NZSO – Aotearoa Overture

Day 26 of the tune a day challenge for New Zealand Music Month.

Time for something classical – the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra with Aotearoa Overture.

Round the other blogs:

Bic Runga sings Get Some Sleep at Inquiring Mind

Sisters Underground are In The Neighbourhood at Keeping Stock

Sweet Dreams from Split Enz at Rob’s.

and Nothing’s Gonna Happen from the Tall Dwarfs at Art & My Life.

Memory – Susan Boyle

Tickets to Cats were sold out weeks ahead when I was in London in 1992.

The only way to get one was to queue for returns. I was third in line when I got to the theatre at about mid day, hoping for tickets to the 8pm show that evening.

It was worth the wait.

I’ve seen the show three times since then – one in Christchurch, twice in Dunedin and will go again when the Oamaru Operatic Society performs it later this year.

If I had to choose a favourite song from Cats it would be Shimble Shanks the Railway Cat, but Memory, which Susan Boyle sang for her semi final performance in Britain’s Got Talent, is a close second.

Hat Tip Something Should Go Here  who showed me it was on YouTube & Barnsley Bill who had a fulelr version.

Tell your president to play by the rules too

This could have been a New Zealander talking:

One of the best ways we can grow market access . . . is by enforcement. In this challenging economic climate, trading partners must play by the rules if we are going to revive our economy as a global community.

But it wasn’t. It was former Dallas Mayor, US Trade Representative Ron Kirk .

He was talking about US meat exports and is very keen on free trade if his first major policy speech, delivered last month, is anything to go by:

“Now is the time to revive global trade and to lay the groundwork for an even more robust, more open trading system in future decades,”

. . .  While some may doubt the virtue of free trade, Kirk said that more rigorous U.S. trade enforcement will ensure that other nations honor their commitments. “We will use all the tools in USTR’s toolbox to go after those trade barriers,” he said. “Stepping up trade enforcement is about opening up markets, not closing them down.”

He needs to talk to President Obama because free trade is a two way street.

It’s no use having the Trade Representative talking about how important it is for other countries to play by the free trade rules for its meat when the USA has just broken those rules by subsidising its dairy exports.

Rod Carr to chair Infrastructure Board

Infrastructure Minister, Bill English has announced the appointees to the National Infrastructure Board.

The board has been set up to provide independent advice to the Infrastructure Minister and to help formulate the first 20-year National Infrastructure Plan, which will be completed by the end of the year.

Members have been chosen on the basis of their individual skills and their collective knowledge of infrastructure planning, investment and asset management methods.

The chair will be Dr Rodd Carr, Canterbury University Vice Chancellor and a former managing director of Jade Corporation and a former Reserve Bank  deputy governor. He was a senior executive of Bank of New Zealand and National Australia Bank; is vice-president of the Canterbury Employers’ Chamber of Commerce and a director of Lyttelton Port Company Ltd and Taranaki Investment Management.

Other members are: Sir Ron Carter, Lindsay Crossen, Dr Arthur Grimes, Dr Terence Heiler,  Rob McLeod, John Rae and Alex Sundakov.

It’s an impressive line up and I’m particularly pleased to see Terry Heiler’s name on the list. He’s an engineer, a former director of Landcare Research and chief executive of Irrigation New Zealand.

His profile on the INZ website says:

Dr Terry Heiler is an international consultant in natural resources, specialising in water management and irrigation. His engineering consultancy works with clients in New Zealand, Australia, Asia and with major international development agencies. His prior experience includes 25 years as a principal research engineer – soil and water, and 11 years as director of New Zealand Agricultural Engineering Institute, Lincoln University. He runs a small farming business based in West Melton, Central Canterbury. Terry was appointed as the inaugural chief executive of INZ in July 2006. His role with INZ is primarily leadership of the New Zealand irrigation industry with scientific and accurate advocacy to government and other key decision makers.

