UNITED KINGDOM Association NEWSLETTER

Although the events in the April newsletter are not yet past us, it is time to look ahead to the Annual General Meeting in June and formally arrange ourselves for the year that follows. In order to secure our best venues, your Committee has some preliminary bookings for 1997/98. Consequently, the new committee elected at the AGM can consider the outline framework of a programme already in place.

The AGM of the Association will be held in the Penthouse, New Zealand House, on Friday 20th June at 1830 hours. It will start promptly to properly precede the Annual Reception which will follow immediately after.

The Agenda, minutes of the last AGM, and copies of the Accounts for 1996/97 will be available for the meeting.

Nominations are invited for the posts of Honorary Auditor, Chairman, Honorary Secretary, Honorary Treasurer, and the Committee for the year 1997/98. Send nominations signed by the proposer, seconder, and nominee to the Honorary Secretary at the Association's address. Nominations may also be made from the floor at the meeting.

Please come along and take part in the meeting. This event is your best opportunity to make your views known on what we should do, what we should be, and anything else relevant to our function. Any offers of technical talks or visits would be gratefully received.

......and the Annual Reception

As is our custom, the Annual Reception releases the members who have toiled through the AGM into the agreeable task of meeting together again in the splendid Penthouse with all the others who have come along, and to enjoy a time of pleasant eating, drinking, and discourse with old and new friends. Be sure to be there too. Gather your guests and reply promptly please by returning the enclosed slip to the Honorary Secretary as soon as you can

.

Hon. Secretary: Mrs Joanna Saywell, 15 Hillbury Gardens, Ticehurst, East Sussex, TN5 7AT

Ph & Fax 01580 200 592, Wk Ph 01732 460 142,

email: saywell@clara.net

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AGM and Annual Reception cont...

Note the details.

Location:	The Penthouse, New Zealand House, Haymarket, London,
Date:	Friday 20th June
Time:	1830 for AGM, 1900 for Reception
Price:	£12.00 per head (all inclusive) for members and their guests

Refresh your dates

In addition to the immediate events, for which reply dates have already passed,

30th May	lEAust Association Technical Talk on Offshore Oil and Gas. (Note that due to a late change the venue is now Ove Arup, Asta House, Ground Floor Lecture Theatre, 55-65 Whitfield St, W1)
7th and 8th June	Brunel's Bristol

and the AGM and reception on 20th June for which you should reply now, keep your diary ahead, if you have not already done so, by noting the following;

3rd August	Barbeque at Henley,
27th November	Christmas soiree in the Penthouse

Outline plans also envisage a further Jubilee Line visit at Canning Town in September, and in 1998, visits to Big Ben in April and Chatham Docks in May.

Address List

The first issue of the address list has already been circulated to those members who paid their subscriptions promptly and asked to be included. Late subscriptions have been received and we will issue another up-to-date list in July. For those of you who still need to return your membership forms please reply promptly. Remember only paid up members are eligible to vote at the AGM.

Aftermath Of the six o'clock swill

30 years have passed since the oppressive and dangerous closing time of 6 p.m. for sale of liquor was relaxed. Studies for further reform are presently in hand with the prospect that Sunday sales will be unrestricted within normal hours and that the lower age limit for drinking will reduce from 20 to 18.

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End Of NZ Post monopoly

Deregulation of postal services has been on the National Party agenda for some time but its enactment now becomes possible as part of the Coalition Government programme. NZ Post will continue under government ownership and will remain the stamp issuing authority for the next five years.

By next April, Minister Maurice Williamson expects courier and freight companies to be delivering mail. The Government will guarantee the upkeep of service standards and will cap the letter post of 45 cents.

Rural interests are hopeful of the standard of their service being maintained but the Opposition MPs in the Labour and Alliance parties are critical of the deregulation programme as being the first step to privatisation.

Superannuation plans

Treasurer Winston Peters has unveiled a plan for compulsory superannuation savings. All would save a proportion (8 per cent is mooted) of their income into a fund which would accumulate to provide an annuity on retirement. Annuities under a prescribed level would be topped up by the State. The country will vote on these proposals in a referendum to be held in September.

An annuity comparable with present superannuation levels would require a fund of $160,000 per person.

Critics include a powerful women's lobby led by Jenny Shipley who argue that women who live longer than men would have to save either a larger fund or receive less income. Prime Minister Bolger has withheld judgement but says that the recent removal of superannuation surcharge makes the present scheme unsustainable.

Reserve Bank management

Don Brash has been governor of the Reserve Bank for nine years, a long time to hold the reins of the economy. He recently talked about the New Zealand economy to international interests in London. He forecast a growth rate of 3 per cent in the current year and said that the ratio of government debt to GDP was perhaps lower than in any countries in the European Community. He had been disappointed in the Government's rejection of his plan to tax capital gains on property values. He did not know if the NZ dollar was overvalued but thought it would not continue to appreciate against USA currency. It had gained 35 per cent in the past three or four years.

Under his strict stewardship the economy continues steadily. Balance of payments deficits have turned out below forecasts. A brief relaxation in interest rates suggested help to exporters by lowering the value of the dollar but almost at once the Bank took a firmer line. That sort of help does not come easily.

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"Support for engineers in the City" ?

Trowelling on the Kiwi pavlova. Plenty of new experiences for Judith Mayhew, top dog at the City Corporation, at the topping out of Greycoat's ambitious 51,000 sq.ft development at No 1 Great St. Helens. She let it be known that it was the first time she had donned a hard hat and looked surprised when handed a silver trowel.

Asked what she would do with it she replied: "I'll ring my mother in New Zealand" When everyone looked baffled, she added: "She'll probably advise me to make a pavlova to go with it."

.......and also

Two Aucklanders met the Spice Girls in Bali and led them into a performance of Ka Mate. Maoris were not amused. The haka is to be delivered with due reverence and is never to be performed by women, they say.

Many functions on 25th April have borne witness to the terrible sacrifices of Australian and NZ soldiers in the 1915 Gallipoli campaign. A poignant scene at St Martha's chapel in Surrey and on the Pilgrims Way was the simple wreath of poppies on Bernard Freyburg's grave placed on behalf of the Returned Services Association by the British Legion.

The Asthma and Respiratory Foundation believe that the occurrence of asthma has reached epidemic proportions. New figures indicate that one in six women and one in four Maori adults are afflicted. It seeks Government action on a national education programme.

David Lange thinks that Jenny Shipley will be the National Party's next leader. John Banks does not think Jim Bolger has yet reached his sell by date. However, Bolger has recently acquired some critics in his handling of the Morgan scandals. He has let them run on too long they say.

Chief Justice Sir Thomas Eichelbaum believes more women and younger people should come into the judiciary. It needs more varied membership to deal effectively with the increasing range of issues coming before it.

Risks of elderly people becoming trapped in low income lifestyles are increasing says a task force. Policies are needed for the rising proportion of older people in the population. It says 12 per cent are over 65 now: in 2040 this percentage is likely to double. Life expectancies then, for over 65s, will have risen to 84 for men and 87 for women.

British state honours have been replaced by the NZ Order of Merit. There are five levels of membership; Knights and Dames Grand Companions (GNZM), Knights and Dames Companions (KNZM or DNZM), Companions (CNZM), Officers (ONZM), and Members (MNZM). The Order was launched with investiture of the Governor General, Sir Michael Hardie Boys, by the Prime Minister in a private ceremony. He becomes the first GNZM.

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