Times - 12 April 2023

TORNADO’S DESTRUCTION

By CHRIS HARROWELL

Atornado that struck east Auckland on Sunday night left parts of the community looking like a war zone.

Strong winds lifted tiles from roofs, snapped and uprooted trees, flattened timber fences, bent steel garage doors, and tossed around backyard furniture.

But for one impacted resident, the most distressing thing was being awoken to find two suspected looters standing in the kitchen of her damaged home.

The Times visited several streets impacted by the tornado on Monday morning. Numerous residents were out and about supporting their neighbours and helping to clean up the damage in Attymon Lane, off Wayne Francis Drive, in Dannemora.

Jo Clark was out when the tornado struck but received a phone call from a neighbour advising her to get home. “It’s pretty bad,” she says of the damage caused to her property.

She says large parts of its roof have “caved in”. “It’s really the roof damage from the tiles and the wires coming through in the main lounge and the master bedroom, and there’s cracks in the ceiling where the house has moved.

“Civil Defence came at 2.30am and said I can’t stay here and I had to leave. They said, ‘if one of the tiles falls through the roof, it could

kill you’.”

If that wasn’t bad enough, Clark also had to deal with two looters who illegally entered her home.

She says she stayed at her house for a while because she was worried about her cat and she wanted to get an hour’s sleep. Clark then heard strange noises at about 3.30am.

She says she went back to bed but heard them again.

“I came out and there are two guys in my kitchen. One had a black hoodie on and the other guy I didn’t really see. It was so quick and

there was no lighting. They were youngish, maybe late teens. It was so quick and I yelled and swore at them and they just took off.”

Clark says the two males fled on foot across her backyard.

“I tried to get my torch on my cell phone to see where they were going but it was so dark. I was yelling loud so the neighbours could hear me. That wasn’t pretty and therefore we get no sleep.”

She becomes emotional recounting having to deal with looters after suffering the shock caused by the tornado. “It was pretty devastating

because you don’t really want to be here now.

“I’m too scared to leave in case they come back because we’ve had lots of strangers coming and going in the street for the last few hours.

“We’ve had drones going since 6am this morning flying over the houses and you don’t know what’s going to happen. And because there are so many broken windows they could come back.”

Clark says she didn’t phone the police about the looters because she thought the emergency services would be busy responding to

calls. “We had that many people in the street. I was waiting for tarpaulins to come for the roof and they said they’d run out. So they weren’t going to do anything and I thought, ‘what’s the point?’.”

Manju Verma lives across the road from Clark in Attymon Lane. She and her family were also out when the tornado struck and when they got home at about 9.30pm they were shocked at what they found.

One of two large palm trees in their front yard was uprooted while the other, just metres away, was still standing.

 Turn to page 5

Numerous homes across east Auckland were damaged by high winds that struck at about 9pm on April 9. Times photo Wayne Martin

THE SUN, THE MOON AND THE TIDES

Government lifts incomes, making Easter easier

Easter weekend will have been a little easier for more than a million people after a suite of April 1 changes put a bit more money in their pockets to help with the cost of living.

The rising cost of living is being driven by lots of factors, like the war in Ukraine and the recent extreme weather, and I know it’s making things tough for many east Auckland families.

There’s no easy fix, but we’re delivering a range of measures to help ease the pressure.

Through increases to Working for Families and the Best Start payment, we’re providing more support for whānau. We’re also making childcare more affordable for many low and middle income families by expanding childcare assistance

income thresholds. On top of that, main benefits will increase by the rate of inflation, meaning a family on a benefit with children will receive an extra $40.86 a week and

Naisi Chen

a sole parent will receive an extra $31.83 a week.

Tertiary students receiving student allowance or student loan living cost payments will see around $20 extra each payment. Thanks to our minimum wage boost, which kicks in from April 1, full-time minimum wage workers will earn an extra $60 a week too.

Seniors will also benefit from this week’s changes. Single people on Superannuation will receive an extra $66.86 each payment and a couple who are both aged over 65 will receive $102.84 more in total a fortnight.

In addition, from May 1, the Winter Energy Payment will kick in again, to assist more than a million New Zealanders with heating bills through the colder months.

ELM PARK OPENS NEW PLAYGROUND

On March 31, dreams became a reality when the Elm Park School’s new junior playground was officially opened.

The new playground has been a few years in the making, however, last year the Board of Trustees decided to make it a priority as one of the big property investments they needed to make for the future of the infrastructure of Elm Park School.

