The Star: June 14, 2018

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26 Thursday June 14 2018 Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi The Star Opinion Labour’s ‘broken promises’ THE BITE of winter is nipping away at us and the shorter days are setting in. With the delivery of Labour’s much anticipated Budget last month, we saw many broken promises by the Ardern-Peters’ Government. And as Parliament returns, we will continue to see the detailed reality of these broken promises as ministers appear before select committees to outline the specific funding for their departments and explain their decisions. Some committees have already met. At those meetings, we heard from Andrew Little that the Pike River re-entry is being delayed further, we learnt that Shane Jones gave $61 million to Northland from his slush fund and only $42 million to the rest of the country, and we saw Kelvin Davis incapable of answering basic questions on this Government’s tourism policy. The Budget debate you saw last month was about the overall direction of the Government. Policies were briefly outlined and MPs debated whether or not the Budget was the right or wrong direction. Spoiler alert, I thought it heads in the wrong direction. This select committee process POLICY: Nicky Wagner says the Budget showed the “overall direction of the Government”. Politics Nicky Wagner is where we will see the actual dollars and cents revealed, discussed and questioned. This is the real debate about the specific policies of this Government and where we will see what promises they have kept and broken. But we already know of the many promises they have broken. And we are now seeing a winter of strikes roll ever closer. Labour gave Jones $3 billion and a blank cheque book, and Winston Peters’ mates got a tax break for their race horses – only the pretty ones, mind you – so there is little left to fulfil the many promises they made to New Zealanders. The promises people voted for. But in spite of the broken promises, they still borrowed an additional $10 billion to prop up their spending. When in Government, National had to borrow money for crises such as the global financial crisis and the Canterbury earthquakes. Labour has borrowed money to pay off Peters. And as winter rolls on, there are more strikes planned and people are still waiting for the winter energy payments promised for May 1. These are the cold and painful consequences of this budget of broken promises, the details of which will be on display over the coming fortnight. •Wagner is a National list MP for Christchurch Central and spokeswoman for Greater Christchurch Regeneration CONCERTS: Horncastle Arena is in a bidding war for events. •From page 25 After seven years, I can tell you that I no longer make the trip there due to the substandard facilities for a sportingproud province. Thirdly, Mr Smith deludes himself if he thinks people will accept inconvenient travel schedules (sometimes lasting two/three days just to get to Dunedin) to a city where the dearth of accommodation is, at best, hopeless and, at worst, appalling. Fourthly, the stadium in Christchurch ought to have been near completion by now but various central/local government entities reshuffled the priority list for facilities. The stadium is an anchor project and should have been in the top five desired facilities accordingly. I think it is fair to say that the city has an abundance of creative/ arts areas and with the pool and athletics venues just recently coming on line. It is the stark absence of the new stadium that highlights the flaw in priorities. •Turn to page 27 City’s first mayor elected 150 years ago IT WAS on June 10, 1868, 150 years ago that the first mayor of Christchurch was elected. Christchurch city had been formed into a borough council under the Municipal Corporations Act. Up until that time, the town council had had a chairman (since 1862). THe Lyttelton Times, which reported the election of Mr William Wilson as mayor, quoted him as saying that the feeling of pride and gratitude he had felt as chairman was greatly enhanced by their electing him as the first mayor of the city of Christchurch. He said he was gratified that he was surrounded by a ‘very excellent, intelligent, hardworking and industrious Mayor Lianne Dalziel council’ and that he would have been unable to effect much good without their counsel and assistance. THe first meeting of the Christchurch Borough Council followed his election, and I note that at the time the council’s bank balance was £211, 9s and 5p. One hundred and fifty years is a significant anniversary and I thank the Canterbury History Foundation for marking this event by presenting a series of four Friday lunchtime lectures to be held at noon in the Function Room, level 1, Te Hononga Civic Offices, Hereford St, as follows: June 15: John Cookson – Independent Christchurch: The Era of Local Self-Government- 1868-1940. June 22: Geoff Rice – Healthy Christchurch: The Quiet Revolution in Public Health, 1870-1910 June 29: Lyndon Fraser – Destination Christchurch: 150 Years of Migration. July 6: Te Maire Tau – Ngai Tahu in the City. •If you want to ask Ms Dalziel a question, email mayor@ccc.govt.nz. Put Reader’s Question in the subject line Preferred repairer and service agent for all major warranty repair companies We service and repair most European vehicles namely Audi, BMW, Land Rover/Range Rover and VW and also Diagnostic Scanners for most other makes and models. MT automotive MT automotive 2/36 Birmingham Drive, Middleton, ChCh Phone: 03 338 8777 Open: Mon to Fri 8am-6pm and Sat 9am-3pm
