Joanne Ufer's open letter regarding workplace safety:

Joshua Ufer's mum has worked tirelessly to make working conditions safer for all in the mining industry, in Australia, New Zealand and around the world, following the death of her only son Joshua, aaged just 25 years old when he was killed in the Pike River mine explosions, after a litany of criminal negligence and failure by the corporations running the mine and the government agencies who should have ensured that the mine was shut down long before the day it exploded, killing Joshua and twenty eight other working men, family men, dearly loved men.

Joanne Ufer has written the following open letter to the Australian mining industry - it should be mandatory reading in a range of New Zealand industries and framed and hung on the wall in every smoko room and workplace, and every office of what used to be called the Department of Labour (now known as the MoBIE dicks) - particularly our forestry industry.  Joanne's approach is a holistic one, and while it's not heavy on sentiment, focusing on constructive action, this letter touches deep into the heart of any parent, any wife or partner, any mother, grandmother, and any bereaved child, it's profoundly moving, and deserves to be published far and wide in my humble opinion, and re-read often.

To all in the Australian mining industry,

It has been with a heavy heart that I have watched the news over the past two weeks. Four fatalities in the industry in nine days, Western Australia, New South Wales, with the most recent the two fatalities at Mt Lyell in Tasmania on Monday. 

This brings the total fatalities in Australia’s mining sector to six in 2013.

Firstly may I say that my thoughts and condolences go out to all the families, friends and colleagues affected by these tragic and what would appear to be totally avoidable deaths. 

I know all too well the feeling of hopelessness, despair and grief associated with losing a loved one in a mining accident. I have been there and I am deeply saddened that it still appears that the lessons of the past, the lessons given by all those who have given the ultimate sacrifice are not being taken note of.

My son died in an underground coal mine disaster but the environment doesn’t really matter.
In any sector of the mining industry, coal or metalliferous, underground or open cut - it is a risky business.

Many of us get up, go to work, do our day’s toil and go home with little thought to the enormity of that risk.

I myself did not for one minute ever think that there was the chance that my son would go to work one day and that would be it, I would never speak to him, or see him or hold him ever again but that is the reality for me and for all those who have suffered the same loss, parents, partners, children and friends.

While this time of year brings with it much joy, it is also a time that brings added stresses to many.
Allocating time to spend with all the family, spending too much money, not having enough money, going on holidays, not getting holidays approved, the fatigue that comes with the additional socialising inherent with the festive season.

For the companies, it means pressure to reach end of year targets, ensuring staffing levels are adequate when employees may be throwing the odd sickie.  I have worked in the industry myself and witnessed first-hand the pressures that are felt from all sides.

A lot of people may say: ‘it won’t ever happen to me’. But do you know what?

It can and does happen to ordinary people.  My son said not long before his death that he would be around forever and sadly that was not so. I am now looking at spending my third Christmas without him being a part of it, and it does not get any easier.

My little grand-daughter never got to spend one Christmas with her Daddy, she was born six months after he died.

Can you imagine never seeing the joy on your children’s faces on Christmas morning?

As a parent can you imagine never seeing your child’s face ever again, it is still something even after three years I find hard to comprehend.

So I plead with you all please, please remain vigilant.

Look out for the signs that things may not be all right.

Watch yourself and have your mate’s back.

Don’t be afraid to say something if you feel your safety is being compromised. 

Remember too that safety doesn’t begin the moment you clock on.

As soon as you step foot out of your home, or your camp, it begins.

Don’t become another statistic.

Don’t let your family face Christmas and New Year without you.

Stay safe over the festive season and always.

Kind regards,

Joanne Ufer

 This is the ladder that the corporate Scrooges deemed adequate for Joshua and his workmates to escape from the mine in an emergency - workmates like Joseph Dunbar - killed on his first day of work, aged just seventeen years and one day - this ladder was NOT fit for the purpose and management KNEW that and so did the Department of Labour and the union!  Indisputable evidence was given at the commission of inquiry that the ladder was NOT fit for the purpose!



There is more information at these links about the Pike River mine, including a link to the Trust fund set up for the families of the miners, to provide for their children.  Please spare a thought for these families, now facing their third Christmas without their loved ones, their sons, brothers, husbands, fathers and friends, used as a pawn by this government, the innocent victims of corporate greed and systemic government failure, incompetence and corruption.

Democracy in NZ - by Lewis Verduyn

Standing Up For Democracy in NZ – YOU Hold The Key

by Lewis Verduyn - October 11, 2013

We are all born equal, and sovereignty resides in the People, whose power is the source of law. But if you don't know the basic rules of the game, you will be incapable of defending your rights and freedoms, while your Public Servants will become your government masters.

People create governments to serve, not rule. Our representatives are elected into office, not power. So when our government repeatedly defies the will of the People, rolls back democratic processes, avoids debate by acting under urgency, and passes legislation that violates our Bill of Rights, it's time to examine our “democracy”.

The John Key government has dismissed widespread opposition to asset sales, the secret TPP talks, the planned cuts to RMA protections, and the controversial GCSB spying act which rejects the democratic precept that natural rights cannot be overridden without demonstrable cause. Ministers have ignored and demeaned the Law Society, the Human Rights Commission, and the Privacy Commissioner. Even more concerning is the apparent suppression of critical resource consent information in favour of vested interests.

So is our Kiwi democracy being steadily eroded by those who would take advantage of their positions of trust, and what are the fundamental principles that underpin our rights and freedoms? What exactly is a democratic government?

Some basic principles of democratic governance:
• All people are created equal, with inalienable rights and freedoms.
• Sovereignty resides in the People, whose power is the source of Law.
• Private people institute public governments to serve them with Public Servants.
• Officer holders of governments are accountable to their employers, the People.
• The State cannot grant any privilege that is not already a sovereign right.
• A government that ignores the inherent right of consent is not democratic.
• Rights carry duties, starting with the eternal vigilance needed to protect them.

The right to self-determination is an imperative principle of democratic governance and national sovereignty. But it is easier to describe the inherent rights and freedoms of the People than it is to design and protect a democratic society.

In any governing arrangement it is essential to define the roles of those involved to clearly establish duties and responsibilities.

