FUNNY AS A SHAG SLIDING ON KELP

YIP THE BLOG POST OF THE MONTH... maybe even the year from the bad young boys at NO MINISTER... -- its here

LEFTY HYPOCRITE GETS THE BIFF FROM HARMAN

Richard Harman rightly gets snotty on Facebook over Tom Frewen's NBR

(hard copy only) spew on a Harman produced programme.

Is the Tom Frewan who writes in NBR today complaining about Front Page getting NZ on Air money for "The Nation" the same trough gorging wanker who gets money from the Clerk of The House to produce a sanitised daily radio roundup of Parliament? Is he "In House Productions" himself gets $50,000 a year from NZ on Air for his audio Hansard to play on Radio Live? Is he a hypocrite? Yes, he is!

Sock it to the lefty tosser Richard, sock it to em .

EXCLUSIVE - THE WINDS OF CHANGE ARE BLOWING IN THE SOUTH.

The best news we have had for a week. Wally Stone has been elected as a runanga representative of Ngati Wheke to the Te Runanga O Ngai Tahu ruling council.

Wally , who has the huge respect of the New Zealand business community fell foul of Mark Solomon and left his job as chair of the financial power house of Ngai Tahu empire - Ngai Tahu Holding corp earlier this year.

The last ten years has seen an unstable tribe council riven by bitter personality battles that have spilled into the public arena.

We have been happy to put our hand up and say that Solomon must go.

His reign at the top of the "Table" has not unified the tribe. And his ego has prevented him from making the decision that would have shown integrity - to step aside.

Just recently we came across Solomon in the Wellington Airport - he yelled at us and waved his big Solomon finger in our face. He is obviously no fan of Roarprawn and BustedBlonde and we saw first hand why some people believe he is a bully.

It was not the action of a man of dignity.

But we are not scared of him. Instead we just laughed at him. His finger may be big but his mana is puny.

So the election of Tahu Potiki last week and Wally Stone this week means that we will see a change of direction in our tribes politics. We hope that it will mean that Solomon will finally show some humility and step down.

Our dream team would be Wally Stone at the helm with Tahu Potiki as deputy and to ensure that we dont see anymore swinging dicks, that the role of the chair is more clearly defined on governance and not the semi titular head it appears to have become.

We also want to see some of the people who have built their own businesses and shown strong leadership representing Ngai Tahu on boards and organisations around the country instead of the same old tired faces who have been sychophants of Solomon.

We also want to see Ngai Tahu take the lead and form stronger relationships with other iwi so that we can take advantage of the economies of scale that joint ventures with other tribes can offer.

And we want, apart from issues of commercial sensitivy, utter transparency. No more PR spin glossing up the tribes performance - tell it like it is.

We are well pleased with todays events as every Ngai Tahi beneficiary should be. We firmly believe that together Potiki and Stone have the brains, financial prudence and wise leadership to take the tribe forward. Kia Kaha to you both.

CRUSH 'EM JUDITH

We have been waiting for police to be given some serious firepower to tackle organised crime - that these days often has a respectable face.

Essentially it means that if someone cant explain where they got the money to live in a mansion and have a big boat and a few Harleys out back then they can be seized.

Its the type of law crime bosses fear.

Well done to Minister of Police Judith Collins for setting up the Asset Recovery Unit.


We have blogged repeatedly on the Headhunters gang and its time someone took a good hard look at how they live and how they manage to fund their lifestyles.

and we were delighted that the Tribesmen were the first targets of the Unit.

Go get em boys -

THE GREAT AUSTRALIAN BITE

We adore Great White sharks... and we wear the tooth of a 16 footer around our neck that our dad caught about 45 years ago. So were were agog at this story from Aussie where a shark took a serious bite out of another shark...


yikes.

AHH WHAT MASTERY

We went to a superb event tonight. It was a birthday party.. Bril it was... There was a low brow affair over at Dockside and some Totty do at the other end of Shed Five but it was the Green Room that was the place to be seen. Wall to wall blondes and a peppering of politicos and diplomats. Power was the perfume. Everyone was gold elite..

