Newslink July 15 Digital Edition 2020

The English Fortnightly (Since November 1999)
Issue 442 | July 15, 2020 | Free
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The exit of Todd Muller as the
Leader of the National Party had
a rippling effect among the frontbenchers
across the treasury in
Parliament, but the hoo-ha died down as
quickly as it rose; in fact, it was so shortlived
that it went almost unnoticed.
Judith Collins, who emerged as the
Leader last night (July 14, 2020) was
perhaps a candidate of convenience and
an antidote to the smote that National
had suffered. She was in effect the instrument
of painless change, orchestrating
a move which could have otherwise
caused ruptures.
Clearly, the Nats cannot afford another
division.
For all the smear campaigns that he
suffered during the last days in office,
Mr Muller may not have been directly
responsible for the implosion, but some
of his own colleagues in the National
Caucus did things that were unforgivable.
Leaking names of Covid-19 patients
to the media and scaremongering the
public with unsubstantiated accusations
were distasteful.
Even as people were worried about
their own health and the risk of Covid-19
spreading, the National Party leadership
and some MPs have been taking cudgels
against Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
and the government for their translucency,
without realising the glasshouse
effect.
Keeping the government under
pressure
They were too willing to have a
go at all their political opponents,
interrogating their honesty and integrity,
without realising that they may one day
be ensnared in their own words.
But arguably, it is the opposition’s call
to keep the government under check and
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Venkat Raman
Would you like to meet our
Prime Minister Jacinda
Ardern and ask her a
question or two?
And/or take photographs with her
and other leaders about who you read
and hear?
Are you keen to engage with men
and women who practice principles
of Good Governance?
You could have your wish/es
fulfilled at the Tenth Annual Indian
Newslink Lecture scheduled to be
held on Thursday, August 6, 2020
from 630 pm at Mahatma Gandhi
Centre, 145 New North Road, Eden
Terrace, Central Auckland.
Other Leaders
Attorney General and Minister
for Trade and Export Growth David
Parker will be the Master of Ceremonies
and Immigration, Workplace
Relations & Safety Minister Iain
Lees-Galloway will deliver the Welcome
Address. National Party Finance
Spokesperson Paul Goldsmith will
provide his ‘Reflections’ of the Lecture
and former Labour MP Dr Rajen
Prasad will provide the Concluding
Remarks.
About Jacinda Ardern
The world welcomed Ms Ardern
(in October 2017), not only as one of
the youngest Prime Ministers that
it has ever produced but also as the
youngest female Prime Minister– she
is certainly the youngest Prime
Minister of New Zealand in 161
years- just 52 days older to Edward
Stafford who became Prime Minister
on June 2, 1856.
She is the second elected female
Prime Minister after Helen Clarkboth
from Labour. Jenny Shipley, who
was the country’s first female Prime
Minister (1997-1999) was a List MP of
the National Party.
Strong social focus
Like her predecessor Bill English,
Shyama Sharma
Barrister and Solicitor
LLB/ DBM/ BA( Hons)
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Indian Business Awards 2018
Winner
Supreme Business of the Year
Business Excellence in
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Best Employer of Choice
Best Medium-Sized Business
Ashima Singh, Winner of the
Best Businesswoman of the year 2016
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Hard-hitting Judith Collins should avoid polarisation
Venkat Raman
Judith Collins
pressure, giving the ministers a run for
their policies and even the money they
earn.
The Nats have done their job well on
that score; but in terms of enunciating
policies and programmes and readiness
to take over the mantle of governance
should there be a need, they have thus
far failed to impress.
Although thrillingly effective in
the gladiatorial arena of the debating
chamber in Parliament and, from
Collins’ point of view, a welcome
endorsement of her leadership credentials,
Mr Muller’s imagery seemed less
well-judged this week.
A look at the past
We are reminded of the scene about
15 years ago in which Dr Don Brash,
John Key and Bill English were important
players. Mr Key had looked rattled
at the time. But he and his team quickly
realised that the picture conjured up
by some senior members of the Party
Caucus of Bill English lumbering after
his sprightlier rival intent on smashing
in his head, was a gift.
Almost as problematic was the
general depiction of Mr Muller as a
lightweight who peddles sunshine and
hope without ever having ‘taken a tough
decision’ in his life.
Although designed to contrast him
not just with Dr Brash, Mr Key or Mr
English but with the grizzled veterans
within and without, Mr Muller had
made truth psychologically more
complex.
Dr Don Brash with John Key in 2006
Mr Muller’s downfall
Ms Collins may have seen in Mr Muller
some of the callowness that he now
despises in his role as the Party Leaderthat
earlier self whose optimism
and inexperience contributed to the
frittering away of the Party’s chances in
the ensuring General Election.
As it happens, despite the dearth of
policies, there is nothing insubstantial
about the way in which Mr Muller prepared
himself to take on his opponents,
not the least from within his own camp.
The somewhat successful first few
days of his leadership, which was all
about changing perceptions of the Party,
began to merge into the next.
The National Party is clearly at
crossroads now. Time will tell whether
it move forward or even stay put. But
chances are that Ms Collins will steer
ahead, keeping to the centre.
Please read our Leader, ‘Muller was never
as lonely as one’s Tod’ under Viewlink on
Page 12.
Meet and question Jacinda Ardern
At the Tenth Annual INL Lecture on August 6, 2020
Jacinda Ardern at the INL Business Awards on
November 27, 2017 (INL Photo by Narendra Bedekar)
Ms Ardern shuns ostentation, although
she must get used to be under the
limelight all the time. But she proved
her essence on Day One.
Instead of a chauffeur-driven
Limousine, Ms Ardern chose to ride in
a bus with her ministerial colleagues to
the Government House to be sworn in
on Thursday, October 26.
We have known her since she entered
Parliament. It was in November 2008
when her Party suffered a stunning and
humiliating defeat, forcing Helen Clark
to step down from the leadership of
Labour and eventually quit Parliament
to undertake an equally challenging job
as the Administrator of UNDP.
About INL Lecture Series
The Indian Newslink Sir Anand
Satyanand Lecture was instituted in
2011, subscribing to the broad theme of
Good Governance, with Honesty, Integrity,
Accountability and Transparency
as its core principles. The Series has
been rebranded this year but would
continue to feature topics of interest to
those in governance roles, those on the
growth path of their career and to chief
executives and other decision-makers.
Tickets for this exclusive event,
priced at $172.50 (including GST)
and tables seating 10 persons each at
$1725 (including GST) are available.
Please call 021-836528 or email
venkat@indiannewslink.co.nz

02
JULY 15, 2020
Homelink
New Zealanders should debate on bicameral legislature
Balaji Chandramohan
As the election debates
pick up in New Zealand
and the United States, it is
appropriate to discuss how
democratic values are upheld and
how the game is played by the parties
and candidates concerned.
In any functioning democracy,
there must be a perfect balance
between Legislature, Executive and
Judiciary for a perfect symphony.
Such a symphony would be possible
only if elections are conducted periodically
in a free and fair manner while
the system is truly representative.
Distinct styles of democracy
Countries which follow Westminster
style of democracy such as India,
Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Canada,
and Cook Islands have their own
distinct style of how representatives
are elected for their legislatures.
India and Cook Islands follow
simple First Past Post System (FPP)
whereas New Zealand opted for the
complex Mixed Member Proportion
System.
India, with a vast electorate follows
FPP for its 543 seats in the Lower
House (Lok Sabha) of Parliament,
and Cook Islands, with just 24
members, elects representative from
a single-member constituencies.
One of the important debates on
FPP in the Westminster system was
held in 2010 in the lead up and after
the British General elections.
As an extension of the compromise
New Zealand Parliament today
The last meeting of the Legislative Council (Upper House) in
December 1950 (Alexander Turnbull Library)
reached between the Conservatives and Liberals,
a Referendum on FPP and the Alternative Voting
System (AVS) was mooted.
Arguments for FPP
As predicted, 68% of those who took part in the
Referendum said no to AVS and preferred happy
to have the current status quo with a no to the AVS.
The argument in favour of FPP, claimed to be the
second most widely used system in the world, is that
it is simple, easy to understand, relatively cheaper
to administer, does not take long to count votes and
produces a clear winner.
The AVS comes with its negatives.
As Britain’s war-time Prime Minister Sir Winston
Churchill said, “AVS allows democracy to be determined
by the most worthless votes given for the most
worthless candidates.”
People are against FPP say that it leads to ‘elected
dictatorship.’
Post- World War II democratic
regimes including the USA and
UK wanted to retain maximum
power with the Executive which
was to form much of the policies
during the World War II.
This knowledge was passed
on to other democratic countries
such as New Zealand, Canada,
and India, each making changes
to suit their political and social
environment.
In this context, the FPP also
makes more sense for an Executive,
which at times prevails over
the Legislature when a larger
party starts to maintain the
status quo in the relationship.
In many ways, the system
also removes active inter-party
democracy as manifested in the
case of India or Cook Islands.
With no list Members of
Parliament, this does not augur
well for multicultural societies.
The New Zealand system
Every electoral system comes
with its positives and negatives;
however the country in which
the electoral system is followed
needs to be understood.
In New Zealand, it is difficult
to know where the people stand.
From 1914 to 1996, when the
FPP was the system, two major
parties dominated the political
spectrum- National and Labour.
Since the advent of the
MMP system, fringe parties
started dominating the political
spectrum.
On the other hand, critics
of MMP in New Zealand have
dismissed it as “more meddlesome
parties,” holding National
and Labour to ransom on some
issues.
However, it is not the fringe
party’s domination which is
more important.
With New Zealand being an
immigrant receptive society with
more immigration likely to be
from Asian societies than from
Europe, coupled with the fact
that it will also an increasing
number of Pacific Islanders, not
to forget Maori.
It is important for these
societies to finding voices representing
them in the political
process.
New Zealand saw the vagaries
of FPP in the 1978 and 1981
general elections. While Labour
won more votes than National,
the latter could muster more
seats in the Parliament and
remain in power.
The scene in the 1950s
If New Zealand returns to FPP,
debates for an Upper House to
control the legislature will start
again.
Earlier, proposals were mooted
in New Zealand as it wanted
to have a second chamber
balancing the problems related
to the FPP.
The Sidney Holland National
Government (December 13, 1949
to September 20, 1957) set up a
Constitutional Reform Committee
in September 1950 (following
the abolition of the Upper House)
to consider an alternative second
chamber.
Chaired by National Leader
Ronald Algie, the Committee
recommended a nominated Senate
with 32 members appointed
by leaders of the parties in the
House of Representatives, in
accordance with their strength.
The Senators were to serve three
year-terms, and be eligible for
reappointment.
The Senate would have the
power to revise, initiate or delay
legislation, to hear petitions,
and scrutinise regulations and
Orders.
But the proposals were rejected
by both by the then Prime
Minister and the Labour Party
in opposition. It took another 40
years until Jim Bolger’s National
Government proposed the establishment
of a directly elected
Senate along with the electoral
reforms.
Electoral Reforms
A Bill was drafted, envisaging
that the Senate would have 30
members, elected by Single
Transferable Vote (STV) from
New Zealand’s six districts.
It did not see the light of the
day and New Zealand decided to
opt for MMP instead of the STV
and in hindsight, it is understood
that New Zealand will debate on
the need for the Upper House
sometime in the future.
Democracy may not be the
perfect form of governance but
the alternative not good.
In a similar vein, no system of
electoral system may be perfect,
but it should reflect the will of a
majority of the population.
Balaji Chandramohan is our Correspondent
based in New Delhi, India.
Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi
National List MPbased
in
Manukau East
Contact
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JULY 15, 2020
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Homelink
Public anger over rising number of escapees from isolation
National Party and Grey Power call for tough
measures; Indian community says name and shame
Venkat Raman
The National Party is
right in saying that the
increasing number of new
arrivals from overseas
escaping from the isolation
facilities is putting all other New
Zealanders to health risk.
There have been four instances
this week, which have angered all
sections of the population.
Irresponsible and selfish
the first was a person from
India who left the Stamford Plaza
Hotel to visit a nearby supermarket,
the second was a man from
the UK who escaped from Sudima
Hotel Rotorua and the third
was a 50-year-old man who cut
through a fence to break out of an
isolation facility in Hamilton.
The fourth was a man who
fled from Waipuna Hotel in Mt
Wellington in Auckland.
All of them face charges of
breaching the provisions of the
Covid-19 Public Health Response
Act and can face a prison term up
to six months or a fine of $4000.
And there have been cases
of people who were officially
allowed to go out of their facilities
to attend to their ailing relatives
or funerals.
National attacks government
National Party MP Spokesperson
for Covid Recovery Amy
Adams said that New Zealanders
had the right to expect the
government to contain people
from getting out of quarantine
facilities.
She criticised the government
as inept.
Amy Adams, National Party Spokesperson
for Covid-Recovery (Facebook)
Waipuna Hotel in Mt Wellington,
Auckland from where a person
escaped on July 10 (Google Maps)
“It should not be beyond the
capacity of the government and
public service to do that. It is a
failure from the top down and
despite repeated assurances that
they are on it and things will be
different, now this stuff keeps
happening,” she said.
Ms Adams called for a zero tolerance
approach to any chance
of public contamination from
any New Zealander returning
from overseas.
“We need to do whatever security
and whatever restrictions
are required,” she said.
Old and vulnerable at risk
Grey Power President Mac
Welch has been quoted by
Radio New Zealand as saying
that he and his organisation
were enraged by the ‘stupid
and dangerous behaviour’ of
people fleeing managed isolation
facilities.
Describing the conduct of
the escapees as ‘shocking,’ he
said that their actions risked the
spread of Covid-19, especially
among the elderly people, who
are vulnerable.
“They are playing with the
lives of people; they are playing
with all the hard work that the
citizens of New Zealand put into
containing Covid-19 and beating
it,” he said.
Mr Welch said that none of
the soft, cuddly, touchy rubbish
that we keep seeing continuously
with these people – they should
be hammed to the full extent of
the law.
“It is just so wrong; it infuriates
me and I am sure a lot of other
Kiwis. If these people, who have
been looked after and waited
on hand and foot abuse the
privilege, lock them up,” he said.
Police Association criticises
government
The government announced
earlier in the week that all hotels
and managed-isolation facilities
will be guarded by the Police.
Even as arrangements were
being made the New Zealand
Police Association President Chris
Cahill criticised the government
saying that it was turning officers
into babysitters.
It is a waste of police resources;
it is not policing, he said.
“This is about giving political
surety, for the government to
cover themselves, rather than
actual security. I am not sure if
the balance is right,” he said.
Name and shame
Many Indian community
leaders have asked the
government to not only apply
all the provisions of the law and
punish the offenders but also
name and shame them.
“All of us in New Zealand
have sacrificed to free our
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country of Covid-19. These
people arriving from various
highly Covid-19 infected
countries have clearly shown
that they no have no respect for
us or our laws. They must be
named and shamed in public,”
Ilango Krishnamoorthy, a
leader of the South Auckland
community said.
Citizens cannot be
‘repatriated’
There have been angry
callers at talkback shows asking
the government to send back
the offending people to ‘from
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where they came.’
But such a move would not
be possible. Many countries
including India, Singapore,
Malaysia and the Arab Gulf (to
name a few) do not have Dual
Citizenship and hence people
from these countries should
surrender their passports as
soon as they become citizens of
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They therefore have the right
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04
JULY 15, 2020
Homelink
Ethnic community leader holds Todd Muller to account
Gregory Fortuin
National Party Leader
Todd Muller reckons that
“Hamish Walker paid
the ultimate price for
leaking private Covid-19 patient
information.”
