The Star: November 14, 2019

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The Star Thursday November 14 2019 Spring into Cash. 14 NEWS Councillor salary vote next month • By Louis Day CITY COUNCILLORS will vote on the size of their pay packets next month. Mayor Lianne Dalziel (right) is already guaranteed an increase before the vote. She will receive at least $195,000 – a $1000 rise from the $194,000 she was paid last term. But the new councillors will receive a minimum base salary of $97,280 – $5120 less than what the role paid last term. However, councillors’ salaries could increase when they vote on the allocation of a $1,843,200 governance pool. The pool can be used to increase the base salaries of councillors and additional pay may be allocated to roles with extra responsibilities, such as the mayor, deputy mayor or chairs and deputy chairs of committees. The vote will take place during the city council’s meeting on December 12. The councillors and Ms Dalziel will vote on the allocation of the pool and make a recommendation to the Remuneration Authority, which has the final say on their salaries. The entire pool has to be used on council-related remuneration. 15K MUST go every week! at Christchurch Casino Thu $10K Fri $5k free to enter To enter, receive a free wristband when you visit on Thursdays & Fridays. Winners must be present. T’s & C’s apply. 0800 casino | 30 victoria st • By Louis Day A POLICY which has divided opinion around the city council table in the past will return for debate in the new year. The policy forces councillors acting as directors of council-owned companies to donate their director’s fees to council funds, such as the Mayor’s welfare fund and the innovation and sustainability fund. The policy only applies to councillors on the Christchurch NZ and Christchurch City Holdings Ltd boards. It was introduced to the city council in 2013. The policy was adopted last term to the disapproval of former city councillor David East and now fourth-term city councillor James Gough, with Cr East labelling it “revolting.” City councillors are currently paid $97,280 a year. City councillor directors could receive up to $57,000 if remunerated for the role. Cr Gough, a member of rightleaning political group Independent Citizens, saw the policy as “bizarre.” “This additional work and liability would see some directors remunerated but others not when they are both expected to do the same work and take on the same liability,” he said. “I believe it’s nothing more than a touchy-feely political decision that was largely made by people who do not fully comprehend what corporate governance actually is.” Cr Gough’s two Independent Citizens allies Sam MacDonald and Catherine Chu shared his sentiments. Cr MacDonald said it wasn’t about the money, but the recognition. “In my view when you have got billions of dollars in assets and all that risk, I think there should be some form of compensation,” he said. Cr Chu thought councillors should be paid for the role and said remuneration would play a part in attracting quality candidates. Independent councillor Aaron Keown said the policy was not something he believed in. However, Deputy Mayor and caucus leader of Labour aligned political group The People’s Choice Andrew Turner thought city councillors were already paid a “decent salary.” “The thinking behind the policy is that directors’ fees that are paid to councillors for work that they do as part of their job as being a councillor, so it would be reasonable that those directors fees are not •HAVE YOUR SAY: Do you think city councillors should be paid director’s fees on top of their $97,280 salary? Email your views to louis.day@ starmedia.kiwi Policy over director’s fees up for debate James Gough Andrew Turner pocketed by them as councillors,” he said. The People’s Choice has seven out of 16 councillors around the city council table. Cr Turner expected all seven councillors to share his views on the policy. “It has been my view in the past and it has always been The People’s Choice view.” The policy also has the support of Mayor Lianne Dalziel. “It is part of a councillors role to undertake these different roles and it isn’t right that those who happen to serve on the few boards that pay fees get more remuneration than their colleagues who serve on boards and committees that don’t pay fees,” she said. Independent councillors, James Daniels, Phil Mauger, Sara Templeton and Mike Davidson also told The Star they supported the policy.
Thursday November 14 2019 The Star 15 PAID CONTENT Leap Forward of Tibet in the Past 60 Years China’s Tibetan Autonomous region is regarded as the “third pole” or “roof of the world”. During the past six decades since the democratic reform took place, Tibet has transitioned from a backward theocracy to remarkable civility and progress, achieving a great leap forward. Facts and Figures Tibet’s population has grown from 1.23 million in 1959 to 3.44 million in 2018, and the life expectancy of the people in Tibet increased to 68.2 years from 35.5 years before 1959, with Tibetans making up over 90 percent of the total. Tibet’s GDP posted double-digit growth for 25 consecutive years as of 2017. Its 2018 GDP reached 147.76 billion RMB yuan (22 billion U.S. dollars), about 191 times more than the 1959 figure. Social Reform For centuries Tibet was ruled by theoretical feudal elites. Millions of serfs were subjected to exploitation and oppression before democratic reform was launched in 1959. In the old Tibet, government officials, nobles, and upperranking lamas in monasteries retained a dominant social status and all levels of officials came from the families of high-ranking lamas and nobles. Their serfs, who constituted the vast majority of the Tibetan society, struggled on the very bottom rung of society. The peaceful liberation of old Tibet in 1951 ended Tibet’s feudal land ownership, and the long-lasting chaos and stagnation. In 1959, one million serfs gained personal freedom. Tibet has now established a modern industrial system covering over 20 sectors, including energy, construction materials, machinery, mining, light industry, food processing, ethnic handicrafts, and Tibetan medicine. Tibet’s industrial added value increased from 15 million RMB yuan in 1959 to 11.45 billion RMB yuan in 2018. The share of secondary industry rose to 42.5 percent and the share of tertiary industry increased to 48.7 percent. The tourism industry is thriving. In 2018, Tibet received 33,687,300 tourist visits, with a total tourism revenue of 49.01 billion RMB yuan. Tibet has become an international tourist destination. Trade