Falun Dafa day celebrations in Queen Elizabeth Square, Auckland ( The Epoch Times)

Falun Dafa Practitioners from New Zealand celebrated World Falun Dafa Day today, May 13, the day on which its founder, Mr Li Hongzhi’s birthday falls.

May 13 is the 20th anniversary of the day when Mr Li Hongzhi first introduced the practice of Falun Dafa to the people of China and then to the entire world.

Falun Dafa is an ancient spiritual practice which was reintroduced into China in 1992. The practice involves five easy to learn exercises, including a meditation and teachings that are based on truthfulness, compassion and tolerance.

After attracting nearly 100 million followers in China, it was banned by the Chinese regime of Jiang Zemin on 20th July 1999, after which thousands of practitioners suffered tremendous human rights abuses including death, torture, rape, imprisonment without due process. In 2006 it was also discovered that they were victims of live organ harvesting.

Practitioners from Auckland and other regions of New Zealand gathered together at Elizabeth Square in the downtown central business and shopping district where they carried out Dafa’s five exercises and read Zhuan Falun, the gift that Mr Li Longzhi gave the world.

Josiel Sandro Rodrigues had kept a Falun Dafa pamphlet at home for some time awaiting the opportunity to learn to do the exercises and gain an understanding about the practice. Today was that day, he said.

“It is very good, awesome,” he said. “I think it is very beneficial.”

At the same time, Mr Rodrigues signed the petition asking that the Chinese communist regime cease the persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners in China.

Mr Rodrigues said he had, himself, never experienced communism or heard about the persecution in China.

“It is very sad,” he said. But he was hopeful for the future.

Fresh produce, fruit and vegetables are sold at the Wesley Market in Mt Roskill on Sept. 2, 2011, in Auckland, New Zealand. (Phil Walter/Getty Images)

New Zealand is one of many countries upon whom China’s entrepreneurs have cast their eyes for opportunities to buy farmland, mineral and power resources to shore up China’s looming food shortage and resource-hungry economy.

Former Waikato University vice chancellor and British Member of Parliament Bryan Gould says that part of the Chinese government-led strategy is to use its vast foreign exchange reserves to purchase “productive capacity” worldwide.

“Their interest in our dairy land is just a part of that strategy and is entirely consistent with it,” he said.

Mr Gould who visits China frequently commends the Chinese for the “far-sighted strategic view they take of their own interests.”

He says that his views, far from being a criticism, should be regarded as a plea that New Zealand be equally hard-headed in its own interest.

Widespread pollution, decreasing arable land, water shortages, as well as increased consumption of meat and dairy products by China’s burgeoning middle-class has propelled Chinese conglomerates and agribusinesses into acquiring land and production lines overseas.

Last month, the government signed off on the sale of 8,000 hectares comprising 16 North Island Crafar dairy farms, after Chinese conglomerate Shanghai Pengxin’s bid received the green flag from the Overseas Investment Office(OIO).

Over the last two years consent has been given for the sale of 357,056 hectares of farmland to overseas buyers. With the exception of a Hong Kong buyer [759 hectares], this is the first sale in the last two years of agricultural land to a buyer from mainland China.

324 applications by overseas buyers to buy freehold land were accepted and only eight were declined.

Overseas Investment Office (OIO) records show that from January 2009 to December 2011, 324 applications by overseas buyers to buy freehold land were accepted and only eight were declined.

Green Party co-leader, Russell Norman says the large scale purchase of “productive farmland by overseas buyers is not in New Zealand’s long term strategic economic interest.”

“Food producing farmland with access to water is an increasingly valuable resource in a finite world with growing population and declining water resources,” said Mr Norman in a media release last month.

Chinese government officials had warned that rejecting the bid would affect future overseas investment in New Zealand, he said.

The Benmore dam and Power Station in the Waitaki Valley, North Otago. The government is proposing to sell 49 percent of four state-owned energy companies, including Meridian Energy. (Michael Bradley/Getty)

Privatisation of four state-owned energy companies is meeting with heavy opposition from the public despite the government having announced its intention before the 2011 elections.

People will be disenfranchised twice under the Government’s move to privatise the industry, says Molly Melhuish, an independent energy analyst for consumer and environmental groups.

Firstly by the Electricity Authority’s interpretation of the law during the regulatory process and secondly by the government’s claim to have a mandate when it enjoyed “a majority of one (seat) in an election in which the voter turnout was the lowest since 1887,” she says.

Under the government’s proposal 49 percent of the shareholdings of four state-owned energy companies (SOEs)—Genesis Power, Meridian Energy, Mighty River Power and Solid Energy—will be sold. The power suppliers would then operate under a mixed ownership model.

Submissions to the Mixed Model Ownership Bill, allowing the partial privatisation of the SOEs closed last Friday.

The proceeds from the sale would be used to invest in future assets and reduce the need for further borrowing, says the government.

However, privatising essential infrastructure assets is seen by many people as benefitting only the power suppliers and industrial consumers.

Molly Melhuish works with Greypower, one of New Zealand’s largest non-government organisations that lobbies on behalf of senior citizens. Greypower’s submission opposes the government’s Mixed Ownership Model bill in its entirety.

The new regulation will lock in the existing regulatory system, says Ms. Melhuish.“[It] specifically protects investors and specifically refuses to distinguish between domestic and industrial consumers.”

This is extraordinary legislation … to say that it is okay for domestic consumer prices to rise so long as non-domestic consumers get cheap power.

—Molly Melhuish

“This is extraordinary legislation … to say that it is okay for domestic consumer prices to rise so long as non-domestic consumers get cheap power.”

Ms. Melhuish believes that internationally New Zealand’s electricity market was already the most liberal market in terms of pricing. However, the latest regulation takes this a step further by protecting the investors.

The regulation has been interpreted by the Electricity Authority in a way that puts industrial and domestic consumers into a single category thus allowing large consumers to receive discounts and domestic consumers to pay higher prices, she says.

The Electricity Authority regulates the electricity industry. It is an independent authority with a board appointed by the ministers of the present government. It is not accountable to the government but makes its own decisions, says Melhuish.

The Electricity Authority Consultation Charter states that “ill-founded amendments can undermine investor confidence” and there should be “greater predictability about decision-making on likely amendments to the Code to maximise investor certainty.”

“It is a remarkable statement. I don’t think there is any precedent anywhere in the world,” says Melhuish. “They’re protecting industry participants … anybody who trades on the wholesale market.”

Any amendment to the regulatory system that could affect the value of assets would result in a demand for compensation from the private owners, she says.

“We want to re-regulate because the continuing price rises are causing real social and economic hardship.”

Prices for domestic consumers in real terms rose by 73 percent between 1991 and 2010 and only 11 percent for industrial consumers.

“We have recently heard that there is a significant increase in disconnections for not paying the bills. We know from Greypower that people are not heating their homes enough; people are going to bed early, which is bad because it keeps them immobile and hurts their circulatory system. There are people, for heavens sake, who are so frightened of paying their power bills or of getting disconnected that they don’t buy enough food for their families,” says Melhuish.

Rising electricity prices also take away people’s discretionary spending. “So they don’t go to the coffee shop, they don’t go out for trips, they don’t go out in their car-they can’t afford it,” says Melhuish, adding that is should be remembered that spending money in the local community for services also encourages economic growth.

Adam Bennett, writing in the New Zealand Herald last Wednesday, noted that under the proposed changes, the government also planned to remove their obligations under the Official Information and Ombudsman Acts.

Chief Ombudsman Beverley Wakem was reported as warning that “a valuable part of the democratic process” would be lost if the government was successful in blocking partially privatised power companies from public scrutiny on grounds of commercial sensitivity.

The Ombudsman’s office handles complaints against the Government.

Green Party co-leader, Russell Norman, says that the privatisation of the power companies will lead to higher taxes … and possibly higher electricity prices.

“The government will lose the dividend streams from these companies because (its) books will be in a worse position.”

He says that companies that are now owned by all New Zealanders will end up being owned by just one percent of the population as few people could afford to buy shares.

Privatisation does not make economic sense, say the Greens.

“If they use money they get from these sales to avoid taking on debt then we are actually worse off because we can borrow it at 4 percent whereas these companies-the total shareholder return is about 18 percent-so the return we get from the these SOE’s is greater than the cost of capital to the crown,” says Mr. Norman.

With the sale of the energy companies, New Zealand would also lose an opportunity to take part in the global clean energy market.

“There is a rapidly growing renewable energy market internationally and these companies, which are currently owned by all of us, provide us with the opportunity to engage with that market and export clean energy technology,” Norman says.

Jia Qinglin arrives in Christchurch for a four day tour of New Zealand to mark 40 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries. (The Epoch Times)

Fourth-ranked Chinese leader, Jia Qinglin, arrived at Christchurch’s Military Airport terminal this morning where he was welcomed by Primary Industries Minister, David Carter, Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker and representatives of Ngai Tahu. 

Mr Jia is the chair of People’s Political Consultative Conference, a political advisory body.

Jia Qinglin was one of the 11 officials in the CCP central committee who actively participates in and promoted the persecution of Falun Gong.

  Since September 2004, Jia Qinglin has been sued in Austria, Spain, and Holland for his crimes of genocide and torture, and crimes against humanity in the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong.

The World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (WOIPFG) has also investigated him.

The Chinese leader’s four day visit celebrates 40 years of diplomatic relations between New Zealand and China.

On hearing of Mr Jia’s arrival in Christchurch, nine Falun Dafa practitioners quickly went to the Copthorne Hotel Commodore where they waited patiently outside to see Mr Jia.

Holding banners deploring the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China, the practitioners were disappointed to learn that Jia Qinglin had departed from the hotel by the back entrance

Mr Jia was taken on a tour of Christchurch’ quake damaged Red Zone and later visited the Antarctic Centre.

He will be heading Queenstown tomorrow morning where he will be taking a cruise to the Walter Peak Station. He will then meet up with Deputy Prime Minister Bill English at parliament tomorrow afternoon for the signing ceremony.

New Zealand is the first country in the developed world to have signed a free trade agreement with China.

Donna Sarten's 1344 Red Kiwis represent the children who are at risk of dying at the hands of their parents/caregivers. The Harbour View Sculpture Trail depicts social, political and environmental issues. (The Epoch Times)

Environmental, social and political issues are depicted in works by some of New Zealand’s top artists, the backdrop being the Te Atatu Peninsula, which was once home to great kauri forests and peat swamps.

The Habour View Sculpture Trail, which displays 45 works by 35 of New Zealand’s top exhibitors, runs through salt marsh areas with ponds and stunning views across the Waitemata Harbour to Auckland City, the Harbour Bridge and Rangitoto Island.

Curator and organiser Sally Lush said each sculptor’s brief was to create a work that exemplified the special character of the Te Atatu area.

“This venue [is] very large and so we can space the work out having each work just in its own context, in its own environment,” she said, “and it kind of leads you on a journey of discovery.”

Sculptor Kerry Strongman’s four metre high kauri structure, Sky Portal to Ascension, decorated with carved Maori symbols, forms the ceremonial gateway at the entrance of the trail. Strongman carved the gateway from kauri stumps dug up from Northland swamps where they had been preserved for up to 45,000 years and with some of the stumps weighing up to 100 tons.

Two giant kauri hooks hanging from his studio ceiling created the idea for the gateway. “People kept pushing them apart to walk through them [and they] seemed to get energy from them so I thought why not create a gate where people would be blessed by walking through them.”

“We have got some quite hard hitting sculptures which are looking at child abuse in New Zealand,” said Sally Lush. “That relates to the environment of Te Atatu … as indeed it is an Auckland-wide phenomenom [and] worldwide.”

Sculptor, Bernie Harfleet, created Bear, which reflects on the number of children that have been killed throughout the country, represents to him “some sort of collective responsibility.”

“The children that are depicted in those coffins,I have altered the dates and I haven’t used names. They are all real, based on real cases,” says Mr Harfleet.

“Those people [responsible for the deaths] are never going to stop being who they are. It is a matter of those around them not staying silent,” he says.

Donna Sarten’s work, 1344 RED kiwis, also asks people to reflect on things that society often pushes aside, in this case the children who are at risk of dying at the hands of their parents or caregivers.

Donna Willard-Moore, who works with integral theory, created a five metre long, two metre high aluminum sculpture, Love and Evolve, which expresses the changeability and evolution of the Te Atatu area.

“When the sunlight is just right the surface of the aluminum changes [making] rainbows of colour that move over the surface as the viewer moves. It is a fun surprise when it happens,” Ms. Willard-Moore explains.

The artist says the colours can represent “the chakra system, the multi-points of view, levels of development or evolutions or the vibrations of the universe.”

A walk through the woodlands and ponds that bordered the Waitemata Harbour six years ago, was Leigh Ogier’s inspiration for making the Harbour View Sculpture Trail a reality, an event she envisaged would bring joy to the Te Atatu community and the people of Auckland.

“It’s a way for the community of Te Atatu Peninsula to be proud and see that their community can be used in all sorts of different ways,” says Ms Ogier who is also the project’s advisor.

The sculptures reflect the ecology of the area—the wetlands and salt marshes—as well as portraying the loss or near extinction of native animals and birds, she explained.

The project received considerable support from the local business association and the Auckland City Council, says Ms Ogier, but it is also expected to bring business into the region.

The trail has generated a lot of enthusiasm among participants as the proceeds from the sale of tickets will be donated to one of West Auckland’s most respected and loved charities, the local Hospice.

The Amaltal Atlantis carrying survivors from the sunken Oyang 70 fishing trawler arrives in Lyttlton on Aug. 20, 2010 in Christchurch. (Martin Hunter/Getty Images)

The integrity of the Observer Monitoring Programme on foreign charter fishing vessels operating in New Zealand waters must be kept as a core function of Government, say industry insiders.

“The Government needs to take responsibility for fixing and monitoring the recently highlighted cases of slave labour conditions on vessels in New Zealand waters,” said Steffan Browning, Green Party Spokesperson on Fisheries.

“Outsourcing this role could lead to fishing companies being able to choose observers prepared to turn a blind eye in order to keep their jobs.”

Observers are placed on commercial fishing boats to ensure the laws surrounding fishing conditions are maintained and to record information relevant to Quota Management System (QMS). Up until now observers have not been required to report on the employment and work conditions of foreign crews.

The contracting out of the jobs of fisheries inspectors was raised in one of the recommendations in the February 2012 report that followed the Ministerial Inquiry into the Operation and Use of Foreign Charter Vessels (FCVs). The inquiry came after allegations last year of human rights abuses and unsafe conditions on Korean-owned fishing vessels.

The Oyang 70, an FCV owned and staffed by the Korean Sajo Oyang Corporation and chartered by Southern Storm Fishing, sank in New Zealand waters in August 2010-6 crew members drowned.

The 32 crew members from the Oyang 75 fled when it docked in Port Lyttelton in June 2011. The Indonesian fishermen claimed to have suffered inhumane treatment including mental and psychological abuse as well as the non-payment of wages, according to a report by the University of Auckland Business School.

The prospect that New Zealand’s reputation could be tarnished led to an inquiry recommendation that the “same minimum standards and rules regarding vessel safety, workplace conditions and fisheries regulations” should apply to all vessels fishing in New Zealand waters.

The contracting out of services was raised again last Sunday by Television New Zealand when they revealed a leaked email from the Ministry of Fisheries that suggested that the jobs of 70 observers might be outsourced by the end of the year.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) has called the report “misleading” and stated that outsourcing would not occur where a ‘high risk’ existed and only in cases where it would be cost effective and the standard of service upheld.