And the queen of PR and schmoozing, the luscious LM, was the goddess of good times we happily paid homage to.

We were her servants and waited and feted her as was fitting for the queen of plonk and prawns. As this picture shows our Indigo Lord of Blogs himself was happy to ensure that she was kept perfectly coiffured.

The great mystery of the night is how did he gain such expertise in perfectly applying lip gloss?

ON BILL ENGLISH

Its all about Bill this morning.... Kiwiblog has a analytical take on the English accomodation issue.

Cactus on the other hand has a fascinating take on the deputy Prime Minister.

And Home Paddock thinks Bill has been exonerated.

We think that Labour will still chip away merrily on this issue for some time to come.

GUESS WHO

Cactus has an intriguing post this morning about someone who is having a breather from his missus and is more than a little concerned because he lacks some legal cover to protect his assets.

Apparently he must have seen his lovely through rose coloured specs when they first got hitched.

Poor man.
Or should we say poorer man.

PARTAY OF THE YEAR

We have an invite to the soiree that we think will launch the Wellington Christmas Party scene. Wellington's resident Patsy is the birthday host. Everyone without an invite is Green with envy.

Ah the gossip, the intrigue, the canapes, the bubbles, the politics, the botox, the heaving breasts, the pinstripes, the braids.

Dahling, Dahling, mwah mwah!

ENOUGH ALREADY !

Right for the second time in the history of Roarprawn we see the need to moderate the comments section of the blog posts. Both times it has occured over Ngai Tahu issues.

Ngai Tahu debate on the Marae is vigorous as it is on the blogosphere but people need to think before they comment.

Sowe will be moderating all comments in the coming weeks. That means you can write what you like but if we feel it it crosses the border we will delete it. If you dont like that then write your own blog.

TAHU POTIKI AT THE NGAI TAHU TABLE

We were delighted to hear today that former Ngai Tahu CE Tahu Potiki is to represent Otakau at The Table , the tribes ruling council.

Tahu is an abrasive, arrogant big shit but he does have a good head on his shoulders and the will to see the tribe head in a better direction. He will need to marshall all his best qualities to help turn the ruling council into the governing body the iwi needs to take advantage of its unique position in the South Island economy.

Tahu is set to play an important role in bringing some cohesiveness and good governance to the tribe.
We are hoping for a few more new more representatives to take their places at what will be a pivotal time in the tribes development. This is not a job for one alone. It will require all representatives to work together..

We need leaders who will start the tribe looking forward, not back and bear no grudges, people who will stand the iwi on its collective feet and stop relying on government hand outs to fill the tribal coffers.

We need our leaders to work across Maoridom to give us the economies of scale to take advantage of the opportunities that are on offer.

We want the tribes economic performance based on real asset growth and not on the amount of money it has wheedled out of the government.

We need leaders who give us the real warts and all version of what is happening with our collective business to give us a level of comfort and trust.

We all know that mistakes will be made but we want leaders to tell it like it is.

We, above all, want leaders who make us proud to be Ngai Tahu.

NGAI TAHU RESULT DISAPPOINTING AND LACKING CLARITY

This is the press release on Ngai Tahus result. We have tried to give some clarity to the "spin"

Tribe Well Positioned Despite Volatile Operating Climate

Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu has announced a net surplus of $13.3m for its commercial entities amid a climate of testing global market conditions.

As ever is hard to fathom what the real result is - however on the face of it, Ngai Tahu returned $13m on $513m of assets, or 2.5%. If you'd put the money in the bank at (say 7%) at the start of the year you'd have made just shy of $36m - so for the benefit of having the smart guys in charge we lost $23m.

In an announcement today, Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu Kaiwhakahaere, Mark Solomon, says that the results are pleasing in light of the difficult economic operating climate and reflect the strength of the balance sheet and its underlying assets.

