9th - Kaipara Konnection Weekly Newsletter - Dargaville.BIZ

The Kaipara Konnection 

An Alternative View of Things 

Volume 3 No 37 09 November 2013 

This newsletter is brought to you to let you know what’s on and what’s happening in and around the Kaipara. It is 

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All opinions expressed in this newsletter are the opinions of the contributors. They do not reflect the views of any 

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Before you print this newsletter please consider the environment. 

The Team 

John MacDonald 

Joseph Douglas 

Editor and production 

Webmaster and web advisor 

Weather Forecast 

Here is an 8 day forecast from Weather Online. 

Dargaville 

Mangawhai 

For Updates and Other Regions Go To 

Met Service: 

NZ Weather Online: 

http://www.metservice.co.nz/public/localWeather/dargaville.html 

http://www.weatheronline.co.nz/NewZealand/Dargaville.htm

Editorial 

“If you don’t imagine, nothing ever happens at all.” 

-- John Green 

1. The news of the week has to be the “Roast Buster” saga. It seems simply amazing that so many people have got 

involved – to their detriment mainly – in what started out as another news headline. Broadcasters John Tamihere and 

Willie Jackson were stupid enough to question a caller who rang in claiming to be a victim of these macho image 

teenage boys who at a very young age (15 and 16) started having sex with girls their own age or younger and then 

posting pictures and comments on the Internet. Like Sir Lockwood Smith who was savaged by the media and feminist 

groups for suggesting that Asian women had small, dexterous hands, Tamihere and Jackson asked a girl who claimed 

to be 13 at the time what she was doing out late at night and what clothing she was wearing. Did she willingly drink 

the alcohol that the teenage boys offered her? As a consequence of this line of questioning their show has seen all the 

advertisers withdraw and even the Prime Minister has agreed not to appear as a guest again until the New Year. 

Then the political stampede started. The Minister of Police has seemingly interfered in Police procedural matters by 

insisting that the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) investigate why a prosecution was not fothcoming after 

a complaint against the Roast Busters in 2011, while she of the brow beating, breast thumping, Gucci glasses, aka the 

Minister of Justice, has promised laws to prevent the Internet being used to publicise such horrendous acts of teenage 

behaviour in the future. The poor old Police Commissioner has once again had to defend the actions or inaction of his 

subordinates. No wonder he is not seeking another term in the job. 

The media firestorm over this matter – and yes it has very serious issues that need to be addressed – has meanwhile 

allowed Parliament to sneak through quite of lot of legislation that would otherwise have been subjected to much more 

detailed scrutiny and explanation. Now the security boffins can demand that your personal communications be handed 

over to them. All this in the name of making sure that New Zealand does not get attacked by terrorists. Who needs 

terrorists when our allies are spying on us anyway? 

At the end of the day the only apparent “winners” are the teenage clowns who posted the claims of their self perceived, 

ego massaging, macho behaviour, online in the first place. They could never have imagined just how much TV and 

media time they would get. Talk about making hero’s out of villains. Now we will have to put up with the “copycats” who 

want to emulate or even better the Roast Busters. Responsible media behaviour? Yeah right. 

2. Notice how people power can work? Suddenly, last weekend, Countdown put up the price of the blue, approved, 

Council rubbish bags to $3.60. Seems that this was a Countdown decision and nothing to do with the Kaipara District 

Council or it’s contractors Kaipara Refuse. First Countdown take the blue bags off the shelf claiming that there were too 

many being stolen, and now they put the price up 80c. For what? 

The blue rubbish bags are a rort anyway. When they were introduced to replace the stick on labels, the bag capacity 

shrunk from the standard, off the shelf black rubbish bag size, so we are effectively paying more for less anyway, Yet 

another McKercherism foisted onto the ratepayers of the Kaipara, 

This photo was taken at the gate of the Council rubbish dump in Awakino Road, Dargaville, earlier this week. Notice the 

price for a rubbish bag? Two dollars and eighty cents. Go dump yourself. 

Northern Wairoa Memorial RSA 

Hokianga Road Dargaville. Phone (09) 439 8164 

Bar, Restaurant, Pool Tables, Free Parking, Courtesy Coach

“Happiness consists in getting enough sleep. 

Just that, nothing more.” -- Robert A. Heinlein 

A “mystery shopper” rang this morning, (Sat 9 th ) to say that Countdown has reduced the price of the Blue Bag to $3.00. 

Still 20c dearer for a smaller bag than going up to the dump. With the new Supermarket building due to open next 

year you have to wonder how many other price rises there will be to pay for it. The Warehouse and Four Square have 

very competitive pricing anyway so why not try shopping there? Arcade meats can handle all your requirements at 

reasonable prices and their meat is fresh – not packaged, chilled, and shipped out of Auckland. 

3. So the Labour Party has decided that the man ban is to go ahead – albeit in a slightly modified form. Wonder if this 

decision will lead to women being threatened with loosing their domestic purposes benefit if they don’t put their names 

forward as candidates in electorates? Sound ridiculous? With the social engineering that has come to the fore in the 

Labour Party over the years nothing should be considered as improbable. 

Indian Restaurant, Bar, & Cafe 

17 Hokianga Road. Dargaville. Phone (09) 439 0024 

Lunch: Mon - Sat 11.00am - 3.00pm Dinner 7 Days 4.30pm - late

“Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air.” 

-- Ralph Waldo Emerson 

And what did stuff.co.nz readers think of this idea? Look at the poll results. 

4. The Commerce Commission has done its job and recommended pricing for pairs of copper wires that Chorus 

supplies to Internet Service Providers to come into effect from December 2014. Screams and yells from Chorus. 

Consequently their share price has dropped dramatically – or as the NZ Herald article says – it has been hammered. 

