Editorial

Fair share of dreamers

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 15:43:00 +1200

It’s not a surprise to hear one of the reasons Timaru based South Canterbury Finance failed was due to bad investments in Queenstown. We have definitely had our fair share of dreamers who never had the substance to pull off their fantasies. What does surprise me however is why a company making good money investing in South Island farming would stray into bed with a flaky developer in the first place. Unfortunately, the downside to Queenstown’s name being linked with this latest failure is funding for future development and indeed business finance in general could become a whole lot harder to find.

But every cloud has a silver lining and thanks to the taxpayers of New Zealand, the Governments new deposit guarantee scheme, and the fact most of South Canterbury Finance’s investors are Mainlanders, the best part of $1.7 Billion is going to be released into the economy of the South rather than disappear into the abyss. For Queenstown and the rest of the South Island this could be just what the doctor ordered to revitalise everything from retail sales to the housing market.

It’s not every day that such a large amount of money suddenly becomes available for ‘redistribution’. Perhaps the industry with the most to get excited about is our stagnant real estate market. Despite a few ups and downs, Kiwis still have a fascination with buying property, and investing in Queenstown property is surely a wiser investment than tucking a few hundred thousand dollars under your mattress. As safe as houses the saying goes.

If there is anything to learn from the turmoil that has been and continues to be this current financial crisis, is that it’s never over until it really is over. Remember last winter when Kevin Rudd gave all Australians $1000 to kick start the Australian economy in the recession? Thousands of young Australians bought an airline ticket and a ski holiday in Queenstown, therefore kick starting our economy. It was merely a welcome little blip for us though, not the end of the recession. Let’s hope this South Canterbury Finance payout has a similarly positive impact.

Informed decision-making

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 15:43:00 +1200

It’s baby kissing time with all the candidates for Mayor and Council now locked and loaded. At least, I hope there will be a few babies kissed, for without political campaigning how do we, the people of the Wakatipu choose our elected representatives in October’s local body elections?

Informed decision-making always ends with a more positive result than the good old stab in the dark. Unfortunately the truth about democracy is most voters don’t know who the candidates they vote for are, let alone what they stand for. In fact, some studies have found that given ballot papers are listed in alphabetical order, those with surnames beginning with A to M have a greater chance of being elected than those with surnames N to Z. The only way to alter this is through inspired election campaigning.

Although it is often said ‘empty vessels make the most noise’, when it comes to politics it is my belief that those least heard have the most to hide. If a candidate sings from the treetops their reasons for standing, lets us know their influences and what they hope to achieve, then we have nothing to fear if they become a member of QLDC and are true to their word. For they have obviously said what enough people want to hear, and therefore represent a significant percentage of the populations view. On the other hand if we hear nothing, my suspicious nature questions their motivation. What do they have to hide? What extreme special interest group do they represent? Is self interest the biggest motivation at play?

Being elected to QLDC should never be as simple as having your name put forward and spelt correctly on a ballot paper. There are 3 candidates for 1 mayoralty job, 12 Queenstown hopefuls for 6 council spots and 2 Arrowtown candidates for just one seat at the oval table of power. It is not my job to tell you which way to vote, but it is my responsibility to ask the question. Who are these people and what do they represent?

If you have a question you would like the candidates to answer, please email me.

Queenstown’s party culture strikes again

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 15:43:00 +1200

Queenstown Police are at it again releasing statistics for the shock value rather than to give us any meaningful information about criminal offending in the Queenstown area. According to a TV3 news item aired last Sunday night, 96% of all crime in Queenstown in the first two weeks of August after 10pm was alcohol related, with that figure jumping to 100% after 2am. Queenstown’s party culture strikes again it seems. Is the motivation for releasing these statistics to damage our reputation and reduce tourist numbers, therefore reducing drunken crime? If this is the case, then the local police are at odds with the rest of Queenstown which makes a huge effort to attract tourists to the area.

However in these particular statistics, I see a very good news story. Those of us away from people drinking alcohol were 100% safe from being a victim of crime after 2am. Is it not a good thing we had no other late night crime?