"While the financial picture is not what we would desire, given the environment of the past year I deem our performance is as good as could be expected. We were in the fortunate position of having a strong balance sheet coming into the recession. Our collective tribal assets are strong, we have grown our equity by $13m to $526m, reduced our term debt and have positioned ourselves well to take advantage of growth periods ahead. In addition we generated a cash flow (after distribution) of $25 million from operating activities.

However the issue of distributions and how they work as well as cash flows is unsure given Ngai Tahu's spread of holdings, let alone their valuation basis and taxation advantages. However if we are really kind, let's say they actually "made" $25m (from the group distribution of $22m and debt reduction of $3m) - well you're still short of the risk free rate of $36m as above. Of course that approach would mean there are a bunch of people in Te Wai pounamu house who wouldn't have got paid.....

"I believe the results are a reward for our intergenerational policies and conservative approach to financial investment. While our profits were well down on the previous year, we have still registered a profit and have been able to honour our commitment to Ngai Tahu Whanui. Our different business sectors have performed ahead of many of their competitors in these difficult times."

Ngai Tahu Holdings Corporation Chair, Trevor Burt says, "While the past year has been our most challenging yet, the Group delivered a positive result at both the operating profit and net surplus level. The cash flow result of $25 million from operating activities is particularly pleasing.

"These results have largely been achieved due to the commitment and maturity of our team in hitting the challenges head on and making the tough calls that have positioned us well for the future."

And that forex policy looks a ripper

So let's be a bit less generous and say that the expected return from any commercial venture should be as a premium over that risk free rate from the point of view of an investor - the debate then focuses on what that premium should be, ie how high is the risk, and for example an SOE in the international sector might look to have a rate of just over 10% which could be a target for the Seafood company (though I'd suggest nearer 12% would be a minimum) and then the gap on the performance becomes quite stark.

Simply put, the performance of any commercial entity that is subject to political interference will always underperform over the medium to long term.

This sentiment has been echoed by Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu CEO, Anake Goodall,

"Across the board there has been a commitment to work together to ensure the interests of our 45,000 plus stakeholders were protected as much as possible against the impact of the recession. Of particular note, we've managed to reduce expenditure by 11% without damaging the integrity of the underlying programmes and Ngai Tahu Holdings Group reducing our term debt by $3m.

"There is no denying that we have endured some difficult times over the past year but we have learnt from each of our challenges and as a result have reflected and refined our operations to put us in good stead moving forward."

Ngai Tahu Holdings Group Subsidiary Results in brief:

The downturn in the property sector impacted significantly on Ngai Tahu Property with an operating EBIT of $15.6m, a decrease of $3.5m on the previous year.

Ngai Tahu Seafood, while struggling with the volatility in the exchange rate which resulted in exchange rate losses of over $6m, managed to report its best ever underlying trading result, up 12% on the previous year. The result was an operating EBIT of $4.7 million. In response to the foreign exchange issues, a full review of its hedging policy has been undertaken and the necessary measures put in place to avoid a repeat in the future.

The full impact of the global credit crisis hit just prior to the beginning of the peak tourist season creating huge challenges for Ngai Tahu Tourism. However they still managed to deliver a net surplus of $6.4m, (down $2.1m on the previous year) and an operating EBIT ahead of forecast of $5.3m.

Ryman Healthcare continues its long-standing tenure as one of our leading investments and despite the economic environment delivered another strong performance resulting in a 1% increase in share price over June 2008 and dividends of $2.1m.

"While all of our entities have felt the impact of the operating climate, I am proud of how they have responded to the challenges and am confident that with our strong balance sheet we are well positioned for growth when the upturn comes," says Trevor Burt. Ngai Tahu Holdings Group delivered a distribution of just under $22m to Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu.

