Rangitikei District
The Rangitikei District is a territorial authority located in the Manawatu-Whanganui Region in the North Island of New Zealand, although a small part, the town of Ngamatea, lies in the Hawke's Bay Region. It is located in the southwest of the island, follows the catchment area of the Rangitikei River; the Rangitikei District Council is the local government authority for this district. It is composed of a mayor Andy Watson, 11 councillors, one of whom is the deputy mayor; the Rangitikei District was established in 1989 as part of the 1989 local government reforms. Secondary schoolsRangitikei College, Marton Nga Tawa Diocesan School, Marton Turakina Maori Girls' College, Marton Taihape Area School, Taihape The current Mayor of Rangitikei is Andy Watson, elected in 2013 and re-elected in 2016. Watson was first elected in 2013 by obtaining 1,983 votes of the vote and a majority of 486 beating incumbent mayor Chalky Leary. Rangitikei District Council is served by eleven councillors elected across five wards.
Two councillors are elected from the Bulls ward, one from the Hunterville ward, four from the Marton ward, three from the Taihape ward and one from the Turakina board. The mayor and councillors are due for re-election in October 2016. District Council, 2016–19 term: Rangitikei District is one of ten districts located or within the Manawatu-Wanganui region; as such it is represented on the Manawatu-Wanganui Regional Council, known as Horizons Regional Council. Two of the twelve regional councillors are elected by the district in the Manawatu - Rangitikei ward. Rangitikei is located in the general electorate of Rangitīkei and in the Māori electorate of Te Tai Hauāuru. Rangitīkei is a safe National Party seat since the 1938 election with the exception of 1978–1984 when it was held by Bruce Beetham of the Social Credit Party. Since 2011 it is held by Ian McKelvie. Te Tai Hauāuru is a more volatile seat, having been held by three different parties since 1996, i.e. New Zealand First, the Māori Party and the Labour Party.
Since 2014 it is held by Adrian Rurawhe of the Labour Party. Located north of Wellington, the district stretches from the South Taranaki Bight toward the North Island Volcanic Plateau, forming a trapezium-shaped block that includes the towns of Taihape, Marton and Mangaweka; the district has an area of 4,538 km². Rangitikei's climate has few extremes compared to many parts of New Zealand. According to the Köppen climate classification, this climate is classified as oceanic climate. Summers are warm with average temperatures in the low 20s; the most settled weather occurs in early autumn. Winters are mild on the plains. Snowfall settles in areas 400 m above sea level, such as Taihape. Annual rainfall is moderate and annual hours of bright sunshine can average over 2,000. Rangitikei District had a population of 14,019 according to the 2013 New Zealand census; this is a decrease of 4.7 percent, since the 2006 census. There were 5,733 occupied dwellings, 912 unoccupied dwellings, 18 dwellings under construction.
The district's population at the June 2018 census was 15,150. Of the residential population, 6,951 were male compared to 48.7% nationally, 7,068 were female, compared to 51.3% nationally. The district had a median age of 3.8 years above the national median age of 38.0 years. People aged 65 and over made up 17.6% of the population, compared to 14.3% nationally, people under 15 years made up 21.1%, compared to 20.4% nationally. Rangitikei's ethnicity is made up of: 80.6% European, 24.3% Māori, 1.6% Asian, 3.9% Pacific Islanders, 0.1% Middle Eastern, Latin American or African, 2.4% Other. The district had an unemployment rate of 6.1% of people 15 years and over, compared to 7.4% nationally. The median annual income of all people 15 years and over was $25,700, compared to $28,500 nationally. Of those, 39.9% earned under $20,000, compared to 38.2% nationally, while 19.7% earned over $50,000, compared to 26.7% nationally. The district is further subdivided into four meshblocks; the meshblocks encompass the surrounding rural areas that are not towns and as such are larger in geographic size.