Monday’s Quiz

1. Who wrote A River Rules My Life?

2. Who said, Oozing charm from every pore/he oiled his way across the floor?

3. What is roygbiv?

4. Why are the Mercury Islands so named?

5. What does Lang may your lum reek  mean?

Soft bigotry of low expectations

We like to think race relations in New Zealand are pretty good.

We’re wrong.

They may not be as bad as they are in some other countries, but they’re not nearly as good as they should be and one of the reasons for that is the soft bigotry of low expectations.

The phrase isn’t original – I think it was first used by George Bush – but it encapsulates the danger of support which harms rather than helps.

One sad example of this is the pressure to have Maori seats on the new Auckland council and the reason given: because Maori won’t be represented without them.

That’s rubbish. Democratic elections allow anyone to stand, they allow anyone to support those who stand and once elected the councillors will be bound – legally and ethically –  to represent all the people in their wards and to act in the best interests of them and the wider city.

Democracy isn’t good enough for some people but those who are arguing for special rights aren’t helping Maori, they’re hindering them, the ones who are supposedly supporting Maori are dragging them down.

They’re telling them, and us, that Maori aren’t good enough to foot it in an equal contest, that people who aren’t Maori wouldn’t vote for Maori candidates, and that the people who are elected wouldn’t fulfil their obligations to listen to Maori views.

That’s bigoted and ignorant.

It’s also self defeating because, as Tariana Turia  said in a discussion on the Maori electorates on Agenda last year, the seats didn’t give Maori a voice:

I think what our people are starting to realise though is that when they voted Maori people into Labour they never got a Maori voice, they got a Labour voice and that was the difference, and they’ve only begun to realise it since the Maori Party came into parliament, because it is the first time that they have heard significant Maori issues raised on a daily basis.

If Maori seats didn’t give Maori a voice in parliament, they won’t on the council either.

Rather than wasting their energy demanding special seats, those who want Maori representation should put their efforts in to encouraging and supporting candidates who will give them a voice.

See also:

Jim Hopkins: We’re all in this together

Glenn Jameson on Time to End Racism in New Zealand

Kiwiblog on Hikoi Day

Tractor sale with free land gamble pays off

When Shelley and Allan Holland put their International 574 tractor on TradeMe with their 8 hectare Catlins farm thrown in for free and just a $1 reserve they were taking a gamble.

But thanks to the publicity generated by the novelty of the auction and their dedication to responding to the thousands of questions and comments, the gamble paid off.

The tractor would be worth about $5,000, the property had been lsited with a real estate agent for $230,000 and the QV for it was $260,000.

The auction closed last night with the winning bid of: $250,000.

Malvina Major, Hayley Westenra – Barcarolle

Day 25 of the tune a day challenge for New Zealand Music Month.

Dame Malvina Major deserves a place in NZ Music Month for what she’s achieved in her career and for the assistance she’s given to training young artsits through the Dame Malvina Foundation.

Given this is a rural blog, a mention also needs to be made of her life with her husband on a Taranaki dairy farm.

This clip is a duet with Hayley Westenra.

Catching up on yesterday’s posts:

Inquiring Mind chose Split Enz singing Poor Boy

Keeping Stock continues his Christian Music Sundays with Juliagrace singing Carry Me Away

And Rob gave us Between the Lines from Danse Macabre  and he also captures history with a clip of Karen Hay on Radio With Pictures with what he thinks was “pribablee the first rill koywoi accunt on the Tully“.

Did you see the one about . . .

The invisible hand at Anti Dismal

Seventies pessimism: Polemical Poets 1978  at Bowalley Road

Beatles’ karaoke a viral hit in ad land at Dave Gee

Bob Jones’  appreciation corner at Cactus Kate and also on the same subject ( the entrepreneurs summit): Yes We Can Do  at Opposable Thumb.

Sex, sleep, eat, drink, dream  at Quote Unquote

Oh Dear  – on the frustrations of dictionary definitions – at Mr Gronk

Feds talk straight to Obama

Federated Farmers aren’t mucking about with their response to the USA’s reintroduction of export subsidies for dairy products.