METLINK NEEDS TO SORT THE WAIRARAPA TRAIN

We are ensconced on the Masterton to Wellington train.It is bloody hot, the carriages have sat in the sun all day - and by our reckoning it is a parching 27 - 28 deg. Now every carriage has a drink station. But guess what ? no bloody cups. We asked the conductor who says that this train doesn't have the right carriages to have cups. We don't know what the hell that means but when we arrived at 4.20 and got on the train early ( it leaves at 4.50) there were four train blokes standing around with their digits up there arses. What would it have taken them to ensure there were a few cups. It is very uncomfortable especially for older folk.

Today we also have buses from Upper Hutt. That is inevitable from time to time for track maintenence but the buses have to be the most foul buses in the whole country. We are sure they have been used to truck incontinent rest home residents, sweaty rugby players and vomiting pub crawlers and possibly all at once. They really are the worst buses we have ever travelled on. It will be interesting to see if they are used again tonight.

HEY LABOUR, BILL LIU GOTCHA.

Well well , it seems some of our old snouts have been leaking to Whaleoil over at Gotcha. He has the Blog of the week here with some interesting information on Bill Liu.

We have covered this story often over the last year. We always reckoned it had serious legs and whales blog adds some more pieces to the puzzle.

We think there is a serious possibility that this story will outrank Philip Fields on the scandal scale.

BLOG ROUND UP

We were the lone voice among the VWRC when the petulant Michael Laws gave a lovely bunch of kids some stick for getting crappy about the spelling of Whanganui. Today however, Adam over at Inquiring Mind has an elegant take down of the dick head Joris de Bres who decided to give the kids concerned a certificate. While we still say that Laws handled the whole affair badly, De Bres has again shown he is a dork. So Adam gets top points for his take down.

Kiwiblog is afraid, that his honest and spot on analysis of Key in very public forums may not endear him to the PM.


Alf Grumble covers the most important event of the week.

And the doom merchants over at Red Alert blather on about the Bridgestone closure

PLANTED

We have Laboured this weekend, We have planted, spuds, Jersey Bennies,Red Kings, and some purple maori spuds, zuccinni, green and yellow, butter nut pumpkin, caulis, broccoli, tomatoes, peppers, coriannder, onions, parsley, mint, orgeano, vietnamese mint, chives, spinach and lettuces. Our goosberry bushes are laden, and the apple and pears are heavy with fruit.

We are a little weary, good weary none the less.

PORTHOLES

Our father, who is relatively well known for his un PC take on life often refers to sunglasses as Maori portholes. Now cos he is a Maori he can get away with it.

Today we wore our flash 5 year old Maori portholes with pride after they rated a mention in the NZ Herald on an article on Bob Jones.

Our encounter with Jones a week ago is documented here.

However despite the fact that Jones can be a rude and obnoxious old git, we are absolutely delighted he is going to stir up next years Wellington City Council race.
Hell- a bloody loo - ya.

We have been hearing that a good team is being readied. Excellent. We want to see business savvy, creative people who can take the city to the next level.

We also agree with Jone's idea to ban all cars in the central city and turn it into a bloody great promenade and mall.

Wellington local body elections are always so bloody boring and Jones is just the bastard to spice them up. Hell we might even take off our sunglasses to attend the launch..

SPREAD THE FEVER

We have been delighted with the fantastic win over Canterbury by the Southland Stags which has seen the Log of Wood rest in Southland over the Summer. In fact, it is fitting at this time , that this great piece of Rugby history, the Ranfurly Shield should rest in one of the rural provinces.

The provincial reaction to the return on of the great trophy should send a signal to the people who are organising the rugby World Cup. Its time to start building up the support to the Big Event. Its time to start bringing the country, the whole country, in together. We have as they say 4 million ambassadors.

But without a doubt this going to be a big mission and many of those in the events and PR industries are starting to voice concern that the Government and indeed the Rugby World Cup 2011 are leaving the job to build the fever a little late.

Its not like Rugby is the thing that binds us as a nation anymore. We saw that when we attended the Wellington vs North Harbour Game last weekend. The small crowd looked lonely.

