New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union - more dodgy elections :

Democracy is fundamental to a civilised society.  Fair elections are fundamental to all else, they are the cornerstone of justice.  When you have the incumbents controlling and manipulating the election process itself, and receiving and deciding on complaints with that process, the election becomes a travesty.

While the NZ Police are regarded rather sceptically by many, NZ Professional Firefighters are generally regarded as the most trustworthy professionals in the community, and for good reason - because they generally are.  Professional standards in the NZ Fire Service are high, and firefighters take great pride in maintaining those standards.  

It was therefore rather disturbing to learn recently of a distinct lack of transparency (and legality apparently) regarding the recent Ballot for the position of President of the NZ Professional Firefighters Union.

One hundred and seventy votes were apparently deemed to be invalid, and there is evidence of a manipulation of the voting process and incorrect advice given to the scrutineers by the Returning Officer (Derek Best).

Peter Nicolle

This resulted in widespread criticism, formal complaints being lodged, and requests for a new Ballot to be conducted.  There is evidence of widespread non-compliance with the Rules of the NZPFU regarding the election, which seems to be a result of incorrect instructions being given to the scrutineers, a very high proportion of allegedly invalid votes was recorded, and serious questions were raised regarding the process followed by the Returning Officer, and National Secretary of the NZPFU, Derek Best, and the 'elected' President Peter Nicolle.

Alarmingly, when the Union received formal complaints about the matter, Derek Best took control of the 'investigation' of the complaints against himself apparently.  He referred to the complaints as 'suggestions' and 'proposals', and the tone of his responses was arrogant, dismissive and unprofessional.

One has to wonder if Peter Nicolle is related to former Act party spin doctor - ooops, 'strategist' -  Brian Nicolle (-listed under "Losers" at that link), who also campaigned vigorously against MMP.  There certainly seems to be a similarity in political style . . .

NEWSLETTER TO NZPFU MEMBERS No 28 – 30 JULY 2012

PRESIDENT – BALLOT
There has been a deal of speculation, rumour, and conspiracy theories circulating regarding the large number of Invalid Votes recorded in the recent Presidential Ballot.
The reason for this is very simple. 

Some Ballots (15) were declared invalid because the intentions of the voter were not clear.   A number for example crossed out all the names and one indicated a vote for Batman. 

The largest number of invalid votes (155) was from a Local where the person forwarding back the ballots themselves, did not include all of the Signatory Sheets.
This meant the Scrutineers and the Returning Officer could not be sure that the ballots received came from persons entitled to vote – a very important consideration. 

Consequently, the Scrutineers and the Returning Officer had no choice but to declare all those votes invalid.  It would have been quite improper for them to have been counted.
In any event, this did not materially change the final result – that is – Peter Nicolle would still have been elected – albeit with an increased majority if the invalid votes had been counted. 

If these invalid votes had been included, the result would have been: 

Jeffrey McCulloch 220
Gregory McPhee    576
Peter Nicolle    659
Boyd Raines      63

Some relevant documents are on the NZPFU website:

We await further information from Derek Best regarding legal advice he claims to have received regarding this matter, and proposed changes to the NZPFU Rules.  If legal advice was provided to the Union it should be available - in its original form, rather than an interpretation of that advice by the very same person the complaint is about - to the Members of the Union.

So far, the correspondence has gone like this:

"Tena koe Derek Best,We have received a substantial number of concerns regarding the last NZPFU elections, inter alia, and I am writing to request all information regarding those elections, and a copy of the NZPFU Rules please (mailing address is 243 High St North, Carterton).  
We have received information that shows that there were disputes regarding the election of the Union President, and a large number of invalid votes, and that the disputes were apparently dealt with by changing the Rules, and that you made statements regarding the legal advice you received regarding the disputes.  Have any changes to the Rules been made recently?  We have also received information that you made comments regarding legal advice received by the Union regarding the dispute, and the changes to the Rules, and in the interests of transparency we are requesting evidence of the legal advice received regarding the disputed election.  It seems unfair that the person complained of should 'investigate' the complaint, and simply tell people about what legal advice was received instead of actually providing a copy of the legal advice to the members.  How much has the Union spent on legal advice over the last two years?
Yours faithfully,
Katherine Raue
Transparency NZ"

(Email from Derek Best):

Hello,Who are you?

