Public Address | Cafe | Hard News: Anzac Day II

Ian Dalziel

Wed, 06 May 2015 19:05:36 +1200

Sorry to break it to you but Heartland is being closed down. Last day on air is the end of this very month.
That is sad, Here's hoping NZ on Screen, or similar, can leap in to the rescue – otherwise what will happen to it all – there is…

nzlemming

Wed, 06 May 2015 17:34:53 +1200

A) there's only so much room on a birth certificate and b) they aren't prince and princess of New Zealand anyway. If and when William goes from HRH to HRM, he will become King of NZ (not guaranteed we won't be a republic by then anyway). Until then, he's just…

Rich of Observationz

Wed, 06 May 2015 11:53:33 +1200

Notice two facts from this otherwise uninteresting document.

– the royals have given up any pretence to have real jobs. No “pilot”, or “soldier” or “interior designer” here.
– the words “of the United Kingdom”. Clearly any other places they might be Prince and Princess of don’t rate.

Graham Dunster

Wed, 06 May 2015 11:33:11 +1200

Sorry to break it to you but Heartland is being closed down. Last day on air is the end of this very month. Licencing spat between TVNZ & Sky as far as I can gather.
http://tvnz.co.nz/tvnz-heartland/index-group-3454449

nzlemming

Sat, 02 May 2015 19:05:18 +1200

Cheers, I bet you’ld say we have a constitution too

Yep, just not written down as such. ;-)

Just thinking

Sat, 02 May 2015 16:16:16 +1200

Cheers, I bet you'ld say we have a constitution too😉

Chris Waugh

Sat, 02 May 2015 10:17:32 +1200

probably end up behind the pay wall on Heartland.

That seems like a pretty sad state of affairs when even our heartland is only available to those who can pay.

Ian Dalziel

Sat, 02 May 2015 10:07:19 +1200

Hopefully it will be widely available and rebroadcast often
The kind of Nation Building programmes that could be shown on the often 'dead air' Parliament channel 0ne might think...
But hey the reality is it'll probably end up behind the pay wall on Heartland.

Graham Dunster

Sat, 02 May 2015 08:38:08 +1200

One of the things that ties Maori TV to the other broadcasters is its often incessant and intrusive advertising. It was wonderful to realise at the end of the Sam Neill doco that there had been no commercial breaks whatsoever. The programme encompassing both Oz & NZ made it so much…

nzlemming

Thu, 30 Apr 2015 00:03:43 +1200

our Queen is the same as England

The same person at this time, but our monarch is the Queen of New Zealand, not the Queen of England. And if you think that's a technical and trivial difference, let me introduce you to my friend the 100 Years war

Just thinking

Wed, 29 Apr 2015 18:52:13 +1200

I don't think ANZAC day defines NZ, but it is a part of the story. Much of my family always wanted to go home and never did. We were very much involved in Empire during WWI. Our national anthem is still God Save the Queen and our Queen is the…

Sol K

Wed, 29 Apr 2015 16:02:33 +1200

Don Christie

Wed, 29 Apr 2015 15:34:53 +1200

I was brought on on a narrative of WW1 as a war of sickening slaughter, terribly lead and fought for no good reason. The almost inevitable result of jingoism out of control.

*Personally* I don't think this defines NZ. My own views about that include:

The indigenous Māori population -…

Rich of Observationz

Wed, 29 Apr 2015 14:33:31 +1200

This kind of Vauxhall:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVkNvQow8tE

"we passed like ships in the night or cars in a contraflow system"

Joe Wylie

Wed, 29 Apr 2015 10:19:14 +1200

I remember someone crashing a PA Vauxhall into that Waikouaiti memorial.

The PA Vauxhall had an unusual linear speedometer that changed colour the faster you drove. I suspect that simple curiosity about what colour you'd get if you really put the foot down led to a few accidents.

Marcus Turner

Wed, 29 Apr 2015 09:16:03 +1200

The gates of the old school formed the war memorial in Karitane. I remember being fascinated that the mortar between the rocks on one side formed a "K" and always wondered if that was intentional. I remember someone crashing a PA Vauxhall into that Waikouaiti memorial.

nzlemming

Tue, 28 Apr 2015 23:26:26 +1200

Well, I was one of the lucky ones at ANZAC Cove this year. Here are some of my reflections:

So sorry you had to spend any of that time with Slater, John.

