The Star: March 16, 2023

Thursday March 16 2023 The Star
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
NEWS 3
Trudi’s inspiring book almost sold out
MORE THAN 300 books
following the life of Trudi
Johnston and her popular
weekly newspaper column
Living with a Brain Tumour,
which featured in The Star, have
been sold.
Now there are just 40 left to
sell, with the proceeds from the
project going to CanTeen.
“CanTeen was such a big part
of Trudi’s life,” her parents Pat
and Jock Johnston said yesterday.
For almost two years, Trudi
wrote a diary in The Star of her
experience with cancer, unwavering
in her determination to
get something to print almost
every week, even during her
toughest times.
Each week she would give
an inspiring and very honest
account of her journey, right up
until her death in 2006.
Pat and Jock put together a
compelling book of her journey,
which became available to the
public last year.
“The response we have had
had been overwhelming. She
touched a lot of people’s lives,”
they said.
Trudi started writing the
column in 2004. She was
24. The Star editor Barry Clarke
had approached CanTeen,
looking for a young person
living with cancer to write
about their journey.
Trudi has been diagnosed with
a brain tumour and was quick to
put her hand up to do it.
Writing a weekly column was
not an easy assignment. Clarke
warned Trudi that there would
probably be times she would
want to give up, and if things
got bad for her health-wise, she
would need to be honest and
straight with readers.
But she was up for the
challenge, sharing her journey
with readers and inspiring so
many people with her courage,
honesty and relentless positivity,
Jock said.
• To purchase a book
email patjock@xtra.co.nz
or phone 027 209 5040
Port deaths prompt
workplace changes
THE GOVERNMENT has
announced an industry-wide
change to health and safety at
the ports after two workers died
within less than a week of one
another in April last year.
Transport
Minister Michael
Wood said yesterday
the deaths
of the workers
in Lyttelton and
Auckland spurred
Michael
Wood
him to improve
conditions.
“I asked the
Port Health and
Safety Leadership Group to pull
together a detailed picture of
what is happening in ports and
create a plan to address serious
harm,” Wood said.
“The group has worked together
to provide this important
insights picture and action plan,
and I fully support the work taking
place.”
The plan will set out action
across six areas of safety including
worker fatigue, unloading
cargo, and reporting incidents.
The deaths of two port workers, one at Lyttelton, have
resulted in changes to health and safety.
PHOTO: NATE MCKINNON/RNZ
Don Grant died while coal
was being loaded on a ship at
Lyttelton Port, just days after
Atiroa Tuaiti died after a “fall
from height” while working on
a docked Singaporean container
ship at the Ports of Auckland.
Maritime NZ and the Transport
Accident Investigation
Commission continue to investigate
last year’s tragic accidents.
“The leadership group has
already rolled out guidelines for
setting up a fatigue risk management
system and is providing
workshops, training, education
and resources,” said Wood.
“In addition, work on an
Approved Code of Practice for
stevedoring is well under way.”
Maritime Union of New Zealand
National Secretary Craig
Harrison said at the time the
deaths had hit workers in the
industry hard.
“The death of a Lyttelton port
worker is the tragic loss of life of
another worker and has shaken
the maritime industry,” he said.
“These deaths and serious
injuries in the port industry
should not be happening, and
the controls and processes and
culture need to be fixed through
national standards.”
In response to the deaths,
Transport Minister Michael
Wood said health and safety
practices at the country’s ports
would be investigated.
“All New Zealanders should
return from work safe and
unharmed. Recently we have
seen a disproportionate number
of injuries and fatalities in the
port industry,” Wood said at the
time.
What do you
think of your
new property
valuation?
PROPERTY OWNERS have until
Monday to object to their new
rating valuations.
The deadline for lodging an
objection with Quotable Value
Ltd (QV), which undertook the
revaluation, has been extended to
account for slower-than-expected
mail service.
The new rating valuations are
based on market conditions as at
August 1 last year.
Said city council chief financial
officer Leah Scales: “Residential
property saw a big jump in
value between the last revaluation
in 2019 and August 1 – the
revaluation needs to be done for
all Christchurch properties at a
particular snapshot in time so
that rates are distributed fairly
between properties.”
The city council is required to
carry out a general revaluation
every three years to ensure that
rates are spread fairly across the
city. The new values will apply to
rates from July 1 this year.
“If you want to object, QV will
consider the individual factors
that apply to your property and
potentially determine a different
value,” said Scales.
• Check new property
values at ccc.govt.nz/
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