(My response):

Katherine Raue.

 (Email from Derek Best):

What is your organization?

(My response):

We promote transparency.  Could we have a response to our enquiry please?

There's been a resounding silence for several weeks now from Derek Best.  I sent him another email this afternoon - we'll see how long it takes him to come up with another witty and erudite response . . .

Hi Derek,I am writing to request a copy of the NZPFU Rules please (mailing address is 243 High St North, Carterton).  
Have there been any recent changes to the Rules, in the last two years?  
If so, what are the changes.  
Thank you for your attention to this request for information. (Katherine Raue, TNZ)

This is disturbingly similar to the way corrupt Carterton District Council employee Julie Hallam fraudulently retained my $400 electoral nomination deposit and perverted the course of justice regarding the Carterton Community Centre AND the local body elections - corruptly ensuring that her employers retained their positions on the Council!

Mr Key goes to Hollywood - the Secret Life of Information:

The Key Spinometer goes into overdrive - "Approaching warp speed now Captain!"

Just after 2 pm on 27 September 2012 National Party leader John Key announced his apology to Kim Dotcom, and every single other New Zealander, for illegally spying on us - many of us - including me.  But only after being made to after the Inspector General of the Government Communications Security Bureau issued his report this afternoon:

Here's his apology and his media release:

"I apologise to Mr Dotcom, I apologise to New Zealanders because every New Zealander that sits within the category of having permanent residency or is a New Zealand citizen is entitled to be protected from the law when it comes to the GCSB, and we failed to provide that appropriate protection for him," Key said this afternoon.

"My own view is the agency has let itself down very badly, it essentially failed at the most basic of hurdles, there are a number of times when it could have resolved the issue, and in fact New Zealanders were entitled to believe the agency would have performed a lot better."

Dotcom was arrested, along with three others, in January after police raided his rented mansion at the request of the FBI, after deceiving the Government Communication Security Bureau, which wasn't very difficult apparently - and worryingly.  The left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing because there's no brain working.  Not to mention that the right hand doesn't see anything wrong with the left hand signing things it hasn't even read!

Before the raid, police had asked for information about Dotcom from the GCSB. The GCSB gathered the intelligence even though it had no jurisdiction to do so,and it appears that the GCSB, the Police, John Key, Bill English and John Banks and others, all knew perfectly well that they had no jurisdiction to do so and that their actions were seriously illegal - spying on New Zealand citizens again only a couple of months after the Urewera fiasco - when is Key going to apologise to the victims of the Urewera raids for illegally spying on THEM I wonder?

The GCSB had been wrongly told by the police that Dotcom was a foreign national and fell within their responsibilities.  This beggars belief - firstly that the police either didn't bother to check or they deliberately lied, and secondly, that the GCSB didn't bother to check - a simple and basic procedure - or else they also deliberately lied - which ever way you look at it it's either gross incompetence or serious corruption - and either way all those responsible should be sacked - forced to join the unemployment queue and get their snouts out of the public trough!

Justice Neazor is in charge of the GCSB and his report is entirely predictable.

On Close Up Key appears to say he doesn't think we need an inquiry into it.

This news coincided with the announcement that current affairs program Close Up is to be shut down and replaced with something else because "the public want more entertainment" according to a TVNZ spokesperson.

This coincides with an interview shown a few days ago on Close Up, with Tim McBride.  Every Kiwi should watch that interview.  After they have, they'll realise that the replacement of a current affairs program with "more entertainment" is no coincidence at all, it's deliberate muzzling of the media.