Rangitikei's towns are: Bulls, Koitiata, Marton, Ratana Community and Taihape. As meshblocks—despite their larger size—are the smallest administrative units recorded by Statistics New Zealand, there are small townships of which the demographic statistics are not recorded; these include: Crofton, Mataroa, Pukeokahu, Turakina and Whangaehu. State Highway 1 goes through Bulls; the North Island portion of this national state highway, one of only eight in New Zealand, begins at Cape Reinga and ends at Wellington International Airport—passing through Bulls at 925 km. State Highway 3 passes through Bulls; this highway connects Hamilton via New Plymouth. State Highway 54 connects SH 1 at Vinegar Hill via Feilding. InterCity runs five daily and three non-daily bus services in Bulls; these include Wanganui–Wellington, Palmerston North–Auckland, Tauranga–Wellington, Wellington–New Plymouth and Auckland–Palmerston North. Marton used to be serviced by the North Island Main Trunk, a railway line connecting Auckland and Wellin
Mayor of Palmerston North
The Mayor of Palmerston North is the head of the municipal government of Palmerston North, New Zealand, presides over the Palmerston North City Council. The current mayor is Grant Smith; this resulted from the resignation of Jono Naylor in October 2014 after his election to the House of Representatives. Since the 2013 election, Palmerston North is one of the few councils that uses the single transferable vote electoral system for the election of mayor. Council elections were annually at first, biennial since 1914; the mayor is directly elected using a single transferable vote electoral system, starting with the 2013 election, with a first past the post system earlier. The Borough Council was established on 12 July 1877. At the time, Palmerston North was an isolated village in the midst of a native forest that covered inland Manawatu; the population was 800 people. The first elections on 9 August 1877 returned a council with nine members, including George Snelson as the first mayor. Snelson is regarded as the founding father of Palmerston North.
On 1 August 1930, Palmerston North was gazetted as a city, the 7th settlement in New Zealand to have reached the then-threshold of 20,000 inhabitants. With that, the Borough Council became a city council. Jono Naylor was first elected mayor in 2007, resigned that position after being elected to the House of Representatives in the 2014 election as a list MP for the National Party. Grant Smith was elected in his place in 2015, with the previous deputy mayor Jim Jefferies having been acting mayor in the intervening period. There have been 29 holders of the position; the longest-serving was Gus Mansford. Jill White was the first female mayor in 1998, since followed by Heather Tanguay in 2004. Three mayors have held non-consecutive terms: George Snelson James Linton William Thomas WoodFive mayors served as members of Parliament: William Thomas Wood Jimmy Nash Blair Tennent Jill White Jono Naylor Of those and Tennent have fulfilled the role of mayor and member of parliament concurrently: Nash for five years Tennent for two years The following persons have served as mayor of Palmerston North
Taihape
Taihape is located in the Rangitikei district Rangitikei District of the North Island of New Zealand. It services a large rural community and lies on State Highway 1, which runs North to South through the centre of the North Island; the Taihape region was inhabited by Maori tribes who settled the area well before the arrival of Europeans. The first record of a European to the region is William Colenso's visit in 1845. In 1884, the surveyor's party for the Main Trunk railway line cut a rough track through the district; the town was founded in 1894. The site of the town was a small natural clearing in dense native bush, which the first settlers set about clearing. Many of the original families have descendants still living in the area; the settlement was first called Hautapu after the local river Otaihape, Taihape. Before the establishment of the railway, the bulk of farming produce had to be transported east by horse and bullock cart to Napier, from where it was exported; until the establishment of roads and railways in the early 1900s, like other rural towns, remained an isolated pioneer settlement.
Taihape developed as a key railway and transport town, reaching its peak of population and activity during the heyday of the 1950s and 1960s. The town declined during the downturn of the 1980s and today it is a refreshment stop for travellers and a service point for the local farming community. Taihape is home of the annual Gumboot Day, first celebrated on 9 April 1985; this festival was devised by local business people. Entertainer John Clarke used Taihape as a location for his Fred Dagg comedy persona. In 2005 Taihape's primary and secondary schools amalgamated to form Taihape Area School due to the declining numbers of students in both schools. There are five marae in the Taihape area, where local iwi and hapū meet: Kuratahi Marae and Te Karere meeting house is affiliated with the Ngāti Rangi hapū of Ngāti Rangituhia and Ngāti Parenga Opaea Marae and Tumakaurangi meeting house is affiliated with the Ngāti Tūwharetoa hapū of Ngāti Tamakōpiri Raketapauma Marae and Rangituhia meeting house is affiliated with the Ngāti Rangi hapū of Ngāti Rangituhia Tamakopiri Marae and Tumakaurangi meeting house is affiliated with the Ngāti Kahungunu hapū of Ngāti Tama Winiata Marae and Tautahi meeting house is affiliated with the Ngāti Hauiti hapū of Ngāti Hinemanu and Ngāti Te Ngahoa, the Ngāti Kahungunu hapū of Ngāti Hinemanu and Ngāti Paki Taihape is a rural supply town and at its peak during the 1960s, was the main railway and transport hub for the surrounding farming community.
