Two a penny

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A downpour that forced people to leave their flooded Greymouth properties was too much for the town’s drainage systems, Grey District Mayor Tony Kokshoorn said.

Torrential rain over parts of the South Island has seen high-flow warnings issued for the Waiau, Waimakariri, Rakaia and Rangitata rivers.

In Greymouth, a town used to heavy downpours, many were unconcerned as deafening rain clattered on the streets on Monday night.

“We heard the terrific rain, and (the water) was oozing in the walls and all through the ground level,” Crystal Heslip, 72, said. However, that soon changed as water flowed into homes on the corner of Murray and Alexander streets.

After spending a night with relatives and friends or in a close toby motel, most returned to their undamaged homes yesterday.

Heslip and her husband, Des, 75, were two of about 11 people evacuated from their homes after 9pm. However, the Heslips were not so lucky, with about 20 centimetres of water soaking their carpets and furniture.

About four people are now staying in Housing Corporation accommodation.

“They said it could be up to two months before we can go back, but there’s no use worrying about it,” Crystal Heslip said.

Revingtons Hotel proprietor Therese Gibbens said kitchen staff became aware of a problem when water rose around their feet.

Businesses also began counting the cost of the damage yesterday.

Chris Blanchfield described damage to one of his properties, rented to Inland Revenue, as disastrous.

“We want to know why the pumps did not get rid of the stormwater, because that’s what they are designed to do,” Gibbens said.

Blanchfields Bakery, which he co-owns, was also flooded.

Blanchfields Bakery, which he co-owns, was also flooded. . There were cars racing up and down the street thinking it was great fun.

“There just seemed to be a lack of procedure for the town in this type of emergency. “We all want to know what time the pumps were turned on.

“We get these weather bombs from time to time that just drop massive amounts of rain that no pipes you could put in could cope with,” he said.”

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Kokshoorn said the rain, which fell at a rate of 41 millimetres an hour, had been too much for drainage and pipe systems.

The worst-hit Rangitata River peaked overnight Monday with a flow of up to 1200 cubic metres a second (cumecs) at the gorge, about 15 times its average flow.

“Our staff have assured me all the pumps came on at the right time, as they are automatically triggered.30am yesterday.

Rising water forced the closure of the old Waimakariri Bridge from 7.

– and MARC GREENHILL,

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Fears small shops will go under in liquor sale plan

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– and MARC GREENHILL,

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South Africa’s ruling ANC has won a sweeping election victory and party leader Jacob Zuma pledged that as president he would work with unions and business to ensure stability amid global turmoil.

“There will be no surprises in the next administration’s programme of action,” Zuma said in a victory speech.

“The electorate has endorsed our call for an equitable, sustainable and inclusive growth path that will bring decent work and sustainable livelihoods,” Zuma, who is due to be sworn in as president on May 9, said.9 percent of the vote, a big victory but just short of the two-thirds needed to ensure a parliamentary majority big enough to make constitutional changes unchallenged.

Official results of Wednesday’s election gave Zuma’s African National Congress 65. Despite some market concerns over whether the ANC would get the two-thirds majority, the party repeatedly has stressed it has no intention of changing the constitution.

The margin that would let the ANC change the constitution is largely symbolic.

Although a newly formed party of ANC dissidents failed to make a dramatic impact, the ruling party has seen its share of the vote fall for the first time since the end of apartheid in 1994.

Political analyst Steven Friedman said the result meant the ANC now had to worry more about the opposition than it had since the party took power 15 years ago. It won close toly 70 percent in 2004.

“The ANC has to worry more about the opposition now than it has had to do since democracy.

“The effect of them not getting the two-thirds, despite the euphoria, really underlines that there has been a drop in the ANC vote,” he said.

RECESSION THREAT

But Zuma has done all he can to emphasise that there will be no dramatic change, particularly as South Africa faces its first recession in 17 years as a result of the global financial crisis and cannot afford to discourage investment.”

Financial markets wary of a policy shift to the left under a Zuma presidency may welcome a limit on the party’s power. .

In his speech, he addressed both business interests and the leftist allies who helped his rise to power during eight years of struggling against corruption charges, which were dismissed early this month on a technicality.

Zuma, who said he was not disappointed that the ANC did not achieve a two-thirds majority, also called on South Africans to get over the divisions of the past. We will work with all stakeholders, especially business and labour, to find ways to prevent and cushion our people against job losses and other difficulties that may arise,” he said. We must enter a period in which South Africa reclaims its position and image as a thriving nation, which can overcome all its difficulties, and which is able to put the country first above sectional and party political interests.