Our media is no longer our own, it's controlled by Warner Brothers, politicians, and anyone with enough money to 'pay for the news'.  The space in the papers and time on television and radio is for sale to the highest bidder.  The NBR reported that there was an alarmingly high amount of bribery in New Zealand.  That was two years ago, it's getting worse fast.  Equally concerning is that our police force is no longer 'ours' either - it's been for sale for years - with officers taking bribes left right and centre, covering up child abuse, and top brass Rob Pope and Peter Broad being booted out in disgrace only recently.

On 24th September TVNZ also announced that Bill English had signed an indemnity agreement that Kiwi taxpayers would be liable for all costs arising from any legal action regarding the fiasco.  The top cop at the time of Dotcom's arrest theatrically boasted he had signed an assurance that he would pick up the costs if it was found the police messed up. I wonder if he'd have been so cavalier if he had to pick them up personally, rather than the taxpayer.

John Banks has got amnesia and Key "sees no reason not to believe him".  What utter bollocks.  No wonder there was such a fuss about poor old Bradley Ambrose leaving his tape recorder on the table at their little tea party photo opportunity.  Key's actions were described as "political vindictiveness" by business analyst Dr Bryce Edwards and the NZ Herald.  Richly ironic when you consider the extent of the spying the government does on our own citizens - all taxpayer funded of course.  New cyber-monitoring measures have been quietly introduced giving police and Security Intelligence Service officers the power to monitor all aspects of someone’s online life. The measures are the largest expansion of police and SIS surveillance capabilities for decades, and mean that all mobile calls and texts, email, internet surfing and online shopping, chatting and social networking can be monitored anywhere in New Zealand.

The morning after the Neazor report was released Green's Russel Norman laid a formal complaint with police under the same legislation Key used to implement the 'political vindictiveness'.  The difference is that in this case police action is clearly in the public interest.  Green's co leader Metiria Turei has been equally accurate with her skewering of Key in the House.

How on earth could Key meet the GCSB 15 times and they not mention once the largest FBI operation against an individual in NZ's history against someone who lives in his very own electorate?  I mean, it's not like Mr Kim Dotcom is reclusive, or keeps a low profile, he's pretty hard to miss really, except if you're living on some other planet.  Then there's the fireworks display and mega party Mr Dotcom held to celebrate his citizenship, how on earth did Mr Key, Mr English, Mr Banks, the Government Communications Security Bureau and the police all miss that I wonder?  National voters must be asking themselves how they could have been so taken in by this incompetent poser.  Key couldn't attend the funerals of our troops killed in Afghanistan, because he was attending urgent talks about this fiasco - the baseball game was a cunning excuse.  He's known about all this for months!  Key, Banks, English and the National caucus are making an utter mockery of this country, its justice system, law enforcement and government!

More information regarding this matter, and the role of the police, and OFCANZ (Office of Financial Crime Agency New Zealand), in this blatant corruption, is on Frank Macskasy's site.

News reports get more sordid by the day, as more evidence of Key's dishonesty and shady dealings are revealed.  Journalist Fran Mold even gets a mention.

Then there's the involvement of Key's government with the Chinese company Huawei.  The company is almost certainly a front for Chinese intelligence agency activities according to a leading defence analyst.  The Australian government recently intervened to ban Huawei from bidding on the Australian broadband network, and they are banned in several other countries too because of serious security concerns - John Key says they're fine, who trusts his judgement any more?  New Zealanders should be very afraid with Key and his Keystone Kops in charge (paragraph 62 at that link).

This is after fantasist Stephen Wilce left the NZ Defence Force and SIS red faced not so long ago!  "We need assurance that there are not similar failings in other Top Secret vettings" said the State Services Commissioner - "similar failings" have occurred right across the Board because of a lack of governance and proliferation of bribery.  Immigration head Mary Anne Thompson, Maori TV boss John Davy and many others, including  "psychiatrist" Linda Astor.

And now there's a police investigation into how Gerald Shirtcliff stole the identity of an engineer and who supervised the construction of the CTV building, which collapsed during the Christchurch earthquakes, killing hundreds of people.

