Tracy Watkins is, like the politicians, back from her summer holiday. And she makes this astute observation to illustrate the dilemma that David Shearer is about to discover he has:

For Labour, stoking up opposition to the sale is an opportunity to set the agenda at the start of the political year. Mr Shearer's challenge is finding a way to talk over the top of Mr Peters on the issue.

Labour suffers from the disadvantage of having to be reasonable - the jingoistic NZ First leader has no such constraints. He has crusaded against foreign ownership since year dot, even from the lofty heights of foreign minister, and is also blatant about playing the anti-Asian card. He will say what Mr Shearer won't because he knows he will never have to be bound by his rhetoric.

That's ever so true. Winston Peters is the consummate Opposition politician, because he knows he will never again have to put his moeny where his mouth is, and when he HAS had to, it's always ended in tears!

The big bluff

We're not great fans of celebrity weddings, or the celebrity culture itself. But we have to compliment Mike Hosking and Kate Hawkesby on their smarts. All week, the talk has been of a secret wedding on Waiheke Island this weekend, but now the Herald reports:

Newstalk ZB has confirmed the marriage of broadcasters Mike Hosking and Kate Hawkesby.

The couple wed in an intimate ceremony at Huka Lodge in Taupo on Wednesday.

A group of 30 to 40 friends and family celebrated with them.

The wedding will feature in Woman's Day, released in Auckland tomorrow and nationwide on Monday.

So good on them; they got the private wedding they wanted, and the photographers that have been hanging around on Waiheke Island will go home empty handed.

But be assured; we WON'T be buying the Woman's Day!

O'Sullivan on the Crafar farms

Fran O'Sullivan has nailed here economic colours to the mast in this morning's Herald. And what she says will go down like a cup of cold sick with those who are trying to beat up the Crafar farms decision as some sort of attack on our birthright; she opines:

The Crafar decision is a victory for economic rationalism over blind xenophobic nationalism. Long may the former reign.

Instead of bowing to whipped-up public pressure (which it can't do anyway without breaking the law and marring New Zealand's international reputation), the Government has stuck to its guns and allowed due process to triumph.

The approval for the Chinese bid by John Key's government is a welcome sign that he intends to hit his stride in his second term and make the most of the economic opportunities that are available to New Zealand.

Not to run a mile the moment the xenophobes or the greenies start belting their predictable tambourines and unsettle the nervous nellies in his own caucus.

This is what we want to see more of from our Prime Minister. Not the poll-driven behaviour that (at times) played too big a part in his first term in office. Key has the opportunity to make some very bold calls in the next 18 months. His Cabinet minister's decision to run with the Overseas Investment Office's recommendation to approve the bid is the first.

"Make the most of the economic opportunities that are available to New Zealand"; isn't that what we elect governments to do? With such turmoil in the European markets at the moment, we are fortunate that Asia, and China in particular is literally on our doorstep; emerging markets, with whom we have already built trade relationships.

And the sale of the Crafar farms is all about opportunities and relationships, with mutual benefits; read on:

Key is clearly excited about the opportunities for New Zealand from the successful Chinese bid for the Crafar farms. So he should be. The Shanghai Pengxin bid has obviously been carefully constructed to ensure significant economic upside for New Zealand.

But when Chinese billionaire Jiang Zhaobai comes down to New Zealand this weekend as a prelude to writing the final cheque of $200 million his firm is putting up for the Crafar dairy farms, he will still be put on a ministerial-required 'good behaviour' bond.

In fact, the first condition the two ministers have put on the bid is that "the individuals with control of Milk New Zealand must continue to be of good character.

That individual is Jiang who has 99 per cent of the shares in the controlling vehicle.

I doubt that Jiang - who is listed as one of China's wealthiest men by Forbes magazine - has ever faced such an extraordinary up-front pre-condition before investing elsewhere in the world. But it is clearly a price the Shanghai Pengxin chairman is willing to pay to get a toe-hold in New Zealand as the first step towards expanding his footprint in the Kiwi dairy industry.

Make no mistake about it.

Despite claims by the Sir Michael Fay-led consortium that Jiang is paying too much for the 16 farms and will eventually exit from the investment, Shanghai Pengxin will, in all probability, emerge with a joint-venture with state-owned Landcorp to run the farms and pave the way for both parties to establish a thriving international dairy business.

Pengxin has pledged to co-operate in developing retail and distribution opportunities within China for high-value New Zealand dairy brands, something that is notoriously hard to do without deep pockets and on-the-ground capacity. It will also later form 50-50 joint-venture partnerships to produce more refined products here instead of simply shipping sacks of milk powder off to China.

