PB COOK ISLANDS HERALD26 February 2014 $2 (incl VAT) Cakes for all ocassions! Edgewater Cakes Enquiries call us on 25435 extn 7010 Sunset BarBQs at the Shipwreck Hut Saturday Seafood menu with Jake Numanga on the Ukulele 6pm Tuesday Sunset BBQ with Garth Young on Piano 6pm Thursday Sunset Cocktails with Rudy Aquino 5.30pm-7.30pm Reservations required 22 166 Aroa Beachside Inn, Betela Great Food, Great Entertainment Congratulations to Woman of the Month Always the best Mrs Mata Raeina who wearing a necklace selection, best and earrings from Goldmine price & best service at Goldmine! POWERBALL RESULTS Drawn: 20/2/14 Draw num: 927 PB TATTSLOTTO RESULTS Drawn:22/2/14 Draw num: 3401 SUPP: Android v4.2 (Jelly Bean) OS, 7 Inches capacitive touch screen, 1.6GHz dual core Cortex A9 Processor, 512 MB RAM, Dual VGA camera, 3 Month Warranty OZLOTTO RESULTS Drawn:25/2/14 Draw num: 1045 Next draw: SUPP: Fits up to a 32GB Micro SD card Cook islands Herald 26 February 2014 Opinion 2 NZ Telecom pushed into pull out ew Zealand Telecom’s invest in unprofitable ventures of sponsorship to the wider Minister Mark Brown and bail out was signalled disguised as social responsibility. audience. TCI have quietly gone Financial secretary Richard Nfive years ago, winding Isolated communities like Nassau about their business building Neves into virtually giving up the down the legislated monopoly and Palmerston Island are local capacity and expertise family jewels. would provoke NZT to review included in huge communication without the public chest Are we watching a Cook Islands their majority shareholding in investments that are subsidised pounding boasting of their small version of the comedy Dumb and Telecom Cook Islands. TCI has by Rarotonga and Aitutaki steps of continued success. Dumber? A third form student’s responded to the Government’s consumers. In fact TCI subsidises If anyone should shoulder analysis of Digicel’s strategic demands for a better service at the outer islands to the tune of the criticism and blame for expansion would indicate they reduced rates and with further $500,000 per year. the perception extracting target dumb countries. positive developments TCI is While TCI hasn’t pumped sponsorship dollars from TCI Without any due diligence on the verge of delivering more hundreds of thousands of was worse than trying to get a Brown has in his excitement than expected in the context of sponsorship dollars in response Bank loan, it falls squarely at revealed through his media our scale of economy. to frivolous requests for the door of government who comments the Digicel spiel The monopoly loss and the handouts from lazy sporting want maximum returns, early that got him hooked on a quick entry of the deep pocketed Telco codes who for year after year payments and a better service cash buy out. Early on Brown giant Digicel may result in a fail to produce winning results but have failed miserably to said Digicel were back kicking shared market devaluing TCI’s net and any marketing return for the appropriate a portion of their the tyres but is seems they worth. Digicel’s aggressive mobile Company, TCI has channelled dividend for sponsorships. have kicked him and Neves in telecommunication focused huge investments into projects The business deficiency of their heads otherwise what has operation is capable of sustaining best described as socially the commercially deprived possessed them to jump the gun an intentional loss for several responsible sponsorships. TCI political masters makes them with such irrational, insensitive years to erode a competitor’s is a business not a charity but easy prey for the marketing and inappropriate shoot from market share and driving them endeavours to work smarter to masters of Digicel who talk big the hip comments that don’t out of the market. Selling out reduce costs that are reflected in on sponsorship in comparative make any logical and intelligent before being exposed to a forced reduced fees or reinvestments in terms to the present Telco sense especially to the loyal TCI financial alliance is an option that the Company. provider. The political decision staff? TNZ can not dismiss lightly. In business terms and makers and high level officials What are the options if TNZ Why would TNZ hang around context, TCI has ever since lack comprehension depth of want to sell their shares? How while the CIP Government the 1990s initiated under comparative marketing and this has failed to cross the indecisively plays around with a Trevor Clarke’s chairmanship a the sophisticated compliance collective minds of Brown and proven commercial performer concept of sponsorship that is psychology techniques Digicel Neves clearly amplifies a job on the basis competitors are integrated into a commercial uses. well done by the visiting Digicel promising and claiming they