Key's only 'man date' is John Banks (or Peter Dunne-Nothing, take your pick) and that only THREE PERCENT of New Zealanders support his asset sales plan!

Then there's all the other whoppers he's told lately at this link.

Meanwhile, Key's trying to get the TPPA signed under secrecy in order to rip us all off even further.

Here's Russel Norman's speech during the urgent debate in Parliament about this fiasco (using two different html codes as well as a link for this clip because the video keeps disappearing for some reason, and like Tim McBrides interview, it needs to be heard).

Anyway, he hasn't had his eye on the ball for a long time.

A "top secret review" has been ordered into whether "top secret spy documents" should be released to Mr Dotcom, regarding to evidence gathered illegally by the Government Communications Security Bureau, a senior lawyer is being sought to conduct the review after the Court's preferred appointee, David Cooper QC wisely declined the appointment.

GCSB head Ian Fletcher is pushing scapegoats forward as he attempts to hang onto his job.

Sean Plunket's comparison is worth reading.

Mr Dotcom's been busy, visiting parliament to watch the weasels squirm, and recording a new song, titled "Live My Life".  His penultimate composition, titled "Precious", features himself and his wife Mona, singing about their children, the two youngest, twin girls, are New Zealand citizens (as his Mr Dotcom, and the rest of his family), born here after the Court bail conditions prevented Mr and Mrs Dotcom travelling to Hong Kong for the birth as planned.

The stench of blatant corruption hangs in the air as Key refuses to sack Banks, in the face of the ever mounting and indisputable evidence, for exactly the same thing Key ruled out working with Winston Peters for not so long ago, and in spite of  Banks's own staff confirming that he's read the declaration he signed.

Embarrassed Epsom voters are vowing not to be sucked in again.

More on the subject of election by deception at this link.

Other reports here:

"Growing anger over Dotcom fiasco"

"Megaupload saga resembles Keystone Kops"

"Dotcom explanation won't wash - experts"

Frankly Speaking 

http://tvnz.co.nz/politics-news/key-slams-unacceptable-dotcom-spying-5105817

http://tvnz.co.nz/politics-news/john-key-apologises-kim-dotcom-5105817

http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/pm-says-sorry-dotcom-video-5106066

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10836884

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/top-stories/14970512/key-apologises-to-dotcom-for-gcsb-blunder/

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/7734301/Key-to-Dotcom-I-m-sorry

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/227768/pm-says-sorry-dotcom

And Key thinks it's just fine for Banks to sign things he HASN'T EVEN READ!  And he obviously thinks it's fine for the police and the GCSB and OFCANZ to do so too.

As usual, the police are covering up for the fact that one of their senior officers committed perjury - in line with the fact that Police National HQ is commonly referred to as "Bullshit Castle" by the troops.

It's pretty rich that Key accuses Russel Norman of a "political stunt" after this tea party posturing and the blatant cheek of Sir Botox Banks BS, and then there's the irony of all this illegal surveillance of Dotcom over alleged copyright infringement and the matter of the "Meet John Key" promotional DVD which had to be withdrawn after accusations of  = copyright infringement!

Key thinks it's fine for Banks to sign things he hasn't read.  Here's more evidence of John Key basically lying, and deliberately misleading Parliament, and the public of New Zealand.

Vote no confidence in the government before he signs the TPPA!

Here's more EVIDENCE of his blatant LIES!

The sound of silence: Suicide in the Wairarapa, our national shame:

Children and teenagers make a lot of noise, when they're suddenly not there any more you notice the silence.  A lot.  

When your child suddenly passes away, or your brother, or someone you know, and there are questions about why it happened, you listen to that silence, thinking, wondering if you didn't listen carefully enough to what they were trying to tell you, or if there was something that you missed.