“At this stage there’s still more work to be done as to how best to deliver observer services on foreign charter vessels and other vessels. No decision has been made about outsourcing,” Minister for Primary Industries, David Carter told TVNZ last Sunday.

Joe Fleetwood, Maritime Union General Secretary says the programme must remain under a Government department with stricter rules and regulations.

He insists that four inspectors should be placed on each boat for safety reasons with two on duty per 12-hour shift. The inquiry panel has recommended that one observer be put on each FCV.

“There have been cases of threats made to the inspectors … A lot of them go on with Russian, Korean, Chinese, Philipino, or Indonesian crews. You have a crew of about 40 or 50 or more …and then you have one inspector.

“If the company can pick and choose who provides the observer role, then it will be to the detriment of the industry and those who work in it,” said Mr. Fleetwood.

“Contracted out observers will simply become like many of the other workers out there on the ships-bullied and not able to do their job properly.”

Last Month Bloomberg Businessweek published the outcome of a 6-month investigation into fishing practices in New Zealand waters. Horrific working conditions that included physical and sexual abuse as well as debt bondage were cited by Indonesian crew members on at least 10 foreign owned fishing boats.

Reports of the exploitation of foreign crews, has prompted two of the biggest US supermarket chains, Walmart and Safeway, to begin an investigation into their imports of New Zealand fish, says the Businessweek.

“FCVs act largely in a regulatory and compliance vacuum which leads to undesirable exploitative practices and a distorted playing field for New Zealand crew vessels, the Nelson-based seafood and fishing company, Talley’s Group told the inquiry.

“Most of the catch from FCVs is processed in China with slave labour then resold into the World Market as Produce of New Zealand. This product is sold into direct competition with seafood caught and processed by New Zealanders.”

The seafood industry in New Zealand is worth around $1.5 billion per year.

HAMILTON: An ultra fast broadband tower on a rural farm in Eureka that was built under the rural broadband initiative. (Sandra Mu/Getty Images)

New Zealand’s $1.35 billion ultrafast broadband project will go ahead with the involvement of Huawei despite fears over cyber security.

Huawei has signed a deal with Chorus, New Zealand’s largest telecommunications utility company to extend the reach of world-class broadband into rural New Zealand. Deals have also been signed with Enable Services Ltd, Christchurch, North Island Wel networks and 2 Degrees Mobile.

“Huawei has been blocked in both Australia and the United States over security concerns and it’s hard to believe our security agencies know something about Huawei that Australia and the United States don’t, said Green Party ICT spokesperson Gareth Hughes in a media release

“Cyber warfare is a major security concern and the Government needs to ensure that it is protecting the interests of New Zealanders and New Zealand companies.”

Fear of offending the Chinese Regime should not stand in the way of New Zealand’s national security or prevent the Government from carrying out an investigation, said Mr. Hughes.

Huawei has been blocked from the Australian $36 billion National Broadband Network (NBN) contracts on advice from the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation.

A joint venture with the U.S. company Symantec four years ago was dissolved because of fears that its association with the Chinese company would prevent Symantec from obtaining classified information about cyberthreats from the U.S. government, reported the New York Times last week.

A former U.S. Defence Department employee and Auckland-based defence analyst believes that Huawei is a facade for Chinese Intelligence.

“Our major security partners think these guys are up to no good. I would be very surprised if the GCSB (Government Communications Security Bureau) and the SIS (N.Z. Security Intelligence Service) had not been in contact with our larger partners about the presence of Huawei in the New Zealand broadband market,” Dr Buchanan told the National Business Review (NBR) last week.

He told the Review that Huawei could be eyeing the top-secret Echelon intelligence network where top intelligence information is shared between New Zealand, the US, Britain, Australia and Canada.

“China has no such luxury. It has to do everything by itself and it’s been lagging behind with signals intelligence and technical intelligence, and they’ve been playing catch-up for the last 10 years.

“But if they’re going to be a great power they’ve got to do this. They’ve got to get out and get a significant signals and technical intelligence capability, and the suspicion among the Americans and the British is that Huawei is one way of doing something,” he told NBR.

The New Zealand Government says it is comfortable with the security of its telecommunications and broadband systems.

“I’m aware, obviously, of Australias’ decision to exclude them (Huawei) from the NBN and that’s their decision,” Communications Minister Amy Adams said in an interview with Radio New Zealand last week.

“We take security of the network very seriously, but we’ve obviously responded to the threats we’re aware of and put in place steps to deal with that,” she said.

Labour Party’s Communications and IT spokesperson Clare Curran is asking the Government to explain why their decision to involve Huawei in broadband projects is at variance with that of the Australian Government.

“The Australians are considered to be a partner in terms of our security and intelligence relationships. If they are concerned enough to ban Huawei from bidding for the broadband contract, why has New Zealand allowed three taxpayer-funded contracts to go ahead without a more robust probe into the implications for the integrity of our network?” questions Ms. Curran, in a press release.

Sharemilkers on Clevedon Farm-Professor Jacqueline Rowarth, Massey University, says that New Zealand farmers are among the most efficient in the world. (Nigel Marple/Getty Images)

Jacqueline Rowarth, Professor of Pastoral Agriculture at Massey University, says that New Zealand farmers are among the most efficient in the world. Data systems show that Kiwis are “absolutely cutting edge” with regard to technology that reduces the impact of farming on the environment, she says.

New Zealand produces around 2 per cent of the world’s milk production, of which 95 per cent is exported. It accounts for around 25 per cent of the country’s total export earnings.

 “I think that the poor New Zealand farmer often gets beaten up when actually [he] is doing a fantastic job in comparison with any other country, and the use of new technologies has helped,” says Professor Rowarth.

 Some experts echo Rowarth’s views adding that the achievements and dedication of the New Zealand farming community have been routinely undervalued in an industry that continues to play an important role in New Zealand’s economy and way of life.

Finding Farm Workers a Worrying Problem

The public focus on agriculture’s perceived detrimental impact on the environment has deterred some people from becoming involved in farming, thinking that they wouldn’t be viewed in a good light if they did so, believes Rowarth.

But the shortage of farm workers also reflects the lack of government initiatives.

 “New Zealand produces only 100 agricultural graduates a year in the whole country… it’s hopeless,” she says. A “pathetic” number out of 20,000 students.

 Rowarth also attributes shortages to the indulgent style of parenting by baby boomer moms and dads that failed to instil in the new generation a desire to take on challenges and make a difference, a role agriculture could fulfil.

Anneke Bootsma and her husband run a 200 hectare farm with 500 cows in Tapanui, West Otago. She says finding staff that are passionate about dairying and producing high quality milk in an environmentally sound way is her biggest headache.

 Without workers from overseas, the work would just not get done, says Anneke, who employs two Filipinos. She has had very little interest from ads placed in New Zealand.

 Outsiders do not realise how demanding farm work is, says Anneke, who recounts that NZ Immigration has now told them that they have to concentrate on finding workers nationally.

 “You have to use your brain, you have to carry responsibility, you have to work with technology, you have to be able to work with animals, and you work sometimes in an environment with some risk because animals can behave unpredictably, you work with big machinery.

 “So you don’t want people there that use drugs, that drink, that don’t sleep enough, that have all sorts of problems because in the end, if there are accidents,” she says, the farmer is accountable.

She continued. “And a lot of people that have applied here, and that are on benefits, just don’t tick the boxes, and we can’t take the risk.”

Continued on next page … Concern for the Environment

Dairy cows stand at a farm near Ashburton. The High Court decision overturning the Government's approval for the sale of the Crafar farms to Shanghai Pengxin sent shock waves through the Beehive. (Martin Hunter/Getty Images)

The sale of 16 dairy farms in New Zealand’s North Island to a major Chinese conglomerate hit a snag in the High Court this week, with the Overseas Investment Office’s (OIC) approval of the deal called into question.

The High Court sent out shock waves when it asked the Government to reconsider the application from Shanghai Pengxin to buy the Crafar dairy farms, the largest family-owned dairy business in New Zealand.

Behind-the-scenes lobbying from Chinese officials was one of the reasons the Government approved the Crafar farms deal.

— Russell Norman, Green Party co-leader.

The Court found that the OIO’s approval of the farm purchase had “materially overstated” the economic benefit of the transaction to the New Zealand economy.

The Ministers involved have made a “blunder” says the Green Party, who say that selling the farms to overseas interests would bring no economic benefit to New Zealand.

“Behind-the-scenes lobbying from Chinese officials was one of the reasons the Government approved the Crafar farms deal,” says Green Party co-leader Russell Norman.

The OIO gave a tick of approval on Jan 27 to the Shanghai Pengxin Group to buy 16 dairy farms owned by the Crafar family.

The Chinese bid of $200 million outrivalled a $171.5 million offer by a consortium of New Zealand companies, led by investment banker Sir Michael Fay, that includes iwi (Maori) and local farming interests.

The consortium sought to block the sale when it requested a judicial review of the process.

“The Government’s claims that giving Shanghai Pengxin approval to buy the Crafar farms was in no way influenced by the NZ-China Free Trade Agreement are untrue,” said Dr Norman.

“The cost of John Key’s attempts to woo Chinese investors through his China Strategy will be the loss of our productive farmland.

“The High Court judgment states the Overseas Investment Office argued that this investment promoted an important Government policy by demonstrating our compliance with the NZ-China Free Trade Agreement.”

The cost of John Key’s attempts to woo Chinese investors through his China Strategy will be the loss of our productive farmland.

— Russell Norman, Green Party co-leader.

Alan McDonald, spokesman for the Crafar Farms Purchase Group, welcomed the High Court decision, adding that the Shanghai Pengxin bid was neither in the best interests of New Zealanders nor would it result in economic benefits.

“It is reassuring that a High Court judge has come to a similar conclusion and set aside the Ministers’ approval,” said Mr McDonald.

The government is expecting a fresh OIO report on the Crafar farms sale within days.

Federated Farmers believe that the legal challenge to the Crafar farm sale would put “new overseas investment rules and processes through an acid test”.

“Whatever falls out from this, it can only help to make overseas investment processes more robust, said Willy Leferink, Federated Farmers Dairy chairperson.

Mr Leferink says that around 150 dairy farms have been sold since the farms went into receivership, and in the last quarter of 2011, 16 dairy farms were sold in the Waikato and Bay of Plenty region. Eyebrows were raised when the Waikato Times reported the receivership bill was over $6 million as of last October, he said.

New Zealand is the first country in the developed world to have signed a free trade agreement with China, now New Zealand’s second largest export market. 

China is one of a number of countries that are systematically buying up or leasing large tracts of arable land overseas. ( Martin Hunter/Getty Images)

AUCKLAND, New Zealand—With too many mouths to feed and agriculture production suffering from out-of-control pollution, the Chinese regime has sought to gain control of land in other countries. The consequences of the sale of 16 large dairy farms in New Zealand to a Chinese conglomerate have alarmed experts and  some politicians.

The Overseas Investment Office (OIO) gave its tick of approval last Friday to the Shanghai Pengxin Group to buy 16 dairy farms owned by the Crafar family. The company’s application had been in limbo for nine months.

The sale was made under the auspices of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) signed in 2008 that gave China Most Favoured Nation status.

Prime Minister John Key has asserted that the government had no legal reason to stop the sale going through, despite opposition from the majority of Kiwis, other political parties, iwi, and farming groups.

“New Zealand has very strict legislation when it comes to overseas purchase of New Zealand farmland,” the prime minister told the financial company Interest.

He said the Chinese application “well and truly exceeded all of those conditions.”

However, Jane Kelsey, Auckland University law professor warned, “The same could be applying to any of the major foreign investors with whom we have FTA because the non discrimination provision entitles one country’s investors under those agreements to the best treatment that’s been given to any other country’s investors.”

Burgeoning Populations

The bid for the Crafar farms, made in the name of Milk New Zealand Holdings, a subsidiary of Shanghai Pengxin, is the second by a Chinese-backed company after May Wang Natural Dairy was turned down by the OIO in 2010 under the good character provision.

Shanghai Pengxin Group is an industrial conglomerate with interests in real estate development, agribusiness, mining, and infrastructure construction.

China is one of a number of overseas countries including India that are systematically buying up or leasing large tracts of farmland in principally third world countries as well as developed countries to feed their burgeoning populations.

However, Bryan Gould, former British Labor MP and vice chancellor of the University of Waikato, says that there is more to it.

 Chinese Investors ‘Farsighted’

Gould says that China is “farsighted” and realizes that its international trading success will not last forever.

“They want actual control of the productive facilities,” he said.

 “I think when the Chinese buy these assets they intend to hold them really for a very long time if not forever and to integrate them into the Chinese economy.”

“It is a matter I think of quite considerable concern,” said Gould. “If we are weak-kneed enough to allow this to happen, it is hard to see how we are going to stop this happening in the future.

Productive Land Sold

John Key has attempted to calm fears that large tracts of land will continue to fall into overseas hands.

“From New Zealand’s point of view I wouldn’t want to see enormous tracts of land being sold regularly, week after week, he told the financial company Interest.

“I don’t think that is the case in New Zealand,” said the prime minister, who added that the bid should be seen as “a positive for some farms that were very badly run [and] that didn’t meet environmental conditions and were in [receivership].”

However, Key’s belief that perhaps less than 1 percent of New Zealand land has gone into overseas ownership does not paint the whole picture, said Gould.

The 1 percent he said includes areas such as the Southern Alps. “The actual percentage that has gone into foreign ownership of productive agricultural land … is about 7 or 8 percent.”

 Precedent Set

 Kelsey said there is no going back on this deal or on the precedent that has been set.

The government could have been faced with an international lawsuit for breach of the FTA had it declined the Shanghai Pengxin purchase, she said.

Declining the application under “good character” standards, as in the May Wang case, “would have created an enormous diplomatic furor,” Kelsey said.

Feelings of shame generated by such an action alone would have led to legal action by the Chinese “and the government would have done anything to avoid that,” said Kelsey.

The Chinese state’s interest in the Crafar deal was to set a precedent for further applications to buy land, she said.

Kelsey said that in the negotiations for the FTA it was clear the Chinese were mainly interested in natural resources, particularly farmland. “The relationship between the Chinese government and its major investors is … quite intimate,” Kelsey said.

Outrage

The Maori Party has also been outraged by the sale of the farms to foreign investors and by the lack of consultation.

“Iwi are natural partners of the crown, with cultural traditions of inter-generational ownership and protection of land and natural resources. They should have a right of first refusal, in accordance with treaty principles,” said co-leader Dr. Pita Sharples.

Winston Peters, leader of the N.Z. First Party decried the government’s decision to delay the announcement of the sale until after last year’s November elections and called it “economic treason.”

 Peters said every dairy farmer in New Zealand knows the best way to get a good price for land is to offer it to the neighbours.

“The farms are spread over a wide area yet they were offered as a single block. This makes absolutely no sense and there is outrage in the rural sector about the way this deal is being handled,” said Peters in a press release.

But John Key said, “Very strict criteria were set and those criteria were met.”

Local Matakana Market (Phil Walter/Getty Images)

Small growers and food producers are apprehensive that provisions outlined in a draft food bill going through Parliament could restrict and even put them out of business

The Food Bill, which has not been updated for 30 years, seeks better public health protection.

An on-line petition says the Food Bill will impact strongly on grass-roots enterprises including community gardens, food co-ops, heritage seed banks and farmers markets. The petition has attracted 30,000 petitioners.

Some small operators believe that the Bill is too complex and would be accompanied by exorbitant compliance costs.

But Minister of Food Safety Kate Wilkinson says opponents are ‘whipping’ up unnecessary fears that small traders will be caught up in costly red tape.