Sarah Baleicakau, the new principal since term 3 of 2022,

knew the school had been waiting a while for this playground and wanted to fulfil the vision for staff, students, and the community.

When deciding upon the design of this new playground, the school wanted to add a play value that includes the nurturing of physical development. The equipment builds body strength and provides challenge and social development which is age-appropriate.

The playground has been

Writing an article myself on this subject (5). 11. It’s therefore over in no time (4).

Are captioned, you argue (4,5).

Remind one to give the signal? (4,1,4).

He’s back on key, I note (4).

Supple though a bit of a blithering idiot! (5). 23. What the actor says is a job (4).

24. The coin collector knows it backwards! (4).

25. A cricketer? Wrong again! (6,4).

1. Did it fade badly and have a gold lining, that hat? (6).

2. Volunteered to take away the stray deer (7).

3. It’s time the drunken Boris came out from the tavern (6).

4. Mean the tin will be warped at the bottom (6).

5. What should be thrown out he put inside, the fool! (5).

7. Leave White outside in the vehicle (5).

13. Manage to smuggle (3).

14. Jack spilled oil, mum has to get rid of it (7).

15. Fashion has turned right back at last (5).

17. Where the discreet shine, as a whole (6).

18. Vegetables with holes in them? (6).

19. By spring ‘49 there’s not much t eat (6).

21. Social standing of a kind (5).

SUDOKU

completely funded by the school which is a significant achievement and the money has come from various sources, such as income from the before and after school programme, PTA, and several fundraising schemes over the years.

“Elm Park School has a lot of property development taking place at present and is in a space of considerable change,” Mrs Baleicakau said. She said she’s excited for the next chapter in the school’s journey.

This package of support builds on the recent steps we’ve taken to help smaller budgets stretch further, including extending the fuel tax cut and public transport subsidies so it’s cheaper to get around. While these measures won’t fix everything, every bit counts when making ends meet.

I’d also want to again acknowledge Jacinda Ardern after her valedictory speech last week. Even in times of immense challenge and sorrow, her compassionate style of leadership shone through. Although it is sad to see her leave Parliament, I was delighted she will be a Special Envoy for the Christchurch Call. Addressing extremism on social media is essential for our community’s future.

Dr Jim Han, Dr Ahmad Mustafa, Dr Desmond Cheong

Labour List MP Naisi Chen, from Botany, left, and former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Photo supplied

The senior leadership team and the students who were involved in the ribbon cutting in front of the new junior playground – front, from left, Nate Barratt, Bree Barratt, Heavenly Tafunai and Michael de Lange and back row, from left, Karen Allen, Laramarie Dreyer, Dave Borcher and Sarah Baleicakau. Photo supplied

What’s on Brown attacks Labour’s record as Ardern retires

CHIROPRACTIC HEALTH TALK

Citizens Advice Bureau

Pakuranga invites you to a chiropractic health talk on Saturday, April 15 at 10.30am at Highland Park Library. The talk will be facilitated by Shachi Mehta (senior chiro intern). You can receive a free complimentary spine check (all age groups). Registration is compulsory. Text 021 459 520 or email settlement.pakuranga@ cab.org.nz for registration.

UNDERSTANDING NCEA AND PATHWAYS

Want to know more about NCEA? Join us and know more about pathways within secondary education in a workshop for parents and students and to get more information about what the education and training options for school leavers are. Botany Library, Monday, April 17, 12pm. Registration required, email botany.library@aucklandcouncil. govt.nz.

FREE ENGLISH FOR MIGRANTS IN THEIR HOMES

If you know someone who cannot get to an English class, they may be able to have a trained ESOL home tutor. The home tutor would teach them English for settlement for 1-2 hours a week. Phone English Language Partners on 09 278 9099 or email aucklandsouth@english language.org.nz.

PAKURANGA GARDEN CLUB

Come and join our Garden Club. We meet at Te Tuhi, 13 Reeves Rd, Pakuranga on the 3rd Wednesday of every month. Doors open at 9.30am and our meeting starts

10am till 11.30am. Morning tea

9.30am. We have an interesting guest speaker and an outing each month. Come and join us for friendship and gardening ideas. Men and women welcome. For more information phone Jocelyn on 09 273 9179 or 021 144 1989.

