Rich appointed to APEC Business Advisory Council

Prime Minsiter John Key has announced that Maxine Simmons’ term on the APEC Business Advisory Council has been extended through to March 2014 and Katherine Rich will take over from her.

Ms Simmons is the Managing Director of BioCatalyst Ltd and been an APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) member since 2010.

“The extending of Ms Simmons term allows ABAC to retain her extensive skills for the upcoming APEC meeting and for the first ABAC meeting of 2014 in Auckland,’’ says Mr Key.

Mr Key also announced the appointment of Katherine Rich to ABAC from March 2014.

“Mrs Rich’s involvement in New Zealand’s food industry as well in agri-business, combined with her networks developed from her parliamentary experience, means she is well placed to contribute actively to ABAC’s and APEC’s agenda,” says Mr Key.

“Mrs Rich has extensive private and public sector experience which will prove especially useful for ABAC’s work with governments on trade facilitation and supply chain connectivity, which are both key priorities for New Zealand.”

The APEC Business Advisory Council is a network of business representatives from each of the 21 APEC economies that meet to develop business perspectives on the issues being discussed among APEC economies. . .

Fonterra has welcomed the appointment:

Fonterra Group Director of Communications, Kerry Underhill, said Mrs Rich’s extensive experience and understanding of the food industry and agri-business would serve New Zealand well on this influential international forum.

“Katherine has always been generous in sharing her expansive knowledge and networks, and providing wise counsel, with members of the New Zealand Food and Grocery Council.

“NZ Inc will gain a valuable advocate through her participation in ABAC,” said Mr Underhill. . .

Katherine has an impressive mix of political and business experience which will be valuable on the ABAC.

She is a very good example of someone who makes a contribution as an MP and goes on to succeed in life outside politics.

Word of the day

Smile – form one’s features into a pleased, kind, or amused expression; facial expression characterised by an upward curving of the corners of the mouth and indicating pleasure, amusement, or derision or scorn; pleasant or favourable disposition or aspect; express cheerful acceptance or equanimity; look with favour or approval; express with a smile; effect or accomplish with or as if with a smile.

Booklet botch-up update

The public is responding to a call from Franks & Ogilvie for information on the scale of the election booklet botch-up:

“It appears that the problem could be more widespread than hoped” says Stephen Franks, a principal of the firm.  “We now know that whole families have received booklets missing up to 18 candidates.”

“Some New Zealanders overseas appear to have been badly affected.  For many the election booklet is their only source of information.  They can’t follow the campaigns in local media or go to meetings.”

“To be eligible for the prizes, booklets containing missing pages must be sent to us and received by Monday the 7th of October.  We encourage all New Zealanders to check that the information booklet they received has all of the pages, and contains every candidate that is listed on the voting paper.  Once voting is over and the books discarded, it will be much harder to ascertain whether the integrity of local body elections has been materially affected,” concludes Mr Franks.

It’s a sorry reflection on political engagement that information in the booklet could influence voters to any significant degree.

That it can, makes it vital that entries are correct and comprehensive.

Incorrect details or missing out even one candidate is concerning, that is is more widespread needs to be investigated.

Friday’s answers

Thursday’s questions were:

1. Who said: Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves are its only safe depositories.?

2. Who said: Government ‘help’ to business is just as disastrous as government persecution… the only way a government can be of service to national prosperity is by keeping its hands off.?

3. Who said: A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.?

4. Who said; ““Being democratic is not enough, a majority cannot turn what is wrong into right. In order to be considered truly free, countries must also have a deep love of liberty and an abiding respect for the rule of law.”?

5. Have you voted yet, if not are you going to?

Points for answers:

Raymond scored 3ish. (the ish because as you’ll see below the quote attributed to Jefferson).

Andrei got three.

Alwyn scored 4 and a bonus for the extra quote.

Answers follow the break.

Rural round-up

Whisky-fed salmon to boost sustainability:

The whisky and salmon industries in Scotland are about to embark on an innovative new partnership which will convert waste from whisky production into feed for salmon and fish farming.

Over 500 million litres of whisky are produced in the UK each year. But for every litre of whisky produced, up to 15 litres of potentially harmful waste can be generated1.

Chemical engineers from Heriot-Watt University in Scotland are looking to solve this problem by converting some of the waste into protein-rich feed, which could have the added benefit of providing a sustainable and economic supply of feedstock for the growing Scottish fish farming industry. . .

