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Posts Tagged ‘rugby world cup’

The PM’s Speech

Posted by on September 15th, 2011

Imagine.  You have been given 90 seconds to speak to an audience of millions across the globe at the start of the fourth largest sporting tournament in the world.  You are following on from a spectacular and uplifiting opening ceremony.  This is your chance to reinforce to the world what is special about New Zealand and the kind of host we will be.  Its a huge opportunity. To paraphrase the famous quote, a short speech like this is much harder to write than a long one.  

So what do you do?  If you are John Key, you wing it.  That is what we were told in Parliament yesterday.  In answer to the question of who wrote his speech at the Opening Ceremony, John Key said ” I did. I wouldn’t go so far as to say I wrote a speech, I created one.”  Check out the video below, right at the end at 6.15.

It showed.   Which still begs the question, how did it end up this way? 

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Filed under: rugby world cup
54 Comments

La Croix: Bienvenue en NZ

Posted by on June 27th, 2011

Busy weekends are part and parcel for MPs and I enjoy them. However, I never expected a request for an interview from a reporter of a newspaper that is located as far away as Paris.

Mr Francois d’Alancon, a senior reporter from French daily newspaper La Croix, and I had a two-hour talk in Auckland over the weekend.

We covered extensive subjects from the Rugby World Cup (for which he’s assigned to do a series of stories), “beautiful New Zealand where there are more sheep than people”, and more relevant to my portfolio – the New Zealand Chinese community and its integration into New Zealand society.

The interview, to a large extent, brought with it a sense of reminiscing. The kind of feeling one often has when overseas. The feeling of missing New Zealand no matter how long you have been out of the country for.

It is not uncommon to hear people say that they don’t realise how strongly they feel about New Zealand until they go overseas.

The fresh air, the landscapes and everything that makes New Zealand unique. It’s the kind of feeling that often motivates us to think what we should do to make New Zealand a better place for our future generations.

Like it or not, New Zealand is a small and isolated (geographically) country.

A big thank-you to the Labour Government who secured the Rugby World Cup hosting rights for New Zealand. Without this major event in New Zealand this year it is hard to imagine that newspapers such as La Croix – one of only three daily national French newspapers to turn a profit – would have any interest in us.

(more…)

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Filed under: asian
4 Comments

How safe are our Hospitality workers in the World Cup?

Posted by on June 19th, 2011

The recent  arrest of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, former head of the IMF for sexually assaulting a hotel housemaid got me thinking about the New Zealand hospitality industry and the potential exposure of NZ workers to inappropriate behaviour during the Rugby World Cup.

The housemaid involved in the Strauss-Kahn case is a union member, which makes all the difference. But by far the majority of hotel workers in New Zealand are not union members.

Sadly, the further you go down the hospitality chain, from large hotels to motels, restaurants and bars, the worse it is.

New Zealand’s laws protect workers against sexual harassment, but it’s a hard row to hoe.  There are two routes – through the Human Rights Commission or through personal grievance.  New Zealand’s hospitality industry is repsonsible for 10% of all workplace sexual harassment complaints to the Human Rights Commission, but I know from experience that’s the tip of the iceberg. It’s just not that easy to take this on.

If you are a young worker, not in a union, new to a job, on a 90 day trial period, are you really going to have the courage to challenge your employer if a sexual harassment incident occurs?

There’s an attitude issue here. The Hospitality Industry is not only responsible for the behaviour of their staff, but also their customers and clients. To their credit, some work has been done in the industry to educate employers about their responsibilities.

I came across this comment from the Restaurant Association in a newsletter about sexual harrasment.

I accept that some people will regretfully be sexually harassed, but at the risk of being challenged, I have formed the opinion that the majority of complaints are motivated by the monetary rewards that might result.

According to this, there’s a golden pot of money waiting for workers who complain about sexual harassment!

However, it’s not just about sexual harassment. It’s also about decent pay and fair conditions.

The government needs to work with unions and business to set standards for how we expect New Zealand workers to be treated during an event like this.

We want our visitors to have a great time, but not at the expense of New Zealand workers.

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Filed under: Employers, rugby world cup, sexual harassment, women, workers rights
15 Comments

Saturday Sport: How’s it looking?

Posted by on April 9th, 2011

Five months today the All Blacks will be playing the first game of the Rugby World Cup. They will win, and win well against Tonga. But what can we say about the rest of the tournament on the basis of the form so far this season?