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“It is now time to put it all behind us.

The Independent Electoral Commission said the ANC will be allocated 264 seats in South Africa’s 400-seat parliament after it won 11.”

He said South Africa will continue with its efforts to find lasting solutions for political stability in neighbouring Zimbabwe and other flashpoints in Africa.68 million valid votes cast in the April 22 election.65 million votes out of 17.

Zille’s DA was the ANC’s closest rival with 16.

The ANC also lost control of the Western Cape province, centre of the tourist industry, to the official opposition Democratic Alliance (DA), led by Helen Zille, a white woman. The Congress of the People (COPE), formed by politicians who broke from the ruling party, stood at 7. The Congress of the People (COPE), formed by politicians who broke from the ruling party, stood at 7.42 percent. The DA will get 67 seats in parliament and COPE 30.

Inkatha Freedom Party support waned to 4.56 percent, giving it 18 parliamentary seats, of the vote from 6.97 percent in 2004. The ANC also made inroads into the IFP’s traditional support base in KwaZulu-Natal province, home to South Africa’s Zulus — the biggest tribal group, of which Zuma is a member.

Electoral officials said the turnout was 77.3 percent, a little higher than in 2004.

The rand currency firmed well over 2 percent against the dollar to a new 6-1/2-month high late on Friday, aided by a strong euro and higher stocks as well as the smooth election.

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Somali pirates seize another ship

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South Africa’s ruling ANC has won a sweeping election victory and party leader Jacob Zuma pledged that as president he would work with unions and business to ensure stability amid global turmoil.

“There will be no surprises in the next administration’s programme of action,” Zuma said in a victory speech.

“The electorate has endorsed our call for an equitable, sustainable and inclusive growth path that will bring decent work and sustainable livelihoods,” Zuma, who is due to be sworn in as president on May 9, said.9 percent of the vote, a big victory but just short of the two-thirds needed to ensure a parliamentary majority big enough to make constitutional changes unchallenged.

Official results of Wednesday’s election gave Zuma’s African National Congress 65. Despite some market concerns over whether the ANC would get the two-thirds majority, the party repeatedly has stressed it has no intention of changing the constitution.

The margin that would let the ANC change the constitution is largely symbolic.

Although a newly formed party of ANC dissidents failed to make a dramatic impact, the ruling party has seen its share of the vote fall for the first time since the end of apartheid in 1994.

Political analyst Steven Friedman said the result meant the ANC now had to worry more about the opposition than it had since the party took power 15 years ago. It won close toly 70 percent in 2004.

“The ANC has to worry more about the opposition now than it has had to do since democracy.

“The effect of them not getting the two-thirds, despite the euphoria, really underlines that there has been a drop in the ANC vote,” he said.

RECESSION THREAT

But Zuma has done all he can to emphasise that there will be no dramatic change, particularly as South Africa faces its first recession in 17 years as a result of the global financial crisis and cannot afford to discourage investment.”

Financial markets wary of a policy shift to the left under a Zuma presidency may welcome a limit on the party’s power. .

In his speech, he addressed both business interests and the leftist allies who helped his rise to power during eight years of struggling against corruption charges, which were dismissed early this month on a technicality.

Zuma, who said he was not disappointed that the ANC did not achieve a two-thirds majority, also called on South Africans to get over the divisions of the past. We will work with all stakeholders, especially business and labour, to find ways to prevent and cushion our people against job losses and other difficulties that may arise,” he said. We must enter a period in which South Africa reclaims its position and image as a thriving nation, which can overcome all its difficulties, and which is able to put the country first above sectional and party political interests.

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“It is now time to put it all behind us.

The Independent Electoral Commission said the ANC will be allocated 264 seats in South Africa’s 400-seat parliament after it won 11.”

He said South Africa will continue with its efforts to find lasting solutions for political stability in neighbouring Zimbabwe and other flashpoints in Africa.68 million valid votes cast in the April 22 election.65 million votes out of 17.

Zille’s DA was the ANC’s closest rival with 16.

The ANC also lost control of the Western Cape province, centre of the tourist industry, to the official opposition Democratic Alliance (DA), led by Helen Zille, a white woman. The Congress of the People (COPE), formed by politicians who broke from the ruling party, stood at 7. The Congress of the People (COPE), formed by politicians who broke from the ruling party, stood at 7.42 percent. The DA will get 67 seats in parliament and COPE 30.