Wairarapa had more than double the national rate of suicide - AGAIN! This is the fourth year in a row that Wairarapa has recorded the highest rates of self harm in New Zealand. Wairarapa had a rate of 162.3 people hospitalised for self-harm for every 100,000 people in 2010, according to figures released today, over twice the national rate of 66 per 100,000. New Zealand has some of the highest rates of suicide in the world, and has consistently had one of the highest rates for years - it's a matter that gives cause for national shame, it's unnecessary and in most cases it's preventable, and being caused by the very people we are funding to prevent it, who are not performing.  Authorities are not interested in investigating complaints from consumers, they are focused on covering up incompetence and corruption and maintaining the status quo.  Ignorance is the art of ignoring things.  This is the cost of that ignorance, the violence, crime, child abuse, addiction and suicide, which are all so prevalent in the Wairarapa.

Bullying in schools starts with the Board of Trustees bullying the suicide prevention initiatives like Friends of Caring Kiwi Communities and the Let's Get Growing NZ program, and this matter illustrates well the conspiracy involving local police, who lied to the Board of Trustees of the South End School in Carterton, who in turn lied to the police - indisputable evidence of these claims is at the link and much more is available to doubters - leave a comment and it will be provided.

Chief Coroner Judge Neil MacLean released provisional annual suicide statistics for the year ending 30 June 2012 today, and some of his comments on this disgraceful and shameful national record. Good on Judge Neil MacLean for speaking up!

This is the third year Judge MacLean has made the annual suicide statistics available, and tried to encourage New Zealanders to address this problem, identify it, name it, talk about it, and take constructive and effective action to stop it and prevent it. Judge MacLean says we are going backwards, not forwards, and that indicates that the current methods of dealing with the problem are not working. I can certainly attest to that!

In the past year the total number of suicides was 547. The average number of suicides for each of the past five years is 543.

Of particular concern is the 15 to 19-year-old age group, which, at 37, was almost double the average of the previous four years.

"I am concerned that we seem to be making no impact (on youth suicide rates), there's no visible downward trend at all," Judge MacLean, said.

"Other ethnic groups remain much the same - Asian Pacifica, non-Maori - but the Maori statistics, that's concerning."

Suicides in the 15 to 19-year-old age group were up from 56 in 2010-11 to 80 in 2011-12.

Shockingly, the report records a suicide among the five to nine-year-old age group, and apparently there have been two suicides in this age group in the last year but the other one is apparently not included in Judge MacLean's report due to a discrepancy between the two sets of figures (Coronial Services and Ministry of Health, more on this below).

It is the youngest suicide case the Ministry of Justice's Coronial Services Unit (CSU) has dealt with since comprehensive records began in 2007.

The Coronial Services Unit suicide figures for 2010 differ from Ministry of Health figures released last month. There are several reasons for this. The classification system used by the Ministry of Health to code underlying cause of death is not strictly comparable with the system used by CSU to assign 'intent'. CSU data includes active cases before Coroners where intent has yet to be conclusively established. This means that the CSU figures include deaths that may eventually be found not to be suicides. In addition, Ministry of Health figures are recorded by calendar year.

Over the past year, the number of Maori suicides have increased across most age groups. NZ is going backwards in this disgraceful and shameful blight on our society.

The Mental Health Foundation Suicide Prevention Information NZ has links to other reports on their website, unfortunately they are out of touch with what's really going on and instead of addressing the real problems in the Wairarapa community (which regularly has around twice the national average of suicide, ) of injustice and police corruption, and systemic bullying and abuse, they promote police propaganda instead. One of the major concerns shared by many friends and family of suicide victims (and others in the community) in the Wairarapa is the message "talk to someone", and the role of the police in dealing with suicides and victims of violence, abuse, and bullying, and the way the policy of "information sharing" is being implemented. I can personally confirm that many of the corrupt and incompetent Wairarapa police actually encourage suicide and support people like Julian Tyerman, who encouraged me to commit suicide on a bullying website he built in my name, all the posts except one have since been removed by Tyerman, but not before I copied and pasted his sickening comments - the police of course refuse to charge him with offensive language or anything else (there are a number of charges that would apply to the material Tyerman published). When you consider that Tyerman's own brother committed suicide, you realise just how sick he is and why he should be charged.

