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News
WEDNESDAY 5 February 2020
News
Murchison set to celebrate 100 years of the A&P Show Jacob Page Things are getting busy in Murchison this week, as the town prepares to celebrate its 100th A and P Show next weekend. It was a travelling salesman for Buxtons Ltd who canvassed the area in 1909 and came up with the suggestion that it would be a good idea if the town had an an-
nual show. The first show was held March 17, 1911 and included exhibits of stock, vegetables, domestic produce and flowers. There were horse events, dog trials, athletic sports and axemen’s events. The show was a great success and was followed by a ball at night. Music for the ball was supplied
by Miss Mary Hunter’s orchestra which included William Hunter, Mrs Ernie White and Joe Goodyer. The first show grounds were in Charles Downie’s paddock in Grey Street. Tents for the show were hired from Buxton’s store in Nelson. The dairy factory was new at the time and pedigree cows were be-
ing bought into the district for the show. The cows had arrived the night before the show, so all had to be milked by hand on the grounds. A night watchman was present in the cookery tent to keep all the stray cats out. The ball was a grand affair with many people dancing until dawn, when they had to go and milk.
These shows were organised by the Farmers Union Show Committee. It was then decided to run shows under the A & P Association’s umbrella. The first show ever Murchison A&P show was opened by the then Prime Minister, the Right Hon WF Massey. During the war years, the shows were not held.
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A band plays at Murchison A and P Show. Photo: Murchison Museum.
Nelson Matters
Nelson and Tasman needs were ignored by the Government in last week’s $8 billion infrastructure package of 40 roading and hospital projects around New Zealand. There was nothing for our region. The congestion and road safety issues in Nelson and Richmond just keep getting worse. I am being inundated with complaints about the increasing congestion on Rocks Road, Waimea Road, Richmond’s lower Queen Street intersection and around Champion Road. Journeys that used to take 5 minutes are taking 20 minutes. Frustrated motorists are taking unnecessary risks increasing the number of accidents. Rat running to avoid the snarl ups
is affecting suburban neighbourhoods. The problems on Waimea Road will just get worse when the new traffic lights linking Princes Drive are added in June. Nelson also has the most earthquake prone hospital in NZ and our seismic risk is similar to Christchurch. The law I passed in 2016 as Building Minister requires it to be upgraded this decade. It has insufficient beds for our growing and aging population, nor are the facilities up to scratch for patients, doctors and nurses. It should have been included in the list of hospital upgrades. Labour Ministers like Grant Robertson and Phil Twyford justified
the lack of local projects by saying the funds had been allocated on the basis of population and growth. Nelson and Tasman make up 2% of New Zealand’s population and our share would equate to $160 million. Northland got $692 million worth of projects. Regions with less growth and population like Gisborne, Whangarei, Levin, Palmerston North and Wairarapa all got significant projects. I commend Tasman Mayor Tim King for pointing out that population growth in our region has been 2.1% per year, the same as Auckland’s. He and other South Island Mayors are right to cry foul. The South Island makes up 22% of New
544 Waimea Road, Nelson
Zealand’s population but is only getting 2% of the investment with minor projects in Christchurch and Queenstown. It rubs salt in the wound that this Government has also put petrol taxes and road user charges up three times for Nelson and Tasman motorists. They are taking millions more out of the region but not investing any back. They last year cancelled $6 million of work on upgrades to SH 6 in Stoke and Atawhai which would have provided quieter and safer road surfacing. We are paying more for less. National has a proven record of major transport investment locally. We built QE II Drive in the 1980s
and the Stoke Bypass in the 1990s (against opposition by Greens and Labour). We built the Mapua Bypass, Spooners Range and Gentle Annie upgrades in the 2010’s. We rightly made the $1.4 billion fix of SH1 the priority after the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake. I lobbied hard to get the $135 million commitment for the Southern Link from then PM Bill English and Transport Minister Simon Bridges in 2017. My greatest disappointment last election from Winston Peters’ decision to go with Labour, was the deferral of this project. Nelsonians are rightly angry with Labour over this neglect of our region. Advt.
WEDNESDAY 5 February 2020
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Just a thought... Adrienne Hill Chair, Parish Pastoral Council Our Lady of the Bays Already the first month of 2020 is in the past! Many of us approach each New Year with hopes, dreams and resolutions for the coming 12 months. With the first month gone, how are our resolutions looking? Do we even remember what they were?While our individual goals for the year may seem small in a global sense, we all have the same desires for our family and friends as those who lead and nurture countries and global organisations do - those of peace, harmony and health. In his message on the celebration of the 53rd World Day of Peace on 1 January, His Holiness Pope Francis sees Peace as a journey of Hope, through Dialogue, Reconciliation and Ecological Conversion. Hope is the virtue that inspires us. It keeps us moving forward even in the face of obstacles and trials. Peace will not be obtained unless it is hoped for.
Dialogue and listening based on memory and solidarity, Reconciliation by acknowledging one another as brothers and sisters, as well asEcological Conversion with a peaceful
relationship between communities and the land. Pope Francis acknowledges that the world does not need more empty words. What it needs is convinced witnesses, and peacemakers who are open to rejecting exclusion and manipulation. The road to peace of any kind, whether within our families, communities or globally, is long and arduous, but it is a process that requires an ongo-
ing commitment from all of us. Referring to the recent Synod on the Pan-Amazon region, Pope Francis writes, ‘Faced with the consequences of our hostility toward others, our lack of respect for our common home and our abusive exploitation of natural resources, we are in need of an ecological conversion, one that will lead us to a new way of looking at life.’ Today everything changes so quickly, nothing lasts long. And this mentality leads many who are preparing for marriage to say: “we are together as long as the love lasts,” - and then? Pope Francis said “All the best and see you later... and so ends the marriage. But what do we mean by ‘love’? Is it only a feeling, a psychophysical state? Certainly, if that is it, then we cannot build on anything solid. But if, instead, love is a relationship, then it is a reality that grows.” Let us hope that 2020 will be a year where small steps are taken, so that all may experience a life of peace.
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