Mr Muller went on to call it “a
serious error of judgement that cost
him his career.
Of course”, it is sad that a young
man, filled with so much passion
and blessed with immense opportunities,
had to fall on his sword so
early in his political career.
But here is my beef with Mr
Muller, Mr Walker and the National
Party.
Offence against humanity
Mr Walker’s bosses quite rightly
sacked him (Ok, he jumped) for
breaching the privacy of Covid-19
patients. An absolute sackable
offence. Tick. However, the higher
crime against humanity I.e. Mr
Walker’s disgraceful dog whistle
against New Zealanders returning
from India, Pakistan and Korea got
swept under the carpet.
He said he wanted to use the
private information to support his
case of thousands of people (11,
000) coming from Asian countries
to invade the South Island.
Given that a majority of returning
New Zealanders had returned from
Australia, America and the United
Kingdom, his case was never going
to be proven. And New Zealanders
returning from Australia, United
Kingdom and America were not a
problem.
I wish that evidence supported
his case in order to bring to a head
the racist views that New Zealanders
returning from Pakistan, India
and Korea were lesser human
beings not worthy of gracing the
Deep South. That is the real crime.
That continues to be greeted with
silence.
Holding Muller to account
Leaking confidential health
information breaches our privacy
laws, but racist dog whistles are disgraceful
crimes against humanity.
Until Todd Muller and his all white
front bench call out racism and
white arrogance ethnic leaders like
myself will continue to hold them to
account.
Thankfully, a majority of New
Zealanders are better than that.
Gregory is a former Race Relations
Commissioner and Families
Commissioner. He is currently
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National Director (Education &
Employment) of Salvation Army
New Zealand.
He lives in Wellington. Email:
gfortuin@xtra.co.nz
Federation of Islamic Associations
of New Zealand (FIANZ)
former President and Spokesperson
Dr Anwar Ghani said, “We urge all
politicians from every spectrum to
focus on issues that will improve
the wellbeing of all New Zealander
and not on the race, ethnicity, faith
or no faith particularly when they
are trying to compete for sound
bites to improve their political
parties rating going into this years'
general election.”
Hamish Walker’s indiscretion angers National Caucus
But Todd Muller affirms
his mettle as Leader
Peter Dunne
There can be few more
spectacular political own
goals than that just scored
against the National Party
by first-term Clutha-Southland MP,
Hamish Walker last week.
The consequences for Walker
personally, and his eminence grise
Michelle Boag have been grim and
dire, but the incident is potentially
catastrophic for the National Party,
just over ten weeks away from the
general election.
Not good news
Not only will things drag on for
a while, as the Herron inquiry,
and a possible investigation by the
Privacy Commissioner unfold, there
is also the possibility of separate
legal action arising from these
investigations.
Then, there is the prospect of
a hurried and intense candidate
selection process as for the second
time in three years the National
Party looks to find a suitable candidate
to take over what has always
been one of its safest electorates.
None of this is likely to be good
news for the National Party.
It all makes the Jami-Lee Ross
saga of last year look like a distant
storm in a teacup. That matter is
now before the High Court and
the National Party will be relieved
that a trial date has been set for
September next year, so sparing
it from any further embarrassing
revelations on that score before the
election. Winston Peters may be
even be breathing a sigh of relief
too that any detrimental finding
by the Serious Fraud Office in its
inquiry into the New Zealand First
Foundation may not now look as
bad.
Impossibly bad situation
National leader Todd Muller
seems to have been blindsided by
the whole Walker affair, although
some are trying to draw links
between Boag and Muller, given the
assistance she apparently provided
during his campaign for the National
Party leadership. However,
he seems determined to try and
make the best of what is an almost
impossibly bad situation.
His initial response to Walker’s
admission was considered by some
to be too bland – a mere expression
of disappointment – although we
now know that was as much a
consequence of the legal actions already
being undertaken by lawyers
acting on Walker’s behalf.
But the decisiveness of his subsequent
actions – stripping Walker of
all his Caucus responsibilities and
asking the Party’s governing board
to expel him altogether from the
Party – will have taken his critics by
surprise. Walker’s recognition that
his political career was over and
that he should best stand down was
no less swift.
Much needed ruthlessness
Muller has always insisted that
his mild demeanour should not be
mistaken for a lack of political steel
or the ruthlessness need to be an
effective political leader.
But it is one thing to say these
things about one’s self and then
have them believed by a normally
sceptical public, but something else
altogether to be able to demonstrate
them. Unwelcome and annoying
as the incident undoubtedly is for
Muller, its circumstances have allowed
him to show the decisiveness
and ruthlessness he has said he
possesses.
Walker’s rapid journey to
oblivion will have been met with
approval by his angry Caucus colleagues,
perhaps fearing that their
own prospects of holding their own
seats at the election, let alone being
able to form a government, will be
rapidly disappearing with him.
At the same time, they will have
also taken on board the message
that Muller is not to be trifled with,
and that he will not tolerate disloyal
or dishonourable actions by his
MPs.
Peter Dunne was a Minister of the
Crown under the National and Labourled
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JULY 15, 2020
Responsible actions limit public fear
Jack Vowles
It was shrill and
tabloid-type coverage
of Covid-19, not careful
reporting that caused
widespread public anxiety
and in the absence of calm is
when mistakes are made.
Apparently being calm in
the face of crisis prevents
one from doing anything
constructive to address it;
at least that is the argument
made by Liam Hehir.
But most people would
agree that being calm is
exactly what is needed to
focus the mind and take a
few minutes to think about
the problem.
In the absence of calm,
there is a danger of
over-reacting and making
mistakes.
Do not destroy confidence
In the face of a crisis
like Covid-19, the role
of a critical mass media
and a political Opposition
comes under question. On
the one hand, if mistakes
and errors are made,
there is a responsibility
to expose them, and those
who are responsible. On
the other, in a crisis there
is always a danger of
making things worse by
exaggeration or generating
misunderstanding,
particularly if this destroys
confidence in those who are
in charge, making it harder
for them to do their jobs.
This is a particularly acute
dilemma with an election
looming in less than three
months.
Hard news and tabloid
Most people probably
understand the distinction
between hard news,
often based on careful
investigative reporting, and
so-called tabloid coverage
that is shrill, emotional, and
unbalanced.
It was hard news and
excellent investigation that
exposed some flaws in the
early days of quarantine
management under Level 1.
But some of the subsequent
interpretation of the facts
exposed has gone well over
the boundaries into tabloid
coverage. The result was
widespread public anxiety
and a loss of confidence: a
sense that our local crisis
was out of control.
Absent information
Some important
background information was
often absent. All new cases
originated overseas. More
new cases at the border
were always expected. The
main barrier to reinfection
from across the border is
14 days quarantine. At the
border, people with obvious
symptoms are also identified.
Prior to Level 1, this process
was highly effective at
preventing further spread of
the virus.
Testing is an essential part
of the Covid-19 response, but
it does not catch all cases: the
‘probable’ cases that used to
be reported during Levels
4 to Level 2. However, the
widespread testing that we
have now should pick up
cases to tell us if we have
community transmission.
So far, there is no
evidence of this. Some
people, including the
Leader of the Opposition,
‘suspect’ there is already
community transmission.
Epidemiologists agree that
there is always a chance,
but most add that it is very
unlikely.
Distracted suspicion
Why does this matter?
Time and resources that
could have been used to
further improve quarantine
management have been
wasted in trying to find an
apparently non-existent
homeless person the
Opposition still claims
occupied a room in a
quarantine hotel for two
weeks.
Despite huge increases
in capacity that put New
Zealand among the highest
testing levels internationally,
up to 10,000 a day, the system
has become overloaded
and authorities have had to
narrow the testing criteria.
Professor Jack Vowles is in the
Political Science programme at
Victoria University of Wellington.
The above article- an extract
only- which appeared on the
Newsroom website, has been
published here under a Special
Agreement.
Homelink
05

06
JULY 15, 2020
Electionlink
Questions over Todd Muller’s leadership bound to rise
Venkat Raman
The first thing that National
Party Leader Todd Muller
should have done in the
wake of his fellow MP
Hamish Walker announcing that he
had received emails (from former
National Party President Michael
Boag) carrying details of 18 (or
19) people in managed isolation
facilities was to ask all his Caucus
colleagues whether they had
received similar emails.
It was only today, four days later,
after the matter seemed to become
a major embarrassment that he told
the media that he had ascertained
from his Caucus and confirmed
that no one else (except his Health
Spokesperson Michael Woodhouse)
had received any ‘similar emails on
the subject.’
Mr Walker’s indiscretion of
leaking the details to some sections
of the media cost him his career.
He announced that he would step
down from contesting in the forthcoming
election on Wednesday,
July 8, 2020.
Media question parried
Mr Woodhouse admitted today
that he had received four unsolicited
emails from Mr Boag and that
he had informed Mr Muller of these
emails on Tuesday, July 7, 2020.
And yet, according to a Newstalk
ZB report, when a news reporter
asked Mr Muller on Wednesday
if he had checked with Mr
Woodhouse specifically whether he
Michelle Boag and Michael Woodhouse
had received the same information
from Ms Boag, he said, ‘No.’
“It is very clear from our perspective
that there was a conversation
that occurred between Michelle
Boag and Hamish Walker. We are
confident from what we can see
that the issue here related to Michelle
Boag and Hamish Walker.”
He said it was not accurate to say
that he did know whether other
MPs in National had access to that
information.
Woodhouse Statement
Michael Woodhouse issued the
following statement today:
“Between June 21 and 25, I
received four unsolicited emails
from Michelle Boag containing
information that, while not the
same information that is the subject
of the Inquiry led by Michael Heron
QC, was similar insofar as it contained
patient details. Michelle told
me she received this information
through her role with the Auckland
Rescue Helicopter Trust and I was
led to believe it was circulating
among a number of other health
agencies.
“I recognised that the information
in those emails was private
so I did not share it with anyone
else and I subsequently deleted
them. I have made contact with
(former Solicitor General Michael)
Heron to provide details to him in
the event that it may be relevant
to his Inquiry. If he deems it to be
relevant I will cooperate fully with
the Inquiry.
“I can confirm that Michelle Boag
is not the source of any previous
information released by me in relation
to the Government’s Covid-19
response.”
Mr Woodhouse told ‘Nine to
Noon’ (of RNZ) today that Ms Boag
called him on Sunday, June 21, 2020
to tell him that she had information
that could be ‘pertinent’ to the
Covid-19 response and ‘helpful’ to
him.
“I opened that email, realised
what it was, realised it was not
appropriate for me to have it or
use it, and I closed it down,” Mr
Woodhouse said.
He said that three more emails
were sent after that but he never
opened them. He deleted the emails
on Monday or Tuesday after he
realised she was the source of the
leak.
Mr Woodhouse should have
informed his Leader of the above
but apparently he chose not to do
so. This could put his credibility
under risk.
Michelle Boag Statement
In a statement published by RNZ,
Ms Boag said that her passion for
politics for 47 years had put her on
a “self-destructive path.”
“This was confirmed for me as
I wrote to Michael Heron QC last
night to advise him that towards
the end of June I had sent several
emails to Michael Woodhouse
comprising notification of a small
number of then new Covid-19
cases. My decisions to share this
information were wrong, driven by
my distorted view that providing
that information would help the National
Party to hold the Government
to account. In fact it was harmful,
not helpful, and it is time that the
National Party and I parted ways.
“Since joining the National Party
at 18, I have tried, sometimes way
too hard, to support the Party in
any way I could. After resigning
as President following the 2002
General Election, I continued to defend
and advocate for the Party in
many forums, including accepting
invitations to provide political commentary.
In none of those forums
was I the official representative
of the National Party, yet media
and political opponents saw my
comments as “the National Party”
and I in turn felt the need to defend
any National Party perspective.
“I have become an unhelpful
distraction in the current political
environment. I apologise to all
those who have been collateral
damage in my quest, both inside
and outside the Party and I deeply
regret my actions,’’ Boag said.
“I hope my resignation will allow
the Party to get on with its vital task
of setting out its pathway for New
Zealand’s future in the upcoming
General Election. The governance
and direction of New Zealand, its
economic stewardship and the wellbeing
of all New Zealanders is the
most important issue right now.”
Mr Muller must clear the mess
before the National Party faces
another leadership crisis.

JULY 15, 2020
Words are important.
We use them to
convey information,
to express love and
affection, and sometimes to hurt or
harm.
Words shape the way we think
about things; if you know another
language (or two, or more) you
will know that different words that
seem to be for the same thing often
express different aspects of that
thing that are shaped by culture or
history.
Perhaps most importantly, words
define who we are.
Definition and dress
For most of us, the first words we
ever hear in life are “It is a girl” or
“It is a boy.”
We were probably only a few
seconds old at that point, and
certainly did not have any way of
understanding what those words
meant, but those words defined
and described us for our entire
lives. Someone assigned us to a sex
based on a visual inspect of our
plumbing, and that brief moment
determined everything.
When someone on the street
encountered our parents holding
us, one of their first questions was
most likely “Is it a girl or a boy?”
Sometimes people did not ask
because our parents dressed us in
clothing or colours that were considered
appropriate for our gender:
boys in blue or bold colours, girls in
pink or pastel colours. If they did,
our clothing made that declaration
for us. And still, no one asked us
how we felt about the whole thing.
When we started in school
people saw what clothes we wore,
what games we liked, whether we
played with trucks or dolls, and
made assumptions about our sex
based on the way we presented our
gender. They referred to us with
words like ‘she’ or he’, ‘him’ or ‘her’,
‘his’ or ‘hers.’
The entire way we were brought
up was defined from those first few
seconds after we were born.
Gender and cisgender
But what if our internal self-experience
of our gender did not match
our anatomy, or the way we were
dressed by our parents, or by the
games we were taught to play?
What if the gendered ways
people referred to us felt like knives
piercing our eardrums every time
we heard them? What if we felt so
different that nothing felt right, and
we could not even trust our own
bodies or experiences of the world
and ourselves?
What if we realised that we were
not cisgender (that is, our anatomical
sex, our experience of gendered
selves and the way we experienced
our bodies were all aligned to one
gender), but instead transgender
(all these things were not aligned).
Who decided there were only two
sexes and two genders anyway?
Rainbow people
Transgender people have been
in the news a lot over the last few
years.
You might want to have a look at
the newly released film Disclosure
on Netflix, or watch a TED talk by
Jackson Bird. Maybe you will even
want to go through the 20-minute
‘Working Under the Rainbow’ module
in the Massey Evolve website.
Some of us have had trans-students
in our classes or as research
students.
We hear their stories, and we
learn that the transition from being
someone we are not to someone we
are is difficult. Epically difficult.
In the recent Counting Ourselves
study in Aotearoa New Zealand,
trans-persons reported nine times
the rate of very high psychological
distress as the general population;
56% had thought about committing
suicide; 37% of trans people had
attempted suicide.
Trans-people are frequently
the targets of assault and murder:
Forbes reports that globally in 2019
331 trans people were murdered,
hanged, or lynched (mostly in Brazil,
but also in Mexico, the US, and
other countries); most of these were
transwomen of colour. In southern
Africa (and some other regions)
there is something ironically called
‘corrective rape’, where, the theory
apparently goes, once you have
been violently raped by a cisgender
man you will want more of it and
stop being gender non-conforming.