The police have been under investigation for around five years regarding the discovery of systemic concealment and destruction of hundreds of child abuse complaints. When victims of violence, abuse and bullying try and pluck up the courage to speak up, only a fraction manage to find that courage and do so, and when the police compound the problem by reabusing the victim and protecting the offender, it's not hard to work out the results. The victims learn a lesson and are discouraged from speaking up, and the offenders are empowered. There is definitely a link between incompetence and corruption within the local police and 'community agencies' and the outrageous local suicide rates.

There is not just one cause of suicide, there are many, every one is unique, although there are many things in common, and many identifiable causes - and solutions. Factors such as poverty and unemployment drive many suicides, abuse and bullying are common causes, inappropriate medication and other 'treatment', a sense of hopelessness and injustice. Poor self esteem and boredom are common factors in some. All these things can be changed.

Friends of Caring Kiwi Communities is working to establish a united network of Community Resource Centre and Community Gardens to strengthen Kiwi communities in practical and constructive ways, and address the real problems in our communities as individuals instead of a one size fits all approach. We had a real Community Centre in Carterton, and community gardens, until they were taken over by a group of individuals who were mainly associated with the District Council, a major funder of the Centre. They transformed a great community resource into a cash cow for themselves, despite the obvious conflicts of interest, before being forced to close it down when other funders became aware of what was going on. The Councillors and their mates then obtained another few million dollars and built an 'Event Centre', which they use to spread propaganda rather than provide resources and facilitate constructive and inclusive dialogue.

Local initiatives generally operate for the benefit of the people running them rather than the clients, and the standard of the people running them leaves a lot to be desired, and is an insult to the clients in many cases, with many of the people running these organisations having been in the positions for far too long, and they only maintain the positions by excluding people from their AGMs and other meetings by the use of trespass notices, etc, as the committee of the Carterton Community Centre and local Council, etc did. Siobahn Garlick, the manager of 'New Directions' doesn't seem to know the difference between "loonies and alcoholics" - what an insult to mental health patients or anyone suffering from depression! Vulnerable people in our community need a FOCKCer Community Resource Centre and Community Gardens, NOT the insult to the intelligence currently being provided by they myriad of ineffective 'community organisastions' flourishing under such ridiculous community leaders as Georgina Beyer, Gary McPhee and Ron Mark! These so called 'community leaders' are adding to the problem - not solving it! Kiwi kids deserve better than this - we all do! (To be continued).

Many corrupt police support the actions of their mates in the 'community agencies', and promote their policy of illegal and destructive information sharing with these people.

We're always hearing "we need more resources" - well we don't. What we need is some accountability regarding how our taxpayer and ratepayer funds are being wasted! Look at how much money was wasted locking me up in a secure facility for the criminally insane, with people convicted of murder and manslaughter, after a corrupt 'psychiatrist', Brenda Sally Rimkeit, and a few of her equally corrupt colleagues, conspired to label me with "Delusional Disorder" for raising awareness regarding the corruption and incompetence of many of the local police officers, and locked me up for months, for criticising local police for very good reasons supported with indisputable evidence (not to mention all the money wasted on the campaign of malicious and vexatious charges brought against me).

This money was wasted on a person who didn't have a mental illness (and Rimkeit and her colleagues knew this perfectly well), while there are hundreds if not thousands of New Zealanders who are desperately in need of those resources!

What a chilling insight that was into how mental health patients are treated in this country too! Medication is the order of the day, it's all I was offered - my "Treatment Plan" states that I am not to be given writing materials, paper etc, no mail in or out, no phone calls in or out, no visitors - what kind of "treatment" is that?! That's no t'treatment' - that's plain sadistic corruption! Local mental health 'services' are an absolute disgrace, as evidenced by the link above to the 'New Directions' managers! Talk about the Emperor's new clothes!