EASTERN DISTRICT COUNTRY MUSIC CLUB

Wednesday, April 19, 7pm. Concert with guest artists, Coopers Run along with other musicians performing. All welcome, Bucklands and Eastern Beaches War Memorial Hall, Wharf Road, Bucklands Beach. Tickets at the door, adults $10, children $5. For more info phone Bev 021 11 56 866.

YARN WANTED

We are a knitting group who knit baby clothes and cot blankets for families in need in South Auckland. We are getting short of yarn and would appreciate any yarn you may have to spare. We use any colours of yarn suitable for baby knitting (especially 4 ply or 8 ply). If you would like it collected from the Howick or Pakuranga area, please ring Heather 09 535 5514 or Janet 09 535 4039.

Pakuranga MP Simeon Brown has labelled the Labour Government “arrogant, entitled, and tired” during a blistering attack on its record.

Brown was the first speaker for the National Party during the general debate in Parliament on April 5.

The debate was held on the same day former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern delivered her valedictory speech and retired from politics and the Reserve Bank raised the official cash rate by 50 basis points to 5.25 per cent, which is expected to result in higher interest rates and more families struggling to pay their mortgages.

With six months to go until this year’s general election on October 14, Brown said Prime Minister Chris Hipkins claimed his Government would focus on “bread and butter” issues, but it’s spent the last five weeks talking about itself and the conduct of former ministers such as Stuart Nash, who was sacked from Cabinet for multiple political indiscretions.

Brown said such issues were causing distractions from the “real issues facing New Zealanders”.

“New Zealanders who are now facing another 50 basis points increase in the official cash rate, which will put more pressure on family budgets up and down this country and will put some people, with their mortgages, to the wall.

“This Government has lost control of the issues that matter to New Zealanders and is completely

distracted and is talking about themselves rather than trying to fix the issues which are facing New Zealanders.”

Brown said the Government is not focused on bread-and-butter issues and is tired, arrogant, “completely distracted and out of touch” from the important issues.

He talked about National’s policy launches on education, childcare, and local water infrastructure.

“So what’s National been focused on? We’ve been focused on policies which will make a difference for New Zealanders.

“Like putting a policy out, doing local water well. What about Family Boost? A fully-funded policy which is going to help young families pay for their cost of childcare, and guess what?

“Fully funded by cutting some of the wasteful consultants which have ballooned under this Government.

“This Government’s the Government for bureaucrats and consultants, not the Government for families and making sure they can deal with the cost of living.”

Brown said National’s new education policy, ‘Teaching the Basics Brilliantly’, will make sure Kiwi children have one hour a day of reading, writing, and maths.

“How revolutionary would that be? It’s about focusing on our future generations.

“Parents up and down this country and are so grateful the National Party is talking about solutions for the future, which will help their young people have the future skills they need.”

He said the party’s Electrify NZ policy will “help make sure we have the clean, renewable energy we need to electrify our economy”.

Brown laid out what National intends to achieve should it be elected to Government this year.

“We’re going to lower inflation. We’re going to lift incomes for all New Zealanders. National will build the infrastructure New Zealand needs. We will restore law and order, which has gone backwards under this Government.

“We’ll make sure New Zealanders have access to the health and education services they need.

“New Zealanders need change in this election. New Zealanders will get change from a National Government, and we will not only give it, we will deliver it.”

The National Party will lower inflation and lift Kiwis’ incomes if elected at this year’s general election, Pakuranga MP Simeon Brown says. File photo supplied

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Officials say raised pedestrian crossings will save people’s lives

By CHRIS HARROWELL

Aplan to install raised pedestrian platforms on a busy east Auckland road sparked heated opposition at a public meeting held to discuss the subject.

Auckland Transport (AT) intends to construct raised safety platforms and a raised pedestrian crossing on Ti Rakau Drive in Pakuranga as part of the Eastern Busway public transport project. AT says the platforms will help people get to new bus stations safely and calm traffic speed without causing significant delays.

Pakuranga MP Simeon Brown has labelled the plan a “crazy idea” and launched a petition opposing it. He hosted a public meeting on the issue with a group of officials from the Eastern Busway Alliance and AT which drew an audience of several hundred to the Howick Pakuranga Community Sports Centre on April 3.

The officials ran through a presentation providing an update on the busway’s progress.

They emphasised statistics showing that the faster a vehicle is travelling the higher the chance a

pedestrian it strikes will die from their injuries.

One slide said a pedestrian struck by a vehicle travelling at 30kmh has a 10 per cent chance of dying, compared to a 30 per cent chance if the vehicle is doing 40kmh and 80 per cent if it’s doing 50kmh.