Already NZ First, the Greens and Labour have decided that the Crafar farms sale is a sell-out, and the fast track to becoming tenants in our own land. We reject that entirely; for a start, the farms aren't "our land"; they were privately owned and run (unsuccessfully), and are now in the hands of receivers. But even worse, the abovementioned political parties are far more interested in political advantage than in long-term benefits to the New Zealand economy. And shouldn't that be the overriding concern?

And whilst O'Sullivan congratulates Key on his boldness, she makes little mention of the ultimate irony; Winston Peters by default supporting Sir Michael Fay. Have a read of this speech from Peters in Parliament in June 2007, and you'll see the dislike and distrust that Peters has for Fay. Now he'd rather see a man he refers to as "guilty as sin" lead the bid to buy the Crafar farms than a Chinese businessman who wants to partner with New Zealand. If anyone ever wondered why we have such a loathing for Winston Peters, they need look no further; he is a hypocrite and political charlatan of the worst order.

The sale of the Crafar farms to Shanghai Pengxin will, we believe, be good for New Zealand in the long term. The Overseas Investment Office has approved the sale, and the government has no reason to intervene. And that is the way it ought to be.

Classic catches

The match between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal last night at the Australian Open was an absolute belter, but a ball-boy stole the show; check this out:

That's a grab that any slips fieldsman would be proud of!

Stand by for the outpouring..

It's just been announced that the sale of the Crafar farms to Chinese interests has been approved; the Herald reports:

The Chinese Government-backed Shanghai Pengxin bid for the 16 Crafar farms has been approved.

Land Information Minster maurice Williamson and Associate Finance Minister Jonathan Coleman today announced that they have accepted the recommendation of the Overseas investment Office to accept the bid from Pengxin.

In a release just published, the ministers said that it was clear that all criteria under sections 16 and 18 of the Overseas Investment Act were met.

"We are satisfied that Milk New Zealand's application for consent meets the criteria set out in the Act," said Coleman.

See the OIO decision here.

The approval follows the receivers, KordaMentha's acceptance in late 2010 of Milk New Zealand's bid for the farms.

"Milk New Zealand's acquisition will further support the supply of high quality dairy products into the Chinese market and help set the foundations for further economic and export opportunities with China," said the Government.

"Stringent conditions policed by the OIO will ensure that Milk New Zealand's investment delivers substantial and identifiable benefits to New Zealand."

"These include investing more than $14m into the farms making them more economically and environmentally sustainable; protecting the Nga Herenga and the Te Ruaki pa sites and improving walking access to the Pureora Forest Park and Te Rere falls. An on-farm training facility for dairy farm workers will also be established."

It hasn't been a good week for the left-leaning blogs. Firstly, Ernst and Young exposed the misinformation that MUNZ has tried to spread. Then the Auckland council got rid of the Occupy protesters, and Penny Bright paid a visit to the cells. And now there's this.

As we said earlier, if you have sensitive eyes and ears, you might wish to take precautions. The Left is about to shriek in indignation again, aided and abetted by Winston Peters, the Clown Prince of Xenophobia.

And in the meantime, someone might like to ask David Shearer why it was ok for the previous government to sell 650,000 hectares of New Zealand land (the Crafar sale involves 8000 hectares) to purchasers from a variety of nationalities, but why the Chinese purchasers of the Crafar farms are unwelcome. We'd love to hear his answer.

UPDATE: This graphic from DPF shows the relationship of the land which comprises the 16 Crafar farms compared to the land which was sold during the time of the Clark administration.

Do you still want to go down the "tenants in our own land" road Mr Shearer?

Give us strength!

Sonny Bill Williams is back in the news; Stuff reports:

All Black heartthrob Sonny Bill Williams has a new girlfriend - the daughter of another sports star.

Williams,26, has been seeing Aucklander Jaime Ridge, the teenage daughter of former league star Matthew and his ex-wife Sally.

The pair have been seeing each other for about three weeks and have been spotted out together. They have reportedly spent time together in Auckland where Ridge lives, and in Hamilton where Williams plays Super 14 rugby for the Chiefs.

But then comes the bit that gives cause to the heading of this thread; read on (with our emphasis added):

"They're both very publicity shy and it's very early days for the relationship, but they have been spotted together on a regular basis," a source said.

Whatever. Sonny Bill Williams may be many things, but publicity shy isn't one of them. He lives his life in the media, and the media makes a significant contribution to his lifestyle, via the efforts of his manager Khoder Nasser. Williams appears in a number of television commercials and publicity campaigns, and even his foray into boxing is designed to enhance the SBW "brand". So don't tell us that he shies away from publicity.