“That is simply not true. This Bill won’t in any way affect people’s right to grow food and to then exchange, sell or trade it,” said the Minister in a press release.

“The current system is prescriptive and based on rules and inspections—which are often costly to food businesses. The new regime will create efficiencies for traders and improve food safety.”

Green Party spokesperson for agriculture Steffan Browning noted that the powers given to Food Safety Officers inspecting properties are ‘disturbing’ and need to be changed.

In the Bill, Food Safety Officers are allowed to search private premises without a warrant, if necessary, and use any force that is reasonable with immunity from civil or criminal liability.

“The police don’t even have that sort of level of immunity,” says Mr Browning.

What Small Producers Say

Rowena Robinson, Tamahere Market Stallholder, said that the Ministry’s own ESR data showed that the incidence of food poisoning in New Zealand had actually been declining.

In a submission to the Select Committee she said that education had significantly reduced food poisoning, especially camphylobacter.

“Onerous financial or other burdens will tend to drive them (stallholders) either away or to operate “under the counter,” said Ms Robinson.

A common sense approach is needed, she says. “The most effective thing is getting more and more people through those hygiene courses.”

The Bill says that food operations will be regulated relative to the degree of risk posed with high-end businesses such as restaurants and bars having a stricter framework, and businesses such as bakeries, considered to pose a lower food safety risk with fewer requirements.

Food handler guidance information only will be provided for the lower risk end such as sausage sizzles fundraisers and small-scale farmgate sellers.

Biddy Fraser-Davies from Eketahuna’s Cwmglyn Farmhouse Cheese says that huge risk management plans are not required for lifestyle block people who have a few animals and are making cheese for farmers’ markets. Ms Fraser-Davies who has three cows put in a submission to the Food Bill.

She asked for an exemption for small operations—five or less lactating animals deemed healthy by the regulatory authorities—from NZFSA’s expensive auditing and verification checks.

The bill makes no allowance for very small operations unable to afford the enormous compliance costs geared to large dairy farms and commercial cheesemaking firms, she says.

After appearing on Country Calendar, Ms Fraser-Davies was “pinged” by the NZFSA for not complying with the proper regulations.

Investigating officials were sent to audit her small operation, a visit the 69 year old cheesemaker called “intimidating.”

Her compliance costs suddenly jumped from the $100 year licence from the Tararua District Council Environmental Health Office to $5,500.

“It seems to me that everything is designed to make it so difficult to comply that small operators like me will find it too hard and either get closed down … or just give up,” she said in her submission.

Other cheesemakers have folded under the weight of excessive costs said Ms Fraser-Davies but “I am refusing to be driven to give up … .”

Kevin Hayes, small mixed vegetable and livestock farmer from Nelson says the bottom line is cost.

“If you are only running a small business and you have only got a turnover of a few thousand (dollars) a year and your compliance costs are a few thousand a year, you don’t have a business.”

Kevin, who sells his produce at the Nelson Farmers’ Market, says he will be better off under the proposed regulations.

“I will register with some agency … they will send me a bunch of notes, and all I have got to do will probably sign a piece of paper to say I have read the notes and then I am done.”

But his trade with Nelson supermarket First Choice would be affected.

“Under the new regulations because I am not selling my produce face to face with my customer, it’s going via a third party. … I won’t be able to do that without becoming a registered food business so that part of my business will stop.

“Right now I am putting about 30 cucumbers … into Fresh Choice because that is basically the surplus that I have got over and above what I can sell myself. It is only worth $30 a week to me. Really not worth going through a lot of compliance costs for.”

Green Party Says Small Producers Should be Encouraged

Steffan Browning says he will see what his party could do in terms of amendments to the bill or the reopening of submissions.

“What I would be aiming to do is to have the threshold set relative to the type of production.”

Some levels of activity such a jam making should not need regulating, says Mr Browning.

“Obviously dairy is quite different from growing carrots in terms of risk and food safety … we should be trying to encourage more small growers and producers of almost any form just for food self-reliance for the country,” he said.

“I think they are being a little bit over-reactive and drilling down to where the risk is actually not that high and that’s been shown with the facts on food borne illness in 2010-that the bulk of that is coming from cafes and restaurants … and caterers … .”

The new act will ultimately replace the Food Act 1981, Food Hygiene Regulations 1974 and the Food (Safety) Regulations 2002.

Other Provisions Under the Food Bill

A chief executive with wide ranging functions, including implementing, monitoring and auditing risk-based measures for the safety and suitability of food, will be appointed.

The chief executive is authorised to exempt small scale businesses from food control plan or national programme regulations on case by case basis.

Food imports required to meet the same standards under the Act as New Zealand produce. Importers will have to be registered in New Zealand and be able to trace imports back to their source.

The Green Party would like this to lead to mandatory country of origin labelling, as in other countries.

The Bill is due to be debated again in the next Parliament and is yet to go through its second and third reading stages.

Half of the grounded container ship 'Rena' is seen in the Bay of Plenty near Tauranga on January 9, after it broke in two in a storm. The cargo ship which caused New Zealand's worst maritime pollution disaster when it ran aground three months ago broke in two in a storm on January 8, raising fears of a fresh environmental crisis. (Marty Melville/AFP/Getty Images)

The beleaguered cargo ship Rena, which ran aground on top of a reef off the coast of northern New Zealand, has split into two pieces, said media reports on Sunday.

Up to 300 containers were lost overboard after Rena broke up on Saturday night, officials told TVNZ.

When the ship got stuck atop the Astrolabe Reef in early October it had been carrying some 2,100 containers of a variety of products, according to insurer Gold Medal Insurance. Since then some had been removed in salvage efforts but about 840 were still on board when it split this weekend.

Adam Munro, a local cleanup official, said that a team is on standby to clean up and remove oil released by the ship over the weekend.

“Conditions are extremely changeable, but there is a possibility that debris and oil from the vessel might impact the eastern seaboard of the Coromandel Peninsula,” he told TVNZ.

“It was simply a matter of time before there would be a storm event of sufficient magnitude to break the vessel in two and what has transpired in the last 24 hours is very much expected,” Environment Minister Nick Smith told the New Zealand Herald newspaper.

Smith noted that the environmental hazard posed by the ship breaking up and casting off oil

“It is possible that there will be releases of oil but they will be in the order of tens of tons and not hundreds of ton and those things are unlikely to result in any beach closures,” he said.

Container ship Rena is seen aground on the Astrolabe Reef on Nov. 17. (Marty Melville/Getty Images)

The beleaguered oil cargo ship Rena that was caught on a reef near northern New Zealand split in two, according to local reports.

The two pieces still remain on the Astrolabe reef where it ran aground, reported the New Zealand Herald. Divers have been commissioned to investigate if the ship is still joined together underwater.

There is an unknown quantity of oil still on board the vessel, the newspaper said.

“We can’t say what’s holding the ship together. What parts of the ship are still connected down below, we can’t assess,” Svitzer salvage master Drew Shannon told the Bay of Plenty Times.

“Two pieces of the ship are still sitting there. What’s connecting the bottom [part of the ship] will be minimal but the two pieces of the ship are sitting there. The ship is still well grounded,” he added.

Workers attempting to remove containers still on board the Rena, which has been stranded since early October, were hampered by bad weather conditions, reported TV New Zealand. The vessel has already leaked around 350 tons of oil and a number of containers have fallen into the sea.

Strong earthquake and tremors hit Christchurch, Dec. 23, 2011. Cantabrians were only just beginning to witness the reconstruction of the city following the February 22, 2011 quake. (Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

A series of strong aftershocks which rocked Christchurch Friday afternoon have left Christchurch residents with pre-Christmas jitters.

The were a total of 11 tremors between 1:58 p.m. and 5:08 p.m. local time, on Dec. 23, four of which measured of 5 on the Richter scale, according to the State run GNS Science. The largest two were 5.8- and 6.0-magnitute. The epicenter were mostly a few kilometers offshore from Brighton Beach.

The quakes come after a long period of relative seismic quiet.

Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker reflected on the mental anguish of Cantabrians who were only just beginning to witness the reconstruction of the city following the deadly February quake.

“Psychologically this is a tough one. People are outside buildings on streets weeping, I’m told. You can just sense the sense of `not again, how much longer?” he told Newstalk ZB.

Thousands of shocks have hit the region since the 7.3 magnitude earthquake in September last year and the disastrous 6.3 magnitude earthquake in February this year in which 182 people died.

According to Civil Defence, the damage and liquefaction is not as serious as it was in February and while people are being advised to follow standard precautions they were not declaring a state of emergency.

“It is most likely that the current earthquakes were triggered by stress readjustment driven by the February and June 2011 earthquakes,” says an update on the quake on GNS Science’s website.

“The current sequence is not unexpected, although their timing and location are very unfortunate,” it added.

GNS expects the tremors to diminish over the next week.

Approximately 60 people have been injured and some buildings have been damaged, reported stuff.co.nz. 

Some in Vanuatu question whether joining the WTO will enhance the wellbeing and opportunities for the poor or would it deepen poverty and increase inequality. (Torsten Blackwood/AFP/Getty Images )

VANUATU—Civil society groups are protesting the Vanuatuan Government’s move to join the World Trade Organisation (WTO), after a Nov 30 vote to ratify the accession passed through Parliament.

Ralph Regenvau, Vanuatu Minister of Justice, was the only cabinet minister who voted against the ratification of Vanuatu’s accession to the WTO.

Vanuatu has been working towards WTO membership since 1995, but the road has been fraught with political instability, a lack of resources and a lack of information and consultation, critics say.

Strong opposition has come from Vanuatu’s Council of Churches and National Council of Chiefs, as well as civil society groups, who have expressed concern over the Government’s refusal to allow wider consultation with the people.

Vanuatu would have to adhere to a set of rigid trade rules including sustainable development initiatives as part of WTO membership. Failure to comply with these rules could put the country in a difficult situation, says the Pacific Network on Globalisation (PANG), a network representing a wide range of businesses, non-government organisations and community groups.

Opposition from such groups is both genuine and justifiable given that joining the WTO, whilst offering no clear advantages, will have profound risks to peoples’ livelihoods and to their future, said Reverend Francois Pihaatae, acting general secretary of the Pacific Conference of Churches.

Reverend Pihaatae says he questions whether joining the WTO will enhance the wellbeing and opportunities for the poor, or if it would deepen poverty and increase inequality.

He says that community groups have repeatedly told the Government of Vanuatu to refrain from continuing on its current path towards joining the WTO.
“In recent months, the call has taken to the streets because the voices of a people would not be heeded,” he said.

Threat to Democracy and Human Rights

The Government has responded to demonstrations against its move to WTO membership with criticism. Vanuatu Minister of Internal Affairs, George Wells, says that demonstrations against the democratically elected government would not be tolerated.

However, PANG maintains that the Government should respect the right of civil society to question government actions.
“It is a core principle of democracy and human rights, being the rights to freely express opinions, civilly organise and the right to take part in the ongoing government of their country, directly and through freely chosen representatives,” said PANG in a press release.

PANG also criticised the Prime Minister’s recent decision to cease an assessment of the impact of WTO accession on human rights, a move that was disturbing given the Government’s previous support of the assessment.

“There’s the ratification, there is the signing, but now, what’s next? It’s sort of a mixed feeling at the moment.”

The sixbar wrasse, Thalassoma hardwicke, has been observed breaking its food up into pieces by smashing it against rocks. (Leonard Low/Wikimedia Commons)

Fish probably use tools much more than we realize, according to new research from Australia.

Originally, tool use was believed to be a trait only exhibited by humans, but now scientists have documented primates, dolphins, and several bird species using tools for various tasks.

Despite lacking hands and the difficulties of manipulating tools underwater, fish have also been found to exhibit various innovative tool use behaviors to achieve their goals.

“Fishes lack grasping limbs and operate underwater where there are clear constraints with respect to the physics of tool use that differ dramatically from the terrestrial environment,” explains behavioral biologist Culum Brown at Macquarie University in his study abstract.

Brown recently documented tool use in a tusk fish using an object with its mouth to smash open shells.

“There is an increasing body of evidence that suggests that fish have been largely underestimated in terms of their abilities,” Brown said in a press release.

Similarly, many other wrasse species use anvils to smash open shellfish and other awkward prey.

“We now have fantastic proof of these intelligent fish at work using tools to access prey that they would otherwise miss out on,” Brown said.

Brown believes that the way some fish manipulate their watery environment meets the common definition of tool use.

“Archerfish squirt water from their mouths to dislodge terrestrial prey items above the surface and trigger fish blow water streams to turn sea urchins over, to access their more vulnerable side,” he said. “Both documented examples have all the hallmarks of tool use and are probably cognitively demanding.”

Fish are rarely studied as intensively as birds and mammals, and there may be further examples awaiting discovery.

“We really need to spend more time looking underwater to find out just how common tool use is in marine fishes,” Brown concluded. “It is likely that further examples will continue to be unveiled.”

The study was published online in the journal Fish and Fisheries on Nov. 24.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard (L) Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (2nd-L) U.S. President Barack Obama (C) and Prime Minister of Japan Yoshihiko Noda, walk out to take photos at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit Nov. 13 in Honolulu, Hawaii. Nine APEC nations have welcomed a new trans-Pacific free trade agreement. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

The United States has joined with eight other nations to form a new trans-Pacific free trade agreement.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) presently includes Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, Singapore, Vietnam, Chile, and Peru, although others are also interested.

The pact sets out to remove all trade barriers and tariffs. It will also introduce new uniform labor and intellectual property standards across the Asia-Pacific.

The TPP will be a landmark, 21st-century trade agreement, the group said in a joint statement, and set a new standard for global trade that will boost the global competitiveness of TPP countries.

In Honolulu for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders Summit, President Obama said the new trade agreement has the potential to be a model for other trade agreements beyond the Asia-Pacific region.

“It addresses a whole range of issues not covered by past agreements, including market regulations and how we can make them more compatible, creating opportunities for small- and medium-sized businesses in the growing global marketplace,” he said in a statement.

“It will include high standards to protect workers’ rights and the environment.”

The move was widely welcomed in the region.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the TPP will be good for the Australian economy.

“We are a great trading nation, and so freer trade with our growing region means Australian jobs,” she said on National broadcaster the ABC.

Addressing concerns that the U.S. administration may be too distracted by domestic politics to remove trade barriers, Gillard said Obama was pushing for the agreement.

“He brought the group together and he has certainly spoken in the language of ambition for getting this done in 2012—an agreement that does have its sights set high as well as a very broad coverage,” she said.

That is a regional economic structure one and a half times the size of the European Union.” Julia Gillard, Australian prime minister.

“If Japan comes in that is more than a third. That is a regional economic structure one and a half times the size of the European Union,” Gillard added.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda had earlier announced Japanese interest in the trade pact.

Speaking at the APEC meeting Noda confirmed Japan’s increasing engagement with the United States and the region.

“I’m very much encouraged by the fact that America is increasing its presence in the Asia-Pacific region, and I do believe that Japan and the United States must work closely together to establish economic goals and also establish security order in this region,” he said in a joint press conference with the U.S. president.

China is not part of the TPP with some suggesting that the rising nation had been snubbed, but Prime Minister Gillard was quick to quash those suggestions saying it had been up to individual countries to put themselves forward for membership.

“Just to be clear, this is not an invitation structure. No one is issuing invitations,” she said.

“Countries are saying ‘Yes, I want to be in.’”

“And as the Trans-Pacific Partnership gathers pace and clearly has political will and momentum behind it, I expect more countries will look and see that something important is happening and will say to themselves ‘Yes, we want to get involved.’”

Officials from TPP member countries are due to meet again in December.