Something is not kosher here. Chorus has already received a substantial taxpayer handout for installing fibre cables to 

support the Government’s Ultra Fast Broadband (UFB) initiative, and has paid it’s shareholders a dividend of $95 million 

dollars. If they can pay that sort of dividend why are they now saying that they may not be able to borrow money to 

complete the UFB initiative by the due date? What? Did they not work out the cost of the project before submitting their 

tender? Did they not bother to do a risk analysis? 

UFB is not being taken up by those who can receive it (not Dargaville or the rest of the Kaipara of course) because the 

“plans” are simply not cost effective. Why would you want to pay for a monthly data cap which you can use up in a week 

when you can get similar results over a longer period of time and not have to “buy more” data? There is no incentive 

for people to change to UFB really. Most of us use the Internet to read the news, send e-mails, chat on Skype, upload 

pics of family events to Facebook, and of course submit the winning bid on Trade Me on something that we really, really, 

want but probably don’t need. Are our family video’s so important that we have to upload them in seconds rather than 

minutes? Don’t think so. 

With a poorly performing Minster of Telecommunications, who from her utterances really has no idea of what is going 

on, things will probably get worse before they get better. Fortunes are made on the Internet though volume sales – not 

FL Computers. 

Dargaville Four Square Discount Supermarket 

111 Victoria Street, Dargaville 0310 Phone: (09) 439 1083 

Open 7 Days 

122 Victoria Street. Dargaville. Phone: (09) 439 0496. E-Mail: flcomputers@xtra.co.nz

“I will not say, do not weep, for not all tears are an evil.” 

-- J.R.R. Tolkien 

high prices. Someone should tell her and Chorus that. 

5. Have you heard of “Dundridge” zeal? The word dundrige was introduced by Richard Dawkins in “An Appetite for 

Wonder,” originally inspired by the character J. Dundridge in the 1975 novel, “Blott on the Landscape.” Richard Dawkins 

wrote that, despite the fact that his mother was plainly standing in front of the dundridges of the colonial government in 

Kenya, they would not accept that as proof or her existence there. And they wouldn’t give her a visa to leave because, 

“as far as their records showed, she had never arrived.” 

So for a definition: Dundrige - A bureaucrat who heartlessly enforces the rules, regardless of how stupid or harmful they 

are in the circumstances. (These are the idiots who will send a teenage girl to jail on child porn charges for having a 

nude photo of HERSELF). 

Can also refer to rule-lovers outside of government, such as shop assistants who not only check your ID when you’re 

buying alcohol, but also insist on carding everyone else standing too close to you in line and will refuse to sell it to you if 

some old man behind you that you’ve never met before doesn’t have his driver’s license on him. 

Anyone had dealings with WINZ, IRD, Customs, Courts, or the Police recently? Case closed. 

6. Is anyone over the age of 45 in Dargaville awake? We have a town with many talented youngsters who are ready and 

willing to contribute to the health of our community. What are we doing to harness this talent and youthful view of the 

New AsiaN Restaurant 

73 Victoria Street Dargaville. Phone (09) 439 8388 

Dine in - Takeaways - Open 7 Days - Licenced

“Illegal aliens have always been a problem in the 

United States. Ask any Indian.” -- Robert Orben 

world? Sadly little or nothing. 

Far too many of our events are put together by people over the age of 60 who will not let anyone else get involved and 

then stand up and tell anyone willing to listen, (including captive audiences) just how clever they are and how much the 

community owes them for putting the event together. A phone call came in after an event last weekend which was ruined 

for many who attended by the organiser standing up in all her “finery” and talking at length about how clever she was for 

arranging to have the event in Dargaville. 

We regularly see photos of the same people in our local papers claiming credit for organising this that and the other 

thing when in fact all the effort was made by others who receive no credit at all. Not even a passing reference. As the 

self appointed organisers, they write letters, send e-mails, and make phone calls (which they invoice the Society for of 

course) on behalf of their organisation with no reference to committees of executive committees. With a bit of luck the 

exec find out afterwards what they have been committed to and how much it is going to cost. Fraudulent behaviour – but 

it is OK as long as no one complains. The Police are not interested – far too busy issuing traffic infringement notices to 

bother with such trivia. No revenue from this sort of inquiry either. 

What an example we are setting our young ones. Fortunately there are one or two folk in Dargaville who are trying to 

address this situation. Look at what has been achieved in Otorohanga. More on this subject next week. 

7. It’s only three weeks until Northland goes digital with TV transmission. If you have not already got Sky, Freeview, or 

Igloo you have until Dec 1 st to “extractus digitus” and get your act together. If you don’t – then you will have to sit and 

enjoy the “buzz of nothingness” on your TV set. Oh dear. No Coronation Street? No “reality” TV shows? Unthinkable. 

For more information go to www.goingdigital.co.nz , or call 0800 838 800. 

8. Next Monday marks the “eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month” of 1918. This is the official date to 

mark the end of First World War (1914 – 1918) and reflects the ceasefire on the Western Front. Pause, think, and give 

thanks. Read more here. 

Half-gallon, quarter acre, pavlova paradise – underbelly. 

The Observer. 

I waited several days before writing this to ensure I didn’t come across as a curmudgeonly old sod whinging about 

today’s young people. Being too harsh and out of touch like a dusty old relic or just narrow-minded. 

I don’t think I am. 

What I am is incredibly sad and sickened that our desensitised and blasé society has come to the point of the “roast 

busters” who are currently tearing up the media for every conceivable wrong reason. And that it takes something as 

dark as this to galvanise the community. 