We remember 10 years ago when it seemed the whole of Wellington would turn out for the most uneven of rugby battles. The city pumped, there was hardly a seat in any pubs as they took care of the overflow of the punters who could only settle for seeing the game on a big screen. They were the glory days.

As we walked to the game last Saturday the pubs were virtually empty. There was no buzz.

So those who are organising the Big Event are starting with the biggest of handicaps - Apathy.

And to build the fervour, to get everyone excited, and to understand that an event the size of the Rugby World Cup will have untold the spin offs , the like of which we saw with the Lions tour, then someone needs to start infecting the provinces with rugby fever...

And we don't want the flashy stories of who the rugby stars are shagging, We want to hear about the stories of the players who wouldn't be All Blacks if its wasn't for the unfailing support of their mum who cleaned nights to pay for her boys new rugby boots and his out of town trips.

We want to hear of the fundraising groups who tirelessly make cheese rolls and lamingtons so that the boys can play under flood lights at night.

We want to hear that someone is willing to donate a kidney to one of our greatest sporting heros so he can live. We want to hear that they make good dads.

And we want to see them playing hard like its not a job but something they were born to do - that to play the great game was their destiny.

We don't want to hear about superstars just heroes. Heroes like the Southland Stags. That's what the story of the Rugby World Cup should be all about. Ordinary people with big hearts doing great things. Stories that will infect us with pride.

Tell us those stories and we will catch the fever.

FAMILIES COMMISSION NEEDS A SMACK

How silly is this... The only thing the
Families Commission does of note is run the successful White Ribbon anti Domestic Violence Awareness campaign.


Now they also back the Super Maori Fullas who are strong champions for anti violence. But who the hell thought that a government agency should stick out a press release highlighting the fact that the Super Maori Fullas were going to ride to Wellington to complain about a hike in ACC bike levies?


More bizzare behaviour from the feel good flossies at the Families Commission. DUH!

Bike Riders have busy November

Thursday, 22 October 2009, 5:56 pm
Press Release: White Ribbon

Bike Riders throughout New Zealand have confirmed that they will participate in two rides during a busy November.

Motorcyclists are preparing to converge on Parliament next month to express their concerns about the proposed increases to ACC levies and a week later, take part in the first National White Ribbon Ride being organised by the Families Commission, Super Maori Fullas and the Patriot Motorcycle Club.
Shane Henry, former soldier and Patriot Motorcycle Club member, says “many riders I’ve spoken to are looking forward to a busy November. It’s the traditional start of the riding season with the onset of better riding weather.”

“While we are all concerned at the proposed increase in ACC charges, we are committed to riding for the benefit of others by taking part in the White Ribbon Ride. Our members want to stand up and say that violence to women is not OK. This is a message that we are passionate about,” says Shane.

The Patriots are all former or serving members of the New Zealand Defence Forces. Shane Henry says, “ New Zealand is seen as a peacekeeping nation and our members have a background of serving their country. We now want to play a part in reducing violence in our own neck of the woods. That’s why we are supporting the White Ribbon Ride. I just want to say to all motorcycle riders, join us on the White Ribbon Ride and let us show the country that we can unite and support this great cause.”

The White Ribbon leaves from Westpac Stadium in Wellington following four routes up the North Island . The four rides will visit over 35 towns and cities across the North Island picking up riders on their way north. At many of the ‘meet and greet’ locations, events have been planned and the public will have the opportunity to meet the riders.

Men throughout New Zealand who wish to join the White Ribbon Ride should visit www.whiteribbon.org.nz to register.

Avid rider Mike King says, “I’m looking forward to taking my Harley Davidson on the White Ribbon Ride. It’s an opportunity for men to pledge never to commit, condone or remain silent about violence towards women, and this is one ride that I’m not going to miss.”

“As a comedian and performer I’ve always been lucky that I get paid to do things I enjoy, so work and fun are often combined. On the White Ribbon Ride I get to ride my Harley and stand up for something I believe in.”
“Growing up I was taught by my father never to hit girls and I have passed this message on to my son and my nephews. In our whanau there is a zero tolerance level for violence of any sort towards women!"

