22 196 leading to national privilege, war and inequality.  ^Far from
B22 197 being the perfect economic system which protects the *"rights
B22 198 of the individual,**" free enterprise condemns many
B22 199 *"individuals**" to a lifetime of repetition.  ^This is because
B22 200 it rests upon the premise that the few are justified in growing
B22 201 fat at the expense of, and through the labour of, the people.
B22 202    |^The real threat to *"freedom**" in New Zealand does not
B22 203 appear from an authoritarian Left, but rather from the
B22 204 reactionary Right *- quasi-fascist groups such as {0ZAP}, the
B22 205 Moral Majority and pro-nuclear groups.  ^Groups that play on
B22 206 people's fears and prejudices can in times of economic
B22 207 uncertainty become very powerful, {0e.g.} the National
B22 208 Socialist Party in pre-war Germany, and more recently the
B22 209 National Front in England.  *- *2{0C.H.} SATHERLEY. (Abridged)
B22 210 *<*4What's in the name?*>
B22 211    |*0Sir *- ^Dramatic changes have taken place in medicine
B22 212 during the past 50 years.
B22 213    |^This is particularly true in otolaryngology, the branch of
B22 214 medicine traditionally concerned with treating disorders of the
B22 215 ear, nose and throat.
B22 216    |^Otolaryngology has extended its boundaries to incorporate
B22 217 most aspects of surgery of the head and neck from delicate
B22 218 micro-surgery to radical cancer surgery of this region of the
B22 219 body.  ^The term *"ear, nose and throat**" does not adequately
B22 220 encompass the competence and abilities of the modern
B22 221 otolaryngologist.
B22 222    |^If the use of the word otolaryngologist to describe an
B22 223 *"ear, nose and throat doctor**" is gobbledegook then so is the
B22 224 use of the word orthopaedic to describe a *"bone doctor,**"
B22 225 ophthalmologist to describe an *"eye doctor,**" urologist to
B22 226 describe a doctor specialising in the *"waterworks.**" *-
B22 227 *2{0M.S.} ROBERTSON (*0President, New Zealand Society of
B22 228 Otolaryngology *- Head and Neck Surgery).
B22 229 *<*4Cardiac waiting list*>
B22 230    |*0Sir *- ^Thirteen years ago I had cardiac bypass surgery
B22 231 in Wellington Hospital.  ^This was after nine months on the
B22 232 waiting list.  ^At that time this was considered by all
B22 233 concerned to be an unacceptable waiting time for surgery.
B22 234    |^The cardiac patient can now expect to wait for up to two
B22 235 years for coronary bypass or valvular surgery.  ^This is taken
B22 236 from an official register just published.
B22 237    |^The Christchurch-West Coast cardiac patient has almost no
B22 238 choice in the public hospital sector of where they would like
B22 239 to go.  ^The Government in its wisdom has directed that
B22 240 patients from this area must be referred to Dunedin Hospital
B22 241 for surgery.
B22 242    |^A directive from the Dunedin Hospital has just been
B22 243 received, I believe, that states that the Dunedin surgical unit
B22 244 will carry out only four cardiac surgeries a week until further
B22 245 notice including urgent cases.  ^Also it will not accept any
B22 246 referrals from this area for angioplasty until next March.
B22 247    |^Can \0Mr {0T.C.} Grigg, the Canterbury Hospital Board
B22 248 chairman, advise:
B22 249    |^What steps will the board take in the interests of their
B22 250 patients in light of the Dunedin decision, which will allow the
B22 251 patient who needs surgery to receive it?
B22 252    |^Is the Canterbury Hospital Board's overriding priority for
B22 253 capital expenditure still the establishment of a cardiac
B22 254 thoracic surgical unit at the Princess Margaret Hospital?
B22 255    |^If the cardiac surgical services review committee at
B22 256 present sitting recommends the approval for a surgical unit,
B22 257 will the board proceed as a matter of urgency in light of the
B22 258 present unacceptable waiting lists for surgery?  *- *2{0N.W.}
B22 259 COLUMBUS.
B22 260    |^\0Mr Grigg replies:
B22 261    |1 ^In urgent cases, where Otago cannot meet the board's
B22 262 needs, every effort will be made to make alternative
B22 263 arrangements.
B22 264    |2 ^Yes, as \0Mr Columbus is aware, *"subject to funds being
B22 265 made available.**"
B22 266    |3 ^The board cannot anticipate what recommendations will be
B22 267 contained in the Cardiac Services Review Committee's report.
B22 268    |^However, \0Mr Columbus should be reminded that the latest
B22 269 cardiac register indicates that more people have cardiac
B22 270 referrals from the Canterbury area than any other area in New
B22 271 Zealand.
B22 272 *<*4Post office petition*>
B22 273    |*0Sir *- ^I wish to thank the more than 800 people who have
B22 274 signed a petition to save our post office at Redcliffs.
B22 275    |^Several weeks ago when it was known that some post offices
B22 276 might be closed I decided to have a petition.  ^At this stage
B22 277 \0Cr Charles Manning gave support and helped with the format
B22 278 this petition should take.  ^He also arranged meetings with the
B22 279 town planning committee of the city council and with our local
B22 280 member of Parliament, \0Mrs Hercus, who now has the petition to
B22 281 present to the Postmaster-General.  *- (\0Mrs) *2ELLA WEBB.
B22 282 *#
B23 001 **[067 TEXT B23**]
B23 002 *<*2LETTERS*>
B23 003 *<*4School Certificate examination*>
B23 004 |*0Sir, *- ^I remind your correspondent {0RS} Bargh that the
B23 005 School Certificate examination was intended to be taken by the
B23 006 average child at the end of four years' secondary education.
B23 007 ^The very bright child was allowed to sit at the end of three
B23 008 years.
B23 009    |^But parent pressure and exaggerated ideas of
B23 010 egalitarianism resulted in more and more students sitting at
B23 011 the end of three years when they were not ready for the
B23 012 examination.
B23 013    |^The fact that some private schools had much better results
B23 014 than some state schools does not prove that elitism and social
B23 015 injustice are being entrenched in the community.  ^For over 50
B23 016 years some state and some private schools have had reputations
B23 017 for giving their students sound academic educations.
B23 018    |^Parents who want their children to do well try to get
B23 019 their children into those schools.
B23 020    |^Prior to 1972 I saw the School Certificate pass figures
B23 021 for several consecutive years.  ^Those figures showed what the
B23 022 recently-released statistics showed.  ^And, when the School
B23 023 Certificate pass lists were published in our daily papers, they
B23 024 told the same story.
B23 025    |^Pressure was brought to bear on the Department of
B23 026 Education to refrain from publishing those lists.
B23 027    |^I realise that many children do not want academic
B23 028 educations.  ^Provision was made for them.  ^Shorthand-typing
B23 029 was at one time one subject.  ^But many girls who typed well
B23 030 could not cope with shorthand, so typewriting was made a
B23 031 separate subject.  ^Greek was dropped as a subject.  ^Maori
B23 032 became an examination subject many years ago, the idea being to
B23 033 help Maori-speaking students.
B23 034    |^Single-subject passes were introduced, whereas at one time
B23 035 candidates had to sit in at least four subjects and gain a
B23 036 certain number of marks, I think it was 200.
B23 037    |^Undoubtedly the home environment affects the scholastic
B23 038 performance of most, but not all, of our young people.  ^If
B23 039 there is encouragement to do well, most will do well.  ^But all
B23 040 schools now have good libraries and there are wonderful
B23 041 facilities at our public libraries, so a lack of books in the
B23 042 home no longer handicaps a child as it did 50 years ago.
B23 043    |^Those of us who remember the early 30s cannot agree with
B23 044 {0R S} Bargh that there is blatant injustice today; ^There is
B23 045 some social welfare benefit even for those who have brought
B23 046 misfortune on their own heads.
B23 047    |^In those days there was nothing except a very small
B23 048 pension for widows and the *"respectable**" elderly.
B23 049 *2EILEEN RYAN *0Rongotai
B23 050 *<*4Air {0NZ} delayed*>
B23 051 |*0Sir, *- ^It is almost unbelievable that four Air New Zealand
B23 052 cabin crew were able to hold up a scheduled international
B23 053 flight from Christchurch to Los Angeles last Tuesday at a cost
B23 054 of *+$25,000 to the company or, more precisely, to the
B23 055 taxpayer.
B23 056    |^I think that most New Zealanders would look with great
B23 057 envy upon a job which provides generous salaries, free travel
B23 058 within the service (call it work), first-class accommodation
B23 059 and incredibly generous air travel concessions *- is it ten per
B23 060 cent of full price?
B23 061    |^These four, although not working on Monday, apparently
B23 062 were required to service a flight leaving at 8.45{0pm} on
B23 063 Tuesday.  ^However, it would seem that a 1\0hr 20\0min flight
B23 064 from Auckland to Christchurch so enervates a passenger that a
B23 065 24-hour spell from any work is then required.
B23 066    |^I wonder how many of the 245 stranded passengers
B23 067 appreciated their 12-hour hold-up even at around *+$100 a head
B23 068 overnight accommodation?
B23 069    |^If loopholes in awards allow this kind of nonsense,
B23 070 particularly in the flagship of our tourist trade, then they
B23 071 need blocking pronto.  ^If we are not yet a banana republic, we
B23 072 must appear pretty Mickey Mouse to globetrotters.
B23 073    |^In our current financial mess, in which we continue to beg
B23 074 overseas for relief, this is the kind of industrial fuss we can
B23 075 do without.
B23 076 *2DAN GOODER *0Westport
B23 077 *<*4Stopping of {0IUD}s*>
B23 078 |*0Sir, *- ^So the Health Department has told Johnson and
B23 079 Johnson to remove its product, the Lippes Loop *- an
B23 080 intrauterine device *- from the New Zealand market.  ^This
B23 081 follows the stopping of production in the {0US}, the rationale
B23 082 given as *"economic considerations**".
