Royters

Today is the ‘official’ day – people are being encouraged to do something for those less fortunate than themselves. I’d add to that … go on, just do it. Go out of your way today to do something you wouldn’t normally to help someone that needs it.

However I’m looking for something less random- an organisation to volunteer for on an ongoing basis. Many years ago my husband Duncan and I decided that at any given time we would take on one job of a voluntary nature. Like many other parents there have been a variety of ways we’ve done this – school and kindy committees, sports coaches when our kids were little, I was President of Chamber Music South Canterbury for 3 years, office holder in professional organisations. More laterally there was my Army contribution where my ‘pay’ was donated to the RSA’s Tasman Fund, the beneficiaries being Vietnam Vets and their families. And convening the Karori Normal School Gala kept me out of trouble in my spare time for 8 years.

All of these were enormously rewarding in their own way. Making donations is one thing – and the lifeline of voluntary organisations – but committing time adds a completely new dimension. I’m staggered at what many in our communities do for others. Now that I have a bit more time on my hands, it’s time for me to roll up my sleeves again too. I’m thinking it will be an organisation in the special education or disability area (which I’ve come to know much better when I was Minister responsible for Special Education) and I’m open to suggestions!

I’m surprised when Kiwis often get flak for not being great volunteers and I’m not sure that is true. Not only do people give of their time, but they also make direct monetary contributions or purchase goods. Nearly half of all New Zealanders aged over 10 years made an ad hoc donation to support a non-profit group in 2008.

Approximately 794,000 New Zealanders in employment are committed givers of time or money. That means they have made planned, regular giving, to a specific organisation or cause. Overall, 75.8 percent of people aged 10 years and over support the non-profit sector.

It is also well documented that those who do give their time or money benefit in terms of their wellbeing. So, you might like to consider doing something random today yourself or better still make it an ongoing commitment.

Last week a very good friend gave me some great advice - "Don't take yourself too seriously" - and sent me a link to the Kulula - Flying 101 site
http://www.snopes.com/photos/airplane/kulula.asp

Kulula is a low budget South African airline that prides itself on not taking itself too seriously and it's hard not to smile when you see how they paint their aircraft. The pics below give a taste of their philosophy, but it's worth having a look at the website too.

I haven’t posted anything much here recently. A running commentary of the events of the last week and a half might well have been interesting (some would say entertaining!) but the media was filling that gap!

Last Tuesday was a bad day for me, as it was for my staff. But in the greater scheme of things what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. On Wednesday I was feeling bruised. By Thursday I was feeling better and was getting over it. On Wednesday this week I went back to work.

The ACT Deputy Leadership role has changed. The Ministerial roles I previously held in Consumer Affairs, Education and Defence had been reallocated. I might (OK, I do!) have strong feelings about what happened, but in the real world what I personally feel about the changes is a relatively minor concern. What’s of real importance is how the changes will affect the ACT Party, and ACTs role in this current government administration.

New Minister John Boscawen is a strong character. His stickability and determination is legendary. John’s on-going campaign against the current ETS legislation is going to become a case-study for political researchers in the future. A few cynics might claim there is a Don Quixote feel to the whole ETS thing, but thinking people understand that principles are important.

It’s the ACT values and principles that first attracted me to politics and they are the reason I’m staying. Without principles we have nothing. And I guess that’s what’s really helped me though the past couple of weeks - my deep understanding and belief that, while my position may have changed, my principles have not. I still believe in the principles of the ACT Party. Freedom of choice, self-responsibility, and people being the rightful owners of their own lives.

So what’s in the future for Heather Roy? Well, more of the same really. I will continue my role as an ACT List MP. I will continue to work to grow the Party and enhance its chances in the next election. I will continue to support and develop ACTs excellent policies, because we all know New Zealand needs such principled and rational thinking to regain the economic and social growth it has lost in the past 10 years.

Thank you to those many supporters, individuals, party members and Parliamentary colleagues on all sides who have privately and publicly expressed their concern over recent events. Thank you to the many who have given me sage advice. (and those who offered less practical advice!)Thank you to my former staff whose loyalty was always greatly appreciated. And thank you to my family, close and extended, who have been a tower of strength.

Rodney, John, Roger, David and I have each pledged to put recent events behind us. The ACT party is bigger than any individual or personality and it’s time to get back to work. I’m looking forward to picking up health and education issues, and plenty more besides. We’re moving forward.

Onwards and upwards!

I must admit that it has been a few years since I was in high school but I don’t recall our trigonometry lessons researching anything as exciting as the distance from the centre of the earth to the peak of a mountain, and we were blindly led to believe that Mt Cook was, at 12349 feet (3754m) our highest mountain.

Now I find that a Christchurch Boys' High School year 10 maths class, verified by Canterbury University, has blown this assertion out of the water, advising that instead Mt Ruapehu is 600m closer to the heavens than lowly Mt Cook.

It seems that it’s all a matter of perspective. As part of their trigonometry class, the students measured how far it was from the centre of the Earth to the top of Mt Cook and other New Zealand peaks. They found it was 6371.74km for Mt Cook, but 6372.37km for Mt Ruapehu, not to mention 6372.09km for Mt Taranaki. Using the same method, others have found that the world's tallest mountain is not actually Mt Everest but Ecuador's Mt Chimborazo, but this is the first time such calculations have been made for New Zealand mountains.

Mr Ian Miller, the students’ teacher, has said that they were completely bewildered by the results. They took the readings to a physics research fellow from Canterbury University, Bob Hurst, who verified the data. It is now on display at the Cantamath competition. I wish the students all the best.

In geography, as in politics, it seems that perspective is everything. And while the South Island may have lost its claim to New Zealand’s highest mountain, it will take more than a generation to remove 12349 feet from our memory – over half my staff remember that from their school days too!