Developing taxonomy
The reality is that trans people,
gender fluid, and non-binary
people have existed throughout
history, but only in the last few
years have we started to develop a
taxonomy, a language that includes
their experiences.
You might want to have a look at
Samy Nour Younes’ TED talk on a
history of trans people.
In this context, then, it does not
seem too much effort to start paying
attention to how we use words
that are important, and particularly
to the gendered pronouns that we
use to define people.
Maybe we should wait for people
to tell us how they would like to be
described, rather than claiming a
right to define them?
Maybe we could ask other people
what pronouns they would like us
to use for them. And we could make
it even easier, and tell other people
what pronouns we would like them
to use for us.
It would not be very difficult to
add a little tag line on our email
signatures, name tags or Stream
sites: ‘Pronouns: he/him’ or ‘she/
hers’ or ‘they/their.’
It does not have to be complicated
or weird.
The ‘Single They’
The singular ‘they’ (which, by
the way, was used by Shakespeare,
even though it sounds a little odd
to 21st century ears) is returning to
common use about people who do
not identify as only male or only
female. Woke English-speakers
Educationlink
Right use of pronouns imperative to define humans
Professor
Mark Henrickson
07
went through a period of trying to
invent gender-neutral pronouns
about a decade ago before some
even worker English speakers realised
that we already had a perfectly
good one in ‘they.’
And in adding that little pronoun
tagline we signal that we are open
to hearing about how other people
define themselves.
Using the right words and
pronouns means we get to define
for ourselves who we are.
Identifying our own pronouns
gives other people permission to
tell us how they would like us to
refer to them.
It does not have to be hard or
complicated.
It is really just polite, like offering
a guest the comfortable chair, or a
cup of tea.
Making space for people to tell
us how they identify themselves is
really just good manners.
But it is also tremendously
important for them, and for us.
Mark Henrickson is Professor of Social
Work at the Auckland Campus of Massey
University. The above article and picture
appeared in Massey News.
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08
JULY 15, 2020
Businesslink
IPCA says Police searches were unlawful
Anan Zaki
Three Police searches that
were carried out shortly
after the Christchurch
Mosque attacks on
March 15, 2019 were unlawful,
the Independent Police Conduct
Authority (IPCA) has found.
The searches, made without
a warrant, happened during an
operation codenamed ‘Whakahaumanu’
to identify people
of interest to national security
following the attacks.
The three searches in question
were all in Canterbury, weeks
after the massacre.
Something about XYZ
One person, known as Mr
X, became a person of interest
after an anonymous call to
CrimeStoppers, alleging that he
was involved in white supremacy,
anti-Muslim hate speech and
racist behaviour.
Mr X had a historical mental
health issue and had previously
been a member of a Facebook
group that had an association
with a website describing itself
as “far right-wing,”
Mr X had also posted
comments indicating to Police
that he might be opposed to the
government’s gun law reforms.
The second person, known
as Mr Y, came to attention after
the Police received information
that he had been posting far
right material on Facebook. Both
had firearms seized from their
properties.
Police visited the third person,
known as Mr Z, after Facebook
posts caused concern about his
mental well-being - and officers
seized a bong from his property.
IPCA Chair Judge Colin Doherty
(RNZ Photo by Ben Strang)
What the IPCA said
IPCA chair Judge Colin
Doherty said that the officers
should have had a warrant in all
three cases.
“Police are required to obtain
a warrant to make a search
with this time to do so but they
may exercise powers under the
Search and Surveillance Act
without a warrant in situations
of agency. We found that in
the three cases, there was not
sufficient agency and they could
have got a warrant,” he said.
The Authority received 13
complaints about the searches.
Judge Doherty also said that
there had not been enough focus
given to the searches, over what
powers the police could or could
not exercise.
The Authority did not make
any recommendations.
“Search and surveillance and
the exercise of warrants is bread
and butter for police, so every
Police Officer ought to know
what they should do. We noted
that in these cases, apologies
had been given to the subjects of
the searches,” he said.
The Council of Licensed
Firearms Owners (COLFO),
Priyanca
Radhakrishnan
Labour List MP based in Maungakiekie
Maungakiekie Office
09 622 2660
priyanca@parliament.govt.nz
Level 1 Crighton House,
100 Neilson St, Onehunga
(entrance via Galway St)
| | priyancanzlp
which helped some of the
complainants, said that its
members felt vindicated by the
IPCA decision.
Major mistakes
COLFO Chair Michael Dowling
said that the Police made major
mistakes.
“They are the enforcement
power of our laws and so they
need to act within the law
whenever they act. In these
events, it shows that perhaps
the checks and safeties are not
there, to make sure that they
as enforcers of the law are not
wound up in the emotion of an
event,” he said.
Canterbury Police District
Commander Superintendent
John Price said that mistakes
were made.
But he said that it was
important to know the context
around the time the searches
were carried out, as after the
terror attacks, the country had
never been in an environment
like it before.
“At the time, they were in a
very heightened operational
context. They were trying
to eliminate or mitigate the
risk of further violence and
ensure public safety. That was
their intent and that was their
principles they were applying,”
he said.
Superintendent Price said that
the Police will learn from the
findings.
“Laws are there to protect
all people. and as such, we
are absolutely always open to
ensuring there are good checks
and balances,” he said.
Published under a Special
Agreement with www.rnz.co.nz
Restricting freedom of speech
is harmful to society
I
do not particularly love confronting
people.
But I know that when it is done
well, disagreement can be incredibly
powerful.
An open letter On Justice and Open
Debate published last week, suggests the 150
signatories think similarly. The letter claims
that an increasingly hostile environment and
growing restriction to freedom of speech and
expression is harmful to society.
Open Letter
It says: “The free exchange of information
and ideas, the lifeblood of a liberal society,
is daily becoming more constricted. While
we have come to expect this on the radical
right, censoriousness is also spreading more
widely in our culture: an intolerance of
opposing views, a vogue for public shaming
and ostracism, and the tendency to dissolve
complex policy issues in a blinding moral
certainty. We uphold the value of robust
and even caustic counter-speech from all
quarters. But it is now all too common to
hear calls for swift and severe retribution
in response to perceived transgressions of
speech and thought.”
After the letter was published, however,
some of its signatories denounced it – one
even saying “I am so sorry” – due to some
of the views of other signatories. (Notably
JK Rowling, who has recently received
significant criticism for her comments on
transgenderism, was a signatory).
Ironic response
This response seems somewhat ironic.
It is an example of the failure to listen
to opposing ideas that the letter tried to
address.
In fact, some of the signatories have since
said as much.
Author Malcolm Gladwell, for example,
tweeted: “I signed the Harpers letter because
there were lots of people who also signed the
Harpers letter whose views I disagreed with.
I thought that was the point of the Harpers
letter.”
Or Thomas Chatterton Williams, who
spearheaded the letter, tweeted: “this letter
is not a statement about everyone agreeing
with every position every signatory has. The
diversity of its signatories is its strength – not
a weakness.”
Agree to disagree
We need to be brave enough to agree with
the ideas of people we regularly disagree
with on other issues. We could even learn
to have conversations about the issues we
disagree on. The conversation will likely
end with both people holding their original
position and that is okay. What is important
is that everyone leaves with a deeper understanding
of the person they disagree with
and why they disagreed in the first place.
While that is easier said than done, it is
incredibly important for the functioning of
society.
In fact, without healthy disagreements,
strong societal divisions are much more
likely to arise.
The Coddling of the American Mind, by
Jonathan Haidt (another signatory) and Greg
Lukianoff, confronts this very issue.
They suggest that having conversations
with people you disagree with are essential
for building resilience and learning to adapt
and grow.
Of course, this does not mean that
anything goes. Bullying is never okay.
But there is a difference between bullying
and thorough intellectual debate.
So, as someone who does not particularly
enjoy confrontation or disagreement, it is
important that I learn to do it well – even
when it is difficult.
The stakes are too high to say no.
Danielle van Dalen is a Researcher at the
Auckland-based Maxim Institute.
Woman escapee from managed
isolation in the dock
A
woman, accused of
escaping from an
isolation facility before
her mandatory
quarantine period ended, has
appeared in court.
Suzanne Marie Derrett
appeared in the Auckland
District Court on July 13,
2020 charged with failing
or refusing to isolate for the
required 14-day period.
The 43-year-old is one
of the first people charged
under the Covid-19 Public
Health Response Act.
She was said to have
Danielle van Dalen
climbed a fence at the Pullman
Hotel in Auckland this
month after flying in from
Brisbane.
Not positive
The court heard she had
been tested for Covid-19
twice, with no positive result,
and wished to return to Dunedin
with her brother, who
was in court for the hearing.
She was remanded on bail
without plea and will appear
again in two weeks time.
In total, there have been
four escapes from managed
isolation in New Zealand.
Last week, a person in their
60s broke a window and
escaped from an Auckland
isolation hotel.
This week 30 deportees
from Australia are expected
to arrive. They will be staying
at a dedicated inner-city
hotel with enhanced security
attached to it.
Health Minister Chris
Hipkins said there would
be no tolerance for anyone
breaking the rules.
Published under a Special Agreement
with www.rnz.co.nz
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JULY 15, 2020
Businesslink
Government extends temporary visas by six months
Move to benefit 16,500 workers
Supplied Content
The government is making
immediate short-term
changes to visa settings to
support temporary migrants
already onshore in New Zealand
and their employers, while also
ensuring New Zealanders needing
work are prioritised, Immigration
Minister Iain Lees-Galloway has
said.
He issued the following Statement:
We are extending temporary
work visas due to expire by the
end of 2020 by six months (16,500
workers), shifting the stand down
by six months to February 2021
(600 workers) and ensuring New
Zealanders needing work continue
to be prioritised.
We are assisting employers to
make the most of the available
workforce, both New Zealanders
and temporary migrants on shore
in New Zealand.
Immediate relief
We are extending all existing
employer-assisted temporary work
visas for people in New Zealand
Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway
and whose visas are due to expire
before the end of 2020 by six
months, benefiting around 16,500
workers. This will provide some
immediate relief and certainty for
migrants and employers in the
short term while they recover from
the impact of Covid-19 and adjust to
the changing labour market conditions
where more New Zealanders
will be available for work.
Migrant workers who are subject
to the 12 month stand-down period
and were going to have to leave
New Zealand this year will now be
able to stay for the duration of the
extension. This will benefit around
600 lower-skilled visa holders who
would have been subject to the
12- month stand down period.
Job for New Zealanders
I urge employers to focus on
longer-term workforce planning
and recruitment and training of
New Zealand jobseekers.
These short-term changes give
employers some time to get ready
for a changed labour market where
more New Zealanders will be
looking for work.
New low-skilled work visas will
only be granted for six months, instead
of 12 months as our priority is
to preserve and prioritise future job
opportunities for New Zealanders
and give the system more flexibility
to respond to labour market developments.
The government is continuing
to work on a number of changes,
which were announced pre-Covid-
19. These changes include a different
way to define lower-skilled/
lower-paid employment and a new
process for employer-assisted work
visas expected to be fully in place
by mid-2021.
These changes are now more
important than ever to support the
Government’s wider programme of
work for the economy.
With more New Zealanders looking
for work, some employers will
need to adjust to a new situation.
With the short-term changes we
are making, however, there is some
lead-in time for employers.
Temporary Visas by numbers
There are about 16,500 Essential
Skills and Work to Residence visa
holders who are onshore in New
Zealand and whose visa will expire
before the end of 2020.
About 600 lower-skilled work
visa holders would have been
subject to the stand-down period
between August 2020 and the end of
December 2020.
The largest occupation group
affected the by the stand-down in
the next 12 months is dairy farm
workers (113 affected in 2020),
a sector that we know is facing
workforce challenges.
Overview of changes
The government made
decisions to (a) Extend all existing
employer-assisted temporary work
visas for people who are in New
Zealand and whose visas are due to
expire before the end of 2020 by six
months (b) Delay the stand-down
Criminal Cases Review should expedite justice delivery
Peter Dunne
Over 20 years after
the event, the Scott
Watson murder case
continues to attract
public attention.
Last fortnight’s decision by
the Governor-General to refer
the case back to the Court of
Appeal is but the latest step in
this long saga.
The Watson case is one of
a handful of cases from the
1970s to the 1990s which
aroused considerable doubt
about the original convictions
and led to their being eventually
overturned. Arthur Allan
Thomas was twice convicted
for the Crewe murders in 1970,
before being pardoned and
released from prison in 1979
following a Royal Commission
of Inquiry.
David Bain
David Bain’s conviction
and imprisonment for
murdering his family in 1994
was overturned at a retrial
which acquitted him in 2009.
Teina Pora was convicted of
murder in 1994 and was in
prison for 20 years before
being released. His conviction
was subsequently quashed by
the Privy Council. Rex Haig’s
murder conviction in 1995
was quashed in 2006, while he
was on parole after serving 10
years in prison. Scott Watson
was convicted and sentenced
in 1999, with a minimum
non-parole period of 17 years,
and he is still in prison after 21
years.
David Tamihere
Separate to these, but no less
significant, is the case of David
Tamihere, convicted in 1990
of the murder of two Swedish
backpackers. His appeals to the
Court of Appeal and the Privy
Council after the discovery
of massive conflicts between
the evidence presented and
the emergence of subsequent
contradictory facts both failed,
and he served 20 years in
prison before being released,
still protesting his innocence.
Earlier, this year, the Governor-General
referred his case
back to the Court of Appeal for
further consideration.
Peter Ellis
And then there is the case of
Peter Ellis, convicted in 1993
of child abuse, twice upheld
subsequently by the Court of
Appeal, and once more by a
separate Ministerial Inquiry,
who served his full sentence of
10 years before being released.
Now, following Ellis’ death last
year, a final approach is being
made to the Court of Appeal to
posthumously clear his name
of what many consider to have
been an appalling miscarriage
of justice.
Scott Watson
Over the years, I have read
almost everything that has
been published about the
Scott Watson case, as well
as speaking to many people
directly involved. I am still
unsure whether his conviction
was justified by the evidence
available.
An aspect of the case that
has always bothered me is
the Police insistence from the
outset that the young couple
were last seen on a distinctive
ketch (a double-mast yacht),
whereas Watson’s yacht was a
sloop – a single-mast vessel.
Many witnesses came
forward saying they had seen a
ketch that matched the original
description given by the Police
in and around the Marlborough
Sounds at the time.
Indeed, I saw such a ketch
in Westport a few weeks
later, which I subsequently
reported to the Police, who,
by then focused on Watson’s
sloop, told me emphatically
“there was no ketch”, even as
a poster describing the ketch
and seeking information about
it hung incongruously on the
wall behind them!
Public unease
While our system of jury
trials is probably the best and
fairest available, there will
always be incidences where
the complexity of the case, or
the paucity of incontrovertible
evidence increase the possibility
of a mistake being made
and a miscarriage of justice
occurring.
The right of appeal to the
Court of Appeal, then the
Supreme Court or ultimately
the Governor-General, is a
sufficient safeguard in most
cases to ensure that eventually
a just and correct decision is
reached. But as the Thomas,
Bain, Pora, Haig, Ellis and
now potentially Tamihere and
Watson cases have all shown,
there will still be some cases
that will leave a measure of
public unease that the legal
system, however fully applied,
cannot resolve.
New procedure for better
outcome
In that regard, the formal
establishment this week of
the Criminal Cases Review
Commission is an important
and welcome step forward.