Of course there is only so much you can tell from the Super 15. I don’t find it quite as hard to watch now as I once did, but I still struggle with it as a competition. Its much like watching the NBA from the US. The individuals are obviously talented, but the whole thing seems a bit plastic and formulaic. Whereas college basketball in the US is a great team game, with raw talent and loads of emotion. I still think the NPC has the potential to be that in rugby here, but that’s for another day.

Anyway, what can we say about the core of the ABs that will take the field in five months time. Most are looking ok. In the backs Mils Muliana, Israel Dagg, Dan Carter, Jimmy Cowan all look good. Sonny Bill is going ok, though he can go cold in some games. Isaia Toeava, who I have never been a great fan of is showing a bit more confidence. Robbie Freuan is the goods I am convinced and needs to be in the squad. Notice any Hurricanes in that list? Nah. They look dire. Ma’a Nonu and Conrad Smith urgently need to find some form to see off Williams and Freuan.

In the forwards we wait for McCaw to get back from injury. Meanwhile Kieran Read looms as a significant player in the world cup, as does Brad Thorn. Jamie MacKintosh is playing out of his skin again- but it still feels like the step up might be too much. Adam Thomson will be in the squad and looms as a game breaker. Andrew Hore is part of the Hurricanes malaise and will be pushed hard by Hika Elliot as back up to Keven Mealamu. Whatever, can everyone please keep practicing throw-ins. One of the basic skills in the game that still seems to elude our guys at crucial times.

So, basically, a good start. As for the opponents, the South African teams are looking dangerously poised. They seem to be travelling a lot better this year, and remain our biggest threat. Not sure the Aussies are showing much, though the Mebourne franchise look interesting.

A lot can happen in five months, but I have that glimmer of optimism (that applies to politics and rugby!)

Also, congrats to Bryce Lawrence and Steve Walsh who have made the referees panel for the Cup and Chris Pollock and Vinnie Munro who are on the assistant referees panel.

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Filed under: rugby world cup, sport
7 Comments

Risk of increased violence against women during the Rugby World Cup

Posted by on February 10th, 2011

Like the vast majority of New Zealander’s, I’m a rugby fan, infact I’ve even played a few games during my lifetime.  Like most Kiwis I’m excited about the fact that we’re hosting the Rugby World Cup this year (I’m also proud of the fact that it was the Labour Party that secured the rights to host for our country…but that’s a separate issue).

One issue that I hadn’t considered till recently was the copious amounts of alcohol that is likely to be consumed over the course of the world cup and the subsequent impact that this could have on family violence, abuse and neglect.  It was a report written by Debbie Hager and Diane Woolsen Neville that alerted me to these concerns, ‘Mitigating the risk of men’s violence aginst women increasing during the Rugby World Cup 2011′.

The report cites evidence of increased levels of violence, abuse and neglect during major sporting events.  It looks like a successful campaign run overseas during these type of events is being rolled out in New Zealand, the ‘Blow the Whistle Campaign’ – this is a wise move.  Recommendations have been made in this report with respect to advertising, policing, venue safety, safety of children and young people and a number of other areas.  The Government will need to take up these recommendations to ensure that any risk of increased violence is mitigated during this time.

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Filed under: alcohol and other drugs, rugby world cup, women
28 Comments

McCully gives Rugby World Cup Ceremony to Aussies

Posted by on November 11th, 2010

Yep, you read that right. That title is the headline of a story on the NBR website (subscribers only). Essentially the story is that the contract for organising the opening ceremony and some other events have gone to an Australian company ahead of several New Zealand companies who were bidding.  This apparently includes the firm who are responsible for the Tourism NZ giant rugby ball that has been touring the globe promoting the Cup.

This is a shocker.  As a country we pride ourselves on having some of the best creative talent in the world, with a proven track record of delivery.  The creative sector is a growing and important part of our cultural and economic life. Here was a chance to showcase that talent to the world at the fourth largest sports tournament in the world, and its gone off-shore.

The other element to the story is that the Minister’s paw prints are apparently all over the decision.  This comes as no surprise.  His reputation gained in the 90s for interfering in operations (think Tourism) is back again.  Stories are rife from MFAT about his role, in addition to his part in the Party Central debacle.

This certainly re-enforces my view that giving McCully the right to veto or overturn the decision of the authority being set up to make urgent decisions around the Rugby World Cup (as the Bill before Parliament effectively does) is absolutely the wrong decision and potentially dangerous to the success of the event.

UPDATE: 3News are reporting that Martin Sneddon is saying that a final decision has not been made yet, but that creative content of the ceremony will be mostly if not entirely from NZ. McCully’s office are telling NBR he was not involved in “awarding” contracts.