In a media release headlined US dairy subsidies a potential catostrophe they start by inviting President Obama to New Zealand to explain why his administration has decided to subsidise 92,000 tonnes of American dairy products destined for international markets.

“I cannot express the anger I feel about today’s decision,” says Philip York, Federated Farmers economics and commerce spokesperson.

“The precedent this sets is actually worse than the European Union’s (EU) decision in January to go down the same path.

“Federated Farmers had respected American restraint from not retaliating against the EU. That has all been thrown away on the compost heap that is the US dairy lobby.

“The US dairy lobby is more interested in protecting subsidies than in exporting on free market principles. The fact President Obama caved into their demands is a genuine shock. I honestly thought the age of pork barrel politics had passed but I’m sadly mistaken.

“What’s worse is that this comes at a time when international prices for dairy commodities had started to stabilise.

“Now, from left field, comes this ludicrous decision which takes the world to the edge of trade anarchy.

“The World Trade Organisation needs to get to Washington and Brussels urgently to discuss this with the EU and the Obama administration. I know Don Nicolson, the President of Federated Farmers, will be raising this at next month’s meeting of the Cairns Group.

“This could easily set off a domino effect as smaller economies rush to follow the irresponsible ‘example’ being set by the EU and the United States. Tariffs and tit-for-tat trade barriers could depress international prices and trade volumes before spreading to other trade categories.

“The world is back to five minutes to midnight for an all out trade war and President Obama needs to get his hand off the trigger,” Mr York concluded.

That’s a very direct message.

I don’t think the chances of Obama hearing it are very high and the chances of him heeding it are even lower but no-one can accuse Feds of taking a half-hearted approach to their fight for free trade.

Hat Tip: SOLO

Susan’s in the semis

Susan Boyle whose initial performance in Britain’s Got Talent became a YouTube sensation, has made it through to the show’s semi finals.

She is one of 40 artists who will go on to compete for the 100,000 pound prize.

Tractor sale chugging along

Bidding on the International 574 tractor for sale on TradeMe has passed the QV for the farm which comes with it for free.

The QV is $250,000 and the latest bid as I write (at 11.20) is $250,300.

The auction closes at 10.30 tonight.

It has attracted 298,522 views and TradeMe is donating their fee to charity.

Kyoto take 2

New Zealand was very badly served by the people who negotiated our commitments to reducing carbon emissions under the first Kyoto Protocol.

Trade & Associate Climate Change Minister Tim Groser is doing his best to ensure a better deal, not just for New Zealand but the global environment in the next round of negotiations.

The ODT’s Agribusiness editor Neal Wallace has a comprehensive interview with Groser in which he speaks of the need to include developing countries in future agreements, for scientific solutions to reduce agricultural emissions, and the importance of food security.

He also spoke of the risk to trade:

International climate change and trade liberalisation policies were linked, he said, but equally there could be a distortion in international trade.

A carbon tax or emissions trading scheme imposed in one country could result in carbon leakage, or another country retaliating by imposing tariffs and other trade restrictions, he said.

“Simply, I suspect that those politicians in various countries who today believe there is a simple fix to carbon leakage through unilaterally imposed carbon-tax adjustment do not actually intend to put a time-bomb under the world trading system.

“But there is no doubt in my mind that that is the risk.”

Regardless of whether the climate is changing and human induced emissions are contributing to it, the international politics require us to be seen to be doing our part to reduce them.

At least with Groser in charge, there’s hope that any agreements won’t wreck the economy without helping the environment which is what the original agreement would do.

You can read the interview here.

When the Cat’s Away – Asian Paradise

Day 24 of the tune a day challenge for New Zealand Music Month.

When the Cat’s Away singing Asian Paradise.

Tonight’s the night for Susan Boyle

Six weeks since she wowed the judges and the public in her first appearance on Britain’s Got Talent, Susan Boyle will face the music again tonight (tomorrow morning in NZ).