In essence, it will replace
the referral function of
the Governor-General, as
exercised in the Watson case,
with an independent statutory
commission able to investigate
on its own behalf cases where
a possible miscarriage of
justice may have occurred and
to refer such cases back to the
Courts if it considers that is
the appropriate thing to do.
The Commission’s statutory
independence should ensure
that it can proactively examine
cases that come before it fully
and independently without
having to rely solely on the
evidence previously collected.
In that way, it is hoped that
the cases the Commission
considers can be judged more
holistically than on the current
basis of whether the Police and
prosecution or the defence got
it right.
The prolonged nature of
resolution of each of the cases
referred to above has been unsatisfactory
in many respects.
There has been the length of
time taken, and the unreasonableness
of the impositions on
the freedom of the individuals,
especially in the Thomas, Bain,
Pora and Haig cases where the
convictions were ultimately
overturned. And each case
and its course has also led
to a measure of weakened
public confidence in the
current system, as the ongoing
Tamihere, Ellis and Watson
cases currently suggest.
Arguably, the system
eventually got it right in the
Thomas, Bain Pora and Haig
cases, leaving us all to ponder
how much more tragic the
outcome might have been had
capital punishment still been
in place.
Whatever the eventual
New Windsor now
part of Mt Roskill
Electorate this
election
I am delighted the Mt Roskill electorate
will include New Windsor and the main
western boundary will be Whitney St. Go
to www.vote.nz for detailed information.
Dr Parmjeet Parmar
National List MP
based in Mt Roskill
09 620 6707
parmjeet.parmar@
parliament.govt.nz
Funded by the Parliamentary Service.
Authorised by Parmjeet Parmar MP,
Parliament Buildings, Wellington.
outcome of the Tamihere,
Ellis and Watson cases, the
establishment of the Criminal
Cases Review Commission
should mean that where such
cases arise in the future, as
they will inevitably, an outcome
can be reached much
more rapidly, without those
09
period until February 2021 instead
of August 2020. Temporary migrants
will be able to remain in New
Zealand for a further six months
after their stand-down would
have taken effect (in line with the
extension to their visa) (c) The stand
down means that lower-paid workers
on temporary work visas have
to leave New Zealand for 12 months
after holding a work visa for three
consecutive years before they can
apply for another lower-skilled
visa (d) The stand-down period
was introduced in 2017 to prevent
lower-skilled, lower-paid foreign
workers from becoming well settled
in New Zealand without a pathway
to residence (e) Reduce the duration
of all new low-skilled essential skills
visas from 12 to six months for the
next 18 months. This will apply
to all new lower-skilled Essential
Skills work visa applications (f)
Employers are still expected to
genuinely seek to fill job vacancies
with New Zealanders and this will
be tested when the visas of their
existing migrant workers expire
(g) Migrant workers on temporary
employer-assisted visa whose job
has ended need to apply for a new
visa or leave New Zealand if they
are able to so.
affected having to prove their
innocence while spending
many unnecessary years
languishing in prison.
Peter Dunne was a Minister of
the Crown under the Labour and
National-led governments from
November 1999 to September 2017.
He lives in Wellington.

10
JULY 15, 2020
Businesslink
Fourth crisis creates a New Normal in the US
Archon Fung
A
perfect storm of three
crises is battering America:
a public health crisis of
the Covid-19 pandemic; a
civic crisis of widespread protests
sparked by racist police abuse;
and an economic crisis of record
unemployment and dislocation.
Between now and November
2020, we may well face a fourth
political crisis surrounding the
Presidential election, its conduct,
and perhaps even its outcome.
These crises have vanquished all
sense of normalcy for now.
But, in the longer term, will we be
able to create a better new normal?
The ‘K’ Shaped Recovery (Courtesy: Cooper Financial Group)
Archon Fung (University of Hawaii Photo)
What world will Covid-19 leave
behind?
The K People
Writing in the Financial Times,
Peter Atwater foresees a “K”-shaped
recovery.
The upward part of the “K”—people
who will do better than before
these crises, consists of professionals
and others in others at the top
end of the income distribution.
The bottom part of the “K” consists
of “have-nots” who may fare
even worse than they did before
the crisis: essential but sometimes
disposable workers, sometimes
lacking health care, sick leave,
employment, and low-income and
people of colour, whom we now
know suffer much more from
damage of Covid-19.
If the future is this “K,” Covid
will merely have accelerated the
trends toward economic, social,
political, and health inequities that
have been widening in the United
States for the past forty years: a
quickening of the old normal as we
knew it.
Creating a New Normal
But perhaps it is within our grasp
to create a different new normal,
one that is more equitable and
democratic. We can see shoots of
this better new normal in the civic
federalism of local responses to
Covid-19 damage.
Many governors and mayors
stepped up with energy and
creative solutions to protect
public health and map the way to
recovery.
Some businesses and nonprofits
took costly action early to protect
their employees and communities.
Labour and community advocates
organised immediate aid, but also
Ardern says she is far away from being self-congratulatory
Labour is the best-placed
party to guard against a
post-Covid-19 economic
disaster, Prime Minister
Jacinda Ardern has said.
Speaking at the Labour Party’s
Congress in Wellington on Sunday,
July 5, 2020, Jacinda Ardern said
that she was eager to avoid the
fallout of previous crises, including
“poverty, inequality and “persistent
unemployment.”
Pundits were quick to criticise
Ardern for taking a ‘self-congratulatory
tone’ in her remarks, but Ms
Ardern told Morning Report that
was not her intent at all.
Not self-congratulatory
“You will not find that at all in any
of the remarks that I have made...
if anyone listened to the speeches
that were made, that is exactly the
opposite of what we were doing.
In my speech itself, acknowledging
that the situation we are in, in New
Zealand, is not over. We are still in
the midst of a health response. We
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaking at the Labour
Congress on Sunday, July 5, 2020 (TVNZ Photo)
are at the beginning of our recovery
and rebuild - this is not the time for
anyone to rest on laurels,” she said.
Ms Ardern said she that and the
Labour government take nothing
for granted.
“I never have, never will. Anyone
who knows me knows that I am as
far away from self-congratulatory
as you can probably get,” she said.
Small Business Voice Chief Executive Max Whitehead
(LinkedIn Photo)
Original Plan
Aside from Covid-19, Labour is
sticking to its original plan for New
Zealand, Ms Ardern said.
“A number of the things that we
campaigned on in 2017 are still
issues that we have to address. We
are not going to resolve climate
change in three years. Nor are we
going to restore the health of our
waterways in three years, or reduce
inequality. All of these persistent
challenges remain. We have made
progress, but Covid is our chance to
accelerate our response to those,”
she said.
Ms Ardern said that the
government is making the biggest
investment in infrastructure that
she has seen in her lifetime.
“That is because it is necessary.
It solves two problems, our deficit,
and it helps with our economy
recovery,” she said.
Ms Ardern said that the
Trans-Tasman bubble is still viable
and the government is open to
taking a state-by-state approach.
Business Loan Scheme extended
She also announced an extension
to the business loan scheme at the
Labour congress.
The programme offers small and
medium-sized businesses loans of
between $10,000 and $100,000, with
no interest charged if the loan is
repaid within a year.
spoke up for the least advantaged.
George Floyd murder
There are more shoots visible
in the huge protests following
George Floyd’s killing. People
of many races and classes have
awakened to the reinforcing harms
of economic inequality, disease, and
racism. Himself an avatar of this
intersectionality, Floyd lost his job
as a security guard because of the
pandemic, contracted Covid-19 in
April 2020, and was killed several
weeks later by Minneapolis Police.
Will these shoots multiply into a
robust new American democracy?
Or will they be mowed down
by the juggernauts of racism and
plutocracy that preceded this
pandemic? The answer is up to us.
Archon Fung is Winthrop Laflin
McCormack Professor of Citizenship
and Self-Government. The above article
appeared in the Harvard Gazette.
Small Business Voice Chief
Executive Max Whitehead said that
Scheme misses the mark.
“It is really not what we need.
We are going through a difficult
time and it has not been easy, but
by supporting those businesses
that are struggling and failing, it is
actually prolonging their pain and
that is not really healthy for our
marketplace,” he said.
Mr Whitehead said that a
number of businesses should be
thinking about changing tact to
increase revenue rather than taking
the loan and hoping things go back
to normal.
“There are new opportunities in
the marketplace that people could
fill rather than just sitting in a
business waiting and gobbling up
taxpayers’ money. When the wage
subsidy scheme ends, the economic
impact of Covid-19 will be laid
bare,” he said.
The above Report has been published
under a Special Arrangement with www.
rnz.co.nz
Community leaders slam MP Walker for ‘bigoted behaviour’
Editor’s Note: Hamish Walker has since announced (for leaking
Covid-19 cases to the media) that he would not contest in the
forthcoming General Election but his comments about Indians,
Pakistanis and Koreans are still considered an outstanding issue.
Venkat Raman
Three prominent community
leaders have taken exceptions
to the comments of National
MP Hamish Walker over this
comments on Indians, Pakistanis
and Koreans.
The Clutha-Southland MP issued a
press release yesterday (Friday, July
3, 2020), in which he had mentioned
about people arriving from India,
Pakistan and Korea going into
quarantine facilities.
He said,” 11,000 people… these
people are possibly heading for Dunedin,
Invercargill and Queenstown
from India, Pakistan and Korea. It
is absolutely disgraceful that the
community has not been consulted
on this,” he said.
The press release was later deleted
from the National Party website but
the damage was done. It was picked
up by other media including social
media platforms and discussed
around the world.
Mr Walker refused to apologise
but in fact insisted that his comments
were not racist.
He claimed that he had a ‘source
tell him that 11,000 people were
arriving from Pakistan, India and
Korea’ but refused to reveal that
source.
“The world is reeling under the
Covid-19 pandemic, the threat of
its recurrence in New Zealand
looms large and hence, Mr Walker
Disgraced National MP Hamish Walker
should not be playing dirty politics.
He should be working with the
government and not spread scary
rumours,” community leaders said.
Gregory Fortuin
Former Race Relations Commissioner
Gregory Fortuin called out
Mr Walker for his racist comments
towards people of colour.
“This is a disgraceful dog whistle
akin to the racist views of (US President)
Donald Trump who banned
people (from entering USA) based
on country of origin. Even worse is
the inability of his Leader (National
Party boss Todd) Muller to call out
racist comments. But then, I do
not expect anything better from a
MAGA cap trophy man,” he said.
Mr Fortuin said that on the day
the white-supremist-murderer of
51 Muslims in their sacred place
of worship (on March 15, 2019 in
Christchurch) is given a date for
sentencing, we do not need MPs
gas-lighting racists fires.
Gregory Fortuin Paul Patel Narendra Bhana
“It is time that we strongly called
out this bigoted behaviour when
we have Kiwis returning from all
quarters of the world but we single
out the people not represented on
his Party’s frontbench. Mr Walker
would fit in well in the racist deep
South of America but the good
people in the South of Aotearoa is
far better than that. I am hoping
to hear from the ‘All Lives Matter’
hypocrites, but I am not holding my
breath,” Mr Fortuin said.
Paul Patel
New Zealand Indian Central
Association (NZICA) President Paul
Patel said that Mr Walker’s comments
were despicable and do not
portray the true feelings of Indians,
Pakistanis, Koreans and those of
New Zealanders in general.
“It appears that another
politician, this time National Party
MP Hamish Walker, decides to
make comments which he said are
not racist. With what is happening
around the world, comments of
this nature only add fuel to what is
eventuating to what I consider to
be racist innuendos,” he said.
Mr Patel said that New
Zealanders must realise that such
comments from a politician show
that he is an inconsiderate and
uninformed person.
“Such people are trying to score
political points. As the President of
NZICA, which represents the Indian
community in New Zealand, I also
join with other ethnic groups in demanding
a personal apology from
Mr Walker to the New Zealand
citizens and permanent residents
arriving from India, Pakistan and
Korea,” Mr Patel said.
Narendra Bhana
Narendra Bhana, President
of Auckland Indian Association,
which is marking its centenary
year in 2020-2021, said that the
remarks of Mr Walker were not
only unacceptable but utterly
irresponsible.
“Kiwis are arriving from all over
the world, not just India, Pakistan,
and Korea. It is our collective
responsibility to treat them with
the respect that they deserve while
they are in isolation. It is totally
unacceptable for a Member of Parliament
to use Indians or any other
race as guinea pigs to promote their
own political agenda,” he said.
Mr Bhana said that Indians have
been in New Zealand for more than
100 years, and hence are as much
an integral part of the mainstream
communities.
He said that he had received
many phone calls and emails from
Kiwi Indians (both Citizens and
permanent citizens stranded in
various parts of India.
“They have been distanced from
their families since end of March.
They have been apprehensive and
eagerly waiting to re-unite with
their families. Mr Walker has failed
to understand the situation of these
people. His comments are disgraceful
and totally unacceptable. Kiwis
are proud of our multicultural society
and there is no room for these
kinds of sentiments in modern New
Zealand. Mr Walker must be held
accountable for his inappropriate
remarks,” Mr Bhana said.

JULY 15, 2020
Work place democracy critical for organisational success
The current societal and business
models are not working
Julie Battilana
As the United States and
countries around the
world consider re-opening
after Covid-19, we are
faced with a crucial question:
Is our current societal model
working and, if not, what kind
of societal model do we want for
tomorrow?
Staying the course would be a
recipe for disaster.
The current levels of social and
economic inequality both globally
and locally have become untenable,
and the current pandemic
only reinforces these inequalities.
Moreover, we are pushing the
limits of what our natural world
can endure.
The status quo must change if
we hope to survive the combined
health, social, economic, political,
and environmental crises at hand.
Lessons of the crisis
In Ma 2020, Isabelle Ferreras,
Dominique Méda, and I joined
forces to ask a simple question:
What can we learn from the crises
that we are facing?
At the time, admittedly, our
thinking was focused on making it
through the Covid-19 period only.
And yet, the solution we put
forth in a joint manifesto, which
has now been signed by 5000
academics around the world,
outlines a solution – democratising
work— that we hope can
Photo by You X Ventures on Unsplash
contribute to fighting the health,
economic, social, and political
crises stemming from Covid-19 as
well as the longstanding crisis of
anti-Black racism, for which calls
for change have intensified in
the wake of the tragic murder of
George Floyd at the hands of the
Minneapolis Police Department.
Humans are not resources
What these crises are first
and foremost teaching us is that
humans never were and are not
resources. They invest their lives,
their time, and their sweat to serve
the organisations that they work
for and their customers.
As we say in the manifesto
itself, workers are not one type of
stakeholder among many: they
hold the keys to their employers’
success. Without workers, there
would be no manufacturing plant,
no deliveries, no production.
All workers are essential.
They are thus the core constituency
of the firm.
And, yet they remain excluded
from participating in the government
of their workplaces, a right
that is still monopolised by capital
investors. This exclusion is unfair
and unsustainable and it prevents
organisations from reaping the
benefits of workplace democracy.
Transiting with clear goals
What I have seen in my research
is that workplace democracy may
well be critical to the success of
corporations in the future.
I have been studying
organisations that pursue social
and environmental objectives
alongside financial ones for more
than a decade.
It is time we turn to these
organisations and learn from their
work as the economy as a whole
transitions towards setting clear
goals for employee well-being, and
environmental and social metrics,
alongside financial performance.
My research reveals a critical
link to workplace democracy:
organisations that are more democratic—that
give a voice to their
workers—are better at staying the
course and pursuing these multiple
objectives.
