Southland Police settle out of Court for unjustified thuggery:

Inspector Lane Todd, Southland Area Commander, NZ Police

Southland Police have elected to settle out of Court with an Invercargill farmer after attacking him in his own home following a vague and apparently unsubstantiated allegation.  They also demonstrated why arming police with guns is a very bad idea indeed.

On 18 March 2012 Les Cooper of Greenhills, Invercargill, rang Police alleging that one of his neighbours, Corey Vreugdenhil  had threatened him as he drove past Cooper on his tractor.  The transcript of the phone call does not stand up to scrutiny, it's simply not credible that the words and gesture involved could have been distinguished at the distance, over the sound of the tractor's engine - the report states that Mr Vreugdenhil "said" the words, not 'shouted' or 'yelled' them, and pointing at a person is certainly not a criminal offence.

Mr Cooper seems to have a history of aggressive and violent behaviour toward Mr Vreugdenhil.  In June 2007 Mr Cooper attacked and assaulted Mr Vreugdenhil as he was erecting a fence on his property.   In October 2007 Mr Vreugdenhil made a complaint to Police after Mr Cooper chased him at high speed in a vehicle and ran him off the road, ramming Mr Vreugdenhil's vehicle three times, as Mr Vreugdenhil was dropping his young daughter off at the school bus at 8 in the morning.  Apparently, local Police (Sgt Olaf Jensen) refused to press any charges against Mr Cooper, despite Mr Vreugdenhil making a formal complaint.  In fact, the Police tactical report (link below) states that there were around 15 previous incidents between the pair which involved the Police.

This incident occurred days after the local body elections in 2007 in which Mr Vreugdenhil stood against Tim Shadbolt, whose involvement with Mr Vreugdenhil also warrants scrutiny.  Mr Vreugdenhil was part of a group of farmers that battled the Invercargill Council for lower rates in 2009.  The Council used exactly the same tactics as they used against me - misleading the group regarding the Council meetings instead of engaging in constructive dialogue to achieve a solution.  It seems that many others shared Mr Vreugdenhil's concerns, protesting rates rises of around 400%.

Corey Vreugdenhil

This bears a disturbing similarity to the incestuous relationship between local politicians and police in the Wairarapa, and the matters involving myself and disgraced ex MP Georgina Beyer. Certain senior members of the NZ Police are clearly acting as private mercenaries in campaigns of politically motivated corruption, and demonstrating extreme prejudice and bias.

Back to Mr Vreugdenhil.  In 2011, someone deliberately vandalised a dam on Mr Vreugdenhil's farm, wasting about 250,000 litres of water.  This reminds me of the sort of thing Ewen Macdonald and his mate Callum Boe got up to while Macdonald's wife and children slept.  Again, police seem to have refused to investigate the matter and no charges were laid.

Following Mr Cooper's phone call to Police - for which it seems there is enough evidence to charge him with making a false complaint to Police, wasting Police time, perverting the course of justice, etc, local Police decided to launch a major operation and 'arrest' Mr Vreugdenhil - for some vague unspecified charge.  I'm pretty sure that if Police arrest you, they have to tell you what exactly it is that you're under arrest FOR.  This is even more or an insult to the intelligence when you read the Police tactical report, at the link in the next paragraph, in which Police allege that (as well as being "a very large statue") Mr Vreugdenhil "is very hard to reason with and explain to the reason for any Police procedures and actions that they undertake." (sic):

This report also demonstrates the lack of basic literacy evident among the NZ Police.  Literacy is very important when it comes to Court and highly underrated by the NZ Police.

So Police armed themselves with guns and tasers and went to Mr Vreugdenhil's home, where he and his wife were quietly going about their lawful business, not causing any disturbance or offence to anyone, refused to tell him what he was 'under arrest' for, pepper sprayed him, handcuffed him, THEN punched him in the face while he had his hands handcuffed behind his back, and tasered him and held him in the cells overnight.  It's unclear whether any formal charges were ever laid against Mr Vreugdenhil as a result of the incident, which seems to have been completely unjustified, and the result of a malicious and vexatious complaint.

