Who is going to be elected in Lower Hutt on Saturday...

Who is going to be elected in Lower Hutt on Saturday? The incumbent, David Ogden,city councillor, Ray Wallace or the well known footballer and commentator,Ken Laban for mayor? Who is going to be elected for council, regional council or health boards?

The best candidates may not be elected in any of the categories because apathetic Lower Hutt residents may not get out and do their civil duty - to vote!

I have witnessed many good left of centre candidates failing to get elected because of voter apathy. I hope the same doesn't happen this time. 'Ken Laban' must be one of the best candidates and persons to stand for the mayoralty for many a year. He could become our first mayor of Polynesian extraction as well.

If you happen to read this before voting day, make sure you have sent your voting papers in. You can vote for whoever you wish, but voter apathy is the arch enemy of democracy. So tell your family, friends and acquaintences to get your votes in. The deadline is noon on this Saturday!

JUST MAKE SURE YOU VOTE BEFORE NOON ON SATURDAY:

Ken Laban the only official Lower Hutt City candidate...

Why is Ken Laban the only candidate willing and proud to say he is a mayoral candidate for Lower Hutt City? Actually no other candidates have mentioned they are candidates for 'Lower Hutt' wards either.

So here we are with the elections coming up and only one official Lower Hutt candidate; the others glibly mention their ward or the fact they are standing for the mayoralty.

No wonder those involved in Upper Hutt City don't want a bar of Lower Hutt politicians or pretenders.

I personally believe that amalgamation of the final two local authorities in the Hutt Valley will prove to be the best action for the economic and social future of both. Surely, but how do you get your head aroud the parochialism of Lower Hutt?

It is this parochialism that has prevented discussion between the two councils up to now.

If candidates learn the real name of our city - Lower Hutt...

If the one thing candidates learn during the coming council election campaign in Lower Hutt, is the real and legal name of our city, I will be a contented person.

"Lower Hutt" is the legal name as determined by the NZ Geographic Board, and to illegally promote any other name for the city without even an application for a name change, is an offence. Such transgressors could be taken to court if individual Lower Hutt residents or groups objected. They could be fined for each and every illegal promotion, and copies of such in council documents, publications, newspapers etc.

Thousands of copies are made public annually, hundreds of thousands since the name change of the council. The council could be charged and fined in court for every one of them. This could apply to the Mayor, David Ogden, his elected councillors and council officers.

Why are we maiming and killing our childen New Zealand?

Why are we maiming and killing our children New Zealand? Read below!

An Auckland toddler, in excruciating pain from broken bones, probably knew crying for help would bring no relief.
'Three minute silence' against child abuse


Police believe the 18-month old west Auckland boy, now getting treatment in Auckland's Starship Hospital, had probably learnt from previous abuse and broken bones he would get no help if he cried out.

"Quite often when babies have been in a situation like that they don't cry because there is no point in crying when nobody is going to do anything," said Detective Sergeant Megan Goldie from the west Auckland child abuse team.

"He might have just suffered in silence."

The toddler was likely to spend the next week or so in hospital recovering from broken bones as social workers looked for a foster home for him.

He was rushed to hospital in June with a broken thigh and a broken arm and doctors have told police he may have had the injuries for two to four weeks before he was seen by a doctor.

He would also have been in excruciating pain.

However, police confirmed the toddler had been in hospital before with broken bones when he was only four months old. Then he had a spiral break to his left arm but was not taken for treatment for 10 days. In a spiral break the bones are twisted apart.

He had been living then with his mother's sister, her husband and their two children.

When the latest injuries happened he was living with his parents and three siblings.

The toddler and his siblings had been removed from his parents by Child Youth and Family (CYF) and his parents had been banned from visiting him in hospital.

One of the latest breaks to his bones was a displaced fracture in his leg, meaning the bones had been allowed to move apart because they had not been treated.

"They are trying to get them to mend but the fact that they have been left for quite a while before they have gone in there, creates certain problems for them mending."

The earlier break on his left arm when he was only four months old was "wickedly displaced", she said.

She said every time he was dressed or moved with the latest injuries he would have been in extreme pain.

"The doctor said he would have been in extreme pain and he wouldn't have put any weight on his leg at all because it was so badly broken."

She said it "just about broke your heart" when she saw the toddler in hospital.

"He was lying there. There was no family around him because they have been told they can't go and see him. So here is this little 18-month-old lying in bed by himself."

- NZPA

The time is right to amalgamate the Hutt Valley cities...

While Auckland debates the value of having one super - council in its region, something being considered by central government as well, the time for a similar debate in the Wellinton region is probably as equally as valuable.

In the Hutt Valley it is actually something that has come of age, if you like. Its time is now! I've said it publicly before along with a number of others, that Upper and Lower Hutt cities should be amalgamated to ensure that better planning and utilisation of current and future resources in this valley can be achieved, including that most valuable of all - people!

I have never understood why the amalgamations of 1989 were not completed with the amalgamation of the two Hutt Valley entities as well. In hindsight it was a very bad decision. It allowed the two cities to meander along without real growth or planning for the future.

In Lower Hutt's case they inanely changed the name of its local authority to the Hutt City Council, obviously under pressure from the three former boroughs, Wainuiomata, Petone and Eastbourne. These three new suburbs were given special status by being given elected community boards for second tier representation, while the original suburbs were unfairly given council appointed ward committies. Despite having the opportunity to ensure equal representation for all residents of Lower Hutt City, the David Ogden led council even disestablished the meagre representation of council appointed ward committees.

These former boroughs have pressurised the Hutt City Council into a de facto name change for Lower Hutt(Hutt City) - something illegal and breaching Geographic Board legislation. The Hutt City Council could yet be taken to court and those responsible prosecuted. We all remember the inane threats of secession from Eastbourne when they thought they wouldn't have second tier representation in the next three years. The Ogden led council quickly buckled under to the threats of the over- represented and over resourced Eastbournites. Central government would never have allowed Eastbourne to secede from Lower Hutt in any case.

This final piece of the jigsaw could be debated this year, and a residents poll held in conjunction with next year's parliamentary elections.

If the eventual decision is in the affirmative, a working party comprising city councillors and council officers from both councils could meet as soon as possible to come up with some guidelines on how amalgamation would take place; and whether a city or district council should be established. However the latter could also be decided during a residents poll. A district council would ensure that a lot of the parochialism that exists would be terminated. Second tier representation could also be decided by the new local authority.

In the interim period the Hutt City Council would be well advised to promote the city correctly as 'Lower Hutt', not by the illegal term of Hutt City. They have been in breach of Geographic Board legislation for many years, and could yet be prosecuted if any body or individual within the city objected. Imagine the damage to Mayor Ogden's election campaign if somebody did decide to lay charges with the police in coming week.