A democratic government is a Public Trust:
• A freely-elected government is a Public Trust instituted by private sovereign people, together called “the State”.
• Government officers are Trustees called “Public Servants”. All Public Servants have a Fiduciary duty to serve the best interests of the Beneficiaries, called “the People”.
• As grantors and underwriters, the People are burdened with the ultimate responsibility for their Public Trust.

The People delegate limited powers to their Trustees, giving them authority to act on their behalf in the role of Public Servants. These Public Servants perform their management duties subject to their jurisdictional authority.

Public Servants often presume that they have authority over you, which is not always true, such is their conditioning, and ours.

Jurisdiction follows a natural hierarchy. The order of jurisdiction is logical:

Nature/God > Man/Woman > State/Government > Corporation/Person

Men and women live in the jurisdiction of the Common Law, which is de jure “in law”.

The jurisdiction of the State is de jure Common Law.

New Zealand's system of government is a de jure constitutional monarchy. Every office holder including the Head of State, the Queen – who governs “in the right of” the People, swears an oath to serve “according to law”, which is de jure Common Law. Therefore, the highest recourse is to the People directly, not their government, hence the constitutional importance of Trial by Jury.

The People's Common Law power of justice is “Judicial”, while the government's delegated power of management is “Executive”, and exercised as “Legislative”.

From the beginning, the People knew that the democratic State would be destroyed if the power they vested in the Judiciary was ever corrupted by self-serving interests through the Legislature, for in this way the People's access to the Common Law could be restricted, and their democratic rights and freedoms could be eroded, quietly reducing them to a life of servitude. As a precaution against corruption, the People have separated the powers and functions of the State.

The three branches of “democratic” government:
• Legislature: Enacts statutes to regulate legal entities in society, prescribing “terms and conditions” which depend for their effect upon the consent of the governed. Statutes franchise benefits and privileges in exchange for freedoms and rights, as services that should promote order, welfare and equality.
• Executive: The Cabinet with Departments. They are the managers of the government answerable to their employers, the private sovereign People, who will either support their Executive by giving consent, or will oppose their Executive by withdrawing consent, which can be done at any time, not only during a government election, because democracy is not a three-yearly event.
• Judiciary: The People's Courts, for the preservation of the State and Justice. Lower courts apply “the statutes” to the legal entities created and approved by the government according to prescribed legislation. Higher courts, with Juries, decide “the Law” according to evidence and precedents in the Common Law.

Notably, over time, “administrative courts” have arisen in commerce presided over by “commercial list” judges.

The Law and Statutes (Statutes are not “Laws”!)

We hear almost every day that the government is “passing a law”, which strictly speaking is not true, because governments enact statutes, not laws. Statutes are not called laws for the simple reason that they are different in origin and effect. In practice, statutes only have the “colour of law”, not the “power of law”. The use of the word “law” in respect of statutes, without clarification, is misleading.

Statutes are Acts, Bills, and Legislative Instruments:
• 'Act, civil law, contracts. A writing which states in a legal form that a thing has been said, done, or agreed.' – Bouvier’s Law Dictionary, 1856
• 'Bill, legislation. An instrument drawn or presented by a member or committee to a legislative body for its approbation and enactment.' – Bouvier’s Law Dictionary, 1856
• 'Instrument, contracts. The writing which contains some agreement, and is so called because it has been prepared as a memorial of what has taken place or been agreed upon. The agreement and the instrument in which it is contained are very different things, the latter being only evidence of the existence of the former. The instrument or form of the contract may be valid, but the contract itself may be void on account of fraud.' – Bouvier’s Law Dictionary, 1856

All statutes are legislation prescribing “legal” instruments, which are contracts. The origin of all legal jurisdiction over you is your given consent.

The foundation of democracy is the consent of the governed.

If you accept that we are all created equal, and presumed innocent, then how can anyone have authority over you without your consent? It's not possible.

Statutes, by right, require consent. The New Zealand Police website correctly says: “It's important for us to know what people think of our service - in New Zealand we police by consent and cannot afford to lose the support of the people we serve.”

You can never be forced to give your consent, because that would be “under duress” which is not genuine consent. Your right to contract, or not to contract, is unlimited. The State cannot remove a right without due process of law, including notice and opportunity to defend. Otherwise, you retain the right to say: “I do not consent”.

Implicit in the right of consent is the right to withdraw consent. Indeed, the People have a duty to do so in order to defend their rights and freedoms, because only the People can redress the corruption of their democratic government. These people may waive societal benefits. But when the imposition of liabilities outweighs the benefits, such a waiver may be justifiable. The choice must be theirs to make.

The de jure jurisdiction is the last line of defence. It divides living men and women from the inferior “legal fiction” government.

Governments create and control legal fictions.

The government is but an agency created by the sovereign People, which therefore cannot rise above its creators. It is brought into our consciousness from nothing. It has no life or will of its own. It is something created and perpetuated in the minds of the participants – it is a “legal fiction”.

A government, as an artificial construct, can create more artificial legal fictions such as corporations or “legal personalities”, over which it has control.

You are born into your own sovereign jurisdiction, as a living entity with inalienable rights and responsibilities. This is your “private capacity”. The government later creates a second legal entity on the Birth Certificate, providing you with a “public capacity”. Since the government controls what it creates, anyone who “acts” in a “public capacity” as a “legal personality” is giving their consent to the government.

Public Servants routinely make the presumption that we are all “in the public”, which is why retaining your rights “in the private” is difficult. To achieve “lawful standing”, as a living man or woman, it is necessary to “rebut the presumption” that you are acting in “joinder”.

Since jurisdiction equates to power, and power equates to money, it is not surprising that a mysterious language has evolved for all legal and lawful matters, called “legalese”. Inevitably, the most important knowledge is obscured and manipulated by those who would subvert the de jure State for their own purposes.

Any court without a jury is an “administrative court”.

Importantly, any court without a jury is an administrative court, without the Common Law authority of the sovereign People. Administrative courts require the free and genuine consent of living men and women, and otherwise have no jurisdiction.

