It is appropriate we reflect on Matariki the star constellation that can be now seen early morning in the eastern part of our sky this constellation is seen around the world and is known and celebrated in many cultures and languages consisting of seven stars known as the six sisters and the Mother.  It is fitting that we can think of Matariki as the Maori belief the rising of these stars heralds in welcoming the New year as we do tonight at our Rotary changeover reflecting on the past and looking into the new Rotary year going forward.

 

This is as I see Matariki consisting of 3 Pillars and how I believe it interrelates to Rotary.
 

 

The first pillar Matariki Hunga Nui Honouring those we have lost since the last rising of the stars we at Pakuranga have lost great Rotarians during our year.
 
The second pillar Matariki Ahunga Nui Celebrating the present gathering to give thanks for what we have and what we have done during the year. When we look around the world at the unrest and violence that is occurring, we can be truly grateful for what we have in New Zealand we should be truly grateful and yes we have our issues in New Zealand but nothing what people in different parts of the world are experiencing. We can celebrate what we have achieved our donations to St Johns, Life education, Trees for survival, and our commitment to our young people with the Science forum and the Rotary exchange program.
 
The third pillar Matariki Manako Nui Looking to the future and looking forward to the promise of a new year at tis time in our Rotary year we can look forward to Govind leading the club with his team for the next Rotary year continuing what we have started and introducing new projects as go forward.
 
Matariki is about what Rotary stands for and as Changeover occurs at the same time of Matariki we can reflect in the Rotary ideal of Inclusion of many cultures understanding and respecting the differences of each other and that each of us are unique in our own ways.
 
Mike went on to present a Paul Harris Fellow to Allan Vester for his dedication to young people through education, sports musical talents and his work with our club as Past President and Bulletin editor a well-deserved award.       

 

 

 

Mike presented the Presidents cup for Club service above self to Dennis Kavanaugh who along with his team has been the engine room of Pakuranga Rotary without Dennis, his team and other individuals who made the club what is today with fellowship, fun and a commitment to providing funds to really good causes in our community.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Govind began his address by naming the members of the incoming Board and those other members who will be playing key roles in the club in the coming year.

[See Story Content for the details].

 

He then went on to outline his plans for the upcoming year. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In keeping with the RI Presidents Gordon  Mclnally’s theme of Creating Hope in the world we will support and continue to support :

In addition to this I would like to add the following 2 new focus areas:

People of all ages face anxiety and stress and I would like our club to get involved.As a takeaway from Cat levene’s talk at district changeover on Saturday It is staggering that there are 15 cases of hospitalisation everyday of young people causing self harm to themselves and one in every 4 kids below the age of 18 experiences a mental health issue and 50% of mental health issues start before the age of 12.These are staggering numbers and requires immediate attention.It is a major problem and Rotary can do a lot to work with schools and organisations and spread awareness and help in funding programs which address this problem 

 

We will continue with Our main Fund raisers which are:

We hope to re introduce the following fundraisers 

I sincerely request every member to get into one of the project committees and help out whichever way they can. 

 

Building Memberships and collaborations 

 

We would love to make this a fun year and we will focus on enjoying great fellowship thanks to Ian Handisides who is our social Director.Our plans include 

 

I look forward to a fun year for our club and look forward to all of your support in making this happen.Let’s just do it. 

 

 

I would now like to introduce Suleha and her group of dancers who will perform some Indian dances with a classical bent.Over to you Suleha.

For details of the Board plus photos from the evening please Read more below. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Guest speaker for changeover was our own honorary member, past Cabinet Minister, NZ Consul General in Los Angeles and now elected member of the Auckland City Council, Maurice Williamson.

 

Maurice, being no stranger to saying exactly what he thinks, entertained the large changeover crowd with a rousing presentation about the Council, various Council Controlled Organisations and the problems associated with wanting to spend more than income seems to allow. 

 

Key aspects of his presentation involved:

- Rates versus CPI

- The budget

- Debt

- Transport Planning

- Sale of Auckland Airport Shares

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On rates versus the Consumer Price Index [CPI] Maurice had no trouble showing how the growth in rates had outstripped CPI.

Rates had grown because Council expenditure had also trended upward. That was partially the result of the growth in staff numbers. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That observation then led to the next point which was despite the increase in rates Council debt has also trended upwards.

 

Council debt levels and the demand by the Mayor to reduce expenditure left Maurice who chairs the new Expenditure Control and Procurement Committee with some work to do.

As he noted, while most people think the Council should spend less nobody thinks it should spend less in the areas that are important to them. 

 

Members will be aware of the wide ranging debate in the Council about how to manage that income versus expenditure problem by increasing debt levels or by reducing debt by cutting expenditure or by selling Council held shares in Auckland Airport.

 

 

 

 Maurice made the case for why he strongly supported selling the airport shares.

In essence he argued that the Council should divest itself of the shares because dividend returns from those shares would fall consistently below the projected cost of servicing the debt that the sale of the shares would realise. That is we will save more by reducing interest payments than we will earn from dividends. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Having been Minister of Transport Maurice continues to be concerned about Aucklands transport problems and the actions being taken by Auckland Transport. 

Those concerns can be summarised as involving the expenditure of large amounts of money in areas where that money could be better spent or certainly spent in smaller quantities. 

He used the traffic reorganisation program on Fordyce Avenue and the bus and cycle ways from Panmure as examples of his concerns.

 

 

 

 

 

Maurice presented a map of the East [Howick/ Pakuranga] to show how the area has not been part of the major transport network initiatives that have occurred in recent years in Auckland. 

 

Changeover is never a short meeting but despite speaking last Maurice kept the audience engaged and interested.