AT executive general manager safety Stacey van der Putten said the raised crossings were 75mm high and each would add eight seconds to a vehicle’s travel time when traffic is flowing freely.

Modelling forecast there would be about 18,000 pedestrians crossing the relevant stretch of Ti Rakau Drive to use the busway each day, she said.

“This [the raised platforms] is not just for pedestrians. Drivers will want to be aware they’re entering an environment where there’s high pedestrian activity.

“That gives you the visual reminder you’re entering in a space where you should expect people.”

Van der Putten said the raised crossings would also improve accessibility for pedestrians.

“When you raise up it also helps

people when they’re getting on and off the busway in terms of pedestrians accessing the side of the road.

“It makes it better for people when they’re using pushchairs, when they’re not able-bodied, in terms of accessing it to make sure it’s smooth running for everybody.”

Eastern Busway Alliance design team lead Dean Coutts spoke about why raised platforms were part of the design.

He said three people had died in crashes on Ti Rakau Drive between 2015 and 2019 and 28 others had suffered serious injuries.

“In that period, that’s in excess of 30 families who have been significantly impacted because of lower safety levels along this corridor.

“So translating that if we want to think over a design life of 50 years, which is comparatively short for a project like this, if you calculate that out, potentially ... in excess of 100 serious injuries over that time.

“That’s if the corridor stays as it was right now, without the additional 18,000 people accessing the busway every day.”

Audience members asked questions including whether the raised

Path of destruction

 From page 1

A large number of tiles had been lifted from their roof, their side boundary fence had been flattened, part of the back fence was knocked over and ceiling lights inside the family’s house were pushed in. Their steel garage door has been twisted and pushed inside the garage, scratching Verma’s Suzuki Swift hatchback. Strangely, the lemon tree in their backyard was still standing.

“By the time we got home, everybody was in the street,” Verma says. “I saw my tree like that [fallen over] and all my neighbours were here. I thought, ‘Oh my goodness’.

“My son said to me there’s a tornado. He must have said something else too but I didn’t register. It was quite overwhelming. I’ve never experienced a tornado.”

Verma phoned her insurance company and was waiting to hear from an assessor on Monday morning.

“I said to them the major thing is I want somebody to cover the roof so we don’t have leaks in the house, because we can see the sky from certain parts of the house.”

She also wanted her garage door fixed as soon as possible. Verma says fire fighters inspected her home on Sunday night and suggested her family stayed elsewhere.

She went to her sister’s house for the night but her eldest son stayed behind and slept in the lounge due to their fear of the house being broken into.

“We were wondering whether we should be vacuuming or not but someone said let the assessors come first. I’ve been in this house for 23 years and I’ve never claimed

insurance, until today.”

Verma says it’s “frightening” to have heard about the two males found inside Clark’s home.

“Rahul [her son] stayed here the whole night. He wouldn’t budge.”

A Civil Defence Centre was opened on Sunday night at the Howick Leisure Centre in Pakuranga Road for anyone displaced by the tornado and subsequently closed at 5pm on Monday.

Auckland Emergency Management duty group controller Mace Ward says the agency has been supporting impacted communities since the tornado struck.

The most recent efforts focused on surveying the extent of the damage, co-ordinating building assessments and cleaning up.

“While the final number of properties affected ... is still being collated, it’s clear much of the damage is concentrated in a narrow strip, running from the Pakuranga Golf

crossings would impact the emergency services, if they’d worsen emissions and pollution, whether they’d slow freight transport down, and how much they’d cost to install.

Coutts estimated they’d cost about $100,000 each, which he said was “insignificant” relative to the entire project.

Brown asked if a final decision on the plan had been made, and if so, what the timeframe for the installation of the raised crossings was.

“I echo much of the room in objecting to these designs, because the reality is people in east Auckland drive because that’s how we go to work,” he said.

“We work all over the city. The efficiency of our roading network is critically important to our community and that’s the point I continue to reflect.”

The officials said they’d take feedback from the audience on board and come back at a later date. They said the busway is expected to be completed by 2027.

National will Electrify NZ

New Zealand needs to grow its economy while reducing its greenhouse gas emissions and the first part of National’s ‘Electrify NZ’ plan which, I announced last week, will help do that. It will cut red tape to open the way for a significant increase in investment in renewable energy.

