Indian Newslink July 15 Digital Edition

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JULY 15, 2016 02 HOMELINK Vigilance against diminution of standards imperative Sir Anand Satyanand Many contemporary descriptions of Aotearoa New Zealand focus on the country’s natural beauty, its remoteness and what is thought to be the friendly character of its people. These all add up to presentation of a country which is pleasant to visit as well as to live within. At another level, our country has enjoyed a long unbroken strand of continuing democracy and an electoral system, now in place for 20 years that ensures participation by minority groupings. There is an approach exhibited here towards the indigenous Maori population that is characterised by partnership rather than conquest. All of these above factors tend to push to the background the pervading importance of a sound financial system, which can sometimes be taken for granted. Reserve Bank tasks For the past 80 years, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) has husbanded the task of keeping the economy stable and people’s faith in it constant. In the past 30 years, successive governments have provided the RBNZ with sufficient powers and tools to ensure that it maintains stability of prices and control over inflation. It is a matter of general knowledge in the community that every few weeks, in fact seven times per year, there will be an announcement by the Bank expressing and settling the Official Cash Rate. This is the interest rate set by the Reserve Bank to meet the inflation target that has been specified in the agreement it has with the government of the day. The rate influences more generally the price of borrowing money in New Zealand and thus enables the RBNZ to influence the level of economic activity and inflation. Added to this, the Reserve Bank has supervisory powers over operation of companies undertaking business in banking, insurance and dealing in finance. Financial Architecture It can be said that governments need to provide the architecture within which business can function. It can also be said that mechanisms like the Reserve Bank ensure distance between the two, but also control and sanction when either of the latter is called for. In any examination of governance, it is important to see that the institutions are stable and can withstand scrutiny for understandable and fair practices. The confidence of the business community and the faith of the public depend on this scrutiny being thorough. New Zealand has developed over time, and in particular during the past 20 years, an internationally respected reputation for accountability and transparency of institutions which has ensured, for example, a prominent and positive placement on the Corruption Perception Index of Transparency International, published since 1993. In a relatively small country, comprising 268,000 square kilometres and housing 4.6 million people with a small economy, a GDP generating $240 billion, this has required continued activity by a number of players. Empowering Legislation Parliament has its part to play with empowering legislation and the ability to conduct inquiries. The Courts provide recourse for criminal breaches to be prosecuted or for civil claims to be pursued. Supervisory agencies such as the Ombudsman and the Auditor General are accessible to the public for complaints about maladministration and wrongdoing to be brought to account. The press plays an important role in bringing to light things which are inadequate or have gone wrong. There can be no guarantee of Sir Anand Satyanand is former Governor General of New Zealand (August 2006 to August 2011) in whose name we conduct the Indian Newslink Sir Anand Satyanand Lecture every year. He is currently Chairman of the Commonwealth Foundation, London. The Sixth Annual Indian Newslink Sir Anand Satyanand Lecture will be held on Monday, July 25, 2016 at Pullman Hotel Auckland. Reserve Bank of New Zealand Governor Graeme Wheeler will be the Guest Speaker with Victoria continuance and there has to be maintained an ongoing attitude of vigilance against diminution of standards. Money laundering and illegal practices can flower easily if this vigilance is not maintained. Central in all of this, is the positioning of suitably skilled and fearless holders of public office to make sure that standards are maintained. Our country is currently well regarded for operating on free market principles in an open way which provide pathways for an agriculture based export industry supported by manufacturing, technology and services. Long may all this continue. University (Wellington) Professor Sekhar Bandyopadhyay as Master of Ceremonies and Business Journalist Rod Oram as the Summation Speaker. The formal, Black Tie event includes Cocktails (from 630 pm to 730 pm), Dinner and Speeches. Tickets priced at $150 plus GST per person (tables seating ten persons at $1500 plus GST) are available. For registration and more information Please call (09) 3910203 or (09) 5336377 Email: editor@indiannewslink.co.nz KIRKBRIDE WEST KEY Closed lanes/ construction area Shared Path Pedestrian access SH20A – NORTHBOUND No right turn into Kirkbride/ MasseyRd No right turn into SH20A Northbound No right turn into SH20A Southbound To City SH20A – SOUTHBOUND MANGERE CENTRAL SCHOOL N Why do professional painters choose Resene? 