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Filed under: Arts and Culture, economy, rugby world cup
34 Comments

Common sense the winner on the day

Posted by on July 16th, 2010

So we got there in the end. Rugby fans get their fan-zone. Auckland gets a cruise ship terminal. And Mike Lee stood up for Aucklanders who didn’t want to see both sheds bowled  to make way for a semi-temporary structure on the Queens Wharf.

Murray McCully’s trantrum (I don’t know what Mike Lee has been smoking, Auckland local government is a train wreck, the sooner we get the super city the better) is exposed for what it was: the wailings of a Minister who hasn’t given his portfolio the attention it deserves, and who wasn’t able to stitch together a deal.  The Prime Minister’s threats to explore other venues for the party-zone came to nothing.

In the long run I hope Queens Wharf will be the site of a stunning development for the people of Auckland, as part of a waterfront master plan developed by the Auckland Council.

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Filed under: Auckland, rugby world cup
13 Comments

Goodbye to the slug?

Posted by on July 7th, 2010

The Herald reports Rugby World Cup Minister Murray McCully is furious at the prospect of the ARC and Auckland City cutting a deal to save one of the Queens Wharf cargo sheds.  If the body language at Monday’s opening of the Kingsland rail station upgrade is anything to go by, McCully’s feelings towards Mike Lee are somewhat deathly. One insider at the event told me McCully refused to speak on the same platform as Lee, causing a strange re-jigging of the programme that saw the Minister’s speech separated from the others by a 25 minute tea break.  By contrast John Banks’ and Mike Lee’s speeches were a veritable love-fest.

What’s got Muzza so peeved?  The latest attempt to salvage John Key’s party central was a deal hammered out between ARC Chairman Mike Lee and McCully to knock over both the cargo sheds on Queens Wharf and spend $9.6 million on a semi-temporary party central venue and cruise ship terminal gloriously dubbed a ‘giant slug’ by heritage adviser and blogger Joshua Arbury. Lee and McCully announced the plan in April.

Local architects have waged a spirited campaign to save the sheds and restore them in the way that has been done successfully on the wharves of Sydney and countless other cities. Events supremo Michael Mizrahi made a compelling case for the sheds on Sunday a couple of weeks back. Personally I reckon Queens Wharf is such prime real estate  it should be used for a major long-term development with ample public space that would be a magnet to bring people down to the waterfront.  I have felt uneasy about about the prospect of a semi-temporary development cobbled together for the Rugby World Cup.

Now it appears Mike Lee has found a way to save one of the sheds, probably with the help of some additional funding from Auckland City. We should hear the details after today’s ARC meeting.

Update 2.15pm: Slug stays, shed survives, Muzza not happy.  Herald

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Filed under: Auckland
31 Comments

Party Central in a tent

Posted by on April 14th, 2010

Party Central is possibly going to be held in a tent.

I can imagine all those rugby fans and tourists sitting around a campfire singing Kumbaya.

I’m sure everyone will have a great time but party central has been reduced to a piss up in a tent.

Reminds me of New Years up north.

I’ll take my ukelele.

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Filed under: Uncategorized
14 Comments

Voters aren’t stupid

Posted by on April 4th, 2010

In science it takes more than a coincidence, or series of coincidences, to prove a hypothesis. There needs to be evidence that the two things are actually linked, that one leads to the other. Apparently no such standard of evidence is required when it comes to linking the outcome of general elections to the results of the Rugby World Cup.

We’re sport mad country, and rugby is our national sport. No argument there. But to suggest that a knockout or a loss during the World Cup could have a material impact on the outcome of a general election shows a level of contempt for voters that I just can’t fathom. I’m just not willing to believe that the outcome of a rugby match would have more of an impact on how people vote than say, taxes, crime, education, health, or the leadership qualities of the candidates on offer.

Those who put forward this argument cite two examples, 1987 and 1999. In 1987 David Lange was leading what was at the time a very popular government. The by then unpopular Muldoon still dominated the National Party (from the backbench) and the stockmarket crash was still months away. Kiwis were proud of our World Cup win for sure, but to suggest that’s why Lange’s government was re-elected is just a bit bizarre.

In 1999 Jenny Shipley had the opposite problem. After 9 years in office voters had tired of National. The spectacular bust-up of NZ First cemented the public’s appetite for change. The All Blacks being knocked out in the semis wouldn’t have had any impact on the election result. Emotion plays a big part in how people vote, but I don’t think Kiwis are going to blame John Key if we don’t win the cup…

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Filed under: democracy
30 Comments

NZRU and SPARC scrap Women’s NPC – disgraceful

Posted by on January 25th, 2010

The Women’s NPC is the only national rugby competition for women. Women also have a very limited international programme,  with only two tests in non World Cup years. I’ve been hearing rumours for a couple of weeks that the NZRU board has decided to scrap the Womens’ NPC this year because 26 of the 120 ish players will be at the Women’s Rugby World Cup for part of the competition.

