Bill Dalton

I am somewhat heartened by the result in the Tai Tokerau bi-election. Heartened because more people voted for someone other than Hone Harawira than voted for him. That suggests to me that even in the Far North, people are starting to see Harawira in a different light. I only hope that trend continues into the election in November and Harawira gets tossed out of our House of Representatives altogether. He is a racist rabble rouser and a disgrace to our parliament. If you are in any doubt about that, have a look at the transcript of the comments he made about the Maori Party and its leaders after he had been advised of his win. No humility for Hone, he just launched into an attack on his former colleagues in language totally unbecoming a member of parliament. In fact it was nothing short of disgraceful and sets an appalling example for our youngsters.

It is now just two months until the election campaign proper begins. Whilst campaigning is certainly taking place right now, the 25th August is when counting the spending begins. And frankly the election is looking like being a shambles, as you could expect under MMP and with people like Harawira in the mix.

On the local scene I’m picking Stuart Nash to give Chris Tremain a run for his money. Chris has the majority and should win but he has made a very bad call by backing the amalgamation of the various local bodies. How can an intelligent fellow like Chris support amalgamation when the debate so far has been at such a pathetic level. What facts is he basing his support on? The answer of course is none. Costings have not been done, no business plan has been prepared and there is a total lack of substantiated facts in the debate. It is all emotional clap-trap.

Lawrence Yule is rushing around Hawkes Bay showing a powerpoint presentation wherever more than two people gather. Frankly it is an appalling presentation. It starts by showing all the negative statistics we are all well aware of – high unemployment – low wages – poor population growth – that sort of thing, and then makes a massive leap of logic and faith and talks about a Hawkes Bay that our children and grandchildren can enjoy. The only thing linking the two is amalgamation but nowhere does it tell us how amalgamation is going to create this wonderful prosperity. Is amalgamation suddenly going to provide us with an oil and gas industry like Taranaki? Is it suddenly going to provide us with a university and teachers college like Manawatu? What can a combined or grouped governance situation do for economic growth that the current system can not? That is the sort of question that needs to be answered.

Rather than funding covert polls of Napier residents, the anonymous financial group who are using Lawrence as their spokesperson, should fund a proper financial investigation and produce a detailed business plan. Then we could start discussing facts not fallacies.

There are many in Hawkes Bay who would support amalgamation if a compelling business plan was produced. And surely the onus is on those promoting the idea to produce that plan to support their argument.

Being a recent retiree, I now have the privilege of being invited on shopping trips to the supermarket. Now I’m not kidding myself – I know my wife is more than capable of performing this task on her own – she just wants to prove to me how expensive things are these days. And need I say it? She has proved her point beyond any doubt.

I cannot believe what it costs for food these days. The staples like milk, bread and cheese are almost becoming luxury items and even the poorest cuts of meat are at ridiculous prices. A leg of lamb, once an absolute staple of the New Zealand table, requires a talk with your bank manager before you even contemplate purchase.

And every now and then the laundry products need replenishing – that carves a huge hole in the budget.

I cannot believe that a family on one modest income can even exist the way prices are today.

But exist they do and generally they also have a number of large animals to feed. We’ve only got a cat and a little ball of fluff that my wife insists is a dog and the cost of their food is significant. I can only imagine what it costs to feed some of the monsters I see snarling behind fences around the city.

When we are looking at costs, it is very easy to assume that the grass is greener over the fence – or in New Zealand’s case, over the ditch. Well I can tell you, having had two kids in Melbourne for several years, that people on modest incomes in Australia have exactly the same problems as we do in New Zealand.

Sure Australia is the lucky country with enormous mineral wealth in the ground. And some people have become magnificently rich based on that fact. But for the average city dweller, struggling to pay large rent bills, transport bills, food bills, not to mention compulsory superannuation – the problems are the same in Australia as they are in New Zealand.

And look at the price of beer in Australia.

During my working life as a sharebroker and investment advisor, I saw many clients, especially in retirement, move to Australia. A large proportion of these are now back in New Zealand because of the cost of living and the tax system in Australia.

So there is no easy answer. There is no way of avoiding the cost of living.

It’s just bloody dear wherever you live.

Living in Christchurch must be a nightmare and all of New Zealand’s thoughts are with our Cantabrian cousins. Having suffered the consequences of so many significant earthquakes – and I understand there was another one of magnitude 5 this morning – the good people of Christchurch must be at their wits end. And of course all this earthquake activity increases the chances that there will be a really huge quake sometime in the near future.