Police alleged that Mr Vreugdenhil attempted to grab a Glock pistol from one of the officers, however the claim isn't credible when the documents are examined, it's clear that Mr Vreugdenhill was blinded by the pepper spray, was handcuffed, and that he "became compliant" when the taser was aimed at him - making it unnecessary to actually fire the taser - of course that didn't deter the Police from firing it.  The tactical report makes it perfectly clear that the Keystone Cops were panicking, that they had a very poorly thought out plan, and acted like a bunch of amateur thugs.  It's compelling evidence of the reasons why we should NOT routinely arm the NZ Police!

Mr Vreugdenhil's wife was present at the time and made a statement to Police, which is at this link.

The officers involved were Inspector Lane Todd - Southland Area Commander, Senior Sergeant Terry, Sergeant Ng, Constable Terry, and Constable Elder, among others.  The $10,000 should come out of their severance pay - why should taxpayers have to fork out for this vicious thuggery!

This post will be updated shortly.

Rob Harris latest scam raises ethics concerns at Universities

Rob Harris stood as a candidate in the local body elections in Carterton, and approached me for support.

I found him to be a devious and untrustworthy man, with his own agenda, which focuses on filling his own pockets and those of his mates by ripping off vulnerable people and scamming the system any way he can, like many of the other candidates.

While the local propaganda publication which passes for a "news" paper refused to publish anything questionable about its favorite candidates and continues to slander me and other worthwhile candidates, a Massey University journalist, Lisa McCauley, reported a more accurate report about Mr Harris, which has since been erased from the internet and made inaccessible, which is why Kiwis who care must copy and keep information and share it constructively regardless of threats about copyright from the media.  I am sharing this report because it is in the public interest that people know who they are voting for

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Chris Hipkins refuses to help vulnerable children:

The National government is implementing their 'Charter Schools' plan in the face of widespread public opposition.  The public protest is well founded!  Privatisation of the administration of education has resulted in a lack of transparency and accountability and it's our vulnerable children who are paying the price.  The government is abdicating its responsibilities to the taxpayer - the people who pay the politicians wages - and fobbing off concerns with all manner of pathetic excuses such as the ones from Hekia Parata and Chris Hipkins.

It began with the 'Tomorrows Schools' program, which introduced Boards of Trustees and transferred powers and responsibilities from the Ministry of Education to the Boards of Trustees, but failed to put measures into place to ensure accountability of the Boards, who now appear to be a law unto themselves.  In the interests of transparency, the matter of the bullying and corruption at the South End school is being documented and published, so that New Zealanders can see how their taxes are being spent.

This matter involves bullying, incompetence, corruption, deceit and serious privacy breaches, and all New Zealanders who pay taxes or have children should read it.

Clearly this isn't just my perception of the matter, the reports of the Education Review Office speak for themselves, and are utterly damning.  The hypocrisy of the various politicians who have been contacted is unbelievable!  They say they care about vulnerable children, feeding the kids, etc, but when it comes to actually doing anything constructive about those matters, they refuse.  The only politician who has actually done anything constructive about the matters is Kelvyn Alp, who wrote to the Ombudsmen and demanded that they reopen the so called investigation into the matters, after I received a rude and arrogant letter refusing to reopen the inquiry when I requested them to.  Kelvyn Alp's letter forced the Ombudsmen to reopen the so called inquiry - but over a year later there has been NO action whatsoever from the Ombudsmen, and it's become obvious that they have no intention of doing anything about it and are deliberately corrupt and grossly incompetent.

Recent correspondence regarding the bullying and corruption at the South End school:

Tena koe Chris Hipkins, 

We request that you present this petition to parliament for an urgent inquiry into the situation at the South End School which is completely unacceptable. 

Repeated complaints about this have been fobbed off by the government and various agencies responsible for dealing with the matter. 

I established a vegetable garden, fruit trees, and several other associated projects at the South End school, and running a program teaching the children to grow their own food, prepare it, cook it, preserve it, trade it, as well as using the Let's Get Growing program to teach other important life skills, and deliver an effective suicide prevention program and anti depression program, as well as a school holiday program.  These programs empowered the less well off and more vulnerable members of the community in particular, and were very popular and effective, for individuals as well as strengthening the community, reducing crime, violence, child abuse, etc, as well as raising numeracy and literacy rates and many other positive learning outcomes.   