Synlait Milk – Champion Global Operator at Champion Canterbury Business Awards:

Synlait Milk has won the Champion Global Operator Award (large to medium enterprise) at the 2013 Champion Canterbury Business Awards. This is the second consecutive year that Synlait Milk has won this award.

“Winning the Champion Global Operator Award for the second year running is testament to our business strategy and the effort from all our staff,” says Synlait Milk Managing Director John Penno.

“The award caps off a great year for the Company in which we successfully began trading on the NZX Main Board, after completing a positive Initial Public Offering, in addition to posting an after tax profit of $11.5 million for FY13,” says Mr Penno. . .

Jobs under threat as meat company makes changes:

Jobs are on the line as the country’s biggest meat processor, Silver Fern Farms, makes adjustments to its North Island operations.

The co-operative is making changes as the new season gets underway with the prospect of lower stock numbers from the summer drought.

Silver Fern is consolidating beef processing in Waikato and negotiating to sell its skin processing plant near Shannon.

The firm is considering an offer from the Lowe Corporation to buy the ageing Shannon fellmongery, which employs more than 80 workers. . .

Nutricia Restates Quality and Safety Assurance with Extra Commitments:

Infant formula manufacturer Nutricia has restated its world-class commitment to quality, safety and transparent communication, with three extra commitments:

1. Extra controls on suppliers
2. Innovation to improve industry standards 3. Extra commitment to communication with parents and carers

These extra commitments enhance Nutricia’s established quality and safety procedures of rigorous testing, state-of-the-art manufacturing, comprehensive sanitation and hygiene, quality & safety accreditations, and traceability. . .

Pure ambitions for Angus brand – Tim Cronshaw:

A new-look angus brand providing premium payments for farmers will be announced at the World Angus Forum.

Details of the Angus Pure brand development have yet to be revealed, but will centre around new criteria being set for selecting meat carcasses. This will be unveiled during a secretariat meeting at the forum to be held in Rotorua from October 13 to 16.

Forum chairman Tim Brittain said the extension to the brand would offer opportunities for the New Zealand food service sector and for sales to the international marketplace. . .

The diary of a teenage bee – Raymond Huber:

A female bee lives for only about six weeks in summer. But it’s a life lived to the full because she’s constantly changing jobs: from cleaner to babysitter, builder, honey-chef, queen-groomer, guard, forager, undertaker and scout. Here is the diary of a teen bee:

Week 1    Dear Diary, So unfair! The work started the moment I hatched. I had to clean out my birth cell (ew!), then spend the whole week tidying the rest of the hive. My older sisters call me a ‘house bee’ and say I’m not allowed outside ‘til I’m 21 days. And I’m like, no way sister!

Week 2   Dear Diary, Yay! I’m a babysitter. The babies are sooo cute but totally exhausting. I have to check them 1300 times a day (okay, call me obsessive) to make sure they’re okay.  Meanwhile the comb cleaning goes on 4EVAH…

NZer secures top Irish horse for Cup:

Irish St Leger winner Voleuse De Coeurs will be aimed at the Melbourne Cup after New Zealand bloodstock agent Paul Moroney secured the mare in a surprise deal.

Voleuse De Coeurs’ Cup price was slashed to $A17 from $A34 after the announcement she would leave Dermot Weld to be trained by Moroney’s brother Mike Moroney, who is based at Flemington.

The mare will be flown to Newmarket for her quarantine and is expected to arrive in Australia on October 19. . .

$10.3m loss for NPDC Tasmanian farms

New Plymouth District Council’s investment in dairying farming in Tasmania has been a costly one with Tasman Farms reporting a $10.3 million loss.

That loss has clipped a further $5m off New Plymouth District Council’s perpetual investment fund (Pif) in the last financial year and contributed to a $3.9m deficit for the council.  . .

The fund, managed by Taranaki Investment Management Limited (Timl), was created from the sale of the NPDC’s Powerco shares in 2004 for $259m. It peaked in value at $324m in 2008 but is now only worth $212.4m, partly because of money the council has taken out in annual release payments.

Timl has conceded the fund is overweighted in Tasman Farms and has commenced the process to reduce its exposure. . .

We visited the farms at Woolnorth in North West Tasmania last month. They’re owned by the Van Diemen’s Land Company in which Tasman Farms is a major shareholder.

