Beyond the HuttRiver - New Zealand today..: Former All Black coach speaks out on climate chang...

Beyond the HuttRiver - New Zealand today..: Former All Black coach speaks out on climate chang...: r Wayne Smith sees himself among a group of 'concerned people who want to take action'. Photo / Getty Ima...

Former All Black coach speaks out on climate change...

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Wayne Smith sees himself among a group of 'concerned people who want to take action'. Photo / Getty Images

Wayne Smith says he is making a "moral stand" on climate change in joining 100 celebrated Kiwis in a major call to address New Zealand's most critical risks.

The former All Black coach is among a high-powered cross section of public figures and thinkers who have lent their names to an appeal demanding politicians face up to what the group sees as the five biggest issues facing the nation.

They span a range of areas, from risks to our economic and ecological security, to the genuine wellbeing of the people and country.

Wise Response was launched yesterday in Dunedin, where the campaign was borne from a public meeting at Otago University two years ago.

Key organiser and Otago Emeritus Professor Sir Alan Mark said Parliament would be asked to make a risk assessment of "the situation we now find ourselves in in New Zealand, which seems to be worsening on many fronts".

Sir Alan, a respected ecologist, singled out the degrading quality of our land, air and water.

'Climatologists have also predicted a sea level rise of up to 1m by the year 2100, which would have major consequences for many areas around New Zealand, not to mention the world generally.

"So we are asking the Government basically to address these issues and give us a response that would counter them, rather than just adapt to them."

The group was concerned the current generation was "acting as if there's no tomorrow".

Sir Alan acknowledged that the issues were broad, but they affected all Kiwis and were too serious to ignore.

Wayne Smith saw himself among a group of "concerned people who want to take action".

"This is about me adding my name to a list of New Zealanders who want our Government to have a well thought out contingency plan," he said.

Mr Smith felt the global environment problem was in the hands of the US, China and India, but New Zealand could commit to its own initiatives - namely lobbying the big players.

Te Radar said his fellow signatories on the list - among them writer and anthropologist Dame Anne Salmond, Wellington Mayor Celia Wade-Brown, writer Dame Fiona Kidman and broadcaster Chris Laidlaw - showed many Kiwis were paying attention to the risks raised.

"Hopefully it does something and makes more people heartened that there are people out there trying to get things done."

Mr Laidlaw said risks facing the country had built up "enormously" over recent years and many Kiwis were worried.

Artist Grahame Sydney felt political parties "in general" were not adequately addressing the concerns of Kiwis.

And Dunedin writer Dr Philip Temple took aim at the current Government for "operating on very short-term thinking".

"We should try to get out of the politics and get Parliament to start looking into the future to map out a course rather than - as we tend to just do - react."

Names on the list

• Dame Anne Salmond - writer, anthropologist and New Zealander of the Year
• Wayne Smith - former All Black first five-eighths and assistant World Cup coach
• Dame Fiona Kidman - poet and writer
• Fiona Farrell - writer
• Celia Wade-Brown - Mayor of Wellington
• Sir Alan Mark - Professor Emeritus
• Grahame Sydney - artist
• Glenn Turner - retired cricketer
• Dr Philip Temple - writer
• Anton Oliver - former All Black
• Te Radar - comedian, activist and TV personality
• Chris Laidlaw - former All Black, Rhodes Scholar, Wellington councillor and broadcaster
• Keri Hulme - writer
• Tamsin Cooper - fashion designer and TV personality

The listed are among 100 prominent New Zealanders endorsing the appeal.

http://m.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10870243

http://worldofcae.blogspot.com     The Green Planet blog

Huttriver of NZ

The NZ pohutukawa tree - the iconic Kiwi Christmas tree

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  The pohutukawa tree (Metrosideros excelsa) with its crimson flower has become an established part of the New Zealand Christmas tradition. This iconic Kiwi Christmas tree, which often features on greeting cards and in poems and songs, has become an important symbol for New Zealanders at home and abroad.

  In 1833 the missionary Henry Williams described holding service under a ‘wide spreading pohutukawa’. The first recorded reference to the pohutukawa as a Christmas tree came in 1867 when the Austrian geologist Ferdinand von Hochstetter noted that settlers referred to it as such. The pohutukawa, he observed, ‘about Christmas … are full of charming … blossoms’; ‘the settler decorates his church and dwellings with its lovely branches’. Other 19th-century references described the pohutukawa tree as the ‘Settlers Christmas tree’ and ‘Antipodean holly’.

  In 1941 army chaplain Ted Forsman composed a pohutukawa carol in which he made reference to ‘your red tufts, our snow’. Forsman was serving in the Libyan Desert at the time, hardly the surroundings normally associated with the image of a fiery red pohutukawa tree. Many of his fellow New Zealanders, though, would have instantly identified with the image.

  Today many school children sing about how ‘the native Christmas tree of Aotearoa’ fills their hearts ‘with aroha’.

  Pohutukawa and its cousin rata also hold a prominent place in Maori tradition. Legends tell of Tawhaki, a young Maori warrior, who attempted to find heaven to seek help in avenging the death of his father. He fell to earth and the crimson flowers are said to represent his blood.

