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Ashburton
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
FIRST PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 27, 1879
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By Myles Hume and APNZ A Novopay compensation package barely covers the time spent fixing the blunders, Mid Canterbury principals say. Minister responsible for Novopay Steven Joyce announced a $6 million support package for the flawed system yesterday, after a technical review. Schools will be compensated $105 per full-time equivalent teacher for errors in the Novopay payroll system as well as an additional $500 per school. Mid Canterbury Principals’ Association president Neil Simons called the package “a token gesture”, saying he had seen invoices sent from local schools to the Ministry of Education that asked for a lot more than they will be receiving. “I don’t know how successful putting in an invoice would be but I’m surprised we have compensation in such a tight, fiscal market,” Mr Simons said. Mr Joyce said the support package would recognise additional administrative work until June, when the backlog of problems was expected to be resolved. But Ashburton College principal Grant McMillan hoped the package would be one of many instalments. The college sent an invoice for more than $11,000 for about 430 hours spent on Novopay up to the end of December last year, with many more hours spent dealing with mistakes this year. According to the compensation rate, the college would receive $8900.
“Numerically, the amount they are offering is part of a package for schools, that amount is what we (the college) were owed at about the end of last year but doesn’t compare with the costs from January onward,” Mr McMillan said. For a smaller school with five fulltime teachers, it would get $1025. Mr Joyce said the package was a sign that the Government was listening to schools. “Schools are experiencing increased administration workloads to manage the Novopay issues and they have requested financial relief. This $6 million support package recognises the impact that Novopay has created for schools and will assist in addressing some of these issues,” Mr Joyce said. Hampstead School Principal Peter Melrose said “Novopay has ground any goodwill to dust”. “The money translates to about $2000 for our school - nothing like what the debacle has cost us. The days spent trying to unravel and address what Novopay has done or the stress that has been incurred,” Mr Melrose said. The support package also included a number of non-financial initiatives, including faster and direct support from the Ministry of Education for schools. But Mr McMillan called for Novopay to be scrapped, saying it was corrupted with errors and it was nothing to do with the way schools were entering the pay-related data. “Personally, I think there’s a race here, it’s going to be how quickly Novopay can fix itself versus how long the ministry can have a dead albatross hanging round its neck.”
ONLINE.co.nz
Novopay package ‘a token gesture’ Check out our video Methven volunteer firefighter Rob Markillie climbing the stairs of the Methven Racecourse in preparation for the Firefighter Sky Tower Stair Challenge.
Photo Tetsuro Mitomo 190313-TM-017
Stepping up to Sky Tower Stair Challenge By Myles Hume It may be a long way from the real thing, but firefighter Rob Markillie is relying on 26 steps at the Methven Racecourse to prepare him for the climb of his life. The Methven volunteer firefighter is putting every step in place as he readies himself for the 51 floor, or 1103 step, climb in the Firefighter Sky Tower
Stair Challenge, in a bid to raise money for blood cancer and leukaemia. And he won’t be clambering up the country’s tallest building alone either. A six-strong contingent from the Rakaia Fire Brigade, who have also started a rigorous training regime, are looking to raise more than $2000 from community events and fundraisers in the lead up to the event. Mr Markillie has been turning
heads around Methven, dressed head-to-toe in his firefighting attire, sprinting up and down the racecourse stairs and hitting the treadmill at his local gym. “The gear’s 25kg so it’s a bit of extra weight . . . I’ve told the gym owner what I’m doing so I hope I haven’t scared any people away,” the field department manager for South Pacific Seeds said. “I’ve worked out it’s 26 steps at the racecourse, so I will have to run up and down about 50 times
to do the same amount as the Sky Tower, I haven’t managed that yet, I’m at about 20, but I’m slowly building.” Time is on his side. With the run not scheduled until May 11, Mr Markillie said he is also running local roads with a 20kg bag on his back, hoping to reach the top of the building in 15 minutes on the day. He will be up against 480 other firefighters from across New
Zealand and from overseas, who will combine with the goal to beat last year’s $319,000 haul. So far, Mr Markillie believes he has raised more than $170 from donations around town, and is hopeful of reaching his $600 target. Donations can be made on the Leukeamia and Blood Cancer New Zealand website and at local stores, or more information can be found on the organisation’s Facebook page.
Farmer’s suspicions catch car thieves out
photo new zealand herald
Novopay Minister Steven Joyce during his media briefing over the troubled Novopay system in his office, yesterday.
A Pendarves farmer thought something was amiss when he saw one of his employees pushing vehicles into the sea – and the Ashburton police confirmed his suspicions. Enzed Norman Beazley, 19, of Christchurch was one of four young men involved in the incident, and he was shocked when he learned the fate of a cooffender, during an appearance in the Ashburton District Court yesterday.
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On Monday Charlie Thomas Wedderburn was sent to jail for 11 months for the four vehicle thefts, and a further two months for non-payment of fines. The court was told Beazley and two accomplices had travelled to Ashburton from Christchurch
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The farmer was alerted to their offending when he saw them using farm machinery to push the cars into the sea
where they stole a car in October last year. They then drove the vehicle to meet a co-offender who lived on a Pendarves farm. They returned to Ashburton and stole three more vehicles, taking them back to the farm.
using farm machinery to push the cars into the sea – and he called the police. A search of the farmhouse uncovered all four offenders, the items taken from the stolen vehicles and instruments used to break into them. Beazley was convicted on his guilty pleas to four charges of vehicle theft. He was remanded on bail to return to court for sentencing on April 29.
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Later they decided one of the cars was “too hot” to keep, so they drove it to Rakaia where they stripped it and set it alight – resulting in a fire brigade callout. After the farmer told them to get the now stripped vehicles off the property, the offenders took them to the back of the farm where they pushed all three off a cliff. The farmer was alerted to their offending when he saw them
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