The Times reports that millions of people will watch the show tonight as Boyle competes for a place in the semi finals.

A fifth of Britain’s population are expected to switch on their televisions this evening to watch a dancing dog, a break-dancing pensioner and a man who can do unspeakable things with a clothes hanger. What they and millions around the world will be waiting for, however, is the return of a doughty Scottish lady whose name is known from West Lothian to New South Wales.

Susan Boyle has gained global recognition for her rendition of I Dreamed a Dream from Les Misérables. The Czech National Symphony Orchestra is preparing for her arrival in July to record an album, a place is being prepared for her in a West End show and a line of Susan Boyle dolls is in production in America.

Tonight the world will learn whether she is also considered good enough to proceed to the next round of Britain’s Got Talent. Assuming that she is, Ms Boyle will perform next week in one of five semi-finals in advance of the final on Saturday evening.

Her fame has put the wee town of Blackburn on the map and regardless regardless of the result of the contest she’s already a winner on the internet.

Her performance has reached the top five in a list of the most watched viral videos – and in only five weeks.

But they did it first

The USA is reintroducing export subsidies for dairy products in a tit for tat response to the EU which reintroduced subsidies earlier in the year.

But they did it first is no way to win an argument, but that’s the excuse they’re using.

US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says the move is in direct response to the European Union’s introduction earlier this year of export subsidies. It will allow American exporters to compete fairly, he says.

His idea of fair isn’t quite the same as mine.

At the same time, Mr Vilsack says the Obama administration remains strongly committed to a pledge at the recent G20 summit to refrain from protectionism.

He says every attempt will be made to minimise the impact on countries that do not subsidise their dairy producers.

If he wants to give up his day job he could find another writing ads for Tui.

Trade Minister Tim Groser isn’t impressed.

Dairy farmers the world over are under pressure, but this is a short-sighted response when the international dairy market has recently been showing signs of stabilising. The decision is a setback, and will be damaging to world markets.

“Export subsidy assistance will have a relatively small effect on income for US dairy farmers, and may even prove counterproductive by creating uncertainty and depressing international dairy market prices. Unsubsidised producers, like those from New Zealand, will bear the cost of these trade-distorting measures.

“I am disappointed that the United States should have followed the poor example set by the European Union when it reintroduced export subsidies in January.

“While the US and the EU may consider they are both acting within their current WTO commitments, this sends a very negative signal to other WTO members. . .

Groser says it’s not whether these measures are legal but the bad example the EU and USA are setting.

 “The long term solution is clear: we need to complete the WTO Doha Round in order to secure the elimination of agricultural export subsidies. In the meantime, restraint is needed, not a resumption of retaliatory subsidisation.

The recession will provide excuses for increased protectionism which will do little, if anything, to help producers, increase costs for taxpayers and consumers and hamper the eventual recovery.

Cheesemakers may be allowed to keep the bugs

The Chesdale Cheese featured in the previous post is at one end of the gastronomic spectrum.

New Zealand also has some very fine examples from the gorumet end, produced by boutique cheese makers such as Whitestone and Blue River.

However, cheese aficionados claim that these cheeses lack the x factor because they have to be made from pasteurised milk and the pasteurisation process which kills the bad bugs also kills the good bacteria which produce the finest flavour.

This may be about to change.

The Food Safety Authority  has mooted a change to allow some cheeses to be produced from unpasteurised milk.

NZFSA’s technical standards and systems assistant director Scott Crerar says under current food regulations, only a small range of unpasteurised milk products are imported and sold. The proposed rules released today for discussion would allow the production, sale, export and import of unpasteurised milk products that have an acceptable bacterial safety level.

“Many local manufacturers support the plan to address inconsistencies in the law that allow some raw milk cheeses made overseas to be imported whilst domestic manufacturers may not make their own equivalent products,” Scott says. “There is also support for the system from consumers who relish the thought of being able to enjoy a wider range of these products.”