We have a fraternity of young teenage men from West Auckland who over the past couple of years, allegedly sought 

out young women, some as young as 13, stupefied them with alcohol or whatever else and then had sex with them, 

sometimes in groups and boasted on social media of their exploits, naming and ranking them. The women involved 

were so intoxicated apparently, that they were unaware of what went down at these sessions, or have been too 

Raan Ahaan Thai Aroi Dee - Thai Restaurant 


Dine in - Takeaways - Open 6 Days - Closed Monday

“Trying to define yourself is like 

trying to bite your own teeth.” -- Alan Wilson Watts 

ashamed to say anything even if they do remember. And remember this is Austin Mitchell’s half gallon, quarter acre, 

pavlova paradise. Hard to get your head around isn’t it? 

Public anger and shame has been intense and widespread. Some of the “men” involved have been identified, one is 

the son of a minor movie celebrity and another’s father is we’re told, a police officer. We have vigilante groups posting 

rewards for these kids to be dealt with, ‘no questions asked.’ I have to say I am sorely tempted to add to the reward 

kitty. 

In the four decades I have been writing news and pieces about news, I thought I had been there and done that. A 

typical journo never gets affected by the story. As Dragnet’s Sgt Joe Friday famously intoned, “Just the facts ma’am, 

just the facts.” Maybe I am getting old and curmudgeonly, but this has got to me, and I actually despair for the future of 

our society. We have plumbed new depths of depravity. 

I know we live in a totally unemotional society where most things barely raise a bored yawn, but what the hell have 

we come down to when parents can raise their kids to do stuff like this? And as first point of attack, I open fire on the 

parents of these deviant young thugs and if what we hear is true, the girls who knew about, and consented to it and 

went back for more. Not once – but for two years!!!! 

Where were their disinterested, uncaring and utterly reprehensible parents while all of this was going down? These kids 

would have been 15 and 16 - school kids for heavens sake - when they started their twisted crusade. Parental overview 

has been non-existent and the adults here must take the lion’s share of the blame for this darkest of stains on our 

society. They are every bit as guilty as their evil issue. 

Curmudgeonly or not, my mates and I did not stupefy teenage girls for group sex and film them when we were 16. 

Sure, we partied hard – girls and boys – but no one got hurt and no one was emotionally scarred for life as these young 

women now are. No one faced violent vigilante retribution for their heinous actions as these young idiots now are and 

the community did not reel in shock, shame and disbelief because of what we did - as this community now is. 

The police say they have known about these cretins for two years and have been watching and waiting – completely 

powerless because none of the women involved would make a formal complaint. That admission alone is astonishing 

and sad testimony to how utterly gutless and PC our society has become. 

It’s the insidious “someone else will do something” syndrome. The buck was passed, nothing happened and so the 

cretins became even more empowered. No one had the guts to speak up and clearly, the parents didn’t know and didn’t 

care. 

The twitter comments of one of the alleged perpetrators are sickening – showing a chilling disregard for any vestige of 

human decency concerning his actions. And again that comes right back to the low-life parents who spawned this kid. 

The game is up for these creeps, but a day or two ago, it was revealed a prominent Auckland high school had come 

across a similar Facebook page run by its students and has moved to shut it down. 

And the saddest part? Some of the girlfriends of these fine upstanding young men are defending them, saying they are 

actually good blokes and it’s ‘what goes on in West Auckland with 13-15 year old girls.’ Yes it does take two to tango, 

but in this case, it’s a very long bow to draw, so let’s blame the victims. Works every time in a society blighted with a 

long standing rape culture. 

I won’t go on. I could, but it’s making me too angry. All we can do now is sit and wait and watch what - if anything – will 

happen. Don’t hold your breath. 

Today FM. - 87.7 & 106.7 Mhz 

Bringing Back The Memories in Dargaville

What Others Are Saying 

“You speak an infinite deal of nothing.” 

-- William Shakespeare, 

Make sure that you click on the following links and read the latest postings. 

From KaiparaConcerns 

http://www.kaiparaconcerns.co.nz/ A Must Read Again This Week 

From Mangawhai Residents and Ratepayers Association 

http://mangawhairatepayers.ning.com/ 

Northland Events Calendars 

To see what is happening around Northland, you can visit: 

Hokianga 

Kauri Coast 

Mangawhai 

Northland 

Event Finder 

http://www.hokiangatourism.org.nz/news.html 

http://kauricoast.co.nz/Events.cfm 

http://www.mangawhai.co.nz/Events.cfm 

http://www.northlandnz.com/events.php 

http://www.eventfinder.co.nz/whatson/events/northland 

Letters to the Editor. 

If you have a complaint about something we publish, a brickbat or bouquet, or some general 

comments that you want to share this is the place to do it. Please ensure that we receive your 

letters no later than the Thursday morning before publication. As with other news media, we don’t 

publish or respond to letters that have no real name, address, and contact phone number. If you 

don’t want your name to appear please tell us. All letters are published in full as received. Please 

keep them to no more than 250 words if possible. 

Thanks! 

Mr Pizza. 

109 Victoria Street Dargaville. Phone (09) 439 0209

New Books In the Dargaville Library 

BEST SELLERS 

Revenge – Martina Cole 

The Highway – C.J. Box 

Unseen – Karin Slaughter 

The Keeper – Luke Delaney 

FICTION 

The Signature of All Things – Elizabeth Gilbert 

Bittersweet – Colleen McCullough 

The Last Dark – Stephen Donaldson 

NON FICTION 

“A library is infinity under a roof.” 

