NZ History - Julius Vogel

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NZ History - Julius Vogel...






Juius Vogel:

Premier: 8 Apr 1873–6 Jul 1875; 15 Feb–1 Sept 1876

Age on becoming premier: 38

Electorate: Auckland City East

Although he spent just 18 years here, journalist, businessman and politician Julius (Sir Julius from 1874) Vogel dominated our politics. The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography describes our first Jewish premier as ‘vastly ambitious’ and ‘clever, impulsive, generous, strong-willed to the point of being domineering.’ Contemporaries might have been less polite.

A lifelong gambler and speculator, Vogel followed the gold rushes, learning journalism in Victoria in the 1850s. In 1861 he fetched up in Dunedin, where he edited our first daily, the Otago Daily Times. Print, politics and profits were his watchwords.

In Otago, Vogel entered politics. Dunedin knew him as a staunch provincialist, but he switched horses while colonial treasurer for most of the 1869-76 period, appalled by the cost of the New Zealand Wars and the lack of a master plan for developing the colony.

Vogel’s great plan was to borrow heavily to build infrastructure (railways, ports and telegraphs) and to lure migrants. It was controversial, and ended in a recession, but the money and migrants stimulated the economy and created a viable consumer market for producers. Historians still talk about the ‘Vogel era’.

The rapid and cheap acquisition of Maori land was a key part of this policy, and dramatically speeded up the Crown purchase of land. Vogel and his supporters were certain that Maori and settlers would reconcile when the former, and their land, became fully integrated in the European economy.

Vogel, whose love of society, food and wine ruined his health, served as agent-general in London from 1876 to 1880 when he had to resign for spending too much time on his private interests. There was always a whiff of scandal about him, not always attributable to anti-Semitic slurs.

Vogel returned to New Zealand in 1884 and was the heavyweight – literally and metaphorically – in the two Stout-Vogel ministries.

Vogel returned to England in 1888. There he wrote the novel Anno Domini 2000: or Woman’s Destiny, in which women dominated government and poverty had vanished. It enjoyed a brief revival around the turn of the 21st century when women held the positions of sovereign, governor-general, prime minister and leader of the opposition.

Written by Gavin McLean

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Biography of Julius Vogel:
www.nzhistory.net.nz/people/julius-vogel

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Romantic Scots of the South - Dunedin Peninsula, Otago, NZ...

Romantic Scots of the South - Dunedin Peninsula, Otago, NZ...


By Peter Petterson

First published at Qondio:



I have never associated romanticism and the Dunedin Peninsula in the one package, but there are people around who most certainly do.
In fact Dunedin Peninsula has reportedly been proclaimed one of the most romantic places in the world in which to propose marriage. Indeed!

The US news organisation,CNN International has issued its Top Ten places in which to propose to a loved one on Valentines Day.

It highlighted the wildlife reserves near Dunedin, in New Zealand's South Island - home to colonies of yellow-eyed penguins, blue penguins, fur seals and the Royal Albatross.

So much for the Dunedin Peninsula. The other selections are:
Petra, Jordan; Dubroviniks Hotel Excelsior; Shiraz,India; Maldives; Leti Hotel, India; The Great Wall of China; and England's North Lees Hall.

"If your beseeching eyes can't soften her heart, the mating rituals of the South Island's coastal wildlife may do it for you." said CNN International.

http://huttriver.qondio.com

http://anzacbloggersunite.blog.co.uk

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RSA under fire for its poppy deal - Anzac Day will never be the same...

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New Zealand RSA under fire for its foreign poppy deal - Anzac Day will never be the same...

 The RSA is facing a backlash over its decision to import poppies rather than have them made in Christchurch, with many people threatening to boycott the poppies.
RSA New Zealand announced yesterday the Australian company Cash's had out-bid the Christchurch RSA to win the 2012 contract, and as a result the poppies would be made in Australia from parts manufactured in China, saving about $150,000.
Christchurch RSA has held the contract since 1931 and employed between 20-30 intellectually handicapped people from Kilmarnock Enterprises to assemble the poppies.

RSA chief executive Stephen Clarke said the $150,000 saving meant more money for its veterans and welfare work.

"That will be a cost saving to every local RSA because they're actually the ones purchasing direct from the wholesaler."

The poppy appeal raised $2 million nationally this year but many people commenting on the story online said they would not be buying the new poppies.

Christine Kay wrote it was "shameful" to take the work from intellectually handicapped people.
"I won't be buying one next year," she wrote.

The Rail and Maritime Transport Union (RMTU) weighed in on the debate, saying the loss of the poppy contract was similar to having six new electric locomotives imported, rather than made here in either Lower Hutt or Dunedin.

RMTU general secretary Wayne Butson said that the loss of a contract for Anzac Poppies to Australia and China was sad news for Christchurch.

"Manufacturing is still a significant part of the economy, and is the third largest employing industry in New Zealand. But on price alone New Zealand cannot compete with low-wage economies overseas, and we need a serious plan to support domestic manufacturing and local jobs," he said.