Inkatha Freedom Party support waned to 4.56 percent, giving it 18 parliamentary seats, of the vote from 6.97 percent in 2004. The ANC also made inroads into the IFP’s traditional support base in KwaZulu-Natal province, home to South Africa’s Zulus — the biggest tribal group, of which Zuma is a member.

Electoral officials said the turnout was 77.3 percent, a little higher than in 2004.

The rand currency firmed well over 2 percent against the dollar to a new 6-1/2-month high late on Friday, aided by a strong euro and higher stocks as well as the smooth election.

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New Zealand’s Canadian High Commissioner has blamed Kiwis’ “rednecky element” for comments suggesting a tourist should go home after complaining about Eskimo lollies.

NZ High Commissioner Kate Lackey said New Zealand residents were as loyal to Eskimos lollies as Canadians were to Tim Hortons coffee, the Canadian Press reported.
But rude radio comments and online calls for the 21-year-old tourist to head back to Canada were not acceptable, she told Canadian media yesterday.
“I’ll probably get into trouble in New Zealand for saying such a thing, but often there’s a sort of ‘rednecky’ element .
“I would hope New Zealanders would be a bit more courteous and understanding,” Lackey said… The people who get on talk-back (radio) and Stuff haven’t had time to think through a bit more deeply how the other person might feel.
In the blogosphere, on talkback and around watercoolers, New Zealanders have been debating whether Eskimo lollies are offensive to Inuit afterMs Parson’s, 21, said the term was offensive to her people.”
The Eskimo lolly controversy, which erupted this week, has gone international since Canadian tourist Seeka Lee Veevee Parsons told the the sweets were insensitive to her culture and bought back painful memories of racism in Canada as a child.
Confectionary company Pascalls, which produces the sweet, has refused to stop making the “iconic New Zealand lolly”. . Hundreds more comments were rejected on grounds of offensiveness.
Hundreds of readers commented on the story, with a strong thread arguing the call was another case of political correctness gone mad.
Ms Lackey defended Pascalls’ business decision, which she said was “a wee bit hard-hearted”.
Ms Lackey defended Pascalls’ business decision, which she said was “a wee bit hard-hearted”.”
She said she has the highest admiration for the Inuit and has travelled across Canada’s North. I think New Zealanders would have had absolutely no idea that it might cause offence to another people.

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Fatal crashes kill four

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A helicopter has airlifted nine trampers to safety after they were trapped by bad weather in Mount Aspiring National park.

One party of six trampers, believed to be from the North Island, set off an emergency locator beacon in the upper reaches of the Dart River last night.

A Queenstown police spokeswoman said the six had been joined by three other trampers, and it was decided to fly all nine out.

Bad weather and poor visibility prevented a helicopter getting to them last night, but a helicopter reached them earlier today.

She was unable to give any more details of who was in the tramping parties, other than that they were cold and wet, but otherwise well.

Rivers were high in the area and more bad weather was forecast.

His whereabouts were unknown and investigations would continue today.

Another tramper, understood to be Dutchman Philip De Lange, 43, was also unaccounted for on the Rees-Dart Track and had not been heard from since last Tuesday, Senior Sergeant John Fookes said.

More than 170 trampers were transported by helicopter across flood-prone parts of the Milford Track after river levels rose 3.

WEATHER CHAOS

Torrential rain caused havoc for trampers in the Fiordland National Park yesterday.

Conservation Department Fiordland tracks ranger Ken Bradley said yesterday afternoon 235mm of rain had fallen at Dumpling Hut since 4 o’clock that morning.8m during a deluge of rain.8m above normal by mid-afternoon, forcing DOC to call in three helicopters to airlift stranded guided and freedom trampers across the most flood-prone sections of the track.

The Arthur River had risen 3.

The groups were a mixture of overseas and Kiwi trampers. .

However, with a severe weather warning in place and a southerly front expected to bring snow to the passes by tomorrow, trampers were being advised to check forecasts carefully.

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DOC Queenstown regional visitor centre supervisor Andrew Evans said there were no problems yesterday on the Routeburn or surrounding tracks.

“The rivers are likely to be very high this evening.

He advised trampers to avoid the Rees Dart because of the many river crossings and also the Greenstone Caples tracks with high river levels likely to make access impassable.”