B23 083    |^\0Dr Bob Boyd, deputy director of Clinical Services at the
B23 084 Health Department has *"...emphasised that the Lippes Loop was
B23 085 not being withdrawn for clinical reasons, but simply because it
B23 086 was inappropriate to continue marketing a device that has
B23 087 ceased manufacture**".
B23 088    |^I find this all rather confusing.  ^Perhaps \0Dr Boyd
B23 089 could explain:
B23 090    |1. ^Why is the Health Department making decisions based on
B23 091 *"economic grounds**" with no reference to *"health
B23 092 consideration**"?
B23 093    |2. ^What does he consider has led to the *"economic
B23 094 considerations**" to discontinue the manufacture of the Lippes
B23 095 Loop?
B23 096    |3. ^What does he think of the statement by \0Dr Peter
B23 097 Benny, acting head of Wellington Hospital's gynecology
B23 098 department, that *"...any {0IUD} fitted with a tail to go up
B23 099 through the cervix was potentially dangerous**", and, further,
B23 100 with regard to a wearer coming into contact with a sexually
B23 101 transmitted disease, that *"...there was three to four times
B23 102 greater chance of the infection tracking up into the uterus and
B23 103 into the fallopian tube**".
B23 104    |4. ^Why does the Health Department continue to make
B23 105 statements which do not give clear, meaningful information to
B23 106 women who bear all the risks in wearing such devices?
B23 107 *2CAROL PAINTER *0Brooklyn
B23 108 *<*4Balance of power*>
B23 109 |*0Sir, *- ^Whether on the ocean wave, in the depths below or
B23 110 the skies above, the United States and its allies enjoy a
B23 111 highly favourable balance of power, and that's official.
B23 112    |^An unclassified 1984 report by the {0US} Department of
B23 113 Defence suggested the {0US} and its military allies had the
B23 114 numbers, tonnage and capabilities to ensure continued Western
B23 115 dominance of the high seas.  ^Later official reports show the
B23 116 {0US} maritime muscle is expanding considerably.
B23 117    |^But here in the South Pacific all hell was about to break
B23 118 loose, and the Russians were coming!  ^On Television One's 6.30
B23 119 News of October 15, a {0TVNZ} reporter stated: ^*"A previously
B23 120 secret External Intelligence Bureau analysis shows a huge
B23 121 build-up in Soviet naval strength in the Pacific.  ^The
B23 122 800-vessel Soviet Pacific Fleet is now the largest of all four
B23 123 Russian battle fleets and constitutes one third of the entire
B23 124 Soviet Navy.
B23 125    |^*"The {0EIB}, New Zealand's equivalent of the {0CIA},
B23 126 warns the numerical balance in the Pacific is now turning
B23 127 against the {0US} forces.**"
B23 128    |^That may well have been the case when the report was
B23 129 compiled, but it certainly isn't today.  ^Yet, that was
B23 130 precisely the context in which it was reported by {0TVNZ}.
B23 131    |^Jane's Fighting Ships shows the {0US} and its allies in
B23 132 the Pacific with at least 220 major combat ships to the
B23 133 Soviet's 189, and tonnage and fire**[ARB**]-power greatly in
B23 134 the Western favour.
B23 135    |^It was latter established that the {0EIB}'s total for the
B23 136 Soviet Pacific Fleet included *"minor ships such as
B23 137 intelligence collectors, survey ships, cargo vessels and
B23 138 miscellaneous auxiliaries**".
B23 139    |^Since when have such non-combatants been included in a
B23 140 battle-fleet count?
B23 141 *2ARTHUR REDDISH *0Wanganui
B23 142 *<*4Right to speak*>
B23 143 |*0Sir, *- ^I refer to your editorial on The Right to Speak
B23 144 (January 7).
B23 145    |^As a regular listener to Parliament I think it is about
B23 146 time a review was undertaken as to just what {0MP}s should be
B23 147 allowed to say and get away with.
B23 148    |^Lies are lies, no matter where they are uttered.  ^Why
B23 149 should lies be allowed in Parliament?  ^Free speech?  ^Abuse,
B23 150 more likely!
B23 151    |^Having followed the debate on the Homosexual Law Reform
B23 152 Bill I consider that if things that were said about another
B23 153 human were said in your paper you would be facing millions of
B23 154 dollars lawsuits.  ^What makes a lie any more respectable just
B23 155 because it is said by an {0MP}?  ^These lies can be said
B23 156 because {0MP}s know they are not answerable.
B23 157    |^It surprises me that The Dominion would be against making
B23 158 {0MP}s answerable.  ^After all, if what you say is true and
B23 159 without malice you have nothing to fear.
B23 160 *2{0C.R.} DeWITT *0Auckland
B23 161 *<*4Burton photos*>
B23 162 |*0Sir, *- ^Your impressively illustrated article on the
B23 163 historic Burton Brothers' photographs is good news.  ^So is the
B23 164 decision of the Minister of Internal Affairs to finance their
B23 165 rescue and restoration.
B23 166    |^It should be acknowledged also that much of the impetus
B23 167 for this programme of preservation must have come from the very
B23 168 fine film on the two Burtons created by Michael Black some two
B23 169 years ago.
B23 170    |^Pictures, widely shown and acclaimed in England, Sweden
B23 171 and Germany, screened belatedly and all too briefly without
B23 172 much honour or promotion in New Zealand, was a well-researched,
B23 173 convincing plea for the preservation of this photographic
B23 174 record of late nineteenth century life in this country.
B23 175    |^A vivid story, not a documentary, Michael Black's
B23 176 treatment of the subject included a perceptive study of the
B23 177 differing characters and dramatic rivalry of the two Burton men
B23 178 clearly shown in the contrasts of their work, one giving New
B23 179 Zealand as it was, the other as it could appear to hopeful or
B23 180 would-be colonisers.
B23 181    |^Pictures has not only increased informed support for the
B23 182 preservation of the historic photographs but could also
B23 183 increase respect for the underfunded excellence of the best
B23 184 {0NZ} film makers, and preserve from neglect at home what was
B23 185 listed by the Observer critic among the 10 best foreign films.
B23 186 *2JOAN COCHRAN *0Khandallah
B23 187 *<*4British way of life*>
B23 188 |*0Sir, *- ^\0Mrs Peggy Hurst needs to remember the context in
B23 189 which my letter was written.  ^It was an objection to English-based 
B23 190 criticism to our way of life in New Zealand, and opposing
B23 191 our objection to the obnoxious gay reform bill, which is our
B23 192 right.
B23 193    |^I never suggested Britain was the only place in which
B23 194 there was an increase in moral decadence.  ^As I had the
B23 195 English editor of the magazine from Birmingham sitting in my
B23 196 flat in Hastings recently, I can claim some support for my
B23 197 words.  ^My interest in gospel proclamation world-wide brings
B23 198 me much accurate information.
B23 199    |^My wife spent over 40 years in Britain, and was a nurse in
B23 200 the war years.  ^We both love the British people, and have no
B23 201 wish to offend them.
B23 202    |^All things being equal, we would probably prefer the way
B23 203 of life in Britain, even now.  ^Despite the grim prospect of
B23 204 the British leader's promise to spend *+$5 billion on
B23 205 armaments, including nuclear subs, to counteract the Russian
B23 206 submarine escalation of one new nuclear sub every 35 days, we
B23 207 all want the peace the King of Kings promised but there will be
B23 208 some agony to be endured before that comes.  ^Christ is not
B23 209 coming as a pacifist.
B23 210 *2ALEXANDER \0F. MILNE *0Hastings
B23 211 *<*4Absent minister*>
B23 212 |*0Sir, *- ^One of the rationales for the gross salary
B23 213 increases for {0MP}s is that remuneration should be sufficient
B23 214 to attract the best people to become parliamentarians.  ^Of
B23 215 course this is complete piffle.  ^Without exception, able or
B23 216 otherwise, {0MP}s are in Parliament primarily as servants of
B23 217 their political parties.
B23 218    |^Any {0MP} showing noble independence of thought which
B23 219 deviates from the party line will soon find sponsorship removed
B23 220 and at the next election can kiss goodbye to their 
B23 221 well-rewarded sinecure.  ^This is particularly the case for members
B23 222 of the current ruling party.
B23 223    |^From the ranks of these politically obedient are drawn the
B23 224 Praetorian Guards of our welfare, known as the Cabinet.  ^Some
B23 225 of these are demonstrably able while others are not.
B23 226 ^Irrespective of talent, allowances are heaped upon privilege
B23 227 and perquisite.
B23 228    |^There is little that we can do about all of this, but we
B23 229 can at least expect these beneficiaries of the public purse to
B23 230 be in attendance at the required time.  ^The absence of a
B23 231 rostered Cabinet Minister from his place of duty requires an
B23 232 explanation from the Prime Minister and a public apology from
B23 233 the minister.
B23 234 *2\0W. MOWATT *0Titahi Bay
B23 235 *<*4Russian intentions*>
B23 236 |0Sir, *- ^The Soviet embassy in Wellington has criticised the
B23 237 Leader of the Opposition, \0Mr McLay, over his view of Russian
B23 238 aspirations in the Pacific.
B23 239    |^Russia has never disguised her intention that she wants to
B23 240 conquer the world.  ^In fact, she has been very open about it.
B23 241    |^Like Genghis Khan, Russia rapes, loots and plunders the
B23 242 world's treasures, steals children and exterminates other
B23 243 people.  ^The only difference is, that the Russians are doing
B23 244 the conquering and colonising under the umbrella of the United
B23 245 Nations, which appears to turn a blind eye.
B23 246    |^Russia is not interested in preventing World War *=III; it
B23 247 intends to win World War *=III.  ^Trying to disarm nations in
B23 248 the Western world under the guidance of so-called *"peace
B23 249 movements**" will make it so much easier to defeat us.
B23 250    |^We should view the Soviet build-up in the Pacific with
B23 251 deep concern.  ^Her intentions are seldom honourable.
B23 252    |^All those sincere and well-meaning folk should study the
B23 253 world map of before World War *=II and the state of the world
B23 254 in 1985.  ^Perhaps it might dawn on them that the Government
B23 255 has made New Zealand a sitting duck.  ^Our survival depends on
B23 256 the answer to one question: do we have the military hardware or
B23 257 don't we?