'The law is absolutely clear on this subject. There is NO authority for administrative courts in this country, and no Act can be passed to legitimise them.' - Halsbury's Law 2011

Administrative courts operate with a subordinate de facto “in practice” jurisdiction for the quasi-administration of statutes.

The de facto jurisdiction is Admiralty Maritime, also called the “law of the sea”. It is essentially for settling commercial disputes among publicly registered corporations, including people who consent to “act” as “legal personalities”.

The de jure jurisdiction is Common Law, also called the “law of the land”. It is for the provision of justice among living men and women, whereby decisions of law are made by living men and women on juries, who are not “actors”.

“You get the democracy you are prepared to stand up for.” - John Key, 2007.

We the People are responsible for the failures of our government. Every power exercised by our government is delegated from us.

As a culture, we have become increasingly dependent on the government, and wary of its inflated power. We have been deceived by the corporate media, psychologically conditioned to be subservient, and trained to be material consumers and debtors even if we destroy ourselves and our planet while enriching a parasitic hegemony.

We have forgotten that our Public Servants are indeed our “servants”.

Democracy, by definition, requires the active participation and oversight of the People. If we are not prepared to “stand up” for what we believe in, our lack of rebuke allows corruption to take hold, eroding our democratic rights and freedoms.

However, the People should remember that the “legal personality” has no arms and legs – it has no “standing”. It cannot “stand up”. It is a servant of the State.

People commonly surrender their inherent democratic rights whenever they do not expressly reserve their rights in everyday legal matters, in documents and verbally.

Your consent is your signature. Your consent is your silence. YOU hold the key ...

[IMPORTANT: This article reflects the considered opinions of the author, a jurisprudence researcher, and should not be construed as legal advice. By: Lewis: Verduyn, All Rights Reserved, Without Prejudice, UCC 1-308]

______________________________________


The Law    Statutes
PEOPLE make The Law
by the acceptance/validation of Jury verdicts    PARLIAMENT makes Statutes
by the en-Act-ments of Legislation
“The Law” is the People's “Common Law”,
unlike Statutory “Colour of Law”    “Statutes” are “Legislative Instruments”,
unlike the “Common Law”
Laws are moral CUSTOMS made effective
by the CONSCIENCE of the People    Statutes are offered CONTRACTS made effective by the CONSENT of the Governed
'LAW. As a compound adjective “common-law” is understood as contrasted with or opposed to “statutory.” ' [Black's Law Dictionary, 2nd Edition]    'STATUTE. The written will of the legislature...; This word is used in contradistinction to the common law.' [Bouvier's Law Dictionary, 1856]
THE LAW PROTECTS THE PEOPLE
from harm, loss, and deceit    STATUTES GOVERN LEGAL ENTITIES
as a franchise benefit to the State
We are ALL EQUAL
in the eyes of The Law    We are NOT ALL EQUAL
in the books of Statutes
Laws are based on PRINCIPLES    Statutes are based on PRACTICALITIES
Laws evolve over TIME and often endure    Statutes can QUICKLY come and go
LAWFUL refers to THE LAW    LEGAL refers to LEGISLATION
A Jury of People can overturn a Statute    The Legislature cannot overturn Case Law
Laws can be taken into Statutes
but if repealed in Statute they remain in Law    Statutes can serve The Law
but cannot diminish or expand The Law
De jure “in law”    De facto “in practice”
The People's Common Law
“Law of the Land”    Admiralty Maritime Commercial
“Law of the Sea”
           

Inalienable Rights
Inalienable Rights are the Inherent, Sovereign, Natural Rights that existed before the creation of the State, and which, being antecedent to and above the State, can never be taken away, diminished, altered, or levied by the State, except by Due Process of Law. Nor can any Inalienable Right be fundamentally removed or waived by contract, whether by non-disclosure, which is fraud and unenforceable in Law, or knowingly by sufferance, which is contrary to the Spirit of the Law and prejudicial to Sovereignty.

The Original, Permanent, Inalienable Rights of every Man or Woman, include:
The Right to Life, Freedom, Health and the Pursuit of Happiness
The Right to Contract, or Not to Contract, which is Unlimited
The Right to Earn a Living Income by being Compensated with Wages or a Salary in a Fair Exchange for one's Work
The Right to Travel in the Ordinary Course of one's Life and Business
The Right to Privacy and Confidentiality, free from Unwarranted Invasion
The Right to Own, and Hold Property, lawfully without Trespass
The Right to Self-Defence when threatened with Harm, Loss, or Deceit
The Right to Due Process of Law, with Notice and Opportunity to Defend
The Right to be Presumed Innocent, suffering No Detention or Arrest, No Search or Seizure, without Reasonable Cause
The Right to Remain Silent when accused, to avoid Self-Incrimination
The Right to Equality in the eyes of the Law, and to Equal Representation
The Right to Trial by Jury, being an Impartial Panel of one's Peers
The Right to Appeal in Law against Conviction or Sentence, or both
The Right to Expose Knowledge necessary to one's Rights and Freedoms
The Right to Peaceful Association, Assembly, Expression, and Protest
The Right to Practice a Religion, and to have Beliefs, of one's choosing
The Right to Love, and to Consensual Marriage with Children, as a Family
The Right to Security from Abuse, Persecution, Tyranny, and War
The Right to Refuse to Kill under command, by reason of Conscience
The Right to Live in Peace and be left alone when Law-Abiding

Surely, the most critical failure of The People is their failure to ensure the teaching and common knowledge of their Inalienable Rights. If you do not know your Rights, you effectively have none. By the path of Ignorance, whether by Apathy or Deception, The People arrive in a State of Exploitation, Oppression, and Tyranny.

Independent report damns EQC as they gang up with Her Majesty's Solicitor General and the Clown Law Orifice to persecute whistleblower:

Marc Krieger cast transparency over the 'work' of the Earthquake Commission (EQC), and provided an independent report into their activities , and was recently served with an application by Her Majesty's Solicitor General in respect of alleged contempt of Court for his efforts.  The application is astounding - and deeply concerning if it indicates the calibre of the writers and the focus of their efforts.