logistics, banking, insurance, e-commerce, logistics, and other new forms of industry have grown fast and become new sources of growth. Improvement in Infrastructure Tibet had no proper highways before its liberation in 1951. By the end of 2018, Tibet had 97,800 km of highway, 660 km of which were high-grade highways. All counties in Tibet had access to highways. Tibet now has five airports and 92 domestic and international air routes in operation. Before 1951, Tibet had only one 125-kw hydropower station. A comprehensive energy network is now in place, with hydro power as the mainstay, and supplemented by oil, natural gas and renewable energy. The power supply in Tibet has been grid-connected with those in Qinghai and Sichuan provinces. Tibet’s urban heating system has also been greatly improved. By the end of 2018, Tibet’s power grid had extended to 62 counties (districts), supplying electricity to a population of 2.72 million. Raised living standards Over the last six decades, the living standards of all ethnic peoples in Tibet have been improved. Great efforts have been made to complete housing projects for low-income farmers and herdsmen, renovation and reinforcement of dilapidated houses, improvement of rural living conditions, resettlement of impoverished people from places of harsh natural conditions, affordable housing projects, and the transformation of shanty towns, to ensure that all rural and urban people in Tibet have safe and comfortable homes. The broadband access rate of administrative villages has reached 85 percent, with full mobile phone signal coverage. Modern consumer durables are growing in popularity. Refrigerators, TVs, washing machines, computers, mobile phones and cars have become commonplace. Local radio, television, telecommunications and internet as modern communication tools are developing at the same pace as the rest of China and the wider world, and becoming an important part of daily life. Significant progress has been made in protecting cultural relics. The state and Tibet Autonomous Region have invested more than 5 billion RMB yuan ($744.6 million) in the renovation of 55 sites under state protection and 616 sites under regional protection. Tibetan opera, Gesar, Lum medicinal bathing of Sowa Rigpa have been included in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List. Solid progress in education In old Tibet, education was largely the preserve of the privileged aristocracy. The serfs who made up 95 percent of the population were not entitled to education, resulting in an illiteracy rate surpassing 95 percent among young people. A modern and comprehensive education system is now in place in Tibet, including preschool education, basic education, vocational technical education, higher education, continual education, and special education. All people in Tibet have a right to education that is fully protected. By 2017, Tibet had 1,239 kindergartens, 806 primary schools, 132 middle schools and seven institutions of higher learning. The number of graduates from these schools has increased from 18,000 in 1959 to over 530,000 today. From 2012, Tibet has implemented the policy across the board for 15-year compulsory education. In 2018, the net enrolment rate in primary school was 99.5 percent, and gross enrolment rates in junior high, senior high and higher education were 99.5, 82.3 and 39.2 percent respectively. Strengthening effort in ecological protection Situated at the heart of the Earth’s “Third Pole”, Tibet plays a strategic role in maintaining the global ecological balance by protecting its plateau ecology. In 1975 the government of the Tibet Autonomous Region established a leading group on environmental protection, and has since then issued a series of local regulations, including the Regulations of the Tibet Autonomous Region for Environmental Protection, Regulations of the Tibet Autonomous Region on the Prevention and Control of Atmospheric Pollution. Fundamental change in economic structure Through 60 years of hard work since 1959, agriculture and animal husbandry in Tibet is steadily modernizing. The added value of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, fisheries and related service industries rose from 128 million RMB yuan in 1959 to 13.41 billion RMB yuan in 2018. Flourishing cultural undertakings Over the past 60 years, cultural centers and cinemas have been set up in Lhasa and other cities. There are song and dance ensembles, Tibetan opera troupes, and drama troupes at the autonomous region level; folk art troupes at the prefecture level, 75 art troupes at the county level, and 2,400 amateur art groups at the township level. Some performing art works such as the outdoor live stage show Princess Wencheng, and the musicals Searching for Shambala have become well-known calling cards of Tibetan tourism. Currently, almost all cities (prefectures) have public libraries. Counties have comprehensive cultural centers, towns have cultural service centers, and administrative villages have cultural centers, libraries and projector rooms. The Tibetan language is protected by the law and develops smoothly, and all official documents and public notices released by people’s governments at all levels and their subordinate departments are published in both Tibetan and Chinese. This advertorial is paid for by the Chinese Consulate This advertorial page is supported by The Chinese Consulate All of these have provided a legal basis for developing nature and wetland reserves, protecting wild fauna and flora, conserving and managing water resources, conserving water and soil, preventing and controlling desertification, returning farmland and pastureland to woods and grassland, and protecting grassland ecology. Tibet has initiated a series of environmental protection projects, including the comprehensive control of drainage basins, improvement of the living environment of rural and urban residents, the prevention and control of pollution caused by industry and mining, the comprehensive control of construction linking rivers, lakes and reservoirs, and a piloted water ecology project in Nagqu City, effectively protecting the clear waters and blue skies of Tibet. Since 2010, the autonomous region has spent more than 6 billion RMB yuan to improve the living environment and the overall environment in 6,223 villages, with positive results. Currently 95.7 percent of key waters have reached the national water standards, 97.5 percent of days are rated as “excellent” or “good” in terms of air quality.
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The Star: November 14, 2019

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