B23 258 (\0Mrs) *2MIES OOMEN *0Eketahuna
B23 259 *<*4Too much {0TV} sport*>
B23 260 |*0Sir, *- ^One Saturday recently the {0TV} coverage of cricket
B23 261 ran for 10 solid hours.  ^To facilitate this the 6.30 news was
B23 262 restricted to a mere 15 minutes, and even this included cricket
B23 263 snippets.  ^Thus sport took precedence over local and overseas
B23 264 news, much of which is of vital importance.
B23 265    |^The following day six solid hours were devoted to the
B23 266 coverage of tennis.
B23 267    |^All fine and dandy for sporting worshippers, but hardly so
B23 268 for those whose interest in sport is confined to brief
B23 269 encounters.  ^Admittedly one can switch to the alternative
B23 270 channel, but the adulation of sport can at times be 
B23 271 gut-filling.
B23 272    |^What an outcry there would be if {0TV} viewers were
B23 273 subjected to, say, 16 solid hours of church service in two
B23 274 days.  ^Even God's holy day has become an also-ran in the
B23 275 furtherance of sport.
B23 276 *2RAYMOND \0M. HILL *0Johnsonville
B23 277 *#
B24 001 **[068 TEXT B24**]
B24 002 *<*4Letters*> *<*4Soviet Union in the Pacific*>
B24 003 |*0Sir, *- ^I wish to express my concern at the number of
B24 004 public statements that are made either implying or directly
B24 005 stating that the Soviet Union is a threat to the security of
B24 006 the Pacific area.
B24 007    |^Paul Dibb is a former director of the Joint Intelligence
B24 008 Organisation of the Australian Department of Defence and now a
B24 009 senior research fellow in the Strategic and Defence Studies
B24 010 Centre at the Australian National University.  ^In a recent
B24 011 article he showed that the Russians are not to be feared and
B24 012 instead are facing a potentially critical challenge to their
B24 013 power and prestige.
B24 014    |^He not only points out the weakness of the {0USSR} naval
B24 015 force such as lack of forward bases, the inadequacy of its
B24 016 logistical support system and lacks of air cover for extended
B24 017 naval operations, but also failure in gaining political
B24 018 influence in the region.
B24 019    |^*"In terms of its global policies, the Pacific must be
B24 020 assessed as a spectacular failure for the {0USSR},**" he wrote.
B24 021    |^Meanwhile, compared to the 10 Russian Pacific military
B24 022 bases, the Americans have at least 300 in the region including
B24 023 the 106 forward bases in Japan and Okinawa as well as a far
B24 024 superior-equipped navy.
B24 025 *2CHRIS BURGIN *0Timaru
B24 026 *<*4A return to common sense*>
B24 027 |*0Sir, *- ^{0A P} Quinn, in his letter of January 2, attempted
B24 028 to explain away salient and well-informed points in {0A A}
B24 029 Brandon's letter of December 13 with little or no success.  ^I
B24 030 challenge {0A P} Quinn to prove his statement that ^*"Eastern
B24 031 European countries liberated by the Red Army formulated their
B24 032 own governments and established a firm relationship with the
B24 033 Soviet Union**".
B24 034    |^How does {0A P} Quinn equate this with the kidnapping and
B24 035 brutal murder of the Polish priest Father Jefzy Popieluszko,
B24 036 ordered by Warsaw and Moscow?  ^What of the 30 prison camps
B24 037 throughout Poland where large numbers of Solidarity activists
B24 038 are detained?
B24 039    |^Can he explain why a citizen of the {0USSR} or any of the
B24 040 Eastern bloc countries cannot leave without a government exit
B24 041 visa?
B24 042    |^{0A P} Quinn also commented on the Americans invading the
B24 043 Bay of Pigs, but neglected to state the reason for the {0US}
B24 044 moving into Nicaragua, which was the huge airfield being built
B24 045 and financed with Soviet money within easy flight distance of
B24 046 American soil.
B24 047    |^{0A P} Quinn then wrote of Afghanistan and the Pakistan
B24 048 refusal to recognise the Afghanistan Government, implying that
B24 049 the {0US} was responsible for slowed-down negotiations between
B24 050 the two countries.  ^Maybe the {0US} was, with very good
B24 051 reasons.
B24 052    |^The {0USSR} has already built a military road from Moscow
B24 053 to Ashkhabad on the Soviet-Iran border.  ^The railway lines
B24 054 were completed several years ago.  ^The ongoing war between
B24 055 Iran and Iraq has put a stop to Soviet plans to reach the
B24 056 Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean, so Soviet tentacles have reached
B24 057 into Afghanistan, hoping to bully Pakistan into accepting
B24 058 *"negotiations**" for a passageway to the Indian Ocean via the
B24 059 Khojak Pass, Quetta and Karachi.
B24 060    |^In the meantime the Russians, planning future moves, have
B24 061 spirited away hundreds of Afghan children aged between 9 and 15
B24 062 to south of Tashkent in the {0USSR}, where they are being
B24 063 trained as spies and assassins under the guise of *"Youth
B24 064 Organisation Training**", to be returned to Afghanistan to
B24 065 murder and maim.
B24 066    |^Others will be sent on foreign missions of destruction
B24 067 into chosen countries.  ^How does {0A P} Quinn equate with this
B24 068 move?
B24 069    |^{0A A} Brandon was indeed correct when stating that the
B24 070 nuclear weapons issue in New Zealand will be tested.  ^No doubt
B24 071 the {0USSR} is depending on people like our Prime Minister to
B24 072 make their dream plan of world domination come true, oblivious
B24 073 to the fact that New Zealand will, eventually, wake up and
B24 074 return to common sense and Anzus.
B24 075 *2{0U.M.} HAWKEN *0Wanganui
B24 076 *<*4Siberian Toilets*>
B24 077 |*0Sir, *- ^It seems that everyone has grabbed the wrong end of
B24 078 the brush with \0Mr Lambert's article on Siberian toilets.  ^I
B24 079 am sure he wasn't necessarily talking about their outward
B24 080 dirtiness, but about those unseen insoluble compounds under the
B24 081 rim that can harbour nasty germs.
B24 082    |^Vigilant western household-products companies have only
B24 083 just perfected the means for dealing with these nasties.
B24 084    |^I hope for the sake of 200 million-plus Russians (and
B24 085 westerners in Russia) that somebody will soon leak this
B24 086 technology to the Soviet Union.
B24 087 *2{0B.P.} NELSON *0Brooklyn
B24 088 Letters
B24 089 *<*4Cot deaths*>
B24 090    |*0Sir *- ^When I came to New Zealand more than 30 years
B24 091 ago, I was amazed to find that with so much sunshine and fine
B24 092 weather, babies were put into their cots, in the daytime, with
B24 093 the blinds drawn, instead of outside in the open, in their
B24 094 prams.
B24 095    |^My children, born in England, were outside in the open
B24 096 air, in the pram, in all weathers except fog.
B24 097    |^Similarly they were taken for a walk most afternoons and
B24 098 at night slept in their cots in a room with the window open.
B24 099    |^When babies go out in New Zealand it is usually in the
B24 100 back of a car with the windows shut and with only car fumes to
B24 101 breathe.
B24 102    |^May I suggest cot deaths could be accelerated by lack of
B24 103 oxygen.  ^Rooms are heated mostly by electricity, which also
B24 104 dries up the oxygen.
B24 105    |^I have bronchitis and I know if I sit too long in a room
B24 106 heated by electricity, I have to have a bowl of water near the
B24 107 heater to moisten the air, or alternatively I have to go
B24 108 outside to get some breaths of fresh air.  *- (\0Mrs) *2EVA
B24 109 FRANKLIN.
B24 110 *<*4Missing persons*>
B24 111    |*0Sir *- ^The Australian Institute of Criminology is
B24 112 currently preparing an Australia and New Zealand-wide study of
B24 113 procedures, policies, practices and methods aimed at tracing
B24 114 and otherwise assisting in the locating and identifying of
B24 115 missing persons of all kinds, from children to senior citizens.
B24 116    |^The institute is aware of the considerable contribution
B24 117 made by public, private and volunteer agencies in this field
B24 118 and we would like to hear from persons with an interest in the
B24 119 study.
B24 120    |^If any readers feel they can contribute in some way,
B24 121 perhaps by making details of their organisations available for
B24 122 inclusion in the final report, they should contact me at the
B24 123 Australian Institute of Criminology, Box 28, Woden, {0ACT}
B24 124 2606, Australia; telephone (062)833-833.  *- (\0Dr) PAUL \0R.
B24 125 WILSON (assistant director, research and statistics).
B24 126 *<*2LETTERS*> *<*4{0NZ} soldiers in World War *=II*>
B24 127 |*0Sir, *- ^Having read the recent article by Anthony Hubbard
B24 128 on New Zealand soldiers in World War *=II, I gained the
B24 129 impression that morale was low in the New Zealand Division
B24 130 during the Italian campaign.
B24 131    |^I have not as yet read the book, but two or so years ago I
B24 132 had a discussion with Captain John McLeod on this subject.  ^It
B24 133 seemed to me then that he had an impression possibly gained
B24 134 from some of the personnel who had fought in Africa but only
B24 135 participated in the earlier part of the Italian campaign.
B24 136    |^I joined the division at Cassino and I agree that their
B24 137 morale was fairly low due, no doubt, to the hardships of the
B24 138 1943 winter campaign and the unsuccessful assault on Cassino.
B24 139 ^Contributing equally to the low morale was the failure to
B24 140 continue with the furlough scheme after the majority of the
B24 141 original draft of 1943 did not return to the Middle East.
B24 142    |^However, after the resumption of the furlough scheme and
B24 143 the subsequent successes of the division as it fought its way
B24 144 north to Florence, Rimini, Venice and Trieste, the morale and
B24 145 pride in achievement increased markedly.
B24 146    |^In early 1945 I was sent to an American 5th Army
B24 147 Intelligence course.  ^On the course, apart from Americans,
B24 148 there were representatives from the British 8th Army which
B24 149 included British, Indians, and myself as the sole Kiwi.  ^The
B24 150 course involved the examination of captured enemy equipment and
B24 151 documents.