Much of its economic activity revolved around rural communities. A major decline occurred in the 1980s due to a restructure and electrification of the railway system and a general downturn in the farming sector. In recent years and with the advent of major tourist attractions, Taihape is now experiencing an upturn in local commerce, its location on the North Island Main Trunk railway and on State Highway 1 has ensured its economic survival. Taihape's main claim to fame is as the "Gumboot Capital of the World", it attracts large numbers of people to the annual gumboot-throwing contest. Taihape is near the confluence of the Rangitikei rivers about 500 m above sea level, it lies in a sheltered valley among the high country of the central North Island, close to the Rangitikei River and the Ruahine Ranges. It is surrounded by fertile high country ideal for sheep and deer farming and its location close to the mountains and lakes has made it an important service hub for hunting and outdoor tourism; the town is located at the southern edge of the volcanic plateau.
Transport routes in and out of Taihape have improved over the years and what were once twisting and treacherous roads through the high country are now easy and fast deviations through the hills to Mangaweka in the south and Waiouru to the north. Taihape's climate is temperate. There is significant rainfall throughout the year in Taihape. According to the Köppen climate classification, this climate is classified as oceanic climate; the average annual temperature is 11.5 °C and about 953 mm of precipitation falls annually. As of a June 2018, Taihape is home to 1,730 people. Population peaked at around 3,500 in the late 1960s, but declined in parallel with many other rural towns after that time; the town has two main schools St Joseph's Catholic School established in 1916, the Taihape Area School. Taihape Railway Station was an important railway stop on the North Island Main Trunk line, with a marshalling yard and locomotive depot until the late 1970s. There were many railway houses situated along the length of Mataroa Road.
At one time Taihape had two lodges of the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes. One of the lodges was named Kaikoura Lodge No 226 this lodge survived until 2007; the lodge once had its own lodge rooms. The former railways house painted purple located on the highway traveling south into Taihape was once one of the two Buffaloes halls; the lodge in Taihape once boasted a large membership due in part to the numbers of Railways and Post Office staff stationed in the town. In 1999 Tranz Rail demolished the historic Taihape Railway Station; the Refreshment Rooms still stand on the former station platform, as do the old goods shed and locomotive depot compound at the south end of the rail yard. After a long period of fund-raising by Rotary, a loco turntable was re-purchased and installed in the station yard, so that special trains can run to Taihape and turn around for the return run; as p
Nine Publishing
Nine Publishing is a media company in Australia and New Zealand, with investments in newspaper, magazines and digital properties. The company was founded by John Fairfax, who purchased The Sydney Morning Herald in 1841; the Fairfax family retained control of the business until late in the 20th century. The company owned regional and other major Australian newspapers, including The Age, Australian Financial Review and Canberra Times, majority stakes in property business Domain Group and the Macquarie Radio Network, joint ventures in streaming service Stan and online publisher HuffPost Australia; the group's last chairman was Nick Falloon and the chief executive officer was Greg Hywood. On 26 July 2018, Fairfax Media and Nine Entertainment Co. announced it had agreed on terms for a merger between the two companies to become Australia's largest media company. Shareholders in Nine Entertainment Co. took a 51% of the combined entity and Fairfax shareholders own 49%. Fairfax Media was delisted from the Australian Securities Exchange in December 2018.