I am deeply committed to New Zealand reaching the emissions reduction targets that National signed up to in the Paris Accords in 2015. National also voted for the Zero Carbon Act in 2019, supported the Government’s emissions budgets, and I am proud to have embraced and championed sustainability during my time at Unilever and Air New Zealand.

and, in all likelihood, we’d have power cuts.

New Zealand must have enough renewable electricity to meet the rising demand.

Club, southeast to Barry Curtis Park in Flat Bush.

“There are two main areas of damage, a pocket in Golflands and a longer swath from Greenmount Park area to Barry Curtis Park.

“Many property owners and residents will still have a clean-up effort in front of them so we ask people to avoid any unnecessary travel to the area.”

Auckland Council building inspectors had assessed 60 to 70 affected properties as of Monday afternoon. Ten properties had been yellow-stickered, meaning their occupants can stay in them in but must avoid hazardous areas. No properties had been red-stickered.

Fire and Emergency NZ say no injuries were reported following the tornado. Most of the calls it received from the public related to roofs being lifted or damaged and trees falling onto homes and power lines.

Many Aucklanders and others throughout the North Island were severely affected by the January floods and Cyclone Gabrielle. These types of weather events are likely to become more common. New Zealand needs to build more resilient infrastructure to withstand major weather events, as well as continue discussions with landowners, insurers and councils about where it is appropriate to build or rebuild. In addition, New Zealand has a legal and moral obligation to reduce its emissions to attempt to slow the effects of climate change. National’s ‘Electrify NZ’ plan will be a big step in helping New Zealand reach its climate change targets.

National wants a future where buses and trains are powered by clean electricity, where we go on holiday in cars powered by clean electricity and where industrial processing plants are powered by clean electricity, not coal.

But to do that, we need to double the amount of renewable electricity we produce from New Zealand’s abundant natural resources - particularly solar, wind and geothermal. National will make it happen.

Imagine for a moment that, overnight, all private petroldriven cars were replaced by electric vehicles. New Zealand’s electricity system could not cope. It would have to burn more coal to supply power, electricity prices would shoot up

The current planning system puts barrier after barrier in the way. A new wind farm can take 10 years to completeeight years to obtain resource consent, and two years to build. That’s ridiculous. The Resource Management Act is the greatest barrier to New Zealand reaching its climate change targets. Labour’s proposed RMA 2.0 laws will only make this worse National’s ‘Electrify NZ’ plan will turbo-charge new renewable power projects including solar, wind and geothermal by requiring decisions on resource consents to be issued in one year, and consents to last for 35 years.

National will also unleash investment in transmission and local lines by eliminating consents for upgrades to existing infrastructure and most new infrastructure.

Our Electrify NZ policy will help double the amount of renewable energy available and put New Zealand on track to reach its climate change goals.

Forty per cent of New Zealand’s emissions come from transport and energy. Switching those sectors to clean electricity could deliver almost a third of the emissions reductions New Zealand needs to reach Net Zero by 2050.

While Labour declared “climate change is this generation’s nuclear free moment”, all they have done in six years is triple coal imports and have hardly made a dent on reducing our emissions.

National is committed to meaningful action on climate change while growing the economy and we will be announcing more plans to lower emissions before the election.

 Christopher Luxon is Leader of the National Party and MP for Botany

MP for Botany Christopher Luxon

Your Local Property In Your Local Paper

9A

This drop dead gorgeous five double bedroom home in desirable Pakuranga Heights is so cool it even featured in, and on the cover of, Haven magazine last year. The current owners clearly have a stunning eye for design and have created an Insta-worthy sanctuary where every last element has been hand selected for its style, durability and premium quality.

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Dave McCartney Silvan Klem

New artistic exhibitions are worth seeing while you can

It’s well worth checking out the exhibitions at Uxbridge which feature a range of art and installations from both established and emerging artists. From sculptures to drawings to prints and more, the exhibitions are an excellent example of New Zealand’s storytelling at its finest.

The lenses of artists share ideas through a range of different perspectives. You really should investigate these experiences at Uxbridge.

Public engagement with contemporary art, artists and ideas is at the core of their exhibitionmaking practice, because it strives to make contemporary art not only accessible, but relevant to people from all walks of life.

Seeking synergies between the local and the global, the showcases taking place in the Howick gallery are engaging and reflective of the best in national work, thereby developing the practice and appreciation of contemporary art in east Auckland.

DREAMING IN COLOUR

Exhibition dates:

Runs until May 12

Pat Basse

A collection of pieces that grew from the artist’s memories as a four-year-old evacuee during WWII. Without her family, Pat

LET US DRINK THE NEW WINE, TOGETHER!