B24 152    |^Amongst the documents was one evaluating the quality of
B24 153 the various allied forces fighting in Italy.  ^The appraisal of
B24 154 the qualities of individual nationals forming part of the 5th
B24 155 American and 8th British Armies were assessed with both their
B24 156 strengths and weaknesses defined.
B24 157    |^The description of the New Zealanders, however, was that
B24 158 these were the finest troops in Italy.  ^My recollection of the
B24 159 contents of the document is still vivid in my memory and went
B24 160 something like this:
B24 161    |^*"These troops on attack use both ground and weapons most
B24 162 skilfully and in defence often have to be killed off to the
B24 163 last man.**" ^Being the only New Zealander present, one can
B24 164 understand my feeling of pride.
B24 165    |^From this, it is not to be inferred that our forces were
B24 166 without their weaknesses and failures.  ^Every soldier in Italy
B24 167 and elsewhere wanted to get home alive.  ^Our achievements,
B24 168 however, were not in my opinion surpassed by any other Allied
B24 169 Division, and our pride in these achievements was manifest.
B24 170    |^Actually, in spite of what is to be found in the war
B24 171 records, we were the first troops into Florence, Rimini, Venice
B24 172 and Trieste.  ^Alive today are many ex-soldiers who will
B24 173 confirm this claim.
B24 174    |^I can recall a British officer saying in late 1944, ^*"Ask
B24 175 a Canadian who were the best troops in Italy and he will say,
B24 176 *'New Zealanders**'; ask a British soldier, and he will say the
B24 177 same; then ask a New Zealander, and he will say the same.**"
B24 178 *2{0H.R.} EVANS *0Kelburn
B24 179 *<*4Legal aid dilemma*>
B24 180 |*0Sir, *- ^Though {0BM} Easton has received some flak over the
B24 181 legal aid issue, I think he has a valid point.  ^The original,
B24 182 well intentioned reasons for establishing the legal aid service
B24 183 have, sadly, been steadily eroded by habitual criminals.
B24 184    |^There are most certainly very genuine cases for legal aid,
B24 185 but I cannot agree with all \0S Turner and others are saying
B24 186 about those *"who cannot afford to help themselves**".  ^Of
B24 187 course they can't when they are continually committing crimes
B24 188 and breaking the law.  ^The truth of the matter is that the
B24 189 majority of these types *"are not willing to help
B24 190 themselves**".
B24 191    |^It is not the first offenders who are draining the legal
B24 192 aid pot, but those second, third, fourth, fifth, \0etc
B24 193 offenders who are constantly before the courts and getting
B24 194 legal aid each time.  ^If this were denied after the second or
B24 195 third offence, perhaps it might become a deterrent, who knows!
B24 196    |^There is an anomaly, I see, in continuous legal aid for an
B24 197 habitual law-breaker.  ^The innocent, law-abiding and 
B24 198 tax-paying victim is in a sense subsidising the defence of the
B24 199 person who perpetrates the crime.  ^In a case of assault, rape,
B24 200 or other violent offence, this is definitely not a comforting
B24 201 thought.  ^Who pays the victim's legal expenses in these cases,
B24 202 when counsel is deemed desirable or necessary?
B24 203 *2{0M.L.} LESTER *0Upper Hutt
B24 204 *<*4Aerosol danger*>
B24 205 |*0Sir, *- ^A recent article mentioned again the damage and
B24 206 possible effects incurred by the use of aerosols.
B24 207    |^The fear we all live with *- violent crimes, Aids, cancer,
B24 208 nuclear war *- often seems beyond our control.  ^As individuals
B24 209 we can cease the further destruction of the ozone layer by
B24 210 boycotting all aerosol products, and calling for the abolition
B24 211 of their manufacture.
B24 212    |^If the cost of a clean oven, shiny vinyl chairs and
B24 213 aromatic rooms awash with dying and dead flies is the future of
B24 214 life on this planet, we must consider what has priority.
B24 215 *2{0F.M.} LOVATT DAVIS *0Kelburn
B24 216 *<*4South Africa changes*>
B24 217 |*0Sir, *- ^A great deal of the present killing in South Africa
B24 218 can be blamed on those who oppose apartheid.  ^Restrictions on
B24 219 foreign borrowing have forced the government to delay major
B24 220 revisions of black education and health.
B24 221    |^The sweeping reforms being made at present will result in
B24 222 a fair system of government by the year 2000.  ^Change cannot
B24 223 occur overnight.  ^One man, one vote would not work in South
B24 224 Africa; it would simply result in the Zulu tribe replacing the
B24 225 Afrikaner tribe as government.
B24 226    |^Only with a violent society will the {0ANC}, a communist
B24 227 terrorist organisation, gain power *- a fate unacceptable to
B24 228 the free world.  ^Reform is being made and it deserves our full
B24 229 support as the incentive for it to continue.
B24 230 *2{0J.E.} AUSTIN *0Masterton
B24 231 *<*4Inside jobs*>
B24 232 |*0Sir, *- ^According to the feature on *"insider**" share
B24 233 trading the view is being expressed in New York that the
B24 234 practice should be condoned, even applauded.  ^The argument is
B24 235 that, while there are some very clear winners, there are no
B24 236 losers; that insider trading is victimless.
B24 237    |^The same argument can be used to justify legalising the
B24 238 counterfeit of money.
B24 239 *2KEITH RANKIN *0Island Bay
B24 240 *#
B25 001 **[069 TEXT B25**]
B25 002 Letters to the Editor
B25 003 *<*4What Goes Up Just Stays Right Up There*>
B25 004    |*0Sir, *- ^We have now had four reductions in petrol prices
B25 005 during the last nine months.  ^However I am at a loss to
B25 006 understand why some firms have not reduced prices of goods or
B25 007 deliveries, and so on.
B25 008    |^When the petrol price was being increased we had rises in
B25 009 bus fares, taxi fares, soft-drink deliveries and many other
B25 010 commodities *- all attributed to the rise in petrol charges.
B25 011    |^Why then do we not see drastic reductions to balance the
B25 012 increases of former years?
B25 013    |*4Mavis \0E. Smith.  *0Helensville.
B25 014 *<*5Good Old Days*>
B25 015    |*0Sir, *- ^It is ludicrous that the older generation should
B25 016 be subjected to the television censorship [of violent
B25 017 programmes] that the director-general is proposing.  ^My
B25 018 husband and I are in our 70s and we enjoy the type of
B25 019 programmes that are to be axed.
B25 020    |^Instead of ruining television for a large proportion of
B25 021 the viewers, \0Mr Mounter should be looking at the real causes
B25 022 of violence in our community *- lack of employment, no
B25 023 discipline in home or school (with the resulting lack of
B25 024 respect for other people) and the outmoded judicial system and
B25 025 laxity of our magistrates and judges.
B25 026    |^If television violence has such a bad effect on the young,
B25 027 how is it that, in my young days, we could watch films of
B25 028 people being burned at the stake by Indians, buried in sand up
B25 029 to their necks and their faces covered in honey, pushed over
B25 030 cliffs, tied to railway lines, and shot dead by the dozen, all
B25 031 without causing a spate of violence in our community?
B25 032    |*4Annoyed.  *0Russell.
B25 033 *<*5Homosexual Bill*>
B25 034    |*0Sir, *- ^The letter of your correspondent \0R. Hart is an
B25 035 example of shallow thinking about the Homosexual Law Reform
B25 036 Bill.
B25 037    |^Discrimination is necessary in some circumstances.  ^An
B25 038 employer must be free to discriminate against a prospective
B25 039 employee with a bad work record.  ^A landlord must be free to
B25 040 discriminate against a prospective tenant who he thinks will
B25 041 not look after his property.
B25 042    |^Schools and other bodies entrusted with the education or
B25 043 care of the young must not be forced to employ staff who would
B25 044 be in a position to corrupt their charges.  ^They must be free
B25 045 to use their own judgment in this regard.
B25 046    |^This is not un-Christian.  ^It is simply common sense.
B25 047    |*4Male Citizen.  *0Te Awamutu.
B25 048 *<*5Do-it-yourself*>
B25 049    |*0Sir, *- ^With reference to the recent uproar about
B25 050 violence on television, I would like to point out to those weak
B25 051 of stomach and heart that there is a very simple censor service
B25 052 in every home.  ^It is called the *"off**" switch, and can be
B25 053 used at the owner's discretion.
B25 054    |*4(\0Mrs) {0Y.G.} Lindsay.  *0Howick.
B25 055 *<*5Wealth Grows*>
B25 056    |*0Sir, *- ^Under the Labour Government, the wealthy get
B25 057 wealthier by the dramatic rise in share prices, by lending on
B25 058 first mortgage at up to 25 per cent and investing in 
B25 059 state-guaranteed loans at 21.5 per cent.
B25 060    |^Whom does the Minister of Finance, \0Mr Douglas, think he
B25 061 is kidding when he says Labour acts for the working class while
B25 062 National represents the wealthy?
B25 063    |*4Demos.  *0Gisborne.
B25 064 *<*5Indexation*>
B25 065    |*0Sir, *- ^Imagine the efficiency and justice which would
B25 066 accrue if all cash figures in statutes and Government
B25 067 regulations were indexed to the consumers' price index.
B25 068 ^Beneficiaries would no longer be racked by inflation, and
B25 069 wage-earners would no longer be shunted into higher tax
B25 070 brackets while their real incomes actually fell.
B25 071    |*4Glenn Cooper.  *0Epsom
B25 072 *<*5{0CPI} *'Fraud**'*>
B25 073    |*0Sir, *- ^The consumer price index data may be the *"best
B25 074 possible**" but its application is a fraud.  ^A rise in the
B25 075 cost of living is a matter of dollars, not a percentage.
B25 076    |^Applying {0CPI} percentage increases across the board
B25 077 ensures that the rich become richer (after tax, too) and the
B25 078 poor become poorer, simply because, at the low end of the wages
B25 079 spectrum, the {0CPI} percentage does not equate with the actual
B25 080 rise in the cost of living in cash terms.