And Miss Ridge is hardly a shrinking violet either. Her parents are regulars in the women's magazines, and she herself is no stranger to the media, as the Stuff story notes:

She is a regular in the social pages with mum Sally, and recently featured in a Metro magazine photo shoot of Auckland celebrities.

She has done some modelling work, including at last year's Fashion Week where she modelled a lingerie creation designed by her mother.

So how about a bit of honesty please Stuff. In all probability, this has been carefully released to the media so don't give us the "They're both very publicity shy" nonsense, because it simply doesn't wash.

Farewell; it's been brilliant!

Fear not; we're not going anywhere. But hundreds of vintage and classic cars, and their owners will be leaving Wanganui this morning at the conclusion of the Vintage Car Club of NZ's International Rally 2012.

VCC 2012 has been an overwhelming success. Even the weather played ball, with only some brief rain on Sunday afternoon. It is, however, bucketing down this morning as the cars hit the road; an expression of sadness from above, perhaps!




The people of Wanganui fully embraced this event, which will be long remembered. Around 30,000 turned out on Sunday to an Open Day at the Wanganui Racecourse where all the cars in the rally were on display. Vintage cars parked in the main street of the city, at supermarkets, petrol stations and shops have become a common sight, and a perfect fit with Wanganui's heritage theme.




And to say "thanks" to the people of the city, the cars split into three groups on Wednesday night, and ventured out to the suburbs where they were met by hundreds of people of the roadsides throughout Wanganui. It was a wonderful gesture by the rally organisers, and was warmly received.




We've interspersed this thread with a few photos we took on Sunday, but most of the memories we'll have of this last ten days will be in the mind's eye; it's been fantastic seeing history on display, and so lovingly restored.



And lastly, here's a comment from a visitor, sent to Cr Jack Bullock, Wanganui's youngest councillor:

I have just returned home to Christchurch after having spent a week in Wanganui. I was there for the VCC Rally and what a week it was. I thoroughly enjoyed it. More importantly I love your city and think it has many under rated attractions. I fell in love with your main street Victoria Avenue and I think your gardens are delightful. The people were so nice and friendly. I was pleasantly surprised by the value of property in the region and am seriously considering moving up there as Christchurch is never going to be the same or remotely as good as your city from the cultural side. I am retired and want to spend the rest of my days in a city that is complete.

Just keep up the good work and encourage people to continue to take a pride in what they have achieved and what they can improve on in the future.

We've thoroughly enjoyed VCC 2012 as well, and we weren't even directly involved! It's got 2012 off to the best possible start for a city that is too often in the headlines for the wrong reasons.

Fifty years on

It's an important anniversary for Wanganui today. It's fifty years to the day since the great Peter Snell established himself as a miler of international quality when he broke the world mile record on the grass track at Cooks Gardens.

Last Sunday, the Herald on Sunday carried a lengthy piece about that famous night. We've held it back until today; the actual anniversary; here's how it began:

For Sir Murray Halberg, it was a night tinged with death and sadness. For Peter Snell, it was the moment he realised he wasn't just an 800m runner.

For athletics official (and an athlete himself) Toby Bowyer, it was a time when the police detective didn't mind suffering 'grievous bodily harm' at the hands of jubilant coach Arthur Lydiard.

For Nick Willis, Wanganui's Cooks Gardens has a special significance too - which is why he is the star turn at Friday's track meeting there to celebrate Snell's world mile record set on January 27, 1962.

That night, a menacing black cloud hung over Wanganui. Outside the town, rain pelted down and threatened to put a dampener on the Agfa International Athletic Meeting. But at Cooks Gardens, apart from that cloud, the evening was still and perfect.

"It was almost an eerie thing," recalls Sir Murray Halberg, who was trying to warm up for the programme's feature race under the weight of some tragic news.

The reigning Olympic 5000m champion had promised to help his mate Snell become the first man to break four minutes for the mile in New Zealand.

The pair, both coached by the legendary Lydiard, had already contributed a unique piece of Kiwi sporting history, winning gold medals within an hour of each other at the 1960 Rome Olympics.

Halberg held the national mile record at 3m 57.5s, achieved in the same race that Australian Herb Elliott had set the existing world mark in Dublin four years earlier. Now he was expected to help break his own record.

But Halberg was struggling with the revelation that a training buddy had died on the trip south from Auckland. Popular Owairaka athlete Peter Hitchens had drowned while swimming off Foxton Beach.

"Whenever I think about that night, I think about Peter Hitchens," reflects Sir Murray. "He was a middle distance runner, a typical enthusiastic harrier and a good club member. I heard about his death before the race but I don't think we told Peter [Snell] until afterwards."