Mr Butson questioned how the country could retain any form of manufacturing base when even government purchasing did not support local manufacturing.

Christchurch RSA president Russ Barron told the Press the national body's decision was disgusting.
"The New Zealand poppy is an icon, manufactured in New Zealand for New Zealanders."

Acknowledgements: NZPA

htttp://www.voxy.co.nz/national/rsa-under-fire-fpreign-poppy-deal/5/75413

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Dunedin mayoralty a two horse race...

Image via Wikipedia  2010 Dunedin Mayoralty a two horse  race ...


Dunedin city councillor Dave Cull appears to be leading a two-horse race with Mayor Peter Chin in the battle for the city's top job.



An Otago Daily Times poll of voters who had made a decision shows Cr Cull ahead on 45.9%, Mr Chin second on 37.4%, and Lee Vandervis third on 11%.



None of the other four candidates had made it over 4%, although there were still plenty of undecided voters, at 38%, two weeks before the end of the polling period.



In the raw data, the 274 respondents who said they were undecided outstripped votes for any candidate.



The poll of 721 people was undertaken by ODT staff over a four-day period this week.



University of Otago political studies department lecturers Dr Chris Rudd and Associate Prof Janine Hayward studied the figures, and said this year's election was clearly a "quite different" race from 2007, when Mr Chin led in a similar poll with 72% of the vote.



The closeness of Cr Cull and Mr Chin's polling should encourage people to return their voting papers, she said.



It should also bring the single transferable voting (STV) system into play, with voters' second preferences likely to make a difference.



Only 10.9% of voting papers had been returned last night, and the key message to voters yet to do so was "you can have an influence", Prof Hayward said.



That Cr Cull and Mr Chin were well ahead should not put off people who supported other candidates as their first preference, as their second preferences would help decide who would become mayor.



"They should stick to their guns about who their first preferences are, as long as they rank more than one preference."



One aspect of the Otago Daily Times poll was that 721 people said they would vote, while about 150 said they would not.



That meant around 80% were stating they would vote, when the actual percentage at the last election was only 47.4%.



Cr Cull said while he did not know how the election was panning out, he had been getting "some very positive feedback".



"It's a very positive start," he said, though he noted there was plenty of time to go before the end of the election.



"I'm very pleased with that news," he said, referring to the poll.



Mr Chin said it was still early in the election, and he had no major campaigning planned.



"I'll just keep on doing what I'm doing."



Mr Vandervis said mid-election surveys were illegal in some countries, as they "potentially give the media opportunities of skewing voting behaviour".



He said the ODT poll showed a "quite different result to our own surveying, as it did in the last election, when the ODT mayoral survey put me nowhere, with the also-rans, when I actually achieved a clear second place with 33% of Mayor Chin's vote".



He said his information showed a "significant swing to Vandervis", especially in the past week.



"The only survey that counts is the final vote, which I believe will show a much closer race."



david.loughrey@odt.co.nz

The unsolved Dunedin parcel bomb murder - February 1962...

"UNSOLVED CRIMES IN NEW ZEALAND"

There have been two unsolved crimes in New Zealand in the last 50 years that have interested and intrigued me. The 'Wellington Trades Hall bombing' in the 1980's, and the 'Parcel Bomb murder' of Dunedin barrister James Patrick Ward in 1962 (below). Mr Ward's office was, rather ironicly, in the Security Building in the CBD area of Dunedin. Police were mystified about markings on a piece of wood used to make the box that contained the bomb. By memory, I recall newspaper reports suggesting they could have been part of a black stencil marking on that particular piece of wood. But what was it? It could provide the answer towards discovering his killer.

I lived in Dunedin briefly from 1964-65. There was definately an active criminal underworld in that city, which included New Zealand's most well known after -hours liquor trading, considering New Zealand still had six o'clock closing of hotel bars at that time. I still remember a number of infamous hotels and well known celebrities connected with boxing in Dunedin at the time. But how was Mr Ward connected with the Dunedin criminal fraternity to the point of losing his life? Was Mr Ward actually too successful in defending the city's lawbreakers?



The Ward Parcel-bomb Murder, 1962:

At 9 a.m. on 5 February 1962 James Patrick Ward a well-known Dunedin barrister, received a parcel in his office. A few minutes later the building was shaken by an explosion. Ward was rushed to the Dominican Tertiary Hospital, where he died six hours later. Although the police, in the course of their investigations, established the method by which death was inflicted, they were unable to discover any motive for the crime or to gather sufficient evidence to justify an arrest. From an examination of the debris in Ward's office, the police found that the parcel had been posted in Dunedin during the preceding weekend. It contained a roughly made wooden box in which were two torch batteries, a pull-through switch, an electric detonator, a quantity of explosive, electrical wiring, and pieces of tin. Apparently the opening of the parcel completed an electrical circuit which detonated the explosive.

An incident similar to the Ward case occurred in 1937 when a bomb was thrown at R. A. Singer, an Auckland lawyer. The Singer case has never been solved.

by Ronald Jones, Journalist and Script Writer, New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation, Wellington.