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War veterans missing out on pensions
By ROB STOCK – Sunday, 15 February 2009
They served their country and now, it seems, many are being short-changed.
A welfare adviser is calling for veterans to come forward and claim entitlements, with estimates that up to 15,000 of those who served in wars and emergencies are missing out.02 a week, depending on their level of disability.
Their New Zealand Super income could be boosted by a war disablement pension of $182.
Many could also switch from NZ Super to the veteran's pension, which offers extra help with costs like medical bills.
That's money which would go a long way towards helping the oldest, those who served in World War II, cope with rising medical bills.
Currently just under 15,000 are receiving the extra help and Auckland RSA pension and welfare adviser Matthew McMillan says that's not good enough. .
McMillan advertised in a local paper calling for veterans to come to him to have their pensions assessed. Overseas experience shows for every veteran claiming entitlements, there are two or three who don't.
Some cases shocked McMillan.
Over two lunchtimes at Auckland's New Lynn RSA last week more than 200 war veterans, mostly WWII veterans, took up the offer. He's riddled with cancer and he's getting bugger all, just NZ Super. "We had a nuclear test veteran come in.
McMillan says it isn't just as a result of ignorance that veterans are missing out."
One 88-year-old McMillan helped recently was managing on NZ Super alone, despite being eligible for a war disability pension, and despite being the main caregiver for his even more disabled wife. They don't want to be seen as bludgers. "A lot of them are hugely proud, and hugely stubborn. It is just what veterans are entitled to."
But he says: "These aren't handouts.
Two years ago Winz started asking retirees applying for NZ Super whether they served in the forces, but only after a three-year battle, McMillan says."
McMillan says little is being done to ensure veterans are getting the entitlements and there is not even a reliable record of who they are. "We are trying to catch them before it is too late," McMillan says.
Now the largest cohort of veterans – those that served in World War II – are dying at a rapid rate.
The commission is reviewing war pensions legislation, but believes the number of those missing out on entitlements may be lower than overseas predictions.
The commission is reviewing war pensions legislation, but believes the number of those missing out on entitlements may be lower than overseas predictions.
Collins says the onus is on veterans to claim war pensions. "If you don't ask for it, you don't get it."
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TAB chiefs face inquiry as bribe claims surface
By TONY WALL and STEVE KILGALLON – Sunday, 15 February 2009
Senior TAB employees are under investigation over allegations they used community money to bribe publicans to secure poker machine money for horse racing. .
The racing board is an independent statutory body which runs the TAB throughout New Zealand, is politically appointed and reports to the minister of racing, John Carter.
He appealed for the Sunday Star-Times' sources to assist their investigation.
Internal Affairs' national manager of investigations, Geoff Owen, confirmed they were investigating racing board employees, Rotorua-based pokie trust First Sovereign and the Waikato Racing Club, and "irregularities in the [racing board] invoicing system".
It is alleged that in some of those cases TAB and pokie trust staff or agents have approached pubs with in-house TABs and offered inducements -including full refurbishments of the premises -if they switch allegiance to the racing-friendly trust.
While the latest inquiry focuses on the Waikato, the Star-Times understands Internal Affairs has spent months investigating cases around the country involving senior TAB figures and other racing-friendly pokie trusts.
A leading pokie industry source said he witnessed such a conversation involving a senior TAB employee.
Sources familiar with the Waikato investigation say it will focus on grants by First Sovereign to the Waikato Racing Club.
Such attempts to influence the flow of pokie money are illegal under the Gambling Act.
The chief executive of the NZRB, Graeme Hansen, said the board discovered a "transaction that looked as though it was out of the ordinary" several months ago and alerted Internal Affairs.
It is understood the inquiry will also look at at least one Hamilton pub, which switched to First Sovereign in 2007 and gained a refit of its TAB. "We're keeping out of the way to allow [Internal Affairs] to go through the proper process, and if there has been anything by our employees we'll respond accordingly.
He said no staff had been stood down."