-- Gail Carson Levine 

A Short History of Nearly Everything – Bill Bryson 

Atlas of Anatomy – Organs Systems Structures – More than 600 illustrations 

The Complete World Encyclopedia of Apples – Andrew Mikolaiski 

The Everything Health Guide to Adult Bipolar Disorder – Dena A. Haycock, PhD 

Wild Behaviour – A New Zealand Perspective – Trevor Penfold Wildlife Photographer 

Beyond the Microphone – Leighton Smith 

Homemade Patisserie – Pastry Made Easy – Vincent Gadan & Michelle Guberina 

Aprons and Silver Spoons – The heartwarming memoirs of a 1930s kitchen maid – Mollie Moran 

Kids Parties – Creative ideas and recipes for making celebrations special 

Computer Stuff 

Keep Up To Date With Events at the Library 

Phone 09) 439 3150 

or visit their web page 

Carol discusses another way to use Linux 

My Husband noticed in the most recent news letter that you mention Ubuntu 

Linux. He has used Linux for years though not that distribution (distro). For 

this tip, you could use any distro you desire. This tip is for all versions of 

Windows XP and later. Install Virtualbox (free) then choose and install a 

distro of Linux (free). Set up Virtualbox in seamless mode and use Linux to browse the web and email. Your Windows is 

then isolated from the Internet. You also don’t need antivirus, malware or any other security software. 

Indian Restaurant, Bar, & Cafe 

17 Hokianga Road. Dargaville. Phone (09) 439 0024 

Lunch: Mon - Sat 11.00am - 3.00pm Dinner 7 Days 4.30pm - late

“An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes 

that can be made in a very narrow field.” -- Niels Bohr 

Our answer 

Hi Carol. Yes there are dozens of distributions (AKA “flavors”, “distros”) and they are all based on Linus Torvalds’ Linux 

kernel; some “distros” can be very different from others. Saying all “distros” of Linux are basically the same is like saying 

all versions of Windows are basically the same. For example: Linux Red Hat is very different from Linux Mint or Linux 

Ubuntu. Additionally, I don’t particularly want to encourage people to use Linux, but we do want them to know they have 

more options than using an unsafe, unpatched version of Windows. If someone does not have the money for a new 

computer, Linux (Ubuntu) would be much safer than using an old, unpatched version of Windows XP. We’re advising 

people not to play Russian roulette with their computers and their privacy - therefore nothing we will be writing will in any 

way be encouraging people to hang on to Windows XP. We remember the mess when people using kept using Windows 

98 after support ended. Many of those machines were compromised and became zombies distributing spam and worms 

all across the Internet. 

Anyone who switches to Linux from Windows is certainly going be disappointed with the number and quality of free 

software available for it (a few thousand programs versus hundreds of thousands for Windows) -- that’s why I made 

a point in the article of saying that if all you do is update your social networking sites, send and receive email, shop 

online and browse the Web, Ubuntu would work well -- but if you do graphics, play resource-intensive games, or have 

fun installing and trying free programs, or use your computer for many different projects, you probably won’t find Linux 

- regardless of “distro” - to your liking. 

As far as running Windows XP in a virtual machine, users could do the same with Windows 7 or Windows 8. Virtual 

machines are great for testing and trying new things, but to use a virtual machine as your main computer is something 

we’d never recommend. 

We’re writing a newsletter for Windows users, and we’re not encouraging anyone to use Ubuntu or Linux. However, it is 

an option if someone does not have the money to buy a new computer, or who cannot afford to upgrade their version of 

Windows. 

Eric can’t remember his wireless security key 

I can’t remember my security key for my wireless network is. Now I have a new tablet computer and I can’t connect to 

my network. Is there a way to find out what this key is? My brother told me I have to reset the router but I don’t want to 

do that. Thanks for all your help! 

Our answer 

Hi Eric. You’re in luck. You won’t have to reset your router. There is an easy way to recover your wireless router security 

key, and it works well most of the time. It’s called “Wireless Key View” by Nirsoft. It’s a very small download – zip file – 

that you simple extract to a folder and click on the exe file to use it. In the main view you’ll see the key in both HEX and 

Ascii. You’ll be most interested in Ascii – that’s your wireless key. You can download WirelessKeyView from http://www. 

nirsoft.net/utils/wireless_key.html . 




“Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.” 

-- Frederick Douglass 

Note there are two versions – one for 32bit computers and one for 64bit. And don’t forget to read the program’s 

documentation. We hope this helps you. This program sets off alarm bells in many security programs because of the 

type of program it is. The program is 100% free from viruses, spyware and malware. You can ignore your security 

program’s warnings if this program upsets your security program :-) . 

NOTE: Your security software will probably go crazy when you install this program. In this case you can ignore the 

warnings. This is really a hacking tool made to be used for a really good purpose. 

More on “Are you getting the Internet speed you’re paying for” 

All Windows users 

We had a lot of response to last week’s article about whether or not you’re getting the speeds you’re paying your ISP 

for. And a couple of people were looking on their ISP’s billing statement for their promised connection speed. Of course 

no ISP that we know of indicates on their statements or anywhere what your connection speed is supposed to be -- 

because that’s the speed you’re paying for. The only time they talk about speed is when they’re selling you their service. 

Most of the time the only way you’re going to know what speed you’re supposed to be getting is by picking up the phone 

and calling your ISP and asking. 

Now we’re not saying ISPs are intentionally cheating their customers. But every ISP we are aware of is trying to make 

as much profit as possible -- and sometimes this leads them to stick with older equipment longer than the should, or 

put too many people on one node, or leave outdated modems in your homes -- while new customers get the new ones. 

This is called cost-cutting or maximizing profit. And a lot of things affect your Internet connection speed. If you’re on a 

wireless connection like I am right now - the distance from the router can cause a degradation in speed. Sometimes a 

server on the Internet will be slower because of Internet traffic. A lot of things affect the speed of your connection - as I’m 

sure our ISPs would happily agree with. 

Jo’s Home Cookery 


Open 7 Days For Real Home Cooking

“Keep in mind that people change, but the past doesn’t.” 

