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Wellington-educated Tuiloma Neroni Slade has been appointed Secretary-General of the Pacific Islands Forum, succeeding the late Greg Urwin. Born in Apia in 1941, Slade received a law degree from Victoria University and practiced in Wellington before returning home and rising through legal ranks to become Attorney-General. After a stint with the Commonwealth Secretariat, he became Samoa’s Ambassador to the UN, US and High Commissioner to Canada before being appointed a judge of the International Criminal Court in The Hague...... NZ’s Trade Ambassador in Geneva Crawford Falconer ended months of speculation by opting to return to Wellington as a Deputy Secretary of MFAT in place of Derek Leask, now High Commissioner in London rather than seek a highly-placed job at the OECD. He will be succeeded in Geneva by David Walker. If National forms the next Govt, Falconer’s immediate predecessor Tim Groser might be the next Trade Minister...... While Helen Clark generously brushed aside the Aust Govt’s description of her as a “left-wing control freak,” interesting questions remain. Was Canberra dissembling when it asserted the offending language was from an old assessment prepared for the previous Govt? NZ officials think it odd new-broom, high-intensity PM Kevin Rudd would use recycled rather than fresh intelligence. Second, why commit such comments to paper, liable to be leaked or lost (think of the 1980s NZ officials who left a confidential negotiating brief on critical NZ/Aust air negotiations in the seat pocket of a Qantas jet). Then, why offer such incriminating information to journalists?..... Timor-Este’s leader Xanana Gusmao was visiting NZ this week for talks with Helen Clark and other Ministers. So too was Brazil’s Minister of External Relations Celso Amorim, who was meeting Winston Peters (if he could spare the time) and Phil Goff....... There’s considerable turmoil among Fairfax newspaper staff after the Sydney-based group revealed it was slicing 550 staff off its payroll “to contain costs.” The question is where the axe will fall in NZ, as reporting staff numbers are already very lean...... National’s candidate in Auckland Central, Nikki Kaye, is making a good run against the incumbent Labour MP Judith Tizard. A poll in the electorate indicates she has gained 15 points in recent weeks and is now a couple of points ahead...... The Maori Party has pruned its list to 19 compared with 51 last time. Hone Harawira has been persuaded to go on the list (he didn’t last time), because he has a high profile with young Maori. 33% of young Maori are not registered to vote, and Hone is backing a tour, the brainchild of TV presenter and musician Kimo Winiata to encourage Maori youth to enrol. How do we know this? Hone has taken to emailing us with his newsletters. The top 8 on the Maori Party list are Tariana Turia, Pita Sharples, Hone Harawira, Te Ururoa Flavell, Angeline Greensill, Derek Fox, Rahui Katene and Naida Glavish. Better get to know their names: these could all be in Parliament next time...... Labour is due to frame its list this weekend. There could be some nervous nellies among them, particularly those in marginal seats...... As NZ Post CEO John Allen courts higher honours in the capital, NZ Post’s
delivery has hit an all time low, with suggestions overheads and manpower are
being diverted into KiwiBank at the expense of mail deliveries – time to get
back to the core business, John. |
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