Is This The End Of Nelson's Richard Nixon Statue?
The life-size bronze statue of the disgraced US president has bemused residents of Wakefield, about 20km south of Nelson, for more than a decade.
The statue, holding Nixon's double peace sign pose, stands on the notorious 52 Edward Street site known as Fort Haldeman - reportedly the former office of the locally defunct publishing company Haldeman LLC, that had been partly owned by controversial businessman Tony Katavich.
According to a list on Wikipedia, the statue is only one of two Nixon statues in the world.
But Nixon's days, as well as those of the White House-inspired building he welcomes visitors to, could be numbered.
Tasman District Council is currently progressing plans for a new community hub for Wakefield to replace the ageing and earthquake-prone village hall.
The hub had earlier been assumed to be built on the Wakefield Recreation Reserve, but the current owners of Fort Haldeman approached the council in early 2025 about the possibility of building the hub on their site instead.
Peter Verstappen, a Waimea South Community Facility trustee, said the opportunity "came out left of field a little bit".
"Until six months ago, this wasn't even a question. We were always heading to the reserve," he said.
"In a way, it kind of complicated the process going forward, because suddenly we've got this other whole dimension that we now have to think about."
The council is now consulting the community on its preference between the two locations.
There are pros and cons to each site, with the reserve offering more space for future expansion but higher costs for infrastructure and utilities, while the Fort Haldeman site is closer to the centre of the village but has fewer future expansion opportunities.
Verstappen said, "in all honesty", he doesn't have a site preference.
"From what I've seen, I'm reasonably confident we can build the facility that we want, that answers most of the needs of the community, on either site."
The council and trust held two community meetings last Tuesday for residents to learn more about the two options.
Martin Brown, the council's project manager for the hub, told around 20 attendees of the afternoon session at Wakefield School that it was "very early days" for the Fort Haldeman site.
"We're having conversations with the vendors currently. It may or may not progress, but that's part of the process we're having."
A representative for the company that now owns Fort Haldeman declined to comment due to commercial sensitivities.
The final decision on the location rests with the council and is expected to be made in August, with detailed design work and community fundraising to occur afterwards.
Elected members will be presented with site information as well as community feedback ahead of their decision.
While the full range of feedback might differ, comments from attendees of the Tuesday afternoon meeting indicated widespread support for the original Wakefield Recreation Reserve site due to its development potential, possibly saving Nixon from removal.
"We're building this for not just the present, or even the present decade; we're building it for 50 years, and we need expansion space," one woman said.
Moutere-Waimea Ward councillor Christeen Mackenzie has been pushing the project since she was first elected six years ago.
She said trying to plan for 50 years' time was like trying to look into a "crystal ball".
"Do you have one big shooting box for absolutely everything in one location? That is not necessarily what you might need into the future. Introducing the idea of Site 2 [Fort Haldeman], I think it's giving the community an opportunity to think about that," she said.
"If someone comes to the council with a proposal, you've got to do your due diligence and think about it."
The Wakefield Community Hub has a budget of around $11 million with $6.4m coming from developers, $2.5m from community fundraising, and $2.1m coming from a loan that will be repaid over time from an existing community facility pot that was funded through rates.
Residents can have their say here.
The Wakefield hub used to be part of a collective community facility project for Waimea South, including the town of Brightwater.
But the two town's projects have since been split apart, and Brightwater's public hall will be upgraded at a cost of about $2.5m.
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Scoop
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Rise of anti-rights and anti-gender ideologies, including the regressive Geneva Consensus Declaration, the most recent trend of defunding development assistance for gender equality and health, the impact of austerity measures in debt-ridden countries, deprioritisation of health spending, and poor domestic resource allocation on health, are contributing to reversal in progress towards SDG-3,' said Shobha Shukla. 'Essential health services must include sexual and reproductive health services - including safe abortion and post-abortion care, menstrual health hygiene, and mental health services, with particular attention to women, adolescent girls, persons with disability, indigenous peoples, gender diverse communities, older people, young people, migrant workers, refugees, people living with HIV, sex workers, people who use drugs, among others. They must also include all health and social support services for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence,' she added. 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SHE & Rights (Sexual Health with Equity & Rights) session was co-hosted by Global Center for Health Diplomacy and Inclusion (CeHDI), International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP 2025), Family Planning News Network (FPNN), International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women (ARROW), Women's Global Network for Reproductive Rights (WGNRR), Asia Pacific Media Alliance for Health and Development (APCAT Media) and CNS.
The Spinoff
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Perhaps my problem was that I was going too young. I needed someone older than, say, 35. My friend Nathan seemed like a good call. 'I was born in the mid-80s, and started paying attention to politics in the mid-90s,' he said. 'The Labour MPs who felt the [Rogernomics] reforms hadn't gone far enough left to join the Act Party. The ones who felt that it had gone too far became the Alliance Party – this was in the late 80s and early 90s.' Finally we were getting somewhere! I had a timeline for the Alliance, and a rough idea of its ideological origins. Nathan also gave me a name: Jim Anderton, who had been his local MP in Wigram. Anderton had been a key figure in the Labour Party, but had split from it when the Alliance was formed, then splitting from the Alliance in the early 2000s to form the Progressive Party. I now had some broad details about the Alliance, but I needed specifics. 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RNZ News
2 days ago
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US tariffs: Some Pacific nations get relief, others face increase
US President Donald Trump holds a chart titled 'Reciprocal Tariffs' during an event at the White House in Washington, DC, on 2 April 2025. Photo: AFP / Brendan Smialowski Pacific Islands still face tariffs from the United States, but some rates are lower than originally announced in April . The White House announced last week that the "universal" tariff for goods coming into the US will remain at 10 percent , the same level that was implemented on 2 April before the pause. But that 10 percent rate will apply only to countries with which the US has a trade surplus - countries to which the US exports more than it imports. That applies to most countries, a senior administration official said. A 15 percent rate will serve as the new tariff floor for countries with which the America has a trade deficit. About 40 countries will pay that new 15 per cent tariff. The tariff in Fiji has more than halved - from 32 percent to 15 percent. Fiji's trade ministry welcomed the drop from 32 per cent to 15 per cent. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade Manoa Kamikamica said the reduction offers welcome relief to Fiji's exporters and helps preserve their competitiveness in the US market - but it's not the end of the road yet. "The 15 percent tariff is not the end of the journey. As referred to in the [US] executive order of 1 August 2025, Fiji is designated as a country in ongoing negotiations with the United States," he said in a statement. The reduced tariff rate will take effect from 8 August, applying to all goods of Fijian origin unless excluded under specific provisions. "We remain committed to advancing these discussions in good faith. Our ultimate goal is to significantly reduce the 15 per cent tariff," Kamikamica said. The Fijian government said the country accounts for less than 0.0001 per cent of total US imports, "posing no discernible threat to US industry." Vanuatu's tariffs have been dropped from 22 per cent to 15, and Nauru's from 30 per cent also to 15. However, Papua New Guinea has seen an increase from 10 to 15 percent, while New Zealand has also been given the 15 percent tariff. Speaking to RNZ's Morning Report , Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said the tariff, which had been expected to be at 10 percent, being at a higher percentage was "not what New Zealand wanted" . Top diplomat Vangelis Vitalis was flying to Washington in the wake of the announcement, with Trade Minister Todd McClay intending to visit in coming days too. Despite the higher tariff, Luxon said the government had "played it well". "We continue to register our disappointment about the decision; we've also done it since April." He believed New Zealand exporters were "nimble and agile" and there was still huge demand for New Zealand products and services globally. The opposition said the 15 percent tariff was a "slap in the face" for exporters.
