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Focus shift ‘will cost us tourists’ By Susan Sandys Mid Canterbury tourism operators are upset at a new focus by South Canterbury visitor information centres to favour promotion of attractions in their own district. Visitor information centres in Timaru and Geraldine are increasing their focus on promoting South Canterbury attractions at the centres, at the same time as increasing the price to operators displaying their brochures. Mount Hutt Lodge operator Butch Stern said the new focus was “completely going against all the principles of tourism networking that’s been established by the information centres all over the country”. “It’s not good for New Zealand, people come here for the entire experience,” Mr Stern said. The lodge received many of its guests from South Canterbury, particularly after the earthquakes when numbers coming through from the Christchurch area decreased. He currently paid $250 per year to display brochures at the Timaru and Geraldine i-SITEs, and paid a commission on top of that for bookings. He did not know whether he
would be renewing his subscription in July in light of the i-SITEs’ new focus on South Canterbury attractions. Other Methven tourism operators spoken to by the Guardian also believed the new focus on South Canterbury attractions would be at the cost of Mid Canterbury attractions. One activity operator who did not want to be named said “local knowledge is the best knowledge” and that it did not make sense if tourists coming through Timaru and Geraldine were not made aware of the attractions in Mid Canterbury. “It’s just really sad because the tourists are going to miss out,” she said. An accommodation operator who did not want to be named said costs of displaying brochures in i-SITEs nationwide were already “exorbitant”. It was “ridiculous” for the South Canterbury i-SITEs to raise their price further. And the world did not end this side of the Rangitata River, so it was important i-SITEs in South Canterbury let visitors know what was offered here. “We send people to Geraldine all the time,” he said. Aoraki Development, Business and Tourism (ADBT) tourism manager Katerina Tiscenko
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confirmed the two i-SITES at Geraldine and Timaru were increasing their focus on promoting South Canterbury attractions. The Geraldine i-SITE had moved to a new site and it was slightly smaller. It now had less retail stock with a smaller amount of space for brochure display, but tourism operators outside of the region were still welcome to display their brochures. There had been a slight increase in the annual cost for this, it was now $264.50. She said there had not been complaints about the new focus, as much as “queries”. “But when we talk through and discuss with people that our focus is South Canterbury attractions the response has been really, really positive,” Ms Tiscenko said. The two visitor centres were funded by the ADBT which was in turn funded by the Timaru District Council. Historically every i-SITE had promoted the whole of the country but it was a challenge to run centres in this day and age when many visitor information centres were struggling. “We think we are striking a really good balance with that,” she said.
Convicted murderer ‘evil’ By Kurt Bayer The mother of an Australian teenager killed by the man convicted of murdering Christchurch schoolgirl Jade Bayliss has described him as “evil”. Eighteen years ago Perth woman Marriya Vidot lost her son Phillip, 14, in a brutal attack at the hands of Jeremy ‘Dingo’ McLaughlin, the man found guilty yesterday of killing 13-year-old Jade. A jury of seven women and five men in the High Court at Christchurch took just two hours to find McLaughlin guilty of murdering his ex-partner’s daughter on November 10, 2011. The 35-year-old had denied strangling the schoolgirl with a piece of cord, stuffing socks in her mouth, dousing her house in petrol and setting it ablaze. The jury weren’t allowed to know McLaughlin’s criminal history. But it can now be reported that he served a prison sentence in Australia for killing Phillip Vidot in Perth in 1995. Mclaughlin bashed the boy
with a cricket bat, while a mate ran him over in a car. A 17-year-old friend of Phillip’s who was with him at the time survived the attack after eight days in a coma. McLaughlin was originally charged with murder, but in 1997 a jury acquitted him and co-accused Craig Brian Wood and instead found them guilty of manslaughter, sparking national outrage. McLaughlin, then 19, was sentenced to 12 years in jail but after just four years, was deported back to his native New Zealand in 2001. On his arrival police were advised of the manslaughter conviction, but he was not subject to any release conditions or monitoring because the crime occurred in another jurisdiction. Ms Vidot was shocked to learn in 2011, on the 16th anniversary of her son’s death, that McLaughlin was accused of killing another teen. “But I’m not surprised. He and others showed no remorse for what they had done to Phillip and Tyron,” she told The West
Australian newspaper at the time. “He’s evil. It brings up a lot of bad memories.” When the jury reached their verdict of guilty at the High Court in Christchurch yesterday, the dead girl’s mum, Tina Bayliss broke down in tears. Justice Graham Panckhurst who oversaw the eight days of evidence, told the jury: “For what it’s worth, I agree entirely with your verdict.” Outside court, Mrs Bayliss was supported by friends and family as she paid tribute to her “bright, beautiful, bubbly girl”. “On behalf of my family, I would like to say that we are all incredibly relieved that the trial is over, and that the jury has found Jeremy McLaughlin guilty for murder,” she said. “Jade is a great loss to our family and unfortunately this verdict will not change the fact she is no longer with us. This is something we have been trying to come to terms with for the past 17 months and it is extremely difficult to convey how this has affected us. - APNZ
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About 50 young men are learning the Maori art of taiaha at the Hakatere Marae, set to coincide with the marae’s first ever Anzac Day celebration.