Promising avenue
Finally, democratising
workplaces is one of the most
promising avenues for creating
more just (including more racially
just) workplaces where all workers—workers
of colour, women,
workers with disabilities—have
real control over resources, and
an actual say, as equals in the
governance of their organisations.
By giving employees representation
in decision-making bodies and
the right to participate and control
their organisation’s strategic
decisions, we can collectively build
institutions that are truly equitable
and fair.
Julie Battilana is Alan L Gleitsman
Professor of Social Innovation, Harvard
Kennedy School. The above article
appeared in the Harvard Gazette. Julie
Battilana (Picture from Society for
Progress)
Will the Covid-19 pandemic
change or accelerate pre-existing
global trends?
Many commentators predict
the end of the era of globalisation that
prospered under US leadership since 1945.
Some see a turning point at which China
surpasses the United States as a global
power.
Certainly, there will be major changes in
many economic and social dimensions of
world politics, but humility is in order.
One must be wary of assuming that big
causes have predictable big effects.
For example, the 1918-1919 flu pandemic
killed more people than World War I, yet
the major global changes were a consequence
of the war, not the disease.
Unstoppable transnational effects
Globalisation, defined as interdependence
across continents, is the result of changes
in the technologies of transportation and
communication which are unlikely to stop.
Some aspects of economic globalisation
such as trade will be curtailed, but while
economic globalisation is influenced by
the laws of governments, other aspects
of globalisation such as pandemics and
climate change are determined by the laws
of biology and physics.
Walls, weapons, and tariffs do not stop
their transnational effects.
Thus far, American foreign policy has
responded by denial and blaming others
rather than taking the lead on international
cooperation.
Businesslink
The US could lead with
a new Covid Fund
Joseph S Nye Jr
11
Medical version of Marshall Plan
On a speculative counterfactual, imagine
an American administration taking its
cue from the post-1945 US presidents I
describe in ‘Do Morals Matter? Presidents
and Foreign Policy from FDR to Trump.’ For
example, the United States could launch
a massive Covid-19 Aid Programme, a
medical version of the Marshall Plan.
Instead of competing in propaganda,
leaders could articulate the importance of
power with rather than over others and set
up bilateral and multilateral frameworks to
enhance cooperation.
Recurrent waves of Covid-19 will affect
poorer countries less able to cope and
a developing-world reservoir will hurt
everyone if it spills northward in a seasonal
resurgence.
The second wave
In 1918, the second wave of the pandemic
killed more people than the first.
Both for self-interested and humanitarian
reasons, the United States could lead the
G20 in generous contributions to a major
new Covid-19 Fund that is open to all poor
countries.
If a US President were to choose such
cooperative and soft-power-enhancing policies,
it might create a geopolitical turning
point to a better world.
More likely, however, the new coronavirus
will simply accelerate existing trends
toward nationalist populism, authoritarianism,
and tense relations between the United
States and China.
Joseph S. Nye, Jr. is Harvard University
Distinguished Service Professor, Emeritus. The
above article appeared in the Harvard
Gazette. (CTGA, Offord University Photo)
Development Finance:
Focus on the overall value
proposition rather than pricing
The post Covid-19
environment is
throwing up new
challenges for
builders and developers, as
all lending institutions, bank
and non-bank alike, try to
make sense of the overall
impact of the pandemic on
the economy and property
values.
Mainstream banks have
limited appetite to fund
development projects; the
credit criteria which was
fairly tough pre-Covid has
now been tightened even
further effectively making
most builders and developers
ineligible for funding.
Dwindling liquidity
In the non-bank market,
liquidity has been affected
and funds available for
development projects have
dwindled significantly. Most
lenders are taking a very
conservative approach or
preferring to wait till the
“dust settles” and some
normalcy returns to the
market.
Parash Sarma
Given the challenging environment,
it is critical for developers
and builders to conduct due
diligence on the lender and ensure
that the lender they select
to fund their project has the
necessary expertise and financial
strength to carry the project
through to completion.
All too often, the key criteria
for selecting a lender appear to
be the headline interest rate and
fees; the focus however should
be on the overall value the lender
provides and not just the finance
cost.
Lender profile
As a borrower, one should
view the funder as a project consultant
and ask similar questions
of the lender as they would of
the other project consultants
such as planners, architects,
engineers and contractors. If
you are a developer or builder
considering development
funding, you should focus on the
following:
Experience: How long has the
lender been in business?
Track Record: How many developments
have they funded?
Specialisation: Are they specialist
development and construction
funders?
Conditions: What conditions
would they typically require?
Hidden costs: Are there costs
other than headline interest rate
and fees such as line fees, exit
fees etc.
The other very important check
is to ask around- if you know
someone who has borrowed
from a non-bank lender find out
about their overall experiencewould
they consider funding
their next project with them?
Important factors
Pricing, while important, is just
one of the many parameters that
should be considered while
applying for development and
construction finance. There are
other equally important factors
such as:
Flexibility
Does the lender have a “tick
the box” approach or do they
have the smarts to assess
risk based on merits of each
specific deal? For example,
does the lender always require
pre-sales or are they flexible
enough to waive the requirement
of pre-sales if the product
being developed has already
been widely accepted in the
market and is in an established
area; or can the lender waive
the requirement of a Quantity
Surveyor if the client is an
experienced master or certified
builder? It is very important to
remember that every condition
has a cost associated with itfor
example, a valuation may
cost $1500 but it may also take
10 days to get a valuation, i.e.
the project is delayed by 10
days.
Hidden Costs
Look beyond the headline
costs. There are often many
costs which may not be apparent
at first glance but add
up to significant sums over
the course of a project. For
For more information about product and services, get in touch with
Parash Sarma, Client Services Director on 021-864730 or parash@asapfinance.co.nz
example, a line fee of 0.25%
per month is 3% per year. On
a loan facility of say $3 million,
that is $90,000!
Processing Payment claims
One of the key questions
that a developer must ask a
lender is the turnaround time
to process a payment claim.
For example, let us assume a
development scenario where
the development will require
eight progressive drawdowns.
The client has a choice of two
lenders- lender ‘A’ requires a
Quantity Surveyor and usually
takes seven days to process
a payment claim. Lender ‘B’ is
1% more expensive but does
not require a Quantity Surveyor
and can process the payment
claim within 24 hours.
If a developer chooses lender
‘A’ based on price, the project
will take approximately two
months longer to complete
(that is two months additional
interest cost) and also cost
between $8000 to $10,000 for
Quantity Surveying.
Successful developers focus
on the “value proposition” rather
than making a decision on
the basis of pricing alone. As
Warren Buffet famously said-
“Price is what you pay, Value is
what you get.”

12
JULY 15, 2020
Viewlink
The English Fortnightly (Since November 1999)
ISSUE 442 | JULY 15, 2020
Muller was never as
lonely as one’s Tod
Whether it was a
welcome comment
or not, we were
hearing, in private
conversations of course, of the
simmering discontent among the
echelons of the National Party
and that its leader Todd Muller
would fall by mid-winter.
Indian Newslink was due to
meet Mr Muller at the National
Party office the day before
he announced his decision to
relinquish his position as the
Leader of National Party. He
was not present and we were
informed that he was ‘too unwell
to attend.’ We met old friends-
National MPs Paul Goldsmith,
Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi and Dr
Parmjeet Parmar.
There was little to suggest
during that meeting that the
man who the polity has held
in various levels of esteem or
otherwise that he was to take
a major step that may leave an
impact on balance of power
within the Party and of course
his own future.
It was not difficult for us to
fathom that incidents of the previous
week would bring down
the man who had, about 53 days
ago, downed a colleague to claim
the ‘National Throne.’
But in politics, as indeed in
public life, people should not
only be honest but also seem to
be honest.
For, impressions are often
more important than facts.
Simmering discontent
Just a few weeks ago, the
National Party appeared united
behind its Leader on policies or
promises.
Mr Muller presented himself
to the country as a determined,
Zero tolerance for
quarantine breaches
Four persons breaching
managed isolation
rules have raise public
ire- rightly so.
One after the other, as if following
a cue, these people, all of
them returning New Zealanders
from various countries, jumped
fence or slipped security to go
shopping and drinking.
All of them face charges of
breaching the provisions of
the Covid-19 Public Health
Response Act and can face a
prison term up to six months or
a fine of $4000.
And there have been cases
of people who were officially
allowed to go out of their
the not-to-be-underestimated.
Opposition-not-for-opposition-sake
of New Zealand
politics, in pleasing contrast
with the relentlessly showoff
politicians in other segments of
the political divide. It seemed
that the Nats had direction and
Mr Muller a recognisable and
attractive political personality.
What followed has had all the
elements of farce.
Mr Muller staked his claim to
be the successor, a number of
others also seemed to be on the
run.
The caucus was in ‘pain’ to
elect new leaders.
Mr Muller deserves some
sympathy. He was perhaps
the most isolated leader of the
National Party ever. He was
perhaps friendless within his
own Shadow Cabinet and did
not have the right advise made
available to him at the right time
by the right people.
Coupled with his own political
insecurity, a lack of seasoned and
loyal tacticians to help him do his
political thinking was disastrous.
Arduous tasks
As we wrote this, Judith Collins
the Iron Woman of National had
taken charge, of not only the
Party but also of the opposition
in Parliament. Both are arduous
tasks, given the fact that National
is keen to get itself to the treasury
benches at the next election
due on September 19, 2020.
As the embers of the recent
goings on are raked over, a new
conventional wisdom should
emerge among the ranks of the
National Party and mark the return
of cohesion, discipline and
most important of all, economic
and political populism.
facilities to attend to their ailing
relatives or funerals.
National attacks government
The National Party was right
in saying that the increasing
number of people escaping
from the isolation facilities is
putting all other New Zealanders
to health risk. Its MP Amy
Adams said that New Zealanders
had the right to expect the
government to contain people
from getting out of quarantine
facilities.
She called for a zero tolerance
approach to any chance of
public contamination from any
New Zealander returning from
overseas.
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State Services Minister Chris Hipkins
(RNZ Photo by Dom Thomas)
Covid-19 cases breach being probed
Editor’s Note: There have been significant developments since this report was posted on
July 4, 2020. However, this is being put out for record purposes.
Jane Patterson
State Services Minister Chris
Hipkins said that the government
will do everything
it can to track down who is
responsible for a massive privacy
breach relating to New Zealand’s
active Covid cases, and is not ruling
out pursuing criminal charges.
An investigation has been
ordered into the breach, with a
leak revealing the personal details
and identities of New Zealand’s 18
active Covid cases.
RNZ has seen a document that
includes the full names, addresses,
ages and the names of the hotel and
one hospital in which the people
have been quarantining.
Criminal charges possible
Mr Hipkins said that the
investigation could result in
criminal charges, depending on the
outcome.
“Ultimately, if there are avenues
available to us to pursue somebody
who has done this maliciously,
then we will certainly be exploring
those. This is not the sort of thing
that I am willing to let go. This is
a major breach of trust and confidence
and it should be rigorously
pursued,” he said.
Mr Hipkins said that he was
“very, very angry” that such
highly sensitive information was
leaked, but said the source was still
unknown.
It would be “abhorrent” if it were
a deliberate act, he said.
The information is held by a
number of agencies and by some
involved in the management of
managed isolation and quarantine
facilities.
Mr Hipkins said that the State
Services Commission has been
asked to work with all the relevant
agencies, since several government
agencies are involved.
Thorough investigation
“At this point, we do not have
National Party Leader Todd Muller
(RNZ Photo by Dom Thomas)
certainty about where in the process
the information has ended up
being released. To identify what the
record keeping practices are, who
has access to the information, how
it came into the public domain,
I want them to do that really
thoroughly, I want them to leave no
stone unturned,” Mr Hipkins said.
He said that motive also had to
be determined, whether it was a
mistake “and then, someone took
advantage of the mistake they
made, or whether it was more
malicious than that”.
Someone “impartial” would be
brought in to carry out the investigation,
which may also involve
forensic analysis of IT systems, Mr
Hipkins said.
“I think it is important that
we bring someone in who is not
directly involved ... which is what
the State Services Commissioner
will help to facilitate.”
Message to people
He had the message for the thousands
of people coming through the
border regime, who are obliged to
hand over personal information.
“On behalf of the whole government,
and I am not sure where in
the government the system has
fallen down, I apologise to those
people; this is not acceptable; no
government should tolerate this
kind of behaviour and we won’t.
And I want to give an absolute
assurance that we will get to the
bottom of it, and that we will make
sure it does not happen again and
that anyone who has acted maliciously
will be held accountable for
that,” Mr Hipkins said.
Shabby says Todd Muller
The National Party Leader says
that the major leak of personal
details revealing the identity of
New Zealand’s active cases is
“unacceptable and shabby.”
Todd Muller said that the breach
was “quite staggering, it talks to a
government that’s slipping off the
National Party Health Spokesperson Michael
Woodhouse (RNZ Photo by Richard Tindiller)
side of a cliff, in terms of managing
this issue, the border, the information
pertaining to it. If they manage
personal information, bluntly, they
cannot manage the border and they
cannot manage the country. From
the National Party’s perspective, it
was “unacceptable” and they would
see where it ended up,” he said.
Mr Muller asked if it was a
deliberate leak or was it accidental?
“It does not really matter at a
level ... it is loose, it is shabby and
it is a reminder that these guys
cannot manage important things
well. These guys need to step aside
and let a competent government
take over,” he said.
Sloppy and undisciplined
Mr Muller would wait to see
“how it all unfolded,’ but said that
it talked to a culture within the government
which was “pervasive.”
“Sloppy, not disciplined, not
focused on delivering.”
National Party Health Spokesperson
Michael Woodhouse said this
was “yet another serious failing”
that showed the government was
not capable of managing Covid-19.
“This is unconscionable and
unacceptable that those suffering
from the incredibly dangerous
virus now have to suffer further
with their private details being
leaked,” he said.
He said that the government
needed to get to the bottom of the
source of the leak, and added that
“keeping confidential information
confidential should not be a
difficult task.”
“The Ministry of Health have
been assuring people since the
beginning of the epidemic in New
Zealand that personal details would
remain private, it’s unfathomable
that they could not handle a simple
task like this,” Mr Woodhouse said.
Jane Patterson is Political Editor at
Radio New Zealand. The above Report
and Pictures have been published under
a Special Agreement with www.rnz.co.nz
No more distractions says Judith Collins
The National Party has
elected Judith Collins as
its new leader to replace
Todd Muller, with Gerry
Brownlee as her Deputy. Collins,
61, was first elected as an MP for
Clevedon in 2002 and has been
part of six Parliaments.
“I think it is really important
that we all have a common goal
... to get rid of the current government
and put in place a better government,”
she said after emerging
from the Caucus meeting.
“One of the things that unifies
any party is if they see that we are
getting the results that we want
... I think you’re going to find that
we’re very focused on winning.
There is no chance at all that I
am going to allow ... Ardern to
get away with any nonsense to do
with our economy. I am going to
hold her to account. I would say
experience, toughness, the ability
to make decisions ... that would be
myself. Jacinda Ardern is someone
we should not ever underestimate.
We are actually better. If you look
at our team, our experience ... it
is better than Jacinda Ardern and
her team,” she said.
She said the Party’s policies
would not see any major changes.
About Judith Collins
Ms Collins, Member of Parliament
elected from Papakura, has
been the Shadow Attorney General
since May and holds the National
Party’s spokesperson roles for
several areas, including Economic
Development, Regional Development
and Pike River Re-Entry.