B25 081    |*4{0C.G.R.} Chavasse.  *0Rotorua.
B25 082 *<*5Signing Off?*>
B25 083    |*0Sir, *- ^The cause of so many accidents on round-about
B25 084 intersections is the exquisite precision with which the *"Give
B25 085 Way**" notices are placed so that they exactly obscure from
B25 086 sight the traffic approaching from the right.
B25 087    |^Perhaps a contributing factor is the ingenuity with which
B25 088 the names of streets in Auckland are kept secret, so that one
B25 089 is liable to take one's eyes off the road while searching in
B25 090 vain for an indication of the names of the thoroughfares.
B25 091    |*4{0R.I.} Montague.
B25 092 *<*5Friendly*>
B25 093    |*0Sir, *- ^A recent article describes the breaking of
B25 094 Cavalier Andy Dalton's jaw by Northern Transvaal flanker Burger
B25 095 Geldenhuys.
B25 096    |^Previous articles indicated that white South Africans were
B25 097 ecstatic about the visit of the New Zealand players.
B25 098    |^If this is how South Africans treat those they say are
B25 099 friends, should we wonder that accidents regularly happen when
B25 100 the police have in custody those who are not their friends?
B25 101    |*4Mary Nacey.  *0Wellington.
B25 102 *<*5Opportunity*>
B25 103    |*0Sir, *- ^New Zealanders have never been slow to take
B25 104 advantage of an opportunity to gain world media coverage in the
B25 105 past, and the rugby tour to South Africa offers just such a
B25 106 chance.
B25 107    |^What better way to promote our new national export symbol,
B25 108 the miha, than on the left breast of a black rugby jersey worn
B25 109 in front of the television cameras on Ellis Park?
B25 110    |*4Hamilton Remembered.  *0Northcote.
B25 111 *<*4Letters*> *<*4Permanent super scheme*>
B25 112 |*0Sir, *- ^\0Mrs Annette King was reported as saying that we
B25 113 must have a national super scheme that is fair, equitable and
B25 114 available for people today and in the future.
B25 115    |^Presumably the second Labour Government considered they
B25 116 had such a plan when they introduced their national scheme
B25 117 which was sunk without trace when the National Government
B25 118 returned to power in 1975.
B25 119    |^There are currently available a number of private
B25 120 superannuation schemes, but the main thing the public needs to
B25 121 be assured of is that if they join a scheme it will not be the
B25 122 subject of political interference.  ^It seems also that the
B25 123 Government should make some provision for those who through
B25 124 force of circumstances are unable to provide for themselves.
B25 125    |^However, contention arises over those who spend all their
B25 126 money without any regard for the future.  ^Moreover, those who
B25 127 are thrifty should not be penalised as they are at present by
B25 128 the iniquitous surcharge on national superannuation.
B25 129    |^Surely our politicians could set aside party politics long
B25 130 enough to come up with a national superannuation scheme which
B25 131 would not be changed whenever the government changes?
B25 132    |*2{0J.R.} McCLYMONT *0Wainuiomata
B25 133 *<*4Surcharge on super*>
B25 134 |*0Sir, *- ^The Government has been incredibly foolish over the
B25 135 matter of the surcharge on national superannuation.
B25 136    |^The Timaru by-election should have given them a clear
B25 137 warning of the loss of votes they would face from this unfair
B25 138 and unjust imposition though they claimed that what they did
B25 139 was not really altering the basic structure of the scheme.
B25 140    |^But the result, for some 120,000 superannuitants, was that
B25 141 they lost part, or all of their superannuation revenue.  ^This
B25 142 has not, and will not, be forgotten.
B25 143    |^In fact, it is a continuing source of anger to all those
B25 144 120,000 people, for many of whom it was a vital factor in
B25 145 augmenting their hard-earned savings, and to which they had
B25 146 paid in a deal of money for many years.
B25 147    |^Now I read that some government committee will shortly
B25 148 release a report on the matter.  ^In short, they will seek to
B25 149 find some formula which will alter the surcharge, and get the
B25 150 Government off the hook.  ^They are too late.  ^The elections
B25 151 are not much more than a year away.
B25 152    |^For the sake of an estimated *+$160 million revenue, from
B25 153 a total income tax revenue  of some *+$3000 million, they will
B25 154 lose the election.  ^They will deserve to lose.
B25 155    |^There is, of course, a case to be made for some change.
B25 156 ^For example, to reduce in some degree payments to those who
B25 157 continue to work to the age of 65, and/or to have some
B25 158 limitation of payment to those with very high incomes.
B25 159    |^The public might have been prepared to accept some such
B25 160 changes, if they were shown to be fair.  ^What the Government
B25 161 did was manifestly unfair and unjust.
B25 162    |*2{0T.S.} MARCHINGTON *0Lower Hutt
B25 163 *<*4Outcome of {0gst}*>
B25 164 |*0Sir, *- ^I have just read the advertising blurb on {0gst}
B25 165 that was delivered to all households.  ^It says that above all,
B25 166 it should be fair and be seen to be fair.
B25 167    |^Unfortunately, it is not fair.  ^For example, a couple
B25 168 with children and whose incomes average *+$7000 will each have
B25 169 to pay 48 cents in the dollar tax on their cost-of-living wage
B25 170 increases and on any overtime that they earn.  ^For a
B25 171 comparable childless couple on *+$25,000 each, their equivalent
B25 172 marginal tax rates will be 30 per cent.  ^The former couple
B25 173 will probably have to pay {0gst} on childcare.
B25 174    |^The package would be improved, in my opinion, if the tax
B25 175 rate on incomes between *+$14,000 and *+$30,000 was raised from
B25 176 30 per cent to 40 per cent and the family support tax-credits
B25 177 were not subject to abatement.  ^That would mean both couples
B25 178 facing taxes of 40 per cent on added household income.
B25 179    |^The poorer couple will face an even higher effective
B25 180 marginal tax rate if they become subject to means tests as
B25 181 their money incomes rise.  ^For example their Housing
B25 182 Corporation mortgage interest rate could rise.  ^If they
B25 183 receive national superannuation over and above the *+$7000
B25 184 each, they would have a marginal tax rate of 73 per cent.
B25 185    |^The couple with children will have to pay a much greater
B25 186 proportion of their net incomes in {0gst}.  ^This is both
B25 187 because they will not be able to save money, and because a
B25 188 smaller proportion of their spending will be on items that are
B25 189 subject to existing sales taxes.  ^Also they have more basic
B25 190 needs to provide for.
B25 191    |^I am puzzled by the reassurance that we'll *"be more than
B25 192 compensated for the price increases by income tax cuts and
B25 193 benefit increases**".  ^That means, in economists' jargon, that
B25 194 the Government is stating that it will be operating an
B25 195 expansionary fiscal policy.  ^The budget deficit is being
B25 196 planned to be higher than it would be without the tax package.
B25 197 ^Suddenly deficit financing has changed from being the problem
B25 198 to being the solution.
B25 199    |^I agree that raising the deficit in the short term can
B25 200 reduce the deficit in the long term; for example, by reducing
B25 201 unemployment.  ^However, I have yet to hear this case argued by
B25 202 the Government or those close to it.  ^Also, the manner of
B25 203 raising the deficit is unlikely to reduce unemployment.  ^The
B25 204 main beneficiaries of the net tax cut are those who are most
B25 205 likely to spend their gains on the sharemarket, on imports, on
B25 206 foreign exchange, or to deposit them in local banks that are
B25 207 now struggling to find enough solvent borrowers to lend to.
B25 208    |*2KEITH RANKIN *0Island Bay
B25 209 *<*4Kind air hostesses*>
B25 210 |*0Sir, *- ^I would like to express my appreciation of the
B25 211 wonderful service provided by the air hostesses of Air New
B25 212 Zealand for anyone who is incapacitated in any way.
B25 213    |^Recently I had to travel between Wellington and Dunedin
B25 214 several times while recuperating from major knee surgery.  ^The
B25 215 desk staff were most helpful and the hostesses went far beyond
B25 216 the call of duty to ensure that I was well cared for at every
B25 217 stage of the journey, including flight transfers.
B25 218    |^It was a heart-warming experience.
B25 219    |*2\0M. PEACE *0Blenheim
B25 220 *<*4Second-hand smoke*>
B25 221 |*0Sir *- ^All right.  ^Ray \0L Edgar (June 27) can ignore if
B25 222 he wishes the statistics Ash quotes for the 3600 deaths caused
B25 223 by smoking annually in New Zealand.  ^He has everything well
B25 224 worked out for himself: what solace would he offer non-smokers
B25 225 obliged to work in smoky environments or attend smoked-out
B25 226 social occasions?
B25 227    |^What is the answer for a non-smoker with the option of
B25 228 either smelling like a stale ashtray or feverishly showering,
B25 229 washing hair and washing clothes?  ^How about the growing
B25 230 number of asthmatics and the like who already have trouble
B25 231 breathing?
B25 232    |^The addition of irritant smoke is certainly no comfort to
B25 233 them.  ^Eyes, gritty and tearful from smoke, likewise can cause
B25 234 no joy to the person attending a so-called social gathering.
B25 235    |^I have an uneasy feeling that the suggested solution,
B25 236 rather than restricting smoking to places in which other people
B25 237 are not affected, would be for everyone to become smokers.  ^In
B25 238 that way, no one would be able to discern stale from pleasant
B25 239 smells, and everyone would automatically become immune to
B25 240 caring about others' health, comfort, cleanliness and right to
B25 241 breathe clear air.
B25 242    |*2ADRIENNE HALL *0Tawa
B25 243 *<*4Catholic Church*>
B25 244 |*0Sir, *- ^Your correspondent \0H Westfold raises an
B25 245 interesting, important and topical doctrinal issue when he
B25 246 objects to the dropping of *"Roman**" before *"Catholic**".
B25 247    |^The church of which the Pope is head, is the Church of
B25 248 Rome.  ^The *"holy catholic church**" of the Apostle's Creed is
B25 249 something quite different.  ^This church is made up of all true
B25 250 believers in Christ *- the *"election of grace**".  ^And its
B25 251 only head is the Lord Jesus Christ.