. . . The proposed framework recognises some unpasteurised milk products can be produced so they pose a low food safety risk to the general population. However, vulnerable consumers – such as babies and toddlers under three, the frail elderly, expectant mothers and people with weakened immune systems – need to avoid eating them. The proposals include strategies to manage risks for vulnerable consumers by making them aware unpasteurised milk products can pose a higher risk than traditional pasteurised products.

The cheese group which poses no more health risk than pasteurised cheese, including extra-hard grating Parmesan-style raw milk cheeses, can be produced under existing dairy requirements.

The group which includes Roquefort, don’t pose much risk to the general population so could be produced with awhat they call a strategy to manage the risk to vulnerable people and we’d call warnings.

 A third group cannot currently be produced to an acceptable level of safety for the general population so will not be allowed to be produced in New Zealand, or imported.

Products able to be made under the proposed system would have special physical or chemical characteristics and/or be subjected to processing techniques that mean any surviving bacteria would be at safe levels.

The FSA plans to hold workshops in June to outline the proposals and they’ve got a discussion paper with more details.

One concern is that any  problems with gourmet cheese could impact on the reputation of our dairy produce in general and threaten exports markets.

But if other countries manage to produce cheese with unpastuerised milk without endangering their citizens, we ought to be able to find a way to do it here.

Catchy song for plastic cheese

If there was an award for the best advertisement for the worst product the Chesdale cheese ad from the 1960s would have to be a contender.

The plastic apology for cheese was (is? do they still make it?) awful but the ad had a catchy tune and cute cartoon characters.

Almost any Kiwi who’s 50ish plus can probably sing We are the blokes from down on the farm, we really know our cheese . . . it’s finest cheddar, made beddar

I came across it last week when searching for a song for Music Month and was reminded of it again because Keeping Stock’s Music Month post today is another blast from the advertising past – the KFC ad from the 1970s. It was called Kentucky Fried back then and although I was a student and rarely saw TV I still know that Hugo said you go and I said no you go . . .

Inquiring Mind has an appropriate choice for the end of a week when we’ve been reminded it’s winter: Weather with You from Crowded House.

Honey man could get stung

A New Zealand manuka honey producer reckons the manuka honey produced in Cornwall which sells for 55 pound a jar (about five pound or $NZ14 a teaspoon) isn’t the genuine article.

Kerry Paul, chief executive of Manuka Health New Zealand has offered to test the English honey for methylglyoxal which is the active antibacterial ingredient in some, but not all, manuka honey.

Mr Paul said he had seen a photograph of a pot of the Cornwall honey on a British newspaper website and could tell it was not manuka honey from the colour.

He doubted there was much manuka honey in the pot, which he said looked like it came from “mixed sources”.

“In any case, there is no way an estate in Cornwall can reproduce the conditions which create genuine manuka honey.”

“Even in New Zealand’s climate, you need about one hectare of dense manuka forest per hive to produce 25kgs of honey.

“There would need to be many hectares of manuka to ensure the bees go to the manuka and not other flowers. This will not be the case in Cornwell.

He’s asked someone to send him an unopened jar of the English honey so it can be tested in a lab.

Please correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought honey was on the list of products no-one can bring in to New Zealand. It was more than 20 years ago when I bought whisky laced honey as a gift for my brother and had it taken from me by MAF at the airport and I’m fairly sure it was on the prohibited list on the MAF declaration form when I returned from Fiji last month.

Mr Paul has taken an opportunity to sting the opposition and get some publicity for his company which specialises in manuka honey products but he runs the risk of getting stung himself if someone takes up his offer and sends him a jar of the Cornwall honey.

Bik Runga – Precious Things

Day 23 of the tune a day challenge for NZ Music Month.

Bki Runga sings Precious Things.

Keeping Stock went punk yesterday with The Scavengers and Mysterex

Inquiring Mind featured Liam Finn singing Gather to the Chapel