Woolnorth covers 16,800 hectares with 12 rotary and one herringbone dairy shed. Fiver are operated by sharemilkers and eight by managers. A 2,500 hectare heifer raising operation on the property manages 10,000 heifers.

It was an impressive operation but several of us wondered about the wisdom of it as an investment for a district council.

There was a very strong rumour while we were there that Fonterra was interested in buying the farms but the company says it’s not.

 New Plymouth-owned Tasman Farms, Van Diemen’s Land Co’s parent, wants to raise up to $A180 million, with at least $A100 million in fresh equity, and has attracted a potential suitor from China but won’t see Fonterra at the negotiating table.

The New Zealand dairy exporter, which reports its annual results today, will not invest in the Tasmanian farm upgrade, which has reportedly attracted interest from China Investment Corp, the $US200 billion sovereign wealth fund.

“Fonterra has a very strong relationship with VDL as their processing partner but our investment interests in Tasmania are focused on our factories at Spreyton and Wynyard, rather than farms,” a Fonterra spokeswoman says. “We are supportive of any suppliers who are looking to grow and develop their operations.” . . .

Tasmania is often compared to New Zealand. We saw a lot of similarities, and a lot of Kiwi staff and technology on the farms.

Farming is usually a good long-term investment but it takes a lot of capital with small or no returns in the short to medium term, especially if a large-scale development is planned which is what VDL is doing.

NPDC has learned this and if I was a ratepayer I’d be backing the sale.

Apathy front-runner in council elections

Only 15.5 percent of eligible voters in Wellington have voted in the local body elections halfway through the election voting period.

The return rate is even worse in Auckland with only 12.6% of eligible people having voted so far.

Local body elections rarely get the same participation as general elections do but participation in both has been dropping.

The reasons for that are many but I think postal voting, and particularly the length of time people have to vote, might have some impact on council elections.

It’s too easy to miss the envelope or put it somewhere intending to get back to it then forget about it or lose it.

This must be very frustrating to candidates who are putting serious time and money into campaigning.

Some, perhaps many, of those who haven’t voted yet might intend to, but it looks like apathy is the front-runner in council elections at this stage.

There is no easy answer to turning that around, though Keeping Stock points to a Facebook Page Roy Williams for Mayor which seeks to spice the Wanganui mayoral race with satire.

World Smile Day

It’s World Smile Day – please take as many as you like and pass them on.

Harvey Ball, a commercial artist from Worcester, Massachusetts created the smiley face in 1963. That image went on to become the most recognizable symbol of good will and good cheer on the planet.

As the years passed Harvey Ball became concerned about the over-commercialization of his symbol, and how its original meaning and intent had become lost in the constant repetition of the marketplace.  Out of that concern came his idea for World Smile Day®. He thought that we, all of us, should devote one day each year to smiles and kind acts throughout the world.  The smiley face knows no politics, no geography and no religion.  Harvey’s idea was that for at least one day each year, neither should we.  He declared that the first Friday in October each year would henceforth be World Smile Day®. Ever since that first World Smile Day® held in 1999, it has continued every year in Smiley’s hometown of Worcester, MA and around the world.

After Harvey died in 2001, the Harvey Ball World Smile Foundation was created to honor his name and memory.  The Foundation continues as the official sponsor of World Smile Day® each year. . .

And from World Smile Day on Facebook:

* And another thing. What’s all this fuss in the US about “grin control”? Who needs that?…

* Maybe every country in the world should have a cabinet level Department of Smiles…

>

October 4 in history

23 – Rebels captured and sacked the Chinese capital Chang’an during a peasant rebellion.

610 Heraclius arrived by ship from Africa at Constantinople, overthrew Byzantine Emperor Phocas and became Emperor.

663  The battle of Baekgang began.

1209  Otto IV was crowned emperor of the Holy Roman Empire by Pope Innocent III.

1227  Assassination of Caliph al-Adil.

1363  End of the Battle of Lake Poyang; the Chinese rebel forces of Zhu Yuanzhang defeated that of his rival, Chen Youliang, in one of the largest naval battles in history.

1511  Formation of the Holy League of Ferdinand II of Aragon, the Papal States and the Republic of Venice against France.

1537 The first complete English-language Bible (the Matthew Bible) was printed, with translations by William Tyndale and Miles Coverdale.

1582 Pope Gregory XIII implemented the Gregorian Calendar. In Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Spain, October 4 of this year was followed directly by October 15.