“I also have two lovely daughters and I want them and their potential boyfriends to know that violence against women is not OK. I’m proud to take part in this ride and look forward to meeting other men who are willing to stand up and be counted. Not that I will be standing while riding my bike. Would be a shame to see my ACC premiums rise!”

Statistics in New Zealand
• An average of 14 women a year are killed by their partners or ex partners.
• There are over 3500 convictions recorded against men each year for assaults on women.
• One in three women will experience partner violence at some point in their lives.

Update: spotted by the eagled eyed Hong Kong harridan - White Ribbon is also sponsored by ... yip ACC.

WE WON WE WON WE WON!!!!!

Southland has taken the Ranfurly Shield off Canterbury! Well thats a bloody turn up.. We are proud.!!!! Woohooo!!!! Take that red and black...

Go the Stags!

Update : We have been to a few shield games but this is the first time in 50 years Southland have taken home the Log O Wood.

She's gonna be a big night in the garden city...

Score was 9=3

BEGGIN YER PARDON M'LORD

Apparently we have come to the attention of the Lord bloggers in Britain. They are all from the House of Lords...

We are delighted that they have acknowledged the colonials in the antipodes.

Welcome to our New Zealand readers

Thanks to kiwiblog, as well as roarprawn and Alf Grumble, we have attracted a fair amount of traffic from New Zealand as well as apparently generating a little internal debate there. I hope our New Zealand readers will become regular followers, adding to our international readership.

This entry was written by lordnorton, posted on October 21, 2009 at 9:14 pm,

Well done chaps. Any time you want a extra rider at the hunt give us a shout... We have been blooded you know.

Arohanui and toodle pip.

CHAMPS BACK HEAL AND PROTECT

We are delighted to announce some serious support for the project to rebuild the community centre in the tsunami ravaged village of Poutasi in Samoa . Project Heal and Protect will also raise funds to install a Tsunami warning system throughout the island.

Stars swing in behind Project Heal & Protect

Media Statement 22 October 2009

For immediate use

128 rugby and league stars and enthusiastic golfers will be swinging at the Miramar Golf Course next week (Wednesday 28 October) to raise funds for the Samoa tsunami relief effort.

Wellington businessmen, Ian Klinac, and Steven McLauchlan, (Wellington New World) have put the tournament together to raise funds for Project Heal and Protect. (Poloketi Toe Fa’alelei ma Puipuia)

"We could have sold enough teams to fill two golf courses; it’s been a very generous show of support by the people of Wellington,” Mr Klinac said.

Former All Black great 'Smokin' Joe Stanley will travel south for the event with sporting greats Monty Beetham, Frano Botica, Peter Fatialofa, Logan Swann, Stacey Jones, Olo Brown, Frank Bunce and Junior Tonu'u. They will be joined by Wellington heroes Alama Ieremia, Christian Cullen and Norm Hewitt.

Mr Klinac said as well as the stars who will be playing, exclusive sporting memorabilia is on the way from overseas.

“Tana Umaga, Filo Tiatia and Pita Alitini are sending 'limited edition' items to be auctioned.

“Michael Jones, Inga Tuigamala and David Tua have also pledged their support by donating pieces of memorabilia,” he said.

Pacific Blue Airlines have kindly sponsored the flights with the Abel Tasman Hotel, Wellington sponsoring the accommodation.

“The support we have had from so many Wellington companies to make this event happen at no cost has been overwhelming.”

The golf tournament starts at 12 noon. Spectators welcome.

All monies raised at the event will go the Project Heal and Protect Charitable Trust which is to rebuild the community centre at Poutasi Village and purchase and install tsunami warning sirens across Samoa.

Project Heal and Protect is the brainchild of Wellington telco support company Oceanic Group and Director Locky Mulholland, said he was over the moon with the generosity and support shown by Wellington businesses.