If it’s true, and I’m now pretty confident that it is, the decision has either been made late or very poorly communicated. I understand the Black Ferns’ coaches included playing in the early rounds  of the WNPC as part of their published build up to the World Cup. The jump from club rugby to internationals (with about a six week break without any matchplay) is just too much.

While the immediate decision is the responsibility of the NZRU Board  a fair bit of the blame falls on SPARC’s shoulders. I understand that they have changed their contracting system with the NZRU so that it’s now loose enough for the Union to wriggle out of  putting a tiny proportion of their expenditure into a national womens’ competition.

The fact that the Government gives the Rugby Union money has been the subject of criticism. Part of the justification for the funding has been that it contributes to otherwise non viable youth and womens’ activities. If the contracting method change happened in Labour’s time  then we have to take some responsibility – but whenever it happened it is a big mistake.

I hope this decision gets revisited. Competitions like the women’s NPC play an important role in the development of new players and identification of new talent. It’s just disgraceful that those opportunities are being taken away.

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Filed under: sport, women
10 Comments

McCully RWC cock ups continue Key needs to sort

Posted by on October 22nd, 2009

Fresh from his shocking fortnight killing Maori broadcasting rights McCully’s knifing of the IRB on the volunteer programme has now seen the light of day in the Herald. 

When I was Minister i/c RWC the volunteer programme was to be a big part of the legacy. We were to trial the programme at the Rowing World Champs next year and hoped to have tens of thousands of people with short training invloved with teams and venues. There would then be a great database from which to invite these people to continue to volunteer – because all the evidence around volunteering is that there is a large group of people who will volunteer if asked but don’t offer themselves.

McCully fell out with the IRB over branding. The IRB were not keen on paying for black t-shirts with silver ferns for their volunteers. They have sponsors who have a right to be recognised and they thought that other teams might object if the supposedly neutral organising group looked like the All Black support group.

So McCully went his own way. Told the IRB to get lost. Launched a pathetically weak and ill prepared programme at a beehive reception 2 years from kick off. The graphics, video and website looked like they had been pulled together that morning in his office and there are lots of school kids with IT skills that could have done better.

But people volunteering for for New Zealand 2011 are left with the impression that they are offering to be volunteers for the RWC.  If the website was a newspaper then I’m sure they would be in trouble for false advertising.

They won’t be part of the team. They will get one of McCully’s black t-shirts with the non rugby fern. They won’t get a world cup track suit, shirt, cap. They won’t get near a player. They won’t get to go to the venues. They won’t host the teams, the accredited media or the VIP guests.

We are meant to be a team of 4million supporting the Cup. It should be a big thing. Until now I’ve been pretty quiet because I hoped that things would come right.

But in this area and in the commercial leveraging area which McCully says is Brownlee’s responsibility the government approach is just a shambles and is placing our opportunity to benefit from the cup – both economically and socially – at risk. John Key needs to sort this too.

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Filed under: economy, social development, sport
20 Comments

Sharples wins world cup for double standards

Posted by on October 2nd, 2009

Audrey Young has identified yet another example of John Key’s double standards for decision making processes.

As Rugby World Cup spokesperson I know that the IRB will be delighted that Pita Sharples has bid the price of free to air cover for the last sixteen matches up by the $3m subsidy he has given to Maori TV  from TPK funding – apparently with no Cabinet process whatsoever.

And how many people will miss out seeing it free to air because it isn’t on a mainstream channel?

 Is this a priority for spending of TPK money – I would have thought it could have been better spent on job creation, apprenticeships etc, and ask what was the process he followed.

And if there is a spare $3m in government coffers for subsidising the Rugby World Cup whether it would have been better spent on developing the languishing volunteer programme, or getting the rugby ball promotion to another six world capitals or developing a decent business legacy programme – all of  which were live possibilities two years ago.

What does this mean for broadcasting policy. If I was TVNZ or TV3 I would be really grumpy. This was meant to be an even playing field. I changed the charter funding arrangements for TVNZ following their Olympic rort. And now Sharples as a Minister gives MTS massive support.

It appears that once again Key is failing to hold his Ministers to account and implement fair, open processes. Stupid decisions result.

Update Now told by normally reliable source that full value of the TPK subsidy closer to $6m. How much spare cash do they have?

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Filed under: Budget, economy, events, M?ori, media, national, sport
57 Comments