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By Myles Hume Anzac Day will be met with a timely touch of traditional Maori warfare in Mid Canterbury tomorrow. About 50 young Maori from across Canterbury and Wellington have descended on Ashburton’s Hakatere Marae to learn the intricate art of taiaha, using a wooden traditional Maori warfare weapon. Starting on Sunday, the group have put their taiaha skills to the test under the watchful eye of Christchurch-based organisation Te Tohu O Tu, which have senior tutors teaching the physical and spiritual side of the art form. The gathering also coincides with a special occasion for the marae, which will hold its inaugural Anzac Day service tomorrow, set to have a Maori spin with the young men to perform with the taiaha on what will be their final day in the district.
Check out our video “Most of the boys here have an ancestor or a family connection to the 28th Maori Battalion and to the Maori soldiers that died so we are rapt to be doing this,” Ahorei (senior tutor) Hauta Martindale said. With the public invited to the service beginning at 7.30am on the marae grounds, the service will be held in special remembrance of Maori Anzacs, backed by several songs and presentations. Mr Martindale said the taiaha was a special part of Maori culture, and fit well with the purpose of Anzac Day.
But it also offered more than just an opportunity to learn the traditional Maori art form, he said. “It gives them a sense of belonging, to learn about their own history and culture and also an opportunity to find themselves,” Mr Martindale said. Out of the many youngsters, Mr Martindale said it was likely some would not graduate, even after several years of practice with the taiaha, it can be a difficult art form to perfect. However, he said a junior and a senior member of the group will be acknowledged as the Toa – the stand out warrior.
The door has been opened for a radical shakeup in trading hours and the number and location of licensed premises in Ashburton. Off-licences might find themselves closing their doors earlier but people at the first local alcohol policy (LAP) stakeholders’ forum yesterday, appeared to want little change in on-licence hours. During the Ashburton District’s forum a range of issues were raised around the sale and consumption of alcohol and all will form part of the pool of data used to develop rules around the supply and sale of liquor in the district. One of the biggest concerns related not to licensed premises, but to the amount of alcohol consumed by people before they hit the bars. Pre-loading meant many people were intoxicated before they began their night out and that created a raft of problems. Most stakeholders felt that earlier closing times wouldn’t fix the pre-loading problem but that they could bring back the sixo’clock-swill mentality. Drink driving, violence, loitering and anti-social behaviour were raised as issues of concern, but resolving those was more about education and a culture change rather than licence hours, they said. When it came to health issues surrounding alcohol, medical officer of health Alistair Humphreys said the cost was high. “But it’s not just the acute injury, it’s the chronic effects of alcohol, they’re extensive and they’re hidden but they are important.” Council policy analyst Jenna Marsden said that the LAP would spell out how liquor was sold and supplied in the district and it would be written to meet the community’s needs. This could see significant changes to licensing hours, or it could see the status quo remain. It could also spell out where new licences could be issued, she said. Yesterday’s meeting involved licensees, supermarket owners, health and welfare groups, the police and sports clubs and it involved more than 50 people. If the council does not develop its own LAP the default provisions of the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act will apply to the district. These include an on-licence closing time of 4am. A community survey was completed last week and results were expected to be available in midMay, Mrs Marsden said. A youth survey started this week and is being promoted through Facebook. The issues and concerns raised at yesterday’s stakeholder forum and the data gathered in the two community surveys will be used by the council to formulate the draft alcohol policy, she said. A policy options report is expected in mid-June.
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