More information about Project Heal and Protect (Poloketi Toe Fa’alelei ma Puipuia) can be found at http://www.oclgroup.co.nz/project-heal-and-protect/ or you can ring on +64 4 384 7266 or email healandprotect@oclgroup.co.nz

Ends

For further information contact Chris Wikaira 027 45 22 472 or Tina Nixon 027 22 32 789

HANDS ACROSS THE WATER

We are pleased to be involved in this great project. We got involved because it is a practical way to help the people of Samoa. Both the community centre and the Emergency warning systems are what the people want and our mates at Oceanic are the sort of "get stuff done" buggers who will see the projects through to fruition. So if you want to become part of this project the contact details are at the end.

Kiwi Telco kicks off Project Heal and Protect

Poloketi Toe Fa’alelei ma Puipuia

A Wellington based Telco support company has kicked off a project to rebuild part of one of villages worst hit by the recent tsunami and to construct a new tsunami warning system for the whole of Samoa.

Project Heal and Protect (Polokei Toe Fa’alelei ma Puipuia) was put together by Oceanic Group after senior staff saw the devastation caused by the September 29 tsunami.

Oceanic Group provides support services for a number of telco companies across the South Pacific, including to Digicel in Samoa.

Oceanic Group Director, Locky Mulholland, said they usually prefer to work behind the scenes, but he felt compelled to do something after seeing the aftermath of the natural disaster.

“We are a community focussed company and we struggled to comprehend what had happened to our colleagues and friends in Samoa and that set us to thinking about what we could do to help,” Mr Mulholland said.

Mr Mulholland said the result is the Project Heal and Protect (Poloketi Toe Fa’alelei ma Puipuia) Charitable Trust.

The Heal part of the project refers to a plan to build a new community centre for the village of Poutasi; which being right on the beach bore the full brunt of the Tsunami.

“The community centre and its sports fields was a vital part of daily life in the village and it stood out as an obvious choice to us.

“It will be rebuilt on higher ground so it can be a safe haven for residents of the village during a natural disaster,” Mr Mulholland said.

The Protect part of the project will be the purchase and installation of tsunami warning sirens across Samoa.

These will be erected on Digicel cellphone towers and will be linked back to the new civil defence headquarters which is to be built by Digicel itself.

Mr Mulholland said the response to the project has been incredible with a number of companies giving time and services for nothing to support the project and the list is growing by the day.

“We have architects, builders, Telco companies, sports stars, radio stations, lawyers, engineers, project managers, league players, public relations consultants, building supplies companies all supporting us.”

The Project Heal and Protect Charitable Trust has been lodged with the Charities Commission, independent trustees have been appointed and a trust bank account has been set up.

Words of support from HE Asi Tuiataga JF Blakelock, Samoa High Commissioner to New Zealand.

“Samoa has been drastically affected by the earthquake and tsunami; however our people remain hopeful and determined to rebuild our island nation. I am truly grateful and applaud Oceanic Holdings (International) Ltd for initiating ‘Project Heal & Protect.’

It is aid such as this, that reminds us Samoans not to lose hope and to continue to unite to restore Samoa to what it was before September 29.

In addition to restoring infrastructure, the National Evacuation Siren System to be implemented by Oceanic thru Digicel, will hopefully improve Samoa’s preparations for any future natural disasters.

On behalf of the government and people of Samoa, I convey our appreciation for their invaluable generosity. I would also like to personally thank Mr Locky Mulholland (Director) and partners for their genuine concern and tremendous efforts to bring hope and comfort to Samoa in this time of crisis.”

ENDS

Account details for Donations

Account Name: Heal and Protect
Account Number: 030502 0416719 00
Swift Code: WPACNZ2W

Media Information

For more information about Project Heal and Protect (Poloketi Toe Fa’alelei ma Puipuia) you can ring us on +64 4 384 7266 or email us at healandprotect@oclgroup.co.nz

For further information contact:
Chris Wikaira +64 27 45 22 472
Or
Tina Nixon +64 27 22 32 789