– By SUE FEA and EVAN HARDING, , with

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More new babies taken from mothers

Custody orders have doubled in five years

By REBECCA PALMER Monday, 02 March 2009

Dozens of newborns are being taken from their mothers every year as a result of fears for their safety.
Child, Youth and Family took 66 at-risk babies less than a month old into its care last year and 15 of them were taken the day they were born.
In more than half of the cases, older brothers and sisters were already in care, figures provided to The under the Official Information Act show. In the 2003-04 year, 32 were taken into state care.
The number of custody orders involving newborns has more than doubled in the past five years. CYF obtained custody when it heard she was pregnant.
Those taken last year include the newborn daughter of convicted baby-killer Tania Witika, who gave birth in Christchurch.
The horrific death of Witika's daughter Delcelia, 2, in 1991 was one of the worst child-abuse cases to go before New Zealand courts.
The rise in newborn custody orders coincides with a doubling in care and protection notifications involving babies still in their mothers' wombs. She and her partner at the time were each sentenced to 16 years' jail for Delcelia's torture and death.
Nearly half the alerts came from health professionals. Last year Child, Youth and Family received 215 notifications from people worried about the welfare of unborn children, compared with 96 five years earlier.
Social Development Ministry chief executive Peter Hughes said the agency had been working to create an environment in which abuse and neglect were not tolerated. Police, family members, courts, schools and others also reported concerns. . "In recent years, we have made significant progress in raising awareness of family violence and this is reflected in the increase in the number of notifications. "Removal of children at such a young age is the last resort. They could include history of family violence, mental health problems, addiction, neglect and previous abuse of children. "It's part of a bigger pattern of increasing notifications, particularly off the back of high-profile cases like Nia Glassie."
Children's Commissioner Cindy Kiro agreed improved awareness was a big factor behind the increased numbers.
Dr Kiro said the health sector had become more proactive in watching for signs of abuse and reporting them." Nia, 3, died in Auckland's Starship children's hospital in 2007, after repeated abuse that included being tumbled in a clothes drier, spun on a clothesline and kicked in the head. Pregnant women who had been abusing alcohol or drugs were more likely to experience complications.
She suspected most of the health notifications came from hospitals.
Paediatric Society president Rosemary Marks, who works at Starship, said most, if not all, district health boards now had a family violence co-ordinator.
The number of notifications involving unborn children was likely to keep growing, she said."
That meant there was an opportunity to help if a pregnant woman said her partner was abusing her."
That meant there was an opportunity to help if a pregnant woman said her partner was abusing her. "We can intervene earlier and hopefully interrupt the cycle of violence."

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Finger cut off over $170 and Fairmont car

Thursday, 26 February 2009

Two men have admitted cutting part of a flatmate's finger off over a dispute about $170 and a 1976 Ford Fairmont.
Roger Johnson, 46, and Shayne Fryer, 37, both unemployed of Waipukurau, appeared in Napier District Court yesterday and pleaded guilty to maiming with intent to cause grievous bodily harm to Lee Walter. The court was told Johnson and Fryer had been drinking large quantities of alcohol when they woke Mr Walter at 1.
Mr Walter, 49, had been staying at the men's house for a few days. They bailed him up in a corner of the living room while Fryer threatened him with a 30-centimetre-long butcher's knife.30am on October 2 last year.
While Fryer discussed where he was going to cut Mr Walter, Johnson told him to cut his little finger off and grabbed the knife from Fryer.
Mr Walter said he was going to give Fryer his Ford Fairmont car and $170 cash for letting him stay at his house, but he had been unable to raise the cash. . He demanded Mr Walter hold out the little finger on his left hand.
"I thought they were joking at first but I started getting worried when they started talking about which part of me they were going to cut off.
Fryer forced Mr Walter's hand on to a mantelpiece and Johnson severed the finger at the knuckle closest to the fingertip.
He walked from the room, covered his bleeding finger with a towel and asked Johnson for his finger back. He cut my finger off, said, `The car's mine, pay the rent tomorrow or else,"' Mr Walter said. Mr Walter waited in the house a short while then sneaked out and sought help at a close toby service station. Johnson laughed, then handed it to him.
"It's a lot shorter than it was before. An ambulance took him to hospital but attempts to reattach the finger were unsuccessful. I get pain in it now and again. I can't play guitar any more. The car, which remains in Mr Walter's possession, was worth less than $500, he said. It's just not the same," Mr Walter said. Fryer, a sentenced prisoner, will appear on the same day.
Johnson was remanded in custody for sentencing in May.

