Of course any project of this size – it will cost between 15 and 18 million dollars – has its critics.  I am regularly being told the following:-

It doesn’t need to be done.

It will cost too much – we can’t afford it.

Now is the wrong time – we are in recession.

The Art Gallery and Museum will never make a profit.

We shouldn’t lose the old Borough Chambers.

Well let me deal with that one first.  The old Borough Chambers are an eyesore.  The original wooden building was so rotten decades ago that they plastered the outside.  It is only the plaster that is holding it up.  The inside has been stripped out – the building bears no resemblance to the original and needs to be demolished.

The rebuilding and refurbishment of the Hawke’s Bay Museum and Art Gallery does need to be undertaken – the current buildings are ugly and inadequate.  We have a world class collection – in particular of Maori artefacts, and it deserves to be housed and displayed adequately.

To those who say we can’t afford it I say this:

The project will be financed from three sources.

One third of the funding will come from the Napier City Council and these funds have been provisioned for years.  One third will come from Government and one third from corporate trusts, Lotto, etc. and of course your generous donations.

The bulk of the funding will come from outside the district and be a shot in the arm for the local economy. 

And now is the right time to undertake the project.  We will get keen pricing and we will certainly benefit from the jobs created.

Some argue that the Museum will never make a profit and of course they are right.  To them I simply say that you and I have a responsibility to preserve and protect our heritage, our culture and our art for future generations.  And that costs money.

So it’s a great project – will add enormously to the art and culture scene in Hawke’s Bay and I am happy to accept any donations you may wish to make to the project.

I have seen families disintegrate over money – despite there being plenty to go around.  I have seen businesses collapse over silly arguments about money and I’ve seen organisations disappear completely because of petty arguments about money.

And now Napier’s most iconic event – our Art Deco Weekend is under threat and you guessed it – it is all about money.

The Art Deco Trust has run Art Deco weekend events for years.  They’ve done a good job and the event has grown in stature year by year.

The Hawke’s Bay Vintage Car Club has run a vintage car rally on the same weekend for over 20 years.  The car rally is now recognised as the premier vintage car weekend in New Zealand and attracts well over 300 entries.  The Vintage Car Club committee works for about 9 months of the year putting the rally together and it has become the major fundraising activity for the Club.

The Art Deco Trust’s Art Deco Weekend benefits from the 300 plus vintage cars in the city and the 1,000 odd period costumed participants all here for the vintage car rally. The vintage car rally benefits because the entrants can enjoy the wonderful events put on by the Art Deco Trust. Where, therefore you may well ask, is the problem?

The Art Deco Trust would claim, they are professional event organisers and therefore they should control the whole weekend including the car parade.

The Vintage Car Club would claim that it’s all about the safety of the people watching the parade – they just want assistance with crowd control, road closure, parking etc., for “their” parade.

The truth is that it’s all about money.  The Art Deco Trust has decided that they, being in possession of the address list of previous rally entrants, can control the parade – charge the entry fee and parking fee and pocket the surplus from the weekend.

The Vintage Car Club is saying bugger you – this is our Vintage Car Rally, it is our principal fundraising activity and we will take our events out of the city.

So it’s all about money.  One organisation trying to hijack the activity of another because of money and the other digging in their toes totally – you guessed it – because of money.

It is just a shame that wise cool heads could not get together and come up with a compromise that would suit all.

At the end of the day the event will suffer and no-one will benefit.

Sad really.

So it would be easy to become depressed and despondent.

Last week I was lucky enough to see Napier Operatic Society show “The Producers”. In fact I saw it twice. If ever there was a chance to forget about economic woes – to forget about the stretching of the budget, it was this show.

The Napier Operatic Society has a proud history of producing excellent shows and this one was one of their best. I cannot remember a night when I have laughed so much. The show was brilliantly cast, superbly directed and wonderfully presented.

It always amazes me that these ordinary citizens who by day go about their ordinary jobs can, at night, don the grease paint and put on thoroughly professional performances.

Hawkes Bay is so lucky to have a large pool of talented people – in fact that could be said about the whole of New Zealand.

So I always feel sad when I see our talented people heading off across the Tasman. Frankly I believe it won’t be long before many – part of the huge exodus we are now witnessing – will be happy to return.

When they get to Australia they will find that things are not quite as rosy as they look from this side of the ditch. Sure salaries are higher but so is the cost of living and inflation is running well ahead of ours at the moment.

Accommodation is harder to find and a lot more expensive. Distance to work is often far greater and usually involves train, bus or tram travel and that all adds to the cost.

Cars are far dearer than they are in New Zealand and they cost a lot more to run.

When you think about it – there is a lot to be said for Hawkes Bay. You can live reasonably close to work – get there reasonably cheaply and quickly and you can enjoy clear air 24 hours a day.

So I’m confident we will see many of our people returning to New Zealand in time. And I will be taking a break and returning with my comments in June.

And what a great night it was. The whole idea of the concert was to raise funds to assist Phillip in his career. He has just been accepted into one of the most prestigious singing schools in the world in Cardiff and we all know what sort of money that will cost. In fact if there are any music lovers out there who have a few spare bob and would like to help Phillip Rhodes – I would be happy to receive funds on his behalf.

Not only is Phillip Rhodes becoming a highly accomplished singer – he is a wonderful example to all our young people of how you can triumph over adversity.

Phillip comes from a very difficult family background and went through a series of foster homes. It would have been just so easy for him to become another gang member – another druggie – another crime statistic. But then his luck changed.

He was taken in by that amazing couple Pam and Henare O’Keefe – a couple that Hawkes Bay owes a tremendous debt of gratitude. And they saw the wonderful acting talent in Phillip and later his singing talent and they gently nudged him in the right direction so that his talent could be recognised and utilised.

And now this fine young man is about to head off to Wales for further training and then – I have no doubt – to the Opera Houses of the world.

We are constantly bombarded with stories about how our young people are useless – don’t work hard – always take the easy way out – and yet here in Phillip Rhodes – we have a young man who epitomises those who can overcome a rough start – who can work hard to develop precious talent and who is prepared to undertake more hard work to further hone his skills.

So if you would like to help New Zealand’s next opera star on his way – feel free to drop a cheque in to Somerset Smith Partners in Napier.