Wellington consultancy Martin Jenkins (MJ) and Associates and insurance expert Derek Scott were asked to conduct an independent review of EQC’s response to the Canterbury earthquakes.

They have reported that the Earthquake Commission planned poorly for a major catastrophe and therefore lacked the leadership and systems needed to cope with the Canterbury earthquakes.

The consultants interviewed 75 EQC staff and contractors late in 2011 and early 2012 and found:

• Only three of the theoretical list of 20 executive support people for EQC were available on September 4, 2010, the date of the first major earthquake.
• It took a year for EQC to appoint a general manager with the management capabilities to deal with a large scale disaster effort. 
• EQC’s poor response was determined by its pre-earthquake family culture – “nothing will happen until I retire.”
• People were tossed into the field which worked well where individuals were highly experienced and capable … But there were many cases “where initially we had no idea what we were doing.”
• iPads using Comet software were introduced with minimal cost benefit analysis and proved incompatible with EQC’s IBM claims software (ClaimCenter). The iPad application could deal with only one assessment per property and was therefore unsuitable for multiple events.
• Despite EQC having invested in a web-based, field orientated software system, it initially used paper data recording in the field.
•  Input staff did not fully understand ClaimCenter and by November 2011, ClaimCenter had 112,000 entries against which no activity had been entered. There was also a discrepancy of 40,000 building exposures between ClaimCenter data and Canterbury-sourced data.
•  Apportionment of damage between events was “largely subjective” despite best efforts.

EQC had a permanent staff of 22 and outsourced all core functions – call centres for claims lodgement, claims administration and processing (to Brisbane) and field operations.

“In the absence of overarching direction individual solutions were created on the spot with negative downstream consequences,” the report said.

It also criticised EQC for its lack of expertise on its systems capability. The expertise “needed to be at hand to constantly advise the management of realistic possibilities”.

“Without adequate reflection new challenges were often met with more resources or new teams rather than working smarter eg experienced staff claimed better use of the ClaimCenter system could have saved 100 staff.”

What happened was that a group of greedy public servants saw an opportunity to create a lot of overpaid jobs for their mates and because of a total lack of accountability in NZ at present regarding the public sector, they got away with it, to the cost of all NZ taxpayers, and the people of Christchurch and Seddon in particular.

EQC’s lack of planning and project management skills meant suppliers took advantage charging premium rates, the MJ report said. Hourly rates were set which were more costly than fixed-term contracts and the report gave the example of Datacom charging a scanning cost of $6 per page.

The Scott report said EQC found it difficult to maintain standards as leaders at its various field offices and imported assessors were inconsistent and the pods were all managed differently.

“The training function experienced difficulties in responding to continual changes in form and work processes made by individual field offices, whilst the Canterbury Events office frequently changed the names and functions of teams.”

Further thought also needed to be given to better prescribing jobs to the provider agencies.

“… A number of assessors provided by Verifact (Brisbane-based firm that supplied 210 Australian assessors) were either physically unsuitable for the job or lacked the necessary skills including those of basic numeracy. Many assessors and estimators appear to lack knowledge of EQC cover, the 1993 Act, building code or repair strategies even after induction and training,” the Scott report noted.

Unrest occurred when inexperienced and untrained staff were paid the same rates as personnel previously contracted to EQC.

Effective performance management did not appear to be part of EQC culture, Scott said, with the focus on quantity rather than quality.  Judge Noble said "I'm left with the uneasy impression that the understanding of accountability is blurred" regarding Crown accountability.

The NZ High Court sits on shaky ground records the application of Her Majesty's Solicitor General and the Clown Law Orifice, and Mr Krieger's response, and other reports show that lawyers and Judges are fiddling with themselves while New Zealand democracy and human rights go up in a puff of smoke and flames.

Corrupt Police prosecutors like Garry Wilson and Gregory Peters regularly conspire with Wilson's partner, Masterton Court registrar Liz Harpleton, and other Police, lawyers and Court staff, etc, to pervert the course of justice in the Masterton Court - they are incompetent and corrupt in the extreme. 

Complaints are routinely fobbed off and ignored, and the social and economic costs mount up - a dysfunctional legal system masquerading as a 'justice system' - used as a trough for pigs like Bryan Yeoman and the above mentioned police officers, ex police officers, lawyers, etc, and some of the highest rates of suicide in the world. 

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.

Julian Batchelor builds a retaining wall:

Julian 'Basil Fawlty' Batchelor's wall promptly collapsed leaving an unsightly mess for locals and tourists to look at

Shot showing the difference between the old wall and the new one, both in size an proximity to the boundary

This shows the difference in size between old and new walls, and difference in proximity to the road and road reserve

The volunteers/engineers - not a hard hat to be seen, OSH issues just for a start

Don't spook the herd:

- Emmerson

So the GCSB Bill is supposed to spy on New Zealanders to protect our economic well being, but Fonterra managed to hide the contamination scandal from the government for about six months, while the government was more interested in what Kim Dotcom was doing and what Winston Peters text messages and Andrea Vance's emails said.

Wellington protest against the GCSB Bill - 27 July 2013

The nationwide protests against the GCSB and TICS bills - and the implications of the TPPA and other recent and pending legislation were well attended - New Zealanders turned out in force for the Wellington event, which was covered by independent journalist Frank Macskasy and others.

Unfortunately the event was hijacked at the last minute by a couple of amateur "activists", Billy McKee (convicted recently of supplying large amounts of cannabis to undercover police) and Ariana Paretutanganui-Tamati (local political prostitute, formerly a Maori party hanger on, now representing the Mana party - who need to up their game if they want to be taken seriously).  This resulted in attendees being subject to this woman's interminable verbal drivel as she monopolised the microphone and monotonised the crowd with her boring, narcissistic political grandstanding.  Another result of the bullying of her and her 'supporters' was that the crowd was deprived of hearing from other speakers, including the EQC blogger, Marc Krieger, whose address to the protestors is printed below:

"My name is Marc Krieger and I am the EQC Truths blogger.  I too have been a victim of illegal government surveillance because of my willingness to expose official corruption and lawbreaking at EQC.  The New Zealand government illegally spied on me and found out that I was the blogger who exposed EQC’s incompetence, nepotism, and corruption through the EQC Truths blog.

