News that a CCTV network is close to a reality for Queenstown and will hopefully be installed in the CBD by the time of Winter Festival is proof that, however long it takes, common sense eventually prevails over stupidity. For it is absolute stupidity for any business, public or private, to operate without adequate protection for its stakeholders. In the case of QLDC, those stakeholders are QLDC employees and other public servants, the rate payers and residents, and our approximately 2 million visitors per year.

A CCTV system, which will cost less than a third of those “award winning lavatories” in Frankton, is well overdue. It is the obvious answer to so many problems that have tarnished the reputation of our town. Vandalism, violence and accusations of irresponsible business practices could all have been proven as true or false with a simple frame by frame sequence of events captured on CCTV.

Imagine a drunk who stumbles out of his downtown backpackers obviously intoxicated from ‘pre-loading’ in his unit. He stops a passing couple, makes hand gesture at them, and continues on to urinate on a shop window. Then stops another couple and punches an innocent man. When the drunken guy goes to swing again the man defends himself by pushing the drunk backwards. The drunk falls down hitting his head dead.

Without CCTV evidence the manslaughter case would be decided on eye witness accounts. It only takes one person to imagine a lead up argument between the two men for the police to conclude the drunken guy and the man who pushed him were involved in a full blown fight and with no evidence to support the truth a conviction for manslaughter will most probably follow.

But, although I applaud this proposed installation, I shake my head in disbelief when I see the planned layout. It is my opinion that a CCTV system should cover the whole CBD not just half of it. Surely the large areas of the CBD uncovered by the proposed cameras like Rees Street and The Mall are worthy of inclusion and protection? If there is one positive thing about QLDC waiting so long to press the go button on a CCTV system, the hardware is now dirt cheap particularly when you look in the right place, for example China. The sense of security the public can look forward to is well worth the investment of covering the entire CBD.

Here I was thinking the big issues facing Queenstown are infrastructure, conference centres and Milford tunnels, however according to the readers of the Lakes Weekly Bulletin the biggest issue is whether to pick up a hitchhiker or not. How else do you explain the huge response we received following a letter to the editor on that topic a few weeks ago.

I got a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach and didn’t know what to say when someone wished me a “Happy Waitangi Day” on Monday. I had always thought of Waitangi Day as a day of disgrace, when the Prime Minister had to trudge off up to the Bay of Islands to be spat at, egged and abused. Although most New Zealanders would love to celebrate Waitangi Day as our national day, it is mostly viewed as an ‘us against them’ dispute where Maori take the opportunity to air grievances and the rest of New Zealand  sighs in disappointment and takes advantage of a day off work. A shame really when you consider how fundamental Maori Culture is to Kiwi Culture.

Who could not love Queenstown with all our naturally gifted glory? Well it might come as a shock but quite a few people actually, many of whom live in the small towns that surround the Wakatipu Basin. In Wanaka for example it is common to hear people referring to Queenstown as the flashy big brother who sold its soul to the devil in exchange for dollars, Yen and Chinese Yuan. We are somewhat like the Auckland of the South in many people’s eyes. Jealously loved to be hated.