Hansen said it would be concerning if staff were trying to bribe publicans, but he had seen no evidence of a wider problem."
Hansen said it would be concerning if staff were trying to bribe publicans, but he had seen no evidence of a wider problem."
There is fierce competition between pokie trusts to secure as many pub venues as possible so they can award more grants. I am very keen to determine whether or not there has been any improper application of gaming funds in this case. In that time First Sovereign gave more than $9m -over 50 percent of its total grants -to racing.
Problem Gambling Foundation research shows the racing industry has benefited from $58 million of poker machine grants since 2006.
Mike Brosnan, of Bendigo Valley, said two of his trust's biggest venues, both with TABs, were approached by a a senior TAB employee and a representative of a racing-friendly trust (not First Sovereign) and offered rebuilds, complete with plasma screen TVs, as well as increased commission.
In Otago, two pokie trusts, the Southern Trust and the Bendigo Valley Foundation, have laid complaints with Internal Affairs about approaches to their publicans.
He said the publicans were reluctant to testify about the incident.
"They were quoting refits worth $100,000," said Brosnan."
He said the benefit for a rival trust of taking over a venue could be huge. "The TAB is such a powerful organisation, the publicans are running scared because they could lose their TABs. If the TAB gets four or five of those venues, that's a lot of income going into racing, which in the long run means the schools miss out, the kindies miss out, other sports miss out. If the TAB gets four or five of those venues, that's a lot of income going into racing, which in the long run means the schools miss out, the kindies miss out, other sports miss out."
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Controversial fundraiser returns
– Tuesday, 06 January 2009
JOHN KIRK-ANDERSON
CONTROVERSIAL: Fundraiser John Peters in Christchurch.
A controversial professional fundraiser is back selling pens on Christchurch streets for a little-known Canterbury charity that has not spent a dollar of the $20,000 raised.
Since first appearing in in May 2006, he had featured in other newspapers and was criticised in Parliament for his fundraising methods which included sitting in a chair, his legs apparently useless, to give the impression he was disabled.
Former ACT candidate John Peters travels New Zealand selling $20 pens, of which $5 from each goes to charity.
He would not give a card or contact number for the trust's director, saying it could be found on the internet.
When approached by in City Mall on Friday, he said his current charity was the Disabled Children's Trust, for which he had raised $20,000 over the past year.
Williamson has another charitable trust registered under his name called the Hope for Children Charitable Foundation.
However, internet searches found no trace of the trust except on the Companies Office website, which said it had been registered to Christchurch man David Williamson since 2002.
None of the money had been spent and it was sitting in a bank account, he said.
Williamson confirmed Peters' claim that he had raised $20,000 for the Disabled Children's Trust over the past year.
Ferndale School chairwoman Annie Barnes said she had never heard of Williamson and, to her knowledge, the school had never received a donation from him.
He planned to use it to buy wheelchair swings for Ferndale Special School in Merivale, which he said he had donated to in the past through a person he knew there.
"This has just come out of the blue. .
Williamson said he had no problem with receiving just 25 per cent of donations made to the trust and did not have any other way of fundraising before Peters started doing the work. If he's planning to do that, that would be very nice," she said."
He said his other charity, the Hope for Children Charitable Foundation, raised money from local businesses and donated it to several causes, including the Canterbury Charity Hospital and buying "kids laptops".
"He (Peters) came and saw me one day and told me his background and I thought why not give the man a second chance and that's what I'm doing.
Peters said all the negative publicity over the past couple of years was giving people the wrong idea about him.
Hospital manager Lorraine Proffit said she could recall Williamson making a donation, but could not say the amount.
In 2006, Peters was reported as owning a property portfolio worth between $1 million and $1.
One man had physically attacked him after reading an article in the paper, he said.
He confirmed to the in July that his turnover from fundraising was more than $40,000 a year, which required him to register for GST.5m.
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Quick action saves toddler
By ALICE COWDREY Monday, 01 December 2008
MARTIN DE RUYTER/
LITTLE HERO: Ciarna Epiha’s alert saved Degan Broker from drowning.