She has previously been the
Minister for ACC, Corrections,
Energy and Resources, Ethnic
Communities, Justice, Police,
Revenue and Veterans’ Affairs.
According to her National
Party profile, she holds a Bachelor
of Laws, Master of Laws with
Honours and a Master of Taxation
Studies from the University of
Auckland and was a lawyer and
company director before being
elected to Parliament.
Mr Brownlee said he was there
to support Collins “and the rest of
the team and that is what I will be
doing.” He ruled out ever wanting
the leadership.
No further distractions
Ms Collins replaced Todd Muller,
who resigned on July 14, 2020,
saying that it had become clear he
was not the best person for the job.
Mr Brownlee offered his
sympathies.
“I was devastated for Todd Muller
and his family, I found Todd a
wonderful person to work with ... I
am sure that he will continue to be
just that,” he said.
Ms Collins said that the Party
would continue to support Mr
Muller in what was a difficult time.
She said it was important that
National MPs had no further
distractions before the Election.
Published under a Special Agreement
with www.rnz.co.nz

JULY 15, 2020
Russell Maher jailed
for $1.55 million fraud
Sourced Content
A
foreign exchange broker who
defrauded his clients of approximately
$1.55 million by using forged
documents has been sentenced to
three years and four months imprisonment.
Russell Maher (53) was sentenced today
(July 6, 2020) in the Auckland District Court
on 47 representative charges of ‘Using forged
documents’ brought by the Serious Fraud
Office (SFO).
The charges relate to Forex Brokers
Limited (FBL), through which the defendant
provided foreign exchange services.
Misrepresentation
Mr Maher sought to maintain client confidence
in his business by forging documents,
which misrepresented the timing of foreign
currency transactions he conducted on
behalf of his clients. In doing so he concealed
the deteriorating financial position of FBL.
SFO Chief Executive Julie Read, said,
“Mr Maher’s dishonest, repetitive and premeditated
offending resulted in significant
financial losses to his clients. He abused his
position of trust to create the illusion that
his business was successful when it was
not. Such deceitful behaviour damages New
Zealand’s reputation as a safe place to invest
and do business.”
Background information
The defendant, Russell Angus Maher
(53), operated a foreign exchange broking
business from 1995 until 2017. He provided
foreign exchange services through Forex
Broker Ltd (FBL).
Mr Maher was the sole director and
shares of the company were held by him and
his wife.
Car yards and other importers used FBL’s
services.
The company was placed in liquidation
in April 2017 and Mr Maher was declared
bankrupt in November 2018.
Source: Serious Fraud Office, Auckland
Walker should apologise for racist comments
Venkat Raman
About four months ago, New
Zealand First MP Shane
Jones caused ire among
the members of the Indian
community when asked ‘those who
do not agree with the country’s rules
and regulations to go back to India.’
He did not mean New Zealand
citizens and permanent residents but
almost no one was willing to listen.
We, including this Reporter too him
to task, asked him to apologise and
many National MPs asked Prime
Minister Jacinda Ardern to sack him.
Now, a National MP does
something worse, and no one seems
to bother.
Community leaders silent
I have not seen a single criticism
from leaders of the Indian community
over what Hamish Walker said in a
press statement today.
The Clutha-Southland MP Hamish
Walker said that about 11,000 people
were arriving from overseas and
were possibly heading to quarantine
facilities in the South Island.
“These people are possibly heading
for Dunedin, Invercargill and
Queenstown from India, Pakistan
and Korea. It is absolutely disgraceful
that the community has not been
consulted on this,” he said.
It is very wrong and reprehensible
for Mr Walker to utter such
despicable remarks and walk away
free. National has two MPs of Indian
origin and one of Korean origin and
they do not seem to have raised
any objection to the irresponsible
statement from their colleague.
National Leader Todd Muller
seemed to dismiss the ‘Walker
episode’ as something trivial.
I have spoken to Hamish.
Expressed my disappointment and
don’t condone what he said.
Hamish Walker and Dr Megan Woods (RNZ Photo by Rebekah Parsons-King)
A moment later, Mr Muller said,
“All good, Any other questions? Isn’t
it a lovely day?”
Housing Minister Dr Megan
Woods, who recently took charge of
Isolation and Quarantine facilities is
due to visit Queenstown and Dunedin
along with Air Commodore Digby
Webb next week and discuss with the
concerned about possible quarantine
facility.
Dr Woods described Mr Walker’s
comments as ‘disgraceful and
reprehensible.’
“They are also misleading,
scaremongering and frankly, being
racist,” she said.
Misleading and scaremongering
During a separate media briefing
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said
that those returning are New Zealand
citizens and permanent residents
who have the right to be in the
country.
Mr Walker said that he had
received many calls, texts and
emails from residents who did want
people to be held in quarantine in
Queenstown.
He has shown that he is an
irresponsible Member of Parliament.
Instead of making hasty and harsh
statements, it was incumbent on him
to have engaged with the government,
expressed the concerns which
he claims people had carried to him
and looked for the way to progress.
He also has the duty to inform
his constituents of the right of New
Zealand citizens and permanent
residents to return home.
Mr Muller, MPs of Indian and
Korean origin in the National Party,
other MPs and supporters of the
Parties have clearly failed in their
duty to discipline a rattling man.
Bigoted behaviour
Former Race Relations Coordinator
Gregory Fortuin said that best that
(Leader Todd) Muller could do was to
express concern instead of calling it
out for what it is.
“Just like Trump banning people
from Muslim countries, it is time
that we strongly call out this bigoted
behaviour when we have Kiwis
returning from all quarters of the
world. Hamish Walker would fit
in well in the racist deep South of
America,” he said.
And where are our community
leaders?
Indian High Commissioner Muktesh
Pardeshi should take exception
to the comments of Mr Walker and
lodge a protest with the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs & Trade.
Mr Walker must apologise to the
people of India, Pakistan and Korea.
Businesslink
13
Auckland Amenities
Bill pleases
Dr Parmjeet Parmar
Editor’s Note: National List
MP Parmjeet Parmar has
welcomed the passing of the
Auckland Regional Amenities
Funding Amendment Bill. The
Bill was presented to Parliament
as a Private Bill by the Auckland
Regional Amenities Board and
sponsored by her.
She issued the following
Statement.
Anomaly corrected
It corrects an anomaly in the financial
reporting requirement under
the Auckland Regional Amenities
Funding Act 2008 which clashed with
a financial reporting requirement
under the Charities Act 2005.
Amenities affected include the
Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra,
NZ Opera, Auckland Theatre Company,
Auckland Arts Festival, Stardome
Observatory, Coastguard Northern
Region, Surf Life Saving Northern
Region, Auckland Rescue Helicopter
Trust and Watersafe Auckland/
Drowning Prevention Auckland.
This Amendment removes an
unnecessary burden on specified
amenities in the Auckland Regional
Amenities Funding Act by aligning
the financial reporting requirements
of those amenities with the reporting
requirements of other charities
under the Charities Act.
It was a privilege to be the sponsor
of this Bill. I am pleased it passed
with a retrospective validation for
specified amenities that have been
complying with the Charities Act
requirements that came into force
in 2015.
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JULY 15, 2020
14 Remembering Wenceslaus Anthony
Businesslink
Three years on memories of a Samaritan
continue to wet eyes and whet emotions
Sneha Anthony
July 23, 2020 marks three years
since the lives of Mum, Akash
and I changed forever.
This day, three years ago, my
beloved father left us at the most
unexpected time for his eternal
dwelling.
It was the day my heart
shattered into a million pieces and
I wondered how life carried on as
normal around me, while my world
felt like it had come to an end; the
day that family and friends from all
over the world mourned the man
who they tell me had touched their
lives with selfless love and a unique
friendship.
Enormous Void
Almost three years on, the enormous
void Papa’s passing continues
to manifest itself at every moment
– the void of his booming voice
echoing through the house while he
was on the phone, his singing, his
dancing, the jokes to which I would
roll my eyes, followed by his loud
laughter, his cheerful greetings to
the constant stream of visitors to
our house, his winding me up to get
a reaction from me.
I miss his larger than life
personality, his unconditional and
complete selfless love for me, his
sound wisdom in all situations, his
cheering and encouragement every
time I had a success story no matter
how small it was, his praying with
me, his bear hugs where I felt safe
with the knowledge that no matter
what went wrong it would be okay
as he was there; the list is endless
but most of all I just miss his
presence in my life.
Constant Grief
It is said that time heals and
makes things easier, yet I still feel
An illustrious family: The late Wenceslaus Anthony with his beloved wife Susan, son Akash and
daughter Sneha (Picture Supplied)
the constant crushing grief in my
heart; all time has done is teach me
how to live with that grief.
As time went by following his
passing, I made a decision to do my
best to choose to joy each day, no
matter how difficult it was going to
be – as everyone who encountered
Papa knew that his life was one
of constant joy no matter how
difficult things were.
He believed that the best way to
get through life’s challenges was to
find happiness in the small things
and to laugh as often as one could.
Love of God
His personal life, deeply
influenced by his work with Saint
Mother Teresa, was strongly driven
by love of God and love of people.
Papa had the biggest heart of
anyone I ever knew, he was a giver
and his life was all about helping
anyone that crossed his path
without being asked.
As his daughter, I witnessed daily
his enormous heart of kindness,
care and service towards others
manifested in the multitude of
calls, visits, financial and physical
help, but what has astounded
me over the last year was when I
realised that everything I saw was
just one part of the story.
Selfless Service
I have heard from numerous
others, including strangers about
how he was there for them at their
time of need, how they knew they
could count on him anytime they
needed something and how they
felt truly loved and cared for in his
presence.
Saint Mother Teresa once said
that “for love to be real, it has to
cost us, it should empty us of self -
love is to give till it hurts.”
Papa was always about giving
and helping no matter what it
would cost him.
His love for others was selfless;
every day of his life was lived with a
purpose to serve anywhere he saw
a need and he expected nothing in
return.
Commitment and Sacrifice
Papa always strove to be the best
that he could be in all that he did; he
did not desire recognition or success
but anything he did was always
performed with the utmost passion,
commitment, hard work and
sacrifice and this was recognised by
the awards, accolades and posts he
received from government, business
and church.
In the year after his passing, as I
met with leaders from these groups
at various events, I was reminded
of another quote from Saint Mother
Teresa – “If we want a love message
to be heard, it has got to be sent out.
To keep a lamp burning, we have
to keep putting oil in it. Spread love
everywhere you go. Let no one
ever come to you without leaving
happier.”
Everyone is Special
Papa’s ability to relate to anyone
he came across and make them
feel like they were the most special
person regardless of who they were
meant that while each of these
people recalled Papa as someone
who was amazing at all the various
professional tasks he undertook
with them, their most distinct
memory of him was someone who
made them feel like they were truly
valued, respected and cherished as
a person.
That he was the reason one believed
in the goodness of humanity,
that every time they met him it
made them want to be a better
person, that each time just being
around him somehow made them
come back to what was really important
in life, that he loved, accepted
and developed a friendship with
everyone who crossed his path, that
he had the ability to be a true leader
that brought out the best in all the
groups he led, that he would make
time to advise and help them with
their challenges; these were just a
few of the hundreds of messages I
have been blessed to have received
and heard over the last year.
Sharing Memory
My family and I would also like
to thank each one of you who have
continued to remember and honour
Papa’s memory and who have
shared in our grief with us. Thank
you to those who have continued to
remember us as a family through
keeping in touch, visiting us and
extending support and offers of
help.
I also want to pay tribute to the
incredible strength of my mother
– her courage, her sacrifice despite
her pain and her determination to
stay upbeat and positive to ensure
that Akash and I can continue to
live our lives the best we can is
something that I am truly inspired
by and thankful for. Papa’s loss has
meant that life has changed forever
for us.
As Saint Mother Teresa said, “A
life not lived for others is not a life.”
And so I take comfort and solace
in knowing that Papa’s life was
a triumphant one that was lived
for others in love; the legacy of
incredible faith, generosity, humility
and sacrifice which he leaves behind
and has been appreciated by
hundreds around the world.
I am so incredibly proud,
honoured and blessed to be the
daughter of this incredible man and
my prayer and hope is that my life
will be at least a small reflection
of this continued love, service and
reaching out to those around me.
Sneha Anthony is the daughter of
Wenceslaus Anthony, who was the Chairman
of the Indian Newslink Community
Fund. He was a family friend of the
Editor of Indian Newslink and a regular
Columnist in Indian Newslink, which has
instituted Commemoration Awards in
his memory for achievers in business,
community, sports, arts and culture
The loss of a brother and friend too much to bear
Wenceslaus Anthony will continue
‘Wency,’ as he was affectionately As a columnist for Indian
to live in hearts and minds
called by some of us, was known to Newslink, he shared his values
Venkat Raman
us from 2001 when we went on a and beliefs with more than 150,000
New Zealand trade mission to India. readers of its print and web editions
The passing away of my
We had many glimpses of both the every fortnight. His passion for
dearest brother, friend and
energetic entrepreneur and the the human cause encouraged us
family member Wenceslaus
humane person that he was. Wency’s
savvy professionalism, astute Community Fund’ with him as
to establish the ‘Indian Newslink
Anthony at Apollo Hospital
in Chennai, India around 630
knowledge of India and Chennai, his Chairman last year.
pm on July 23. 2017, was not just
vast network of business leaders, his Service to Church
shocking but unbearable; for it is
personal contacts with the highest The services of Mr Anthony to
difficult to perceive the world – and
level of Church Heads, his philanthropic
ventures and his care and young Catholics have been a source
the Roman Catholic Church and the
within it all of us- living without
the sight and smile of a man who
concern for the vulnerable left us of inspiration to all of us, including
endeared himself to people known
totally dumbfounded at times. We those of other faiths. He considers
to him – and strangely as it turned
always ended up wondering as to himself a ‘Servant of Servants,’ in
out over the four days that he was Wenceslaus Anthony at a ceremony held in his honour at St Joseph’s College, Bengaluru how he found time and energy to do the true Christian spirit. He was the
taken seriously ill- even those who (Bangalore) on July 4, 2017.
so much for humanity. He was also Chairperson of the Divine Retreat
did not know him.
ka where he met Prime Minister sense, maintaining an active a humble, fun- loving person, who Centre Movement in New Zealand
Wenceslaus (this is the first time Ranil Wickremesinghe, New Delhi community life and contributing would delve into the golden days and Advisor to the Vailankanni
I address him by his first name- in where he met the then President to a strongly committed family. and nostalgia and sing along old Committee to celebrate the feast
all other personal references, it has Pranab Mukherjee; in fact, he visited
several cities in India to meet the India New Zealand Business tact us whenever he passed through September 8) and Director of Con-
Alongside respected leadership of Tamil songs. He never failed to con-
of the Birthday of Mother Mary on
always been ‘Your Royal Majesty,’
because there was everything with business associates, renew Council, and the local operation of Melbourne. We pray sincerely for quest Club, which aims to shape the
Royal about him and his thoughts and make new contacts. At each the Bank of Baroda, he had built his mighty soul and we pass on our character and personality of young
and deeds were Majestic) was too of these meetings, he was keen to and operated a successful logistics deepest condolences to Susan Sneha boys in the 8- 14 age group.
young to die. He was only 59 years explore possibilities of fostering company. As an active Catholic and Akash. There can never be He worked very closely with the
old- and some of us had planned to two-way trade and commercial church contributor, he recently another Wency- Wenceslaus. late Mother Teresa and has had a
mark his 60th Birthday on September
28, 2017- and led an active and The fact that Mr Anthony
To all of his achievements he
The following is my tribute to a the late Pope John Paul II. He was
opportunities.
received an unusual Papal honour. My Tribute
personal audience with His Holiness
healthy life.
touched hearts of people is evidenced
by hundreds of messages he will be remembered warmly Having known Mr Anthony since Interfaith Committee established in
brought a graciousness for which great man.
the Chairman of the Mother Teresa
He left behind a lovely family
comprising his wife Susan, their and text messages posted on our for a long time. A small point of my arrival in New Zealand 21 years Auckland in 2010.
daughter Sneha and son Akash and three Web Editions and Facebook solace, perhaps, is that his death ago, I have also had the privilege Mr Anthony was the Managing
thousands of friends and well-wishers
all over the world.