John Fairfax purchased The Sydney Morning Herald in 1841. Several generations of the Fairfax family continued to control the company. Fairfax Media was founded by the Fairfax family as John Fairfax and Sons to become John Fairfax Holdings; the Fairfax family lost control of the company in December 1990. It was renamed from John Fairfax Holdings to Fairfax Media in 2007; the Australian Financial Review was founded in 1951. In that decade, Fairfax started two television stations, ATN and QTQ. Fairfax began expanding in the 1960s, among others, The Age, The Newcastle Herald and the Illawarra Mercury. In 1979, Rupert Murdoch attempted to take over rival The Weekly Times. Due to the costs of defending the takeover, Fairfax sold its television properties, including the Seven Network. In 1988, Fairfax sold its magazines to Australian Consolidated Press, discontinued its Sydney afternoon tabloid The Sun, transferring some of its content and the sponsorship of the City to Surf to its new Sunday tabloid The Sun-Herald which replaced the broadsheet Sunday Herald.
In 1987, Warwick Fairfax aged 26, controversially bought out his family's holdings in the company by borrowing heavily. He took it over. By 1993, the company was re-listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and the two biggest shareholders of John Fairfax Holdings were the Canadian newspaper magnate Conrad Black and his Hollinger Group with 25%, the Australian media mogul, Kerry Packer and his publicly listed company and Broadcasting Limited with 15%. Due to Australian government concerns over media consolidation that limited any single foreign shareholder holding more than 25% interest in national and metropolitan newspapers, after intense lobbying for the right to increase his stake, Black conceded defeat in 1996, selling his holding to the New Zealand corporate "raider" Brierley Investments, subject to the same restrictions. In 2003, Fairfax acquired many of New Zealand's highest-profile newspapers when it bought the publishing assets of that country's Independent Newspapers Limited, whose cornerstone shareholder was News Corp Australia.
In July 2005, Fairfax acquired the RSVP dating site for A$38 million. In August 2005, Fairfax's general classifieds site created in March 2004, Cracker.com.au exceeded 500,000 unique visitors a month. In December 2005, Fairfax acquired Stayz Pty Ltd for A$12.7 million. This investment proved to be successful as Stayz was sold on 27 November 2013, for $220 million, far exceeding its estimated net debt of $154 million. In August 2005, Fairfax ended its 16-month search for a new chief executive officer with David Kirk, a former Rugby Union World Cup winning captain of the New Zealand All Blacks being appointed to replace departing CEO Fred Hilmer. David Kirk got the job ahead of Fairfax COO Brian Evans and Doug Flynn, who took the top job at UK Pest control company Rentokil after negotiations with Fairfax broke off. In March 2006, Fairfax acquired New Zealand auction website Trademe.co.nz for NZ$700 million. On 4 March 2006, it was announced that Fairfax would purchase The Border Mail newspaper in Albury-Wodonga for A$162 million.
In October 2006, speculation began to grow that the company would be bought out and split up after the passage of changes to Australian media laws. Rival media company News Corp Australia purchased a 7.5 per cent stake in the company at this time, with the stated aim of keeping Fairfax in one piece. On 7 December 2006, John Fairfax Holdings and Rural Press announced the beginning of their merger proceedings. Once merged, the new entity formed a publishing company worth A$9 billion and resulted in regaining control of The Canberra Times, through John B. Fairfax of Rural Press, saw the return of the Fairfax family to the company board; the company gained a number of other regional newspapers, radio stations and websites. On 12 January 2007, John Fairfax Holdings changed its name to Fairfax Media. On 7 March 2007, Fairfax Media announced a new website for Brisbane, called the Brisbane Times; the website employed 14 journalists and was an attempt by Fairfax to break into the South East Queensland market.