Exhibition dates:

Runs until May 13

Let Us Drink the New Wine, Together! is an exhibition of installations, artist maps, works on paper, video and mail art, that have all crossed geographical and linguistic borders throughout 20202023. The exhibition seeks to account for different realities and contexts through a kind of global x-ray, proposing art as a way to continue to imagine the world anew in uncertain times.

UPCOMING EVENTS

(Pop them in your diary)

 Howick Village Markets every Saturday, 8am – 12.30pm

 School Holiday Easter Hunt Competition, Saturday, April 15 –Saturday, April 22

 Anzac Sound and Light Tribute 2023, April 21-23, Fencible Park 7pm-9pm, weather permitting

 Bastille Market Day, Saturday, July 8, 8am – 12.30pm

experienced extreme unhappiness from which she found respite in her dreamworld. The dreams were colourful and excitingly theatrical in stark contrast to her living world. As an adult, Pat could write down her dreams and recreate them in her art.

In addition to the gallery installation, a virtual realisation of this exhibition has been developed, which takes this exhibition beyond the walls of the gallery, inviting anyone with Wi-Fi to enter and experience the work through the Malcolm Smith Gallery website.

 Howick Village Eco-Day, Saturday, July 15, 9am – 1pm, War Memorial building (to be confirmed)

 Howick Village HOP, Saturday, October 7, 9am – 2.30pm

 Christmas Fair, Friday, November 24, 5pm – 9pm

Pat Basse found respite in her dreamworld – they were colourful and excitingly theatrical in stark contrast to her living world. Image supplied

HPCC season in review: Times’ top 10 moments

By BEN PLUMMER

After a season ravaged by Auckland’s flooding and adverse weather the Howick Pakuranga Cricket Club (HPCC) made it count.

Ahead of the club’s senior prizegiving on April 15, the Times takes a look back at our favourite moments from the 2022/23 season.

h 10. Higher honours

Multiple HP players who took to the field this season were selected for higher honours.

This included two premier women selected for the White Ferns T20 World Cup campaign in South Africa and nine selected for domestic sides.

THE FULL LIST WAS:

Brooke Halliday – New Zealand White Ferns, Northern Districts domestic Women’s.

Molly Penfold – New Zealand White Ferns, New Zealand Women XI, Auckland Hearts domestic Women’s.

Saachi Shahri – New Zealand Women XI, Auckland Hearts domestic Women’s.

Skye Bowden – Auckland Hearts domestic women’s.

Josie Penfold – Auckland Hearts domestic women’s.

Amberly Parr – Auckland Hearts domestic women’s.

Holly Topp – Northern Districts domestic women’s.

Marama Downes – Northern Districts domestic women’s.

Holly Lightbourne – Auckland U19 Women’s, Auckland Māori secondary school girls.

Ayaan Lambat – Auckland U17 Women’s.

Neena Woollaston – Auckland U17 Women’s, Auckland U19 Women’s, Auckland Cricket

Rangatahi Female leadership programme.

Lachie Stackpole – Auckland U19 Men’s.

Selwin Sanjay – Auckland U17 Men’s.

Connor Greening – Auckland U17 Men’s.

h 9. Breakthrough season

After turning just 14-years-old

in October, Ayaan Lambat has become somewhat of a reliable player for HPCC’s premier women.

Often spinning her opposition in circles, Lambat finished the season with 16 wickets and often had high wicket-taking games.

Her best figures for the premier women this year came in a limited overs match against Parnell where she took 5-34. Lambat featured in the Auckland District’s tournament for the Manukau U17 women’s side where she had an impressive few games, most notably taking six wickets for six runs against Waitemata.

day match against Kumeu. Young scored 72 not out and Walsh 70 not out.

Due to Auckland rain, the match was abandoned and the two were unable to continue their damaging partnership, which would have been sure to defeat Kumeu.

h 6. Batting masterclass

While Brooke Halliday only featured in one game for the HPCC premier women, she made it count when she combined with Marama Downes in a batting masterclass against Auckland University.

ures of 4-8.

h 4. Golden bat

Liam Winn had a breakthrough season with the bat, becoming a constant figure in the HPCC premier men’s line-up. Winn had 16 innings with the bat over three formats throughout the season and scored a total of 613 runs. He notched up two centuries, one in HPCC’s two-day match against Waitakere (112* off 67 balls), inclusive of 12 4s and three 6s and another against Suburbs-New Lynn (102 off 86 balls).

h 2. Spin Twins

The HPCC premier men’s spin duo of Harmeet Singh and Kimesh Chetty collectively took the bulk of the side’s wickets this season.

h

8. Six of the best Youngster Neena Woollaston had a great season, becoming a constant figure in the HPCC’s premier women’s side and even made her captaincy debut.