I am unable to be present today in body, but I join you in spirit.  The New Zealand government holds itself to the world as a beacon of transparency yet, in actuality, the government is a bastion of darkness.  The New Zealand government breaks its own laws by spying on its own citizens.

Now the New Zealand government is trying to legalise in law what it has already sanctioned in practice.  The only way to stop the government is if we stand up together and unite.  Governments only get away with things because of the silent majority that fails to speak out and hold its leaders accountable.  To paraphrase FDR, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing”.

Many of us make the mistake of believing that governments are innately benevolent.  Yet governments are responsible for the most heinous atrocities including the mass murder of millions.  The reason governments got away with murder is that they gradually and incrementally usurped the rights of the people because the people were too lazy or terrified to stand up.

In a small country like New Zealand, the opportunity remains for people to stand up and fight.  My message to all of you is to stand together to defeat this evil.  Otherwise, New Zealand will go down the slippery road to absolutely tyranny."

- Mr Krieger and myself were prevented from speaking, and the group who had prepared the skit about Key and Banks tea party and the fuss Key made about being spied on by a journalist (Bradley Ambrose) - who Key and Banks had invited to report on the tea party in order to manipulate the election protest and buy media attention.  The point of the skit was to show the crowd that charges must be laid against Key and others for spying illegally on 88 New Zealanders and other criminal actions for which they are legally culpable!  - Not to mention the hypocrisy and blatant double standards of all involved to date!  Instead, the crowd were told at the last minute (after APT had made her malicious complaints to facebook and blocked me from commenting and posting) that the skit was cancelled and been replaced on the order of ceremonies with "a surprise activity" which turned out to be her rapturously clutching a naked effigy of Peter Dunne and mumbling more incoherent nonsense!

Here are a couple of video clips showing the numbers of the crowd, as well as demonstrating the boring and aimless rant of APT, and some screenshots showing the disgust of other independent witnesses - people following the event on facebook were well aware of the development of the attempts by these two to hijack the event and gain control of it for their own personal and political agenda.

The GCSB Bill will not pass all the way through Parliament this week as had been hoped by the Government. 

The Bill is now in its committee stages, where members of parliament are debating it clause by clause.

The National party and their supporters have been trying to rush this Bill through at every opportunity and prevented the committee from hearing from key submitters on the Bill such as Kim Dotcom, one of the 88 New Zealanders who the government has admitted illegally spying on - Transparency NZ believes there are considerably more than 88 and that the government has been engaging in wholesale collection of information - and DNA from the population for the benefit of foreign governments and corporate interests!

An urgent debate on the Fonterra contamination debacle has delayed the debate further.  The Government will have to wait at least two weeks to pass the controversial legislation now, thanks to the tenacity of David Shearer, Russel Norman and other opposition MPs.  The irony of Conman Key's insistence that the changes to the Bill are necessary to spy on Kiwi mum and dads in order to safeguard New Zealand's economic interests - while Fonterra are found to be mired in incompetence and corruption and seriously jeopardising our economic interests, and MoBIE allegedly didn't know about the botulism contamination for over three months.

Even more ironic is his Al Keyda scaremongering - the GCSB needs to spy on us all because there are terrorists everywhere in New Zealand and weapons of mass destruction - him and his mates are the harbingers of mass economic destruction and loss of human rights from what I can see . . .

Meanwhile - from the truth is stranger than fiction files - you couldn't make this stuff up - after changing his mind more times than fellow political prostitute Georgina Beyer and deciding to support the Bill, after the blatant blackmail and deceit regarding his emails with Andrea Vance, Peter Dunne has called Ariana and her seven supporters "irresponsible scum" for 'protesting' outside his house with a megaphone at eleven at night (- it's his neighbours I feel sorry for) saying that all New Zealanders have the right to privacy - how ironic.  And how typical of APT and her seven mates.  Preventing the very New Zealanders who have been spied on and the information used against them from being heard, and preventing the skit being performed, and preventing the protest being taken to the GCSB HQ on the 27th, in favour of a rambling monologue from a silly tart clutching a naked Peter Dunne doll and eight people making a noise outside some private residences one of which happens to be occupied by Peter Dunne - pathetic!

Submissions on the GCSB Bill:

Here are the written submissions on the GCSB, which the government has been refusing to publish on the parliamentary website.

Mandate my foot!

Political prostitution - Ariana Paretutanganui-Tamati's devious, deceitful agenda exposed:

This is the work of a nasty woman called Ariana Paretututanganui -Tamati, pictured, at left - a devious, sleazy, conniving, deceitful, liar, who is attempting to infiltrate and undermine the Wellington protest against the GCSB Bill and hijack it for her own personal agenda.

She has undermined and sabotaged all the efforts of the people who HAVE been organising the Wellington protest against the GCSB Bill this Saturday, while she's been doing nothing but wasting time and causing trouble - here's the latest evidence of her work - she and her low life mates have been reporting this perfectly innocuous post on the Wellington Event page (at the link above) in a co-ordinated, targeted attack in order to achieve the post being removed and me blocked from facebook - the post being the order of ceremonies for the Wellington event - which I am the Host of!

Who is behind this really - who is incentivising her to try and derail our peaceful protest with her nut bar friends talking about blocking roads and other violent action, and grandstanding for her own political agenda.

She previously deleted all the files on the organisers page - the list of speakers, the order of ceremonies, the fliers, the list of events, the outline of the skit, etc, she's lied and claimed other people's work as her own - she's a prize cow.  She's standing for the Mana party apparently - come along on Saturday and listen to her make a fool of herself. 

In this screenshot, you can see that I am the host of the event, but I now cannot post to facebook for 24 hours, after this little piece of scum called Ariana Paretutanganui-Tamati made false and malicious complaints - she's apparently representing the Mana party - I suggest they UP THEIR GAME!  - AND GET RID OF NASTY LITTLE TROUBLEMAKERS LIKE HER and find some DECENT candidates!