B25 252    |^I suggest, as a matter of courtesy to Protestants and to
B25 253 avoid confusion, the term *"Catholic**" be omitted from the
B25 254 title *"Roman Catholic Church**".
B25 255    |*2PETER {0J.A.} BEST *0Eketahuna
B25 256 *<*4Capital punishment*>
B25 257 |*0Sir, *- ^In a couple of days after a recent weekend, three
B25 258 people were murdered.
B25 259    |^There are too many do-gooders around, anxious to tell us
B25 260 why these cretins behave as they do.  ^There is only one fit
B25 261 place for them, and that is under the ground.
B25 262    |^One of these days a killer or a rapist is going to find
B25 263 himself the focal point of a vendetta.  ^British justice is
B25 264 falling far short of the expectations of our citizens.
B25 265    |^If the would-be perpetrators of violent crimes were under
B25 266 no misapprehension that if they went ahead with their plans,
B25 267 and if they were caught and convicted, they would finish up on
B25 268 the end of a rope, then the incidence of murder in this country
B25 269 would be a small fraction of what it is at the moment.
B25 270    |*2{0G.D.} DAVIES *0Masterton
B25 271 *#
B26 001 **[070 TEXT B26**]
B26 002 *<*2LETTERS TO THE EDITOR*>
B26 003 *<*6SPACE SHUTTLE*>
B26 004 |^*0I have just witnessed yet another display of bad taste on
B26 005 the \0TV news.  ^To lose the space shuttle after such a string
B26 006 of successful launches is one thing.  ^Most of us appreciate
B26 007 that progress in most fields of endeavour is often accompanied
B26 008 by loss of life and this has to be accepted.  ^What I find
B26 009 thoroughly nauseating is the camera's unblinking focus on the
B26 010 faces of those in the gathering who were watching their close
B26 011 relatives being killed.  ^If a camera operator gets his kicks
B26 012 from this type of subject matter, do we have to faithfully
B26 013 broadcast everything he/she chose to spotlight?  ^We surely
B26 014 only need our imaginations to realise what those folks were
B26 015 going through, not a camera's eye view of private grief and
B26 016 distress.
B26 017 *4Bryan \0J Beames
B26 018 *0(Feilding)
B26 019 *<*6A VOTE FOR PEACE*>
B26 020 |^*0Jeanette Rankin is proud to have voted against both world
B26 021 wars in the {0US} Congress *- so says Marilyn Waring (Letters to
B26 022 my sisters, January 25).  ^And no doubt Marilyn is proud too *-
B26 023 proud to have spoken to Jeanette, proud to be a woman, proud to
B26 024 be a supporter of the peace movement.  ^If given the chance she
B26 025 would vote the same way.
B26 026    |^What if Jeanette had succeeded?  ^What if Congress had
B26 027 voted against {0US} involvement in World War *=II?  ^The
B26 028 survivors would have lauded the courage of these peace
B26 029 campaigners.  ^Among the survivors we would count Hitler,
B26 030 Himmler, Mussolini, Quisling...
B26 031    |^But for many millions of men, women and children from
B26 032 Belgium, Britain, Denmark, France, Holland, Luxembourg, Russia,
B26 033 Poland, her vote would have been a vote for death.
B26 034 *4Harry Dijstelbergen
B26 035 *0(Auckland)
B26 036 *<*6GOOD MORNING NEW ZEALAND*>
B26 037 |^*0Did I hear aright that only New Zealand recordings will be
B26 038 used on National Radio's *1Good Morning New Zealand?
B26 039    |^*0There are many in this country who shudder at just one
B26 040 more example of extreme inward-looking nationalism.  ^Adolf
B26 041 Hitler's Germany was a prime example of this unholy creed and
B26 042 none should ever forget the consequences of *1that *0regime.
B26 043 *4{0G M} Krogh
B26 044 *0(\0Mt Albert)
B26 045 *<*6REPUBLICAN SNORTS*>
B26 046 |^*0So Camille Guy considers the Queen's message is good for a
B26 047 few *"republican snorts**" (Television review, January 25).
B26 048    |^Because we were not entertained with *"close-ups of
B26 049 little Royals and Dash the puppy**" but rather reminded of the
B26 050 quiet courage and dedication of men and women who have worked
B26 051 for the welfare of their fellow men, or given loyal and
B26 052 enterprising service to commerce and industry, the message was
B26 053 considered *"drab**".
B26 054    |^Surely it is better to extol the spirit of service that
B26 055 has helped to restore shattered lives and the initiative that
B26 056 encouraged other countries to *"play darts**" *- rather than
B26 057 place bombs *- than even watch some of the delightful antics of
B26 058 Royal children, as in previous years.
B26 059    |^On our screens and in the media at large we have more than
B26 060 enough to depress and discourage.  ^We need to be reminded more
B26 061 often of *"good news**" and, as the Queen said, *"never forget
B26 062 our obligation to make our own individual contributions,
B26 063 however small, towards the sum of human goodness.**" ^Such a
B26 064 challenge is not *"drab**", although not always acceptable,
B26 065 because our sense of the true values of life has sadly gone
B26 066 awry.
B26 067 *4(\0Miss) Florence Newland
B26 068 *0(Pukerua Bay)
B26 069 *<*6CATCHING UP*>
B26 070 |^*0Hang on a minute!  ^Extending \0Dr Brian Dawkins' graph
B26 071 (*"Catching up**", February 1) I reckon that in the year 2026
B26 072 the best women marathon runners will be completing their event
B26 073 the moment the starter fires the pistol.
B26 074    |^To be fair \0Dr Dawkins does warn us that present trends
B26 075 may not continue, but I do think the diminishing gap in
B26 076 performance times between women and men should be related to a
B26 077 variable that attempts to explain the relationship, and not
B26 078 just to the passage of time.
B26 079    |^Incentives may be the clue: rewards to successful women
B26 080 athletes, while still less than those to their male
B26 081 counterparts, have surely increased at a faster rate in recent
B26 082 decades.  ^An analysis quantifying this rate of relative
B26 083 increase could be used to explain past trends and to project
B26 084 the future more reliably.
B26 085 *4Ronnie Horesh
B26 086 *0(Wellington)
B26 087 *<*6TIBET*>
B26 088 |^*0Yu Pengcheng's letter (January 25) displays typical Chinese
B26 089 propaganda when he says that Tibet has always been part of
B26 090 China.  ^He goes on to say that Western and Indian leaders have
B26 091 recognised Chinese sovereignty over Tibet.  ^This was done in
B26 092 the self-interest of these leaders for their countries, not in
B26 093 the interest of the Tibetan people.  ^Tibetans have for
B26 094 centuries lived by their religious teachings in a totally 
B26 095 self-contained independence.
B26 096    |^Records show that from 618{0AD} until the Chinese takeover
B26 097 in 1959, Tibet had self-rule, complete with rulers (in the
B26 098 personages of kings, then the dalai lamas), government,
B26 099 ministers, laws, passports, money (coins and notes),
B26 100 literature, written language in a script derived from Sanscrit,
B26 101 dress, food, drama, religion, \0etc.  ^These had no resemblance
B26 102 to the Chinese way of life.  ^In fact, we are a race apart from
B26 103 the Chinese.
B26 104    |^Intermittently throughout this time, there has been
B26 105 fighting between Tibet and China, with each conquering a bit of
B26 106 land from the other at different times.
B26 107    |^\0Mr Yu states, ^*"Peaceful liberation in 1951 freed Tibet
B26 108 once and for all from the imperialists' yoke and aggression.**"
B26 109 ^For the life of me I cannot see who the imperialists he is
B26 110 referring to are.  ^How could we be liberated when we were
B26 111 already free?  ^To put \0Mr Yu's facts straight, it was only
B26 112 after 1959 that China managed to take over the complete Tibetan
B26 113 government by force.  ^Since the ruthless occupation of my
B26 114 homeland, many learned scholars and other Tibetans opposed to
B26 115 Chinese control have been murdered *- the International
B26 116 Commission of Jurists in Geneva, 1961, charged the Chinese with
B26 117 genocide.
B26 118    |^\0Mr Yu has painted a very rosy picture of Tibet now.
B26 119 ^The regime after the death of Mao has found a very convenient
B26 120 way of escaping responsibility for the indiscriminate
B26 121 destruction in Tibet by blaming it on the *"Gang of Four**" and
B26 122 the Cultural Revolution.  ^The present Chinese regime appears
B26 123 to the outside world to be giving the Tibetan people more
B26 124 freedom of religion, \0etc, and allowing delegations to visit
B26 125 Tibet, along with developing a rebuilding programme.
B26 126    |^Buildings and modernisation will not win the hearts of the
B26 127 Tibetans.  ^Tibetans both inside and outside their country long
B26 128 for the day when the Chinese pack their bags and leave Tibet
B26 129 for good.
B26 130 *4Thuten Kesang
B26 131 *0(Auckland)
B26 132 *<*6POWER AND POWERLESSNESS*>
B26 133 |^*0The present day mother finds herself faced with role
B26 134 conflicts not experienced by women of other generations *- not
B26 135 by her mother or grandmother, nor (hopefully) by her daughter.
B26 136 ^While she has social and personal choices not readily
B26 137 available in previous generations, the process of exercising
B26 138 choice is not necessarily a comfortable one.
B26 139    |^Marilyn Waring's interview with Fay Foreman (*1Power and
B26 140 Powerlessness, *2ONE, *0January 27) highlighted some aspects of
B26 141 these conflicts.  ^We heard the choice arrived at by one
B26 142 particular mother *- to *"give up mothering**".
B26 143    |^However, children need to be mothered in order to grow and
B26 144 develop.  ^So here is one source of conflict.  ^Fortunately, it
B26 145 is now increasingly possible in our society to be an adequate
B26 146 mother on a part-time basis, sharing child care with partner or
B26 147 others and pursuing career, job or other interests.  ^It is not
B26 148 necessary to *"give up mothering**" in order to be a person.