-- Becca Fitzpatrick 

So last week we gave you a couple of Web sites where you could go and check your connection speed. Well, we had 

a couple of readers who thought perhaps these sites had some kind of ulterior motives for showing slower speeds than 

ISPs were promising. We doubt that. But if you don’t doubt that, we have another way to check your computer speed 

-- and since this check is done right on your own computer - there can’t be any Web sites with ulterior motives. We still 

can’t figure out why anyone would think the speed test sites we featured would have ulterior motives. But anyway.. 

Here’s a nice little program called JDAUTO Speed Tester, and it lets you check your Internet connection speed in the 

background while you work or play. And it keeps track of the fluctuations in your connection speed and saves them to 

a file so you can confront your ISP if you think you’re not getting the speed you’re paying for. Or you can use the log 

to test your Internet tweaking, or your new router, or your new cable modem, or your new network card, or your new 

wireless configuration. Or you can just use it to check your connection speeds 

over the course of time. 

Here’s what the developer has to say: 

Is this a program you really need? Nah! Is it a program that is useful? Sure, 

we think so. Is it fun? If you like this sort of thing.. 

Does your Internet services provider supply you with the service speeds that were advertised? Does it do this 24 hours 

a day 7 days a week? 

With this free program you can do regular internet speed tests in the background. It logs all your data and enables 

you to see at a glance what your speeds are doing over the course of the hour/day/week/month etc. It will test your 

download & upload speeds your ping times, packet loss and jitter. 

It will generate a CSV log file for all this data and also present you with a graphical representation. you can also create 

screen shots of the graph & the manual results window. The memory usage i have managed to get down to approx. < 

2MB whilst in “sleep” mode (in tray) so a very small footprint. 

Test download speed from a list of supplied default servers 

Test Upload speed to a donated testing server 

Test Ping, Pkloss & Jitter to/from any applicable URL 

Add any user chosen test file URL’s 

Test download speed from multiple servers with each test 

Test download & upload speeds from/to personal servers 

Test all, some or just one attribute (DL, UL, Ping, Pkloss, Jitter) 

Load results log into any program that supports .CSV 

Send automated emails when thresholds are reached 

It’s called JDAUTO Speed Tester and it’s good clean freeware -- no bundles or other garbage in the installer. It’s a 

3.63MB download and available from here. 

Mr Pizza. 


“Any fool can know. The point is to understand.” 

-- Albert Einstein 

Some New Zealand History for the Week 10 - 16 November 

10 November 1871 Telegraph Department cleared of ‘hacking’ charges 

A series of events in 1870-71 led Otago Daily Times editor George Barton to claim in his newspaper that the 

government had been intercepting telegraphs for political gain. After the government sued Barton for libel and he 

counter-sued Telegraph Department head Charles Lemon, a Parliamentary Select Committee was convened to 

investigate the affair. On 10 November 1871 their report, which exonerated the Department of any wrongdoing, was 

tabled in Parliament. 

This was in the days before overseas telegrams, so any major international news came by ship and was then sent 

internally (by Morse Code) via the telegraph system, along with thousands of other communications. The telegraph 

system stretched in a line from Invercargill to Auckland (apart from a small stretch in the Coromandel where telegrams 

had to be carried by courier until 1872). Any suggestion that the department that controlled the telegraph system might 

be abusing their power was a cause of great concern. 

The accusations against the Telegraph Department might appear tame compared to recent phone-hacking scandals, 

but at the time they were taken very seriously. They included delaying passing major international news items on to 

newspapers that didn’t support the government, illegally intercepting a journalist’s telegram about a speech by an 

opposition politician, and claims that Charles Lemon had been moonlighting as a grain merchant for his brother. 

The fact that the government chose to sue its accuser, and then took the extraordinary step of offering Otago Daily 

Times staff a ‘pardon-in advance’ so they wouldn’t incriminate themselves giving evidence against Barton, seems to 

have caused as much of a backlash as the accusations of departmental wrongdoing. 

An Evening Post editorial claimed the incident was an abuse of government power and money and could be seen as 

setting an unacceptable precedent: 

No Editor of a public journal will in future dare to expose abuses, however glaring, censure 

the proceedings of a corrupt Government, or stand up for the rights of the people if he 

knows that he is liable to be criminally prosecuted at the will of the Government. 

Barton left the Otago Daily Times shortly after the case against him concluded and went 

into legal practice in Dunedin. Charles Lemon retired from his post as Superintendent of 

Electric Lines in the Post and Telegraph Department in 1894, having survived a number of 

other enquiries similar to the telegraph scandal of 1870-71. 

14 November 1973 DPB legislation introduced 

The passage of the Social Security Amendment Act introduced the Domestic Purposes Benefit to New Zealand’s social 

welfare system. Paid out from 1 May 1974, the DPB was to be set at a level that would enable sole parents to care for 

their children without needing to find paid employment. 

The introduction of the Old-age Pension in 1898 and the landmark Social Security Act of 1938 saw New Zealand earn 

an international reputation for progressive social policy. The concept of state care ‘from the cradle to the grave’ became 

an established part of New Zealand life. 

Prior to 1973 the government supported families by supplementing the wages of widows and sole mothers who worked. 

The 1972 Royal Commission on Social Security recommended that a new benefit be set at a level high enough to allow 

sole mothers to stay home to care for their children. 

The Domestic Purposes Benefit was intended to help women with a dependent child or children who had lost the 




“If you don’t read the newspaper, you’re uninformed. 

If you read the newspaper, you’re mis-informed.” -- Mark Twain 

support of a husband, or were inadequately supported by him. It was also available to unmarried mothers and their 

children, and to fathers who were the sole parent of one or more children. Women who were living alone and cared for 

incapacitated relatives could also claim the DPB. 

The traditional image of the nuclear family had begun to change. The idea of the father going out to work while mum 

stayed home was not relevant to an increasing number of New Zealanders. Attitudes to marriage in general were 

changing and the number of sole parents was rising. These changes had forced a rethink of how sole parents were 

supported when relationships ended. (The Act treated de facto relationships as marriages.) 