The Board of Trustees of the South End School suddenly sent me a letter which contained a false accusation, the letter stated that I had been "recently charged by the police with an offence involving a child", this letter terminated my employment on the grounds of this false accusation, and stated that the employment would be reinstated "should the charges be withdrawn or you are acquitted".
I told the Principal and the Secretary and one of the members of the BoT who is known to me that there never were any charges, and requested a meeting with he BoT to discuss the letter and the allegation in it, and the reinstatement of my position.  I told the Principal and the Deputy Principal that the allegation was false, and malicious, and requested that they pass on my request to the BoT for a meeting with them.  The BoT has repeatedly refused to acknowledge this request to meet with me, or engage in any communication whatsoever regarding the matter, and members of the BoT have threatened and intimidated me when I have gone to the school, and someone apparently rung police after I went to the school.  The letter 'sacking' me is clear in the intent to reinstate me if the non existent 'charges' alleged are not upheld, and that is the remedy I seek.  Lawyers have stated that due to changes in legal aid laws they 
Apparently, a Statutory Manager was appointed at the South End School approximately two years ago, his name is Ken Wilson, and he also refuses to engage in communication - I've requested an email address but this has not been provided, and Mr Wilson has refused to respond to telephone enquiries or requests for a meeting, and been hostile and obstructive on the telephone. 

The Principal made a complaint to police, alleging that I called him a "thieving crook", but this was not upheld, the Principal then left the school (and the teaching profession apparently).  The groundsman, who was also the subject of complaints of bullying also left, but it seems the core element of bullies in the BoT has remained, and continues to refuse to engage in dialogue regarding the matter and refuses to do the right thing and reinstate me, and it seems that there is a complete lack of accountability - the letter at this link from "Jilly Tyler" of the Ministry is outrageous!  Our children deserve better than this and so do Kiwi labourers like me - we should be teaching children self sustainability instead of the corporate welfare mentality with Fonterra and religiously oriented Sanitarium handouts - encouraging them to eat fruit and vegetables rather than milk and wheat products, and encouraging them to grow their own food (popcorn for breakfast, vegetable soup for lunch and a big bowl of fruit all day for snacking). 

Since receiving the letter I have tried to resolve the matter and have asked to be reinstated - in accordance with the final paragraph of the letter (at this link). 

These matters have gone from bad to worse, and there has now been another similarly malicious and incompetent sacking of another staff member.  Private, personal documents and correspondence regarding that other staff member and the termination of their employment was given to me by a parent who acquired it because it was mistakenly given to their child to take home by the school secretary - the same woman who is refusing to pass on my communication with the school and the BoT - the school secretary, and her and Ms Brown then unbelievably accused me of stealing the correspondence from Brown's letterbox - despite the witness who gave it to me and who will swear in Court that it was given to her child by the secretary!  Her child will swear it too, and so will the child's teacher apparently!
Local MP John Hayes and Education Minister Hekia Parata have both refused to address the matter, Hayes has ignored all correspondence, and Parata wrote a ridiculous letter which is at this link, together with the letter from the BoT and related information. 

I would like the school to honour the letter they sent me and reinstate me to my position at the school without delay, for the benefit of our entire community, not just me personally, in accordance with the final paragraph of the letter.  Thank you for your attention to this matter, I look forward to receiving your response. 

Yours faithfully, 

Katherine Raue.

The letter's available to view at this link also in case readers have difficulty adjusting it in the embedded document above.  Here is my response:

Dear Chris Hipkins, 

Your letter is an insult to the intelligence!   

Please pass the matter on to one of your colleagues if it's "beyond the scope of your ability"!
- Pass it on to Michael Bott - and the rest of the Labour MPs and candidates with law degrees - and ask him to take urgent action and write to the South End School asking for an explanation - writing such a letter is within the scope of anyone's ability and you know it! 

Our kids are at risk and we will not be fobbed off like this - I am now publishing your letter on the internet and actively encouraging people to circulate it because I am so disgusted by your response and your refusal to act! 

Katherine Raue

And here's what a REAL politician did about this outrageous incompetence and corruption - Kelvyn Alp, co-founder of the OURNZ Party, wrote to the Ombudsmen demanding that they re-open their 'investigation' immediately because it was clearly an orchestrated litany of LIES!  The Ombudsmen did so and this elicited the truth - that the defamatory allegations about me originated from the corrupt local Police, and elicited a pathetic excuse for an apology which is so insulting that Court action is now underway!