Vol. 24 Issue 9 : March 2019

March 12th 2019 — Cameron McGregor - How ownership of a national sporting team was kept in NZ

Cameron McGregor has a long and passionate connection to league in Upcoming Speakers

Auckland. His grandfather, father and himself played for Richmond 14th May—RYLA candidates Ana Manavahetau Rovers and both Cameron and his ( City Mission) & Rebecca Sullivan (Ngāti father have served in Whātua - ō -Ōrākei)

administration. 28 May– Model United Nations Assembly team(s)

Until recently, Cameron was chair of 11 June—Club Forum (ARL) and he is Upcoming Events currently deputy chair of NZ Warriors 6th April—’Women in Rotary’ walk—register with and chair of the Carlaw Heritage Trust. [email protected] Facebook Event Link His grandfather played the first game at 12-14 April—District Conferencehttps:// , his father installed the concrete stands and Cameron rotaryconference9910.org.nz/ himself played at the ground. So he always had an affinity for Carlaw 30th June—District Changeover—venue & time TBA Park and was concerned it would fall in to the wrong hands and ARL

would lose a valuable asset. Cameron went into administration THOUGHT specifically to keep the benefits of Carlaw Park within league and “Your assumptions are your windows established the Carlaw Heritage Trust (CHT) in the early 1980’s. By on the world. Scrub them off every the time the last club game was played there in 2002, the ARL had once in a while, or the light won't come in.” ― Isaac Asimov no money and Carlaw Park was falling into disrepair. The decision was made to develop the area and use the money for the benefit of Auckland rugby league. CHT went into a development partnership with Haydn & Rollet and today there are eight buildings across the original #1 and #2 grounds. CHT owns half of the land and buildings on #1 ground which generates an income, the majority of which supports ARL. CHT is the funding arm and ARL focuses on the league. Want to know more about Rotary? The decision to buy the NZ Warriors in partnership with Autex was Click on links below: motivated by the desire to raise the standard of league in Auckland Rotary Westhaven website and thereby . Over the last 6-7 years we have lost approximately 900 players to Australia and huge gaps exist Meetings between local league and the NZ Warriors. The vision is to When: 2nd & 4th Tuesdays leverage the resources of the NZ Warriors to the benefit of local Venue: Billfish Café Z Pier Westhaven clubs, establish academies and high-performance centres. To this Drive Time: 7.00am for 7.15am start end the management team are looking at the operating model used President: Tom Morton by clubs overseas such as Penrith Panthers and Brisbane Secretary: Elaine Mead Treasurer: David Beattie Broncos. The business and sporting sides of the game are Bulletin: Clare McCall inextricably linked. “It’s not about winning the NRL year in and To unsubscribe or amend email: year out – it’s about being consistently in the top 4” [email protected]