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SH20A – NORTHBOUND To Airport SH20A – SOUTHBOUND HOUSE PARK KIRKBRIDE EAST 0800 RESENE(737 363) www.resene.co.nz ROAD LAYOUT CHANGES AT SH20A/KIRKBRIDEROAD • Citybound laneswill changeposition on SH20Afrom18July until mid-2017 • Turning restrictions will be in placeincluding no rightturn intoKirkbride Road if travelling citybound from the airport–please use signposted detours • Leftturn intoKirkbride Road if travelling citybound from the airportwill be reopened • Takecarewhile travellingthroughthe intersectionasthe road layout has changed • For current travel times to and from theairport, visit www.drivelive.nz/AKL *Work is weather dependent and will go ahead on the next availableday if postponed Phone 0508 6982742 www.nzta.govt.nz/sh20a-to-airport MHXIN02 Mortgage Brokers Insurance Brokers Accountants Property Managers SERVICES Professional Financial Solutions provides the best advice on all financial matters - Home Loans, Business Loans - Property Management - Business & Commercial Insurance -Life/Trauma/Medical Insurance -Redundancy/Mortgage Protection Insurance -Rental Property Returns/LTC setup -Small Business Tax Returns -Information on Wills and Trusts HEAD OFFICE 35 Morningside Drive, St. Lukes Mt. 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JULY 15, 2016 HOMELINK Questions that need to arrest police attention Phil Goff Time and again I have heard the argument that cuts in police resourcing are not important because crime is coming down. It was always a poor justification for cutting police funding and not growing police numbers in line with Auckland’s rapidly growing population. However, even the police figures that the government once relied on to say crime was coming down, now show the opposite. Police figures for year-on-year movement in crime released last month show crime figures up in almost all categories. More burglaries Take burglaries for example. Across New Zealand, burglaries went up from 57,921 in the year to May 2015 to 65,760 in the year to May 2016, a rise of 5839 or 13.5%. That is a big rise in just a year. The worst figures were in Counties- Manukau where burglaries went up 18.8%, robberies rose 17% and assaults by more than 21%. In the Auckland City Police District, serious assaults were up 22% and in Waitemata burglaries rose 8.55% and sexual assaults 7.1%. Confronted with these figures, Police Commissioner Mike Bush disturbingly described the figures as a ‘small rise’ at the Law and Order Committee. Police Minister Judith Collins, avoided answering questions around this, on the reductions in funding for Police and on the lower ratio of police officers to population. I got the numbers from written questions that I submitted to the Police Minister. Hard questions I asked the Minister, “What has been the increase in Police numbers in the three Auckland Police Districts over the last four years and is this increase proportionate to the rise in the city’s population?’ Her answer was, “The growth in police constabulary numbers over the five years, 2012 to 2016 inclusive, was just five! That is one extra police officer a year across Auckland, the population of which, over the same period of time, had increased by more than 160,000. The second question was, “In which of the last four years, if any, have budget increases for Vote Police exceeded increases in the real level of costs facing the Police including the cost of extra responsibilities imposed on them?’ The answer: “The only year in which the increase was more than the Consumer Price Index was 2014-2015.” In other words, the Police budget has gone down in real terms in three of the last four years. The Police budget has not just been frozen, it has been cut. Other posers That led me to raise other obvious questions. Is it a lack of resources that means that across the three Auckland police districts, the crime resolution rate averages less than 8% and that 92% of criminals committing burglaries get away with it? ● First home ● Investment property ● Residential or Commercial ● Building /Extending /Renovating ● Re-finance /Restructure Rakesh Bansal ● Buying an Apartment ● Low deposit ● Self employed ● Business Loan ● Property Development For all your home loan and insurance needs talk to us... ex Bank Manager with over 30 years experience 03 They tried to avoid answering it but the answer is obvious. As police resources have been cut, each year, their ability to solve crimes has got worse. Burglaries are the most common crime facing our community. The biggest deterrent to people thinking of committing this crime is the fear of being caught. They do not have this fear. The second follow-up question was with fewer resources and a bigger population; “Why, people robbed of their cell phones who then use an app to track down where the phones are, cannot get police help to recover them? Is that why when information identifying burglars and thieves are given to police which would enable them to be caught and convicted often are just not followed up? I got no answer to this but I have now written again to the Police Commissioner giving actual examples of these things happening and asked for an explanation. When I get a reply from him, I will be happy to share it with Indian Newslink readers. We deserve a better response to our safety and security concerns than we are getting now. Phil Goff is a Mayoral candidate for Auckland City. 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