Out on the track, Toby Bowyer was checking and re-checking the markings. As clerk of the course, his job was to ensure the circuit was correctly laid out and, if records were broken, that task would become doubly important.

"I had to make sure everything was running right and all the pegs were in the right place," explains Bowyer, a detective at the time. "It was all surveyed beforehand and right up to scratch."

In the book Peter Snell: From Olympian to Scientist (2007), written by Garth Gilmour, Snell would describe the grass surface as bare in patches and not particularly beautiful, "but as a running surface in the conditions that prevailed, it was excellent".

The gathering crowd of 15,000 was expecting something special. While Snell, then 23, fully expected to better four minutes and perhaps challenge Halberg's national record, he was annoyed to find Lydiard had predicted a time of 3m 55s in the local paper.

"If I did end up running well inside four minutes, I preferred it to be something better than expected," he said later.

It was a magical night for Sir Peter Snell, and for the thousands who turned out to watch the event. And it was replayed in 1992 when a re-run was staged, and all the surviving athletes returned to Wanganui to run the race again. Naturally, Peter Snell won!

There's a big athletics meeting in Wanganui tonight to celebrate Snell's achievemnt, and his inextricable link with the River City. Unfortunately, Snell himself won't be there, but American runner Bruce Tulloh will be; he ran second to Snell on that famous January night.

And although there's no longer a grass track at Cooks Gardens, Olympic silver medallist Nick Willis will run tonight, and he too has strong links to the venue; his father was there on 27 January 1962, and Willis himself holds the fastest mile time on the new Cooks Gardens track; 3:52.75.

We might just have to wander down to Cooks Gardens tonight, and celebrate the achievement of an athlete who can truly be described as one of the greats.

The Friday Forum - 27 January 2012

It's Friday again; the final Friday of the first month of 2012; the year is literally disappearing before our eyes! And for those in the northern half of the North Island, it will doubtless be a well-received long weekend, being Auckland Anniversary Day on Monday.

But let's get through Friday first; the Friday Forum is the place to come to just let off steam, or have a rant about your pet hobby-horse. You set the agenda here.

Welcome aboard; the floor is yours...

A leaky Caption Contest

We haven't had a Caption Contest for a while. But when we saw the image below on a couple of blogs, it just seemed like the perfect opportunity:




You know the ropes; what state secrets may John Key and John Banks be exchanging? Keep 'em brief, pithy, and most of all, amusing.

Go on; you know you want to...

A policeman's lot...

According to Gilbert and Sullivan, a policeman's lot is not a happy one, especially when constabulary's duty is to be done. And we doubt that the officers who attended Aotea Square this morning to evict the remaining officers found it a particularly pleasant experience.

Veteran protestor Penny Bright was among the 20 or so people arrested at Aotea Square today. And 3News happened to have a camera on hand as the arrest was effected; you can watch the action at this link.

There will no doubt be accusations from the occupiers and their mates that the police action was heavy-handed. The allegation of police brutality is an easy one to make, but on the basis of the video evidence there the police showed commendable restraint in dealing with Ms Bright who was assailing them with a shrieked potted summary of her previous police record, and of the ills of corporate greedies. Lesser trained and disciplined people may well have been provoked by the haranguing the police were receiving, but these officers operated firmly and professionally.

And so the occupation of Aotea Square is over, and already work has begun to make good the damage caused to a civic amenity by Ms Bright and her fellow occupiers. And the question must be asked; have they actually achieved anything?

We think not.

Leaky teapot

The infamous "teapot tape" has been leaked online; the Herald reports:

The teapot tape has been leaked online.

The infamous recording of the conversation between John Key and John Banks at a Newmarket cafe was uploaded just hours ago.

Meanwhile over at Kiwiblog, DPF comments on the leak, the source, and the possible legal consequences:

A copy of the teapot tape has been placed online, and the link e-mailed to a huge number of people from an anon e-mail address.

There are a very small number of people who have that file. Bradley Ambrose and the senior staff of the Herald on Sunday and TV3. Will any of them be brave enough to admit they did it? I will say I don’t think it is anyone from the Herald on Sunday. To be fair to them, they didn’t publish the tape originally, and it was TV3 that turned it into a daily circus.

I said before the election it was inevitable it would come out at some stage.

The recording is on You Tube (uploaded by 2Johns2Cups), plus two other locations. I’m not providing a direct link due to the questionable legality, but I do not believe saying where it has been published (as I have done) makes me a publisher, anymore than when newspapers reported Whale Oil had broken a suppression order (which sent everyone off to his site).