The actions of a quick-thinking Nelson five-year-old girl helped to save a toddler's life.
Ciarna said she quickly ran inside to alert Degan's mother Cindy Broker, who had gone indoors to answer a phone call.
Ciarna Epiha, who attends Stoke School, was playing outside at a friend's house on Saturday when she found 18-month-old Degan Broker in an old bathtub used as a tadpole pond in the garden.
She pulled him out of the water and hit him on the back, and he vomited and started screaming and coughing.
Mrs Broker ran outside to find Degan on his back with water covering his face, his body floppy and his arms "flailing around". . Mrs Broker rushed him to Nelson Hospital's accident and emergency department, where he was checked and given the all-clear."
She hoped that other parents would realise just how quickly things could happen.
"He would have been dead if (Ciarna) didn't tell us.
She had talked to Ciarna about accidents, and said she had good common sense.
Ciarna's mother Letitia Friend said her daughter did not seem too fazed by her heroics and was more interested in telling her about Saturday's Richmond Santa parade.
"She is my little hero.
"I had told her, `If you see something bad happening, you find an adult and tell them straight away'."
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Fire leaves woman homeless
Monday, 17 November 2008
Investigators are still trying to determine what started a fire that gutted an 80-year-old house, leaving the tenant homeless and incinerating all her possessions.
Perched on the top of the western hills in Maungaraki Rd, Korokoro, overexamining Hutt Valley, the house was ravaged by the fire on Saturday afternoon.
Her brother, Daniel, 21, was surveying the burnt-out shell yesterday, and said that she had no idea as to the cause.
Tenant Paula Carswell was out when it started and returned home to find the building ablaze."
Most of her belongings had gone up in smoke and she was staying in a hotel provided by her insurance company, Mr Carswell said. "Nothing was on, no ovens or anything. "These things happen, you never know what is around the corner.
Owner Ron McMillan said he was upset at the loss of the house but thankful no one was hurt."
The three-bedroom house was built in the "late 20s or early 30s" by Mr McMillan's grandfather. It's just one of those freak things, who knows what [the cause] was. . "I was born and bred there, and so was my father.
The fire service was alerted just before 2.
"The fire spread through the interior [of the house] and caused extensive damage," a firefighter said.
Seven fire engines and police attended the fire, which was brought under control by 4pm.30pm on Saturday and the fire was "well involved" by the time firefighters reached the scene, a spokesman said.
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Nelson man jailed for attacks on Asians
Thursday, 06 November 2008
A Stoke man convicted of an attack on two Asians has been jailed for nine months.
David James McBain, 23, unemployed, appeared for sentencing in the Nelson District Court on Tuesday having admitted charges of careless use of a motor vehicle, assault, driving with excess breath-alcohol, obstruction of justice and threatening behaviour.
Judge Chris Tuohy said that at 11am on June 8, McBain was at the Shell service station in Rutherford Street, Nelson.
McBain raised his fist at the victim and continued to abuse him until an associate pulled him away. A 25-year-old Asian man was pumping up his car tyres when McBain approached him in an aggressive manner, abusing him.15pm the same day, McBain was driving in the carpark of Nelson's Countdown supermarket.
At 6. He drove towards a pedestrian crossing, where another Asian man was standing with two friends. He followed them and swerved towards them, attempting to pin the victim against a wire mesh fence. Judge Tuohy said McBain slowed down and yelled abuse at them. He ran off with his friends.
The man was struck by McBain's car and was thrown against the fence.
McBain was caught by police after crashing his car at 8. .20pm.20pm.
Judge Tuohy said it was "disgraceful behaviour" and it was essential the court denounced the offending because of its racial undertones. The legal limit is 400mcg.
. He sentenced McBain to nine months in jail, and disqualifying him from driving for nine months
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Trust trying to sell Centrepoint’s soul say critics
By KAREN ARNOLD – Sunday, 26 October 2008
The lastremaining land once owned by the Centrepoint Community Trust is for sale, raising fears it could be bought by developers.