Then, she made the mistake of writing a huge diatribe for all the world to see - accusing me of being some lady in Napier - who came on and went nuts - and raving on about Ariana's mate, delusional fraudster Cherie Sweeney -Ariana Paretutanganui-Tamati couldn't apologise quick enough and admit her complete idiocy - extremely OFFENSIVE and DELUSIONAL idiocy!  - Anyone with enough money to waste can pay a lawyer to write utter nonsense like this.  No Court has ever given it a file number I'll bet!  No wonder this country's in the state it's in - with "politicians" like Ariana Paretutanganui-Tamati "in charge of" the controlled opposition.

 

Update - this morning I received this screenshot from one of the speakers - disgusted at Ariana's behaviour - together with a request that she be removed from the event entirely and certainly included on the speakers list with credible people who know what they're talking about as she is clearly a deluded, spiteful, selfish, politician with a very divisive and destructive personal agenda!

This picture shows that I can't even respond to questions from other organisers directed to me!

Ariana has SABOTAGED this protest and should be booted out of politics entirely!  She's nothing but a lying little attention seeker without any brains!  Here's how the facebook page is now being run - people now too scared to bring their kids because of Ariana and her gang mates and this outrageous and disgusting posting all over the page of offensive and violent rubbish from a bunch of gang members and half witted attention seeking "politicians" and self appointed "activists" - they're NOT activists - they are a bunch of half witted attention seekers!

Here's more evidence of Ariana's "extensive protesting experience" - shameless self promotion!  No support - apart from a few naive 'journalists'!

Speaking of journalists, I received a lovely email from Andrea Vance, one of our invited speakers, she'll be there on Saturday if she can make it, hopefully we can prevent Ms Ariana PT derailing it.

Updates about the GCSB Bill and the protest are at this link.

Going to prison - not as easy as you'd think with Serco in charge:

In 2010 Judge Helen Winkelmann contravened two statutes and unlawfully denied the defendants in the Urewera trials their statutory right to a trial by jury - cemented in the cornerstone of the law - dating back to the Magna Carta - a citizen has the right to be tried by a jury of their peers, not one Judge.  The standard of the judiciary in New Zealand is by and large an utter disgrace, and as this video shows, the standards at the Serco run prison aren't too flash either.

Vince Siemer tried to hand himself in at Mt Eden prison following the split decision in the Supreme Court ordering him to be imprisoned for exposing judicial corruption, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court dissented with her colleagues, to her credit.

While most of the media - and most of the citizens of New Zealand blissfully ignore what's really going on with eyes wide shut, intrepid reporters like Vince Siemer, and Vinny Eastwood, who filmed and edited this clip - and composed and performed the stirring rendition of music in the clip - go where no man has gone before in the pursuit of the truth about our Courts, police, and prisons, and how whistleblowers are being unlawfully incarcerated in ever new and imaginative ways.  

Here Vinnie tries to hand himself in to the Serco run Mr Eden prison and finds out it's not as easy as you'd think.

Please leave an encouraging comment on the Youtube site to show support for the work Vinnie and others are doing to expose corruption and incompetence.

NZ High Court sitting on shaky ground:

While the people of Christchurch wait in vain for their earthquake damage claims to be dealt with, Marc Krieger has been served with an application for a Court declaration against him for "Contempt" for informing them of the reasons for the delay, which are, basically, incompetence and corruption on a massive scale.

On the day after fellow journalist and publisher Vince Siemer was ordered to go to jail for publishing the outrageous decision of Winkelmann J on his website Kiwisfirst, to deny the Urewera defendants a jury trial - as enshrined in the cornerstone of justice for centuries, the Magna Carta.   Her Majesty's Solicitor General has decided to waste taxpayers' time and money in an utterly futile and unsound application designed to impugn the reputation and destroy the quality of life of yet another unfortunate person who simply sought to expose injustice and corruption, and help the people of Christchurch to understand why their claims have been mismanaged and rejected.

The Crown's application is based on the assertion that "unknown defendants" published a spreadsheet containing information which the Crown claims was "confidential" and the property of the Earthquake Commission (EQC).  The spreadsheet was compiled by a subsidiary of Fletcher Construction, "Fletcher EQC", and it contained the details of 83,000 claims being processed by EQC.

An initial Court order prohibiting the disclosure of the spreadsheet "until further order of the Court", against "unnamed defendants", was served on an anonymous email address on about 10 April 2013.  On 10 July an application was made by Her Majesty's Solicitor General for a Declaration of (alleged) Contempt of Court.  The application declares that the Solicitor General will apply to the Court on 1 August for orders that Mr Krieger be held in contempt and "for such sanction" . . . "that the Court in its inherent jurisdiction considers appropriate" as well as an order for costs.  One of the more ironic statements in this application is at the end; after serving the "unnamed defendants" at the anonymous hushmail address, the Solicitor General has the cheek to say "Note:  the service of documents may not be effected by email or fax . . . "

On 30 June Mr Krieger filed a "Motion to Strike Out EQC's Frivolous Claims" against himself and these "unknown defendants", stating that apart from the request to dismiss the proceedings brought by the Solicitor General he politely declines to participate in the proceedings or to dignify this frivolous action by paying a single cent in filing fees (- and I don't blame him!)  Mr Krieger continues "Furthermore,  I wish to prevent the vexatious plaintiff and its counsel from further depleting what little remains in the EQC fund to pursue this ridiculous vendetta."  Mr Krieger's motion cites section 15.1 of the High Court Rules which allow the Court to strike out a pleading if it discloses no reasonably arguable course of action, is likely to cause prejudice or delay, is frivolous or vexatious or is otherwise an abuse of the process of the Court.

In the interests of justice, and the public interest, Mr Krieger's motion is embedded below in its entirety, because it's well worth the read:





This post will be updated with news of this frivolous folly - this is how your taxes are being spent - trying to shut up people who expose corruption.