Woollaston proved her worth in the side’s penultimate limited overs competition match against Takapuna, where she took six wickets for just five runs. She also represented the Manukau Districts U19 women’s team in the Auckland Districts tournament, where she was awarded as the top wicket taker for the whole competition. Woollaston will be a key figure for the HPCC premier women side looking ahead to upcoming seasons.

h

7. Damaging partnership

Bill Walsh and Daniel Young had a great season with the bat, scoring more than 1000 runs collectively.

The two combined for an impressive, unbeaten 149 run opening partnership in their two-

Halliday scored an unbeaten 108 from 81 balls and Tania Dalton Foundation Scholarship recipient Downes scored 82 off 100 balls.

The two combined for an 85-run partnership and helped the side to a total of 299.

The premier women went on to defeat Auckland University by 129 runs in one of their most convincing wins of the season.

h 5. Another golden ball season

All-rounder Josie Penfold had high expectations coming into the season after being named premier women’s bowler of the year in the 2021/22 season.

Penfold exceeded those expectations, once again taking the most wickets for the premier women in their standout season, finishing with 28 wickets. Her bowling efforts against Auckland University (5-28) led the side to a third-place finish in the Prichard Cup limited overs competition.

One of her best bowling games was against North Shore in a T20 match where she finished with fig-

He also scored three half centuries. Winn’s overall batting average for the season was 47.15 and proved most impressive in the one-day format with an average of 67.5 runs.

h 3. HPCC’s depth

Perhaps some of the greatest performances from the HP’s cricket season came from the lower grades of the club, proving how much depth it has.

Notable performances with the bat included Paddy Maher scoring 108 off just 74 balls for the premier reserves, Jasmeet Rattan scoring two hundreds in the same week (101* and 119) for the U15 Maroons, and Lachie Stackpole scoring 150 for the premier reserves in their final match.

There was no lack of talent with the ball either. Kavi Minhas took six wickets for 25 runs for the premier reserves against Kumeu and Ben Underhill had figures of 5-10, inclusive of a hat-trick for the club’s 7th grade against Suburbs New-Lynn.

Singh finished the season with the most wickets for the premier men, taking 30. Chetty was second, taking 19. Often ripping through batting line-ups, Singh and Chetty created headaches for their opposition with multiple four and five wicket matches. Singh and Chetty often performed well together. Their best match being a T20 against Eden Roskill when Singh took 5-12 and Chetty took 4-10. h 1. T20 championship

And finally, the Times’ favourite moment of the 2022/23 HPCC season was the premier women taking out the Pearl Dawson T20 championship.

The premier women went through the competition unbeaten, with the star-studded line-up of women’s domestic players showing their strength.

The women bowled first against a strong Cornwall side and dismissed them for just 90 at the hands of standouts Marama Downes (2-20), Josie Penfold (2-18), Ayaan Lambat (2-16) and Amberly Parr (3-16).

HP openers Saachi Shahri (21 off 28) and Radhika Patel (19 off 28) all but sealed the deal and Josie Penfold closed the match out (19 off 23).

The premier women raised the trophy in front of a home crowd at Lloyd Elsmore Park to mark the peak of their season.

“Excellent,

“Kevin

“Courteous,

Hawks crowned national champs

By BEN PLUMMER

The Howick Pakuranga Hawks have been crowned winners of the 2023 men’s National Club Baseball Championships. Six clubs from across Auckland came together to compete in the three-day tournament from March 31 to April 2.

Club president Mike Bongiovanni says it was a great tournament that was well-organised and the weather held off for the final on Sunday, April 2.

“A special shout out goes to the Howick Pakuranga grounds crew who quickly went into action on Saturday afternoon when it began to rain in order to have the fields ready for Sunday,” he says.

The Hawks faced North Shore City in the final and prevailed eight runs to three.

Auckland Tuatara representatives Andrew Marck and Tui Amosa both ran in two runs for the Hawks to put the game out of reach for North Shore.

“Credit to the North Shore players and coaches, they had a great tournament and were well deserving of being in the Baseball New Zealand Men’s National Championship,” Bongiovanni says.