Understandably many people have already left Christchurch and many more will follow. And that creates a dilemma for other areas such as Hawke’s Bay. There are many Christchurch businesses which would fit well into the Hawke’s Bay business landscape and if they decided to relocate here we would welcome them with open arms. But how much encouragement do we give them to come. How do we say “Christchurch needs you but if you are going to relocate, we would love you to come to Hawke’s Bay.” There is a very fine line indeed between encouragement and being welcoming. The concern is that other areas may not take such a reasonable stand and Hawke’s Bay may miss out on some excellent additions to its business mix.

Christchurch will never be the same and its’ economy will take generations to return to the size it once was. The inner city could well become an iconic example of how to recover from disaster but whatever happens, the Christchurch we all know, is gone.

For an example of what happens to regional or city economies after a disaster, we can look at Kobe in Japan which suffered a catastrophic earthquake in 1995. In 2005 the city held a massive celebration to recognise the completion of the 10 year rebuilding of the city. But 15 years after the quake, the Kobe economy is just 50% of the size it was before.

So Christchurch will be rebuilt albeit in a vastly different form than before. Simply put a wealthy area like Canterbury needs a centre of commerce and Christchurch is it.

If there is one thing that Christchurch has taught the rest of the country, it is be prepared. Despite the fact that Shirley has always had us in a state of reasonable preparedness, we have undertaken further measures and I have to confess to a degree of smugness, when I heard so many houses were again without power, and I thought of the generator we have bought for emergency use. It was really expensive and one of my friends suggested that we would need to get a lot of use out of it for that sort of money.

Frankly we hope we never have to use it.

The last week has been quite a break in my usual routine.

I haven’t been following central government politics so I don’t know whether Hone Harawira has been making any further ignorant racist remarks. I don’t know whether John Key has mutilated the English language this week and I have no idea, nor do I care, whether Chris Carter has even bothered to fill in his otherwise boring day by turning up to parliament.

And I haven’t been following local body politics either so I don’t know if any other outrageous, unsubstantiated remarks about the benefits of amalgamation have been made by the usual perpetrators.

The reason for my detachment from riveting, exciting things like politics over the last week is that we have had a house guest – and a very special one too. Trevor Taylor from Victoria in British Columbia Canada. We first met Trevor when he was touring New Zealand and visited Napier. We met him whilst out at dinner and invited him home to stay. Subsequently, a few years later, we arranged to meet up again in London and since then we have kept in touch by email.

So Trevor has been here and we have thoroughly enjoyed showing him some of our country. And the amazing thing is, when you are showing a guest around, you see your own back yard in a totally different light. Things that you usually don’t even notice – that you take for granted – suddenly hit you in the eye. Some because you are proud of them and some – well you hope your guest is looking out of the other window.

One thing that I was really proud of was the cleanliness of our city and the wider area. If Trevor said it once he said it half a dozen times – this place is just so clean. And having just returned from Kuala Lumpur, we had to agree with him.

So it’s been a worthwhile exercise – showing a guest around our region – an exercise that we should all do from time to time.

But today, with Trevor’s departure and a council seminar and a full council meeting this afternoon, we are back to reality.

A pity that – I was really enjoying being a relaxed tour guide.

It is interesting to read that Hastings District Councillor Henare O’Keefe has come out and suggested that the new supermarket in Flaxmere should be liquor free. And it’s also interesting to see he is supported by Napier City Councillor Maxine Boag who strangely used a Licensing Trust area as an example of how this could work.

What intrigued me is that neither of these two individuals, both who have thoroughly enjoyed a life including grog as younger people, told us how banning alcohol in one supermarket was going to solve the obvious problem of excessive alcohol consumption in Flaxmere. Do they think that prohibiting one supermarket from selling booze is going to make one jot of difference?

New Zealanders, particularly our young people are more mobile then they have ever been. I am sure it makes no difference whatsoever to a group on the grog whether they travel 1 kilometre to get more supplies or 2 or 3 kilometres. It is my view that Henare and Maxine, having enjoyed their own youth, now want to ensure that following generations don’t have the same fun.

I concede we have an escalating alcohol problem amongst our young folk. But making them travel a few more metres to get supplies is going to achieve nothing. What we need to do is to educate all of society about the perils of excessive alcohol consumption. Look at how education has cut down cigarette consumption. We need to stop saying “thou shall not drink” and we need to start saying “thou shall drink sensibly.”

I have a drink or two every day and thoroughly enjoy it. Before dinner, I have a couple of gins and Shirl has a glass of wine and it is a really pleasant and relaxing time. We need to tell young people that there is nothing clever in getting off their face – anyone can do that. The clever people enjoy alcohol in moderation.