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Aggrieved drivers not ‘fighting over scraps’

The Friday, 13 February 2009

Three disgruntled cab drivers who thought they were missing out on "honey-pot" jobs to Wellington airport, have not proved they are due any of the $345,000 they claim, a lawyer says.
In the High Court at Wellington yesterday, the lawyer for Hutt and City Taxis, Paul Chisnall, said the three drivers trawled through millions of job records to bring a case to court, without first trying to solve the dispute within the company structure. That made the court case an abuse of process, Mr Chisnall said.
When they asked for a review of job allocations the company obliged but then they refused to co-operate with it because they did not approve the membership of the review committee.
The drivers – Nelson Manak, Chandra Naidu, and Kamleshwar Singh – each paid at least $20,000 to become shareholders of Hutt and City Taxis. .
They say high paying jobs, especially trips from Hutt Valley to the airport which are usually worth about $75, are being "fed" to 12 favoured drivers. As well as their money claims they want a manager appointed to the company to see its computer-based job assignment system operates fairly for the more than 120 shareholding drivers.
"They are there because it's a honey-pot," he said. The company disputed the "feeding" allegation or that the airport jobs were more lucrative, particularly if drivers did not have a return fare, but Justice Warwick Gendall said he had seen the dozens of taxis waiting for work at the airport.
Mr Chisnall said Mr Manak received the highest number of computer-assigned airport jobs-although Mr Manak saidhe worked hard to position himself to getthem.
The judge reserved his decision today. None were "fighting over the scraps", as they alleged, Mr Chisnall said. Mr Naidu and Mr Singh both had high paying work with New Zealand Post.
Mr Laurenson said "feeding" existed and led to one dispatcher being dismissed in 2006 for giving jobs to the then chairman of the company's board.
They had failed to prove the favouritism they claimed occurred, or any sound basis for the damages they wanted, he said. Dispatchers should have maintained a strict neutrality in the service they gave to all drivers, Mr Laurenson said. A previous chairman had also been favoured with jobs.

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Antonie Dixon was master manipulator

‘Unfettered’ access to drugs and sex with ‘psychologist’ in prison

– Sunday, 08 February 2009

AntonieDixon lived the high life even behind bars – he had "unfettered" access to sex, drugs and other illegal contraband.
And, according to one of the killer's former cellmates, he and Dixon once partied on the drug P for six days straight while they were locked up together at Auckland Central Remand Prison.
has also obtained an until-now-secret police report which details Dixon's prison sex romps with a woman who duped authorities by posing as a registered psychologist.
The close personal friend claimed he and the samurai swordsman consumed more than 15 grams of the class A drug during the binge, smuggled into the prison last November.
Defence lawyers argued Dixon was insane caused by years of horrific abuse as a child.
Dixon was convicted of murder and causing grievous bodily harm in 2005 after he went on a P-fuelled rampage, slashing Simonne Butler and Renee Gunbie with a samurai sword before gunning down James Te Aute.
But he was again found guilty after a seven-week retrial at Auckland High Court last year.
Dixon was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum non-parole period of 20 years until his lawyers successfully appealed the decision.
The confidential 2004 police report revealed Corrections allowed Dixon and the "psychologist" to have one-on-one sessions and how prison authorities were not aware of the locked-up lovefest until guards began hearing "strange noises" coming from the room the pair were using during the 2003 incident. On Thursday Dixon died of suspected suicide on the day he was due to be re-sentenced.
"Staff believed that the relationship between the two is more than strictly professional.
"When the (guards) looked they saw Dixon standing behind and over (the fake psychologist)," the detective who prepared the report wrote.
Police concluded Corrections were oblivious to Dixon's ability to manipulate contraband regulations."
The police probe found the phoney psychologist was in fact a long-time friend of Dixon's and was not only servicing his sexual desires but smuggling drugs and cellphones into his jail.
"(Corrections) were obviously not aware how easy it has been for Dixon to have things brought in or taken out of prison on his behalf although (Corrections) did observe that Dixon could easily obtain items from prisoners in transport who walk past his cell and slip things into him.
The situation was branded a "debacle" and police came to the view Dixon had "unfettered access to cellphones, meth and any visitors he wanted".
Wayne said while Dixon was locked up he devoted a lot of energy to a number of females who would regularly write to and visit him."
Dixon's former cellmate, who has agreed to refer to only as Wayne, said his mate found it easy to give Corrections the run-around.
"They were infatuated by him and that bad-boy image.
He said the crime groupies were so captivated by Dixon's infamy, one had his initials tattooed on her neck.
He said the sexual abuse Dixon suffered as a child no doubt fuelled the almost 170 convictions he amassed before his death."
Wayne said his mate was a victim as much as he was a criminal."
Wayne claims Dixon had issues long before he started puffing P.
"He was a victim of his upbringing and environment and I have no doubt that it was the physical and sexual abuse rather than the P that triggered his paranoia.
It was an opinion shared by a senior corrections officer, who according to the 2004 police report believed Dixon was "not psychotic, just manipulative".
It was an opinion shared by a senior corrections officer, who according to the 2004 police report believed Dixon was "not psychotic, just manipulative".
Wayne said suicide wasn't Dixon's style and he believed if Dixon wanted to end it all, he'd go out "all guns blazing". .
"He certainly wouldn't have been fazed by the fact he was about to be sentenced.
"He had absolutely no remorse for his crimes. They did not bother him."
Wayne said Dixon thrived on his public notoriety and would have been excited at the prospect of a huge media contingent at his High Court sentencing this week.
"He was an attention-seeker. He loved the infamy."
Wayne claimed Corrections officials had washed their hands of Dixon and put him in the "too-hard basket".
Dixon would play mind games with fellow inmates often concocting stories to embarrass them or put them at risk of harm.
The former cellmate said it was a way for Dixon to ease the boredom and occupy his mind.
"(Corrections) didn't want him to go to classes because they would have to double up on the number of guards because of the security risk. They offered him nothing at all."
But despite that, Dixon knew his life hadn't turned out how it could.
Wayne said during his final conversation with his best mate about a week-and-a-half ago, the murderer specifically requested his help with his 15-year-old son to ensure he didn't follow in his father's footsteps.
"That was important to him."
A Corrections spokeswoman last night said, because the department had launched an inquiry into Dixon's death, no comment on the new allegations would be made.