Joe Wylie

Tue, 28 Apr 2015 23:20:48 +1200

so I marched in the dawn parade and when asked carried a flag (one I had previously stolen from my parent unit)

That sounds good, because I doubt that a bought flag would work properly. Back when there was a speakers corner in the Sydney Domain the star of Sunday…

Just thinking

Tue, 28 Apr 2015 22:39:15 +1200

I like ceremony and ritual, so I marched in the dawn parade and when asked carried a flag (one I had previously stolen from my parent unit), I did so. To me these are rituals for the living to remember the dead, and the only good to come from a…

John Holley

Tue, 28 Apr 2015 17:42:07 +1200

Well, I was one of the lucky ones at ANZAC Cove this year. Here are some of my reflections:

Reflections on ANZAC Day at Gallipoli
Slow time through Gallipoli, 26th April

Carol Stewart

Tue, 28 Apr 2015 14:36:16 +1200

I was there for the Pukeahu dawn service as well, and you've described it very well; it was the same approaching from the Newtown end. The atmosphere was quite magical. The dawn chorus of tui was very lovely.

Gabor Toth

Tue, 28 Apr 2015 13:36:49 +1200

The Wellington dawn service was very big and the only two speakers aside from the padre running the show were the two Governors General. Aside from the size the service was exactly the same as all those I have attended...

That and the fact that it was held at the…

Rob S

Tue, 28 Apr 2015 10:00:35 +1200

I was at the Pt Chev ceremony and couldn’t figure out why most of the junior cadets were fainting and needing to be assisted to seating.

My daughter as the oldest guide in her troop laid a wreath at the Pt Chev ceremony.
She said that standing near the front…

Ben Austin

Tue, 28 Apr 2015 09:08:14 +1200

Going to a pub and playing two-up does seem to be an Australian thing. I've done it a couple of times in London and it isn't so bad once you get used to it.

Mike O'Connell

Tue, 28 Apr 2015 08:40:53 +1200

I must watch the Sam Neill doco, Damn, I had to go out when it was on.

Anyway, it would indeed be interesting to see what was cut re: Armenia. Robert Fisk has written at length over the last week including these must read pieces in the Independent on the…

Chris Waugh

Tue, 28 Apr 2015 08:09:59 +1200

Gisborne cenotaph just before the dawn parade. My grandma took great care to explain that though she hates war, she always took my dad and his siblings to the Anzac services to teach them what it's all about – it's a terrible waste of good lives, and that's why we…

linger

Mon, 27 Apr 2015 21:49:18 +1200

And there's an initial word (above the porthole) too, suggesting the full graffito was a very literal comment: "Used to murder Maori people"

Yamis

Mon, 27 Apr 2015 21:43:53 +1200

Cheers William, I was a bit worried I might be reading it wrong as it’s quite obscured but think I’m right. Agree with what you said.

Unveiled 28 April 1922.

http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/media/photo/mercer-first-world-war-memorial

william blake

Mon, 27 Apr 2015 20:50:37 +1200

Yes something along those lines, it's a concrete artefact exposing past, public thinking about the role of the military in New Zealand. It kind of fucks up some of the current reframing.

(Or it could just be linking things that go BANG!, exposing past public stupidity and insensitivity)

Sacha

Mon, 27 Apr 2015 20:17:58 +1200

that's impressive.

Tinakori

Mon, 27 Apr 2015 20:17:20 +1200

Jerry Mateparae and Peter Cosgrove, NZ and Australia respectively, both former Generals, and after the service they both went to Canberra for service over there.

Sacha

Mon, 27 Apr 2015 19:28:32 +1200

the two Governors General.

who were they?

SteveH

Mon, 27 Apr 2015 19:04:23 +1200

McIntyre's comments were insensitive and fail the basic interweb anger test (i.e. "do you really need to send now, or would you rather take five first?"). But the reaction to them is far more disturbing.

Unfortunately a big chunk of the population only thinks about this stuff on one day…

Sacha

Mon, 27 Apr 2015 19:00:23 +1200

Australian's 'celebrating' anzac day by getting smashed off their faces and gambling. Maybe its an Aussie thing but I prefer our more 'sober' rememberance

I've learned this Anzac Day that Australia has long commemorated survivors whereas we have mainly focused on those who died – so they get pissed and…

Sacha

Mon, 27 Apr 2015 18:52:34 +1200

I suspect that if I still lived in NZ I would watch no TV as the commercial channels really are shit (as they are here).

You might like Maori TV. Everything TVNZ is no longer. And had full Anzac Day coverage right from the get-go.

Yamis

Mon, 27 Apr 2015 18:45:15 +1200

Does that crossed out red graffiti say "To Murder Maori People" ???? Whatever it was somebody objected to it. Kind of like the twitter debate...

Craig Ranapia

Mon, 27 Apr 2015 17:56:02 +1200

Quite alright — finer minds that ours have been trying (and failing) to make sense of it all for a while.

Ian Dalziel

Mon, 27 Apr 2015 17:23:21 +1200

The Northern Express and Inner Link are bus services which Transdev Australasia has never had any contractual role in running.
Ooops, My bad – buses and a rail system, luxury us southerners can only dream of.
:- )

Craig Ranapia

Mon, 27 Apr 2015 17:12:39 +1200

The Northern Express and Inner Link are bus services which Transdev Australasia has never had any contractual role in running. Take my word for that, since they've also been my partner's employer for eleven years and he's worked in the rail industry not on the busses since 1964.

