Nelson Weekly
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Tuesday 8 April 2014
‘Flash mob’ proposal
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Page 4
Pages 26 - 27
Page 33
Drags roar to a close
Air NZ cost health board $1.8M Air New Zealand’s “rapacious approach” to air fares has cost the region’s health board an additional $1.8 million since competing airline Origin Pacific collapsed, the equivalent of 100 hip replacements, 1000 cataract operations or the annual salaries of 25 nurses. The Nelson Marlborough District Health Board’s former chief executive John Peters – who retired from the DHB in 2012 after eight years as its head – says since Origin Pacific was competed out of the market in
2006 the DHB has faced additional costs on its air bills of $1.8 million. “Origin stopped carrying passengers in August 2006, and by the end of the DHB’s financial year in June 2007, ten months later, the costs for air travel had increased by over $200,000 compared to the same period the previous year of using Origin. That was nearly 20 per cent increase, when the actual passenger numbers had grown by less than two per cent.” He says in the seven and a half years since
Shark
Andrew Board Editor
andrew@nelsonweekly.co.nz then, and at that annual rate of around $240,000 additional cost per year, the cost of air travel will have exceeded what would have been paid to Origin by something around $1.8 million. “There is no compensation from central government that money has to be found from the local
health budget. To put it in perspective, this represents around 100 hip replacements, or 1000 cataract operations, or 25 nurses – or any number of other vital health services for the Nelson and Marlborough region that could no longer be provided, but instead goes to Air New Zealand to shore it up on the routes it still has competition.” Air New Zealand was contacted to answer questions raised by John but did not get
SEE PAGE 2
attack
Nelson man Adam Gudsel was the victim of a shark attack on Saturday. Pictured right is a bronze whaler shark. Photo: Phillip Rollo.
A Nelson man was counting his lucky stars on Saturday after he was attacked by a shark while spear fishing off The Glen. The two-metre bronze whaler came “in the blink of an eye” to swim right at Adam Gudsel, who had just speared a kingfish a few minutes earlier and was still reeling it in. Adam says the incident happened “in a flash”
but instinct took over and he was able to kick it on the nose and divert it. Straight away he yelled for help from a kayaker nearby. He jumped on his boat and was taken back to the beach as the shark took Adam’s kingfish. He says he has heard of a bronze whaler shark taking speared kingfish off The Glen
but was shocked that it came for him and thinks it may be behaviour its learnt. “It’s a popular spot for spear fishermen and perhaps picking fish off the end of a spear is easy pickings but it’s a concern that it’s coming for people.” Adam says he retreated to the beach with his “tail between his legs” but was out again the next
day, just not in the same spot. “My wife and mum won’t let me,” he joked. He believes the shark either just tried to bump him out of the way so he could get the speared kingfish or got a bit excited about it and actually came for him. “I’ll never know and I sleep better at night thinking it was the first one.”
There have been reported deaths due to an attack from a bronze whaler, the latest in Auckland last year. Adam says he wanted to thank the kayaker who helped him and said it hadn’t been a good year, losing a wet suit in Kaiteriteri last weekend and a Cressi dive watch off the roof of his car at the end of last year.
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