The Hawks won four of their five games in the tournament, their most impressive being a 16-1 victory over the Waitakere Bears in which every player on the roster made at least one run.

“Howick Pakuranga Baseball Club coach John Fellet prepares every year to give his team a chance to win a national title and this year was no different,” Bongiovanni says. “Throughout the

season, John built up his pitching depth so that we could win four or five games over a three day period, which is required to win a tourna-

ment like this,” he says. Tui Amosa, who the Timeswrote about in November last year after he received a development player

FOX IMPRESSES AT FIRST MASTERS

By BEN PLUMMER

Professional golfer Ryan Fox, of Beachlands, has impressed in his first ever Masters tournament over the weekend, finishing in a tie for 26th place.

The Masters is one of the four major championships in professional golf and is held annually at the Augusta National Golf Club.

The world No 37 finished with a score of even-par over the four rounds after torrential rain and flu symptoms disrupted his tournament.

Fox was in a three-way tie for 14th at three-under par during his third round when play was

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As an employee of Stand Tū Māia you will be a Pou Māia nō Tū Māia. This means we will stand together side by side, shoulder to shoulder in achieving our vision. Together we are resilient, strong and confident pillars of the house of Stand Tū Māia. The position is full time and is based in Half Moon Bay Auckland. When applying you will be asked to address the key competencies of the role and provide a covering letter along with your CV.

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DE286979

disrupted by bad weather at the course in Georgia.

Fox revealed that he had woken up with flu-like symptoms after his second round and he was “definitely down on energy levels the last couple of days”.

“If you’d have given me even-par at the start of the week, I would have been pretty dang happy, Fox said as he walked off the course after his final round.

Fox finished higher than some of the world’s best golfers such as Bryson DeChambeau, Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy, Jason Day and Cameron Smith.

He takes home more than $138,000 for his efforts.

SITUATIONS VACANT

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Our warm, friendly and community-minded school has a vacancy for a Learning Assistant, 14 hours, Monday to Thursday 9.00am-12.30pm. This position is fixed-term, start date ASAP 2023 until 15th December 2023.

The successful applicant will preferably have experience working with students in the junior area of the school and students who have high learning needs.

Please email your CV with a cover letter and names of two referees to: larak@mellonsbay.school.nz by 3.00pm Thursday 27th April 2023. Applicants should have NZ Residency or a New Zealand work visa. DE287026

Office All-Rounder

We are an established, busy, Kitchen & Interiors design and manufacturing company located in East Tamaki. A flexible, part time position is available within our business for an office all-rounder with experience in accounts and customer service.

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We are looking for someone who enjoys working in a team, likes a challenge and is able to put their hand to a variety of tasks.

Great remuneration.

If this sounds like you, please email your CV to: admin@kitchencraft.co.nz

We look forward to hearing from you! DE286896

It was Jon Rahm of Spain that took out this year’s tournament, finishing at 12-under and taking home the prestigious green jacket as well as $3.2 million in prize winnings.

This was his first Masters victory and second major triumph following his win in the 2021 US Open.

Rahm finished four shots clear of Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson in second place.

Fox also competed in the traditional Par three contest at Augusta the day before the first round of the Masters- where he had his father and All Black great Grant Fox caddying for him.

SITUATIONS VACANT

DIRECTOR OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

Howick College is seeking an experienced Director of International Students to join the International Student Department. You will be responsible for the strategic growth and development of the busy and growing International Student Department to ensure Howick College provides a high quality programme for all International Students.

This role is full time including school holidays. International travel will be required. Please email your CV, cover letter and application form which can be downloaded from our website: www.howickcollege.school.nz/career-opportunities to email: employment@howick.school.nz

Applications close 21 April 2023 at 4.00pm DE286920

contract with the Auckland Tuatara, also recorded the most overall runs for the tournament, scoring 10 over five games.

“Hopefully I get another crack at it in the next few years and can learn from this experience. Regardless, it’s been an awesome one,” Fox says.

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Ryan Fox finished in a tie for 26th at his first ever Masters tournament in Augusta, Georgia, over the weekend.

Ryan Fox finished in a tie for 26th at his first ever Masters tournament in Augusta, Georgia, over the weekend.

The Howick Pakuranga Hawks were crowned winners of the 2023 men’s National Club Baseball championship after a fiverun win over North Shore City. Photo supplied

Turns out you can live on the golf course!

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