Time will tell for the Aurora no-sale decision
I would like to publicly respond to Cr Vandervis re his heat-of-the-moment comments in the Aurora front page article (ODT, 26.9.24) accusing me of "caving in" by voting for the city to retain ownership of Aurora.
Hand on heart, my original view that selling Aurora would be to the financial betterment of the city has not changed.
The difference between Cr Vandervis and myself is that I feel my job as a councillor should be not to represent myself, but to represent the majority of the public that voted me in.
Caving in is a sign of weakness.
Not listening to the majority is a sign of stupidity.
Signaling two people out when you lose a vote by 13-2 is wrong.
I was proud to vote alongside Cr Vandervis when we lost the vote 3-12 against the 17.5% rates increase because I believed the majority of the public wanted councillors to try harder to lower the rates increase.
Cr Vandervis did not accuse any of the 12 other councillors of caving in on that occasion. Democracy should be allowed to speak for itself and we should leave the mudslinging after voting to the public, not councillors.
May I thank Dunedin city councillors Cherry Lucas and Lee Vandervis for their yes vote re-the sale of Aurora. Courageous. It seems the majority of councillors wish to retain the "beach house" we call Aurora, which could well turn out to be an albatross around the neck of the ratepayer.
The Dunedin City Council did consult widely, which is to be commended. It was rarely if ever mentioned the council did not own the lines company for ever. Sukhi Turner was mayor during the establishment of Aurora, which was then used as a cash cow to supplement the council’s grand plans
Personally, I can’t wait for the solar panels to arrive.
In your opinion it was the right decision not to sell Aurora.
Will you be saying the same thing in 10 years? Ratepayers are likely to have regular 20% rate hikes, not 10% as the mayor suggests.
The only reason Aurora is now making dividends is because line charges to ratepayers have had a massive increase. Because of the huge debt there will be no money to mitigate flood risk in South Dunedin and present infrastructure projects will have to be scaled back. Roads in Dunedin will continue to fall more and more into disrepair.
Aurora is a cash-hungry beast, said Dunedin Mayor Jules Radich.
The councillors may be disappointed not to get immediate spending money from selling Aurora now, but when they or a new bunch of councillors realise what a foolish decision has been avoided thanks to stubborn clued-up Dunedinites they will see what a lucky escape we had. Our electricity network was starved for years under Mayor Dave Cull's rule to feed the hungriest insatiable beast, the stadium, that even in its brief glory opportunity after the Christchurch quakes produced only sleight-of-hand McProfits, while power poles fell, maintenance struggled, realistic future planning could be little more than fingers crossed. Aurora is doing well, considering the years of stadium build kneecapping: if you don't have profits to silently money-shuffle you must borrow. And this is how subvention payments of $8 million from Aurora went into making the stadium look less of a drain on Dunedin's ratepayers. The ruling by the Commerce Commission, limiting the amount Aurora can "earn" in a year, means they have earned eye-watering profits they cannot claim from us, the electricity users — yet.
Not for two more years when they will be able to bill us for past power use added to the month's use.
Hosp issue not about the money, but the ideology
Rather dead when red! What an audacious way for Christopher Luxon and his government to get revenge on a Labour-voting city and Grant Robertson, former finance minister. Nothing political to lose here by abandoning the new Dunedin hospital. If National believed in public health this hospital would be built as planned. National, over many years, has progressively undermined the whole public health system. It’s no accident that we have a burgeoning private health system and a failing public one. I am sure Chris Bishop would love to see a private/public hospital built on the piles already in place. Oh, and bets-on this government gives the proposed new private hospital in Wānaka a hefty helping hand. Let’s be clear: this is not about the money, it’s about ideology.
Election promises, pffft
Friday's paper (ODT, 27.9.24) showed matters for what they are — congratulations for your presentation, balance and style. I am planning to investigate the other hospitals in need of major works, to compare them and their areas and morbidity, mortality etc, with ours, to see if we can ensure ours is in the "worst off" position. Brilliant coverage of a diabolical issue.
Historically, election promises have counted for nothing though, so not much weight may be placed upon these.
Get to Wellington
Now is the time for Otago and Southland to march in Wellington, led by all the mayors of the region, past hospital board members and anyone from the regions who has the time to go. Perhaps even a sit-in on Parliament grounds. Tilting at windmills often results in success.
Thanks for the support on Daffodil Day
I would like to thank our community for all the support given to Southern Cancer Society (the former Canterbury West Coast and Otago Southland Divisions), on Daffodil Day and the role you played in making it so successful.
We have been overwhelmed by the support that came from every corner of the South Island.
The vibe on the day presented quite a party atmosphere as individuals, schools, communities and corporates all came together with their own events to raise money for the society.
This allowed us to have some fun while we focused on a very serious issue facing us all.
Your generosity couldn’t have come at a more important time,
with one in three of us likely to receive a cancer diagnosis in our lifetime and world cancer statistics suggesting it will soon be one in two of us.
The Cancer Society supports all cancers, all cancer research and all people, no matter what.
Because of your kindness and enthusiasm for the day, we can continue to provide accommodation, cancer navigators, counselling, transport, support groups, prevention and education services.
All money raised by your community stays within your community, except for a portion that goes towards cancer research and innovation which benefits us all.
We are serious in our fight to prevent cancer, and research is the only way to do this.
We’ve yet to finalise the total money collected and look forward to sharing that with you soon.
Once again, I want to thank you all.
I can’t find the words to express the heart-felt gratitude the Southern Cancer Society team feels.
Address Letters to the Editor to: Otago Daily Times, PO Box 517, 52-56 Lower Stuart St, Dunedin. Email: editor@odt.co.nz