Ian Dalziel

Mon, 27 Apr 2015 16:56:25 +1200

(apparently nobody thought to lay on any extra capacity on the Northern Express or Inner Link to meet entirely predictable demand)
Could it be that French utilities company that runs the Auckland rail system, Veolia, have no interest in the needs of the 'man in the street' considering they are…

David MacGregor

Mon, 27 Apr 2015 16:44:42 +1200

I watched the Sam Neill programme. It was good. A very personal account that was watchable and interesting. He prefaced with his objection to militarism and nationalism. Bravo. And at the end he made a curious reference to the Armenian people in Turkey. Most people will have missed the reference…

Maureen West

Mon, 27 Apr 2015 15:50:07 +1200

I agree with your recommendation of Sam Neill's documentary: thoughtful, reflective and moving. Many aspects of this commemoration have created missed opportunities for a more informed discussion on the myths and meanings of what we are commemorating. I doubt we will have that opportunity again over the next three years…

Craig Ranapia

Mon, 27 Apr 2015 15:46:08 +1200

However, Len Brown was a little disappointing, to be honest, but you get that.

Well, I'd have loved to be disappointed by Len Brown. Thanks to another Auckland Transport flustercluck (apparently nobody thought to lay on any extra capacity on the Northern Express or Inner Link to meet entirely predictable…

BlairMacca

Mon, 27 Apr 2015 15:44:25 +1200

And then, at the end of the Hurricanes’ rugby match against the Reds in Brisbane, someone thought it appropriate to mark this time of loss with round of after round of machine-gun fire from an armoured vehicle. It seemed impossibly insensitive

It was truly gobsmacking. If I hadn't seen it…

Richard A

Mon, 27 Apr 2015 14:54:04 +1200

The Sam Neill documentary was screened over here in Australia by the ABC and was excellent. Quite emotional for an expat Kiwi at the end when he was at the Waikouaiti War Memorial (a typical small town arch with a shockingly long list of names for such a small place)…

simon g

Mon, 27 Apr 2015 14:47:15 +1200

Geoff Lemon's sober truth-telling is an outstanding contribution.

I could go on, but Lemon has…

Tinakori

Mon, 27 Apr 2015 14:46:52 +1200

joshua grigg

Mon, 27 Apr 2015 14:30:47 +1200

I've seen plenty of professional trained adult service people faint on parade. So it's probably a bit much to give the children grief for not being able to manage.

JacksonP

Mon, 27 Apr 2015 14:23:25 +1200

A friend and I got up at 5.30am, and took our scooters into the domain for the dawn service on Saturday. It was packed, and there were some personal moments when the daughter of good friends got up to speak and lay a wreath.

However, Len Brown was a little…

EE

Mon, 27 Apr 2015 12:52:41 +1200

I was at the Pt Chev ceremony and couldn't figure out why most of the junior cadets were fainting and needing to be assisted to seating.

David Hood

Mon, 27 Apr 2015 12:38:19 +1200

"They fought for our freedoms" is a bit of a red flag to a bull phrase to me about Gallipoli. Maybe the Turks were there fighting for their freedoms, but to me the New Zealanders were there trying their best as footsoldiers in a war of empires strategy dreamt up…

Russell Brown

Mon, 27 Apr 2015 12:37:27 +1200

That so very well encapsulates everything that is wrong with this highly polished jingoism about "our nation" and "their sacrifice" and who is "re-writing history". Reporting the insufficiently patriotic for a round of pillory, because you can't let the facts get in the way of official "history".

You may also…

tussock

Mon, 27 Apr 2015 12:30:17 +1200

Over here, the clowns who run the Herald on Sunday's Spy section claimed their "tip line lit up" in response to the off-message Anzac thoughts of Lizzie Marvelly, who responded with a thoughtfulness and intelligence her witless accusers didn't really deserve.

That so very well encapsulates everything that is wrong…

Sacha

Mon, 27 Apr 2015 12:29:37 +1200

Sam Neill's was the only Anzac tv I watched. Brilliant. Listener interview with him about it here.

Terry Baucher

Mon, 27 Apr 2015 12:22:11 +1200

It was truly gobsmacking. If I hadn't seen it…

william blake

Mon, 27 Apr 2015 12:12:25 +1200

This was brought to my attention by Auckland photographer Allan McDonald, the Mercer War Memorial. A wee concrete soldier mounted on the turret of the Waikato River gunboat, used during the Waikato land wars.

Public Address

Mon, 27 Apr 2015 12:12:25 +1200

Discussion from blog post.