The abuse of alcohol amongst the young is a problem for the whole of society but is especially prevalent amongst Maori and I wonder what education programme Maori themselves are putting in place to protect their youth.

It is education and responsible people leading by example that will stop the problem.

All stopping one supermarket from selling alcohol will do is cause people to use more fossil fuels as they drive further to top up supplies.

I clearly remember about 12 months ago, sitting next to a fellow from Christchurch on a plane. We were joking about the safety briefing and agreeing that once you were in a plane, your safe arrival or otherwise was essentially out of your control.

The fellow from Christchurch went on to say that it was a bit like earthquakes. You couldn’t do anything about them – basically earthquakes were another thing beyond your control. I have thought of that fellow several times over the last 6 months and wonder what his views are now.

Because, whilst we can’t control when or where an earthquake may strike, there are a lot of things we can do to increase our chances of survival. We are hearing of people alive under their desks, texting to confirm their location. Those people may well be dead if they had tried to flee. There are stories everywhere of people who have done the right thing and survived. Sadly, of course, there will be those who had no chance.

And so many of my friends have scoffed at the amount of tinned food Shirley stores in our pantry – have scoffed at our survival kit with essential pharmaceutical items and toilet paper – have scoffed because we store large containers of water – have scoffed that we always have two full spare gas bottles.

Frankly it is times like this that I thank Shirley for her good sense in doing all this – who knows when it will be Hawke’s Bay’s turn again.

The Christchurch earthquake is the correct occasion to use the words tragedy and disaster. So often we hear these words tied to the loss by sports teams or some rugby player who is going to be out for 3 weeks with injury.

The Christchurch earthquake is a tragedy and it is a disaster. A disaster not just for Christchurch, although obviously the people of Christchurch will feel it most, but a disaster for Canterbury and the whole of New Zealand. It is a real blow to the New Zealand economy and will set back our economic recovery by months – probably years.

But naturally the real tragedy is a personal one and the loss of life is simply appalling – and it appears the numbers are going to get worse.

So if you are asked to open your home to victims of the Christchurch earthquake – to people who simply need to get away from the scene of destruction for a while – do so. You will find it as rewarding as they will.

We certainly are living at a funny time in a funny world.

I read this morning that the owner of the Phoenix football team, property developer Terry Serepisos, is going to pay off his debts. Well woopty doo! Does that make him some sort of hero? Does he think he should feature in the New Years Honours List? Most decent New Zealanders don’t get themselves in a position where they can’t pay their debts. They live within their means. These fellows who establish lifestyles on borrowed money, who often live a grander life than the people who lent them money could afford to – and then fail to meet their commitments, give me the stitch. Sure we need entrepreneurs, sure we need developers, sure we need risk takers, but we as a society don’t expect to fund an extravagant lifestyle enjoyed by few on the backs of many.

We also need to remember that the world economy is not out of the woods yet. Look at what is happening in Ireland, Spain, Greece, Portugal and of course the United States economy is still struggling to gain traction. We hear a great deal about the strength of China, but China is not without its own problems. It is no good being an efficient producer of consumer goods if the rest of the world can’t afford to buy your production.

Here in New Zealand we have a degree of insulation from the world’s woes but we are certainly not without our problems. The government’s debt problems have been well canvassed. The cost associated with running New Zealand incorporated are unsustainable and there is no doubt that to be able to fulfil it’s promises, the government needs to either increase revenue or cut costs – or both!

Our balance of payments position is increasingly dependent on dairy exports. Now in many ways that’s a good position to be in – there is a very strong market for dairy products right now. But what happens if the predicted drought becomes a reality. Cows produce milk on lush grass not parched paddocks and a severe drought would lower our dairy production drastically.

And that would have a very serious effect on our balance of payments and in turn, on every New Zealander.

So we are not out of trouble yet despite the fact that real progress is being made in sorting the words financial problems.

We just need to be aware that all those things that we have been trying to achieve over the last couple of years, increased productivity, increased savings, increased prudence need to continue.

I was toiling away in my office yesterday when my attention was drawn to a disturbance outside.

It became abundantly clear that some fellow had brought some youngsters into town to ride their skateboards – in this case, in the skateboard free zone around the Napier City Council and Library buildings. A parking warden was requiring them to stop and depart.

The parents’ behaviour, in front of these impressionable young kids was just appalling. He was arguing that they had “a right” to be able to skate in this prohibited area. He argued that the kids skateboards were vehicles and vehicles were not banned – the nonsense went on and on. In the end the police came.