B26 149 ^Our society must support mothers in a way which does not
B26 150 require such an extreme solution.
B26 151    |^\0Ms Foreman obviously *"gave up mothering**" when her
B26 152 children were at a stage when they were ready for more
B26 153 independence and emotional distance from her *- a fortunate
B26 154 fit.  ^Had this not been so, if they had been considerably
B26 155 younger and no one had mothered them in her place, they may not
B26 156 today be the wonderful people she enjoys so much.
B26 157 *4Karen Zelas
B26 158 *0(Christchurch)
B26 159 *<*6TELETEXT*>
B26 160 |^*0A recently acquired teletext set has proven to be a much
B26 161 enjoyed asset to my parents.  ^Sitting down on January 22 with
B26 162 them and flicking through the information available, all the
B26 163 family was in hysterics.  ^We were not looking at the jokes
B26 164 either.  ^We saw the Million ollar **[SIC**] Christmas Lottery
B26 165 on the Go den **[SIC**] Kiwi Results.  ^Changing to health we
B26 166 found that surgeons in public hospitals in New Zealand did
B26 167 fewer operations in 984 than 1985.  ^We are wondering if that
B26 168 was {0AD} or {0BC}.  ^Also, much to our amazement, we
B26 169 discovered a new area of medicine.  ^These surgeons are now
B26 170 working in pubic **[SIC**] hospitals.
B26 171    |^A few bugs in the system I guess, but it was a hilarious
B26 172 afternoon.  ^Teletext is great.  ^I'd recommend it to anyone.
B26 173 *4Penny Rakete
B26 174 *0(Napier)
B26 175 |^(Paul Chaplin, Manager of Teletext, replies: *1Teletext has
B26 176 many surprises in its wide range of information but I'm afraid
B26 177 we cannot take the credit for entertaining the Rakete family on
B26 178 this occasion.
B26 179    |^Yes, it does sound like bugs in the system, but the
B26 180 symptoms suggest a mistuned home receiver or some kind of local
B26 181 interference to reception.  ^We would normally suggest that the
B26 182 viewer contact their supplier to investigate the problem, but
B26 183 as the fault is providing so much extra amusement it almost
B26 184 seems a shame to correct it.)
B26 185 *<*6NEIGHBOURHOOD SUPPORT*>
B26 186 |^*0In late November 1985 it became apparent that Neighbourhood
B26 187 Watch was being phased out in favour of Neighbourhood Support.
B26 188 ^Neighbourhood Watch kits are no longer available in the
B26 189 Auckland region and the advice is that they are not going to be
B26 190 reprinted.
B26 191    |^Neighbourhood Support was created in 1983 and backed by
B26 192 the Auckland City Council.  ^It encompasses an in-depth
B26 193 programme of observation of and reaction to domestic violence,
B26 194 rape, incest, sexual abuse, child abuse, sexual harassment at
B26 195 work, security in the home, the needs of the elderly, self
B26 196 defence and dealing with the police and media.  ^Its kits, each
B26 197 containing a 110-page booklet dealing with the above topics, an
B26 198 eight-page directory, pamphlets and a logo are available free
B26 199 from New Zealand News and the United Building Society.
B26 200    |^Neighbourhood Watch takes a different and considerably
B26 201 more simple approach.  ^It stresses home security and
B26 202 individual safety habits and encourages neighbours to work
B26 203 together to prevent crime in their area.
B26 204    |^It is probable that the need exists for both Neighbourhood
B26 205 Watch and Neighbourhood Support, depending on the requirements
B26 206 of individual communities.  ^Some neighbourhoods feel that
B26 207 Neighbourhood Watch does not cover sufficient territory, while
B26 208 others feel that Neighbourhood Support covers too much.  ^Until
B26 209 now the choice has remained with the neighbourhoods concerned.
B26 210    |^My personal choice is Neighbourhood Watch because I have
B26 211 grave doubts as to the wisdom of the Neighbourhood Support
B26 212 programme in actively encouraging individuals to involve
B26 213 themselves in their neighbours' family disputes.  ^Today in New
B26 214 Zealand the incidence of domestic violence has reached the
B26 215 point where it can be categorised as a major crime.  ^It is my
B26 216 view that the average neighbourhood resident is not competent
B26 217 to deal with such highly explosive situations and that such
B26 218 occurrences should be left to qualified experts to handle.
B26 219 ^Matters such as alleged incest, sexual abuse or sexual
B26 220 harassment should naturally be reported to the police
B26 221 immediately, but any interference by neighbours could well lead
B26 222 to a dangerous aggravation of the situation.
B26 223    |^I firmly believe that New Zealanders should have the
B26 224 privilege of choosing which of the two organisations they feel
B26 225 would best serve their neighbourhood's interests.  ^I strongly
B26 226 protest any move to phase out or eliminate Neighbourhood Watch.
B26 227 *4Jane Jensen
B26 228 *0Area Co-ordinator
B26 229 Northcote Neighbourhood Watch
B26 230 (Auckland)
B26 231 *<*4THE GREAT DEBATE*>
B26 232 |^*0The great New Zealand debate about *1The Great New Zealand
B26 233 Debate (*2ONE, *0January 1) is under way.  ^\0Mrs Lorimer
B26 234 (Letters, February 1) writes, ^*"Very early it was clear there
B26 235 was one thing the six debaters could all do equally well *-
B26 236 bore the viewer rigid.**" ^How many viewers were so rigid that
B26 237 they were unable to turn it off?
B26 238    |^There appears to be a double standard among viewers with
B26 239 regard to *"risque**" television (or risk-taking for that
B26 240 matter).  ^We accept, seemingly without comment, significant
B26 241 doses of imported risque humour (eg, Benny Hill) and allow
B26 242 ourselves to enjoy (?) it in the privacy or our own home.
B26 243 ^However, present six prominent New Zealanders publicly
B26 244 revelling in such humour and the result is an abundance of
B26 245 vitriolic letters to the editor.
B26 246    |^I congratulate {0TVNZ} for engaging in a bit of 
B26 247 risk-taking.  ^Having seen *1The Great New Zealand Debate *0live in
B26 248 the Auckland Town Hall, ^I had expected it to be edited for
B26 249 television.  ^What a pleasant surprise to find that this was
B26 250 not the case.  ^May I look forward to more of these gems of
B26 251 life (laugh?!) in New Zealand.
B26 252 *4Mary Simpson
B26 253 (*0Thornton Bay)
B26 254 *#
B27 001 **[071 TEXT B27**]
B27 002 *<*4The farming crisis*>
B27 003 *<*6Alan Lewin, *4Tawa:*>
B27 004 |^*2ARE *0too many blue farmers seeing too much red other than on 
B27 005 their balance sheets?
B27 006    |^That's a thought I had when doing my bit with the farmers' 
B27 007 march on Parliament this week.
B27 008    |^No one can deny that farmers and their families are suffering 
B27 009 acute economic problems, but is the traditional enemy of the bucolic 
B27 010 sector, a Labour Government, solely to blame as some would have us 
B27 011 believe?
B27 012    |^As a farm commentator for more than 20 years and having had a 
B27 013 deep involvement with Federated Farmers for a few more years, I feel 
B27 014 the rot set in long before socialist posteriors sat on the Treasury 
B27 015 benches.
B27 016    |^No one was in any doubt New Zealand's farming industry would be
B27 017 in danger as world trading in farm commodities restructured from the
B27 018 1960s on.  ^Even then I was constantly reporting Federated Farmers
B27 019 leaders as saying *"the industry is in crisis**".  ^This call became
B27 020 stronger and more demanding as America employed its first obvious
B27 021 customs device to exercise import control and Britain declared it
B27 022 intended joining the European Community.  ^Then, as supports came
B27 023 faster than alternative measures, voices for change quietened.
B27 024 ^Research and development continued on its production pathway,
B27 025 steadfastly ignoring the need to alter course for marketing
B27 026 directions.
B27 027    |^Most knew years ago that drastic changes and decisions had to 
B27 028 be made, long before the *"townies**" called *"hands out of our 
B27 029 pockets**".
B27 030    |^The writing was more than on the wall, it was in every market 
B27 031 report, study, inquiry and trade tour.  ^Speaker after speaker came
B27 032 back from overseas telling farmers and politicians. ^Still New Zealand
B27 033 doggedly pinned its faith in traditional products and marketing 
B27 034 approaches even though many costly inquiries indicated otherwise.
B27 035    |^As the clock ticked on, the decision-making at political level 
B27 036 became more unpalatable, till exasperated farmers' leaders published 
B27 037 an excellent manifesto of their own to hand to aspirant parties prior 
B27 038 to the 1984 General Election.
B27 039    |^There was no march to Parliament to emphasise the valid points 
B27 040 and requests because farmers still believed in a *"softly softly**" 
B27 041 approach. ^All these years too, farmers have asked *"why don't they 
B27 042 understand**" when referring to the apparent indifference of townies 
B27 043 to their plight. ^Polarised politics took over as each new wage round 
B27 044 and each new farm-based industry dispute enraged the rural sector.
B27 045 ^Trenches have now been dug and over one I suspect the predominant 
B27 046 colour is blue and the other a tattered red, having had more use.
B27 047    |^There has never been a stronger need for townies to understand,
B27 048 but the messages keep getting confused, I suspect because of party 
B27 049 politics weaving through the dialogue.
B27 050    |^Too often, farmers use National Party speakers and rhetoric to 
B27 051 get their point over. ^Many provincial presidents of Federated Farmers
B27 052 have some difficulty in leaving their political allegiance out of the 
B27 053 debate, which is sad because this harms their case.
B27 054    |^An apolitical approach is desperately needed now on both sides.
B27 055 ^Townies might feel their salaries are inadequate, but to a 
B27 056 hard-pressed farmer now, such renumeration would be heaven.  ^Townies 
B27 057 also have a right to know just how desperate New Zealand's situation 
B27 058 will be if farming goes to the wall.