Daily vigorous exercise is a great way to channel an overly rambunctious child's excessive energy into a positive safe activity. Afterward, the child will normally be in a better state of mind for concentrating on more mundane tasks. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

In my previous article on the subject of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), I talked about ways to view it from a more positive and comprehensive perspective by looking for the hidden strengths in people with ADD. This also has profound implications for how to parent a child with ADD.

This article is not meant to be a comprehensive parenting plan but rather to plant the seeds for some new perspectives in raising children with ADD, and to point you in the right direction for finding parenting solutions that work.

Emphasizing positive traits and developing useful coping mechanisms to overcome the difficulties is a far superior strategy than simple reward and punishment, or trying to discipline the ADD out of the child, or allowing the child to walk all over you.

It’s important to develop discipline; however, your approach needs to be much more comprehensive, as harsh discipline can lead to constant power struggles and probably tremendous amounts of resentment and damage to your personal relationship.

Channeling Positive Characteristics

With ADD it’s important to emphasize all of the positive traits you can see, and to build upon those strengths to overcome challenges.

Remember, many people with ADD are flexible, creative, and energetic. They’re good at accomplishing tasks with small bursts of energy. They’re good problem-solvers as they are able to look at problems from a variety of perspectives. They’re often fearless and courageous.

Also, while people with ADD are distractible, they can also hyper-focus in certain situations. So, if you want a task done, think of ways you can highly motivate the person and get them to chase after it.

Start to pay close attention to all of the positive traits you can find in your child. Make it into a list and begin to creatively think about how to channel those traits in positive directions.

Developing Coping Mechanisms

It’s also important to recognize the areas where ADD is negatively impacting your child and those around them. You can teach your child ways to cope with and handle these situations better. Heavy, vigorous exercise is often an essential coping mechanism for people with ADD. It can both burn off excessive physical energy and allow for more sustained periods of concentration afterward. If you can find a way to get a child with ADD to exercise with full force for 90 minutes or more a day, you will see a different child.

Organization is often the key to helping a child with ADD in school. Maintaining organization is one of their biggest challenges. They tend to be quite disorganized and easily lose things necessary to complete certain tasks. Instead of focusing solely on grades and completing tasks, try focusing on developing a system for remembering things and putting things in place. If the child can develop and maintain a system for keeping track of and filing their papers, their grades will naturally improve.

Remember that what a child actually learns, and how much they love learning, is always more important than the grades. Reduce power struggles and allow them to maintain their creative spark by making learning fun, instead of criticizing them when they fall short. The love of learning is always the way to create a truly educated and intelligent person, while a jaded child that hates school is sure not to have any academic ambitions.

One often overlooked aspect of ADD is the difficulty it causes in social relationships. Normally a child with ADD is very outgoing and loves social interactions. However, they’re often poor at reading subtle social cues and understanding complex social norms. These basic social skills need to be explicitly taught, as being socially ostracized or made to feel socially awkward can be devastating to a child’s self confidence.

Emphasize teaching the child empathy for others rather than strict rules. This is a concept that can take time to develop, but it’s a really important conflict resolution skill.

Some children with ADD often have very rambunctious behavior that can be dangerous, destructive, and hurtful to others. Instead of focusing on the behavior, focus on personal safety. Emphasize the rights of others to feel safe from harm and the consequences of dangerous, destructive, and hurtful actions. Rambunctious behavior is not a problem when it is channeled properly. Think of ways the child can do things safely and appropriately.

This is just a beginning list of coping mechanisms you can use to parent your child. The main point is to always look for ways to channel the positive traits in your child to overcome their challenges. Your teaching should focus on helping your child develop successful strategies for overcoming their difficulties.

Make sure you’re allowing your child to be the best of who they are, rather than trying to turn them into someone else altogether. If you have any interesting experiences to share about parenting a child with ADD, please send a message to feedback@epochtimes.com attention Michael Courter.

Michael Courter is a clinical social worker, family therapist, and entrepreneur in Northern California. All the advice and answers provided by the columnist are general in nature and are intended to be used for educational and/or entertainment purposes only. Information provided in this column is not intended to be used as a substitute for specific medical or psychological advice, nor should you consider it as such.

Captain Richie McCaw of the Rugby World Cup Champion All Blacks hoists the Webb Ellis Cup after beating France 8-7 in the final on Sunday night. This was the first championship for the All Blacks since 1987. (Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

As Andy Ellis booted the ball into the stands shortly after the clock struck 80 minutes, he kicked 24 years of agony with it. Finally, the All Blacks are Rugby World Cup Champions again.

In one of the grittiest defensive battles of the tournament, the New Zealand All Blacks beat France 8-7 at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand.

“We had to dig deeper than ever before and it’s hard to get it to sink in, but I am so proud of every single one of them,” All Black captain Richie McCaw said after the match.

In a rematch of the inaugural Rugby World Cup in 1987, France came out dominating possession. The action was hard-hitting and fast-paced, keeping the 61,000 in attendance, and the millions of New Zealanders watching at home on the edge of their seats.

The All Blacks struck first, getting their only try from an unlikely source as prop Tony Woodcock rumbled through a huge hole in the defense, sliding over the try line for his first try of the World Cup at the 15-minute mark. Piri Weepu attempted the conversion, but missed, keeping the All Blacks lead to a slim 5-0.

The All Blacks perform the Haka with their championship medals and beside the Webb Ellis trophy. (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

Weepu was given a starting role after injuries to superstar fly-half Dan Carter and his replacement Colin Slade, who both went down with groin injuries. Carter was injured during a final training session before a pool play match against Canada, and Slade went down in the quarter-final win against Argentina. Many thought the All Blacks would suffer without Carter, but Weepu carried the torch on his broad shoulders. Sunday night was not his night however, as he missed a conversion and two penalty kicks, leaving eight points untaken.

The All Blacks appeared to catch a bad break when they lost Aaron Cruden in the 33rd minute. He hyperextended his right knee and was forced to watch the remainder of the match from the bench. Losing a starter is never a good thing, but little did they know that replacement Stephen Donald would provide the difference.

Donald took over kicking duties for the shaky Weepu and nailed a 36-meter penalty kick just four minutes into the second half, putting the All Blacks up 8-0.

The 8-point buffer would not last long…

Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro will be getting a $660 million renovation prior to the 2014 World Cup. (Vanderlei Almeida/Getty Images)

The 2014 World Cup schedule was announced on Thursday and both teams and fans will face miles of travel between the 12 host cities. Sao Paulo will host the opening match and Rio de Janeiro will host the final.

The travel problem, which had reared its ugly head in South Africa in 2010, was supposedly going to be solved for this World Cup by having four-team groups travel together. Instead, FIFA thought it would be better for all the best teams to have the opportunity to play in each host city.

The stadiums will hold between 60,000–80,000 people. The logistics of moving that number of people in Brazil’s outdated airports will prove one of the biggest challenges for the tournament.

Follow Kristen on Twitter @Call2theBullpen

Cargo Vessel Rena has a cracked hull -- Officials are calling this the worst maritime environmental disaster in New Zealand's history and claim it is likely to worsen before it improves (Mike Hewitt/Getty )

Cracks in cargo ship Rena's hull have raised the stark possibility that it is just a question of when, not if, the vessel will break apart, say maritime experts.

Cargo ship Rena, carrying some 2000 containers, ran aground on the Astrolabe Reef in the Bay of Plenty, on 5 October 2011.

Strong gales and huge swells pushed the ship into a precarious position and caused the vessel's hull to split last Tuesday and the oil to haemorrhage.

A salvage inspection team was sent out to the stricken ship today to carry out a safety and systems check in order to assess the viability of continuing with fuel pumping operations, said Maritime New Zealand (MNZ) in a media release.

Svitzer Salvage, a specialist company that has been appointed as salvors for the Rena, has brought in equipment from around New Zealand, Australia and further afield.

The salvors believe that Rena will inevitably break up, reported the New Zealand Herald.

Three tugs are attempting to either hold the stern of the ship on the reef and remove oil or, failing that, drag the stern to shallow water and remove the oil from there.

At this point, MNZ is confident that Rena's fuel tanks are still intact

A second officer from Rena, who was in charge of the navigational watch, has been charged with negligence under section 65 of the Maritime Transport Act 1994 and was to appear in court this morning.

MNZ has confirmed that 88 containers are adrift – 48 are empty and another contains the toxic material ferrosilicon.

Transparency and Accountability Needed

Joe Fleetwood, Maritime Union General Secretary, was shocked on hearing that Rena had powered straight onto Astrolabe Reef at nearly full speed.

”I don't understand why Rena was in there….that is not the usual shipping route. At sea…you have shipping lanes and that is what you take and that is what you stick to,” he said.

The whole affair raises questions of social conscience and responsibility, says Mr Fleetwood.

 He was incredulous that the largely Filipino crew from Rena had been left on the stranded ship and only taken off several days later when it had keeled over in bad weather and a Mayday call was sent out.

“If that was a New Zealand crew, the crew would have been (taken) off and there would have been an emergency crew put on that vessel,” said Mr Fleetwood, and safety precautions would have been put in place.

An 'open coast' shipping policy has created a situation where “unacceptable practices have become the norm in New Zealand waters -it's a case of out of sight and out of mind,” said Mr Fleetwood.

Container ship Rena had already been pulled up for multiple deficiencies in China and Freemantle in the last few months, only to apparently be given a cursory glance when it arrived in Bluff for an inspection carried out on 28 September 2011.

Clean-up teams removing oil spill from Tauranga beaches. Up to 350 more tons of oil has spilled from the 'Rena' a Liberan cargo ship (The Epoch Times)

“I believe the inspector went on board, never inspected the vessel, (and) asked the captain, 'is everything okay',” he said, adding that the Maritime Union had asked for the inspection list.

“A long hard slog”

A massive exclusion area, off limits to the public, reaching 20 kilometres out to sea extending from Mount Manganui to Matata and out to Astralobe Reef has been declared.

Clean-up teams have picked up some 50 kilos of solid waste and 5 tons of liquid waste over some 17 kilometres of coastline. Oil has been spotted as far north as Whangamata.

Stranded cargo vessel Rena grounded on the Astrolabe Reef, Tauranga, has now lost 70 containers. (New Zealand Defence Force via Getty)

The captain of the container ship Rena has been arrested and charged with “operating a vessel in a manner causing unnecessary danger or risk” under section 65 of the Maritime Transport Act, says Maritime New Zealand (MNZ).

The cargo ship, which MNZ says was carrying 1438 containers, ran aground on the Astrolabe Reef in Tauranga Harbour in good weather last Wednesday, 5 October.

Rena's captain could face a penalty of up to $10,000 or 12 months in prison, but MNZ said in a media release that they could lay further charges.

According to the New Zealand Herald the captain, who was given name suppression during a court appearance, was celebrating his 44th birthday on the day the ship ran onto the reef.

Last night, Rena's position had worsened and she is now listing at 17 degrees.

Up to 70 containers have come loose and are now floating in the sea. According to MNZ, these do not include the 11 containers that carry toxic materials.

People have been warned not to tamper with any containers that may come ashore as this would constitute an illegal act. Some containers could contain hazardous materials.

Beaches are being cleaned by trained teams who will be joined by defence force soldiers. Oil has reached the coastal area between Maketu and Mount Maunganui.

Alan Fleming, Forest & Bird's Tauranga-based Central North Island Field Officer, says that around 200 birds had perished and another 24 oiled birds, including little blue penguins, shags and diving petrels, had been treated.

Forest & Bird, who are assisting efforts to resuscitate wildlife, are worried about the effect of the oil at this time of the year when many birds are nesting on offshore islands and headlands while feeding from toxic ocean waters.

“If the oil is on shore, its going to affect our shore birds such as New Zealand dotterels and oyster catchers. If it moves into the harbours and estuaries then its going to impact on migratory birds that are returning to our harbours from the northern hemisphere at this time.”

Migratory whales are also passing through our waters on their way to the Antarctica, said Mr Fleming.

“Even in some of the heavily marshed oiled areas, the coastal sea grass is growing back, the shrimp are jumping in the water, … mullet are everywhere, seabirds… and I am talking about in areas that were heavily oiled,” said Professor Overton who visited the region several weeks ago.

Most oil spill damage is 'acute' damage in that it occurs immediately after the event. The environment is “incredibly resilient” and will usually begin to recover within a year or two, if not in months, he said.

Cargo vessel Rena on the Astrolabe Reef. The 47,000 tonne Rena, a Liberan container vessel, has begun to leak significant amounts of oil. (Zealand/Dudley Clemens via Getty)

The stranding of the Liberian cargo ship Rena is the “worst maritime environmental disaster” ever seen in this country, Nick Smith, Minister of the Environment, was reported as saying at a press conference today.

"It is my view that the tragic events that we are seeing unfolding were absolutely inevitable from the point when the Rena ran on to the reef in the early hours of Wednesday morning," the Minister was reported as saying by Stuff.co.nz

The ruptured hull was spewing out oil at five times the volume than when the ship first founded on the reef, the minister said.

The 47,000 ton Rena was travelling from Napier to Tauranga when it ran aground on Astrolabe Reef on Wednesday, Oct. 5.

The Liberian cargo ship, lying 12 nautical miles off the coast of Tauranga, had been rocked by heavy seas and bad weather forcing the authorities to take precautionary measures and evacuate the 24 member crew, says Maritime New Zealand.

The ship is still intact but now reported to be leaking up to 350 tonnes of oil.

The vessel had straightened up overnight, and is now listing from between 3 to 6 degrees after hanging 11 degrees. Maritime NZ said in a press release that this was good news, as the containers were more stable but they were keeping a close eye on those containers carrying hazardous materials.

Maritime NZ says its priority remains in unloading the oil from Rena before considering salvaging the vessel.

The bunker barge Awanuia had been pumping oil from the container vessel yesterday but it suffered minor damage to its foc'sle and returned to port for repairs. It is expected to return after repairs had been completed and when the weather calmed.

Maritime NZ head Catherine Taylor said while it could take several months to remove the 2000 containers, salvaging Rena from Astrolabe Reef could take years, reported Stuff.co.nz.

Eight of the containers are carrying toxic materials, including hydrogen peroxide and the flammable gas ferrosilicone.

Volunteers collect the initial oil coming onto the Mount Maunganui shore on October 11, 2011 in Tauranga, New Zealand (Bradley Ambrose/Getty Images)

Ms Taylor told Stuff that the Pencaldo, a vessel mounted with a crane, had been sent from Australia and would reach Tauranga on Wednesday to begin uplifting containers from Rena.

Clean-up

The huge swells are are making it difficult to test dispersants on the fresh oil leaking from the vessel, said Maritime NZ.

Oil on the beaches around Mt Mauganui is being cleaned up by around 100 members of the Maritime NZ response team. Cleaning the beaches is expected to take time as it had to be carried out by hand as heavy machinery would push the hazardous materials deep into the soil, they said.

“We are faced with a potential disaster along our coastline and many bird species are currently breeding. The news that the oil spill is getting much worse is a huge worry,” Forest & Bird’s Tauranga-based Central North Island Field Officer Al Fleming said in a media release.

 Safety Record

 Rena has been dogged by a poor safety record in recent times. It was pulled up for eighteen defects in China last July, a further eleven in Freemantle a few weeks later and a further problem was discovered at Bluff by Maritime NZ reported Television New Zealand.

Little blue penguin found at Papamoa Beach covered in oil after Liberian cargo ship Rena hit a reef on 6 October 2011 off the coast of Tauranga. (Sunlive New Zealand/Getty Images)

A large oil spill off the Bay of Plenty coast is endangering wildlife when the breeding season is in full swing, says the Forest & Bird Protection Society of New Zealand.