Critics complained that this benefit would lead to an explosion in the number of sole parents. It was argued that it would 

be too easy for men to walk away from their responsibilities and place an unfair burden on the taxpayer. The DPB was 

also seen as encouraging sole parents to opt out of the workforce. 

While men could claim the DPB, the vast majority of those claiming the benefit were women. A new class of New 

Zealander was created: the ‘solo mum’. During tougher economic times they came to 

symbolise what critics complained was wrong with the welfare state. Those receiving the 

DPB were somehow ‘ripping off the system’. 

Others argued that the DPB was an important right for women. It gave them and their 

children some protection from failed relationships that were potentially harmful. The 

DPB’s advocates also argued that as the amount paid was barely enough to cover basic 

necessities, it was hardly an incentive for anyone to choose to give up paid work. 

Image: Women protesting in 1977 

16 November 1840 NZ officially becomes British colony 

New Zealand officially became a separate colony of the United Kingdom, severing its link to New South Wales. North, 

South and Stewart islands were to be known respectively as the provinces of New Ulster, New Munster and New 

Leinster. 

William Hobson had been appointed Britain’s consul to New Zealand in 1839. He was instructed to obtain sovereignty 

over all or part of New Zealand with the consent of ‘a sufficient number’ of chiefs. New Zealand would then come under 

the authority of George Gipps, the governor of New South Wales; Hobson would become Gipps’ lieutenant-governor. 

On 21 May 1840 William Hobson proclaimed British sovereignty over all of New Zealand, the North Island on the basis 

of cession through the Treaty of Waitangi and the southern islands by ‘right of discovery’. Signatures to the Treaty were 

still being sought. Hobson may have wanted to declare the Crown’s authority over the whole country because he had 

learned that the New Zealand Company had plans to set up its own administration around Cook Strait. 

Shortly before Hobson left Sydney in January 1840, Gipps had issued a proclamation extending the boundaries of 

New South Wales to include such territory in New Zealand as might be acquired in sovereignty. The Legislative Council 

of New South Wales passed an Act extending to New Zealand the laws of New South Wales on 16 June 1840 and 

established customs duties and courts of justice here. 

The relationship with New South Wales was intended as a convenience to cover the period during which British 

sovereignty over New Zealand was being asserted. Even before Hobson’s dispatch reporting his proclamations had 

reached London, his political masters had decided to make New Zealand a separate colony. The ‘Charter for erecting 

the Colony of New Zealand’, effective from 16 November 1840, also constituted a nominated Legislative Council. The 

provincial divisions were at first of geographical significance only. They were not used as a basis for the government of 

the colony, which was centralised in Auckland. 

In 1846 a further Royal Charter divided the colony into two provinces and provided each with its own political institutions 




“A ship is safe in harbor, but that’s not what ships are for.” 

-- William G.T. Shedd 

in addition to those of the central government. The two provinces were called New Ulster and New Munster. New 

Leinster was merged with the South Island and the southern portion of the North Island as far north as the mouth of the 

Pātea River in a reformed New Munster. 

Each province was to have a governor and a Legislative and Executive Council, with a 

governor-in-chief and his Legislative and Executive Council providing the central authority. 

In 1851 the Provincial Legislative Councils were permitted to be partially elective. This 

system was rendered obsolete by the passage in Britain of the New Zealand Constitution 

Act 1852. 

Image: old map of NSW and NZ (Garwood & Voigt) 

Reference: New Zealand History Online 

Food - Some Tasty Ideas 

Chicken and Bacon Bake 

Ingredients 

320g packet triple smoked bacon, sliced 

1 onion, peeled and finely chopped 

2-3 stalks celery, finely sliced 

4 cups cooked pasta (we used penne) 

420g can Wattie’s Condensed Creamy Chicken Soup 

1/2 cup milk 

1/2 cup cream 

8 halves sundried tomatoes, roughly chopped (optional) 

1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan or mozzarella cheese 

Method 

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Cook the triple smoked bacon, onion and celery in a dash of oil until the bacon is crispy. 

Drain well and put in a bowl with pasta. 

2. Add the Wattie’s Condensed Creamy Chicken Soup , milk, cream and sundried tomatoes. Mix well and pour into a 

well greased 6-cup-capacity ovenproof dish. Sprinkle with the grated cheese. 

3. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until hot and golden. 

Serve garnished with chopped parsley. 




“I regret that it takes a life to learn how to live.” 

-- Jonathan Safran Foer 

Mushroom, Chicken and Spinach Soup 

Ingredients 

200g skinless chicken breast meat, cut into 1cm pieces 

1 leek, cleaned and finely sliced 

100g mushrooms, cleaned and sliced 

1 clove garlic, crushed 

2 x 420g cans Wattie’s Condensed Creamy Mushroom Soup 

1/2 cup long grain and wild rice mix 

1/2 350g bag Wattie’s frozen Free-Flow Spinach 

1/2 cup milk or cream 

Method 

1. Heat a dash of oil in a large saucepan and brown the chicken over medium heat. Remove from the pan. Add the 

sliced leek, mushrooms and garlic and cook until they begin to soften. Pour in 2 cans Wattie’s Condensed Creamy 

Mushroom Soup and 2 cans of water. Add long grain and wild rice mix and stir while bringing to the boil. Reduce heat 

and simmer for 15 minutes with the lid on. 

2. Return the chicken to the pan with Wattie’s frozen Free-Flow Spinach and continue cooking for a further 5 minutes 

until the rice and chicken are cooked. Stir through milk or cream and season to taste. Serve with crusty bread. 




“Fools talk, cowards are silent, wise men listen.” 