Publisher Vince Siemer jailed for reporting a crime:

Publisher Vince Siemer of Kiwisfirst

On 9 December 2010, Winkelmann J delivered a judgment making pre-trial rulings   in criminal proceedings, regarding the trial of the defendents in the matter that became known as the "Urewera terror raids". The front page of the judgment carried a heading stating that the judgment was not to be published in news media or on the internet or other publicly accessible database or otherwise made publicly available until final disposition of the trial or further order of the court.   What Winkelmann J sought to suppress was her rulings that the defendants were to be denied a trial before a jury of their peers as they were lawfully entitled to, and that Winkelmann J sought to establish an arguably unlawful precedent forcing them to be tried by a Judge alone, because Winkelmann J was of the extraordinary view that a jury couldn't be trusted to arrive at a sound decision.  As we now know, the Urewera raids were found to have been conducted unlawfully.


Publication in a law report or law digest was permitted by Winkelmann J, as an exception to the order forbidding publication of her rulings.  Shortly after the judgment was delivered, the appellant Mr Siemer published an article on each of two identical “Kiwisfirst” websites he operated. The article referred to the decision made by Winkelmann J, and included a hyperlink which gave readers of the article immediate electronic access to a copy of the 9 December judgment.


The Solicitor-General brought proceedings in the High Court seeking to have Mr Siemer committed for contempt of court. A Full Court of the High Court held that Winkelmann J had power to make the suppression order in relation to the judgment.


The Crown argued that any other criticisms of the court order could not be a defence to a charge of deliberately breaching it. The Court was satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Mr Siemer had knowingly published the judgment in breach of the order and found him to be in contempt of court. The Court sentenced Mr Siemer to six weeks’ imprisonment. This decision was upheld by the Court of Appeal.

Mr Siemer appealed to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has, by a majority comprising McGrath, William Young and Glazebrook JJ, dismissed Mr Siemer’s appeal.


The Chief Justice has dissented.


The first issue before the Court was whether New Zealand courts have inherent power or jurisdiction to suppress judgments in criminal cases. The majority has held that New Zealand courts have an inherent power to suppress judgments. This power has not been extinguished or replaced by s 138 of the Criminal Justice Act 1985 (now repealed and replaced with the Criminal Procedure Act 2011), which confers a limited statutory power to suppress. The majority has decided that a suppression order can be made consistently with the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act where publication of the information would give rise to a real risk of prejudice to a fair trial right.  Ironically.


The second issue was whether a person who wishes to act in a manner contrary to a suppression order may seek to have it varied or rescinded. The majority has held that such a person may apply to the court for review of that order. The application must be made in writing and set out the reasons why review of the order, or its application to that person, is sought. The application must be considered by a judge, who will determine the procedure to be followed in response to the application, and make a decision upon the application itself.


The final issue was whether, in proceedings for contempt of court based on breach of a court order, the defendant may raise as a defence that the order should not have been made or made in the terms it was. The majority of the Court has decided that breach of a court order will constitute contempt of court, at least where the court had power to make an order of the relevant kind. It will not generally be open to a person facing contempt proceedings to defend them on the basis that the order should not have been made. The person bound by the court order should instead apply to the court seeking to have the order varied or set aside.


The Court has decided that there are very limited exceptions to this general rule where that is

necessary in order to ensure that there is a meaningful and practically available opportunity for those subject to court orders to challenge them.


In the present appeal, the Court held the view that it was open to Mr Siemer to apply to the Court to seek to have the suppression order made by Winkelmann J varied or set aside. There was no exceptional basis for allowing Mr Siemer to raise a defence, in the contempt proceedings, on the basis that the court order should not have been made at all or in the terms that it was.  Mr Siemer’s actions breached the order made by Winkelmann J and frustrated its purpose. For that reason, Mr Siemer’s conduct was held to be contemptuous.


The appeal is accordingly dismissed and the Supreme Court has directed that Mr Siemer must commence serving his sentence.


The full text of the judgment and reasons can be found at www.courtsofnz.govt.nz:  

VINCENT ROSS SIEMER v SOLICITOR-GENERAL

(SC 37/2012)

[2013] NZSC 68


Vinnie Eastwood interviewed Vince Siemer shortly after the release of the decision of the Supreme Court:






- In another recent ruling released today, another local businessman was sentenced to jail for contempt of Court for failing to co-operate upon being called for jury duty.

The real agenda behind the rush to sell our assets:

Today it was announced that Pike River Coal does not have the cash to pay compensation to the Families of the men who died in the mine they operated in a dangerously unsafe manner for years, because company bosses have already spent the money on their legal fees, according to one of the receivers.

And that's not the only thing they, and the directors of the company who took over the mine, Solid Energy, have been spending it on either.  The Families want their men back not just some cheap payoff, what an absolute insult.

The Families and the men in the mine have been brushed aside with contempt by the vultures who've been picking over the carcass of Pike River Coal.  The role of the Department of Labour has never been scrutinised - the Minister resigned her portfolio because of the liability of herself and the Department and the Ministry so it seems that the Families should instruct the police to lay charges of of criminal negligence and instruct a lawyer forthwith to lay civil charges against the DoL, NZOG and others.

"Let's let Solid Energy buy the mine, they'll get the men out" said certain people - self appointed community advocates, etc, well let's look at how that's worked out.  CEO Don Elder, married to "political commentator" Therese Arseneau ( - nice work if you can get it - who pays her how much to be a "political commentator"?) when you look at what Don Elder's been raking in (see links above, para 2).  They've also been spending like there's no tomorrow on luxuries and holidays etc.

In April 2013 Clayton Cosgrove went to the Ombudsmen regarding the refusal of Solid Energy to respond to OIA requests - because staff responsible for responding to it were on holiday - Cosgrove said Solid Energy was making a laughing stock of the Ministry and that he was acting as a last resort because requests for information were being blocked at every turn.

Solid Energy has debts of four hundred million dollars and is facing financial ruin unless it can negotiate a rescue package with Treasury and the banks (source at link in paragraph above).  Meanwhile Conman Key has been blatantly manipulating the stock market.and helping his mates thieve from Kiwi 'mum and dad investors' by claiming the money was going to go to schools and hospitals, when all the while the plan was to line his pockets and his mates' pockets!