The irony is that the recording is quite benign, as the PM has said. The media beat this up into a nonsense, that just lowered their standing with most New Zealanders.

We won't be providing a link either, and will delete any post which attempts to provide one given, as DPF says the "questionable legality". The 2011 General Election has been and gone, and it's far too far away to the 2014 version for the leaking of the tape today to make any material difference. In fact, we speculate that when people hear the contents, they'll wonder what all the fuss was about.

Right; time to make a REAL cup of tea and have some lunch!

On yer bike occupiers!

Breakfast is reporting that Auckland council officials, backed by a large contingent of police are evicting the stragglers from Aoatea Square.

That's good news; we'll update as more information becomes available.

UPDATE: Stuff reports:

Police and security guards have returned to Auckland's Aotea Square this morning, removing gear belonging to Occupy protesters.

At least 30 officers were at the site and had formed a perimeter around the protesters, who were taking down their tents.

About eight tents had been taken down, leaving four remaining, and security guards were taking down the fence.

One man in a hooded sweatshirt tried to stop security guards taking his couch, yelling "That's my property".

He was surrounded by several security guards, who then started removing his tent.

Protesters yelled "assault" and "willful damage" as the tent ripped and the man tried to stop it being taken.

They vowed to stay in Aotea Square.

Once again, get ready for an outpouring of venom from the Left, especially if Penny Bright gets arrested.

The Wonderful Days of Summer...

Test cricket is an integral part of our New Zealand summer. And it's been a while since the Black Caps' gutsy win in Hobart; we've had to satisfy our love of cricket by watching a one-sided test series from Australia, supplemented by a plethora of T20 cricket from both sides of the Tasman; described by James Stephenson as cricket for those with short attention spans.

But REAL cricket returns to New Zealand today with the start of the one-off test match against Zimbabwe in Napier. The Zimbabweans are returning from test cricket exile, but have already shown some signs of promise, and test cricket is better for their presence. The skipper Brendan Taylor has spent the summer in New Zealand, and his will be a crucial wicket for the New Zealand bowlers. It will take time for Zimbabwe to develop depth at the top level, but they will be a good opponent for a New Zealand side which has played little more than T20 cricket for six weeks or so.

The New Zealanders have asked for a bouncy, green McLean Park pitch, and it seems as if they have go their wish. The bowling attack will be the same as that which bowled Australia out twice in Hobart, with Daniel Vettori in support, replacing Jesse Ryder. Ross Taylor's first job today is to win the toss so that the Black Caps can have a go at their opponents in bowler-friendly conditions.

We have a few reservations over the decision to play Vettori as a #6 batsman. His best batting has come from the #8 position, and playing him that high in the order leaves a long tail if the top order does not fire. There will be pressure aplenty on the top five of Guptill, McCullum, Williamson, Taylor and Brownlie, especially given their lack of long innings in recent weeks.

New Zealand has never won a test match at Napier, probably due to the benign McLean Park pitch. An all-round team effort will be required if they are to break their duck over the next five days. It just so happens that we have work to do from home today, so we'll be looking forward to the start of play later this morning. It'll be great to see test cricket being played here, even if it is but an entree to the South African series which follows.

The Fiji floods

Just a few months ago we spent a wonderful few days in Denerau, Fiji. Now the western side of Fiji's main island is being devastated by floods after days of torrential rain. Stuff reports:

Fiji's major tourist town of Nadi is under a 6pm to 6am curfew as severe flooding continues to hammer the western part of the nation.

The death toll in nearly a week of torrential rain remains at two, Fiji's Ministry of Information said in its latest bulletin.

The man-made resort island of Denarau has been cut off, forcing some guests with plane connections to fly by helicopter the nine kilometres to the international airport at Nadi.

The ministry says no hotels have been harmed in the flooding and adds "no complaints have been registered".

Forty nine evacuation centres are holding 1056 people.

The urban areas of Nadi, Ba, Lautoka, Rakiraki and Sigatoka have been by the deep tropical depression to the east of Fiji.

"To ensure security and safety of the central business districts for all towns and cities the enforcement of restriction of movement is now enforced to ensure the maintenance of security, safety and confidence to the business communities," the ministry says.

"This restriction of movement will end when flood waters subside and business returns to normal."

The statement says food security is being monitored as shops and farms are hit but adds "there is no current threat to existing supplies".

"The police had been monitoring the high-risk areas and the general public had been advised not to cross flooded roads and crossings and to stay indoors."

The aspect of Fiji that left the biggest impression on us was the friendliness of Fijians. Our thoughts and prayers are with them as the rains continue to pour down, and their livelihoods are threatened.