-- Carlos Ruiz Zafón 

Beef and Mushroom Hashbrown Slice 

Ingredients 

1-2 Tbsp oil 

1 onion, peeled and diced 

1 tsp crushed garlic 

250g mushrooms, wiped and sliced 

500g lean beef mince 

420g can Wattie’s Condensed Vegetable Soup 

2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley 

pepper 

500g box Wattie’s frozen Hash Browns 

Topping 

1/2 cup fresh white breadcrumbs 

1/2 cup grated Cheese 

Method 

1. Heat the oil in a frying pan, gently fry onion and garlic until softened, add the mushrooms and fry until lightly browned. 

2. In a bowl, combine lean beef mince, Wattie’s Condensed Vegetable Soup , parsley, cooked onion mixture and season 

with pepper. 

3. Place Wattie’s frozen Hash Browns in a single layer, in a shallow 2 litre capacity lasagne-style dish. Spread beef 

mixture evenly over the hash browns, sprinkle with breadcrumbs and cheese. 

4. Cook at 190°C for about 50-60 minutes or until cooked through and very hot. 

Tips 

Serve with Wattie’s Homestyle Tomato Sauce. 

FL Computers. 

Dargaville Four Square Discount Supermarket 

111 Victoria Street, Dargaville 0310 Phone: (09) 439 1083 

Open 7 Days 

122 Victoria Street. Dargaville. Phone: (09) 439 0496. E-Mail: flcomputers@xtra.co.nz

“I don’t mind making jokes, 

but I don’t want to look like one.” -- Marilyn Monroe 

Some Music History for the Week 10 - 16 November 

Events in Music 

1955 - Johnny Cash made his 1st chart appearance with “Cry Cry Cry” 

1959 - “Sound of Music” opens at Lunt Fontanne Theater NYC for 1443 perfs 

1963 - Brian Epstein & Ed Sullivan sign a 3 show contract for Beatles 

1969 - Beatles with Billy Preston release “Get Back” in UK 

1975 - “Musical Jubilee” opens at St James Theater NYC for 92 performances 

1991 - Michael Jackson’s “Black or White” video premieres on FOX TV 

Birthdays in Music 

1920 - Johnny Desmond, Detroit Mich, singer (Your Hit Parade) 

1929 - LaVern Baker, Chicago, R&B vocalist (I Cried a Tear) 

1932 - Clyde L McPhatter, Durham NC, singer (Drifters-Treasure My Love) 

1932 - Petula Clark, Surrey England, rock vocalist (Downtown, My Love) 

1936 - Cornell Gunther, Los Angeles California, musician (Coasters-Poison Ivy) 

1937 - Kamahl, [Kamalesvaran], Australian singer (Elephant Song) 

1938 - Roger Laver, [Jackson], rock keyboardist (Tornados) 

1939 - Ruby Nash Curtis, US singer (Romantics-Our Day Will Come) 

1940 - Screaming Lord Sutch, rocker 

1940 - Freddie Garrity, rocker (Freddie & the Dreamers-I’m Telling You Now) 

1941 - Kyu Sakamoto, Japanese singer and actor (d. 1985) 

1943 - Brian Hyland, Queens NY, rocker (She Wore an Itsy Bitsy ... Bikini) 

1943 - Jimmy “Bro” Hayes, US singer (Persuasions-Under the Boardwalk) 

1943 - John Maus, NYC, rock vocalist (Walker Brothers) 

1943 - Winfred “Blue” Lovett, US singer (Manhattans-One Life to Live) 

1944 - Tim Rice, Amersham, England, lyricist (Chess Moves, 1 Night in Bangkok) 

1944 - Scherrie Payne, US singer (Supremes-Incredible) 

1945 - Donna Fargo, NC, country singer (Happiest Girl in Whole USA) 

1945 - Chris Dreja, London, rocker (Yardbirds) 

1945 - Neil Young, Toronto, singer/songwriter (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young) 

1945 - Anni-Frid Lyngsdtad, [Fryeda Anderson], Sweden, rocker (ABBA) 

1946 - Janet Lennon, Culver City California, singer (Lennon Sisters) 

1948 - Errol Brown, Kingston Jamaica, rock vocalist (Hot Chocolate) 

1951 - Bill Gibson, California, rock drummer (Huey Lewis & The News) 

1952 - Paul Cowsill, Newport RI, rock keyboardist (Cowsills-We Can Fly) 

1954 - Mario Cipollina, California, rock bassist (Huey Lewis & The News) 

1955 - Leslie McKeown, rock vocalist (Bay City Rollers-Saturday Night) 

1955 - Whoopi Goldberg [Caryn Johnson], New York, actress, comedian, and singer 

1956 - Alec John Such, US pop bassist (Bon Jovi-Wanted Dead or Alive) 

Today FM. - 87.7 & 106.7 Mhz 


“The unfed mind devours itself.” 

-- Gore Vidal 

Deaths in Music 

1977 - Richard Addinsell, English composer (Alice in Wonderland), dies at 73 

1980 - Annunzio Mantovani, Italian orchestra leader (Mantovani), dies at 75 

1983 - “Alvin” Junior Samples, country singer (Hee Haw), dies at 56 

1999 - Donald Mills, American singer (Mills Brothers) (b. 1915) 

2008 - Mitch Mitchell, English musician (b. 1947) 

Today FM. Timeless Music Always on 87.7 and 106.7 in Dargaville 

YouTube - South Pacific Islands 

French Polynesia - Dream Destinations (Travel Documentary) 

Islands. Fiji / 720p 

Tonga The Last Place On Earth Trailer 

Safe Cities Part 2: Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea 

Well-Being in Vanuatu 

A Contribution from Alan Vowles 

If you find a Kiwiana, nostalgia, or other interesting link share it by sending it in. Paste the URL into 

the text of your e-mail and we will publish it. 