To me, this incident epitomised everything that is wrong with society. We have brought these kids up telling them they have rights and don’t be pushed around. We have been ridiculously soft on penalties. We have encouraged them to challenge authority. Now they have kids of their own, this scary pattern is going one further. The next generation is saying to hell with authority I’m going to do exactly what I want. And you know, in this soft feely touchy climate that pervades society today, there is very little we can do about it.

The really frightening thought is that our society is clearly taking the early steps on a path that can only lead to the total breakdown of law and order. To anarchy.

Whatever happened to parents who would say to their kids, I think the bylaw is wrong, however it is a bylaw and you must obey it.

Whatever happened to parents who would say to their kids, I don’t like some of society’s rules so I am going to work hard and get myself in a position to make changes? Wouldn’t that be a better example to young kids?

Every night we hear of youths up to no good, tipping over cars, stealing, fleeing the police, attacking police. They have no respect for the rule of law.

And frankly that attitude develops when they are encouraged to skateboard where it is prohibited and then watch their father insult and abuse the officer who is charged with the responsibility of enforcing the rules.

My dear wife bless her cotton socks, has been battling a cold and laryngitis and for a singer, that’s not good. But being the generous soul that she is, she has shared her ailments with me – gosh I’m grateful.

Because tomorrow I’m MC at the opening of what I consider is a very significant addition to the service industries in Napier.

Roger Greaney, the well known proprietor of City Collision Repairs, has long had a dream of building a world class collision repair facility right here in Hawke’s Bay. And he and Linda have done it.

Now I know that the old fashion panel beaters shops are not very sexy. But this new “state of the art” facility has to be seen to be believed.

No more the dark smelly workshop down an alleyway with the air swirling with bog dust, this facility sits proudly right on the street, clean painted floors, modern dust extracting rub down booths, magnificent sealed painting booths – it is a real credit to Roger, Linda and their team.

And yet it’s more than that. It’s a symbol of the economic recovery. So many businesses have gone into their shell, refusing to spread, not employing staff. In a word, they are scared. Scared to invest capital – scared to take a risk.

And that is why I applaud Roger and Linda Greaney so loudly.

At a time when clearly we are still in recession, albeit there are signs of recovery, they have had the guts to invest in the future, to provide the high class collision repair centre Hawke’s Bay has been crying out for.

It is a symbol of confidence and confidence is what we are lacking in business right now.

Roger and Linda and their team deserve every success with this project. I’ve always said that anyone who puts their capital at risk and works hard deserves success and unquestionably Roger and Linda Greaney have put an enormous amount of capital into this project and have been working seven days a week to bring it all together.

Well done Roger, Linda, Chris and the team at City Collision Repairs.

These days the media has a huge influence on our lives and yet the media is so full of rubbish, it is difficult to sort the wit from the wisdom.

We are told that our roads are much safer now and it is all because of the continuous flow of rules and regulations imposed on drivers – rules and regulations that are making driving a chore rather than a pleasure. The fact that the automotive industry has introduced safety glass, crumple zones, collapsible steering columns, seat belts, air-bags and other safety features seems to be completely overlooked. And now we are told that reducing the tolerance for motorists exceeding the speed limit, has reduced the Queen’s Birthday weekend road toll. I would have thought that the rotten weather that kept everyone at home would have had a far greater influence. You don’t have to be very clever to work out that it is not simply speed that is the problem on our roads, it is speed related to where the car is positioned on the road. A car doing 120 clicks on the Takapau Plains is far safer than a car doing 80 clicks around a bend that should be taken at no more than 50.

If you can come up behind a car doing say 95 kilometres per hour and you pass them because you want to do 100 kilometres an hour which is the safest manoeuvre. Pulling out into the opposing lane, accelerating to 120k’s to get past quickly and return to your own side of the road as soon as possible or, sitting on the wrong side of the road for what seems an age as you crawl past the slow vehicle? I know what I prefer to do!

And talking about rubbish in the media, I wonder if you saw list MP, Stuart Nash’s comments in the HB Today last night. Talk about the old Michael Law’s trick of associating yourself with an event or events that have got nothing to do with you.

The article was real “politician speak”. It was full of, – “I would need to see” and “I would need to be”, type statements. Nash is quoted as saying that the decision to embark on an offshore drilling programme needed to be based on solid evidence surrounding the rationale for such a project.

Nowhere did he say he was for or against the project, nowhere did he say he had or hadn’t seen the things he wanted to see.

In fact, the press release was just a lame excuse for a politician to get his name and photo in the paper.

As I said earlier – the media is often full of rubbish.