Felicity Goodyear-Smith, a spokeswoman for former members and residents, says the 7.
The Public Trust has administered the property for the past seven years as trustee of the New Zealand Community Growth Trust which was established after the Centrepoint Trust and commune fell apart.6ha bush-clad Albany property – which had a $4 million valuation in 2005 – was a jewel on the North Shore that could fall into private ownership.
Bayleys Realty Group sales consultant Nigel McNeill said the nature of the property and buildings opened up a huge range of potential uses.
At its height, more than 200 people lived there but it closed in 2000, soon after founder Bert Potter was released from a nine-year jail sentence for child abuse.
"Substantial infrastructure such as roading and bridges, have been installed over the years to create the basis of a very well serviced communal living setting.
Less than 40% of the land area had been cleared and the site included a large kitchen and dining area, recreational building, swimming pool complex, full-scale professional pottery studio with gas- fired kilns, dance/music/art studios, six wood and metal workshops, a creche and residential accommodation blocks.
"Alternatively, we envisage the land could be developed into a luxury hotel, health centre or retirement village."
McNeill said target market buyers included tertiary education providers, cultural groups, art patrons, adult education organisations, religious groups, larger community organisations, and environmental groups.
The site was the last remaining "exquisite" piece of land on the North Shore."
Goodyear-Smith said that would be the worst outcome, not only for those who had lived there, but for the wider Auckland community.
Former members had sold all their possessions and gifted the money to the Centrepoint community trust which was set up in 1977. Apart from its environmental value, it also had an emotional value for the people who had been part of the Centrepoint community, she said."
About 70 babies had been born there and their placentas had been buried in a special area. "They expected to live there forever.
"For the last couple of years our group [the Mills Lane stakeholders] has tried to get this land into public ownership. Other people had had their ashes spread at Centrepoint.
Public Trust spokesman Simon Dixie said several potential private buyers had inquired about Centrepoint during the past year, prompting it to promote the property to a wider market "to ensure a robust process aimed at achieving the best result for the trust". . "Ethically, this land belongs to New Zealand.
But Goodyear-Smith said her group was "disturbed" the Public Trust wanted to sell the property for the highest price although she acknowledged it had the legal right to do so.
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Tenders close on December 4
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Thousands of teachers get police checks
Saturday, 25 October 2008
Thousandsof teachers whose registration is due to lapse this year are undergoing police vetting checks and renewing practising certificates to prove they are still fit to work.
But the Teachers Council cannot be sure how many are working illegally, without proper registration, till a new data-sharing arrangement with the Education Ministry becomes law.
The three-year practising certificates of about 10,000 teachers are expected to lapse between the start of this month and January. This meant they had not been police vetted or satisfied school leaders that they were still competent to lead classrooms – as required by law every three years.
The Teachers Council estimated last year that up to 3500 unregistered teachers were working illegally.
About 10,000 teachers have already applied for registration or to renew practising certificates in the three months to October 1.
But council director Peter Lind believed a campaign to remind teachers, principals and school boards of their legal requirements had cut the number of unregistered teachers significantly.
Council officials have been working with teachers and their employers to ensure all have proper police and competency checks through the registration process.
"Boards of trustees and professional leaders have renewed their efforts to make sure systems are in place," Dr Lind said.
There are about 90,000 New Zealand registered teachers. . "They have a responsibility to ensure that all teachers are lawfully employed.
School boards or parents concerned about a teacher's registration status can make personal checks on the council's online public register.
The Education Amendment Bill has been tabled in Parliament and is thought likely to become law next year.
The Education Amendment Bill proposes to reveal "an unknown number of unqualified people" teaching in primary and secondary schools.
The Education Amendment Bill proposes to reveal "an unknown number of unqualified people" teaching in primary and secondary schools."
The bill, introduced by Education Minister Chris Carter, says that unregistered teachers are undermining the profession.
"This will provide health and safety benefits for students while ensuring that all students are taught by suitably qualified teachers.