The Star Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi Thursday June 14 2018 27 HORNCASTLE ARENA June 29 - July 1 10AM - 5PM TICKETS ONLINE: starhomeshow.kiwi •From page 26 Fifthly, the city council deserves an upper cut for spending money on the repair of the town hall. As someone who likes the town hall, I was still surprised that the council decided to proceed with it – the money could have been diverted to the stadium (there is a giant monolith being constructed in the central city that will cater for inside events – although to be fair the town hall is being built with the acoustic experience at the forefront). Finally, I note Mr Smith lives in Dunedin and the conclusion he makes is hardly startling for a Dunedinite. This is a city that declined a modern hotel and an extension to its runway at the airport – decisions which, if approved, would’ve cost the ratepayers nothing. By the way, I am an unashamed supporter of the East Lake project and I have yet to encounter anyone who is vehemently opposed to it. I fear Regenerate Christchurch is obsessed with ‘back to nature’ themes and there seems to be a feeling that it thinks we all want to wander in joyous bliss around neverending wetlands. Nature has been tough on us if you hadn’t noticed, and so I move we reclaim some human activities that require man-made facilities. Graham Woolstencroft – A great article and you said it well, user pays. Lindsay Sole – Why aren’t the insurance companies paying for a new stadium, or was the old one not insured? The city council could take a pay cut and fund it as it will make the most money out of it. Jaed During – Well written. Someone who has thought things through is like a breath of fresh air. Claudia Oxford-Gonzalez – Great article and some fantastic ideas. I love rugby and remember COMPETITION: Dunedin’s Forsyth Barr Stadium competes with venues in Christchurch for major events. when afternoon games were the thing. AMI Stadium is packed with families when afternoon games are on. It irks me when I see South Africa still having their afternoon games. Rugby and broadcasting needs to have a rethink on this one. Love the idea of making Horncastle Arena bigger. Nicholas Smeaton – Thank-you. Finally an article that asks the important questions and runs through some of the possible scenarios, something that the ‘newspaper of the year’ has proven unwilling to do. Andrew Johnson – To hell with the rugby. I’m just sick to death of having to travel to Dunedin, Auckland or Wellington for concerts. Readers respond to an article about a lack of students cycling to school Hanna Krause – I enjoyed your article about student cyclists in The Star. But couldn’t resist mailing in because I think Dr (Jillian) Frater is overlooking something glaringly obvious. Hello, school uniforms? With skirts, you either need a step-through frame and spoke protectors for long skirts (seriously dorky, if the girl even has access to one) or with a short skirt you risk flashing your bits. Come on New Zealand, it’s 2018, not 1918, where are the pants? M Houghton – Regarding the story ‘Number of Young Cyclists Dwindling’, page 6, Thursday, June 7. Isn’t it unfortunate that the study quoted in your story was not used prior to the costly installation of all the cycle lanes as the study seems to show that cycling is not a growing means of transport for the future. You would like to think our city council staff and elected representatives would use all the info out there before making their decisions on our behalf, especially when they prove to be so costly. I don’t think the consultants would be so onesided with their plans if they were paying for their decisions, rather than ratepayers. The cycle lanes benefit a “dwindling” mode of transport. However, they disadvantage ratepayers, road side parking and cause congested traffic flows. I believe some of these poor decision-makers need to “fall on their sword” and rapidly move on. DECREASING: Henry Harrison bikes to Christchurch Boys’ High School from his home in the central city every day. He is one of the dwindling number of students who cycle to school, according to new research. Percentage of children who cycled to school JUST LISTED! Trademe Listing #:1651874218 • Considerable opportunity exists to grow this business further • Great opportunity to be your own boss. • Very profitable with long term lease in place. • Gross Profit Margin approaching 40% • No experience required. • Fantastic, knowledgeable staff already in place. 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The Star: June 14, 2018

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