There is evidence on the information I have received that there were a number of and untrue statements and allegations used to detain me illegally in the two mental health facilities, including claims that I had attempted suicide, and made lots of unwarranted complaints to police "when she previously lived in Wellington" according to the local constable. I have never attempted suicide, and that's why there is no evidence of that anywhere, and I made no complaints to police whatsoever when I previously lived in Wellington, not one.

The point is that the treatment for this alleged disorder was medication. Dangerous, strong medication intended for 'illnesses' I did not have. I was forcibly injected if I refused to take the pills, and what happened to me should ring alarm bells in the mind of every right thinking person, because if it can happen to me it can happen to anyone, and it's happening right here in New Zealand, it's taxpayer funded corruption on a massive scale.

The same police who are under investigation for covering up hundreds of child abuse cases and refusing to investigate them and lying about it - and then being promoted for that, are persecuting innocent people and wasting millions of dollars of taxpayer funds pursuing personal vendettas and actually covering up crime. When you examine the collusion and conspiracy of the other parties, the scale and magnitude of the problem becomes apparent, as do the implications.

Boredom and poor self esteem are two of the most common elements which contribute to depression (along with poverty and injustice). FOCKCer Community Resource Centres and Community Gardens, including gardens in schools address these issues constructively, as well as having other obvious benefits. Local journalists ignore the bullying going on regarding the local community gardens and the South End School garden, while promoting their friends' initiatives, which are often nothing more than an excuse to misappropriate large amounts of public funding. Let's Get Growing NZ and FOCKCer school gardens teach kids to grow their own kai, not just expect a handout. Handouts are OK, but teaching kids to grow and prepare their own kai addresses boredom, improves confidence and self esteem, and helps eliminate boredom - it's a wonderful thing - like eating lots of fresh organic fruit and vegetables, and doing physical work outside, it's not rocket science, but it can certainly lead to it :)

The gardens need tending over the summer, and the FOCKCers holiday program provide consistent care of the school gardens over the holidays, as well as holiday programs, including first aid courses, music tuition, art workshops, bicycle maintenance lessons, and a suggestion box for the inclusion of other activities of interest to the communities, the possibilities are endless. There's a lot of unemployment, but there's a lot of skilled people who can help teach those skills to others. We do Pet Therapy too, interacting with animals is very therapeutic indeed, and much more fun than just medication.

We need to get rid of the people running the failing 'community services' and support the ones with proven success - Friends of Caring Kiwi Communities (the FOCKCers) works to put the unity back in our communities, through the Let's Get Growing NZ program and Transparency NZ, establishing community resource centres and community gardens in every community, encouraging everyone to grow their own food, establishing gardens in schools and programs using gardening to teach a wide variety of life skills, including suicide prevention skills, and provide a safe environment to talk with people trained to respond appropriately and provide practical and effective support according to the needs of the individual.

5:30 am Thursday the 6th September, it's just been reported that Gabrielle Meyrick has died, aged just 17, in Masterton, last Sunday. Kiwi kids deserve better than this.

Judge Maclean said suicide had to be brought out of the shadows and he was worried by the increases in certain demographics.

"I am concerned that we seem to be making no impact - there has been no visible downward trend at all. Our job is to tell the public the facts - I am no more qualified to suggest an answer or a solution than anyone.

"Part of the problem is there are so many agencies who have something to contribute - it does need to be coordinated and pulled together.

"My hunch is there is a link. People don't commit suicide because they're poor, it's because they feel utterly at the end of their tether, but it doesn't help if you've got no money."

He's spot on about all the useless and uncoordinated community agencies! They are creating problems, not solving them! They don't provide advocacy - they might provide an extremely limited amount of it but the fact is that none of the agencies or organisations operating locally provide advocacy and there is a huge amount of correspondence documenting that, much of it on this site.