Many called us to express their where he had maintained many number of professional and social Director Business Solutions Limited
pages.
has occurred in Chennai, a place of close association with him in a Director of WAML Group Limited,
There wasn’t a day in the past condolences, with a request to connections, notably in education.” welfare organisations, at each of (New Zealand) and PACT Industries
18 years that passed by without convey them to his grieving family. Vijay Vaidyanath & Gopal
which he has earned the respect Pty Ltd (Australia). He was also the
a conversation with him over the Among them were the following: Ramanathan
and admiration of people with his Chairman of Bank of Baroda (New
phone- irrespective of the country, Sir Anand Satyanand
Vijaya Vaidyanath, Chief Executive
of the Yarra City Council in Vic-
His contributions to the business Business Advisory Group of the
integrity, honesty and commitment. Zealand) Limited, Chairperson of
city, or time zone- we used to joke Longstanding friend and
that ‘we always went to sleep the former Governor General of New toria, Australia, and her husband community is well documented and International College of Auckland
next day.’
Zealand Sir Anand Satyanand, said, Gopal Ramanathan have been recognised (the foremost of which and Head of Government Relations
The Final Journey
“Wenceslaus Anthony packed a among our common friends since was his appointment as a ‘Member of the India New Zealand Business
He had been away from New great many things into less than almost two decades. They said, “We of the New Zealand Order of Merit’ Council.
Zealand since June 2, 2017, firstly 20 years of life in New Zealand, are deeply saddened and shocked by Her Majesty the Queen on her
on business and thence on holiday achieving success in business in by the tragic passing away of our New Year’s Honours List on January
with his family. He visited Sri Lan- a personal as well as corporate dear friend Wenceslaus Anthony. 1, 2014.

JULY 15, 2020
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15
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www.link2services.com

16
JULY 15, 2020
Communitylink
Gandhi Nivas success enhances hope of reducing family harm
Massey Report on the
intervention model released
in Parliament
Venkat Raman
A
well-organised intervention
programme, run efficiently
and equally important, adequately
funded can reduce the
occurrence of family violence, Ethnic
Communities Minister Jenny Salesa has
said.
Launching a Massey University
Report on the functioning of the
Auckland-based Gandhi Nivas in the
Executive Hall of Parliament on June 30,
2020, she said that over a period of five
years, the intervention model reduced
reoffending by almost 60%.
Among the other speakers at the
event were Police Minister Stuart Nash,
Undersecretary to Justice Minister
Jan Logie, Police Commissioner Andy
Coster, ACC Chief Customer Officer
Emma Powell and Gandhi Nivas
Chairperson Ranjna Patel.
A Panel discussion relating to the
family violence, delivery of counselling
services at Gandhi Nivas and the role
of the Police formed a part of the
evening with participants including
Deputy Commissioner of Police Wallace
Haumaha, Sahaayta Counselling and
Social Support Director Sucharita
Varma and Massey University Professor
Mandy Morgan.
The Report, titled, “Gandhi Nivas
2014-2019: A Statistical Description of
Client Demographics and Involvement
in Police Recorded Family Violence
Occurrences,” was based on a research
undertaken by Massey University to
assess the functioning of Gandhi Nivas
which was established in December
2014 to address the increasing incidence
of family violence and offering
counselling perpetrators, who are often
ignored.
The Report accompanying the
Research confirmed the effectiveness
of Gandhi Nivas, saying that 57.5% of
previous offenders did not reoffend
after engaging with the Gandhi Nivas
service.
Complexity of family harm
Police Commissioner Andrew Coster
Ethnic Communities Minister holding the Massey University Report on Gandhi Nivas. Others in
the picture are (seated from left) Police Minister Stuart Nash, Gandhi Nivas Chairperson Ranjna
Patel, Police Commissioner Andy Coster (Standing: from left Gandhi Nivas Advisory Board
Members Inspector Rakesh Naidoo, Venkat Raman, Mark Vella; Deputy Commissioner Wallace
Haumaha, Massey University Professor Mandy Morgan and Gandhi Nivas Advisory Board
Member Dr David Codyre
Jenny Salesa with Ranjna Patel, Jan Logie, Emma Powell and others at the Executive Hall of
New Zealand Parliament on June 30, 2020.
said that the Research demonstrates
that the complexity of family harm can
be addressed by providing immediate
support and intervention for the perpetrator,
victim and whanau.
ACC Chief Customer Officer Emma
Powell said that the elimination of
family and sexual violence is a key focus
of ACC’s investment in injury prevention
programmes in New Zealand.
“We are proud to have been a seedfunder
of Gandhi Nivas and the work
it is doing to reduce harm and keep
families safe. Our investment over the
past four years has funded access to
counselling 24 hours a day, seven days a
week. We are pleased to see the Massey
report confirming the programme’s
effectiveness in changing the behaviour
of men who commit acts of family
violence,” she said.
Gandhi Nivas Chairman Ranjna Patel
said that the findings of the Massey
University Report provide a compelling
proof of concept for the interventionist
model.
“If you want to see transformational
change in this country, you have to
work with the men who are inflicting
violent behaviour in the family home.
It is important to support the victims
of domestic violence, but that will not
change a man’s behaviour. To end
violent behaviour, you have got to find
and address its source,” she said.
About the Research
Led by Professor Mandy Morgan and
Dr Leigh Coombes of Massey University,
the Study evaluated how Gandhi Nivas
has been working with the men who
were served with a Police Safety Order,
following a family harm incident in
their homes.
The Study concentrated on the first
Expert says good health goes beyond containing diseases
“Women to be vigilant of
breast cancer which is high in
New Zealand”
Venkat Raman
Leading a life without diseases is
important but achieving a state of
physical and mental wellbeing with a
balance work and life, a leading medical
expert has said.
Leading Gynaecologist and Laparoscopic
Surgeon Dr Padmaja Koya said
that modern lifestyle comes with its own
challenges and high stress levels, but
people who are able to set apart quality
time with their families and friends as a
part of their daily schedule, achieve true
progress in their careers and happiness
in their lives.
She was speaking at a Pinki Ribbon
Afternoon Tea, hosted by Legal Associates
Barristers & Solicitors Partner
Ashima Singh in Newmarket on July 5.
Challenges and opportunities
Dr Koya recounted her own experience
along her professional journey,
she spoke of the tough competition at
the entrance examination for medical
studies in her native India, training in
the United Kingdom and the subsequent
move to New Zealand.
“During our initial years in the
United Kingdom, my husband (leading
Urologist and Surgeon Dr Madhusudan
Koya) and I were trainees working in
different cities. As well as progressing in
our respective careers, we had to raise
a new-born baby. Life was good but the
need to strike a better balance between
home and work encouraged us to move
to New Zealand, which offered an
excellent environment to raise a family,”
she said.
Dr Padmaja Koya speaking at the Pink Ribbon event
Dr Padmaja Koya with her audience
Paying tributes to her mother,
husband and other members of her
family, she said that their continued
support helped her to establish her own
gynaecology practice in Auckland.
Education on breast cancer
The meeting aimed to enhance awareness
of breast cancer among women.
Ashima said that in general, working
women, especially those self-employed,
do not look after their health and often
neglect symptoms of breast cancer.
“Breast cancer is the third most
common cancer in New Zealand and
hence there is a pronounced need to
encourage our women to have regular
check-up. Health officials often say that
early detection improves the chance of
cure and hence I decided to organise this
meeting,” she said.
Ashima Singh emphasising education on breast cancer
Ashima Singh with Bhavana Singh Chahal and (from
left) Legal Associates team Shyama Sharma, Geetha
Arunthayaparan, Chethani Serasundera and Yasodara
Kodithuwakku
“I believe that women tend to focus
on building their family and business
so much that they forget to take care of
their health first. Considering that 80%
of woman are diagnosed with breast
cancer every year in New Zealand, there
is greater need today than ever before,
to educate our people in general and
women in particular on this issue,” she
said.
Other speakers
Ashima said that among the other
speakers were Aspiring entrepreneur
Bhavana Singh Chahal (owner of café,
Robert Harris Roaster Franchise) and
Kathryn Terry, a nurse from Pink Ribbon
Breast Cancer Foundation.
“Ms Chahal spoke on empowerment
home of Gandhi Nivas in Otahuhu
(which opened in December 2014), covering
a five-year period from January 1,
2015 to December 31, 2019.
Gandhi Nivas operates two other
homes, one each in the Te Atatu Peninsula
in West Auckland and Papakura in
South Auckland.
“Instead of removing victims from
their homes after a family harm incident,
the Gandhi Nivas interventionist
Family Harm Programme removes men
from their family home, provides them
with temporary housing, 24/7 specialist
counselling and support to begin behavioural
change, while a wraparound
support service is offered to whanau,”
the Report said.
New hope in reducing
family harm
Professor Morgan said that the team’s
evaluation provides insights and data
on the success of the Gandhi Nivas and
offers hope that properly resourced
early intervention can contribute to
addressing the real problem of violence
in our homes.
“Men aged in their twenties and
thirties are the predominant age group
at Gandhi Nivas. Ages range from
youthful to elderly - the oldest client is
84 years old and the youngest is 15. A
majority of clients are between 20 and
40 (55.98%), with almost 30% in the
20-29 age group,” she said.
Dr Coombes said that lack of employment
is a significant issue facing Gandhi
Nivas clients.
“In total, just under half of intake cases
(49.72%) show that the client was not
in employment at the time they resided
at Gandhi Nivas with 47.75% specifically
recorded as unemployed,” she said.
According to the Report, relationships
with intimate partners and family
members accounted for 95% of family
harm incidents. 32% were the intimate
partner of the victim, 30% were the
parent, 20% were the child of the
victim, and 7% were siblings. For those
involved in intimate partner violence,
69% were cohabiting.
About Gandhi Nivas
Gandhi Nivas is a partnership
between Serenity Foundation, New Zealand
Police and Sahaayta Counselling
of women and how she overcame her
struggle as a woman entrepreneur
during the Covid-19 lockdown, while Ms
Terry spoke on the ways and means of
addressing breast cancer,” she said.
Ailments afflicting women
In an earlier article published in
Indian Newslink, Dr Koya said that
women maintaining appropriate body
weight and following a good lifestyle
would be less vulnerable to diseases and
problems.
She said that diabetes, cholesterol,
heart problems, cancers and problems
related to the uterus are common among
women of Indian origin and people from
the Indian Sub-Continent region.
She said that the incidence of
diabetes is high among women of Indian
ethnicity.
“Diabetes, obesity, infertility and
endometrial cancer are associated with
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS).
Women should therefore maintain a
healthy bodyweight and lifestyle,” she
said.
According to Dr Koya, the benefits
include improved fertility, reduced risk
of developing diabetes and endometrial
cancer in later years.
She said that many women suffer
such ailments as anaemia from heavy
menstrual bleeding and painful
menstruation. These are usually due to
fibroids in the uterus, which are benign
uterine lumps.
Heart diseases
Dr Koya said that heart disease is
common among people of Indian origin.
It is more common among men but
Indian women have a higher incidence
than their European counterparts.
In view of the susceptibility to which
women are exposed, they should undergo
regular medical tests. These include
cervical smears every three years and
and Social Support. The Partnership was
established in 2014, using a Lotteries
Commission grant and funding from
Total Healthcare PHO and other private
funders.
The concept grew from discussions
between Counties Manukau Police and
its South Asian Police Advisory Board
with the objective of providing early
intervention and prevention services
to people identified as at the risk of
committing family violence to help
them change their behaviour, reduce
the likelihood of further family harm
and increase safety for families.
Gandhi Nivas is partially funded by
ACC. It provides emergency housing
and counselling to men who have been
issued with a Police Safety Order (PSO)
following an act of family harm. Participating
agencies describe the initiative as
innovative and ground-breaking.
“Once a man is issued with a PSO,
he must leave the family home for a
set period of time. It is at this point
that some men are taken by Police to
one of three Gandhi Nivas homes in
Ōtāhuhu, Te Atatu and Papakura. This
immediately decreases the likelihood
of further family harm, increases safety
for the family, and provides the offender
with an opportunity to begin the process
of behavioural change,” the Report said.
Major Social Problem
Family Violence is a major social
problem globally, disempowering and
paralysing women physically, psychologically,
sexually and economically.
One in three women face some form
of violence in their homes; every four
minutes, Police are called to a Family
Violence incident and Police believe that
12% of women actually make the call.
Although there are some organisations
that cater to the needs of women
and children, there was a need to shift
focus on involving men in prevention
strategies. Services of these organisations
are usually provided during
the working week (Monday to Friday)
hours, while most incidents occur in the
evenings and on weekends.
Gandhi Nivas is a round-the-clock,
round-the-year facility and is governed
by a board
mammograms (especially women from
the age of 45) every two years.
“However, they should consult their
doctor if they have any problems with
their periods or other abnormal bleeding
or pain,” she said.
Dr Koya is renowned for her specialisation
in Laparoscopy and Complex Laparoscopic
surgery, which she performs
regularly at various hospitals.
She said Laparoscopy is inspection of
the abdominal contents through a keyhole
with a camera, used traditionally to
diagnose problems.
“Keyhole surgery has evolved in
recent years, permitting us to perform
major operations like removal of uterus,
ovarian cysts and endometriosis through
key holes, which is complex laparoscopic
surgery. Sometimes, procedures can
take as long as six hours. The pain would
be relatively low with this process with
faster recovery and quick return to full
activities due to the very small size of the
cuts,” she said.
General antipathy
Like most men of Indian origin, women
from the Sub-Continent are either
fatalistic or indifferent to health issues.
Such callous attitude exposes many
women to dangers of diseases, disorders
and discomfort later in life.
Dr Koya attributes the general apathy
to the busy lifestyle followed by women
and placing their husbands, children and
other members of the family on priority.
“They should realise that they can
look after their families only if they
are healthy and well. Sometimes, there
are misconceptions about treatments,
especially surgery. They can be reassured
that techniques and technology
have made it possible to treat several
problems with minimum invasiveness,”
she said.

JULY 15, 2020
Youngster cuts it short to fund Cancer Society
The deadly disease spares neither
bigwigs nor the ordinary
Shirish Paranjape
When Trisha Shailaj looked
at the mirror and admired
her long, 16” hair, she was
proud of her achievementshe
had grown her hair long, only to
give it away for a good cause.
But the ‘sacrifice’ did not come about
without some last-minute vacillation
and hesitation.
The Year-11 student at Avonside Girls
High School (Christchurch) had heard
of people suffering from cancer and the
effect it has on their scalp.
Tonsure for Cancer Relief
About a year ago, she learnt that a
girl studying in her school had shaved
off her hair to raise funds for the Cancer
Society.