Thanks Cameron, for an interesting and informative presentation. March 26th 2019 — Sir John Key Our speaker was a real drawcard and it was a busy morning with a room full of energy and conversation. Sir John Phillip Key GNZM AC is a former New Zealand politician who served as the 38th Prime Minister of New Zealand and Leader of the New Zealand National Party. He was elected leader of the party in November 2006 and appointed Prime Minister in November 2008, resigning from both posts in December 2016. After leaving politics, Key was appointed to board of director and chairmanship roles in New Zealand and interna- tional corporations. Club member, Tina McNally spotted Sir John shopping at Countdown Auckland City last year, during our Winter Appeal collection for the Auckland City Mission. She asked him if he would speak to our club and he said “Sure, no problem”. The topic was “New Zealand’s Place in the World” and his presentation was a combination of anecdotes and observations from his political and corporate career. “It was an incredible experience to be Prime Minister of New Zealand”, he said and added he found New Zealanders everywhere on his travels. Sir John described a weekend spent at Balmoral with the Queen and her family as a surreal experience and a special memory for them all. He places the Queen amongst the most interesting people he has met and described her as one of the hardest working, most service-focused people he knows. Another shared story related to a call taken from David Cameron (UK Prime Minister at the time) whilst on a tuna fishing boat when at the Marshall Islands for the Pacific Forum. Amidst the noise of landing a large tuna and his security person trying to subdue it, Sir John had to explain where he was and what was happening. After a pause, Cameron’s Photo: Top table in discussion response was “I sometimes wish I was PM of a small country!” Referring to the recent tragic events in Christchurch, Sir John complimented Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on her response and spoke about the importance of leaders ‘stepping up’ in times of crises. He said he was very shocked by the news of semi-automatic weapons being in NZ and observed the event had huge coverage in America and what surprised them most is the speed with which our country can act. Despite 70% of Americans wanting a change in gun laws, he outlined three aspects which holds them back. The National Rifle Association (NRA) is amazingly powerful and will spend up to five times more supporting a gun-friendly candidate. Secondly, a written constitution is bound by the time it was written, such as the ‘right to bear arms’ clause in the US Constitution, which relates to shotguns and does not account for access to semi-automatics. Obama says the Supreme Court will most likely knock-over any attempts to change gun laws drastically. Thirdly, the US has a Congress and a Senate to get through. New Zealand has four acts of parliament that make up our constitution. We don’t have a similar written constitution so we can make changes in parliament more easily. We have 61 members of parliament and we don’t have an NRA. Sir John commented on Brexit, “….it is going to get uglier with the rest of Europe not being able to agree on the things that Britain wants”; Europe, “….the single fixed currency is a flawed construct”; China, which although it is our largest market is slowing down, “…just not as much as people think” and the USA which is still strong financially. Sir John has a keen interest in technology and where this is heading in the future, which is into the ‘cloud’. Cyber security is an area that will become more critical, along with data governance – who owns it, who manages it etc. He observed in the past we have suffered from being at the ‘bottom of the world’ but with in- creased technology people are going to come to us. “The future for New Zealand is exciting - as long as we are doing the right things, and most importantly of all – caring for each other.” Sir John Key and St Joseph’s School principal Regina Smuga with pupils Lakyn-Rae Vae (left) and Maree Vaka New members Virginia Morey and Judy Lawley had the good fortune to be inducted to Rotary Westhaven by Sir John Key. (see photos next page) More photos from the Sir John Key Breakfast

Full room of guests

Sir John Key presenting Judy Lawley’s Sir John Key presenting Virginia Morey’s badge badge

Sir John Key and Tina Sir John Key speaking to the guests Westhaven Marina Open Day, Sunday 10th March

Westhaven Rotary Club members had a presence again at St. Mary’s beach for the Annual Marina Day, providing a sausage sizzle for the public to enjoy. Donations went to the global End Polio Now project. A busy and fun day was had by all. Above Chandu Daji, Charlie Inggs and Rex Billington Right Top: Louise Shearer and Regina Smuga Right: You can’t miss us!

Matariki Gala News — Guest Speaker confirmed We are delighted to let you know that a Guest Speaker has been confirmed for the Rotary Westhaven Matariki Gala on Saturday June 22nd. Ray Davies, strategist, helmsman, and coach for the winning Emirates Team New Zealand has been professionally sailing for over 23 years, spending the last 16 with Team New Zealand. Ray will share with us what it took to win the America’s Cup, leadership, innovation, people & teams and coming back from adversity. TICKETS: Tickets are now on sale ($125pp) - please contact Clare McCall email [email protected] or phone (09) 444-0525 to book a table of 10.

Support Rotary Club of Westhaven & Pre-order your new 2019/2020 Entertainment Membership now!

Many of our family, friends and supporters have previously ordered their Entertainment Books through Rotary Westhaven and the pre-orders are out again now. We thank you for being part of supporting our local community. Contact Chandu Daji Ph: 09 6205334 or email [email protected] or Click here to order your book online UPCOMING EVENT — SATURDAY 6TH APRIL