1626 – Richard Cromwell, Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland, was born (d. 1712).

1636 The Swedish Army defeated the armies of Saxony and the Holy Roman Empire at the Battle of Wittstock.

1693  Battle of Marsaglia: Piedmontese troops were defeated by the French.

1777  Battle of Germantown: Troops under George Washington were repelled by British troops under Sir William Howe.

1779 The Fort Wilson Riot.

1824  Mexico adopted a new constitution and becomes a federal republic.

1830 Creation of the state of Belgium after separation from The Netherlands.

1853  Crimean War: The Ottoman Empire declared war on Russia.

1876  Texas A&M University opened as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, becoming the first public institution of higher education in Texas.

1883  First run of the Orient Express.

1883 – First meeting of the Boys’ Brigade in Glasgow.

1895 Buster Keaton, American comedian, was born (d. 1966).

1895 The first U.S. Open Men’s Golf Championship administered by the United States Golf Association was played at the Newport Country Club.

1910  Declaration of the Portuguese Republic. King Manuel II fled to the United Kingdom.

1910 – Adoption of the Flag of Bermuda.

1918  An explosion killed more than 100 and destroyed the T.A. Gillespie Company Shell Loading Plant in Sayreville, New Jersey.

1921 Riccardo Zanella became the first elected president of Free State of Fiume.

1923 US actor Charlton Heston was born(d 2008).

1927  Gutzon Borglum began sculpting Mount Rushmore.

1928  Alvin Toffler, American novelist, was born.

1931 Sir Terence Conran, English designer, restaurateur, retailer and writer, was born.

1937 English writer Jackie Collins was born.

1941 Anne Rice, American writer, was born.

1941 Norman Rockwell’s Willie Gillis character debuted on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post.

1942 Johanna Sigurdardottir, Prime Minister of Iceland, was born.

1943  U.S. captured Solomon Islands.

1947 Jim Fielder, American bassist (Blood, Sweat & Tears), was born.

1957 Auckland businessman Morris Yock trademarked the jandel.

1957  Launch of Sputnik I, the first artificial satellite to orbit the Earth.

1957  Avro Arrow roll-out ceremony at Avro Canada plant in Malton, Ontario.

1958  Fifth Republic of France was established.

1959 Chris Lowe, British musician (Pet Shop Boys), was born.

1960  Eastern Air Lines Flight 375, a Lockheed L-188 Electra, crashed after a bird strike on takeoff from Boston’s Logan International Airport, killing 62 of 72 on board.

1962 Carlos Carsolio, Mexican alpinist. Fourth person to summit all 14 of the eight-thousanders.

1966  Basutoland becomes independent from the United Kingdom and was renamed Lesotho.

1967  Omar Ali Saifuddin III of Brunei abdicated in favour of his son, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah.

1976  Official launch of theIntercity 125 High Speed Train (HST).

1983   Richard Noble set a new land speed record of 633.468 mph (1,019 km/h), driving Thrust 2 at the Black Rock Desert, Nevada.

1985   Free Software Foundation was founded in Massachusetts.

1991  The Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty was opened for signature.

1992  The Rome General Peace Accords ended a 16 year civil war in Mozambique.

1992   El Al Flight 1862: an El Al Boeing 747-258F crashed into two apartment buildings in Amsterdam, killing 43 including 39 on the ground.

1993  Russian Constitutional Crisis: In Moscow, tanks bombard the White House, a government building that housed the Russian parliament, while demonstrators against President Boris Yeltsin rallied outside.

1997 The second largest cash robbery in U.S. history took place at the Charlotte, North Carolina office of Loomis, Fargo and Company.

1999 – the first World Smile Day was celebrated.

2001  NATO confirmed invocation of Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty.

2001  Siberia Airlines Flight 1812: a Sibir Airlines Tupolev TU-154 crashed into the Black Sea after being struck by an errant Ukrainian S-200 missile. 78 people were killed.

2003  Maxim restaurant suicide bombing in Haifa: 21  people were killed, and 51 others wounded.

2004  SpaceShipOne won the Ansari X Prize for private spaceflight, by being the first private craft to fly into space.

2010 – The Ajka plant accident in western Hungary released about a million cubic metres (35 million cubic feet) of liquid alumina sludge. Nine people were killed and 122 injured, and the Marcal and Danube rivers were severely contaminated.

Sourced from NZ history Online & Wikipedia