  A gnarled, twisted pohutukawa on the windswept cliff top at Cape Reinga, the northern tip of New Zealand, has become of great significance to many New Zealanders. For Maori this small, venerated pohutukawa is known as ‘the place of leaping’. It is from here that the spirits of the dead begin their journey to their traditional homeland of Hawaiiki. From this point the spirits leap off the headland and climb down the roots of the 800-year-old tree, descending into the underworld on their return journey.

  Credits:

  Image: Melanie Lovell-Smith, Te Ara

  http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/media/photo/pohutukawa-

Australia formed the Australian federation in 1901, but NZ declined to join...

The two Australian shipping ensigns, modified and approved by the British Admiralty, were gazetted in 1903. Source: Ralph Kelly, Flags Australia.:

Celebrations surrounding the inauguration of the new Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January in Sydney and at the opening of its first Federal Parliament on 9 May in Melbourne overshadowed Anniversary Day in 1901. Federation had been a remarkable political achievement. Colonies had jostled to protect their interests: New South Wales rivalling Victoria; and the smaller states fearing the larger states' combined political power. Led by the ANA in Victoria and the Australasian Federation League in New South Wales, the colonies chose to be self-governing within the British Empire, not independent outside it. They were Australian, but they were also British. As Parkes had reminded colonial representatives in Melbourne in 1890, 'The crimson thread of kinship runs through us all'.18 They belonged together because they shared not only a continent but also a British background. As a small white population of almost four million in a large continent far from Britain, Australians depended on the Royal Navy.

New Zealand and Fiji had both been invited to join the Australian Federation but had declined. The originally proposed name had been the Australasian Federation. But those damn kiwis were party poopers.

The story I read was that most Australian colonies and territories were assembled, apart from Western Australia and New Zealand. Cables from both were received, the Western Australian representatives were due to arrive in a few hours, but the New Zealand premier, Richard John Seddon, historically known in NZ as King Dick, informed the Australians that the NZ Government had declined to join the new Australian Federation, later to be known as the Australian Commonwealth. I wasn't aware that Fiji had been invited as well. New Zealand became a Dominion in 1901. Another story claimed an empty chair is kept for New Zealand at Commonwealth meetings in case NZ decides to change its mind and become part of the federation. Fact or just a good story? I wonder.

http://goaustralia.about.com/od/eventsandfestivals/a/federation.htm

http://www.australiaday.org.au/australia-day/history/1901-federation.aspx

http://friendsofdownunder.blog.co.uk

Support action on Deep Sea Oil and tell Andarko they are not welcome in NZ waters

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Click here to take action on Deep Sea Oil

We have a very straightforward, but important, message for you today.

Please take action on Deep Sea Oil and tell Anadarko that they aren’t welcome in New Zealand.

Texan oil company Anadarko intends to conduct high risk deep sea oil drilling in New Zealand waters and they plan to begin prospecting later this year.

Anadarko aren’t know for their great safety record; they owned a 25% stake in the DeepWater Horizon.

We really can’t afford to allow these Oil Cowboys to come and experiment with dangerous deep sea drilling in New Zealand.

Please take action today to stop Anadarko from endangering the lives and livelihoods of New Zealanders.Please go here to take action on Deep Sea Oil.  act.gp/164onj5

Bunny McDiarmid
Executive director
Greenpeace New Zealand

Kiwi soldier took his own life because of bullying over his sexuality...

Reports are surfacing a New Zealand soldier took his own life after confessing his feelings for a junior officer.

The Sunday Star-Times reports the family of 26-year-old Corporal Douglas Hughes - who was on his second tour of duty to the war-torn country - believe his death was "preventable."

They say he was bullied because of his sexuality before his death last April.

In findings released on Thursday, Coroner Gordon Matenga ruled Corporal Hughes' death was self-inflicted.

Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline's 24-hour telephone counselling service on 0800 543 354.

RadioLIVE / NZN

Read more: http://www.3news.co.nz/Kiwi-soldiers-death-came-after-bullying/tabid/423/articleID/288770/Default.aspx#ixzz2MUsbjH5N

Mob recruiting in Melbournes outer suburbs...

Photo / File

New Zealand's Mongrel Mob is actively recruiting Maori and Pacific Islander members in Melbourne's outer suburbs, say police.

Officers are aware of the gang's activities and are monitoring them, the Herald Sun reported.

Police received reports last year of Mongrel Mob members wearing patches in Australia and the gang may now be looking to expand its drug network, Canberra-based New Zealand Police liaison officer Detective Inspector Steve Wood is reported saying.

"We have been working with the Australian police forces regarding their movements for the last six months," he told the Herald Sun.

The gang was formed in Hawkes Bay in the 1960s, and members' patch depicts a snarling bulldog with a studded collar and wearing a Nazi helmet.

The Mongrel Mob is the latest in a series of attempts by gangs to stake a claim in Victoria.

Notorious North American bikie gangs, the Mongols and Rock Machine, established chapters in Melbourne in the past two years, but were forced out by Australian motorcycle gang the Comancheros, the newspaper reported.

-Acknowledgements:   APNZ