On 20 March 2007 Fairfax Media launched a new business website, BusinessDay.com.au that aggregated feeds from the other news vehicles in the Fairfax stable as well as "from the world's most respected news sources". It featured breaking news updated "eve
Annette Main
Annette Main is a New Zealand local body politician. She was the 27th Mayor of Whanganui, the first woman to hold that office. Main attended Castlecliff School and Whanganui High School, she trained before becoming a parent. She worked for New Zealand Post in their public relations department, for the Whanganui District Council as a tourism officer, ran a tourism business. In 1998 main was elected to the Manawatu-Wanganui Regional Council. During that time she served as deputy chair. In 2010 she was elected Mayor of Whanganui, she was re-elected in 2013. As Mayor, she supported the New Zealand Geographic board's decision to change the town's name to include an "h", she did not stand for re-election in 2016, instead pursuing a seat on the Whanganui District Health Board. Main was named an officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to local government in the 2017 New Year Honours list. In 2018 she was appointed to the council of the Universal College of Learning
Stuff.co.nz
Stuff.co.nz is a New Zealand news website published by Stuff Limited, a subsidiary of Australian company Fairfax Media Ltd. Stuff hosts the websites for Fairfax's New Zealand newspapers, including the country's second- and third-highest circulation daily newspapers, The Dominion Post and The Press, the highest circulation weekly, The Sunday Star-Times, it is a web portal to other Fairfax websites. As of March 2019, the website had an Alexa rank in New Zealand of 7; the former New Zealand media company Independent Newspapers Ltd, owned by News Corp Australia, launched Stuff on 27 June 2000 at a cybercafe in Auckland, after announcing its intention to go online more than a year earlier. The development of Stuff was supported and governed by, the INL Board, Mike Robson, INL CEO, Don Higgins, Corporate Development Manager. Mark Wierzbicki, founding Internet Business Manager, lead development and ongoing management of the Stuff site and team. Advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi conceived the name "Stuff", INL had to buy the domain name from a cyber squatter.
In its first month, the site had 120,000 unique visitors. At the time, Mark Wierzbicki, described the name as a copywriter's dream, although he conceded that "it's not without risk if we stuff up." The start up website was built by a group of tech companies in Wellington led by project manager Bill Alp and founding CTO & engineering manager Will Everitt and used a software platform from News Corp Australia's news.com.au. On 30 June 2003, INL sold its publishing assets including The Dominion Post, The Press, the Stuff website to Fairfax Media. Fairfax upgraded the website in December 2006, again on 4 March 2009, adding the ability for visitors to personalise the homepage; the first mobile phone news service from Stuff began in 2003, in a partnership with Vodafone New Zealand. On 21 April 2009, Stuff launched a dedicated mobile site, m.stuff.co.nz. For larger news events, the site creates a dedicated section, such as for the Bain family murders retrial and the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake.
During the trial of Clayton Weatherston, press.co.nz, a subsidiary section on Stuff accidentally ran the headline "Guilty of Murder" the day before the jury delivered the verdict. The article was withdrawn, Fairfax executive editor Paul Thompson said it was a mistake "we take seriously."The site has won numerous awards including the Newspaper Publishers' Association awards "Best News Website" for 2010 and 2011. On 17 April 2013, to celebrate the passing of same-sex marriage in New Zealand, the colour of the Stuff logo was changed from black to the colours associated with the pride flag. On 1 February 2018 the parent company of Stuff.co.nz changed its name from Fairfax New Zealand Limited to Stuff Limited. Media of New Zealand Official website Archivestuff
Whanganui Chronicle
The Whanganui Chronicle is New Zealand's oldest newspaper. Based in Whanganui, it celebrated 160 years of publishing in September 2016. Local resident Henry Stokes first proposed the paper for Petre, as the town was called, but initial publication was held back by lack of equipment; as no printing press was available, Stokes approached the technical master at Wanganui Collegiate School, Rev. Charles Nicholls, together they constructed a maire wood and iron makeshift printing press, on which, with the help of the staff and pupils of the school, the first edition of the Wanganui Chronicle was printed on 18 September 1856; the motto of the paper, printed at the top of the editorial column, was "Verite Sans Peur," French for "Truth without Fear." The paper was sold fortnightly, at a price of six pence. In 1866 the Chronicle went tri-weekly, in 1871 began publishing daily and has done so since; the paper was edited by Gilbert Carson from 1875 onwards. In the 1880s Carson's sister Margaret Bullock worked as a reporter and assistant editor for the paper, along with Laura Jane Suisted, was one of the first female parliamentary correspondents in New Zealand.
The woman editor for a time in the 1920s using her birth name Iris Wilkinson published poetry and novels as Robin Hyde, is now "acknowledged as a major figure in New Zealand twentieth-century culture". The Chronicle's rival from 1867 onward was The Evening Herald, founded by John Ballance; the ownership of the two daily papers merged in the 1970s, in 1986 the Herald became a free weekly renamed the Wanganui Midweek. The Chronicle is Whanganui's only daily newspaper. On Monday, 10 September 2018, the paper changed its name to the Whanganui Chronicle, to correspond with the corrected Māori spelling of Whanganui district, made official in December 2015