They're all focussed on the funding, not their clients. Friends of Caring Kiwi Communities is all about co-ordination, we put the unity back in our communities, and help everyone pull together. We ensure services are focussed on needs, and that money's not wasted on the same old people and their 'community organisations' that benefit the people running them - not the clients. 'An ageing society that doesn't care for it's young has a death wish' is how Dame Anne Salmond describes it. ('There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way it treats its children' - Nelson Mandela). We need support - we don't just have bullying in schools, we have bullies RUNNING the schools, serious, blatant incompetence and corruption, and nobody is doing anything about it, none of the government agencies who are supposed to, not the Police, the IPCA or the Ombudsmen, none of them. Transparency NZ is exposing them for what they are, and taking constructive action to prevent suicide through a community garden program, establishing gardens in schools and trained facilitators, and together with the FOCKCers and Let's Get Growing NZ, we're making a difference, and we need support.

The message being given to kids at risk is "Talk to someone" - the problem is that the people you get to talk to in the Wairarapa are incompetent and corrupt, and in many cases they are the very people perpetrating the abuse, and they've been doing it for years - Barry Taylor refused to engage with the people who mattered, other so called 'experts' are nothing more than attention seeking idiots. People like this are causing more harm than good! What these people think the community organisations are doing is so far removed from reality it's an insult to the people in need of help around here!

Kiwi kids deserve better than this, they deserve Friends of Caring Kiwi Communities, notNARK, not New Directions, or any of those other 'initiatives' where the staff are more worried about their own jobs and their funding than they are about their clients. We provide real services to the community, we aim to establish community resource centres and community gardens - practical resources that clients and consumers urgently need, as well as advocacy, Pet Therapy, tuition in a range of life skills and extra curricular activities, people to talk to who care, and who are trained to take effective and appropriate action when required, and provide effective and appropriate support.  We aim to put the Unity back into our commUnities, and assist all vulnerable, at risk, low income, less advantaged people in particular to establish gardens, fruit trees, vegetable patches, and learn to grow their own food, prepare it, cook it, preserve it, trade it and eat it.  By establishing gardens in the schools and child care centres we enrich the lives of children in so many ways, we provide a big basket of fruit and big pot of soup (and porridge if needed)  Kids as young as eight are being treated for anorexia. Another reason for gardens in schools and healthy eating programs and healthy relationships with food.

A 25 year old was killed yesterday after being struck by a train, police say it was a deliberate act.  We've got used to seeing headlines like this on a regular basis, it's unacceptable and unnecessary.

Instead of providing support, local police and mental health workers are perpetrating gross injustices and abuses on vulnerable people and perverting the course of justice - it's no coincidence that the National Business Review reported that "there is an alarming amount of bribery in New Zealand."  It's blatantly obvious in the Wairarapa and the wider Wellington region.  Transparency inNew Zealand encourages anyone who believes they have been treated corruptly or unjustly to document their experience and unite with our interactive community news network and other shared resources to establish community resource centres and community gardens that operate in the interests of safe and healthy communities - we can no longer tolerate a society where the message given to suicidal people or potentially suicidal people is "Talk to someone" when we ignore the fact that the very people paid to listen are not doing so and no action is being taken regarding the evidence that local police have been promoted for covering up child abuse and no constructive action has been taken whatsoever, and victims of crime are being harassed, abused, bullied and treated sadistically and callously by local police.  Talk to someone?  Talk to the world - leave a comment, email me, start a blog of your own and publish indisputable evidence of corruption and start your own local branch of Transparency NZ, making Official Information Act requests and Privacy Act requests, and helping others to do the same, and share information constructively, in the public interest and in the interests of justice.

Support Friends of Caring Kiwi Communities to establish practical and effective suicide prevention resources and programs in schools and communities throughout New Zealand and the Pacific NOW by emailing kateraue@gmail.com - join the FOCKCers and help us build strong healthy self sufficient commUnities, providing primary health care directly where it's needed - in people's back yards - treating boredom and poor self esteem, etc, helping with literacy, confidence, patience, consistency, communication, and other basic life skills, work skills, and good physical and mental health.

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