Ah - The English Language 

Interesting Facts You Probably Didn’t Know About the English Language 

• English came from Germanic roots: When tribes from what is now Germany came to the land that would be 

England, they brought with them the language that would eventually grow into the dialect we use today. 

• There are three basic eras to English formation: Old English, which ran from the 5th through 11th centuries; 

Middle English, which lasted until the 15th century; and Modern English, which takes us to the present. 

• English disappeared from written language for a while: The Norman conquest of England in 1066 established 

Norman French as the upper-class language and relegated English to peasants. Churches keep records in 

French, and novelists write in that language. Basically, English stops being a written language for more than 

100 years. 

Today FM. - 87.7 & 106.7 Mhz 


“The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule 

is a person’s conscience.” -- Harper Lee 

• English literature didn’t reappear until after 1200: Changing political climates led to the Provisions of Oxford, a 

constitution-like document written in English in 1258. By 1300, English as a language had taken hold again. 

• Half the words we use today have roots in Old English: Although Old and Modern English look incredibly 

different, words as diverse as “water” and “be” are merely forms of words that came into English use centuries 

ago. 

• There are more than 125 English dialects worldwide: Each dialect uses English in its own way, from 

pronunciation to construction. 

• More English speakers reside in the U.S. than anywhere else: More than 250 million Americans speak English 

(and it’s the first language for 215 million of them), placing it easily at the top of the list. Second place? India, 

with 125 million. 

• Dozens of nations have English as their official (or co-official) language: These include the U.K., Ireland, New 

Zealand, South Africa, and Australia. 

• The first purely English dictionary appeared in 1604: It was called A Table Alphabeticall [sic], and it was written 

by a schoolteacher named Robert Cawdrey. It was far from a complete guide to the language, and it would take 

a century and a half for the next step to be made. 

• According to Illinois state law, it is illegal to speak English: The officially recognized language is “American.” 

• There is a word in the English language with only one vowel, which occurs five times: “I n d i v i s i b i l i t y.” 

• “Checkmate” is more literal than you think: The chess term is an alteration of “shah mat,” a Persian phrase that 

meant “the king is ambushed.” 

• No one knows who came up with “the whole nine yards.”: The most widely cited story to explain the origin of 

this phrase, which means “completely” or “using everything,” is that soldiers in World War II started using it 

in reference to firing the entire length of an ammunition belt on an anti-aircraft gun. Yet there are no written 

instances of the phrase before 1962, and many other stories and theories have been advanced. Everyone 

knows what it means; no one knows how it got here. 

• There’s a reason typists practice using “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.”: It contains every letter in 

the alphabet, making it ideal for mastering keyboard layout. 

• The longest word in the English language: According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its 

pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis. The only other word with the same amount of letters 

ispneumonoultra-microscopicsilicovolcanoconioses, its plural. 




“There are no facts, only interpretations.” 

-- Friedrich Nietzsche 

British and American Spelling 

American words are spelt (spelled) phonetically, as they are sound. British spelling is closest to the Middle English form 

of the word, where as the American spelling is closest to its Latin ancestor. 

The spelling of ‘Mum’ and ‘Mummy’ 

Mom and Mommy are old-English words, words that are stilled used in Birmingham and most parts of the West 

Midlands. It is said that when people from the West Midlands went to America many years ago they took the spelling 

with them; hence Americans use Mom and Mommy. 

In the West Midlands the words Mum and Mummy are frowned upon as they look and sound wrong, local schools teach 

the spelling of Mom and Mommy and the kids still come home with handmade cards with Mom and Mommy spelling on. 

In the North East (in Tyne and Wear) they say and write Mam and Mammy. 

Some Examples” 

British English 

colour 

humour 

favourite 

theatre 

kilometre 

mum, mam or mom * 

cosy 

realise 

dialogue 

traveller 

cheque 

jewellery 

tyre 

American English 

color 

humor 

favorite 

theater 

kilometer 

mom 

cozy 

realize 

dialog 

traveler 

check 

jewelry 

tire 

And Some “Kiwi” Vernacular to Further Confuse the Issue: 

Arvo 

Banger 

Bloke 

Bog 

Cark 

Chocka 

Chuffed 

Clobber 

afternoon 

sausage 

man 

toilet 

die 

full; overflowing 

happy; satisfied 

clothing; gear; beat something 

Today FM. - 87.7 & 106.7 Mhz 


“You never know what life is like, until you have lived it.” 

-- Marilyn Monroe 

Dag 

Dunny 

Flash 

Flog 

Greasies 

Grotty 

Hottie 

Jandals 

Kark 

Knackered 

Munted 

Piker 

Prang 

Rark 

Sheila 

Slash 

Sparrow fart 

Ticketty-boo 

Tupping 

Wop-wops 

Yack 

a character 

toilet 

smart. 

to steal; to sell off. 

fish and chips 

worn, dirty, dilapidated 

hot water bottle 

thongs; flip-flops 

die. 

tired; exhausted; worn out 

damaged; broken 

non-participant, person who doesn’t or won’t join in. 

accident involving moving and another object 

tell off; stir up. 

woman 

urinate. 

before sunrise 

all right, smoothly 

when the ram is put in with the ewes 

a long way from anywhere; far from a city or town. 

chat; talk 

Mr Pizza. 


“Adults are just obsolete children and the hell with them.” 

-- Dr. Seuss 




“Kind words can be short and easy to speak, 

but their echoes are truly endless.” -- Mother Teresa 

Only in New Zealand. 





-- John Green,


-- John Green,

Today FM. - 87.7 & 106.7 Mhz 


A Colour In Page For Kids 

Feel No Guilt - Print It Out

Another Colour In Page For Kids 

Feel No Guilt - Print It Out

9th - Kaipara Konnection Weekly Newsletter - Dargaville.BIZ

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