Trisha then learnt that every four
hours, a New Zealander is diagnosed
with a blood cancer such as leukaemia,
lymphoma, myeloma or a related blood
condition and that every day, the Cancer
Society and Leukaemia and Blood
Cancer New Zealand have more than
40 interactions with patients and health
professionals.
“I thought of doing so to help people
who are less fortunate,” she said.
Research and realisation
Trisha began to find out more about
‘Shave for Cure,’ and similar projects
through which people shave off their
head and also raise funds for charities
and for Cancer research and treatment.
“I realised that I could cut my hair,
instead of shaving it off completely. I
Trisha Shailaj
Before and after the Donation
learnt that the shredded hair is used
to make wigs for cancer patients. I told
myself that I can donate my hair and
can always grow it again.”
She was told that Freedom Hair
(Freedom Wings), a Dunedin based
company purchases hair from the
public, works with charities, individuals
and hair procurement agents in
New Zealand and around the world to
ensure that they have the hair suitable
for the diverse needs of clients.
“Freedom needs a minimum length
of 14 inches. They make wigs for
Cancer Society. I therefore decided to
grow my hair to 15-16 inches,” Trisha
said.
It took her six months to grow her
hair long. It took effort and of course
care.
Questions and hesitation
When it was time to donate, she
became a bundle of emotions- which
included anxiety, uncertainty and
even fear.
“Should I do this? I always wanted
long hair and it has taken so long
and so much to achieve. Isn’t there
another way to help people in need?”
These were among the questions that
began to circulate in her mind.
However, the objective with which
she started the self-assigned project,
kept her will strong.
When hesitation was trying to get
the better of her, Trisha’s parents
encouraged her to go ahead with the
donation.
“Afterall, you can always grow it
again,” they reminded her.
Thereafter, there was no further
hesitation.
Trisha was gratified when Freedom
Hair sent her an email thanking her
for the donation, saying that there
should be more people like her.
Positive change
“I encourage others to do this, or
anything similar. It does not matter
what others think. If you want to
make a positive change for other people
in the world, just do it. Consider
it as good fun. It is important to do
good Karma and spread positivity. The
hair grows very fast and I can donate
again,” Trisha said.
She has worked with her father
to raise funds, through ‘Friends of
Rotary’ for the benefit of Multiple
Sclerosis & Parkinson’s Canterbury
and other charities.
Trisha is a proficient swimmer but
her current proclivities are in Netball
and plays for her School Team. Her
wish list includes skydiving and
bungee-jumping.
Shirish Paranjape is our Correspondent
based in Christchurch.
Communitylink
Healthcare nurses to stop work for two hours on July 23
Protest as pay rise talks fail
Venkat Raman
More than 3400 primary health
care nurses, medical receptionists
and administrators
employed at about 500 practices
and accident and medical centres will
stop work for two hours on Thursday, July
23, 2020, following the failure of talks on
mediation to settle their Multi-Employer
Collective Agreement (MECA).
New Zealand Nurses Organisation
(NZNO) Industrial Advisor Chris Wilson
said that the action would be unprecedented
in such primary health care
workplaces.
She said that it is a clear indication of
the frustration that workers feel after
eight months of fruitless negotiations.
“It is not surprising that employers
have not increased their offer to one that
our members could accept because their
funding from government is completely
inadequate. Employers have been very
clear that they also want pay parity with
District Health Boards (DHBs) so they can
keep their staff and continue delivery of a
quality primary health care service,” Ms
Wilson said.
Pay disparity with DHB
She said that an experienced nurse covered
by the Primary Health Care MECA is
currently paid 10.6% less than their DHB
colleague with the same qualifications,
skills and experience.
“This is completely unjust and
undervalues the amazing work these
nurses do in providing expert care in
the community, demonstrated so clearly
in the Covid-19 response. This is not the
usual union versus employer dispute,”
she said.
According to Ms Wilson, owners, doctors
and managers are also disappointed
that the government funding for pay
parity has not been forthcoming.
“This is despite approaches to ex-
Image from NZNO website
17
Health Minister David Clark, the Ministry
of Health and DHB officials by NZNO and
the NZ Medical Association and Green
Cross Health,” she said.
Report favours nurses
Ms Wilson said that the recently
released Health and Disability System
Review Report was clear that primary
health care nurses should expect pay
parity, and that ex-Health Minister David
Clark acknowledged that there was a
disparity as recently as a month ago.
“Resolving this really comes down to
political will, and our members’ patience
has just about run out. Budget 2020 put an
extra $3.92 billion into DHBs over the next
four years, whereas pay parity for PHC
nurses would cost a mere $15 million.
Last week, $15 million was promised to
assist completing the Christchurch Coastal
Pathway. Our members are wondering
what has to happen for Government to
appropriately value them and the Primary
Health sector as the frontline of our health
service,” Ms Wilson said.
She said that without additional
funding, recruitment and retention issues
will only be solved by passing additional
costs on to the consumers.
“This is not a responsible solution
and clearly not in the interests of
communities. NZNO will be contacting the
Chief Nursing Officer, Director General of
Health, relevant Ministers and the Prime
Minister this week to make the case again
for improved government funding,” Ms
Wilson said.
What are the
referendum questions?
Know before you vote
Authorised by the Secretary for Justice

18
JULY 15, 2020
Classifiedlink/Communitylink
Entrust beneficiaries asked to check details
Supplied Content
Auckland-based Entrust has
appealed to all Aucklanders
eligible for dividend payout
to check their details
and advice the Trust, so as to receive
their dividend in September 2020.
Please visit the Entrust website:
www.entrustnz.co.nz
Entrust (formerly Auckland Energy
Consumer Trust) owns 75.1% of
shares in lines company, Vector. The
shares are held in trust for more
than 338,000 energy consumer beneficiaries
in Auckland, Manukau,
northern parts of Papakura and
Eastern Franklin who are paid a
cash dividend each year.
Entrust Chairman William Cairns
said that in a year when struggling
households and businesses will be
looking for savings and additional
cash, this year’s dividend payment
will be an important injection into
Auckland’s economy.
Large dividend pay-out
“The annual Entrust dividend is
one of the largest dividend pay-outs
in New Zealand, which last year
delivered over $120 million to our
beneficiaries and into the Auckland
economy. With many household
budgets under increased pressure
because of Covid-19’s financial
impacts, it’s never come at a more
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The applicant must have a valid visa to work in New
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Application closing date: 20th July 2020, Monday
To apply please visit our website
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Entrust Chairman William Cairns (Website Picture)
critical time,” he said.
The dividend is paid to all customers
who are connected to the Vector
electricity network and located in
the Entrust district at the roll date
each year.
From this week, payment
preference forms will be sent to all
households and businesses who
meet these criteria.
“If that is you, we want to make
the payment process as simple as
possible, but we need you to make
sure we have your correct information
and preferred method of
payment. This will ensure that you
receive the payment with no delays
in September,” Mr Cairns said.
Bank account details needed
“If you have previously received
your dividend via cheque, we
encourage you to re-assess your
preferred method. Kiwibank is the
first major bank to no longer accept
cheques, and BNZ, ANZ, ASB and
Westpac have announced their intention
to do the same. This includes
your Entrust Dividend cheque. The
easiest way to get the payment in
cash is to provide us with your bank
account details,” he added.
What beneficiaries should do
To make sure that the payment
is received, Entrust beneficiaries
must please do the following (a)
Check that the name on the Entrust
form is exactly the same as the
bank account that the cheque or
direct credit will be paid into. If it is
not, ask your electricity retailer to
update your power account name to
match (b) If you wish to change your
payment method, please update
the Entrust form and return it by
Monday, August 3, 2020.
“We know this payment makes a
difference to many families every
year, but with our economy in
recovery mode and many families
struggling, we want to ensure that
everyone who meets the criteria for
the Entrust dividend receives it and
in the way that suits their financial
situation,” Mr Cairns said.
Air New Zealand may extend booking freeze
Sourced Content
Air New Zealand has not
ruled out extending its
three-week freeze on
bookings to help with the
squeeze on the managed isolation
of returning travellers, Chief
Executive Greg Foran has said.
With capacity for just 6849
people in 26 managed isolation and
quarantine facilities across five
cities, pressure is going on those
resources.
The Minister in charge of Managed
Isolation Dr Megan Woods,
said that the system could not
purely be demand driven.
Emirates and Singapore Airlines
are also being asked stop taking
bookings over the same period.
Mr Foran said that the airline
needs to contact some passengers
travelling in the next three weeks
- to move their booking because of
isolation capacity constraints.
Ethical Agreement
He told RNZ’s Checkpoint that he
agreed to the three-week booking
freeze on an “ethical” basis.
It had been a simple decision to
provide the right support to the
government, he said.
Foran said he was confident that
rival airlines would “do what’s
right” and limit their capacity. All
the airlines have a role to play
Air New Zealand Chief Executive Greg Foran (Air New Zealand Picture by Bruce Jarvis)
given the current situation with
almost 7000 people in managed
isolation, he said.
“We may have to look at other
solutions around that [the three
weeks] because there’s a lot of
New Zealanders who live overseas
who are obviously looking to come
home and managing that through
the entire supply chain is important
here. It will be looked at day by
day across all the teams and we’ll
come up with the right answer,” Mr
Foran said.
He said that he was expecting
about 5000 people to travel home to
New Zealand on the airline in the
next three weeks, and he was not
expecting hundreds of people to
have to change flights.
Matching arrivals with
availability
He believes that the airline will
not lose much revenue over the
He said that Entrust would also
be talking to budget advice and
support services to help ensure that
anyone who should get the dividend
payment knows that now is the time
to check their details and payment
options.
“It can be paid via direct credit,
credit on to electricity accounts
or via cheque (if your bank still
accepts them), to the named person
or people on the power bill. But we
need people to check their letterbox
and carefully read the letter we’re
sending that gives them those
options and to make sure we have
the correct details to pay them,” Mr
Cairns said.
In late September, Entrust will
be making dividend payments to
around 338,000 households and
businesses within the Entrust area.
About Entrust
Entrust was established in 1993, to
ensure that power lines remained in
the control of electricity consumers
and was established under a trust
deed for 80 years on behalf of electricity
consumers in the area that
used to be served by the Auckland
Electric Power Board.
Entrust has been paying a dividend
to its beneficiaries since 1994.
Entrust beneficiaries are customers
on the Vector electricity network
and located in the Entrust district as
at the roll date each year.
The Entrust district is Auckland,
Manukau, northern parts of Papakura
and eastern Franklin.
decision because passengers will
just delay their travel for a couple
of weeks.
After the hiatus, the government
wants Air New Zealand to match
its daily arrivals according to beds
available in isolation.
Mr Foran said that discussions
are already taking place with the
government on capacity limits
beyond the three weeks, depending
on whether more rooms became
available for the managed isolation
process.
“Our job is to move people
around and they’ve [the government]
got a responsibility to greater
New Zealand around this and we’ll
work with them,” he said.
He is hopeful of a Trans-Tasman
bubble before the end of the year.
“I think that we have got two
governments and two nations that
are close in terms of their thinking
and how they would want to
operate. There are many benefits if
we can get that bubble operating,”
Mr Foran said.
Health Minister Chris Hipkins
has not ruled out using cruise ships
to isolate the increasing number of
people returning to New Zealand,
saying that every option is on the
table at this point as long as they
meet the relevant isolation criteria.
-Published under a Special Agreement
with www.rnz.co.nz

JULY 15, 2020
Entertainmentlink
19

20
JULY 15, 2020
Sportslink
New Hockey Turf takes Palmerston North to world stage
Sourced Content
A
new state of the art
artificial Hockey Turf at
the Manawatū campus is
ready for action.
An official blessing was held on
Thursday, June 25,2020 and an
official opening will take place in
the near future.
The international size Turf is
the third of its kind in Palmerston
North and was built through a
partnership between Massey
University, Palmerston North City
Council and Hockey Manawatū.
The Turf was constructed
through a joint agreement between
the Council, the University and
Hockey Manawatū. Both Massey
and the Council contributed funds
to the construction costs, with the
balance being met through fundraising
and grants, including from
the Lotteries and Central Energy
Trust. The facility will be run in
partnership by Hockey Manawatū
and the University.
The Turf was prepared by
international company Polytan and
mimics a similar facility built in
Japan for the Tokyo Olympics.
Interesting features
It is hailed as one of the
most technologically advanced
surfaces in the world. Several local
contractors were used in the Turf’s
construction.
The electronic speed testing
equipment installed in the Turf is
world-leading.
Other interesting features include
the shock pad, which utilises
recycled rubber, and the asphalt
was laid with laser machinery.
Massey University Vice-Chancellor Jan Thomas, City Councillor Leone Hapeta and others at the
Blessing Ceremony (Massey News)
The Turf is the third international-sized Turf in Palmerston North (Image by PNCC)
The straight lines were woven into
the grass during manufacturing to
allow a strong bond and there are
two 30,000 litre water tanks to feed
the sprinklers to keep the Turf in
top condition. The water will come
from Massey’s bore and will be
recycled.
The Turf will be used for
community sport, as well as exercise-related
teaching and research
and to help attract hockey-playing
students to Palmerston North.
It is the latest addition to the University’s
breadth of existing sporting
facilities, including the Sport and
Rugby Institute, Recreation Centre,
Equestrian Centre, Manawatū
Community Athletics Track, netball
and Tennis Courts and 11 Rugby and
Football fields.
Great value
Massey University Vice-Chancellor
Professor Jan Thomas said that
the facility will be of great value to
Palmerston North and the University.
“Hockey is popular in the region
and with strong participant numbers,
the demand was there for another
top-quality facility to play and train
on,” she said.
Massey’s accommodation, food
halls and gyms also make it an
ideal facility for national camps,
programmes and international
matches, she says.
The facility is a significant
milestone within the University’s
Sport Framework, an overarching
strategic approach to promoting and
developing sport and recreation for
staff and students.
“The Turf will have a positive flow
on effect for our reputation as a hub
for community sport and recreation.
It will assist with fostering excellence
through providing a world class facility
for hockey players of all ages to
hone their skills, and for student and
staff engagement as the Turf will be
accessible for Massey’s community to
use as a further source of recreation,”
Ms Thomas said.
Benefits to Palmerston North
Palmerston North Mayor Grant
Smith said that the new addition has
great benefits for the City and wider
region, which is a powerhouse for
national secondary school sports
tournaments given its central
location.
“Palmerston North has always
been a hockey nursery producing
many Black Sticks. This University
facility complements our existing
city facilities wonderfully, helping
us become known as New Zealand’s
regional sports hub. This new Turf
will be great for keeping our residents
along with students active,
but also will provide significant
economic benefits to our city when
there are major sporting events at
the Turf. After Covid-19, projects
like this that directly keep our residents
in jobs are more important
than ever,” he said.
Global tournaments possible
Hockey Manawatū General
Manager Neil Ulrich said that
most major national tournaments
require three Turfs, which is now
present in Palmerston North.
“This presents the opportunity to
host the likes of the New Zealand
National Hockey Championships,
National Masters Tournament,
Rankin and Fed Cup Secondary
Schools tournaments, as well as
more inter-city competitions with
teams from around the lower
North Island. We are excited to
have a third synthetic Turf in the
city. This gives us an opportunity
to develop more participation and
development programmes, and a
talent academy for which we did
not space until now,” he said.
The Turf was just weeks away
from completion when Covid-19
sent New Zealand into lockdown,
but contractors were able to resume
work under strict health and safety
measures at Alert Level 3.
Text and Pictures Source: Massey News
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