The 47,000 ton cargo ship Rena was travelling from Napier to Tauranga when it ran aground on Astrolabe Reef at about 2: 20 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 5.

Attempts to contain a 5 kilometre long oil slick with the despersant Corexit appear to have had little effect.

Yesterday, four dead oiled birds were discovered near the cargo ship prompting environmental and conservation groups to organise volunteers to deal with the spill.

A bird cleaning operation and rehabilitation centre is being set up in Tauranga and Motiti Island will provide a forward base, says Maritime NZ in a media release.

Forest & Bird Seabird Advocate Karen Baird said seabirds and marine life were particularly vulnerable and she is concerned over the apparent lack of momentum in dealing with the oil spill.

“As far as I am aware there still isn’t containment to try and contain the oil around the ship, instead of letting it drift out in a big slick.

“Landing in the oil slick is a death sentence for these birds. Their feathers will become clogged with oil and they can sink or drown, unable to fly," said Ms Baird.

She is worried there will be further fatalities if chicks were fed contaminated food.

"Swallowing even small amounts of oil can be fatal to them or their chicks when they try to feed them.”

While Seabirds breed on the mainland or the islands around the Bay of Plenty, they live their entire life at sea and are dependent on the marine environment for food, Ms Baird said.

Grey face petrel are currently feeding their chicks, diving petrel chicks are hatching and fluttering shearwaters are sitting on their eggs, she added.

“Penguins are also in full swing in terms of breeding … I think they are probably sitting on eggs at the moment.”

Forest & Bird is waiting for a reply from the Maritime NZ Incident Response Team who are coordinating the rescue operation.

"Assisting in this situation where birds have been oiled is very much an ambulance at the bottom of the cliff,” Ms Baird said.

"Hopefully (our membership) will be mobilised … to go out on the water and try and keep big flocks of birds away from the oil slick."

Cargo ship Rena 13.7 nautical miles off coast of Tauranga.The response team is planning for all eventualities, including a large-scale discharge of oil from the ship. (Sunlive New Zealand/Getty Images)

Maritime New Zealand has said that their first consideration was to prevent further damage by removing the fuel from the cargo ship.

National On Scene Commander Rob Service said the response team was planning for all eventualities, including a large-scale discharge of oil from the ship.

He said that almost all the 1700 cubic metres of heavy fuel oil was still contained within the vessel’s hull.

The pollution response service manager Andrew Berry told Radio New Zealand the vessel was threatening to split in two with half on the reef and half balancing over deep water.

“It has the potential to be very, very serious indeed simply because of the age of the ship, the damage that she’s sustained and the 1700 tonnes of heavy fuel oil on board”, he said.

Falun Gong protesters asked to take banners down. The official Chinese delegation mounts the steps of Parliament, Wellington. (Epoch Times)

 "There is a lot of sensitivity around visits from leading Chinese government officials," said Dr Russell Norman, Green Party co-leader.

Dr Norman rose in defence of Falun Gong practitioners who were told to take down their banners just before the Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu and several Chinese Vice Ministers arrived at Parliament.

The Vice Premier, the second-ranked of China’s four Vice Premiers and a member of China’s Politburo, is the most senior Chinese official visitor to New Zealand this year.

The official Chinese delegation was in New Zealand last Tuesday, September 27, for the signing of several bilateral arrangements as well as commercial deals.

Joan Zhang, one of five Falun Gong protesters, said in spite of making extensive enquiries, including at the Department of Internal Affairs, she was unable to find out the arrival time of the delegation and two permits she had obtained had lapsed before the Vice Premier's arrival.

Every effort was made to get another permit, but Ms Zhang was told that the two permits had already been issued and that they would not be given another.

“When we heard that the Vice Premier would be visiting Wellington, we requested a permit to display our banners in the grounds of Parliament…but the entourage was late in arriving. I feel that extending our permission was a reasonable request,” said Ms Zhang.

The large crowd of supporters from the Chinese community who converged on Parliament just before the entourage arrived were also told by security to put down their banners, Ms Zhang said.

Dr Norman slammed the decision to put banners away saying New Zealand was “a free and democratic country, and free speech is a fundamental part of our democracy.”

He stated people should be free to hold banners and express their views in the grounds of Parliament.  

Ms Zhang with four others wanted to call attention to the 11 years of severe persecution against Falun Gong practitioners in China by the Chinese Communist Party, including the stealing of body parts from the living for trade.

Retailers should let customers know when a parallel import does not come from a local source, but it is not a legal requirement, says Katherine Rich, CEO Food and Grocery Council.(Phil Walter/Getty Images)

Shopping can be fraught with surprises as some shocked Kiwi customers have discovered after arriving home with their favourite brand -- only to find it wasn’t what they thought it was.

Last Wednesday night’s Fair Go, aired on TVOne, highlighted the experience of a consumer who had bought Milo from his local retailer only to discover that it was a lacklustre version of the old traditional Milo – lacking chocolate, malt and flavour.

The Milo, it turned out, was a parallel import, made by Nestle in the Philippines to suit the taste of Philippinos -- only it was exported to New Zealand.

Katherine Rich Chief Executive of the New Zealand Food and Grocery Council (FGC), said that the Fair Go programme was just the latest example of many cases where Kiwis had been disappointed by their favourite brands.

“The taste preferences of the market in the Phillipines is different to the classic Kiwi expectation for a much loved brand like Milo and that makes sense,” she says.

Retailers should let their customers know when a parallel product does not come from a local source but it is not a legal requirement, said Ms Rich.

The biggest worry is that it could damage the reputation of local brands, she says.

Dunedin housewife Alison Rowe who had watched the programme supported the buyer who took his complaint to Fair Go.

"There is nothing worse than buying something and all of a sudden it doesn’t taste like you remember, especially something you are particularly fond of,” she said.

“I often get my glasses out and I read the labels. You have got to because you just don’t know what you are getting."

But that is not always possible.

“Some labels aren’t in English at all and some may contain ingredients that you are actually not allowed to have in products here at all,” says Ms Rich.

Fair Go found packs of Milo that did not have Kiwi contact numbers for the distributor or importer.

Ms Rich said the FGC’s most common complaint came from customers asking who they should ring with their queries.

There is a clearcut rule that labels should carry that information and it should be in English, she said.

She said it was unfair on Kiwi producers when parallel importers “snub New Zealand rules and don’t face the same costs of compliance”.

Pets and their proud owners will pile into St Matthew-In-The-City in Auckland central to celebrate the birthday of St Francis of Assisi, Patron Saint of Animals. (Animals' Voice Magazine/Andy Conlan)

Pet owners and their pets will soon be filling the pews at St Matthew-In-The City in Auckland central for the traditional celebration of St Francis of Assisi, the Patron Saint of Animals.

For the past 27 years, Bob Kerridge, Auckland SPCA Executive Director, has organised the gathering of an eclectic array of animals with their proud owners for the Blessing Ceremony.

"The result is sheer pandemonium," Mr Kerridge says. “It is not all serious and too churchified, because with the animals in there, you can be jolly that sure that it's not.

“It's just a lot of fun with people and families with animals of a whole variety of sizes and shapes all singing away in church, and I mean literally, all singing away, celebrating the life of animals that we enjoy.”

This year the event, celebrated in many countries, is arranged for Sunday, October 2.

The congregation has previously been made up of mice and rats, guinea pigs, budgies and cockatoos and larger animals, including cats and dogs up to donkeys and goats, together with their human families.

The church once welcomed a Brahma bull who made a spectacular appearance, Mr Kerridge said, and a penguin from the North Shore was also in the pew.

Of all the animals, the dogs formed the largest groups and there is always one who howls like a wolf, say Bob Kerridge, SPCA Executive Director. (Animals' Voice Magazine/Andy Conlan)

Dogs formed the largest group and there is always one who howls just like a wolf, he said, adding that the animals seem to realise they are in a sacred place because they are always well behaved.

“I do the clean-up afterwards and I've got to say there are very few puddles that I come across. They must all cross their legs!”

This year the event begins at 1.00pm, preceded by a walk with the animals up Queen Street leaving downtown's Elizabeth Square at 12.15pm.

Chicken is now New Zealanders' favourite meat with roast chicken voted the most popular meal, says N.Z. Poultry Association. (Michael Bradley/Getty Images)

Chicken stands out as New Zealanders' most popular dinner choice with roast chicken leading the preferred meal choices in a survey that was carried out by Colmar Brunton.

The results of the survey which interviewed 1017 people were not unexpected said New Zealand's Poultry Industry Association.

“That reflects the ongoing popularity of chicken for New Zealand consumers,” says executive director Michael Brooks in a media statement.

For weight conscious Kiwis it represented a good source of lean protein, a value-for-money item and is a meat that a household cook could whip up into a meal with ease.

“The growth in sales of chicken to become the leading source of protein in the Kiwi diet also reflects health and nutritional trends towards leaner meats,” said Mr Brooks.

The survey found the most popular New Zealand meal was roast chicken, with second place going to a mix of chicken meat and vegetables. Steak and vegetables came in third place, with chicken curries rounding out the top four.

“On average, New Zealanders eat about 31kg of chicken each per year and chicken has been the number one choice for protein for the past ten years at the supermarket. Consumption of chicken meat has more than doubled since accurate records began in 1986 when annual consumption was just 14kgs,” said Mr Brooks.

The importance of chicken in the New Zealand diet has shot up over the last three decades compared to other meat categories, confirmed a Statistics New Zealand survey published last year.

Poultry prices rose 124 per cent between March 1981 and June 2010 compared to a 259 per cent increase in food for the same time period.

Statistics N.Z. concluded that kiwis have voted with their wallets by buying more poultry and less of the other categories of meat.

2011 Rugby World Cup followers in New Zealand have been treated to a carnival like atmosphere but there has been some surprising controversy and animosity. (David Rogers/Getty Images)

Half way through pool play at the 2011 Rugby World Cup followers throughout New Zealand have been treated to a carnival like atmosphere. Overseas media reports have heaped praise on the New Zealand public for turning out in support of other nations with attendance rates high at games not featuring the All Blacks.

But the tournament has not been without controversy and surprising animosity. Some Australia supporters have been on the end of excessive trans Tasman rivalry, with a number of New Zealanders hurling abuse at supporters of the team they least want to win the cup.

Wallaby fan Phil Dunne told the New Zealand Herald that some supporters had crossed the line.

Mr Dunne and his wife had been at the receiving end of some vicious verbal attacks.

The animosity displayed by some New Zealanders "is so entrenched at this World Cup that most Kiwis don’t even realise how hostile they actually are", he said.

Although not representing the majority, the behaviour has alarmed many.

Victoria University associate professor of psychology, Marc Wilson, told the Herald that New Zealanders are driven by insecurities and are feeling “deeply, pathologically and perversely,” about the World Cup.

He said “New Zealand is no different from any other country in the world … we associate with things that make us feel positive about ourselves.”

Controversy has arisen over the naming of the French team to play the All Blacks at Auckland’s Eden Park on Saturday night.

Instead of naming a full strength side, French coach Marc Lievremont has excluded many of their stars in a bid, some say, to lose the match and have an easier road to the final, facing either Ireland or England, instead of Australia or South Africa.

“It’s wrong … but we’ll beat them where it counts—in the final,” All Black fan Gregg Thorpe told the Herald.

WIBDI has alloted Misiluki plants to families whose livelihoods were affected in the 2009 tsunami. The bananas will provide these families with a viable income. (Jane Ussher/Oxfam)

Samoan misiluki dried organic bananas were a treat at the dining table of Pacific Island Forum leaders when the product was launched in Auckland last Friday. 

Revitalising Samoa's banana trade is the aim of a partnership that has been formed between WIDBI (Women in Business Development), Oxfam New Zealand and All Good Organics.

The bananas, which come from around 20 growers, will be a small step in closing the large trade deficit between Samoa and New Zealand, says Chris Morrison, co-founder of the All Good Organics company.

In 2010, Samoan exports to New Zealand totalled $3 million compared to New Zealand's exports which totalled $127.5 million.

There are around 400 certified small organic growers but the venture will be starting with a just a percentage of those growers to assess future prospects, says Morrison.

WIDBI “are looking to generate income for these poor families,” he said.

The future is looking promising already as the first shipment has already sold out and people are “clamouring” to buy organic misiluki dried bananas, says Julia Collins, head of All Good's social media and marketing.

Morrison, who was also co-founder of Phoenix Organics, forged a relationship with Samoa 20 years ago when he was sourcing organic ginger from a grower on the island. He feels strongly about working with sustainable products.

He discovered the misiluki banana on another trip about 4 years ago and decided that it would be much better to source the fruit close to New Zealand rather than half way around the world.

The first trial was carried out with fresh misilukis, which are similar to the 'lady finger' variety, but they didn't travel well.

Misiluki organic dried bananas were served to the leaders of the Pacific Island Forum last Friday, 9 September. (Sam Mahayni)

It was a lovely banana in Samoa, but it arrived in New Zealand black. Customers were used to the bright yellow Cavendish banana and the trial wasn't successful, says Morrison.

We decided to trial dried bananas, says Ms Collins. They are a healthy product, perfect for lunchboxes, to take to the gym and have a longer shelf life.

Morrison is confident of being able to sell the entire crop of bananas from WIDBI's co-operative and looks forward to adding mangoes, papaya and and pineapples from the island to the company's range.

“I think that it is great that we are supporting our neighbours in the Pacific,” he says.

The bananas can be found in health food shops, delicatessens and Foodstuffs is also showing interest, he says.

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key (C) speaks to the press during the second day of the annual Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) in Auckland on Sept. 8, 2011. (Bradley Ambrose/AFP/Getty Images)

A high level US delegation’s attendance at last week’s 40th Pacific Island Forum in Auckland, New Zealand, marked a new engagement in the region. China’s increasing influence in the Pacific Island region is credited with much of the renewed interest.

Deputy Secretary of State Thomas Nides led the 50 strong American delegation, which included Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell and representatives from the White House, the department of State, Defence, Commerce, and the US Coast Guard.

US Deputy Secretary of State Thomas Nides during the second day of the annual Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), in Auckland, on Sept. 8, 2011. (Bradley Ambrose/AFP/Getty Images)

The delegation followed an earlier visit in June to eight Pacific island states by Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Patrick Walsh, USAID Assistant Administrator Nisha Biswal, and Brigadier General Richard Simcock.

"The President himself has asked us to come to be here to represent the United States," Mr Nide told journalists in Auckland, the New Zealand Newswire reported.

The Pacific Island forum members, made up of Australia, New Zealand and 14 Pacific Island nations, also received a high level delegation from China.

China Growing Influence

Stephen Hoadley, Professor of International Relations and Human Rights at Auckland University says it is hard to know what China is doing in the region but he believes that with the US bogged down in the Middle East, China is seizing the opportunity to expand its interests in the South Pacific.

The ANZ Bank announced in February this year, that trade between China and the Pacific Islands rose from US$180 million in 2001 to US$1.5 billion by 2010, reported Radio Australia News.

American interest in the South Pacific, however had waned, over the last decade, said Professor Hoadley, as the US began to engage in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The closure of the US Agency for International Development’s (USAID) regional office in Suva, Fiji, emphasised that the US had greater priorities in other parts of the globe.

As the US disengaged, Chinese embassies began to appear in most of the island states and visits from high ranking Chinese indicated that China increasingly views the region as a part of its hemisphere of influence, says Professor Hoadley.

According to Australia’s Lowy Institute of International Policy by 2008 China had promised aid in the form of soft loans and grants to the value of US$206 million to the region. In the same year USAID aid was only US$3.6 million.