Without trivialising the damage alcohol can do in the wrong hands, we can in my opinion celebrate the fact we are living in what must be the safest town in the country. We had zero crime of any description committed by a sober person after 2am in the first two weeks of August. How lucky are we when you hear of the crimes that happen regularly in other areas. Why did I even bother locking my door at night, because no sober person with his wits about him was coming to rob me. My car was safe unlocked with the keys in the ignition, and in the wee small hours of the night the elderly lady living across the street had zero chance of being beaten, raped and murdered by a methamphetamine crazed sociopath looking for drug money.

I would have thought at least one burglary would have been committed in that time by professionals too smart to risk consuming alcohol first. When I look at the crime pages in the ODT or Southland Times and see the nasty variety of offending in other areas of the Far South, it is comforting to know we have comparatively minor concerns.

Queenstown is a place for everyone

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 15:43:00 +1200

I’ve almost become immune to the hilarious content available on the internet. I get so many requests to click on this and look at that, it needs to be really good before I even think of forwarding a link on. So you know it must be at worth a look for me to encourage you to have a look what the good people at Destination Queenstown sent me: http://filmarchive.org.nz/sellebration/view.php?id=126

But the comedy value of this 1960’s television advert featuring Queenstown is only half the appeal. What attracted my interest most was the message the advert was trying to convey. After almost 50 years and all the change Queenstown has seen, the message is still the same. Queenstown is a place for everyone, where older folk can sip nice wine in the hotel lounge bar while casting an eye over the breathtaking scenery, or go and enjoy a spot of fishing on a crystal clear Lake Wakatipu. Equally important however, is our appeal to the other end of the social spectrum. In the 1960’s Queenstown was a place young people could come to ski and ‘swing’ on the mountain tops. Nothing has changed, except perhaps the terminology used to describe a really good time.

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the continued success of Queenstown relies on this multipurpose appeal. The world is full of one trick ponies where backpackers are welcome but over fifties are not, like Tijuana Mexico. And the complete opposite where backpackers are turned away at the border, like Monaco. Here we are quite unique to have all sectors of the tourism industry coexisting in one very happening little district.

The economy would most probably collapse if Queenstown’s night life died or adventure tourism was over regulated into oblivion. Equally so, the restaurant, cafe, health and beauty, real estate, golf and leisure industries would collapse without Queenstown being able to maintain the image, reputation and level of service demanded by high end visitors. It is a tightrope balancing the coexistence of all these conflicting elements, but something we have been doing since the 1960’s and not doing too badly by the queues of cars negotiating their way along Shotover Street this afternoon.

The bus stops here

Mon, 09 Aug 2010 15:43:00 +1200

The new bus stops are built, the fleet of yellow buses are on the road and thanks to the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) and the Otago Regional Council (ORC), the funding is also in place to give the public transport option a good chance of long term success here in the Wakatipu. Now the only questions left to answer are, will the buses get used, and is a private enterprise business going to continue to offer a full service after the $3.2 million funding subsidy dries up.

For the next few years at least, the outlying residential areas of Arrowtown, Kelvin Heights, Lake Hayes Estate, Quail Rise, Glenda Drive and Arthurs Point will enjoy new services and/or improved frequency on existing bus routes. The long term success of these services will ultimately come down to commercial sustainability. So to answer the second question, if you do not use it, you will lose it. That is the harsh reality of having private commercial interests operate what is an essential public service.

We can be thankful ORC and NZTA have partly funded this attempt at making Connectabus a viable public transport option. It is unlikely residents living on the more economically marginal routes would ever have seen a bus service go past their gate without this funding boost, and the time tables for other routes would probably have been less user friendly.

It is however a distinct possibility the improved services will only last as long as this publicly funded cash injection. No privately owned business will run a loss making service for any length of time and survive. So Connectabus cannot be blamed for scaling back less profitable bus routes when the funding subsidies dry up. Therefore the responsibility for a long term user friendly public transport service in the Wakatipu falls on those who have the most to lose – the residents. If you wait too long to change your habits and start using the buses being provided, the service will fail and disappear before you get the chance to appreciate we had a good thing going.