matrix of reinvestment Digicel’s preferred market is snake oil selling doctors who could outperform and out deliver and social responsibility. the third world and countries incidentally want a five year the current set up who have over Telecommunication with struggling economies grace period before monopoly the past decade returned over improvements in the outer knowing they are lacking in high deregulation. $20 million dollars in dividends islands that make no commercial end commercial acumen and Digicel will predictably push to the Cook Islands, by anyone’s return or sense are integrated digital technology knowledge. highly visible sponsorships at the standards an inflated gesture for sponsorships that benefit a The Cook Islands must now be expense of socially responsible our 40% shareholding. wider demographic long term. listed as easy beats because it development in the unprofitable TNZ’s commitment to the If TCI are to be critised, it is has taken Digicel minimal effort outer islands and in the frame Cook Islands has been a solid and because they have failed to and persuasion to convert the work of profitability our worst sustainable even co-operating imprint and bring clarity to their country’s financial tag team fears of a reduction of 30 jobs with the minor shareholders to business model and formula guardians and gate keepers will be realised. - George Pitt PB Cook islands Herald 26 February 2014 news 3 The new economic model will bring divisiveness, threatening traditional values By Charles Pitt dismantling the underlying inclusiveness, equal standing, cultural and traditional elements n last week’s Herald we structures put in place over the generosity, sharing and generally and sensitivities. In other words, mentioned how changes years by government. unselfishness. These elements an economic model which mirrors Ito the tax system and other MFEM’s changes to law form the basis of the Polynesian our uniqueness as a people and fundamental changes would impact and policy have introduced way. society. on society and change the way we “divisiveness” to counter Our society which has come to be What of the long term future? live and behave. I t is considered “inclusiveness.” For example, valued by tourists as friendly, open, Expect NZ or Australia as the that these changes amount to social Neves has cleverly orchestrated the caring and sharing, is changing dominant economic partners in engineering and can be seen to dubious arguments surrounding and that is evident in some of the region, to play a greater role be part of an effort on the part of the back tax on NZ pensions setting the offences occurring against in aligning Cook Islands political, government to move the country to one group of pensioners against tourists. If government is not seen economic and welfare structures a new economic model. the other. (The reason for the as fulfilling a caring, benevolent closer to those countries. In time The question is why is this being sudden end by government of the and supportive role, then young, the region itself may take on new done? Who is really behind it and 17 year long no tax policy on the NZ unemployed and disillusioned structures in a move to harmonize what is the purpose of the change? pension has not been adequately youth will not care either. economies but for whose benefit, Have we reached the point where explained). For the first time in 17 After 50 years of self government, that is debatable. As the Cook our current economic model is no years, we are now seeing snipes it may be expected that in a modern Islands realizes greater wealth longer sustainable? between those locals that receive world, our society will reach a from its sea bed mineral resource, In time our new economic model the higher paying NZ pension level of maturity where people potentially billions of dollars, will probably resemble that of ($1,400 plus a month) and those are less reliant on government others will want access to those Australia’s or NZ’s or a mixture of that do not ($400 a month). handouts and can adequately fend funds. Expect higher levels of both. While local pensioner’s attention for themselves and pay their way. expatriate settlement in the Cook What is clear is that our was diverted, the tax free status of However, is that what we want? Islands from overseas. Expect more government will change from the local pension was removed to We should reach our vision using a expats in high level government that which began in 1965 as create a “means” test which will home grown economic model and and private sector jobs. The pooh “paternalistic” (government-and see more divisiveness through the not one adopted from overseas bah is coming back but in a new the previous colonial masters- looks creation of another two groups, which does not factor in our form and capacity.