China was also the third largest donor in 14 Pacific Island countries in 2009, coming well behind Australia, slightly behind the U.S. but ahead of New Zealand, Japan and the EU, according to the institutes report, China in the Pacific: The New Banker in Town.

Clinton Renews Pacific Focus

Last year’s visit by Hillary Clinton to the APEC meeting in New Zealand and US promises of assistance for security and developmental aid in the region signaled a turnabout in America’s geo-political stance.

With China emerging as a power in the Pacific it was not the time for the US to be withdrawing suddenly from the region, Ms Clinton said.

Professor Hoadley believes Beijing has serious intentions in the region and has been “very active in inviting leaders—particularly Bainimarana is a great beneficiary—to Beijing where they get head of state welcome and get to meet high ranking Chinese”.

With the US reopening a USAID office in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, later this year, Professor Hoadley anticipates an increase in US aid to governments in the South Pacific.

He is concerned that China is playing a “cunning” strategic game in the region.

“My concern is that Chinese are offering what looks like very generous aid gifts and they are not too worried about democracy and human rights,” he says.“As a consequence Pacific Island leaders are being a bit beguiled, dazzled by China but I personally don’t think it will prove to be substantial and China will want something in return in the future”.

Professor Hoadley noted that China may well be interested in Cook Island’s seabed prospecting licences to be tendered in 2012; shipping access (including military vessels) to island ports; or possibly a type of “quasi military agreement” similar to the one that China has signed with Fiji.

China Losing its Gloss

Commenting on the increased interest in the region, Dr Steven Ratuva, lecturer in Pacific Island Studies, Auckland University, welcomed more players in the Pacific.

He says, however, that China’s engagement was starting to lose its gloss amongst Pacific Island communities.

Chinese aid was not geared toward economic development, he said, but more on large symbolic edifices like sports stadiums and gymnastic centres. These buildings were largely poorly built and were now becoming a cost burden, he said.

“Often, sustaining and managing this infrastructure tends to be quite costly because they tend to disintegrate pretty fast because of the quality of the workmanship like stadiums, gymnasiums, all those things,” he said.

Dr Ratuva referred to a Chinese built Court House in the Cook Islands, a gymnasium and swimming pool in Fiji, and “the same thing in Samoa”, all of which are exhibiting structural problems.

“It may be a soft loan, the conditions may be generous, but the economy itself hasn’t got enough capacity to pay it back,” he said.

Firework display in downtown Auckland celebrating the opening of the 2011 Rugby World Cup (The Epoch Times)

The opening game for the 2011 Rugby World Cup, between Tonga and the All Blacks, played to a thrilled crowd at a packed Mount Eden Stadium last night.

The Tongan team had already arrived at Auckland’s airport last Monday amid a blaze of glory when they were enthusiastically welcome by thousands of fans from the Pacific Island communities. A tone of excitement for the games was set by the multitude waving their red and white flags and causing a gridlock in the roads around the airport.

More than 20 waka carrying some 600 Maori warriors from different iwi from all over New Zealand arrived at the viaduct to mark the opening of the world cup, reported 3News

A spectacular fireworks display set the skies alight while hundreds of singers and dancers entertained rugby enthusiasts who had gathered to celebrate in downtown Auckland.

Tonga started off their challenge with a ferocious haka that would have scared the life out of an average man. Nonetheless, the All Blacks replied with an equally strong challenge which was met with acknowledgement and respect by the Tongan players. However it was a different story once the whistle blew.

In the first half of the Test Match, Tonga was initially able to hold its own, but for no more than ten minutes when the New Zealand All Blacks slowly started to dominate. The New Zealand players experienced a few initial jitters with a knock on here and there but once they hit their rhythm they were unsurprisingly in a different class from the Tongan team.

The skills of the All blacks’ outside backs were particularly notable and the impact play of Sonny Bill Williams was undeniable. Dan Carter was not at his usual best with his goal kicking but he did slot some difficult kicks.

The final score was 41-10

Waikato Hospital staff work in a stressful environment where they can face intimidation, verbal abuse and violence from patients and bystanders (Epoch Times)

Abuse and intimidation against staff at Waikato Hospital has forced the district health board to rally the community in a campaign to keep hospital workers safe.

Patients at Waikato Hospital are maltreating the same medical staff who are there to help them.

Injuries have been so severe that some staff have required emergency treatment or ended up in a hospital ward, says the Waikato District Health Board in a press release.

Doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, social workers, health care assistants, attendants and reception staff at the hospital have been at the receiving end of bites, punches, kicks, spitting and abuse over the past twelve months.

The violence and intimidation has left some staff feeling demoralised and afraid.

To combat the abuse, the Health Board, supported by the Waikato Police and St John, has launched a zero tolerance campaign “It's your choice of treatment,” based on a similar campaign in the United Kingdom.

Staff did not have to tolerate such behaviour, said Waikato District Health Board chief executive Craig Climo.

"I'm quite clear about that. It is unacceptable that caring Waikato DHB staff can be rewarded with intimidation and violence."

Hospital staff are taking the campaign seriously.

“What this campaign, and the support from within our own organisation and from Police and St John, should do is empower staff to say ‘enough is enough’.”

The hospital was hoping that the public would throw their support behind the staff as well.

Ms Yeates said she hoped the public would provide “peer” pressure by saying the behaviour towards hospital staff was inappropriate.

Waikato District Commander Superintendent Win Van Der Velde said hospital staff gave outstanding service to the region. “ There is no doubt that patients and their families are interacting with hospital staff at a stressful time.

“However a line needs to be drawn around behaviour that will not be tolerated and police will be there to help enforce that line."

St John Regional Operations Manager Grant Pennycook says that staff and volunteers should report abuse to the police.

He said ambulance officers make allowances for distraught patients and onlookers, which can run high in emergencies, but the organisation did not tolerate assaults on staff.

“It is important to emphasise to the public that those who are trying to help the public should be able to get on with their jobs without violence or abuse and we support the DHB with this campaign,” said Mr Pennycook.

New Zealanders have increased their sugar intake almost 20 percent in the last 30 years, says Dental Association's Deepa Krishnan (Tim Boyle/Getty Images)

Regular tooth brushing has little effect on the teeth of adolescents who consume junk food sugar, suggests new research.

“What we found was that [most] young people who consume junk food like sweets, chips and sweet drinks, have a higher number of teeth filled compared to those kids who consumed them less frequently,” says Dental Association's Deepa Krishnan.

Ms Krishnan has been studying the link between consumption of junk food and dental damage in 13-17 year olds at the University of Auckland.

We also looked at whether tooth brushing is having any effect, and the demographics -- age, sex and deprivation status.

Dietary habits have changed with people consuming more processed products including fizzy drinks and sugar than in the past.

“The study suggests the effects of junk food extend beyond poor nutrition, obesity and its associated risks, to poor oral health, which remains the most common chronic disease in New Zealand,” she told the Public Health Association conference at Lincoln University in Canterbury last Thursday.

It incorporated information on oral hygiene and diet from a 2007 national survey carried out with around 9000 teenagers by the Adolescent Health Research Group from Auckland University.

Considerable funding is going into nutritional education in terms of obesity, diabetes and other health issues, but, says Ms Krishnan, there needs to be collaboration between public health and oral health professionals.

Messages about nutrition should also be about limiting the consumption of sugar, not just about counting calories, she says.

“New Zealanders have increased their sugar intake almost 20 percent in the last 30 years. Easy accessibility and affordability of junk food, particularly sweet drinks, in our environment is ensuring this will not be reversed any time soon and the country will have to face rising costs to repair the damage done during adolescence,” Ms Krishnan says.

Dental diseases are expensive to treat. Teens are eligible to receive free, publicly-funded oral health services until the age of 18. In the 2009-10 year, the government spent $38m treating the teeth of 185,000 adolescents.

Australian High Court Decision on Refugees a landmark decision for human rights, says Amnesty New Zealand (Yuli Seperi/Getty Images)

Amnesty International is calling it a ‘landmark decision.’

Hundreds of refugees are sitting in limbo on Christmas Island after an Australian High Court decision last Wednesday dealt a mortal blow to Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s deal with Malaysia to exchange refugees.

Australia had arranged to take in 4,000 refugees from Malaysia over a four year period while 800 refugees who had landed illegally in Australia would have gone to Malaysia.

The 800 refugees were to have their claims processed in Malaysia under the auspices of the United Nations.

Shock waves went through the Australian government after the High Court ruled that that “Malaysia is not a party to the Refugees Convention or its protocol,” and that the refugees could not be sent to a country that could not legally guarantee their safety.

“We very much welcome this decision to scrap the Malaysian deal,” says Amnesty International (N.Z) Chief Executive, Patrick Holmes.

“Amnesty has consistently warned the Australian Government that Malaysia was a dangerous place for asylum seekers,” he said.

“Australia should never have contemplated outsourcing Australia’s refugee protection obligations to a country which regularly canes, detains and abuses asylum seekers.”

He said children travelling alone would have been especially at risk if moved to Malaysia.

Amnesty says that all refugees, whether heading to Australia or New Zealand, should be treated equally whether they arrive in boat or plane.

“We saw recently with the issue of potential asylum seekers from Sri Lanka that is sends our own government into something of a panic,” said Mr Holmes referring to Prime Minister John Key’s “not welcome here” response.

Returning asylum seekers out to sea in a boat that might sink is not the solution, said Mr Holmes.

Human Rights Activist, Maire Leadbeater says that Australia and New Zealand have both signed the United Nations Refugee Convention. If refugees are fleeing in desperation, are genuinely afraid of being persecuted and their lives are at risk, they have the right to be granted asylum.

“Both Australia and New Zealand are guilty of trying to sidestep those fundamental obligations—New Zealand by putting in place procedures so that it is very difficult for anyone to arrive here,” she says.

Refugees are checked before being allowed to board a plane while Australia wants to process asylum seekers offshore.

“I don’t think that is in the spirit of the convention … and I don’t think there is any justification for doing that,” she says.

People become asylum seekers because of war, not out of choice, she points out.

“Tamils from Sri Lanka were fleeing from an absolutely horrendous conflict in 2009 when thousands of them were slaughtered … they had no choice but to flee to save their lives.

“They ended up in temporary and unstable situations in South East Asia and then a people smuggler and a man in a leaky boat…,” said Ms Leadbeater.

“You need to put yourself in the shoes of the people who are fleeing and that is very hard for us to do because we live in a very safe kind of a country.”

“So the key for us is a real, concerted effort to improve protection in south-east Asia, not find more and creative ways of moving people from Australia into the Pacific under Australia’s own responsibilities.”

Governor-General Lieutenant General Jerry Mateparae was sworn in as New Zealand's 20th Governor-General on 31 August 2011. Sir Jerry and his wife Janine standing outside the Beehive Theatrette. (Neil Mackenzie/Getty Images)

Lieutenant General Sir Jerry Mateparae was sworn in this morning as New Zealand's 20th Governor-General.

It was an overwhelming honour which was very difficult to take in, Sir Jerry told the audience at the swearing-in ceremony at Parliament.

He said, "Almost every day over the past six months I've reflected on this honour, and when I woke up this morning I gave myself one more pinch just in case!" reported the New Zealand Herald

The ceremony which was held on Parliament's forecourt, began with a powhiri, followed by greetings from the Prime Minister and Parliament's Speaker and a 21-gun salute.

The former defence chief is succeeding Sir Anand Satyanand whose term concluded on 23 August.

Sir Jerry acknowledged that the duties associated with his new role had been somewhat daunting but he and his wife, Lady Janine, had received considerable support.

"During that time, as a family we've both prepared ourselves and been prepared by others for the opportunities that will come with the role, the Herald reported him as saying.

“We have been heartened by the generosity of spirit and support that many New Zealanders have shown in congratulating us.

Sir Jerry will only be the second person of Maori decent to fill the position of Governor-General. He was preceeded by Sir Paul Reeves, also of Maori decent, who held the post from 1983-1990.

Sir Jerry has had distinguished career. He spent 38 years in the military forces, rising through the ranks before being appointed Chief of Defence Force in 2006.

Following his time as Head of the military he served as director of the Government Communications Security Bureau.

The emperor penguin nicknamed 'Happy Feet' (C) is carried off a vehicle to be loaded onto the New Zealand research ship 'Tangaroa' in Wellington on Aug. 29, 2011, before making the four-day journey to the Southern Ocean, east of Campbell Island. (Marty Melville/AFP/Getty Images)

Happy Feet is on his way back to the Antarctica aboard NIWA’s largest research vessel, Tangaroa, after being nursed back to health at Wellington Zoo for the last nine weeks.

The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research’s (NIWA) ship had already been scheduled to head south for further studies on fish stocks and would putting Happy Feet into the ocean at around 53 degrees. The journey was expected to take four days.

The three and a half year old juvenile emperor penguin was discovered exhausted and hungry on Peka Peka Beach, Kapiti Coast on June 26, some 3000 kilometres from his feeding grounds. His plight shot him to celebrity status almost overnight.

Wellington Zoo media spokesperson, Kate Baker, said that it had been wonderful to see the outpouring of support for Happy Feet both in New Zealand and overseas. Public donations, which have reached $27,000, have covered Happy Feet’s care and medical treatment during his stay at the zoo.

Happy Feet in a specially built crate on the research ship Tangaroa awaiting the four-day trip back to the Southern Ocean, east of Campbell Island. (Marty Melville/AFP/Getty Images)

Happy Feet fans had the rare opportunity of seeing him in the flesh at a farewell party held at the zoo last Sunday. A goodbye card was signed by the 1700 visitors who watched the penguin being fitted with a Sirtrack satellite tracker.

The tracker would work for four or five months after which it would fall off when he begins to moult, said Ms Baker.

“He walked into his travel crate and from the travel crate on to the boat. Didn’t even need to be picked up,” she said describing Happy Feet boarding the Tangaroa, at Burnham Wharf, Wellington, last night.

Dr Lisa Argilla, manager of Veterinary Science at the zoo will be taking care of Happy Feet during the voyage assisted by NIWA staff. The penguin, who will be kept in a crate, requires a change of ice every morning to keep him cool and needs feeding every afternoon.

Associate Professor John Cockrem, from the Institute of Veterinary, Animal and Biomedical Science says the plan to release Happy Feet into the Southern Ocean is a good one.

“Fifty-three degrees south is at the upper range of the area where other juvenile emperor penguins will be at the moment. The two to four year olds generally head to sea before returning to Antarctica to breed at four or five years of age,” he said in a press release.

The satellite-tracking device that has been attached to him would allow people to follow his progress on the Internet.

Cluster bombs kill indiscriminately being responsible for more civilian casualties, in Iraq in 2003 and Kosovo in 1999, than any other weapon system. (Ramzi Haidar/AFP/Getty)

The New Zealand Superannuation Fund has been caught investing in companies that manufacture cluster bombs, says the Green Party.

Written questions made to parliament by the Greens, revealed that the Super Fund still holds investments in five companies that make cluster bombs.

They could be in breach of the Government’s commitments under the international convention on cluster munitions signed in 2009, the party said in a media release today.

The Super Fund still holds investments in GenCorp, Kaman, Saab AB, Tata Power and Zodiac Aerospace even though they stated in December 2008 that they would divest from such companies.

Cluster bombs kill indiscriminately and are responsible for more civilian casualties in Iraq in 2003 and Kosovo in 1999 than any other weapon system.

“I think the average New Zealander would be shocked to know their retirement savings are being invested in cluster bombs,” said Russel Norman, co-leader of the Green Party.

“Profiting from the production of cluster munitions is immoral and an embarrassment to the reputation of the Government’s Superannuation Fund,” he said.

The Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation denies that New Zealand’s obligations under the Cluster Munitions Convention are being breached.

However, in response to the Green’s questions, the Super Fund said it would continue to verify whether the companies in which it had invested were manufacturing cluster bombs.

Screening of the Super portfolio would continue to ensure that the list of excluded companies was current.

Investments in companies are “held passively” moving in and out of the Fund according to its market capitalisation rather than through active ‘stock picking’.

“We note that the combined value of the holdings is a small fraction of one percent of the fund,” said the guardians.

“As is often the case, there is doubt and disagreement about key facts, among investors like us who research these issues,” they said.

The Superannuation fund has also been caught investing in the whaling and tobacco industries in the past, said Dr Norman.

The Super Fund’s investments included $9.3 million in companies involved in the production of nuclear weapons, $29.7 million in firms responsible for environment destruction, $17.5 in companies responsible for human rights violations and $2.7 million was invested in a company providing weapons to the Burmese Government, said Dr Norman.

New Zealand apple producers have overcome obstacles raised by the Australian apple industry. (Photo by John Cowpland/Getty Images)

Apples from New Zealand have been airfreighted to Australia without fanfare despite producers having waited for the opportunity since 1921.

A World Trade Organisation ruling paved the way for the apple imports after allegations of New Zealand apples carrying fireblight and other diseases were proved to be unsubstantiated.

“After 90 years there’s some cause for celebration,” says PipfruitNZ CEO Peter Beaven.

The politicking over the apples has caused some nervousness among importers and wholesalers in Australia, says Mr Beaven, but it would be short-lived.

New Zealand apples also face campaigns by Australia’s apple industry who are using unifying brands to appeal to consumer patriotism and two Australian supermarkets are also promising to stock Australian apples first.

“It’s been a long fight and it is probably not over yet but at least the door is open,” said Mr Beaven.

Calling the disease the “herpes of fruit”, independent South Australian senator, Nick Xenophon is making a belated attempt to introduce a private members bill giving Australia’s parliament the right to overrule biosecurity officials.

New Zealand Minister of Trade, Tim Groser, has called the move a “political stunt” according to Radio N.Z.

Unrestricted access for New Zealand apples could see this country take about 5% of the Australian market, worth about $30 million.

Fonterra, a New Zealand dairy co-operative, plans to cut back production at its organic certified sites. (Martin Hunter/Getty Images)

Fonterra will be cutting back on the number of organic farms from where it accepts milk, citing a lack of market growth since the global financial market crisis.

The world’s largest milk processor plans to cut back production at its organic certified sites in Waitoa and Morrinsville, preferring to concentrate on North Island suppliers around its principal organic processing site at Hautapu.

Consumers tend to believe that non-organic products are being produced more sustainably these days and are less willing to pay top prices for organic products, says Fonterra quoting research.

“Our organic farmers are currently spread right across the North Island. This means substantial transport costs for the business,” says Group Director Supplier and External Relations Kelvin Wickham in Fonterra’s on-line news.

Besides reducing transport costs, manufacturing costs would also be cut by the move, he said.

Despite the drive for more efficient production, the company “remains committed” to the organics market and would be meeting with organic farmers this week to discuss ways of bringing organic production to a “break-even situation.”

Organic cheese production will be prioritised as the profits margins are greater.

“We understand the big commitment many of our farmers have made to the organics programme and that this transition will not be an easy one to make,” said Mr. Wickham.

“We will honour all of our organic contracts through to their formal termination dates, which in some cases are four to five years away and we will work with our farmers as they make the transition out of the organics programme.”

But the Green Party believes that organic dairy farmers are being disadvantaged by Fonterra’s monopolistic power and its proposals will “cripple” the organic dairy sector.

Nitrate pollution is plaguing New Zealand’s waterways and converting to organic farming would protect the environment and help build a clean, green economy, he said.

Changes to the present child support system are long overdue, says Revenue Minister Peter Dunn. (UnitedFuture)

Children should win under changes to New Zealand's child support system with plans for a fairer, more realistic and less punitive regime.

Minister of Revenue, Peter Dunne said that changes to the present system which was introduced in 1992 were long overdue and would be more relevant to the present age.

They include a more realistic costing of raising children today and it will take into account the income of both parents.

The number of nights a year used to determine shared care will be reduced from 40 percent to 28 percent of nights.

“Both parents are far more likely to be working today, and separated fathers are generally more actively involved with their children than perhaps they were a generation ago …," Dunne told the UnitedFuture NZ Party conference yesterday.

At present 210,000 children depend on child support.

Changes, including relaxing the rules around excessive penalties for late payment and the writing off of overdue payments under certain conditions, are intended to encourage the liable parent to pay.

Parents who perceived that the system was fair were more likely to accept responsibility for their child's upbringing, said Dunne.

Child support payments would be automatically deducted from the liable parent's pay packet.

Bob McCoskrie, Family First National Director, agrees that looking at the income of both parents and lowering the 'night test' criteria is fairer than the present system.

“It (the 'night test') takes into account parents who may be having more limited contact … doing the pick-ups and drop-offs for school and looking after the day management but the kid is sleeping at the other parent's (home) at night.”

2008 figures show that nearly 13,000 liable parents live overseas yet this group owes one third of the total debt.

Automatic deductions are relevant, says Mr McCoskrie, as some parents are “shirking” their responsibilities or heading for Australia. “2008 figures show that nearly 13,000 liable parents live overseas yet this group owes one third of the total debt.”

McCoskrie says there needs to be more flexibility where a parent may oppose a separation, loses contact with their child but still pays child support.

“The whole 'no fault' divorce thing means that you don't take into account that one party may be 'at fault' and yet the innocent party still becomes financially liable,” he says.

Dunne says that legislation introducing the changes would be put before parliament over the next few months.   

As at the end of June 2011, $605 million in child support was unpaid. Added to that is $1,666 billion worth of unpaid penalties.

The changes will go into effect from 1 April 2013 and 1 April 2014.

The state funeral of former Governer General Sir Paul Reeves at the Anglican Cathedral of the Holy Trinity on August 18, 2011 (Sandra Mu/Getty)

The funeral of Sir Paul Reeves, former New Zealand governor-general, drew hundreds of mourners this afternoon to bid farewell to a man who was described as a “a mighty totara”.

Sir Paul Reeves, who died last Sunday at the age of 78, was farewelled at the Anglican Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Parnell, Auckland.

The service was attended by Prime Minister John Key, former Prime Minister Helen Clarke and many other dignitaries, according to Television New Zealand.

Described as a courageous and modest man, he was a strong advocate for racial and class justice.

“Throughout his life he identified with the cause of social and economic justice. He came from a modest family background and never allowed himself to forget that,” said the Progressives in a statement in parliament yesterday.

“He was not afraid to push the limits of his constitutional position and its conventions and to make himself felt in political areas where his predecessors would have been reluctant to tread.”

Not only was he the first Governor-General of Maori descent, but he was also the first person to be appointed to the job outside the customary diplomatic establishment and legal world.

Sir Paul was appointed Archbishop and Primate of New Zealand in 1980 after many years of dedication to the Anglican Church both in New Zealand and overseas.

After his tenure as governor-general, Sir Paul worked as an Anglican Observer at the United Nations, oversaw elections in Ghana and South Africa, assisted with the drawing up of constitutions for Fiji and Guyana and chaired the Nelson Mandela Trust.

He was Governor General from 22 November 1985 to 20 November 1990.

World famous tenor Placido Domingo will be supporting the Christchurch rebuilding effort when he performs at the CBS Arena in October this year. (AFP/Getty Images)

Placido Domingo, the world famous tenor, will be throwing his support behind the rebuilding of Christchurch when he comes to New Zealand in October.

The Spanish-born singer has postponed another commitment in order to support the people of Christchurch. He will be performing at the CBS Arena.

Southern Opera Trust Chair, Christopher Doig, who arranged the concert performance, said that the trust was not in a position to pay the singer’s usual fee.

Placido had become a patron of Southern Opera some years back and he had an affinity with New Zealand, he told Television New Zealand.

“So he has a hook with Christchurch, but particularly the earthquake. He lost family members in the Mexican earthquake, and so he’s halved his fee in order to come to New Zealand on the basis that we make grants to earthquake relief in Christchurch,” said Mr Doig.

The February 2011 magnitude 6.3 Christchurch earthquake resulted in the death of 181 people and caused considerable damage in the eastern suburbs and especially the central city area where many iconic structures, including arts buildings, were located.

Placido Domingo lost four members of his family during the 1985 Mexican earthquake in which 10,000 people died.

The TranzAlpine Express rattles over a viaduct with snow-capped peaks behind. The middle carriage is open-air for snapping the views. (Tranzscenic Tours)

When the New Zealand Government decided in 1883 to build a railway line between Christchurch on the South Island’s east coast and Greymouth on the west, many of its ministers mused openly about an appropriately slap-up celebration to which to invite themselves for the line’s completion.

But even though it was just 224km in length, they were a bit premature—by the time the last dog-spike was driven, most of those ministers were has-beens, politically or mortally—it had taken 36 years to get the line across the island.

Of course no one ever imagined it would take that long, but then no one had ever built a railway over—or through—the formidable Southern Alps before.

Laying the line across the Canterbury Plains from Christchurch was a breeze, but once into the Alps that breeze deteriorated into a gale: conditions could be so atrocious that to prevent being blow away by the howling winds, workers roped themselves to bridges, or to railway lines while working in precarious ravines and gorges.

In winter, equipment was ice-locked in frozen rivers and lakes—inspiring workers to dub their primitive construction camps Mt Misery, Starvation, Klondyke, Siberia Curve.

Tunnelling

When it was found there was simply no mountain pass the line could follow where the rugged Southern Alps plunged downwards to the west coast, the courageous Kiwis embarked on one of the world’s most ambitious tunnelling projects: an 8.5km shaft driven at an amazing 1-in-33 slope down through the granite heart of the mountains.

By then the line ran from Christchurch on the east coast to Arthur’s Pass 737m high in the Alps, and from Greymouth on the west coast to Otira near the base of the Alps.

It meant that the tunnel could be started from both ends, and when the last of 250,000 cubic metres of rock and earth had been removed and the two halves met in the middle of the mountains, they were just millimetres out of alignment.

The first train crossed from east to west in 1923, putting an end to Cobb & Co. whose coaches had crossed the Alps since 1866, taking three bone-jarring days for the trip.

Cobb & Co.’s staging inns once sprinkled the Southern Alps; today the few remaining are pointed out to holidaymakers on the TranzAlpine Express that does the hugely-popular daily return trip from Christchurch to Greymouth in just 4.5-hours in each direction, with an hour in Greymouth.

Highlights

You will not get views like these from the road because there arent any in these remote areas. (Tranzscenic Tours)

Highlights pointed out along the way include the Mount White sheep and cattle station whose front- and back-gates are 75km apart; the little village of Bealey where the believed-extinct moa (like Big Bird in Sesame Street) was allegedly sighted in a nearby forest in 1993, attracting hopeful but disappointed moa-watchers from around the world; the circa-1868 Jackson’s Hotel near Greymouth—now a restaurant/tavern—famous for its Possum Pies; and Brunner where in 1896 an horrendous coal mine explosion killed 65 men and boys.

And the little township of Avoca where a cantankerous police constable once amused himself spying on the colour of the smoke from rail workers’ chimneys: if blue/grey they were burning Avoca coal, but if black it suggested stolen steam-train coal, and arrests followed.

He was transferred after his house exploded one night in smoke of another hue—that of gelignite.

And Springfield where train crews slipped an onboard pie to Rosie the Station Master’s Collie dog every trip—5000 of the heart-stoppers in her 15-year lifetime.

Open-Air Viewing

One of the world’s great scenic rail journeys, the TranzAlpine full-day return trip costs NZ$209pp; there’s a buffet car and bar and informative commentary.

David Ellis is a professional travel writer.

Prime Minister John Key's speech at the National Party Conference signalled a change in youth welfare policy that coincides with an uncertain fiscal climate. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

Teenage beneficiaries are being asked to become fiscally responsible and take a greater part in the country's economy.

Prime Minister John Key's speech at the National Party Conference yesterday signalled a change in welfare policy that coincides with an uncertain fiscal climate.

Over 10 percent of New Zealand's working-age population – 328,000 people – are on a benefit.

Mr Key said it was worth investing in the younger generation if you looked at the human cost of “wasted potential and poor social outcomes.”

The changes, which are expected to cost $20-$25 million a year, focus on 16 and 17-year-old school leavers who are either not employed, training or involved in education.

Unless steps were put in place, 90 percent of these teens would be on a “collision course with the benefit system” by the time they reached 18 years, said Key.

Also targeted are approximately 1600 youngsters who are eligible for the special 16–17 year-olds' benefit because they are teen parents or because they were living in a household where family relationships had broken down.

The government also wants the Privacy Act and the Education Act amended to enable it to identify and monitor 16 and 17 year olds who leave school.

The information would be shared between the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Social Development. Those deemed most at risk of long term benefit dependency would be put in touch with transition agencies which provide a range of services including drug and alcohol counselling.

Funding of such services may be linked to a young person successfully completing a training programme.

Free study towards school-level qualifications in polytechnics and wananga being promised for 7,500 adolescents, under the Governments' Youth Guarantee policy, is part of a proposal to increase training facilities.

Key believes the “hands-off” approach has failed young people and that changes to benefits, excluding the invalid's Benefit, are needed.

Funding would go to community and other organisations to provide budgeting advice and support for 16 to 17-year-olds on special benefits and 18-year-old teen parents.

Fortnightly benefit payments will no longer be automatically given to beneficiaries, but will be handled by a young persons' support provider. It is anticipated the basic costs such as rent and power will be paid on the beneficiaries' behalf.

Special cards will be loaded with money for food and grocery items, but will not allow the purchase of items such as alcohol or cigarettes.

Those receiving such payments would be obliged to attend budgeting or parenting programmes.

“…and they will have to be in education, training or work-based learning,” says Key who foresees that most teen parents will be involved in such training by the time their child is one year old.

Child care costs would be paid by the government.

Many adolescents from these groups are from dysfunctional family backgrounds, says Key.

“We simply cannot continue to give them money and trust they will do the right things with it.”

Metiria Turei, Green Party Co-leader agrees that young people should be assisted to get off the benefit and into work, but says that if new jobs were not created Key's proposals will not work.

“.. youth unemployment is at crisis levels, and no amount of information sharing between agencies will help vulnerable young people if the opportunities are not there for them,” she said in a press release.

Ms Turei supports case management and support for 16 and 17-year-old beneficiaries, but said it was a worry that current Work and Income systems did not provide this.

Changes to Work and Income were fundamental to allow for close support and mentoring of young people and that relying on private providers alone would be unworkable.

While policies to help sole parents back into the workforce were necessary, Ms Turei said the needs of young children should be put first.

“Requiring teen parents to be in education and training despite the needs of the child, such as breastfeeding and maternal bonding, has the potential to damage the connection between parent and child that we know is so crucial during the early years.”

The reforms, which will be announced prior to the November elections are based on recommendations from the Welfare Working Group.

Trans Pacific Partnership agreement (TPPA) is currently being negotiated between New Zealand and eight other partners, including the United States. (Getty Images)

New Zealanders are being left in the dark over the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) negotiations says a concerned group of organisations.

Robert Reid, National Distribution Union [NDU] general secretary says, “Everything is being done in secret and the government is not even allowing it to be debated in a select committee.”

Mr Reid is one of 13 signatories to a petition to the government requesting a select committee hearing on the implications of the proposed TPPA.

Other signatories include the Council of Trade Unions (NZCTU) and individual unions, Oxfam, Public Health Association, Society of Authors, ICT group NZ Rise, and the Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa.