B27 059    |^It's not too late to develop a *"New Zealand Solidarity**" 
B27 060 climate where party politics can be left at the door while the whole 
B27 061 of the country searches for honest solutions.  ^Other countries have 
B27 062 employed a coalition approach in crisis and it's worked.  ^After all, 
B27 063 it's not who's to blame that is important here; it's how to make the 
B27 064 best of it to keep Godzone afloat.
B27 065 *<*6{0P L} Marshall, *4\0Mt Manganui:*>
B27 066 |^*0It doesn't take a great degree of acumen to pinpoint when the 
B27 067 seeds which resulted in the disastrous economic position of the 
B27 068 farming community were sown.
B27 069    |^During the hey-day of the *"cost plus 10 per cent era**" which
B27 070 went on for 10 or 15 years after World War *=II, manufacturers 
B27 071 welcomed any measures which would add to the cost of a product because
B27 072 the greater the cost of production the greater the manufacturers' 
B27 073 rake-off.  ^So wage demands went virtually uncontested and the 
B27 074 insidious evils of overmanning and excessive overtime rates, plus a 
B27 075 host of fringe benefits, became cemented into the internal cost 
B27 076 structure.
B27 077    |^The generous overtime rates led to contrived overtime by low 
B27 078 productivity and the productivity level in the servicing and 
B27 079 manufacturing industries sank below that of many third world countries
B27 080 and has improved little since.  ^This scenario *- high wages and low 
B27 081 productivity *- set in the 50s and 60s sparked the inflationary spiral
B27 082 which has now brought traditional primary producers to their knees.
B27 083    |^The signs of what was to come were evident through the 60s and 
B27 084 70s as the farmer's return from a lamb sold on the Smithfield market 
B27 085 dwindled under the impact of internal costs from 80 per cent of its 
B27 086 sale value gradually down to 15 or 20 per cent five years ago, thus 
B27 087 triggering the necessity for {0SMP}'s.  ^He is now getting less than 
B27 088 a nil return when you take in the cost of producing it.
B27 089    |^Over this same period, those servicing industries which most 
B27 090 vitally affect our competitiveness on world markets have, by a 
B27 091 combination of percentage wage rises and successively holding their 
B27 092 employers over a barrel, obtained feather-bed conditions which are 
B27 093 unsustainable in a market forces orientated economy.  ^Seamen and 
B27 094 allied occupations, besides an overmanning cost, work between 20 and 
B27 095 25 weeks a year.  ^Watersiders average 27 1/2 hours a week and one 
B27 096 assertion coming from the present enquiry into port-side costs states 
B27 097 that the present level of cargo could be adequately handled by half 
B27 098 the number presently employed.  ^Absenteeism at many freezing works is
B27 099 so rife that a standby staff is required to keep the works operating 
B27 100 efficiently.  ^This all adds up to a travesty of what most people 
B27 101 conceive shift-work to be.  ^Employers are virtually paying two shifts
B27 102 or paying twice for one stint at the workforce.
B27 103    |^How does \0Mr Douglas expect primary producers to compete 
B27 104 successfully on world markets against producers of similar products 
B27 105 where shift-work means successive shifts working around the clock to 
B27 106 achieve maximum productivity from capital investment, where new 
B27 107 technology is welcomed as an aid to growth and expansion, where the 
B27 108 prerequisite for holding down a job is a reasonably conscientious and
B27 109 efficient eight hours' work a day *- not simply being a member of a 
B27 110 union?
B27 111    |^Assuming Douglas has made a study of market forces, he will know
B27 112 that when a commodity becomes surplus to requirements, market forces 
B27 113 lower its value.  ^80,000 unemployed indicate that labour is surplus 
B27 114 to requirements at the moment, and under the rules of market forces, 
B27 115 instead of the recent crippling wage hike, wages should be moving in 
B27 116 the opposite direction.
B27 117    |^Douglas has recently accused the medical profession of being a 
B27 118 closed shop and threatened to open up the profession to less qualified
B27 119 practitioners thus providing a cheaper service to the public.  ^What 
B27 120 about the closed union on the waterfronts, in the freezing works, the 
B27 121 railways, the cooks and stewards and seamen?  ^Has he considered 
B27 122 opening up these largely unskilled jobs to see how many of the 
B27 123 unemployed would welcome the chance to do a genuine day's work at a 
B27 124 lower rate than that demanded by the unions?
B27 125    |^Is it just or fair or even logical to say to farmers *"^You will
B27 126 have to accept what market forces dictate for your produce but we 
B27 127 won't allow market forces to dictate the cost of producing it and 
B27 128 getting it to the market?**"  ^This is like sending a boxer into the 
B27 129 ring with one arm strapped behind his back.
B27 130    |^It can at least be said of the previous administration (equally 
B27 131 desirous of a market forces orientated economy) that they had the 
B27 132 courtesy, the grace, and above all the intelligence to see that the 
B27 133 question of internal costs had to be tackled and solved before 
B27 134 throwing the primary producers to the wolves.
B27 135    |^The abolition of compulsory unionism, the deregulation of the 
B27 136 transport industry, and the present inquiry into portside costs were 
B27 137 some of the measures they were taking to bring this about.
B27 138    |^All Douglas's deregulations so far have reacted against the 
B27 139 viability of the primary producer.  ^Let him now show the courage of 
B27 140 his convictions in market forces by instigating the one deregulation 
B27 141 which would give a market forces orientated economy a chance of 
B27 142 succeeding.  ^If he fails to deregulate the labour force we will once 
B27 143 again witness the spectacle of a sound economic policy foundering on 
B27 144 the rocks of political expediency.
B27 145 *<*6\0M GOTHEAD, *4Manurewa:*>
B27 146 |^*0David Douglas' interview ( {0NZT} 20/ 4) needs a reply. ^While one
B27 147 must commend his loyalty he doesn't seem to have any more 
B27 148 understanding of a market place than his brother. ^Nothing is either
B27 149 right or wrong in a market place until one decides where one is going,
B27 150 then it becomes relatively easy to sort out the rules.  ^Given the aim
B27 151 of a more competitive efficient economy where New Zealanders have the 
B27 152 opportunity to make as much money as they wish, Rogernomics is not the
B27 153 answer.
B27 154    |^I am a dairy farmer.  ^Dairy farmers did not receive {0SMP}s 
B27 155 except for one *+$1000 payment in about 1978. ^Land prices reflect our
B27 156 returns from the international market place. ^They were not inflated
B27 157 in any way by subsidy.  ^Farming was never subsidised.  ^There was a
B27 158 system of cross payment between exporters and the internal economy but
B27 159 farmers (sheep and beef too) were still paying an average of *+$4000
B27 160 per farm in subsidy to the rest of the community over and above any
B27 161 payment farmers received (Stewart Report 1985).
B27 162    |^If 1 per cent loans are a subsidy then this is yet another 
B27 163 example of farmers subsidising the rest of the community.  ^Dairy 
B27 164 farmers have lent far more money to the Government at 1 per cent, 
B27 165 through the Dairy Board, than they have borrowed from the Government 
B27 166 at 1 per cent.  ^It is this *+$400\0m reserve that has seen dairy 
B27 167 farmers through the first year of the present irresponsible 
B27 168 government.  ^It should not have floated the dollar and embarked on a 
B27 169 high interest rate policy until the deficit was zero.
B27 170    |^The theory that money will move to the more efficient sectors 
B27 171 only works when government is not in the market place.  ^Government 
B27 172 can pay any interest rates it likes, not because it is efficient but 
B27 173 because it has a captive taxpayer to pay.  ^No industry can pay 25 per
B27 174 cent interest and remain internationally competitive and thus 
B27 175 government intervention destroys all industry.
B27 176    |^The effect on the floating dollar is also disastrous for 
B27 177 exporters.  ^While the internal economy can compensate itself for high
B27 178 interest rates the number of dollars an exporter receives goes down as
B27 179 international investors chase high interest rates and forces up the
B27 180 value of the dollar.  ^The figures I have quoted are Dairy Board
B27 181 figures but any export industry could quote similar figures.
B27 182    |^For every cent {0US} the value of the *+${0NZ} rises dairy 
B27 183 farmers receive 10\0c less per \0kg of butterfat.  ^While there have
B27 184 **[SIC**] been freeing up of imports they are mostly in the luxury 
B27 185 class and not internal service industries and government monopolies.
B27 186    |^At *+$4 a kilogram an income of *+$20,000 provides a living 
B27 187 but hardly a new car every year.  ^54\0c{0US} is the break-even point 
B27 188 when costs equal gross income.  ^After that it's a loss.
B27 189    |^Devaluation of land doesn't help.  ^If the rest of the economy 
B27 190 had been freed up as fast as farming and we didn't face a *+$12,000 
B27 191 cost excess, the break-even point would be 60\0c{0US} and we would 
B27 192 probably pull through a couple of years of Rogernomics.  ^As it stands
B27 193 many won't.  ^All exporters can quote similar figures but farming is 
B27 194 worse off because it exports a greater percentage of product.
B27 195 *<*6EXPO ABSENTEE*>
B27 196 |^*0If any reader has a chance to go to Vancouver between now and 
B27 197 October, take it!  ^And plan no less than two full days for Expo 86.
B27 198    |^The organisation is excellent, the displays imaginative and the
B27 199 fireworks every night outstanding.  ^In the two days of my visits it
B27 200 was raining continuously yet thousands were prepared to queue in the
B27 201 rain to get into the popular pavilions and to wait for the fireworks.
B27 202    |^One of the best opportunities, one would have thought, for a 
B27 203 trading country with great tourist potential to present itself with 
B27 204 imagination.  ^The Cook Islands, Solomon Islands, Fiji and various 
B27 205 Caribbean islands, were there.  ^One pavilion visited, Sri Lanka's, 
B27 206 showed what a Third World country could afford.
B27 207    |^But no prizes for guessing which Pacific rim, *"developed**" 
B27 208 country, rooting for the tourist market, *"couldn't afford**" to be 
B27 209 there *- and how much have we lost in tourist and sales potential 
B27 210 through our absence? ^It should have been *"we can't afford *1not *0to
B27 211 be there**".
B27 212 *<*4Gerald Wakely*>
B27 213 *<*0(Auckland)*>
B27 214 *#