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Renovators find today’s news, 60 years ago

By KATHERINE NEWTON Wednesday, 04 February 2009

/The
TIME CAPSULE: Jackson, 6, with his father Murray Dick. Jackson found a 60 year old copy of The Evening Post in the wall cavity dated February 4 exactly 60 years ago today.

The postwar economy was creaking into action, John Mills and Errol Flynn were starring on the big screen and, decades before taggers hit the headlines, a Wellington newspaper was debating how to rid New Zealand of petty vandalism.
Mr Dick was doing up his bathroom when his son Jackson, 6, found a copy of The 's predecessor wrapped inside a roll of building paper and tucked in the wall.
Khandallah man Murray Dick was enjoying a chuckle yesterday over a 1949 copy of The Evening Post unearthed while he was renovating his house."'
In an odd coincidence, the paper was dated February 4 exactly 60 years ago today. "I missed it [but] he was shouting, 'Dad, look, look, I've found this. Despite its age, the paper was in pristine condition, Mr Dick said."
Parts of the paper were "hard case", he said, including one article musing on whether vandalism was a part of New Zealand's national character, after miscreants damaged new state houses in Waiwhetu. .
Another sports article reported that golfing legend Ben Hogan had been badly injured in a head-on collision with a Greyhound bus in Texas.
The sports section celebrated the addition of double sculls to the Olympic rowing programme, the event that garnered the Evers-Swindell twins back-to-back gold medals in 2004 and 2008.
"I've done the same thing I rolled up last week's paper with a little note.
The find inspired Mr Dick to do likewise before he sealed up the new wall.
"I just said who lived here and good luck to those who read it.
"I just said who lived here and good luck to those who read it.
– Sid Holland led the first National Party government into power in the 1949 election."
A SNAPSHOT OF 1949
– We became New Zealand citizens for the first time as the British Nationality and New Zealand Citizenship Act 1948 took effect. He succumbed to lung cancer three years later.
– King George VI's health was reported as "improving".
– Smokers with a shilling to spare could enjoy a pack of 10 Craven `A' cigarettes "made specifically for sore throats".
– Wellingtonians flocked to cinemas to watch John Mills play Pip in Great Expectations, the film that made him a star. At the other end of the pay scale, a senior physician commanded an annual salary of £1200.
– An office junior could expect to earn about £3 5s a week.