TPPA is an Asia-Pacific regional trade agreement currently being negotiated between New Zealand and eight other partners – United States, Australia, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Chile, Brunei and Peru.

The Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade select committee only agreed that the first signatory, NZCTU President Helen Kelly, could present additional written information.

Ms Kelly said, "What we wanted was to have a debate in parliament through a select committee which is an open process about what our concerns are. Even the select committee won’t know what’s going on in the negotiations.”

She said a parliamentary forum was needed to talk about things like pharmac, intellectual property and public services.

“This is like the government passing a law without talking to anybody about it. It will bind this parliament, future parliaments and future generations,” says Ms Kelly.

Mr Reid says that while one could only guess the content of the TPPA, under the investor status part of the agreement, it appeared that members of the agreement would have the right to sue if a country passes laws or makes regulations that affected the profitability of a multinational company.

Lack of democratic process disappointing

The TPPA negotiations should be carried out with more transparency, said John Stansfield, campaign director for Oxfam.

“It’s going to be used by U.S. pharmaceutical industry as a way of preventing people from having access to cheap medicine," he said.

“We are disappointed that the government elected not to send the matter to a public hearing at a select committee where all of the voices could be brought to bear and there could be some real public debate about what are the actual benefits.”

Maggie Tarver, the New Zealand Society of Writers’ chief executive, also deplores the lack of democratic process and was concerned that no information would be released until the deal was done.

She is worried about U.S. proposals to replace New Zealand’s fair trading laws with fair use practices which are wider and non-specific.

“It is common knowledge that there are a large number of cases in America that actually do go to the courts to determine whether the use of somebody’s copyrighted material was fair use or not,” says Ms Tarver. “So we actually think that the fair dealing, which is what we have here, is far better than fair use.

“Culturally we have concerns about it as well, because there are other restrictions with regards to how we can favour New Zealand writers (and) film producers in New Zealand, if the fair dealing comes in…

“We feel strongly that the only people that will gain out of a TPPA with Americans are the Americans,” says Ms Tarver.

Professor Kelsey is a well-known critical New Zealand commentator on issues of globalisation, structural adjustment and decolonisation.

“They (National-led government) are on very shallow ground in being able to show any positive commercial outcomes and are aware that a TPPA would impact on many more sensitive areas of regulation and policy than the current discussion centred on Pharmac.

“Pressure not to make concessions in those areas will make it too hard to conduct the negotiations. Hence, the secrecy,” Ms Kelsey said.

A human rights impact assessment prepared by Ms Kelsey and university staff in May, predicted that the agreement would introduce “’investor-state dispute resolution’ allowing corporations to sue the government, weakening of the Pharmac regime and challenges to GE food labelling laws, amongst other things.”

John Hayes, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade select committee could not be reached for comment.

Falun Gong practitioners commemorate the death of practitioners at a rally in Queen Elizabeth Square. (Lin Shan/The Epoch Times)

July 20, 2011 marks the twelfth anniversary of the Chinese communist regime’s brutal persecution against Falun Gong. Falun Gong practitioners held a rally in Auckland’s Elizabeth Square today, calling for an end to the persecution.

Adding their voices to help bring the oppression to an end were a number of dignitaries, including Green Party MP Keith Locke, representatives from the Auckland Council for Civil Liberties and Amnesty International.

Mr Locke, a long-standing advocate for the victims of human rights abuses said, “I think it’s just so important that we as a small country dedicated to human rights stand up for human rights around the world.”

He expressed disappointment with the way the New Zealand government had handled human rights issues when dealing with China.

“The government feels intimidated by China,” Mr Locke said. “Whatever threats the Chinese government make we shouldn’t bow down before them, because if you bow down before a bully-whether it is in school or whether it’s in international relations-the bully will only bully you further so it is never a successful strategy.”

An anti-persecution exhibition displaying some of the inhumane methods that are used for torturing Falun Gong practitioners drew attention from the public.

One onlooker, Ellen Rhodes, was moved by what she saw. “I knew things in China were bad, but watching this shows just how bad they are. It’s horrific, just horrific to think that in these modern times people are still being treated like that,” she said.

President of the Auckland Council for Civil Liberties, Barry Wilson, said that it was clear following the country’s Free Trade Agreement with China, that human rights abuses needed to be taken into consideration when dealing with China.

“New Zealand is a country that is listened to with respect on the world stage,” he said. “So when we are negotiating trade treaties the only thing it can do is advocate for individuals who are being persecuted in China. Some of them have family connections in New Zealand and the important part of our foreign affairs role, diplomatic role, is to advocate for those people.”

Government officials, heads of NGOs, legal professionals and activists in a number of countries have made a stand with Falun Gong practitioners against the persecution initiated by the Chinese Communist Party [CCP]. In Washington DC, some 2,500 Falun Gong practitioners from across Europe, North America, Asia and Australasia gathered to mark the persecution’s 12th anniversary and to celebrate 100 million withdrawals from the CCP.

A further cause to celebrate was the introduction by US Senators to the Senate, Resolution 232, condemning the CCP’s persecution. The resolution has been referred to the Foreign Relations Committee, where it will be discussed, and where it will have to pass before being introduced in the Senate for a vote, The Epoch Times reported.

Margaret Taylor, Support Manager for Amnesty International in New Zealand, said they were aware that China was very concerned about the unrest among its people and that the persecution had been accelerated targeting mainly academics and human rights activists, as well as Falun Gong practitioners.

She said one of Amnesty’s strengths is to not only highlight individual cases, but put a human face to the suffering, thus encouraging people to make a stand.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is an ancient Chinese spiritual discipline for mind and body first introduced by Li Hongzhi in 1992 and quickly spread by word of mouth throughout China and then beyond. Today, despite the persecution, Falun Gong is practiced by over 100 million people worldwide, according to faluninfo.net website.

Shrek, the world-famous merino will remain on ice till a decision is made whether or not the ovine can be mounted for exhibition at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington.

Roxan Mathys, the museum’s acting communications manager, explained to The Epoch Times, that Shrek is currently being assessed by a taxidermist.

The taxidermist “will be getting back to us about possibilities once he has completed a full examination," she wrote in her email.

An earlier report said that Shrek, aged almost 17, was reluctantly put down on June 6 by his owner John Perriam of Bendigo Station, Otago.

The celebrated merino wether [a doctored ram lamb], became famous for having evaded the shearing muster for at least six seasons. When found he was carrying a fleece that weighed 27kg—enough to make 27 men’s suits, scienceblog.com reckoned.

Shrek was shorn before a live TV audience across the world, and the money made from his fleece went to his favourite charity, Cure Kids. The worldwide publicity gained was worth an estimated $100 million for the export industry, according to Stuff News online.

Dreamworks, the Hollywood film studio that owns the animated Shrek trademark, has allowed Mr Perriam and Cure Kids to continue using the brand name on condition Te Papa agrees to exhibit Shrek at the museum.

During his time in the limelight, Shrek was flown in planes, visited sick children in hospital, met former Prime Minister Helen Clark, and was again shorn on live TV beamed across the world, this time on an iceberg floating off the coast of Dunedin.

Shrek fans have since created a Facebook page, “R.I.P Shrek,” where thousands around the world continue to leave tributes.

And across the Tasman Sea, Australian film makers want to immortalise the woolly merino in a documentary.

Mr Perriam said Shrek leaves behind a great legacy for New Zealand.

Mr Perriam’s first book, Dust to Gold: The Inspiring Story of Bendigo Station, home of Shrek, was a best seller within weeks of hitting the book shelves and all royalties continue to go to Cure Kids.

A second book, Shrek: The Story of a Kiwi Icon, is also on the bookshelves and its royalties will go to the charity as well.

In an earlier story, by the Epoch Times, Mr. Perriam farewelled his old mate.

“He has been such a fantastic story for New Zealand and I felt for all the kids out there … it’s been a fantastic seven years and he has taught us so much about giving.”

A vegetable pyramid is built in front of the Eiffel tower by French vegetable farmers protesting against the collapse of cucumber sales due to fear of E.coli bacteria contamination (Getty Images)

Food producers in New Zealand are taking an unusually virulent E. coli outbreak in Europe seriously. At least 48 people have died and more than 4,000 have become infected in an outbreak that began in Germany last May.

The E. coli 0104:H4 contamination has European authorities in a flurry after the latest outbreak in France this week which saw 10 people with bloody diarrhoea admitted to hospital.

The consumption of sprouts is now believed to be the source of the outbreaks.

The strain of E. coli found in the European outbreak is much more virulent than the common strain which is found in the gut of humans and animals.

It has picked up extra genes which allow it to produce cell toxins which can penetrate the cells of the gut and result in the potentially fatal Haemolytic Uraemic Syndrome (HUS) causing serious diarrhoea, kidney damage, and finally death.

“The industry is quite concerned but we are also concerned that people should not panic at this stage,” said Dr. John Brooks, Professor of Food Microbiology at AUT University.

However, when an E. coli bacterium that normally resides in the gut becomes a dangerous pathogen responsible for very high rates of kidney damage and death, then it becomes a “wake-up” call for the food industry, he said.

Dr. Brooks addressed the New Zealand Institute of Food Science and Technology Conference in Rotorua last week, where New Zealand food producers discussed the implications of expanding testing requirements.

Food safety requirements by New Zealand’s trading partners that include testing for E. coli 0157:H7 would be ineffective, said Dr. Brooks, because the country’s high quality products have very low levels of these organisms, if any.

Dr. Brooks said that importers like the United States might refuse to buy New Zealand meat if it had not been tested. Exporters needed to consider what they would do if this happened.

Sampling would be extremely expensive, “but it won’t make the food any safer,” Dr. Brooks said.

A number of countries have now banned the import of vegetables from the European Union. In June, Russia introduced a ban on meat and milk products from over 300 German companies, following concerns about E. coli.

Hygienic processing practices, secure distribution chains and consumer education about safe food handling will help keep pathogens out, said Dr. Brooks.

Associate Professor Michael Baker, epidemiologist from the Department of Public Health, University of Otago, says there is an enormous investment in food safety in New Zealand.

Public health services have made considerable preparations over the years for the scenario of a widespread E.coli outbreak, he said.

On the other hand, New Zealanders eat a lot of uncooked food, he said, and are encouraged to eat lots of vegetables, making them more vulnerable to food contamination.

“Basically this is a disease than can quite easily be managed, prevented and controlled,” says Associate Professor Baker.

New Zealand is a small country and less vulnerable to such E. coli outbreaks–the amount of imported fresh food is very little compared to that in Europe.

Egyptian fenugreek seeds from Egypt are the latest suspect in the E. coli 0104:H4 infection. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is advising people “not to grow sprouts for their own consumption and not to eat sprouts or sprouted seeds unless they have been cooked thoroughly.”

The seeds, thought to be the source of the infection, were imported in 2009 or 2010 and grown on farms in Europe.

Dr. Brooks says that the source of the contamination has yet to be proved and tomatoes and cucumbers had already been suspected as the culprits.

Steffan Browning, spokesperson for the Soil & Health Association NZ says growing more of our own food and being less reliant on overseas produce would leave consumers less exposed to pathogens coming in with imported produce.

Encouraging organic agricultural and husbandry farming that avoid the widespread use of antibiotics promotes healthy animals and would further reduce the risk of virulent E. coli pathogens, Mr. Browning said.

Children, parents and grandparents from Kura Kaupapa Maori O Ruamata School looking out for Matariki on Mount Ngongotaha. ( Kura Kaupapa Maori O Ruamata School)

“We will welcome Matariki when we see Matariki come over the horizon,” said Cathy Dewes, principal of landmark total immersion language school, Kura Kaupapa Maori o Ruamata in Rotorua.

Ms Dewes, a champion in the revitalisation of Maori culture and language, accompanied children from Ruamata School up Mount Ngongotaha last Friday to greet Matariki at dawn.

Matariki, also known as the traditional Maori New Year, is the name given by Maori, native to New Zealand, to the Pleiades, a small cluster of stars in the Taurus constellation, also known as the Seven Sisters in Greek legend.

It is a special moment in the traditional Maori calendar when families gathered together to give thanks to the land, sea and sky, in celebration of the abundance of food gathered over the harvesting season.

The practice of observing rituals around Matariki dwindled in the early 1900s, but has again regained prominence as part of the revival of Maori culture.

But, the welcoming ceremony (powhiri) is always performed at traditional Maori gatherings preserved for sacred occasions. However, in this instance the ceremony is performed wherever Matariki is observed.

“Everyone who has lost someone during the past year is invited to say words of farewell…” Ms Dewes said. “We are following the rituals of our ancestors – letting go of the sorrows from the past twelve months and moving on to the future.”

And then there would be hangi, a ceremonial banquet to treat guest with the finest foods--the fruits of Matariki.

“It was believed that the aroma from the hangi served to awaken the Matariki cluster,” says Ms Dewes.

During the powhiri, visitors are invited to bring their ancestors and those recently passed so they can be mourned.

"I think releasing the dead from the previous year is very important and…being prepared to move on to whatever tasks await them in the New Year,” she added. She compared it to the January 1, New Year’s resolution.

Listening to mihimihi (greetings and introductions) -one child speaks for each family group (whanau). (Kura Kaupapa Maori O Ruamata School)

Ancient Maori would regard the shortest day of the year, the Winter Solstice, as the first day of the Maori New Year, a time to rest and to pass on their teachings to the young.

The Matariki cluster is acknowledged by nearly all cultures including Aboriginal, Japanese, American Indian, Chinese and Greeks and Polynesian for centuries.

In Polynesia – Samoans know Matariki as matali’i – Tongans as mataliki, the people of Hawaii as makali’i and Tahitians called it matari’i.

The tiny constellation, which has two meanings in Maori -- Mata Riki (tiny eyes) or Mata Ariki (Eyes of God) – can be seen in the open sky with the naked eye.

However, it wasn’t always so in the Waikato.

“My late father …asked, how could one celebrate Matariki here in Waikato when it’s fogged down for months and weeks on end,” said Wiremu Puke, Maori cultural advisor and ethnographic researcher.

The conversion of peat swamps and wetlands to farming led to peat fires which together with the fog meant that it wasn’t until around 1975 that there was sufficient daylight to observe Matariki.

Not all Maori iwi observe Matariki, says Mr Puke from the Ngati Wairere hapu of the Tainui iwi. Other iwi observe rituals around different sacred stars.

Matariki has also been incorporated into the coat of arms of Royal House of Potatau, the house of the Maori king.

It was particularly important for Waikato iwi where it heralded the coming of fine weather when the the Kowhai flowered, a sign that the sweet ‘kumara’ potato, could soon be planted.

Mr Puke has watched the revival of Matariki with a little regret. He says that while it mirrors the northern hemisphere’s Summer Solstice ceremonies that have been combined with some new age elements, many traditional Maori customs have been left out or lost.

“I sometimes struggle with it because in another 50 years it becomes the cultural norm when it really wasn’t,” he says.

Ceremonial rituals around fishing, harvesting and planting which are the most important have been retained.

“What I would like to see if there was ever a change to the New Zealand flag is to have the Matariki on the flag rather than the Southern Cross, because it looks too much like the Australian (flag).”

It would honour the navigational expertise of the ancient Polynesian navigators who arrived in Aotearoa (New Zealand) from central Polynesia after circumnavigating the Pacific over 1000 years ago, says Mr Puke.

Oral history tells of the "Great Migration," a fleet of seven main waka from Ra’iatea Island to Aotearoa some 600 years ago, the Tainui included.

This year, the festivities and celebrations for Matariki take place from June 4 through to July 4.