Conman Key has been caught out lying again, after earlier denying that plans have already been made for the as yet unannounced bail out of Solid Energy and reports are now emerging about the outrageous culture of extravagance perpetrated by these pigs - feasting at the trough while twenty nine families grieve, and their men lay somewhere inside the death trap that murdered them by putting money before safe practice, and they are forbidden to even get near the mine to pay their respects.  Instead, each Family has a stone, a big boulder.  Ironic? - or symbolic of the heart of Conman Key and his greedy, deceitful mates?

Money Conman Key promised would go on schools and hospital has been stolen by his thieving white collar mates.

Lee Scanlon's revealed that Solid Energy are paying over $25,000 a week to lease their offices - known as The Palace - while Pike Families and other honest hardworking New Zealanders are struggling to find work and jobs so they can feed their families.

Greymouth District Court judge Jane Farish ordered PRC to pay $110,000 in reparation to each of the grieving families and two survivors of the West Coast mine explosion - a total of $3.41m.

She also fined the company a total of $760,000 over nine charges.

Receiver John Fisk said it was impossible for PRC to comply with that order.  Judge Jane Farrish refused to fall for that nonsense and expressed the view of the Court perfectly clearly in that respect.

Only $156,000 - or about $5380 per family - of its $2 million liability insurance cover was still available for compensation payments, said Fisk.

The other $1.84 million had been used by company staff and directors for their legal fees, Mr Fisk said.

"There's a cold hard sort of commercial and legal reality as to what we're dealing with here as receivers and then the tragic situation of the death of 29 men in a workplace accident.

That does come into stark contrast in these situations."

Mr Fisk said he did not know what Judge Farish meant when she said there was the "means" for reparation payments to be made.  - What arrant nonsense!  Of course he does!

"I'm not sure what she means by that because it can't come from the company so I'm at a loss to know where she thought that could be paid from.

"Unfortunately they won't be able to get anything out of the company."  - No - because the pigs and vultures are still feeding!

Pike River Coal was valued at $400 million before the mine explosion on November 19, 2010.

It has about $500,000 in cash and assets remaining, but it is legally bound to pay that money to its largest secured creditor New Zealand Oil & Gas (NZOG).

Families spokesman Bernie Monk said today it was "morally wrong'' that secured creditors were paid first.

Although the families had received financial support, that help had been divided among 55 different families.

"The impact statements show they (Pike) didn't care two hoots about staff."

Mr Monk said he had written to Pike's former Indian directors, but they had "not had the guts to write back".

He said the directors were not fit to run the company.

"It's laughable to hear NZ Oil and Gas made so many millions last year. It's not the end of it."

Judge Farish indicated NZOG was in a position to pay reparation. She also mentioned former directors' private insurance policies.

Last August, NZ Oil and Gas posted a full-year profit of $19.9m.

"Good on the judge," Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union assistant national secretary Ged O'Connell said immediately after sentencing.

"Pike River Coal's directors should not be able to hide behind shabby legal structures and carry on as if nothing ever happened. It's time we had corporate manslaughter laws and personal liability for directors so they can be held accountable for their actions.''

Receivers were appointed in mid-December 2010 - just two weeks after the mine exploded, claiming 29 lives.

Pike River Coal had invested $290m in the mine operation. The Bank of New Zealand was a first ranking secured creditor, owed about $23.2m. In 2011, the receivers said they would give full payouts to the 243 unsecured creditors owed up to $10,000 each.

Grey District Mayor Tony Kokshoorn said self-regulation of health and safety lit the fuse of the disaster, fuelled by the company's "greed and complacency".

West Coast-based Green Party MP Kevin Hague said it was "a travesty of justice" that the families could end up with as little as $5000 each.

He said Pike River's $2m liability insurance cover was "totally inadequate" for a high-risk operation and the families had been left with "crumbs" after everyone else had been paid.

The crippled mine was last year sold to Solid Energy for $7.5m.

Mr Fisk said today it received $80m in an insurance claim, which was partly used to pay unsecured creditors. The rest was used to repay secured debenture holders in order of priority.

There was money in the bank account when the receivers were called in, mainly advances from NZOG. Some was used to stabilise the mine, and the tunnel reclamation plan.

The $7.5m from Solid Energy was also used to pay secured creditors.

When the board put itself into receivership, it said in a statement: "The only prudent action we could take was to approach our major creditors and advise them we were unlikely to be able to repay our loans at the end of the standstill period that NZOG and BNZ offered us after the 19th of November.''

Former Pike River chairman John Dow was not answering the phone at his Nelson home this morning, or his cellphone.  (- Source: Hayden Donnell, NZ Herald, Laura Mills, Greymouth Star, 5 July 2013)

It's been revealed that Conman Key and his government TOLD Solid Energy to borrow - after lying about that too and arrogantly denying it - manipulating the stock market - right before the controversial float of Mighty River.

More and more lies are emerging daily, indicating the real asset sales agenda and

There is more on these matters at this link and this one, and this site will certainly be updated with reports on them and Transparency NZ will be working hard to (a) recover the bodies of the twenty nine men - or at least make an honest attempt to do the decent thing - and provide some REAL justice for the Families of these men!; (b) hold the proper people accountable instead of the ritual sacrifice of a couple of unwitting scapegoats; and (c) ensure this never happens again.(and that can't happen until (b) happens anyway).

Meanwhile, all this time, years later, the Families can't even get near the mine where their men are, because of this stinking, and corrupt cover up.  Neville Rockhouse is one of the scapegoats.

Conman Key has lied, and lied, and lied, and what was revealed at the commission of inquiry about the role of the Department of Labour - or lack of a role - and what happens when you let industry and commercial interests regulate themselves should have been a lesson, but recent events prove otherwise.

The Trust set up for the families of the Pike River miners' Families, is at this link.

(Source: Hayden Donnell, NZ Herald, Laura Mills, Greymouth Star, 5 July 2013)

Transparency NZ will continue to protest at parliament and the Court until justice is done, and good on Judge Jane Farrish for dishing out a bit of justice, and having the integrity to tell the guilty parties that she will not tolerate their deception.

The day is soon approaching when we file action in the Courts for some REAL justice for the Families of the men in the Pike River mine - and all other decent hard working New Zealand taxpayers for that matter - it's coming very soon, and it's long overdue - we don't pay taxes to be governed like this!