Beehive Bulletin For Week Ending - Friday 12 July 2002

BEEHIVE BULLETIN FOR WEEK ENDING - FRIDAY 12 JULY 2002

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Record number of employment placements achieved

Eighteen percent more job seekers were placed into long-term employment by Work and Income in the year to June than during the previous year ? taking total long-term job placements to over 50,000 for the first time. Social Services and Employment Minister Steve Maharey said Work and Income achieved 51,535 three-months or longer job placements for the year ended 30 June 2002. In the 2000-01-year, Work and Income achieved 43,429 long-term job placements. As the ANZ Job Ads survey noted yesterday employment growth looks set to continue.

Crown and Ngati Awa initial Deed of Settlement

The Crown this week initialled a Deed of Settlement with Ngati Awa at Parliament. Treaty Negotiations Minister Margaret Wilson said the road to settlement for Ngati Awa has been a long one with negotiations starting about six years ago, and the initialling represented a historic milestone. She said a lot of credit is due to the dedication and perseverance of the people of Ngati Awa and their negotiators as well as Crown officials. Ngati Awa, from Mataatua waka, is located in the Eastern Bay of Plenty and has 13,000 people and 22 hapu. The draft Deed of Settlement sets out the Crown's settlement offer for the historical claims of Ngati Awa that, in general terms, relate to land confiscation and other dealings which left Ngati Awa virtually landless. The offer is made up of a redress package that includes an agreed historical account and formal Crown apology, cultural redress including the transfer of seven sites of significance to Ngati Awa, and a combination of cash and Crown- owned land up to the value of $42.39 million. Ngati Awa will not begin their formal ratification process, nor will the parties sign the Deed of Settlement, until the current Tribunal and High Court processes in relation to this matter have been completed. The undertaking that has been given allows overlapping groups to work through the course of action they have chosen, before the Deed of Settlement is finalised.

Polls shows New Zealanders love culture

New Zealanders enjoy culture, according to a recent survey showing that 93 per cent of adult New Zealanders had in the last year engaged in at least one cultural activity. Commissioned by the Ministry for Culture and Heritage and conducted by Statistics New Zealand in the first quarter of 2002, the survey covers a range of cultural activities including buying books, visiting libraries, art galleries and museums, and attending live theatre and music performances. The first release of data shows that very large numbers of people were involved in the most popular cultural activities. Over 1.3 million people visited an art gallery or museum in the last year. Just over 1 million attended a live popular music performance. Around 43 per cent of the adult population had bought a book in the four weeks prior to the survey. In addition, more than a million people had visited a public library in the last four weeks. The survey was conducted as a supplement to the Household Labour Force Survey. 13,475 New Zealanders aged of 15 years and over, living in private households, were interviewed.

NZ trade fair in Fiji

Trade Negotiations Minister Jim Sutton this week opened a trade fair of New Zealand exporters in Fiji. The trade fair was the first New Zealand fair to be held in Fiji for more than two years. Fiji is New Zealand's 23rd largest trading partner, taking more than $217 million of New Zealand's exports last year. Among the top export products are machinery, meat, dairy products, vegetables, iron and steel, paper, plastic, and pharmaceutical products. There will be 25 companies attending the fair, ranging from fruit juice company Pinto and wine company Nobilo, to housing and construction companies such as Fletcher Aluminium, Nuplex Industries, and Signature Building Systems.

New 'Guardians of Lake Wanaka'

Minister of Conservation Sandra Lee has announced the appointment of two new Guardians of Lake Wanaka, and the re-appointment of three others. The new appointees were Bill Hislop, of Wanaka, who will be the chairperson, and Laurel Teirney, of Dunedin. They join re- appointed members Dr Mike Floate, of Tarras, as well as Chas Morris, and Sally Waast, both from Wanaka. Mr Hislop is the former Chief Ranger of Mount Aspiring National Park, while Ms Teirney is a resource management consultant with a background in fisheries, particularly freshwater fisheries. The lake is protected by special legislation that provides the Guardians with a watchdog role to ensure that the lake and its shoreline remain unspoilt for the enjoyment of future generations. The Guardians of Lake Wanaka are empowered under the Lake Wanaka Preservation Act 1973 to report and make recommendations to the Minister of Conservation.

New special agricultural trade envoy appointed

Former Dairy Board chairman Graham Fraser will be New Zealand's next special agricultural trade envoy, Trade Negotiations and Agriculture Minister Jim Sutton has announced. Mr Fraser will succeed former Federated Farmers president Malcolm Bailey as envoy, to continue New Zealand's global lobbying campaign for liberalisation in agricultural trade. Mr Fraser's appointment has been made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. He will be a special envoy with ambassadorial status. His role will be to promote and defend New Zealand's agricultural trading interests in key export markets, including the European Union, the United States and Asia.

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